From CEO to Concubine-Chapter 124: The Way to a Man’s Heart
The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Or at least, this was what Xiao De seemed to firmly believe in.
"Xiao De grew up in the palace and has seen this for himself," he’d vouched, citing his credentials to back this theory up in front of his doubtful master, even though Yan Zheyun had tried to explain that he wasn’t doing this to try and gain more of the emperor’s affections. "The late emperor’s Imperial Concubine Qiu was one such case, her culinary skills earned her favour enough to give birth to a prince!"
The ninth prince, Liu An, to be precise.
Xiao De’s words had truth in them. Before becoming part of the harem, the late Imperial Concubine Qiu—or rather, Lady of Handsome Fairness Qiu, as she had been known whilst still alive, had been a mere serving girl in the imperial buttery. Xiao De had a way with gossip and had long since told Yan Zheyun as much as knew about the backgrounds of the remaining princes in the capital, of which Liu An was one. It was said that Imperial Concubine Qiu’s beauty had shone bright enough to capture the attention of the late emperor one day when it had been her turn to serve the dishes at a banquet. And that after he’d showered her with the dragon’s favour, she’d used the cooking she’d learnt from her time in the kitchens to keep him going back to visit her time and again.
It was a smart move. Yan Zheyun did like to enjoy the finer things in life, liked going out for nice meals in Michelin restaurants when he’d had the time. He just never thought it would be a move he would use too.
As one of the young masters in SH City’s elite social circle, most people tended to assume that Yan Zheyun couldn’t cook. There was just no need for it; why cook when you could go out, ask the family caretaker, or hire a private chef? But Yan Zheyun had liked the science of cooking. He was the sort of person who measured everything ingredient down to the last milligram and kept track of cooking times with a specialised timer. The chemistry of cooking was relaxing for him the way other people used their hobbies to wind down after a long day at work. He wasn’t the best, sure, but for an amateur, he was pretty adept at some of the household dishes from his region and could also whip up a mean steak with béarnaise sauce on the side.
All of which were useless here because Liu Yao didn’t eat any of that.
As for why he even started cooking for Liu Yao in the first place...
It wasn’t as though Yan Zheyun needed to work harder to secure Liu Yao’s favour from the other concubines in the palace. He couldn’t be certain that things weren’t going to change in the future but for now, it was safe to say that Liu Yao wasn’t intended to diverge his attentions elsewhere anytime soon. So it wasn’t like Yan Zheyun wanted to firmly pave the way to Liu Yao’s heart through his stomach or anything.
But lately, according to a fretful Head Eunuch Cao, their emperor was so preoccupied with affairs of the state, which had been piling up a lot lately, that he started to forego his meals in the afternoon, going so far as to dismiss the servants from the imperial buttery irritably because he was starting to find their feeble interruptions distracting.
Yan Zheyun knew exactly how much work Liu Yao had on his plate. But he also knew that there had been emperors in history who had died from over-exhaustion (1).
He rather liked his new boyfriend and would like to keep him for quite a while longer, thank you very much.
And so this was how Yan Zheyun ended up rolling his long silk sleeves up and stepping into the kitchens at Yuyang Palace, much to the consternation of the other concubines, who soon received word that ’overachieving’ Imperial Concubine Yue was going out of his way to secure the emperor’s love by preparing delicacies for him to sample.
This wasn’t common practice amongst male concubines, mostly because there was a saying that a gentleman should stay far from the kitchens. This was often misconstrued by everyone, including Yan Zheyun when he was younger and still studying high school, to be a reflection of a patriarchal society, where men above a certain social status should not lower themselves to menial tasks like cooking if they wanted to be worthy of being called gentlemen. Certainly, amidst the young masters who had entered the inner palace to become concubines, Yan Zheyun had seen the way they turned up their noses at any activity that didn’t fit the Six Arts, which was a measure of their refinement.
But in reality, this saying was meant to reflect a state of being that a gentleman should adopt; to stay far from bloodshed, even if it were for a practical purpose, because he would be too kind to carry it out.
Yan Zheyun didn’t agree with either interpretation. His hands would still tremble if he had to kill another human again but if push came to shove, he’d do it.
Likewise, if he wanted to cook a whole banquet just so Liu Yao stopped losing weight unnecessarily, he’d do it, ’gentlemanly behaviour’ or not.
Yan Zheyun used to have a subordinate whose wife would drop off bento boxes during lunchtime. He’d considered that sort of life for himself, had thought that it might be less likely that he would find a nice young man who would be willing to be a homemaker, but now he realised that it wasn’t about gender or stereotypical family roles; he liked Liu Yao enough that even if he were still a CEO working in a busy company, he’d be happy to find the time to do this if it would make Liu Yao happy and eat more regularly.
Today, however, there was something slightly different when Head Eunuch Cao announced his arrival at Tianlu Pavilion and led Yan Zheyun through to the study, still carrying the lacquered food boxes because it didn’t seem right to let the older eunuch, who was swiftly becoming an uncle figure to him, do it.
Liu Yao had another visitor. And it didn’t take long for Yan Zheyun to realise that this visitor didn’t like him.
"This concubine greets Your Majesty," he said, eyes crinkling as they met Liu Yao’s. He didn’t dispense with formalities like he normally would, not when he was still uncertain about who this young man was or what his relationship with Liu Yao was like. Yan Zheyun liked it when it was just the both of them without layers of rank buffering the interaction but he also wasn’t foolish enough to try and integrate that into his behaviour when there were others around. No need to give anyone any weaknesses to hold over Liu Yao or him.
Liu Yao, however, didn’t seem to have the same qualms. "Come here, Ah Yun," he said, gently reaching out to take Yan Zheyun’s hand until they were standing side by side. "This is Envoy Zhang, one of this sovereign’s study companions."
Ah. Envoy Zhang. The conversation between Noble Consort Dou and Zhang Qian replayed in his head. This must be the brother.
Outwardly, he smiled and inclined his head. "This concubine has heard of Envoy Zhang’s great name (2)."
"As this humble subject has heard of Imperial Concubine Yue Langjun’s." Envoy Zhang returned the smile but Yan Zheyun noticed the way it didn’t reach his eyes, which remained very dark and cold as they observed Yan Zheyun casually. In a more formal setting, he would have been admonished already for letting his gaze linger but from the way Liu Yao had wrapped an arm around Yan Zheyun’s shoulders and brought him over to stand in front of Envoy Zhang, this felt more like he was being introduced to a close brother or friend.
He thinks highly of this Envoy Zhang, Yan Zheyun noted. Whether this would be an issue in the future or not remained to be seen.
"Did Ah Yun bring lunch again today?"
Yan Zheyun returned his attention to Liu Yao, detaching himself gently and walking over to the side table to place the lacquered boxes down. "This concubine’s repertoire is limited, as I’m sure Your Majesty already knows," he joked. "It’s just some noodles and dumplings, nothing special." He didn’t have to hype up his cooking because he wasn’t aiming to please, he was aiming to provide sustenance. And Liu Yao had been very indulgent these past couple of days, so much so that Head Eunuch Cao had been so grateful towards Yan Zheyun for making their troublesome liege eat that he’d looked one step away from calling Yan Zheyun his new godfather.
Yan Zheyun had told him that it was nothing. But in reality, it was a lot more than nothing. It had been some of the hardest work Yan Zheyun had ever done, so much so that he’d regretted not paying more attention back when he’d been a kitchen slave back in the Wu Household. The actual cooking aside, Yan Zheyun had taken a whole day of sweating over the stove to try and figure out how to handle a fire that didn’t come from gas or electricity. Not to mention the rest of the equipment.
And then once he’d gotten a bit of a hang of it, he had to figure out Liu Yao’s tastes too.
Which were, apparently, by modern-day standards, incredibly spoiled. After learning that there were approximately fifty things that their beloved emperor did not eat, Yan Zheyun had asked, rather exasperatedly, if Liu Yao brought a chef onto the battlefield too, to which Liu Yao had blinked and replied, "I’ve eaten tree bark before when that was all that was available but, Ah Yun, we’re not at war, why must I eat radishes?"
There were no radishes in the noodles today, nor any of the other forty-nine things Liu Yao scorned. Yan Zheyun quickly laid out the bowl and utensils for Liu Yao, while a young eunuch rushed to test the food for poison.
"Imperial Concubine Yue truly is a man of many talents," Envoy Zhang observed.
Yan Zheyun thanked him politely for the compliment, his focus still trained on the eunuch to make sure that he was thorough in his checking. Yan Zheyun had ensured that he’d been the only person to touch the food the entire time, from choosing the ingredients onwards, but the fear that he had overlooked something was always going to be present. When he’d first realised that eunuchs were used as guinea pigs essentially, to ensure that the food was safe to eat, he’d been mortified by the appalling breach of human rights as he knew it.
But live in this environment long enough, get attached enough to the people in it, and it was difficult to keep maintaining the same worldviews as before. He was painfully aware that once he realised just how real the threat of Liu Yao getting poisoned to death was, he started to feel less strongly about using eunuchs as testers instead.
He didn’t have to like it but he had to admit that he’d changed.
Envoy Zhang didn’t seem to appreciate that Yan Zheyun was more intent on the emperor’s meal than he was on interacting with the rare guest. "Not only can Imperial Concubine Yue cook, I was also just talking to His Majesty about your magnificent calligraphy," he said cheerily. "It looks so much like our other companion’s that even I mistook it for his writing!"
Liu Yao’s chopsticks paused. Yan Zheyun, who was watching him from the corner of his eye, picked up on this but didn’t let the sudden dull sinking feeling in his chest show on his face.
"Your camaraderie with His Majesty is enviable," was Yan Zheyun’s reply, a very standard, neutral, faultless sort of follow-up that didn’t give Envoy Zhang too much to work with.
But Envoy Zhang worked with it anyway. He let out a hearty laugh. "My camaraderie was nothing," he said with a rueful grin. "Speaking of envy, I used to get jealous too, you should see how close His Majesty and Ziyu were! Nothing could come between—"
"Qiling, are you married?"
Liu Yao’s abrupt interjection cut Envoy Zhang off with a stutter.
"Huh—no, Your Majesty?"
"Do you have a prospective candidate in mind?"
Envoy Zhang didn’t seem to know how the conversation took such a turn. He rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. "No, I’ve not had the chance to think about it yet."
"Ah, no wonder you can’t feel it."
Yan Zheyun was confused too. Feel what? But he didn’t have to ask because Envoy Zhang voiced his uncertainty directly.
"This subject humbly asks Your Majesty for clarification...?"
Liu Yao rolled his eyes in a show of impatience. "No wonder you can’t feel that you’re interrupting this sovereign’s time with his beloved concubine. If you have nothing to report that’s work-related, go away!"
A short silence ensued. Yan Zheyun wasn’t sure if it was going to get ugly or not because he couldn’t read the atmosphere in the room accurately. Liu Yao was ruder than Yan Zheyun had ever heard him be with anyone but at the same time, he was also more casual and clearly saw Envoy Zhang as more a friend than a mere subject.
As for Envoy Zhang’s reaction...
The snigger he let out eased the tension in the air. He bowed to Liu Yao extravagantly, then to Yan Zheyun, the smile on his face apologetic. "Got it, got it," he said with a long-suffering sigh. "This subject is in the way of Your Majesty developing new relationships with the beauties of your harem—"
"Qi. Ling."
"This subject takes his leave!" Envoy Zhang straightened up and gave Liu Yao a proper court greeting before adding, "This subject will see Your Majesty in court tomorrow morning."
"Indeed."
Without a polite salute to Yan Zheyun, he exited the study without further ado, having hard spent ten minutes in Yan Zheyun’s company.
But already, he’d left Yan Zheyun with much to think about. Or rather, made it impossible for Yan Zheyun to dismiss the heavy thoughts that have weighed down in his mind for months now.
"Ah Yun, sit with me."
Yan Zheyun went over obediently, folding his robes as he took his seat from across the table. Liu Yao had placed his spoon down so that he could reach out to tuck a strand of hair behind Yan Zheyun’s ear before pinching lightly at its tip.
"Does Ah Yun have anything to ask this sovereign?"
Yan Zheyun felt his heart skip a beat. He’d imagined this conversation multiple times before, tried to strategise the best way to broach the topic without starting a fight that he couldn’t win, just by virtue of not being Liu Yao. But in a hundred years, he would never have guessed that it would happen so soon or so uneventfully on a random summer’s afternoon.
"If I ask," he said, hearing with some surprise the slight waver in his voice. "Would Your Majesty tell me?"
Liu Yao’s hand slipped down to cup his cheek. "If you don’t ask, you won’t know, would you?"
