AUBTN -Chapter 324 The Strange Death of the Prince of Zhennan

On the bed, Yu Qing clung tightly to a brocade quilt like an octopus.

Her whole body was wrapped up into a giant cocoon, with only a fluffy little head sticking out.

Her eyes were shut tight, her brows knitted into a deep frown as she muttered protests under her breath.

Although the osmanthus wine she drank last night had a low alcohol content, its aftereffects were absurdly strong. For someone like her—who in the modern world claimed she got drunk after a single cup, and in ancient times was practically combat power trash when it came to alcohol—it was utterly devastating.

【My head hurts so bad… Why is ancient alcohol so insanely strong?! Someone save me. I want an iced Americano so badly! I want McDonald’s hangover recovery meal! Damn that Lu Yan, why didn’t he stop me last night?!】

A series of steady, powerful footsteps stopped beside the bed.

“You may leave first,” Lu Yan said to the maidservant Puyu.

His cold, stern face was filled with helpless indulgence.

In his hands, he steadily carried a rosewood tray.

On the tray sat a bowl of porridge and a bowl of hangover soup that emitted a faint medicinal fragrance.

Listening to the energetic and endlessly creative complaints echoing in his mind, a trace of amusement flashed through Lu Yan’s eyes.

“Get up. Drink the hangover soup before you go back to sleep.”

Placing the tray on the bedside table, Lu Yan reached out his long, well-defined fingers and unceremoniously pinched Yu Qing’s nose, which was sticking out from the quilt.

“Hey! I’m suffocating!”

Yu Qing abruptly opened her eyes and smacked his hand away indignantly.

The moment she looked up, she met Lu Yan’s devastatingly handsome face.

She froze for three seconds as her brain rapidly booted up.

“Owww… my head hurts so much…”

The Yu Qing who had just been like a fierce tigress instantly wilted like all her strength had been drained away, collapsing weakly back onto the pillow.

She looked pitifully at Lu Yan, her voice so sweet and soft it practically dripped with water.

“Commander Lu… I got drunk last night, and now I don’t have any strength left at all. I can’t even lift my hands anymore…”

“Oh? You can’t lift your hands anymore?”

Lu Yan didn’t expose her act. Instead, he played along and sat down on the edge of the bed.

He picked up the bowl of porridge, gently stirred it with a white porcelain spoon, scooped up a spoonful, blew on it carefully to cool it down, and then brought it to Yu Qing’s lips.

“Open your mouth.”

His voice was low and deep, yet wrapped in endless tenderness.

Yu Qing was stunned by the domineering spoon-feeding routine.

【Damn! That’s cheating! Who could possibly withstand this?! The cold-faced god of death turning into a loyal husband material puppy—this gap moe is literally killing me!】

Inside, she was screaming like a groundhog, but outwardly she still maintained her delicate, helpless act and obediently opened her mouth.

One fed, the other ate. Their gazes occasionally met, and the air itself seemed filled with pink bubbles.

“Lu Yan, can you feed me every day from now on?” Yu Qing blinked shamelessly after swallowing a mouthful of porridge.

“Alright.” Lu Yan agreed without the slightest hesitation, using a handkerchief to wipe the crumbs from the corner of her mouth. “As long as you don’t run away, I can feed you for the rest of your life.”

Yu Qing’s heartbeat skipped.

Two blushes instantly rose onto her cheeks.

【How is this blockhead suddenly so good at flirting after finally opening up…】

However, the rare sweet and peaceful moment shared by the four of them did not last long.

Close to noon, someone suddenly arrived from the palace!

At this moment, the doors to the main hall stood wide open.

Jinyiwei Vice Commander Chang Lin and Eastern Depot Punishment Officer Zhao Zhou—these two second-in-command figures who normally strutted sideways through the capital and couldn’t stand each other—were astonishingly standing shoulder to shoulder for once.

And both of their expressions were unbelievably grim.

Behind them, a palace eunuch was still kneeling on the floor.

“What did you say? The Prince of Zhennan is dead?” Shen Jue’s expression darkened even further.

“What exactly happened?” Lu Yan hurried over and strode into the main hall, his tone sharp and icy.

The kneeling eunuch immediately slammed his forehead against the floor. His shrill voice trembled with uncontrollable panic and terror.

“Replying to Prince Jin—Prince Zhennan… last night during the Yin hour, he was discovered in his study… assassinated!”

Outside the door, Su Hewan and Yu Qing, who had been secretly eavesdropping, exchanged stunned looks.

“What?” Even Lu Yan sounded utterly disbelieving.

Yu Qing directly barged inside.

“He’s dead? The Prince of Zhennan, who commands a hundred thousand elite troops, just died like that? In the capital? Inside his own manor? Are you sure there isn’t some mistake?”

Su Hewan followed closely behind her.

But this was not the moment for them to interrupt. She quickly pulled Yu Qing aside.

Lu Yan’s expression tightened instantly.

“Assassinated? The prince’s manor was heavily guarded, and Prince Zhennan himself came from a military background with exceptional martial skills. What kind of person could kill him without alerting anyone?”

The eunuch swallowed hard and answered in a trembling voice:

“Replying… replying to Prince Jin. The manner of death was extremely strange. When this servant followed the others to the scene, the study’s doors and windows were all firmly locked from the inside, with no signs of forced entry whatsoever. Everything inside the room was perfectly orderly. There wasn’t the slightest trace of struggle.”

“Prince Zhennan had his throat slit from behind with a single strike. Instant death. But the expression on his face… wasn’t fear. It was shock.”

A deathly silence fell over the hall.

【A locked-room murder? A single slash across the throat from behind? No signs of struggle?】

Su Hewan’s brows knitted tightly together.

【Impossible. Xiao Zhengnan was a veteran battlefield commander with extremely sharp instincts. Even a top-tier expert would find it nearly impossible to approach him from behind without being noticed. Unless… the killer was someone he trusted deeply, someone familiar enough that he lowered his guard.】

Shen Jue’s thoughts were nearly identical to Su Hewan’s.

“What about the tiger tally? Is it missing?” Su Hewan suddenly interjected.

The eunuch looked toward her and stammered:

“Princess Consort… your foresight is incredible. The tiger tally has indeed… vanished without a trace.”

Lu Yan slammed his palm heavily onto the small table made of red sandalwood.

“Who would dare commit murder beneath the Emperor’s very nose?! And not just anyone—but a pillar of the court! And even steal the military tally!”

Shen Jue let out a cold laugh and rose to his feet.

“Yesterday, His Majesty secretly ordered the Eastern Depot and the Imperial Guard to work together in secretly pressuring Xiao Zhengnan into surrendering his military authority. And today, that old fox has his throat slit.”

He paused briefly.

“By now, the entire court probably believes we joined forces to eliminate him for the Emperor’s sake and seize his power by any means necessary.”

The little eunuch was originally one of Shen Jue’s men, so he immediately replied:

“Replying to the Regent Prince, that is indeed the case. This servant hurried here precisely because of that. Early this morning, the Princess Consort of Zhennan brought people into the palace and caused a huge scene, demanding that His Majesty give the Zhennan Manor an explanation and severely punish both you and Prince Jin!”

Only then did Yu Qing fully realize the gravity of the situation.

“Damn! They’re throwing this dirty accusation at us way too fast and way too viciously!”

“If we end up taking the blame, and the hundred thousand troops in the southern frontier mutiny and march on the capital, the four of us will become the Emperor’s sacrificial lambs to appease public outrage! Even execution by slow slicing would be considered merciful!”

“It’s not just about taking the blame.”

Su Hewan took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm.

“Historically, whenever deaths occur during power-stripping or suppression of feudal lords, there’s always a far bigger scheme hidden underneath. The tiger tally isn’t in our hands, which means whoever holds it now will become the ultimate beneficiary of this chaos.”

She turned toward the eunuch.

“What did the Emperor say?”

“His Majesty is furious. He has already ordered both princes to solve the case and recover the tiger tally within seven days. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise, our heads will be used to pay tribute to Prince Zhennan’s spirit in the afterlife?” Lu Yan coldly finished the sentence for him.

The moment his words fell, another eunuch arrived bearing an imperial decree, summoning Shen Jue and Lu Yan to enter the palace immediately.