It had started snowing.
There was no moon that night and a forbidding mood blanketed the imperial city like the white covering its grounds. The imposing walls, which were a rich crimson in the day, had their colour leeched away by the shadows. Inside the banquet hall, the feast continued, even after the emperor took his leave.
But that wasn't important to Yan Zheyun anymore, since he was no longer a part of the festivities. He didn't recognise the young eunuch who had been sent to guide him away but he could tell that he was being led deeper and deeper into the palace, passing through gate after gate like they were giant maws just waiting to swallow him whole.
This wasn't Yan Zheyun's first time in an imperial city, not really. He'd visited a couple during family vacations and had once enjoyed listening to retellings of history on the audio guide as he'd wandered from palace to palace within the enormous compounds. He'd also once marvelled at the high palace walls that towered overhead and wondered what it must have felt like to live as a member of the imperial family. Or even as a humble palace slave.
He had the answer now. It was suffocating.
"Little Master Yan, after you." The building the eunuch led Yan Zheyun to was in a secluded corner of the inner palace. It made Yan Zheyun wonder whether this was going to be his fate from now on, tucked away out of sight and taken out only now and again to admire when the emperor remembered that he had this neglected toy in his possession.
Because of his position as a lowly slave in the Wu Household, Yan Zheyun had limited knowledge of the politics of the era. But based on what he could interpret from the emperor's argument with the earlier officials, he had been granted a relatively low position within the harem. That was fine, he wasn't expecting more.
In fact, if this allowed him to hide in an unobtrusive corner to recuperate and flesh out his schemes more, all the better.
He read the inscribed board over the doorway. Zheshan Palace or 'Palace of Folded Fans'. Inside, instead of one main hall and side chambers, was a courtyard surrounded by three multi-storied buildings, their long corridors linking from one to another. If they weren't painted so beautifully, in vibrant shades of turquoise, blues, and reds, Yan Zheyun would have thought it was a school dormitory.
Was this…he wasn't sure where this was but he had a sneaking suspicion.
"Gonggong," he asked politely, using the respectful term of address on purpose even though it was obvious from this eunuch's age and dressing that he hadn't yet earned the right to this title. "What is this place?"
Sure enough, simple flattery went a long way. The eunuch rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. "This servant doesn't dare respond to such a title," he said with a wide smile that betrayed his true feelings. In response to Little Master Yan, this is where His Majesty's male attendants reside. Only after gaining rank, will they be assigned to a new residence outside."
The unspoken message being, that if Yan Zheyun didn't amount to more than an attendant, he would be trapped here for the rest of his life?
He would have plenty of time later on to decide whether that was a good idea or not. For now, he was cold and exhausted, looking for rest.
"Thank you," he said, rummaging around in his sleeve for something to tip the eunuch with before realising that he was poorer than dirt. He'd given most of his money away but he still had the accessories that were part of his costume. The Minister of Rites had spared no expense in trying to please the fourth prince and Yan Zheyun was wearing a small fortune on his body.
He plucked off a bracelet and placed it in the eunuch's hands. It was made of gold. He wasn't sure how many carats but the colour was beautiful so it couldn't be too bad. The eunuch's eyes widened.
"T-thank you, Little Master!" he said with an eager bow. "If Little Master needs anything in the future, don't hesitate to ask this servant!"
Yan Zheyun knew that he had over-tipped. He'd done it deliberately. He had limited resources in here and even less access to any servants of import. A lowly eunuch like that might not seem like much but was still a spare pair of hands and eyes with more mobility than Yan Zheyun had. Plus, despite knowing that Yan Zheyun was a mere dancer who had used his talents to seduce the emperor, this eunuch hadn't looked down on Yan Zheyun.
Perhaps he could be used.
"What's your name?" Yan Zheyun asked.
"This servant is Xiao Fu."
'Little Fortune'. Yan Zheyun hoped he could take this chance meeting with Xiao Fu as a blessing.
"Xiao Fu," he acknowledged. "Thank you for showing me to my rooms."
With even more enthusiasm than before, Xiao Fu helped Yan Zheyun settle in. The rooms had he had been given were small, about half the size of his bedroom back in his penthouse apartment. But it was complete with a small main seating area, a round table for meals, and an adjunct chamber with a bed behind a privacy screen.
Not to mention, it was about a million times better than sharing that long bed with seven boys back in the kitchens or that hut in the stables that constantly reeked of horse manure.
Without even realising it, Yan Zheyun had roughed it out for almost a year now.
He didn't have any belongings with him so there wasn't much to pack. But Yan Zheyun realised that the room was still dusty despite being well-lit.
Xiao Fu shot him an apologetic look. "Begging your pardon, Little Master," he said. "This servant will get everything sorted now, it's just that no one was anticipating…" he trailed off but Yan Zheyun understood his meaning. He'd already realised upon walking in that the entire Zheshan Palace was empty besides for him. There was a desolateness to the place that gave it a haunted feeling. If he'd been his younger siblings, the thought of staying here alone would have been petrifying but fortunately, Yan Zheyun wasn't the sort to get easily creeped out.
Although, after transmigrating, he did find it harder to say for certain that the supernatural didn't exist…
Footsteps echoed frantically on the corridor outside before an even younger eunuch came bursting through the doors. "Brother Xiao Fu!" he shouted. "Is the new little master here yet? I only managed to find one set of first attendant robes and underrobes, the stupid Department of Garments refused to give me anything more—"
Xiao Fu glared at him. "Stop that racket you're making," he scolded. "What kind of behaviour is that, can't you see that Little Master Yan has already arrived and is being kept waiting by your incompetence?"
The new arrival froze, eyes bulging in panic. It made him resemble a deer in headlights and Yan Zheyun couldn't help but smile a little at how comical his expression was.
A blush coloured the new eunuch's cheeks. "L-Little Master is so good-looking," he mumbled. Yan Zheyun raised an eyebrow and Xiao Fu nearly died from a fit of aggravation.
"Is that something a lowly servant like you should be saying?!" Losing his cool, Xiao Fu reached out and seized the younger boy by the ear, dragging him in front of Yan Zheyun and forcing him to his knees before joining him on the floor.
"Little Master Yan," Xiao Fu said seriously, no longer all smiles like he had been in the beginning. "This servant humbles begs you to forgive my little brother, Xiao De, just once. This servant promises that he will take Xiao De to task—"
"Are you real brothers?" Yan Zheyun asked suddenly.
Xiao Fu exchanged glances with Xiao De, who was already halfway into a kowtow.
"In response to Little Master, no, but we share the same godfather," he said.
Godfather. Yan Zheyun knew a bit about this from his mother's shows again but he wasn't sure how accurate it was. He'd seen some dramas focusing on the rise of power of eunuchs in the inner palace. Like everyone in a society like this, they too were part of a strict hierarchy and influential ranked eunuchs often took on charges in the form of godsons since they couldn't have children of their own. And in exchange for filial piety, they would train these younger eunuchs and help them to climb to greater heights.
That was probably what Xiao Fu meant.
Yan Zheyun gave Xiao Fu a long look. He didn't look much older than Xiao Ma, but it was hard to tell if he'd been castrated before puberty. Where Xiao Ma's voice had broken awkwardly every other word, Xiao Fu's voice was a pleasant androgynous tenor and his face was smooth and supple with no signs of an Adam's apple underneath.
Something told him that Xiao Fu was young but worth forming an alliance with. He kept this in mind and looked at the younger brother instead.
This one…gave him the opposite vibe. Could be used for menial day to day tasks and to dote on like a younger brother but…Yan Zheyun would have to wait for a while before trusting him with anything important.
"Is Xiao De my personal servant?" he asked.
Xiao De bowed low. "In response to Little Master," he chirped. "This servant will now be personally taking care of your needs."
Xiao Fu bowed too. "Little Master Yan," he said. "This servant has been assigned to the Department of the Privy Purse, you can find this servant there if necessary." He was not dressed in ranked clothes but Yan Zheyun could tell that he was someone whose godfather was training to take on an important position later on. The Department of the Privy Purse would be in-charge of the allowances of the imperial family.
He didn't elaborate on why someone assigned to this department would have come to escort Yan Zheyun, essentially a nobody, to his new lodgings. But Yan Zheyun could guess that it was out of concern for this little godbrother of his.
Yan Zheyun nodded and told them to stand. "I don't have much on me at the moment," he said, unfastening the bracelet on his other wrist before handing it over to Xiao De. "I'm not asking for much from you, just loyalty. Can you do that much?"
Xiao De beamed. "This servant swears to be loyal for as long as he lives and if I lie may lightning—"
"Don't make that sort of inauspicious oath," his older brother nagged. "You're not supposed to talk about such ominous things in front of the little master—"
Yan Zheyun let them bicker in the background as they cleaned up the place. He sat at the round table, which soon had a steaming pot of hot tea served upon it.
'Little Master'. That was what they called him now, the title of address for a lowly concubine. He'd heard it on TV too, usually from episodes 1-15 or so where the female lead was new to the harem. Back then he'd told his mother that all that harem intrigue where the women of the inner palace plot against and back-stab each other was highly exaggerated.
He hoped he wasn't wrong.
It didn't seem like the emperor was going to request his presence anytime tonight. He put all thoughts of Young Master Huang out of his head and resolutely walked towards the adjunct chamber.
"Xiao De, I'll like to wash up."
"At once, Little Master!"
He heard the clatter of a bronze basin, presumably as Xiao De rushed out to fetch warm water. It was too late to prepare a bath now but Yan Zheyun had spent months in less than hygienic conditions, he could tolerate sleeping for one night after just wiping down with a simple cloth.
He sat next beneath the carved wood canopy of his bed frame and in the silence of the night, admired the vibrant yellow canary stitched onto the folding screen that concealed him from sight.