AUBTN -Chapter 108 Heartwarming

Shen Jue listened to her heartfelt words, his ears warming slightly, yet he didn’t look away.

After finally finishing the dumplings, it was time to paste the Spring Festival couplets.

Yu Qing waved her hand and spread out the red paper, thrusting the brush into Lu Yan’s hand.

“Master Lu, it’s your time to show off your talent! Write something festive!”

Lu Yan snorted coldly, lifted the brush, and let it dance across the paper, each stroke vigorous and penetrating.

Yu Qing leaned closer and read aloud:

“Upper line: Root out treacherous officials, let rivers run red with their blood.”

“Lower line: Rectify the court, let the blade sever many heads.”

“Horizontal scroll: Kill kill kill kill.”

Yu Qing: “……”

Su Hewan: “……”

Shen Jue: “Heh.”

“Big brother! It’s New Year’s! Not an execution ground!” Yu Qing screeched, crumpling the red paper in frustration.

“Do you want to scare the God of Wealth into running off with a train overnight? Rewrite it!”

Lu Yan looked unconvinced. “What’s wrong with it? Only by terrifying evildoers can the nation enjoy peace.”

“I’ll do it,” Shen Jue said, unable to watch any longer, taking the brush.

After a brief pause, he wrote with effortless, flowing strokes:

“Upper line: Travelers return on snowy nights, exchanging old charms for new peach wood talismans.”

“Lower line: Amid the fading lights, leisurely watch the world turn gray-haired.”

“Horizontal scroll: Peace Year after Year.”

The characters were strong and elegant, yet carried an unpretentious dignity. The words themselves exuded a rare warmth and hope.

Su Hewan stared at the couplet, a flicker of amazement in her eyes.

【Could this really be Shen Jue—the infamous Grand Minister, called “Nine-Thousand Years Old” in history, the one who brought chaos to the court—writing these words?】

【Unexpectedly, deep in his heart, he too longed for this ordinary human warmth.】

Night fell, and the main hall of Yuyuan was cozy and bright.

The round table held steaming dumplings, varied in shape—Lu Yan’s looked like little grenades, Shen Jue’s had the filling separated from the dough as a kind of soup dumpling, and the delicate ingot-shaped ones made by Su Hewan and Yu Qing were perfectly crafted.

Yet none of this stopped the four of them from eating heartily.

Outside, the wind and snow raged, while inside, the light was gentle and welcoming.

Yu Qing raised her cup, her face flushed. “Come on, cheers! Let’s celebrate surviving another year! Next year, more mischief! Take down Zhao Shuo! Rise to the top of life!”

Lu Yan frowned. “Watch your words.”

Still, he raised his cup and lightly clinked it against hers.

Su Hewan smiled and lifted her own, her gaze sweeping over the three so different personalities before her.

One was her best friend from the modern world, one was the feared Imperial Guard Commander from history, and the third… was the “Grand Eunuch” she had originally only intended to manipulate, but now found somewhat inscrutable.

In the turmoil of this strange world, this moment of peace felt especially precious.

She sipped her fruit vinegar, silently thinking:

【This is wonderful. It’s our first New Year here, without scheming, without bloodshed. I don’t know what the future holds, but… may we have days like this year after year, and mornings like this with each passing year. If it could always be like this, it wouldn’t be so bad…】

Beside her, Shen Jue’s fingers tightened around his cup.

Those words—days like this year after year, mornings like this with each passing year—suddenly stirred a ripple deep within his heart, one that would not subside for a long time.

He turned to look at the woman beside him.

In the glow of the lanterns, her profile was gentle and serene, a faint smile playing on her lips.

Would it always be like this?

Shen Jue lifted his head and drained the wine in his cup. The spiciness burned down his throat, yet it transformed into a warmth he had never felt before.

Walking on the edge of a knife, did he really deserve to hope for such peaceful, fleeting moments?

But as he gazed into Su Hewan’s clear eyes, the answer he had once considered unshakable wavered for the first time.

If that was what she wanted…

Perhaps he could try to fight for even just a fleeting taste of this worldly completeness.

“Shen Jue, your dumpling is spilling its filling—eat it!” Su Hewan suddenly turned and handed him a plump dumpling.

Shen Jue snapped back to the present. Looking at the dumpling in the bowl, his usually cold and sharp features softened, the frost melting in that instant.

“Alright.”

After a few rounds of wine, the air in the waterside pavilion of Yuyuan seemed to take on a heady, warm flush.

Outside, snow pressed down on the branches, occasionally letting out a muffled thud as it fell.

At this moment, Yu Qing was already about seventy percent drunk, her pretty face flushed like a ripe apple.

She wobbled to her feet, clutching her wine cup tightly.

“I declare!”

Her voice rang out, full and commanding, making Shen Jue, who was shelling peanuts for Su Hewan, flinch; the peanuts tumbled to the ground with a clatter.

Yu Qing’s almond-shaped eyes were glazed, her gaze sweeping over the three of them before she let out a mischievous laugh: “I hope that every year, every New Year’s Eve, no matter how the demons and monsters outside cause trouble, the four of us… can always be together like today! No one is allowed to be absent! Do you hear me?!”

Su Hewan smiled helplessly and reached out to pull her back: “Alright, alright, we’ll go along with you. Sit down quickly—you might fall otherwise.”

This girl, drunk, was even more domineering than usual.

The two men, who had been maintaining a semblance of restraint, now had the frost in their eyes completely melted by the warmth filling the room.

Shen Jue said nothing, quietly reaching into his sleeve to pull out two red envelopes he had already prepared, sliding them to the center of the table.

Immediately, Lu Yan also moved with precision, taking out two more envelopes and stacking them atop Shen Jue’s.

This time, Su Hewan and Yu Qing were left stunned.

“These are…” Su Hewan blinked, unable to believe it.

“Red envelopes,” Shen Jue said softly, his voice carrying a subtle, almost imperceptible affection.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” Lu Yan added concisely. “For good luck.”

Yu Qing stared at the red envelopes, and her eyes instantly welled with tears—the speed of her expression change was worthy of a Sichuan opera performance.

She didn’t bother with manners, snatching up the envelopes. Feeling the thick bills inside, her lips trembled as if she might cry.

“Waaah… I actually get red envelopes…”

Sniffling, and aided by the wine, she poured out the pretentiousness she usually kept hidden in her heart: “Do you know? Ever since my parents divorced and went their separate ways when I was ten, I never received red envelopes again… During New Year’s, I ate instant noodles alone…”

“At that time, watching other families’ lantern-lit homes, I wondered if I was a little dog abandoned by the world. I never thought that coming here, I could still get red envelopes…”

Lu Yan listened to her self-mocking tone, his fingers tightening around his cup, his chest feeling as if it had been struck hard, a sharp, subtle ache spreading.

Su Hewan was also moved. She gently stroked the golden “Peace” characters on the envelope, a flicker of moisture in her eyes.

“Me too,” she said softly, yet clearly.

“Ever since my grandmother passed, I’ve been alone. For me, New Year’s was nothing more than just another number on the calendar.”

Here, though every step could be perilous and death could strike at any moment, sitting here at this moment, there was truly… a sense of home.

Hearing this, Shen Jue’s gaze deepened suddenly.