Looking at the worry in his childhood friend’s eyes, Chu Yuan felt an inexplicable unease.
Thus, Chu Yuan barely raised the corners of his mouth, forcing a smile:
“It’s nothing. I… I’ve been hired by Her Highness as a personal bodyguard. I just stood guard all night, so I’m a bit tired.”
A personal bodyguard?
Just how personal is this arrangement?
Gu Qingwan frowned, her gaze passing over him to look behind him.
Inside the courtyard, the door was still ajar.
The Crown Princess was sitting by the table, holding a teacup and sipping it in a leisurely manner.
Her peerless face carried an indescribable sense of satisfaction, as if she had just finished something delightful.
Noticing her gaze, Ji Xuanyuan lifted her eyes, smiling indifferently.
However, such a smile from the Crown Princess looked more like gloating in Gu Qingwan’s eyes.
Fury surged from the bottom of her heart, but her rationality forcefully suppressed it within her ample chest.
As the saying goes, “True capacity lies in tolerance,” and Gu Qingwan was never a person who sought out conflict.
Moreover, the person she was facing now was the current Crown Princess and the future Empress.
If she offended this woman, her Gu family would never know peace again.
Gu Qingwan had no choice but to retract her gaze, taking a deep breath to swallow the bitter resentment back into her belly.
She tightened her grip on her sleeve, and after a long while, squeezed out a smile that looked worse than crying:
“Let’s go!”
Once she finished speaking, she felt strangely like an aggrieved victim whose husband had been bullied by an official; she had already guessed the situation, yet she had to pretend she knew nothing.
Looking at his childhood friend, Chu Yuan wanted to explain something, but the words faltered on his lips.
Trapped by the constraints of the Soul Covenant, he was bound to suffer for this period of time.
Since things had reached this point, there was no need for another person to worry about it.
The two walked out of the courtyard side by side.
Outside the gate, an old locust tree stood quietly.
The tree shadows were swaying, casting mottled patterns all over the ground.
Gu Qingwan walked through the patterns, her steps somewhat slow.
When they were children, they also walked side by side like this, the sun was just as bright, but back then, they had no worries at all.
Yet now, the sunlight was just as brilliant, and the person walking beside her had changed more and more.
Gu Qingwan secretly glanced at her beloved.
Chu Yuan’s steps were incredibly unsteady, as if he were walking on cotton, every step revealing an indescribable exhaustion.
She felt both heartache and anger, and finally, without forgetting to sneak a glance at the west courtyard room, she made a secret resolution:
I must find a way to help A-Yuan escape the clutches of that demoness!
Thinking this, she took the initiative to support Chu Yuan and left the area.
Watching this childhood pair helping each other, Ji Xuanyuan in the room felt a faint pain in her heart.
When she recovered her senses, Gu Qingwan had already helped Chu Yuan away, completely disappearing from her field of vision.
And in the room, only Ji Xuanyuan remained alone.
She picked up her teacup and took another sip.
The Junior Brother had left, and the tea had gone cold.
—
Gu Qingwan supported Chu Yuan as they crossed the winding corridors, remaining silent the whole way.
Once they were completely away from the west courtyard and almost at the guest room, she bit her lip and finally spoke:
“A-Yuan, do you really have to continue this job as a personal bodyguard? Look at you; you only stood guard for one night, and look at the state you’re in. If this goes on, I’m afraid you’ll die at the hands of the Crown Princess!”
Chu Yuan waved a hand:
“Don’t worry! I have my own discretion. I’ll just go back to my room and rest for a while. That’s enough! You can just leave me here!”
With that, he turned and quickly entered his guest room.
Closing the door, Chu Yuan immediately sat cross-legged on the bed, swallowed a Medicine Pill, and began to regulate his breath for recovery.
Looking at the closed door, Gu Qingwan did not move for a long time.
Even though the warm sunlight fell upon her, she only felt intensely cold:
No!
I absolutely cannot let A-Yuan stay with the Crown Princess any longer.
But what can I do on my own?
Wait!
I have someone I can ask for help.
Gu Qingwan subconsciously thought of Young Master Yunlan.
Without hesitation, Gu Qingwan walked quickly back to her bedroom and took that command medallion from her sleeve.
As she injected her spiritual energy, the medallion began to glow.
A moment later, a familiar and gentle male voice came from the medallion:
[Fairy Gu? You are sending a Sound Transmission to Yunlan so early—did something happen after Brother Yuan left with the Crown Princess yesterday?]
Chu Yunlan had always been attentive to the situation regarding the Crown Princess.
Gu Qingwan nodded slightly:
[Yes! Young Master Yunlan, the situation is like this…]
As Chu Yunlan listened, his brows furrowed tighter:
What?
That loser actually spent the night in the Crown Princess’s room?
And when he came out, he looked like he suffered from kidney deficiency?
Could it be that???
Chu Yunlan’s mouth twitched, and in his mind, he had already envisioned the scene of them entangled in the room.
His fists clenched involuntarily, and his fingernail marks sank deep into his palms:
Why?!
Why is it that that loser can receive the favor of Her Highness?
Chu Yunlan was naturally filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
It was precisely because of this jealousy that the Jealousy Dao Seed within his body became even more refined.
Especially with the pouring in of resources from the Sacred Realm, Chu Yunlan had already reached the peak of the Tongming Realm.
To break through to the Yunzhen Realm, the core lies in “Understanding Emotion to Condense the Core.”
He needed to transform the chosen emotion into his own “true intent” and condense it into an Inner Core.
This Inner Core would be the foundation of all his future cultivation.
Seeing the relationship between the Crown Princess and that loser growing deeper, to the point where they had already…
Chu Yunlan felt that he would sooner or later be able to condense the “Jealousy Core” from this event.
No!
I can just use this to condense the “Jealousy Core”!
A sense of clarity suddenly entered Chu Yunlan’s eyes.
The Dao philosophy says: follow the course of nature.
He decided to go with the flow, pushing his cultivation to a new level to outshine his peers.
As a Sigma male cultivator, Chu Yunlan knew very well:
Only through self-discipline and self-improvement can one truly win the favor of the Crown Princess.
While Chu was lost in thought, Gu Qingwan was pouring out her own anxieties:
[…Young Master Yunlan, what do you think I should do next? How can I tear those two apart?]
Regarding this, there was a moment of silence on the other end of the medallion.
Chu Yunlan was similarly anxious, but he had no way forward, or rather:
He truly could not use Gu Qingwan for anything else anymore.
Especially now that the Fox Venerable had already agreed to act, the value of this Fairy Gu had been reduced to—
Merely being his eyes and ears, helping him investigate the situation of the Crown Princess within the Gu Manor in real-time.
Considering these factors, Chu Yunlan could only say:
[Fairy Gu, now that things have reached this point, we must plan for the long term.]
[In my opinion, your most pressing matter is the Medicine King Valley Trial!]
[Only if you can become the Saintess of the Medicine King Valley can your identity, status, and prestige rival the Crown Princess.]
[Only then will you have the confidence to compete with the Crown Princess. Otherwise, no matter what plans I come up with, they will have little effect!]
[Or is it that… you look down on Brother Yuan because he has been defiled by Her Highness?]
Gu Qingwan quickly said:
[How could that be! I…]
She lowered her eyelashes and fell into silence.
Although in the Immortal Dynasty, women usually have a fixation on the chastity of the opposite sex.
Yet, asking herself, Gu Qingwan’s feelings for A-Yuan had long surpassed the usual romantic attachments.
After a brief hesitation, she made up her mind:
[Young Master Yunlan is right! From now on, I should focus on passing the trial. It is also time to choose my own Path of Emotion.]
Hearing her say this, Chu Yunlan, in turn, became curious:
[Oh? Fairy Gu, you have not yet chosen your Path of Emotion?]