AUBTN -Chapter 45 Turning the Enemy’s Strategy Against Him

Before anyone could recover from the immense shock and joy, Shen Jue continued lowering the candle in his hand, revealing more words on the surface.

And what came next left everyone utterly stunned.

“Prince Ning… is not my blood brother…”

When Lu Yan read that line aloud, his voice abruptly stopped, his face filled with disbelief.

Su Hewan leaned closer, her gaze sharp as lightning as she quickly scanned the small lines of text.

“Back then, when the Empress Dowager gave birth, the child was stillborn. In order to preserve her position as empress, she ordered someone to bring a baby boy from outside the palace to replace it… Prince Ning is not of the imperial bloodline. He’s a civet cat swapped in to replace the crown prince!”

Yu Qing’s mouth fell wide open, her jaw nearly dropping to the floor.

“Holy crap… this gossip is huge! This isn’t just rebellion—this is deceiving the emperor and corrupting the imperial bloodline! If this gets out, that old bastard Prince Ning won’t just fail to become emperor—he won’t even qualify to be buried in the royal ancestral graves!”

【Isn’t this basically the civet cat replacing the crown prince plotline? What a twist! So Prince Ning’s been scheming all his life only to turn out to be a fake? That makes his entire life’s calculations a joke!】

Lu Yan felt his head buzzing.

As someone fiercely loyal to the imperial family, the impact of this revelation was no less than the heavens collapsing.

“Shen Jue, how did you know there was another mechanism here?” Lu Yan suddenly raised his head and looked at the man who had remained gloomy the entire time.

Su Hewan also snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Shen Jue with burning curiosity.

【Lemon juice or onion juice used as ink—once dry it becomes invisible, and heat reveals it… that’s middle school chemistry knowledge. But Shen Jue is a man from ancient times, so how could he be so certain? And that look he gave earlier—he clearly expected this.】

Hearing Su Hewan’s inner thoughts, Shen Jue’s lips curved into a faint smile.

But he didn’t explain the principle behind it. Instead, he said coldly,

“The late emperor was naturally suspicious and extremely skilled in the art of power. Since he left behind this life-saving imperial edict, he naturally wouldn’t fill it with meaningless nonsense.”

He paused, his fingertips lightly brushing the newly revealed line of text, his eyes dark and deep.

“Since the late emperor already knew Prince Ning wasn’t his real brother, how could he not guard against him? The reason he didn’t state it openly was because the Empress Dowager was still alive, and Prince Ning had already grown powerful. By hiding this secret inside the edict, and placing it in the ancestral temple—somewhere both the most obvious and the most concealed—he was waiting for the day someone would take it and rightfully drag that impostor down from power.”

“Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.” Yu Qing couldn’t help raising her thumb in admiration.

“I get it now! No wonder Prince Ning has the ancestral temple surrounded like an iron fortress, yet never dares to conduct a full search or destroy the place.”

Her eyes sparkled as if she had discovered a new continent.

“That old fox must have long suspected his own origins—maybe he already knows the truth! But he doesn’t have proof, and he couldn’t find where this damned secret edict was hidden. He stationed guards here because he’s afraid it’ll fall into someone else’s hands! But he never expected that the most dangerous place would be the safest one—the edict has been right inside the memorial tablet under his nose!”

Hearing this, Su Hewan gave Yu Qing an approving glance and smiled faintly.

“Not bad. Your brain worked pretty quickly this time. Prince Ning is guilty at heart—what he’s guarding isn’t just the throne, but his shameful origins.”

“Of course! Don’t forget who I am—I’m a woman who’s watched eight hundred episodes of palace intrigue dramas!” Yu Qing proudly lifted her chin.

However, Shen Jue showed no sign of joy at everyone else’s excitement.

His gaze was fixed firmly on the very last line of the edict.

“Chief?” Su Hewan noticed the change in him, and an uneasy feeling rose in her heart.

Following his line of sight, she saw that at the very bottom of the densely written text there was one final line of extremely messy handwriting—clearly written by the late emperor in great haste and guilt.

“Back then, the entire Shen family… did not commit treason… General Shen discovered this secret by accident and was silenced by Prince Ning and corrupt officials… Though I knew the truth, I was constrained by the Empress Dowager and powerless to protect him… I have failed the loyal souls of the Shen family…”

At that moment, it felt as if something inside Shen Jue completely collapsed.

All this time, he had believed his father was framed by treacherous officials—that his family was destroyed because his father’s great achievements made the emperor wary.

He had endured humiliation, crawling through the mud for so many years. Even with his hands stained in blood and cursed by the world as a eunuch faction’s lapdog, he persisted in uncovering the truth of that year.

But reality delivered the most absurd blow.

There had been no rebellion.
No suspicion of overpowering merit.

It was only because his father—the upright and loyal General Shen, who had served the emperor and country his entire life—had accidentally discovered the secret of an impostor’s identity.

Just because of that secret, three hundred members of the Shen family were executed, their blood flowing like rivers.

Shen Jue suddenly let out a low laugh.

The sound was hoarse and broken, sending chills down everyone’s spine.

His eyes were bloodshot, and a single tear seeped from the corner of his eye, sliding down his pale, paper-white cheek.

“So that’s how it is… so that’s how it is!”

Shen Jue suddenly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his gaze was filled with overwhelming hatred and killing intent.

Prince Ning… the murderer of my father, the butcher of my entire family. If I, Shen Jue, do not slice you into a thousand pieces, I swear I am not human!

At that moment, Lu Yan—standing opposite him—suddenly felt his throat tighten.

All along, he had regarded Shen Jue as a treacherous villain who had corrupted the court, a malignant tumor that had to be removed.

But now, looking at the man before him—someone who had carried a blood-soaked vendetta on his shoulders and walked alone through the darkness for more than ten years—the unshakable barrier in Lu Yan’s heart finally cracked.

So it turned out… they had never truly been enemies.

Lu Yan strode forward and grabbed Shen Jue’s trembling shoulder, his voice steady and firm.

“Shen Jue, this isn’t your revenge alone! But I hope you’ll tell me who you really are!”

“I’ll help you avenge it. And this country—we’ll save it together.”

Shen Jue raised his head and looked into Lu Yan’s resolute and righteous eyes.

For the first time, these two sworn rivals—who had always been like fire and water—truly stood on the same side.

Family vengeance and national hatred fused perfectly in this moment.

“Let’s go!”

Shen Jue took a deep breath and tucked the blood-written imperial edict—bearing the truth and his hatred—into his robes. His eyes returned to their usual ruthlessness and determination.

“With this, as long as we can fight our way out alive, it’ll be Prince Ning’s death day!”

The four of them exchanged glances.

Just as they turned, preparing to retreat through the rear hall—

Bang!

With a thunderous crash, the ancestral temple’s main doors were violently thrown open from outside.

Countless torches instantly illuminated the once-dark hall, turning the night into broad daylight.

The cold clatter of armor and the synchronized march of footsteps rang out like drums of death, surrounding the entire hall in an instant.

Prince Ning’s figure slowly stepped across the threshold, surrounded by layers of guards.

A savage, cat-playing-with-a-mouse smile hung on his face as his cold gaze swept over the four people inside the hall.

“Overseer Shen, Commander Lu—I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

Prince Ning clapped his hands and burst into laughter. The sound echoed through the vast hall, piercing and unpleasant.

“Did you really think a few street rumors would fool me completely? That you could move my army so easily?”

Lu Yan’s pupils shrank abruptly. His hand moved to the hilt of his blade as his heart sank to the bottom.

They had fallen into a trap!

Their so-called tactic of luring the tiger away from the mountain had been nothing more than Prince Ning turning their own plan against them!

Prince Ning had pretended to move his troops out of the city, but in reality had already laid a perfect net—waiting for them to walk right into it and help him find this final, deadly piece of evidence!

【We’re screwed…】

Yu Qing’s legs went weak. Her vision darkened, and she nearly burst into tears.

【This old geezer predicted our prediction! Now we didn’t just deliver ourselves—we even brought him a gift package…】

【Someone save the kid here! Aren’t big villains supposed to appear at the very end? Why is he blocking the newbie village entrance already?!】

Su Hewan’s face turned pale. Instinctively, she clutched Shen Jue’s sleeve tightly.

At this moment—

A powerful enemy stood before them.

And behind them, there was no way out.