AUBTN -Chapter 39 Su Hewan Feels Lost

“Your Highness, you should watch your words,” Shen Jue interrupted lightly, though his gaze suddenly turned sharp.

“I was merely protecting my own safety. Out here in this desolate wilderness, if I were to be assassinated, my life would be left behind in this very place!”

“But as for Your Highness…”

He stepped forward, lowering his voice. The tone carried a chilling threat that made one’s hair stand on end.

“If we really want to examine what happened tonight, I merely brought people out to admire the moon and defend myself. But Your Highness brought so many privately trained assassins and even used powerful bows and crossbows outside the city… If this were to reach His Majesty’s ears, or if the censors learned about it, I’m afraid Your Highness would find it rather difficult to explain.”

This was a naked threat.

The situation was already clear: although Shen Jue’s men had only just arrived, they were elite troops with excellent equipment and had already taken control of the outer perimeter. If a fight truly broke out, Prince Ning’s group of death warriors might not gain the upper hand— they might even be wiped out completely.

Most importantly, Lu Yan was not here.

As long as Lu Yan wasn’t captured, Prince Ning’s actions tonight had no legitimate justification. It would amount to privately mobilizing troops to intercept and kill a court official.

In this round, Prince Ning had lost.

Prince Ning clearly realized this as well.

He looked at the densely packed Eastern Depot agents surrounding them, then at Shen Jue—who remained as steady as a mountain despite his serious injuries. Killing intent surged in his eyes several times, but in the end he could only force it down.

“Good… very good!”

Prince Ning ground out the words through clenched teeth, his face turning a frightening shade of iron green.

“Director Shen truly is unfathomable. Today, I have learned my lesson!”

With a flick of his sleeve, he turned to leave. Even his retreating back carried a sense of frustrated embarrassment.

Just then, a voice full of blatant provocation suddenly rang out.

“Huh? Your Highness is leaving already?”

Yu Qing had no idea where she found the courage. Seeing that the crisis was over, her opportunistic, theatrical nature instantly surfaced.

She poked half her body out from behind Shen Jue, one hand still gripping his sleeve, and waved at Prince Ning’s back. Her tone was dripping with mockery:

“The moon-viewing isn’t even finished yet! Your Highness rarely brings so many brothers along—why not stay and enjoy it together? We can all watch the stars and admire the moon, maybe chat about poetry, songs, and our dreams in life~”

Su Hewan: “……”

Ahead of them, Prince Ning stumbled slightly, nearly choking on his own rage.

He suddenly turned around, his gloomy eyes staring coldly at Yu Qing and Su Hewan. The look was enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.

“Hmph! Ignorant fools courting death!”

Prince Ning snorted coldly. After giving the three of them a long, hard look, he waved his hand and disappeared into the depths of the night in a thoroughly disgruntled retreat.

Once Prince Ning’s men had completely left, the tense atmosphere finally relaxed.

A leader dressed in a flying fish uniform quickly stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and presented a handkerchief. His voice carried deep guilt.

“Your subordinate arrived late and allowed the Director to be frightened. Please punish me, Director!”

Shen Jue calmly wiped the small traces of blood from his fingertips and said lightly, “Not late. You arrived at the perfect time.”

“The team I asked you to prepare?” Shen Jue asked.

“They are waiting ten li away. They can disguise themselves as your carriage and return to the capital at any time,” the leader replied respectfully.

“Mm.” Shen Jue nodded slightly.

“Take the men and pretend to be me. Return to the capital openly along the official road. The bigger the commotion, the better. Make sure Prince Ning believes I have truly gone back.”

“Yes!”

As soon as the subordinate left, Yu Qing suddenly slapped Shen Jue hard on the shoulder.

“Brother! Nice move!”

“You had a backup plan and didn’t say anything earlier! You scared me to death just now! I thought the whole story was really about to end!”

Shen Jue’s hand paused mid-motion as he was wiping his fingers.

He slowly turned his head and narrowed his eyes, his cool gaze falling on Yu Qing’s hand that hadn’t yet been withdrawn.

His look was as sharp as a blade.

The smile on Yu Qing’s face instantly froze.

Her survival instincts kicked in immediately. She snatched her hand back as if burned and hid it behind her back, letting out an awkward laugh.

“Hehe… um… Director, mighty and domineering as always. I was just… expressing my admiration…”

Watching this scene, Su Hewan felt it was somewhat amusing—but an indescribable bitterness suddenly surged in her heart.

She stepped forward and lightly tapped Yu Qing on the forehead with her index finger, scolding gently, “Impudent. No manners at all—how can you speak to the Chief like that?”

After saying that, she turned to look at Shen Jue, forcing a gentle smile onto her lips. “The Chief truly leaves nothing to chance. Even we were kept completely in the dark.”

Her voice was very soft, almost like a faint sigh.

Shen Jue’s movement paused slightly.

Then her inner voice rang clearly in his mind, carrying a disappointment and self-mockery he had never heard from her before.

【So in his heart, I’m ultimately just a chess piece that must be used. No matter how hard I try, when it comes to a life-or-death trump card like this, he still wouldn’t reveal even a hint of it to me.】

Shen Jue froze, wanting to explain.

He wanted to tell her that he hadn’t told her so she could act more convincingly in front of Prince Ning, so she wouldn’t have to bear that life-hanging-by-a-thread fear in advance, and because… the fewer people who knew, the safer she would be.

This capital was a den of wolves and tigers that devoured people. He had long grown used to scheming and calculating hearts while living in the abyss.

But when it came to her…

Shen Jue opened his mouth, his Adam’s apple moving slightly.

Yet when the thousands of words reached his lips, they finally turned into nothing more than a sigh.

“Let’s go.”

Shen Jue turned around without looking at her again, his voice hoarse and distant.

With that, he walked ahead at the front.

The light in Su Hewan’s eyes dimmed slightly as she silently lowered her gaze.

“Wanwan…” Yu Qing was usually carefree, but even she sensed the strange atmosphere between the two of them.

She leaned closer and cautiously looped her arm through Su Hewan’s, the two of them following behind Shen Jue step by step.

The wind in the mountains was a little chilly, clearing people’s minds.

Since there was no carriage, the three of them could only walk.

Shen Jue was injured, so he didn’t walk very fast.

After a while, Yu Qing’s restless mouth started itching again.

She secretly glanced at the dark blue figure ahead. After confirming the distance was safe, she whispered quietly,

“Hey, Wanwan, did you see that look Shen Jue gave Prince Ning just now? Tsk, tsk…”

“Honestly, it was terrifying, but also so cool! Absolutely amazing! How can a eunuch… ahem… be that A?”

Su Hewan was amused by her carefree attitude and smiled helplessly, the gloom in her heart easing a little. “Weren’t you just now scared enough to talk about amputating your leg? And now you still have the energy to fangirl?”

“That’s different!” Yu Qing pouted, lowering her voice further as she continued gossiping.

“But seriously, this guy’s mind runs way too deep. Look at that move he just made—even his own people were fooled. Being in a relationship with someone like him would probably be exhausting. You’d have to guess what he’s thinking every day, and constantly guard against being schemed against… tsk.”

At this point, Yu Qing suddenly remembered something. She nudged Su Hewan with her elbow, her eyes full of mischief.

“But hey, I think he treats you a little differently. When you fell just now, he practically risked his life to act as your human cushion… If it had been someone else, he probably would’ve thrown them out to block the arrows already.”

Su Hewan’s heart skipped slightly, and she subconsciously looked toward the lonely figure ahead.

The moonlight stretched Shen Jue’s shadow long, making him appear especially cold and solitary.

Was it really different?

Or was that just another method he used to keep his chess piece steady?

【If it really was to protect me… then why didn’t he even say a single word of explanation?】

Su Hewan asked silently in her heart.

Shen Jue’s footsteps ahead paused almost imperceptibly.

The night wind carried the girls’ whispered conversation into his ears—along with that uncertain voice in her heart.

In the darkness, he smiled bitterly without a sound.

An explanation?

For someone like him, struggling to survive in the gutter, how could he possibly deserve something like an explanation?

“Keep up.”

Shen Jue didn’t turn around. His voice remained cold.

“Up ahead is the villa we agreed on. Lu Yan is there.”