Chapter 10: A Serious Help

Liheng as a child was very quiet. In contrast to Yan Zheyun's feisty little sister, this baby brother of his was shy and reserved, but so sweet and earnest that it was impossible to not like him any less. Some of their inconsiderate relatives used to criticise him for it, saying that it would have been better if Liheng and Lixin had been born with each other's personalities. The girl was too forward and the boy was too meek, was the consensus, but Yan Zheyun and his parents had gone out of their way to defend the twins, to ensure that neither of them had ever felt like that was anything wrong with how they were. 

Especially since Yan Zheyun knew that Liheng wasn't meek. He might have been quiet and he might have been reluctant to speak up in front of crowds, but his unassuming demeanour and guileless big Bambi eyes were a stark contrast to his siblings' colder upward tilt that his siblings shared. 

But this was misleading. Yan Zheyun had watched his brother listen to the nagging and the complaints directed towards him by jealous distant relatives and had seen the sharp glint of patient ambition in them, a hunger to prove them wrong that was the opposite of Lixin's recklessness whenever she snapped back at them for bullying her brother and closest companion. 

A wolf cub in lamb's clothing. 

And now, behind bars and staring out vacantly at the guards stationed at the entrance of his cell, Yan Zheyun finally understood why Liheng behaved the way he did. Why he concealed his true nature beneath a veneer of harmlessness, lying in wait for the opportune moment to leap for the jugular. 

Not having access to a watch had trained Yan Zheyun to become more sensitive to time. He wasn't sure how long he'd spent seated limply on some dry hay in the middle of a cell whilst watching the guards talk uneasily in front of him, but it didn't feel like that long before a young man, in a plain uniform that revealed his low rank,  straightened up from his cavalier slouch against the wall and cleared his throat. 

"You there—" He cut himself short with a strangled cough. "I mean—this subject means, Lord Yue!"

Yan Zheyun raised his gaze slowly to meet his eyes, seeing for the nth time as they widened in wonder at the host body's face before averting themselves quickly. 

"What is it?" 

In the stuffy, rank cells of the Department of Careful Punishment, his soft voice echoed out against the stone walls like rippling waters from the highest springs in the mountain, refreshing but icy. 

The young guard swallowed. 

"This—I mean." He rubbed the back of his neck and shot a desperate glance at his companion, who rolled his eyes and muttered, "You're the one who wanted to be considerate." 

The young guard had no choice but to trip over his own words. "This subject wanted to ask if Lord Yue was comfortable." 

"…"

"…"

Yan Zheyun found himself at loss for words. Comfortable? In jail? If the young guard weren't standing near enough to a sconce for Yan Zheyun to see the awkward blush creeping up his cheeks as it dawned on him that he had put his foot in his mouth, Yan Zheyun would have thought that the guard was mocking him. 

As it was, it sounded like he was asking out of genuine concern but…was bad at phrasing things? 

At any rate, Yan Zheyun could detect some sympathy here and was happy to exploit it to his heart's content. 

He shifted himself into a kneeling position, hands folded on his lap as he murmured, "This concubine is a little cold," he confessed quietly, which wasn't entirely a lie since he was in a plain grey robe that all prisoners had to change into to denote that consorts or servants, once in here, it no longer mattered what their previous status had been. Yan Zheyun had heard Noble Consort Li shrieking about it earlier from up ahead; he had no idea where she was being held, but if it was one of the other cells in this rank place, then Yan Zheyun felt slightly vindicated. He was used to roughing it out more than she was, that was for sure. 

The young guard snapped to attention immediately. "Hang on, this subject will see whether anything can be done about that," he said, dashing off before his companion could let out an exasperated "Oi!" 

The companion was a lot less friendly. His gaze was perfunctory as he regarded Yan Zheyun, with not even a fleeting hint of admiration for the host body's face, and Yan Zheyun instantly found himself drawn to his professional demeanour. Not in the way he was drawn to Liu Yao, of course. This was more like how he tended to feel whenever he found himself a promising new hire. 

"Don't get your hopes up," the companion said. "Ah Lu is new and doesn't know how things are done here, he is more than likely to return empty-handed after punishment." 

He looked to be in his mid-thirties, and of good height and built. He carried himself properly too, despite being the owner of a very dry job, standing guard over a bunch of helpless men and women with little opportunity to prove his worth and climb the ranks. For someone who conducted himself so seriously, it was surprising that he would still be here guarding this prison, so unless he was completely new—which didn't seem to be the case from the way he behaved—or he had made a severe mistake in the past, then the only other reason that Yan Zheyun could think of was that he had offended someone else. 

Yan Zheyun thought briefly about the ineffectual captain of the guard who had failed to question him appropriately that night when he'd bumped into the patrol whilst sneaking around the inner palace. And about the two members of the Yulin Army that had stopped him at the entrance to Qianqing Palace, especially the one who had the gall to take advantage of a 'helpless little eunuch'. Yan Zheyun hadn't reported that behaviour to Liu Yao, not yet. Liu Yao had had too much on his plate then and Yan Zheyun wanted to wait for the opportune moment to use the lack of obedience in the Yulin Army to their best advantage. 

If he made it out of here and seeing how Liu Yao had acted earlier, he had a measure of confidence that he would, then it was about time to suggest to Liu Yao that he needed to overhaul the imperial city's guards. Even if he still didn't manage to wrestle control of the Yulin Army from the grand protector after this incident blew over, the late emperor's previous reign had been so lax that laziness and corruption abounded within the infrastructure of the imperial city. Since Yan Zheyun had placed all his eggs in Liu Yao's basket, it made sense for him to problem solve on Liu Yao's behalf. 

With this in mind, he asked suddenly, "What's your name?" 

The young guard's companion stiffened. He seemed like he was about to ignore Yan Zheyun's question when Yan Zheyun modified it to force out an answer. 

"This concubine is inquiring about your name." 

"…In response to Lord Yue, this subject is called Cui An." The reply came after a second's hesitation but Yan Zheyun, who was satisfied with the information, chose to let it go. 

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"Cui An." Yan Zheyun was about to enquire about Cui An's plans for the future, sticking his nose shamelessly into someone else's business, so as to speak when the doors leading towards this row of cells burst open with a noisy clang. Instead of the young guard—Ah Lu, Cui An had referred to him as just now—a row of eunuchs and a tall burly man who was also in prisoner's attire entered. His face had a ferocious scar that ran from his jaw to the corner of his eye and Yan Zheyun's eyes narrowed as they scrutinised him. 

This wasn't a prisoner from the Department of Careful Punishment; no eunuch would fit such a profile and if this prisoner had been a palace guard before committing a crime, then as a male with an intact reproductive system, he would not be permitted into the inner palace prison anyway and would be sent to the prison in the administrative division of the imperial city. 

Was this the present his enemies had prepared for him? Yan Zheyun's lips curled upwards coldly. He hadn't expected to be permitted to sit around peacefully until 24 hours passed but that would have been nice. 

[I should apply for 21 vacation days from bullshit,] he thought wryly but didn't let any of his trepidation show on his face as he remained where he was, refusing to acknowledge the arrival of the newcomers. 

"Get out of the way, we are here on His Majesty's orders to interrogate Lord Yue for his misdeeds!" The high-pitched mocking tone of the eunuch leading the entourage grated on Yan Zheyun's ears. He was dressed in robes with a buzi on the front to denote his rank, which meant that he had official status and had a managerial role in the inner palace departments. This was probably the eunuch in charge of the Department of Careful Punishment. 

"Give us the keys to his cell, hurry!" 

Yan Zheyun's fingers tightened over his knees. Liu Yao had lost control of this important department? Did he even know that? Or was the eunuch telling the truth and Liu Yao had changed his mind about trusting Yan Zheyun? No, no that wasn't likely. Even if it were, the interrogation wouldn't take this form; Yan Zheyun didn't like the way the prisoner was eyeing him with greedy interest and he knew Liu Yao wouldn't either. Whatever his feelings for Yan Zheyun were, he had a possessive streak that ran like an undercurrent in his veins and Yan Zheyun had caught glimpses of it before. 

He wouldn't send someone who looked at Yan Zheyun with such salacious intent. 

Cui An thought the same, it seemed, because the furrow on his brow deepened and he used the length of his sheathed long sword to shove the approaching prisoner back, barring the eunuchs from heading towards the door. 

"What are you doing?!" the infuriated eunuch cried out. "How insolent, zajia shall report your misbehaviour to His Majesty and have you punished for it—"

"Supervisor Hong," Cui An interrupted curtly. "Without an imperial edict, my duty is to ensure that Lord Yue's cell door remains locked until further instruction. If you must interrogate, do so through the bars." He didn't mince his words the way a lot of subordinates would and his bluntness was evidently too much for someone like Supervisor Hong, who must have been used to being pandered to by the lower-ranking servants. 

He made an indignant noise and drew himself up to full height, which was laughable in comparison to Cui An's tall, broad stature. 

"You dare to defy His Majesty's commands?!" 

Cui An reiterated, "If Supervisor Hong wants to enter the cell, I need to see a written edict." 

"Zajia is passing His Majesty's verbal edict to you, you fool!" Supervisor Hong reached out to shove Cui An back but the man didn't budge. 

Cui An's expression was perfectly serious as he said, "Supervisor Hong isn't Head Eunuch Cao and your words don't hold the same weight when it comes to verbal edicts, how am I supposed to know whether you're telling the truth?" His tone wasn't derisive, was very reasonable, in fact, but it didn't stop Supervisor Hong's hackles from raising. 

"Very well," Supervisor Hong said with a threatening leer. "Since you're such a bad judge of the situation, then let zajia teach you a lesson. Today you've offended the wrong people, zajia will make sure that there is no tomorrow for you."

He signalled at Cui An with his head and the prisoner, whose eyes were still glued to Yan Zheyun, made a vicious leap for Cui An, would have seized Cui An by the throat if it weren't for his quick reflexes. 

Yan Zheyun's mouth pressed into a flat lie when Cui An slammed against the bars of his cell. The prisoner that Supervisor Hong had brought along was ridiculously strong and Yan Zheyun didn't want to sit around and watch as the guard who had dutifully been defending him was murdered before his eyes. 

Snatching a handful of straw, he crushed it in his hands before leaping up, his slight stature eclipsed by Cui An's bigger frame so the prisoner didn't realise he had moved until Yan Zheyun's hand was darting through the bar, tossing the crumbled pieces in his face. 

It wasn't the best distraction tactic but it was good enough that Cui An managed to get the upper hand back. 

"Preposterous!" Supervisor Hong shouted but anything else he could have added was lost to a swift interjection from the doorway, where a lithe figure leaned against the frame, a long pipe dangling from lazy fingers as he watched the proceedings unfold with a gleam in his eye that reminded Yan Zheyun of cats watching mice at play. By his side was a frazzled Ah Lu, holding a soft silk blanket up in two arms woodenly like he was about to place it upon an altar for offerings. 

It was Yan Zheyun's blanket from Yuyang Palace. Liu Suzhi was here on his behalf, had made the trip, especially for him. 

"S—Supervisor Liu—"

Liu Suzhi hummed. "Supervisor Hong," he greeted in return. "Zajia takes my eye off the departments for a couple of shichen and already you're getting restless? What's this? Do you tire of listening to Zajia's instructions? Zajia's word earlier today was His Majesty's word, was that not good enough for you?" 

He shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Zajia is disappointed in you. And Zajia doesn't use disappointing people." 

The blood drained from Supervisor Hong's face. 

"Supervisor Liu, this servant was just following orders…we can discuss this…"

Yan Zheyun let a small smile onto his face as relief flooded him.. Help had arrived.

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