From CEO to Concubine-Chapter 157: Tenuous Peace
The outdoor clearing for the autumn hunt banquet was staged on a podium that was erected for this purpose. With the endless sea of tents serving as a formidable backdrop, the emperor’s place on an elevated dais was opulently decorated with folding screens and embroidered cushions that padded the seats slotted neatly behind low tables.
At the spring banquet just earlier in the year, Yan Zheyun had gazed up upon Emperor Xuanjun in all his dignified glory. Now, he sat by Liu Yao’s side, robes of finery spilling over onto the wooden platform like a colourful fan, gazing down upon the rows of guests like an idol upon an altar, distant and indomitable.
There had been some resistance on the Ministry of Rites’ part when they had heard that Liu Yao had had no qualms about the inner palace showing their faces at the banquet, citing impropriety and flying in the face of tradition as their reasons for protest. There would be men from outside the imperial family unit present, they had painstakingly said, surely Your Majesty would not be pleased with any threats to the modesty of your concubines?
Liu Yao, Yan Zheyun knew, could hardly care less. If superficial modesty played such a large role in shaping Liu Yao’s values, he wouldn’t treat a dancing slave with the sincerity with which he did now.
The compromise Liu Yao had secured after negotiation was that the male concubines would be permitted to attend the banquet openly, whereas a separate partition ought to be erected for the female guests, as opposed to completely excluding them from the festivities.
Liu Yao’s ministers, who had their agenda, of course, were pleased to acquiesce to this compromise. After all, why not? It had sounded like the emperor was interested in the female members of the harem for once and if nothing else, allowed their other unwedded daughters to be close to His Majesty’s presence.
A pavilion near the water1 was favourably placed. Who was to say the emperor wasn’t finally taking notice of the importance of heirs? Even if no one would be able to surpass the imperial noble consort in the emperor’s eyes, at least for the time being, time would be the best judge.
As the saying went: with age came the waning of beauty.
Yan Zheyun could guess what they were thinking but it didn’t bother him. If Liu Yao were the sort to move on to the next pretty face or fertile womb that easily, he would have done so long before Yan Zheyun entered the picture. But there was no need to correct them. Allowing them to believe that Liu Yao had a more mindless reason to suddenly remember the existence of the rest of his harem was easier to deal with. They didn’t want to let the morning court find out that behind those ornate silk screens that kept the inner palace beauties shrouded from prying onlookers, Zhao Qiaoting was undertaking a learning opportunity never once offered to women in this era.
Liu Yao hadn’t just bought Yan Zheyun’s suggestion that women were equally capable of governing a country; he’d invested wholly into the idea, starting with those closest and most loyal to him.
The other male members of the imperial family were positioned just below the dais, in descending order of title and age. Starting with the princes, they formed a line down the right, with the fourth prince right in the front, in plain view of Yan Zheyun. Despite having Liu Yao by his side, Yan Zheyun could feel a couple of heated stares burning unceremoniously into his face with a covetous greed that Liu Yao, even in the most reckless moments of passion, had never disrespected him enough to show.
Married with a child on the way and slobbering over his brother’s lover like they’re a fresh slab of meat. Disgusting.
A few paces to the fourth prince’s side was the sixth prince, whose salacious grin when he caught Yan Zheyun’s eye was little better, made his stomach churn with a revulsion that killed his appetite for the roast that was being served up. It was only when adorable little Liu An beamed up at him and gave him a merry wave that Yan Zheyun found his heart softening in response and he gave the little boy a slight nod.
They weren’t the only ones who were paying attention to Yan Zheyun. The vibe that he was picking up from the present officials was one of mistrust and disdain, no doubt assuming that it was his skills in the bedroom that had landed him where he was right now. The ’distinguished’ foreign dignitaries had looked at him askance too, derisive as though they couldn’t understand why a male pet, whose sole existence was to be toyed with and enjoyed thoroughly between the sheets, had been elevated to such a lofty status.
The northern envoys, who had been ’invited’ to participate in the imperial activities of the capital, were seated upfront too, across from the princes. This would have been akin to VIP seating at a corporate function, Yan Zheyun imagined, just opposite the host’s table and right smack in the excitement, except the seating arrangements were subtly done to apply just the right amount of intimidation to make things uncomfortable for them.
Ordinarily, the Ministry of Rites favoured arrangements that displayed symmetry. This adherence to the aesthetics of order was something embedded into the cultural preferences of the kingdom. However, today, the ministers sat in rows behind the princes and other distant members of the imperial clan. The noblewomen, led by the empress dowager, were on a separate platform with curtains that billowed in the winds, far enough that no one could easily cause them any transgressions but still sufficiently near to listen in on the events that were to unfold.
This meant that the envoys from the northern entourage, though not a small number, were singled out and put on a rather awkward spot.
Great General Pan’s series of victories in the north gave Great Ye more leeway with the current treatise negotiations. Yan Zheyun wasn’t too familiar with the niche aspects of diplomacy and left that to the experts to weigh in but for now, Great Ye could hold its head up high and it showed in how wary the guards of the northern entourage were as they gazed about at their surroundings like they were anticipating an ambush at any moment.
This was unusually uncharitable of Liu Yao, whose reign as emperor was benevolent insofar as it didn’t concern court politics. If left to Yan Zheyun, he would have chosen to have been the more magnanimous party, with the assumption that bringing goodwill to the negotiation table would help smoothen any friction. But the war wasn’t a merger and acquisitions deal. As an outsider who had never had to live through the suffering of those civilians who had died at the hands of the tribal raiders that plagued the border towns seasonally, he had little right to judge the arrangements.
The clan chiefs of the northern plains answered to Overlord Kulai, represented on this trip to Great Ye by his most loyal advisor Daurga and nephew, Prince Yenanda. Yan Zheyun had read up on the information reports Liu Yao’s eyes and ears had sent back to the capital on their visitors but this was the first time he had the chance to see them in person. Their strong physiques and sun-bronzed skins told of a lifestyle spent on horseback as warriors, and the sharp, hawkish glints in their gazes were nothing like of subdued prey.
These were wolves, Yan Zheyun realised. They might be wounded now, might have to cunningly resort to taking a step back to catch a breather, but as long as their den was permitted to exist outside the burrows of the northern borders, the rabbits living within would never sleep a peaceful night.
He wondered whether Liu Yao even intended to strike a deal in the name of peace or if this was just a delay tactic leading up to the inevitable.
If so, how can I keep him from the warfront?
The niggling worry just intensified as he saw how calm Advisor Daurga remained despite the Ministry of Rites’ attempts to discomfit him. He was an enigma. Unlike the burly statures of the rest of the entourage, Daurga was slighter but with a sinewy strength in his movements that made it impossible for anyone to take him lightly. He spoke the official tongue of the empire with the capital’s accent and appeared well-versed in the kingdom’s history and literature. In fact, at present, he was engaged in a civilised conversation with Liu Yao about Great Ye’s poetry, interacting far more than Prince Yenanda was bothering to.
Yan Zheyun had heard recounts from Envoy Zhang about the tribal prince’s licentious tendencies. Right now, the young man was behaving like he was in Great Ye for a vacation, taking swigs of wine from a jar and complaining that the wine of Great Ye was ’too fruity for a real man’. This bordered on impolite and the disapproving muttering that the court officials were directing towards him pointed towards an impending escalation. This was made all the worse by Prince Yenanda’s attendee, a young boy of Great Ye descent, who trembled in the arms of the churlish man he was serving. Occasionally, Prince Yenada would paw at the slim waist that he held close at all times, leaning in to whisper a comment or two that made the boy hang his head even lower.
Such inappropriate behaviour in front of anyone would be consternating but before the emperor of Great Ye, this was an utmost show of impoliteness.
"Please forgive His Highness, Emperor of Great Ye," Daurga proclaimed after Liu Yao’s expression could darken no further. "His Highness has learnt a lot about Great Ye in this short stay and discovered plenty to be fond of. In a moment of ill-discipline, he has found himself unable to muster the same restraint he once displayed while conquering the battlefield and...Daurga humbly asks that you may excuse his behaviour today."
Excuse his behaviour. Was this the attitude of the defeated? One who came in search of clemency? Daurga’s words might have been delivered respectfully, his manners unimpeachable due to his innate understanding of Great Ye’s court etiquette, but Yan Zheyun knew that Liu Yao was not going to be so forgiving.
Neither were the soldiers who had bled in the war. A titter of dissent came from the corner where the military officials were grouped. To Yan Zheyun’s surprise, it was Pan Liqi who replied with a mocking smile, "Conquering the battlefield? Advisor Daurga, if Prince Yenanda is capable of only showing as much restraint as he displays on the battlefield, it’s no wonder you’ve had to fish him out of the flower streets of the capital."
Yan Zheyun didn’t understand this statement initially. He’d heard of Yenanda’s prowess in a fight as well as his keen political acumen. These weren’t attributes he would typically associate with a perverted lush so how was it that Prince Yenanda had turned out like this?
For the first time since meeting the northern entourage, Yan Zheyun detected embarrassment on Daurga’s weathered face. But before he could defend his prince, Yenanda brushed him off brusquely with an impatient glare in Pan Liqi’s direction.
"Emperor of Great Ye," he drawled, raising his jug in a sloppy salute in Liu Yao’s direction. "This is a hunting banquet, is it not? An opportunity for meat, wine, and merriment? Where would the joy be if we were missing the finest component of an evening well spent?"
He was eloquent but in a way that was wholly unsuited for diplomacy. If Yan Zheyun had ever wondered why Overlord Kulai was willing to put a favoured nephew at risk by sending him into the maws of the enemy, he was having to rethink just how much regard the tribal chiefs actually had for this wayward prince.
"And what component, Prince Yenanda, might that be?" Liu Yao asked evenly. His tone might be unreadable to most but Yan Zheyun could tell that he was unimpressed and not just because the speech of the northern envoys were telling of just how little submission they were willing to show towards Great Ye. The entourage might have bowed at Liu Yao’s arrival earlier on but Prince Yenanda, under the guise of inebriation, had made it appear more like he’d stumbled onto his knees rather than any genuine gesture of genuflection.
And their insistence on referring to Liu Yao as ’Emperor of Great Ye’ instead of ’Your Majesty’ was a sure sign that they were not ready to become subjects of or pay fealty to the dragon throne.
Instead of replying, Prince Yenanda let out a boisterous laugh and squeezed the cheeks of his servant boy in a firm grip. The boy let out a pained cry before cutting it off with a choke when he was dragged forward and forced to show his face in front of the entire banquet.
A sharp intake of breath ensued. Yan Zheyun took a good look at a pair of eyes that mirrored his own, his mouth pulling into a flat line of displeasure.
"The emperor of Great Ye recently obtained a beauty of nonpareil and would stop at nothing to dote on him." Planting a loud kiss on the hapless boy’s neck, Yenanda’s eyes bore into Yan Zheyun’s face with an unbridled lust that was raw and animalistic.
"How dare you raise your gaze towards the imperial visage!" Head Eunuch Cao came to life suddenly from where he’d been quietly blending into the background observing the matter unfold. His words unfolded the hidden problem that was festering at the heart of this dignitary visit for a couple of weeks now; the north wasn’t keen on succumbing. They wanted a period of peace but not the submission that this entailed.
"From one member of royalty to another," Prince Yenanda retorted, defiant. "This prince sees no need to lose my pride this early on in the peace talks. We might have lost a battle or two but Great Ye agreed to our proposal to negotiate. My uncle has yet to cede."
Shameless, was all Yan Zheyun could think. They were the first to disrupt the peace on the border and when losing, they were the ones who called for an armistice. Now, they wanted to have their cake and eat it; peace on their terms with nothing good to offer in return.
If this were a business meeting with a potential collaborator, Yan Zheyun would have upped and left already, asking his secretary to politely but firmly escort the other party off the premises.
He had an inkling that Liu Yao couldn’t quite do the same.
Liu Yao’s eyes narrowed. "You behave out of turn, Yenanda," he said. "You speak of the traditions of the northern plains but yet you’re far away from home, on foreign lands—my lands. Enter a village, abide by its customs1; Daurga can explain this common saying to you if you really are having that much trouble understanding such a simple concept."
The chorus of undisguised laughter that ensued from the side of the officials must have grated on Prince Yenanda’s nerves as he banged his wine jar down hard enough to crack it into two. Daurga reached out to grab him by the arm and drag him back into his seat before he could kick up a fuss and he had no choice but to settle down, apoplectic.
"This sovereign’s armies are tired?" Liu Yao let out a mirthless laugh. "Shall this sovereign take this as Prince Yenanda’s attempt at a joke or need you be reminded of why you’re here, at the foot of my throne, eating what this sovereign gives you, sleeping where this sovereign assigns you to, and waiting on my word to give a final verdict on the fate of your tribes?"
An idiom that is synonymous to ’when in Rome do as the Romans do’. An idiom which meant to be in a favourable position; using one’s proximity to the powerful to obtain favour.
