The Ugly Empress

—

Xue Junliang slowly and carefully drew one eyebrow, and then continued to draw the other side.

The way Xiu Yao saw it, there was no other king more affectionate and more infatuated than this Xue w.a.n.g. But Teng Yun could only think this Xue Junliang was indeed hard to read.

Xue Junliang had treated him coldly for a few days, and every time they had to come face-to-face, Xue Junliang would glower angrily at him. It made sense, as Teng Yun was the one tried to kill him. His attempt failed, but Teng Yun thought there was really no reason for Xue Junliang letting the matter go and putting on such friendly and loving expression on his face.

When Xue Junliang finished drawing the eyebrows, he leaned back to admire his own handiwork; seemingly very satisfied. Then he waved a hand, letting all the servants go while telling them he"d like to spend the night here at Yunfeng Palace.

Xue Junliang daubed a thin layer of powder on the Empress" face. After Xue Junliang did so much, her face didn"t look that much better but at least wasn"t so bare as before.

Xue Junliang then picked up a carved wooden comb, stood behind the other person and started to comb her hair gently.

Teng Yun glanced at Xue Junliang"s reflection on the mirror. Xue Junliang"s reflection was a bit blurry, looking a bit surreal as if he was a dream. Teng Yun took a deep breath, trying to suppress his face from heating up.

Xue Junliang said nothing, so did Teng Yun; both quiet as one of them combed the other"s hair.

Then Teng Yun said, “Your Majesty… I heard that the army sent to the northern border had been attacked.” Teng Yun had already been exposed, and he wasn"t too concerned about his own lifelihood, anyway; he didn"t need to wallow in regret and certainly didn"t need to keep calling himself Chen-qie in front of Xue Junliang.

Xue Junliang looked up at the mirror and his gaze collided with Teng Yun"s. He smiled and said, “This is the first time Aifei initiated a conversation with me, I"m happy. Does this mean our relationship has gone more affectionate?”

Teng Yunb didn"t respond nor answered as if he didn"t hear Xue Junliang"s question.

Xue Junliang didn"t stop carefully combing the other person"s hair. The black glossy hair was long like a waterfall. He recalled that night, he"d pressed the other person onto the bed; her hair was loose and spread messily on the quilt.

“Do you want to know if Cheng Tian"s attack succeeded, or do you want to ask… about Xue Yu?”

When Xue Junliang mentioned Xue Yu, Teng Yun remembered that everyone was still speculating about the relationship between the Empress and Marquis Zhenjiang. If Teng Yun tried to deny it, he knew it would only meaninglessly pa.s.s through Xue Junliang"s ears.

Teng Yun said, “Neither.”

“Oh, neither?”

Xue Junliang didn"t ask the other person to clarify as if he was totally uninterested; as if the answer couldn"t distract him from the other person"s hair.

Teng Yun added, “I… want to ask about Teng Shang.”

This time, Xue Junliang laughed before saying, “You might have not heard. Before, Teng Qianyi had said she thought you and Teng Shang had a close relationship.”

Hearing this, Teng Yun"s heart jumped. He took a quick glance at the mirror, but he didn"t expect Xue Junliang"s eyes were watching him through it. His glance was fleeting, but Xue Junliang surely could catch the panicked and shocked expression in Teng Yun"s eyes.

Xue Junliang pinched a clutch of hair and brought it to his lips. Smiling, he said, “At that time, I didn"t believe her, I even almost yelled at her… Why? Does Aifei want to tell me the truth that you are indeed have a close relationship with Teng Shang?”

“Your Majesty is confused. Feng and Teng Countries are separated by a thousand miles. Teng Shang had never been to Feng Country even once, how could we have a close relationship?”

Xue Junliang brushed the tip of the hair he was still clutching against Teng Yun"s lips, with narrowed eyes and a smile, he said, “Clever mouth.”

Then he added, “Teng Shang had made a great achievement, I wasn"t mistaken in sending him. He hadn"t even reached the military camp and already killed Ma Jing.”

“Ma Jing…” Teng Yun repeated. He knew Ma Jing wasn"t some insignificant commander.

Cheng Tian was very brave and very good at fighting, and his influence was so powerful he could overturn an Imperial Court. Unfortunately, he had no son; his children were all daughters. Ma Jing was his nephew. Cheng Tian had taken him since he was still a little child and treated him like his own son.

Ma Jing was still quite young but he had already inherited his foster father"s unyielding bravery and talents. As long as he held a sword or a blade, he was invincible. He had never lost to anyone, but now he was already killed by Teng Shang.

Teng Shang used to be a military commander. He"d followed the previous Teng w.a.n.g into every battle he"d had. That time was Teng Country"s most brilliant era.

However, since Teng Yun"s father, the current Teng w.a.n.g sat on the throne, Teng Shang"s military powers were detained and he himself was prohibited from leaving the capital city. Until today, it had been ten years since Teng Shang last held a sword.

People who learned martial art would not let go of the skill easily, but they could become unfamiliar if they didn"t use it for so long. Therefore, now that Teng Shang returned to the battlefield, Teng Yun could only worry over his safety.

Xue Junliang watched the other person lost in a thought; the other person didn"t mention about Teng Shang any more, but she didn"t look happy either. Xue Junliang couldn"t help thinking maybe this Empress really had relationship with Teng Shang, but somehow it was still impossible.

As the Empress herself had said, the Grand Princess Feng Yun was born deep inside Feng Country"s Inner Palace. A daughter of a royal family wasn"t allowed to appear out in public until it was time she married. Moreover, he knew Teng Shang had never been to Feng Country.

But, he was also very sure his Empress" eyes weren"t lying.

—

Feng Country"s Imperial Examination used to be held once in every six years. If a scholar couldn"t enter the examination, he"d have to wait another six years. It had been going on like this for decades.

Although Feng Ming was famous for his vicious and merciless temperament, he still had many good points and achievements. In a short time since he sat on the throne, he"d ordered the Imperial Examination to be held once in three years; winning many people"s support.

In Feng Country, there was a scholar named Lu Shichen. Three years ago he was elected as a Xiaolian nominee by the local governor from the county where he lived.

[T/N : Xiaolian, literally “filial and incorrupt”, was the standard of nominating candidates to enter the Imperial Examination selecting court officials.]

Lu Shichen could be said one among the eight most educated and talented scholars in the whole country. But this Lu Shichen was too simple and honest; he only knew how to study but didn"t know much about the ways of the Imperial Court.

It was said that after the local governor electing him as a Xiaolian nominee, the local governor gave Lu Shichen one liang of silver as fare, ordered him to take Lu Shichen"s own horse and carriage, and told him to go to the capital city.

But since ancient times, it was a publicly known secret that no superiors would give money to their subordinates as a fare; the money was to be used by the subordinates to please the superiors and higher authorities, and people also knew one liang wasn"t enough.

Lu Shichen"s family was very poor. He"d have to sell his paintings and calligraphy in exchange for food. Been given money, he saved it to be used in case of emergency, didn"t even know about using it to bribe people.

Because Lu Shichen had no pretty or delicious things to give, the higher authorities were angered and revoked Lu Shichen"s Xiaolian nomination despite him being a perfect candidate for the Imperial Examination. The Xiaolian was then given to someone else who had more money than Lu Shichen.

Lu Shichen waited until he had enough money and someone to lend him a carriage. A month pa.s.sed and he finally arrived at the capital city, to find the other Xiaolian had arrived earlier and he himself had only learned about it. It caused him being a laughingstock by other people.

Lu Shichen became the source of ridicule and was told he"d never cross gate of the Imperial Palace.

Three years later, Lu Shichen was dismissed from Xiaolian nominee for the same reason. Grieving the wasted time, Lu Shichen could no longer stay still. He a.s.sembled a group of scholars and launched a loud protest.

The local government caught a lot of the scholars trying to subdue the protest, but their method aroused public"s anger instead.

It so happened that at this time, Feng Ming, upset and could not calm after his falling out with Zhao Lu, decided he was ready to go out of the Palace. And while he was out, he wanted to observe the common people"s condition.

When Feng Ming arrived at the small county, the scholars were still making protests. The officials were made very busy; trying to subdue the scholars while preparing the food and accommodation for Feng w.a.n.g"s arrival.

At first, everything went well, until when Feng w.a.n.g was driving along the street. A piece of paper was blown by the wind and fell right next to Feng w.a.n.g"s feet.

The writing on the paper was clear for Feng Ming to see. At a glance, somehow it looked very familiar, and when he looked at it again, he thought the handwriting looked so much like Zhao Lu"s.

Feng Ming knew he was a fool for thinking so. The handwriting was indeed a bit similar, but if he looked closer, it was clearly different than Zhao Lu"s. Him thinking it was similar to Zhao Lu"s handwriting was because he was thinking of Zhao Lu too much. He"d said they were over, but in his heart still could not let go.

The piece of paper was telling about the greed of Feng Country"s court officials, who were corrupt and often pilfered money off the poor. It also contained condemnations against Feng Ming.

The officials in charge of welcoming Feng w.a.n.g were trembling in fear and could not lift heir head up. But then Feng w.a.n.g laughed and said, “Great literary talent.”

And so Lu Shichen"s status started to rapidly rise to the sky. Let alone giving him one or two liang of silver, the entire local government of the small country lined up to give him carriage and money and send him to the capital city.

Lu Shichen arrived at the capital city and entered the Imperial Examination. Feng Ming once again praised his talents. Since then, everyone knew Feng w.a.n.g"s interest in Marquis Zhulu had faded; his current favorite was a bookworm named Lu Shichen.

This bookworm"s reputation had gone so high he climbed up several ranks in just three months since he entered officialdom, and now he already rose to Feng Country"s Prime Minister"s seat.

Lu Shichen was a bookworm in every sense of the word. He was also loyal to a fault, affable and even-tempered, and hated bad people like he hated enemies. The young Prime Minister was so naive he didn"t know the dark and dirty sides of the Imperial Court. This made people privately speculated maybe Lu Shichen had also climbed into the dragon bed. The rumor was known by everyone, including Feng w.a.n.g"s former favorite, Marquis Zhulu; only Lu Shichen himself didn"t know.

One time, Feng w.a.n.g was watching birds singing in the flower garden. Minister Lu was accompanying him. Feng w.a.n.g off-handedly asked, “Which bird look prettier, the green one or the red one?”

Lu Shichen said earnestly, “This subject only know how to conserve the river water, prevent flood and help the flood victims. If Da w.a.n.g asks about birds, please forgive this subject for being dull and ignorant, cannot offer help to Da w.a.n.g.”

Everyone present stilled in shock. A subordinate dared using this kind of tone in front of a tyrannical and vicious king, this person must be asking for death.

But then Feng w.a.n.g actually laughed, “This is Gu‘s own fault. Shichen"s wise words have enlightened Gu.”

This cemented people"s belief; Lu Shichen"s status really was unmistakable.

—

Zhao Lu searched around him. He was feeling a bit depressed, but he had no idea why.

Rui Xue smiled and said, “Master"s mood has been down lately?”

Zhao Lu nodded and said, “It"s true.”

Rui Xue said, “Then you should go enter the Palace and see Da w.a.n.g. If you bottle it all up any longer, maybe you"ll go mad.”

Zhao Lu knitted his eyebrows, “What does this have to do with Feng w.a.n.g?”

“You don"t have to try denying it. Rui Xue has been following you for five years already,” Rui Xue said, “These few days you ate so little and you slept restlessly. When Da w.a.n.g went on an outing, you asked three times a day when he would return. Since Da w.a.n.g found Minister Lu, you"ve been frowning all the time.”

Zhao Lu"s heart skipped a beat. He felt some part that Rui Xue had said was right, except he didn"t think it was because of his relationship with Feng w.a.n.g.

Or should Zhao Lu say, it was indeed related with his relationship with Feng w.a.n.g. Because he didn"t want a talented and educated person like Lu Shichen got too close with Feng Ming. He didn"t want that person helped Feng Ming to be a better king, because Zhao Lu"s purpose in Feng Country was to lead Feng Ming astray; to lead Feng Ming became the most condemned incapable ruler of all history.

And he"d almost succeeded, too. He"d worked hard for many years and Feng Ming"s doom was so near, how come at such time this Lu Shichen appeared?

Lu Shichen had only been appointed as Prime Minister for half a month, but he"d already enforced the conservation of river water, reducing taxes and modified the Imperial Examination rules. He"d suggested that scholars didn"t need to be elected by the local county governor, instead be allowed to apply and enter the Imperial Examination by themselves. This was to protect the scholars from the greedy and corrupt hands of the officials from every layer of the bureaucracy.

Feng Ming almost regarded this person as his savior; he even saw and respected Lu Shichen like a mentor.

The more Zhao Lu thought about it, the more he thought about Feng Ming; the more he became irritated. Finally, he could not sit still any longer. He got up and order people to prepare his horse.

When he arrived at the Imperial Palace, he didn"t have to hand over his nameplate and dismount from his horse; didn"t have to unload his weapons either. These were all old rules; because his reputation was known in the entire palace, Zhao Lu was excluded from them. Even though Feng Ming had declared their relationship was over, clearly he hadn"t revoked Zhao Lu"s special rights.

Zhao Lu came down from his horse right just before the jade steps in front of Feng w.a.n.g"s residence. When he was about to enter the main room, the servant guarding the door stopped him. The servant paid respect to Zhao Lu, and then said, “Lord Marquis comes in an unfortunate time. Da w.a.n.g is having a discussion with Minister Lu and no one else is allowed to enter.”

Zhao Lu snorted, “Even I am not allowed?”

All these times, if he wanted to enter Feng Ming"s residence or even climbed into Feng Ming"s bed, no one had dared to stop him.

“But…” The servant hesitated. Zhao Lu was, after all, once a high-ranking soldier; he had an imposing air about him. Any other time, the servant would never dare defying him, but the servant had to pull all his courage and said, “Da w.a.n.g… Da w.a.n.g said even if Marquis Zhulu came, he should not be let in.”

“Great. Fine…”

Hearing what the servant had said, Zhao Lu understood. Feng Ming had even specifically mentioned his name. Zhao Lu could not decide if he should thank Feng w.a.n.g or feel honored for the mention.

Without saying anything more, Zhao Lu immediately turned to go.

After some time, Zhao Lu had calmed down. He came again for the second time, but was stopped again. People said failures should not happen more than three times, Zhao Lu decided the third time was the last. It was at this time that, fortunately, Lu Shichen came out of Feng w.a.n.g"s residence.

Although Zhao Lu was a marquis, his rank was equal with Lu Shichen"s. When the two of them met, they didn"t need to bow and instead cupped up their hands as greetings.

Zhao Lu said coldly, “What had Minister Lu and Feng w.a.n.g been discussing about all these time? I have come here three times, but was blocked outside the door all three times.”

Hearing this, Lu Shichen thought Marquis Zhulu had a military matter he needed to report to Feng w.a.n.g. Lu Shichen promptly apologized, “No, no. It wasn"t any big deal. It"s just that these days, Da w.a.n.g suddenly became interested in playing Qi and invited me to play a few rounds.”

Zhao Lu"s eyes darkened hearing Lu Shichen"s explanation, but Lu Shichen himself was completely unaware; he sincerely apologized for several times, fearing he"d delayed Marquis Zhulu"s important task, and then left.

Silently fuming, Zhao Lu entered the main room. Feng Ming was inside the warm study room reviewing doc.u.ments. Zhao Lu pushed the door to the room open. At the sound, Feng Ming raised his head and looked up.

The two men"s gazes collided and Zhao Lu"s anger was slightly mollified by the complicated emotions he could see warring in Feng Ming"s eyes.

The expression was fleeting as the next second Feng Ming immediately put on an indifferent one. Feng Ming said, “Bring a seat for Lord Marquis.”

A servant did as ordered; brought a chair for Marquis Zhulu to sit, then withdrew himself and closed the door silently.

Zhao Lu didn"t take the seat. Still standing, he looked around the study room, and then asked, “Where is the zither behind the curtain?”

“Zither…” Feng Ming looked like he only now remembered about the zither Zhao Lu asked about. Eyes returned to the doc.u.ments he was reading, as if there was nothing wrong, he said, “Minister Lu said doing trivial things could distract us from our duty; Gu agreed with him and ordered someone take the zither and throw it away.”

“Throw it away?”

Zhao Lu narrowed his eyes. Feng Ming was good at playing musical instruments. On Feng Ming"s birthday after he had ascended the throne, Zhao Lu had picked the zither as a gift.

Feng Ming looked up at Zhao Lu and added, “No, it was too pity to throw away such a good zither, so Gu gave it to Minister Lu.”

—