The Ugly Empress

[T/N : Translating this chapter while suffering a splitting headache. Hope it"s still readable. LOL.]

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Xue Yu casually took back his hand, as if what he"d just done was common and nothing out of the norm.

Xue Junliang had a faint smile on his face; he didn"t look even slightly angry.

Every body else who saw this situation had their heart trembling in fear. They immediately knelt down and cried out Long Live the King.

Xue Junliang helped Teng Yun get up and smiled, “Gu has been waiting for you, but I see you meet each other here. Are you two reminiscing about the past?”

Xue Yu, still kneeling, calmly said, “Answering Your Majesty, Chen-di hasn"t been in the capital city for years, has missed out many things.”

Xue Junliang"s tone was unreadable as he said, “Oh, really? Then you must come and talk about the past with Gu, later.”

Then he allowed everyone to stand and turned towards the flower garden.

At the banquet, the court officials had been waiting respectfully for a long time for the honored guests to arrive.

Xue Junliang offered a short speech before allowing the song and dance performances to start. Xue w.a.n.g and the Empress sat at the highest seats. Xue Houyang sat at the second highest seat while Xue Yu sat below him. Xue Yu"s position in the family, as well as his official ranking, was not as high as Marquis Wannian. And just by hearing the t.i.tles granted to them, it was even clearer who was more trusted by Xue w.a.n.g.

[T/N : Wannian (万年) means ‘ten thousand years", while Zhenjiang (镇疆) means ‘to subdue the border". Naming someone Wannian sounds like a prayer or blessing, but naming someone Zhenjing is just like stating a fact.]

Xue Yu dressed appropriately and not too eye-catching. His conduct refined, his manner cultured and his temperament was rather honest and kind. He always wore a smile on his face, but his gaze too often shifted towards the direction of the highest seats.

Of course, he wasn"t looking at Xue Junliang. He was looking at Teng Yun.

The court officials were all observant about people"s body language. Naturally, they noticed Xue Yu"s line of sight but they all pretended not to see anything.

Xue Junliang was especially affectionate today. He conversed with Teng Yun as smoothly and as flowingly as water. Teng Yun never had to raise a hand, Xue Junliang personally picked the dishes and poured the drinks for him. It was the perfect picture of a lovey-dovey couple.

Standing behind the couple, Jiang Yu and Xiu Yao couldn"t stand watching it. Xiu Yao surrept.i.tiously wiped a sweat. Although she was happy that His Majesty treated her mistress very well, she wished he didn"t have to personally serve the Empress. Serving dishes and pouring drinks were all the servants" duties. Letting His Majesty did the works himself while they stood idle, it really made all the servants feel awkward.

Teng Yun glanced at Xue Yu who was sitting not too far from him. He reckoned Xue Yu"s feelings towards the original Empress was not true. Because if he really did love her, he would not stay still and accept her marrying someone else for so long and only now come see her in capital city.

Xue Junliang had stationed his troops of soldiers at the borders to fight with Teng Country. Although right now Teng Country was defeated, the inner side of Xue Country lacked soldiers and also, the soldiers still needed time to recuperate after wars. Xue Yu coming to the capital city at this time, he must have unkind motives.

Teng Yun didn"t want to get involved in between Xue Junliang and Xue Yu"s problem. But Teng Yun"s current ident.i.ty was a Feng Country"s Grand Princess who was living under Xue Country"s roof. He was constantly dragged by either Xue Junliang and Xue Yu into their mess.

After having three drinks, Teng Yun was tired of watching the two men"s false smiles. When Xue Junliang asked what was the matter, Teng Yun asked to be excused.

Instead of being angry, Xue Junliang smiled and said teasingly, “You must be tired because of last night, I"m sorry for that.”

Instantly, Teng Yun was reminded of last night. His face heated up and his hand was burning. After stammering a few words, he quickly retreated.

Teng Yun and Xiu Yao walked back to his residence. He drank a bit of wine but already he felt a little drunk. Teng Yun"s alcohol tolerance used to be quite high, but his current body was so weak, the effect of the wine had started giving him headache which was uncomfortable.

Teng Yun didn"t immediately return to his residence, instead opted to walked around a small garden. The weather had turned cold and the blowing wind was cool; it was quite refreshing.

Xiu Yao said, “Empress, let"s go back. It"s cold in here, we"ll be in trouble if you catch a cold.”

Teng Yun a.s.sented but made no move to return. His head was throbbing and only when the cool wind was blowing, the pain subsided. When he still lived in the military barrack, he never paid attention to small inconveniences. The condition in the barrack was often inadequate, Teng Yun also had to live and eat together with the soldiers. The Imperial Court was always dilly-dallying when it came to funding the army, resulting the army provisions were always scarce. The soldiers had learned to take pleasure at something as trivial as a cool breeze.

Perhaps he was affected by the wine because, when he recalled about the past, he suddenly felt sorrowful. He was stuck in Xue Country, unintentionally caught in a battle for power and had no means to protect himself. Also, it had been more than half a month since he last saw Teng Shang. Teng Shang was a man; not allowed to enter the Inner Palace too often.

Teng Yun sighed, then he heard someone echoing his sigh. From the corner of his eye, Teng Yun saw someone wearing a light blue-green robe standing at the other side of the garden"s pavilion; it was Xue Yu.

Xue Yu came over and smiled, “Your Majesty, why are you sighing?”

Teng Yun didn"t turn to look at him and said, “Why isn"t Lord Marquis at the banquet?”

Xue Yu laughed. Taking a step closer, he said, “Naturally, because of you, younger sister Yun.”

Xiu Yao took a sharp breath, but didn"t dare say anything. She had been following the Empress, naturally she didn"t easily believe her mistress and the marquis knew each other. But hearing Xue Yu"s words just now, she couldn"t help feeling a little doubtful.

Teng Yun also laughed, but his tone was neutral as he said, “I"m afraid Lord Marquis mistook me for someone else.”

“Younger sister Yun, you mean…” Xue Yu was still smiling, but there was a touch sense of loss in his smile, “You mean you don"t want to be called that?”

Teng Yun threw him a brief glance then said, “Lord Marquis should go back, the banquet is intended for you, it will be unacceptable if you"re not there.”

Xue Yu saw the other person looking indifference, his own expression turned hostile for a moment before he recovered his smile, “Maybe you forget about our agreement…”

Teng Yun now turned to face him and said, “I remember no such thing.”

“Do you?” Xue Yu"s expression turned grim. He coldly laughed and said, “I should have known… That time when we made our agreement, you were still unsure. I heard recently Xue w.a.n.g has been favoring you. It must be why you decide to forget our agreement.”

Xiu Yao saw Marquis Zhenjiang"s expression turned cold and suddenly felt a bit scared. Gathering her courage, Xiu Yao said, “Lord Marquis… please, mind your speech.”

Xue Yu threw an icy glare at Xiu Yao, deeming her unimportant before he turned his gaze back to Teng Yun. He opened his mouth to say something but then he heard footsteps coming their way.

Little Crown Prince, Xue Pei ran over and threw himself at Teng Yun"s arms; almost toppling them both to the ground.

Xue Pei looked up at Teng Yun innocently and asked, “Mother, Mother, why haven"t you returned to your residence? This son has been looking for you.”

Then Xue Pei turned towards Xue Yu, still looking very innocent, and said, “Imperial Uncle is here too. Father was looking for you, said there were many officials wished to have a toast with you, but you weren"t there.”

Xue Yu looked down at Xue Pei"s innocent face for a long time before his a.s.sistant, Lang Jing, whispered from behind him, “Lord Marquis.”

Xue Yu retrieved his gaze then said, “Drinking wine was boring. I was walking around and had arrived here unknowingly.”

After saying that, Xue Yu took Lang Jing and turned to go.

Xue Pei stared at Xue Yu"s back as he walked away, then patted his chest with his hands saying, “Mother, how come you get to talk with that fox?”

Teng Yun smiled, “You"re still a kid. How can you see if a person is a fox?”

Xue Pei said, “In the future, I will be a great military commander, I"ll have to lead this country to peace and stability. Of course, I should be able to see which person is a fox. Besides, I"m not a kid.”

Xue Pei was almost eight years old; though he had started studying literature and martial art since he was six, being raised in the Imperial Palace made his views of the world even more sophisticated.

Children of an Imperial Palace could all recognize which people were foxes even before they started learning reading and writing. This only made Xue Pei even more unusually intelligent.

Xue Pei beamed with joy as if feeling proud after doing such a good deed. He turned his head to look at Xue Junliang. The Little Crown Prince had always been fawned by everyone, he was pampered but Xue Junliang never spoiled him. Xue Junliang was always strict about which deeds merit rewards, which deeds merit punishment. Therefore, Xue Pei felt deep respect and admiration towards Xue Junliang.

Teng Yun saw Xue Pei trying to curb his joyful smile, when he followed Xue Pei"s line of sight, he saw Xue Junliang coming over. Xue Junliang was only followed by Jiang Yu.

Xue Junliang patted Xue Pei"s head and asked, “Were you drinking?”

Xue Pei puffed his chubby cheeks, mumbling, “This son only drank two gulps…”

Accidentally he picked up Xue Junliang"s half-smile, then he rephrased, “Just… Just two cups…”

“Alright,” Apparently Xue Junliang wasn"t about to scold the Little Crown Prince, he only asked randomly. He said, “In the afternoon, go back to your study. Don"t be lazy.”

[T/N : Ancient China might have different views about underage drinking, so let"s not be judgmental here. Peace, yo.]

“I understand.” Xue Pei nodded, then excused himself.

Xiu Yao, who was standing at the side, respectfully kept her eyes down. But she could clearly see; Xue w.a.n.g appeared so suddenly, but his appearance was actually staged. The Little Crown Prince coming to drove Xue Yu away, it was also orchestrated by Xue w.a.n.g.

Xue Junliang said, “I"ve had a few drinks. Aifei, will you accompany me for a walk?”

Teng Yun a.s.sented, but his heart was beating rapidly. By Xue Yu"s tone just now, seemed like Feng Country"s Grand Princess indeed had connections with Xue Yu in the past. But he didn"t think they were lovers, because if they were, Xue Yu wouldn"t talk to her with such threatening manner.

Teng Yun only wished to stay alive and until he could escape from Xue Country. He didn"t want to be used by Xue Junliang; didn"t want to have any relation with Xue Country. But fate seemed h.e.l.l-bent on contradicting him.

Xue Junliang said, “What was it that Aifei and Marquis Zhenjiang talk about?”

Teng Yun narrowed his eyes and replied curtly, “Chen-qie and Marquis Zhenjiang were not talking.”

Jiang Yu and Xiu Yao heard the Empress harsh tone and suddenly felt nervous. But unexpectedly, Xue w.a.n.g only laughed, “That was the perfect answer.”

Teng Yun said, “It was the true answer.”

“En.” Xue Junliang added, “Gu likes plain-speaking person. Aifei really surprises me every time.”

He paused for a moment, then said, “Then let"s speak plainly about some things, shall we?” Then he waved a hand, signaling Jiang Yu and Xiu Yao to retreat a little far off.

Teng Yun said, “Do tell, Your Majesty.”

Xue Junliang opened, “The one that Aifei loves, is it Xue Yu?”

“No.”

Xue Junliang had been watching Teng Yun"s eyes and was not surprised when his question was answered so readily and quickly. He added, “I"ll also tell you the truth. Half of me believe, while the other half is skeptical over Aifei"s words… I know Aifei is very smart, so I was thinking a way to let Aifei prove your words.”

Teng Yun said nothing; only waited for Xue Junliang to unravel his calculations and schemes.

Looking at the Empress" expression, Xue Junliang smiled. He reached out a hand to touch the scar on the other person"s ear. He thought he didn"t have any feeling towards this Empress. But as a person, he disliked other people setting eyes on his wife. And as a king, he disliked those people even more for setting eyes on his possessions.

Being touched by Xue Junliang, Teng Yun was reminded again about the incident last night and couldn"t help shuddering.

Xue Junliang saw the other person"s face turned bright red and his mood became lighter. He said, “It"s actually very simple… Marquis Zhenjiang is bringing with him a thousand soldiers. Gu wants him to leave his troops behind. Let"s see if Aifei has any ideas.”

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