As the voice fell.
The hall fell into silence.
Lyu Fang stared dead at Gu Chengyin, not saying a word.
His gaze was like a tangible probe, attempting to dig out the truth behind those words from every twitch of a muscle on his face, every flicker of his eyes!
Countless fragments of information collided, reorganized, and connected in his mind!
Gu Chengyin brought a red sandalwood box back to the palace, which contained Shangguan Yuan's return gift.
Shortly after returning to the palace, an edict was issued from the Crown Princess's palace, in which Her Highness specially titled Gu Chengyin the Marquis of Bingjian, using the highly impactful word "Bingjian" (shoulder to shoulder).
These events were closely linked in time, forming a clear chain!
If someone said there was no connection between this return gift and the conferment of the marquis title, Lyu Fang wouldn't believe it even if he were beaten to death.
The item in that red sandalwood box was definitely not ordinary, otherwise there wouldn't be such astonishing favor.
The answer was already on the verge of coming out.
Lyu Fang felt his heartbeat vibrating violently in his chest, a scalp-numbing answer almost bursting through his throat!
But he forcefully suppressed the urge; he needed confirmation, needed to hear Gu Chengyin say that answer with his own mouth.
Thus, after a brief exchange of gazes, Lyu Fang suddenly changed the subject.
He picked up the slightly cooled tea, took a gentle sip, then put it down, and said casually:
"Marquis Gu, speaking of which, when His Majesty heard that Her Highness had returned safely the day before yesterday, he was greatly pleased and very happy."
He looked at Gu Chengyin and sighed with emotion:
"Ever since His Majesty established the Crown Princess, he has placed great hopes on Her Highness."
"I am often by his side, listening to the imperial teachings. His Majesty often says that Her Highness is intelligent, decisive, can clearly distinguish right from wrong, and has the aura of a wise ruler."
After some affirmation, he slightly changed the subject, his tone full of concern:
"His Majesty also said that Her Highness is good in every way, except... her temperament is too proud, her edge is too exposed. Being too rigid makes one easy to break, being too sharp makes one easy to damage. She doesn't know how to temper hardness with softness."
Immediately after, Lyu Fang's tone suddenly became appreciative:
"However, at yesterday's morning assembly, Her Highness's response was well-founded in advance and retreat, drawing the bow without shooting. It both showed her attitude and did not lose a sense of proportion."
"This performance gave His Majesty a great surprise!"
He deliberately emphasized the word "surprise", looking brightly at Gu Chengyin:
"After His Majesty left the court, although he didn't say anything, I have served him for many years and could feel that His Majesty was in an excellent mood. For Her Highness to have such a performance..."
Lyu Fang paused, a meaningful smile appearing on his face:
"Marquis Gu, you must have contributed greatly to this, right?"
Listening to Lyu Fang's rambling words, Gu Chengyin's mind was completely clear.
These words seemed simple, but in fact, they revealed an extremely crucial piece of information!
Emperor Luo's attitude.
Between the lines, Lyu Fang was transmitting a clear signal: Emperor Luo highly approved of Luo Zhao's performance.
This approval was definitely not just superficial praise, but also contained tacit consent and support for checking the accounts, and even further actions!
As the person closest to Emperor Luo, Lyu Fang's relaying at this moment was almost telling Gu Chengyin: On this matter, His Majesty is on Her Highness's side.
Gu Chengyin quickly calculated in his heart.
Shangguan Yunying once told him that the eunuch faction in the court and the public was more inclined towards the Second Prince, but he had a different understanding of this.
Eunuchs were different from civil officials and military generals; they were a special group that could only rely on imperial power.
Their power, status, and foundation of survival all came from the emperor alone.
Therefore, Emperor Luo's will was the highest mission and action guide for the eunuch faction.
Without Emperor Luo's permission, Lyu Fang would absolutely not dare to let the rumor that "the eunuch faction favors the Second Prince" spread outside.
So although Lyu Fang was chatting casually, he was actually showing his attitude, and also to get an answer from Gu Chengyin, so as to determine what to do next.
Gu Chengyin did not directly answer this probe, but instead showed a look of shame and lingering fear on his face.
He sighed and said with lingering fear:
"Eunuch Lyu praises me too much. Speaking of which, after I presented the return gift to Her Highness, I was soundly scolded by her."
"Oh?"
Lyu Fang raised an eyebrow, the glint in his eyes intensifying. He leaned forward, adopting a listening posture.
He knew, the big one was coming!
Gu Chengyin's tone was sorrowful, as if recalling a nightmare:
"Her Highness was very angry at that time. The severity of her words and the coldness of her attitude make it unforgettable and deeply engraved in my heart even when I recall it now!"
Lyu Fang instantly held his breath and concentrated, even his breathing unconsciously lightening, fully focused on every word Gu Chengyin said.
He knew that the content of this reprimand was probably the answer to solving the mystery.
Looking at Lyu Fang's fully concentrated expression, Gu Chengyin smiled slightly in his heart, but still maintained that shame on his face, and said slowly:
"Her Highness scolded me at that time, saying: 'Gu Chengyin! You have a lot of nerve! You actually dared to accept Shangguan Yuan's return gift? And brought it back to the palace?!'"
He imitated Luo Zhao's cold and majestic tone to perfection.
Lyu Fang's heart skipped a beat! The reprimand was about the return gift? It seems... not quite right?
Gu Chengyin continued, his tone turning into a kind of grievance and self-blame as if suddenly realizing the truth:
"Her Highness also scolded: This trend of 'bringing heavy gifts to the door, and there must be a return after the matter is done', is a bad habit that only exists over in the Luo Capital!"
"It is an evil trend that ruins the imperial discipline and corrupts the administration of officials! As the Crown Princess, she absolutely will not allow such a trend to appear in the Divine Capital, or in the Crown Princess's palace."
"Her Highness even scolded me by quoting classics and historical records."
Gu Chengyin raised his pitch, looked straight at Lyu Fang, and said clearly word by word:
"'Grand Secretary Xiao has long given repeated injunctions, severely refuting it multiple times at the court assemblies, explicitly forbidding the appearance of such evil trends among the court and the public! One must be an honest official and handle affairs impartially!'"
The words "Grand Secretary Xiao", like a heavy bomb, were thrown out so lightly by Gu Chengyin.
"Only then did I suddenly realize!"
Gu Chengyin slapped his thigh, a look of extreme regret on his face: "I repeatedly kowtowed to Her Highness and begged for forgiveness, saying that I was muddle-headed, didn't understand the rules, almost ruined the court's laws, and let down Grand Secretary Xiao's painstaking efforts!"
"Seeing that my attitude of admitting my mistake was sincere, and considering that I had just entered the court and was ignorant of the ways of the world, Her Highness barely forgave me."
"If it weren't for Her Highness's magnanimity, I'm afraid you wouldn't be seeing me now, Eunuch Lyu."
After Gu Chengyin finished speaking, he let out a long sigh of relief, as if taking off a huge burden. He picked up his teacup and took a sip to calm his agitated mood.
And at this moment, Lyu Fang...
His whole body froze there!
Those eyes that always seemed peaceful and even a bit wooden, were now staring round!
They were filled with extreme shock, disbelief, and a kind of horror of "as expected"!
It was as if thunder exploded in his mind, automatically filtering out all the miscellaneous parts of Gu Chengyin's words that seemed to be complaining.
Only three words remained, branded into his soul like a mark.
Grand, Secretary, Xiao.
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
