From CEO to Concubine-Chapter 160: Perfect Bait

The night had ended on an ugly note but Hui Shuxian didn’t mind. It hardly concerned her, after all, who would lose sleep in their tents, anger and resentment broiling in their stomachs until the seeds of discontent already spilling from their pods, were inevitably sowed.

If nothing else, she could benefit from it and that was what mattered most.

Whether Prince Yenanda of the northern tribes was a great warrior or not was still up for debate as naturally, the northern entourage hadn’t seen fit to allow him to challenge Great Ye’s emperor in battle. Others had jumped at the opportunity to engage in a ’friendly’ spar with Prince Yenanda, not least Great General Pan, who had coldly reminded Prince Yenanda not to reopen those wounds he’d personally given to him during their last skirmish on the borders.

As a woman, Hui Shuxian’s role was to stay quiet and keep her gaze lowered, her beauty tucked away behind curtains and folding screens as the men of the household discussed war and politics. She was good at playing her part. Great Ye was a powerful kingdom and the idea of ruin and suffering was a distant concept to those, such as her, who had the good fortune to live behind the towering walls of its grand capital.

Still, she sensed that the tumultuous banquet had stirred up an unease that made everyone restless, including the servants tasked with cleaning up after. The tents near the centre of the encampment were reserved for the imperial family and further removed from the hustle and bustle. However, after changing into a plainer set of robes that left her a lot more nondescript than her usual fare, Hui Shuxian set out on a leisurely walk that took her to the periphery of the imperial tents. Curfew was not for another half a shichen so the platoons of guards that marched around on rotating shifts hadn’t given her more than a cursory glance. Accompanied by just one maidservant, she looked a lot less like a glamorous concubine and more like a simple daughter of a less ostentatious official.

Just from the fleeting appreciative looks that some of the men dared to shoot her way, she knew that no one had guessed her identity. This was just as well. She wasn’t out here on any illicit business but her earlier conversation with that silly chit Wu Yusi still left a suffocating tightness in her chest, her irritation spiking as the words that had rattled off the tongue of that ignorant child rang in her mind.

"This little sister has laid the trap, just in time for His Majesty’s birthday. Big Sister Hui, all we need is a suitable scapegoat, if this little sister may suggest, Attendant Zhang’s brother has come across that Yan slave enough times to be a suspect...and this little sister has heard a rumour or two about how close Envoy Zhang was to His Majesty’s true love...maybe we could make use of this?"

One would rather a powerful foe than a foolish ally, Hui Shuxian reflected with no small amount of woe. It had taken all of her self-control not to slap the smug smile off the girl’s face. This spoiled brat had had to share every detail of their plan with her household, her one job being its execution and even now she continued to be more of a hindrance than a help.

Wu Yusi thought that she was so clever, so cunning, pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes, including Hui Shuxian’s. She had no idea that her darkest, ugliest thoughts were on full display for anyone who was a veteran in playing the game that everyone in the inner palace learnt to eventually grow accustomed to. Wu Yusi saw Zhang Qian as a competitor, someone whom she was competing with in terms of loyalty to Hui Shuxian and also someone whose family background offered her more support than the struggling Wu clan could give their impetuous daughter at present. She only saw the prestige of Envoy Zhang’s successes in the north as a threat but failed to recognise that even with such a capable brother, Attendant Zhang’s rank had yet to be reinstated.

Hui Shuxian shook her head and sighed. Youth was folly, as Wu Yusi demonstrated time and again to her. Sacrifice Envoy Zhang for their purposes? Envoy Zhang, whose dislike for the imperial noble consort was never a secret and whose relationship with the emperor had become strained as a result? Could such a person even be manipulated into serving their scheme?

Taking a step back, even if he could, Wu Yusi had underestimated one person in her immature calculations; Emperor Xuanjun himself.

Just because His Majesty was enamoured with the kingdom’s greatest beauty at present didn’t mean that he has taken all leave of his senses. The morning court and most of the inner palace might believe that the emperor’s infatuation was clouding his good judgment but Hui Shuxian knew better than to buy into that impression, which was very possibly crafted to give a false impression.

Sure, she wasn’t so delusional that she thought Imperial Noble Consort Yue was purely a ruse; that level of affection couldn’t exist without an element of genuineness. But she’d had the dubious pleasure of entering the emperor’s household back when he’d been crown prince.

Back then. Back when everyone had been smitten by his looks, demeanour, and talent, Imperial Concubine Hui had already become wary of his propensity for ruthlessness, pragmatic approach to vengeance, and ability to endure.

Endure the death of his beloved. The late emperor’s warped affections. An uncaring mother and ambitious brothers. A court that valued him only as a malleable puppet that they could use to control the winds and rains of the kingdom.

Emperor Xuanjun had tolerated all of that, which was why he now sat on top of a throne that was bathed in the blood of his enemies. And this was why using Envoy Zhang was destined to fail. If the emperor still had use for him—and until the situation with the north was settled for good he would—then Hui Shuxian believed that any scandal involving him, regardless of how much of an affront it was to the emperor, would be swept under the carpet. She didn’t put it past His Majesty to do the dirty work himself, cleaning up after his precious lover and bosom friend to ensure they were still tools for him to utilise when he needed them.

On the day that Envoy Zhang became useless to him or he finally grew tired of the tedium of limiting his pick of lovers, that was the day they would vanish quietly without a trace. This was what he was capable of. This was why they all said that to be an emperor was to be heartless.

But Hui Shuxian couldn’t wait that long. Someone else was getting impatient too.

"Niangniang, it’s starting to drizzle." Her maidservant raised a paper umbrella over her head, meek voice tinged with concern. "This servant is worried Niangniang will catch a cold, shall we head back?"

She didn’t want to. The cool droplets that kissed her cheeks were a blessed respite from the stuffiness of the tents. Even out here, in the open air, she felt trapped in a web of deceit that she and so many others were spinning for each other, every new layer that she added on concealing her previous handiwork but also making her fear that she had overlooked an ambush that someone else had laid out for her.

Not to mention that one person she wanted to protect with her life. He was the dichotomous exception to the banality of her existence, somehow capable of too much and too little emotions all at once. She wasn’t so naive that she believed in his soulful gaze and everyone in the capital knew of his dandy reputation, spoke about him behind closed doors whilst shaking their heads as though they knew him well enough to judge. A prince of the first rank who would never amount to anything, they’d criticised.

But to her he was everything. And earlier on, after Hui Shuxian had shot down Wu Yusi’s suggestion to use Envoy Zhang as bait, the idiotic girl had changed tangents to try and find a victim who would best put an end to the emperor’s favouritism towards Imperial Noble Consort Yue.

This was a smarter move and Hui Shuxian would have been proud of her if only she hadn’t mentioned his name.

Wu Yusi had sat there with a malicious gleam in her eyes as she’d spoken at length about why using a prince, this prince in particular, would be their best solution, not knowing that Hui Shuxian’s hands, hidden beneath her long, flowing sleeves, had already dug crescents into her palms so ferociously that she’d broken through the tender skin to leave streaks of red on her white underrobes.

A stain that she couldn’t show anyone, just like the hidden affections she’d kept bottled up for so long they became distilled into old wine, bitter on the tip of her tongue whenever she heard fresh rumours about his new conquests in the brothels of the flower streets and willow alleys.

The evening wind and her thoughts were equally turbulent. Wu Yusi wasn’t privy to Hui Shuxian’s emotions but that wasn’t good enough to pardon her. Since she was unable to come up with a viable alternative, Hui Shuxian was going to have to take matters into her own hands.

After all, at the end of the day, she was the only person she could trust.

As though the heavens were rewarding her for her resolve, her little walk to clear her mind didn’t go to waste. As she was taking a turn near the tents where the high-ranking officials were allocated, she overheard a small commotion involving none other than Wu Yusi’s good family.

Exchanging a glance with her maidservant, she casually headed in that direction to see what the fuss was about, not so close that she could be questioned for being indiscreet by putting herself in proximity to men outside her household but close enough that she could eavesdrop with ease.

Let it not be said that Hui Shuxian wasn’t skilful at toeing the line.

"I’m telling you to get a grip on yourself!" Although Hui Shuxian had only met the Minister of Rites in passing before, she could recall his voice introducing a beautiful dancing slave at the fourth prince’s birthday banquet. In many ways, he was the source of all their troubles and she had to smile derisively as she heard him lecture his good-for-nothing son now, his voice an anguished mix of anger and despair.

The stories of how this principal graduate had let himself go to waste after his favourite manservant was taken away from him to be gifted to those richer and more influential made Compiler Wu one of the biggest jokes of the capital in recent times. His family’s reputation tarnished and the ’love’ of his life lost, Compiler Wu had taken up to seeking comfort in the arms of young male prostitutes, or so they said. The concubines in the palaces had their ways of sifting out information from beyond the palace walls and Hui Shuxian, always happy to trade what she knew with the others, had heard about this from one of the girls who had an issue with Wu Yusi’s arrogance.

Initially, she had taken it with a pinch of salt; granted, Imperial Noble Consort Yue’s beauty was so profound that even she as a woman could understand why men were moved at the mere sight of him, but at the end of the day, he was just another warm body in a bed.

But now, hearing Compiler Wu’s drunken, slurred declarations of love, listening with growing glee at how he threw all Confucian propriety to the wind as he cursed and swore at his father for robbing him of his one happiness for his personal gain, Hui Shuxian had to marvel at just how true the outrageous gossip could be.

"Bin Er," Minister of Rites Wu said painstakingly, his words trembling with the effort it took to contain his rage. "This father didn’t go out of his way to arrange for you to attend the hunt just so you can squander this opportunity away right after laying eyes on that—that boy!"

The way Minister of Rites Wu gritted his teeth as he forced out those last two words was testimony enough of the intense dislike he felt towards his ex-slave.

"Mind your words, Father," Compiler Wu replied, so acerbic that Hui Shuxian could just imagine the hatred in his bloodshot eyes. He wasn’t beyond comprehension but the wine was probably heady enough that he was unable to hold his tongue in check. "If it weren’t for you, that boy would still be mine."

"Bin Er! Do you have any idea what you’re saying?! These walls have ears!" As though processing his own words, Minister of Rites Wu’s voice dropped in volume, nearly drowned out by the soft pattering of rain on grass. But the silver veil of evening mist that shrouded Hui Shuxian kept her well-concealed enough from prying eyes that she felt confident enough to take a step closer, especially since if anyone did come up to question her she had enough rank to pull—an imperial concubine out for a bit of exercise just happened to overhear a great disrespect to the imperial family. She wasn’t the one who should be scared in this situation.

"That is the imperial noble consort that you’re speaking about, one wayward glance at the inner palace is enough to secure you a beheading and bring downfall upon our family! You—"

Compiler Wu’s harsh laughter interrupted his father’s long-suffering complaints. "Bring downfall upon our family," he mocked. "Of course, everything for the family. I’m sick of all of you."

"If His Majesty finds out that you dare covet the imperial noble consort—"

Compiler Wu was either crazy or so blind drunk that he didn’t have it in him to remember his decorum towards his liege. "His Majesty? Hah!" he declared. "If that man didn’t shamelessly cut the queue, I would have long since had a taste—"

The loud slap that resounded cut him off sharply but Hui Shuxian had heard enough by now to confirm that she’d found for herself the perfect bait. Insane, obsessive, and engaged in enough foolish behaviour that no one would think it implausible should he do something even worse, even more...dangerous to himself.

Hui Shuxian’s lips curled upwards. She motioned for her maidservant to support her as she departed, careful to tread softly through the soft soil underfoot such that she didn’t alert Minister of Rites Wu to her presence.

The captain of the guard patrol that rounded back started when they saw her and kindly offered to escort her back to her tent given the abysmal weather.

Hui Shuxian accepted expansively and even made sure to reward him for his efforts with a little tip. She was in a good mood indeed.