Edited by – Zaki

~~~~~~~

Teng Yun and Xue Houyang went to the Military office to draw up the plans and the military order for the war. The officials of the Military office weren’t convinced about this foreign minister, but as they discussed the strategy to stand against the enemy together, the bad feelings became a little less. Teng Yun’s intelligence really made people have no choice but to be convinced.

When they had finished drafting the Military order, they wanted Emperor Xue to take a look for his perusal. Teng Yun and Xue Houyang went back to the Palace together.

Jiang Yu, who was standing at the entrance of the hall, said: “The Emperor has summoned Lang Jing and instructed that no one should enter.”

When he said this, Teng Yun suddenly remembered that Lang Jing seemed to be about to say something to Xue Junliang a while back about the Empress.

Teng Yun and Lang Jing had no contact whatsoever in the past. The only time he saw him was when he gave a reception to the Marquis of Zhenjiang. Lang Jing had been under Xue Yu, so he did not feel that Lang Jing had known him or understood much about him, but this man did know how to read people’s minds, which made him feel a little uneasy and making his heart beat wildly.

Lang Jing was still kneeling on the ground. After Xue Junliang had issued his orders to grant Lang Jing’s request, he said: “Now you can tell me everything?”

Lang Jing said,  “What this lowly subject has said is just speculation, without evidence.”

Xue Junliang sneered, “Do you know the seriousness of what you are saying now?”

Lang Jing didn’t answer his words, but said, “This lowly subject has Martial brothers and teachers who have traveled in Feng Country, and have heard of some of the Feng Country’s worldly wisdom. The Eldest Princess of Feng Country was said to have been a gentle woman with a weak nature. She was someone who was good at needlework. She was conservative and disciplined and was never taught reading and calligraphy, let alone the Art of War.”

Xue Junliang listened without much expression and said, “As you said, this is your guess.”

“The best proof of this is what happened between King Feng and General Zhao Lu. The Eldest Princess was the only relative of King Feng. She was married far away just because she once said something against them being together…”

Lang Jing said and laughed, “Can it be that the Emperor thinks that King Feng has some other good intention by marrying off the Eldest Princess so far away?”

Xue Junliang laughed and said, “Lang Jing, just because this Seat admires you for having unparalleled talent, do you think you won’t be beheaded? Just on the basis of your talent, do you think you could provoke this Emperor again and again?”

Lang Jing said, “Forgive me Your Majesty. This lowly subject is a man who deserves to die and dare not live in the world.”

He paused and then said, “I don’t know if His Majesty had paid any attention to the Empress’ actions. Previously, Marquis Zhenjiang had been to Feng Country and talked about the Eldest Princess to this lowly subject. Doesn’t Your Majesty think the Empress’ transformation was too big? Therefore, maybe it was not the Eldest Princess who had been living in Yunfeng palace.”

“Oh? You are saying that the Empress was swapped?”

“This lowly subject is also not very sure if that was the case, Your Majesty. However, during the travels of Marquis Zhenjiang, he went to Feng Country, he had some interaction with the Eldest Princess of Feng Country. Sometime ago, there were even some rumours about Marquis Zhenjiang and the Eldest Princess in the Capital City, which must have been heard by His Majesty as well. Although the actual fact was not as deep as the rumoured relationship, Marquis Zhenjiang said to this lowly subject that the Eldest Princess and the Marquis could be considered to know each other and had some occasional interaction, which was broken off, only after a long time. Only later, when Marquis Zhenjiang returned to the Capital City and met the Eldest Princess again, the Empress behaved as if she had never seen him in her life. At that time this lowly servant was also present. And it was obvious that the Empress was not pretending to not know or had forgotten the Marquis, the expression was like she had never really seen him before.”

Lang Jing paused, pondered for a moment and said, “Moreover, the Empress was most probably a native of Teng.”

Xue Junliang slightly shuddered, and then said, “Is this also speculation?”

Lang Jing said: “This lowly subject has heard that the Empress and Teng Shang have a good relationship, and Your Majesty should have also heard about it. This lowly subject also heard that the Empress knows a lot about the customs of Teng Country. Considering the fact that the Feng Country and Teng Country have been in a state of war for a long time and the people of the two countries have no interaction with each other, as well as the Empress has been living in the Imperial Harem, then how could she know the customs of theTeng country? How does she know Teng Shang? Moreover, wasn’t their relationship closer than expected? This lowly subject may suggest, if His Majesty wants to know whether the Empress was the real one or fake and whether she was a Teng national, His Majesty has to start with Teng Shang. Your Majesty could find an opportunity or two to test it out. In addition, the people who had followed the Empress could also be inquired.”

Xue Junliang pondered for a while, Lang Jing’s words did make sense, he had also suspected the Empress, after all, the transformation of the Empress from the previous times that he had known her and during the time that he was spending time with her was a bit too big, but it never came to his mind that the Empress was swapped.  The Palace was heavily guarded. Even if the Empress was not favored by His Majesty, and he had not liked her, she was not watched all the time. However, there were always people around. How could someone easily swap the person without anyone knowing?

Let’s say that indeed she was switched, but what was the purpose of this switch?

If it was really the Empress who had lived in Yunfeng palace previously, then in fact, she could have come forward as a strategist for His Majesty.  By puting forward military strategies every time for Xue Junliang, she could have improved her own standing in front of the Emperor. But she never thought to do that before. Which Imperial Concubine did not want to curry favor with the Emperor? Even if she was already the Empress and the Mother of the Nation, she would still need to stabilize her position and keep a firm hold of the Phoenix Seal.

However, the Empress neither liked to be close to the Emperor, nor would she deliberately curry favour with His Majesty. So when one thought about it, it seemed to make sense.

Xue Junliang collected his thoughts, turned around and sat on the big chair and said with a smile, “Lang Jing, you are smart, but don’t you think you have to be smart in the correct way? What evidence do you have for all this?”

“None, Your Majesty.”

“Okay, very good… Since there is no evidence, this is nothing but impudence!”

Xue Junliang suddenly raised his voice and said in a loud voice, “Jiang Yu, let someone drag Lang Jing out and skin him in public. This is the result of impudence and disobedience.”

Jiang Yu had been waiting outside, and when he heard Emperor Xue’s voice, he hurriedly pushed the door in, but Lang Jing did not show any reaction at all, he continued to kneel on the ground, allowing the guards to come in and take him up.

Lang Jing smiled and said, “Your Majesty, do you see? This is why this lowly subject can’t give you advice… I have told you everything as I was ordered, but I’m going to die.”

Xue Junliang was still sitting and looked very leisurely. He said, “A person who can’t paint the ground red by sacrificing himself for this Seat then even if he is a great talent, it is useless.”

Ojcu Alcu rjlv mbivis, “Aera ilxf Kfcu Tec.”

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Yearlvf, Kfcu Tec jcv Wef Lbesjcu mbeivc’a tfjg ktja kjr yflcu rjlv. Ktfs tjv kjamtfv Aljcu Te ub lc jcv j yla ijafg, obiibkfv ys atf uejgvr. Coafg j ktlif, cb bcf mjwf bea.

Xue Houyang was a little anxious. He didn’t know what was going on inside. He was afraid something had gone wrong, but Lang Jing, a literary master, didn’t know any Martial Arts, and he couldn’t really do too much.

They did not know what was being said inside as nothing could be heard from outside. Suddenly, there was a disturbance near the jade steps in the main hall. A person walked over. He was wearing the attire of a Maquis. Although his face was a little haggard, his elegance and demeanor was not diminished. It was Xue Yu.

A maidservant stopped Xue Yu in front of the jade steps and told him that the Emperor had ordered that no one was allowed an audience, but it seemed that Xue Yu did not take it seriously and just wanted to go inside.

Xue Yu passed by Teng Yun and Xue Houyang just outside the hall. Without looking at them at all, he barged into the hall.

Xue Junliang seemed a bit surprised to see him, but quickly calmed down and smiled, “I don’t remember asking you to hand in a pass to enter the palace.”

“Chen-di came in without authorization.”

Xue Junliang said with a smile,”You have the guts to think that this Seat really doesn’t dare to touch you? It seems you haven’t enjoyed enough of the days you’ve been locked up.”

Xue Yu just glanced sideways at Lang Jing, who was being escorted next to him, and suddenly knelt down and said, “This brother pleads with Your Majesty to let Lang Jing go this once.”

“Let Lang Jing go? What is the use of having a law for the land? One must give an explanation for their crimes, isn’t that right? Shouldn’t the people know the consequences for going against the Monarch?”

Xue Yu didn’t speak, but Xue Junliang’s smile became more pleasant and he said: “Lang Jing just told this Seat about his Master’s kindness. For the sake of his loyalty towards this cruel and unscrupulous person, Lang Jing didn’t even turn back on his death… But according to this Seat, foolish loyalty is unacceptable. Even if he died a thousand times, who will remember his kindness? Don’t you think so?”

Xue Yu raised his eyes to stare at Xue Junliang and saw the other person’s smiling face and he knew for certainty that Xue Junliang was provoking him.

Xue Junliang said again: “I almost forgot, this Seat has too many things to do recently… I’ll ask the Imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital to examine you later and help with your recuperation of your body. Do not think about anything else other than resting ……..”

Before he could finish his words, he heard Xue Yu say, “If Lang Jing can redeem himself, I implore Your Majesty to spare his life.”

Xue Junliang seemed to be interested in this statement and smiled, “How will he redeem himself?”

Xue Yu felt that the other party was digging a pit and had laid a trap long ago, just waiting for him to jump into it, and he had to speak up, saying, “Lang Jing can help His Majesty make the enemy retreat from Xue. It’s better to send him to the frontier.”

Xue Junliang laughed: “He is your man, I would not dare to send him.”

Xue Yu gritted his teeth and said, “As long as Your Majesty says one word, Lang Jing will naturally be loyal to Your Majesty.”

“Oh …… even the Marquis Zhenjiang has said so, but what about Lang Jing’s own intention?”

Lang Jing, who was escorted by the guards to kneel on the side, remained silent. At this time, he just glanced at Xue Yu, hanging his head and said, “Lang Jing will obey orders.”

Xue Junliang nodded, as if everything was under his expectations, and said, “Since you can make up for your mistakes, this Seat is not a narrow-minded person and I’ll let you go for the time being. But if you dare to break the law or contradict this Emperor again in the future, then this Seat is afraid that you won’t even be blessed with lynching.”

After he said this,he waved his hand, motioned to the bodyguard to loosen their hold on Lang Jing, and said, “Since you want to go to the frontier, start right away. Wars are like fire and can’t be delayed for half a minute. As for Marquis Zhenjiang, take good care of yourself in your residence.”

Emperor Xue’s words were obvious. If Lang Jing went to war and didn’t work hard, Xue Yu, who was in the Capital, would suffer.

After he finished his command, he didn’t say much and asked everyone to go out. Xue Junliang suddenly sighed when he looked at Xue Yu’s defeated posture.

Jiang Yu said, “Is Your Majesty tired? Why don’t you go out for a walk?”

Xue Junliang said with a smile, “I’m not tired, but I suddenly understood one truth.”

He said and then paused, and Jiang Yu didn’t interrupt, waiting for Xue Junliang to continue.

“As expected, this Seat is inferior to Xue Yu in many places. At least, this Seat can’t do it.”

Jiang Yu didn’t understand what he meant. Of course, he wouldn’t ask. He just said, “Your Majesty, Marquis Wannian and Marquis Tengnan have been waiting outside for a while. Would you like to see them?”

When Teng Yun went in, he glanced at Xue Junliang’s face. It seemed that his expression was the same as before. There was nothing unusual. His heart relaxed a bit. Even if Lang Jing was smart, he wouldn’t know all the information under the sky. It was just some tricks to deceive people, which made people who didn’t know the details be convinced of the lies.

Xue Junliang looked at the draft and had no other opinions. Teng Yun and Xue Houyang’s recommendations were very good, and their countermeasures were clear and listed one by one. The hardest part was that they should execute this plan fast and not drag on for four or five days.

Xue Junliang asked someone to seal the Military order in an envelope and deliver it speedily.

After Xue Houyang left the Palace and went back to the residence, he didn’t see Teng Shang. After enquiring, he got to know that Teng Shang was reading in the small garden pavilion.

Xue Houyang went to the garden and indeed there was someone in the small pavilion. But Teng Shang was lying on the table, the book aside, and seemed to be asleep.

Xue Houyang went back to get a cloak and gently went over to him to put it on, afraid to wake up the other party, but at this time Teng Shang moved a little.

Xue Houyang said, “Did I wake my husband up?”

“No.”

Teng Shang said: “Lord Marquis seems to have forgotten that this Teng is also a Martial Arts practitioner, so how could someone come over and not be noticed?”

Xue Houyang was so told off and his face turned a little red, almost as if he had a fever. He suddenly remembered that he went to have a look at Teng Shang almost every night after he slept. Then according to Teng Shang’s vigilance, wasn’t he disturbing his rest everyday?

Teng Shang didn’t know what he was thinking, but said, “Lord Marquis, sit down.”

Only then did Xue Houyang realize that he had been standing, causing Teng Shang to tilt his head in order to talk to himself, he hurriedly sat down and put the cloak on Teng Shang, said: “Don’t catch a cold just after waking up.”

Teng Shang seemed to smile, “If this Teng was a woman, he would be moved by the Marquis’s care.”

Xue Houyang listened to this sentence and almost blurted out, “Won’t Minister Teng be moved if he was a man?”

But fortunately he swallowed the words that almost escaped his mouth, Xue Houyang exhaled, thinking that he was a man who had fought in battle and killed countless enemies, but he never thought he would have such sour thoughts, Xue Houyang felt that his head must have been soaked with vinegar.

Xue Houyang thought about it and said, “Did Minister Teng hear about Xue Yu being released?”

Teng Shang picked up the book on the stone table and closed it. He said, “I heard about it yesterday …… Lang Jing has the ability.”

Xue Houyang paused for a moment and said, “Emperor Xue had no choice but let out XUe Yu……….”

When he said this, Teng Shang suddenly let out a laugh, looked at Xue Houyang, said, “Is Marquis concerned because of this Teng’s words from the last time?”

Xue Houyang didn’t speak, but he silently acquiesced. Teng Shang said, “Last time, this Teng said angry words, but it’s also true. It’s rare to have a moment of righteousness… But this Teng is not a brat who is only a few years old. Naturally, he knows Xue Yu can’t be killed. Even without Lang Jing’s interference, he would not be locked for a long time and be released.”

Xue Houyang said, “It’s best that Minister Teng has figured it out yourself.”

Teng Shang didn’t answer, but just looked at him. Xue Houyang felt that he was being stared at and said, “I, cough... Is there something wrong with my face?”

Teng Shang shook his head and just laughed: “Nothing wrong, I’m just waiting for the words that the Marquis didn’t say, not sure when you would be ready to say them.”

Xue Houyang subconsciously touched his face and thought there was no better time to talk than this………

“Cough… I’m just thinking, I don’t know when Minister Teng would be loyal to Houyang.”

Teng Shang laughed even more. Xue Houyang was at a loss. He only heard him say, “So Lord Marquis has always been so considerate and gentle to Teng, it’s because he wants this Teng to be loyal to Lord marquis.”

He nodded his head with a look of comprehension, saying, “Oh, so it’s loyalty.”

Xue Houyang knew he was being teased, but he couldn’t say anything redundant. Xue Houyang was thin-skinned, although he usually had an unconventional and brash look, he actually couldn’t take it when he was being teased.

Teng Shang looked at his reddened face, said: “Teng Shang’s heart is touched.”

Xue Houyang nodded and didn’t speak again.

Teng Shang said, “Didn’t the Marquis want to hear me say that I’m moved?”

Xue Houyang nodded again, “I hoped, I hoped…”

Before he could finish speaking, he was suddenly frozen in place. He saw Teng Shang suddenly lean over, press and hold Xue Houyang’s shoulder, slightly side his head and gently kiss the corners of the mouth.

Xue Houyang was stunned for a while. He felt the slight tingling in the corners of his mouth. Then he suddenly regained his mind, widened the distance between the two people and said, “Sir, you don’t need to accommodate me so much.”

Teng Shang saw his face that was burning red and said ‘righteously’, as if he had made a major decision.

He sighed and said, “This Teng thinks he is a smart man. He can probably guess four or five points for what the Marquis wants and thinks in his heart … Moreover, this Teng is a man with a bit of backbone. If I don’t want to, will I accommodate or indulge in being close to a man?”

Xue Houyang looked at him with wide eyes. He seemed surprised but also had an expression of disbelief.

———

After Xue Houyang left, Teng Yun was left behind in the Palace to eat together with Xue Junliang. These days, Xue Junliang seemed a little tired. Jiang Yu specially asked someone to set lunch in the garden.

In the past, Xue Junliang dined alone. Naturally, he did not say a word when he ate. Later, he always asked the Empress to accompany him. Now, Teng Yun accompanied him. He still subconsciously served him the dishes. Only after the dishes were served did he suddenly realize that the Empress was no longer with him, and he didn’t know what the person sitting next to him liked to eat or what his tastes were like.

However, Teng Yun was the Empress before. Naturally his habits had not changed. The dishes that Xue Junliang served him were exactly to his tastes.

Xue Junliang suddenly said, “You don’t eat ginger?”

Teng Yun was stunned for a moment. Then he saw that the shredded ginger in the dish had been picked out and piled on the edge of his plate. This was a subconscious action. Because when he was the Empress, the wounds on his face were still sensitive and septic. So the Empress couldn’t eat spicy and stimulating things. Because though it would not affect him during the day, during the night, he couldn’t sleep due to the constant dull pain. Hence he learnt to be careful of what he ate in the Empress’ body. It had become a habit that couldn’t be changed easily.

Xue Junliang seemed to be thinking about something and said with a smile, “You are not only as smart as her, but your habits are also similar… This Seat doesn’t know if it’s God’s will.”

What he said was so ambiguous that Teng Yun didn’t know how to answer. Teng Yun’s current identity was the criminal minister who murdered the Empress. Although now he had the position of the Marquis Tengnan and Emperor Xue mentioned that he would be included in the Harem, the murder of the Empress couldn’t be erased. Precisely because Xue Junliang liked to compare him with the Empress.

Seeing that he did not say anything, Xue Junliang said, “Do you find it boring to dine with this Seat?”

Teng Yun respectfully said, “This subject is blessed with this favour. How could I dare to  feel bored?”

Xue Junliang, as if looking for a topic, said, “Have you grown up in the Teng Kingdom since you were a child, how are the customs and people there?”

Teng Yun’s heart had a sudden jerk. He had indeed grown up in Teng Country.  But he didn’t know Teng Ying’s real life experiences. He only heard that Teng Ying was a slave. Later, he was promoted because he was smart and eloquent, but he didn’t know anything detailed about it. He was afraid that this was a trap set by Xue Junliang.

Teng Yun also wanted to be vague and perfunctory, but before he could say anything, he heard Jiang Yu say: “Your Majesty, De-fei has come here and said that she passed by the garden and knew that Your Majesty was eating here. She came here to add a few more dishes.”

Xue Junliang let out a laugh, strolling through the garden with dishes? The Empress had passed away, and the Harem was currently without a Mistress. Teng-fei had been on an equal footing with the Empress, but she was abolished recently to a consort position. Probably De-fei felt that now was her chance for re-emergence, so she hurriedly came to Xue Junliang to curry favour.

In fact, this was only one of the reasons, there was another reason — De-fei had heard that Emperor Xue was planning to marry a man. Although it was impossible for a male concubine to become the Empress, Marquis Tengnan was after all a Marquis. If he really entered the Imperial Harem, his position would not be a low one.

She just wanted to see what type of man could charm Emperor Xue.

Xue Junliang glanced at Teng Yun intentionally or unintentionally, and then said with a smile: “it’s rare for the De-fei to have this intention. Let her come over.”

Listening to the meaning of his sentence, Teng Yun realized Xue Junliang wanted to watch the fun. Xue Junliang just wanted to see how Teng Yun would deal with it. After all, he had appreciated Teng Yun’s intelligence twice, but if a woman found fault with him, he didn’t know how Teng Yun would react.

De-fei carried a small basket and was surrounded by Palace maids. She gracefully walked over. Looking at the small basket, it was mostly decorative and could hardly hold few dishes.

De-fei gave the basket to the maid and bowed down to pay her respects and said, “I heard that Your Majesty is busy everyday, so I specially cooked two dishes. Your majesty should take care of the royal body.”

Xue Junliang didn’t pay any special attention to the basket and just said, “De-fei has a heart.”

Teng Yun said, “Since Your Majesty has something to do, I will leave first.”

Xue Junliang stopped him and said with a smile, “Eh, the dishes haven’t been touched much, why are you leaving, are they not to your liking?”

Then in a tone that was even more ambiguous, he said, “Maybe Teng Ying is still tired because of the banquet that day? Teng Ying didn’t say anything but he must blame this Emperor in his heart.”

Teng Yun’s back stiffened when he heard Xue Junliang’s words. Xue Junliang was not drunk that night. He was perfectly conscious of his actions and did everything deliberately.

——–

Thank you NF for the Kofi!~~ Ela

Sorry for the slow releases – Zaki and I have been struggling with RL responsibilities and are not able to TL as fast as before. Rest assured we won’t stop but it might be a bit slow for sometime. Thank you for understanding!