AUBTN -Chapter 86 Heart-to-Heart Between Sisters

Yu Qing sighed and rested her head on Su Hewan’s shoulder. “I want to scroll through my phone. No WiFi, no Douyin, no delivery… life here is really hard. Especially at night—I keep reaching for my phone under the pillow out of habit, only to grab a hard, cold porcelain pillow instead. At that moment… it’s just so hopeless.”

Su Hewan let out a soft laugh and reached over to stroke her head. “Yeah… modern life is nice. But here… even the stars we see now, we couldn’t see in the modern world.”

The two sat in silence for a moment.

Yu Qing suddenly turned her head, using the moonlight to look at Su Hewan. “If… I mean, if we really find a way back… would you be able to leave Shen Jue?”

Su Hewan’s fingers paused slightly.

The man who was sharp, sensitive, full of thorns… yet would secretly deliver her sweet-scented osmanthus taro in the middle of the night.

The man whose hands were stained with blood, yet would show a moment of vulnerability only in front of her.

“I…” Su Hewan opened her mouth, but her throat felt dry.

She was a rational person—she knew Shen Jue was historically treacherous, knew his end was doomed, knew there was a gap of centuries and an insurmountable difference in their statuses.

Yet, in some corner of her heart… things felt different.

“And you?” Su Hewan countered.

“Would you be able to leave Lu Yan?”

Yu Qing froze for a moment, then let out a bitter laugh, burying her face in her knees.

“I can’t leave him. That big ice cube… even though he’s sharp-tongued, sulky, and always scolds me… he’s the first to rush to my side when I’m in danger. He’ll eat my horrible cooking, complain about me being a nuisance, yet still indulge me in my antics.”

“Wanwan… do you think I have Stockholm Syndrome?”

Su Hewan looked at her friend, her heart tightening with a bittersweet pang.

“Everyone has their own kind of good, right? Modern life has its conveniences… and here…”

“…there are people we just can’t let go of.”

“Ever since we came here, we’ve been living in constant fear,” Yu Qing said, lifting her head, her eyes red.

“Several times I thought I was going to die… You know, ordinary college students like us, thrown into this time-travel plot… surviving until now is already a miracle, isn’t it?”

Su Hewan nodded, her gaze deep. “Yes… a step-by-step nightmare. We’re like two little rabbits that wandered into a wolf pack, forced to grow fangs to survive.”

“Wanwan, how do you think we can get back? Do we really have to follow this cursed plot to the end?” Yu Qing asked, her tone confused.

Su Hewan was silent for a moment before speaking slowly, “I don’t know. Maybe finishing the plot is the only way… or maybe… there’s no way back at all.”

A faint melancholy hung in the air.

Yu Qing sniffled, then suddenly waved her hand in a bold, almost defiant gesture, as if trying to shake off the gloom:

“Forget it! I don’t want to think anymore! I’m not an ambitious person—I just live in the moment. Since heaven threw us here, and even gave us two handsome guys to pursue, we might as well make the best of it! Even if we die tomorrow, we’ll finish our milk tea tonight!”

With that, she raised her cup and tapped it toward the moon. “To time-travel! To dramatic plot twists!”

Su Hewan couldn’t help but laugh, the sharp, anxious edge in her rational mind softening a little.

“You really are a little sun… no shadows can stay in your heart.”

She lifted her cup as well, lightly clinking it against Yu Qing’s. “Alright… to the present.”

The two shared a smile, returning to their usual close, unguarded friendship.

But after the laughter faded, Su Hewan gazed at the cold, clear moon, her brow furrowing slightly. She murmured,

“Still, while we have time to lament spring and autumn, we need to think seriously about the plot ahead. March third… the Temple of Heaven ceremony… that’s a big event. If we don’t plan ahead, with our cannon-fodder fates, we might not even make it through that day.”

Yu Qing’s newly kindled boldness instantly vanished. She clutched her head and wailed, throwing her voice to the sky:

“Ah—! Why remind me! I really don’t want to die again! Can’t I just be a lazy glutton waiting for life to pass me by?!”

Her wails carried far into the silent night.

In the study,

Shen Jue and Lu Yan, who had been examining a map, froze simultaneously.

Both had extremely sharp hearing; even across the courtyard, the conversation on the rooftop was partially audible.

Lu Yan put down his vermilion brush, fingers lightly tracing the desk, a flicker of complex emotion passing through his eyes.

“Go back… to the modern world… where exactly is that?”

“Probably the hometown they’ve been longing for,” Lu Yan said, also glancing at the rooftop opposite.

Shen Jue suddenly snapped the dossier shut, his voice cold as a blade: “Lu Yan, triple the security at the Temple of Heaven’s sacrificial site.”

Lu Yan looked up at him, unusually silent, only giving a heavy nod.

“Exactly as I wished.”

A few days later.

No one expected someone else to arrive even before March Third!

A low-profile carriage slowly stopped at the gates of Yuyuan!

This visit from Prime Minister Lu was nominally a courtesy call, but in reality, it was an interrogation of sorts.

Ever since he discovered that his son had been living under the same roof as a hated eunuch, he had been so angry he hadn’t eaten properly for days!

Not to mention that he had brought that mysterious woman to live there as well!

Inside the main hall, the atmosphere was tense.

Shen Jue leaned lazily in the National Preceptor’s chair, holding a covered tea bowl.

Without lifting his eyelids, he gently blew away the floating foam.

“Prime Minister Lu’s honorable presence truly illuminates our humble Yuyuan,” he said.

There was a trace of coldness in Shen Jue’s voice, no hint of respect—only sharp mockery.

Lu Zhixing sat with an iron-faced expression at the guest seat.

“Master Shen, let’s speak plainly. My son, being young and ignorant, was misled into committing this absurd act. Today, I’ve come to take him home.”

As he spoke, Lu Zhixing’s gaze meaningfully swept toward the inner courtyard, letting out a cold snort. “The Lu family is one of moral integrity. Our household rules are strict. We cannot allow disreputable women to enter our home, nor can we allow Lu’s descendants to mingle with eunuchs… or the Eastern Depot!”

Though he didn’t speak the word ‘eunuch faction,’ the disdain in his eyes was unmistakable.

At court, Lu Zhixing and Shen Jue had always been political adversaries.

Previously, Lu Yan and Shen Jue had fought tooth and nail.

Who would have thought the two were now living together?

To him, the variable in this whole situation was clearly that woman.

Shen Jue paused slightly at this, then let out a light laugh.

“Prime Minister Lu, hearing you, one might think our Yuyuan is some den of dragons and tigers.”

Shen Jue set down his tea bowl and slowly lifted his eyes.

“Prime Minister Lu, your failure in educating your son is your family matter. Lu Yan is the Commander of the Jinyiwei, the emperor’s blade—not a caged sparrow in your Lu household. Where he chooses to live is his freedom.”