AUBTN -Chapter 286 Alliance

She slowly lowered her head, looking at the spotless double-lotus sachet in her hands.

Tears once again broke free.

“But you showed up.”

She suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with deep, bone-cutting hatred.

“You ruined my plan!”

“You self-righteous people dragged me into this dark, sunless prison!”

“If not for your relentless pressure, if not for your meddling!”

“My plan would never have failed!”

“My scholar…”

She pressed the sachet against her face, crying as if her heart and soul were being torn apart.

“My scholar wouldn’t have died such a horrible death!”

She suddenly let out a tragic laugh.

“But why? Why couldn’t you just wait a little longer? Why did you have to ruin my plan!”

“Why?” Her voice grew so faint at the end it was almost inaudible.

Inside the prison cell, only the desperate, heartbreaking sobs of the two women remained.

The four people outside the cell stood in silence for a long time.

Yu Qing’s eyes were red, her lips bitten tightly to stop herself from crying out loud.

Lu Yan glanced sideways at the teary little girl beside him and gently patted her hair in comfort.

Su Hewan also took a deep breath.

She had never expected the truth to be like this.

【Too clever by half—yet it ended up ruining their own lives.】

【In the face of absolute power, individual resistance is ultimately too insignificant.】

Complex emotions surged in Su Hewan’s usually clear and calm eyes.

She looked at the two women inside the cell, clinging to each other in despair.

【I thought I could see through everything.】

【But I forgot—under this cannibalistic feudal imperial system, every so-called “breakthrough” might be built on someone else’s blood-soaked bones.】

Shen Jue lowered his gaze, his slender fingers tightening imperceptibly around his folding fan.

Listening to the heavy sorrow in Su Hewan’s heart, he only felt a dull ache in his chest.

This girl… always possessed an unusual compassion.

The next moment, Su Hewan stepped into the prison cell.

Before Zhou Ruoyun and Xia Dong, she bent her knees and actually knelt down on the straw mat.

“Wanwan, what are you doing?” Shen Jue’s pupils contracted as he instinctively reached out to stop her.

But Lu Yan pressed a hand on Shen Jue’s shoulder and gently shook his head.

Su Hewan looked directly into Zhou Ruoyun’s eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

Her cold voice now carried unprecedented solemnity.

“We were too arrogant.”

“We only saw the schemes in front of us, but failed to see the pain behind you.”

Zhou Ruoyun’s entire body stiffened, staring in disbelief at the woman before her.

At that moment, another hurried figure rushed in.

Yu Qing also knelt down beside Su Hewan without any concern for her dignity.

Tears kept falling, “plop, plop.”

“I’m sorry! Really sorry!”

Yu Qing sniffled, holding back her sobs.

“We were stupid before!”

She raised her head, her eyes now filled with sincerity and anger.

“But now—we want to help you!”

“No, we must help you!”

Yu Qing gritted her teeth, fists clenched tightly.

“That damn old beast Zhou Wenhai doesn’t deserve to be human at all!”

“We’ll help you take revenge! We’ll make that old monster pay a painful price!”

【So infuriating! If that kind of scum father isn’t executed by a thousand cuts, it’s truly unjust!】

【I’m going to make him understand what real hell feels like—what it means to wish for death but not be able to die!】

Inside the cell, Zhou Ruoyun stared blankly at the two girls before her.

Their eyes were so clear, so burning.

There was no high-and-mighty pity—only genuine remorse and shared rage.

In this endless darkness and despair, Zhou Ruoyun seemed to glimpse a faint light piercing through hell.

Slowly, she nodded at Su Hewan and Yu Qing.

“…Okay.”

A hoarse, broken syllable squeezed out of her throat, yet it carried a determination like breaking a boat and burning bridges.

Standing in the shadows, Shen Jue’s gaze shifted slightly.

His thumb lightly stroked the jade fan bone.

Since the truth had already come to light.

Since Zhou Wenhai had been completely exposed.

Shen Jue said coldly,

“It’s not worth it to trade your own life for his.”

He slowly stepped forward, looking down at Zhou Ruoyun from a superior position.

“Since that’s the case, then we’ll accompany you in staging a much bigger play.”

Lu Yan strode in, hand gripping his embroidered sabre.

“In the torture chambers of the Jinyiwei prison, I will personally make sure Zhou Wenhai experiences every instrument of punishment.”

A simple sentence, yet as heavy as a thousand pounds—it finalized this alliance.

To show her sincerity, Zhou Ruoyun no longer hesitated.

She turned to look at Xia Dong.

Xia Dong’s hands were trembling as she quickly reached into the hidden inner layer of her clothing and retrieved a highly concealed wax pill.

“This is the Emperor’s antidote.”

Zhou Ruoyun handed the wax pill to Su Hewan, her expression solemn.

“Take this medicine, and within seven days, the Emperor will definitely awaken.”

Su Hewan carefully put the wax pill away.

Then Zhou Ruoyun slowly raised her hand and pulled out the only plain wooden hairpin left in her hair.

“I’ll tell you a secret. This is Zhou family’s final death warrant.”

She gripped both ends of the hairpin and twisted it forcefully.

A soft click sounded.

The seemingly ordinary wooden hairpin actually split into two halves from the middle.

Inside it was a delicately crafted miniature copper key!

Everyone was shocked.

Next, Zhou Ruoyun reached into the inner seam of her clothing, tore open the stitching, and pulled out a thin, yellowed booklet.

“This was left to me by my mother with her last breath before she died.”

At the mention of her mother, endless hatred and sorrow flashed through Zhou Ruoyun’s eyes.

“Before she died, my mother already knew Zhou Wenhai was ambitious and would eventually bring disaster upon himself.”

“And she was killed by him after he discovered she knew his secret!”

As she spoke, her hatred deepened.

“Zhou Wenhai had already favored concubines over his wife during my mother’s lifetime, allowing his concubine-born sons and daughters to bully me, the legitimate daughter!”

“He treated me like a pawn, and those concubine-born children like treasures!”

“He is not worthy of being my father! I feel disgusted just carrying his blood!”

Her emotions surged so strongly that she began coughing uncontrollably.

“Don’t worry, we’ll help you!” Su Hewan patted her shoulder to comfort her.

Yu Qing also nodded. “That’s right! You can trust us!”

Zhou Ruoyun immediately said:

“This key and this booklet are the protective talismans my mother left me.”

She handed them over to Su Hewan with a bitter smile.

“There are strange symbols written in this booklet. I’ve studied it for years, but I still can’t understand it.”

Su Hewan took the booklet and casually flipped it open—her pupils suddenly contracted.

This is… an ancient coded cipher?

As a history major, her academic instincts instantly went into overdrive.

This was her specialty!

Shen Jue keenly noticed the light in Su Hewan’s eyes, and the smile on his lips deepened.

His Wanwan… truly was a priceless treasure.

Zhou Ruoyun continued, “As for this key, it opens a hidden compartment in Zhou Wenhai’s study.”

She paused, then enunciated each word:

“That compartment is extremely concealed. Inside it… must be his evidence of crimes.”

Lu Yan’s gaze sharpened. “With this, Zhou Wenhai will have no way to turn things around!”

“Good!”

Su Hewan tightly gripped the booklet and key, her eyes firm as iron.

“Then this play… we’ll start it from the prison!”

The four of them exchanged a look.

The night grew darker.

At the third quarter of the Chou hour.

Within the silent imperial palace, a piercing, panicked scream suddenly erupted!

“Fire!!”

“The prison is on fire!!!”

Gongs and drums rang out violently!

A towering blaze engulfed the prison area, roaring as it devoured everything in its path!

Thick smoke rose straight into the sky, dyeing half of the capital’s night red.

“Quick! Put out the fire!”

The guards scrambled in chaos, rushing toward the flames with buckets of water.

On the high pavilion of Yuyuan Garden—

Shen Jue stood by the railing, gently fanning himself with a folding fan, his dark, sinister eyes reflecting the surging flames.

Lu Yan crossed his arms, leaning against a pillar nearby.

“This fire burns well,” Lu Yan said in a low voice.

Shen Jue let out a soft laugh, his voice eerily charming in the night wind.

“If it doesn’t burn bright enough… how else would that old fox Zhou Wenhai believe his daughter has already turned to ashes?”

Not far away, on a soft couch, Su Hewan was already under candlelight, rapidly deciphering the coded text in the booklet.