AUBTN -Chapter 371 Crushing Victory

“Ito! You treacherous East Asian runt!”

Tuoba Lie spun around violently and grabbed Ito by the collar, spittle flying as he roared, “I treated you as an ally, and you actually used our Northern Barbarian military deployment maps as bargaining chips behind our backs?”

Ito, still shaken, was yanked out of his panic and dropped his polite façade as well. He shouted back in awkward Great Wei language, “You Northern Barbarians are brutal and deceitful! Who would ever truly ally with you? It was He Wenyuan who voluntarily offered us the defense maps! Our empire merely went along with the opportunity!”

“Bullshit! I’ll tear you apart alive today!”

“You dare touch me? The warriors of our East Sea Empire will never agree to this!”

On the altar platform, the envoys of the two nations—who had once secretly colluded for mutual gain—were now like two rabid dogs, openly fighting and cursing each other in front of all the civil and military officials of Great Wei without the slightest restraint.

The fragile alliance between the Northern Barbarians and the East Sea nation collapsed in an instant.

At the center of the sacrificial platform, Lu Yan paid no attention to this spectacle of dogs biting each other.

He once again drew a dossier from his sleeve.

“Enough! All of you, stop!”

With a sharp command, Tuoba Lie and Ito involuntarily released each other.

“Minister of Rites, He Wenyuan!” Lu Yan’s gaze was like a blade, each word striking like judgment.

“Colluding with foreign enemies! Accepting bribes from the Northern Barbarians, selling out the true defenses of Great Wei’s borders, and inciting both sides to turn on each other in an attempt to divide our nation between the Northern Barbarians and the East Sea Empire!”

“Plotting regicide! He hid a paralysis poison within the incense for today’s sacrificial ceremony, intending to strike at the most critical moment of the prayer ritual and have assassins kill His Majesty—then frame others!”

“Framing loyal officials! He intended to use the chaos of the assassination to pin all blame on the Embroidered Uniform Guard, seizing control of the court and overthrowing the Great Wei dynasty!”

At these words, the entire hall erupted in uproar.

This was no ordinary political struggle—this was an attempt to drag the entire realm of Great Wei into an abyss of destruction!

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty, run! Assassins!”

The newly promoted cabinet scholars, who had just risen to power under the young emperor, finally reacted to the shock.

But aside from shouting “Protect the emperor!” like headless flies, none of them had the courage to stand in front of him.

“Move! Kill them all!”

He Wenyuan, now pinned to the ground and seeing that all was lost, let out a desperate roar.

At his command, dozens of assassins disguised as imperial guards and eunuchs around the altar suddenly drew their blades and charged toward the elevated platform where the young emperor stood, like mad dogs.

However, just as the cabinet scholars thought blood would stain the altar and they would meet their end today—

Lu Yan’s deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Chang Lin, suddenly drew his embroidered sabre. The blade flashed like snow.

“Embroidered Uniform Guard, obey the order—kill without mercy!”

At the same moment, Shen Jue parted his thin lips: “Zhao Zhou, make it quick. Don’t let that filthy blood stain His Majesty’s eyes.”

“Understood!” Zhao Zhou let out a cold laugh.

The East Depot agents and the Embroidered Uniform Guard worked together in perfect coordination. In less than half an incense stick’s time, He Wenyuan’s carefully cultivated assassins and rebels…

Never even reached the edge of the platform before they were all cut down or subdued, their bodies strewn across the blood-soaked ground.

On the high platform, the young emperor’s face was as pale as paper.

He looked down.

He looked at those cabinet scholars he had placed his hopes on to balance the powerful ministers, now trembling under tables, crying and snotting in terror.

Then he looked again at Shen Jue, standing at the edge of the bloodshed without a single speck of blood on his robes, and Lu Yan, standing like a war god with his blade in hand.

A complex, bitter realization suddenly rose in the young emperor’s heart.

He had always believed that Shen Jue and Lu Yan were blades hanging above imperial power…

So he had done everything possible to strip them of power and elevate civil officials.

But only at this moment of life and death did he finally understand the gap between himself and those two men.

At the critical moment, those civil officials who spoke endlessly of benevolence and morality could not save his life. The ones who could protect him, who could suppress this vast Great Wei Empire, were in fact only those two!

“Drag him down. Execute him by slow slicing.” The young emperor’s voice carried a barely concealed tremor and exhaustion.

“Wait!”

As He Wenyuan was dragged out by two Jinyiwei like a dead dog, he suddenly erupted with his last strength, twisting his head sharply and staring fixedly at the young emperor on the dragon throne.

That gaze was so venomous it seemed like a demon crawling out of hell.

“Hahaha… Your Majesty! Do you think they saved you today? You’re wrong!”

He Wenyuan coughed up blood as he laughed wildly.

“They are the greatest threat beside you! Shen Jue’s mind is as deep as an abyss, and Lu Yan commands the Jinyiwei! You are nothing but a puppet on their strings! If you don’t eliminate them today, the Great Wei empire will surely change hands in the future!”

“You will be devoured by them! I will wait in the underworld to see your fate! Hahaha—”

He Wenyuan’s manic laughter was forcibly cut off by Zhao Zhou’s ruthless strike, and he was dragged away like a dead dog.

But those poisonous words deeply pierced the already suspicious heart of the young emperor.

Yuqing watched this earth-shattering drama unfold, her eyes wide like copper bells.

Beside her, Su Hewan kept her eyes lowered.

In truth, she was rapidly analyzing everything in her mind:

【Shen Jue and Lu Yan’s strategy of turning the tables not only eliminated He Wenyuan, that malignant tumor, but also shattered the alliance between the Northern Barbarians and the Eastern Wokou. They even used others as knives to kill, and publicly humiliated the emperor, making him see the incompetence of those “scholar-official” inner cabinet ministers.】

【However… He Wenyuan’s final words still planted a seed of doubt in the emperor’s heart. Shen Jue, is this what you wanted?】

Standing before the throne, Shen Jue lowered his eyelids, hiding the turbulent darkness in his eyes.

Upon hearing that cool, rational inner voice, his fingers gripping the folding fan tightened slightly, and he let out a cold laugh in his heart.

As expected, Wanwan understands me.

If the young emperor were not suspicious, wouldn’t this play be too dull?

On the high platform, the young emperor took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his panic and suspicion, and tried to reassert imperial authority.

“By imperial decree! Vice Minister of Rites He Wenyuan colluded with foreign enemies and committed treason. His crimes are unforgivable! Execute his entire clan—wipe out the nine degrees of kinship!”

He suddenly pointed at Tuoba Lie, whose face had gone pale.

“The Northern Barbarian envoy group is to be expelled immediately! The Northern Barbarians must pay the price for today’s chaos. Order the Court of Diplomatic Receptions to draft a treaty demanding enormous compensation! If they refuse, the Great Wei iron cavalry will march north into the steppe at any time!”

Tuoba Lie gritted his teeth so hard they nearly shattered, but knowing he was in the wrong and outmatched, he could only swallow this humiliation.

Afterward, the young emperor’s gaze shifted to the Eastern Wokou deputy envoy Ito, who was trembling, and the Western Region Moon Gauze Princess hiding behind him, pale with fear.

The emperor’s expression softened slightly as he said, “The Western Region delegation was also disturbed today. Bring forth a pair of white jade ruyi scepters and a thousand taels of gold as compensation for Princess Moon Gauze.”

“As for the Eastern Wokou and Northern Barbarians…”

He let out a cold snort.

“I trust the King of the Western Regions is a smart man and knows who in this land is the true ally capable of resisting the Northern Barbarians.”

Upon hearing this, Moon Gauze felt as if she had been granted a pardon and hurriedly knelt down.

“Thank you, Your Majesty! The Western Regions are willing to maintain eternal friendship with Great Wei!”

A crisis that could have overturned the entire court thus came to an end.

Not only did it fail to shake the foundation of Great Wei, it instead proved Shen Jue and Lu Yan’s abilities!

With a joint strike, they eliminated internal traitors, split foreign alliances, and even pulled the Western Regions closer as a potential ally to restrain the Northern Barbarians.

A single move achieved three outcomes—a resounding total victory.