Chapter 5: As Luck Would Have It

"Did you hear? His Majesty has removed the fourth prince from his duties in morning court temporarily whilst the investigation of the cheating incident concerning the spring examinations are ongoing." 

Yan Zheyun didn't look up from the tiles in front of him. He clicked together a sequence of 'two bamboo', 'three bamboo', and 'four bamboo', and threw a glance at the table to calculate the odds of obtaining the green 'Fa' tile (1). 

"Be careful what you speak about, Lord Chen," he murmured. 

Lord Chen shot him a disgruntled look but shrank into his seat. Even though he was of a higher rank than Yan Zheyun, in the past couple of weeks, it had become evident just how dearly the emperor held Lord Yue in his heart; if Lord Yue were even permitted to return to Yuyang Palace in the day, the phoenix spring carriage would show up without fail by nightfall to ferry him back to the emperor's palace. 

As such, even Lord Chen, who had problems controlling his bitchy mouth, knew better than to take his little squabbling with—although it was more like squabbling at, given how little Yan Zheyun paid him any mind—Lord Yue too far. Over the weeks, the power dynamic in Yuyang Palace had gradually shifted and when Gracious Consort Yao was not present to manage them, it was the lower-ranked Lord Yue who actually took precedence. 

Lord Chen's mouth pulled into a long pout. "This concubine wasn't the first to bring it up," he muttered. "The entire inner palace is talking about it." 

On Yan Zheyun's right, Hua Zhixuan's smile was placating as he patted Lord Chen on the arm. "Brother Yan is just being concerned for you, Brother Chen," he said. "This is a sensitive matter and the less we involve ourselves with it, the better." He had the gift of a friendly, unassuming demeanour, which, if he weren't so often Yan Zheyun's collateral damage, made him impossible to dislike. Coupled together with how fragile he still looked whilst remaining on the cusp of full recovery and no one in Yuyang Palace would treat him as anything less than a precious treasure at the moment. Hence, Lord Chen's spectacular sulk didn't quite lift but he didn't push Hua Zhixuan's hand away either. 

"This concubine doesn't want to get involved," he argued halfheartedly. "This concubine was just thinking, now that His Majesty is defending the rights of the poor scholars to a fair examination system, wouldn't they be very grateful to him?" A frisson of worry passed over his face. "Things feel like they're about to change…" 

Yan Zheyun could understand Lord Chen's preoccupation with this subject. Although he constantly portrayed himself as a spoiled young master, at the end of the day, he was just like most of the other concubines in the inner palace, with a large family behind them that he shared a mutual reliance with. The Chen Family, Yan Zheyund didn't know much about. They weren't one of the old noble clans but for Lord Chen to enter the harem and make it to his current position, they must hold relative influence in morning court. Yan Zheyun wondered just how important they were and where their allegiances lay. 

As for his concerns, they were valid, of course. Unlike Lord Chen and everyone else, who had only been able to receive piecemeal information on the cheating investigation, Yan Zheyun had front-row seats. He knew that after the spring examination had concluded a couple of days ago, the grateful candidates from humble backgrounds had congregated on Zhuque Street (2), the main road that stretched kilometres from the main gates of the capital to the entrance of the imperial city. They had kowtowed before the crimson walls that separated them from their liege, in a show of thanks that had lasted for hours and would be written into the historical records. 

Yan Zheyun also knew that this wasn't the only way Liu Yao had benefited from this incident. He'd been by Liu Yao's side as people like Head Eunuch Cao, Xi Momo, and on one memorable occasion, Gracious Consort Yao, or should he say, Chief of the Brocade Guard Yao Siya, had submitted their reports to him on the investigation. He knew that Meihong, the little eunuch from the imperial buttery, and the old retired soldier from the imperial hunting grounds were now in the hands of the Eastern Depot, with permission to elicit information through any means necessary. He also knew that many influential households, in the most prestigious residential district of this capital, were in an uproar because the most unremarkable of their servants had suddenly stepped up to turn against them, running out into the streets to declare that their masters were involved in bribing some of the organisers of the imperial examinations for the questions and that some of them had even been involved in assisting their young masters to cheat and wanted to turn themselves in. 

Ordinarily, a slave that betrayed and disgraced their household like that would be swiftly put to death. However, the brocade guard, on orders of the emperor, quickly stepped in to secure their safety, escorting them back for interrogation whilst their helpless masters could only look on in horror. 

So Lord Chen had a point. Things were about to change. But Yan Zheyun wasn't going to be the one to reveal this. Perhaps Lord Chen was asking out of fear for his family or perhaps he had been put to the task. But he was going to be disappointed if he hoped to get more information out of Yan Zheyun, who really just wanted to play mahjong today. It had been a pleasant surprise to discover that this favourite of his family's, which had only been invented in the 1800s, was already the latest craze in the Ye Dynasty. Some of the rules were a little different but Yan Zheyun had taken to this version of the game like a fish to water. 

This concubine was just shocked by how big the issue blew up…" 

Yan Zheyun arched an eyebrow whilst scrutinising his hand. Was someone holding onto his green 'Fa' tile? If so, they should be letting go of it very soon…

"My manservant overheard some eunuchs from the Department of Maintenance saying that Empress Dowager Niangniang sought out His Majesty yesterday in Tianlu Pavilion and that they'd argued…?" He moved to place a tile into the centre of the table, studying Yan Zheyun's face in that hopes of gleaning from it whether the news was true or false. 

"Peng!" (3) Yan Zheyun ignored Lord Chen's curiosity in favour of taking his long-awaited 'Fa' tile from his slack fingers. "Thank you for the meal once more." Lord Chen had the misfortune to 'feed' him regularly in this game and this little goading riled Lord Chen up enough to distract him from his previous topic of interest. 

Sure enough, Lord Chen bristled as he examined his tiles and the centre pile frantically, gaze darting back and forth as he tried his best to guess what sort of hand the irritating Lord Yue was building. 

"Mahjong is so much less fun with three than four," he grumbled, mostly because if there were four of them, Gracious Consort Yao would take the spot between Lord Yue and him, keeping them separate and most importantly, blocking him from directly feeding Lord Yue most of the time with the 'chi' move (4) that allowed players to build sequences from taking a tile from the opponent before them. 

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"Oh? Yan Yun finds it rather enjoyable regardless," was Yan Zheyun's calm reply. "But perhaps it's just the act of winning that makes it so very fun." 

Lord Chen's temper exploded and had to be reined in with Hua Zhixuan's very deft soothing. 

"Brother Chen… Brother Chen! Let's calm down, you won two rounds ago, didn't you?" Hua Zhixuan said with a winsome smile, pointedly not bringing up the fact that the remaining eleven rounds or so were split evenly between Brother Yan and him. "Life is all about winning some and losing some, let's not take it to heart!" 

"I'm not the one being annoying about it," Lord Chen gritted out, so frustrated by Yan Zheyun's flippancy that he forgot to refer to himself with the formal self-address he took so much pride in. "Just because he has His Majesty's favour…" 

"Yan Yun assures you, being good or bad at mahjong has nothing to do with His Majesty's favour." And everything to do with mathematical aptitude, which Lord Chen had already demonstrated he had none. 

This casual bickering, which was monumentally aggravating on Lord Chen's part but all in a day's work for Yan Zheyun, might have blown up irreparably if it weren't for the sudden arrival of a familiar face from Qianqing Palace. 

It was Deputy Eunuch Zheng, who had taken over most of Head Eunuch Cao's usual duties due to Head Eunuch Cao being needed elsewhere. Yan Zheyun had seen him around Qianqing Palace a lot in recent times and he always had a respectful smile ready to welcome Yan Zheyun with, so it was rare to see him this solemn. 

Straightaway, Yan Zheyun raised his guard. 

"This servant greets Lord of Bright Deportment Chen, Lord of Handsome Fairness Yue, and Talented Lord Hua," Deputy Eunuch Zheng said with a polite bow. He raised his eyes to meet Yan Zheyun's impassive ones politely. "Lord Yue, His Majesty and Noble Consort Li request your presence in Tianlu Pavilion." 

He didn't need to add Noble Consort Li's name to the list. He was trying to give Yan Zheyun ample warning. 

"This concubine thanks Zheng Gonggong for his troubles," Yan Zheyun said, before rising to his feet. It so happened to be his turn this around and he made a grab for the last tile he would have time to play, a small smile breaking out when he saw the 'eight bamboo' he was holding. 

"Hu," he said before walking out and leaving Lord Chen and Hua Zhixuan to discover the 'lv yi se' (5) winning hand he had concealed. 

Hopefully, he hadn't used all his luck self-picking that winning tile. 

"Does Zheng Gonggong have any idea what His Majesty might wish to see this concubine for?" The walk to Tianlu Pavilion was particularly scenic at this time of the year but although Yan Zheyun's tone was casual, although he looked here and there as though he was admiring the flowering trees, neither of them was fooled by his semblance of ease. 

Deputy Eunuch Zheng, who had long since demonstrated an eagerness to affiliate himself with Yan Zheyun, naturally would use this opportunity to earn even more of Yan Zheyun's trust. Yan Zheyun was used to the way things worked in the inner palace by now, understood the tenuous alliances that the concubines often formed with the servants, a two-way crutch used to prop each other up in a world that sought very hard to tear them down. The eunuchs and maids that served the emperor directly were considered hot commodities. Yan Zheyun had no intention of buying Deputy Eunuch Zheng over to spy on Liu Yao but there was no harm in coming to a bit of an agreement to watch out for each other. 

"This servant is fearful to speak too much on the subject," Deputy Eunuch Zheng murmured, voice so soft that it would be out of earshot of the younger eunuchs that made up their entourage behind. "The only thing this servant would like to ask is, does Lord Yue know where your personal servants are today?" 

Yan Zheyun frowned. "This concubine sent Xiao De to fulfil a couple of tasks earlier on"—in actuality, he'd sent Xiao De to his godfather to see if there were any updates on what was wrong with the original bracelet Noble Consort Li had gifted to him—"and as for Qiu Ji, he assisted me with my attire this morning and then this concubine left him in my house to complete some chores." He turned to regard Deputy Eunuch Zheng. "Have either of them caused any trouble?" 

Deputy Eunuch Zheng returned the look with a meaningful stare. "Lord Yue will see in a while," he said.. "But this servant begs Lord Yue to be prepared and to keep your wits about you, not every flower in the imperial gardens blooms well, just like how not every manservant in the inner palace is loyal."

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