The Ugly Empress by Yun Guo Shi Fei / 丑娘娘 by 云过是非

Chapter 5 - Gambling

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 title, 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 petitioned to Xue Wang, 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 title. But if his title was to be promoted, people would definitely oppose, because then his title 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 title, instead invited him for lunch in the Palace.

Teng Yun never said a word, but he did sneer inwardly. Xue Junliang was a cunning bastard; on the surface he treated his brother affectionately, but who knew if he wasn't using Xue Houyang for his own gain.