So Cui Zilu simply walked ahead, leaving her back to Gu Chengyin and keeping her heartbeat to herself.
She swallowed all the words she could not say, letting them ferment in her stomach until they became something both sour and sweet.
Gu Chengyin followed behind Cui Zilu, watching her slender figure, the strands of hair scattered across her shoulders, the faint stiffness in her shoulder blades from nervousness, and the steps she took while striving to appear calm.
The corners of his lips curved into the faintest smile.
Cui Zilu had truly grown up.
She had not become a fairy like Lin Qingyan, nor a crown princess like Luo Zhao, nor a woman like Shangguan Yunying.
Cui Zilu was still Cui Zilu—the girl who blushed, grew nervous, fumbled helplessly, misspoke, and did foolish things.
But her heart now held many things it had never held before.
Responsibility. Resolve. The courage and determination to give without counting the cost.
These things had not been granted to her by the passage of time, nor taught to her by anyone else.
She had accumulated them herself, little by little.
“I already know about Chenglu Academy.”
At Gu Chengyin’s sudden mention of it, Cui Zilu’s heart jolted.
Her fingers unconsciously clenched the hem of her skirt, and her expression grew tense. Her eyes remained fixed on the fish swimming in the lake; she did not even dare glance at Gu Chengyin.
Cui Zilu was afraid of seeing his expression, afraid that she would read the words “I don’t like it” in his eyes.
She was afraid that the Chenglu Academy she had finally mustered the courage and strength to build, after countless days and nights of effort, was nothing more in Gu Chengyin’s eyes than an insignificant matter unworthy of attention.
That would be a denial of all her hard work, a trampling of her feelings, and the greatest wound he could inflict upon her.
Cui Zilu could not bear it, so she did not dare look at him.
She had imagined countless possibilities, replaying each one in her mind over and over again.
She had silently rehearsed every possible response countless times—every quickened heartbeat, every flush, every moment of helpless fluster.
Late at night, she had practiced again and again before the mirror, before the moon, and before an imagined Gu Chengyin.
But when she actually heard Gu Chengyin say, “I already know,” Cui Zilu realized that all her rehearsals had been futile.
Every practice run had been for nothing. Every bit of preparation had gone to waste. All the psychological fortifications she had built crumbled to dust the moment she faced the real person.
Her mind went completely blank. She could think of nothing and say nothing.
All she could do was stare fixedly at the fish in the lake, as if they could give her an answer.
As if they could speak the words she was unable to say for her. As if they could tell her—
Did Gu Chengyin like her or not?
The next moment, Cui Zilu felt a hand settle on her head.
Then she heard his voice, filled with joy and heartfelt approval.
“Thank you, Zilu. You are the person who has moved me most.”
The instant she heard those words, tears surged into Cui Zilu’s eyes.
Her feelings had not been offered in vain. Her efforts had not flowed away like water.
Every act of perseverance, every refusal to give up, had received its reward in this moment.
“Brother Chengyin!”
Cui Zilu threw herself into Gu Chengyin’s arms once more.
This time, Gu Chengyin did not push her away. His hand slid from the top of her head to her back, patting it gently.
Just then, Gu Chengyin suddenly changed his tone.
“But, Zilu, I…”
Before he could finish, Cui Zilu abruptly raised her head and interrupted him.
“Brother Chengyin, you don’t have to say anything more. Zilu understands.”
Gu Chengyin froze for a moment, while Cui Zilu wiped her eyes.
She rubbed away the tears clinging to her lashes and those still circling in her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Zilu knows His Majesty has already issued an imperial decree betrothing you.”
She said it calmly—so calmly that it sounded like a statement about something entirely unrelated to her.
But her fingers betrayed her. Their tips trembled. She was not exerting herself; she was restraining something.
Restraining her tears. Restraining her anger. Restraining the beast in her heart that was about to break free from its cage.
Restraining herself from saying the words: I really like you.
“So this time, Zilu did not return to marry Brother Chengyin. I came back to serve as the Chief Lady Official.”
I did not return to marry you. I came back to serve as the Chief Lady Official.
Only Cui Zilu knew how much grievance, unwillingness, and helplessness were hidden in those words.
She had spent countless hours persuading herself to accept this reality, and endured countless sleepless nights trying to digest the decision.
She had shed countless tears to extinguish the fire in her heart that wanted to fight for him.
But Cui Zilu did not say any of it, because she did not want to make things difficult for Gu Chengyin.
She did not want him to think she was being childish, nor did she want him to feel that she was using this method to force him to choose.
So Cui Zilu was willing to become the Chief Lady Official and handle all those tedious affairs.
That way, she could remain by Gu Chengyin’s side. She could see him every day, hear his voice, and feel his presence.
That was enough.
At least it was better than getting nothing at all. Better than marrying someone she did not love.
Better than living secluded in the inner chambers, gazing at the moon and thinking of him, without even the chance to see him once.
“But Brother Chengyin, rest assured. Chenglu Academy will remain open. Nothing will change that.”
“As long as… as long as you don’t look down on it, Brother Chengyin…”
By the end, Cui Zilu’s voice had grown softer and softer.
She did not know whether Gu Chengyin thought highly of Chenglu Academy, nor whether he would accept the talents who graduated from it.
She did not know whether this academy, built with all her heart and soul, had any place in Gu Chengyin’s world.
What if Gu Chengyin was deeply moved, only to reject it afterward?
Cui Zilu did not dare make any promises, nor speak with certainty.
All she could do was lower herself—lower herself until she seemed to have fallen into the dust.
Gu Chengyin smiled. This time, it was he who had judged a gentleman with a petty mind.
Before coming to the Cui residence, he had thought of countless possibilities.
He had wondered what Chenglu Academy was hiding beneath the surface, what Cui Shifan was planning, and whether Cui Zilu had come with some scheme he needed to guard against and counter.
Gu Chengyin had thought of far too much—so much that he had forgotten she was Cui Zilu.
The Cui Zilu who called him Brother Chengyin.
The Cui Zilu who, when he had been in danger, had rushed to save him without a second thought.
She had done all this without an ulterior motive, without an assignment, without a scheme.
She had done it simply because she liked him, simply because she wanted to do something for him.
“So Zilu is about to become His Highness’s Chief Lady Official.”
“Then won’t we be colleagues from now on?”
“In that case…”
At this point, Gu Chengyin suddenly moved.
He stepped back half a pace and knelt on one knee before Cui Zilu.
One hand rested behind his back while he extended the other and took Cui Zilu’s hand.
Meeting her eyes directly, he spoke in a solemn and sincere tone.
“Chief Cui Zilu.”
“For all the years to come, I hope we can continue to guide and support each other.”
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.
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)
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!
