From CEO to Concubine-Chapter 174: Big Brother

Chapter 174: Big Brother

The state banquet on the night of the Festival of Longevity ought to have been one of the biggest celebrations of the year but the undercurrent of trepidation that rippled through the officials seated by rank beneath the dais was palpable.

The Ministry of Rites had spared no expense; how could they? Envoys from the other kingdoms that paid them fealty were present. No matter how reluctant His Majesty was to acknowledge what should have been a happy occasion, Great Ye had no choice but to put on a front.

On the surface, at least, Great Ye’s nobility didn’t disappoint. Representatives from the old noble clans were all present in their finest garb and although the noblewomen and the female concubines were not seated in plain sight, the screens used to shield them from prying eyes were sewn from the most lavish of silks, hinting at the prestige and class of the beauties that sat behind it. It teased at the imagination of those who tried to sneak a glance, many of whom included the visiting dignitaries although given the tension in the relationship between the Northern envoys and Great Ye at the moment, a cloud of apprehensiveness hung over the envoys from the other states as well.

The highest point on the dais was empty at the moment, as was the seat one step below it and to its left. Still, many knowing gazes flitted there periodically, all judging the person whom they all knew would sit there later upon his arrival. The seat to the right of the emperor’s in a banquet hall was reserved for the empress dowager and today it was conspicuously absent. Like the white elephant in the room, no one was talking about it but there was no doubt that tonight a lot of tongues would be wagging about the dowager missing her son’s birthday celebration once again.

The seat on the left was reserved for the empress. This would not be the first time that Imperial Noble Consort Yue was granted the privileges of the most prestigious individual of the emperor’s harem without officially bearing the title but that didn’t lessen the hatred and jealousy that came along with being the emperor’s favourite.

Just below the dais, the other members of the imperial family had already taken their seats. Ever since the announcement of his side concubine’s pregnancy, Prince of the First Rank Xi’s lucky stars seemed to be shining brightly. In just half a shichen, the number of officials and nobles who rubbed shoulders with him was uncountable. Prince of the First Rang Gong, who was seated right next to him, was dull in comparison, but he didn’t seem to mind, already drunk on the excellent wine of the evening and offering up a flamboyant toast to those who passed his table.

The youngest member of the imperial family and the only prince that still hadn’t been granted a title yawned and blinked blearily at the crowd. The poor ninth prince was clearly too young to appreciate the festivities. He reached out and tugged on the sleeves of the scholarly young man by his side, who patiently peeled the skin off some grapes for him before placing it on his plate. This young man too had earned himself a couple of double takes, if only because he was Noble Lord Hua, one of the emperor’s concubines. Even more outrageous was the whole row of beautiful men that sat just behind the imperial family, each one more elegant than the last.

Allowing a male concubine to usurp the position of empress was already ludicrous. Permitting the entire group of them to flaunt their faces in a state banquet was a total disregard for the fact that they had already married into the inner palace and should be following the same rules as the women of the harem.

No one could understand what message the emperor was hoping to send by letting his concubines stand out. Noble Lord Hua’s attendance at the Luming Banquet, Imperial Concubine Chen’s victory during the tournament at the autumn hunt. These were all incidences that made the nobles uneasy. Sure, these were the sons of their households, but sons that they had given up on, had treated with disregard, nothing more than pawns on a chessboard used to gain leverage in the game of politics.

The Hua Family, Chen Family, and all the other families that had given up on a brighter future for these children that they had sent in to spread their legs and appease another man, were starting to realise now that things had somewhere along the lines spiralled out of their control.

And now the question was...were these pawns still loyal to their masters?

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Tang Yuqin studied the crowd intently over the rim of his wine cup, listening to the ebb and flow of the conversation around him, each one loaded with hidden meaning beneath a veneer of polite chatter. Having spent months adjusting to his new position in court, he was no longer the idealistic greenhorn who believed becoming an official was all it took to make the world a better place. In just this short amount of time, Tang Yuqin had learned what it truly meant to belong to the ’emperor’s faction’. On the surface, no one would even dream of making life difficult for him and he was able to make progress on organising the building of the new schools and drafting proposals for the recruitment of more students from humbler backgrounds. However, politics had its own little ways of wriggling into the nooks and crannies of his work day and he frequently found himself facing tiny obstacles here and there that alone weren’t too disruptive but added together set him back enough to make the literary officials openly question his competency in front of His Majesty.

After that particularly harrowing morning court, the emperor had summoned Tang Yuqin to Tianlu Pavilion for a private audience. Tang Yuqin had kept his head bowed, cold sweat trickling down the back of his neck, fearful that the court had managed to force the emperor’s hand to sacrifice his chess piece.

But the emperor had sighed and said, "Beloved Subject Tang has suffered."

Tang Yuqin had felt his eyes sting. The pride of being fiercely loyal to a good emperor hadn’t once left him, not even on the darkest of days when he could feel the abject loneliness that came from being ostracised by the entire Ministry of Rites. It was just natural for his colleagues to shun him, after all. Those of his rank of lower had their hands tied by their superiors, all of whom were tied up in factions that deemed themselves strong enough to challenge the throne. Left Prime Minister Zhao, whilst a kindly mentor, didn’t have long enough reach to protect him all the time and Tang Yuqin woke up every morning and reported in at the imperial city dreading that that day would be his last.

The emperor had subsequently asked him if he still believed putting his future on his line to serve his liege was worth it.

Looking around the banquet hall now, he noticed just how few of the officials present belonged to humble backgrounds.

Tang Yuqin lowered his gaze down to his hands. This was the way things operated in Great Ye. If Tang Yuqin didn’t take the risk, if he didn’t help His Majesty create a faction out of the poor and downtrodden, then there would be no one to balance out the wealthy and influential.

He didn’t regret his choices. Even if no one came up to speak to him now, even if they shot disdainful glances in his direction as they whispered about him behind his back, he knew that he had made the right decision if he wanted to implement change.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t glad when Head Eunuch Cao finally announced the arrival of His Majesty, putting a temporary end to the mutterings around him.

Imperial Noble Consort Yue was resplendent as ever. Contrary to what was expected of the highest concubine rank in the inner palace, he didn’t enjoy wearing robes dyed in rich colours or luxuriant embroidery, choosing to forgo the reds and purples, the peonies and camellias for more subtle hues. It was the emperor’s birthday, however, and so he had put aside the sedate whites and light blues for a deeper emerald, with delicate orchids1 detailing the bottom of his sleeves and hem.

He was a sight for sore eyes, except Tang Yuqin didn’t dare to steal more than a glance at him before keeping his gaze respectfully low. If there was one person in this kingdom he did not wish to cross, it was Imperial Noble Consort Yue. No doubt, he was invaluable as an ally but deadly as an enemy and Tang Yuqin would take his secret to his grave if only because he didn’t wish for that grave to come into use that quickly.

Others in the banquet hall, however, had lesser qualms than he. Prince of the First Rank Xi wasn’t even bothering to hide the way his eyes had glued themselves to the entrancing figure by the emperor’s side and Prince of the First Rank Gong too had looked over one too many times, betraying his interest in admiring a pretty face, if nothing else.

Imperial Noble Consort Yue had always been the victim of heinous gossip regarding his ’peach blossom luck’ and after becoming Principal Graduate, Tang Yuqin had also been privy to the rumours that abound about his torrid love affair with the previous principal graduate, Compiler Wu.

Compiler Wu was present this evening as well, seated by his father’s side and from the looks of it, already well into the wine flask on the table in front of him. Unlike the rest of the nobles around him, all of whom were adept at putting up a gold front to mask the rot within (2), Compiler Wu didn’t bother hiding it anymore. Tang Yuqin took a good look at him and sighed.

The Wu Family was surely coming to an end.

The banquet proceeded much as Tang Yuqin expected it to. He ate when the emperor indicated that he should, joined the officials in thanking His Majesty or saying auspicious things as previously rehearsed, and watched with well-concealed boredom as fealty in the guise of birthday gifts were presented in front of His Majesty one by one by envoys from other states. Perhaps from years of experience, the foreign dignitaries seemed to sense that today would be a bad time to poke the sleeping tiger in the eye —not that there ever was a good time for something like that but Tang Yuqin had met a lot of brave albeit foolish people in the morning court—but the gift-giving remained mostly uneventful...

...that was right until Right Prime Minister Ren stood up.

"Your Majesty," he said with a respectful bow. "This old subject too has a birthday gift for you."

"Oh?" The emperor answered, expression politely restrained. "Beloved Subject Ren has put too much heart into this. Bring it forward, then." It was evident to everyone that His Majesty was not in the mood for the celebrations today, as per normal, and usually, the gifts from officials would be given in private, sent straight to Tianlu Pavilion with an accompanying memorial if they wished to claim credit.

For Right Prime Minister Ren to go against the norm and mention a gift now...Tang Yuqin felt his heart sink.

He had a sense that things were about to go pear-shaped.

"If Your Majesty recalls, this old subject had the opportunity to be in charge of the case of ex-Prime Minister Yan’s treason."

The hall fell silent. Up on the dais, Imperial Noble Consort Yue’s countenance remained level but Tang Yuqin was certain that he could feel the weight of the malicious amusement being directed at him from the rest of the guests, threatening to bend his spine into submission.

"What of it?" The emperor replied coldly. "Right Prime Minister, is this the most auspicious conversation starter you can think of for the occasion?"

Right Prime Minister Ren was quick to apologise. "Forgive this old subject his impropriety. It’s just that, this old subject was so excited at the prospect of being of use to Your Majesty once again that I failed to choose my words wisely." He clapped his hands and a pair of servants at the entrance brought a slight hooded figure up to the middle of the hall.

Head Eunuch Cao’s frown deepened. "Audacious!" he said sternly. "Bringing a disguised person in front of His Majesty shortly after a recent assassination attempt? Right Prime Minister Ren, what is the meaning of this?"

"Cao Gonggong need not fret," was Right Prime Minister Ren’s light-hearted reply. "This old subject places His Majesty’s safety above all. This present is...harmless, of course." He turned back to the emperor and bowed once more, deep enough to show his contrite. "Your Majesty’s love for Imperial Noble Consort Yue has touched this old subject deeply and also triggered some lingering regrets that this old subject has had regarding the descendants of the Yan Family." He sighed heavily. "At the end of the day, Your Majesty has been magnanimous indeed, choosing to accept the son of a treasonous family into your harem with the ideology that the young and ignorant cannot be held accountable for the actions of their parents."

The emperor’s mouth had thinned into a flat line. Imperial Noble Consort Yue finally reacted for the first time the entire evening, beautiful eyes widening as he leaned forward to so far in his seat, gaze fixated on the hooded figure like he was trying to see beyond to the person within.

"Right Prime Minister Ren," he said, voice mostly neutral if it weren’t for a faint waver. "Could it be that you’ve found..." There was a hopeful note to his tone that was heartbreaking.

Unlike his concubine, however, the emperor’s expression remained stern.

"Stop beating about the bush, Right Prime Minister."

Right Prime Minister Ren chuckled. "In response to Imperial Noble Consort Yue," he said with an indulgent bow, "this old subject has had the fortune to retrace the records and discover the whereabouts of Yan Xi, legitimate daughter of ex-Prime Minister Yan."

As he spoke, the slight figure lowered her hood to reveal a face that was heartstoppingly beautiful, and more importantly, bore a strong resemblance to the shocked imperial noble consort. Her eyes met his and crinkled into a gentle smile.

"Big Brother. Yan Xi has missed you."

This is a reference to the chinese ground orchid, not the tropical orchids (although they’re all very pretty to me!).