AUBTN -Chapter 367 Meeting in the Imperial Prison

“Pass down the order,” Shen Jue’s voice echoed through the secret chamber.

“Send people to keep tight watch on He Wenyuan and everyone under him. Before the Grand Ceremony, if even a fly leaves his residence without its destination being thoroughly traced, I want your heads!”

“Yes!”

The dragon-talon incense in the imperial study burned intensely.

The young emperor sat upright behind the dragon desk, facing a group of newly appointed cabinet ministers led by He Wenyuan.

His eyes shone brightly, his face filled with excitement at the prospect of great achievements and a flourishing reign.

“Beloved ministers, the Grand Secretariat has just been established and there is much to be done. The future of Great Wei’s state affairs will depend on all of you.”

The young emperor’s voice rang out with force.

He Wenyuan immediately led the others in kneeling, bowing respectfully, his voice trembling with righteous fervor:
“We shall devote ourselves entirely, even at the cost of our lives, and not fail Your Majesty’s trust and grace!”

For a moment, ruler and ministers were in perfect harmony.

Outside the imperial study, the opportunistic officials who had been watching from the sidelines proved more sensitive than hounds.

Seeing Lu Yan stripped of his position and Shen Jue caught in the storm of impeachment, they immediately changed their attitudes.

At the first opportunity after court ended, they swarmed He Wenyuan and his group, flattering them endlessly. Some even began submitting visiting cards in private, trying to cling to the rising power of the new cabinet.

At this time, the study pavilion of Yu Garden was in complete silence.

Amid the curling sandalwood incense, Su Hewan was buried under piles of inner court documents stacked like small mountains.

Her eyes were bloodshot—she had no idea how long she had been working. Finally, her tightly stretched nerves loosened, and she tilted sideways, falling into a deep sleep on the desk.

The door was pushed open very gently.

Shen Jue, dressed in dark patterned robes, stepped into the pavilion without a sound.

He lowered his gaze to the defenseless girl slumped over the table. On that usually cold and ruthless face, a rare hint of softness flickered.

He removed his black cloak and carefully draped it over Su Hewan’s thin shoulders.

After staring at her for a long moment, he did not wake her. Instead, he sat down beside her and continued reviewing the unfinished documents.

The next day, Wutong Courtyard.

“Cough… cough…”

Yu Qing lay on the bed; her high fever had finally begun to subside.

She slowly opened her eyes, still groggy, and before she could even see the bed curtains clearly, a spoonful of warm rice porridge was fed into her mouth.

“You’re awake? I thought you were going to burn your brain out and end up only able to play a fool for the rest of your life,” Su Hewan said, holding a celadon bowl and sitting by the bedside. Her tone was cool, but her eyes clearly showed concern.

“Wanwan…”

The moment Yu Qing saw Su Hewan, her eyes instantly turned red.

She sniffled, suddenly threw off the blanket, and her expression became unusually determined.

“No, I need to go see him!”

Half an hour later, the imperial prison.

With secret arrangements made by Zhao Zhou, Yu Qing slipped inside.

When she saw the redwood table, the incense burner, and Lu Yan sitting in a grand chair reading calmly, she froze completely in shock.

Lu Yan heard the movement and lifted his gaze to look over.

When he saw the pale-faced young girl—her chin noticeably sharper than before—the military book in his hands slipped and fell to the ground with a thud.

“Qingqing?” Lu Yan suddenly stood up.

“Why have you become so thin?” He grabbed Yu Qing’s slightly cool hand.

Looking at him, completely unharmed, Yu Qing’s tears burst out like a flood.

“Waaah… no missing arms or legs, thank goodness, thank goodness! I almost thought I’d be a widow!”

Hearing her words, Lu Yan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The furrow between his brows slowly relaxed.

It only felt like his heart had been fiercely kneaded by a soft hand—sour, aching, yet strangely warm.

“Why are you crying?” Lu Yan gently wiped away her tears with his rough fingertips. “I’m fine. I’ve made you suffer. You’ve been worried all this time.”

“Lu Yan, you big liar!” Yu Qing grabbed his large hand back, crying between sobs.

“Do you know how ugly the rumors outside are? The Emperor even stripped you of your position! You’re basically a commander with no troops now!”

Watching her protective, indignant expression, Lu Yan let out a soft laugh. His gaze, however, was deep enough to drown in.

“Isn’t being a commander with no troops better?” he said softly. “After the grand ceremony is over and the case is solved, I’ll take you back to the Prince of Jing Manor. I’ll be a leisurely prince, staying with you every day. Wouldn’t that be good?”

Yu Qing’s face instantly turned red. She even forgot to cry, stammering without being able to form words.

Meanwhile, in the study pavilion of the Yu Garden, the atmosphere had already turned heavy to the extreme.

Su Hewan stood by the desk, an old inner palace procurement record spread out before her. This ledger was something she had found after reviewing over ten thousand entries, hidden in the most inconspicuous corner of an abandoned bookshelf.

Her finger pressed heavily on one of the pages. The handwriting there had faint traces of being blurred by extremely fine water stains—clearly someone had tried to erase it and then refill it with irrelevant records.

But the forger hadn’t expected this: ancient ink seeped through paper easily. As long as the page was held up to strong light, the original outline of the writing on the back could still be seen!

“One month before the foreign envoy’s visit, someone used the name of the Empress Dowager’s palace to purchase a batch of southern frontier spices. In reality, they were ingredients like Soft Bone Vine… handled by a eunuch named Xiao Lizi.”

“Xiao Lizi entered the palace three years ago. His registered hometown is… Xuzhou!”

Su Hewan suddenly looked up, her eyes brightening.

Xuzhou! That was also He Wenyuan’s registered hometown! They were from the same place!

Her thoughts rang like thunder in Shen Jue’s mind.

At some point, Shen Jue had already stood behind her, watching her.

A deeply predatory glint flickered through his eyes.

“So?” Shen Jue’s low voice echoed through the empty study pavilion, carrying a hint of coaxing.

Su Hewan turned around and met his gaze directly, her tone firm and cold:

“Xiangduo was very likely a northern barbarian whom He Wenyuan knew in his early years! He Wenyuan knew the Emperor was eager to establish a cabinet and promote scholars from humble backgrounds. But he also understood that as long as you and Lu Yan existed, the new cabinet would be nothing more than a facade—even if he entered it, he wouldn’t hold real power!”

She took a deep breath and continued:

“So he decided to go big! He colluded with the Northern Barbarian Second Prince and had the barbarians disguise themselves as the official Eastern envoys. After the delegation entered the capital, our various actions made them panic!”

“He feared Xiangduo’s identity would be exposed, so he simply went all in—poisoned Xiangduo with southern frontier drugs, killed him, and then threw a Jinyiwei-marked embroidered spring knife at the scene!”

“One move, three outcomes! He killed the fake envoy, triggered a diplomatic crisis between Great Wei and Eastern Japan, and forced the Emperor to punish the Jinyiwei! At the same time, he spread rumors of envoys attempting to assassinate the Emperor, stirring the waters completely!”

“In order to calm the situation, the Emperor would have no choice but to take Lu Yan down, using him as a pawn to reshuffle the court. And He Wenyuan would step over the blood of envoys and Lu Yan to rise to the very top in the chaos!”

Listening to Su Hewan’s meticulous deduction, Shen Jue suddenly clapped and chuckled softly.

“Wanwan, you truly are my priceless treasure.”

Shen Jue stepped forward, his long fingers gently lifting Su Hewan’s delicate chin, his gaze dark and profound.

Then he lowered his head and lightly pecked her full lips.