AUBTN -Chapter 344 Shen Jue Has Lu Yan Wrapped Around His Finger

“Shen Jue,” Lu Yan said while staring ahead, his voice especially cold in the night wind.

“This matter is no small issue. I don’t care what schemes you have for the imperial court, but during this Longevity Celebration, you’d better put away all those shady thoughts of yours. His Majesty’s safety comes above everything else.”

Hearing this, Shen Jue not only failed to get angry, but instead let out a soft chuckle.

He turned his head slightly. Moonlight outlined his perfect profile, yet his tone carried unmistakable disappointment. “I thought that after everything we’ve been through, Brother Lu already regarded me as someone trustworthy enough to watch his back. I never expected that you would still doubt my intentions.”

Lu Yan was instantly rendered speechless, an inexplicable sense of guilt rising in his heart.

He had never been good with words, much less comforting another grown man.

He quickened his pace to catch up, walking shoulder to shoulder with Shen Jue as he stiffly explained, “That’s not what I meant!”

“What I mean is… for now, you should focus all your attention on His Majesty’s safety first!”

Yet after hearing this, Shen Jue did not respond directly. He merely sighed faintly, gazing toward the shadow of the palace walls in the distance, his voice low and lonely.

“I understand now. In your heart, I can never compare to His Majesty.”

W-What kind of logic is that?!

Lu Yan felt a lump stuck in his chest, nearly choking on his own saliva.

Looking at Shen Jue’s pitiful expression, he finally realized he was being toyed with. Furious, he barked in a low voice, “You fox! I never knew you could be this petty!”

“Of course,” Shen Jue replied as he turned back around, the corners of his lips carrying the faintest smile.

But his eyes were full of sly triumph.

“How could I possibly be as magnanimous as His Majesty?”

Lu Yan was left speechless once again.

Defeated, he scratched his head, feeling that arguing with this fox was more exhausting than cutting down a hundred enemies on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Shen Jue, walking ahead, could no longer hide the smile at his lips and secretly laughed to himself.

He understood Lu Yan far too well. This man had a hard mouth but a soft heart. As long as Shen Jue acted even slightly vulnerable, he could manipulate him completely.

And so, with one pretending to be aggrieved in front and the other too irritated to speak behind him, the two bickered all the way into the depths of the imperial palace.

Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the mist of dragon-saliva incense slowly curled upward from a gilded bronze censer.

The eunuch on night duty, Eunuch Wang, was leaning against a dragon pillar dozing when he suddenly heard hurried, completely unrestrained footsteps outside the hall. Startled awake, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

He had just been about to scold whoever it was when he saw the two terrifying figures arriving together.

The murderous aura surrounding them frightened him so badly he nearly bit his tongue.

“Th-this servant greets—”

“No need for formalities. Announce us immediately. We have military intelligence of the utmost urgency for His Majesty!” Lu Yan urgently ordered Eunuch Wang.

Moments later, the curtains around the imperial bed were drawn aside.

The young emperor, now nominally fifteen years old, sat behind the imperial desk wearing a bright yellow robe, still groggy with sleep.

“Minister Shen, Minister Lu, what matter brings you into the palace so late at night?” The young emperor rubbed his brow, his voice still hoarse with drowsiness.

Shen Jue stepped forward and respectfully presented the bloodstained half-letter with both hands.

“Your Majesty, an urgent report has arrived from the Western Regions. During the Longevity Celebration, the foreign delegations’ tribute mission is outwardly a ceremony of congratulations… but in truth, it is an assassination plot against the emperor.”

A Ding kiln white porcelain teacup beside the young emperor’s hand was accidentally knocked to the floor, shattering into pieces.

The boy’s pupils contracted sharply as he stared at the shocking dark-red bloodstains on the secret letter.

“Assassinate the emperor…” he murmured, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

After all, he was still a boy raised deep within the palace. Even though he had studied the arts of rulership, his instinctive fear could not be concealed.

Seeing this, Lu Yan immediately dropped to one knee, his voice as steady as a mountain.

“Your Majesty, do not panic! In this minister’s opinion, since the enemy hides in darkness while we stand in the open, for the sake of Your Majesty’s safety, the Longevity Celebration should be canceled at once! Alternatively, on the day of the ceremony, a secret guard with a similar build can attend in Your Majesty’s place while Your Majesty remains hidden in a secure chamber. The Imperial Guard is willing to protect Your Majesty with our lives!”

“Impossible.” Shen Jue also knelt down.

“Representatives from all nations coming to pay tribute is a grand ceremony meant to display the might of Great Wei. If we cancel the celebration—or if His Majesty hides away and sends out a substitute—just because of one unverified secret report, then once word spreads, the thirty-six Western Regions kingdoms will surely think Great Wei is weak and our Emperor cowardly! And when that happens, the borders will fall into unrest, and war will inevitably break out!”

“Shen Jue! Have you lost your mind?” Lu Yan suddenly turned and glared at him furiously.

“You want to gamble with His Majesty’s life?”

“This minister is not gambling. I am merely stating the pros and cons!” Shen Jue refused to yield even a single step, his gaze as sharp as blades.

Just as the two powerful officials stood locked in confrontation, tension thick enough to ignite at any moment—

“Enough.”

Shen Jue and Lu Yan both froze and looked toward the young Emperor behind the imperial desk.

The boy slowly rose to his feet, the fear and panic in his eyes already completely gone.

“Minister Shen is right.” The young Emperor’s voice was steady. Though youthful, every word carried weight.

“The Great Wei Empire was forged on horseback by our ancestors. Though I am young, I still understand that an Emperor must stand guard over his nation. If I hide away today, the foreign kingdoms will only look down upon Great Wei!”

Lu Yan’s heart shook. “Your Majesty, a gentleman does not stand beneath a collapsing wall! Assassins are impossible to guard against completely. If anything happens to you—”

“My decision is final!”

The young Emperor abruptly swept his sleeve and stared brightly at the two ministers before him, speaking each word with absolute clarity.

“I am willing to use myself as bait!”

The moment those words fell, even Shen Jue—who was always inscrutable and cold toward the world—could not hide the flash of shock and admiration in his eyes.

The young Emperor straightened his back.

“Since they are so determined to take my life, then I shall openly wait for them in the main hall during the Longevity Festival! As for my safety, I leave it in the hands of my two beloved ministers!”

“I want the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions to know that Great Wei is not something anyone can covet!”

Looking at the young ruler who seemed to have grown up overnight, a surge of hot blood suddenly rose within Lu Yan’s chest.

He heavily kowtowed.

“This minister, Lu Yan, accepts the decree!”

The corners of Shen Jue’s lips curved upward as he too bowed to the ground.

“This minister, Shen Jue, will ensure those assassins never return once they come.”

With the decision made to use the Emperor himself as bait, what remained was strategy.

The three of them spread out a detailed map of the Forbidden City atop the imperial desk.

“Open attacks are easy to evade. Hidden arrows are the real danger.” Lu Yan pointed toward the outer court area on the map and spoke gravely.

“On the day of the Longevity Festival, both the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Imperial Guards will be fully deployed. From Meridian Gate to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, we will establish three defensive lines. No envoy entering the palace may carry any metal weapons. All tribute items—rare treasures, live animals, incense, spices—will be dismantled and thoroughly inspected outside the palace gates by the finest coroners and craftsmen of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!”

“That still isn’t enough.” Shen Jue’s long fingers tapped the center of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

“If the envoy groups dare to act, then they certainly won’t rely on crude methods that can be discovered so easily. The key to the assassination attempt will definitely lie with people.”

The young Emperor frowned. “Then what does Minister Shen propose?”

A sinister gleam flashed through Shen Jue’s eyes.

“Lord Lu’s Embroidered Uniform Guard will form the iron wall in plain sight. Then this minister’s Eastern Depot shall become the shadow hidden in darkness. Starting tomorrow, the Eastern Depot’s agents and shadow guards will break apart into smaller groups and infiltrate separately.”

His finger slowly traced across the map.

“The palace maids pouring wine in the hall, the musicians playing outside, the young eunuchs serving dishes—even the lowly laborers… all of them will be replaced with Eastern Depot experts.”

One force in the light. One force in the dark.

One outside. One inside.

At this moment, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot fit together perfectly.

Looking at the airtight defense plan before him, the young Emperor finally loosened his tightly clenched fists.

“Good!” He looked deeply at the two men.

“My life—and Great Wei’s honor—I entrust entirely to my two beloved ministers!”

The night was fading, and dawn was approaching.

By the time Lu Yan and Shen Jue stepped out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the eastern horizon had already begun to glow pale white.

A cold wind swept past as the two exchanged a glance.

Lu Yan snorted coldly and rehung his embroidered spring saber at his waist.

“Fox Shen, looks like we’ll be working together again this time.”

Shen Jue remained leisurely and composed, his smile dark and dangerous.

“Then let us wish ourselves a pleasant cooperation.”