A Feast for the Eyes

"Wah, who is this big beauty?"

Xiao De arranged the folds of Yan Zheyun's formal robes around his shoulders and tossed a grin back at Hua Zhixuan, who was lounging in Yan Zheyun's usual spot by the window.

Ever since his promotion, Yan Zheyun's chambers had undergone quite the transformation and he no longer needed to rely on his neighbour's coal supply to keep warm.

Hua Zhixuan caught Yan Zheyun's eye and waggled his brows lasciviously, behaving like a lecher in a cheap roadside wine stall.

Once again, Yan Zheyun found himself marvelling at how wrong his first impression of Hua Zhixuan was. Now that they'd warmed up to one another, when in private, Yan Zheyun couldn't even see a trace of the bashful scholar peeking at him from behind the door.

"Little Master Hua has great taste!" Xiao De agreed with a brilliant smile, tying off the silk belt that wrapped about Yan Zheyun's waist with a flourish. "Little Master truly is magnificent to behold! Even the bright plum blossoms pale in comparison next to you!"

Yan Zheyun ignored Hua Zhixuan's enthusiastic agreement. He shot Xiao De a warning look but there was little heat in it. "There's a fine line between glib and oily, you should try harder to toe it," he advised.

Hua Zhixuan waved a flippant hand in Yan Zheyun's direction. "Where is the lie though?" he said, perfectly imitating some of the modern slang Yan Zheyun had taught him from his high school days. Hua Zhixuan had taken to these 'quirky' turn of phrases of Yan Zheyun's like a duck to water. "Although today, Brother Yan is as fresh as a young green plum, innocently waiting to meet their bamboo horse (1)."

He was referring to the colour of Yan Zheyun's outfit, which had been carefully selected by Xiao De to be in shades of verdant that reflected the tranquillity of a bamboo forest. The inner robe was of a darker shade than the overcoat. Detailed embroidery depicting herons in flight adorned the collar, lapels, and sleeve edges. A champagne-coloured cord, which was finely woven and intertwined, secured his belt in place. It was fastened over his left hip, a jade pendant with ornate tassels dangling from its end.

If left to his own devices, Yan Zheyun would have picked white without a second thought, too lazy to deal with fashion on his own. Even back in the 21st century, where clothes were far simpler to handle, he'd relied on a personal stylist to fill his wardrobe for him.

But white was inauspicious. Xiao De had gawked at him when he'd made the suggestion, before tactfully reminding Yan Zheyun of its association with funerals and, perhaps, Little Master would like to consider green as an alternative to getting banished to the cold palace (2)?

Yan Zheyun had thought about it and decided that Xiao De's advice was very sound. Hua Zhixuan, who often chose colours like pale greys and creams that wouldn't look out of place on a monk, had also been forced to choose a more festive option.

Yan Zheyun's face twitched as he took in his fellow concubine's boneless sprawl and relaxed posture. If Hua Zhixuan's tutors could see him now, Yan Zheyun was confident that they would be vomiting blood by the bucketfuls.

"Watch your manners later in the hall," he cautioned. Although this wasn't very necessary. Hua Zhixuan might be very relaxed around him but he was mindful when dealing with strangers, especially those who lived in the inner palace. This was perhaps due to years of living in the shadow of his more influential relatives, watching his every step to ensure that he didn't make even one wrong move and incur needless retaliation.

"I will listen to Brother Yan!" was Hua Zhixuan's cheery reply. A cheeky grin spread across his face. "Oh, my mistake, it's Brother Yue now." He purposely placed stress on Yan Zheyun's new sobriquet.

Yan Zheyun was never going to get used to how many names people in ancient times had. Family names, personal names, style names, pseudonyms, sobriquets…it was the most inefficient system he'd ever come across. He'd owned the title of Noble Lord Yue for a grand total of two weeks now but still failed to respond to it.

For someone who loathed the inner palace life with a passion, Hua Zhixuan didn't seem to have any issues teasing Yan Zheyun for the so-called favour bestowed upon him by their shared 'husband'. He wriggled excitedly in his seat just from the mere thought of his new favourite person being involved in one of those epic romances storytellers regaled to their audiences in taverns. His outfit was less complicated than Yan Zheyun's and all that Shuangxi had left to do was to fix his hair.

"Little Master," Shuangxi said in mild exasperation. "Please stop moving around, you're making it very difficult for this servant…"

Hua Zhixuan grumbled. "Full top knots are so uncomfortable, are you sure I cannot just leave it half down?" He stared enviously at Yan Zheyun, who looked back at him in surprise.

"Brother Hua has already come of age?" Hua Zhixuan's skin was tender and the sparkle in his eyes, especially when rambling on about knowledge or debating new theories lent him a youthful vibrancy. Now, dressed in cerulean robes and fidgeting in his seat, Hua Zhixuan didn't resemble an adult. Yan Zheyun had assumed that he was younger than the host body was, had subconsciously treated him like a high school top student junior who needed taking care of.

"I turned 20 earlier this year. My father wasn't able to be present for the occasion so my relatives kept the ceremony simple." In contrast to his usual chatty self, Hua Zhixuan didn't seem to want to talk about this so Yan Zheyun let it slide. There wasn't much time before they had to depart for the banquet hall anyway.

Jinshen Hall, meaning 'Hall of the Prudent Self', was so named to remind the emperor of the importance of self-cultivation. It was a marvellous hall that was second only to the supreme one where the emperor held morning court. But ironically, instead of being a place for reflection and learning, it had been used by the forefathers to hold the more significant banquets, such as that of the Spring Festival state banquet that had taken place just a day ago.

As Jinshen Hall was in the administrative section of the imperial city and not the inner palace, the imperial family's private feasts should not be held here. But this year, the emperor had dismissed the noble consort's arrangements to hold the banquet in a different hall, saying that the decorations and seating arrangements from the previous day could be reused to save money.

Why he was suddenly concerned with expenditure, His Majesty didn't see fit to elaborate. Poor Noble Consort Li had no choice but to work with this set of strange, unprecedented circumstances. Poor everyone else had to commute across the vast compound of the inner palace to the front of the imperial city.

"This is a new form of torture," Hua Zhixuan panted, unfit like all scrawny scholars who spent their time languishing over philosophy and poetry were wont to be. "I am starting to see the advantage of earning His Majesty's favour."

Yan Zheyun shot him an amused look. "Be glad that it's not snowing," was his wry reply.

Without special permission by the emperor, such as that granted to a pregnant concubine or highly doted upon consort, no one was allowed to use a sedan within the inner palace boundaries. This was an honour reserved for the empress or concubines who had been chosen to serve in the dragon bed that night.

They had already been walking for what Yan Zheyun estimated was around an hour. Sunset painted the horizon in rosy hues. There were other concubines en route as well, all of them bundled up in colourful warm cloaks like a procession of ornaments.

By the time they finally reached Jinshen Hall and were ushered out of the cold by the attending eunuchs, Yan Zheyun was sorely missing the invention of sports shoes. He wondered idly if it would be possible to replicate the technology required to make soles with good support but didn't have enough specialised knowledge on the subject to be able to draw a conclusion. If he'd known that he would one day be sucked into a historical novel, he would have chosen something more relevant to start a company on. His expertise in software technology was doing absolutely nothing for him.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't immediately notice the attention he was gathering until Xiao De helped him out of his cloak and the murmuring around him heightened.

He looked up. The grand lanterns overhead cast a glow on his face, which seemed to illuminate Jinshen Hall better than mere candlelight. The precious few in attendance who had seen his performance at the fourth prince's banquet, such as the fourth prince's consort and some of the distant male imperial relatives, noted a marked change in his aura. Perhaps it had to do with his attire. his dancer's costume had been eye-catching but had also trivialised his status, relegated him to the role of a stunning slave sent to seduce a powerful master.

But his robes now were of a completely different standard. They were in the style of the latest trend in the capital. In stark contrast to a large proportion of the other concubines, who were so desperate for the emperor's attention that they'd chosen to deck themselves in such flashy colours that they were half an inch away from garish, he had chosen an understated elegance that made him appear scholarly. He knelt in silence on a cushion in the fourth seat of the row of male concubines. This wasn't a conspicuous position by any means but still, he stood out like a beacon in the night.

Coupled together with his extraordinary promotion three whole ranks up to 'Noble Lord' status and many a competitor turned the same shade as Yan Zheyun's clothes. They had spent whole shichens dressing themselves up to the nines, each one convinced that today was their special day, only to have the limelight stolen by the most undeserving of them all. Their families were relying on them to stand out but time and time again, they found themselves paling in comparison to the ex-slave.

Take Talented Lord Liang, who was seated in the fifth seat, for example. His robes were purple with gold embroidery and he wore enough hair ornaments to compete with the female concubines. There was no denying that his looks were also excellent but next to Noble Lord Yue's refinement, they appeared to be in bad taste.

Noble Lord Yue.

What right did he have to rob them of the emperor's doting and steal all the privileges for himself? It didn't even appear that the emperor was that enamoured with him either, remembering only on occasion to take pity and toss the pathetic boy a bone.

But so what? That was more than they'd ever received from His Majesty. And jumping the hierarchy was a benefit that couldn't be dismissed as mere scraps.

If Yan Zheyun could hear their thoughts, he would have laughed aloud and given them a sympathetic pat on their backs. Truthfully, he had no idea where the emperor was going with this either and had already made up his mind to play by ear. No wonder there was the saying that 'the emperor's heart was difficult to guess'. There were so many potential factors playing into the decision-making that Yan Zheyun couldn't even hypothesise it.

Forget it. There was no point giving himself a headache trying to understand His Very Complex Majesty.

The emperor and empress dowager had yet to arrive yet. Yan Zheyun took this opportunity to survey Jinshen Hall. More specifically, he took stock of current and potential opponents. Because this was a private family gathering with no 'outsiders', the women were not made to sit separately from the men. Yan Zheyun, who unfortunately fell into the former category now, had a full view of the room.

The princes were already in attendance, seated a respectful distance away from the emperor's men and women. Ever since Yan Zheyun had sat down, he'd felt a greedy pair of eyes plastered to his face. He had assumed initially that it was Scumbag 2 being his usual disgusting self, but a glance in that direction revealed him to be deep in conversation with a slender young man with porcelain skin. On his right was his consort, who oddly enough was seated a ways from the talking duo, removed like she didn't want to be associated with her husband.

The young man nodded at something the fourth prince said before turning his head in Yan Zheyun's direction. Yan Zheyun's mouth fell open.

Wu Roushu?

This unfortunate illegitimate daughter of the Wu Family was dressed in a young nobleman's garb but there was no mistaking her face. The maid seated behind her was also the one who had assisted Yan Zheyun in his escape.

He had a sneaking suspicion that he knew why she was attired like this and he didn't like the reason behind it. But there was nothing more he could do for her. He'd already given her due warning.

Sighing to himself, he scanned the crowd once more for any hint of who might have been responsible for staring at him like they were undressing him with their eyes but to no avail.

No matter. Here amidst the crowd, Yan Zheyun was at least safe from advances. Belonging to the emperor had obvious perks, the biggest of which was that none of the scumbags would be able to make a move easily on him.

Still, he would prefer if he could reduce the effect of the protagonist halo's 'charms that could captivate tens of thousands of people'. Apart from the downsides of being pursued to no end, it also helped him earn a whole bevvy of enemies. He was aware, for instance, that the higher-ranked concubines had been watching him ever since he'd stepped into the hall. He'd had the dubious pleasure of meeting one or two of them before but the most glamorous woman right at the front of the hall, nearest to the dais, was probably Noble Consort Li.

She met his eyes briefly, just once, before glancing away like she hadn't noticed him.

But Yan Zheyun knew that it was all just an act.

"The Empress Dowager Niangniang arrives! His Majesty, the Emperor arrives!"

Let the feast begin.