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

Chapter 11 - Provocation

When all the guests left Rui Xue said again, "Master, please hurry. Just now, Minister Zuo entered the palace to complain about you, Da Wang didn't say anything, but he might be dissatisfied with you... Maybe you should persuade Da Wang, just in case?"

Zhao Lu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Prepare my horse, I'm going to enter the palace."

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Because a new consort was entering the palace, half of Inner Palace's population was displeased. But the other half only regarded the matter as a no big deal; after all Teng was a defeated country, even if the new consort was very beautiful and talented, her status wasn't that important.

Since Xue Junliang ordered the royal physician to prescribe a medicine, Teng Yun definitely felt the pain on his face had got better. Xiu Yao was the happiest of all. Her mistress' appearance was getting prettier, added with her graceful figure, they wouldn't need to worry even if Xue Wang was to take many new wives.

Xiu Yao was also a good learner; she'd began carefully supervising her mistress' meal, reminding the Empress to take and to apply the medicines. Gradually, the improvement began to be more obvious.

When it was announced that a new consort was coming, the state of the Inner Palace had become the opposite of quiet. And now, there was another news that the Ugly Empress' face was beautiful like a goddess. Many anxious consorts had been visiting the Empress, just to be able to walk pass Yunfeng Palace's gate to investigate whether the news was true.

Her Ladyship Defei was able to stay calm and collected. Only, when she went to Yunfeng Palace, Teng Yun was not there. The Little Crown Prince, Xue Pei had dragged Teng Yun to the training ground.

Since the day Teng Yun showed his skill in archery, the Crown Prince had been secretly admiring the Empress. Xue Pei no longer thought the Empress was a mere woman pretending to be knowledgeable in theories of war.

Teng Yun didn't want to get close to the Crown Prince. After all, he was an imperial prince of Xue, the next in line to Xue Wang's throne. Teng and Xue had been enemies for more than a decade, their mutual resentment and hatred had grown deep. Apart from debt of life and blood, Teng Yun didn't know what else their two countries could give to each other.

The Crown Prince, of course didn't know about Teng Yun's reluctance. He was determined to stay close to the Empress. He always wanted the Empress to teach him both theories and martial arts.

This reminded Teng Yun a lot of things from his past. When he was still very young, he and his brothers had all studied and practiced martial art together. Later when they'd grown up, they began to form cliques.

Perhaps it was a good thing that among Xue Junliang's harem, there was only this one son.

When Defei arrived at the training ground, she saw the Crown Prince pestering the Ugly Empress to show him equestrian archery.

Teng Yun, a light bow in one hand, rode on a horse's back, his posture straight. In one fluid motion, he took a long arrow from a quiver on his back, aimed the arrow and shot it. The arrow hit straight at the bull's eye.

Defei clapped her hands and laughed, "Your Majesty the Empress is really skilled in martial arts. Everyone says that Feng Country people are all experts on horse's back. Today, I've seen it for myself."

Just as Defei finished talking, Teng Yun was urging his horse to turn around. Sure enough, the bruises on his face had disappeared, and his skin gradually revealed its true color. Seemed like the royal physician didn't do his job by half, because Teng Yun's skin looked as healthy as a newborn baby's skin.