AUBTN -Chapter 119 Secret

Su Hewan hadn’t slept for days. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and she had lost a noticeable amount of weight.

“Wanwan, have a bite too!”

Yu Qing came over carefully, holding a bowl of plain porridge.

She herself looked terrible these past few days—her eyes swollen like walnuts. As she fed Su Hewan, she sniffled non-stop.

“You tell me… that damned eunuch—no, I mean, that Chief Inspector… He usually looks so tough and troublesome. How come he’s actually this fragile?”

Yu Qing sniffed and held the spoon to Su Hewan’s lips.

【Even though Shen Jue is usually so irritating with that weird tone of his, that sword strike was to save the emperor! If he really dies, will my Lu Yan feel guilty for the rest of his life? And what about Wanwan? Is she really going to become a widow? Wait… he’s a eunuch—she’s basically a widow already… Pah pah pah! What nonsense am I thinking!】

Just as Lu Yan reached the doorway, he heard Yu Qing’s wildly wandering thoughts. His steps faltered and he nearly tripped.

Rubbing his temples helplessly, he walked into the room.

“His Majesty has already issued a decree to seal the news. To the outside world, it’s only said that Chief Shen is recuperating. As for the court… the Prime Minister and I have temporarily suppressed things.”

Lu Yan glanced at the man lying on the bed, his face deathly pale, his expression complicated.

“He’s tough. In the past he survived injuries far worse than this.”

Su Hewan mechanically swallowed the porridge, her gaze never leaving Shen Jue’s face.

“I know.”

Her voice was hoarse, yet unusually firm.

She reached out and gently traced Shen Jue’s delicate brows and eyes with her fingers.

“But I won’t let him keep sleeping like this. If he dares to keep sleeping, I’ll nag in his ear until I annoy him to death.”

Yu Qing: “……”

【So ruthless! Is this the wake-up service of a top student?】

Late at night on the fifth day.

A light drizzle fell outside the window.

At last, Su Hewan couldn’t hold on anymore and fell asleep, slumped beside the bed.

Even in her sleep, her brows were tightly furrowed, yet her hand still clutched Shen Jue’s cold fingers.

Shen Jue had a long dream.

In the dream was a sea of blood, countless wronged spirits demanding his life.

He walked alone on a narrow wooden bridge, with endless abyss on every side.

He was exhausted.

Maybe he should just jump.

End everything in one leap.

After all, this world was filthy—there was nothing worth staying for anymore.

Just as he prepared to leap forward, a noisy voice suddenly rang in his ears.

【Shen Jue! Wake up! I want to eat the osmanthus cakes from the south side of the city. No one else can buy them except you!】

【And also, that new little eunuch is so clumsy he watered all your orchids to death!】

【If you still don’t wake up, I’m really going to run away with all your property! And I’ll use your private savings to keep male lovers!】

Who?

Who dares touch his private savings?

And even keep male lovers?

Shen Jue suddenly opened his eyes.

Before him was the familiar bed canopy. The bitter scent of medicine lingered in the air, along with that faint, cold fragrance that haunted his soul.

He moved his fingers and only then realized his hand was tightly held by someone.

Lowering his gaze, he saw the small figure slumped by the bedside.

Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed through his heart.

Not because of the wound—

But because of an emotion he had never felt before.

So… someone had been waiting for him.

In that world without light, she was the only rope pulling him back.

“Cough…”

A very faint cough sounded, unusually clear in the silent night.

Su Hewan jolted awake as if struck by lightning.

Their eyes met.

Shen Jue looked at her messy hair and red, rabbit-like eyes. With difficulty, he pulled the corner of his lips into a mocking smile.

“So I’m not even dead yet, and you’re already… crying at my funeral?”

Su Hewan froze for a full three seconds.

The next moment, she suddenly lunged at him. Carefully avoiding his wound, she bit down hard on his neck.

“Shen Jue! You bastard!”

Shen Jue sucked in a sharp breath from the pain, but his eyes were full of laughter.

He raised his uninjured hand and gently stroked her back.

“Mhm, I’m a bastard.”

“Bastard! You scared me to death! If you dare die, I’ll turn you into a specimen and display you in a museum! Let people for generations to come stare at you, you heartless man!”

Shen Jue sighed helplessly after hearing this.

“There’s no need to make me into a specimen. This body of mine—only you are allowed to look at it.”

After Shen Jue woke up, the atmosphere in Yuyuan instantly changed from a funeral mood to complete chaos.

That day, the sunlight was just right.

Shen Jue leaned against a soft couch basking in the sun, while Su Hewan sat beside him peeling an apple.

“I heard Lu Yan has been so busy these past few days that his feet barely touch the ground?” Shen Jue asked in a rather good mood.

Su Hewan stuffed the rabbit-shaped apple slice into his mouth.

“Yeah. Although His Majesty is clever, he’s still young. The mess Zhao Shuo left behind—and the purge in the court—Lord Lu has to handle everything personally.”

Just as she finished speaking, a commotion came from the courtyard gate.

Yu Qing stood there with her hands on her hips, pointing at Lu Yan’s nose as she scolded loudly.

“Lu Yan! You straight man! I said I wanted candied hawthorn—just one skewer! What do you mean by carrying the entire stall back here?!”

Lu Yan stood there awkwardly, shouldering the candied hawthorn stand. The imposing Commander of the Imperial Guards now looked like a primary school student who had done something wrong.

“Well… I just thought… I haven’t had time to accompany you these past few days.”

Yu Qing didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry.

“Fine then—what about this?” Yu Qing raised the book in her hand and demanded indignantly.

“I wanted sparkling gemstones! A big diamond ring! What does it mean that you gave me a copy of Female Virtue? Do you think I’m not virtuous enough already?”

Pfft.

Su Hewan couldn’t hold back her laughter.

Lu Yan became even more flustered.

“N-no, that’s not it. I just thought the book cover was embroidered with gold thread, so it must be valuable…”

【Heavens above! Just destroy everything already! This man is hopeless! Can I return him? I want to go back to the modern world and find a young handsome guy!】

Hearing her inner thoughts, Lu Yan’s expression changed. Without another word, he threw the Female Virtue book away and tossed the candied hawthorn to the guard behind him.

Then he scooped Yu Qing up in his arms.

“Ah! Lu Yan, what are you doing?! Put me down!”

“To the treasury! Pick whatever you like yourself! Take anything you want!”

Lu Yan carried her out immediately. As he passed Shen Jue, he didn’t forget to glare fiercely at him.

“What are you laughing at? You eunuch—what do you know about marital romance!”

The smile on Shen Jue’s face instantly disappeared, his gaze turning deep.

He turned to look at Su Hewan, his voice low and husky.

“Wanwan.”

“Hm?”

“That fellow Lu Yan says I don’t understand marital romance.”

Su Hewan’s scalp tingled. Instinctively, she tried to run, but Shen Jue grabbed her wrist and pulled her in front of him.

Their noses touched, their breaths intertwining.

“How about I prove it to him?”

Su Hewan’s face instantly turned bright red.

“Prove what? You… your injury hasn’t healed yet!”

Shen Jue chuckled softly and leaned close to her ear, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear.

“The injury’s on my shoulder. It doesn’t affect anything else. Besides… that secret—you should personally verify it.”

Su Hewan’s mind exploded like fireworks.

A secret?

The secret of the fake eunuch?