The Ugly Empress by Yun Guo Shi Fei / 丑娘娘 by 云

Ch51 - Affair

Xue Junliang didn’t give Teng Yun any opportunity to refute.

Zhao Tong had always felt that Teng Yun got the position of a Marquis due to a huge stroke of luck. Now that with great effort he had managed to capture Feng Country’s Minister Lu Shichen, again Teng Yun robbed him of his opportunity to persuade Lu Shichen. Naturally, Zhao Tong was not convinced. 

Xue Junliang said with a smile: “It’s a good thing that you all want to contribute and this Seat is very pleased. But if the Marquis Tengnan isn’t able to make Lu Shichen surrender, then the task will remain on your shoulders.”

Zhao Tong had to respect the decision of Emperor Xue. He knew that he could not do anything to change Emperor Xue’s mind. Even if he was young and fearless, he could not talk back to the Monarch, it would be his head on the line, so he had to stop.

Teng Yun asked some Imperial guards to take the unconscious Minister Lu Shichen back to the Marquis’ residence and asked someone to call the Imperial physician to come and check for any injuries, he also asked the servants to take care of Lu Shichen.

Fortunately, Minister Lu Shichen seemed to be just exhausted and very weak; as he had not been fed for many days during his captivity. There were also some slight skin injuries and some broken bones, but they were not life threatening. Teng Yun was worried that if the broken bones were not fixed after so many days, it would give the Minister a permanent disability. 

Lu Shichen was woken up by the aroma of rice. He opened his eyes and saw food on the table on one side. He quickly struggled to get up.

Seeing this, the servant nearby couldn’t help laughing and said, “Don’t worry, Young Master. The meal is for you.”

Then she helped him to get up from the bed, holding him all the way to the table and let Lu Shichen sit down to eat.

It occurred to Lu Shichen that the servant was a girl and being a naive scholar that he was, he thought it was not good to be so close to her, so he cupped his hand and said, “Thank you, Miss.”

The servant said with a smile, “I was told to inform my Master, the Lord Marquis, when you wake up.”

“Yes.. Did your Master save me?”

The servant said, “This humble servant doesn’t know about this. Please wait for the Master to come, young Sir, and you could ask him.”

After she said this, she retreated and went out. Lu Shichen was too hungry to worry about anything right now. He grabbed the chopsticks on the table, served the dishes on his bowl and stuffed them into his mouth. Even if he was poor and his life was difficult in the past, he had never missed a meal for so many days, his body was feeling very weak and sore, after being carried in a sack and being bounced on the bumpy road. He almost thought he was going to die. 

Just as he stuffed the rice in his mouth, he heard a “creak” sound. He raised his head to see a man in a brocade robe come in. The man was only in his twenties. He had a good appearance and a strong body. At first glance, you could see that his bearing was not like that of ordinary men, but there were some scars on his face and made him look horrific. He looked like a mountain bandit, but no bandit had such a noble temperament.

Lu Shichen realized that this noble looking man was the Master whom the servant was talking about. Naturally, he should get up and pay his respect, after all, this man had saved him. He quickly threw down his chopsticks and stood up. He was aware that he was eating like he hadn’t eaten in his life, and was seen by the other party, so he wiped his mouth in embarrassment.

Teng Yun wanted to laugh when he saw Lu Shichen’s foolish actions, but he felt it was inappropriate. After all, the other party was also a talented scholar and a celebrated Feng Country’s Minister. Teng Yun, since he has not heard much about Lu Shichen, inquired about him. People said that although he was very intelligent, he was reckless, unfriendly, and spiteful. He was also very stubborn, but in order to pay King Feng’s kindness, he was ready to sacrifice himself.