From CEO to Concubine-Chapter 78: The Walls Have Ears
Yuanxiao, the last day of the New Year and the actual Lantern Festival. Yan Zheyun thought about the Young Master Huang who lived in his memories, resplendent in the warm glow of candlelight as he’d stood by the stall and watched Yan Zheyun answer riddle after riddle.
A similar view was outside the carriage window now, cheerful noises from the milling crowd and colourful lanterns once again out in full force as small shop owners tried to make quick money by capitalising on the good spirits of the festival-goers. Yan Zheyun had thought that the mid-autumn sights had already been splendid but it was nothing compared to tonight, where the lanterns were so countless that they resembled a thousand trees blossoming with flowers (1). The throng was too packed for the carriage to travel through without guards parting the way ahead. That would be too much eye-catching fanfare, however, and they were meant to be going incognito, so the carriage turned away from the main street in the eastern marketplace.
Yan Zheyun sneaked a glance at the man seated opposite him. The emperor wasn’t doing anything in particular, his eyes shut in quiet repose though his posture remained firmly upright. Dressed in the elegant garb of a young noble, he was the very picture of decorum and if Yan Zheyun hadn’t experienced it personally, he wouldn’t believe that this was the same man who had bucked against him until they’d come in their clothes. After the fun, Yan Zheyun had quickly realised exactly what the lack of privacy in ancient times entailed and had to deal with a mortifying aftermath, in which Head Eunuch Cao had been summoned to bring them a change of garments and to prepare two separate hot baths in the rest chambers of Tianlu Pavilion.
It was odd. As a child of the 21st century, Yan Zheyun was less prudish than His Very Conservative Majesty about some aspects of sex, such as fellatio, which in ancient times was regarded as a base act of debauchery that should only be practised by lowly born prostitutes. But at the same time, the idea of a whole bunch of servants eavesdropping on every creak and groan to determine when they would be needed to assist with the post-coital cleanup made him die a little inside.
He wasn’t going to be able to meet Head Eunuch Cao’s eyes for a very, very long time.
Still, if there was one other good thing that came—pardon the pun—out of yesterday’s desk-bound adventures, it was that the emperor had offered to take him out tonight. On Yuanxiao. Which was the equivalent of Valentine’s Day (2) in this era, given that the festivals celebrated in ’Hurt Me in a Million Ways’ were so similar to the ones in Yan Zheyun’s original world.
He didn’t know whether this counted as a ’date’. The emperor had made it clear that he had business in Meiyue Tower and that Yan Zheyun was tagging along, which hadn’t sounded very romantic, but Yan Zheyun would seize any chance to roam the marketplace again. The imperial city, with all its vastness, was claustrophobic to Yan Zheyun, who had come from a life of unfettered freedom.
Later, after the emperor was done with whatever he’d left the protection of the imperial city to do, Yan Zheyun would like to invite him for a stroll. Back then, they hadn’t done more than trade a few polite words before going their separate ways. Today, he hoped that he would be able to walk by the emperor’s side as they weaved between the street dancers waving lanterns shaped like carp and dragons conquering the waves (1).
Meiyue Tower had always changed its livery for the festivities. Reds and golds adorned it from head to toe, the lanterns fluttering in the perfumed wind now grander than ever. The interior was just as complicated as Yan Zheyun remembered. The emperor instructed him to wait in one of the rooms that the serving staff led him towards, before vanishing down one of the long, identical corridors with Head Eunuch Cao, not requiring a guide of his own.
Yan Zheyun didn’t inquire about where they were headed to or who he was here to meet. He had a protagonist halo, that was true, but it only served to make him desirable to men, not immune to punishment or death.
The waiter standing outside the private room he was brought to gave him a deep, respectful bow. Yan Zheyun recognised him immediately as the one who’d taken Wu Bin’s orders during his last visit. Back then, he’d been a mere slave in a scratchy, uncomfortable tunic. Now, his sky blue scholar’s robes and fur-lined cloak told a different story about his status and the waiter responded accordingly, without a hint of surprise flickering over his face. Once again, Yan Zheyun had to marvel at how well-trained he was.
"Young Master, this small one is happy to see you looking so well."
Yan Zheyun returned his pleasantries with a small smile. "This one thanks you," he replied genially, a bit puzzled when the waiter doesn’t open the doors to let him in. The other young boy who had led Yan Zheyun over had vanished when he wasn’t looking. "...is there a reason I shouldn’t enter?"
The waiter’s grin was reassuring but Yan Zheyun felt anything but. "The owner of Meiyue Tower has prepared something for Young Master to see but in order for Young Master to enjoy yourself, you will have to remain very quiet."
A funny pang twinged in Yan Zheyun’s chest. The owner of Meiyue Tower? His identity was one of the biggest mysteries in the capital, if not the country, but it was no secret to Yan Zheyun.
He should have known. Given the way he’d been behaving around the emperor these couple of days—first insisting he had no interest in court, next promoting Hua Zhixuan as an ideal candidate, finally throwing himself at the emperor brazenly—it was no wonder the emperor was testing him yet again, especially since he had no idea Yan Zheyun knew who Meiyue Tower belonged to.
Concealing the sinking in the pit of his stomach, he nodded graciously at the waiter. "Please convey my gratitude to the owner, then."
"This small one will be certain to."
The room within was smaller than the one Wu Bin had booked in the past. It looked more like an antechamber but didn’t have any other doors that led elsewhere apart from back onto the corridor. The furnishings were very sparse, with just a simple painting at one end of the room, a plain wooden folding screen, and a low table in the middle with a tea set placed on a neat, square cloth. Everything seemed too understated for the finery of Meiyue Tower and if there was one thing that lived up to the reputation of the place, it was the plush fur rugs underfoot that covered every surface of the floor.
He stepped in and the waiter closed the door behind him. Once seated at the table, he realised exactly what it was about the furnishings that struck him as bizarre. It wasn’t so much the bareness of the decoration as the placement of it that didn’t make sense. The painting on the wall was the only highlight and yet, from his position, it was blocked by the screen and impossible for him to admire.
Also, the soundproofing in the place was terrible. He could hear the conversation from next door as though he was seated in the same room, and he had more than sufficient reason to believe that it was on purpose. He wasn’t going to check what lay beneath the painting but he was willing to wager that it was either a hole or a false wall that was thin enough to allow voices to pass through without hindrance.
Fine. He was in one of Meiyue Tower’s legendary spy rooms or something. He could deal with it. If the emperor wanted him to listen to whoever was on the other side, Yan Zheyun could do just that.
Especially since the speakers were dreadfully familiar to him.
"Your mother came to our residences earlier today to lecture me about begetting heirs again," a haughty female voice complained. "Would my husband like to explain to her just why that won’t be happening anytime soon?"
Her husband’s reply was weary. "I’ve already brought you out on Yuanxiao as per your wishes, what more do you want?"
"Hah! As per my wishes, he says. Yingxiang, did you hear? Does it not sound like my beloved husband resents me for requesting to spend time with him today?"
"Mei Xiang agrees with Young Madam. Big Young Master, it goes against the rules that you should spend so many nights in the room of a bedwarmer, one would think that you’ve forgotten who your actual wife is—"
A loud clatter interrupts their dialogue. It didn’t sound like anything was broken but the man spoke up again, his tone venomous. "Don’t go too far, Guo Zhen," he threatened, so quietly that Yan Zheyun had to strain his ears to catch his words. "For the sake of our family’s alliance, I’ve tolerated you to the best of my ability, but I’m warning you, stop pushing it."
Guo Zhen, the only daughter of General Guo. Wu Bin’s main wife.
It really was them.
Having confirmed their identities, it made more sense now, why the emperor arranged for Yan Zheyun to be privy to this conversation. Perhaps he still had lingering suspicions that Yan Zheyun was a spy for the Wu Family and some of the other old noble clans, serving as a conduit between the scheming geezers outside and the inner palace affairs within.
Instead of backing down, Guo Zhen’s retorts became more pernicious, her disdain for her husband dripping from every word. "My husband loves using big words but can only deliver empty promises. Do you remember what you said to me when I first married into your wretched little family? Yingxiang, tell him!"
The sweet voice that presumably belonged to Guo Zhen’s handmaid piped up with a cloying, "Yes, Young Madam. This servant was present too that evening and can vouch for Young Madam that Big Young Master promised not to have a child before his legitimate heir was born."
Big Young Master could only be referring to Wu Bin. "When have I broken that promise?" he snapped. "None of the other women in my backyard has become pregnant—"
"That’s because I took care of it for you!" was Guo Zhen’s shrill reply. "Otherwise that whore Mingyue would be bloated with your spawn by now, given how often you’ve chosen to frequent her cheap bed—ah!"
A light crashing sound echoed through the room, followed quickly by a resounding slap and a feeble, "T-This servant is in the wrong, please forgive me—"
Yan Zheyun’s heart, which had already sunk at the mention of Mingyue, plummeted the rest of the way.
Xiao Ma. What was Xiao Ma doing here?
"Useless slave!" Another dull slapping noise. Yan Zheyun realised it was the sound of flesh contacting against flesh. "Can’t even pour tea without making a mess, what if you scalded the Young Madam?!"
"Xiao Ma is s-sorry..."
Wu Bin let out a heavy sigh. "Enough," he muttered. "Does that make my wife feel better? Taking out her temper on this husband’s new manservant? You know he isn’t fully trained yet."
"And who’s fault is that?" The sneer in her voice was evident. "Pampering the bedwarmer and stable boy just because they were his friends, my husband spends all his waking hours neglecting his duties to chase after the memory of a dirty slave who abandoned him for a bigger bed—"
This time around, the dull slapping noise was even louder and accompanied by Guo Zhen’s piercing shriek.
"You—! You dare to hit me?!" The earsplitting scraping of chair legs against a wooden floor made Yan Zheyun flinch. "Just wait, Wu Bin, you’ll regret treating me like this. The emperor will be deploying my father back to the southwest front very soon, my family has already received word from Prince Xi—"
"Don’t mention that disgusting name in front of me!" Wu Bin snarled.
Guo Zhen’s laughter was cutting. "Disgusting? I suppose you think you’re much better? I don’t even know how my family could be so blind as to deem you a promising catch, compared to the glory of the Guo Family, which will go on for many generations more since the emperor is so reliant on us, what does your abysmal failure of a clan have to show?"
A door slammed open. The noise came from the left instead of the right, which meant that the entrance to the room Wu Bin was in wasn’t on the same side as the entrance to the room Yan Zheyun was in, even though from the outside, it had looked like the entire corridor was made up of doors. Meiyue Tower was truly a marvellous maze.
"I advise you, dear husband, to think carefully about whether you wish to apologise to me." Guo Zhen’s tone brooked no argument. "If you don’t come grovelling back by noon tomorrow, you can be sure that my father will hear about this. The new round of imperial examinations are about to begin, yes? There’s nothing like a new principal graduate to replace an old, ineffectual one."
Silence fell as Guo Zhen’s agitated footsteps faded away. When Wu Bin spoke again after a while, his voice was eerily calm.
"Come, Xiao Ma. We’re going home."
"Yes, Big Young Master." Xiao Ma’s reply was soft and timid, a mere shadow of the youthful enthusiasm that had cheered Yan Zheyun up on many an afternoon. Even after the betrayal and their parting, Yan Zheyun still thought about him occasionally, along with the stable master, Madam Wang, Wu Zhong, and of course, Mingyue, the precious few people who had shown him any kindness in that nightmarish place. He’d been powerless to do anything but leave them behind. Now, more than ever, he wished that weren’t true.
"Don’t shuffle like that," Wu Bin said, voice drifting further as he headed out of the room as well. "How often must this young master remind you? Yun Er has always walked with heart-stopping grace..."
