“Summon them.” Nalan Xuan frowned and collected himself, discreetly gathering his silver hair behind his back. His brief distraction had lasted only an instant. He had not wavered and would not waver, now or in the future. Once something was decided, there was no possibility of changing it. A sword already drawn could not return empty-handed. How could the pain of losing his child and the hatred carved into his flesh vanish merely because of a single sentence? Whether Feng Xuanyi’s words had been true or false no longer mattered. Everything between Ning Xuan and Feng Xuanyi was already gone, and between Nalan Xuan and Feng Xuanyi there had never been anything in the first place.
“But…” Ji Yu hesitated. “Reporting to Master, the ladies and young lords from the various palaces have been waiting in the Central Palace courtyard since the Chen hour to pay their respects. They’ve already been waiting for quite some time. Does Master not intend to observe the prescribed morning rites first?”
If Ji Yu had not mentioned it, Nalan Xuan truly would have forgotten about the matter. Back when he himself still held a lord’s rank in the harem, he had rarely gone out, and even toward He Yilan in the Central Palace he had never held any disrespect, yet he had hardly ever followed such rules properly. He had already been wondering when he might find an opportunity to meet Han Ruifeng again. Now the man had delivered himself straight to his door.
“There’s no hurry.” Nalan Xuan narrowed his eyes and relaxed against the soft pillows, lazily enjoying the hazy sunlight. “If they’re willing to wait, then let them wait properly. Let them wait until they’ve had enough.” His gaze shifted, and he added, “But don’t leave them standing in the courtyard blowing in the cold wind. They are His Majesty’s people, after all. If they catch cold, that would become my fault. Summon them into the main hall. Give them seats and tea, and let them wait comfortably.”
“Yes.” Ji Yu accepted the order, rose, and backed out with his waist bent. “This servant will relay the order immediately.”
Ji Yu had barely stepped across the threshold of the bedchamber when Xiao Jiu and He Xiang hurried inside with their heads lowered and backs bent. They stopped outside the screen and dropped to their knees. “This servant Xiao Jiu / this maidservant He Xiang greets Her Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty enjoy ten thousand blessings and perfect peace.”
“Why are you kneeling so far away?” Nalan Xuan laughed softly.
At the sound of his voice, Xiao Jiu and He Xiang exchanged a glance, rose together, shuffled around the screen, and knelt again beside the bed. Their heads remained lowered, shoulders hunched, as though they had committed some enormous crime and were waiting to be punished.
Nalan Xuan remembered how these two usually behaved as though their eyes grew from the tops of their heads, always arrogant and swaggering. Now they were timid, nervous, and even trembling. He lowered his lashes and glanced at them, while neither dared meet his gaze. “Seeing you so obedient all of a sudden makes me almost unable to recognize you. Where did all that imposing confidence from Prince Rong’s Residence go?”
Xiao Jiu and He Xiang shook even harder and hurriedly kowtowed. “This servant would never dare.”
“Wouldn’t dare?” Nalan Xuan smiled, turning to look out the window as though searching through his memories. “Back in the prince’s residence, I really ought to thank the two of you for taking such excellent care of me.”
Thinking back on those days, before Feng Xuanyi had taken notice of him, Nalan Xuan had offended Steward Tang and been assigned to the remote library where hardly anyone ever went. Naturally, people like Xiao Jiu and He Xiang had regarded him with contempt. Whenever they remembered him, they threw a few mocking remarks his way; whenever they were busy, they found even his presence irritating. He had practically been invisible.
Unfortunately, one wrong turn had sent him soaring upward like a carriage suddenly launched into the clouds when Feng Xuanyi favored him, only for him to crash just as hard afterward. How could opportunistic people like Xiao Jiu and He Xiang possibly have missed the chance to gloat while flattering those newly above him? Mockery, ridicule, humiliation—they had spared him little.
How could Xiao Jiu and He Xiang have forgotten any of it? People like them would sharpen their heads into points if that were what it took to attach themselves to power and gain favor. Flattering superiors while bullying those beneath them had long since become second nature. Their only mistake had been poor luck: they had followed the wrong master and chosen the wrong road. Yet who could have predicted that someone Prince Rong had supposedly tired of, discarded, and abandoned would one day rise again?
So their current predicament was hardly undeserved. The moment someone from Fengyi Palace had summoned them yesterday and said the empress wished to speak with them, both had understood the danger. Asking questions was probably only an excuse. Revenge was the true purpose.
They entered the palace with their hearts hanging in terror, and sure enough, Nalan Xuan immediately began dredging up old grievances. The two scarcely dared breathe. They kowtowed desperately. “This servant knows his crime. Your Majesty, please be magnanimous and forgive this servant just this once. We will never dare again. Never again!”
Their foreheads struck the floor in a rapid rhythm like drumbeats. Their bodies trembled so violently it seemed they might convulse. Terror flooded upward from the depths of their hearts, cold enough to suffocate. Beads of sweat rolled down their cheeks and dropped to the floor. One of them tried to wipe the sweat away discreetly, only to discover that his fingers shook too badly to obey him, making the attempt even more conspicuous. Nalan Xuan’s silence only drove the atmosphere colder. Anyone with a weaker constitution might already have fainted.
Nalan Xuan watched coldly as Xiao Jiu and He Xiang cowered like startled birds. It counted, in some small way, as repayment for everything they had done in the prince’s residence. No matter how much people craved wealth and rank, no matter how readily they flattered those above them, none of it meant much when compared with their lives. But people like this were precisely the easiest to use. Give them a weakness, and they could be controlled. Give them a desire, and they could be exploited. Such people were often the ones who could act most ruthlessly and cleanly. What Nalan Xuan lacked now were exactly two people willing to do such things for him.
Only after he had tormented them enough did Nalan Xuan finally speak, still without a trace of anger and with no apparent intention of settling old scores. “You don’t dare? But I rather hope you do.”
The two immediately stopped pleading. They remained frozen on their knees, waiting for him to continue. Yet after a long while they realized Nalan Xuan had no intention of saying anything else. They lowered their heads and exchanged frightened looks, both drenched in sweat. Finally, Xiao Jiu forced himself to ask, “This servant is foolish. Please enlighten me, Your Majesty.”
Nalan Xuan shifted and sat up. Xiao Jiu and He Xiang saw two pale calves emerge halfway from beneath his loose trousers and stop before them.
Leaning forward, Nalan Xuan reached out, caught Xiao Jiu by the chin, and lifted his face until their eyes met. A wicked smile curved across his lips. “Am I beautiful?”
Silver strands spilled forward across his chest with the movement. His collar hung slightly open, revealing the suggestion of a jade-white collarbone. His lashes were lowered, his lips smiling, his entire appearance overflowing with temptation. One glance seemed enough to drag a person into ruin.
Xiao Jiu froze as though his soul had been stolen. He forgot etiquette and rank entirely and simply stared at Nalan Xuan. Dazedly, he answered, “Beautiful…”
The answer escaped before he had time to think. Only afterward did Xiao Jiu realize what he had done and hurriedly try to lower his head. “Your Majesty, please forgive this servant. I meant no offense. Your Majesty possesses the beauty of an immortal, rarely seen beneath heaven. Naturally, you are peerlessly handsome.”
Nalan Xuan tightened his fingers and prevented Xiao Jiu from lowering his head. He glanced toward He Xiang, who still did not dare look up, and took obvious satisfaction in seeing one person frozen in terror while suspicious color had risen across the other’s face. Drawing out his words lazily, he asked, “Then do you believe His Majesty’s affection for me will last?”
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