From CEO to Concubine-Chapter 140: Lovers’ Tiff (R18)

"This old servant wishes His Majesty a golden evening."

Liu Yao stepped into the reception hall of Qianqing Palace and accepted the hot hand towel one of the maids presented. The wooden floors were awash with the glow of the fiery sunset and the scent of sandalwood permeated the air with its calming fragrance.

Still, something was amiss. The enchanting figure that often leaned against the doors of the entranceway waiting for him to return from Tianlu Pavilion was conspicuously absent today.

"Where’s Ah Yun?" he asked, perceptive enough when he caught the hesitation that flickered over his trusted subordinate’s face. He’d known Cao Mingbao for so many years now, was familiar enough with this bumbling middle-aged man’s tells to notice his flicker of hesitation.

That, coupled together with the strange expression on Cao Mingbao’s face, was disconcerting, to say the least.

"What is it? Spit it out," he demanded.

...if he didn’t know better, he would have said that the look Cao Mingbao meekly shot him was tinged with...sympathy. This was an emotion that Liu Yao wasn’t familiar with; ever since Ziyu’s passing, no one had thought it necessary to feel this way for him.

He must be mistaken.

"Ah, Your Majesty," Cao Mingbao hemmed and hawed. "Yue Langjun is in your inner chambers but...he’s not in the best of moods."

Liu Yao raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen?"

Cao Mingbao’s face turned a fascinating shade of green. "Does Your Majesty remember the gift you commissioned a month ago?"

"..." He’d commissioned many, sparing no expense when it came to his Ah Yun, but he had an inkling that Cao Mingbao was referring to a very specific one.

A small huff of laughter escaped from his lips as he imagined Ah Yun’s reaction, the way he blushed such a beautiful hue when embarrassed, like the best selection of peonies at those flower parties the nobles liked to throw. The entire inner palace believed that they had already ’toppled the luan and fell the phoenix’ (1) countless times ever since Ah Yun joined the ranks of his harem but only Liu Yao knew that he had yet to take a bite from the forbidden peach.

After listening to Cao Mingbao’s awkward retelling of the little mishap that had happened in Yuyang Palace earlier that day, Liu Yao had a better idea of why his Ah Yun was sulking. For someone who had spent more than a decade as a slave, his Ah Yun had more pride than most of the nobles in the city, the skin of his fair face thinner than the finest of parchment that only the richest could afford to use for writing.

"This sovereign’s Ah Yun will get used to our role as husband and wife one day," he murmured, brushing off Cao Mingbao’s concerned mumble of "Wait, Your Majesty, he—" as he strode quickly towards the private quarters, eager to meet his beloved after a long day of completing paperwork.

He’d unintentionally put his Ah Yun on the spot, it was naturally his job now to improve his mood.

It didn’t take Liu Yao long to find Ah Yun. He was already waiting for Liu Yao in the small but intricate antechambers used for simple meals, the silhouette seated at the round table enjoying the soothing breeze that blew in through the open windows. Ah Yun was using the dying light of the sun to read, his chin propped up on one white hand whilst the other reached out idly to flip the page now and then.

He must have heard Liu Yao’s entrance but didn’t look up to greet him, his deliberate cold shoulder an act that would have earned him severe punishment—even a trip to the cold palace—should Liu Yao have cared for him any less.

As it was, Liu Yao thought with a rueful smile, he was the main culprit when it came to doting on his Ah Yun. As long as Ah Yun was careful not to give anyone the opportunity of accusing him of being disrespectful to the throne, Liu Yao was more than willing to accommodate any little temper tantrums, especially since they occurred so far and few in between.

It made what they had feel genuine, gave him a taste of the love that he so dearly craved and once thought was lost to him forever.

"What’s this?" Liu Yao asked with a smile, walking into the room to take his seat, noting with quiet mirth that it was pushed far away to across the table instead of its usual place by Ah Yun’s side. "Is my Ah Yun upset with me?"

A haughty gaze swept up from where it had been pretending to trace the words on the book that Ah Yun was perusing—but Liu Yao hadn’t missed the way it had lingered on just one spot ever since he’d walked in—before shifting back down with a cold aloofness that was so reminiscent of the soul that he thought lived within. Liu Yao nearly lost control of himself and reached out to catch hold of his chin so that their gazes would continue to meet and he could see the fragment of that old familiarity residing in the deep pools of Ah Yun’s eyes. Their shape was naturally gentle, like that of a baby deer, but the strength and resilience that lived within often caused a deep-rooted ache to throb in Liu Yao’s heart.

"Ah Yun, I didn’t intend for that to happen," he said, taking Ah Yun’s hand in his own and tightening his hold when the boy, now on the cusp of becoming a man, put up a token effort to pull away. "I didn’t gift it to you personally as I thought you might have preferred the privacy of your palace, I didn’t predict that Lord Hua would have been present at that hour..."

Come to think of it, Liu Yao was going to have a little heart-to-heart with his head eunuch later. How did the man not see that that was not an opportune moment to deliver such a present? He was becoming more muddle-headed with age and perhaps reducing his wages for a month or two would help him regain some of that alacrity Liu Yao used to appreciate in him.

Ah Yun made a little harrumphing noise at the back of his throat and Liu Yao found himself relaxing a little. If he was still willing to respond, he wasn’t as angry as he could be, was probably more mortified than anything, and wanted to vent on someone. Granted, it wasn’t often that concubines chose the emperor as their target to take out their frustrations on but as long as it was Ah Yun, it would not stop being a novelty.

"This concubine thanks Your Majesty for your too-thoughtful gift," Ah Yun said tartly. "After our evening meal, this concubine shall return to his palace to appreciate it more thoroughly—"

Liu Yao couldn’t contain his laughter anymore. In one fell swoop, he hooked his ankle around his stool and dragged it nearer to Ah Yun, reaching out to snatch that slender waist and drag the indignant young man onto his lap. The soothing fragrance of his Ah Yun’s skin filled his nostrils and he buried his nose in the nape of Ah Yun’s neck and sighed contentedly.

"I am right here and yet Ah Yun still wants to look for pleasure elsewhere?" he teased, barely managing to contain his laughter as Ah Yun’s fist collided with his chest with a dull thwack.

"Who was the one who gave me a collection of posh dildos in the first place?!" Ah Yun retorted hotly.

Liu Yao tried asking what a ’dildo’ was but cut himself off when his Ah Yun started trying to wriggle out of his hold, his defiance so bold and his behaviour so brazen that if any of the ministers of Liu Yao’s court saw him now, he would most definitely be accused of being a cunning fox spirit sent to seduce the emperor and ruin the dynasty.

Although, if any of those geezers saw his Ah Yun like this, Liu Yao might be tempted to dispose of them creatively. He was well aware that he did have a propensity for tyranny, kept at bay only by his memory of Ziyu’s love for his people.

"Since Your Majesty does not wish to take matters into your own hands," he heard Ah Yun say but the fidgeting on his lap rubbed against a rather sensitive area and Liu Yao react without thinking, hands reaching out to cup the full, soft flesh that was driving him crazy, giving it a warning squeeze.

Ah Yun let out a yelp and went still.

"This sovereign only had Ah Yun’s best interests at heart." Liu Yao leaned in to press his lips to the plush lobe of one ear, nipping at it gently just so he could enjoy the way the body in his arms tensed up further. There was a hoarseness in his voice that wasn’t present before, a predatory edge that he was usually so careful to conceal from Ah Yun because he didn’t want to terrify him, wished to ease him slowly into becoming accustomed to the weight of Liu Yao’s desires, the strength of his possessiveness and need to dominate that sometimes bordered on cruel.

But Ah Yun was practically asking for it today.

"This sovereign might not be well-versed in such acts but I have heard that if the pond is too small for the carp—"

"D-Don’t use metaphors," Ah Yun interrupted, his voice strangled. The delectable flush that coloured his cheeks had since spread to blossom across his neck and chest and Liu Yao chased after it, slipping his fingers between cloth and flesh until their tips brushed against a hard nub that made Ah Yun arch into his touch.

The evenings were cooler than the day but still stifling enough that sweat soon made the fabric of their attire cling to their bodies. Ah Yun had a penchant for dressing comfortably when he did not need to make public appearances, trading finery for convenience. Where the other concubines relied on their elaborate silks to decorate themselves, however, Liu Yao couldn’t help but feel that his Ah Yun had a heart-stopping beauty even in just a thin white robe.

Like now. Through the flimsy cloth, Liu Yao could feel the heat radiating off Ah Yun’s skin, practically scalding as the friction between their bodies increased. Nothing was left to the imagination, the swell of the curves that he palmed at greedily moulding firmly against his hands as he hitched Ah Yun even closer, one hand sliding up a thigh to pull a slender leg over his hip such that Ah Yun was now straddling him, lips parted in soft pants and eyes slightly unfocused.

He was so sensitive. Liu Yao knew this from nights of tumbling together in the sea of blankets, drowning together in mindless pleasure, just one step away from consummation.

"Ah Yun, my Ah Yun," he murmured against those petal-like lips, voice nearly reverent. "You don’t like my metaphors? Then forgive me for being direct." His fingers dipped between the peaks and into the valley, lightly rubbing their way down into the cleft where he could feel Ah Yun clenching down in nervousness and, just maybe, anticipation.

"Your little hole right here," he whispered, satisfied when he felt it tighten in response and regretful that the layers of cloth between his touch and his Ah Yun’s body meant that he couldn’t enjoy it as keenly. "It’s so tight. Has it ever been used, hm?"

Fine strands of hair tickled against his chin as Ah Yun shook his head weakly. But it wasn’t enough.

"Use your words, Ah Yun, this sovereign wants to hear it."

Fingers pressed into Liu Yao’s back but Ah Yun’s hands were so elegant, made for the guqin and not for violence, and they didn’t hurt him in the slightest.

"No," Ah Yun said, at last, the word escaping him with a breathless shudder.

"No indeed. Ah Yun, this sovereign fears hurting you." The day Liu Yao had been dreaming about for years was fast approaching and he could try to be gentle, to temper the desire that seared at him just beneath the veneer of refinement he’d been trained by his upbringing to assume—

--but if he were to be perfectly honest to the point of being vulgar...

He wanted to pin Ah Yun down, make him spread those pretty legs wide apart and fuck him hard, hard enough to leave behind a permanent imprint, finally mark him as his own like he was guarding his territory zealously, keeping every single piece of his precious Ah Yun for himself—

"But I—don’t want to use—" Ah Yun cut himself short with a gasp as Liu Yao ground his hardness up against the warmth on his lap.

"Ah Yun is sure?" Liu Yao’s tongue laved over the front of the thin white robe Ah Yun was wearing, purposely leaving it on just so he could appreciate the way it clung to Ah Yun’s shape, the pink bud blooming underneath quivering as he bent his head down once more to nip at it playfully. "The warm jade used to create those...’ornaments’ is of the finest grade and I chose the sizes so carefully too, you can start with something smaller and work your way up—"

A hand fisted itself in Liu Yao’s hair, trembling with tight desperation.

"Want—mmn, want you first," he heard Ah Yun stammer before crying out in pained surprise when Liu Yao accidentally bit down too hard on his collarbone, hard enough to bleed.

Ah Yun would be the death of him.

Just a few days more, he reminded himself forcefully. You promised him all the honours you could possibly give a person. Keep that in mind.

With a long sigh, he wrapped an arm firmly around Ah Yun’s waist to keep him in place but stopped thrusting upwards to bring their arousals together.

"Ah Yun wants me?" he mimicked, pressing light kisses against Ah Yun’s cheek before nuzzling at his temple. "Prove it."

"W-what?"

Adorable, Liu Yao decided with a fond smile, his heart so full of affection that he felt it take up all the space in his chest for air. The huffiness from earlier had all but dissipated, as though Ah Yun had forgotten that he’d intended to be angry all along. Gone was the rational, civil, level-headed beauty whose intelligence and enigma Liu Yao was so proud of. What he held against him now was an Ah Yun who had relaxed his guard and set aside his reservations, the headiness of lust confusing him and leaving him a pliant mess in Liu Yao’s hands.

It drove him insane with want.

"Show me," he coaxed, his voice huskier than before as he encouraged Ah Yun to rut against him, his hips bucking against the intimidating bulge that was visible despite the multiple layers of Liu Yao’s imperial robes. "That’s it, good boy."

Something he said must have pushed his Ah Yun over the edge because the reluctant movements suddenly became more pronounced, then fervent, a willowy pair of arms encircling his neck as Ah Yun rubbed their desires together, his breathing erratic as it fluttered against the angle of Liu Yao’s jaw.

He heard Ah Yun calling his name, a desperate litany that sent another rush of molten heat down south and it was with great effort that he reined himself in so that he could fully appreciate the moment when Ah Yun’s eyes glazed over as he released into his underrobes with a soft cry, long lashes fluttering shut to quiver, their edges tinged with a bit of wetness like pine leaves coated with morning dew.

Liu Yao sighed and pressed a kiss to his forehead. He was so hard it was almost painful, but he ignored it in favour of ensuring that his Ah Yun was all right.

"I’ll take care of you," he promised, tone cajoling as he finally did what he set out to do when walking in, hand rubbing soothing circles into his Ah Yun’s back as he pulled him more firmly against his chest. "You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. This is a matter of our bedchamber, and I should have asked for Ah Yun’s opinion beforehand. For neglecting to do so, I apologise."

When Ah Yun finally moved again, it was to press a short kiss into Liu Yao’s neck. He was always drowsy after releasing his seed, as Liu Yao was well aware, too bonelessly languid in these moments to care about much else, not even the sticky mess cooling in his clothes that would be very uncomfortable later.

"Thank you," Ah Yun said sleepily, before placing his head back down on Liu Yao’s shoulder and closing his eyes. "For thinking on my behalf...and for respecting me."

"My pleasure," Liu Yao replied softly. He didn’t know how long he sat there holding his slumbering Ah Yun to him—long enough that dusk faded into the night sky and for his palace to be lit with lanterns.

"Your Majesty," Cao Mingbao whispered from the doorway. "Should this old servant ask for the meal to be brought in?"

"Prepare a hot bath," Liu Yao said instead. His Ah Yun would sleep better once cleaned up.