AUBTN -Chapter 114 Don’t Hit Him

A faint, ambiguous smile curved at the corner of Shen Jue’s lips.

“If Prime Minister Lu has come to pay New Year’s greetings, I’m afraid this humble one doesn’t have any extra red envelopes to give you.”

Lu Zhixing let out a cold snort and didn’t even spare a proper glance for the powerful chief whose authority dominated the court.

His gaze shifted instead—to his own son.

“Lu Yan.”

At last Lu Zhixing spoke, his voice low and heavy with the pressure of someone long accustomed to high authority.

“Come back with me.”

Lu Yan’s hand at his side slowly clenched, the knuckles turning pale. He didn’t move, standing there like a silent statue.

“What? Your wings have grown strong, so you won’t even return home anymore?” Lu Zhixing stepped forward, staring down at the son who filled him with both pride and frustration.

“It’s the New Year, and you’re making this old man come personally to invite you?”

Yu Qing, who had been hiding behind Lu Yan, cautiously poked out half her head, her thoughts churning like a storm:

This old geezer says he’s inviting him, but why does it look more like he’s here to escort a prisoner?

This isn’t fatherly love and filial piety—it’s more like a creditor coming to collect a debt!

And that look in his eyes… tsk tsk… it’s like he wants to swallow our Commander Lu whole.

Hearing the familiar voice in his mind, the tension in Lu Yan’s nerves strangely loosened for a moment.

He took a deep breath and shifted slightly, blocking his father’s line of sight toward Yu Qing—the gaze that carried both scrutiny and hostility.

This was Yu Garden, Shen Jue’s territory, and more importantly, the home the four of them had finally managed to build together.

He didn’t want an argument here.

“Let’s talk over there.”

Lu Yan was the first to step forward, pointing toward an isolated waterside pavilion deep within the courtyard.

Lu Zhixing frowned tightly. He glanced around the room at the three people with varying expressions before finally flicking his sleeve heavily and following.

“Lu Yan…” Yu Qing instinctively tried to follow.

But Shen Jue raised a hand to stop her, his gaze thoughtful as he watched the two figures outside gradually walking farther away.

“This is the Lu family’s private matter,” he said. “And it’s a hurdle Lu Yan must cross himself.”

Su Hewan gently took Yu Qing’s hand and said softly, “Some things… Lord Lu probably wouldn’t be able to say in front of us. Give him a little time.”

The winter pavilion was exposed on all sides, the wind cutting through with biting cold.

A thick layer of ice covered the lake, reflecting a dim, ghostly glow under the pale moonlight.

Lu Yan stood by the railing with his back to Lu Zhixing, letting the cold wind pour into his collar and strip away the warmth from his body.

“Father coming here in the middle of the night… surely it isn’t just to call me back for a reunion dinner?”

He spoke bluntly, his tone devoid of warmth.

Looking at the broad-shouldered, straight-backed young man before him, Lu Zhixing felt a swirl of complicated emotions.

Once upon a time, that child who could only follow behind him reciting the Analects had grown into the terrifying Commander of the Imperial Guard, whose name made the capital tremble.

But now this blade… was about to point its edge at his own family.

“Since you already know, why remain so stubborn?”

Lu Zhixing walked behind him, his tone softening slightly, carrying a hint of weary persuasion.

“I know you young people are full of ambition, eager to accomplish great things. You want to stop Zhao Shuo. You want to protect that little emperor.”

He paused, his voice suddenly turning cold.

“But I’m telling you—it’s useless.”

“Give up that idea while you still can!”

Lu Yan suddenly turned around, disbelief blazing in his eyes.

“Useless?”

Fury pushed him into laughter, the corner of his mouth curling into a mocking smile.

“Father means we should just stand by and watch Zhao Shuo seize the throne?”

“The victor becomes king, the loser a bandit—such has always been the way!”

Lu Zhixing cut him off, his gaze blazing. There was none of the fear a minister should show—only naked, calculating pragmatism.

“This empire has always belonged to the capable!”

“The current little emperor is young and ignorant, his foundation unstable. What right does he have to sit on that throne? Zhao Shuo may be ruthless, but if he takes power, at least the Great Liang empire won’t fall into chaos!”

Lu Yan felt as if he were seeing his father for the first time.

He stared at the graying old man before him, and all he felt was a terrifying sense of unfamiliarity.

“So this… is Father’s way of serving as an official?”

“It doesn’t necessarily have to come to changing the dynasty,” Lu Zhixing said, seemingly unaware of the shift in his son’s emotions, continuing on his own.

“Perhaps the Empress Dowager could hand over power and let Zhao Shuo become the Regent Prince. As long as he holds the real authority, he might not care about titles and legitimacy. That way, you wouldn’t have to oppose him, and you wouldn’t have to gamble your lives and fortunes on a slim chance.”

“Yan’er, wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds? The Lu family would still remain the foremost aristocratic clan, you would still be the Commander of the Imperial Guard, and we wouldn’t have to be buried with a sinking ship!”

“The best of both worlds?”

Lu Yan flung his hand away with such force that Lu Zhixing staggered back two steps.

“What exactly did he give you?”

Lu Yan roared, his chest heaving violently.

“What benefit did he promise you that made you follow him so blindly? That made you unable to tell right from wrong anymore?”

The wind howled, yet it could not drown out this heart-wrenching accusation.

“Do you still remember how you taught me when I was a child?”

Step by step, Lu Yan moved closer. His voice trembled, each word squeezed out like blood and tears between clenched teeth.

“You said that a ruler should become a torch with his own body, lighting the way for all the people. And that a minister should guard his integrity even unto death, never betraying the nation!”

“This Xiuchun Blade was handed to me by you personally! You said it wasn’t merely a blade for killing, but also a shield for protecting the country!”

“But what about now?”

Lu Yan pointed toward the pitch-black night sky beyond Yuyuan, smiling in a way more painful than crying.

“For the sake of power, for the sake of status, you want me to join those treacherous rebels? You want me to become Zhao Shuo’s dog?”

“Insolence!”

Lu Zhixing’s face turned iron-green. Struck at his sore spot by his son, shame quickly turned into rage.

“What dog? Don’t forget—he also carries the blood of the imperial family!”

“So what?” Lu Yan sneered.

“You think that just because he has royal blood, he has the right to usurp the throne?”

“I’m doing this for the Lu family! To keep you safe!” Lu Zhixing refused to yield even a step.

“Keep me safe?”

Lu Yan laughed as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.

His eyes suddenly became hollow and desolate.

“Just like back then… when you sacrificed Mother to protect your official position?”

Lu Zhixing’s pupils suddenly shrank, his face turning deathly pale.

“Y-you… what did you say?”

“Do you want me to repeat it?”

The last glimmer of light in Lu Yan’s eyes went out, leaving only endless wasteland behind.

“Back then, Mother was poisoned with a strange toxin. If you had just asked the late emperor for that Tianshan Snow Lotus, she could have lived. But to avoid suspicion, to stay out of the factional struggles at the time, and for the sake of your so-called self-preservation, you watched helplessly as she died in agony!”

Bringing up the past again was like a rusted, dull blade sawing back and forth through the hearts of both father and son.

“For the sake of power, you sacrificed my mother.”

Lu Yan’s voice suddenly rose, filled with twenty years of suppressed hatred and despair.

“And now, for the glory and wealth of the Lu family, you want to sacrifice me too?”

“Lu Zhixing, in your eyes, are Mother and I nothing more than pieces on your chessboard of power? Keep us when we’re useful, discard us when we’re not?”

“Unfilial son! Shut your mouth!”

Lu Zhixing trembled with rage, his reason snapping completely at that moment.

He suddenly raised his hand and swung it viciously toward Lu Yan’s face.

Lu Yan neither dodged nor flinched.

He simply lifted his chin stubbornly, as if determined to sever the last thread of fatherly affection.

Just as the slap was about to land—

A petite figure suddenly burst through the darkness, rushing forward without hesitation.

“Don’t hit him!!!”