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

Chapter 7 - Taking a New Wife

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Teng Yun and Xue Pei heard someone clapping, they turned and saw Xue Junliang coming over laughing, "Empress is actually a female hero, I've been underestimating you."

Then he turned to address Xue Pei, "So you'll be serving her now?"

Xue Pei had no way of escaping it, with an embarrassed expression on his face, he said with a small voice, "I will."

Xue Junliang turned from Xue Pei back to Teng Yun and said, "Aifei, I come here to find you, I've got something to discuss with you."

Hearing this, Xue Pei knowingly excused himself, but was stopped by Xue Junliang.

Xue Junliang said, "Teng Country's Minister Shang is escorting the Eldest Princess to form a marriage alliance, what do Aifei think about it?"

Teng Yun was a bit surprised, he was silent for a moment then lightly said, "Chen-qie doesn't dare meddling with a country's matter."

[T/N : Chen-qie literally means 'this servant-wife'. Used by a king's wives including the Empress when talking to the king.]

Xue Junliang laughed, "I want to negotiate a peace with Teng, also as Aifei had said, there is really no need to chase a cornered enemy. After so many years fighting, my Xue Country soldiers are exhausted, it's a good opportunity to recuperate."

Hearing this, Teng Yun sighed with relief, but he knew Xue Country needed to back off in order to regroup, and this peace wouldn't last long. Once Xue Country's military power recovered, next agenda was the destroying of Teng Country.

Teng Yun also knew the reason Xue Junliang wasn't attacking Teng Country right now, was because he had another concern. Xue Junliang didn't want to place all of his energy onto Teng Country while Feng Country was sitting at the side nursing their own ambitions. If Feng launched a sneak attack, it would be too easy to cause harm to both Xue and Teng.

Xue Junliang saw the Empress saying nothing, instantly he felt happier. Now he was sure there was nothing out of ordinary about this Empress. He'd been perturbed by her, after all someone who wasn't from the same family usually had different way of thinking, so he was determined to find this woman's flaws and weaknesses.

He'd deliberately told the Empress that Teng Country wanted to form a marriage alliance. As the mistress of the Imperial Harem, the empress must feared that her position would be shaken. Thinking the Empress was mulling over the possibility of a new favorite concubine, Xue Junliang inwardly laughed. This Empress was still a woman, nothing extraordinary.

Xue Junliang smiled and said, "Aifei, as an Empress, I need you to help with the preparation of welcoming the new wife. Teng Country is very sincere in their intention, they even sent Minister Shang to personally escort the Princess, we cannot let people down."

Teng Yun inwardly snorted, of course he could see Xue Junliang's hidden meaning. They hadn't been enemies for ten years for nothing.

But when he thought of Teng Country's Eldest Princess, Teng Yun couldn't help sighing regretfully. Since ancient times, there had been many dubious affairs between the royal families. Especially in troubled times like Teng Country had right now, something like that could happen too many times to count.

Teng Country's Eldest Princess, Teng Qianyi was well-known as Teng's most talented maiden. Most people associated her name with talent and education, but they ignored that Teng Qianyi and Teng Wang were having an affair.

When their taboo relationship was first discovered, in order to appease the protesters, Teng Wang sent his eldest daughter to a temporary residence to pray. Only after the situations gradually passed, Teng Wang took Teng Qianyi back, never mentioning about what had happened.