The Ugly Empress

Edited – Zaki

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How could De-fei not hear the ambiguity in Xue Junliang’s words, but she

had no choice but to restrain the sourness in her heart. Instead she smiled outwardly and looked at Teng Yun and said, “Chen-qie heard that the Emperor was going to accept a new concubine, so it turned out to be this person?”

Xue Junliang did not avoid the topic, instead said, “What does De-fei think?”

De-fei pretended to be virtuous and said with a smile, “Your Majesty’s vision is naturally good. Chen-qie also heard that the Marquis is extraordinarily skilled in military operations. Even though Chen-qie is in the Imperial Harem, was shocked three times by this name and reputation.” 

Xue Junliang said, “Really such a famous persona?”

De-fei brought up the dishes in the basket with her own hands and said, “Indeed naturally. Chen-qie has heard the Palace staff saying a few words about the Marquis. The Marquis went to the Teng Country and in a few months, he appeased the hearts of the people and all the people became submissive…Chen-qie does not understand these things but certainly these must be big achievements.”

De-fei was afraid that Xue Junliang would feel that she was interfering in state affairs, and especially added the last sentence, pretending everything she said was hearsay.

Teng Yun did not say a word to interrupt the two. The three of them were in the pavilion, Xue Junliang was sitting, De-fei stood to the side to serve dishes and Teng Yun was standing two steps back, a bit further away. His posture was very respectful, hands hanging by the side.

When Xue Junliang saw Teng Yun standing so far away, he raised his eyes and smiled at him, “De-fei praised you so much. This Seat didn’t even know you have such a great reputation.”

Teng Yun said, “This lowly subject is terrified and doesn’t dare to be arrogant in front of the Great Emperor.”

Xue Junliang suddenly stood up, grabbed Teng Yun’s wrist, brought him back to the table, pressed his shoulders and asked him to sit down, “Don’t be restrained, there are no outsiders here either.” He said with a smile.

When he spoke, he deliberately came closer to Teng Yun’s ear, his breath exhaled at the other’s ear creating a very ambiguous atmosphere. De-fei noticed the scene from the corner of her eyes but the Emperor Xue did not let her sit down again. 

De-fei smiled and said: “Today after seeing the Marquis, Chen-qie felt that the Emperor really has a good eye. Marquis is handsome and talented. Chen-qie has to be the first one to congratulate the Emperor in advance……Just…..”

As she spoke, she seemed to hesitate and said, “But the Marquis is a man after all. If the Emperor wants to accept the Marquis into the Harem, would the Ministers of the Imperial court….”

She said till there and stopped, the meaning was already very obvious. Xue Junliang and Teng Yun also understood.

Xue Junliang nodded and said, “This Seat is also distressed about this matter. If this Seat accepts Teng Ying, all the Ministers of the Imperial court could say that this Seat has become a fool and is infatuated with male sex. If this Seat’s intention is not seen clearly then this Seat is afraid that Teng Ying will become the target of public criticism.” 

Teng Yun sneered in his heart and thought, Wasn’t that the main purpose? Still trying to show an outward appearance of compassion.

Xue Junliang said: “Many thanks to De-fei for reminding this Emperor. This Seat has thought of a good way to let the Ministers know that this Seat is not just taking Teng Ying into the Harem on just a whim…..”

He paused. “To stop the talks…when the time comes, this Seat plans to grant the title ‘Noble Imperial Consort’ to Teng Ying. This way no one would underestimate Teng Ying. What do you think?”

Not only De-fei, even Teng Yun froze at that statement. Although Xue Junliang’s Imperial Harem had a lot of people, Emperor Xue was not addicted to womanizing and hence the Harem was still relatively calm. Even if a few concubines wanted to climb up by currying favour, they would still consider Emperor Xue’s temperament. 

Xue Junliang did not like the Imperial Concubines flattering him, nor did he like indulging in wine. So the concubines could not throw themselves at him and naturally did not want to be snubbed by the Emperor. De-fei was already considered to be in a better position. It was because De-fei had a brother, Yu Chen, who had made many Military achievements, and was instrumental in the war with Teng. But because he had been fighting for years, he became somewhat proud of his achievements, and later lost at the hands of Teng Yun, and was recalled to the Capital by Xue Junliang, who then sent Xue Houyang over to replace him.

Over the years, Emperor Xue had neither promoted or demoted any Imperial Concubine. Teng Qianyi was the unfortunate one who had been demoted over her actions. De-fei had wanted to climb up, even if she did not become the Empress, she could still try to become the Noble Imperial Consort with the backing of her brother. Unexpectedly, Emperor Xue wanted to make a man as the Noble Imperial Consort.

One must know that when a person moved to a higher position from a very low position, the etiquette when meeting would be different. De-fei, even in all her calculations, never imagined that she would end up giving her position to Teng Yun as a dowry.. Emperor Xue just followed his own words and granted the title to Teng Yun.

Although this was not said in front of everyone, nor was it an Imperial decree, it was not said in a joking manner either. After all, Xue Junliang never joked. 

Teng Yun never wanted to enter the Imperial Harem. He had hoped to get out of the Capital City. Now that his father had been demoted into a commoner, the rest of his followers had already returned to Teng Country. He occasionally could see Teng Shang. It seemed that his current situation was quite good. Xue Houyang was also doing his best to be sincere to Teng Shang. Since everything was neatly settled, Teng Yun had wanted to leave. Staying in the Capital City was like walking on thin ice.

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After he spoke, he served Teng Yun, a chopstick of small dishes. De-fei looked embarrassed and awkward as she stood at one side. The palace maids and chambermaids were standing outside the pavilion waiting, she looked like a servant serving dishes.

De-fei was born in a Noble family and she was the youngest in her siblings. Naturally, she didn’t serve others. It was acceptable for her to serve Xue Junliang because at least she could gain something from it. But now, she just watched as Xue Junliang served the dishes she had made to Teng Yun, the anger in her heart began to rise.

De-fei held back her anger and pretended to be very virtuous and caring and filled Emperor Xue’s cup with wine. She smiled and said, “Your Majesty, this wine was brewed by Chen-qie, please don’t dislike it.”

As she said this, she also incidentally went to fill Teng Yun’s cup and pretended to accidentally spill all the wine over him. The weather was not warm yet and the warmed wine cooled down quickly but she couldn’t restrain herself and poured the whole pot on Teng Yun. 

Teng Yun reacted in time and withdrew a step back, but was still splashed quite a bit by the wine. De-fei immediately uttered a lot of apologies and Teng Yun did not say anything. He was just worried that he would not get the chance to slip away, but now the opportunity presented itself.

Xue Junliang naturally wouldn’t be angry about these little things. Even if he perceived that what happened just now was deliberate, it was not necessary to be riled up about it. He just said, “Teng Ying, go change your clothes…”

“Jiang Yu.” He called out.

Jiang Yu was very discerning, he immediately came over and said, “Marquis this way please.” 

When Teng Yun heard this command, he understood that Xue Junliang did not allow him to leave by himself and said, “No need to trouble. This lowly subject will go and change myself.”

Xue Junliang laughed, “Is it possible that Teng Ying is not happy? Then I will personally take you to change your clothes, how about it?”

As he said that, his hand actually wrapped around Teng Yun’s waist. Teng Yun shuddered and hurriedly took a step back, saying, “This lowly subject does not dare……”

Jiang Yu led Teng Yun to a nearby empty hall to change clothes. Coincidentally, he saw a man coming their way from a distance. The man was not short and looked very strong. He was wearing the official clothes of a Military General. 

The man saw Jiang Yu and said with a smile, “Chief Steward Jiang, His Majesty is in the garden?”

Jiang Yu respectfully replied, “Yes that is correct, Emperor is having his meal now, the General should go over later ……” and then he added, “Imperial Concubine De is also there.”

The man heard that Imperial Concubine De was also present, instantly his face became a lot happier and said, “That’s just right, I will also go to see.”

After he said that and was about to leave, he caught a glimpse of Teng Yun behind. He suddenly stopped and said with a smile, “I heard that there is a Marquis who had quickly risen to the top, the one who had a scar on his face. I also heard that the Emperor wanted to accept him in the Imperial Harem?” 

Teng Yun listened quietly, and only glanced at the man, but didn’t look more. He laughed: “The General has heard a lot about me. I also heard that a person with a limp is the General. It has been cloudy and getting cold recently. This Teng hasn’t seen the General since he started to attend the court. Is the General’s leg hurting very much?”

The man who spoke so sarcastically just now was none other than Yu Chen, De-fei’s brother. Yu Chen was recalled to the Capital because he was injured during his battle with Teng Yun. Although he was treated right on time, his left leg had not healed completely and would flare up every cloudy and rainy day, and even if he walked normally, there would still be a slight incongruity in his gait.

Teng Yun said with a smile: “This Teng is also thoughtful and well-intentioned. The General might as well ask the Imperial Physician to take a look at your leg, and maybe he wouldn’t need to suffer on cloudy and rainy days anymore.”

Hearing his sarcasm, Yu Chen immediately became furious and shouted, “What do you know, you naive brat!? This is a wound from the battlefields, not the same as that dirty scar on your face.” 

Teng Yun said with a smile, “Don’t do to others what you don’t want to be done to yourself. Since the General feels this bad, why do you have to be sarcastic at others?”

Yu Chen said, “You have quite a glib tongue, but those who have glib tongues are sycophants who cause grave harm to the country and its people. I heard you were only a Sword carrying officer before. How many times did you serve your body to the Emperor to climb up to this position?”

Teng Yun’s face sank. Yu Chen saw that the other party’s face had finally changed, so he further said, “I don’t know what you can do. But before you enter the Palace, why don’t you come and serve this General.”

Teng Yun’s facial expressions further darkened, and he said in a cold voice, “General, behave yourself.” 

Yu Chen felt that he had gotten an advantage and just laughed loudly, but at this time, he heard a cold laugh and Xue Junliang came over from behind, saying, “Yu Chen, you are really getting bolder and bolder, you even want to think about the person chosen by this Seat?”

Yu Chen was still smiling but after hearing the Emperor’s words, his smile froze on his face and he looked very stiff. He hurriedly knelt down and paid respect and said, “This lowly General………this lowly General was only joking with the Marquis. His words don’t count. His words don’t count.”

De-fei, who had followed the Emperor, couldn’t help but break into a sweat. Even before she got close, she could hear her brother’s unscrupulous ridicule of Teng Ying. Perhaps if it was an ordinary person, like a maid-in-waiting or someone, then they could have been given as a reward to Yu Chen but this person was someone that Emperor Xue had taken fancy to. The news had been even announced in front of all the Ministers and officials. To say this clearly like this meant, blatantly disrespecting Emperor Xue’s wishes. If such a bad name fell upon him, then his reputation would be spoiled and the charges could be anything.

Xue Junliang put his hand on Teng Yun’s shoulder, seemingly appearing that both of them have a close relationship, and laughed: “You are not joking about Teng Ying, it is obvious that you are joking about this Seat.” 

After hearing this, Yu Chen shuddered and could only kowtow fiercely. He said, “This lowly General doesn’t dare. This lowly General just heard that the Marquis is easy to get close to and doesn’t put up any airs, so… so…”

“So you were being unscrupulous?”

Yu Chen raised his head to peek at Emperor Xue’s expression. Although the other party was still smiling, his words didn’t carry any warmth. It was cold and chilly, like an ice pendant.

De-fei couldn’t help interrupting: “Your Majesty, my brother is honest, but he is only occasionally foolish, and he has been by Your Majesty’s side for a long time. Doesn’t Your Majesty know him well? Please just forgive him this once. Look at his appearance, he won’t dare to make the same mistake again.” 

Xue Junliang then slowly restrained his smile and said, “It’s because he has become so casual that he has become disrespectful. The Teng army has been subordinated. And this Seat has also said that regardless of past grievances, Marquis Tengnan is a Marquis. You are much older than him, shouldn’t you be more calm than him? If this Seat finds out that you have any misconduct next time, this Seat will not be so forgiving. You pay respect and thank Marquis Tengnan and De-fei for this leniency.”

Yu Chen was really reluctant and did not want to thank Marquis Tengnan. He was not convinced of this person, but not paying respects and thanking him would certainly annoy Emperor Xue. Emperor Xue was not an easy person to get along with. Although he seemed to be a kind and benevolent Emperor in the matter of Teng Country’s submission, in reality, in terms of cold-heartedness and ruthlessness, even King Feng could not compare.

Although Yu Chen claimed to be highly meritorious, he did not dare to be arrogant in front of Xue Junliang, so he had to pretend to thank Marquis Tengnan and say that he would not dare to do it again.

Xue Junliang said, “De-fei is not in good health. If she remains outside for long, she might catch a cold. She should go back first.” 

Hearing Emperor Xue ordering her return, De-fei had no choice but to leave. So she reluctantly took one step and turned back three times, and finally knelt down to pay respects and went back.

Only then did Xue Junliang say, “Where did Yu Chen come from? This Seat doesn’t remember asking you to hand in a token to the palace.”

Yu Chen hurriedly said: “This lowly General came from the Military office, in regards to Lang Jing.”

“Oh… What about Lang Jing?” 

Yu Chen said, “This lowly General is afraid but feels it is inappropriate for Your Majesty to send Lang Jing to Ming River. Lang Jing is from the rebel group. Although Your Majesty’s generosity is boundless and has released Lang Jing to make contributions and earn merit to allow him to redeem himself, I am afraid that if Your Majesty lets him go to Ming River, other Generals in the army might not accept him. In the end it would disrupt the army’s morale and cause more harm.”

He saw that Emperor Xue seemed to be unhappy by what he said and had a sudden realization in his heart. His own reputation would not be of any value in front of His Majesty’s decision so he backtracked and said, “It is a fact that Lang Jing is very talented. If Your Majesty could grant a small official post to him then the soldiers would not be able to say anything. All would be easily solved.”

Xue Junliang smiled and said, “Then, in the General’s opinion, what official position should be given to him?”

Teng Yun was held tight by Xue Junliang to his side and could not move. Hearing him ask Yu Chen this, if it was himself, he would definitely not say anything. After all, Emperor Xue’s tone was already angry. How could there be a Monarch asking his subjects what official position should be given to the others? Wouldn’t this be against the way of a ruler and a minister? 

However, Yu Chen still did not realize this, and continued to answer Xue Junliang: “How about giving Lang Jing an official position as an Official Registrar ……”

Xue Junliang smiled, “Official Registrar? This Seat would let Lang Jing go all the way to Ming River just to let him manage the documents? So that he could write the Military reports better?”

“This… This…”

Yu Chen finally realized something was wrong with his actions and opened his mouth, “This lowly General also wants to share the Emperor’s burdens. I’m just afraid the soldiers won’t accept Lang Jing easily.” 

Xue Junliang didn’t speak. He just looked at Teng Yun and asked with a smile, “What does Teng Ying think?”

Teng Yun tried his best to pull his body away, but Xue Junliang deliberately leaned against him. As he asked Teng Yun his opinion, he was so close that their breaths were intermingled.

“This lowly Minister thinks that although Lang Jing is an official who has committed a crime, there is no doubt in his talent and use. Since Your Majesty has decided to send him to the Ming River, it is better to trust Lang Jing. After all, Marquis Zhenjiang is still in the Capital and Lang Jing is a person who attaches great importance to loyalty and righteousness, and would certainly not dare to not do his best… Besides, Lang Jing is resourceful and wise, but he hasn’t gained so much fame these days. Hence taking advantage of this, it’s better to grant him the title of an Assistant General to the commander. Zhang Hong would not bother to pay attention to such a lowly position and can actually be an advantage in disrupting the army. In particular, Ming River is located in the frontier, the war is changeable and Lang Jing would not be caught off guard.”

Yu Chen snapped: “Lang Jing is a literary master, he cannot lift his hand. He would not be even able to hold a blade. How could he be granted the title of Assistant General?” 

Teng Yun laughed and said, “Marching to war does not depend only on who has more men and who has stronger horses. You can still be invincible while sitting in the camp.”

Yu Chen stared at Teng Yun, thinking that Teng Yun was targeting himself at all times, and before he could speak, Xue Junliang said, “In that case, let’s take a step back and give Lang Jing a title to join the army…… Yu Chen, you have an unfavorable view of Lang Jing but he is indeed a rare talent. This Seat hopes you can discard your former suspicions, if you try to push others aside because of these small things, you will not be forgiven lightly.”

Since Yu Chen had started to fight in the war, he had started off as only a soldier and an Assistant General at the beginning, and after that he was promoted as the Commander-in-chief and he was not inferior to anyone.

Now, at this time, when Zhang Hong had come to the gates for a war, Emperor Xue wanted to send him to support but only as an Assistant General, the same position given to Lang Jing. 

Yu Chen was not at all convinced that Lang Jing should be given the title of an Assistant General. But now that it was his turn to be given that position, he felt the official position was too low and it was a slight to himself.

Although Yu Chen was dissatisfied in his heart, he did not dare to say anything else and retreated.

Xue Junliang waited for him to leave, then let go of his hand and stopped holding Teng Yun.

Teng Yun thought about the conversation, and couldn’t help but say, “With all due respect, this lowly Minister doesn’t think it’s appropriate for Your Majesty to send Yu Chen.” 

Xue Junliang didn’t seem to take it seriously and said, “What, are you still angry about what Yu Chen just said?”

“This Minister dares not… But Your Majesty has granted Yu Chen the position of Assistant General. According to Yu Chen’s temperament, he will not accept it. I’m afraid there will be a gap in communication with the Commander. In the end it would be the soldiers and the people who would be caught between them.”

After hearing this, Xue Junliang restrained his petulant expression and sighed: “Do you think this Seat hasn’t thought about this? But who else to send? Right now everyone’s attention is fixed on the Xue Country. You do not understand the pain in this Seat’s heart. There are many Literary Ministers who can give advice but there are only few Generals who can kill an enemy in a war. They are either bold or arrogant or foolhardy… Houyang can’t be moved lightly. For fighting only Zhang Hong, if this Seat sends Marquis Wannian, then Feng Country will have the impression that this Seat has no one reliable under him to even deal with small attacks. This will make the Feng country even more bold and unscrupulous at this time.”

He glanced at Teng Yun and said, “You’re right. It’s really the soldiers and the people who suffer in the end. Naturally, this Seat can’t bear to watch his people suffer.” 

Teng Yun was silent for a long time. Although he didn’t know how much of the words that Xue Junliang just spoke were real and how much were lies, he couldn’t help being moved by them. After all, his father couldn’t even say these words.

“This lowly Minister requests to be sent to Ming River.”

Xue Junliang looked at him and could not help but laugh: “You want to go?”

“Exactly, if …… if Your Majesty trusts this lowly Minister, this lowly Minister is willing to go.” 

“That won’t work.” Xue Junliang laughed, “It’s not that I don’t trust you,  but you are my new Concubine. If you go, who will I marry?”

Teng Yun was teased by him and he froze, and then his face turned red, and then turned white.

Xue Junliang then smiled, reached out and took Teng Yun’s hand, said in a warm voice: “I was just joking now, I was not making fun of you …… Marquis Wannian has stayed in the Capital for a long time. This seat wants to let him return back and let him go to Teng, and you …… You are also wise and resourceful. It is naturally very useful if you stay in the Capital. If Yu Chen is unable to cope then it is not late for you to go and help.”

Teng Yun’s hand was grasped by him, his face started to burn up as if he was in a fever. At this time listening to Xue Junliang’s soft and gentle words, his wrist also started to heat up, Teng Yun wanted to draw away his hand at the same time unable to draw it away. 

And his words were also familiar. At that time, Xue Junliang often teased the Empress. In the end, he said, “I’m not going to mess with you anymore,” and touched his front lightly.