Yan Luqing was caught for a moment by this address, then continued with what she wanted to say: “Hey, let me ask you something.”

“Mm.”

“Don’t you think I’ve changed compared to before?” Yan Luqing finished, and fearing he would think she was talking about her personality, she added, “I mean outwardly.”

Gu Ci held the cup and took a sip of water. One could clearly see the movement of his Adam’s apple and the veins along his neck.

After drinking, he said: “There is a change.”

“What kind of change?” Hearing his answer, Yan Luqing became a little excited. And when she was excited, she added another sentence: “I always felt that before, I looked a bit scary.”

Before?

Gu Ci’s fingers paused slightly, a trace of laughter flickering in his eyes, then he took another sip of water, and asked with a casual air: “Oh? You didn’t look like this before?”

Yan Luqing had just been watching Gu Ci drink water—she herself didn’t even know what exactly she was looking at. Probably her eyes just moved on their own. After all, the princess of an enemy country truly was captivating at every moment.

So when she heard Gu Ci ask this question, she was even stunned for a moment.

“…Hm? No, I used to look more or less the same, but—” Yan Luqing couldn’t be bothered with detours, so she asked directly, “But don’t you think I look a bit better than before?”

Gu Ci lowered his eyes halfway, meeting her gaze.

Strictly speaking, Gu Ci did not have a deep impression of the “Yan Luqing” from before.

Even if she had been his classmate for many years, even if she had harmed him, even if she had been the kind of pervert many people hated down to their bones—

To him, that was merely a codename.

For those he did not wish to pay attention to, Gu Ci always treated them by codename. He could not even recall what her intact face and expression had looked like. The only impression he faintly retained was probably the scene of finally finishing her off.

But now, as Yan Luqing looked at him, he found that this face appeared especially vividly in his mind—her brows and eyes, her nose and lips, her chin… her eyes the most striking.

Her apricot eyes could be a perfectly standard almond shape, yet when she wanted to open them wide they could also become round, just like the expression of full expectation on her face now.

And this reminded him of that pitiful doggy look that had appeared a few times before.

Gu Ci’s sudden silence made Yan Luqing feel she couldn’t keep up appearances any longer. She didn’t know whether he was truly thinking about how to praise her, or whether he was thinking about how to jab at her without angering her.

So Yan Luqing gritted her teeth and decided simply to be forceful, directly stating: “——I am the master of this household.”

Gu Ci had just been looking at her face in slight distraction. A second before he was about to speak, her words blocked his mouth instead.

He looked at the mingling of expectation and annoyance on her expression, still taut as she waited for his reply, and couldn’t help but laugh a little: “Of course you look better now.”

Yan Luqing: “……”

He praised her.

But also somehow didn’t praise her.

Truthfully, judging by his expression, Gu Ci’s words were said with considerable sincerity, but Yan Luqing herself didn’t know what was going on… inexplicably, she wanted to hear a few more sentences.

Just as she was about to speak again, Big Black suddenly came to her side to report: “Breakfast is ready.”

She was silent for two seconds, then decided to eat first and talk later.

Because of this morning’s matter, Yan Luqing felt a breath stuck in her chest—she had actually needed to rely on the authority of her status as Family Head to coerce and entice a single word of praise out of Gu Ci!

She did not notice that it was only because she had coerced and enticed too hastily, and only felt her self-respect being ceaselessly battered by this affair.

Coupled with all those earlier scenes of “Clearly I’m the one with mind-reading, yet it feels like the princess of an enemy country has stolen it to use against me,” Yan Luqing began to work hard in earnest. Since the old Master had already said there was nothing more worth teaching her, she sought out film and television materials to study by herself. Most were instructional, and some were dramas and film clips—she mainly wanted to learn those people’s expressions and language.

Although she was striving, the two hours a day of Miracle Words costume-changing still had to be done. She had to finish playing through a hundred skins within twenty days. After all, if she didn’t finish within twenty days, she couldn’t see Princess Ci every day.

And those special effects she picked out for Princess Ci—if put on others, like Little Black, although Yan Luqing spoiled Little Black, she still had to tell the truth—were so tacky they were an eyesore.

Two more days passed after that, and it was time for Gu Ci’s school exams.

His exams and Yan Luqing’s exams were entirely two different styles. Yan Luqing had been sent off by the entire family, practically like taking the college entrance exam. But Gu Ci was like someone who had graduated high school going to sit for a middle school exam—no one encouraged or saw him off.

In the end, only Yan Luqing provided the greatest sense of ceremony, saying to him at the entrance: “Gu Ci, good luck.”

“Alright.” Gu Ci smiled in reply: “Thanks, bestie.”

After he left, Yan Luqing couldn’t help but ask Big and Little Black: “Why don’t you guys cheer him on?”

Big Black was startled: “Isn’t it you he helped pass?”

Little Black was also startled: “Right, he’s already good enough to be a professor, why would he need us to worry?”

“……”

Once he went out, Yan Luqing became even more unrestrained, openly blasting her videos.

From sunrise until sunset, when Gu Ci returned from finishing his exam, Yan Luqing lay sprawled on the sofa and called out to him with her voice slightly raised: “You’re back? How did the exam go?”

Hearing that rising intonation on her “You’re back,” and the long-unheard “How did the exam go,” Gu Ci lifted his eyes to look over. Yan Luqing was lying on the soft armrest of the sofa, holding her phone up, her gaze turned toward him.

This scene unexpectedly carried a sense of great warmth.

As he walked over to the sofa, Gu Ci said: “Don’t know.”

“?” Yan Luqing’s face was plainly full of doubt.

From before, Gu Ci had always been like this—when asked about grades he generally said “don’t know,” and only if someone pressed would he, depending on his mood, give another answer.

Yan Luqing sat up, puzzled: “With your level, how could you not know??”

Could it be that he had flunked?

Then she heard him answer: “Don’t know where points will be deducted.”

Yan Luqing: “……” Serves me right for asking.

She glared resentfully at Gu Ci, then went back to looking at her phone, not noticing that as Gu Ci passed by her side, his eyes also swept across the screen with its glaring video title.

Gu Ci sat down on the sofa to her right. As Yan Luqing continued watching her phone, her attention wandered, and she secretly shifted her gaze to see what he was doing.

Unexpectedly, Gu Ci was pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyelids drooping, looking very tired and weary.

Yan Luqing froze: “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing, just a bit tired.”

“Because of the exam?”

“No, just that lately I haven’t been sleeping well.” After Gu Ci said this, the hand pinching his nose lowered, and he lifted his lids to look at her. “Why, do you have a way?”

Yan Luqing was about to say no, then suddenly thought of what she had been busy with all this time, and instantly felt a flash of enlightenment—

She had just been fretting over how to trick Gu Ci into agreeing to let her try hypnosis on him!

Although in dramas it was often portrayed that people could be controlled to act anytime, anywhere, Yan Luqing didn’t know if that was true—but she knew that she absolutely couldn’t do that. All her learning was built on the premise that the other party cooperated with her.

Hypnotize Princess Ci! Wasn’t this opportunity delivered right to her!!!

Indeed, Heaven always favored those who were prepared.

Yan Luqing was almost giddy with happiness, yet she still desperately forced down her smile, so much so that the corners of her mouth trembled.

“I…” Because she was too happy, she even got choked for no reason after just one word, coughed twice, and then continued, “Do you remember when I went to Dieye Mountain, that time the twins dragged me to wander through the temple fair?”

“You brought back a pile of toys you couldn’t figure out no matter what.” Gu Ci gave a small laugh. “Mm, I remember.”

Yan Luqing: “…………” Really, that last part was entirely unnecessary.

But this little interlude didn’t affect her good mood in the least. Yan Luqing continued: “At the temple fair, besides selling things, there were also lots of stalls teaching little tricks and such. At the time, the two of them went to tarot and fortune-telling, but I went to learn hypnosis—I can help you, really, this is actually just to aid sleep—”

Before she could go on selling the reliability of her skills, Gu Ci suddenly asked: “You learned it along with fortune-telling?”

“……” Truly has opened his heavenly eye.

Considering the fiasco with fortune-telling that day, Yan Luqing was afraid he would think it unreliable and refuse, so she immediately shook her head in denial: “No, they were two separate stalls. I suspected the fortune-telling stall was a scam, but this one absolutely isn’t.”

He really did look quite tired, even his blinking slowed. Yan Luqing thought his condition at this moment was perfect, yet she also feared that if she appeared too eager he would grow suspicious, so she only said: “Anyway, you can rest assured, this is really much more reliable than fortune-telling, and it’s something I learned seriously.”

“Alright.” Gu Ci’s expression was strikingly natural, and for some reason he even looked somewhat in good spirits. He asked: “When shall we start, now?”

“…?”

After dinner, under Gu Ci’s initiative, Yan Luqing muddle-headedly ended up bringing him into his room.

The lighting in the villa could be adjusted in brightness and tone. Gu Ci’s room had always used the default setting. Yan Luqing switched the light to a warm tone, much dimmer than before, and only then began her performance.

Yan Luqing applied to Gu Ci the same method she had used on her senior brother—first eye contact, guiding, verbal suggestion, creating atmosphere, and so on.

There was a problem at the very first step.

This eye contact required both people to concentrate fully on each other—more precisely, it required the hypnotized to concentrate on the hypnotist, for the gaze itself carried guiding force.

Here arose a very big problem.

When looking at her senior brother, Yan Luqing’s mind had been as calm as still water. But when looking into these pitch-black, beautiful eyes before her, she only felt as if she would be sucked inside them, practically on the verge of becoming reverse-hypnotized.

After about half a minute of staring, Gu Ci suddenly lifted his hand slightly, signaling to stop: “I have a question.”

Yan Luqing felt a little nervous: “What question?”

“The person hypnotizing me is less focused than I am.” Gu Ci blinked. “Can this still succeed?”

“……” Utterly insulting.

Looking at his half-smiling expression, Yan Luqing gritted her teeth: “Of course it can! Again.”

After the gazing came relaxation. She let him lie down and close his eyes, then continued to say things that would make body and mind comfortable.

After relaxation came the induction, through verbal suggestion, in an utterly quiet environment, speaking words that could elicit inner affirmation and response from him… Yan Luqing had already memorized the process, so she made no errors.

Except—the one lying there with eyes closed seemed somewhat off.

Gu Ci’s expression, no matter how she looked, seemed to carry a faint, shallow smile.

By rights, there should not be any expression at all, but… perhaps this could also count as a sign of entering a comfortable state?

Thinking this, Yan Luqing felt relieved again.

She had no idea how long the earlier process had taken, only that because Gu Ci was so cooperative, the entire procedure had gone as smoothly as when she hypnotized her senior brother not long ago. She began to attempt conversation with Gu Ci—

The first questions were those she had repeated just now. As long as he opened his mouth to answer once, it would mean success.

So when Gu Ci lay there and voiced an affirmative response—in that instant, although it was only a single word—it brought Yan Luqing immense joy.

The Family Head’s fingers curled up from sheer excitement.

It had worked…

She had succeeded!!!

At last she could ask whatever she wanted!!!

What of the enemy country’s Princess Ci! In the end, even he had to be subdued, obedient under the hypnosis of the Yan Clan’s rising new star!!!

——Today was the day when the serf turned over and sang—the Family Head, and the tricked foolishly beautiful wife.

Although she was submerged in immense joy, there was still a trace of guilt mixed within. Yan Luqing planned that after asking a few questions, she would indeed help him sleep well.

Staring at his face, after the excitement passed, Yan Luqing began to ponder what exactly she ought to ask.

She leaned in a little closer, looking at Gu Ci’s face.

In her daily life, the images she saw of Gu Ci were always him sitting or standing beside this bed, speaking with her. Him lying on the bed with eyes closed had only happened twice—the first time was the day she transmigrated, when she had even thought he looked like a corpse; the second time was now.

Compared to then, now there was much more vitality, but both times—no matter which scene—it was truly the “Sleeping Beauty Ci.”

Only, who would have thought: the first day Yan Luqing had come, she wished with all her heart for him to wake quickly. And today, she wished with all her heart for him to sleep quickly.

At first, Yan Luqing had wanted to hypnotize Gu Ci because her golden finger had been blocked by him. But afterward, more things happened between them, more interactions. She felt that Gu Ci had more and more bugs; she was constantly being seen through by him, and the words he spoke were always vague…

Damn it! Finally she had managed to hypnotize the bigshot, yet she didn’t even know what to ask first!

Yan Luqing thought back and forth, then recalled the most recent incident that had pushed her to work hard.

That morning she had received a WeChat request from a strange male classmate, and after seeing his praise, she had, on a whim, gone to ask Gu Ci if he thought she had become prettier. Just one casual question like that—and he had hesitated!

Would it be that… if she hadn’t brandished her identity as Family Head, he might not even have praised her?

Yan Luqing glared angrily at the man lying on the bed. Those eyes, looking so good, are they just decoration? The fact that I’ve gotten prettier is something even a random passerby could see—why would someone who lives with me day and night hesitate???

The more she recalled, the more her anger flared upward.

The princess of an enemy country truly did great harm. Originally, what she had thought of asking were things like “What secrets do you have?” But now, what she very urgently wanted to know was his true thoughts about her—this urge instantly suppressed all her previous curiosity.

Fortunately, the muddle-headed ruler had not completely lost her reason. After pondering a while, she decided she couldn’t just straight out ask, “Gu Ci, what do you think of Yan Luqing’s looks?” She had to start with something comprehensive, see his answer, and then proceed.

Yan Luqing adjusted her tone, and using the same calm voice as before, asked an official-sounding question fit for television:

“Gu Ci, what do you think of Yan Luqing as a person?”

Would it be “good”? “Average”? “No impression”? Or some other description? Surely he wouldn’t say something like, “She’s a mental patient,” right…

Although the question sounded lacking in finesse, it truly had the potential for many answers. Yan Luqing was nervous and expectant—after all, this was probably Gu Ci’s most genuine inner thought.

The room fell into an instant silence.

——After so much thinking.

——After so much buildup.

——She had finally asked this one question.

Because of the dim lighting, and her own nervous anticipation, Yan Luqing did not notice the subtle detail of a certain princess’s lips struggling arduously before finally managing to suppress a smile.

Soon after, in the room rang out his familiar cool voice, carrying a trace of nasal tone, very pleasant to hear.

“Yan Luqing ah…”

For some reason, the Family Head unconsciously held her breath, as though forgetting that she was the one in control of it all, staring tightly at today’s limited-edition foolishly beautiful wife with closed eyes.

And his complete answer followed—

“She is very cute.”

……

Word by word, it struck like a heavy hammer against the Family Head’s ears, reddening them to the tips.