At the top of the court hall, Xue Junliang had ordered a bead curtain to be set up, after all an Inner Palace"s Empress" face wasn"t something that everyone was allowed to see.

Marquis Wannian, Xue Houyang was Xue Junliang"s younger brother from the same mother, and the two of them had always been very close. Since Xue Junliang"s ascension to the throne, all of his other brothers had either been eliminated or distanced, leaving only one younger brother who was then granted a t.i.tle, Marquis Wannian.

A wandering fortune-teller once said that Xue Houyang"s character was ruthless, and that he would bring disaster someday.

When he was promoted, he was still very young and had yet built any achievements. Many people was dissatisfied with him, and consequently he was often bullied. Added with what the fortune-teller once said, even more people joined in to bully Xue Houyang.

However, Xue Junliang never once doubted his own younger brother, and always trusted him.

Young Xue Houyang looked naive, but he was a member of royal family, so inevitably he learned to observe people surrounding him. He knew Xue Junliang was always treating him with kindness because he himself wouldn"t want to compete for throne with Xue Junliang. For Xue Houyang, this relationship between brothers was uncommon; rare even, in such place as an Imperial Palace.

Three months after his promotion, Xue Houyang went out for war. He left the capital city for almost eight years straight, never came back even once.

Many officials pet.i.tioned to Xue w.a.n.g, suggesting him calling Xue Houyang back to the capital. If Xue Houyang was gone for too long, they suspected he could be cultivating followers and power.

Every time they proposed this, Xue Junliang only smiled and told them, “If I can"t trust my own brother, then who else I can trust?”

This time, Xue Houyang came back to the capital city after so long, so he was feeling a bit nostalgic.

Flanked by two commanders, Xue Houyang entered, wearing a full armor; his weapons of course had been unloaded before entering the hall.

Teng Yun sat behind the bead curtain, the Crown Prince by his side, and watched as Xue Houyang coming closer. He didn"t know what he felt about this person.

For the past ten years, he"d met a handful of strong opponents, but no one was as strong as this Marquis Wannian, Xue Houyang. People had said that Xue Houyang was bold but not very sharp, but he knew for sure that wasn"t true. These Xue brothers both were talented commanders. Xue Junliang was the brain, Xue Houyang was the executioner. Every encounter with Xue Houyang was a battle of life and death.

Xue Houyang was no stranger to Teng Yun, and seeing him right now, Teng Yun"s blood started to boil.

This time, Xue Houyang came back to the capital city after successfully defeating Teng Country, naturally such merit had to be rewarded with a rise in t.i.tle. But if his t.i.tle was to be promoted, people would definitely oppose, because then his t.i.tle would be too high*.

[T/N : It"s written 功高盖主 (gōng gāo gài zhǔ), essentially it"s a metaphor about a minister that is too powerful, the ruling monarch felt threatened.]

Xue Junliang got up and personally came to Xue Houyang, raising him up from his kneeling position. The whole time, he never mentioned about promoting Xue Houyang"s t.i.tle, instead invited him for lunch in the Palace.

Teng Yun never said a word, but he did sneer inwardly. Xue Junliang was a cunning b.a.s.t.a.r.d; on the surface he treated his brother affectionately, but who knew if he wasn"t using Xue Houyang for his own gain.

At this, Teng Yun sighed. He had been in battles outside the country for ten years, and those ten years Teng Country had also been suffering internal war. Among his own brothers, there were always ones who rebelled, there were always usurpers. Many of the court officials, ministers and n.o.blemen must have fled the country, too.

Perhaps it was actually a good thing for a Di w.a.n.g to be detached to affections, after all a country was built on a pile of bones.

[T/N : I think it means that to built a country, it was inevitable some people were killed or sacrificed.]

After the court a.s.sembly, Xue Junliang called the Little Crown Prince for lunch, too. The Crown Prince got along well with Xue Houyang despite his arrogant temper.

When Teng Yun returned to Yunfeng Palace, Xiu Yao had already waited anxiously. She asked, “Empress, how was it?”

“How else should it be?”

His words didn"t lessen Xiu Yao"s excitement. She then added, “Your Majesty, today the kitchen made some very delicious food, maybe you want to have lunch in the garden?”

Teng Yun didn"t refute her kind suggestion. He was also bored to stay all day inside his room, so he thought it was a good idea.

Xiu Yao prepared meals in a small pavilion. The view here wasn"t bad; one side was facing the waters, while lush greens and flowers surrounded the other sides of the pavilion. Xiu Yao waited on Teng Yun with exuberant mood, chattering away endlessly.

Halfway through lunch, they saw Xue Junliang and Xue Houyang coming from the sidewalk. They were walking leisurely, a group of palace maids following from a little distance. The brothers seemed to be discussing about something.

Teng Yun knew he shouldn"t be eavesdropping, but he also knew that what Xue w.a.n.g and Marquis Wannian were talking about must be something he most wanted to hear.

Xiu Yao also thought about withdrawing. She looked to her mistress, but found the Empress didn"t make a move.

When the brothers walked closer, Teng Yun heard Xue Houyang said, “Teng Yun is dead, but we should still be careful of Teng Country.”

“You"re right,” Xue Junliang added with a laugh, “I heard Teng Shang was very close with Teng Yun, is that so?”

Xue Houyang thought for a moment, then said, “I"ve heard something like that, too.”

Xue Junliang chuckled and said, “I heard that Teng Shang was originally a marquis with a different surname, then was bestowed with the royal surname. Later, as he achieved more and more merits, Teng w.a.n.g grew dissatisfied with his increasing fame.”

[T/N : Here talking with Xue Houyang, Xue Junliang didn"t use ‘Gu‘ for himself, instead he used ‘Wo (我) = I, me".  Please note that, though in my translated version Xue Houyang called himself ‘I‘, in the original he didn"t use ‘Wo‘. He either didn"t use subjects in his sentences, or used ‘This subject-brother (Chen di, 臣弟)‘.]

“Yes.”

Xue Houyang didn"t understand what Xue w.a.n.g meant by bringing up this fact, so inevitably he compared this with himself and his heart began to palpitate. Honestly he thought this wasn"t true, but still he didn"t dare lifted his head. He feared, like Teng Shang, he"d be discarded despite being loyal all his life.

Xue Junliang glanced at him and immediately understand what Xue Houyang thought, but he neither denied nor confirm it. Instead he continued, “I plan to send a messenger to Teng. The messenger would only see Teng Shang and report that Xue w.a.n.g intends to return Teng Country"s Sixth Prince, Great General Yun"s ashes. What do you think?”

Xue Houyang came to abrupt stop; he finally understood. This was an excellent way to create a drift between Teng w.a.n.g and Teng Shang. With Teng w.a.n.g"s suspicious nature, if Xue Country"s messenger only wants to see Teng Shang, he"ll be even more wary and send Minister Shang away. Teng Country would have no one else to lead their troops, and therefore vulnerable to attack.

Teng Yun felt like he"d been hit on his head; hands and feet turned cold. Teng w.a.n.g was his own father, how could he not know Father was suspicious of Minister Shang? He and Teng Shang wasn"t even blood related, but he always thought of him as one of his own. And hearing the trap designed for Teng Shang, he felt helpless.

Xiu Yao saw her Empress" expression paled, she didn"t dare making a sound so she could only pull at the Empress" sleeves.

At a tug on his sleeve, Teng Yun came back to himself, though his hands were still trembling violently. Xue Junliang hadn"t finished talking.

“That is not all.” Xue Junliang sounded so sure of himself, like he could do difficult task with ease, “Do you think I would let Teng people take General Yun"s ashes so easily? If Teng Shang wants to get Teng Yun"s ashes, he"d have to come over in person.”

Xue Houyang hesitated, “But… Will Your Majesty really let Teng Shang come? It"s too risky, Teng Shang is not a fool.”

Xue Junliang wasn"t swayed, he just said lowly, “I"m gambling on people"s hearts.”

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