AUBTN -Chapter 266 You Dare Come Here?

She had no doubt about what Lu Yan said. After all, in her eyes, Lu Yan and Shen Jue were both ruthless figures who held immense power over the court.

“Alright, alright, you two! Now you’re even daring to negotiate with the Empress Dowager herself!”

Yu Qing proudly tucked the immunity token into her chest and even patted it twice.

“I knew it—cling to you two, and I’ll definitely be living the good life!”

Watching Yu Qing’s carefree, clueless expression, a trace of indulgent helplessness flashed in Lu Yan’s eyes. He reached out and ruffled her hair.

But Su Hewan on the side was not so easily fooled.

She hadn’t been led astray by the seamless act Shen Jue and Lu Yan were putting on.

【No, something doesn’t add up.】

【Since the Empress Dowager is wary of the Zhou family’s power and needs to rely on Shen Jue and Lu Yan, there’s no way she would hand over such a trump card so easily.】

【She is naturally suspicious and best at balancing factions. How could she offer such a generous reward before anything is even accomplished? That’s not how she operates at all!】

Su Hewan frowned slightly, sensing something strange, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

Her instincts told her that there must be some hidden secret behind this immunity token.

She lifted her head, her clear eyes staring straight into Shen Jue’s.

As if trying to find even the slightest crack in his impenetrable gaze.

“Shen Jue, you didn’t lie to me, did you?”

Her voice tightened slightly, carrying a faint but perceptible probe.

“This decree and the gold token… you really obtained them just by negotiating like that?”

Facing Su Hewan’s scrutinizing gaze, Shen Jue’s heart gave a sharp, painful twitch.

As expected of his Wanwan—her sharp mind always saw through the fog at a glance.

But he absolutely could not admit it.

Once he did, with her temperament, she would rather die than accept the token.

Shen Jue lowered his eyes slightly, perfectly concealing the turbulent emotions beneath.

When he looked up again, his expression had already become calm and composed, even carrying a hint of helplessness at being doubted.

Suddenly, he reached out and pulled Su Hewan into his arms.

His chin rested familiarly on the crook of her neck, his warm breath brushing against her ear.

“What? In your eyes, am I that incapable?”

His deep voice carried a seductive lilt.

“Your husband is the Eastern Depot’s Chief, the lives of all civil and military officials are in my hands. If the Empress Dowager wants me to kill someone, she naturally has to show some sincerity.”

He casually lifted the immunity token and waved it in front of Su Hewan.

“Besides…”

A wicked smile curled at the corner of Shen Jue’s lips as his slender fingers flicked the golden token, producing a clear, resonant metallic sound.

“Of course it’s real.”

“How could a gold immunity token forged by the Imperial Household Department be fake?”

Su Hewan’s heartbeat skipped a beat under his captivating gaze, but she quickly forced herself to stay calm.

She pushed against his chest, separating herself from him.

“Even if the token is real, this is not the time to be happy.”

A seriousness she had never shown before appeared on Su Hewan’s delicate face, her tone turning extremely solemn.

“When the foundation is gone, how can the hair remain?”

“If Zhou Wenhai truly succeeds in his rebellion and the Empress Dowager falls, these two immunity tokens in our hands will likely become death warrants instead.”

Yu Qing, still happily hugging the token, froze instantly upon hearing this.

“Wanwan, don’t scare me like that! Can this token really expire or become invalid?”

Su Hewan shot her an exasperated glance, then turned back to Shen Jue and Lu Yan.

“The top priority right now is to find a way to wake up the young emperor!”

“As long as the young emperor wakes up, Zhou Wenhai’s usurpation will have no legitimacy. All his schemes will collapse on their own!”

The atmosphere in the study turned instantly tense and oppressive.

Shen Jue restrained the smile at the corner of his lips, a flash of something dark and sinister crossing his deep eyes.

“What Wanwan said is exactly what we’re worried about.”

His expression darkened.

“But the current situation is that the young emperor has been placed under house arrest in the Taichen Palace under the pretext of recuperation by Zhou Wenhai’s people.”

Lu Yan’s cold face seemed covered in a layer of frost as he continued.

“The outer perimeter of Taichen Palace is surrounded on all sides by Imperial Guards transferred from the Ministry of War.”

“Even a fly that tries to get in would have to lose a few layers of skin.”

“Outsiders simply can’t get close, let alone investigate his condition.”

Su Hewan’s brows were tightly furrowed.

“If we can’t get close, how are we supposed to do anything?”

“We don’t even know what poison it is—how can we prescribe the right antidote?”

Shen Jue and Lu Yan naturally understood this logic as well, but given the situation, both fell into silence.

Su Hewan suddenly raised her head, her gaze firm.

“No. Even if it’s a dragon’s den or a tiger’s lair, I must find a way to see the young emperor!”

“I have to see his symptoms with my own eyes to determine exactly what poison he’s been given!”

Lu Yan tightened his grip on the embroidered spring saber.

“A forced entry is impossible. That would only give Zhou Wenhai an excuse to strike openly.”

Yu Qing scratched her head anxiously from the side.

“Then what do we do? Are we just going to stand by and watch the young emperor die?”

Su Hewan looked toward Shen Jue.

“If Zhou Wenhai is guarding against outsiders, then we’ll go find the one person who isn’t an outsider.”

Shen Jue immediately understood her meaning.

“You mean… the Empress Dowager?”

Su Hewan nodded, her tone decisive.

“Yes. We go see the Empress Dowager!”

At present, the Zhou family did not yet know that Shen Jue and the others had returned to the capital. To avoid alerting them, they could only act at night.

Night fell again, and the streets of the capital were silent, filled with an oppressive sense of an approaching storm.

Under Shen Jue and Lu Yan’s cover, they once again used the secret passage to infiltrate the imperial palace.

Inside the Cining Palace, sandalwood incense curled in the air.

The Empress Dowager sat on a purple sandalwood carved daybed, idly twisting a string of fine jade Buddhist beads in her hand.

Her face was dark and haggard, her eyes bloodshot from days of sleeplessness.

When she saw that Shen Jue and Lu Yan had not only come themselves but had also brought Su Hewan and Yu Qing into the Cining Palace, her expression instantly turned icy and furious.

“Shen Jue, Lu Yan—you have some nerve!”

The Empress Dowager slammed her hand on the small table, sending the teacups clattering.

“You two still dare come?” she demanded sharply, her gaze sweeping over Su Hewan and Yu Qing.

“Do you take my Cining Palace for a marketplace?!”

Facing her thunderous rage, Shen Jue didn’t even furrow his brows.

He stepped forward, subtly shielding Su Hewan behind his tall frame.

“Please calm your anger, Empress Dowager. I brought them here because they are of great use.”

Lu Yan also stepped forward, shielding Yu Qing behind him, and added coldly:

“Saving His Majesty cannot be done without Miss Su.”

The Empress Dowager let out a cold laugh, her gaze bypassing the two men and locking onto Su Hewan’s calm, composed face.

If my family didn’t currently lack manpower, I would have already torn you, this remnant of the previous dynasty, into ten thousand pieces!

She thought viciously to herself.