Before Shen Yi left the Capital City, he made sure to visit Marquis Wannian. Unfortunately, Shen Yi’s way of speaking was too vague and mysterious. Xue Houyang could not understand anything of what Shen Yi was saying.

Teng Shang understood, but he thought he didn’t need to say anything.

Since Emperor Xue left the Capital City to visit the south, Xue Houyang had been very busy managing everything. Every court-related affairs, no matter trivial or important, had to be reported to Xue Houyang before any decision could be made. As a result, Xue Houyang had to check each and every report carefully. Also, he also had to oversee the soldiers’ training at the Capital City suburb’s military camp.

Less than half a month of Emperor Xue’s absence, someone reported to Xue Houyang that there seemed to be some movement up north.

These people moved in little groups as if they were just travelers passing by the country. But then, gradually they seemed to behave too much like a military troop. Marquis Wannian hadn’t been transferring troops north, so his subordinates started to get suspicious and decided it was best to report to Marquis Wannian.

Xue Houyang was not a person who often took matters lightly. As soon as he heard the report, he immediately felt something was not right. He sent spies to investigate.

The spies found that these groups were all heading for the Capital City, but they would often stop at random places along the road as if they were not moving as one organized unit.

Xue Houyang immediately thought of Xue Yu and had a bad premonition. After all, Xue Yu still had a large military force guarding the northern border.

At this time, Marquis Wannian recalled Shen Yi’s vague words. He quickly took out the package left by Shen Yi. The package was actually a finely decorated brocade box, and when he opened the box, there was only a piece of paper inside.

On the paper, it was written :

— Seek the Empress’ advice.

Xue Houyang looked at the piece of paper and felt a little discouraged. Although he knew very well that the Empress was very skilled in military strategies, this matter should not be treated lightly. If it was really Xue Yu planning to attack the Capital city, and Emperor Xue was not in the Capital, then it would be a matter of life and death.

Teng Shang watched as Xue Houyang was hesitating over Shen Yi’s message and finally couldn’t sit still, “You might as well go and ask the Empress’ advice.”

There was no other choice. Xue Houyang immediately put on his official robes neatly and meticulously and entered the Palace seeking audience with his Imperial Sister-in-law.

Xiu Yao let Marquis Wannian into Yunfeng Palace and led him to the main room. As soon as he was inside, Xue Houyang didn’t sit down, he remained standing while keeping his gaze on the ground. Teng Yun thought that, true to his honest and law-abiding nature, Xue Houyang kept his respectful manner in order not to invite gossip. After all, his sister-in-law was still an Empress.

Teng Yun felt admiration. This Marquis Wannian was indeed a gentleman through and through.

Teng Yun had not heard that Xue Yu might be sending troops, but when Xue Houyang told him about the news from the spies, he didn’t seem to be surprised.

Xue Houyang noted how the Empress calmly received the report; as if this matter was not so dire and complicated. Xue Houyang thought maybe the Empress really had the solution at hand.

Teng Yun thought for a moment before saying, “High Mentor left an advice before leaving, but his message was vague. I think it must be because he feared his message would fall into the wrong ears and eventually only alert the enemy in advance… Since the enemy doesn’t want us to find out about them, why don’t we beat them at their own game?”

Xue Houyang was not clear about what the Empress meant.

Teng Yun said, “From what we’ve found so far, the enemy doesn’t want the Capital City to know about their movement, thereby letting us reinforce the Capital City’s defense in advance. It’s not because they are afraid they would not be able to enter the Capital city, but it’s because their force is not big enough. It’s possible they had bribed the gatekeeper to let them in, too. Marquis Wannian may want to send your people to the gates to check the situation.”

Xue Houyang did as advised. Because the situation was quite serious, he immediately sent his trusted subordinates to investigate. However, his subordinates didn’t know how to catch these officials who were accepting bribes.

Teng Yun sent someone to inform Xue Houyang, “Offer some rewards, there must be servants brave enough to speak up.”

Sure enough, when Xue Houyang offered rewards, the servants were quick to disclose their superior. Xue Houyang caught and executed the chief gate-keeper. He let one of the chief gate-keeper’s assistants escape to contact Xue Yu.

The chief gate-keeper’s assistant told Xue Yu that somehow Marquis Wannian was able to figure out they had bribed the chief gate-keeper. The assistant was afraid the chief would be forced by Marquis Wannian into confessing, so the assistant had to kill the chief himself and bring his severed head to Marquis Zhenjiang.

Xue Yu initially didn’t believe the assistant’s story, but he sounded genuine so Xue Yu eventually believed him.

The assistant also told Xue Yu that every midnight, Marquis Wannian always came to personally inspect the city gate. He suggested Xue Yu prepare a troop of skilled archers. The assistant would return to the city gate, and when the assistant lit a fire-signal, his archers could shoot and kill Marquis Wannian.

If the most prominent figure in the capital city died, both the military and civil officials would then be in a state of chaos. Right then, the city’s gate would be open. It would be so easy for Marquis Zhenjiang to seize the Capital city.

The more Xue Yu listened to the assistant’s plan, the more his eyes brightened. He was torn; half of him believed this was an excellent plan, the other believed this was a suicidal plan.

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———

Teng Ying used to be an official, tasked with safe-keeping swords. Although he didn’t have any real power, at least he could be closer to the superiors. The closer he got to his superiors, he could build close relationships with them. Teng Ying was skilled in flattery; he was also skilled in gathering supports.

Now, inside Xue Country’s Imperial Palace, he was just a low-level guard. It counted as a demotion in rank. Moreover, Emperor Xue had also placed him under the three He brothers’ watchful eyes. Those three brothers were barbarians who took joy in torturing idle subordinates. They always delegated Teng Ying to do task after task; making Teng Ying exhausted.

In the end, Teng Ying had no choice but to ask Teng Qianyi to back him up. At least Teng Qianyi was also a consort in the Imperial Harem, and when you wanted to climb the social ladder, a consort’s support was as good as any.

Teng Ying waited for an opportunity to approach Teng Qianyi. One day, he saw her staring at the small pond and sighing mournfully. He drew closer to the pond and then promptly burst into tears.

Teng Qianyi heard someone crying very loudly and ordered her servant to bring the noisy intruder over and beat him with a plank.

Teng Ying was caught and forced to kneel on the ground. He crawled and hung onto Teng Qianyi’s feet, crying, “Your Highness, Your Highness the Princess! Don’t you recognize this lowly servant?”

When Teng Qianyi heard the guard calling her Princess, Teng Qianyi knew he was someone from Teng. She looked down at him and saw he was indeed familiar.

Teng Ying noted that Teng Qianyi recognized him and seized the chance. He cried louder, “This lowly servant begs for Your Highness’ forgiveness. It’s just that I saw you from a distance and unknowingly burst into tears.”

Teng Ying was very eloquent as he made up an elaborate story. He said King Teng always missed the Princess. Every day, overcoming with longing, King Teng would cry over and over again. Teng Ying said he was often accompanying King Teng, and often saw King Teng crying for the Princess. Therefore, when he saw the Princess, he recalled King Teng’s sadness and promptly cried.

Teng Ying said, “Your Highness, please don’t be upset that your father could not come see you. Actually, he is…”

He looked around and then added, “Actually, this lowly servant doesn’t think it’s appropriate to talk about that right here. There are a lot of people who could get this lowly servant punished. This lowly servant could be executed.”

Teng Qianyi had never been touched by Xue Junliang even once since she was married to him. Naturally, she was very dissatisfied. Which woman would want to be married and then be ignored by her husband? What was the difference between her and a widow?

At this time, Teng Ying’s words could be said to poke the sore point in her heart. So when Teng Qianyi heard Teng Ying’s stories, of course she believed him completely. She wiped her tears, and true to her arrogant and spoiled nature, she said to Teng Ying, “From now on, you can follow me. If I say I want someone I’m familiar with to be my guard, no one cannot object.”

Since then, Teng Ying had found his backing. Every day, he did everything to make Teng Qianyi happy with him. Although he was far from Emperor Xue or Marquis Wannian, Teng Ying was still quite good-looking. Teng Ying had a face as white as jade and a mouth as sweet as honey; he only needed to say one word and women would fall on their knees for him.

Teng Qianyi was bewitched by Teng Ying’s charm. If not for Teng Ying’s skill in knowing the perfect things to say, he reckoned he would’ve been long dead. Eventually, Teng Ying could also climb into Teng-fei‘s bed.

Today, Teng Qianyi was strolling along a small flower garden. Teng Ying smiled and said, “Your Ladyship, this servant often saw you looking unhappy. This servant has found a personal guard for you. You’ll definitely like him when you see him.”

Teng Qianyi only wanted the guard if he was good-looking. But she also knew Teng Ying was aware of her preferences so she agreed to see this guard.

Teng Ying called the guard to come over and stand in front of Teng Qianyi. Within just one glance, Teng Qianyi jumped to her feet. She was so elated she couldn’t help reaching out and grabbing the guard’s hand. With a shaky voice, she said, “How… How is it you? You… You must have heard that I’m here and come to find me, right?”

Teng Ying knew he had pleased Teng Qianyi greatly. He laughed and said, “Your Ladyship, you can reunite with this fellow guard, but it’s best if we go somewhere else. It’s not appropriate to talk here.”

Teng Qianyi realized she was losing her manners in public. She immediately dragged the new guard to her residence and ordered Teng Ying to leave her alone.

Teng Qianyi stared at the new guard with adoration clear in her eyes. But other people who knew the man, would be able to immediately tell this man was no one other than Xue Yu’s trusted assistant, Lang Jing.

Actually, Lang Jing was ordered by Xue Yu to enter the Palace.

Lang Jing and Shen Yi used to be comrades. He and Shen Yi were fellow students as they studied together. Shen Yi often called Lang Jing elder brother.

That year, Lang Jing and Shen Yi were traveling through Teng Country together. Unfortunately, they encountered bandits on the road.

Lang Jing might appear tall and sturdy, but at that time, he was only a pale-faced scholar who knew nothing about defending himself. In the end, he and Shen Yi got separated.

Shen Yi continued traveling to Teng, and Lang Jing was rescued by Xue Yu. Since then, Lang Jing always followed Xue Yu due to gratitude. Xue Yu found that Lang Jing was very clever and talented, so he appointed Lang Jing as his trusted aide, which made Lang Jing even more grateful.

Lang Jing was always devoted to Xue Yu. If not for Lang Jing’s advice, Xue Yu would not be able to stay alive until today. Xue Yu might look very friendly and tranquil, but Xue Yu was actually hot-headed and impulsive; always acting rashly without considering the results.

This year, Xue Yu decided since his power had grown quite strong, he didn’t want to stay idle anymore. Lang Jing had tried to persuade Xue Yu to calm down, saying it wasn’t the time yet. But Xue Yu didn’t want to listen, so Lang Jing had no other choice than to help him.

Teng Ying was a cowardly, yet greedy person. Of course, his mind was far inferior to Lang Jing’s. Lang Jing only needed to use a few words before Teng Ying agreed to take him to see Teng Qianyi.

A few years ago, Xue Yu took Lang Jing to Teng Country under a guise. They met Teng Qianyi who had been sightseeing outside the Palace. Lang Jing’s appearance was very eye-catching and his conduct was calm and pleasing. Teng Qianyi took one glance at Lang Jing and immediately invited Xue Yu and Lang Jing into the Palace, planning to steal Lang Jing from Xue Yu. But truthfully, Lang Jing was never interested in Teng Qianyi, even if she was a princess.

Teng Qianyi was so happy to see Lang Jing that she thought she might pass out from happiness.

Although Lang Jing didn’t like Teng Qianyi, he hid his indifference behind a gentle facade. He said, “This lowly servant has been looking for Your Highness, but I was a step too late.”

Teng Qianyi immediately cried, “Why didn’t you find me earlier?”

This sentence was exactly what Lang Jing was waiting for. He said, “If Your Highness does as I ask, maybe it’s not too late for us.”

Teng Qianyi was eager to listen. She was captivated by Lang Jing’s gentleness. But when Lang Jing told her the plan, Teng Qianyi couldn’t help trembling in fear, “But… It’s impossible!”

Lang Jing laughed curtly, “Didn’t you say you want to be with me? Apparently, it was all fake…”

“But…” Teng Qianyi cried louder, attaching herself into Lang Jing’s embrace.

Lang Jing added, “Lord Marquis has already had it all planned. As long as the Empress died, we can go far away from here. But if you like wealth and fame, Lord Marquis has promised he would grant me a marquis title. We’ll be ranked second highest citizen in this entire country. Isn’t it better than being a consort who is not respected?”

Teng Qianyi was still afraid. Conspiring to murder the Empress was considered a grave crime. A matter this big, if someday it was exposed, she would not have a peaceful death.

Lang Jing said, “I have already thought of an escape plan for you. You only need to send Teng Ying to set Yunfeng Palace on fire. If things fall through, your involvement in this will be very small and you can place all the blame on Teng Ying. I assure you it’s going to be fine. As for Teng Ying, I know a way to make him do the job willingly and gladly.”

Teng Qianyi was moved by the way Lang Jing talked so gently. Lang Jing was so gentle and warm, it was as if she was floating on the cloud. In the end, Teng Qianyi reluctantly agreed.

She tried to coax Lang Jing to stay, but Lang Jing had to decline, saying they would be together soon enough. Lang Jing still had things to do and he was anxious to go.

After persuading Teng Qianyi, Lang Jing went to seek Teng Ying. Teng Ying was weak to Lang Jing’s promises, and he easily and happily agreed to the plan.

After he finished arranging everything, Lang Jing heaved a sigh and went out of the Palace.

That evening, Xue Yu was preparing his troops and waiting for the signal to kill Xue Houyang. The night had come but Lang Jing still hadn’t come back.

A soldier rushed over to present a letter, saying it was from Lang Jing.

Lang Jing’s letter conveyed that Lord Marquis had given him a great kindness, something Lang Jing was deeply grateful for and vowed to repay. If Lord Marquis was willing to hear, Lang Jing advised Lord Marquis to retreat to the northern border right at this moment and wait for another opportunity to realize his big plans. If Lord Marquis read this letter and got angry, it was exactly why Lang Jing decided to write this letter.

In the letter, Lang Jing also said that he had paved an alternative route for Lord Marquis, this was the last thing he could do for Lord Marquis. With the help of one of the guards, Lang Jing had secretly entered the Palace and persuaded Teng-fei to set fire to Yunfeng Palace. If Lord Marquis’ soldiers failed, you could throw all the blame on Marquis Tengnan. Moreover, Lord Marquis was still Emperor Xue’s blood relative. As the Late Emperor Xue had decreed, no one could kill his clan members other than the Heavens itself. Hence Xue Junliang would not be able to kill Xue Yu.

As Xue Yu read the letter, his whole body shook with anger and his hands were trembling. The final sentence of the letter was written: ‘I’m not afraid of dying, but I’m afraid of seeing Lord Marquis fail when victory is already within your sight.’

Xue Yu grabbed one of the soldier’s knife and fed the letter into the brazier. The paper immediately caught fire and soon turned to ashes, lighting the darkening night fleetingly.

At this point, naturally Xue Yu could not just abandon the whole plan and escape. He had already placed a few archers just near the city wall’s tower. With the light from one of the lit torches on the city wall, he could see someone wearing a full armor and a cloak. The figure was moving about the city wall’s tower as if inspecting the situation.

At this time, someone who was walking beside the figure in a cloak was waving their blade, knocking one of the torches and putting its flame out. Xue Yu realized this was the signal they were waiting for. He immediately ordered the archers to release their arrows and shoot the figure on the city wall’s tower.

The archers were all carefully selected by Xue Yu himself, their skill was excellent. One of their arrows shot right through the city wall’s defense.

The city wall’s tower was immediately thrown into chaos. Xue Yu could faintly hear the soldiers shouting, “Lord Marquis was shot! Lord Marquis was shot!”

The next day, Xue Yu sent people to find news. His spies reported that Marquis Wannian was shot with a poisonous arrow, and the poison was affecting his blood circulation. An Imperial physician was immediately brought in to treat him, but the poison had already spread to Marquis Wannian’s heart which made it impossible to cure him.

The news that Marquis Zhenjiang had been waiting was exactly this, but recalling Lang Jing’s words in the letter, he was still hesitating. He sent some more people to find out. His spies all came back to report that people of the capital city were all in a state of shock. Without Emperor Xue and Marquis Wannian, there was no one to lead the court hall and it resulted in heated disagreement among the officials.

Hearing this, Xue Yu was unable to repress his excitement. He immediately ordered his soldiers to enter the Capital city. He would show Lang Jing, who was the one losing and who was winning.

Marquis Zhenjiang himself led his most elite troops. This time, no longer having the need to disguise themselves as travelers, they all started closing in on the Capital city’s gate. The assistant who had contacted Xue Yu previously opened the gate, allowing them to enter as promised.

But as soon as he passed the gate, Xue Yu felt something was not right. Even if there was an internal strife in the capital city, it shouldn’t be this desolate; there was no one on the street at all.

By the time Xue Yu realized, his entire army had already passed the city gate. He hastily ordered retreat, but then he saw that he was too late. Xue Houyang himself entered, leading his own soldiers to surround Xue Yu’s soldiers inside the city. Meanwhile, Teng Shang was leading the other half of the soldiers to barricade the city wall from outside.

Xue Yu’s soldiers were insufficient compared to Xue Houyang’s. They didn’t even have the chance to raise their swords before they were captured.

Xue Houyang ordered his soldiers to try not to kill anyone. After all, this was the Imperial City; if there were corpses laying about everywhere, the commoners would panic. He announced whoever captured one rebel soldier alive would be rewarded one liang of silvers, whoever captured the rebel army’s leaders would be rewarded with gold, possibly even be promoted into nobility.

Xue Houyang’s soldiers naturally were all more than glad to capture the rebel army alive.

The situation could be described as beating an already cornered dog. The rebel soldiers panicked, and quickly realized they could keep their heads on their shoulders as long as they surrendered. In the end, most of the rebel army threw away their weapons.

Xue Yu was deeply favored by the previous Emperor Xue, naturally he was well versed in literature and military knowledge. Unfortunately, despite his skills, he could not beat one hundred people all at once, nor could he spread wings and fly away. The soldiers, who were already imagining the rewards they could get, would not miss this golden chance. Soon, Xue Yu was captured and tied securely with ropes.

Xue Yu was a proud man. He never imagined he would have to swallow a defeat this bitter. At this time, he recalled Lang Jing’s words in the letter and realized what he meant. Turned out, Lang Jing was not mocking him, instead was warning him.

Marquis Zhenjiang was still Xue Houyang’s brother. Added with Xue Houyang’s kindhearted nature, it was hard for him to see Xue Yu like this. Xue Houyang immediately ordered his soldiers to strip down Xue Yu’s armor and weapons. For the time being, Xue Yu would be locked inside Marquis Zhenjiang’s residence in the Capital city and guarded heavily. No one was allowed to enter the residence without Xue Houyang’s personal permission and official seal.

Two guards escorted Xue Yu. Just when they were about to enter Marquis Zhenjiang’s residence, a soldier was rushing over on a horse. The soldier seemed to be beside himself with distress. Right in front of Xue Houyang, the soldiers jumped down from his horse and knelt on the ground, shouting, “Lord Marquis, something bad happened! The Palace is in flames!”

Xue Houyang’s heart dropped to the ground and he turned to glare at Xue Yu.

Xue Yu also stilled. He realized this must be the alternative move Lang Jing had created for him before leaving.

Xue Yu wanted to laugh, mocking at how stupid Xue Houyang was for focusing solely on him and forgetting to watch over Xue Houyang’s own family. But somehow his laugh could not come out. Recalling Lang Jing’s words only left his heart bereft.

Xue Houyang understood this must be part of Xue Yu’s trick. He ordered people to carefully watch over Xue Yu and not to make any mistake whatsoever. Teng Shang knew Xue Houyang was still doubtful about leaving Xue Yu unsupervised, so he volunteered to personally guard Xue Yu. Xue Houyang then led his soldiers to the Imperial Palace.

Inside the Palace, the Imperial Guards were all struggling to fight the fire. The fire was huge. This fire didn’t seem like someone being careless and forgetting to douse a small fire. Xue Houyang grabbed a guard to inquire about the current situation.

The guard was so anxious to put the fire out he didn’t even recognize Marquis Wannian. He said, “Yunfeng Palace ran out of water.”

————

After putting Shen Yi’s plan into effect, sure enough, Xue Junliang’s journey to the south was smooth and trouble-free. They arrived at the same place Teng Zhengxuan had come down to help the commoner affected by disease. In this place, people had built a temple where they could worship and burn incense for Teng Zhengxuan.

Refugees had all flocked down here as they had no other place to go or to live. They took shelter from the rain and wind in the temple. The unbelievable thing was, no matter how many refugees came here, no one was barging in and cutting the line of people waiting their turn to burn incense. This scene moved Xue Junliang very much.

Emperor Xue ordered people to open a kitchen right in front of the temple and give out food for the refugees. Emperor Xue wanted Teng Zhengxuan to see that other than himself, there was someone else who cared and was willing to help the people to this extent.

After the people had some food, they were provided a temporary place to stay. There was so much rain in the south, and this temporary place would protect them from rain and wind. The refugees were grateful and they all knelt on the ground to thank Emperor Xue.

At this time, many of the refugees passed down praises that Emperor Xue was like Teng Zhengxuan’s reincarnation himself, that he was like a saint descended at the temple. The refugees who heard the news all rushed to the temple and grabbed some food. In only a few days, the number of refugees grew. Among them, there were many strong and able young men who were more than happy to enlist into the military.

Xue Junliang didn’t expect this trip would bring so many pleasant surprises. He recalled that day, if the Empress didn’t convince him to help the refugees, he reckoned he might never get to see the surprises he saw today. Also, this trip had taught Xue Junliang many lessons that he was grateful for. He went into the temple and, in front of Teng Zhengxuan’s shrine, he cupped both his hands in salutations.

Xue Junliang didn’t knelt, instead just saluted Teng Zhengxuan, but it was clear how respectful he was to the late King Teng.

Xue Junliang thought about something to say to Teng Zhengxuan, but right at this time, Shen Yi came in with distress written all over his face.

Shen Yi was proud and arrogant, some might even say he was overconfident. It was rare to see Shen Yi put on such an expression.

Xue Junliang smiled and said, “Why is the High Mentor looking like this? Could it be that you’re afraid of the refugees?”

“Your Majesty…” Shen Yi took a deep breath and knelt on the ground, “Her Majesty the Empress… has passed away.”