Chapter 23 Eye of Charm

"They've arrived? Then let them in!"

"To assist the Mistress in changing her clothes."

"No need, there are no outsiders here... Alright, my dear mama, I've just begun to relax a little. Let them in, the sooner I speak with them, the sooner I can be at ease."

"..."

The sheer curtain parted, and Mama Rong appeared, announcing, "The Mistress summons you!"

Li Xu, following the old eunuch, entered cautiously; he hadn't even laid eyes on her when he followed the old eunuch in bowing.

"Enough, stand up and speak!"

Li Xu stood up, sidled to one side, and listened to the exchange between the old eunuch and the Mistress.

"Are you Liu Fu?"

"In response to the Mistress, indeed, I am your servant."

"And the Mountain Cat has always been in your care?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Today, while paying my respects to the Empress, I happened to mention the Mountain Cat. The sisters were quite curious, and Consort Hua plans to hold a chrysanthemum viewing banquet in the Imperial Garden. You will bring the Mountain Cat there then so that all the sisters can see it... This is a serious matter, I ask you, is the Mountain Cat still manageable?"

"Not to deceive you, Mistress, the beast is still not fully tamed, I fear..."

"What, is there a problem?"

"In response to the Mistress, the beast's wild nature is not yet removed. It's manageable with fewer people, but I fear that with more people talking and making noise, it might get scared; I worry I won't be able to control it."

"...What should we do, mama, if anything were to happen, I would have to take on a huge responsibility, what should we do, should I beg His Majesty?"

"Mistress, no need to panic, let's think of a solution together, don't worry, don't worry..."

Hearing this, Li Xu could no longer contain his curiosity, so taking advantage of others' inattention, he looked up...

Upon a soft couch, reclined a beauty with half-undone robes, her exquisite figure lit by the soft morning light, glowing gently.

Her long hair, half-dry, cascaded over her shoulders; black, shimmering in the light. White, dazzlingly bright.

Just as Li Xu looked up and observed her, she also unintentionally glanced over with her bright, beautiful eyes.

Li Xu and she both hesitated.

Just as Li Xu was about to lower his head to avoid her gaze, a translucent frame suddenly appeared before his eyes, displaying these words:

"Connection to the inner interface of Plot World detected, connecting..."

"Connection successful, continuous resource consumption of 1 White Diamond per minute, decrypting..."

Li Xu felt a warmth at his forehead, then he felt something shooting out of his eyes. If someone had turned back then, they would have been startled to see his eyes had turned into two Obsidian stones, slightly gleaming in the morning light, with pupils deeply mysterious.

It was as if two vortexes were swirling in his pupils.

Thus, an extremely eerie scene unfolded, a consort and a little eunuch, across a crowd, gazing at each other, the eunuch's expression going from shocked to calm then to profound, the consort's expression from baffled to struggling then to bewildered.

The incident was covert, one a master, lying aloft, generally not directly looked at without offending. The other, positioned behind the crowd, completely inconspicuous, generally not seen by someone looking back...

The bewildered crowd was still anxiously discussing solutions for the upcoming chrysanthemum banquet.

It was not until someone noticed something amiss—why had the Mistress up there not made a sound?

"Mistress, Mistress?"

This call did not stir the consort above, but it startled Li Xu from his inexplicable state.

As soon as he came to, he hurriedly lowered his head, thus breaking their eye contact. The consort, as if waking from a dream, remained confused for a long while before she vaguely asked, "Oh, what's wrong?"

Mama Rong, unsuspecting of anything, said, "We were just discussing letting that creature stay locked in its cage, as the nobles simply want to see something novel. I suppose that would suffice. What do you think?"

"Good, Mama, you decide," the consort's voice was lazy, showing no sign of anxiety.

Mama Rong frowned, sensing something was off. She looked up carefully and couldn't help exclaiming, "Mistress, why is your face so red?"

"Is it?" The consort touched her own cheek, "Maybe it's because I didn't rest well last night. Mama, ask everyone to step back, I..."

"Everyone, step back!" Mama Rong immediately shooed Li Xu and the others away.

The old eunuch also sensed something was wrong. Without any hesitation, he announced, "This servant shall take his leave!"

He retreated to Li Xu's side and, noticing that the lad was distracted at such a time, pinched his arm fiercely and pulled him behind the veil.

"Quick, follow me!"

"Oh, okay..."

Li Xu was still immersed in immense shock. Before him, the transparent dialogue box persisted, displaying the text: "Connection interrupted. Plot World A001 decryption level: 1.4%. Alteration of Plot World Law: 0.1%. Resources consumed: 598nt.

Acquired permanent effect—Rare Hidden Attribute: Charm +10 (Valid in Plot World A001).

Acquired status enhancement effect—Eye of Charm: Direct eye contact has a certain chance of changing the opponent's psychological and physiological state. Success rate depends on the opponent's world weight and their willpower's resilience. Consumes 10nt of mental power reserve per second, lasts for 30 seconds, cooldown of two hours, limited to Plot World 001 use."

This is not my setting, not at all!

Li Xu screamed internally.

The dialogue box in his eyes dimmed, and by the time they walked out of the sleeping chamber and returned to the corridor, it had completely disappeared.

"...In front of the Mistress, you dare be distracted. How many brains do you have?"

Seeing no one around, Li Xu suddenly looked up and glared directly into the old eunuch's eyes. The moment he willed it, the Eye of Charm activated; he felt a pressure at his brow, as if something invisible was piercing out directly through his eyes...

The old eunuch's scolding abruptly stopped. His eyes, as if fixed by something, flickered with a struggling expression, then fell completely into confusion.

As for Li Xu, his eyes slowly began to glow as he sensed a subtle connection forming between him and the old eunuch. He inexplicably felt his perceptions and opinions about himself. He also inexplicably understood what he should do, how he should act.

A few breaths later, Li Xu lowered his eyelids. The old eunuch seemed to come back to his senses, giving Li Xu a complex look and sighing slightly, "Let's go, hurry back to prepare."

Li Xu did not respond, just followed behind, head bowed, as the text faded away: "Eye of Charm successfully deployed, target's favorability level +21, triggered effect: nephew-like care, resources consumed: 51nt, cooldown countdown: 1 hour 59 minutes."

After a long while, he smiled, then turned around to look at the explosively appearing virtual screen, and slightly curled his lips.

............

(I've coded up to this chapter; apologies for the delay. New books are hard, support needed, comrades, let's power up!)