AUBTN -Chapter 131 The Truth Comes to Light

“You’re talking nonsense!” Tuoba Yun shouted sharply, a flicker of panic flashing through his eyes.

“Second Brother, don’t listen to his attempts to sow discord! The people of Great Wei are best at this!”

Lu Yan completely ignored Tuoba Yun’s clamor. Unhurriedly, he took out an exquisite small glass vial from his sleeve.

Inside the bottle was half a vial of a strange, deep purple liquid.

“Second Prince, as a martial artist, you should have heard of the secret Western Fan medicine Qianji Yin, right?”

At the mention of Qianji Yin, Tuoba Yun’s face instantly turned deathly pale. Instinctively, he lunged forward to snatch the bottle, but Lu Yan slammed the sheath of his blade against the back of his hand.

“Ah!” Tuoba Yun cried out in pain and staggered back.

Though Tuoba Feng was reckless, he was not completely ignorant. Staring blankly at the bottle, he muttered, “Qianji Yin? Isn’t that… that’s a forbidden medicine of the royal court, used to counter—”

“To counter the poison of Drunken Dream Inducer,” Lu Yan finished coldly, his voice sharp as ice.

“The poison the First Prince took was Drunken Dream Inducer. This poison is colorless and odorless. Once it takes effect, the victim dies of heart failure in their sleep, leaving no trace of anything abnormal. The only way to survive is to take Qianji Yin in advance or carry a sachet containing a high concentration of it.”

Lu Yan lightly shook the bottle in his hand, the purple liquid swirling in the firelight.

“This was extracted from the Third Prince’s personal sachet and from these flower petals after the assassination attempt. After testing it with a special reagent, we confirmed that what’s inside is highly concentrated Qianji Yin.”

Lu Yan fixed his gaze on Tuoba Feng, whose expression was growing increasingly grim.

“Second Prince, you’re willing to take the blame for your brother. I admire your sense of loyalty. But have you ever considered this—he carried the antidote with him, watched the First Prince drink the poisoned wine, watched you be arrested as the murderer, and then staged a ‘self-inflicted injury’ to clear himself of suspicion.”

“He wasn’t taking a risk. He was enjoying every moment of it.”

“No! That’s not true! Second Brother, don’t listen to his nonsense! This is Great Wei’s conspiracy! It’s fake!” Tuoba Yun completely panicked. He rushed toward Tuoba Feng to explain, only to be shoved away by him.

Tuoba Feng was not a fool.

He could accept that his younger brother had killed their elder brother for the throne. He was even willing to use his own life to bear that sin.

But he could not accept such thorough manipulation and humiliation!

What he believed to be brotherly unity in overcoming hardship together had, in the other man’s eyes, merely been a game of cat and mouse.

He looked at Tuoba Yun, who had fallen to the ground. His expression shifted from determination to shock, then to disbelief, and finally to blazing fury.

“Third Brother… this thing—does it really belong to you?” Tuoba Feng asked, pointing at the bottle in Lu Yan’s hand, his voice trembling.

Tuoba Yun’s face was pale as paper. His lips quivered, but no words came out.

Lu Yan sneered. If he was going to present a grand “gift,” he might as well present the full set.

“Second Prince, there’s one more thing I think you have the right to know.”

His voice dropped lower, carrying a cruel hint of pity.

“While the Imperial Guard was investigating this case, we followed the trail and looked into some old Western Fan records. I heard that your birth mother died suddenly of heart failure back then?”

Tuoba Feng abruptly raised his head, his eyes turning blood-red.

“Why are you bringing up my mother?!”

“According to our informants, the imperial physician who treated your mother back then died mysteriously not long after leaving the palace and returning to his hometown. And in the notes he left behind, we discovered something—before your mother died, although her symptoms resembled heart failure, there was a faint bluish-purple tint beneath her fingernails.”

“That color is exactly the same reaction caused by long-term exposure to a companion herb used with Drunken Dream Inducer.”

Lu Yan looked at Tuoba Yun’s bloodless face and coldly delivered the final sentence.

“And at that time, that particular herb was only cultivated in the harem of the Third Prince’s mother.”

With that single sentence, all of Tuoba Feng’s reason—and his resolve to sacrifice himself—collapsed completely.

He could bear the crime of killing his elder brother.

But the hatred of killing his mother was irreconcilable!

All this time, he had believed it was an accident. He had believed it was fate.

But it turned out… that from so many years ago, that mother and son had already been plotting against them.

Every belief he held crumbled in that instant.

“TUOBA YUN!!!”

Tuoba Feng let out a hoarse, furious roar.

He no longer cared about brotherly affection, nor about the greater interests of Xifan.

He suddenly lunged at Tuoba Yun, both hands clamping tightly around his neck, his eyes bloodshot.

“It was you! So it was you! You killed my mother! You killed our elder brother! You ruined me!”

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you, you beast!”

“Cough—cough… Second Brother… l-let go…” Tuoba Yun struggled desperately.

Lu Yan did not stop them immediately.

He simply watched coldly as the dogs tore at each other, even calmly adjusting his sleeve cuffs as if enjoying the show.

Only when Tuoba Yun was truly on the verge of suffocating did he give a subtle signal to the jailers behind him.

Several jailers rushed forward. It took all their strength to finally drag the crazed Tuoba Feng away.

Tuoba Yun collapsed onto the ground, clutching his throat and coughing violently.

Pinned tightly against the wall, Tuoba Feng still stared at Tuoba Yun and burst into manic laughter.

“Lord Lu! I’ll tell you everything!”

“I’ll tell you everything!”

Inside the hidden chamber.

Su Hewan watched the scene and let out a long breath.

“Wonderful,” Shen Jue chuckled softly. His fingers gently rubbed the palm of Su Hewan’s hand, his tone lazy yet pleased. “Now our Third Prince probably won’t even get the chance to cry at a grave.”

Su Hewan turned to look at Shen Jue, her eyes gleaming.

“Not only that. With the Second Prince turning against him, chaos will break out within Xifan. Tuoba Yun’s calculations have completely fallen apart. All his so-called sacrifice and endurance have become the biggest joke of all.”

Seeing the sparkle in her eyes, Shen Jue’s heart stirred.

He suddenly leaned down and whispered in her ear, his voice carrying a hint of tenderness.

“Since we’ve won, how about tonight we return to Yu Garden? I’ll personally cook and make dumplings for Miss Su to celebrate our victory.”

Su Hewan froze for a moment, then the tips of her ears reddened.

【Why has this big devil suddenly become so gentle? Dumplings? Aren’t those hands meant for killing people?】

Hearing her inner thoughts, the smile on Shen Jue’s lips deepened.

Killing people was certainly within his capabilities.

But for you, washing his hands and cooking a meal… was not out of the question.

That very night, Tuoba Yun cried and shouted, demanding to see Shen Jue in the imperial prison.

But Shen Jue deliberately delayed until the afternoon of the next day.

By then, the sun was already setting.

Tuoba Yun no longer had the strength to shout. Guards dragged him to the side of the torture rack.

His brocade robe was covered in mud and straw.

When he saw Shen Jue approaching unhurriedly in the distance—

it was as if he had come back to life.

“Chief Shen! Chief Shen, spare my life!”

Tuoba Yun roared with all the strength he had left.

“I have a secret! I know a great secret! As long as you spare my life—even if it’s exile—I’ll tell you everything!”

Shen Jue paused slightly.

“Oh? A secret?”

He resumed strolling over leisurely.

“At a moment like this, what bargaining chip could the Third Prince possibly still have to negotiate with me?”