When Gu Chengyin stepped into the Warm Pavilion once again, his state of mind was worlds apart from before.
He still remembered how he had felt the first time he stood before that vermilion, intricately carved door.
Back then, he had possessed no foundation in court, and there had been almost no one at his side whom he could trust.
And seated inside the Warm Pavilion was the emperor who had ruled the Great Luo Dynasty for decades—the master of grand, open strategies who had kept the entire cultivation world from lifting its head.
So at that time, Gu Chengyin had always strictly observed the duties of a subject. He would salute, respond to the emperor’s questions, and withdraw.
Every step had been proper and measured, without the slightest overstepping. He would not even raise his eyes a fraction too high.
But things were different now.
For one thing, merely by handling the Fire Tower affair single-handedly, he had already left this emperor with no way to deal with him.
Still, basic courtesy was necessary.
After all, Gu Chengyin had not come to the Warm Pavilion today specifically to provoke Emperor Luo.
So he still had to salute when a salute was required, lower his head when it was appropriate, and give the emperor every bit of due respect.
Besides, in a certain sense, Emperor Luo was already his father-in-law—albeit one he had acquired on the cheap.
Thus, Gu Chengyin straightened his robes and headwear, walked to the center of the Warm Pavilion, and knelt down in a perfectly upright posture.
He placed both hands on the floor, touched his forehead to the backs of his hands, and performed a flawless grand salute between ruler and subject.
His movements were meticulous, every detail beyond reproach, and his tone utterly sincere.
“Your subject, Gu Chengyin, pays his respects to Your Majesty.”
Emperor Luo sat steadily behind the desk at the center of the Warm Pavilion. Before him was still a mountain-high stack of memorials.
His left hand rested on an open memorial, while his right held a vermilion brush, its tip suspended in midair as though he were deliberating over some crucial annotation.
From the moment Gu Chengyin entered the hall, saluted, and offered his greetings, Emperor Luo had not raised his eyelids even once. His gaze remained fixed on the memorials.
However, when the corner of his eye caught sight of Gu Chengyin performing such a grand salute, a flicker of surprise still crossed his eyes, deep as an ancient well.
He had known Gu Chengyin for more than a day or two. Ever since the young man’s first visit to the Warm Pavilion, he had displayed a composure and sophistication far beyond his years.
He knew how to advance and retreat, neither obsequious nor arrogant, and there had never been anything to criticize in his etiquette.
But although Gu Chengyin had always been proper, he had never taken the initiative to perform such a grand salute.
On ordinary days, he would bow with clasped hands at most. Even when he occasionally knelt, it had merely been part of the formal procedure. Never before had he lowered his posture so completely the moment he arrived.
Had the sun risen in the west today?
The thought had barely crossed Emperor Luo’s mind when he suddenly grew wary.
He had not dealt with Gu Chengyin all that often, but every interaction had left a deep impression.
There was no way this young man had suddenly developed a conscience or begun to feel reverence for imperial authority.
Was he planning to be polite before turning hostile?
Emperor Luo’s vermilion brush paused between his fingers, then resumed its steady rhythm of annotation.
His mind, however, was racing. In the span of a few breaths, he reviewed everything that had happened recently.
The turmoil at the Celestial Master’s Residence had only just been quelled. The Taihe War would officially begin tomorrow, the various sects of the cultivation world had gathered in the divine capital, and undercurrents were surging through the imperial court.
Gu Chengyin’s sudden appearance at the palace to request an audience with the emperor at such a critical moment could not possibly herald anything good.
And the fact that he was displaying unprecedented respect meant that not only was this not good news—it was highly likely that he had something enormous in store.
After a moment’s thought, Emperor Luo came to a decision.
Looking at Gu Chengyin, who remained kneeling in salute, he did not immediately tell him to rise.
Instead, he slowly set down the vermilion brush and accepted the hot tea that Lyu Fang had just brought over.
The tea was clear and jade-green, steam curling upward and filling the air with a delicate fragrance.
Emperor Luo lifted the cup to his lips and leisurely blew aside the tea leaves floating on the surface.
Then he took a small sip.
Another.
And another.
The entire Warm Pavilion fell silent, leaving only the occasional crisp clink of the teacup against its saucer and the soft rustle of paper as Emperor Luo turned through the memorials.
Gu Chengyin remained kneeling on the floor, his forehead touching his hands, perfectly still. His posture was so respectful that it could not be faulted.
Watching him from the corner of his eye, Emperor Luo discovered that the young man’s patience was even greater than he had expected.
After kneeling for so long, his posture had not sagged in the slightest. His breathing had not become even a fraction disordered. His shoulders had not risen or fallen by so much as a hair.
Such composure would have been astonishing in any young man.
In Gu Chengyin, however, it only made Emperor Luo more vigilant.
The more this young man could endure, the greater the matter he was holding back was likely to be.
After quite some time, Emperor Luo finally set the teacup lightly back onto its saucer with a crisp sound.
Then he let out a casual, indifferent syllable through his nose.
“Mm. Rise.”
Only after receiving permission did Gu Chengyin straighten.
He raised his head and looked at Emperor Luo behind the desk, his gaze open and composed, without the slightest trace of evasion or guilt.
Without waiting for Emperor Luo to ask why he had come, he spoke directly.
“Your Majesty, I have come today to request an imperial decree.”
Emperor Luo paid him no attention and simply lifted the teacup again, drinking from it at his leisure.
Only after quite some time had passed did he set it down once more and tap his fingers lightly against the desk.
“Go on,” he said casually.
Gu Chengyin drew a deep breath, then knelt in salute once again. His voice was even louder than before.
“Your Majesty, the princess and I are mutually devoted to one another, and we have already become husband and wife in fact.”
“For this reason, I have come to the palace to humbly beg Your Majesty to bestow a marriage decree and marry the princess to me.”
His words exploded through the quiet Warm Pavilion like a bolt of thunder.
Emperor Luo froze completely.
His fingers stopped in midair. He had just been reaching for the teacup, but Gu Chengyin’s words had frozen the motion solid.
His fingertips hung less than two inches from the cup, utterly motionless, as if he had been struck by a spell of immobilization.
On that usually unreadable face, an exceedingly rare blankness appeared in an instant.
Beside him, Lyu Fang’s eyes widened in disbelief. His mouth fell open, and the tray in his hands nearly slipped to the floor.
He had served at Emperor Luo’s side for decades. He had witnessed countless storms and heard all manner of shocking reports.
But something as direct, as fierce, and as utterly audacious as this was a first.
The phrases “mutually devoted” and “bestow a marriage decree” were not the real issue.
What truly made Lyu Fang suck in a sharp breath was the line: “we have already become husband and wife in fact.”
Did that not mean that Luo Zhao and Gu Chengyin had already…
Good heavens!
Even after Lin Qingyan, he had somehow taken down Luo Zhao as well?
Would that not drive His Majesty mad?
Sure enough.
Emperor Luo’s face flushed visibly red.
The face that was usually as steady as a mountain now had veins faintly throbbing at his temples. His lips were pressed into an extremely taut line.
The corners of his mouth pulled downward, his nostrils flaring violently. Every exhalation seemed to spray flames.
Emperor Luo no longer had the leisure to maintain an emperor’s dignity. His right hand seized the teacup on the desk—even though it was his beloved Ru ware with a sky-blue glaze.
He raised it and hurled it heavily at Gu Chengyin, shouting furiously:
“Gu Chengyin! How dare you!”
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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.
