AUBTN -Chapter 290 The Foundation of Personal Rule

Su Hewan carefully wiped the corner of the young emperor’s mouth with a silk handkerchief before properly tucking the empty white porcelain bottle into her sleeve.

She let out a long breath, and the tension in her stiff back finally eased a little.

On the side, Fuhai’s eyes were red. He dropped to his knees with a thud.

“Thank you, Miss Su! Thank you, Miss Su!”

Su Hewan turned and helped him up.

“No need to thank me,” she said softly, her tone firm and certain.

“As long as we wait another seven days for the antidote to be fully absorbed, His Majesty will wake up.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Qing clasped her hands tightly in front of her chest and began fervently praying.

“Amitabha! Jade Emperor, Guanyin Bodhisattva—please bless us! This little ancestor must wake up on time!”

Shen Jue and Lu Yan keenly caught the faint movements and disturbances from the outer hall.

“This is not a place to stay long. Let’s go,” Shen Jue lowered his voice and issued a cold command.

Lu Yan didn’t waste a single word. He had already grabbed Yu Qing by the shoulder.

The four shadows once again shot out of the sleeping palace like ghosts, silently blending into the impenetrable night.

Only after they had completely vaulted over the palace wall did Yu Qing finally pat her chest hard.

“That was way too exciting!”

She panted, her tightly stretched nerves finally relaxing.

Then Yu Qing’s gossip-filled and frustrated heart could no longer hold back.

She rushed over to Su Hewan and hooked her arm.

“Wanwan, I still don’t get it!”

Her brows twisted into a knot that couldn’t be undone.

“Now that we already have the evidence, any single charge from that account book is enough to sentence Zhou Wenhai to death a hundred times over!”

“Why don’t we just hand the account book directly to the Empress Dowager?”

The more Yu Qing spoke, the more flawless her idea seemed.

“Think about it—the Empress Dowager is already trying to eliminate the Zhou family, right?”

“With such a huge merit delivered to her, she’ll definitely be overjoyed!”

“She’ll reward us heavily, and the Zhou family will be destroyed immediately. That’s killing two birds with one stone!”

Su Hewan lifted her head and looked at the crescent moon hanging coldly in the night sky.

Hearing Yu Qing’s naive words, she couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.

Just as she was about to explain, two low voices suddenly rang out at the same time, echoing through the night.

“Because the Empress Dowager is not the Emperor.”

Shen Jue toyed with the exquisitely carved folding fan in his hand, his eyes full of gloom and mockery.

“Because what we want is the restoration of imperial authority.”

Lu Yan rested one hand on the hilt of his embroidered sabre, his cold expression unwavering under the moonlight.

Not a single word of his was open to doubt.

The moment their words fell, Shen Jue glanced sideways slightly.

Lu Yan, on the other hand, stared straight ahead expressionlessly, not even sparing a glance at that “damned eunuch.”

Although the two of them disliked each other immensely, when it came to matters of court and state, their sensitivity to the political situation was strikingly aligned.

Su Hewan looked at the two men, the smile on her lips deepening.

She turned and gently patted Yu Qing’s hand, calmly adding an explanation for the two awkward men.

“They’re both right.”

“Qingqing, you’re thinking about court struggles too simply.”

Su Hewan’s gaze was clear and piercing.

“Right now, the Empress Dowager holds great power. Her faction and influence are already deeply rooted in the court of Great Wei, like an old tree with tangled roots.”

“If we really hand over this enormous merit to her…”

She paused, her tone turning incomparably grave and sharp.

“It would be the same as personally placing the sharpest blade into her hands.”

“By using the overwhelming momentum of eliminating Zhou Wenhai, she can sit even more legitimately behind the beaded curtain and completely hollow out imperial authority!”

With every sentence Su Hewan spoke, Yu Qing’s eyes widened further in growing fear.

“And by then, even if His Majesty wakes up, he’ll still just be an empty figurehead!”

In truth, she also understood what they were thinking.

Once the young emperor gained real power, their dream of living in seclusion would no longer just be a dream.

Su Hewan sighed and continued.

“So, this credit must absolutely not go to the Empress Dowager.”

“What we need to do is turn this ironclad evidence into the very first cornerstone on the path of the young emperor’s consolidation of power.”

“Only if the emperor personally executes Zhou Wenhai, that treasonous minister, can he truly intimidate the court officials!”

After hearing this layered and incisive analysis, Yu Qing suddenly understood everything.

“Oh my god! So political struggles are all deep traps!”

“I feel like if I didn’t have you, I wouldn’t even survive the first episode!”

Su Hewan couldn’t help but laugh.

But then Yu Qing seemed to remember something, pouting in indignation.

“Fine, I get the logic, but…”

She kicked a small stone off the roadside, her tone full of resentment.

“But that little kid… is he really worth us working ourselves to exhaustion like this to help him?”

She pointed at Lu Yan and Shen Jue walking ahead.

“Did you forget, Wanwan? That little emperor used to be suspicious of both Lu Yan and the Imperial Censor Shen!”

“He always thought they had ulterior motives, guarding against them like they were thieves!”

“And now? He’s lying in bed barely alive, while we’re the ones out here risking everything to pave his path!”

“Just thinking about it feels suffocating. It’s honestly infuriating!”

The more Yu Qing spoke, the angrier she became, her cheeks puffing up like an irritated pufferfish.

In her eyes, that little emperor who constantly put on airs of authority was nothing more than an ungrateful brat.

Su Hewan shook her head helplessly.

She stepped forward and took Yu Qing’s hand, which had been flailing in the air in agitation.

The two walked side by side along the quiet street.

“Qingqing, throughout history, which emperor has ever been free of suspicion?”

Su Hewan’s voice was gentle, yet carried a chilling clarity forged from understanding the weight of history.

“Paranoia is something carved into their bones. It is also the very thing that keeps them seated on the dragon throne.”

In her mind flashed the blood-soaked records of history—brothers killing brothers, fathers killing sons for the sake of power—and her gaze deepened.

“Besides, our little emperor’s situation is far more precarious than you think.”

“The previous emperor died too suddenly. He ascended the throne young, with a weak foundation.”

“The moment he took the seat, he was already forced through two palace coups—one from Prince Ning, and another from the Princess Royal.”

A faint trace of pity flickered in Su Hewan’s eyes.

“Those two incidents caused his authority to plummet.”

“Right now, he’s like a small beast backed into a cliff’s edge, terrified and battered.”

“He doesn’t know who genuinely protects him, and who is simply waiting to tear him apart.”

“So he keeps his spikes raised toward everyone, using suspicion and defense to hide his overwhelming fear.”

Su Hewan’s gaze drifted once more toward the depths of the imperial palace.

“We help him not because he treated us well before.”

“But because legitimacy is the rule of this world.”

“He is the rightful future of the Great Wei.”

“As long as the orthodoxy stands, the realm will not fall into chaos, and the common people will suffer less from the flames of war.”

These words made both Shen Jue and Lu Yan, walking ahead, visibly tremble in shock.