Chapter 235 Confessing One’s Identity

The moment Shen Jue laid eyes on that totem, a storm of shock and disbelief surged in his gaze!

He suddenly turned his head sharply, fixing his eyes on Su Hewan, who was standing beside him.

Su Hewan felt a chill run down her spine under his intense stare.

“What are you looking at me like that for? Do I have flowers blooming on my face?”

Shen Jue stood up and walked step by step toward her.

He reached out and handed her the token!

Su Hewan stared at the token, then instinctively touched the jade pendant around her own neck.

The dragon pattern was exactly the same!

Su Hewan drew in a sharp breath.

【This totem… how could it appear on the bodies of these assassins who came to kill us?!】

Shen Jue took a deep breath, as if he had made an extremely weighty decision.

“At this point, I can’t keep this from you any longer.”

His voice was terrifyingly low, echoing across the vast marshland.

Yu Qing, who was tending to Lu Yan’s wound, froze in her movements.

Lu Yan also clenched his teeth against the sharp pain in his back, lifting his cold, sharp gaze.

Shen Jue looked at everyone.

Word by word, he dropped a bombshell that could throw the entire world into chaos.

“This totem… is the exclusive secret insignia of the previous dynasty’s royal family.”

“And Wanwan…”

“Could very well be the last remaining bloodline of that dynasty—the princess of the former royal family!”

The words hit Lu Yan and Yu Qing like a thunderbolt!

“Cough! Cough! Cough!”

Lu Yan began to cough violently, even aggravating his wound, and fresh blood began to seep out again.

His usually imperturbable, cold face now was filled with sheer horror.

Yu Qing’s jaw practically dropped into the muddy ground in shock.

“WTF, WTF, WTF!!!”

“Wanwan is actually the princess of the former dynasty? What the hell kind of over-the-top heroine story is this?!”

After the initial shock, Lu Yan suddenly gripped his Embroidered Spring Blade tightly and forced himself to stand.

He fixed his gaze on Shen Jue, nearly biting down on his own teeth.

“Shen Jue! Are you out of your mind? Do you even know what you’re saying?!”

Lu Yan’s voice was hoarse from a mixture of anger and disbelief.

“If the Empress Dowager and the Emperor find out, none of us here today would escape—they’d be executed without mercy!”

A commander of the Jinyiwei, consorting with the remnants of the old dynasty—this alone was enough to doom the entire Lu family!

Faced with Lu Yan’s furious rage, Shen Jue merely let out a faint, cold laugh.

“Precisely because of this, I must bring her to Shennong Valley.”

He turned his gaze to the distant mountains shrouded in thick mist.

“Perhaps only in Shennong Valley can this hidden danger be completely resolved, leaving no evidence for anyone to contest!”

Lu Yan stared at him coldly, his eyes filled with both fear and fury.

“Shen Jue… you play a damn fine game!”

“You not only deceived everyone, but you’ve also dragged me onto your thief ship against my will!”

Even if he wanted to back out now, it was already too late.

Listening to Lu Yan’s gnashing, furious accusations, Shen Jue’s lips curved into a mocking smile.

He casually pointed with a fan bone.

Directing it at Yu Qing, who, overwhelmed by excitement, was fidgeting, touching this and that around Su Hewan.

“Lord Lu, don’t you feel that what you’re saying is a bit… insincere?”

Shen Jue’s tone was teasing, as if he could see through everything.

“Even if it weren’t for Wanwan, wouldn’t you still obediently follow along for someone else, boarding this same thief ship?”

Lu Yan’s body stiffened violently.

He instinctively followed Shen Jue’s gaze.

Yu Qing’s eyes were wide, her face full of admiration as she looked at Su Hewan.

“Wow, a princess from the previous dynasty! Wanwan, you’re literally a walking Mary Sue!”

“If you ever rise to power, don’t forget me! I could even be your chief steward in the inner court!”

“Usually, orphans from the former dynasty like you… always end up becoming empresses!!”

Lu Yan shook his head. Did this girl even know what a “former dynasty” was?

But his hand gripping the hilt of his sword unconsciously loosened a little.

He closed his eyes and harshly scolded himself in his heart.

He was a close aide to the emperor, the commander of the imperial brocade guard!

Yet he had never imagined that one day he would collude with Shen Jue—the sly and treacherous eunuch faction leader!

Su Hewan remained calm throughout their exchange.

She lowered her head and touched the jade pendant.

So that’s how it is.

She lifted her head, her cold gaze sweeping across everyone present.

“Since we’re all on the same boat now,” she said, “the real priority is surviving and finding Shennong Valley together.”

After a brief rest,

Yu Qing, with tear-filled eyes, carefully bandaged the wound on Lu Yan’s back.

Shen Jue pocketed the black token.

The four of them stepped over the scattered debris and corpses, venturing deeper into the mountains once more.

Meanwhile, in Dongzhou City, inside the Zhen Nan Prince’s mansion…

In the study with the strictest security,

Two figures stood facing each other in the darkness, the atmosphere so tense it felt almost tangible.

“Your Highness, we’ve handled the matter for you.”

The man in black was completely hidden in the shadows, his face indistinguishable.

Zhen Nan Prince Xiao Zheng Nan stood by the window, hands behind his back.

In the faint moonlight, his once-imposing face was now dark with fury.

“The trouble caused by Lin Wan’er… has been completely erased from this world.”

The man in black let out a sinister laugh, like a night owl calling in the dark—sending chills down the spine.

“Not only that, Your Highness, we cleaned up the beginning and the end, sealing that flawless lie.”

“Whether it’s the Dali Temple officials, the Eastern Depot, or the hawks of the Brocade Guard, they will all think the Crown Prince’s consort committed suicide due to an overdose of hallucinogens.”

“No one will ever suspect Your Highness; your noble hands remain clean.”

Xiao Zheng Nan spun around, his tiger-like eyes locked on the man in black, his chest heaving violently.

“Since the matter is settled, you should leave Nanjiang immediately and never appear before me again!”

He roared in a low voice, struggling to restrain the murderous intent rising within him.

The man in black ignored the prince’s wrath and leisurely stepped forward.

“Leave? Your Highness, are you joking?”

“Since the deal is done, naturally, it’s now time for Your Highness to fulfill your promise.”

Xiao Zheng Nan’s pupils contracted sharply. He clenched his fists so tightly that the knuckles cracked.

“The Nanjiang military maps are a matter of life and death for hundreds of thousands of troops in our Great Yuan Dynasty’s southern borders!”

“This is a national treasure—you will never get your hands on it!”

His words were righteous, but to the man in black, they sounded like the funniest joke in the world.

The black-clad man laughed, filled with undisguised disdain and mockery.

“Your Highness has been the local emperor of Nanjiang for so many years, almost amassing a rebel’s fortune… and now you’re pretending to be a loyal minister and noble general before me?”

“You dare!”

Xiao Zheng Nan’s eyes blazed with fury.

The man in black slowly pulled something extremely soft from his chest.

In the pale moonlight streaming through the window, its outline became increasingly clear.

It was a woman’s intimate undergarment.