The Ugly Empress

“Guards!”

Before Teng Yun could come down from the carriage, he heard a commotion outside. 

Xue Junliang was already out of the carriage. He had predicted and expected that someone would intercept the Empress’ entourage en-route, but he didn’t expect them to be so brazen to attack here, at the Shili Pavilion, where it was so close to home.

Although Xue Houyang had been prepared, he didn’t think they would be ambushed here at the post house. Since this entourage was to escort the Empress, they had especially brought many female servants and this ambush immediately caused chaos

Teng Yun was still sitting inside the imperial carriage; his heart beating rapidly. This was the perfect chance to escape. But his current body was so weak; if previously he was afraid of being captured while trying to escape, then right now he was more afraid he would be killed by the assassins.

Teng Yun lifted up the corner of the curtain and peeked. The assassins outside seemed to be targeting Xue Junliang. 

However, Xue Junliang was the Emperor of a country, how could he be killed that easily? If the assassins wanted to kill Xue Junliang, they should have come prepared with a more thorough plan.

But Teng Yun also thought that this was actually a better cover. The assassins were targeting Xue Junliang, which meant they were occupied. There were a lot of them. No one should be able to notice a single person sneaking out of the carriage.

At this time, Xiu Yao climbed up into the carriage in a panic. Pulling Teng Yun, she said, “Empress, you must run! The guards won’t be able to hold back these assassins for long!”

Teng Yun, on the contrary, thought that even if he didn’t run, these assassins wouldn’t be able to kill him, let alone reach him. After all, these Imperial guards were all elite soldiers picked personally by Xue Houyang. But this was the best chance to escape, and take advantage of the chaos, he reasoned.

After pondering for a bit, he finally reached up and took off the phoenix crown on his head, then took off all of the excess jewelries on his body. Xiu Yao was not a fool, she immediately understood her mistress’ intentions. She hurriedly searched inside a small drawer for a set of plain clothes. She then helped her mistress to take off her intricate outer robe and put on the newly-found clothes.

Xiu Yao was a maidservant who had seen many things in her life. At this time, although she looked calm, but inside, she was so scared that she felt her soul would fly away. Her hands kept shaking. By the time her mistress had finished putting on the plain clothes, Xiu Yao was already drenched in sweat.

Xiu Yao secretly lifted the curtain and peeked outside. When she deemed that the coast was clear, she jumped out of the carriage and reached out her hand to help her mistress jump down.

Teng Yun had taken off every bit of his jewelries, and since he was now dressed up in plain clothes, he now looked like any other ordinary palace maid. He and Xiu Yao looked inconspicuous enough. 

The road where their carriage stopped has a small forest on the one side, and a small lake on the other. Teng Yun and Xiu Yao ran into the forest, but as they trudged in, they heard voices and sounds of footsteps coming from behind them, as if someone was chasing them.

As Xiu Yao started to panic, Teng Yun whispered to her, “Let’s split up.”

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Teng Yun simply shrunk himself in, among the tall weeds, covering his nose and mouth and tried to calm his breathing.

Just as he had hidden himself, the next moment  he heard voices coming closer to where he was hiding. Teng Yun held his breath, fearing they would find him there.

When those people walked past his hiding place, Teng Yun relaxed a tiny bit. His sight had started to dim and he could feel the world spinning. He swayed and collapsed on the ground.

Those assassins seemed to be well-trained. When they heard the smallest sound of someone falling, they immediately turned back, cutting the grasses with their blade as they went. 

Teng Yun tried to use his hands to force himself to get up but they were shaking. His body had no strength whatsoever. Then the next moment, he was suddenly pushed by someone.

Teng Yun fell into the slope behind him. The slope was not too steep, but the fall was very deep. The base of the slope was well into a deeper part of the forest; it was too dark to see.

When he was pushed down, Teng Yun couldn’t put up any resistance. Then he felt he was being held firmly inside someone’s arms as the both of them rolled down the slope.

The other person’s hands clasped the back of Teng Yun’s head, pressing him tightly in his embrace, trying to protect Teng Yun from protruding blocks of stones. 

Their descent was dizzying. His stomach was churning and their rolling brought out bursts of nausea. Teng Yun squeezed his eyes shut, as if closing them would stave off the urge to throw up.

When they finally landed on a flat ground, Teng Yun exhaled loudly. He kept his eyes closed because he felt as if the world hadn’t stopped spinning. When he felt the spinning had slowed down, he pushed himself off the ground. He was immediately pulled up, and before he could take two steps, he was dragged into a pit next to him.

After some time, when his nausea and dizziness gradually calmed down, Teng Yun opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Xue Junliang.

Xue Junliang’s tasseled-crown was gone. Although his hair was tied, most of it had escaped and was loose in a mess. His black intricate robe was now grey with dirt and had scratches in many places. He looked like a mess but the expression on his face was calm as always. 

Xue Junliang held Teng Yun in one hand and shrank deeper into the pit, while the other hand was covering Teng Yun’s mouth, and motioning not to make a noise.

When the assassins saw someone fall down the slope, they naturally followed. Fortunately it was very dark down here. Fallen trees and weeds littered the ground, and there were also several small rivers and ditches that emitted foul odor. The assassins searched for some time, but fearing their targets had run away, they dared not linger too long and eventually moved on deeper into the forest.

Xue Junliang didn’t retract his hands. When he was sure that the assassins had gone far, he finally released Teng Yun.

Teng Yun gasped in deep breaths. For a time there, he’d thought he’d be suffocated to death. 

Watching the other person’s face red with exertion, Xue Junliang chuckled slightly. They were crouching very close together, and Xue Junliang’s hot breath brushed by Teng Yun’s ear, making him shiver. Teng Yun turned around and sat facing away from Xue Junliang.

By a tacit understanding, the two didn’t move, they waited longer to make sure the assassins wouldn’t come back before they got out of the pit.

Xue Junliang had open and bloody wounds all over his body. It seemed he was scratched by dirt and stones during their fall. Although the wounds looked awful, fortunately they were not very serious. But his right hand seemed unusually stiff.

Not bothered by the dirt and dust, Xue Junliang casually sat on the ground next to Teng Yun and said, “Aifei, what should I do? Seems like I broke my hand.” 

Teng Yun really didn’t expect that this person would save his life. He stared at Xue Junliang with complicated emotions battling in his eyes. They were mortal enemies in his last life, and Teng Yun even died by Xue Junliang’s hands. But now, this person was willing to save him.

But how had Xue Junliang suddenly appeared here? Did Xue Junliang find out that Teng Yun tried to run away?

Teng Yun took in Xue Junliang’s poor appearance. It was as if Xue Junliang wasn’t afraid of losing against a group of assassins, as if he didn’t realize he’d landed himself in a difficult situation.

“What? Is Aifei feeling moved? Don’t worry, when we’re back at the Palace, you can stare at me to your heart’s content.” Xue Junliang remarked ambiguously and deliberately deepened his voice. 

Teng Yun ignored him. He got up to search for a fairly-thick twig nearby. Then he sat beside Xue Junliang, tore a strip from Xue Junliang’s tattered outer robe and fixed him a makeshift splint for the broken hand.

Xue Junliang poked at his torn robe with his other hand, as if regretting how bad its shape was now. He inadvertently smiled, and casually said, “Aifei is very skilled at this.”

Teng Yun’s movement paused, and then he continued, pretending not to care. Teng Yun was used to fighting outdoors. These minor injuries and wounds were usually handled by himself. But a sheltered and pampered Grand Princess most definitely wouldn’t; not to mention handling injuries, she would have been very flustered in this kind of situation.

He thought all of the above, yet he still helped fix Xue Junliang’s hand. 

Although Xue Junliang also felt that something was a little odd about his Empress, the feeling was fleeting and he didn’t give it much thought.

With one good hand, Xue Junliang took off his black outer robe and spread it on the ground.

Patting it, he said, “Sit down and have a rest. Houyang’s soldiers should find us soon.”

Teng Yun glanced at the robe on the ground. He didn’t want to talk and didn’t have the strength to argue. As expected, this body he was in right now was really spoiled, it had zero physical strength and poor endurance. Teng Yun’s throat also felt raw and swollen. He thought he’d throw up if he attempted to talk. 

Teng Yun sat at the spot farthest away from Xue Junliang. Seeing this, Xue Junliang shifted to sit right next to Teng Yun. He reached a hand to guide Teng Yun’s head to rest on his shoulder and said, “If you’re tired, close your eyes and have a rest.”

Teng Yun was indeed very tired and as soon as he sat down, his weariness came back, overpowering him. But because he was leaning against Xue Junliang, he couldn’t relax.

Xue Junliang found that, despite obediently leaning her head on his shoulder, the Empress was tense all over. He couldn’t help letting out a laugh, then he circled the Empress’ waist, hugging her from behind.

Teng Yun’s drowsiness fled away in an instant, replaced by shock. Xue Junliang only felt the other person trembled in his arms so he tightened his hold, saying, “It’s cold, we’ll be warmer like this.” 

Xue Houyang’s actions were also fast. He had already found Emperor Xue and the Empress within an hour, and had captured most of the assassins.

Xue Houyang knelt down, pleading guilty and apologizing. Xue Junliang didn’t say anything because at this time, the Empress had fallen asleep and no one dared to speak too loudly for fear of waking her up.

Teng Yun surfaced from his slumber in a daze, feeling very warm, like he was cocooned in something. He shifted to burrow deeper into the cocoon but felt something fur-like tickling his face. He was startled into waking up.

Xue Junliang watched as the Empress woke up in a startled manner and thought she had a nightmare. He gently patted the other person’s back, and said, “It’s alright. Go back to sleep, we’ll arrive at the Palace soon.” 

Still half-awake, Teng Yun stared at Xue Junliang for a long time. He felt like he was swaying gently and was tightly covered with a fur blanket. Xue Junliang had changed his clothes and was now back to his usual well-groomed and confident self.

Xue Junliang looked down at the Empress, who was resting her head on his lap and still in a daze from sleep. He thought the Empress wouldn’t wake up until after they arrived at the Palace. He had not allowed the maidservants to change the Empress’ clothes because he didn’t want her to wake up. He didn’t mind being dirty again, so he lent his own legs as the Empress’ pillow.

Right now, the Empress’ face was a little bit flushed, maybe because she was feeling warm and comfortable. Her eyes were somewhat dazed, staring at him vacantly with a trace of haze.

Xue Junliang knew this time and place were not appropriate; but being stared like that, with that kind of expression, he felt a stirring of excitement. Added that the Empress’ head was pillowed on his legs; this kind of position really gave people ideas. 

If they were to stay in this position for a minute longer, Xue Junliang knew the other person would discover his reactions.

He laid the Empress down onto the couch and put a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. When he gently pinched the Empress’ earlobe, she softly moaned ‘Umn.’ When Xue Junliang heard the sound, his heart suddenly tightened as if someone was squeezing it.

His hands slipped from the Empress’ earlobe and grasped her chin, then he leaned down and kissed her lips.