Feng Ming hadn’t attended the Imperial court for almost a year, it was inevitable that when he finally attended today, many officials burst into tears.

Today, it also happened that Zhao Lu had pleaded sickness and had taken a leave of absence from the morning court. Minister Zuo, followed by most of the court officials, took the opportunity to file an open complaint against Marquis Zhulu.

When Feng Ming returned to his residence, Rui Xue was waiting outside. She cautiously said, “Your Majesty… Master is here. He is inside.”

Feng Ming paused for a moment before stepping inside the hall.

Marquis Zhulu was standing with his hands behind his back; seemingly appreciating the intricate ornaments. His posture was straight as if nothing was wrong with him. No matter how closely one looked at him, it was quite evident that he wasn’t sick at all.

Zhao Lu turned around and said with a smile, “Your Majesty, you have returned from the court.”

Feng Ming didn’t meet his eyes, just moved his gaze around and gave a non-committal response.

Zhao Lu strode closer and grabbed Feng Ming and held him. Feng Ming wasn’t small; his black official attire emphasized his tall and robust figure. But standing next to Zhao Lu, Feng Ming looked a lot thinner.

Zhao Lu pinched Feng Ming’s chin and lifted his head. The jade tassels of the crown felt cold against his forehead, but Feng Ming stubbornly refused to look at Zhao Lu; his eyes looking away nervously, flustered.

“What?” Zhao Lu smiled. “Your Majesty has been getting closer to Minister Zuo these few days, and now you don’t even want to look at this humble servant anymore?”

“It’s not that.”

“Oh… It isn’t?” Zhao Lu gently caressed Feng Ming’s lips and said, “Is Your Majesty so tired of looking at this lowly subject, that this lowly subject wasn’t even informed that His Majesty sent a messenger to Xue requesting the Grand Princess to come visit home.”

“…” Feng Ming opened his lips as if about to answer, only to close them without saying anything.

His silence seemed to infuriate Marquis Zhulu. He grabbed  Feng Ming’s wrist and dragged him to the inner room and threw him on the bed.

Rui Xue protested, looking anxiously, “Lord Marquis! Lord, You…”

“Shut up!” Zhao Lu snapped at her and in a bout of anger swept the inkstone on the table off to the floor. He shouted, “Get out! You are not allowed to talk here!”

Rui Xue sighed and reluctantly went out.

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“I don’t want to lie to you.”

Feng Ming was lying on his back, his  crown had fallen off and his hair scattered messily on the quilt. Reaching out a hand, Feng Ming gently touched Zhao Lu’s left chest saying, “Ask yourself honestly, how have I treated you in all these years. Hadn’t it been for all the court officials filing a complaint against you, I simply would not care… This Feng Country’s foundation has been built for hundreds of years, I won’t let it fall into ruins in my own hands!”

Zhao Lu laughed out loud and said, “So now you’re blaming me?”

Feng Ming said lightly, “I don’t believe that you can’t see it. All I’ve been doing is to protect you and defend you. If I don’t send troops to Xue Country this time, do you think you could withstand many court officials trying to impeach you?”

“Then I ask you, what do you mean by sending a messenger, requesting the Grand Princess to come back?” Zhao Lu clasped Feng Ming’s hand on his chest, not allowing Feng Ming to touch him, then he added, “Are you planning to intercept and assassinate the Grand Princess on her way here, and then put the blame on Xue Junliang, creating an excuse to send troops?”

There was no change in Feng Ming’s expression, as if the Grand Princess wasn’t his own sister, “If you already knew, why do you need to ask me?”

“Why do I need to ask you?” Zhao Lu narrowed his eyes and laughed, “She is your own sister. You and her are siblings, born from the same mother!”

Feng Ming didn’t know what had agitated Zhao Lu so much; Zhao Lu was an orphan with no other relatives. For Zhao Lu, having a family was something to be cherished. But Feng Ming was a ruthless and cruel person by nature; all his life he only cherished one other person, and sacrificing his own sister was not a big matter at all for him. Feng Ming’s indifference towards his own sister, stabbed the thorn buried deep in Zhao Lu’s wounded heart.

Feng Ming eyes flashed, watching as Marquis Zhulu’s agitation shone through all over his face. Inevitably, Feng Ming concluded Marquis Zhulu was harboring an affection towards the Grand Princess. This realization left his heart feeling exhausted. Closing his eyes with his hands, he said coldly, “Lord Marquis need not say anymore. This Seat has already sent a messenger to the Xue Country. Isn’t it too late to talk about it now again?”

Zhao Lu was taken aback. Although Feng Ming was the ruling monarch, he had always been compliant towards Zhao Lu and never disobeyed. Zhao Lu had never expected that someday Feng Ming would turn against him and be disobedient. Without saying another word, Zhao Lu turned and strode out of Feng Ming’s bedchambers.

Rui Xue, who’d been standing outside waiting anxiously, immediately greeted Zhao Lu when she saw him coming out, “Master… how was it?”

Zhao Lu did not say anything; his expression was extremely cold. After thinking for a moment, he said, “You return back to the house with me, I have a task for you to do.”

——-

Xiu Yao hurriedly rushed into Yunfeng Palace saying, “Your Majesty, this is bad!”

Teng Yun had sent her out to inquire news about Teng Shang. When she came back saying things like ‘this is bad’, immediately Teng Yun thought Xue Junliang had executed Teng Shang.

Xiu Yao added, “This slave servant heard about something else when enquiring about news.”

Realizing Xiu Yao wasn’t talking about Teng Shang being executed, Teng Yun’s heart settled back in his chest. He said, “First, tell me about Teng Shang.”

“Oh… Teng Shang’s news is very interesting,” said Xiu Yao, “His Majesty has personally promised a marriage for Marquis Wannian and Teng Shang.”

“What? Marriage… with who?”

“Marquis Wannian with Teng Shang. Your Majesty, don’t you also think this is funny? An officially-married male wife.”

Teng Yun was shocked into complete silence, even his mind blanked for a moment. Then he said, “Then what did Teng Shang do? He agreed for this marriage?”

“Of course, he agreed,” Xiu Yao said, “Wasn’t that obvious? Between marrying Marquis Wannian or being killed, who in the right mind would choose to be killed? But Your Majesty, before all that, you should worry about yourself!.”

Teng Yun grasped the edge of the table as he lowered himself down onto a chair. He, of course, understood Teng Shang’s character. Teng Shang was very proud; it was impossible that he’d condescended  so low as to agree to marry another man. A man who was also his enemy.

“Empress, on the way here, this slave servant also accidentally heard that the Feng King requested you come to visit your hometown and pay a visit to your relatives, but I didn’t get when you’ll have to go. How is it a good thing? Since when a married Empress was allowed to go visit her hometown?”

It was a widely known fact that the relationship between Xue and Feng Countries had always been tense, especially now that Teng King had offered his daughter for a marriage alliance with Emperor Xue. King Feng must certainly have felt displeased. Hence King Feng, requesting the Empress to come home at this time definitely meant  a war was coming.

Teng Yun’s current identity was both – Xue Country’s Empress and  also Feng Country’s Grand Princess. It was inevitable he’d be caught in the middle.

When Teng Yun heard the news, he was not anxious at all. He found it to be a good opportunity. As the mistress of Imperial Harem, he was restricted from going outside the Imperial Palace. However, if it was about visiting Feng Country, Teng Yun could use this opportunity  to fulfill his wish of escaping.

Xiu Yao watched as her mistress took the news calmly as if she wasn’t even surprised. Xiu Yao thought that the Empress surely was worth the title Empress, calm even in the face of danger.

—–

After Xue Junliang was done with the afternoon recital of the various official reports, he went straight to Yunfeng Palace. It was almost like a habit.

Xue Junliang said, “I think Aifei had heard about the matter that King Feng has said he misses you and has requested you come to visit your family. I wonder what Aifei thinks about this?”

Teng Yun without any pause, only said, “I’ll follow as per Your Majesty’s will.”

Teng Yun could tell Xue Junliang was testing him. Both the options of wanting to stay or not wanting to stay were not right in this situation. The only safest option was to not have any opinion.

Teng Yun’s ‘obedience’ matched Xue Junliang’s expectations. Xue Junliang remembered Jiang Yu saying that an Emperor having only one son was not reasonable and suddenly he felt depressed. He had promised that he would never touch or force the Empress without her consent, that he would wait for her to become willing. But looking at the other person’s indifference, he didn’t even know what year and what month she’d give her consent.

Sitting opposite Xue Junliang, Teng Yun was not aware of Emperor Xue’s intent gaze.

Xue Junliang had already warmed up to the idea of having another son, so of course he loathed to let the Empress go back to Feng Country. Regardless of whether King Feng really missed the Eldest Princess or was just faking it for some other ill-intention.

Xue Junliang had no intention of leaving, after all, he did have some leisure time these days.  He read over his account books before letting Xiu Yao pass on the message that he’d have his dinner in Yunfeng Palace.

“By the way,  In a few days, I plan to hold a wedding ceremony for Marquis Wannian. Aifei will need to postpone the visit back to her hometown. After all, Houyang is still an important figure and it would not look good if so Aifei is absent from the celebration.”

Teng Yun’s hands trembled and he tentatively probed, “I heard that Marquis Wannian is marrying the minister from Teng Country.”

Xue Junliang nodded, “Yes indeed, it’s Teng Shang.”

“……. It’s just that I heard Teng Shang was an upright kind of person, perhaps it was unlikely that he would consent to ”marry?”

Hearing this, Xue Junliang suddenly laughed, making Teng Yun confused as to why Xue Junliang was laughing. After laughing, Xue Junliang said, “What Aifei said is right, but…. Teng Shang is also a cunning sort of person and his thoughts run deep. He has been in the officialdom for almost thirty years, he understands what it means to keep a head on his shoulder and reputation on his face. When a man doesn’t even have his head, is there any use in saving face or talking about Country’s ambition?

Then he suddenly sighed and added, “That said, this Seat  had to think about this multiple times. This Seat has been rather worried about Marquis Wannian…Mainly perhaps,  Houyang’s intention is purer than Teng Shang’s. No matter how this Seat sees it, Houyang gets the worst of this union as he would suffer losses and might be controlled by the other person. It’s like watching him stepping into a pit and this Seat is the one, who has to fill the pit with earth.”

Teng Yun asked, “Then why did His Majesty agree to  this marriage?”

“Why?” Xue Junliang shook his head and said, “Because this Seat is always worried about my younger brother. He is stubborn; won’t even budge even if he is pulled by nine cows. I know he has deep feelings towards Teng Shang, and this Seat is an elder brother first, and Emperor next and hence cannot just sit at the side and do nothing.”

Teng Yun listened to him thoughtfully. Even if Xue Junliang said it was for the sake of his own brother, for him to take such a step was truly not easy. Though Teng Yun was still not fully convinced whether his reasons were out of genuine concern or not.

As he was deep in thought, Teng Yun felt something heavy on the back of his hand; Xue Junliang had already pulled the hand into his hand. Xue Junliang’s hands were well defined and slender with some callouses. They were in perfect size to cover Teng Yun’s hand.

Teng Yun trembled, almost reflexively snatched his hand away, but managed to restrain himself. It was not good to disrespect Xue Junliang.

Since Xue Junliang wanted Teng Yun to give consent voluntarily, he himself, of course, had to take some actions.

Women always like to be treated with tenderness and affection. Xue Junliang had countless women filling his harem, so he knew very well how to please women and win their favour. But he made one miscalculation. He didn’t know that this particular Empress was not a delicate and fragile woman…

Xue Junliang said gently, “Does Aifei feel homesick?”