AUBTN -Chapter 355 Confirming Identity

In the center of the hall, Xiang Du knelt on a cushion, wearing a loose Eastern Island-style hunting robe.

He bowed deeply, his posture humble to the extreme.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, the Great Wei is vast and rich in resources. This humble minister feels as though bathed in a warm spring breeze here, deeply grateful and moved.”

“Get used to it,” the young emperor said with a smiling wave of his hand.

“Today is a small banquet. We will not discuss state affairs. I have specially ordered a jar of rare fine wine to be brought out for the envoy to taste.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Eunuch Wang entered the side hall, hunched over, carrying a mud-sealed wine jar.

The moment the seal was opened, a strong, rich aroma of alcohol—almost carrying a faint, indistinct hint of blood-like sweetness—instantly filled the entire hall.

Xiang Du, still kneeling on the ground, suddenly twitched his nostrils twice.

In an instant, desire flooded his originally lowered eyes.

It was an instinct buried deep in his blood and bones!

Shen Jue and Lu Yan took in this scene completely.

Across from them, Lu Yan glanced sideways at Shen Jue, who also had an unreadable expression.

The two of them exchanged a rare, tacit nod.

“This wine is called Shaochun, a tribute from the Western Regions. It is extremely strong.”

Shen Jue slowly stood up, personally picking up a white jade wine jug and walking over to Xiang Du.

He slightly bent down and poured a full cup for him.

“Envoy Xiang Du, please.”

Shen Jue’s gaze was deep and fixed tightly on him.

Xiang Du looked at the cup of wine, his throat rolling violently up and down.

But he forced himself to restrain it, putting on an elegant smile again as he raised the cup with both hands.

“This minister thanks Your Majesty for the wine. And thanks to Your Highness.”

With that, he tilted his head back and drank it in one gulp.

The strong liquor burned down his throat!

That familiar, soul-deep spiciness and aroma instantly turned into a raging flame, burning all the way from his throat into his stomach.

His cheeks immediately flushed an abnormal red.

“Good tolerance,” Shen Jue chuckled, without hesitation refilling his cup again.

“Great Wei has always treated guests with courtesy. Good things come in pairs. Envoy Xiang Du, do not reject His Majesty’s kindness.”

Xiang Du was now forced into a corner.

This strong wine was so potent that his rationality began to crack.

But he could not refuse, nor did he dare to refuse.

Half a jar of wine later, Xiang Du’s gaze had already begun to blur.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, his body swaying slightly. Even his deliberately maintained Eastern Island accent had become slurred.

“Is Envoy Xiang Du drunk?”

Shen Jue looked down at him from above, as if observing a trapped prey.

“Not… not drunk!”

Xiang Du suddenly waved his hand, his movements wide and unrestrained, no longer carrying any trace of Eastern Island restraint.

He grabbed the wine jug from the table and staggered to his feet.

The alcohol had completely numbed his nerves, awakening the wildness deep in his bones.

He raised the wine jug high and shouted toward Shen Jue and the young emperor seated above:

“This wine… good! Strong! Much better than those weak, watered-down brews!”

“Come!”

He suddenly slammed the wine jug onto the table and blurted out a Northern Barbarian curse in a thick, rolled accent:

“May the Eternal Life Sky bless us! Drink!”

The entire side hall fell into dead silence—so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“Eternal Life Sky” was a toast unique to the Northern Barbarian royal court.

The moment Xiang Du spoke those words, he himself froze.

The last shred of his rationality forced itself free from the grip of alcohol.

His eyes widened in shock as he looked around.

The young emperor’s smile faded.

Xiang Du stood rigid in place, cold sweat instantly soaking his back. The drunken haze that had been rushing to his head turned into ice water, pouring down over him.

It’s over!

Just as alarm bells rang in his mind and he thought he was about to be executed on the spot—

“Pfft.”

A soft, cold laugh broke the deathly silence.

Shen Jue lazily toyed with a white jade wine cup between his long fingers and glanced at Xiang Du with a half-smile.

“Lord Xiang Du certainly has… a rather distinctive drinking style,” he drawled, his tone carrying three parts mockery and seven parts casual ease. “Anyone unaware might even think that the envoy, while in an Eastern Island dojo, has also come to worship the Northern Barbarian Eternal Life Sky.”

Lu Yan kept his face cold and chimed in with perfect timing:

“The Western-region ‘Shaochun’ liquor is extremely strong. Barbarians from small nations often talk nonsense when drunk and behave improperly before the court. According to law, this should be—”

“Enough, Prince Jing. No state affairs today.”

The young emperor had already returned to an innocent, naïve expression and waved his hand with a smile.

“Envoy Xiang Du is tasting fine wine for the first time and is understandably overwhelmed by its strength. The ignorant are not to be blamed.”

Xiang Du felt as if he had been granted a pardon. His tense body suddenly went weak and he collapsed onto the cushion.

“This… this minister! I thank Your Majesty for your mercy!”

He kowtowed repeatedly, secretly relieved that the Great Wei court was nothing more than a group of frivolous fools who only knew how to drink and enjoy themselves. Even such a fatal slip of the tongue had been dismissed as drunken nonsense.

“Take the envoy Xiang Du back to the Four Directions Inn to rest,” the eunuch Wang Gonggong said in a shrill voice, waving his whisk.

Several eunuchs stepped forward and dragged the completely drunk Xiang Du away.

The hall soon returned to the sound of silk-string music, as if nothing had happened.

Yet no one noticed that in the darkest corner on the left side of the hall, a pair of eyes hidden in the shadows were staring intently at Xiang Du’s departing figure.

Those eyes were venomous like a snake, filled with chilling killing intent.

---

Late Night, Yuyuan Residence, Study

Candlelight flickered, casting the shadows of four people onto the blue-brick wall.

“He didn’t suspect anything,” Lu Yan said coldly, leaning against a red wooden pillar with his arms crossed.

Shen Jue sat in a large armchair, slowly wiping his fingers with a handkerchief.

“Not only did he not suspect, he even thinks he got away with it.”

Su Hewan sat on a embroidered stool nearby, holding a cup of hot tea, her mind working quickly.

“This is called baiting and counter-baiting. Xiang Du completely exposed himself tonight. We’ve now confirmed his true identity.”

“But a Northern Barbarian spy disguised as an Eastern Islander, hiding in the Four Directions Inn for so long—he must have an external contact.”

Shen Jue’s wiping motion paused slightly. His narrow phoenix eyes glanced at Su Hewan, a hint of approval flashing in them.

He spoke slowly, his voice calm yet ruthlessly calculated:

“According to intelligence from the Eastern Bureau, Xiang Du has secretly met several deputy envoys from the Northern Barbarian delegation in recent days.”

“Not meetings—conspiracy,” Lu Yan corrected coldly.

“Hidden agents from the Jinyiwei discovered that they exchanged something like a terrain map using Northern Barbarian coded language late at night. Although only a fragment, it is enough to confirm it is a layout map of the capital’s defenses.”

Yu Qing lay slumped over the table like a puddle of mud.

“These damn capitalists! Acting during the day and holding meetings at night—this is worse than a 007 schedule!”

The veins on Lu Yan’s forehead twitched faintly. He shot Yu Qing a cold glance.

Yu Qing immediately straightened up in fear, forcing a very obedient smile.

“Commander, you are wise and brilliant! So what do we do now? Arrest them directly?”

“No,” Su Hewan said calmly, setting down her teacup. Her eyes were clear.

“If we arrest him now, the most we can charge him with is improper conduct before the court. If Eastern Island and the Northern Barbarians refuse to admit it and instead accuse Great Wei of provoking trouble, it could trigger joint pressure from both nations.”