CH 15

Xue Junliang looked at Teng Yun’s reaction and instead of getting angry, he laughed. “You’re still the first person who has ever dared to refuse this Emperor.” 

Teng Yun felt as if his lips were catching fire, burning hot.

He was nineteen when he was sent to the battlefields and has been conquesting and protecting the borders for ten years. It was not an age where one didn’t know anything but Teng Yun would always keep himself out of trouble. Although prisoners were always offered for personal pleasure when they conquered a city, the Military discipline was strict. And as a Great General, Teng Yun had to be even more mindful of his own conduct and be even more self-disciplined.

Consequently, he was rather reticent and unsophisticated in this area. Not to mention such a deep lingering kiss, he was in no way comparable to Xue Junliang.

Teng Yun’s earlobes were bright red. Even his chest peeking between the slightly-opened collar of his clothes was tinted pink. Noting all of these, Xue Junliang thought this Ugly Empress was shy. 

In all honesty, if one were to only compare the body and figures, then few beauties could compare in front of the Ugly Empress lithe figure.  Xue Junliang stared at that blushing pink neck, and probably because the after-effects of drinking wine was too strong, surprisingly, felt his body was a bit hot.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Xue Junliang reached out to caress Teng Yun’s earlobes ambiguously. Teng Yun shuddered fiercely; eyes glaring daggers at Xue Junliang.

Xue Junliang retracted his hand and thought his Empress was quite intriguing. Since he married the Empress, he had not consummated the marriage with her. In the beginning, he was too busy fighting the war, and didn’t really have the mood to fool around the Imperial Harem. Later, he just forgot about her, sparing her a thought only as far as letting her maintain the Empress title.

The Empress’s inexperienced and youthful reaction to his teasing made Xue Junliang very pleased and even somewhat smug. Patting the bed, he smiled and said, “Alright, come here and lie down. I won’t make a move on you.”

Teng Yun did not made any move, which only made Xue Junliang even more smug and proud. But Xue Junliang really did stop teasing the Empress. He removed his outer clothes and threw away his tasseled crown. After blowing the candles off, he lay down on the bed and patted the empty spot next to him.

“Jbwf tfgf delmxis, la’r ufaalcu mbiv.”

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There was only one quilt on the bed; it wasn’t small, but there was such a huge gap between the two people, that naturally, it didn’t cover Teng Yun. 

Xue Junliang laughed. He turned on his side and pulled Teng Yun into his arms, then covered Teng Yun with the blanket. Gently patting the other person’s back, he said, “Sleep. I had to follow too many customs today, I’m really tired.”

Naturally, it was another sleepless night for Teng Yun.

Early morning the next day, Jiang Yu and Xiu Yao were let in to attend to their respective masters. They saw the clothes scattered everywhere on the floor; even Emperor Xue’s tasseled crown had rolled into the corner of the room. Added with the Empress’ sleepy appearance, they automatically surmised the passionate scene that had happened last night…

Since it was the princess’ grand wedding, as her uncle, Teng Shang had to stay back for the celebrations in the palace during the night.  Whether in good intentions or not, many people toasted Teng Shang forcing him to drink a lot of wine.  Since he entered officialdom, he had rarely been so drunk, after all, even skills to drink had to be practiced. 

But yesterday, Teng Shang was the only person from Teng Country surrounded by Xue Country’s court officials. Inevitably, he was bullied into drinking too much wine.

When Teng Shang woke up, he was totally groggy and disoriented. The pounding in his head and the hangover made him feel nauseated. But honestly, he would rather endure the hangover compared to the nausea.

Teng Shang sat up and blinked repeatedly trying to clear his sight. Suddenly his complexion turned ashen. He swallowed several times, attempting to relieve the dryness in his throat. His throat hurt so much and seemed to be lacerated.

The hands placed on the bed clenched fiercely and he found the brocade quilt on the bed was stained with specs of blood and something unspeakable. 

Burying his head between the palm of his hands, Teng Shang clamped his thighs together; something trickled down from the area in his behind. His breath faltered before he let out a deep sigh.

Teng Shang still remembered the events from the previous night. Xue Junliang’s attitude towards him was not hard to understand. In a way, Teng Shang, like Teng Yun, couldn’t be left alive. No matter how talented and accomplished Teng Shang was, he was a wild tiger that should not be tamed.

Teng Shang had been favored by the previous Teng King since childhood, and for that reason, he would never think of betraying Teng Country. But now there was no place for Teng Shang in the Teng Country. Luckily at a time like this, he met Xue Houyang…

People often said that Teng Shang and Teng Yun were very much alike in character. They were both benevolent and resolute, but Teng Shang knew that it was all not true. Teng Shang was an abandoned orphan. After many years occupying an official post he thought he didn’t deserve, Teng Shang’s benevolence had long been trampled out and now he was only a shameful liar and a hypocrite. 

When Teng Yun left for the battlefields, as a Great General, he was forced to curb violence with equal violence despite his lifelong wish of never killing people.

But Teng Shang was different. Teng Shang’s only lifelong wish was a strong country. In order to make the Teng Country powerful and honoring his ancestors, Teng Shang felt he’d become a despicable person.

Meeting Xue Houyang was an unforeseen turn of events. When he noticed how Xue Houyang looked at him, Teng Shang immediately knew that when he entered Xue’s capital city, he might not necessarily be dead after all.

They’d all drunk too much wine last night. Intentionally or unintentionally Xue Houyang had actually blocked a few cups coming Teng Shang’s way and drank them in his stead. Marquis Wannian reasoned that Teng Shang had saved his life but everybody knew that wasn’t the truth. 

Xue Houyang was undoubtedly a great man. Unfortunately, he had to meet Teng Shang.

Teng Shang stood and put on his clothes to cover the ambiguous traces all over his body. Something trickled down the back of his thighs, yet he ignored it. After he finished dressing, he opened the door and went out of the palace.

Xue Houyang looked a bit dishevelled. It was time for the morning court and he was already late when he entered the Palace. He had to change clothes inside the Palace then hurriedly entered the court hall.

He wasn’t drunk at all last night. He just went crazy with desire and under the cover of being intoxicated, strongly hugged that person and dragged the intoxicated man to bed. 

Xue Houyang wiped his face with his palm, feeling ashamed by his own action last night. He felt so ashamed that as soon as he woke up in the morning, he knew he didn’t have any face left to look at Teng Shang. So he ran away as if his life depended on it.

Throughout the entire morning court assembly, Xue Houyang was distracted, looking as if his soul had left his body. Xue Junliang obviously took notice and asked him to stay back.

As they strolled in the garden, Xue Junliang said, “What kind of matter could make our Great General so troubled?”

Xue Houyang scratched his head in embarrassment and said, “Your Majesty actually noticed… I…” 

Seeing Xue Houyang’s reaction, Xue Junliang laughed while patting the other person’s shoulder, making Xue Houyang confused.

Xue Junliang said, “Houyang, I don’t know what or who it was that made you like this. But you know, since you came back to the capital city, you had never used this kind of tone when talking to your brother… I really seemed to have seen the second brother when he was a child.”

Xue Houyang stilled, then the corner of his mouth pulled into a smile and said, “No matter what this brother becomes, Chen di will never be estranged from Your Majesty.”

Xue Junliang nodded. “I believe you, naturally I believe you… Okay, now let’s talk about you. Right this moment, I’m only your brother. If my second brother has anything that is troubling him, then he can tell me. Whatever it is that’s been troubling you, just tell me. Even if it can’t be solved, I can lend you my ears.” 

Xue Houyang’s face turned feverish red. Coughing once to clear his throat, he then said, “I… I accidentally did something to someone that I am sorry for. I want to apologize but I’m afraid that person wouldn’t even want to see me… Ah, maybe apologizing won’t do any good anyway. What can I do?”

“Oh?” Xue Junliang seemed to be thinking deeply, then he added, “I think maybe this other person is my second brother’s beloved, am I right?”

“Bi.. big brother?! How can you say such…” Unable to finish his sentence, Xue Houyang fell silent and sighed deeply.

Xue Junliang patted Xue Houyang’s shoulder again and said, “My second younger brother has talent, courage and good looks. Who dares to not like you? I’ve decided, I’ll bestow you with a marriage. No matter who this person is and what status they have, you can get married to them immediately.”