Teng Yun felt that every day, his understanding of Xue Junliang had reduced and he could no longer adeptly understand his actions. Contrary to this, Xue Junliang’s understanding of himself was getting better.  He seemed more familiar and understanding of him.

For example, if he took the matter of Xue Houyang’s expedition, Teng Yun felt that he did not understand Xue Junliang’s thoughts, Xue Junliang certainly did not want his brother to love a man. After all, the identity of this man was a minister from the enemy country. If others heard the news, they would treat his younger brother as a joke.

After all, saying that Marquis Wannian had the label of losing his head and indulging with his male lover, was too absurd and inappropriate. For sure Xue Junliang’ss reputation would also suffer.

But Xue Junliang not only did not reproach Xue Houyang, in this expedition even let Teng Shang follow him.

When Shen Yi finally left the flower garden, Xue Junliang noted the Empress was still frowning. He seemed to have understood what the Empress was thinking, because he smiled and said, “What is making my Empress frown like this?”

Saying that, Xue Junliang reached his hand out and tried to smoothen the frown between Teng Yun’s eyebrows.

Teng Yun moved slightly sideways, but then was a bit panicked by his own reaction and acceptance towards Xue Junliang’s touch. It looked like he had gradually grown accustomed to Xue Junliang’s various small touches. At first, he always felt disgusted, but nowadays he almost forgot to evade. Since he started living in this Xue Country’s Imperial Palace, he felt he had changed too much.

Xue Junliang said, “Is it because of Teng Shang? You were wondering why I allowed him to go with Xue Houyang?”

Teng Yun did not refute, acquiescing to Xue Junliang’s speculation.

Xue Junliang smiled and said, “I thought so. A usually calm and collected person like you frowning like that, it must be because of something related to Teng Shang.”

Teng Yun was a bit startled, “Your Majesty…”

Xue Junliang waved a hand as if it was no big deal and said, “If Teng Shang didn’t already have the title of Marquis Wannian’s wife, I would have already put him to his death seeing how concerned you are about him. Now not only do you seem to have some affection for him but Houyang also loves him. As his older brother, I obviously do not want him to be infatuated with a man but with Houyang’s stubborn temperament, once he has decided on something, even ten cows couldn’t pull him back from his decision. I was hoping to get him to take a concubine so that he could forget Teng Shang but I think this possibility is unlikely.”

Listening to this, Teng Yun could feel how Xue Junliang was truly worried about Xue Houyang’s feelings.

Indeed, after all, having a male lover was actually not so uncommon in this society, but was still considered ‘muddleheaded’.

In the eyes of the common people, when a King took in a male lover, they would consider him a muddleheaded and incapable ruler. Though they would never dare to say bad things in public, the topic would become a tea-time gossip and joke when people gathered. But when a minister took in a male lover, he would be seen as a treacherous person; even if he was not corrupt or never committed any crime, he would be punished as if he was a traitor.

In the end, having a male lover was still not allowed within the secular world. Other people would never think such feelings as true feelings of a person.

No matter who was the king, it was estimated that they could not allow this kind of thing to happen openly, as it could definitely spoil their reputation. But Xue Junliang instead of considering the opinion of others was actually considering things from Xue Houyang’s perspective.

Teng Yun sighed in his heart. For the first time, he thought about what it would be like if he was not from Teng Country.  Maybe Xue Junliang, who loved talents and recruited them actively, would have sought out Teng Yun and given him a position in the court where Teng Yun could help him manage the civil affairs. Or maybe, like Xue Houyang, Teng Yun would be stationed at the frontier and tasked to defend and protect the country.

Xue Junliang saw the Empress’ expression was still sombre so he asked, “What is it? Are you not feeling well? Should we call the Imperial physician?”

Teng Yun pursed his lips and suddenly said, “Your Majesty does not need to be so attentive to me.”

“Qts? Qts vb sbe revvfcis rjs rb?” Wef Aeciljcu rjlv klat j rwlif, “Po P vbc’a oerr bnfg sbe, ktb firf rtbeiv P oerr bnfg? Cgf sbe jogjlv sbe’ii yf wbnfv?”

Kfcu Tec rjlv, “Po atf ageat yf abiv, lcvffv P kjr abemtfv ys Llr Zjpfras, yea lc atf wjaafg bo Llr Zjpfras’r agfjawfca bo atf Zjgdelr Qjccljc.”

Xue Junliang immediately understood and said, “Then tell this Seat, how your beloved relatives treated you when you were in Feng Country.”

Teng Yun was silent for a long moment, as if recalling his past, before finally saying, “Since I was born, I felt I did not have any relatives who were affectionate towards me. The only one who treated me well, taught me to read and write; was not a family member, but a marquis who’d been granted the family’s surname. All my life, I’ve always wondered how could blood relatives treat me so coldly but a person who was not a family member was very kind to me?”

Xue Junliang was silent and said softly,, “What about your younger brother?”

Teng Yun knew that Xue Junliang meant King Feng, the original Empress’ younger brother from the same mother; but Teng Yun, too, had a younger brother from the same mother.

Just like King Feng who had tried to get his elder sister killed, Teng Yun’s younger brother, too, had tried to get Teng Yun killed but was unsuccessful. Later, Teng Yun’s younger brother went to his own fiefdom where he built his own military power. Teng Yun remembered that time he had just returned from a war on the frontier and was immediately sent to subdue his younger brother’s rebellion.

Teng Yun didn’t say anything in response, but Xue Junliang who had also grown up in the Imperial Palace, knew exactly what the Empress was thinking. Beside Xue Houyang, Xue Junliang had many other brothers. Those brothers, just like Xue Yu, all wanted him dead. Xue Junliang had to remove all of them so he could live a long and comfortable life.

——-

After listening to Shen Yi’s warnings, Xue Junliang changed all the guards around Yunfeng Palace and strengthened the protection in and around the Imperial Palace. Although he didn’t doubt the three He brothers’ loyalty towards the Empress, they were too careless after all and could only be used as a trump card at the finale.

With only a few days of preparation, Xue Houyang and Teng Shang were ready to go. The refugees would not wait for long and Teng Xin had been mobilizing his soldiers for quite some time; they had to quickly subdue the rebellion before it was too late.

Xue Junliang held a small farewell banquet at the Palace entrance and ordered Xue Houyang to sit next to him to personally bid farewell to him. Teng Shang took this time to go to Yunfeng Palace’s gate. When Jiao Shui noticed him standing outside the gate, she led him in and informed the Empress of his arrival.

Teng Yun didn’t expect Teng Shang would come to see him today. Perhaps Teng Shang was a bit doubtful about Teng Yun’s words from the other day. Teng Yun had only said one sentence, not enough to explain anything, so Teng Shang must be coming to inquire about it.

Teng Yun allowed Teng Shang to take a seat and ordered Xiu Yao to pour him some tea.

“What brings Master Teng here?”

Because Xiu Yao, Jiao Shui and other palace maids were in the room, Teng Shang could not plainly ask about the doubts in his mind. Teng Shang paused for a second before finally saying, “This Teng will be leaving for a long journey soon. Before leaving I wanted to pay respects to Her Majesty. I heard Your Majesty is very intelligent and clever; this time, we could successfully defeat Cheng Tian’s attack and it was all thanks to Your Majesty’s planning, so I wish to ask your guidance for the success of this upcoming task.”

Teng Yun nodded and gestured for Teng Shang to continue.

Teng Shang said, “Teng Xin has many strong troops. If they have the Imperial Palace surrounded, what should we do to break the siege?”

Teng Yun’s eyes were indifferent, and he said with a smile, “Use light cavalry to make surprise attacks and throw the enemy formation into disorder.”

Teng Shang again said, “There are too many refugees. Setting up a food relief center would be costly and time consuming. Do we really need to set them?”

Teng Yun said, “When the stomach is full, one does not realize to be thankful for it. If one never suffers any hardship, they will never know the value of one sip of water. Opening the food relief center can make the refugees feel grateful, then the exiles can be organized to cultivate the land. This way the border can become partly self-sufficient in producing their own food. And even if the army provisions were not supplied, the morale of the army would not be shaken.”

As Teng Shang listened to the explanation, his eyes wavered. He lowered his head, and just nodded as if in acquiescence of Teng Yun’s words. Then he whispered, “Very good… good that you keep that lesson in mind, not a word was incorrect.”

When he spoke that, his voice actually had a slight tremble, as if restraining something, then picked up the cup of tea and took a sip to calm his own state of mind.

Teng Yun’s hands clenched into fists under the wide sleeves of his robes. These military techniques were taught to him by Teng Shang back then, Teng Yun remembered very clearly. He knew that Teng Shang was testing him, so he deliberately said the words, and sure enough Teng Shang also understood.

“Master Teng, when you arrive at the border, please don’t forget to take care of yourself…”

Teng Shang nodded. Without saying any more words, he knelt down to ask for grace and retreated.

As Teng Shang came back from Yunfeng Palace, Xue Junliang had just finished bidding farewell to Xue Houyang. Teng Shang and Xue Houyang then led the soldiers out of the Palace and left for the border.

Xue Junliang knew Teng Shang had been to Yunfeng Palace, but he wasn’t worried. He had Jiao Shui there, who was reporting everything to him.

Before long, Jiao Shui found an excuse to come to the Emperor’s residence to report. She said, “Teng Shang said, ‘Not a word was incorrect.’ This servant thinks this sentence is a bit suspicious.”

Xue Junliang was slowly tapping on the table with his index finger. His face was expressionless and did not say anything, but inside he was speculating that the Empress must have known Teng Shang for a long time and that their relationship was quite close.

Jiao Shui said, “This servant has been attending to the Empress for these days, this servant feels that the Empress is somewhat …. Somewhat strange. Her majesty does not like being attended upon, does not like to dress up or have any makeup on. Whenever the Empress has any free time, she reads books related to the Military. When the Crown Prince visits her, they always talk about horse riding and archery. Though the Empress is a person with great wealth, even as the Eldest Princess of Feng country…..How could she know archery…..”

Before she could finish her speculation, Emperor Xue said lightly, “Jiao Shui, this Seat ordered you to pay attention to the Empress’ every move, not to question the Empress’ every move. If you do all these, what do you want me to do as the Emperor of the country?”

Emperor Xue didn’t sound angry but Jiao Shui’s heart turned cold. Realizing she had overdone it, Jiao Shui quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying mournfully, “This servant was only being loyal and would never dare to do it again. Your Majesty, please forgive this servant this time.”

Xue Junliang’s index finger was still steadily tapping on the table. He was leaning back in his big chair, a bit lazily and his legs crossed, the jade beads on his tasseled crown swayed gently and the golden threads on his official attire made him look magnificent.

Jiao Shui chanced a quick glance up at Xue Junliang and her heart trembled. Jiao Shui had been living inside Teng Country’s Imperial Palace since she was very young. Later, because of her cleverness, she was appointed to serve the Eldest Princess, Teng Qianyi. It could be said, she had seen and experienced many things in this life, had seen many handsome and beautiful royal members and noblemen. But she had never seen anyone whose stature and aura were as majestic as Emperor Xue’s.

Emperor Xue did not need to show his anger or might and would usually remain amiable and friendly to remind someone of their place. The more inscrutable he was, the more people were fascinated by him.

After the human-shaped puppets incident, Emperor Xue had promised he would consider promoting her to be a consort. Therefore, Jiao Shui had tried to be even more vigorous in her reports about the Empress to the Emperor.

Who knew that her tactics, instead of making her look favorable, only displeased the Emperor.

Xue Junliang said, “You don’t have to go back to Yunfeng Palace. Jiang Yu will give you a sign-plate, go to Zhuxiu Palace to wait for selection.”

“Your… Your Majesty,” Jiao Shui jerked her head up, feeling so happy she almost could not speak. She hurriedly kowtowed and said, “Thank you Your Majesty for your grace!”

Xue Junliang waved a hand, signaling she could go.

If it was his old self, he would have already taken Jiao Shui into his harem. Jiao Shui was clever and her appearance was not bad. More importantly, Jiao Shui knew when she was allowed to speak her mind and when she had to be obedient. Which King did not like a woman who was obedient to him?

Xue Junliang thought he must be ill for liking the Empress who, not only was cold and indifferent, but also didn’t know how to please him. This woman also could not cook, could not do embroidery and could not play music and dance.

Perhaps he was used to seeing gentle and pleasant women in his harem, and then there was this one wife knowledgeable in military strategies and the art of war, appearing so suddenly like a breath of fresh air.

At least, that was the only explanation he could come up with to convince himself. Otherwise, how else could he be considering more and more favourably of her when there are too many suspicious things about the Empress?

On the table in front of Xue Junliang, there was a bundled document. The document was compiled by Jiang Yu. Xue Junliang had ordered Zhao Lu to investigate everything about Feng Country’s Grand Princess’ matter and Zhao Lu had sent many letters reporting all his findings in detail. Fearing the letters could reveal Zhao Lu’s identity, Jiang Yu copied the content into one document and then burned the letters.

The content in the document was very detailed, probably because of the close relationship between Zhao Lu and Feng Ming.

Xue Junliang glanced at the document on the table and laughed. The Empress had talked about her past several times and Xue Junliang didn’t think she was telling false stories. He could feel that her feelings about her past were all genuine; her stories matched with what he had experienced himself while growing up in an Imperial Palace.

Yet, according to the document on the table, no one of those stories had ever happened…

Xue Junliang randomly idly turned from pages of the document on the table, seemingly in an idle boredom and randomly fiddling. But the expression on his face made Jiang Yu shiver in apprehension.

—

When Xue Houyang and Teng Shang arrived at the border, Teng Shang proposed using light cavalry to disrupt the enemy’s army. This way they not only could recondition their own soldiers and prevent them from fighting after a long and arduous trek to the border and but also at the same time free the Imperial Palace from the siege.

Teng Xin was suspicious by nature. He’d been attacked over and over again. How could he not be afraid? In particular, each attack was carried out by small troops, and didn’t merit mobilizing all of his troops. And without knowing how big and strong this opponent was, he didn’t dare to make any further rash moves.

After the sneak attacks, Xue Houyang’s army was reconditioned and then divided into three parts. Teng Shang led two parts of the army to surround the Imperial Palace from the sides, whereas Xue Houyang led the remaining part of the troops directly into the heart of Teng Xin’s vassal territory.

This vassal territory was the heart and foundation of Teng Xin’s rebel army. If they could capture this territory, Teng Xin’s army could not continue to fight because of lack of food and support.

Teng Xin did not expect that Xue Junliang would send troops to help his enemy, nor did he expect that he would be fighting against Xue Houyang and Teng Shang.

Teng Xin’s army surrounded the Imperial Palace. His army was disordered and inexperienced in the first place, so when Xue Houyang’s two troops attacked them, many of the soldiers chose to flee and abandon the fight. At this time, Teng Xin received news that his vassal territory had been taken over. Apparently Xue Houyang had offered a great sum of money to bribe the gatekeeper. When Xue Country’s soldiers arrived, the gate was wide open as if the territory had no owner, and Xue Houyang had quickly taken over.

Because the heart of their rebel army had fallen, the rebels were demoralized and had no more will to fight. Teng Shang easily subdued the rebel army and captured Teng Xin and his generals alive.

King Teng knew that Xue Junliang would send troops to support him, but he never dared to think that the one who would come to the rescue would be the former minister, Teng Shang.

When Teng Shang entered the Imperial City, the people inside were still shivering. The city had been under siege for more than half a month, but fortunately there was a lot of grain, otherwise it would have become a graveyard.

When the people saw Teng Shang, someone recognized him and suddenly knelt down and shouted, “It’s Minister Shang…. Minister Shang is back!  Minister Shang has returned to save us all!”

The man’s shout was echoed by another, then another. The city, which had been bleak and joyless a moment ago, was immediately filled with shouts loud enough to shake the sky. Even the people inside the Imperial Palace could clearly hear the chant of “Minister Shang! Minister Shang!” from quite a distance.

The loud noises startled Teng Shang’s horse, and it immediately raised its front hooves and stood on its hind legs.

Teng Shang immediately pulled his reins to steady the horse. Under him, like a wave, people dropped to the ground and kowtowed to him; even the soldiers guarding the city gates took off their helmets as a sign of their respect.

This scene brought tears to Teng Shang’s eyes.

~~~Zaki and I, were super excited about this chap!! Teng Shang finally found out! YAY!! ~~~