CH 7

Teng Yun and Xue Pei heard the sound of someone clapping, they turned and saw Xue Junliang coming over and with a smile, he said, “It turns out that this Seat’s Empress is actually a heroine, as expected, I’ve been really underestimating you.”

Then he patted Xue Pei and said, “So you will be serving your Mother Empress now?” 

Xue Pei had no way of escaping it, and with an embarrassed expression on his face, he said in a small voice, “This son will obey.”

Xue Junliang stopped talking to Xue Pei and turned to Teng Yun and said, “Aifei, I come here to find you, as I’ve got something to discuss with you.”

Hearing this, Xue Pei tried to excuse himself first, but was stopped by Xue Junliang. Xue Junliang said, “Teng Country’s Minister Shang is escorting the Grand Princess to form a marriage alliance, I wonder what Aifei thinks about this matter?”

Teng Yun was a bit surprised, pursed his lips and was silent for a moment then lightly said, “Chen-qie doesn’t dare to meddle in the country’s affairs.” 

Xue Junliang laughed, “This Seat has decided to accept the peace negotiation with Teng. Just as Aifei had said, there is no real need to chase a cornered enemy. After so many years fighting, my Xue Country soldiers are exhausted, it’s a good opportunity to recuperate.”

Hearing this, Teng Yun sighed in  relief, but he also knew Xue Country backing off now was just a delaying tactic and this peace wouldn’t last long. Once Xue Country’s military power recovered, the destruction of the Teng Country was inevitable.

Teng Yun also had quite a clear understanding on why Xue Junliang wasn’t attacking Teng Country right now. This was because he had other misgivings. He was afraid that when his energy was entirely focused on Teng country, Feng Country whose intentions were cold and ruthless while sitting on the side nursing their own ambitions, could easily launch a sneak attack. Then they would be effortlessly able to conquer both Xue and Teng countries.

Xue Junliang saw the Empress was frowning and saying nothing, his mood suddenly became very happy. Now he was sure there was nothing out of ordinary about this Empress. He’d been perturbed and worried by her, after all someone who wasn’t from the same family, usually had a different way of thinking and upbringing, so he was determined to find this woman’s flaws and weaknesses.

Therefore, he had deliberately told the Empress that Teng Country wanted to form a marriage alliance. As the mistress of the Imperial Harem, the one thing that the Empress must most fear is that her position as the head would be shaken. Thinking that the Empress was frowning and mulling over the possibility of a new favorite concubine, Xue Junliang inwardly laughed. Sure enough, this Empress was still a woman, nothing extraordinary or anything to be worried about.

Xue Junliang smiled and said, “Aifei, as an Empress, this Seat requires you to help with arrangement and the preparation for the wedding and welcoming the new wife. After all, Teng Country has been very sincere in their intentions, they even sent Minister Shang to personally escort the Princess, we cannot let people look down on it.”

Teng Qianyi, the Eldest Princess of Teng Country was a famous talented woman in the Teng Kingdom. Most people associated her name with being talented and knowledgeable, but they ignored one thing — The fact that Teng Qianyi and King Teng were having an affair.

When their taboo relationship was first revealed, in order to appease the protesters and keep the peace, King Teng relegated his eldest daughter out of the palace to a temporary imperial residence for self-cultivation. Only after the situation gradually passed, King Teng took Teng Qianyi back, never mentioning about what had happened.

The royal family and other noblemen naturally avoided mentioning this topic. After all, this was a very shameful and disgraceful issue. The ministers also did not dare to discuss the matter. In the end, the affair became a well-known secret.

It was impossible for this matter to be known in the Xue Country. Xue Junliang must have only thought that Teng Qianyi was a talented woman, and wasn’t aware of the other things about her.  Teng Yun, although he felt a bit guilty and ashamed,  how would he dare to mention it? If Xue Junliang knew that Teng’s Eldest Princess was no longer a pure jade but instead was an incestuous and immoral person, he would definitely implicate Teng Shang who escorted her here for a marriage alliance.  He might even be further enraged and continue to attack Teng Country. 

Teng Yun could immediately see the flaw in sending Minister Teng Shang to escort the princess for the marriage alliance. So, it actually turned out that his own father, King Teng had never trusted Teng Shang; sending him to escort this impure princess, Teng Shang would definitely be killed if the matter was exposed.

Teng Yun sighed deeply, his father had only thought of getting rid of Teng Shang, and had not spared a single thought about how Xue Junliang’s wrath would affect Teng Country.

As the Empress kept her mouth shut, Xue Junliang’s mood became even more pleasant. Other people might feel happy to have an opponent, but for an emperor, having everyone submit to him was an even more pleasant thing.

“Aifei, get everything prepared in the next few days. Talk to this Seat directly if anything needs to be mobilized.” 

When he finished, he went back and asked Jiang Yu to invite the Marquis Wannian into the palace.

The Little Crown Prince had been listening from the side. Although he was young, he actually already understood many things. So naturally he realized his father was taking an indirect and subtle approach of showing his dominance over the Ugly Empress.

After what had happened just now, although the little prince couldn’t lose face by showing it obviously, he started treating Teng Yun differently.  He thought that his father putting the Empress in charge of welcoming the new wife was although understandable,  still it felt somewhat excessive and unreasonable.

Even though Xue Pei never said it, he decided he would become closer to Teng Yun. 

As soon as Xue Houyang handed over his summoning letter at the palace gates, Emperor Xue summoned him to enter into the palace.  Inside, Xue Junliang was sitting in the warm pavilion in his study.

Xue Junliang handed King Teng’s letter to him and asked, “What do you think?”

Xue Houyang unfolded the letter and read it fully, then he said, “Just as Your Majesty had predicted, the Teng King has deliberately sent Teng Shang into our death trap.”

“But we must first find a good reason for killing Teng Shang. To act without justification would be unpopular, so we can’t act too recklessly. What’s more, Teng Shang is famous among the scholars. If we kill him for no reason, people will label us indiscriminate killers of virtuous people.” 

Xue Houyang pondered a bit and obviously felt what was said was indeed true, but he could not think up any reason as justification. He could kill in battles no problem, but bureaucracy or officialdom really didn’t suit him.

“Because Minister Shang is personally escorting the princess, Houyang, I want you to go outside the city walls and welcome them.”

“Chen-di will do as ordered.”

“You and him are old acquaintances on the battlefield, but this time it is not the battlefields. We are to welcome and treat the guests as equals. Make sure you are giving him enough respect and flattering his prestige too. We cannot let the Teng people be looked down upon.” 

“Your Majesty, rest assured, Houyang will live up to the expectations.”

Teng Yun wanted to save Teng Shang but he was utterly powerless in his current body. He even considered sneaking out of the palace at the same time Teng Shang entered Xue territory. After all, he was neither a Feng nor Xue person. He was still Teng Yun from the inside, and it was just impossible for him to just sit in the Imperial Harem as a concubine.

But the problem was, he couldn’t tell Teng Shang who he was, because who would believe him? And he couldn’t turn to Teng Shang for help either, because he knew just one wrong step could end with both of them killed.

Also with a face like this; a face this ugly would stand out obviously in the crowds. With a single glance he would be recognized. Not only would he be not able to escape, it would actually end up with him being caught. 

Teng Yun kept sending Xiu Yao to inquire after Teng Country’s envoy, but Xiu Yao wasn’t too enthusiastic about it. She felt that as long as the Empress maintained a stable position in the Imperial Harem, all was well.  But she didn’t dare to defy orders, so she still went to find information though very half-heartedly.

Jiang Yu came a few times to deliver gifts for the Empress, but his true purpose was to pry gossips from Xiu Yao. Xiu Yao was not a total fool, she knew her livelihood was at stake and she could only rely on the Empress, so how would she dare say that the Empress had been seeking information about Teng Shang? Xiu Yao instead complained to Jiang Yu that after the Empress knew that the Emperor wanted to welcome a new wife, our Empress had been sincerely working on the preparations. But it was evident that she wasn’t happy, so could Emperor Xue, please  be considerate towards the Empress’ feelings as a woman?

When Xue Junliang heard Jiang Yu’s reports, added with the good praises from the Crown Prince, he felt that he had subdued Teng Yun. Although her face was very ugly, the Empress was educated and quite knowledgeable in the arts of war. She was even able to teach and handle Xue Pei well, keeping him in line. So Xue Junliang considered giving the Empress red dates as gifts.

Since ancient times, it was a known fact that a king loved beauties. Emperor Xue, too, of course didn’t really want to bed the ugly Empress, so instead he ordered Jiang Yu to invite the Empress to accompany Emperor Xue for a meal.