AUBTN -Chapter 158 The Extravagant Princess

He called out in a tone full of grievance!

“Wanwan.”

“My leg hurts.”

Suddenly, Su Hewan’s previously cold and rigid defenses crumbled in an instant!

She knew this was a trick of self-inflicted suffering, knew that this dead eunuch was a master at psychological manipulation—but the moment she thought of his old injury, which flared up every time it rained or turned cold, all her anger just couldn’t gather.

【Even though you know he’s faking it, Su Hewan, have some backbone!】

She scolded herself in her heart, but her body honestly reached out and held Shen Jue’s arm. Her tone was still stiff, but the movement was incredibly gentle: “Serves you right! Who told you to squat in the draft?”

Shen Jue leaned half his weight onto her, a subtle curl at the corner of his mouth hidden from Su Hewan’s view, throwing a provocative glance at Lu Yan beside him.

Lu Yan: shameless!

Since Shen Jue had set the precedent, Lu Yan was unwilling to be outdone.

He took a deep breath, stepped forward, grabbed Yu Qing’s wrist, and before she could pull away, he pleaded humbly in a low voice: “I was wrong. The clothes are dirty—can I just burn them?”

Yu Qing’s face remained cold and noble as she scoffed, “What’s the use of washing them? They all smell of perfume. Is it that fragrant?”

“Pungent, unpleasant, not nearly as good as you,” Lu Yan replied decisively, survival instincts in full swing.

The two girls exchanged a glance. Though not entirely appeased, they knew when to call it a day.

“Come inside,” Su Hewan sighed.

“Don’t freeze yourself, or you’ll end up clinging to me and Qingqing later.”

Once inside, warmth enveloped them.

The next day.

In the east wing room.

Lu Yan, a man of seven feet, was dressed in a small apron, holding tiny scissors, laboring over a pile of walnuts.

“The shells must stay intact, the nutmeat must be whole. If even a bit breaks, you’ll be sleeping in the study tonight!” Yu Qing sat cross-legged on the luohan bed, holding a script, cracking melon seeds while giving orders.

Veins throbbed on Lu Yan’s forehead.

A commander of the Brocade Guard, whose jianchun dao was used to behead criminals, was now… cracking walnuts?

But he didn’t dare argue.

In the west wing, the scene was far more bizarre.

Shen Jue lay half-reclined on the soft couch, his collar slightly open, revealing a delicate collarbone.

Su Hewan, expressionless, was holding medicinal wine and massaging his knee.

“That Li Yunxi… what exactly is she after?” Su Hewan asked coldly, pressing firmly as she spoke.

Shen Jue let out a soft hiss from the pain but didn’t pull away. Instead, he seemed to savor this painful-yet-pleasurable torment: “What else could it be? Simply that the new emperor is young, and she wants to add a seat next to that throne.”

“She wants to be regent?” Su Hewan paused, her hand freezing mid-motion, brows furrowed.

“In the Grand Wei ancestral system, the harem isn’t allowed to meddle in politics. She’s a married princess, so it’s even more absurd.”

“Rules are made by people; naturally, people can change them,” Shen Jue said, raising his hand to gently twine a strand of Su Hewan’s hair around his finger. “Now that the regional princes are all watching greedily, and she’s returned to the capital holding the late emperor’s will, the situation will only get more chaotic.”

Su Hewan was silent.

“And you?” She suddenly looked up, locking eyes with Shen Jue.

“Back then… you really served the princess personally?”

That was the point she cared about the most.

A flicker of surprise passed through Shen Jue’s eyes, and then he let out a small laugh.

So this girl had been fussing over nothing—it was jealousy after all.

He suddenly sat up, pulled Su Hewan into his arms, resting his chin in the hollow of her neck, his voice low and dangerous: “Wanwan, don’t you know what kind of man I am? Yes, I once served her back then!”

“But I know my limits! Do you trust me?”

Su Hewan felt her heart skip a beat. She didn’t know why, but hearing him put it so lightly made a subtle, bitter sting rise in her chest.

She knew he had suffered in the past—he just hadn’t wanted to tell her!

“I won’t let it happen again,” Su Hewan said, wrapping her arms around him, her voice muffled.

“From now on, with me around, no one will ever bully you again.”

Shen Jue stiffened for a moment, then the shadow in his eyes melted away, replaced by tender affection.

“Good.”

The next morning.

The sunlight was just right, and the breeze gentle.

Lu Yan emerged from his room, two large dark circles under his eyes, and ran into Shen Jue coming from the opposite direction.

Compared to Lu Yan’s exhaustion, Shen Jue looked radiant and refreshed. On that devilishly handsome face was even a faint blush of satisfaction, which made Lu Yan grit his teeth in irritation.

“Well, Commander Lu, was it a sleepless night?” Shen Jue teased, twirling his signature folding fan, smiling like a clever fox.

“Judging by those dark circles under your eyes, you cracked quite a few walnuts last night, didn’t you?”

Lu Yan snorted coldly, straightening the collar of his flying-fish embroidered robe, and retorted: “Same to you. I saw you walking unsteadily, so I suppose you spent a lot of effort coaxing Miss Su last night too, right? How is it, your knee no longer aches?”

Shen Jue raised an eyebrow, snapping his folding fan shut with a “smack.” “That’s called style. As for Lord Lu, the illustrious Commander of the Jinyiwei, to be so fearful of his wife—if that got out, people would laugh themselves silly.”

“Fearful of my wife?” Lu Yan straightened his back, his face full of righteous indignation.

“No, it’s called respect! Unlike some eunuch factions, who only know cheap, melodramatic schemes—utterly lacking backbone!”

“Backbone won’t fill your stomach or make your wife happy,” Shen Jue scoffed, walking over to pat Lu Yan’s shoulder, lowering his voice: “Brother Lu, take my advice: sometimes, letting your knees go a little weak makes life much easier.”

Lu Yan disdainfully brushed off his hand. “I am not your brother. Our paths differ, so we shall not conspire together!”

The two of them continued their sharp-tongued banter, while the old steward happened to pass by carrying the breakfast tray.

Seeing these two men, who could command storms and sway the court, now squabbling like fighting roosters, the old steward shook his head and sighed deeply.

“Ah, these days… never a moment of peace.”

He muttered quietly, “The pot calling the kettle black—no one should mock anyone else.”

Yet the good days for these two hadn’t even lasted two full days before the winds of the capital shifted.

Li Yunxi, like a flamboyant peacock, quickly took center stage in the social circle of the capital.

Invitations from all the noble families poured into the temporary residence of the Princess for her banquets like snowflakes.

And Li Yunxi refused no one. She even hosted her own gatherings—small banquets every three days, grand ones every five—lavishing extravagance to the fullest.

“This is the third time already.”

In the main hall of Yuyuan, Yu Qing paced back and forth, fuming.

She pointed at the corner of the flying-fish robe that had just disappeared through the door, her chest heaving in frustration.

“Morning comes, noon leaves, and just when I’ve warmed my seat in the afternoon, the palace says they have a headache and need to catch up! Catch up? Catch up on what? Do they have to dredge up every little thing about how many times Lu Yan wet the bed as a child?”

“This isn’t catching up—it’s outright stealing someone!”

“The man I painstakingly trained, she can summon and dismiss at will? Just because she’s a princess, she’s all that? Give me a 98k rifle, and I’ll snipe that old witch at the villa myself!”

Yu Qing spat and ranted nonstop, her words flying like sparks.