Wu Bin was a capable man. Everyone who was even remotely acquainted with him knew that. The members of the Wu Household, such as his uncles and cousins, were also quick to get into his good graces, and most of the younger generation of nobles in the capital sucked up to him.
But as said above, Wu Bin was a capable man, and this was due in large part to the fact that he was also an intelligent man. He knew that his relatives and friends curried favour with him because they wanted to benefit from the relationship.
Some people might be hurt by this, but personally, Wu Bin didn't mind. It was a symbol of his status, after all, their admiration was the best validation of his influence. Everyone believed that he would one day become an important official in court, powerful enough to maybe even earn the respect of the emperor himself. And for the precious few who didn't trust that he could achieve this, he had a whole future ahead of him to make them pay.
But despite all the promise that Wu Bin showed, his hands were still tied by several factors. Firstly, although he was born into one of the 6 old noble clans, he wasn't lucky enough to be royalty. This meant that he still had to bow to imperial power, and imperial power in recent times, seemed keen on reducing the strength of the 6 clans in court. The only way for Wu Bin to protect himself against the emperor's absolute laws was by forming alliances that would make the emperor hesitate to inhibit his career progress openly.
This was why he was going to marry General Guo's daughter. General Guo was an important hero, with many outstanding achievements in the southwestern wars. The army that he led was also trained in the unique guerrilla warfare that suited the jungle terrain there. Because the emperor relied on General Guo so heavily, if Wu Bin became General Guo's son-in-law, the emperor would have to acknowledge Wu Bin to a certain extent too. At the very least, he would have to give General Guo face and stop dismissing Wu Bin's talents as thoroughly as he was doing right now.
Secondly, even within the Wu Household itself, Wu Bin's hands were tied by the ideology of the society he lived in. Filial piety was the principal tenet that any child in this day and age was expected to live by. This meant that, despite being so much more competent than his useless father, despite being able to take the Wu Household to greater heights, Wu Bin couldn't openly go against his father's word.
At the very best, he would be considered a rude, thoughtless son and society would lose all regard for him. At the very worst, the emperor would catch word of it and use it as an excuse to banish him from court permanently.
This was a sticky situation. Wu Bin had to grit his teeth and bear it for the remaining duration of his father's life. Which was why, despite seething at Yan Zheyun's audacity and raging against his father for not believing his word, Wu Bin had no choice but to remain under house arrest in his residence, as per his father's orders.
Wu Bin wasn't sure whether his father had been possessed by some sort of evil spirit, but it was like he'd gone mad. One second, the useless Minister of Rites had been close to punishing Yan Zheyun for a transgression he hadn't committed. It had been effortless for Wu Bin to plant the seed of doubt in his father's mind. He'd planned to convince his father to imprison Yan Zheyun, which would make his plot for the wedding so much easier to carry out.
But suddenly, the meek little rabbit Wu Bin was used to taking advantage of turned into an enormous fox. In just a couple of simple sentences, he'd made the Minister of Rites suspicious of Wu Bin's behaviour, insinuating that Wu Bin was still trying to fool around with a slave despite reassuring his parents that he was past that.
Wu Bin had been reprimanded, and then sent back to his rooms like a wayward child. To add insult to injury, his father had even assigned the steward to guard Wu Bin's residences personally. There was no way Wu Bin would be able to step one foot past his courtyard gate without his father's permission.
Yun Er. All thanks to Yun Er. He should have known that when cornered, even the gentlest of rabbits would bite, let alone the wily, cunning creature that now resided in sheepskin.
When had his Yun Er become so poisonous?
Wu Bin looked out the window at the cypress tree in his garden. Once upon a time, they'd used to climb up and down it together, to return the baby birds that had fallen out of their nests. When had everything changed? Was it when Yun Er had become a slave? Or was it when he'd first started having spring dreams of his beautiful childhood friend, naked and clinging to him in bed like a temptress demon after his yang energy?
Wu Bin didn't know. All he could think of now was that he'd tried his best but his prey had somehow managed to escape all his traps. And when tomorrow came, his Yun Er would belong to someone else, and it was a pity Wu Bin wasn't going to be the first to have a taste.
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Yan Zheyun had returned to the stables in a daze, scarcely able to believe his good fortune. He'd gotten away scot-free, despite Second Concubine's anguished protests and Wu Bin's disbelieving attempts at defending himself.
[Whatever had broken the brains of the Minister of Rites,] he prayed fervently, to whoever might be listening, [please let it be irreparable.]
He wasn't obtuse though. He'd seen the flicker of appreciation in Wu Shengqi's gaze, throwing up in his mouth a little from blatant disgust when he realised he was being checked out by an 'uncle' figure. This shameless, treacherous man was supposed best friend of the host body's father. And yet he had managed to find his best friend's son, who was younger than his own son, in fact, sexually attractive.
What if Wu Shengqi had been hotter? Yan Zheyun was happy to admit that he could appreciate good looks and a nice body. As CEO, he'd had appearances to keep up in front of his subordinates, so he hadn't joined in on their gossip in the company WeChat groups, whenever they'd gushed about handsome new interns or whatever. However, that didn't mean that he was blind.
But…no. Wu Bin was handsome too, and so was the crown prince-to-be, whose name he still didn't know because no one dared to speak it. But their good looks hadn't stopped Yan Zheyun from wanting to sock them in the kisser. He wasn't so superficial that he could disregard personality. He still had some taste.
"Big Brother Yan."
Xiao Ma traipsed into the room with a worried frown. It was such a strange look for him to sport that Yan Zheyun paid him immediate attention.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Oh…nothing, I just…I heard some people talking about what happened at the eastern pond earlier." His lips twisted into a sulk. Yan Zheyun could guess immediately that he must have heard something bad. In a huge household like the Wu Estate, it was nearly impossible to control the tongues of the servants. Gossip spread like wildfire here, the flames catching with the slightest hint of a spark and spreading far and wide.
"Whatever they said was probably exaggerated," Yan Zheyun replied. "Don't worry too much about it, the third young mistress is back in her residences and the master is not pursuing the matter." He didn't bother mentioning Wu Bin. He wasn't sure how much Xiao Ma really knew about the rumours regarding Big Young Master and his old manservant. But Xiao Ma was only 13 and Yan Zheyun didn't want to talk to him about that if possible.
Even though 13 was considered already ripe for marriage in poorer families…Yan Zheyun couldn't shake off his 21st-century upbringing. 13-year-olds should be schooling and hanging out with friends, they shouldn't be contemplating whether people were having secret illicit sex.
Xiao Ma looked down at his feet. "They said you seduced the master," he mumbled.
Yan Zheyun choked. Well, fuck. He should have seen that one coming. From the bizarre way Wu Shengqi had suddenly decided to side with him, he half-believed he'd done that by accident too.
"I…"
"I told them they were just spouting bullshit!" Xiao Ma said fiercely before faltering, his head drooping low against his chest. Yan Zheyun hadn't needed to be present at the argument to know that Xiao Ma had lost. "But they…they said you'd seduced Big Young Master too…but I know that's not true, I don't understand why they're saying these things—"
"Because humans can truly be ugly creatures, and that's why we're here, hanging out with horses instead." An elderly voice spoke up from the doorway. Yan Zheyun rose from his seat as the stable master strolled in. He was a twig-like old man, whose skin was wrinkled and pigmented from too much exposure to the sun. But the crinkles in the corner of his eyes as he smiled made him appear very kind.
"Stable Master," Yan Zheyun greeted.
"Don't be so formal, boy, I've told you so many times. I'm just an old servant with a troublemaker son. If nothing else, I should be thanking you for taking care of this idiot." He rapped his knuckles sharply over Xiao Ma's forehead, eliciting a whine.
"Notta idiot!" Xiao Ma insisted.
The stable master raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Fighting with the other servants over some ridiculous rumour and then running home to cry to the person whom the rumour is about? If that doesn't make you an idiot, I don't know what does."
"…" Xiao Ma shot Yan Zheyun an apologetic glance. "Sorry, Big Brother…I shouldn't have brought it up…"
Yan Zheyun laughed. "It's all right, I don't mind." He wasn't lying. Yan Zheyun didn't care what the other servants said about him. After seeing the way men fell mindlessly in love with the host body, Yan Zheyun had already expected to be labelled different forms of 'brazen hussy' and 'evil temptress'. He was just glad that no one had suggested executing him yet for the good of the country.
Although, this might be speaking too soon. If and when the plotline developed to include the princes in his official list of suitors, the old emperor might be tempted to take Yan Zheyun out of the equation, just to make his sons normal again.
"But Xiao Yun," the stable master said. "A word of caution tomorrow. There will be many guests attending the wedding, and a lot of them will be powerful. You know what I'm trying to say right?"
Yan Zheyun did, although it left a complicated feeling in his chest. Was this how girls felt whenever they went out for a night of fun? As the oldest brother in the family, Yan Zheyun too had nagged Yan Lixin multiple times to be careful in clubs, to not accept drinks from strangers or leave her own unattended, and to keep him updated on her location. To have someone else similarly fret for him just made him properly aware, for the first time, how hard girls had it. Even in a modern society.
So despite feeling awkward that this elderly mentor/boss figure was worried about his, uh, chastity, he found himself nodding obediently. "I'll be sure to keep out of sight," he promised. The stable master had good intentions and Yan Zheyun could be thankful for that.
Xiao Ma nodded too. "Leave the receiving of the horses and carriages to Foster Father and me!" he chirped brightly. "You just stay in here and prepare the feed!"
A warm feeling glowed in Yan Zheyun's heart. It was true that humans could be ugly creatures, but they could be wonderful too. "Thank you, Xiao Ma," he said, with genuine sincerity. The stable master and this boy didn't know what a favour they were doing for him. They had no idea what truly lay in wait for Yan Zheyun tomorrow, but Yan Zheyun had some inkling.
He narrowed his eyes. Following the timeline of 'Hurt Me in a Million Ways', Wu Bin should have gotten bored of fucking Yan Yun by now and ready to sell him off to the crown prince for that easy promotion. And the reason why Yan Zheyun's little sister had blown her top at that scene was because of how Wu Bin had chosen to do it. Not only did poor Yan Yun have to suffer silently through his scumbag lover's wedding, he also had to experience the torment of being gift-wrapped like a toy and delivered onto someone else's bed. All in the same night.
In this lifetime, Wu Bin hadn't managed to lay a hand on Yan Zheyun. Would he still be willing to trade his tantalising, yet unsullied pet for a chance to attend court?
Yan Zheyun didn't know. But he was about to find out.