Vol. 1 Chapter 2 - Full-Honors Burial

The roomful of maids who thought they could make a joke out of the queen were all dumbfounded by the slap. Then, they all hung down their hands and withdrew from the room.

Teng Yun’s whole body felt exhausted. Even though he was clearly the one slapping another person on the face, it had still taken a lot out of him. He lay limp on the bed and covered his eyes with his hand. When he touched the distended cheekbones on his face, he could still feel the scalding burn coming from the area.

Teng Yun had no idea what was wrong with this ugly queen, but if she were naturally born with this appearance, then how could her face hurt just by being touched? They were very clearly wounds.

However, these injuries were the last thing on his mind right now. The reality that he was now living in was already enough to knock this weak body down. He felt paralyzed on the bed. Having even the strength to breathe felt like a luxury.

Teng Yun fell asleep without realizing it, and he had many strange dreams during his sleep. He dreamt of that day ten years ago when he was selected as a general to embark on an expedition, fighting for over ten years before ending up as a prisoner and being killed. He also dreamt of his homeland being annexed by Xue Junliang while Teng’s civil war was still raging on incessantly, turning into nothing more than a state in ruins.

He was covered in sweat when he woke up, and there was a loud commotion outside. He could faintly hear the sounds of an argument taking place. Teng Yun frowned and got off his bed. When he opened the door, a maid outside came over to greet him.

The maid in pink who had been slapped earlier kept her head down, seemingly very afraid of him. “Your Majesty… If there is anything you need, Xiu Yao will get it for you.”

Teng Yun did not speak. He merely glanced at her, which was enough to send shivers down Xiu Yao’s spine, and she could feel the cheek that had been slapped prior throbbing in pain again. Not understanding what she had said wrong, she felt a little upset at this treatment.

In fact, Xiu Yao did not say anything wrong. It was merely the fact that a maid would come to stop the queen from leaving her room that Teng Yun found so baffling.

Teng Yun had no idea what an infamous character this ugly queen was. Once, when King Xue and Consort De were chatting, Consort De was able to lock him around her finger with her charm, and she took the opportunity to joke that though the queen was of noble status, she was not born with the same qualities as one would have hoped for her, so what would happen if she were to scare someone?

From then on, this weak queen would be stopped at her door if she even tried to leave.

This was especially so as the ugly queen herself felt inferior over her looks and was reluctant to leave her residence.

Teng Yun was born and bred a general without being so much as spoiled as a prince would be. After ten years going of his war expedition, scaring a single maid was just a simple matter.

Xiu Yao did not dare to stop him. After all, His Majesty never officially decreed that the queen was not to leave her residence. Moreover, Her Majesty herself was still considered the head of the harem after all. No matter how pampered Consort De was, her status in the harem was still incomparable to the queen.

Teng Yun asked as he strode out, “What’s with all the commotion?”

“Answering Your Majesty…” After learning her mistake last time, Xiu Yao answered respectfully, “Today is the day that his Majesty will be executing the captive from Teng. Right now, everyone seems to be drinking in the garden in celebration.”

“Oh…”

Teng Yun gulped with difficulty, a cool feeling seizing his chest. It was starting to become difficult for him to keep his calm. “Then… What about the captive’s corpse? Will it be sent back to Teng?”

“No.”

Xiu Yao explained, “This slave heard that the envoy has not been asked to send him back to Teng. Rather, His Majesty has ordered a burial with full honors for the captive.”

“Buried… with full honors?”

Teng Yun could almost feel himself laugh. After showing his authority by making an example of him, he had now given the decree to bury an opposing state’s prince and general with a lavish funeral. Was he trying to show off his generosity?

Only for Teng Yun, this did not feel like generosity at all. If possible, then as a patriot of Teng, he would never wish to remain in enemy lands after his death.

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty, what’s wrong? If you are not feeling well, then shall I call for the physician?”

Xiu Yao quickly reached over to catch him when she saw him swaying. Even though Xiu Yao usually acted disrespectfully in front of this ugly queen and was used to looking down on her, there was still a reason why such an unbelievably ugly woman could sit at the top of the Six Palaces. The greatest reason for that, however, had to be the queen’s blood brother, King Feng.

So, Xiu Yao had no choice but to show concern for this ugly queen.

Teng Yun steadied himself and said, “Let’s go out for a walk.”

Xiu Yao followed her quietly, not daring to raise any comments.

As soon as the two of them left the door of the main hall, they were able to see the small figure in bright yellow coming over from the distance. From the small stature of the figure, it seemed to be a child.

He wore a small yellow robe and black shoes, walking quickly with his hands behind his back while an old servant followed nervously behind him.

As they got closer, the old servant’s voice could be heard. “Your Highness, please walk slowly… slowly… It would be a problem if anyone was to bump into Your Highness!”

The child answered back, “Who would run into me? Though, I would like to take a look at our famous queen.”

When Teng Yun caught their faint voices in the distance, he knew that this little prince must have come specifically to mock him.

As a matter of fact, as the queen was Xue Junliang’s unveiled wife and the mistress of the Six Palaces, this prince was expected to call her mother even if they were not blood-related. However, it was clear that this young prince saw the ugly queen as dirt.

When Teng Yun heard the news of “his” own death, his heart had already frozen over. He was no longer even himself at this moment, so how could he mourn for his state? However, Teng Yun would not just accept this fate as it was…

Since someone had come to pick a fight with him, Teng Yun decided to take this time to vent his pent-up anger.

The young prince walked forward with large strides. When he raised his head and looked up at the last step, he just happened to see Teng Yun standing at the door.

Even though the prince proudly asserted that he was not afraid of her, he was in fact just an immature child that was no more than seven or eight. When he saw Teng Yun, he staggered back a few steps. If not for the servant supporting him from behind, he may have fallen butt first on the steps, and in worse cases, stumble down the stairs.

Teng Yun felt like laughing when he saw the look on his face. In fact, even he himself was shocked when he first saw himself in the bronze mirror. She had bruises all over her cheeks and a horribly distended cheekbone topped off with some bloody scars. The swelling was so bad that he could barely keep his eyes open.

The young prince was not a seasoned veteran on the battlefield like Teng Yun was, so he was taken aback for quite a while before he was able to gather his bearings again. “She’s not that scary, seems like the rumors were all just talk.”

The old servant behind him was well-versed in etiquette and was fearful of the young prince’s disregard for manners. He immediately knelt down and kowtowed. “This old slave greets Her Majesty.”

“Stand up, Jiang Yu.”

The young prince turned around and glared at his servant.

It turned out that this well-mannered servant was called Jiang Yu. He was originally the head eunuch who followed Xue Junliang closely. Later, when the crown prince was announced, he pampered his son so much that he decided to have Jiang Yu follow the prince instead.

Teng Yun did not speak, and so Jiang Yu did not rise either. This caused the young prince to feel more and more dissatisfied that this eunuch was ignoring his orders. “Jiang Yu, what are you kneeling for? Does our great Xue have to fear an ugly queen from a political marriage? Teng is about to be destroyed. It will only be a matter of time until Feng is annexed as well.”

Teng Yun merely scoffed at his words. “His Highness the crown prince, have you ever read a book before?”

The young prince craned his neck up to meet Teng Yun’s eyes. “Of course I have! Do you take me for an ignorant fool?!”

“In that case, how strange,” Teng Yun said, “If you’ve read books before, then how could you spout such thoughtless nonsense?