AUBTN -Chapter 296 Confession – Poison Activation

Shen Jue forced the corners of his lips upward, trying to form that usual careless, easy smile.

But his lips were faintly bluish, making that smile look a hundred times worse than crying.

“Madam, staring at me like that so fiercely… your husband is truly quite frightened.”

He was still trying to joke his way through it.

Su Hewan didn’t back down at all. Her voice was icy, like shards of freezing glass. “Shen Jue, what’s wrong with your lips? Don’t tell me you just caught a chill last night!”

Lu Yan looked at Yu Qing, and the iron wall in his heart finally collapsed completely.

He closed his eyes and let out a long, heavy sigh.

“Forget it… we can’t hide it anymore.”

His voice was hoarse as he spoke, his tall frame seeming to lose all defenses in an instant.

“You two… don’t be afraid.”

He forced out those four words with great difficulty, his gaze sweeping across Yu Qing and Su Hewan.

“We have something… to confess.”

Shen Jue suddenly turned his head to look at Lu Yan, his eyes sharp—like he wanted to stop him.

But Lu Yan only shook his head.

“Shen Jue, they’re not delicate flowers kept in a greenhouse. They have the right to know the truth.”

The light in Shen Jue’s eyes flickered a few times before dimming completely. He lowered his gaze in silence.

“The Empress Dowager… gave us poison. It activates once every month. Tomorrow is the final day!”

Lu Yan’s voice was very soft.

Su Hewan only felt her mind go “buzz”—everything before her instantly went black for a moment.

Yu Qing, even more so, felt her blood freeze in an instant.

“She’s insane?!”

Yu Qing screamed out loud. “You’re the Eastern Depot’s Chief and the Jinyiwei Commander! How could she dare?!”

“Are you idiots?! Why did you even drink it?!” Yu Qing roared.

Lu Yan gave a bitter smile, deep gloom gathering between his brows.

“Because… we had no choice!” Shen Jue said softly, finally speaking while looking at the silent Su Hewan.

Lu Yan’s gaze slowly turned toward Su Hewan as well, extremely complicated.

At that moment, Su Hewan understood everything.

She held down the furious Yu Qing and said hoarsely, “It’s because of my identity, isn’t it?”

Yu Qing also froze, then slowly realized it too.

“Heh… so that’s it! That old witch is truly despicable!”

Lu Yan nodded.

“Yes. The Empress Dowager used this to threaten us. If we didn’t drink the poison… if we didn’t become her blade to kill for her…”

He took a deep breath.

“She would announce to the world that remnants of former rebels were hiding in the palace, plotting rebellion.”

“And she would have you all… executed by a thousand cuts.”

“Waaah—!”

The moment those words fell, Yu Qing could no longer hold back. She burst into loud, heart-wrenching sobs like a wronged child.

Tears fell like broken beads.

And then, in the next second—

She suddenly rushed forward like an enraged lion.

Yu Qing used all her strength to pound her fists against Lu Yan’s chest, again and again.

“So because the Empress Dowager used us to threaten you, you just agreed?!”

“Are you idiots?!”

“Lu Yan, you big idiot! You fool!! Sob…”

She cursed while crying and punching him wildly.

“If you die, what am I supposed to do? You want me to become a widow, you bastard?!”

Lu Yan let out a muffled groan as the poison inside his body was affected, his face turning even paler.

But he didn’t even frown.

Instead, he opened his arms and pulled the raging Yu Qing tightly into his embrace.

“I’m sorry, Qingqing… I’m sorry…”

He rested his chin on her hair, his voice breaking.

“I would rather die myself than let you suffer even the slightest harm.”

On the other side.

Su Hewan fell into an eerie silence.

Her cold eyes churned with self-reproach and rage, as if they were about to swallow her remaining reason whole.

Her entire body trembled uncontrollably.

So that’s how it was…

Everything finally made sense.

No wonder they had obtained the “immunity token” so easily before.

She had already found it strange—how could the Empress Dowager have let her off so easily and stopped investigating her identity?

It turned out… these two men had traded their lives for it.

No wonder they had been so constrained. No wonder Shen Jue had been so frantic and despairing last night.

【It was me…】

【It turns out the mess left behind by the original owner of this body became the rope the Empress Dowager used to strangle them.】

Su Hewan bit her lower lip hard.

“So…”

When she finally spoke, her voice was already shattered beyond recognition.

“In the end… it was my identity that dragged you all down.”

She slowly took a step back. Hatred, anger, and pain tangled together inside her, making it impossible to face Shen Jue’s overwhelming love.

“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had to endure this humiliation of being controlled by others!”

“It’s me who harmed you… I harmed you, Shen Jue…”

Seeing her expression—like her heart had already died, shouldering all the blame onto herself—Shen Jue felt his heart tear apart in agony.

Even more painful than the poison in his body was the look in her eyes right now.

“Wanwan, it’s not like that!” Shen Jue suddenly growled.

Ignoring her struggle, he pulled her straight into his arms!

“Don’t you dare say that about yourself!”

His rough fingers pressed against the back of her head, gently soothing her trembling body again and again.

“It has nothing to do with you, Wanwan. Listen to me—this has absolutely nothing to do with you!”

He lowered his head slightly, resting his chin against her forehead.

“Even without your identity as the trigger, given my and Lu Yan’s current positions in court…”

Shen Jue let out a cold laugh, a flash of ruthless killing intent appearing in his eyes.

“Merit that overshadows the ruler… power that shakes the court.”

“We were already thorns in the Empress Dowager’s side—flesh she wanted to rip out.”

He lifted Su Hewan’s tear-stained face, forcing her to look into his eyes.

Those dark, oppressive eyes now held only deep affection and unyielding resolve.

“The Empress Dowager wants us dead. She has ten thousand reasons to do so.”

“Your identity? That was just the most convenient, most vicious excuse she could find.”

Shen Jue lowered his head and gently kissed away the moisture at the corner of her eye.

“Wanwan, this is not your fault.”

“You are my wife—the only person I care about in this world.”

“If I can’t even protect you… then what use is it for me to possess this entire world?”

Hearing his heartfelt confession, Su Hewan’s tears finally broke free like a flood.

She grasped Shen Jue’s hand tightly.

“No matter what happens in the future… I’ll stay with you!”

Shen Jue tightened his hold on her even more.

“Alright.”

The word had barely fallen when his body suddenly swayed.

A mouthful of blood erupted violently from his mouth without warning, splattering across Su Hewan’s pure white dress.

“Shen Jue!”

Su Hewan’s pupils shrank violently as she let out a piercing scream.

She caught the man as he instantly went limp in her arms, her mind going completely blank.

Almost at the same moment, Lu Yan on the side let out a muffled groan.

His arms, which had been tightly holding Yu Qing, suddenly loosened. His entire body fell like a collapsing iron tower, one knee crashing heavily onto the stone floor.

“Lu Yan! Lu Yan, don’t scare me!”