Yet unexpectedly, at this very moment, Gu Xiaoli suddenly dropped the act.
She didn't need to be pushed or pulled—Gu Xiaoli leapt out on her own.
Like a little tiger with its fur standing on end, she planted herself in front of Lin Qingyan.
Her stance, her aura, the fighting spirit burning in her eyes—it was even better than the best-case scenario he'd imagined.
The corners of Luo Zhao's mouth curled up slightly, then quickly pressed back down.
Her gaze swept back and forth between the golden lightning at Lin Qingyan's fingertips and the spiritual energy aura surrounding Gu Xiaoli.
No matter who Gu Chengyin sided with, pulled aside, or tried to mediate for, he was bound to offend the other party.
A scene of chaos like this—even Gu Chengyin couldn't possibly walk away unscathed.
No matter how flawless his calculations, no matter how ingenious his schemes, at the end of the day, he was still only a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Choosing either side was wrong; choosing neither was also wrong.
Whichever he chose would wound one of their hearts, and whichever path he took would leave behind a rift that would be hard to mend.
And once that rift appeared, it would be her opportunity—Luo Zhao's opportunity.
The more Luo Zhao thought about it, the more her heart surged with excitement; the more she thought about it, the more this scene before her seemed like a gift delivered straight from the heavens.
She had already begun to scheme silently to herself about how, when Lin Qingyan and Gu Xiaoli had fallen into an irreconcilable clash, she should intervene—in what posture, with what words—so as to appear understanding and considerate while simultaneously winning one of them over to her side to the greatest extent possible.
If she played her cards right, she might even be able to drag one of them completely into her camp.
At that point, she would have a trump card in her hand capable of challenging Gu Chengyin.
Just as Luo Zhao was glancing over at Gu Chengyin with some excitement,
wanting to relish the look of frantic vexation that might be spreading across this man's face at this very moment,
her gaze happened to collide with another pair of eyes.
Gu Chengyin was looking at her.
Not a casual, passing glance—no, he was genuinely looking at her.
Luo Zhao's heart gave a sudden lurch at that gaze.
Gu Chengyin was watching her, and he was scheming about something.
What wicked plan was this Red Egg cooking up now?!
And whatever it was, it seemed to be aimed at her.
Gu Chengyin was, indeed, cooking up a wicked plan.
And this plan, he had already thought it through very clearly.
The relationship between Lin Qingyan and Gu Xiaoli—he had always kept it in sight.
Those two—allies, yes, but also rivals; the bond between them was a tangled mess of complexities that defied simple sorting.
They could coordinate with each other flawlessly on some matters, and clash with each other tooth and nail without giving an inch on others.
This delicate relationship normally maintained a fragile equilibrium.
But today, this imperial decree of betrothal had come down like a hammer, smashing right into the heart of that equilibrium.
A battlefield of romantic entanglement had appeared.
No matter whom Gu Chengyin chose, he would be walking straight to his doom.
Choose Lin Qingyan?
Gu Xiaoli had just carved those marriage vows into her Dao heart moments ago—it was precisely when she was at her most sensitive and fragile. If he chose Lin Qingyan right in front of her, it would be the same as personally crushing the heart that had just begun to open to him.
Given Gu Xiaoli's nature, she wouldn't hate him. She'd only blame herself for all of it, then hide away somewhere, crying silently to herself. And after the tears were done, she would begin to distance herself from him, avoid him, retreat back into that shell of hers that no one could reach.
If that happened, all the effort he had poured into her would come to nothing.
Choose Gu Xiaoli?
Lin Qingyan had come bearing an imperial decree.
If he chose Gu Xiaoli right in front of her, it would be like slapping her in the face in public.
Lin Qingyan might not fly into a rage on the spot, but he knew her nature all too well. The more wronged she felt, the less she would speak up; the less she spoke up, the deeper she would carve the grievance into her memory.
And on top of that, the decree had already been issued. Even if he chose Gu Xiaoli, it wouldn't change the fact of the betrothal—it would only sow discord in Lin Qingyan's heart toward him.
With Lin Qingyan's pride, she might still go through with the marriage, but she would be fulfilling the decree, not her true feelings.
So no matter whom he chose, it would severely hurt the one who wasn't chosen.
And those two—they were exactly the ones he could least afford to hurt right now.
So Gu Chengyin wasn't foolish.
Of course he wouldn't be stupid enough to walk headfirst into the fray.
After all, wasn't there still someone else here?
Gu Chengyin pulled his gaze back from Luo Zhao, then swept it between Lin Qingyan and Gu Xiaoli.
The two were still frozen in place, golden lightning and spiritual energy aura locked in opposition, neither willing to back down an inch.
A tension thick enough to ignite filled the air, as if the slightest breath of wind
would blow this standoff into a full-blown conflict.
"Little aunt, Xiaoli, hold on for a moment."
A plain and simple sentence, but when it landed in the ears of Lin Qingyan and Gu Xiaoli,
it was like a gentle breeze passing over a pot of oil on the verge of boiling over.
The string stretched taut between the two of them, nearly snapping at any moment, eased slightly at that instant.
The golden lightning at Lin Qingyan's fingertips receded a few degrees—still shimmering, but no longer as aggressive as it had been just before.
The spiritual energy aura around Gu Xiaoli also shifted from solid to insubstantial, reverting back to that nearly transparent, faint halo.
The two of them remained standing where they were, still five paces apart.
Yet the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere between them had clearly eased quite a bit.
After all, they weren't really going to come to blows.
Lin Qingyan knew perfectly well that no matter how angry she was, she could never actually lay a hand on Gu Xiaoli.
Gu Xiaoli also knew perfectly well that no matter how resistant she felt, she could never really fight Lin Qingyan.
The two of them stood locked in place, both of them waiting, really.
Waiting for Gu Chengyin to make his move.
And now Gu Chengyin had made his move.
Since a way out had been offered, they were certainly going to take it.
Lin Qingyan was the first to withdraw the lightning at her fingertips, the golden light dancing a final two flashes in her palm before utterly dying out.
She tilted her head slightly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
The motion was graceful and composed, as if she hadn't been a moment away from throwing a punch.
Gu Xiaoli likewise retracted her spiritual aura, though she still remained planted in front of Gu Chengyin, showing no sign of stepping aside.
Only the hostility in those big eyes had faded somewhat, replaced by a hint of nervousness and expectation.
They were both waiting for Gu Chengyin to speak, waiting for him to say what came next.
But when Lin Qingyan and Gu Xiaoli turned their gazes toward Gu Chengyin,
they were surprised to find that he wasn't looking at either of them.
He was looking at Luo Zhao.
Luo Zhao's scalp went numb under Gu Chengyin's stare.
She instinctively wanted to step back, but her feet felt as if they were nailed to the ground, utterly immobile.
She could only stand frozen in place, feeling Gu Chengyin's gaze like an invisible net, slowly closing in around her.
Lin Qingyan and Gu Xiaoli followed Gu Chengyin's line of sight, looking at Luo Zhao as well, identical traces of puzzlement surfacing in their eyes.
They couldn't understand why, at such a critical moment,
Gu Chengyin wasn't looking at them, but at Luo Zhao instead.
Then Gu Chengyin spoke:
"Your Highness, would you be willing to be the junior wife?"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
