Godfather

Rule number one: keep your head down.

Rule number two: keep silent.

Rule number three: keep your thoughts to yourself.

These were the hallmarks of a good servant, taught to Xiao Fu on the first day after his castration by his teacher, the formidable eunuch who would later on acknowledge him formally as a godson. It didn't sound like much but following these rules were easier said than done.

For example, his little godbrother, Xiao De, was exceptionally poor at it. This was why their godfather had chosen to delegate him to sweep the empty Zheshan Palace. It might appear to everyone that out of sight meant out of mind and give others the false impression that this poor second godson had fallen out of favour. But Xiao Fu knew that it was otherwise.

Their godfather's tongue was sharp as a knife but his heart was soft underneath the layers of metal he built to conceal it.

The lanterns in were already lit by the time Xiao De came bumbling through the front doors. Their godfather's home was an anomaly in the imperial city. Once a palace worthy of a concubine of the consort rank and above, it now housed just one eunuch. The new emperor, upon ascension to the throne, had changed its name from Wushan Palace to Wushan Abode but hadn't amended anything else.

This had caused a series of ugly rumours about how their godfather had seduced not just one emperor but two. When Xian Fu had first heard those whispers, just loud enough to reach his ears such that he knew they were said on purpose, he'd wanted to argue against them.

But what had their godfather said?

[Remember the rules, you idiot.]

Remember the rules. They weren't just the hallmarks of a good servant, they were the reason why servants remained alive long enough to become good.

And Xian Fu was good. This was why he chastised his godbrother immediately for running in without decorum.

"Stop making such a racket!" he scolded, smacking the boy on the head once more. Xiao De was younger than he was, had only seen 15 summers, but Xiao Fu couldn't understand how come they were both so different in personality when they'd essentially been raised to fit into the imperial city by the same man. Especially in the case of Xiao De. Xiao Fu had already been 16 by the time he underwent castration, his gambler of a father pulling strings through a distant relative to sell him into the palace for more money to squander. But Xiao De had entered the palace at the tender age of 10. He should have adjusted to the environment more readily than Xiao Fu had.

[Or maybe,] Xiao Fu thought with a hint of wry fondness. [Both Godfather and I have spoiled this brat beyond redemption.]

Xiao De winced and covered his head, always a split second too slow to stop the blow from landing. Xiao Fu never used his full strength though and Xiao De knew that he was guilty of breaching just about all the rules of Wushan Abode possible, so he just grinned apologetically up at his godbrother and closest companion.

"Big Brother," Xiao De whined, reaching out to tug on Xiao Fu's sleeve like he used to when he was just a snotty child. "Could you do Xiao De a favour?"

Xiao Fu didn't agree to it straight away. Even though he knew that Xiao De wasn't cunning enough to betray their godfather or him, he'd gotten into way too much accidental trouble in the past, just by enabling Xiao De's antics. Sometimes, it was like Xiao De forgot that he was a eunuch instead of a young master. Till now, Xiao Fu had no idea what his past life outside the imperial city was and their godfather had ordered him not to ask either.

But whatever his sad story was—and make no mistake, all eunuchs had a sad story of sorts, they just varied—Xiao De's impish nature was undeniable. That night, Little Master Yan's sudden arrival in Zheshan Palace had caught all of them, including their godfather, by surprise. If they'd had so much as a little warning beforehand, Xiao Fu was certain that their godfather would have shifted Xiao De to another, less dangerous post.

But there had been no time to do that. Their godfather's reach was long but not absolute. He hadn't been able to do more but arrange for Xiao Fu to be the one to fetch the dancer into Zheshan Palace, to try and get a better impression of what Xiao De's new master was going to be like.

Xiao Fu always did have a knack for reading the atmosphere and the emotions of others. For example, he could tell without knowing any prior information that things were terse in the inner palace at the moment and that it only partially had to do with the incoming new beauties from the selection yesterday. He could also tell, upon meeting Little Master Yan, that he wasn't as vapid and materialistic as the gossip that broke out about him the next day suggested. Those concubines and servants who thought him to be nothing more than a greedy bitch willing to sell his body for a life of luxury had grossly underestimated him.

Little Master Yan was clever. Xiao Fu knew that he was the son of the ex-prime minister but had heard about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the Yan Family's downfall. But the boy who had thanked him for his guidance and handed him the priceless bracelet wasn't what he'd been anticipating. He was cunning, versed in the ways of social niceties, and knew how to win himself favours.

Most importantly, his treatment of both Xiao Fu and Xiao De had been refreshingly kind. Xiao Fu had reported this to their godfather upon returning but he hadn't said much on the subject.

To date, Xiao Fu still didn't know what their godfather thought about Little Master Yan.

"Big Brother…" Another tug.

Xiao Fu sighed and pulled his sleeve away with an admonishing frown. "How old are you? You're still behaving like a spoiled child?"

Xiao De's expression turned pleading. "Do I look like a spoiled child?" he asked, holding his arms out for Xiao Fu to take a good look at him. Now that Xiao Fu was truly paying attention, he noticed some differences that made him frown. Was Xiao De being mistreated?

"Why have you lost so much weight?" There was only one master in Zheshan Palace for now. When the other new beauties moved in after the Winter Solstice, more eunuchs would be assigned to the place. Therefore, there was no reason for Xiao De to be run this ragged. Could the fault lie with Little Master Yan?

If so, he knew that their godfather wouldn't forgive such a slight, especially not when Xiao Fu had already warned Little Master Yan subtly that Xiao De had backing in the imperial city. Only a fool would ill-treat a young eunuch with a powerful godfather, especially when they were new and at the bottom of the hierarchy themselves.

Somehow, Xiao Fu didn't think that Little Master Yan would.

Sure enough, Xiao De launched into a tirade about the bullying his poor little master had faced at the hands of the departments. The clothes tailored for Little Master Yan were shabby, the meals that he had were reduced to less than what normal servants would receive, and they were rationing their last ten pieces of coal. He even mentioned that if Xiao Fu thought he was skinny, he should see how poor Little Master Yan had wasted away into a wisp of his former self and was nothing more than a bag of bones waiting for the Black and White Impermanence (1) to escort him to the underworld.

"Big Brother, if you don't help us, we're not going to last past the winter," Xiao De concluded piteously. Xiao Fu knew him well enough to know that some of his complaints and suffering were exaggerated but not by so much that he shouldn't intervene. Xiao De had always lived comfortably under the guidance of their godfather but he wasn't one to crave more than he should have. For him to plead and beg now meant that this situation had been going on for a while now and had reached a dire state.

"I'll speak to Godfather," Xiao Fu decided, reaching out to ruffle his little godbrother's hair. "But for now, you need to lay low and keep—"

"My head down, yes yes, I get it," Xiao De mumbled, grabbing Xiao Fu's hand from his head but not releasing it. He held Xiao Fu's hand for a while longer than he usually would, like he was seeking out reassurance silently. Xiao Fu would normally chastise him for such reliant behaviour but today he let it go. Xiao De had had a hard time recently.

"All right. If nothing else, you should head back to Zheshan Palace before you get told off for wandering around in the dark." Eunuchs with posts weren't supposed to be meandering purposelessly through the palace, there were strict regulations about where they could and couldn't be. Of course, no eunuch caught leaving his post was truly there for no good reason. But Xiao Fu didn't want such reason to be pried out of Xiao De's mouth by torture devices in the Office of Careful Punishment (2).

He watched as Xiao De run off again, waiting until his godbrother's slight figure vanished from sight before he turned and walked back into the main house of Wushan Abode.

There was no one in the main chamber but the entire abode was clouded in smoke that eased the irritable niggling in his chest when he breathed it in. Their godfather was hiding in his sleeping quarters again, as per normal at this hour. Xiao Fu went in, taking care to announce his presence before entering so as to not startle the sleeping tiger within.

There were no other servants in Wushan Abode because, as their godfather had said drily once, servants did not require servants. But pouring tea and drawing up a bath was what godsons were for.

"Was that Xiao De?" A languorous soft drawl slipped out from behind the gauzy bed curtains. They were already drawn but were translucent, such that Xiao Fu could make out a hazy silhouette sprawled on a throne of cushions within.

He swallowed and diverted his eyes down to the floor. Once upon a time, when the previous emperor had been around, no one had been allowed to look at their godfather either. At 16, Xiao Fu had obeyed without thinking.

At 21, Xiao Fu could understand why.

"Godfather," he greeted with a respectful salute, before heading over to the table to start preparing tea. "Yes, it was Xiao De."

Even though the person sitting on the dragon throne had changed, it was only the finest imperial grade Longjing (3) that made it into Wushan Abode. Xiao Fu explained the situation while busying himself with his daily tasks of cleaning up after their godfather. A strewn used robe here and a plate of half-eaten peanuts there all needed to be cleared.

Their godfather didn't say anything until he went back towards the bed with a cup of tea, lid half-ajar to allow some of the steam to escape and for the hot liquid to cool to the right temperature for their godfather's cat tongue.

One white hand reached out past the curtains to accept it, looking every inch like a nobleman's hand except their godfather had cut off all his long nails on the night of the previous emperor's death. Xiao Fu felt his mouth run dry and he had to tear his eyes away before their godfather noticed that something was amiss. There was no one sharper than him in this imperial city and Xiao Fu was convinced that it was only a matter of time before his…inclinations were revealed.

Until then, however, he'd like to hide it for just a little while more. He wasn't sure what their godfather would do to him once he found out but Xiao Fu knew that he wouldn't be permitted to stay by his side anymore.

The lid clicked quietly against the side of the porcelain. He heard their godfather breathe in deeply, although he wasn't sure whether any of the tea's fragrance could be detected over the endless fog of smoke that clung to the air in Wushan Abode like a mourning shroud.

"What do you wish to do?" the voice that haunted Xiao Fu's dreams asked.

Xiao Fu jerked in surprise and caught sight of their godfather's face through the small gap in the curtains. Although Xiao Fu had never asked, their godfather must have been castrated before reaching manhood because he seemed forever immortalised in youth. Not all eunuchs were so fortunate as that and Xiao Fu had definitely seen his fair share of them with distended waistlines after they approached their Er Li years (4). But perhaps the previous emperor had gone to such great lengths to preserve their godfather's beauty. Even though their godfather was more than a decade older than he was, it didn't show on his face or in his sylphlike figure.

For a second there, Xiao Fu thought that it was a fox spirit talking to him instead, murmuring sweet nothings as it tried to pry his desires out of his mouth.

But he quickly stopped himself from daydreaming.

"I wish to assist Xiao De, Godfather."

It wasn't the right answer. The reproach in their godfather's dark eyes was enough to make Xiao Fu flinch.

"It's not that you can't help Young Master Yan," their godfather said. "It's that you can't justify it, can you?"

Xiao Fu opened his mouth to try but their godfather was right. He didn't have a good argument for it besides 'if I help him, I will be helping Xiao De too'. Instinct told him that this logic would have no merit with their godfather.

There was a long pause before their godfather sighed.

"Godfather will consider what to do this time," he said. "But when you will learn to play chess without me?"

Xiao Fu frowned. Some of the shame at having answered wrongly faded away, replaced by a rising panic at the thought that he might one day have to live without their godfather's guidance. "Xiao Fu doesn't understand," he said. "Why would I be without you?"

The pause that followed was even longer.

"Foolish child," their godfather murmured, just as Xiao Fu thought that he must have dozed off. It was late, after all. "I'm so bored, why must I continue to stay here?"