The Ugly Empress

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When Rui Xue entered the room, Feng Ming was lying on the bed with his back to her. She couldn"t tell whether he was asleep or not.

She glanced at the untouched dinner on the table, seemed like Feng w.a.n.g hadn"t even eaten yet.

Feng Country was located more to the south, the weather had turned very cold but it wasn"t snowing yet.

Feng w.a.n.g had always had strong const.i.tution, even if he tended to wear women"s clothing due to Marquis Zhulu"s influence, he was still worthy of being a military commander he once had been. Feng Ming had shown his outstanding talents since he was still very young, and since then he had already led troops of soldiers to many wars.

These few days, because of a difference in opinion regarding the Grand Princess" matter, Feng Ming"s relationship with Zhao Lu had been tense. Other than the days when Zhao Lu actually showed up at the court a.s.sembly, they had not seen each other at all.

Feng Ming was unhappy about this, but he was still a king of a country, he refused to back down.

Right at this time, Xue Junliang"s messenger arrived and informed him that their Empress was frightened in an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt and could not come to Feng Country as planned.

Feng Ming realized he"d been outsmarted by Xue Junliang, he was so angry he fell ill for ten days.

Rui Xue was an aide and an a.s.set personally picked by Zhao Lu, but she was also a woman. She had been around Feng Ming for so long, she knew that Feng w.a.n.g"s feeling for the Marquis was deeper than anyone could say; could not so easily be erased. But she was helpless and powerless, and even if she had the power to help, she could not. Because it was no longer a matter between two men, it was also a matter between two countries.

Rui Xue walked over to the bed and said gently, “Da w.a.n.g, please, eat something.”

An infinitesimal shake of the head was Feng Ming"s only answer.

Rui Xue said, “Da w.a.n.g, you"re Lord Marquis" most important person. You also the one who knows Lord Marquis the best. These few days, he didn"t want to enter the Palace for fear of offending anybody. Da w.a.n.g, please, don"t take it to heart.”

Feng Ming let out a curt laugh, then rolled around to face Rui Xue, staring at her intently. His gaze somehow made Rui Xue uneasy.

“You"re right,” Feng Ming said, “I put him at the deepest place in my heart, but for so many years, he has never taken me seriously… Gu is the highest monarch in this country, n.o.body dares treating me like he does. Even if… Even if I wasn"t a king, I deserve to be treated with the most common courtesy.”

“Da w.a.n.g, you…” The more Rui Xue heard Feng Ming"s grievance, the more her heart ached. She wanted to say something but Feng Ming was not finished.

Feng Ming said, “Rui Xue, I know, in the entire Marquis Zhulu"s residence, you"re the only one who actually treats me kind. Not only the Marquis" residence, every one at the Imperial Court despises the mere mention of me. If I… If my feeling for Zhao Lu wasn"t this sincere, how would I ever willing to lower myself for him? How would I always strive to please him?”

Rui Xue wanted to say that Lord Marquis was aware how sincere Feng Ming"s affection towards him; that Lord Marquis understood that very well, it was that the two of them, unfortunately, each stood on different and opposing sides.

Those were words she wasn"t allowed to say, though…

Feng Ming laughed again and said, “Are you sad? I am even sadder.”

Then he got up and walked towards a knife hung on the wall. He took the knife off its sheath then proceed to cut the clothes he wore to pieces. His movement was sure and methodical, as if he hadn"t been ill these few days.

Feng Ming balled the bright-yellow garments and tossed it into Rui Xue"s hands. His tone flat as he said, “You should go. Give this to Zhao Lu, and… From here on, you don"t have to come to the Palace anymore, you should serve Zhao Lu well.”

Rui Xue clasped the bundled up garment with two hands and said with shaky voice, “This servant… says farewell.”

Zhao Lu naturally knew very clearly what Feng Ming meant by cutting the clothes to shreds. It was actually the result he was expecting. Gripping the bright-yellow clothes tightly, Zhao Lu let out a deep sigh. Then he bitterly laughed.

The very next day, Minister Zuo humbly plead guilty over advising the return of Her Highness the Grand Princess. Kowtowing on the floor, he said he didn"t think the advise through. Feng w.a.n.g ordered someone drag Minister Zuo and flog him with a stick. Though Minister Zuo was very old, Feng w.a.n.g didn"t relent on the slightest. He also said, whoever plead for leniency would be punished along with Minister Zuo, so n.o.body dared stand up nor argue.

Feng Ming coldly said, “Was it fun to gang up and fight each other? That time, who filed a joint pet.i.tion requesting the Grand Princess to come home? All of you who had selfish motives and ignored the possible consequences of your actions, you all ganged up on me to force me out of my throne!”

The court officials present were all terrified by Feng Ming"s imposing speech. Since he favored Marquis Zhulu, Feng w.a.n.g rarely attended the imperial court, rarely dealt with court matters, and even more rarely flew into a violent rage.

Without any more preamble, Feng w.a.n.g ordered the start of Minister Zuo"s punishment. At first, Minister Zuo was sorely disappointed, thinking Feng w.a.n.g was still partial to Marquis Zhulu. But as he heard Feng w.a.n.g scolded the court officials about ganging up with selfish motives, the Minister"s disappointment immediately disappeared.

Minister Zuo was one of the most senior court officials, everyone knew how loyal he was. But even a loyal and dedicated minister would have some selfishness; the more power he possessed, he became greedy for even more power. Minister Zuo"s power had always been b.u.t.ting head with Marquis Zhulu"s, it was no secret that the Minister wanted to push the Marquis out.

But what puzzled the officials was that, though Feng w.a.n.g punished Minister Zuo, he never praised Marquis Zhulu. If it was yesterday, Feng w.a.n.g would definitely promoted Marquis Zhulu"s status. Today, he didn"t even mention Marquis Zhulu"s name.

The strange atmosphere these few days drove people to speculate that maybe Da w.a.n.g was fed up with Marquis Zhulu. After all, the Marquis was a man and was no longer very young; his youthful beauty should have started to fade. It was no wonder if Da w.a.n.g got tired of him after a few years.

—

Since having that strange dream, Xue Junliang rarely visited Yunfeng Palace. This, naturally, made Teng Yun very happy.

The Little Crown Prince visited once. Xue Pei knew Mother was in poor health so he didn"t dare stay too long and disturb her rest. Only Teng Qianyi came over almost every day.

Teng Qianyi had just visited Yunfeng Palace once and she"d already met Xue w.a.n.g; she was very lucky indeed. Therefore, she made sure to visit Yunfeng Palace as often as possible. This made Teng Yun"s head ache.

Teng Yun was attentively cared by Xiu Yao, added that Jiang Yu still stayed in Yunfeng Palace, it made things easier for Teng Yun. Jiang Yu also did his duties diligently; didn"t matter if Xue Junliang didn"t come over, because he had planted an eye in Yunfeng Palace, every move and every speech happened in this place, Xue Junliang knew everything.

When Teng Qianyi came to visit for the fourth time, she was stopped by Jiang Yu before she could even enter Yunfeng Palace. Jiang Yu invited her to meet Xue Junliang first.

Teng Qianyi was so excited, thinking her auspicious day had finally arrived and her effort these few days had paid off. Maybe the Empress had sent a few good words about her so Xue w.a.n.g was interested in seeing her.

However, when she arrived at Xue w.a.n.g"s residence, her wishes didn"t happen. Xue Junliang didn"t look pleased, but he also didn"t look angry. He lightly said, “I"ve heard Aifei has been visitng Yunfeng Palace these days.”

Teng Qianyi sweetly said, “Answering Your Majesty, Chen-qie is only concerned about Her Majesty the Empress" condition.”

Xue Junliang smiled, “Yes, even Defei can see you concern.”

“Defei?” Teng Qianyi"s heart dropped to her stomach, sensing something was not right.

Xue Junliang said, “Just now, Defei came to tell me that these few days, you often came visiting the Empress" residence, disturbing the Empress" rest so her health could not improve.”

“Chen-qie… Chen-qie…” Teng Qianyi realized Defei had come to tell her off to Xue w.a.n.g. Defei had always been targeting her. Defei had even come to her residence once to create troubles, and now Defei wanted to frame her.

Feeling wronged, she cried miserably and said, “Chen-qie only meant well.”

Xue Junliang ignored her cries, without saying anything, he let Teng Qianyi return.

Of course, this time Teng Qianyi couldn"t come to Yunfeng Palace for fear of alerting Defei. Defei was famous for her atrocious behavior. Even if she wasn"t favored right now, she was still very beautiful. Who knew if Xue w.a.n.g might pamper her again someday.

—

Since coming back, Xue Houyang had stayed in the capital city for a few months now. He should have gone back to the frontier, but now that Xue w.a.n.g a.s.signed Teng Shang to investigate the Empress" a.s.sa.s.sination attempt, Xue Houyang was unwilling to go and left Teng Shang behind. If he left Teng Shang alone in the capital city, his heart would never relax.

He dragged his feet against leaving until the point where, if he still wouldn"t leave, he would attract people"s criticism. Right at this time, Xue Houyang received a news that Marquis Zhenjiang, Xue Yu wanted to visit the capital city to pray for the Late King. Xue Houyang received the news too late; said Marquis had already left for the capital city.

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