After tossing out that utterly outrageous remark, Gu Chengyin strode away with effortless swagger.
He left behind only the three Grand Secretaries in the council hall, all wearing expressions of bewilderment.
Cui Shifan’s hand was still frozen in the act of holding his tea. His fingers gripped the base of the cup, and the bluish-white pallor caused by the prolonged strain had yet to fade from his fingertips.
The tea inside had long since gone cold. Its jade-green surface was as still as a slab of solidified jade, reflecting the shifting, gloomy expression on his face.
Shangguan Yuan’s face was still flushed, but it was no longer the angry red brought on by his earlier fury. Now it was the flush of shock and disbelief.
His brows remained furrowed, but his eyes had emerged completely from beneath their shadow. His pupils were filled with a near-total blankness.
Hu Juzheng was the first to regain his composure.
His eyes were still narrowed, and the familiar smile had already returned to the corners of his mouth.
Yet anyone who looked closely would find that what lay beneath that smile was entirely different from usual.
It was not the calculating smile of a man hiding a blade, but the relief of “thank goodness this has nothing to do with me,” mixed with a trace of delight at watching the spectacle from the sidelines.
Still, none of the three Grand Secretaries could be certain whether Gu Chengyin had merely been running his mouth or was speaking seriously.
If he had been boasting, it did not seem very likely.
After all, Gu Chengyin was the Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince.
That title meant he had to take responsibility for everything he said and did.
It meant that every word he spoke about the Crown Prince would be weighed and examined repeatedly by officials throughout the court.
If the Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince went around saying that His Highness was willing to become the secondary wife, then if it turned out to be false, it would constitute grave disrespect—enough to have him stripped of office and thrown into prison.
Gu Chengyin might act in ways that defied expectations, but he had never been a man who spoke without restraint.
And this was the Grand Secretariat, no less.
What kind of place was the Grand Secretariat?
It was the central hub through which the Great Luo’s court operated, the heart of all the empire’s affairs.
Every wall here had ears, and every window let in the wind.
Before half a day had passed, every word Gu Chengyin had spoken in the Grand Secretariat today—including that outrageous declaration—would spread throughout the entire court.
If this had merely been empty boasting, how would Luo Zhao react after hearing about it?
Which meant that it was true.
The same conclusion surfaced in the minds of all three Grand Secretaries, and all three were simultaneously left with scalps tingling from the shock.
Luo Zhao—the Crown Prince known as the Goddess Descended into the Mortal Realm, the future Empress of Great Luo, and the most exalted person in the realm beneath the Emperor himself.
She was actually willing to become the secondary wife?
This was no longer merely shocking or scandalous. It overturned everything people understood about hierarchy and propriety.
Could it be that an aunt and her niece would truly serve the same husband?
The thought exploded simultaneously in the minds of the three Grand Secretaries, but the sparks it sent flying came in entirely different colors.
Cui Shifan’s expression immediately became dark and uncertain.
His fingers moved unconsciously back and forth across the base of the teacup, the pressure varying from light to heavy. It revealed the raging storm surging within the depths of his heart.
If even Luo Zhao was willing to become the secondary wife, then naturally no one would care whether Cui Zilu did the same.
Lin Qingyan was Fairy Jingzhe. In terms of status and standing, she was no lower than the Crown Prince.
Cui Zilu’s status was inferior to that of the Crown Prince, her position was beneath the transcendent Fairy Jingzhe, and her cultivation could not possibly compare with either of them.
Who would care whether she became the secondary wife or not?
For the Cui clan's legitimate daughter to become a secondary wife had originally been a momentous matter. It would have invited people to point fingers behind her back and brought shame to the ancestors of the Cui clan.
But if even the Crown Prince had accepted such a position, then the Cui clan's legitimate daughter doing the same would no longer be a disgrace.
If even the Crown Prince wasn’t afraid of losing face, what did the Cui clan have to fear?
What was Gu Chengyin trying to imply?
Was he telling Cui Shifan not to use the Cui clan's legitimate daughter as an excuse anymore?
Even the Crown Prince could become a secondary wife. What right did Cui Shifan still have to put on airs?
Was he telling him that his delaying tactics were no longer useful?
He could stall today, stall tomorrow, and continue stalling the day after that.
But Gu Chengyin had already revealed his trump card.
His Highness belonged to him.
Having Cui Zilu serve as Chief Lady Official was a favor Gu Chengyin was extending to the Cui clan, an opportunity he was giving them.
Whether they accepted it or not, they had no choice but to accept it.
Because if they refused, there would be plenty of others eager to take their place.
Was this Gu Chengyin telling him that the rules of the game had changed?
Under the old rules, the legitimate daughter of a great clan could not become a secondary wife. Under the old rules, once a marriage had been bestowed, there could be no one else.
But now, Gu Chengyin had broken those rules.
Once the rules were broken, all restrictions ceased to exist.
A thin layer of cold sweat gathered in Cui Shifan’s palm.
It seeped from the lines of his hand and dampened the edge of the teacup’s base, leaving a faint sheen of moisture on the celadon surface.
His gaze fell upon the reflection of his own face in the tea. He watched as that face grew steadily darker and gloomier.
Shangguan Yuan’s expression, meanwhile, had turned extremely ugly.
His brows sank lower than ever, nearly concealing his eyes completely in shadow and leaving behind only two dim, brooding glints.
By now, Shangguan Yunying had essentially given herself over to Gu Chengyin completely.
When she had resigned from her position as Chief Lady Official in the Crown Prince’s Palace, Shangguan Yuan had thought she had finally come to her senses and was finally preparing to pull herself out of the mire that was Gu Chengyin.
But who could have expected that after resigning, Shangguan Yunying would not return to the Shangguan family? Instead, she had gone to the Celestial Master’s Residence to cultivate under Lin Qingyan.
How was that supposed to be withdrawing?
It was plainly just another way of remaining by Gu Chengyin’s side.
Shangguan Yuan had originally been thinking about how to use the imperial marriage edict to persuade Shangguan Yunying.
An imperial marriage bestowed by edict was perfectly legitimate and beyond reproach.
Gu Chengyin already had a primary wife, while Shangguan Yunying was the Shangguan family's legitimate daughter. Surely she could not become a secondary wife?
What would become of the Shangguan family’s dignity?
Once those words were spoken, even if Shangguan Yunying was utterly devoted, she would still have to think twice.
This was Shangguan Yuan’s final chance to pull Shangguan Yunying back from Gu Chengyin’s side.
But if even Luo Zhao was willing to become a secondary wife, then wouldn’t that make Shangguan Yunying even more determined to follow Gu Chengyin?
Instead of driving her away, the edict would become a reason for her to remain at his side with even greater justification.
Shangguan Yuan suddenly realized that Gu Chengyin’s seemingly reckless remark was, in fact, accomplishing several things at once.
It put pressure on Cui Shifan while also cutting off the last avenue available to Shangguan Yuan.
And Gu Chengyin had not even needed to explain himself. With a single sentence, he had forced both Grand Secretaries into a corner.
As for Hu Juzheng, his expression was quite composed.
His eyes remained narrowed, and the smile at the corners of his mouth was even broader than before, so broad it seemed almost ready to spill over.
He even lifted his teacup and took a sip of the tea, which had long since gone cold. The bitter taste spread across his tongue, yet it did nothing to dampen his good mood.
He leaned back slightly, settling into a more comfortable position. His back rested against the chair, his hands folded over his stomach, while his thumbs lazily circled one another.
The main reason was that Hu Juzheng had no daughters.
Unlike the two men beside him, he had not spent years raising a precious daughter only to watch Gu Chengyin come along and make off with her.
In the end, however, none of the three Grand Secretaries offered any comment.
Instead, they tacitly pretended they had heard nothing at all.
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
+ Slow Paced + Main Character Thrives Together with His Disciples】 Transmigrated into a cultivation world, Chu Xingchen awakens a discipleship system that reveals the tags of his disciples! Starting from scratch, he builds the strongest sect. Disciple One: Li Yingling 【Gold Tag: Genius Cultivator】【Purple Tag: Extremely Lucky】【Blue Tag: Bewitchingly Beautiful】 Disciple Two: Li Hangtian 【Gold Tag: Reincarnated】【Purple Tag: Ruthless and Decisive】【Blue Tag: Loyal and Noble】 Disciple Three: ??? 【Orange Tag: Alluring Demoness】【???】【???】 Thus, in the cultivation world, an unremarkable little sect appears out of nowhere, but little do others know that each member of this sect is a powerhouse in their own right. The book is also known as: Cultivation? It's Exactly Like This!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
