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.
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
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?"
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
