Chapter 11: A Heart's Pleasure

Liu Suzhi had shown up with a verbal edict from the emperor too. But unlike Supervisor Hong, his reputation preceded him so strongly that Cui An hadn't hesitated before handing over the keys to Yan Zheyun's cell.

Everything happened in a blur. One moment, Yan Zheyun was still rapidly trying to think of a backup plan, should Cui An fail to keep Supervisor Hong and his ill-intentions at bay. The next, was bundled up in his thick comfortable blanket and rapidly escorted out of the department via a maze of winding passages that led to a nondescript side door. Xiao De was already waiting here for him, knotting his fingers together as his frantic gaze ran over Yan Zheyun like he was trying to catalogue any injuries that would require his special care. He was also unharmed, Yan Zheyun was relieved to see, reaching out to offer Xiao De reassurance with a pat on the arm. 

Little Master, you've suffered," Xiao De said with such overwhelming sympathy that he looked one second away from bursting into distraught tears on Yan Zheyun's behalf. It had been a long while since Yan Zheyun had seen him lose composure like this, reverting to the young boy Liu Suzhi had sneakily shoved under his wing for reasons still unknown to Yan Zheyun; perhaps the emperor had a hand in this too but nonetheless, if Liu Suzhi had enough influence to be able to bail them all out of jail from under the dowager's hawkish eyes, he didn't need to foster his godson off to a concubine's care, no matter how favoured that concubine might be. 

But now wasn't the time to ask. 

"His Majesty has asked for your presence in Qianqing Palace," Xiao De explained as he led Yan Zheyun towards a waiting sedan. "This servant will assist Little Master with a quick freshening up in Yuyang Palace before—"

"No need," Yan Zheyun interrupted. He was looking at Liu Suzhi as he said this and picked up on a gleam of approval in this beautiful but deadly eunuch's eyes. "Like this is fine." He didn't need to play games with Liu Yao, he knew this, but perhaps, unknowingly, he'd become—as the jealous rumours about him suggested—conceited as a result of Liu Yao's doting. 

In the grand scheme of things that had happened to him since transmigration, sitting around in a damp cell for a couple of hours didn't even make the top ten of his worst experiences to date. But he wanted Liu Yao to know that he had suffered in some way, to perhaps be consoled and comforted, even though he didn't think he had been too badly affected by the experience. It had been terse for a while there but Cui An's presence had nullified most of the potential horrors that might have otherwise occurred. 

Liu Suzhi might think that he was using his wiles to gain more leverage with Liu Yao. But he was wrong. Showing up in prisoner's clothes and hoping Liu Yao's heart would ache for him wasn't an attempt to wrap Liu Yao tight around his finger. It had nothing to do with seduction and everything to do with wanting a relationship that he could rely on for emotional support. 

It didn't seem like an appropriate time to be thinking such things but Yan Zheyun craved it anyway. 

As he'd expected, Liu Yao's stern gaze softened upon landing on him, although the furrow between his brows deepened when he took in Yan Zheyun's dishevelled state, eyes narrowing at Xiao De when he caught sight of the young eunuch, who was unusually nervous in his presence. 

"Is this how you serve your little master?" he barked out a reprimand but before Yan Zheyun caught Xiao De's arm before he could fall onto his knees and beg for forgiveness. 

"Xiao De was attentive to Yan Yun, it's Yan Yun who asked to come straight to Qianqing Palace without freshening up first," Yan Zheyun said, reaching out for Liu Yao's arm. But instead of wrapping his own around it and clinging on the way a coquettish concubine might, he slipped beneath it to encircle Liu Yao's waist and bury his face in Liu Yao's chest, breathing in the calming familiar scent of the non-drug infused incense that was used to smoke the imperial attire.

Arms secured themselves firmly around Yan Zheyun and he let out a happy sigh. 

"This sovereign suspected you might be stubborn, so a bath has been prepared for you." 

"Mm, Yan Yun thanks His Majesty." 

Instead of the lavish bath that Yan Zheyun had used the first time he'd been summoned to Qianqing Palace, Liu Yao led him to his bedchambers, where a large tub and a selection of bath beans awaited. It was less lavish but invoked a warmth that spread gloriously through his skin as he settled down into it and seeped into his chest to pool where his heart was. 

It felt nice to be looked after. 

A chair had been placed next to the tub and instead of the maids, whom Yan Zheyun would have dismissed anyway, it was Liu Yao who took a seat, grabbing a soft cloth to help Yan Zheyun scrub his back. 

Just like how friends might help each other in a public bath. 

Or lovers. 

"Your Majesty didn't keep his word today," Yan Zheyun murmured, resting his chin on the arms he propped up against the side of the tub as he enjoyed the tenderness Liu Yao was treating him with. He didn't know if it was his imagination but Liu Yao felt…even gentler than normal. Whether this was because he'd read Yan Zheyun's subtle plea for comfort or whether something else had happened, Yan Zheyun couldn't tell. 

Liu Yao hummed. "In what way?" 

"Yan Yun was only in there for a handful of shichen at most, not the full day Your Majesty had ordered." He cracked open one lazy eye to peer through thick, moist lashes at the window. Outside, it was still the darkest hours of the night but in here, by the dim glow of lantern light, he found a measure of solace and wondered if Liu Yao felt the same way too. 

Liu Yao let out a quiet chuckle. "Yan Yun must have been scared silly to misconstrue this sovereign's words," was his airy reply. "Since when did this sovereign say Yan Yun had to be imprisoned in the Department of Careful Punishment for any length of time?" 

Yan Zheyun raised a lofty eyebrow. "No?" 

"No, this sovereign expressly stated that everyone involved in the investigation had a full day to make any progress. As for how long the suspects had to remain in prison…" A small smile played on his lips as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Yan Zheyun's ear, turning it bright red."I said to await further orders and issued further orders after. If anything, I kept my word spectacularly." 

"…" 

Shameless. Yan Zheyun and, he suspected, everyone else who had been present earlier that afternoon had been too caught up in how quickly the events had unfolded to focus on the exact wording of Liu Yao's commands…except Head Eunuch Cao, who had ensured that they had been taken down by a scribe. Probably for this exact purpose. 

Yan Zheyun couldn't help but admire Liu Yao's presence of mind. Had he always been this collected or was this a quality that the throne and its burdens had shaped? Whilst everyone else had been caught up in trying to manipulate the game whilst trying to avoid being manipulated themselves, Liu Yao had calmed himself down, stepped off the chessboard and seized control of everyone like they had been mere marionettes, even the dowager, who had caught them all by surprise. 

It ought to terrify Yan Zheyun, who was used to being the one in charge of things. But…

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It was hot. Liu Yao was the boyfriend he'd decided on and Yan Zheyun had excellent taste, it seemed. 

Fingers pinched his nose teasingly, making Yan Zheyun wrinkle it. 

"What is Yan Yun thinking about?" 

[You,] Yan Zheyun didn't say. 

"Is Noble Consort Li still in there?" he asked instead, not caring that his words came out petulant. 

"Why wouldn't she be?" Liu Yao said. "Does this sovereign have any reason to believe that she has freed herself of all suspicions?" 

Yan Zheyun caught at the hand massaging the nape of his neck and pressed it against his mouth reverently. 

"But you trust me." He didn't phrase it like a question even though his words were hopeful. 

He felt Liu Yao's fingers twitch like they were resisting the urge to touch more. 

"I heard you that night," was Liu Yao's answer. "Like a vivid dream, I had no control over what I was uttering but I could hear your replies all the same." 

Yan Zheyun's eyelids fluttered shut. "Liu Yao," he mumbled. "You please my heart." This was a traditional way of confessing, much more formal than its modern-day equivalent of "I like you', but it felt fitting for the magnitude of the emotions Yan Zheyun was going through. He now understood why historical films always felt that much more epic, to the point of being too dramatic for a normal 21st-century person to comprehend. Yan Zheyun had never lived so hard in his life before, caught in situations that had once been beyond his wildest imagination. Extreme despair, extreme decadence, even his affections for Liu Yao felt amplified beyond what he had ever believed he could be like in a romantic relationship. 

"You please my heart too," he heard Liu Yao say and with one last satisfied curl of his lips, he dozed off to the languid ministrations of very posh masseuse. 

——————————

Liu Yao had never towelled anyone's hair dry before. Once upon a time, when Ziyu had still been around and Liu Yao had taken his rank too much for granted, it had never occurred to him to set aside his imperial title and take good care of Ziyu the way a normal loving husband might. 

The long nights without Ziyu that followed had been ample time for him to regret not being kinder, not being gentler, not being more thoughtful in the little things that might have counted. 

Now, as he placed Yan Yun in his bed and wrapped the silk cloth around the ends of his hair awkwardly, trying to replicate the way the maids would dry his hair for him, he could only feel a sense of relief that there was still someone in this world that he wanted to do this for. 

Yan Yun…

A quiet sigh slipped from his parted lips as he leaned in to press his face into the crook of Yan Yun's neck, eliciting a small frown and a soft snuffle of protest as Yan Yun struggled a  bit against the weight above him. Liu Yao shifted until he wasn't pressing down on Yan Yun's chest but his nose chased after the clean scent of Yan Yun's skin. 

Ziyu. Was this his Ziyu? 

Months ago, when Yan Yun had first entered the inner palace, Liu Yao had been taken aback by the similarities he shared with Ziyu in terms of demeanour. Every look, every glance, he saw a shadow of the boy he loved, in the tone of his guqin and his taste for desserts. He'd thought, at first, that it had been calculation on Yan Yun's part, designed to lure Liu Yao in with promises of the past. 

But today, when Liu Suzhi had handed Liu Yao that piece of parchment with Yan Yun's request on it, the one with the rushed, almost thoughtless cursive, Liu Yao had felt like someone had set his blood on fire. 

It had been years since he'd seen this script in anything other than the poems and letters he kept as hidden treasures in the secret chamber of his room. If Yan Yun had been intending to conjure up the appearance that he was Ziyu returned, then why had he chosen to hide this writing style from Liu Yao? 

Liu Yao could still recall the neat calligraphy hanging on the wall of Tianlu Pavilion. It had been pristine, elegant, but written in a hand that Liu Yao hadn't recognised. 

If Liu Suzhi hadn't handed him the message…he would never have known. 

"Who are you?" he murmured against the soft curve of a smooth cheek, lips tracing over warm skin in an attempt to ground himself in reality. 

If Yan Yun truly carried his Ziyu's soul in his body, then this time, Liu Yao wasn't going to let him go. If he didn't, then Liu Yao was going to treasure every moment with him anyway, because he knew that by this point, he had fallen irredeemably.

He was emperor. He could have the best of both worlds if he wanted.

Straightening up, he turned to the entrance, where he knew Cao Mingbao had been waiting for his orders. 

"Let news of Liu Suzhi's interference and Yan Yun's return to Qianqing Palace reach the dowager's ears." 

It was time to settle matters; a full day was a full day too long for dealing with such nonsense.

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