From CEO to Concubine-Chapter 205: One Summer’s Night

Something was wrong. Initially, Zhang Xiu hadn’t realised it. Ever since the emperor had declared war on the north on the day of the empress’ coronation ceremony, he’d been waiting for Liu Yao to call him in as a confidante. The sixth prince and his supporters had predicted that Zhang Xiu would be of great use to the emperor at this point; who better to send to the north to assist in the unrest with the unruly barbarians than the envoy responsible for establishing diplomatic relations with them in the first place?

The sixth prince’d had it all planned out. Zhang Xiu position as a negotiator familiar with the north wasn’t just a commodity to the emperor but also to him. With Zhang Xiu there to influence the ebb and flow of the fighting, there would be little trouble in manipulating the situation in their favour.

But all this was hinged on the emperor sending Zhang Xiu to the north. He’d already sent the Western Depot to supervise the military, it only made sense that he would deploy another trusted subject to help him keep an eye on their enemies.

And yet, a month had already gone by. Zhang Xiu had been called to the emperor’s study to discuss matters once or twice, but only ever as a representative of the Ministry of Rites. Surrounded by the rest of his colleagues, he’d had no opportunity to approach Liu Yao to talk about war or empress, both of which were slowly but surely becoming a pressing agenda for him.

The empress. Fengjun. Zhang Xiu had to scoff at that. With that ruined ending to the coronation ceremony, not even His Majesty would be able to cut off all the tongues that wagged now. Even the heavens seemed to know just how unsuited this Yan Yun was for a role that required a ’motherly bearing’ that was an ’exemplar to all’ (1). A slave that had been all to eager to whore himself out to the most powerful man he could lay his hands on? If this was Ziyu they were talking about...Zhang Xiu had his reservations about whether Ziyu could truly be happy cooped up in the inner palace but at least he was a true, proper nobleman’s son, born and raised to be worthy of the emperor’s time.

Zhang Xiu had intended to offer his sympathy to the emperor, as well as provide some well-meaning suggestions that would benefit them both. With war at the forefront of the emperor’s mind, he undoubtedly had little time to spare to protect his pet wife’s reputation. Zhang Xiu had already prepared his piece about how the empress had come under fire for being bad luck, just because the news regarding the outbreak of war had fallen upon the capital on his big day. Zhang Xiu was going to say that he was concerned that the dissatisfaction brewing amongst the populace would boil too quickly and that the best thing to do at the moment would be for dearest Fengjun to lay low and possibly share the power of the phoenix seal with another consort or concubine until the chaos died down.

Naturally, power handed over wasn’t so easily regained. Zhang Xiu already had a candidate in mind, someone who was harmless enough in the eyes of the emperor and who had never once put her foot out of line. Even better still, she was someone already familiar with the running of the harem and would be able to pick up quickly where she’d left off last time around. There was no reason for Liu Yao to disagree.

But now, Zhang Xiu was starting to realise that for him to convince the emperor to listen to him, he had to first gain an audience with him. Never in Zhang Xiu’s life had he ever thought he would find himself in the same boat as his lower-ranked colleagues, the memorials he sent into Tianlu Pavilion vanishing into the ether with no response and his feeble attempts to ask that dratted Head Eunuch Cao whether Liu Yao had seen them rebutted with no more than a cryptic smile.

What had happened to cause him to lose Liu Yao’s trust?

...could it be that Liu Yao knew what he’d done? No, no, of course not. He’d only ever been careful. The eyes and ears of the emperor hadn’t discovered that the sixth prince was more than just a useless dandy. Even if Zhang Xiu had been caught meeting with him once or twice, it could easily be dismissed as young men having a fun night out in the capital, nothing more. Everyone knew that the sixth prince enjoyed dragging the new generation of nobles out the flower alleys. He was a social butterfly that marketed itself as weak, simple. Even if Liu Yao were aware of and disapproved of their gatherings, given the emperor’s personality, he would call Zhang Xiu in to speak to him in private and encourage him to find a more fruitful way of spending his evenings.

This cold treatment had to be attributed to something else. But for the life of him, he couldn’t tell what. Could someone have said something against him? Was it the empress?

All he knew now was that he had to act fast. The sixth prince was already growing impatient with how insignificant the progress of their plans was. Zhang Xiu had seen for himself just what the madman was capable of and he didn’t relish being on the receiving end of that insanity.

——————————

The singing of the crickets lingered forlornly in the stifling air of the summer’s night. The Yun Estate had always been quiet given that they only had one son and he had already come of age. Things had only become even more desolate, however, when the master resigned from his post as court official, taking only his wife with him back to their hometown in the south and declaring that until his prodigal son accepted the marriage they were going to arrange for him with a daughter of noble bearing, he could forget about seeing his parents again.

No one had believed that this parting was to be forevermore.

"You’re here."

"You were expecting me?"

"I was expecting someone but I didn’t think it would be you." A mocking smile, distaste that sharpened the blades hidden in a haughty gaze from a pair of mesmerising phoenix eyes. "The dog biting Lu Dong Bin (2)...to think that Ah Yao’s biggest folly was to take a snake like you under his wing."

Soft laughter. A wine vessel set upon a neat study table, now devoid of any of its owner’s paintings or calligraphy. Death, in the guise of pure spirits, flowed into a small white cup.

"Empress Niangniang wished that it need not come to this but alas, you failed to take the hint. Was it worth the despair you inflicted upon Uncle and Aunty? Ziyu ah, forcing them to leave you behind to protect the last few remaining members of your clan...is Liu Yao that worth it?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"He is to me, not that it’s anyone else’s business, is it?"

Slender white fingers drummed upon an armrest. This gesture seemed to irritate the visitor because his tone turned acerbic. "Hah. You think he’s worth it but has he returned the favour? No, because he’s too busy getting married to a woman tonight. Where is he now? In the Eastern Palace, in his bedchamber, in his wife. What are you planning on doing? Accepting your fate and letting him fuck you in quiet corners of his study when no one else is looking? My proud, prestigious study companion, you’re not that pathetic, are you?"

A hand reached out roughly to seize at a delicate chin but was brushed away with a coldness that infuriated its owner.

"You spurn me but I’m the only one who can save you now." The note of crazed eagerness in the visitor’s voice became more evident with each rejection. "Ziyu, you’re still young and there’s so much more you can do in the world with your talent. It would be a waste to die now, don’t you think? Come with me, I can protect you."

Ziyu raised an eyebrow. "Where are you intending to hide me, hm? Let me guess...the empress wishes me dead so of course there is no way I’ll be able to remain in the capital. Some farmhouse or countryside estate that you’ve bought recently, perhaps? Did you build a golden cage just to lock me up in?" He couldn’t keep his disdain under control—or perhaps, he didn’t bother. "Well done, Zhang Qiling, you’ve grown a pair. I used to think that your biggest failing was your overeagerness to prove your worth to Ah Yao. But now I know, my bad, it’s your innate ability to disgust me."

A loud slap echoed through the room. Ordinarily, the noise would have brought servants running by now but tonight, there was no one around but the last remaining tenant of the estate.

"Yun Zheyan, don’t say I didn’t warn you," the visitor bit out. "You act so high and mighty but how different are you to me? Both our families are small and need to rely on this naive idealistic crown prince for a living. I chose to hedge my bets on more than one master but what else can I do? Not all of us are pretty enough to spread our legs and gain some favour."

Ziyu looked him up and down before nodding. "It’s true, Ah Yao wouldn’t fuck you."

As though sensing that Ziyu wasn’t going to cave in the face of a direct argument, the visitor softened his approach. "Come now, I’ve only ever admired your tenacity. You and I have been study companions since our early youth, I would hate to see you ruined just because His Highness is far too weak still to protect you. Ziyu, if you leave with me, you’ll have a chance to see him again, isn’t that right?"

Ziyu laughed again. This time, it was gentle, fond, and the visitor knew that it wasn’t directed at him.

"That’s right," he said agreeably. "I even believe that I would be smart enough to stop you from having your wicked way with me, even run away before you manage to circumvent it from happening. But Zhang Xiu, I’m not going to do any of that. You know why? Because someone needs to warn Liu Yao against his mother. And once upon a time, I might have trusted you to do it but now I know that’s not going to happen, is it? Not when you engineered the whole mess."

For the first time this evening, the visitor failed to meet Ziyu’s eyes.

"I don’t you what you mean. I didn’t wish for it to turn out like that and when Niangniang found out, I thought to warn you so that you could escape but—"

"When His Majesty first found out about my relationship with Ah Yao, I did wonder who it was who outed us." Ziyu looked at him squarely. "Ah Yao didn’t even want to consider the possibility that it could be you. But I knew better. That day when you first saw him kiss me behind the maple tree in the Eastern Palace’s gardens, I saw your expression. You looked like you wanted to kill someone. But back then, I wasn’t sure...whether it was Liu Yao or me that you wanted."

He picked up the white cup and held it up to the candlelight, admiring the clearness of the poison. "Now I know," he finished. "You’re a rat, a thief, and after tonight, my dear Brother Zhang, you’ll be a murderer too."

"Ziyu." The visitor’s voice cracked. "Don’t do this, all I wanted to do was to keep you safe—"

"You’re scared now, aren’t you?" was Ziyu’s light reply. "Because Niangniang didn’t want me dead, no. That would pit her directly against her son, something she can’t afford to have if she wishes to live her life as the dowager in peace. So let me guess. You’ve been sent here to slap me across the face and then give me a sweet date (3). Intimidate me with her wrath and then offer me an easy way out. Then maybe one day, in the near future, she’ll accidentally let slip that I chose to run away with another man, that I was the one who had abandoned him, that I don’t deserve his devotion..."

The visitor made to seize the wine cup but Ziyu was one step ahead of him. The cool wine trickled down a creamy neck to seep into the lapel of his court attire. This would be the last time he had to wear these troublesome robes—the only good that had ever come of them was Ah Yao’s penchant for undoing all their fastenings.

"Ziyu, you’re mad! Why—"

Crimson splattering across the wooden floorboards.

Ziyu smiled. "No matter what excuse they tell him, he’ll always suspect her." He closed his eyes and let the cup shatter as it crashed onto the ground.

"My love," he sighed. "This is the last thing I can do for you."

——————————

My love. This is the last thing I can do for you.

"Ziyu!!!"

Liu Yao shot upright with a gasp.

"Your Majesty! Are you all right?"

His gaze darted left and right in a hysterical search for that slender figure. Cao Mingbao tried assisting him with sitting up but he brushed him off. It took him a while to orientate himself, the divan that he was napping on soft beneath his back, the intricate paintings on the wall a sight that he saw every day. He wasn’t in Yun Estate anymore, this was an antechamber in Tianlu Pavilion, the one in which he took short rests. He was a formidable emperor now, not a useless crown prince whose beloved had to sacrifice himself to protect him.

Ever since Ah Yun had given him the answer he’d spent years wondering about, he’d been having the same nightmare again and again.

He didn’t dare to meet Zhang Xiu, for fear that he wouldn’t be able to rein in his anger. Until he could find a good reason to kill him, avoiding him was the best way of handling the matter.

"Ah Yao? Did you dream of it again?"

Cool hands touched his face, drawing him gently back to the present. His Ah Yun smelled like his plum blossoms and his favourite longjing tea. Liu Yao buried his face against that slender waist and tried to let the past sink back into his pool of painful memories.

"I should have found some other way to tell you, these dreams aren’t healthy," he heard Ah Yun murmur, the self-reproach in his voice making Liu Yao raise his head and smother the guilt with a bruising kiss.

"No," he said against Ah Yun’s lips before licking into the mouth that opened obediently for him. "Mmnh, it’s not your fault."

It was his. He’d let his poor Ziyu suffer, had on some lonely nights even blamed him for abandoning him to remain in this wretched world alone.

But now that he had confirmation, now that his suspicions were finally confirmed, he wasn’t going to let a single one of them go. His sweet royal mother, his dear childhood companion.

Since they enjoyed wine so much, he could think of the perfect gift or two.