Zhou Da could not dissuade Zhou Ye, so he had no choice but to brace himself and follow him on to the Jade Fragrance House.
After a few calls from the women of the Jade Fragrance House, the strapping man turned beet red, as bashful as a young bride.
There was no trace of the valor he had shown while fighting enemies at the Northern Border.
Zhou Ye found it amusing and joined the women in teasing him several times, until Zhou Da wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
As they talked, Sister Cui, the madam of the Jade Fragrance House, came down from the second floor.
Zhou Ye stopped teasing Zhou Da and asked her, "Sister Cui, is Young Master Yunshen free today?"
Young Master Yunshen was the most sought-after male courtesan at the Jade Fragrance House.
His looks were unrivaled in the capital, and he was even more beautiful than a woman.
His skill on the qin was extraordinary, and the pieces he played were more captivating than those of the finest musicians in the palace.
Many wealthy young masters and ladies were willing to offer thousands in gold and silver just to see him once.
But this Young Master Yunshen had a very peculiar temperament.
He appeared entirely at his own whim. If someone interested him, he was willing to see them without payment, but if they did not, he would never show himself, even if they wore down the Jade Fragrance House's threshold.
Zhou Ye had come here three days in a row just to see him.
Sister Cui looked troubled. "My lord, Young Master Yunshen is resting and cannot receive guests, so you..."
"It's all right." Zhou Ye interrupted her as usual. "Please tell Young Master Yunshen that I'll be sleeping in the Moon-Gazing Room on the third floor again today. If he changes his mind and is willing to see me, I'll come whenever he calls."
Zhou Ye had already learned from the little system that Yun Shen's hidden identity was the youngest son of the minister of revenue, whose family had been accused of corruption and treason by Emperor Chaoyang, had their property confiscated, and been exiled.
After growing up, he had not only gone deep into the Jade Fragrance House and secretly taken control of it, but had also used it as a base to recruit talented people from the jianghu and build a comprehensive intelligence network.
So Zhou Ye had come to the Jade Fragrance House for more than just ruining his own reputation and looking at handsome men.
He also wanted to recruit Yun Shen as a partner.
To pave the way for Wei Mingxiu's bid for the throne.
But Yun Shen's current unwillingness to see him was somewhat troublesome.
Even so, he was in no hurry.
He was confident that Yun Shen would become his man sooner or later.
"All right." Seeing how persistent he was, Sister Cui sighed and took him to the private room on the third floor.
As usual, Zhou Ye ordered a table full of food and wine and invited Zhou Da to eat with him.
As he ate, Zhou Da spoke up on Zhou Ye's behalf. "I really don't know why this Young Master Yunshen puts on such airs. He's nothing but a lowly man in the pleasure trade, yet he's repeatedly shut you out, General. Who does he think he is?"
"Mind your words and actions." Zhou Ye glanced at him. "In this world, no one is really nobler than anyone else. Whether he sees me or not is his choice, and whether I wait or not is mine."
Zhou Da was taken aback. He recalled how Zhou Ye had treated him as an equal back then, even though he too belonged to the lowly class, and then thought of how he had just called Yun Shen lowly.
His face reddened, and he said honestly, "You're right, General. I won't speak carelessly again."
Outside the door, Sister Cui heard their conversation, then turned and went to a room on the fourth floor.
Inside the room, a man in a purple, wide-sleeved robe embroidered with gold sat at a desk, reading one letter after another.
After reading each one, he casually tossed it into the small brazier in front of the desk to burn.
Sister Cui told him everything she had just heard.
Yun Shen chuckled, his exquisite features blooming like peach and plum blossoms.
"...It seems this young commander from the Northern Border really is as open-minded and broad-minded as the rumors say."
Sister Cui glanced at the letters burning in the brazier and knew that Yun Shen had already learned everything in the intelligence on Zhou Ye. She asked, "Then, Young Master, will you see him today?"
"Yes." Yun Shen burned the last letter and said, "But not now."
"After all, I just had you tell him I was resting. If I went to see him now, I'd be contradicting myself and making a fool of myself."
Yun Shen thought for a moment, then asked Sister Cui, "I remember you saying that these past few days, he slept in the Moon-Gazing Room until late at night before leaving?"
"Yes."
At her confirmation, the corners of Yun Shen's lips curled up. "Then I can have a little fun with him."
After eating and drinking his fill, Zhou Ye told Zhou Da to stand guard outside and notify him if anything happened.
He lay down on the small couch, unfolded his fan over his face, and closed his eyes to sleep.
After an unknown amount of time, the little system's voice sounded in his consciousness.
[Host, wake up! Yun Shen climbed in through the window!]
Zhou Ye woke up, but he did not move right away.
Instead, he listened closely to the other man's footsteps and the rustle of his robes.
The original owner had practiced martial arts for years, and Zhou Ye had also spent more than a year fighting in this body since transmigrating. From Yun Shen's footsteps alone, he could tell that his martial arts were impressive.
He relaxed his body and slowed his breathing, waiting for Yun Shen to come up to him.
He could feel the other man's hand descending from above and slowly settling on the fan covering his face.
But the instant Yun Shen's hand touched the fan, Zhou Ye suddenly seized it along with the handle!
Yun Shen froze, then reacted quickly, immediately striking out with his other palm. But Zhou Ye caught that hand too and yanked him backward, sending him crashing onto the cushioned couch!
Zhou Ye's gaze fell on Yun Shen's face. He raised an eyebrow slightly, amusement filling his eyes. "In the middle of the night, Young Master Yunshen chose not to use the door, but climbed through the window for a private rendezvous with me instead. And now you've thrown yourself into my arms like this. May I take it that you're interested in me too?"
Yun Shen was completely bewildered by what he had done.
After all, according to the intelligence he had obtained, Zhou Ye was a mere warrior, straightforward and easygoing, with no interest in either men or women.
He had intended to tease Zhou Ye while he slept, but instead, Zhou Ye had flirted with him.
The shock was considerable.
But he quickly recovered and narrowed his foxlike eyes.
He asked, "If I said I really was interested in you, General, how would you treat me?"
Zhou Ye looked at him with a smile. "It's my honor to have caught your interest, Young Master."
"As for how I'd treat you..."
Zhou Ye tapped the back of Yun Shen's hand and asked in return, "That depends on what you want me to do to you, doesn't it?"
[Waaah!! What are you two doing?! Am I allowed to watch this?!]
Although the little system knew that Zhou Ye liked men, this was the first time he had seen him flirt with one, and his little face turned red.
Zhou Ye laughed at him. [Don't make such a fuss. We're just discussing serious business. There's nothing unsuitable for children.]
Yun Shen narrowed his eyes as he looked at Zhou Ye's strikingly handsome, aggressive features.
He was somewhat stirred.
He touched a finger to Zhou Ye's chin, but teased softly, "Then what if I said I wanted you to submit to me, General? Would you be willing?"
Zhou Ye's expression remained utterly calm.
He answered, "I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because I only top."
Ever since realizing his sexual orientation, Zhou Ye had identified himself as an exclusive top, and that could never change.
Yun Shen had only been teasing and had not expected Zhou Ye to answer his question seriously.
He could not help smiling.
He put some distance between himself and Zhou Ye.
"I really don't know whether to call you good-tempered or what, General. You're an honorable court official, yet when a lowly male courtesan like me intruded on you and asked you such a question, you weren't angry. You even answered me honestly."
"I'm just accustomed to treating people with honesty." Zhou Ye got up as well, his gaze falling on Yun Shen's handsome face, which he found quite pleasing to look at.
No one disliked a beauty. Zhou Ye had feasted his eyes on Yun Shen today, and he finally understood why so many young masters and beautiful ladies were willing to spend a fortune on him.
"Treating people with honesty." Yun Shen walked to the table, poured two cups of wine, and invited Zhou Ye to sit down. "That does suit your character, General."
"It seems you know me well, Young Master." Zhou Ye ran a finger around the rim of his cup and asked, "I imagine you've spent quite some time reading intelligence on me these past few days?"
Yun Shen's movements stalled, and a hint of danger appeared in his eyes.
"What do you mean by that, General Zhou? I don't quite understand."
Zhou Ye exposed him without hesitation. "How could you not understand, Young Master? Isn't the Jade Fragrance House connected to Chongming House, the largest intelligence organization in the jianghu? And aren't you the elusive master of Chongming House himself?"
Crack-
Yun Shen crushed the wine cup with his internal energy.
Zhou Ye watched, still unhurried, and picked up his own cup to take a sip.
He praised him, "As expected of the master of Chongming House. Your martial arts are truly impressive."
"My skill with poisons is even greater than my martial arts."
Yun Shen's gaze had turned extremely dangerous as he said,
"If you were certain I was the master of Chongming House, you wouldn't have drunk that wine."
Zhou Ye looked completely at ease. "But I'm betting you won't kill me."
"Why?"
"Because indiscriminately killing the innocent isn't among the family precepts of Lord Zhang, the former minister of revenue."
"So, as his youngest son, you naturally wouldn't harm me."
By the time Zhou Ye finished speaking, Yun Shen's expression had completely changed.
Even within Chongming House, few people knew he was the son of a disgraced official, yet Zhou Ye knew every one of his identities perfectly well.
The feeling of being seen through truly frightened him.
[Hahaha, Host, you've completely stunned him!]
The little system watched cheerfully from within Zhou Ye's consciousness.
Zhou Ye smiled. [He really is clever, but no matter what he thinks, he'll never guess that I have the script.]
"You knew I was the son of a disgraced official, yet instead of exposing me, you came to the Jade Fragrance House again and again, patiently asking to see me."
Yun Shen could not understand how Zhou Ye had seen through his identity, but he quickly calmed down nonetheless and asked, "Zhou Ye, what exactly do you want from me?"
"There's no need to worry, Young Master." Zhou Ye's expression grew serious. "I only want to make a deal with you."
Yun Shen frowned. "What deal?"
"Although I was still young when Lord Zhang was accused of embezzling gold and silver from the state treasury and recruiting troops and buying horses from the State of Chu with the intent to rebel, I heard my father speak of the case. Though Father was not close to Lord Zhang, he knew something of his character and knew he could never have colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country. And you've concealed your name and identity in the jianghu all these years, Young Master, presumably so that one day you can clear the Zhang Family's name."
The imperial family was the most heartless of all.
Zhou Ye had the little system as a cheat, so he knew the full story of what had happened back then.
When the current emperor, Wei Zhao, was still a prince, the greatest help in his bid for the throne had come from the empress's family, the Feng Family, and the family of the minister of revenue, the Zhang Family.
Yet after taking the throne, he deliberately supported Noble Consort Shu's family, the Zhao Family, and used the "corruption" case to wipe out the Zhang Family, who were close to the Feng Family. The minister of revenue's family was destroyed, and the Feng Family's influence was severely weakened.
As a surviving member of the Zhang Family, Yun Shen would naturally not take this lying down.
Now, Zhou Ye knew that as long as he won Yun Shen over, he would have an opportunity to establish contact with the Feng Family and the empress.
So he was determined to win Yun Shen over.
"Let's speak frankly," Zhou Ye continued. "The deal I want to make with you is this: I'll do everything I can to help you overturn the case, and the jianghu forces under your command will work for me and provide me with the intelligence I want."
"Can you accept that, Young Master?"
Yun Shen met his gaze and saw nothing but candor in Zhou Ye's eyes, without the slightest trace of pretense.
He could not help being somewhat moved.
But he still said,
"Surely you know, General, that what His Majesty wants has never been the truth. He only cares about his throne and his reputation." Yun Shen asked, "A man like that would never admit his mistake, so how could he let the Court of Judicial Review reopen the old case?"
Zhou Ye knew Yun Shen was waiting for him to explain how.
He said, "If he won't admit it, we'll force him to."
"Once the master of the Eastern Palace is decided, stripping him of his imperial power will be only a matter of time. When he has neither power nor influence, he'll naturally admit it to save his life."
"The master of the Eastern Palace?" Yun Shen immediately understood that Zhou Ye intended to help a prince vie for the throne.
He asked, "You want to help Wei Chengye? Help the Zhao Family?"
In his eyes, Wei Chengye was indeed the most likely person to become crown prince.
"No." Zhou Ye smiled. "The one I intend to install is the sixth prince, Wei Mingxiu."
Yun Shen was puzzled. He asked Zhou Ye, "Why choose him?"
"Because he won't become a second Emperor Chaoyang."
Yun Shen froze.
For a moment, memories of the past flashed through his mind.
He still remembered his father's loyalty to Wei Zhao back then, and the admiration in his eyes when he spoke of His Majesty.
Yet in the end, he had been discarded once he had served his purpose.
Falsely accused of corruption, he had been beheaded, and his family destroyed.
He asked Zhou Ye, "What would you do if he became a second Emperor Chaoyang?"
He had thought Zhou Ye would continue to argue or say something good about Wei Mingxiu.
But Zhou Ye simply took a silver hairpin from his robes and told Yun Shen what Wei Mingxiu had once said to him.
"If that day really comes, I'll do as he said."
"I'll kill him with my own hands."
At nightfall, inside a room in the Southern Spring Courtyard.
Wei Mingxiu sat at the desk. A note lay there in the dim yellow candlelight, untouched for a long time.
Xiao Wu stood beside him, watching his expression. "Your Sixth Highness, you haven't eaten dinner yet. Why don't you eat before thinking about what's on the note?"
"No need." Xiao Wu's words brought Wei Mingxiu back to his senses.
After a pause, he seemed to come to an understanding. He picked up the note, read it once more, then held it over the candle flame and burned it.
Flames curled around the writing.
There, in plain sight, were the words:
-Kill with a borrowed knife; the second prince will become your knife. Seek shelter beneath a tree; the empress will become your tree.
-
Zhou Ye now: I'm a top. There's no way I'll ever be a bottom in this lifetime.
Zhou Ye later: Topping is exhausting. It's more comfortable to lie back.