AUBTN -Chapter 268 Meeting the New Empress

Yu Qing froze, blinking her big eyes with an expression of pure, innocent confusion.

“Not lethal? Then what’s the point? Just to make the emperor sleep?”

“It’s not about assassinating the emperor.”

Lu Yan’s voice was as cold as ice.

Shen Jue let out a cold laugh, killing intent flickering in his eyes.

“What they want is an emperor who is alive, but cannot speak or move—a puppet.”

Su Hewan nodded.

“Exactly. The goal isn’t regicide, it’s imprisonment!”

“If the emperor were directly poisoned to death, and the new emperor had no heir, it would inevitably trigger fierce retaliation from the imperial clan and feudal princes.”

“At that point, the realm would fall into chaos, and that traitor Zhou Wenhai would never be able to control it.”

“But if the emperor is only critically ill and unconscious, Zhou Wenhai can legitimately act as regent under the identity of the Empress Dowager’s family and a trusted minister entrusted with the throne!”

Shen Jue gave a cold snort.

“What a move—holding the emperor hostage to command the nobles! Zhou Wenhai is indeed clever!”

Lu Yan suddenly spoke.

“As long as the emperor still breathes, the Empress Dowager cannot legitimately rule from behind the curtain, and the imperial clan has no justification to strike.”

“Zhou Wenhai intends to fully control the court and change the surname of this world to Zhou!”

After hearing this analysis, Yu Qing felt a chill run down her spine.

“Oh my god… these political schemers are so dirty-minded! So what now? Wanwan, can you make an antidote?”

Su Hewan shook her head helplessly, her brows tightly furrowed.

“There are thousands upon thousands of poisonous herbs in the world. Without knowing the exact composition, any attempt to counteract it would only speed up His Majesty’s death.”

“This poison was crafted with such precision—it must have been planned over a long period of time.”

A sharp glint flashed in Su Hewan’s eyes.

“If we can’t force our way through, we can only use strategy.”

“Where there is a lock, there must be a key.”

Shen Jue raised an eyebrow, as if he had already guessed her intention.

“You’re planning to start with the wedding cup?”

Su Hewan stood up and said decisively:

“That’s right!”

“On the wedding night, the one who drank the nuptial wine wasn’t only the emperor—but also the new empress, Zhou Ruyun!”

“Why is the emperor unconscious, while she remains perfectly fine?”

Lu Yan answered coldly.

“Because she is Zhou Wenhai’s biological daughter. She must have taken the antidote in advance.”

Su Hewan nodded in agreement.

“Or perhaps there’s an even more interesting twist. That’s why I must meet this Empress myself!”

“I need to pry her mouth open to find out exactly what kind of poison this is!”

Upon hearing they were going to meet the Empress, Yu Qing immediately became energized.

“I’m going too! I’m going too! Dealing with this kind of deep-palace little grievance queen is my specialty as a performing arts major!”

Just watch how I use my top-tier acting skills to trick that little Zhou girl into confusion!

Listening to Yu Qing’s inner grand declarations, Lu Yan’s usually cold lips couldn’t help but curve slightly.

She really wasn’t afraid of anything.

“Alright.”

With a snap of his folding fan, Shen Jue made the final decision.

“I’ll go with Lu Yan to make the arrangements. Tonight, the Empress Dowager will find a reason to send you into the Empress’s palace.”

The night was deep, dark clouds covering the moon.

Inside the Chaofeng Palace, shadows and light intertwined.

Once again, Su Hewan and Yu Qing entered the inner palace under the Empress Dowager’s cover, posing as maids delivering rewards from the Ci Ning Palace.

Behind a screen in the main hall, a frail figure was kneeling on a cushion, silently weeping before a white jade Guanyin statue.

Zhou Ruoyun was only sixteen years old, her body still not fully developed.

She wore a plain, moon-white palace robe, with no makeup at all.

Her small face was as pale as paper, truly a pitiful sight—like a pear blossom bathed in rain, fragile and sorrowful.

Hearing footsteps, Zhou Ruoyun turned around like a startled fawn, her eyes filled with panic.

“Y-you… who are you?”

Su Hewan quickly stepped forward and supported the unsteady Zhou Ruoyun, while at the same time giving Yu Qing a look.

Yu Qing immediately understood and turned to shut all the doors and windows of the sleeping palace tightly, even carefully checking the surroundings for any movement.

“Your Majesty, please don’t be afraid. We are here to help you.”

Su Hewan lowered her voice, her tone carrying a strange soothing power.

Zhou Ruoyun trembled all over, struggling desperately to break free from Su Hewan’s grip.

“Help me? I don’t know you! Get out!”

Su Hewan not only did not let go, but tightened her grip instead.

Her gaze locked firmly onto Zhou Ruoyun’s evasive eyes.

“Your Majesty, you are sixteen, beautiful and youthful—at the most blooming age of life.”

“Do you really accept spending your entire life trapped in this deep palace, guarding a living corpse, crying yourself to sleep every day?”

Zhou Ruoyun’s tears fell even harder. She collapsed weakly to the ground, shaking her head in despair.

“What can I do… I don’t know anything.”

“On the night of the wedding, after His Majesty drank that cup of wine, he suddenly coughed blood and collapsed!”

“I really don’t know anything!”

She sobbed uncontrollably, clutching her chest tightly, as if she would faint the next moment.

“It’s my fault… it’s because I’m unlucky…”

“It must be that I bring bad fate to my husband… that’s why His Majesty ended up like this!”

She broke down completely, taking all blame onto herself.

Such a fragile, helpless appearance would make anyone feel pity.

But Yu Qing, standing aside, was laughing coldly in her mind.

【Oh wow! What a perfect white lotus!】

【This acting, this script delivery, these instant tears—if this were the modern world, you’d be top of the acting academy, Oscar nominee level for sure!】

【Keep acting! You really think you’re the heroine of some melodrama?】

【Your father is literally holding a knife to the emperor’s neck, and you’re here playing the “I bring bad luck” victim role? Do you think we’re idiots?】

At this moment, Lu Yan was hiding in the shadows on the roof of the Phoenix Palace.

Hearing Yu Qing’s nonstop inner rant, he almost slipped off the tiles.

Rubbing his temples helplessly, he thought: what exactly is going on in this woman’s brain?

Even though he couldn’t fully understand her words, it didn’t stop him from realizing she was mocking the empress’s performance.

Inside the hall, Su Hewan remained unmoved by Zhou Ruoyun’s tears.

As a history major, she had studied too many palace women’s tactics.

This kind of retreat-and-play-weak strategy was already overused in historical records.

“Your Majesty, let’s be straightforward.”

Su Hewan’s voice turned cold, carrying undeniable pressure.

“The poison was hidden in the wedding wine. You drank it with His Majesty—why are you completely unharmed?”

“As long as you hand over the antidote, we guarantee your life will be spared afterward. We can even help you leave the palace and start over under a new identity.”

Zhou Ruoyun suddenly looked up, a highly complicated emotion flashing through her eyes.

“I don’t have an antidote! I really don’t!”

“The wine was sent by my father’s people—I had no idea it was poisoned!”

Just as Su Hewan was about to press further and break her psychological defenses—

A series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the sleeping palace.