From CEO to Concubine

The third watch had just begun. Outside the emperor's bedchambers, Cao Mingbao stopped the approaching eunuch from knocking on the door. 

"Where does Wang Gonggong think he's going?" Cao Mingbao asked. His usual jovial smile was on his face but none of the other servants in his vicinity was fooled. There was no love lost between Head Eunuch Cao's faction and the inner palace departments. 

Eunuch Wang, a portly middle-aged man who had served in the Department of Respectful Affairs for over two decades, eyed Cao Mingbao beadily. His tone was sarcastic as he replied, "Cao Gonggong might be His Majesty's most loyal…servant but if Zajia (1)'s memory isn't failing, the duty to remind His Majesty that his bedchamber time is up belongs solely to my department (2)." 

Cao Mingbao rolled his eyes. The emperor rarely if ever summoned any concubines to Qianqing Palace and he only ever visited Gracious Consort Yao in the day. On the rare occasion that a concubine was present here at night, they only ever walked out of the room despondently themselves once the gongs outside started resounding. It was for this very purpose that Cao Mingbao kept the window of the chamber slightly ajar until they departed, still untouched beneath the blanket that they'd arrived in. 

But tonight was different. The noises had been faint but unmistakable, especially during the latter half, where Noble Lord Yue's alluring moans had become louder. The maids waiting outside with towels and water basins that they constantly changed to keep warm still had a red flush on their cheeks as they stared down at their shoes and tried not to think about what was going on inside. 

And as for Cao Mingbao…he was surprised. He had never thought that the emperor would cave to the advances of his harem, let alone this same boy who he'd so coincidentally 'assisted' before. Cao Mingbao was torn between happiness that this charge of his was finally receptive to contact with another again and a gnawing worry that the emperor was so struck by beauty that he was being careless and neglecting the danger that Noble Lord Yue could pose to him. 

"If Cao Gonggong is going to keep standing in my way, Zajia will have no choice but to—"

"If Wang Gonggong's endless blabbering wakes His Majesty up," Cao Mingbao interrupted. "Zajia will have no choice but to report your transgressions to Director Liu." He wasn't disregarding the rules entirely. But it had been so long since the emperor had last summoned a concubine, and even longer since he'd acted on his necessities. Cao Mingbao hoped to encourage this by prolonging their time together. With some luck perhaps some enlightenment would dawn upon the emperor and he would begin to see the joy in flipping tablets. 

Cao Mingbao wanted nothing more than to see his liege's reign secured for good with the birth of an heir. In this respect, he was not so different from the court officials. 

Eunuch Wang puffed up in indignation. "Be reasonable, Cao Gonggong, you're the one standing in the way of my—"

The door swung open without ceremony. The emperor's stare was piercing as he regarded the two high-ranking eunuchs squabbling outside his door in the middle of the night like ignorant children. 

"Are the both of you done?" 

The entire corridor of servants fell to their knees. 

"Your Majesty," Eunuch Wang said. "This servant must remind you of the hour—"

"Your reminder is noted," was the emperor's impatient retort. "You may leave." He brushed Eunuch Wang off. 

"Y-Your Majesty, this servant has to escort Noble Lord Yue…" he trailed off under the pressure of the emperor's unrelenting gaze. "…as Your Majesty commands." He retreated with a final bow, the rest of the representatives from the Department of Respectful Affairs filing out after him. 

"Cao Mingbao. Prepare a basin and a towel for this sovereign." 

The emperor rubbed at his temples. His brow was pinched and he didn't appear to be in an excellent mood. Cao Mingbao felt his heart sinking. Had Noble Lord Yue done something to offend His Majesty? But apart from the dark expression on the emperor's face, all the other signs pointed towards a good experience. The emperor hadn't bothered retying his robes around himself and Cao Mingbao caught sight of the red marks on his neck and throat, indicating that the emperor had at least let Noble Lord Yue close enough to leave them. 

Was he now in a foul temper because he was regretting the decision? 

Cao Mingbao sighed. His liege was a dedicated man but this was not an ideal quality in an emperor. 

"Your Majesty," he asked tentatively. "Shall the other servants assist Noble Lord Yue in getting dressed?" No one was allowed to stay overnight in Qianqing Palace, not even the empress. The only advantage she would have over the others was that every twice a month, on the 1st and the 15th, the emperor would have to spend the night with her in her palace as part of his duty towards his official wife. Since the emperor had dismissed the Department of Respectful Affairs, Cao Mingbao had to figure out what to do with Noble Lord Yue. It would be inappropriate for him to remain in the dragon bed—

But the emperor had other plans. "No need," he rejected. "Just hand the items to me and inform Noble Lord Yue's servant to send a fresh set of attire over at dawn." The maids were too well-trained to display any surprise at this revelation, which was destined to shake the entire inner palace once word of it spread later in the day.  They rushed to hand over the basin and cloths to their waiting emperor. He stifled a yawn as he headed back in, shutting the door firmly against Cao Mingbao's protests. 

[What was going on?] Cao Mingbao thought in dismay. [His Majesty has always been the most rational observer of all palace regulations, a beautiful visage truly was the origin of disaster…]

Liu Yao was too conflicted to pay his head eunuch's obvious distress any mind. He walked back towards the dragon bed, placing the basin down next to him as he sat on the edge and observed the still figure tangled in the sheets. 

He looked back down at his hands. The stains on it were gone, wiped uncharitably on the blanket that Yan Yun had shown up in. But a residual stickiness lingered. 

This wasn't the first time he'd done that for this slave—no, ex-slave now—but it was the first time after knowing his identity as Prime Minister Yan's only son. Liu Yao had thought that the threat of revenge would have been sufficient to keep his desires at bay. And if not, then the memory of Ziyu should surely be worth more than a quick tumble in the sheets to slake his lust. 

But he'd underestimated the boy. He had an indisputable hold on Liu Yao, which was reason enough to get rid of him before it became too difficult to do so. 

Already, it was starting to feel impossible. 

[How could two such different people share the same gaze?] He had let his guard down too many times tonight, giving Yan Yun so many weaknesses to exploit that he was ashamed of himself. Even now, he could still feel the dull ache of the skin over the sharp jut in his throat, where Yan Yun had bitten down in retaliation after Liu Yao had turned his head away from a kiss on the mouth. Marking the dragon body was forbidden, an act that was so insolent, Liu Yao should have ceased at once and thrown him out as punishment.

But he hadn't. 

[You don't want his affections. But you crave his body.] 

Not just any willing body. Liu Yao had never wanted any of his concubines like this. It had taken all his self-restraint to not just surrender to the temptation and fuck into the warm, pliant body that had wrapped insidiously around him like the nine-tails of the bewitching fox demons in the ridiculous stories Ziyu used to tell him. 

He sucked in a harsh breath and fumbled for the cloths, soaking them in the basin in a bid to distract himself from pursuing that train of thought. He wrung it out and started wiping at his torso and neck, freezing for a short while when Yan Yun stirred and rolled over onto his side. 

Liu Yao didn't know what to do with him. For the first time in his life, he was uncertain about how to proceed. But the mess coating Yan Yun's stomach was unsightly. After a moment of hesitation, he picked up another clean cloth and took a couple of awkward swipes at it, so unused to taking care of another that he didn't control his strength well and Yan Yun nudged him away with a displeased frown. 

"…" This was the dragon bed. Liu Yao wanted it back, he hadn't lied to his mother when he said he had work to do early in the morning. But in repose, Yan Yun's face looked so peaceful that he found himself reluctant to wake him up and kick him out. 

It wasn't the same as the other concubines. Liu Yao had never touched them, hadn't felt any obligation towards them besides protecting their dignity in the public eye by letting them remain until the time was up. The servants in Qianqing Palace were instructed to be tight-lipped and the only way others would know that the emperor hadn't allowed these concubines to serve him was if they said so themselves. 

Fatigue washed over him. Forget it. He could deal with the repercussions after some rest. Chucking the cloths back in the basin, he placed it on the floor before lying down on the edge of the bed, careful to keep a distance from the warm body next to him. 

——————————

Yan Zheyun was woken up by a beam of light streaming through the curtains. He peered blearily up at the dark golden canopy overhead, its colour so rich against the dark wood of the bed's lattice partitions that he was reminded of ginkgo trees in fall. But this wasn't his room. Scented incense burned in a nearby holder that was understated but looked more expensive than anything in Zheshan Palace. 

It took him five more seconds to shake the grogginess from his head and realise that he hadn't returned home yesterday night. He sat upright and glanced down at himself, the sheets pooling around his naked waist. 

…he hadn't just climbed the dragon bed, he'd even built a nest for himself in it. For some reason, the eunuchs who were supposed to ensure that he performed the walk of shame had failed to do their job. 

A glance through the gap in the curtains revealed that the chamber was empty. Now that he was no longer stressing out over fulfilling his 'duties', Yan Zheyun could take in the surroundings. They were simpler than he'd envisioned the bedroom of the most powerful man in the country to be. The heavy shades of the dragon bed didn't blend in with the rafters and the coffer patterns that decorated the ceiling. But it was jarring against the rest of the furnishings, which were in the earthly hues of nature and featured a lighter wood. It was like two interior designers had worked on the place without prior collaboration. Yan Zheyun chalked it up to the emperor's personal preferences. 

Speaking of the emperor, there was no sign of him anywhere, which was a relief. Yan Zheyun hadn't thought that a handjob and a couple of orgasms were enough to knock him out like a light. He had never indulged much in his previous life, using his hand as and when necessary, which was seldom because he had so many other things to focus on. But this had never happened to him during those occasions. Perhaps this host body was physically weaker than he'd thought and required some sort of nutritional diet that all seemed like a fad concept in inner palace dramas. 

He missed modern medicine. 

The sun was already bright enough to disturb his sleep even through the gauzy midnight blue drapes with their gold borders, which made the rest of the room a hazy blur. This meant that he had risen later than respectable. Yan Zheyun parted the curtains, drawing the sheets around him to cover himself up to his neck when he noticed the alarming smattering of hickeys and bite marks all over his body, even his inner thighs. 

This was what happened when a healthy libido was repressed for too long. If nothing else, he was very certain that there was nothing wrong with the emperor's sexual function and his prior abstinence was indeed the product of an insane amount of self-control. 

Even in the headiness of yesterday night, even after Yan Zheyun had finally set aside all his pride to spread his legs in invitation, the emperor had rejected taking things to that one final step. Yan Zheyun didn't know whether to admire him for his convictions or to be frustrated that he didn't manage to secure yet another hold on the emperor. 

No matter. He could wait for another opportunity. At least he knew that the emperor desired him that way. 

The servants of Qianqing Palace were probably listening out for him because the doors opened as soon as Yan Zheyun stood up and in poured a whole entourage of them, led by Eunuch Zheng. 

The smile spreading across Eunuch Zheng's face was exaggeratedly delighted and he quickly fell into one-kneed genuflection, which was the protocol for a quick show of respect, the others following his example. 

"Please rise, Eunuch Zheng," Yan Zheyun hurried to say. In the eyes of others, he was the hot favourite of the emperor now, but he could guess that if word got out that he was starting to put on airs, the higher-ranking concubines wouldn't let him get away with it. Now, he had to be even more cautious than ever. 

"This servant greets Lord of Handsome Fairness Yue, may Little Master's path always be laden with favour!" 

"These servants greet Lord of Handsome Fairness Yue, may Little Master Yue's path always be laden with favour!" 

Yan Zheyun nearly swayed on the spot. "Come again?" he asked faintly. 

Eunuch Zheng grinned up at him. "Little Master is befuddled by happiness and didn't hear his new title clearly but not to worry, a messenger will be sent to the other palaces later to announce the new edict," he jested but Yan Zheyun couldn't appreciate the joke. 

Another promotion? What was the emperor thinking?! Not that Yan Zheyun was ungrateful but there would be no living with the rest of the harem at this rate!