CH 23

“This old servant has committed a grave mistake! This old servant deserves to die a thousand deaths! This old servant cannot be forgiven…” Jiang Yu knelt on the ground and kowtowed over and over again, his official hat had fallen aside and his forehead was swollen.

The Imperial physician was treating Xue Junliang’s wounds while shaking in fear. When Emperor Xue waved his hand slightly allowing him to leave, he immediately escaped. 

Working as Imperial physicians was not easier than those officials of the Imperial court. They would sometimes hear words that they shouldn’t be allowed to hear. Those words might not be very precise and not good to hear, but still they could be leaked to outsiders. Therefore, if His Majesty let him go, he would hurriedly go. It was better to know less.

Xue Junliang touched his right hand and leaned back on the couch. There were a few small cuts on his face but those did not hinder his majestic presence. Even when he doesn’t speak, he always wore a barely-there smile on his face, making people unable to see through, yet not dare to guess, what was on his mind.

Jiang Yu didn’t hear Emperor Xue saying anything, so he continued to kowtow.

Finally, Xue Junliang leisurely said, “Alright, get up.” 

“Th… Thank you, for Your Majesty’s kindness and mercy.”

“Jiang Yu,” Xue Junliang said, “I have always looked up to you as I grew up, I treat you like a senior, as you had served the former Emperor… This matter, how come you couldn’t handle it properly?”

“This old servant…” Jiang Yu’s legs trembled and he fell back on his knees. Lowering his head to the ground, he said, “This old servant deserves to die.”

Xue Junliang gave him a look, then said, “You have followed me for a long time, you are always so dedicated and hard-working. Although this time you made a mistake, I don’t have the heart to punish you. If it’s only me getting hurt, then it’s nothing big. But this time, the Empress was very frightened.”

“This old servant… This old servant…” Jiang Yu couldn’t say any more words. This time, even if he was executed by a thousand cuts, he wouldn’t be able to pay for his crime.

The Empress was intercepted by assassins on her journey to her hometown. This matter was actually something that Xue Junliang had predicted. But it was also a brilliant play Xue Junliang had arranged.

Xue Junliang was an old cunning fox. Feng Ming might be full of schemes, but he was no match against Xue Junliang. Instead of letting Feng Ming assassinate the Empress at Xue Country’s border, he might as well arrange the assassination by his own two hands.

Her Majesty, the Empress was frightened by the assassins, therefore it was impossible for her to continue her journey to Feng Country according to plan. She was better off staying home and thereby ensuring her safety. Feng Ming, then, could only complain a few words, and could not use this as an excuse; it would be too far-fetched for him to send troops to attack Xue Country. 

What Xue Junliang didn’t expect was that his perfect play would go off-track. The assassins had attacked half-way. These assassins definitely couldn’t be Feng Ming’s people, because Feng Ming’s people were still waiting at the border to ambush the Empress’ entourage.

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Xue Junliang was also a military commander and suffering a few minor wounds was nothing to him. But what made him angry was that Jiang Yu had treated this matter too lightly.

Xue Junliang deliberately paused for a long time between speaking, making Jiang Yu shake like a sieve. People most likely saw Jiang Yu’s status was very high and was highly favored by Xue Junliang. However, Jiang Yu himself knew that Xue Junliang was unlike any other Emperor. He was not someone to favor one eunuch above everyone else. Xue Junliang’s trust was built upon the layers of tasks done right. 

Jiang Yu was old and experienced, he’d served as long as two generations of kings. Jiang Yu’s decisive and clever assistance had helped Xue Junliang a lot when he was still dealing with his competitors. Xue Junliang could say he was very grateful to Jiang Yu and this Emperor’s iron hand didn’t want to punish Jiang Yu too severely, but still, Jiang Yu had to be disciplined and warned. Letting Jiang Yu sweat and shake miserably was a form of punishment, too.

When he deemed Jiang Yu had been shaking long enough, Xue Junliang said, “This Seat will not punish you, you failed but you did work hard to complete this task, it could be regarded as the offset of credit and fault. However, you had caused the Empress stress, so you’ll have to attend to the Empress for a few days. If she needs anything, you’ll directly report it to me.”

Naturally, Jiang Yu was very grateful for the amnesty, but he also understood Emperor Xue’s temperament very well. Though Emperor Xue’s order was reasonable given the situation, Jiang Yu also knew Emperor Xue meant to plant Jiang Yu at the Empress’ side, to watch and report if there were any unusual activities.

Jiang Yu kowtowed, “Your Majesty is merciful, this old servant’s broken bones are not enough to repay Your Majesty. I will dedicate my whole life to repay Your Majesty!” 

Xue Junliang smiled, “No need to be so serious. You have this heart and you are loyal, therefore I am happy.”

When he finished, Xue Junliang looked up at the direction of the door. He was sitting inside his inner room, between him and the door was a separating screen. Even without the screen, he would not be able to see anything outside the door, but Jiang Yu understood and immediately said, “Marquis Wannian is still kneeling outside. Does Your Majesty want to see him?”

Xue Junliang nodded and said, “Let him in.”

Jiang Yu stood and went outside to inform Xue Houyang to enter. 

Xue Houyang had been kneeling on the stone steps outside the hall for an hour. Allowing assassins making trouble at Shili Pavilion was not a small matter. The Shili Pavilion, as the name implied, was only ten miles away from the gate of the Capital City. The enemies were under his nose and Xue Houyang was caught off guard. This kind of mistake was a capital crime and was equal to assisting enemies to commit treason.

As soon as Xue Houyang entered the inner room, he immediately knelt and said, “This criminal, Xue Houyang, pays respect to Your Majesty.”

Xue Junliang stood and walked over to Xue Houyang. With his left hand, he helped Xue Houyang to stand and said, “Quickly get up, let me see if you’re uninjured.”

Those words made Xue Houyang feel touched. He got up but kept his head low to express his shame and guilt. He said, “Chen-di is useless, and has committed a crime. Please, Your Majesty, punish me.” 

“You did nothing wrong. This matter was the local governors’ fault, you don’t need to take the blame. I assigned them to watch the gate, and even allowed them to lead military troops, but they could not even guard the gate properly. This is ridiculous.”

Patting Xue Houyang’s shoulder, Xue Junliang added, “Since ancient times, there have always been capable and incapable people like that everywhere. But, Houyang, you were so quick in subduing all those assassins. From here on, you will be responsible for those governors’ military troops. I will hand them over to you.”

Xue Houyang was so stunned he looked up at Xue Junliang. Seeing that he was not making a joke, he immediately knelt down again and said, “Chen-di is guilty yet still granted Your Majesty’s trust, Chen-di…”

“There’s no need to say anything superfluous. You know very well I don’t like those overly-sweet talks.” 

Xue Houyang’s face promptly heated up with embarrassment. He said simply, “Your Majesty is wise.”

Xue Junliang sat back down, “Have you caught all of the assassins?”

Xue Houyang’s expression turned somewhat unnatural. He nodded stiffly and said, “Yes… I have.”

Xue Junliang glanced at him, taking note of Xue Houyang’s expression. Pretending he didn’t know anything, he smiled and said, “So quick, as expected from Marquis Wannian. Who sent them?” 

“It’s…” Xue Houyang looked down, “Chen-di ordered people to interrogate them. At first, the assassins wouldn’t say anything. Later, under torture, they confessed they were sent by King Feng. But then, some of them changed their confession and said… They said they were sent by a former subordinate of Teng Country’s Minister Shang.”

Xue Junliang pondered for a moment, “Hmm… Teng Shang.”

Xue Houyang couldn’t see his frame of mind so he hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, Chen-di thinks there is something strange with their confession. Teng Shang is very clever and careful. If he wants to kill someone, he will never send people to do it so recklessly, also…”

Before he could finish, Xue Junliang suddenly raised a hand, motioning him to keep silent, and said, “I know, Teng Shang is now your wife. I can understand that you care and are worried about him. However, since the assassins named Teng Shang, you should not get involved in this case, lest you attract people’s criticism.” 

Xue Houyang suddenly knelt back down with determination clear on his face. He said, “But Chen-dii personally thinks it is inappropriate to hand over this matter to other officials.”

“Are you afraid they will deliberately make things difficult for Teng Shang?”

Xue Houyang didn’t reply, he just nodded.

“I have also thought about that, so I’ve found an excellent solution. This way this case will be handled without bias.” Xue Junliang said with a smile, “That is… To let Teng Shang take full charge over this case. He has to find out who the real culprit is and prove himself innocent. If he can’t… Then I’ll just accept the assassins’ confession as fact.” 

Xue Houyang was stunned for a moment and could not find any words to refute.

Xue Junliang’s solution was indeed very brilliant, but for Teng Shang, it would be a heavy pressure. Teng Shang had to let go of his own dignity by marrying a man. The only thing he hadn’t let go was his own country. Now, by ordering him to investigate the case, Xue Junliang could bind Teng Shang within Xue Country’s imperial court.

It was like being stuck in a mud; Teng Shang would not be able to get out.

Teng Yun was taken back to the palace. Because of excessive physical exertion, his head was aching and he slept for a long time. 

In his sleep, he dreamed he was swaying gently back and forth while he slept soundly with his head resting on Xue Junliang’s lap. At some point in the dream, Teng Yun didn’t know what happened, because Xue Junliang suddenly pushed Teng Yun onto the couch and leaned down to kiss Teng Yun’s lips and neck.

And then Teng Yun fell into deep sleep and forgot what he had dreamed about. He only had the impression that Xue Junliang was interested, but seeing that Teng Yun was very exhausted, Xue Junliang had to give up.

Teng Yun felt the hair on his back standing, he woke up from his sleep very slowly. Because he may have been lying for too long, his head felt heavy and his body was stiff. He felt that the side of his cheek near his ear felt painful and when he touched it, he found it was covered with a bandage.

When Xiu Yao saw that her mistress had woken up, she immediately came over crying, “Empress, you finally woke up. You scared me to death!” 

Teng Yun struggled to get up, but his movement was still very slow. Xiu Yao helped him to get up and lean against the head of the bed. Teng Yun asked, “What happened?”

Xiu Yao said, “Empress, you don’t remember? We almost died! Not long after we split up, I met Marquis Wannian. I led Lord Marquis to follow Your Majesty’s trail but we couldn’t find you. Apparently, His Majesty had found you. When Lord Marquis found the two of you, you had already fallen asleep and His Majesty’s hand was injured.”

As Xiu Yao told him what happened, Teng Yun’s memory came back. He remembered he was saved by Xue Junliang and they had hid in the pit together. Then he fell asleep. The gentle swaying he felt must be when he was on the carriage.

Teng Yun cautiously touched his lips and then his neck, his face turned bright red and then slowly switched to pale white. He said in a cold voice, “I want to take a bath.” 

“Bath?” Xiu Yao was puzzled, “Does the Empress feel sweaty? When we came back to the Palace, this servant had already cleaned you up. Also, the Imperial physician said you have so many small wounds and you should avoid getting them wet.”

Xiu Yao’s words ‘clean up’ was making Teng Yun nervous.

Of course, Teng Yun didn’t know that at that time, Xue Junliang had been considerate and didn’t do anything to Teng Yun. But Teng Yun, on the other hand, only remembered that he was half-awake when Xue Junliang pushed him down onto the couch…

Xiu Yao saw her mistress’ face darken and carefully asked, “Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell? Do you want me to call the Imperial physician?