AUBTN -Chapter 306 With Power and Influence

Her little calculations in her mind were already rattling away like popping firecrackers.

【Oh my god! What kind of insane luck is this?!】

【I originally thought I just latched onto a Jin Yiwei bodyguard boss and that surviving was already the best outcome!】

【And now I’ve actually been promoted?!】

【Doesn’t that mean I’m… a princess consort now?】

【Total easy win! A complete life cheat code! From now on, who in the entire capital would dare give me a cold face?】

【Won’t I be walking around the streets with eight maids and four old matrons, strutting sideways through the capital?】

Listening to the noisy, excited thoughts in her head—so excited she looked like she might faint from it—Lu Yancheng’s lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

What on earth was this woman’s brain full of all day long? These random words and strange expressions…

Seeing that Yu Qing was still gleefully imagining her future life, Lu Yancheng finally couldn’t hold back anymore.

He reached out and grabbed her slender wrist.

“Ah!”

Yu Qing let out a startled cry, only feeling the world spin.

The next second, she had already been firmly pulled into a broad, hard chest.

Lu Yancheng shifted her directly onto his lap.

“Stop spinning.”

He kept a straight face, deliberately putting on a fierce expression.

“If you keep spinning like that, you’re going to make my head spin too.”

Yu Qing lay against his chest, her face instantly turning bright red.

【Oh my god, what is this sudden surge of hormones?!】

【Is Iceblock Lu finally opening up? He’s learned domineering CEO forced-love moves?!】

【It’s over, it’s over—who can resist this?!】

Lu Yancheng heard those outrageous thoughts and his throat rolled heavily.

Helpless, he tightened his arms slightly, one large hand gently pressing against the back of her head, and warned in a low voice:

“If you keep thinking nonsense, I’ll deal with you right now.”

Yu Qing immediately turned into a kitten by the scruff of its neck, obediently shrinking into his embrace and not daring to move anymore.

Across from them, Su Hewan couldn’t help but chuckle as she watched this pair of happy enemies.

She lifted the white jade wine cup in front of her and smiled at Shen Jue and Lu Yancheng.

“Congratulations to both of you on your promotion!”

Shen Jue and Lu Yancheng exchanged a glance, then raised their cups in tacit understanding and drank together.

“Then thank you, Princess Consort of the Regent,” Lu Yancheng couldn’t help teasing.

Su Hewan couldn’t help but laugh.

Then she turned her gaze smilingly toward Shen Jue.

“What about you?”

Shen Jue keenly noticed her gaze and raised an eyebrow slightly.

His long phoenix eyes shimmered with a seductive light, as he looked at her with a half-smile.

“Princess Consort, are you captivated by me?”

He deliberately emphasized the words “Princess Consort.”

Su Hewan’s expression remained unchanged, only the corner of her lips lifting into a faint smile.

“Your Highness the Regent is joking.”

She met Shen Jue’s gaze half-playfully, half-seriously.

“I was just thinking—now that Your Highness truly holds power beneath one person and above ten thousand…”

Her slender fingers tapped lightly on the table twice.

“Then our women’s merchant association…”

“From now on, can we walk sideways in the capital… or even across the entire Great Wei Empire?”

The smile at the corner of Shen Jue’s lips deepened.

Suddenly, he reached out.

Casually and naturally, he pinched Su Hewan’s fair, soft cheek.

He didn’t use force—just a light, teasing stroke.

“Walk sideways?”

He chuckled softly, the sound vibrating from his chest with a hint of arrogance and indulgence.

Then he leaned forward abruptly, closing the distance between them.

That face, capable of toppling nations, instantly enlarged in Su Hewan’s vision.

Their breathing nearly intertwined.

In his eyes at this moment, there was only her reflection.

It was filled with an affection so deep it seemed impossible to dissolve.

“Wanwan.”

He called her name in a low voice, his tone carrying a deadly kind of temptation.

“A mere merchant guild—what does it even count for?”

He withdrew his hand and, in the same motion, took hold of Su Hewan’s hand resting on the table.

Their fingers interlocked.

“As long as you want it.”

Shen Jue’s gaze burned intensely as he spoke each word with weight and certainty.

“I can place the entire Great Wei before you.”

“Would that be enough for you to walk sideways through the world?”

These domineering, almost outrageous words of affection struck like a thunderclap, sending ripple after ripple through Su Hewan’s heart.

Her heartbeat skipped uncontrollably.

【This demon… it’s one thing to look this good, but how can even his sweet talk be this lethal?】

【Offering me the entire Great Wei as a pathway? Isn’t that basically like the ancient tales of a tyrant ruining a nation for a beauty?】

【Calm down, Su Hewan, calm down! You’re a highly educated modern woman. You absolutely cannot be corroded by capitalist sugar-coated bullets!】

She was mentally struggling to steady herself.

But the faint blush on her cheeks had already betrayed her panic.

She coughed lightly, pretending to be composed, trying to pull her hand away.

“Watch your words. If this gets out, those censorial officials will probably go and smash their heads against pillars again.”

But Shen Jue only tightened his grip, not allowing even half a chance for her to retreat.

“Let them smash, then.”

He gave a cold snort, disdain and arrogance flashing in his eyes.

“There are plenty of pillars in Great Wei. If they like it, I can have them wrapped in gold foil so they can enjoy themselves thoroughly.”

“You really are someone who fears nothing but chaos,” Su Hewan said helplessly, shaking her head, though a smile filled her eyes.

The two of them continued bickering without caring about anyone else around them.

With their new status, this kind of everyday banter no longer felt distant or restrained—instead, it carried an added ease and charm belonging to those in power.

“Oh my, oh my! This is too sour!”

Yu Qing, who was being held in Lu Yan’s arms, finally found a chance to speak.

She exaggeratedly rubbed her arms, making a face as if overwhelmed by sweetness.

“Your Highness the Regent—no, Regent Prince—this is way too cheesy!”

“Giving her the entire Great Wei? That’s such an old cliché from romance novels decades ago!”

She continued her merciless teasing.

“Wanwan, don’t be fooled! A man’s mouth is a liar’s ghost!”

“One second he’s promising you the world, the next he might just let you take the blame for everything!”

At that, Shen Jue shot her a cold, dagger-like glance.

Yu Qing shrank her neck in fright and quickly buried her face into Lu Yan’s chest, pretending to be dead.

Lu Yan sighed helplessly and pressed a large hand on the back of her head, forcing her fully into his embrace.

Then he raised his head, meeting Shen Jue’s gaze mid-air.

One was as cold as frost, the other as fierce as blazing fire.

Although both were now high-ranking ministers on the same side, the natural hostility between them as former rivals had not diminished in the slightest.

“Control your woman,” Shen Jue said slowly, lifting his wine cup and taking a leisurely sip, eyes full of provocation.

“My woman doesn’t need your concern,” Lu Yan replied coldly and firmly.

“You should worry about whether tomorrow in court, those censors will drown you in their spit.”

“Likewise!” Shen Jue laughed, his smile almost bloodthirsty.

Looking at these two men—once terrifying figures who commanded storms in the outside world—now acting like childish boys at a dinner table, exchanging threats just to defend their women…

Su Hewan and Yu Qing exchanged a glance and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

The night wind grew deeper.

The fragrance of osmanthus in the Yu Garden became even more intoxicating.

In this capital city, where storms were brewing and bloodshed loomed…

This small courtyard felt like a rare pocket of warmth and sweetness.

The road ahead was destined to be filled with blades and shadows, each step dangerous.

But at least, for now—

They had power.

They had influence.

And they had each other.