Chapter 51: CH 51

Xue Junliang didn’t give Teng Yun any opportunity to refute.

Zhao Tong had always felt that Teng Yun got the position of a Marquis due to a huge stroke of luck. Now that with great effort he had managed to capture Feng Country’s Minister Lu Shichen, again Teng Yun robbed him of his opportunity to persuade Lu Shichen. Naturally, Zhao Tong was not convinced. 

Xue Junliang said with a smile: “It’s a good thing that you all want to contribute and this Seat is very pleased. But if the Marquis Tengnan isn’t able to make Lu Shichen surrender, then the task will remain on your shoulders.”

Zhao Tong had to respect the decision of Emperor Xue. He knew that he could not do anything to change Emperor Xue’s mind. Even if he was young and fearless, he could not talk back to the Monarch, it would be his head on the line, so he had to stop.

Teng Yun asked some Imperial guards to take the unconscious Minister Lu Shichen back to the Marquis’ residence and asked someone to call the Imperial physician to come and check for any injuries, he also asked the servants to take care of Lu Shichen.

Fortunately, Minister Lu Shichen seemed to be just exhausted and very weak; as he had not been fed for many days during his captivity. There were also some slight skin injuries and some broken bones, but they were not life threatening. Teng Yun was worried that if the broken bones were not fixed after so many days, it would give the Minister a permanent disability. 

Lu Shichen was woken up by the aroma of rice. He opened his eyes and saw food on the table on one side. He quickly struggled to get up.

Seeing this, the servant nearby couldn’t help laughing and said, “Don’t worry, Young Master. The meal is for you.”

Then she helped him to get up from the bed, holding him all the way to the table and let Lu Shichen sit down to eat.

It occurred to Lu Shichen that the servant was a girl and being a naive scholar that he was, he thought it was not good to be so close to her, so he cupped his hand and said, “Thank you, Miss.”

The servant said with a smile, “I was told to inform my Master, the Lord Marquis, when you wake up.”

“Yes.. Did your Master save me?”

The servant said, “This humble servant doesn’t know about this. Please wait for the Master to come, young Sir, and you could ask him.”

After she said this, she retreated and went out. Lu Shichen was too hungry to worry about anything right now. He grabbed the chopsticks on the table, served the dishes on his bowl and stuffed them into his mouth. Even if he was poor and his life was difficult in the past, he had never missed a meal for so many days, his body was feeling very weak and sore, after being carried in a sack and being bounced on the bumpy road. He almost thought he was going to die. 

Just as he stuffed the rice in his mouth, he heard a “creak” sound. He raised his head to see a man in a brocade robe come in. The man was only in his twenties. He had a good appearance and a strong body. At first glance, you could see that his bearing was not like that of ordinary men, but there were some scars on his face and made him look horrific. He looked like a mountain bandit, but no bandit had such a noble temperament.

Lu Shichen realized that this noble looking man was the Master whom the servant was talking about. Naturally, he should get up and pay his respect, after all, this man had saved him. He quickly threw down his chopsticks and stood up. He was aware that he was eating like he hadn’t eaten in his life, and was seen by the other party, so he wiped his mouth in embarrassment.

Teng Yun wanted to laugh when he saw Lu Shichen’s foolish actions, but he felt it was inappropriate. After all, the other party was also a talented scholar and a celebrated Feng Country’s Minister. Teng Yun, since he has not heard much about Lu Shichen, inquired about him. People said that although he was very intelligent, he was reckless, unfriendly, and spiteful. He was also very stubborn, but in order to pay King Feng’s kindness, he was ready to sacrifice himself.

They said that after Minister Zhulu betrayed King Feng Ming, the King was devastated and he stayed by Feng Ming’s side, becoming the King’s closest aide. Some say that Lu Shichen was an honorable Minister paying the King for his gratitude and kindness. 

Teng Yun reached out to help Lu Shichen and said, “Please, Minister Lu, sit down.”

Seeing that Teng Yun spoke kindly made Lu Shichen feel at ease and immediately became less nervous and sat down.

Teng Yun asked him to help himself and continue eating; knowing that he was very hungry. At that moment, Lu Shichen only cared about the food, so he picked up his chopsticks and continued to eat.

Teng Yun poured him a cup of tea and said, “Minister. Lu, eat slowly and be careful not to choke.” 

Lu Shichen didn’t pay any heed to why the other party knew who he was. He continued to eat, after a while, he inadvertently said, “I dare to ask my revered benefactor, where is this?”

Teng Yun smiled and said, “Xue Country.”

“Oh…” Lu Shichen was dazed and didn’t give any reaction for a moment. He didn’t know whether his head became fuzzy because of the attack on his head or because of hunger. He answered and stuffed a lot of dishes into his mouth. Then he came to his senses, immediately spit out all of the food in his mouth, and said in surprise: “Xue… Xue Country!”

The servant standing on one side was shocked by his reaction, quickly came over and took a handkerchief to wipe off the vegetable soup that had splashed on Teng Yun, and said, “Lord Marquis, are you all right?” 

Teng Yun didn’t seem to mind very much and told his servant not to worry. The servant once again stepped back.

Lu Shichen said, “Marquis? Are you the Marquis of Xue Country?”

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Teng Yun wanted to laugh. At this time, he was still asking if someone was a gentleman or not? Was it gentlemanly to kill the enemies in battle? There was no need to compare who was more scheming.

“I’m not the one who kidnapped Minister Lu. I was just ordered to persuade Minister Lu to surrender.”

When Lu Shichen heard the sentence “persuade to surrender”, his face turned even darker. He turned away and said, “This Lu would rather starve than surrender!”

Teng Yun didn’t say anything, but said, “This Teng also knows that Minister Lu is a loyal man and this Teng won’t force him to surrender. I just request Minister Lu to stay here for a few days.” 

Then Teng Yun got up and went out.

Lu Shichen walked out from the inner room and looked out, he saw a guard outside the room. He seemed unable to escape so had to go back to the inner room. There was still a lot of food left on the table. His stomach was still rumbling but he turned his head away from the table and decided not to eat Xue Country’s food.

When Zhao Lu found out that Zhao Tong had kidnapped Lu Shichen and brought him to Xue Country, he reprimanded Zhao Tong for making decisions without consulting him first. Zhao Lu told Zhao Tong that because of his impulsive action, he had not cared about the importance of his action and didn’t understand the general situation. If Feng Ming was angered by the loss of his Minister, the people of the two countries would be the one to suffer.

Although Zhao Tong understood later that Zhao Lu’s anger was reasonable, he was very annoyed at heart. He had worked too hard for this opportunity and wanted to be praised. Although taking the beloved Minister of Feng Country, he was saying it was easy, in fact, it was very dangerous, but people only saw that he had been impulsive and ignored his loyalty to Xue. 

Zhao Tong naturally accepted Zhao Lu’s admonitions, he had followed Zhao Lu for a long time. Moreover, Zhao Lu has a calm and collected nature, and had reasonable reasons for doing things and making decisions. Zhao Tong had long been convinced by him, and his hate naturally transferred to Teng Yun.

It was well known that Teng Yun was just a lowly guard who had a bad reputation before. Now he was already a Marquis and also had robbed him of his credit. He had already accumulated several resentments in his heart against Teng Yun.

Someone in the army pretended to have a good relationship with Zhao Tong. This person wanted to raise his position by virtue of his relationship between Zhao Tong and Zhao Lu. However, Zhao Lu was a man with fair and strict characteristics, and he didn’t seem to have any chance in using Zhao Lu. Now this matter suddenly gave him a plan to get rid of Zhao Tong. Zhao Tong had a very strong ability and could be considered as a stumbling block.

The man told Zhao Tong that Lu Shichen was a stubborn man and would never surrender. Even if he surrendered, the General’s achievements would only be taken by Marquis Tengnan. In the end, it would still be the credit for others. These words lit a fire in Zhao Tong’s already jealous heart. 

It could also be said that Zhao Tong had no experience in dealing with people as he had been mostly under Zhao Lu’s command, and couldn’t distinguish loyalty and treachery. Once provoked by others, his anger rushed up and he became unreasonable.

The man wanted Zhao Tong to be furious. At this time, he told Zhao Tong that there was a way to get rid of Lu Shichen. If Lu Shichen died in Marquis Tengnan’s residence, Marquis Tengnan could not get away with it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to kill two birds with one stone?

Zhao Tong also thought this was a good idea, but he didn’t know anyone who would kill Lu Shichen. When Zhao Tong first came to the army, there were not many credible people. The man said that it’s not good for just anyone to go. Only if the General went by himself could the kill be ensured. First, the General had excellent martial arts, and second, the lesser the people knew and were involved with, the fewer the rumors would be.

Three more days and it would be Emperor Xue’s birthday — the Qianqiu Festival. All the ministers would enter the Palace to present gifts to His Majesty and celebrate his birthday at the banquet. This time would be the best time for Zhao Tong to do something. 

Three days later, the man offered Zhao Tong a cup of Desheng wine, to boost his courage and kill Lu Shichen.

Zhao Tong felt that it was not necessary to be courageous to kill a person. The man just smiled and said, this was Desheng wine, it would give him a boost, so Zhao Tong drank it.

So Zhao Tong didn’t know that in fact, the man who advised him to kill Lu Shichen by himself, wanted to get rid of him, so he came up with that plan. That glass of wine was not Desheng wine at all, but a wine he bought from a brothel. At the moment when Zhao Tong would sneak into the Marquis residence, his blood would become hot all the way. Imagine a General running to the Marquis residence and raped women — he would be beheaded according to the law.

Even if Zhao Lu would interfere and asked for his man to be let go, the Marquis would certainly not agree. 

Zhao Tong had been tricked, but he didn’t know that. Wearing night clothes that would camouflage him, he really went and sneaked into the Marquis residence.

Marquis Tengnan’s residence was not guarded by heavy troops. Although the yard was large, there were just a few servants inside who were already resting in their rooms, so the place looked a bit deserted. At this time, Teng Yun had already entered the palace to attend the banquet.

Zhao Tong easily knocked out the guards. He went to the roof first, peeled off some of the tiles and looked down. Lu Shichen was indeed in the house. Zhao Tong was still happy. As expected, he guessed correctly. The place with the most guards was the place where Lu Shichen was being detained.

Lu Shichen was entangled with food at this time. Teng Yun would not allow Lu Shichen to have his hunger strike. He asked the cook to cook different kinds of meals every day. Lu Shichen would not eat on the first day, and he was still stubborn and did not eat the next day. He was already hungry on the third day, and with all the different food on the table, and the aroma hitting his nose, he really had a difficult time in controlling his hunger and he was afraid that his attempt for the hunger strike would not work. 

The food delivered in the morning was already cold. Lu Shichen stared at the maidservants as they took the food out with a smile. Sitting there, he seemed to hear those women laughing and talking. “The Marquis said that there were several wild cats behind the house. They were pitiful, so let’s give the food to the wild cats.”

After hearing this, Lu Shichen gnashed his teeth until they were about to break. He was thinking there were so many refugees who could not eat, but here, the food meant for people was even distributed to the cats.

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At noon, Lu Shichen waited for the food on the table and couldn’t help but squeeze a bite into his mouth. Seeing that no one was around looking, he chewed the food quickly. He thought to himself that if he died of starvation, he would no longer be able to repay King Feng’s kindness, would he? This was not disloyalty and unfaithful, so he took a few more mouthfuls, but he was afraid Teng Yun would be laughing at him, so he didn’t dare to eat more.

When the maid took it away, the food seemed untouched. 

In the evening, Lu Shichen couldn’t help it anymore, he was really hungry. He ate with big mouthfuls, after eating all the pots and bowls, he started to worry. He would definitely be laughed to death by the Marquis of the enemy country.

In fact, Teng Yun was not a mean person. He cooked food for him, but it was Lu Shichen who couldn’t get through his own difficulties.

He was staring at the empty plate on the table in a daze, when he heard a “boom”. A dark object fell from his head and hit him. Lu Shichen, a gentle and frail looking man, was smashed and was shocked to death….

———— 

On Emperor Xue’s birthday, the court ministers had already brought their birthday gifts into the palace and presented them to Emperor Xue one by one at the banquet, including some valuable treasures.

Xue Houyang entered the palace with Teng Shang. At the banquet, Xue Houyang presented his birthday gift to Xue Junliang.

Xue Junliang opened the box and laughed as soon as he saw it, and said, “Houyang’s gift is new.”

Xue Houyang scratched his head and said, “It was Teng Shang’s suggestion.” 

Xue Junliang nodded and said, “It was not hard for Teng Shang to have a good heart, but what I didn’t expect was that Teng Shang and Marquis Tengnan thought of the same thing.”

Teng Yun heard his name being mentioned and looked over there. Xue Junliang took out the birthday gift from the brocade box. Only then that Teng Yun saw that it was a mirror, and the birthday gift he gave to Emperor Xue was also a mirror.

It was not difficult to see that this meant that Xue Junliang needed to reflect more and examine himself more.

Teng Yun couldn’t help turning his head to look at Teng Shang. At this time, Teng Shang was also looking at him in surprise. The two people looked at each other, and Teng Yun’s eyes wavered with a guilty conscience, and then retracted his gaze. 

Teng Shang naturally had come into contact with Teng Ying back in Teng Country.

Personally, to be honest, Teng Ying was the one who put forward the idea of letting Teng Shang escort Teng Qianyi to marry to Xue Country. Teng Ying was a well-known villain in Teng Country.

Teng Yun was afraid that Teng Shang hated him, so naturally he did not dare to look at him. However, Teng Shang was surprised that Teng Ying would gift the Emperor a mirror. It was reasonable to say that Teng Ying should take the opportunity to curry favor with Xue Junliang.

Teng Yun felt frustrated for a while. He has now grabbed the title of Marquis Tengnan, and he didn’t know how to acknowledge Teng Shang. In particular, he helped Xue Junliang take over the army of Teng Country and facilitate the retreat of the attack from Feng Country. He may have become a traitor long ago, so he didn’t even dare to acknowledge Teng Shang. 

He was depressed. When he thought that his most respected elder would hate him, he inevitably drank a few more cups of wine. Maybe it was easy to get drunk when he had something on his mind. In addition, his heart ailment was not very good. After drinking a few cups, he felt weak and wanted to vomit.

Teng Yun left the table and went out to breathe some fresh air. He went to the small pavilion in the garden and gently stroked the fence. There was an illusion that time had changed.

Teng Yun sat down and leaned against the fence, the cool wind of early spring was blowing. Although it was a little cold, it was refreshing, it alleviated his headache and gradually he fell asleep.

He woke up again because his whole body was cold and his breathing was a little suffocated. Teng Yun opened his eyes, but saw a face very close to his. Since the person’s face was too close, he couldn’t see who it was. 

The other party hugged him tightly, stuck out his tongue and kissed him.

Teng Yun immediately came to his senses and stretched out to push the man, but although he woke up drunk, he had no strength. He was kissed thoroughly by the man before releasing him.

Teng Yun seemed to be fixed on the ground, wide-eyed and stared at the man. The other party left his lips and raised his body slightly. The jade tassels of a crown gently hit his nose. It was Xue Junliang!

Teng Yun struggled to get up, he looked around, he was still at the small pavilion where he had fallen asleep. His clothes were in a mess and he couldn’t help but shiver when the wind blew. He couldn’t help but remember that dream. The dream wherein Xue Junliang had tied himself to a wooden stake and had entered him fiercely. 

Xue Junliang seemed to be drunk. He pressed Teng Yun and pushed Teng Yun back to the ground. The cold icy stone slab touched on his bare back, and Teng Yun couldn’t help shivering.

Xue Junliang’s strength was amazing. Although Teng Yun had never seen him go to battle to fight against the enemy, he was more than enough to deal with him; a drunk man.

Xue Junliang grabbed Teng Yun’s hand, turned his whole body around, and let him lie prone on the ground, while his other hand was pulling the hem of Teng Yun’s clothes.

Maybe Teng Yun has been too used to Xue Junliang’s touches and it was ingrained mentally in him. He couldn’t help but utter an ‘ahh’ and a memory ran through his head. He felt he was back to being the Empress when Xue Junliang would touch him sneakily. 

It’s just that..

Today’s Xue Junliang seemed to be not as gentle as before. Teng Yun lay on the ground and couldn’t see his red eyes because of alcohol.

Xue Junliang tore off his pants. Tengyun felt cold, but soon there was something hot under him.

Teng Yun shook his head desperately, but the man came forward as if he hadn’t seen it. Teng Yun firmly grasped the fence of the pavilion. If the fence was not made of stone, he might have caught some marks. 

He had not opened up the back, it was tight, naturally, it was not so easy to enter. Although Xue Junliang was drunk, he also felt pain when he tried to penetrate. He frowned and rubbed to kiss Teng Yun, but he kissed a piece of dampness, which seemed to be tears. The two pairs of lips were pressed together. There was a sweet and tangent taste, it was Tengyun who gritted his teeth and bit blood.

Xue Junliang didn’t continue to go in. He found that the person underneath him was trembling desperately. He didn’t know whether he had sobered up, his movements suddenly became gentle and murmured something in his mouth.

Teng Yun didn’t pay attention at first, he just wanted to break away from the other man, but Xue Junliang’s hands were too strong and he couldn’t move when he kept pressing on him. Xue Junliang’s lips pressed against his ear and kissed it. Teng Yun seemed to have been beaten and even forgot even his struggle.

Xue Junliang spoke in a very low voice. In Teng Yun’s ears, he called the name of the late Empress like a dream, because Xue Junliang had hardly seen the Empress before, and Teng Yun knew that the other party was actually calling himself. 

Teng Yun was stunned and couldn’t move. Did Xue Junliang really hold such feelings for himself, or did Xue Junliang hold such feelings for him because he didn’t know that the Empress was himself at that time?

Xue Junliang’s breathing was unsteady and he was blowing it softly on Teng Yun’s ear. He didn’t know why, but Teng Yun felt that he had become very hot all of a sudden, perhaps because of the wine or the other man’s gentle actions.

Xue Junliang didn’t force himself and enter that unspoken place of Teng Yun. He just asked Teng Yun to close his legs and rubbed himself from behind– in between Teng Yun’s legs. Teng Yun felt that he should punch Xue Junliang in the face at this time and walk away.

But Xue Junliang even reached out and touched his lower body. Teng Yun was stunned by the feeling of being touched there, he covered his lips and made several single sounds in his throat. The two people’s breathing was intertwined. They were getting heavier and more ambiguous, especially… Xue Junliang who was calling out the name. 

Teng Yun had never experienced love, and sexual intercourse, and even seldom tried to relieve himself. For the first time, he was controlled by others. His brain was empty and he couldn’t think of anything. Soon, he couldn’t even struggle. He bit his lips hard and didn’t express any shameful sound.

Xue Junliang rubbed his lips with his hand to prevent him from biting himself again. Teng Yun opened his mouth and gasped for breath. He was so ashamed by his body’s response and he bit Xue Junliang’s hand with one bite.

Xue Junliang didn’t seem to feel pain, so he let the other party bite him. Teng Yun felt that his legs were about to be burned by Xue Junliang’s heated movements. His entire consciousness was only concentrated there. For the simple Teng Yun, he almost didn’t know how to make himself feel good, and he could only be at the mercy of Xue Junliang.

Xue Junliang, after venting once, became upright. He lay on his body and seemed to fall asleep. Teng Yun suddenly woke up, stretched out his hand to push the man away, and hurriedly put on his clothes, ignoring the dirt and the turbid fluid on his body. His mind was so confused, he didn’t know what to think, and walked away, staggering a little. 

——–

Xue Houyang had not seen Emperor Xue for the remainder of the banquet, and the little prince also retired early, so he had to go out to find him. After taking a few steps, he saw the Little Prince Xue Pei standing in a daze, he took another few steps forward and heard a heavy gasp.

Xue Houyang was stunned. The Prince was still young. Before he knew about this kind of thing, he hurried over to cover Xue Pei’s eyes. As soon as he looked up, he was shocked. In the small pavilion, not far away, it turned out to be Xue Junliang and the newly appointed Marquis Tengnan…

Looking at them from this angle, it seemed that Xue Junliang had penetrated Teng Yun’s body. Xue Pei’s eyes were covered, but he felt that he was about to scream. Xue Houyang quickly released his hand to cover his mouth and dragged the Little Prince away. 

“Little ancestor, let’s go!”

Xue Pei was reluctantly dragged away by Xue Houyang and said unhappily, “Imperial Uncle, do you like Teng Shang?”

Xue Houyang was stunned by the question and coughed without answering.

Xue Pei said, “If you like someone, would you still do that stuff with others?” 

Xue Houyang didn’t know how to answer, but he still said, “Naturally not.”

Xue Pei groaned, as if he wanted to curse bad words about Xue Junliang, and said, “Then why did the Father Emperor…?”

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