J-join?
Those two words exploded in Luo Zhao’s mind.
She almost instinctively wanted to deny them, but the word had already burrowed deep into her consciousness.
Like a seed, it began growing wildly in soil where it had no right to exist.
Then Luo Zhao saw it—not with her eyes, but in the images unfolding inside her mind.
On that disheveled rosewood bed, the curtains hanging half-open and the brocade quilt thrown into disarray, she was held down by Lin Qingyan and Shangguan Yunying, one on either side, her arms restrained so firmly that she could not move.
All she could do was watch helplessly as Gu Chengyin approached, step by step, his boots making no sound against the carpet.
Yet every step felt as though it were landing directly on the tenderest point of her heart. He was looking at her with a gaze she had seen before.
Not the way a Royal Tutor looked at the Crown Princess. Not the way a subject looked at a ruler.
It was the way a man looked at a woman—the very gaze Luo Zhao had seen in her dreams, only to feel too ashamed to admit it after waking.
Then Gu Chengyin leaned down, and then…
Luo Zhao’s cheeks felt as though someone had splashed them with boiling water. The heat spread from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears, then from her ears across her entire face.
She did not need a mirror to know how red she had become.
Probably as red as the plum blossoms in the imperial garden that refused to wither even on New Year’s Eve—bright from head to toe, so embarrassed that she wished she could find a crack in the floor and disappear into it.
“Auntie, what are you talking about?”
Luo Zhao whipped her head around. Her voice had become shrill and thin from sheer panic, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
She did not dare look at Lin Qingyan or Shangguan Yunying. Instead, she fixed her eyes on the bronze incense burner in the corner.
She stared at it as though the curling smoke rising from it were some priceless treasure.
“I… I’m the Crown Princess. A Crown Princess can’t do that sort of thing with her Royal Tutor.”
Crown Princess.
That was right. She was the Crown Princess, the Crown Prince of Great Luo—noble in status and majestic in bearing.
The rites decreed the relationship between ruler and subject, father and son. Between the Crown Princess and her Royal Tutor, there was the bond of teacher and student, and the distinction between sovereign and minister.
How could they do something like that… that sort of…
The more Luo Zhao thought about it, the hotter her face became. She wished she could vanish from the Meditation Tower immediately.
Yet even as she turned away, the flush had not faded from her face, and the corner of her eye stole a cautious glance toward Lin Qingyan.
When Lin Qingyan saw that glance, she smiled.
All talk and no resistance.
Lin Qingyan silently added those words as a note to herself, though her expression remained composed.
She turned to Shangguan Yunying and gave her a look.
Then she tilted her chin slightly toward Luo Zhao. The meaning could not have been clearer.
Shangguan Yunying caught the look, but she was not sure whether she ought to respond.
Luo Zhao’s words still echoed loudly in her mind.
Besides, even if something had to be done, surely she could not be the one to make the first move, could she?
When Shangguan Yunying showed no sign of acting, Lin Qingyan’s brows drew together.
Another look came her way.
This time, there was no question and no testing the waters—only an unmistakable command, with a clear edge of forcefulness.
Shangguan Yunying understood the unspoken threat in that look.
If you don’t listen to me, I’ll make you take the lead next time.
Take the lead.
The phrase was like a basin of ice water poured over Shangguan Yunying’s head. Her entire body jolted.
She remembered the nights when she had been tormented until she no longer had the strength even to turn over, and the mornings when she had needed to brace herself against the wall just to walk.
If Lin Qingyan had not been there…
Shangguan Yunying shuddered. She did not even dare imagine the consequences. She probably would not have been able to get out of bed for three days.
And so Shangguan Yunying rose from her chair.
She moved so lightly that she made almost no sound.
But Luo Zhao still sensed something and instinctively tried to turn her head.
She was too late. Shangguan Yunying had already circled behind her.
Luo Zhao felt the warmth of another person behind her, followed by two hands.
They closed around both her arms—not too tight, not too loose, but with perfect precision—and held them firmly against the back of the chair.
“Yunying, what are you doing?”
Luo Zhao was bewildered.
She lowered her head and looked at her restrained arms. The blush on her face had not yet faded, and now fresh confusion rose to replace it.
While Luo Zhao was still distracted, Lin Qingyan stood as well.
She rose from the chair opposite, walked around the small table, and came toward Luo Zhao.
At last, she stopped in front of her and leaned down.
Lin Qingyan raised a hand and lightly hooked one finger beneath Luo Zhao’s chin.
It was not a forceful gesture. If anything, it was gentle—like lifting a flower, like cupping a handful of water.
Yet Luo Zhao’s entire body went rigid. Her chin was supported by Lin Qingyan’s finger, forcing her to raise her face and meet Lin Qingyan’s eyes.
Lin Qingyan held her chin that way and studied her carefully from head to toe.
Then she smiled, her eyes curving at the corners, her voice filled with admiration.
“Zhao’er, you really are extraordinarily beautiful. Even I, your aunt, sometimes can’t help feeling tempted.”
Luo Zhao’s heart skipped a beat—not because she was excited to be praised for her looks.
She had always known she was beautiful. She had known it since childhood; she hardly needed anyone else to remind her.
What threw her into a panic was the tone in which Lin Qingyan had said those words—that faint, ambiguous undertone.
It hovered somewhere between the affection of an elder and something else, blurring the boundary between the two.
And most importantly, she and Lin Qingyan were aunt and niece, so there were certain similarities in their features.
When Lin Qingyan said that she was beautiful, wasn’t she also saying that she herself was beautiful?
Was she praising Luo Zhao—or praising herself?
Those thoughts flashed through Luo Zhao’s mind, but before she could make sense of them, Lin Qingyan’s finger moved.
The fingertip did not leave her skin. Instead, it slowly traced downward along the line of her jaw.
Like a faint, almost imperceptible breeze, it stirred a fine shiver wherever it passed.
Luo Zhao’s breathing began to falter. She could feel her heartbeat quickening.
And that hand continued downward, unhurried and steady, moving toward the front of her robes.
Then it stopped at the first button.
It was a small, exquisite white jade button set into the collar of Luo Zhao’s robe.
It rested there quietly, entirely unaware of the fate that was about to befall it.
Lin Qingyan’s fingertip rubbed lightly along the edge of the button, as though confirming something—or deliberately teasing her.
The sensation traveled through the fabric to Luo Zhao’s skin, ticklish and tingling, leaving her unable to settle.
“Auntie, what are you doing?”
Luo Zhao finally could not bear it any longer. Her voice was thick with unmistakable panic.
Lin Qingyan lifted her eyes to look at her. There was amusement in her gaze, along with a hint of mischief.
Her fingers did not stop. Her thumb and forefinger pinched the white jade button and gave it a gentle tug.
The button slipped free of its loop with a faint click.
The first button had been undone.
“What am I doing?”
Lin Qingyan looked at Luo Zhao with a teasing smile. Her fingers had already moved to the second button.
“Why, fulfilling Zhao’er’s request, of course.”
“But just watching would be so boring. Why not experience it for yourself?”
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!
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.
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
