The Ugly Empress

—

Xue Yu"s action in killing the captive prisoners pa.s.sed down and into people"s ears. Not only court officials, but also the common people in the entire capital city, were alarmed by the action.

Common people"s minds were always simple, they couldn"t know politic and elaborate intricacies of the Imperial Court. Therefore, if a subordinate acted a certain way, they thought it was according to Da w.a.n.g"s order.

In the end of the day, Xue Junliang suddenly became a tyrant who was being scorned by people…

Xue Junliang realized Marquis Zhenjiang"s ‘good intention" and had to laugh out loud. He really had underestimated Xue Yu. This brother of his was no longer a little prince wanting to stay alive, but a tiger who had already grown and now begun thinking about what to hunt and to eat.

Xue Junliang had been asking the Empress" help in solving the small county matter and the transportation of army supplies, so he asked her again about this Xue Yu"s trouble.

However, Teng Yun didn"t want to help Xue Junliang. He helped solving Cheng Tian and Zou Zhenying"s attack because he could gain his own benefits; not only he had completely memorized Xue Country"s layout, he also got news about Teng Shang from the front lines.

But if asked to help taking care of Xue Country"s people and politics, even if Teng Yun knew the solutions, he didn"t want to tell Xue Junliang; they were after all still enemies.

Teng Yun said, “Chen-qie only came upon some unusual books and therefore knew a little about military laws and strategies, but if asked about important matters like politics and people"s hearts, Chen-qie really has no knowledge and doesn"t dare saying anything.”

Xue Junliang was stunned by this ‘modesty" and realized his Empress was a master at trading; if the trade would not give her any advantage, she would not do anything.

Yet Xue Junliang didn"t insist. He only asked for the Empress" opinion because he was looking forward to whatever surprises she would give him this time. As for the common people"s speculations, he was one to prepare umbrellas even before knowing it was going to rain.

Xue w.a.n.g sent people to the northern border, berating Xue Yu for acting violently and demanding that, within a few days, Xue Yu had to send Zou Zhenying"s body to the capital city.

People were puzzled. Zou Zhenying"s head had already been hung on the county gate, and because the weather was harsher in the north, the head would already been severely deformed in just a few short days.

Xue Yu didn"t think it was a big deal. He let people take down Zou Zhenying"s head from the gate and find a body, no matter whose, and then send the body and the head to the capital city.

When Xue Junliang opened the package box, all the officials present almost vomited right then and there; the rancid smell of rotting flesh filled the entire court hall.

Xue Junliang put on a mournful mask as if he was regretting the loss of a formidable person. He arranged a burial ceremony for Zou Zhenying according Xue Country"s customs. Although Zou Zhenying wasn"t from Xue Country, he had once invaded into Xue Country territory and therefore considered a very talented man. Xue w.a.n.g was a person who always appreciated people with talents; if only Zou Zhenying was still alive, Xue w.a.n.g could use his talent and the man"s life would not just end like this.

Xue Junliang also ordered not to kill any of Zou Zhenying"s remaining family members and that the local government would be responsible for providing them support.

People with deeper mind would think Xue w.a.n.g"s move was vicious and hypocritical, but it had indeed appeased common people"s heart; letting them think that Xue w.a.n.g didn"t intend it to happen like this and that he wasn"t as merciless as people thought.

Xue Junliang even went as far as banning the killing of war prisoners and saying he would declare people who killed war prisoners as rebellions.

Xue Yu, of course, knew this decree was meant for himself, yet he didn"t care about it. Here in a place so far away from the capital city, added that situations would always change in a battlefield, at some point, the army wasn"t affected much by rules and regulations.

After being busy solving the matters above, Xue Junliang called Jiang Yu and said, “I have two orders.”

Jiang Yu kept his head bowed respectfully, waiting for Xue w.a.n.g"s orders.

“First, I"m calling back Jiao Shui from the Empress" side. I want her to report to me everything the Empress says and does every day. If she dares missing anything, she could go back to serve Teng-fei.”

“Yes.”

“Second,” Xue Junliang said, “Write a letter to Zhao Lu, tell him to find out every information about the Empress from when she was still living in Feng Country, whether they were important or trivial things.”

“Yes, this old servant will do as ordered.”

“Wait,” Xue Junliang gestured to Jiang Yu not to leave yet. He smiled, “Has Feng w.a.n.g departed to visit the river?”

“Answering Your Majesty,” Jiang Yu said, “According to Zhao Lu"s reply, Feng w.a.n.g had set off three days ago. It is estimated he will arrived at Ming River in a few days.”

“The matter Gu told you about before, how is it going?”

“It has already been done. These days, Ming River is raining constantly. Feng w.a.n.g would arrive there at the right timing.”

Xue Junliang nodded but he was still frowning. Jiang Yu took note and asked, “What is it that Your Majesty is worrying about?”

Xue Junliang said, “The timing is right, but the people aren"t…”

Jiang Yu could not understand what Xue w.a.n.g meant. Did he mean he needed more people to help the plan?

Xue w.a.n.g just smiled and said, “Zhao Lu has been in Feng for so many years. Gu is afraid he has formed an attachment. Gu knows what kind of person he is; he isn"t the type to betray people, but he is also empathetic. Before this matter is concluded, if he decides to help Feng w.a.n.g, remind him that Gu has been planning this for years, Gu must not fail at the very last step.”

“Your Majesty"s planning is not going to fail.”

“You go tell those people in Feng Country, tell them to pay close attention to Zhao Lu"s moves. When Feng w.a.n.g leaves the capital city, make sure Zhao Lu stays in there and does his duties diligently.”

—

Feng Ming started his journey to Ming River, but announced he was going south. He didn"t want the local government of Ming River knew of his arrival and prepared in advance, he intended to personally see what had really happened; he always ordered the river to be conserved, but why did the river flood every year?

Feng Ming didn"t bring Zhao Lu this time; neither did he bring Lu Shichen. He left Lu Shichen to a.s.sist Zhao Lu handling the capital city.

Before leaving, he especially spoke with Lu Shichen, telling him that not everyone wanted to seek instant benefit so he shouldn"t be too hard on the other court officials; a cornered dog could still jump over a wall especially if those dogs were officials more senior than Lu Shichen. Feng Ming ordered Lu Shichen to discuss matters with Zhao Lu first.

Lu Shichen was made very worried by Feng w.a.n.g"s instructions. He knew very well he himself always hated dishonorable people. This way of thinking was certainly good, but he would not be able to achieve anything if he did it alone without the other officials. Little by little, Lu Shichen started to learn how to tolerate people, he became less strict.

Also, Lu Shichen always admired Marquis Zhulu, so Feng w.a.n.g"s order wasn"t a hardship at all.

The only problem was… Since Feng w.a.n.g left the capital city, Zhao Lu had been absent from the Imperial Court a.s.semblies due to illness; even the military affairs would have to be handled by the subordinates instead of Zhao Lu himself.

Of the military affairs that were brought to the court; the ones that could be handled by the military council were handed over to the military council, the more important ones were brought to Marquis Zhulu"s residence by Rui Xue to be reviewed by the marquis before then handed down to the military council.

Marquis Zhulu"s illness had come to the point where he couldn"t leave the residence. He had called several most qualified physicians to examine him, but they all said he only caught common cold added with exhaustion and that he should take a proper rest for a few days.

But the court matters could not be ignored and the doc.u.ments sent to Marquis Zhulu"s residence every day were not a few. This made the marquis" illness gradually started to worsen until even his servants could not see him for a few days at a time.

Lu Shichen was very worried about Marquis Zhulu"s illness and came to his residence bringing a physician. But he was stopped at the door and not allowed to come in. Rui Xue said, “Lord Minister is very kind and Lord Marquis really appreciates it. But he says he could not see you because he is afraid he would infect you with the illness. If Minister Lu falls ill, the Imperial Court would be in trouble.”

Lu Shichen thought the marquis was right. He said so and then left.

Inside the marquis" residence, Rui Xue held a wooden tray covered in yellow cloth and knocked on a door. She said, “Lord Marquis, this is Rui Xue.”

Pushing the door open, she entered and then closed it firmly behind her.

Rui Xue turned to the inner room but the room was empty. She placed the covered tray on the table and sighed.

The night Feng w.a.n.g departed to Ming River, her master faked an illness and secretly followed Feng w.a.n.g"s entourage.

Maybe Master trusted Rui Xue too much that, without saying any more detailed instruction, he left her to deal with people asking for him. Although Rui Xue was happy for Da w.a.n.g; that Master still had feelings for Da w.a.n.g, she still thought Master was a bit mean. She was only a maidservant yet had to fend off important people…

But even if Master disregarded her feelings, Rui Xue would never betray him because he had done her a great favor. She had followed Zhao Lu for quite some time, but she still couldn"t understand her master"s devotion to his home country. She only knew that Feng Ming was a great person; Feng Ming was the one loving Zhao Lu the most. No one could surpa.s.s Feng Ming"s feelings, not even Rui Xue herself.

Zhao Lu, actually, had sharp mouth but soft heart. As soon as Feng Ming left the capital city, Zhao Lu couldn"t sit still even for a second and had to go and follow Feng Ming.

When Feng Ming left, from the capital city he went south first where he was welcomed by the local government. The very next day, he left again and this time to Ming River.

Ming River had been raining for a few days straight and the dam could not withhold the volume of rain water. The local government could only repair the dam when it wasn"t raining, but even when they did repair the dam, the dam was useless. Once it rained, the dam would break again and the river would overflood.

A rainstorm occurred in the middle of the night and the governor was still asleep. Because his house was located in slightly lower terrain, the water had reached and seeped-in through his door. The servant knocked on his bedroom door and had to call out loudly for the governor and his wife several times before they woke up.

The governor quickly wore his official attire and ran to the river dam.

At this time, many local officials had arrived at the dam. The rain had toppled down the makeshift temporary river watchtower. People were wearing oiled coats. At the beginning, when it was still lightly windy and drizzling, their servants had been holding oiled umbrellas for them. But now, the umbrellas were already ruined; the paper were soaked, leaving only the bamboo bones.

People"s oiled coats were not big enough to protect them and their clothes underneath were already wet; so were their official hats.

When the governor arrived at the river dam, he started yelling curses. But it only ended with rain water pouring into his open mouth, and the wind was too strong; drowning his voice and and making his soaking-wet hair stuck to his face. His appearance completely cancelled out any his prestigious presence.

Even money would not be able to instantly cover the broken parts of the river dam. The governor thought about organizing people repairing the dam right now. The rain was too heavy; it was an emergency.

—

Feng Ming had arrived at Ming River the day before but ordered his ship to stop at a distance from Ming River, in case the local officials found out and made preparation to hide any ugly truths. He then took a few of his aides and went to Ming River.

Tonight there was a heavy rain, his aide originally plead Feng Ming to delay going to Ming River; after all, Feng w.a.n.g"s health was the most important.

However, Feng Ming insisted, the other could only follow Da w.a.n.g"s order. Rain water pooled on the roads and made them impa.s.sable, but the aide knew he could never change Da w.a.n.g"s mind. He could only knelt and requested to be allowed to follow Feng w.a.n.g to Ming River.

When Feng Ming arrived at the river, people were shocked.

The governor realized it wasn"t the time to yell at people. He quickly kowtowed on the ground and prayed Long Live the King. The rain added with overflowing river water had already pa.s.sed above people"s knees but no one dared complaining and not kneeling. Compared to Feng w.a.n.g"s expression, the flood looked friendlier.

Feng Ming swept his gaze at the hasty repair people had done to cover the broken dam and almost exploded in anger. His aide berated the governor and the governor could only kowtow on the ground repeatedly.

Feng Ming smiled warmly and said, “How nice of you all for doing a makeshift repair. The money Gu gave could only pay you all to do this? Every year, many people had died. Maybe tomorrow you all should die too just to see how it feels.”

The governor was dizzy for kowtowing repeatedly; but he didn"t dare saying anything and could only keep kowtowing.

Feng Ming coldly said, “Get lost! When no one comes here to inspect, maybe you"re all too busy wasting your officials" salary. You don"t need to be officials any longer. When the day is clear, throw these people into the river to feed the fish!”

Voice trembling, the governor plead, “Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Your Majesty… this lowly subject beg Your Majesty to step back, the rain is too heavy and this dam is not secure, please step back!”

Feng Ming said, “How unusual, you actually know this dam is not secure?”

“This subject knows his mistake, this subject deserves death. But please, Your Majesty, step back. This subject had done a grave crime, if something happen to Your Majesty, this subject would not be able to face the ancestors!”

Feng Ming listened to the governor"s seemingly sincere words. Under such heavy rain, the governor had run to the river dam and tried to temporarily repair the dam.

Feng Ming"s angered expression turned a bit warmer and he said, “Gu knows Gu cannot rely it all on you, but the situation has come to this, are you able to say you didn"t steal the river fund? Can you still say there is no money to repair the river dam? Common people paying taxes with their hard-earned money is not for raising and feeding leeches. If the river dam is broken, people would drown and die, and then who will pay your salaries?”

Everyone listening to Feng Ming"s speech started to feel apprehensions. Indeed, some people would not be able to understand how desperate and serious a situation was without experiencing it for themselves.

It was actually the effect Feng Ming wanted and he wasn"t about to dwell too much over it. After all, if he threw all these officials into the river, who else would work for him?

Finally, after people plead again and again, Feng Ming decided to return to his ship. People of Ming River had all known he was here anyway, there was no reason to stop the ship a distance away.

Feng Ming hadn"t even turned around when an official ran over to him. The official, ignoring a series of formal greetings and etiquette, yelled, “The dam has collapsed! The dam has collapsed! The flood is coming!”

The sound of rain and wind almost drowned the official"s words, but his tone and warning was clear. Everyone instantly panicked. The governor and other officials immediately escorted His Majesty towards a higher ground on the hill.

However, the flood seemed to be very fierce; in a blink of an eye, the water had flooded the place they had been standing just now and followed closely on people"s heels. The hill looked small in the face of the raging flood.

Although Feng Ming had been staying in the Palace all year round, he never neglected practicing and exercising. The governor didn"t have Feng Ming"s physical strength, and when the others had almost reached the foot of the hill, the governor had to stop to take a breath but only managed to swallow a mouthful of water.

Feng Ming always acted cold and indifferent, inside he still had feelings. When he saw the governor falling on the ground right by his feet, Feng Ming stopped running to pick the governor up and encouraged, “Let"s go!”

The governor wasn"t sure he should say he was moved by Feng w.a.n.g"s encouragement. He was already an old man. The water on his face was either rain or tears, he didn"t know.

There was a small temple on the top of the hill, and the terrain was quite high. The small temple had a level roof, barely sheltering them from the falling rain. If it wasn"t such an urgent situation, people would not remember there was a temple here at all.

After racing to reach the temple, everyone was exhausted. Feng Ming hit his hand on a wooden table; the roof had broken in many places and the table was already wet.

The table collapsed under Feng Ming"s smashes. These days, the rain had been falling heavily, but according to the court officials" report, this year"s rain was less intense than the previous year. Feng Ming didn"t think it was possible the water volume would be this large.

But Feng Ming didn"t count on Xue Junliang knowing his whereabouts. Xue Junliang had deliberately built a way, making the water from Ming River and the flood all combine and flow into the city.

Feng Ming stared at the heavy rain outside. They were presently safe here in inside the temple, but there were many more people still in the city. The river dam had collapsed and soon the whole city would be flooded. This small temple would not be able to stay safe for long either.

—

Zhao Lu had been secretly following Feng Ming and his entourage. When he arrived at Ming River, an official near him was yelling that the river dam had collapsed. Zhao Lu"s heart dropped to his feet and he froze. Suddenly, he understood Xue w.a.n.g"s intentions.

Zhao Lu knew a king should not be too soft-hearted; a country was built upon piles of bones, why cared about some refugees of a small insignificant town? But Zhao Lu had experienced how it felt like losing his family and having no home. He also knew that, because of this feeling, he would never be a person who did big things.

On the river side, there was a chaos. Seemed like the officials were escorting Feng Ming and starting towards the hill. Zhao Lu gritted his teeth and turned back towards the city.

Maybe Zhao Lu should thank that official who hadn"t gone to the river side. Zhao Lu rushed into the local government office and showed his official seal. The official was awake in an instant but wasn"t allowed time to formally greet Zhao Lu.

Zhao Lu immediately ordered people in the office, whether they were officials or guards, to all go knocking on every door and urging the city"s residents to run to higher grounds.

When he was done, he turned back to find Feng Ming.

—

Feng Ming had drowned in the water. When he woke up, he felt his chest was filled full to almost bursting and his throat was burning. He threw up a mouthful of water; almost vomiting his intestines as he did so.

He looked around for a moment. Seemed like he was in a dilapidated house. Sitting not very far from him was someone. The person didn"t move even after Feng Ming was awake, so Feng Ming thought the person must be asleep.

When Zhao Lu found Feng Ming, the temple had already collapsed. Everyone else had scattered and fled, but Feng Ming couldn"t swim; he must have fainted after swallowing and breathing too much water.

Rescuing and bringing Feng Ming to a safer place was easy, but Zhao Lu was afraid Feng Ming would recognize him. Although a king"s ruthlessness was understandable, Zhao Lu never thought his own action would implicate innocent people"s lives.

Feng Ming"s official attire had long been discarded somewhere, leaving only the white robe underneath. Dirty water and mud had turned the white into grey; people would not be able to know who he was by seeing his appearance now.

Feng Ming"s blurry eyes saw the other person, but he couldn"t recognize who it was. He said, “You saved Gu… You saved me?”

When Zhao Lu realized Feng Ming didn"t recognize him, his heart started to relax but he still didn"t speak, afraid Feng Ming would still recognize his voice. Zhao Lu only nodded as an answer.

Feng Ming struggled to sit up. His limbs were still numb and he was still weak. He forced himself to sit straight and cup his hands, “Thank you so much for saving my life.”

Feng Ming"s voice grew fainter with each word. His body leaned forward and started to fall to the floor. Zhao Lu caught and laid him carefully back on the floor. Feeling ashamed for facing Feng Ming, Zhao Lu took a few steps back and sat down.

—

“Da w.a.n.g.”

Xue Junliang had been less busy these days so he decided to check on the Little Crown Prince, Xue Pei"s study. It so happened that Xue Pei was discussing about military art with Teng Yun.

The Little Crown Prince"s relationship with the Empress was very close but Xue Junliang didn"t mind. He himself admired this Empress, it was only natural the Crown Prince did too.

When Xue Junliang came, Teng Yun and Xue Pei meant to kneel and greet him, but Xue Junliang stopped them saying there was no need to be so polite. He smiled and said, “Continue with the discussion, Gu will just sit here and listen.”

Xue Pei found that Father"s smile was merrier and the light in his eyes were brighter, but Xue Pei kept it to himself, didn"t dare saying it. Compared to Father, Mother looked a lot calmer which was really admirable.

Jiang Yu didn"t want to disturb Xue w.a.n.g at this kind of time, but there was an urgent military report. If Jiang Yu delayed reporting it to Xue w.a.n.g, he would be punished, so Jiang Yu could only pull his courage.

Xue Junliang saw Jiang Yu fidgeting, so he said, “It"s alright, just say it here. The Empress and the Crown Prince are not strangers.”

Even if Jiang Yu had all the courage in the world, he would never dare saying the report loudly. Da w.a.n.g said those words to show he was trusting the Empress and the Crown Prince, but Jiang Yu still had to be careful.

He bowed to whisper close to Xue w.a.n.g"s ears, “Your Majesty, the spy sent a reply, said Feng Country"s Marquis Zhulu"s official seal was found near Ming River.”

—