[T/N : Hey! I"m sorry for the very late update. It"s been a crazy week. Enjoy!]

At Teng Yun"s reaction, instead of getting angry, Xue Junliang laughed, “You"re the first person ever dare to refuse me.”

Teng Yun felt as if his lips was catching fire.

He was nineteen when he was sent to the battlefield and he stayed there for ten years. He didn"t remember when it started, but Teng Yun was always trying to be honest and decorous. He did have to attack cities and take war prisoners, but as a soldier he was required to be discipline and strict. Added that Teng Yun was a chief general, he took it upon himself to be even more cautious in his conduct.

Consequently, his experiences in kissing could be considered rather unsophisticated, let alone such a deep and lingering kiss that he was forced into just now. Which was the exact opposite of Xue Junliang"s.

Teng Yun"s earlobes were bright red. Even his chest peeking between the slightly-opened collar of his clothes was tinted pink. Noting all of these, Xue Junliang thought this Ugly Empress was shy.

The original Empress" body and figure was actually superior than any of Xue Junliang"s other consorts". Staring at that blushing neck, Xue Junliang wondered whether the wine he"d drank was too strong; because his body was burning.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Xue Junliang reached out to caress Teng Yun"s earlobes. Teng Yun shuddered fiercely; eyes glaring daggers at Xue Junliang.

Xue Junliang took back his hand thinking this Empress of his was quite intriguing. Since he married the Empress, he had not consummated with her. At the beginning, he was too busy, didn"t have the mood to fool around the Imperial Harem. Later, he just forgot about her, sparing her a thought only as far as maintaining the Empress t.i.tle.

The Empress reacting like this made Xue Junliang very pleased and even somewhat smug. Patting the bed, he smiled and said, “Alright, come here and lie down. I won"t make a move on you.”

Teng Yun made no move, which only made Xue Junliang even more smug. But Xue Junliang did stop teasing the Empress. He started to remove his outer clothes and throw away his ta.s.seled crown. After blowing the candles off, he lay down on the bed and patted the empty spot next to him.

“Come here, it"s getting cold.”

After making sure Xue Junliang was really lying down, Teng Yun slowly crept over. With all the candles unlit, it was pitch dark in the room. Teng Yun took the spot furthest away from Xue Junliang and lay down without taking off his clothes.

There was only one blanket on the bed; it wasn"t small, but there was a huge gap between the two people so Teng Yun couldn"t cover himself with it.

Xue Junliang laughed. He turned on his side and pulled Teng Yun into his arms, then covered Teng Yun with the blanket. Gently patting the other person"s back, he said, “Sleep. I had too many ceremonies today, I"m so tired.”

Naturally, it was another sleepless night for Teng Yun.

Early morning the next day, Jiang Yu and Xiu Yao were let in to attend their master and mistress. They saw the clothes scattered everywhere on the floor; even Xue w.a.n.g"s crown had rolled into the corner of the room. Added with the Empress" sleepy appearance, they automatically surmised the pa.s.sionate scene that had happened last night…

—

The princess was having a grand wedding, her uncle naturally must stay the night at the palace. This rule might not be true, though.

Many people requested to have a toast, Teng Shang was forced to drink a lot of wine. Since he entered officialdom, he rarely drank, therefore his alcohol tolerance wasn"t that strong.

Yesterday, Teng Shang was the only person from Teng Country surrounded by Xue Country"s court officials. Inevitably, he was bullied into drinking too much wine.

Teng Shang woke up feeling groggy and disoriented. The pounding in his head and the hangover made him feel nauseated. But honestly, compared to the nausea, the hangover was slightly more manageable.

Teng Shang sat up and blinked repeatedly trying to clear his sight. Suddenly his complexion turned ashen. He swallowed several times, attempting to relieve the dryness in his throat; it felt awfully sore.

He gripped the blankets and found that it was stained with blood and something unspeakable.

Burying his head between his hands, Teng Shang squeezed his thighs together; something trickled down from some area in his behind. His breath faltered before he let out a deep sigh.

Teng Shang remembered what happened last night. Xue Junliang"s att.i.tude towards him was not hard to understand. In a way, Teng Shang was like Teng Yun, he couldn"t be let alive. No matter what talent and accomplishment Teng Shang had, he was a wild tiger that should not be tamed.

Since he was a child, Teng Shang had been favored by the previous Teng w.a.n.g, and for that reason he would never think of betraying Teng Country. But he had no place to stay in Teng Country.

At times like this, luck had it that he met Xue Houyang…

People often said that Teng Shang and Teng Yun were very much alike in character. They were both soft-hearted and determined, but Teng Shang knew that it was all not true. Teng Shang was an abandoned orphan. After many years occupying an official post he thought he didn"t deserve, Teng Shang"s heart had long been trampled on. He was only a shameful liar and a hypocrite.

When Teng Yun left for war, as a Great General, he was forced to curb violence with equal violence despite his lifelong wish of never killing people.

But Teng Shang was different. Teng Shang"s lifelong wish was a strong country. For a powerful Teng Country, for honoring his ancestors, Teng Shang felt he"d become a despicable person.

Meeting Xue Houyang was an unforeseen turn of events. When he noticed how Xue Houyang looked at him, Teng Shang immediately knew that when he entered Xue"s capital city, he might not necessarily be dead after all.

They"d drunk too much wine last night. Xue Houyang actually blocked a few cups coming Teng Shang"s way and drank them in his stead. Marquis Wannian reasoned that Teng Shang had saved his life but everybody knew that wasn"t the truth.

Xue Houyang was undoubtedly a great man, unfortunately he had to met Teng Shang.

Teng Shang stood and put on his clothes to cover the suspicious traces all over his body. Something trickled down the back of his thighs, yet he ignored it. Finished dressing, he opened the door and left.

—

Xue Houyang looked a bit disheveled. It was time for the morning court a.s.sembly and he was already late when he entered the Palace. He had to change clothes inside the Palace then hurriedly entered the court hall.

He wasn"t drunk last night, but he"d borrowed the effects of the wine to tightly hug that person, and eventually drag him to bed.

Xue Houyang wiped his face with his palm, feeling ashamed by his own action last night. He knew it was why he didn"t see Teng Shang when he woke up this morning. He"d made Teng Shang run away.

Throughout the entire morning court a.s.sembly, Xue Houyang was distracted. Xue Junliang took notice and asked him to stay.

Walking in the flower garden, Xue Junliang said, “What kind of matter that could make our great general so troubled?”

Xue Houyang scratched his head in embarra.s.sment and said, “Your Majesty actually noticed… I…”

[T/N : This is actually the first time Xue Houyang addressed himself with ‘我 (Wǒ)" when talking to Xue Junliang, instead of his usual formal way such as Chen-di (臣弟, means subject-brother).]

Upon Xue Houyang"s reaction, Xue Junliang laughed while patting the other person"s shoulder, making Xue Houyang confused.

Xue Junliang said, “Houyang, I don"t know what or who it was that made you like this. But you know, since you came back to the capital city, you had never used this kind of tone when talking to me… I just reminded that time when my younger brother was still a child.”

Xue Houyang stilled, then he bit his lips, “No matter what happened, Chen-di will always be with Your Majesty.”

Xue Junliang nodded, “I believe you, naturally I believe you… Alright, how about this? Right this moment, I"m only your brother. Whatever it is that"s been troubling you, just tell me. Even if I can"t solve it, I can lend you my ears.”

Xue Houyang"s face turned feverish red. Coughing once to clear his throat, he then said, “I… I accidentally did something that I am sorry for. I want to apologize but I"m afraid that person wouldn"t want to see me… Ah, maybe apologizing won"t do any good anyway.”

“Oh?” Xue Junliang seemed to be thinking deeply, then he added, “I think maybe this other person is your beloved, am I right?”

“Bi.. big brother? How can you say such…” Unable to finish his sentence, Xue Houyang fell silent and sighed deeply.

Xue Junliang patted Xue Houyang"s shoulder again and said, “My younger brother is both talented and courageous, he is also has good looks. What person will not like you? I"ve decided, I"ll bestow you a marriage. No matter who this person is and what status they have, you can get married immediately.”

—