Some kind of concubine

Jiang Lu's hand faltered on the teapot. He course-corrected in time to avoid spilling anything.

It was only a matter of time until one of them noticed, but Jiang Lu had hoped they would have asked Wei Xiangsi instead of him. How could he even begin to describe the complex family politics unraveling every day inside the Wei estate?

"Your honored self should ask Young Master Wei about any issues related to the estate. This lowly one isn't qualified to speak on something like that."

He averted his eyes, but he could tell the other man was searching for his gaze. He was distractingly handsome, Fan Jiu. Jiang Lu had entertained some fleeting, vengeful thoughts, about being invited to his bed, and this lurid proposal somehow reaching Wei Xiangsi who would regret ever casting Jiang Lu away.

Nothing of the sort had happened, but the man's intense gaze made it very hard for Jiang Lu to focus on his task.

"I'm not asking Wei Xiangsi," Fan Jiu said, stilling Jiang Lu's hand over the teapot and taking it from him.

Jiang Lu could only watch as Fan Jiu poured another cup of tea and placed it in front of him.

"Please sit," he said, holding back his sleeves and gesturing politely.

Rejecting such a direct invitation could get him in trouble if Fan Jiu mentioned it to Wei Xiangsi, so Jiang Lu accepted the tea and sat down, shocked at the softness of the pillows he had often aired out. Even when Wei Xiangsi invited him into his bedroom, he had never sat with him. He didn't think they had ever shared tea.

Now that he thought about it. He wasn't sure Wei Xiangsi had ever touched him outside of bed.

The thought depressed him. He took a listless sip of tea. He knew that a single gram of that famed mountain green tea cost more than his monthly salary, and yet it could as well have been ashes for all it made him sick to his stomach.

"If you are afraid I'll bring this up with Wei Xiangsi, please don't fret." He drank his tea in measured sips. "Nothing you say here will leave this room."

Jiang Lu would be a fool to trust a man he had just met. "Your honored self should discuss such matters with Young Master We--"

"I don't want to," Fan Jiu said, interrupting him. Jiang Lu had the impression his gaze had almost flashed red. "I'm sure you're aware that he's growing closer to the person who I came here with. I don't like this development."

His sharp eyes pierced through Jiang Lu like an arrow. "I'm sure you don't like it either."

What could he say to that? He was a lowly servant; he could make no demands of Wei Xiangsi -- only accept what he was given.

Fan Jiu went on, "He is my business partner, and I can't make one-sided decisions, but, if I find a plausible reason for us to leave without conducting business with Wei Xiangsi, then he won't be able to reject it." He smiled, almost friendly. "I think an early departure would benefit us both."

The idea was very appealing. With the interloper removed, his relationship with Wei Xiangsi could return to what it had been. Jiang Lu wavered, debating between his self-preservation instinct and his feelings.

In the end, he nodded. "Young Master isn't highly regarded in the estate. He is shunned to this single courtyard, and no other family servants are allowed here. He hired me out of his own pocket." Remembering this filled Jiang Lu with a warm sense of pride.

He had been especially selected to be Wei Xiangsi's trusted aid in a house where everyone hated him. He'd lost sight of that since that man's arrival, remembering it now made him sit up straighter.

Jiang Lu surprised him by asking: "On account of the condition of his birth?" Noticing Jiang Lu's shock, he went on to add, "He was very forthcoming, regarding that aspect."

His face fell. The situation was worse than he thought if Wei Xiangsi was so taken in as to admit such personal details. He took in a shuddering, fortifying breath, and told Fan Jiu everything he knew about the rot in the house of Wei.

---

It was night outside the room's oilpaper windows, Xie Bian could hear the rustle of tree leaves; the moon cast ghostly shadows across the wall. He was in bed looking up at the ceiling willing sleep to come and take him.

It kept on being a mercurial lover.

In any other circumstance, he'd take the opportunity to read some more of Fu Shulin's book, but he hadn't had the courage, since the passage of An Mu's harrowing death.

His nights had been sleepless anyways, but part of him wished he could get over the mental block and go back to enjoying the book as if it were a work of fiction.

The insomnia meant he was fully awake when the latch inside the room clicked out of place and the door slid softly open.

Xie Bian remained deathly still. He'd had plenty of practice faking sleep thanks to Fan Wujiu, and now it was about to come in handy.

There were at least two people outside the room.

"Young master, please step in," a voice said, lowered and servile.

Footsteps followed, putting only a token effort to be quiet. "You're sure he won't wake?"

"This servant made sure the sleeping draft was added to the tea in the kitchens right before young master Wei's personal servant came to pick it. Everyone in the courtyard will be sleeping soundly, please rest assured."

Unless they were Underworld Generals, and thus immune to whatever it was that had been dropped on the tea.

"That dog has been sequestering himself with his 'guests', I want to take a good look at them." He crossed the room, coming to stop next to Xie Bian on the bed.

After a while, the man let out a delighted chortle. "What silk merchants? What business deal? Father is a fool to believe his lies, this is clearly one of the whores from the brothel that he has gone and set up at home like some kind of concubine!?"