AUBTN -Chapter 301 A World Where Only the Empress Dowager Gets Hurt

They had originally timed everything perfectly, bringing the newly awakened young emperor to Cining Palace to save the situation—but they never expected to witness such a shocking scene.

Everyone’s steps froze on the spot. The entire hall turned to stone in an instant.

“Th-This… this is utterly improper…”

The young emperor had just woken up, his voice still hoarse.

Shen Jue suddenly turned his head and spotted Su Hewan standing properly at the bottom of the steps.

She was even holding, incredibly steadily, a bronze incense burner bigger than her own head!

A faint trace of amusement flickered through Shen Jue’s dark eyes.

These two girls are truly clever.

Though… their way of stalling things is a bit wild.

Meanwhile, Lu Yan looked at Yu Qing, who was still itching for more, seemingly ready to land a few more punches on the Empress Dowager.

In a single stride, he reached the phoenix couch.

“That’s enough.”

From behind, Lu Yan grabbed Yu Qing firmly by the waist.

With just a bit of force, he half-laughed, half-exasperated, as he lifted his completely battle-crazed little wife off the Empress Dowager’s utterly miserable body.

“Hey! Hey! What are you pulling me for? I can still fight another three hundred rounds!”

With her feet suddenly off the ground, Yu Qing flailed in midair like a furious kitten grabbed by the scruff of its neck, kicking and swiping wildly.

But the moment she turned her head and saw who it was—

“Hu—husband?”

Her voice instantly shifted from the roar of a tigress to the disbelieving squeak of a kitten.

Then, Yu Qing grabbed onto Lu Yan’s arm and eagerly raised the sheet of paper clenched in her hand.

“Look!”

Like she was presenting a treasure, she shoved the crumpled paper right up to his nose.

“I got the prescription! It’s the antidote formula that old witch kept hidden on her!”

“I told you I could do it! As long as I’m here, there’s no way I’d let you and Shen Jue die from poison!”

As she spoke, Yu Qing lifted her chin proudly.

Hmph! Well? Impressed by this young lady’s unparalleled skills?
Lu Iceberg, hurry up and kneel to thank your savior!

Hearing the lively, almost soaring voice in her thoughts, Lu Yan felt as if something heavy had struck his heart.

He didn’t look at the life-saving prescription.

His gaze remained fixed on Yu Qing’s face.

Slowly, his eyes traveled downward—past the loose strands of hair scattered by her cheeks, past the thin scratch on her neck left by fingernails—until they stopped at the large tear in the hem of her dress.

The glaring crimson stains had dyed her originally pale robe red.

Even if the blood wasn’t hers, it still stabbed at Lu Yan’s eyes.

As the feared Commander of the Jinyiwei of Great Li, a man who held the power of life and death in his hands, he should have been the one shielding her beneath his wings, protecting her from all harm.

Yet, in the places he couldn’t see, this little girl—who was usually afraid of pain and death—had actually risked everything, fighting the Empress Dowager with all her might… just to save him.

“Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?”

Yu Qing’s arm, still holding up the prescription, was starting to ache.

Under Lu Yan’s deep gaze—so intense it felt like it could drown her—she grew a little uneasy.

“Is… is it because I look too ugly right now?”

She awkwardly tried to fix her hair, which stuck out like a startled chicken’s feathers.

But just as she lifted her hand halfway—

Lu Yan suddenly pulled her tightly into his arms!

“Mm!”

The sudden embrace made her nose sting from the impact.

Lu Yan held her with immense force, as if he wanted to crush her into his very bones.

“Lu… Lu Yan?”

Yu Qing struggled slightly, almost unable to breathe under his grip.

“Don’t speak.”

Lu Yan pressed his chin tightly against the top of her head, his voice hoarse to an extreme.

Those eyes, usually cold and ruthless, had now shed all their defenses, a faint crimson surfacing within.

Heartache, guilt… and lingering fear.

“From now on, you’re not allowed to do something this dangerous again.”

He ground the words out by her ear, his tone fierce, yet filled with an inescapable tenderness.

“Even if I die, I won’t need you to risk your life for me.”

Yu Qing froze in the man’s embrace. Feeling his violently pounding heartbeat, the grievance and fear she had been holding back finally found an outlet—her eyes reddened uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, Shen Jue had already turned into a blur, darting straight to Su Hewan’s side.

He carefully scanned her from head to toe.

“Are you hurt?”

The slight furrow of his brows betrayed the unrest in his heart.

Calm as ever, Su Hewan placed the bronze incense burner in her hand onto the nearby zitan table.

She dusted off her hands and gave Shen Jue a small shake of her head.

“Relax, I’m fine.”

Only then did Shen Jue’s suspended heart finally settle back into place.

“That’s good.”

As naturally as breathing, he reached out, his well-defined fingers gently brushing away a trace of ash that had fallen onto Su Hewan’s shoulder.

Just as the four of them were quietly indulging in their affection and heartfelt exchanges—

The young emperor, who had finally recovered from his extreme shock, looked at the Empress Dowager still lying on the couch, her life or death uncertain.

He swallowed and timidly broke the strangely warm yet awkward silence.

“Um… my ministers.”

He pointed at the miserable sight on the couch.

“Grandmother… is she about to… stop breathing?”

The moment his question fell—

The Empress Dowager, who had been lying on the phoenix couch with her eyes rolled back, suddenly convulsed.

Where was the dignity of the mother of the nation now? Where her lofty authority?

Hearing her own beloved grandson ask, in such a tone, whether she was about to “breathe her last”—

Overwhelmed by shock and fury, the Empress Dowager couldn’t even form proper words.

“Y-you… all of you…”

She trembled as she raised a finger, pointing at the traitors before her.

But before her hand could rise more than half an inch—

Her eyes rolled back violently, and she fainted completely.

This time, she was truly knocked unconscious—driven to it by this unbearable humiliation and overwhelming terror!

After the group exchanged glances, Shen Jue finally spoke lazily to the palace maids filling the hall:

“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has fainted. Why aren’t you summoning the imperial physicians?”

“Your Majesty!”

“Quick! Call the imperial physicians!”

Only now did the remaining trusted maids and matrons snap out of it. They scrambled forward in panic, crawling and stumbling toward the phoenix couch.

In utter chaos—crying and wailing—they carried the unconscious Empress Dowager away.

As she was taken out, the grand hall of Cining Palace fell into instant silence.

The young emperor stood where he was, silently watching the direction in which the Empress Dowager had disappeared.

Slowly, he turned his head.

His gaze fell upon the scattered dossiers on the floor—and the blood-stained antidote prescription clenched tightly in Yu Qing’s hand.

So this… was the so-called “benevolence” and “assistance” those people spoke of.

Behind the scenes, it was nothing but cannibalistic schemes and blood-soaked filth.

The young emperor took a deep breath. The fear on his youthful face faded away completely.

He walked up to Shen Jue and Lu Yan.

Then—

He bent his noble spine and gave a deep, formal bow to the four of them.

“Your Majesty, you must not!”