Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Princess Jiang Hai, Chen Lingyun, had always had everything handed to her on a silver platter, seldom moved by anyone or anything.

Even if you cursed her to her face, she would just respond with a faint smile, not taking offense in the slightest—after all, insignificant people didn't deserve her attention.

But Chen Lingyun had her weaknesses.

Her worldview was inherited from her father, cold, self-centered, and profit-oriented; her values came from her mother, greedy, vain, and a perfectionist. However, if you reversed this thought process, it would clearly show that in Chen Lingyun's inner world, her father and mother almost held her everything, and they were her only two weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Chen Tianming held a high position with considerable power in Lu Country, and there were few who could pose a threat to him. Therefore, strictly speaking, Chen Lingyun's mother was her sole vulnerability—if you slandered Chen Lingyun, she would remain indifferent, but if you insulted her mother and caused her pain, Chen Lingyun would be utterly defenseless.

Sitting in the car, Chen Lingyun looked out the window, silently contemplating.

Expecting Yan Yu to show any warmth toward her mother was unlikely; not showing a foul mood was already a win. But with her mother's unreciprocated affection for him encountering his disdain and indifference, it was even harder for her to bear.
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What should she do?

Hmm, got it...

Back in the villa, as everyone had just entered the living room, they saw Anna hurrying down the stairs to greet them.

"Who is this?" Chen's mother asked with a beaming smile.

"Mom, she's our friend," Chen Lingyun explained. "She came back from abroad to have fun and will stay here for a few days."

"Hello, auntie," Anna promptly introduced herself after hearing Chen Lingyun's introduction.

"Oh, lovely," Chen's mother responded. Due to her earlier experiences abroad, her aesthetic tastes were somewhat Westernized, and she was particularly fond of the half-half sweet sister look of blonde Persian cats, sighing with a smile, "Yan Yu has so many beautiful girls around him~"

Chen Lingyun slightly smiled, pretending she hadn't caught the underlying message from her mother: Daughter, you better seize the opportunity.

When it came to the "blooming flowers" around Yan Yu, Anna's expression turned somewhat gloomy, but she still forced a smile and said:

"Thank you for the compliment, Auntie."

Chen's mother wanted to probe further, but Chen Lingyun had already anticipated her mother's intentions and quickly employed the conversation-breaking skill by holding her mother's arm with a laugh:

"Mom, let me show you around the house."

"Alright," Chen's mother said, even though she was dying to remark, "It's not like it's a garden or a courtyard; what's there to look at in this small villa?" But her daughter was so eager to invite her that she couldn't bear to refuse, so the two walked upstairs arm in arm.

Yan Yu, on the other hand, lounged lazily on the sofa, playing with his phone. Had Lin Ning or Su Yunjin's mother visited, he might have behaved more seriously, but for Chen's mother... Who cares.

After reading a novel for a while, he suddenly sensed that the atmosphere around him was off.

The girls each sat on the sofa, not speaking or playing with their phones, merely exchanging glances and looking at each other.

Typically, in such a situation, one could assume they were secretly communicating with each other; no other explanation was feasible.

"What secret messages are you passing around?" Yan Yu asked languidly.

"Nothing much," Lin Ning quickly covered up, "we were discussing how young Ling Yun's mother looks."

"Nonsense," Yan Yu scoffed with disdain, "if you spend money to go to a beauty salon twice a week for full-body maintenance, you too would look thirty at fifty."

Going to the beauty salon twice a week... This was beyond the girls' comprehension. In their eyes, applying a face mask and some serum before bed was already considered diligent maintenance.

But now that we have money, maybe we should also find a beauty salon for regular care?

Seeing them exchange looks, Yan Yu could easily guess what they were secretly discussing and sneered, saying:

"Beauty salons are for mortals; what do we cultivators need with such trouble?"

The girls: ?

You're on a path to self-destruction, Captain!

The next second, they quickly surrounded Yan Yu, bombarding him with questions about the methods cultivators use to maintain their youthfulness.

Only Zhao Yuanzhen, who had always been confident about her looks, smiled faintly, completely ignoring their enthusiasm and discussion, and continued her online search for "how to please elderly women."

Speaking of which, Chen Lingyun took Chen's mother to her bedroom. Once the door was closed, Chen's mother stopped holding back and directly reproached her:

"What's wrong with you, Ling Yun? Yan Yu is such a good man, don't you like him, or do you just look down on him?"

"Mom, stop worrying about me," Chen Lingyun said impatiently. "This is my own business, and I know what I'm doing."

"You know what you're doing, you know what you're doing, he already has five or six girls around him, you'd better be clear on it!" Chen's mother rattled on until she finally calmed down a bit and asked earnestly, "Ling Yun, what are you really thinking? Do you like Yan Yu or not?"

"What kind of liking are you referring to?" Chen Lingyun countered, "Is it the kind you have for Dad?"

Chen's mother was suddenly at a loss for words, and after a long pause, she finally said:

"What have we ever done to you?"

"Nothing to me," Chen Lingyun said indifferently, "I just don't know what it means to like someone. Dad found another aunty outside, had a child, and you didn't mind at all. Is that normal like?"

There was a moment of silence from Chen's mother before she asked in a low voice:

"Do you know everything?"

"Everyone in the house knows, except for me. Do you really think you can keep it from me?" Chen Lingyun asked with a cold laugh.

"Sigh, Lingyun." Chen's mother pulled her into an embrace, speaking sorrowfully, "You've always been very clever. Let me ask you a question."

"Suppose a man has two sons. He keeps the elder by his side and spares no effort in nurturing him without reservation, while the younger son is given away to another family to raise, and he doesn't see him once for three to five years. Which one do you think is really his son?"

Chen Lingyun didn't answer.

"Your dad's position right now won't allow him to be tied down realistically," Chen's mother continued after a pause, "But he makes a clear distinction between marriage and desire. No matter how many women he has been with outside, no matter how many children he has, Chen Tianming has only ever had one wife and one daughter from the beginning to the end. That's why I can accept all this calmly."

"That's what I find strange," Chen Lingyun suddenly said, "Mom, you consider many things, like status, benefits, reality, but not your own feelings. Do you really not mind Dad doing this, or have you convinced or even deceived yourself not to mind?"

Chen's mother looked at her silently, hesitating for a long time before saying:

"I..."

"Just as I thought, Mom doesn't know either." Chen Lingyun's smile returned, but now it was filled with nothing but falseness, "Since Mom doesn't understand what love is, then please don't interfere with me and Yan Yu anymore, okay?"

"Lingyun!" Chen's mother wanted to say something, but she didn't know where to start, desperately saying, "Your dad and I are different from you. Our marriage does indeed have elements of a transaction, but that doesn't mean we don't have feelings for each other..."

No matter how Chen's mother tried to explain, Chen Lingyun just held her hand, without saying a word, her face wearing a perfect, unimpeachable smile.

In the living room, Yan Yu finally managed to get rid of the beauty-obsessed girls, then saw Chen Lingyun walking down from upstairs.

"Lingyun?" Su Yunjin sensed something was off with her emotions.

But Chen Lingyun ignored them and simply walked out of the house, heading towards the backyard.

"Don't worry about her," Yan Yu stood up at ease, "I'll go have a look."

Upon arriving in the yard, he saw Chen Lingyun sitting in the pavilion, staring blankly at the distant river.

It was still true: when Chen Lingyun's face was free of a fake smile, she was actually quite pleasing to look at. Barely five feet two, with delicate and cute features, even the most demanding and critical person would have to admit that her face was a top-tier example of 'sweet-girl' appeal, perfectly aligned with the male preference for vulnerable femininity in their DNA.

But if she put on that perfect, flawless fake smile, it reminded Yan Yu of her past life's attitude, looking down on everyone as if they were fools, and her devilish enjoyment in playing pranks and finding mischief, slashing the charm of this sweet girl down completely, leaving him utterly uninterested.

"Why are you here pretending to be a mushroom?" Yan Yu walked over and sat beside her.

"Mushroom?" Chen Lingyun glanced at him sideways.

"Yeah." Yan Yu gestured her height with his hand, "Small, dazed, and quiet. If not a mushroom, what else could you be?"

Chen Lingyun didn't laugh or get angry but just looked at him silently.

After a while, she turned her head away again, continuing to gaze at the river in the distance.

"If there's something bothering you, tell me about it and cheer me up, will you?" Yan Yu continued to tease her.

"I'm thinking," Chen Lingyun said softly, "what exactly is love?"

"I remember someone saying that she didn't care at all about what true love was, right?" Yan Yu raised his eyebrows in surprise and laughed, "What? You want to take back what you said?"

"Yes," Chen Lingyun admitted frankly, "When I said those words, I was sure I didn't love you, nor did I care whether I did. But now, I'm not so sure."

"So, it's because you started to care that you're now unsure," Yan Yu followed her gaze, seeing the glimmering river, vast and misty, surely a forget-your-sorrows kind of grandeur. No wonder Chen Lingyun always liked to sit by the large floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room, drinking coffee and looking at the scenery.

"Maybe..." Chen Lingyun murmured as if talking to herself.

What's with this girl? Why isn't she continuing to play dumb? From a scornful princess to an innocent young girl?

Yan Yu pondered for a while, then asked:

"How do you plan to figure it out? You like solving problems, don't you?"

"Yes, I have an idea," Chen Lingyun said, looking back at him.

Staring at Yan Yu for a while, she suddenly became serious and said:

"Yan Yu, for my sake..."

"...you should go and start a harem."