The Ugly Empress

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When Teng Yun heard Xue Junliang"s words, he wanted to laugh. Sure enough, a king always wished to possess everything, even a troop of one thousand soldiers he could not let go. That aside, Xue Yu bringing one thousand soldiers; these soldiers must be his main source of strength and his must trusted aides.

Xue Junliang deliberately wanted to give the Empress an impossible problem to solve. He saw with his own two eyes the Empress and Xue Yu were talking just now. He was sure she would never find solutions, and therefore could not prove she and Xue Yu had no connections.

But never would have he thought the Empress would actually smile.

He already knew this Empress was smart, but no matter how smart she was, she was still a woman of the Imperial Harem. Docile and obedient women would not know anything about military tactics.

But Xue Junliang didn"t know Teng Yun. Teng Yun might be able suffer hardships in silence, but he was always talented and far-sighted. When it came to competing for favors with Xue w.a.n.g"s other wives, he chose to sit still. But when it came to military and war tactics, no one was more capable than Teng Yun.

Teng Yun said, “Your Majesty could just forcefully seize his soldiers, only need a few words.”

Xue Junliang said, “I want Xue Yu not be able to refuse.”

“When you want something, you have to give something first. Since the old times, no rulers granted someone with favors for no reason. If Your Majesty wants to take Marquis Zhenjiang"s soldiers, why don"t you give him something sweet first?”

Only with these few sentences, Xue Junliang"s mind cleared and he could already see what he planned to do, but he still wanted to hear more from the Empress, so he said, “Carry on.”

Teng Yun said, “Marquis Zhenjiang"s purpose of coming to the capital city is to hold an Worship Ceremony for the ancestors. After the ceremony, he will return to the border. Before he returns, Your Majesty can hold a military evaluation and deem his soldiers as not good enough. Then Your Majesty can hand over twelve to twenty personnel from your own personal Imperial Guards to escort Lord Marquis.”

Hearing this, Xue Junliang couldn"t help smiling, “I never expected Aifei to be this cunning.”

“It"s just a thought,” Teng Yun said, “Your Imperial Majesty handing over your own personal Imperial Guards, it"s such a great favor to whoever receives it. Lord Marquis will not be able to say no.”

“Right, then I can use these twelve to twenty personnel of Imperial Guards as an exchange for a thousand soldiers, it"s a good bargain, indeed.”

Xue Junliang reached a hand to catch a few loose hair on the Empress" cheeks and put them behind her ear. His touch was extremely gentle. Then he said softly, “I never expected I"d have a woman who, not only has intelligence not inferior to men"s, but is also very resourceful, as my Empress.”

Hearing those words, Teng Yun"s heart chilled. Using his current ident.i.ty as Feng Country"s Grand Princess to talk about military tactics, he would definitely attract suspicions.

However, Xue Junliang didn"t continue wondering about the Empress" unusual knowledge, instead opened a new topic, “Gu almost forgot about another thing… The date for Triennial Selection is approaching. I want Aifei help me organize and supervise the event so it can run smoothly according to the rules.”

Xue Junliang thought the Empress would be nervous when she heard about the Triennial Selection. After all, the Empress still had no child to rely on, hadn"t even consented to bed with him. Hearing about the Triennial Selection should"ve given her a sense of crisis.

But there was no change in the Empress" expression; she seemed all calm and indifferent as if the Triennial Selection was not a matter that involved her.

[T/N : Triennial Selection : selection of Imperial Harem ladies (consorts, concubines and wives) that was held once in three years.]

This confused Xue Junliang to no end. No matter how secure a wife felt over her position in the Imperial Harem, she would be pressed to make her position even more secure. If she had the ambition, she would definitely try to climb above other wives. But this Empress was never like that.

Xue Junliang stared at Teng Yun with narrowed eyes, half-smiling half-serious, and said, “When you"re with me, I always feel you"re so difficult to read.”

Teng Yun stilled by reflex. No body knew that he had been occupying Feng Country"s Grand Princess" body and ident.i.ty. Even Teng Yun"s most trusted friend, Teng Shang didn"t know. Hearing Xue Junliang"s words, Teng Yun"s heart began to palpitate, thinking maybe Xue Junliang had found out.

But it should be impossible, right? Between an Empress and an enemy country"s great general, they were too plainly different, people should not be able to connect one person to the other.

Xue Junliang added, “You see, you never even let me touch you. Other wives would burn incense three times a day, praying for me to always stay by their side. I already know you"re smart, but you"re more knowledgeable when talking strategies. Like just now, you looked ready to march into battles… But then I talked about another thing, and you immediately stepped back.”

Full of amus.e.m.e.nt, he asked, “Or was Aifei mistaken at birth? If you were born a man, right now you must have been a very talented military general.”

Teng Yun"s hands inside his sleeves was clenched into fists as he fought a shiver.

Xue Junliang took the Empress into his arms and thought the other person was shivering because of cold. He said, “Are you cold? Feng Country is located in the south, I think it would be hard for you to adapt with the weather here… But don"t you have snow there, too?”

Teng Yun answered without thinking, “No…”

Feng Country was located in the south of Xue Country, just like Teng Country. But the weather in Feng wasn"t as warm as in Teng, they still had snow in winter. All of his life, Teng Yun had seen snow once. At that time, he was in a high-spirit, he"d defeated Xue Country"s Marquis Wannian at Xue Country"s border. That year, the snow was falling. It was the only time Teng Yun had ever seen snow.

Realizing his mistake, Teng Yun quickly corrected, “Not very often.”

Xue Junliang, in the end, was still doubtful over the Empress" connection with Xue Yu.

The two people embracing on the small pavilion created such a pleasing sight, but inside their heart; each was hiding uneasiness.

—

Marquis Zhenjiang was, after all, still a member of the royal family, a direct descendant of a king. Although Xue Junliang didn"t like him, he still had to pretend treating his younger brother with warmth and kindness. Seeing this, the court officials didn"t dare act rude to Marquis Zhenjiang. After exchanging toasts, the court officials came to the Marquis requesting him visit their houses for meals.

After drinking wine at the banquet, Xue Yu should not return home riding a horse, so the officials tactfully prepared a sedan chair to take him home. They also had thought of sending a few beautiful girls to accompany Xue Yu, but Xue Yu was so scholarly and modest, didn"t look like he enjoyed indulging in worldly pleasures. In the end, Xue Yu only accepted the sedan chair.

Xue  Yu leaned back on his sedan chair and opened the curtain covering the side window. He saw someone in moon-white clothing walking on the street. Smiling softly, he used his folded fan to knock on the sedan chair"s door. The bearer at each foot of the sedan chair stopped walking.

Xue Yu didn"t come down. He peaked through the window to laugh and call out, “Master Teng, do you still remember me?”

Teng Shang suddenly heard someone calling his name and stopped walking. He turned and saw a young gentleman. The young man"s face was blushing slightly, perhaps he"d had a few drinks; and he was smiling.

A vague recognition flashed in Teng Shang"s mind but he held back his surprise. Then his gaze swept over the sedan chair"s splendor.

Xue Yu rode a horse when he came to attend the banquet, when he returned, naturally he"d had people led his horse back. Xue Country"s hierarchy and ranking system was very strict. The separations between the royal family"s direct lines and their branches were tightly regulated.

Teng Shang only needed one glance to understand Xue Yu"s rank in Xue Country"s royal family.

Seeing Teng Shang not surprised by their encounter, Xue Yu smiled and raised an eyebrow, “It"s been a long time not seeing Master Teng, how about we go to a tea house and talk?”

—

Marquis Zhenjiang"s purpose of coming to the capital city was to pay respect to the ancestors. When the Late King died, Xue Yu had been in the northern border resolving a conflict and could not return home to accompany the Late King on his last days. In the end, he never returned at all.

When the Late King was still alive, he especially doted on the youngest prince who was much younger than his older brothers. Marquis Zhenjiang admitted he was feeling guilty and regret so he wanted to return and hold a worship ceremony and asked for forgiveness.

Of course, an ancestor worship ceremony wasn"t something that could be done at a moment"s notice because it would require some traveling; therefore it was considered a special event.

This time, Xue Junliang would also go and attend the ceremony, making the event even more special. Everyone was busy preparing for the event, they also had to pack food. The place they were going wasn"t that far, but it was always better to prepare enough food for everyone.

They were scheduled to set off the next day. Xue Junliang would bring along the Crown Prince and the Empress. Among the Inner Harem residents, only the Empress was invited; it made all other consorts and wives disappointed.

That night, it was snowing and windy. In no time at all, the ground was completely covered in snow.

Since hearing the plan made by Jiao Shui, Teng Qianyi had been waiting impatiently for executing the plan. Earlier in the day she found out that Xue w.a.n.g only allowed the Empress to go with him. Driven by hate and resentment, she decided today was the perfect day. It just so happened that the weather was very accommodating; the snow was falling heavily and the wind was blowing strongly enough.

Teng Qianyi made several palace maids carry out the first part of the plan. When the maids returned, Teng Qianyi immediately sent them to their death. She accused them as dirty thieves who had stolen their mistress" valuables. Afraid they would be reported and executed, the palace maids hanged themselves to die.

[T/N : What?!]

The next day at dawn, palace maids and servants went to clean up the yards. The snow hadn"t been cleared last night and had started to pile on Her Majesty the Empress" backyard. The immediately started clearing the snow and that was when they found human-shaped puppets under the trees.

Teng Qianyi, hating the fact that Xue w.a.n.g only favored the Empress, had made several puppets that looked very alike Marquis Zhenjiang. She also made a few puppets wearing black robes and had the puppets slashed with knives.

Jiang Yu, who had just now been sent back by Teng Yun, heard someone running after him to report about the matter. He froze as if he"d been splashed from head to toe with cold water, but then he calmed down, trying to convince himself it might be nothing to worry about.

He walked in and reported the matter with his head bowing lowly. Xue Junliang listened to the report from beginning to end without any change on his expression.

Jiang Yu didn"t dare utter a single word as he helped Xue w.a.n.g changed his clothes. But after some time, he could no longer hold it in and asked, “Your Majesty, should we delay the departure?”

Xue Junliang let out a peculiar laugh, “Do we have to delay the departure only for such trivial matter?”

“No, no… This old servant is ignorant.”

Xue Junliang flicked his sleeves and said, “How long before we have to depart?”

“Answering Your Majesty, there is still one shichen.”

“En,” Xue Junliang nodded, “Let"s go to Yunfeng Palace first.”

—

It was still very early in the morning, yet the Imperial Harem was already bustling. Xue w.a.n.g had rushed to Yunfeng Palace and summoned all of his consorts and wives to gather there as well. Everyone had heard about the puppets incident this morning, and if right at this time Xue w.a.n.g wanted all of them here together, his reason must not be good.

The consorts and wives didn"t dare delaying for fear of stoking His Majesty"s anger. When Xue Junliang arrived at Yunfeng Palace, all of his consorts and wives was already there. They immediately knelt down to greet him.

Xue Junliang was dressed splendidly. The attire he wore was the special one for ancestor worship ceremony, naturally it was the most elaborate and most fitting to his status as the supreme monarch.

He strode straight into the main room, not sparing a glance at the consorts and wives kneeling on the floor, went to the huge seat and sat down.

After sitting down, Xue Junliang smiled and said, “Empress, come and sit with Gu.” He patted the seat next to him.

As soon as he said that, the others felt nervous. Obviously the incident involved the Empress, but Xue w.a.n.g let her sit down next to him? Could it be that Xue w.a.n.g had found out and planned to out the culprit?

Teng Yun thanked Xue w.a.n.g and walked over to sit down.

Xue Junliang spoke, “Yesterday, there were strong wind and heavy snow. Gu ordered Jiang Yu to bring some warm clothes to Yunfeng Palace. Do you all know what he saw then?”

He said this so convincingly as if it was the truth. Teng Qianyi, who was still kneeling on the floor, was so scared she almost fainted. If it wasn"t for Jiao Shui steadying her, she was afraid she would be found out right away.

Xue Junliang smiled gently, “Gu had heard people saying that Xue Country"s king is a tyrant, has no heart and feeling, and treats people ruthlessly and meanly… Gu has been doing self-introspection, it seems that to be a compa.s.sionate ruler it"s necessary to be more understanding towards people"s feeling in dealing with cases. So for this time, whoever is the culprit, Gu wants you to confess yourself.”

In the wake of his speech, Yunfeng Palace fell quiet as everyone was silent. Behind Xue Junliang, Jiang Yu saw sweating profusely because he hadn"t been ordered to go to Yunfeng Palace yesterday…

Teng Yun sat quietly, sweeping his gaze to all of the consorts and wives kneeling on the floor; all of them were keeping their heads low and their mouths shut.

Xue Junliang"s expression changed slightly as if suddenly recalled something. He turned to the Empress and affectionately said, “The weather has been cold recently, you must take good care of yourself, don"t exhaust yourself when preparing for the Selection.”

Teng Yun sneered inwardly. Xue Junliang sure was very capable. He was all talking and threatening so menacingly just now. Then he expressed concern towards the Empress, though Teng Yun could see those words were actually meant for all the palace maidservants to hear.

Xue Junliang meant to let the palace maids to know that the Triennial Selection was approaching and he would offer extra favors for those who confessed. If the palace maids were clever, they would immediately understand what good opportunity it was.

Teng Yun was about to reply Xue Junliang"s reminder but then heard a low cry.

Jiao Shui dropped down on all four and crawled desperately forward. She then hugged Teng Yun"s ankles and wailed, “Da w.a.n.g, Empress, please save this servant!”

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