AUBTN -Chapter 15 Finally Meeting

This woman… her audacity was off the charts.

She dared call him a pervert and even wanted to “replenish her health” together with him?

Shen Jue’s mouth twitched slightly.

“Xiao Li.” Shen Jue turned, hiding the fleeting smile that passed through his eyes. “Go prepare a meal for Miss Su. And make it… roast duck.”

“Yes, sir!”

Two days had flown by, swallowed in devilish training and intense mental exertion.

The eve of the Empress Dowager’s birthday.

Moonlight like flowing water.

North Town Surveillance Bureau, west wing.

Two young maids carried in an exquisite red-lacquered wooden box.

“Miss Yu, this is clothing sent by the Commander for tomorrow’s banquet.”

Yu Qing, sprawled on the couch as Chunxing rubbed her legs, instantly sat up at this.

She opened the box to find a set of pale blue palace attire resting inside.

This shade was extremely picky; the slightest misstep could make one look dull.

But on Yu Qing, paired with her strikingly beautiful face, it subdued the chill and revealed a transcendent, ethereal beauty.

Yu Qing caressed the smooth, cool fabric, yet her heart sank.

Pale blue.

It was one of the base colors of the Flying Fish uniform of the Jinyiwei, and also the color Lu Yan most often wore in his casual clothes.

【You sly Lu Yan… planning to wear “matching outfits” with me, huh?】 Yu Qing looked at the clothes, a sly smile tugging at her lips.

At the same time, East Bureau, another residence.

Xiao Li Zi brought a rosewood box to Su Hewan.

“Miss Su, the Commander instructed that you wear this tomorrow.”

The lid opened, and a deep crimson immediately met her eyes.

A set of crimson ruqun (jacket-and-skirt ensemble).

Su Hewan’s fingertips traced the golden embroidery, her eyes cold.

Crimson.

The color of power, the color of bloodshed.

She understood: Shen Jue intended to make her the poisonous flower at his side, the sharpest dagger in the arena of fame and influence.

She took a deep breath, clutching the crimson tightly in her hands.

Meanwhile, the main hall was brightly lit, shining like daylight.

The dancers’ flowing sleeves fluttered like clouds. The event was called a birthday celebration, but it was truly a feast of the Asura realm.

Su Hewan followed cautiously behind Shen Jue, keeping her head low.

【So this is the legendary Taihe Hall? Not that impressive… terrible ventilation, all CO₂. And Shen Jue, the sly old fox, why walk so fast—rushing to be reborn? The skirt is so long, almost stepped on it!】

Shen Jue walked ahead, his slender fingers lightly stroking the jade ring on his thumb, the corner of his mouth twitching ever so slightly.

Old fox?

What kind of chaotic vocabulary did this woman have in her head?

Still, he had to admit: today, in this guise, Su Hewan had not embarrassed the East Bureau.

On the other side, the Commander of the Jinyiwei, Lu Yan, stepped into the hall.

His aura of cold authority clashed sharply with the joyous scene of singing and dancing.

Half a step behind him followed a demure-looking woman in blue.

Yu Qing kept her head slightly lowered, her steps light and graceful. At first glance, she seemed like a pure snow lotus blooming atop the Tianshan Mountains—a breath of fresh air in this murky world of officials.

Only Lu Yan knew that this snow lotus had just been ranting non-stop in the carriage.

【Oh my god, these ancient high heels are inhumane! The soles are as hard as bricks! Back in the day, running errands in ten-centimeter heels wasn’t even this exhausting! And Lu Yan with that poker face… so what if you’ve got long legs? Couldn’t wait for me, huh? Serves you right for being single for ten thousand years!】

Lu Yan’s expression remained impassive, though his fingers tightened on the hilt of his sword.

Both sides took their seats as the eunuchs chanted their high-pitched greetings.

Whether by design or by chance, the Ministry of Rites had arranged a subtly deliberate seating.

Shen Jue sat at the foremost left, Lu Yan at the foremost right. Like black-and-white guardians of the underworld, they faced each other across a group of coquettish dancers in the center.

Su Hewan knelt on a cushion behind Shen Jue. When she lifted her head, her eyes pierced through the crowd, precisely catching a flash of familiar aqua blue across the hall.

【Yu Qing!】

In that instant, Su Hewan’s calm, scholar-like heart skipped a beat.

On the other side, Yu Qing seemed to sense it. Amid all the nobles’ gazes in the hall, she quietly lifted her eyelids and glanced over swiftly.

Their eyes met.

Su Hewan’s hands clenched her skirt at her knees. Outwardly composed, inwardly, her mind let out a shrill groundhog-like scream:

【Qing Qing! It’s really you! My god, how did you get so thin? That cold-faced Lu Yan… isn’t feeding you, is he? Just a few days and your baby fat’s gone! This vile feudal society, this human-rights-free Jinyiwei! Just you wait—I’m going to write him as a heartless child-exploiting capitalist in my ‘Time-Travel Observation Diary’! And make him impotent!】

Shen Jue, holding a cup of tea, flinched, nearly spilling the scalding liquid.

Make Lu Yan… impotent?

This woman’s heart was sharper than his own.

Yu Qing on the other side was so excited she nearly cried. She bit her lower lip to hold back tears, but her inner roar was deafening:

【Wanwan! Wuwuwu, my dear! I’m alive, I can still see you! How have you been? Did that dead eunuch lay a hand on you? He looks proper enough, but he’s full of evil! Oh my, this outfit… must be the taste of that perverted commander, huh? All that nouveau-riche, scheming pretentiousness!】

Lu Yan, peeling an orange, froze mid-motion.

Nouveau-riche? Pretentious?

He lifted his eyelids and cast a cold glance at Shen Jue across the hall.

Indeed, that red was dazzling, like a peacock spreading its feathers.

At that moment, these two highly influential figures, though still wearing inscrutable polite smiles, now had eyes full of complex thoughts.

Almost simultaneously, they confirmed one fact—

These two women not only knew each other but were deeply connected.

Just as their eyes clashed and their minds silently critiqued each other, a cheerful yet chilling laugh broke the subtle tension.

“Hahaha, today is the Empress Dowager’s birthday—truly a day of celebration.”

As the words fell, a middle-aged man strode forward with a wine cup in hand.

The Prince Regent—Prince Ning.

The one truly controlling the game within the hall.

The air in the hall instantly cooled. Officials who had been clinking cups and chatting halted, their gazes subtly drifting toward him.

Prince Ning walked to the center of the hall, his eyes shifting between Shen Jue and Lu Yan before resting meaningfully on the two women behind them.

“If I’m not mistaken, the two of you are in high spirits today, bringing new faces to see the world.”

Prince Ning smiled, his gaze like a hook—first skimming over Su Hewan’s serene face, then lingering a moment on Yu Qing’s delicate figure.

“These young ladies are both so exquisite. How have I never seen you in the palace before? I wonder which families are so fortunate to have daughters graced by the favor of Commander Shen and Commander Lu.”