Chapter 16
If Yan Yunhe had been drinking at the moment he was called an “adulterer,” he would have choked to death.
The merchants exchanged glances, cast a look toward Yu Qin standing in the doorway, and turned to Yan Yunhe with curious gazes.
Yan Yunhe immediately composed himself, putting on an angry expression. “You’ve got some nerve! Don’t think just because I’ve indulged you for a while you can overstep your bounds! How dare you come to a place like this?”
Yu Qin raised an eyebrow, surprised that Yan Yunhe was keeping up the act. He was quite skilled at portraying a fickle, face-conscious merchant.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard commander's gaze was truly intimidating. A single glance across the room had everyone breaking in cold sweat. Yan Yunhe sighed inwardly. Yu Qin’s acting skills needed improvement; no ordinary man would have that look in his eyes.
He immediately smashed his cup in front of Yu Qin, feigning a drunken outburst to shatter the tense atmosphere. “If you want to throw a tantrum, do it at home! Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?”
At this, the white-robed merchant from earlier stepped forward to mediate. “Yun-gongzi, there's no need to get angry. Let’s just talk calmly.”
The others chimed in with similar sentiments. As seasoned businessmen, they were all shrewd and concerned with appearances. They wouldn’t let this petty squabble escalate and attract unwanted attention.
Yan Yunhe wiped his face in feigned embarrassment. “My apologies, gentlemen. I’ll take my leave for today. I’ll treat you all to drinks next time.”
This time, no one tried to stop him. With a sullen expression, Yan Yunhe followed Yu Qin out of the brothel.
Back in their luxurious room, Yan Yunhe leaned back on the bed and sighed, “Lord Yu, if you ever quit being an official, you’d make a fine storyteller. You’re quite the weaver of tales.”
Yu Qin shed his fur-lined coat, which carried the cloying scent of rouge and powder that he deeply detested. In response to Yan Yunhe’s teasing, he said, “Not as much as Lord Yan.”
Although Yan Yunhe had been gathering information, he had actually drunk so much his chest burned. He lay back, drowsiness washing over him as the alcohol’s effects kicked in. “I want peach blossom pastries.”
Yu Qin stood before the massive bed, contemplating the possibility of securing another room without drawing attention. Hearing Yan Yunhe’s mutterings, his gaze flickered.
A knock on the door startled Yan Yunhe awake. It had been ages since he’d let down his guard like this.
He bolted upright, his heart pounding. His bloodshot eyes darted to the door, his hand instinctively reaching for his sword—only to grasp at empty air. As his consciousness gradually returned, Yan Yunhe realized he wasn’t on the battlefield. He was in Yunzhou, with Yu Qin.
This realization subtly soothed his anxiety. He rose, walked to the door, and opened it. “What is it?”
The waiter had come to deliver hot water, as Yu Qin had instructed when he went downstairs an hour ago.
Now fully awake, Yan Yunhe noticed Yu Qin was no longer in the room, but he wasn’t curious about where the man had gone. The empress dowager had summoned Yu Qin for a reason. He wouldn’t forget their respective positions just because they had been getting along relatively well during this time.
Yu Qin had his own affairs to attend to, and so did he.
Yan Yunhe pushed open the window and emitted an owl’s hoot. Moments later, a pitch-black bird swooped down and landed before the window. His informant was truly unique. While others used carrier pigeons, she had trained a flock of crows. It had to be said that crows were remarkably effective, blending seamlessly into the night.
Yan Yunhe removed the black message tube from the crow’s leg, extracted a slip of paper, quickly read it, and burned it to ashes. He turned back to find the crow still perched on the windowsill, tilting its head as it watched him.
Yan Yunhe waved dismissively. “Go back and ask your master for a reward. I’ve got nothing for you.”
And then Lord Yan shamelessly closed the window, infuriating the discarded bird so much that it cawed loudly and nearly pecked a hole through the pane. Yan Yunhe clicked his tongue in amusement, concluding that crows were still too troublesome. Their intelligence made them prone to bargaining; they were nothing like the diligent, hardworking carrier pigeons.
Recalling the contents of the letter, Yan Yunhe fell into deep contemplation.
A month prior, a man was killed by the Qingyi Gang during a robbery: Zhang Yuan, the younger brother of the magistrate’s concubine. Relying on his connection to the magistrate, Zhang Yuan acted without restraint in the countryside. It was rumored that Zhang Yuan had taken a fancy to a commoner girl. After she refused to marry him, he raped her under cover of darkness. Unable to bear the shame, the girl drowned herself in the river. Unfortunately for him, that girl was the sister of a Qingyi Gang member; he had stirred up a hornet’s nest.
Had revenge been their sole motive, the gang’s actions would have been regarded as upholding heaven’s justice.1 However, the letter revealed that Zhang Yuan, exploiting the magistrate’s influence, had established an escort agency in the city, demanding that all merchants use his services for deliveries. For a time, Zhang Yuan met frequently with the Qingyi Gang’s leader. It appeared he really held leverage over the man, forcing the gang to make way for his escort agency. Soon, everyone knew that hiring Zhang Yuan’s agency guaranteed protection from the Qingyi Gang’s harassment.
This was no longer about revenge; it was about profit.
By all accounts, the magistrate must have received a substantial remuneration to tolerate the Qingyi Gang for so long; he wouldn’t have been so quick to cut ties with them. However, his concubine suffered a miscarriage after learning of her brother’s murder. The magistrate, already lacking heirs, was enraged by this loss.
Yan Yunhe suspected that Zhang Yuan’s escort agency had been established at the magistrate’s behest. Wealth corrupts the heart,2 after all; merely collecting tribute from the Qingyi Gang no longer satisfied his greed. If the magistrate could use this opportunity to remove the Qingyi Gang from Yunzhou, the spoils would be his for the taking.
Did the profits generated by a handful of wealthy merchants in Yunzhou truly warrant such a move? Or did the Qingyi Gang harbor other dark secrets?
With so few clues, these were merely conjectures. The truth remained to be verified.
Yan Yunhe walked behind the screen, undressed, and sank into the bathtub. The hot water didn’t sober him up; instead, it made him all the more drowsy. He hadn’t had the chance to wash properly since he arrived, and he was actually quite meticulous when it came to personal hygiene. The water Yu Qin had sent was precisely what he needed.
What a good partner.3 So considerate.
Yan Yunhe leaned over the edge of the tub, his hair spreading across the water. Those naturally curly locks, now soaked, clung to his honey-toned, glowing skin, resembling an ancient totem.
When Yu Qin returned, he didn’t realize he was bathing until he rounded the screen, finding Yan Yunhe in the tub, his back facing him.
The contours of his muscles were smooth and defined. The deep furrow running down the center of his spine was covered with water droplets, which seemed to roll with each breath he took, tracing a path to the small of his back, gathering at the apex of his buttocks. The clear water in the tub barely concealed anything. Though his hair provided some cover, it only drew more attention to the exposed areas.
What truly caught Yu Qin’s eye, however, were the hideous scars covering Yan Yunhe’s body. Large and small, deep and shallow—each old wound etched on his skin served as proof of Yan Yunhe’s narrow escapes from death.
Yan Yunhe had heard Yu Qin enter earlier and knew the other man was standing behind him, watching him. With his thick skin, he naturally didn’t mind, but Yu Qin’s gaze lingered for far too long.
Yan Yunhe reached for a bath towel beside him, covering his lower body before turning around in the water. He drawled lazily, “Lord Yu, are you still in character? If you keep staring at me so intently… I might get the wrong idea.”
The wounds on his front were no fewer than those on his back. There were arrow wounds, sword slashes, and a deep, long scar stretching from his shoulder to his abdomen.
Yu Qin stood motionless, ignoring Yan Yunhe’s teasing. He asked, “Yan Yunhe, why did you go to the frontier?”
Wouldn’t it have been better to live leisurely in the capital as the Marquis of Yong’an, take a wife, have children, and lead a normal life?
Yan Yunhe had heard this question countless times, but he never imagined that one day, he would hear it from Yu Qin.
He lifted his gaze to meet Yu Qin’s eyes. Those eyes seemed different from back then, yet they were still the same.
He had seen Yu Qin’s tears, his pain and humiliation, and he had been a witness when Yu Qin was trapped in a hopeless situation, with no one to save him.
Yan Yunhe’s lips moved slightly, but he remained silent for a long time. Finally, he said in a hoarse voice, “Lord Yu, let’s not get too familiar.”
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