A/NÂ The second part is here~
The Night Before
"Aiyo~ what a coincidence, guard Liu."
"Noble Consort Xiu." Xiu Ying swayed closer, a slightly heavy bamboo basket in her hands and a strange, coy smile on her face. LiuQingyuan made as if to pass her but Xiu Ying blocked his way.
"Don't be in such a rush." Liu Qingyuan glanced at her coldly. Previously, she'd been so hostile. Her nice attitude could only mean that she was up to something.
"Apologies. I have duties to attend to." In fact, Jiang Zhilan had already retired to his chambers, so technically, he was off duty. But Liu Qingyuan did indeed still have something to discuss with him. Xiu Ying didn't need to know that it was after hours and unofficial.
"Wait-" Liu Qingyuan stepped slightly to the side, avoiding the hand that was reaching for his arm. After a moment of observing her furious expression, he looked away.
"Sorry to offend, but I really have to go." A hint of annoyance appeared between his brows. What was she up to? Xiu Ying smiled. Liu Qingyuan stared at her with uncertainty, finding that beautiful smile to be unsettling. Something was definitely up.
"Then...could I trouble you to bring these small snacks to his majesty?" Xiu Ying lowered her head as if shy and embarrassed. "It's just a small gesture of my goodwill."
"Sorry, but the king's meal time has long ended." The ruler often faced strict schedules regarding food, from a combination of traditions and palace rules, including the type, amount and times they could consume food. Of course, as the king, Jiang Zhilan didn't really care, often weaseling away snacks. After all, who could tell him no? Liu Qingyuan gazed down at Xiu Ying. She didn't need to know that either of course...
Xiu Ying grabbed Liu Qingyuan's hand. "Please, guard Liu. Just delivering it will make my heart feel better." Liu Qingyuan shook off her hand.
"Noble consort Xiu, I have things to attend to. If you really want your heart to...'feel better', you can deliver the food yourself." Xiu Ying's face went black. You dare? It's not like I want to suck up to you! But Liu Qingyuan didn't notice. Inside his sleeve, he curled his hand into a fist. Just now, a sharp prickling pain had made his fingers go momentarily numb. Perhaps it was his imagination, after all, there was no lingering effect. "Now, if you'll excuse me-"
"Guard Liu!" A sudden weight was thrown into his arms and his numb hand trembled, nearly dropping the box of food. Xiu Ying's sleeves flapped up with the motion, an intense fragrance rushing out. Liu Qingyuan turned his head and sneezed, feeling like women's perfumes were becoming stronger and stronger. "Oh, are you alright?" Liu Qingyuan glanced down at that white face, feeling like she was particularly exaggerating.
"Noble consort Xiu, be careful of distance between men and women."
"..."
"If you really want to deliver this, I advise you to do it yourself. It is much more sincere." Liu Qingyuan said coldly. Xiu Ying grit her teeth.
"I just remembered I have another appointment to attend to!" Before he could speak, she was gone, leaving him with a frosty face and an armful of someone else' food. Whatever. He could just drop it off with Eunuch Shuang.
Halfway to the king's chambers, Liu Qingyuan raised his hand, rubbing at his eyes. He swallowed the rising yawn, feeling his vision blur. The night was still relatively young, but perhaps it was an accumulation of several nights of poor sleep. Twenty paces later, he stumbled. Liu Qingyuan stopped in his tracks, breaths coming a little faster than normal. Something was wrong. He dropped the food box on the cobblestones, reaching up to seal several of his acupressure points. However, before he got far, his head spiked with pain.
"Ugh..." Liu Qingyuan felt like the cobblestones underneath his feet were heaving like the sea. His thoughts became chaotic. What had he wanted to do? The food box-no, he was going to see the king. The-his fingers, there was that moment of numbness. His temples throbbed. Jiang...the king...he must...
âââââ
The memory of the headache seemed to overlay over his current one, as if taunting him for letting down his guard. The boy shivered at the fierce expression on his face, lowering his head and staring at his knees. Liu Qingyuan had, at some point, drawn on a light robe, the soft, gauzy layer slightly brushing the floor. His long, undone hair was draped partially over his shoulder, softening some of the planes of his face, but not diminishing anything of his aura. At least he could breathe a sigh of relief that nothing had happened between them. The boy was merely tasked to make him think so.
"Who's your employer?"
"Huh?"
"For this kind of job, someone must have paid you. Who is it?"
"Haha gongzi," The boy tried to joke, "With your type of appearance, I would be willing for free..." Liu Qingyuan turned away from the carved clothes rack and crossed the room. He stared coldly down at the figure at his feet.
"Don't speak nonsense."
"Yes..."
"Here! Yes, it's definitely here!" A sudden commotion outside drew the pair's gazes towards the door. A rapid knocking erupted on the door. "Is there someone in there? Open up!"
"Here! There's-I'm here! Help!" The young boy scrambled forward on his knees. Liu Qingyuan sneered, raising a foot and pinning the corner of his robes under his feet. The boy jolted to a stop, his words sputtering out but it was too late. The moment a voice was heard, the door was already being kicked in.
Liu Qingyuan froze, his gaze colliding with a very familiar pair of peach blossom eyes. Jiang Zhilan's gaze flickered over the room, not knowing what to say. Liu Qingyuan stood in the middle of the dim light, a mere light-coloured robe hanging off of his robust frame. The ink strokes of his hair flowed down his back, a little unruly and a little wild. At his feet was the bowed figure of a boy, his slim shoulders apparent through the gauzy red robe. His face was round, delicate eyes teary and slender fingers clutching the cloth to his chest like a maiden in distress. This very scene inhabited some...ahem...very special books.
"What...is going on?"
"..." Liu Qingyuan hesitated, seeing the crowd of melon eaters in the back.
"How dare you!" The palace servant who'd kicked down the door showed an exaggerated expression of shock. Behind him, the small crowd began to whisper.
"Oh my, how scandalous."
"Doing these things right under the king's nose, and in the palace no less!"
"Say, that's a boy there right?"
"Gasp, you're right!"
"Shameless!"
"Enough!" The flock of attendants became quiet as chickens, their eyes sparkling with the desire for gossip. Liu Qingyuan lowered his gaze. "All of you, get out!" Jiang Zhilan flung his sleeve, sweeping away the crowd. Finally the door closed with a bang, abet, a little crookedly. Jiang Zhilan sighed, finally raising his gaze and assessing the state of the room.
"Your majesty," the two of them chorused.
"Is that how you greet me? Kneel!" The boy hurriedly scrambled to get his knees under himself, sweating as his forehead touched the floor in a kowtow. Liu Qingyuan lowered his body slower, bowing his head gracefully to the floor.
"Y-you m-majesty."
"Your majesty."
"Hmph." Jiang Zhilan made his way over to the bed, casting a disapproving glare at the messy sheets before sitting down with an oppressing aura. Liu Qingyuan lowered his head even more, hiding the smile forming at the corner of his mouth. Cute.
"Y-your majesty, y-you must i-impart justice for me. I-I-I..." The boy trailed off at Jiang Zhilan's cold look.
"Did I say you could speak? You! Come over here."Liu Qingyuan wordlessly got up, kneeling down again at the king's feet. A hand landed on his head, roughly mussing his hair into a bigger mess. Liu Qingyuan glanced up, furrowing his brow in confusion.
"You-" A soft touch on his lips startled him and his ears flushed red. Liu Qingyuan pushed him away slightly, but Jiang Zhilan leaned over him, not letting go.
"You dare to touch another?"
"Don't worry," Liu Qingyuan hesitated before reaching out and gently squeezing the king's knee. Jiang Zhilan's leg jumped, the warmth from his palm soaking through the layers of cloth. Instinctively, he fixed his posture, drawing his knees closed.
"Ahem."
"I won't leave your side." Liu Qingyuan pursed his lips, cheeks turning faintly pink. Who knew how much effort it took to pull these words from his heart. Too embarrassing...
He happened to glance back, his gaze immediately turning cold. The boy's bulging, shocked gaze froze, his jaw clicking as he hurriedly closed his mouth. Liu Qingyuan's eyes narrowed and the boy's gaze shot to the ground, nearly slamming his head onto the floor.
"Huh?"
"Nothing." Liu Qingyuan got up, leaning over and intending to speak to the king. Unexpectedly, a sharp pain assaulted him once again, reminding him of the dilemma that got him in this situation in the first place.
"Are you okay?" Jiang Zhilan hurriedly steadied him, rising from his position on the bed.
"Mm. It's nothing." The king furrowed his brows, but said nothing.
"Right, how did this happen anyway?" He looked past Liu Qingyuan's shoulder, his gaze landing on the boy still prostrating on the ground.
Sensing both stares landing on himself, the boy started sweating. Tentatively he looked up, catching both their gazes. "Y-your majesty, my name is Xiao Ba, I'm fifteen this year. My mother is a prostitute and my father sold me. I work at the Crimson Pavilion and I used to live in the north district. At home I had a cat, a dog and a bird..."
Jiang Zhilan raised a hand. "Enough." The boy shut up immediately, not even letting out a buzz. It was evident from his trembling speech that the boy was so frightened that he'd spoken in circles, offering a bunch of irrelevant information. "Get up. You can leave." The boy stumbled to his feet, nearly tripping on his own feet. His back stayed bowed over, uncertain if the king really was giving him a way out. Jiang Zhilan sighed internally, a bit of frustration rising in his eyes. Eunuch Shuang was still outside, so he could deal with the aftermath of all of this. "You want to stay?"
"N-no!" I mean, this slave thanks your majesty for your benevolence!" The boy hastily bowed and made his escape. A silence rose from his absence and Jiang Zhilan turned to LIu Qingyuan, raising an eyebrow.
"Well?" I waited for you, only to fall asleep and wake up still waiting! Scum man! Standing on the bed's dias, he was able to slightly surpass LIu Qingyuan's height and look down at him. "Liu Qingyuan, you better have a good explanation for this king." Liu Qingyuan reached out to appease his little master but Jiang Zhilan swatted his hands away. He could only regretfully withdraw. Without skipping any details, Liu Qingyuan told his king of the events that had transpired and the way Xiu Ying had asked him to take the food box.
"She dares!" Jiang Zhilan's tone was fierce, his face gloomy. Whatever his displeasure, he still regarded Liu Qingyuan's words carefully. That choking floral scent that he'd smelled; it sounded exactly like the perfume that XiuYing consistently liked to wear, so where was the problem? He frowned. According to his account, there was no evidence that Xiu Ying did anything. After all, Liu Qingyuan hadn't consumed any food or drink from her. The current situation also overshadowed a small problem like that. After all, a palace guard daring enough to solicit prostitutes within the palace walls...the rumours would by no means be small. Jiang Zhilan frowned. Xiu Ying would definitely be punished one way or the other. This time, she'd gone too far.
Liu Qingyuan's head was still uncomfortable, but he let the king think in silence. After a while, he couldn't bear the stabbing pain anymore and grabbed Jiang Zhilan's sleeve. "Your majesty, may we discuss this elsewhere?"
"What's wrong?" Jiang Zhilan looked up, catching the tension in his brows and at the corner of his eyes. He looked around. Was this place not conspicuous enough? Did he want to go back to his chambers to talk?
Liu Qingyuan saw that Jiang Zhilan had misunderstood and hurriedly spoke out. "I'm still feeling a bit...uncomfortable." Liu Qingyuan lowered his eyelids, painting a rare picture of weakness. The pain in his head was constantly stimulated by the fragrance in the room and it was beginning to make his head spin. Jiang Zhilan, used to facing Liu Qingyuan's stoic face, couldn't help but take a second glance. Liu Qingyuan's loose hair softly swept over his shoulders, slightly tangled. Those sword eyebrows sharpened his features but his eyes held calm, even as his mouth pursed in pain.
"Okay." Jiang Zhilan pulled his arm away, only to reach out and grab his hand. Liu Qingyuan startled slightly as Jiang Zhilan leaned towards him, their chests brushing and the warmth transmitting through the cloth. "We can go back first. You should rest."
"...en."
Jiang Zhilan pulled Liu Qingyuan out of the room. Both of them ignored the stragglers who were waiting for gossip and the stares of the servants as they started a new day of work. Liu Qingyuan was a little uncomfortable, only a single outer robe covering his inner set and his hair loose and messy. But beneath the edge of his sleeve, the slender jade hand in his grasp brought about a sense of warmth.