From CEO to Concubine

House arrest. 

With just one swift command from Noble Consort Li, Yuyang Palace had gone from his place of residence to a prison that kept him trapped within its high walls. But this was a far better outcome than Yan Zheyun had anticipated. Better than being sent to the Department of Careful Punishment, at least. 

Still, the uncertainty of his fate made him pace in a circle around his main chamber like a restless, lone tiger as he waited for the return of his servants. Both Xiao De and Qiu Ji weren't as lucky as he was. Worrying was futile, however. There was little he could do at this point apart from cross his fingers and hope that Liu Suzhi's reputation would hold the interrogators at bay when they questioned his godson. 

Because of how aggressive Yan Zheyun had been towards Noble Consort Li in the courtyard earlier, he was certain that, at least for tonight, she wouldn't try to hurt him. Not if she wanted to keep up her ridiculous pretence of being empress material at least. Even if she wanted to shred him to pieces for his audacity, she would go about it in a roundabout manner if she knew what was good for her. 

And a roundabout manner took time. At least for now, Yan Zheyun and even Xiao De and Qiu Ji were relatively safe because any 'accidental' injuries or deaths would reflect upon Noble Consort Li's character and competence. 

But how long until she made the arrangements to frame him? Yan Zheyun couldn't guess how extensive a support network she had in the inner palace and he didn't want to take the risk either. Rather than sit around and pray that she didn't have that many resources at her disposal, he preferred to take matters into his own hands. No matter how useless Noble Consort Li might appear on the surface, he was more willing to over rather than underestimate her. 

[As soon as Xiao De returns,] he told himself. [Or as soon as it hits the hour of the rat, whichever comes first.] 

His pacing continued. If he kept this up, perhaps he manage to wear a hole into the carpet underfoot by dawn. 

Luckily—and wasn't this the first bout of luck he'd had in a long while?—Xiao De returned earlier than he'd anticipated. He looked a little worse for wear and it was evident that he'd been roughed up a little, but apart from that, he was fine. No bruises littered his skin and he reassured Yan Zheyun repeatedly that without the emperor's express permission, Noble Consort Li didn't have enough evidence to commission any torture, not even on servants. 

Yan Zheyun's heart settled back down. 

"What happened?" he asked quietly. "How did the amount of coal change?" The imperial city seemed to have more holes than Swiss cheese and everyone in the capital probably knew by now that this host body had a frail constitution. But Yan Zheyun had really overlooked the possibility that someone might attempt to use it against him this way. Push him into a pond or lock him out in a cold, yes, he'd considered those options before and guarded against them zealously. But to try and frame him for stealing a sick concubine's coal to keep himself warm? 

He was left with no words. Stealing? Was asking nicely for assistance no longer a thing anymore? It was almost insulting that anyone would believe him to be this level of stupid. 

Xiao De removed his eunuch's hat and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. After so many months spent in Yan Zheyun's service, he had managed to break some of the habits that had been ingrained into him by his palace training. When they were alone, Yan Zheyun no longer had to remind him to be at ease for him to stop standing on ceremony. 

"This servant has no idea," he replied quietly. "The stores had been normal when I checked yesterday. As Little Master requested, I've been keeping an eye on Qiu Ji too and haven't seen him go near it. But of course, this servant hasn't been able to watch him constantly." 

Ever since deciding to test Qiu Ji, Yan Zheyun had kept him close by his side too. But like Xiao De, he didn't manage to pay complete attention to Qiu Ji's every move and there was always a possibility. 

"This servant did hear him in the other interrogation cell though," Xiao De murmured. "He was crying while being interrogated and swearing that Little Master was innocent." 

Yan Zheyun shot him a side-glance. 

"Do you think a fox would tell a rabbit that it wanted to eat it?" he asked archly. 

"No," was Xiao De's immediate reply. "It would say, 'Rabbit, come closer, I'm not like the other foxes, I'm good.'" 

"Wrong." He had taken a seat upon Xiao De's return and now took a sip of lukewarm tea that he'd made for himself earlier. He had done the ancient version of instant tea, scooping out some leaves and chucking them into a pot before pouring in some hot water. It was desecration but he wasn't in the mood to savour the art of tea brewing right now. "It wouldn't say anything at all, it would just go in for the kill. If a fox took the time to engage a rabbit in conversation, then that rabbit should suspect that the fox was trying to distract him from something else, a bigger disaster."

Xiao De paused. The steely glint in his eyes were incongruous to the youthful cheekiness of his face. "Little Master is suggesting that this incident with the coal is only the prequel to something worse?" 

Yan Zheyun shrugged. "I have no idea," he answered truthfully. "But I don't intend to wait and see." 

When Noble Consort Li had stepped over the threshold of Yuyang Palace's entrance the day before and met Yan Zheyun's eyes squarely, he'd already made up his mind. The emperor might have banned all concubines from visiting him due to his 'busy work schedule' but Yan Zheyun had suspicions on the nature of Hua Zhixuan's illness that could very well extend to the emperor too. He'd ruminated over seeking the emperor out despite his orders, had initially intended to try and find out more information first, but Noble Consort Li was forcing his hand now. 

It wasn't hard to admit that he wanted to see the emperor too. The inner palace had a magic of its own. Sometimes it felt like the smallest cage, its gilded bars so suffocating that Yan Zheyun was a hair's breadth away from claustrophobia. Other times, it contained the vastness of the universe, and no amount of missing someone could help to bring him closer to them. 

So maybe he regretted, just a tiny bit, rejecting the emperor's invitations to Tianlu Pavilion that many times. He'd been allowed to vent and had taken in but no one had predicted this unexpected turn of events and now, before he knew it, they hadn't seen each other in a month. 

[When all this is over,] Yan Zheyun decided, [we're going to have to sit down for a nice, long talk.]

"Xiao De, I need you to stay here and deflect Qiu Ji for me if and when he returns." No doubt Qiu Ji would be rushing over to declare his loyalty. Yan Zheyun didn't have evidence that he was working for someone else, not yet anyway, but this wasn't the time to be fair. In this sort of situation, where one misstep could ruin him for life, Yan Zheyun preferred operating on a 'guilty until proven innocent' basis. He wouldn't hurt Qiu Ji without good reason but he wasn't going to trust him without good reason either. 

Xiao De looked up sharply. "Little Master, what are you intending to do?" he asked, a note of dread in his question. "The curfew has already commenced, Little Master will get into a lot of trouble if caught outside." 

"If being the keyword," Yan Zheyun reminded. "All right, don't bother trying to convince me otherwise, unless you have a better solution to the fake evidence Noble Consort Li is probably amassing at this very moment?" 

It didn't take long for Xiao De to cave. Yan Zheyun had watched—with no small measure of approval—Xiao De grow from an indecisive, playful young eunuch to a more dependable one that had the bearing of a future head eunuch. And in such a short span too. He didn't know if this was because of Liu Suzhi's special brand of 'parenthood' or if he was a diamond in the rough but Yan Zheyun was both fond of him as a companion and believed in his capabilities. 

And he had yet to disappoint. 

Sensing that Yan Zheyun was set, Xiao De wasted no time gathering what Yan Zheyun requested, a clean set of eunuch attire that was fresh out of the Department of Washing and pressed into clean lines. 

"Be careful, Little Master," he cautioned in a small, worried voice. 

Yan Zheyun raised his arms and let Xiao De fasten the belt around his waist. 

"Of course," he replied. 

——————————

There was a pile of ashes on the silk tablecloth, the remains of the letter Li Fang's grandfather had sent to her via their usual contacts. She'd read it the night before but hadn't burnt it until now after her unease and paranoia finally became an itch that she couldn't fight against. 

Mianxin, her closest handmaid who had served her ever since she'd been the young mistress of the Li Family, swept the ashes into a bowl for disposal. Li Fang sank back into the cushions of her chair with a heavy sigh. Her hands were clammy no matter how much she wiped them down on her skirts and her heart had been racing erratically ever since she returned from Yuyang Palace. 

Not because she was scared of that cunning little bitch but because she had gone against a direct order from her grandfather to lay low and if he found out, if he decided that she'd done something detrimental to the plans of the Li Family, she would lose all his support at once. 

Li Fang was under no illusions. No matter how much Grand Protector Li doted on her, if she didn't manage to prove her worth by becoming the empress and providing her clan with the support it needed in the inner palace, she would soon be replaced by another female relative.

At the end of the day, Noble Consort or no, she was just another chess piece to help the men of the Li Family rise to new heights. Li Fang knew that the only reason why the late emperor had even chosen her to be the crown princess was because she didn't come from one of the old noble clans. This might sound like he was doing his son a favour but in reality, she believed it was because the late emperor was fearful that should his crown prince marry a Guo, Ren, Zhao, Liang, Wu, or Hua, it wouldn't be long before the imperial surname ceased to be 'Liu'. 

Which was why she, a Li, had had an advantage over them. But now, if she weren't careful, she would squander it. Either way, her grandfather wouldn't forgive her. But if she strove hard for herself and managed to bring the family glory, perhaps they would see her true value. 

"Young Mistress," Mianxin murmured after returning. She took her position behind Li Fang and started massaging her temples. "Don't worry, everything you requested, this servant has already organised." 

Li Fang nodded mutely. She tried to relax, even requesting that Mianxin pass her the scent pouch with the selection of herbs that the imperial medical bureau had recommended for her sleeplessness but it had little effect on her frazzled nerves. 

She couldn't help but feel like something was about to go horribly wrong. 

"You've spoken to Chi Gonggong?" she asked. 

Mianxin nodded. "He reassures Young Mistress that he'd already made the necessary arrangements. His godson tomorrow will testify that Lord Yue had made repeated requests for more coal to be delivered to his house." Chi Gonggong was the supervisor of the Department of Inner Affairs and had control over resource allocation to the various palaces. Although there was an unspoken rule now that all the other departments answered to Supervisor Liu of the Department of Ceremonies, not everyone was happy with this development. 

Chi Gonggong was one of those with bigger dreams. Li Fang just so happened to know of them and secure herself an alliance. An empress' duties couldn't be separated from the departments, after all. It was good for both entities to build up connections with each other. 

"It's still tenuous evidence," she muttered. "But just about enough to haul him in for questioning." The key would be to settle this once and for all before the emperor had the time to pay the inner palace attention again. Li Fang had no idea why the emperor's presence had all but disappeared and her grandfather hadn't seen fit to provide her with any updates. This either meant that he had none or he didn't think that she was important enough to know. 

"Once Lord Yue is in the Department of Careful Punishment, we can arrange for our people to intervene," Mianxin said. "He will pay for the way he spoke to you earlier, Young Mistress." 

"Hopefully." The rage that had boiled within her when that ex-slave had spoken back to her with such boldness had nearly made her lose control in front of everyone. Especially when he'd had the nerve to bring up the empress star, rubbing salt into her wounds, his every gloating word all but hinting that he dared to believe he was the rightful one, the one the star represented. 

She was going to make him regret it. The emperor would suspect her, no doubt, but as long as she covered all her traces and validated every step that she took, he would have no choice but to let her off the hook. Accidents happened in jail, after all, and was there really a point in fighting with his grand protector over a replaceable little concubine? 

Yan Yun might have the emperor's favour but the emperor's interest was starting to stray, wasn't it? No matter how much doting he might have had for his face, he wasn't and would never be that person. As long as this was the case, Li Fang was confident anything she stirred up now would blow over soon enough. 

Grandfather would see. She would get rid of her strongest competitor herself. She had underestimated him in the past, she admitted, but it still wasn't too late to rectify her mistakes. 

"Mianxin, bring me some parchment," she mumbled. It was already late and she still had to pen a reply to her grandfather, who would be expecting word from her first thing in the morning. She didn't know why the awe-inspiring grand protector would be concerned about the health of a mere talented lord and he hadn't bothered explaining either. 

But whatever.. Since this was his command, all she had to do was obey.