Chapter 254 Public Humiliation

The usually eloquent and silver-tongued East Depot Director was, at this moment, as if his lips had been stitched shut—unable to utter a single word.

The typically decisive and unstoppable Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, too, could not offer a single promise!

“Give up.”

These two lightly spoken words felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

A flash of intense pain and struggle passed through Shen Jue’s eyes.

Lu Yan gritted his teeth. Behind him were tens of thousands of brothers in the Embroidered Uniform Guards who had followed him through life-and-death battles, obeying his every command.

If he were to walk away now, those brothers would inevitably become political scapegoats in the court’s purge.

This was not a whimsical trip one could leave at a moment’s notice; it was a life-or-death choice, where even the slightest misstep could affect everything.

The weight of responsibility, unfinished missions, the mire of power—all of it transformed into invisible chains, binding them in the opulent prison that was the capital.

The atmosphere became unbearably oppressive, as if even breathing had become a sin.

Amid this suffocating silence, the usually limp Yu Qing, who had been slumped in Lu Yan’s arms, suddenly, without warning, shot upright as if reanimated from the dead.

Her eyes, still clouded with the remnants of intoxication moments ago, now shone with astonishing clarity—there was no trace of the previous daze.

“Exactly! Wanwan’s brain circuits are amazing!”

“Why the hell should we drag ourselves back to the capital to work for those feudal vampires?”

“Not only is there a constant risk of losing our heads, we’d have to perform a daily ‘Empresses in Power’ show—what kind of life is that?”

“Since the Southern Border is so far from the emperor, and the Xunlong Guard is so capable, why don’t we just start our own business and be our own bosses?”

The three of them looked at Yu Qing’s drunken declarations and shook their heads with wry smiles.

Lu Yan’s eardrums even buzzed from the intensity.

Yu Qing, thrilled, slapped Lu Yan’s thigh so hard that he grimaced in pain.

“Yu Qing!” he ground out through clenched teeth.

Yu Qing ignored him completely and continued gesturing excitedly with her hands: “Wanwan’s right—we’re not going back!”

She tugged at Lu Yan’s sleeve, then winked at Su Hewan and Shen Jue, as if she could already see mountains of gold and silver waving at her.

“We’ll start a business right here in the Southern Border! This place is a completely untapped blue ocean market. Don’t worry—I have experience.”

“I actually took proper business management courses in college. Sure, I was in the performing arts department, but I audited them.”

Fueled by a hint of drunkenness, this modern-day drama queen of a college student began passionately selling her grand blueprint.

“Listen, our startup team is top-notch. Wanwan is smart, Shen Jue is strategic—if we can’t ring the Nasdaq bell, setting up the top intelligence network or an international trade company in the Southern Border would be a piece of cake.”

“As for Lord Lu!”

Yu Qing poked at Lu Yan’s rigid, iron-like chest, grinning like a mischievous madam.

“With Lord Lu’s combat skills and that unbearably handsome face, he could easily run a top-tier security company in the Southern Border—or debut as a star in the center position.”

“Even just charging entrance fees would make us rich—that’s a complete business loop, get it?”

“We’ll grow big and strong, create glory again. As long as the four of us work together, who cares about the Empress Dowager or the new emperor—they can go starve for all we care!”

She waved her slender arms, passionately painting a wildly absurd yet vividly alive picture of the future in the night breeze.

Yet, before her entrepreneurial hype could fully peak, her voice gradually lost volume, slipping out of control.

“So working for someone else is impossible. In this life…”

Her fluffy head seemed to lose all support, drooping slowly bit by bit, until it finally plopped, with unerring precision, back into the broad, warm crook of Lu Yan’s neck.

The previously impassioned startup mentor had, in the middle of her rousing speech, fallen asleep instantly.

A soft, long snore sounded abruptly on the quiet hillside.

The previously suffocating tension was completely dispelled by her rambling nonsense.

Lu Yan let out a helpless sigh.

The hand that had wielded a blade for years now gently cupped the back of his head, adjusting his posture so she could sleep more comfortably.

Shen Jue froze for a moment, then couldn’t help but let out a low, soft laugh. The usually cold and formidable face surprisingly relaxed, revealing a rare, genuinely at-ease smile.

Su Hewan looked at her best friend, who was now soundly asleep with complete disregard for appearances, and once again felt a sting of bittersweet emotion well up in her eyes.

But this time, Shen Jue’s lips couldn’t help but curve slightly upward.

Absurd?

Ridiculous?

In this era where human life was worth less than grass, who talked about entrepreneurship or being one’s own boss?

Yet among the three of them present, even the calculating Shen Jue held no trace of mockery.

Because they all knew better than anyone else what lay behind the drunken ramblings—a soul burning with the desire for freedom.

Yu Qing’s eyes earlier had shone with longing for the future and resistance to confinement.

This seemingly carefree girl was, in truth, clearer-minded than anyone else.

She did not want to return—not to that perilous imperial city where even sleep required one eye open in vigilance.

She would rather be a small-time merchant in the ten-thousand mountains of Southern Frontier, than be a trembling pawn under the knives of the afterlife.

And this intense craving for freedom was, in a way, the very secret corner of the heart that Su Hewan, Shen Jue, and even Lu Yan dared not touch within themselves.

The night grew deeper.

The brilliant Milky Way quietly flowed above them. No one spoke again.

No one brought up the unbearably heavy topic of returning to the capital.

The next morning, Yu Qing woke to a splitting headache!

She groaned in pain, clutching her head as if it would burst, her stomach churning violently along with it.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a tall, upright figure stepped in.

On the small table beside the bed was a bowl of steaming hangover soup!

Lu Yan walked over, picked up the bowl, and gently said to Yu Qing on the bed, “Drink this.”

He looked at the girl curled up on the bed, a flicker of helplessness in his eyes.

Yu Qing, rubbing her tangled hair and squinting through bleary eyes, recognized him.

Suddenly, fragmented, insane, and humiliating memories from the night before replayed in her mind at full speed!

She remembered that she had downed the locals’ alcohol like fruit wine, had danced all night with a spirited young man from the Southern Frontier, and—spurred by the drunkenness—had hugged and kissed Lu Yan in a wild confession!

At this moment, she wished she could dig a hole and bury herself alive!

This wasn’t just social death—it was the kind of disgrace that could have her ashes scattered across the Pacific!

Her already pale face instantly flushed crimson. Her gaze darted around frantically, refusing to meet Lu Yan’s eyes even once.

To mask the suffocating embarrassment, she snatched the hangover soup and tilted her head back, gulping it down in one go!

She choked and coughed loudly.

“Slow down!” Lu Yan instinctively reached out and patted her back.

Another person entered from outside.

“Master Lu, let me help!”

Su Hewan stepped in, carrying a basin of water. Her gaze swept once between the flushed-faced Yu Qing and Lu Yan.

She smiled calmly and addressed Lu Yan with ease: “Yu Qing just woke up. I’ll help her freshen up.”

Lu Yan nodded, glanced at Yu Qing, who was still coughing violently, and wordlessly turned to leave.