AUBTN -Chapter 156 Staying Out at Night

Yu Qing ground her teeth and added sharply, “I just went strolling around the teahouses, and the storyteller practically had flowers blooming from his mouth! He said that our Lord Supervisor back then was the most favored attendant by the Princess! When the Princess got married, he even knelt all night in front of the late Emperor’s hall just to take Shen Jue as part of the dowry! If the late Emperor hadn’t refused no matter what, the East Depot’s Director wouldn’t even exist today—he would probably have become the Princess’s top favorite!”

When Yu Qing said “top favorite,” she couldn’t help but imagine Shen Jue’s devilishly handsome face dressed in something revealing and sheer, shivering at the thought.

It was thrilling… but infuriating too!

Hearing this, Su Hewan let her teacup gently tap the table.

The two of them exchanged a glance, seeing in each other’s eyes a deep sense of danger.

If the flirtations and romantic antics before were just small-time mischief, this Princess—granted a special golden token by the late Emperor herself and possessing unparalleled status—was the real full-level big BOSS.

What made it worse was that night had fully fallen.

Normally, by this hour, Lu Yan would have already come to escort her back to Yuyuan.

Shen Jue would have appeared on time as well.

But today—forget seeing a person, not even a messenger pigeon had arrived!

“Still in the palace?” Yu Qing peered at the night outside, dark as ink.

“The banquet should have been over long ago. Are they staying over? Or… are they there reminiscing about old times?”

“Reminiscing?” Su Hewan snorted coldly and stood up.

“Probably lost in pleasure and unwilling to return.”

She was a rational person, but even the most logical mind couldn’t stop the pangs of jealousy a young woman felt!

Su Hewan’s chest felt as if stuffed with a soaked cotton ball, unbearably blocked.

“Qing Qing,” Su Hewan suddenly spoke.

“What’s up!” Yu Qing slammed the table, standing with fierce energy.

“When we get back, we’ll lock the main gate. If anyone at the gatehouse dares open it for those two men staying out all night, they won’t be coming in tomorrow!”

“Got it! I’m on it!”

Yu Qing’s eyes sparkled with excitement, as if she had finally found an outlet for her frustration.

“This is called what? Men being disobedient is usually because they’re spoiled. Let them freeze outside for a night—it’ll teach them a lesson!”

The two of them nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, in the Imperial Palace, Linde Hall.

Songs and dances filled the air, the music and chatter blending into a dazzling cacophony.

Next to the main seat of the hall, a specially made phoenix throne had been set up in utmost luxury, and sitting on it was today’s main figure:

Princess Li Yunxi.

She wore a dark red palace gown, her hair piled high, golden pendants swaying gracefully with her movements.

There was not a hint of a widow’s grief in her appearance!

Everywhere in her gaze was a mixture of seduction and sharpness.

Her eyes swept across the hall, finally settling without hesitation on Shen Jue and Lu Yan, seated at the left front.

The look in her eyes was not that of a ruler looking at subordinates, but like someone admiring two exquisite objects long unseen.

“This cup, I dedicate to Lord Lu!” Li Yunxi said lazily, standing up and holding her jade cup. Step by step, she descended from the dais and walked straight to Lu Yan.

Lu Yan rose expressionless and bowed with a clasped-hand salute.

“Your Highness, your humble servant is unworthy, I dare not accept…”

Before he could finish, the wine cup in Li Yunxi’s hand suddenly tilted.

“Oh my.”

A soft cry escaped.

The wine spilled down over Lu Yan’s brocade robe, embroidered with flying fish patterns, soaking a large patch instantly.

The main hall fell silent. All eyes were drawn to the scene.

Lu Yan frowned slightly. He was about to step back and apologize when Li Yunxi had already reached for a scented handkerchief.

“Look at my hands—how can I even hold a cup properly?”

She murmured an apology, but her movements were natural as she pressed the handkerchief against Lu Yan’s chest.

Through the soaked fabric, her fingertips traced lightly across his chest, teasing, almost imperceptible.

The sensation carried a subtle, spine-tingling intimacy.

Lu Yan’s muscles tensed instantly, alert as if facing a great enemy.

He abruptly stepped back to evade the meddling hand, his voice cold and firm: “Your Highness, please restrain yourself! I can clean this myself!”

Li Yunxi’s hand hovered in midair. She was not offended; instead, she covered her lips with a smile, her eyes sparkling. “Brother Lu, you’re still so oblivious to feelings. When you got your clothes dirty as a child, you used to cry and beg me to wipe them for you.”

The way she said “Brother Lu” was layered with emotion, sending shivers down the spines of many ministers present.

Lu Yan’s face darkened instantly.

He could almost imagine what Yu Qing—always stuck in melodramatic fantasies—would make of this scene. She would probably spin a story in her mind about an unfaithful man and a lovesick woman!

“Those days are past. Your Highness, be careful with your words,” Lu Yan ground out between his teeth, each word forced from him like iron.

Li Yunxi let out a soft laugh and no longer lingered. She turned her attention to Shen Jue.

Compared with Lu Yan’s resistance, Shen Jue remained calm.

He toyed with a white jade wine cup in his hand, his phoenix-like eyes half-lowered, faintly amused yet unreadable, paying no mind to Li Yunxi’s approach.

“Commander,”

Li Yunxi stopped before him, looking down at this face even more alluring than in her memories, her eyes flickering with a mixture of admiration and regret.

“Now, the entire court, both civil and military, must respectfully address you as Commander. That is truly impressive.”

She leaned slightly closer, whispering in a voice only they could hear: “Who would have imagined that the little eunuch in my palace, who once knelt to wash my feet, could one day wield such power?”

Shen Jue’s fingers tightened around the wine cup, knuckles whitening.

That humiliating past was the deepest thorn in his heart, the one reverse scale he was most careful not to touch.

Yet his face wore an even brighter smile, the tear mole at his eye seeming to flush a bloodthirsty red.

“All thanks to Your Highness,” Shen Jue said, lifting his gaze, eyes cold and predatory.

“If Your Highness had not favored me back then, I would never have mastered the skills to serve others. But now, my hands are stained with too much blood. I fear I can no longer properly serve someone as precious as Your Highness.”

Li Yunxi felt a chill at the edge of his gaze.

But the chill quickly gave way to a sense of conquest.

The more dangerous something is, the more alluring it becomes, isn’t it?

“Whether you serve well or not, we’ll only know by trying,” Li Yunxi straightened, her gaze sweeping the hall before settling on the small emperor at the main seat, who fidgeted as if sitting on needles.

“Your Majesty,” The young emperor hastily sat upright. “What does Imperial Aunt wish?”

“Today, I am in good spirits and would like Commander Lu and Commander Shen to stay in the palace for some time, to catch up on old times,” Li Yunxi said with a radiant smile.

“I have brought back two rare treasures from my fief. I would like you both to have a look. The late emperor also granted me special privileges to act freely within the palace—I assume Your Majesty will not object?”

The young emperor glanced at the two ministers, their expressions grim, then at his powerful Imperial Aunt. Swallowing his apprehension, he nodded stiffly: “Since Imperial Aunt has returned to the capital and is in high spirits, you may stay, ministers.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” they replied obediently.