AUBTN -Chapter 265 Immunity Token

Shen Jue raised his head. “Your Majesty, what do you want?”

The Empress Dowager let out a cold laugh and pulled an exquisite purple-gold snuff bottle from her sleeve.

She removed the stopper and tipped two black pills into her palm.

“This is the Heart-Eroding Pill.”

“Take it.”

“As long as you behave yourselves, I will regularly give you the antidote every month.”

“Not only that, I will also grant those two girls immunity tokens!”

“If not…”

A cruel smile appeared on the Empress Dowager’s face.

“Without the antidote, you will suffer the agony of ten thousand ants devouring your heart, and bleed from all seven orifices until you die!”

Shen Jue and Lu Yan exchanged a look!

It was a tacit understanding forged through countless life-and-death battles between men.

Without hesitation or struggle,

Shen Jue reached out and took one of the Heart-Eroding Pills.

Lu Yan picked up the other.

Both of them tilted their heads back and swallowed the pills without the slightest hesitation!

Shen Jue looked straight at the Empress Dowager, his voice cold to the bone.

“This subject, Shen Jue, thanks Your Majesty for the medicine.”

Lu Yan closed his eyes, concealing all unwillingness and killing intent in his gaze, and said in a low voice:

“This subject, Lu Yan, thanks Your Majesty for the medicine!”

The Empress Dowager finally let out a long breath upon seeing this.

She seemed to have once again become the empress who controlled everything.

“Good. Very good!”

“From today onward, you are my most loyal dogs!”

The night wind swept through the entrance of the secret tunnel, and Su Hewan and Yu Qing were growing increasingly anxious as they waited.

“Why aren’t they back yet?” Yu Qing paced anxiously, constantly peeking out.

“Wait a little longer, they should be here soon!” Su Hewan was also worried, but still spoke calmly.

At this moment, Shen Jue and Lu Yan walked side by side outside the Cining Palace.

Neither of them spoke.

Because of the effects of the Heart-Eroding Pill, both were in considerable pain at the moment.

Yet they clenched their teeth, not even allowing a single groan to escape.

When they returned to the exit of the secret passage and saw Su Hewan and Yu Qing waiting anxiously, their faces pale as paper—

Their expressions had already returned to flawless composure.

“Let’s go home.”

Shen Jue naturally took Su Hewan’s hand, quietly wiping away the cold sweat from his palm.

Lu Yan pulled Yu Qing into his arms at once, wrapping her tightly in his large cloak.

“You’re back!” Yu Qing didn’t notice anything unusual about them at all.

Seeing this was not a place for conversation, Su Hewan simply nodded.

Although Shen Jue and Lu Yan did not exchange a single word, their eyes met—and both tacitly chose not to tell the girls that they had taken the Empress Dowager’s poison.

Half an hour later.

The familiar gates of Yu Garden slowly opened in the night.

“Waaah… finally back!”

The moment she stepped over the threshold, Yu Qing jumped up like a carefree rabbit.

She took a deep breath of the familiar sandalwood scent in the courtyard.

“Home is still the best! This is a place fit for humans!”

Su Hewan smiled helplessly. “Oh? And who was it that said they wanted to retire in the deep mountains?”

Yu Qing tilted her head. “Sister, let’s not expose each other’s past, okay?”

Just as she finished speaking, two small figures stumbled out from behind the inner courtyard’s hanging flower gate.

They were the maids who usually attended to them—Chun Tao and Xia He.

“Miss Su! Miss Yu!”

The two maids lifted their skirts and dropped to their knees right in front of them!

Tears burst out instantly.

Both women were startled.

“Waaah… we thought we would never see you again!”

Chun Tao sobbed uncontrollably, her eyes red and swollen like walnuts.

Xia He was also crying so hard she could barely speak, clutching Su Hewan’s sleeve and refusing to let go.

During the past half month, the capital had been in turmoil, and Yu Garden had been watched like an iron barrel by all kinds of forces.

They had lived in constant fear, terrified that their masters might have met with disaster in the southern frontier.

Su Hewan’s eyes warmed as she quickly bent down to help them up.

“Silly girls, why are you crying? Haven’t we come back safely?”

Yu Qing directly spread her arms, pulling Chun Tao on her left and Xia He on her right.

The three girls of similar age were jumping and laughing in the courtyard. Their laughter and occasional sobs intertwined, breaking the long-standing silence of the Yu Residence.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry! This young lady has great fortune and destiny. From now on, I’ll take you to eat good food and live well!”

Watching this lively and heartwarming scene, Shen Jue and Lu Yan standing under the corridor both softened their gazes at the same time.

“Master, Lord Lu.”

The steward of the Yu Residence, Uncle Fu, appeared silently behind them at some unknown point, lowering his voice.

The curve on Shen Jue’s lips instantly faded.

“How is the situation outside?”

Uncle Fu’s expression turned solemn. “Replying to master, Zhou Wenhai’s people have already taken over the Nine Gates Commandery. Right now, the entire capital’s defense is under the Zhou family’s surveillance.”

Lu Yan let out a cold laugh, his long fingers lightly brushing the hilt of the embroidered spring saber at his waist. “Such big appetite. He’s not afraid of choking to death.”

Shen Jue narrowed his long, narrow eyes slightly, a flash of bloodthirsty killing intent passing through them.

“Order them to activate all sleeper agents. Watch the Zhou family and the Ministry of War closely, every hour of the day.”

“Yes!” Uncle Fu accepted the order and withdrew.

That night, some people slept peacefully in warm beds, while others sharpened their blades in the dark.

The next morning.

The two girls were summoned to the study as soon as they woke up.

The moment they stepped in, they saw two exquisitely crafted yellow rosewood brocade boxes neatly placed on the table.

“What is this?”

Yu Qing leaned over curiously, her big eyes sparkling with gossip.

Lu Yan leaned against the window, arms crossed over his chest, chin slightly raised.

“Open them and see.”

Yu Qing eagerly opened one of the boxes. Inside lay a pure gold waist token.

On it were engraved four flamboyant characters:

“Imperial Amnesty Token!”

Su Hewan was also stunned.

She quickly stepped forward and opened the other box.

It was also an Imperial Amnesty Token!

Not only that, beneath the token was also an imperial decree stamped with the seal of the Ci Ning Palace!

“This… this is the Empress Dowager’s decree?”

Su Hewan unfolded the bright yellow scroll.

It clearly stated the complete pardon of Su Hewan’s death sentence, and that her identity as a former dynasty descendant would never be pursued!

The other decree was a personal marriage edict from the Empress Dowager, recognizing Yu Qing as the wife of the Jinyiwei commander, and permanently absolving her of the crime of escaping the burial ritual!

“Oh my god! Am I dreaming!”

Yu Qing grabbed the gold token and immediately bit it without hesitation.

“It’s hard! It’s real gold! Pure gold!” She was so excited she almost jumped up on the spot.

“Aaaaah! An Imperial Amnesty Token! This is top-tier life-saving gear! With this, doesn’t that mean we can basically walk sideways in the capital from now on?”

“When did the Empress Dowager become so generous?”

Su Hewan, though also pleasantly surprised, quickly calmed down after her excitement.

She looked toward Shen Jue, who was seated in the master chair.

“How did the Empress Dowager agree so easily?”

“She clearly knows I am a descendant of the former dynasty. Keeping me alive is like keeping a thorn in the Great Wei imperial power.”

“And Yu Qing—she was originally a palace maid destined for burial. How could the Empress Dowager so easily agree to the marriage decree?”

The atmosphere in the study turned momentarily still.

Shen Jue’s fingers, holding the celadon teacup, paused slightly.

He lifted his eyelids calmly and exchanged a quick glance with Lu Yan standing by the window.

These two gold tokens were exchanged with their monthly torment—pain worse than death, and a price of lifelong servitude.

But they absolutely could not let the two girls know.

Shen Jue set down his teacup.

He chuckled lightly, his tone carrying three parts laziness.

“Wanwan, you underestimate your husband.”

He stood up and walked toward Su Hewan, his long fingers gently brushing away a strand of hair near her ear.

“Now that Zhou Wenhai controls the court and the young emperor’s life or death is unknown, the Empress Dowager has become isolated.”

“If she wants to turn the situation around and investigate the truth behind the emperor’s poisoning to stabilize the court, besides relying on the Eastern Depot and the Jinyiwei… what other choice does she have?”

Lu Yan also very cooperatively walked over and put an arm around the still-dazed Yu Qing’s shoulder.

“Exactly! She wants us to work for her—does she expect us to work for free?”

“There’s no such good deal in this world!”

Lu Yan let out a cold snort, acting extremely convincingly.

“If she wants us to do things, of course she has to give us enough benefits first!”

Yu Qing’s eyes sparkled with admiration, completely awestruck.

“Wow! Lu Yan, you’re so manly!”