AUBTN -Chapter 375 The Fake Eunuch Can No Longer Be Hidden

On this side, Su Hewan and Shen Jue were both looking at Lu Yan with expressions of someone admiring a “brave warrior.”

Their eyes clearly said: you really are something else.

Yu Qing then turned to Shen Jue and Su Hewan with a bright smile, recommending enthusiastically, “Wanwan, try it. Lu Yan said it’s delicious.”

Su Hewan gave an awkward laugh and waved it off. “I think… there’s no need. Since Lu Yan likes it, let him have it all.”

Then she subtly signaled Shen Jue with her eyes.

Shen Jue immediately caught on to his wife’s signal and cooperated at once. “Exactly. Since Brother Lu likes it, it should all be for Brother Lu. After all, it’s your kind intention—how could we take away what you treasure?”

He spoke with righteous seriousness.

Lu Yan, standing aside, looked utterly defeated.

Yu Qing nodded immediately. “Alright then, I’ll make it for you all again next time.”

“Absolutely not.” Shen Jue refused instantly.

“What did you say?” Yu Qing asked.

Su Hewan quickly stepped in for her husband. “He means… there’s really no need to trouble yourself. Your cooking is best suited for your own husband.”

Lu Yan looked at the two of them acting so cunning and shameless and felt a surge of anger so strong it nearly gave him heart failure.

“Then what are you all eating?” Yu Qing asked.

Shen Jue smiled faintly and clapped his hands lightly.

A line of maidservants entered in orderly fashion, bringing in dishes one after another—braised eight-treasure duck, crab roe lion’s head meatballs, steamed jade swallow, lily and lotus seed sweet soup… all top-tier imperial cuisine personally prepared by the finest chefs in his private kitchen.

Shen Jue gracefully served a bowl of bird’s nest soup and placed it in front of Su Hewan. His voice was gentle enough to be infuriating: “My wife has a delicate stomach. She should eat this instead. Be good, drink the soup.”

Lu Yan looked at the full table of delicacies, then at the “dark cuisine” in front of him, and felt like he was only one step away from death.

Su Hewan: “……”

Lu Yan pressed a hand to his faintly aching stomach and rolled his eyes hard.

Same as men—so why was he forced to chew charcoal in hell, while Shen Jue could shamelessly enjoy such double standards without any psychological burden?

That night, it was proven that even the iron stomach of the Jinwu Guard commander could not withstand a modern performing arts student’s biochemical weapon.

Lu Yan ran to the latrine seven times in one night.

Yu Qing curled up in bed, feeling guilty.

It shouldn’t… have anything to do with me, right…

However, this rare peaceful daily life was completely shattered the next morning.

Yu Garden, warm pavilion.

Su Hewan’s proposed “account-checking method” had just begun to show results, and the Eastern Depot had indeed discovered several suspicious underground money banks.

Just as everyone thought they were about to tear open a corner of the Tianji Pavilion, Zhao Zhou rushed in like a violent storm.

This time, his face was even paler than when he first heard the words “Tianji Pavilion.” He didn’t even dare to look up at Shen Jue.

“Your Highness…” Zhao Zhou’s voice trembled as he dropped to his knees with a thud.

Shen Jue paused while wiping his folding fan. His narrow phoenix eyes slightly narrowed. “What is it?”

“Something… something from the streets…” Zhao Zhou swallowed hard, cold sweat dripping onto the stone floor.

Lu Yan frowned. “What rumor could scare you like this? Has the sky fallen?”

“Worse than the sky falling…” Zhao Zhou gritted his teeth, then blurted out.

“The rumor that Your Highness is a fake eunuch… seems to be impossible to suppress anymore.”

“This morning, someone spread word that you are a fake eunuch, and that you are corrupting the imperial harem.”

The entire warm pavilion fell into a deathly silence.

Lu Yan’s hand holding the teacup suddenly froze, his sharp gaze shooting straight toward Shen Jue.

Yu Qing gasped sharply.

【Damn, damn, damn!!! How is this possible? This is the male lead’s biggest secret! Apart from a few of us, no one should know about it!】

Su Hewan’s pupils contracted sharply, her fingertips turning ice-cold in an instant.

Deceiving the emperor—this was a capital offense punishable by extermination of the entire clan!

The Tianji Pavilion…

What a vicious move, striking straight at the very foundation!

Shen Jue simply stood up slowly.

His calm, unshaken eyes were already surging with killing intent.

“Good… Tianji Pavilion.”

He let out a cold laugh.

“So this move… is aimed at me.”

The next day.

Smack!

Yu Qing was trembling with rage all over as she pointed at the book cover, her fingers shaking uncontrollably.

“This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! Look at this—what kind of garbage is this?!”

Lu Yan frowned deeply and took the booklet. Just one glance at the cover made his usually cold, iron-hard face darken completely.

Bold black characters were printed across it:

“The Secret History of the Ninth Thousand-Year Lord: The Guest of the Jade Garden at Night”

Lu Yan flipped it open a few pages. Vulgar, suggestive, and absurdly embellished words assaulted his eyes.

Not only did the book portray Shen Jue as a physically strong “fake eunuch” who indulged in nightly pleasures,

it also wildly fabricated claims that the Jade Garden hid countless mysterious beauties.

Every line was not just slander—it was outright defamation of Shen Jue!

“This is already the fifth version circulating in the teahouses and bookstores of the capital,”

Chang Lin stood below, head lowered so much he barely dared breathe.

“What’s more… some people are even saying… that when the Lord entered the palace and was castrated, he had bribed the execution eunuch, all in order… in order to corrupt the palace and plot against the Great Wei dynasty.”

“Utter nonsense!”

Lu Yan slammed the book to the ground.

Although he and Shen Jue were political enemies, they were now tied together on the same rope. Even he felt a wave of disgust churn in his stomach at such filthy tactics.

“I’m so pissed off! Tianji Pavilion can’t beat us so they resort to spreading dirty rumors?!”

“They even turned me and Wanwan into vixens!”

“If this were modern times, I’d hit them with a hundred lawyer letters and sue them into bankruptcy!”

Yu Qing shouted furiously.

Lu Yan patted her shoulder in a soothing gesture, his gaze sharp as a blade.

Meanwhile, Shen Jue sitting at the main seat remained unusually calm.

“What a flawless scheme—killing without bloodshed.”

Su Hewan, seated nearby, spoke coldly.

She looked at the torn pages on the ground, her eyes filled with deep seriousness.

“Tianji Pavilion doesn’t need evidence at all. They understand the emperor’s suspicion too well, and they know the common people love this kind of scandalous gossip about powerful officials.”

“Once this rumor spreads, if Shen Jue ignores it, it looks like confirmation. If he investigates it, it will look like panic and guilt.”

She paused, her gaze sweeping across Shen Jue’s face, her heart tightening slightly.

“In ancient times, rumors could kill people. What’s more, charges like deceiving the emperor and corrupting the palace are enough to trigger a full court attack.”

“Tianji Pavilion doesn’t want you dead immediately. They want to ruin your reputation completely and sever the emperor’s trust in you.”

“That is the true poison.”

The alliance they had finally built could very likely collapse again under this sudden storm of public opinion.

“Madam is right,” Shen Jue finally set down his teacup.

A faint mocking smile curled at his lips, his voice lazy yet laced with bone-chilling coldness.

“If they want to play, then I’ll play along with them.”

“Zhao Zhou, issue orders to the East Bureau. Do not ban the books, do not arrest anyone—let them spread it.”

“Your Lordship!” Zhao Zhou was shocked.

“Withdraw,” Shen Jue said coldly.