AUBTN -Chapter 376 Clearing Boundaries

After everyone dispersed, Su Hewan looked at Shen Jue’s seemingly indestructible back, her eyes filled with worry.

She knew better than anyone that Shen Jue was now standing at the edge of a cliff—one misstep, and it would be utter ruin.

In the dead of night, the water-clock in the Yu Residence sounded unusually clear.

Su Hewan tossed and turned on the bed, unable to fall asleep no matter what.

Her mind kept replaying the indecent words spoken during the day, as well as Shen Jue’s overly calm expression.

She threw off the quilt and got out of bed barefoot.

A faint glow of candlelight still came from the direction of the study.

Su Hewan casually grabbed a snow-white fox-fur cloak, then quietly walked over.

The door was not fully closed. Through the half-open gap, she saw Shen Jue leaning back in a large rosewood chair, one hand supporting his forehead, eyes half-closed. The flickering candlelight cast his breathtakingly handsome face into shadow and light, making it hard to read.

The loneliness he usually hid so well—like someone abandoned by the world—was now completely exposed.

Su Hewan felt as if something had fiercely tightened around her heart.

She gently pushed the door open and walked behind him, carefully placing the warm fox-fur cloak over his shoulders.

Shen Jue suddenly opened his eyes. There was still lingering vigilance and killing intent in them, but the moment he recognized it was Su Hewan, all that hostility receded like a tide, turning into a pool of calm water.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” His voice was slightly hoarse.

Su Hewan circled around to face him, simply looking at him in silence.

“Don’t force yourself anymore, Shen Jue,” she said softly. Her tone no longer carried her usual analytical calmness—only pure concern.

“If you push yourself into madness, you’ll be falling right into Tianji Pavilion’s trap.”

Shen Jue looked at her, his throat subtly moving.

The next moment, he suddenly reached out, pulled her into his arms, and dragged her down onto his lap.

Su Hewan let out a soft gasp before she could react, but Shen Jue had already buried his chin deeply into her hair.

He held her tightly—his arms like iron restraints, as though she were the only driftwood left for a drowning man.

“Wanwan, don’t be afraid.”

Shen Jue gently nuzzled her hair, his low voice echoing through the quiet night.

It carried a faint, deliberately feigned ease.

“This little storm… I don’t take it seriously.”

His tone was so casual it almost seemed sincere.

But Su Hewan, pressed against his chest, could clearly feel it—every muscle in his body was taut, like a fully drawn bow, rigid and terrifying.

How could he possibly not be afraid?

Su Hewan closed her eyes and silently sighed in her heart.

He carries the blood feud of loyal ministers from the previous dynasty. He clawed his way up through a place like the Eastern Depot, a place that devours people without spitting out bones. He knows better than anyone what it feels like to fall into the mud. Now that his identity is about to be exposed, he’s still trying to comfort me instead.

Shen Jue’s arms tightened slightly, trembling uncontrollably upon hearing her inner thoughts.

In this cold abyss filled with schemes and calculations, there was finally someone who did not fear him, did not use him—but instead saw through all his disguises and felt pity for his exhaustion and fear.

Shen Jue tightened his embrace even more, burying his face in the crook of her neck and inhaling deeply the faint, cool fragrance on her body.

“Wanwan…” he whispered almost inaudibly.

“As long as you don’t leave, I won’t lose.”

However, peace was always short-lived.

Just as the pale light of dawn began to rise on the horizon, the gates of the Yu Residence were shattered by urgent hoofbeats.

Lu Yan strode into the main courtyard, carrying the coldness of the night dew and a faint smell of blood, a confession document stained with blood still in his hand.

“Found it.”

Lu Yan slammed the confession onto the stone table, his gaze sharp. “Last night, the Jinyiwei secretly swept through the three largest teahouses and bookshops in the western part of the city and arrested a few street thugs who were the first to spread the rumors.”

Su Hewan Su Hewan and Yu Qing Yu Qing, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, exchanged a look—both visibly energized.

“They confessed?” Shen Jue Shen Jue asked as he stepped out in an outer robe, his expression already restored to its usual dark, cold arrogance.

“The thirty-six tortures of the Imperial Prison—none of them even survived past the third.” Lu Yan sneered, pointing at the confession. “These people were just pawns taking money to do the job. But following the trail, Chang Lin traced the one who paid them.”

Lu Yan raised his head, his gaze fixed tightly on Shen Jue.

“Not some martial rogue, nor any wealthy merchant. The one who paid… was a eunuch.”

“A eunuch?” Yu Qing blurted out in shock.

“To be precise, someone from the palace,” Lu Yan said. His voice in the cold morning air was especially chilling. “An inconspicuous old eunuch who had spent twenty years chopping firewood in the imperial kitchen.”

The moment those words fell, the temperature in the entire courtyard seemed to drop to freezing.

Su Hewan drew in a sharp breath.

So the Tianji Pavilion’s hand had already reached deep into the Great Wei imperial palace—right under the nose of that suspicious young emperor.

Shen Jue stared at the blood-stained confession, killing intent finally surfacing in his eyes.

Then he let out a cold laugh.

“If they want to play at hiding in plain sight… then this governor will personally go to the palace and meet this little ghost.”

The faint morning mist had yet to dissipate, and the air in the estate was still cold.

Lu Yan stood with his arms crossed. After hearing he intended to enter the palace, he rushed over early.

“I’ve thought about it. Right now you’re standing at the center of a storm. Any move you make will be enough for the Censorate officials to drown you in spit,” he said. “You cannot go to the palace.”

Shen Jue sneered.

“Then I won’t move,” he said, a dark glint flashing in his eyes.

“If they want me to become infamous and lose control… then I’ll give them what they want. I’ll carry out a thorough purge inside the Eastern Depot.”

“You’re going to stage a self-inflicted setback?” Lu Yan immediately understood.

“Lu knows me best.” Shen Jue smiled and patted his shoulder.

Lu Yan frowned. “This is no time for jokes. The Emperor will likely send someone soon. What will you do then?”

“Do as we should,” Shen Jue replied with a smile.

“But this play isn’t exciting enough with just me. I still need to borrow the Jinyiwei.”

Lu Yan raised a brow. “How do you want me to cooperate?”

“Draw a clear line,” Shen Jue said, his eyes cold as ice.

“Tomorrow at court, you must be more eager than anyone else to step on me. Make it so that all civil and military officials—even His Majesty on the dragon throne—believe that you and I have completely severed ties because of this scandal.”

Yu Qing’s voice came from not far away.

“Oh, I get it! This is the legendary ‘openly breaking apart while secretly working together’ strategy!”

Lu Yan turned back to look at her, his gaze softening. “I told you to rest more. Why are you up so early?”

“I was worried about Wanwan. I’m going to find her first,” she said, then walked toward Wutong Courtyard.

After she left, Lu Yan’s expression turned cold again.

“What did you mean by what you just said?” he pressed.

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Shen Jue said, standing with his hands behind his back.

Lu Yan was not so easily fooled. “You ask me to help you, and now you want us to sever ties? Shen Jue, do you think I don’t know what you’re really planning?”

Seeing Shen Jue remain silent only made him more agitated.

Raising his voice, he asked, “Are you afraid this time it’s dangerous… and you want to cut ties with me ahead of it?”