Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ajax came to awareness with a stinging sensation on his cheek.

“ Just a cairen ¹ from a vassal state . ” The woman in front of him hissed, her delicate hand raised in mid-air. Her features were twisted in a moue of disgust, as if even the sight of him offended her. “And you dare to slight me? Come, slap his mouth!”

Before Ajax could even react, two servant girls standing behind her dashed up to him and delivered five resounding slaps to his face. 

“Apologies, Cairen Li² ,” one of the girls said insincerely, even as she hit him again. “This slave³ has wronged you.” 

They may have been girls, but their slaps still hurt. Ajax swore his ears were ringing a little by the time they were done. But in a way the blows were a blessing in disguise, for his dazed expression and sluggish reactions would be taken as shock from being hit, and not from processing the rush of memories flooding his brain.

In his head, he let loose a string of curses so filthy that if his own mother heard him she would have washed his mouth out with soap. Fuck. Of all the things to happen to him, he never would have expected that he’d wake up one day to find himself occupying a random person’s body in an entirely different time period. He’s read a few transmigration and reincarnation novels in his free time, but that didn’t mean he wanted it to happen to him!   

And of all the people to play meat puppet with, he just had to enter the body of a prince from a powerless vassal state, didn’t he? This body may have been a prince in name, but that was that – a prince in name only. Snezhnaya, a small country whose exports primarily depended on its fishing industry, relied on the protection of this empire, which was called Liyue. As such, being the fifth prince in a long line of princes, he was considered just expendable enough to be wrapped up in a bow and given to Liyue’s emperor as an imperial concubine. It was only the original body’s luck that he had been born with a pretty face and slender body, otherwise the emperor wouldn’t have spared him even a glance. And if that had happened, who knows what fate would have befallen him when he returned to Snezhnaya.

The original body had no power. Born to a mother of humble birth, he was disdained throughout his childhood, and so he grew up with a soft personality and weak constitution. Unfortunately, in the imperial harem, that was practically a death sentence. What was worse was that the emperor had never visited him at night nor gifted him anything, and that meant he had no favour. 

In the harem, having no favour meant having no respect, and having no respect basically meant that you wouldn’t have a good life. Although he was a cairen, which was a low-mid consort rank, it was merely a hollow title that was bestowed to him because the emperor decided to give Snezhnaya a little face. With neither favour nor background, even servants with a bit of standing could push him around, let alone the other concubines in the harem.  

Dammit, maybe he should have listened to Pulcinella and prayed more at temples or something. He’d never believed in karma – which was the average mindset of the people in his line of work, Pulcinella was just a freak –, but this whole situation was starting to make him think otherwise. 

Gazing at Ajax’s stinging cheeks, which were now undoubtedly red and raw, the woman who had ordered him to be slapped smirked slightly.  

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

If he remembered correctly, this was Jieyu⁴ Bai, the daughter of a sixth-ranked official in the Department of Transportation. She was beautiful, with her large hazel eyes and long dark hair tied in a Wo Zhui Ji⁵ style, but who wasn’t beautiful in the imperial harem? Her looks managed to garner her some favour from the emperor, which elevated her to jieyu, but her background meant that she would rise no further than that. Seven years had passed since she entered the palace, and she was no longer young, yet still remained a jieyu.

Truly a pitiful woman.

Obviously she knew that herself, so she would often vent her anger at the situation towards the concubines of lower rank than her. Ajax, who was not only two ranks lower than her but also a foreigner who had trouble understanding Liyuean (and thus could not talk back to defend himself), was a perfect target. From the original owner’s memories, she was one of the major players who made his life a living hell, taunting him for his shaky Liyuean and punishing him for any perceived slight. In fact, this current debacle happened because she claimed he’d bumped into her while walking, when clearly he hadn’t even touched her.

Ajax’s eyes narrowed imperceptibly.

“This imperial concubine has been lacking in manners.” He bowed deeply, head hanging low and putting his hands together in a deferential salute⁶ . “This concubine thanks Jieyu Bai for teaching this concubine about the harem’s etiquette, and begs Jieyu Bai’s mercy for this concubine’s foolish clumsiness.” 

Jieyu Bai paused briefly. Ajax assumed she was taken aback by his sudden eloquence, which was to be expected; although the original owner of this body had studied Liyue’s language and culture extensively, the difference between theoretical knowledge and practical use of a language was as wide as the gap between the land and the sky.

Thankfully, although Ajax knew absolutely fuck-all about this country’s culture, what he did have was a strong grasp of the language. Years ago, he’d been assigned to a country whose language was extremely similar to Liyuean, with a few minor differences that he could easily adapt to, and so he’d learnt the language in order to facilitate the completion of his job. Never had he been so grateful for Scaramouche, that damned midget polyglot, and his language boot camps.

“Hmph.” Jieyu Bai finally snorted. Ajax could see the swish of her skirts as she turned around and left, her servant girls trailing behind her.

A pair of arms appeared in his line of vision, curling around Ajax’s own arm to support his body. “Master, Jieyu Bai has left. How could she hit your honoured self so harshly? What if it scars?”

He raised his head, looking at the young brown-haired girl who spoke. If he remembered correctly, her name was Lin Na, a mixed-blood child born from a Snezhnayan mother and Liyuean father. By a stroke of fate, she had been assigned to Ajax. She was more knowledgeable than he about the harem’s affairs, given that she entered the palace a year before he did, but she was only sixteen; she still had quite some way to go.

“It was only a few slaps, it won’t even bruise that much.” Ajax patted her hand comfortingly before reminding her: “In the future, don’t say such things where people can hear. The walls have ears.”

Lin Na froze and quickly bowed her head in fright. “This slave understands. This slave was ignorant.”

Ajax hummed lowly. “It’s alright. Just be careful in the future.” He turned to leave. “Let’s return.”

Lin Na followed him swiftly. Somehow, she thought, her master seemed different than he was from this morning, not at all like an eighteen year-old whose mannerisms showed his innocence and immaturity. 

Her master’s long hair swayed in the wind, a flaming orange the shade of autumn leaves. Although he was dressed plainly, he somehow looked dignified: his posture was languid, speaking of a comfortable confidence in himself, and he walked at a steady pace. His expression was calm, his deep blue eyes unfathomable, and she wondered what he could be thinking about beneath those blue depths.

Realising that she had been about to speculate about her master, she ducked her head deeper, banishing those thoughts from her mind.

Amituofo ⁷ , she should be punished.  

Despite its name, Shanchi Courtyard⁸ was not a very large place. It was a small residence located a stone’s throw away from a pear blossom garden, and aside from the garden its only other feature of note was the clear pool of water in the backyard. It clearly wasn’t as luxurious as the residences of the more favoured concubines in the harem, but it was clean and tidy – yet, due to its close proximity to the pear garden, people tended to avoid the residence⁹ . Ajax, however, cared little for such superstitions, and decided that he was quite satisfied with this quaint little residence for the time being.

He watched as Lin Na served him a few boxes of food, uncovering them to reveal its contents: a small plate of greasy stir-fry, a few pieces of cold pastries, and a bowl of thin mushrooms.

“Master…” Lin Na inhaled sharply. The people working in the imperial kitchens¹⁰ were really quick-witted at their jobs, she thought resentfully. Depending on how favoured each concubine was, they would be given different treatment – why else would they serve such a lacking meal to her master, an obviously unfavoured cairen ? And what was worse was that as a low-ranked cairen, her master did not have access to his own personal kitchen, so he would be forced to eat whatever the kitchens served him!

Before she could say anything else, however, Ajax waved his hand absentmindedly. “Don’t fret so.”

He reached forward and took a bite of the stir-fry, chewing thoughtfully. It was alright, he mused, disregarding Lin Na’s outraged expression on his behalf. It was cold, oily, and seasoned too heavily, but it was worlds better than some of the swill he’d been forced to eat while on the clock. He could definitely deal with this for now. 

When he was done with his lunch, he took a sip of tea and wiped his mouth with a napkin. 

“Lin Na,” he said, “what is your Snezhnayan name?”

Caught off guard by his sudden question, the girl floundered for a moment before replying. “It’s Ekaterina, Master.”

“Ekaterina.” Ajax repeated, his voice taking on a reflective tone. “This concubine remembers you saying that you were taught ballet among other dances as a young child, much like your namesake¹¹ . It’s a good name; perhaps this concubine will have the chance to see you perform in the future.”

“This slave doesn’t dare.” Ekaterina ducked her head, but was unable to hide her flushed expression of joy at his praise. “This slave thanks Master for his undeserved praise.”

“Maybe it is undeserved, maybe it is not.” Ajax laughed, teasing her. He stood up and allowed another servant, a young woman whose name was Gan Jing¹² , to clear his empty dishes away, and then beckoned her along with Ekaterina to follow him. “Come, let us take a walk. This concubine needs some exercise to digest all that grease.”

The pear blossom garden bloomed beautifully in the current spring season, and Ajax took his time appreciating the view as he walked through the garden, despite Ekaterina and Gan Jing’s chiding that the place was bad luck. What use was living in the palace, after all, if he couldn’t even take advantage of the view?

For a garden that most people avoided, it was surprisingly well maintained. The grass below his feet was trimmed short and clean, the colour a healthy deep green, and the numerous trees stood tall and straight. Clusters of white pear blossoms bloomed on the trees, forming a beautiful picture against the backdrop of the bright blue sky, and Ajax paused to take the scene in, transfixed. 

A soft gust of wind blew through the air, bringing a shower of blossoms down from the trees. As the flowers scattered from above to dot the green grass below his feet, it almost seemed as if it was snowing. He raised his hand and watched a single blossom drift down to his palm, and carefully grazed its velvet petals between the pads of his thumb and index finger. 

And I was alive in the blizzard of the blossoming pear ¹³ . The quote came unbidden to him, both familiar and bittersweet. He had never been one for poetry, but he always had a soft spot for this particular poem when he was still attending school. 

“Master,” Gan Jing stepped forward, “shall I pluck a branch of blossoms to take back to Shanchi Courtyard?”

Ajax turned towards her without replying, as if pondering over her offer.

“No.” He finally said, turning back towards the trees. “The beauty of nature is in the moment it is alive, after all.”

He tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes. 

Maybe the truth was that he was in some weird version of purgatory, or he hit his head too hard on the job and this was some vivid hallucination, but under the pear blossoms, in an unfamiliar land and an unfamiliar body, Ajax thought this was perhaps the most alive he had ever been.

A short distance away, hidden behind a cluster of trees, a man watched the boy with orange hair and blue eyes smile, holding a pear blossom gently in his hand. It was a genuine expression, a smile full of joy for just a single flower, and the man found himself struck by the brilliance of that pure happiness.

“If We¹⁴ remember correctly, he is the tribute sent from Snezhnaya.” He said. His voice was deep and he spoke with a measured cadence, the mark of a man who knew himself well. “Is he unaware of the superstition behind this garden?”

Long hair spilled over his shoulder in a dark fountain, tied in a low ponytail with a jewelled clasp that was the same shade of glowing amber as his eyes. When he moved, the fabric of his brilliant yellow robes, woven with the most exquisite of silks and embroidered with the image of a dragon, rippled like the surface of a tranquil pool of water. 

Behind him, Zhao Gao bowed. “This slave doubts so, Your Majesty. Cairen Li is said to have some knowledge of our nation’s language and culture; he should be able to understand why most people prefer not to visit this garden.”

A flurry of noise sounded from the garden as the two servants beside the young boy suggested that they leave, their expressions pinched with worry. The boy only laughed openly, a bright, pleasant sound in the quiet of their surroundings. 

“How silly. It’s just a small homonym; what a pity that such beauty is wasted because of such a frivolous superstition.”

Zhao Gao paled, ducking his head deeper and not even daring to glance up at the man in front of him. 

What bold words to say! Did no one teach this concubine how to talk? And to act so unabashedly in the emperor’s favoured garden –!

However, the emperor showed no displeasure at the Snezhnayan boy’s bluntness. Rather, unbeknownst to Zhao Gao, he was even smiling slightly, his gaze drawn to the figure underneath the pear blossom trees. 

Under the sunlight, the boy’s hair almost seemed as if it was aflame, shining a fiery red. His features were young but there was a certain elegance to his movements not unlike a dancer’s – or a warrior’s. And yet, something in his expression as he gazed up at the shower of pear blossoms was unspeakably gentle, like the dew that beaded upon the flowers and grass in the early dawn. 

Zhongli’s gaze deepened. What he could be thinking was anybody’s guess.

But of course, no one would dare – who would dare to speculate on the thoughts of Liyue’s ruler?

“How interesting,” He said.

“Your honoured self spent a long time in the garden today, Master.” Ekaterina said, combing Ajax’s hair with a sturdy jewel-encrusted comb. “Would Master like to visit it again tomorrow?”

Ajax opened his eyes lazily, staring at himself in the mirror. This body truly hit the genetic lottery, he mused. Soft pale skin, large blue eyes framed by long lashes; a delicate nose and a plush, red-lipped mouth…he knew a lot of women back home who would kill for even a fraction of his looks. It was a pity about how dull his eyes looked under the light, but no one was perfect, he supposed. 

“No.” He yawned. “It’s best not to go there too often. Its owner isn’t someone I know how to approach just yet.”

Ekaterina made a sound of confusion, but Gan Jing shushed her quietly. It seemed that the older woman was quick on the uptake, Ajax noted appreciatively. That was good; Ekaterina was competent enough, but she was a little too naïve about certain topics. It was fortunate that he had Gan Jing to complement her. 

Like he had observed earlier that day, that garden was too well-maintained for a place that people actively avoided. Someone had to be maintaining it, and someone with considerable authority; not just anyone could be allowed into the concubine’s residences, even if Ajax was only a cairen. But if it was another concubine, they didn’t need to be so secretive about it, as Ajax ranked so low on the harem’s hierarchy that he could not reasonably do anything to stop them if they had wanted to maintain the garden.  

Therefore, that person must be someone who wasn’t a concubine, with enough power that they had the authority to walk into a concubine’s residence, and yet didn’t want to be seen passing by too often.

So, who could that be? Ajax initially assumed that it was some high-ranking harem official, but after screening the original owner’s memories of the imperial court, he supposed that there was one other person who could technically fit that criteria. He had no way of verifying that guess – and it was a pretty wild guess. After all, why would someone who the entire harem revolved around want to avoid being seen by them?

He yawned again, showing those thoughts to the side.

Little by little, the reality of his situation was sinking in. Trapped in a body and world that wasn’t his, he had no conceivable way back home. Not that he had much that he’d left behind, but the fact remained that that was his world and his life that he’d been stripped off, and forced to occupy this weak shell of a body that only knew the barest bones of self-defence. How the original had survived in the Snezhnayan imperial court with these measly fighting skills escaped Ajax. 

The feeling of something digging into his palm made him look down at his hand. Unknowingly, he had clenched his hand so tight around the armrest of his chair that his knuckles had gone white.

He took a deep breath, releasing his grip.

This must be some sick version of karma. Because why else would he be shuttled into this nightmare? The life of an imperial concubine was one that depended entirely on the whims of the emperor. Hundreds and maybe even thousands of men and women all wasted their entire lives in the palace, fighting over scraps of favour from a single man, just for the opportunity for a better life. 

And like hell was Ajax going to take that lying down. He’d always been a fighter. Always had been and always will be. He’d survived his childhood on the streets, he’d survived the Fatui’s grueling training programme, and he’d survived its selection process and crawled his way to the top of the ladder rung by bloody rung. He’d damn well survive this, too. 

Since he was forced into this dog-eat-dog farce of a competition, he was going to make sure that he’d be the sole winner and live the best life that he possibly could. Luxury, security; power…he would have it all. He not only owed it to himself, but also the original owner of this body.

As to how to achieve that goal? 

He thought back to that afternoon in the plum tree garden: a flash of yellow robes, more brilliant than the sun. Long dark hair with the slightest tinge of gold, gleaming as bright as his gaze while he watched Ajax delighting in the pear blossoms. A measured, confident stride, interrupted by just the slightest degree at the sight of the white blossoms in Ajax’s hair.

Ajax smiled.

Well, he was an imperial concubine, wasn’t he?

Chapter Text

It was late in the evening and the sky was dark, tinged with the faintest streak of plum. In his study, the emperor of Liyue sat at his desk with an ink brush in hand. Every stroke of his brush was steady, his hand never trembling in the slightest, and he swiftly wrote a line of elegant black characters that gleamed wetly against the white rice paper scroll. After skimming the paper for any potential errors, he set the scroll aside to dry as he took another from the pile next to him.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

“Come in,” Zhongli said calmly, gaze not leaving the scroll in front of him.

An eunuch walked in, head bowed. He held a large copper tray in his arms, which held a spread of thin rectangular slates ranging from wood to white jade. A different imperial concubine’s name was delicately carved on each slate, serving as a name tag of sorts, and the material of each one differed according to their status. 

Zhongli lifted his head and opened his mouth, but just as he started to speak, something on the copper tray seemed to have caught his eye. He paused in his work, setting down his brush on to the ink slab, and stared at the wooden slate on the edge of the tray.

The eunuch couldn’t help the surprise that came over him at the emperor’s silence: although the offering of nametags was a tradition that occurred every evening so that the emperor could choose his partner for the night, Emperor Zhongli did not often pick a name from the tray. Usually, he would simply dismiss the eunuch, and on the rare occasion where he chose one of the imperial concubines to spend the night with, he would decide who he wanted swiftly. Tonight was the first time since the start of his rule that he had hesitated this long when choosing a partner.

Another moment passed before Zhongli reached out and took the small name tag that captured his attention. The eunuch bowed again as he received it, making sure to mask his shock at the name carved on the wood.

Cairen Li of Shanchi Courtyard.

Wasn’t he just a foreigner with no favour? The emperor hadn’t visited him once since his admission to the harem, so what changed?

The eunuch pondered on the question for a while longer before dismissing it and scurrying to Shanchi Courtyard.

“Please prepare for His Majesty’s visit tonight.” 

After receiving the declaration from the palace eunuch, the entire courtyard erupted with joy, and the residence’s few servants immediately burst into action to prepare both Ajax and the courtyard for the emperor’s visit.

“How exciting!” Ekaterina exclaimed from behind Ajax as she brushed his hair. “Master, is your honoured self nervous for His Majesty’s visit?”

“What nonsense,” Gan Jing chided, reaching for a jar of scented oil on Ajax’s dressing table, “should this be something a servant girl like you should enquire about?”  

At Ekaterina’s resulting pout, Ajax chuckled, amused. He reached up to pinch her cheek lightly as a reprimand, but said nothing else. Gan Jing saw that he did not wish to speak of the matter any further, and so stopped scolding Ekaterina. As she tried to apply the scented oil onto Ajax’s hair, however, he stopped her.

“None of that,” he smiled slightly, “and don’t give me any heavy accessories tonight, either.” 

It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t taken by surprise at the emperor’s decision to visit him for the night, but what would happen, would happen and so he naturally would prepare for what was to come. And as a man himself, how could he not understand the desires of one? No man wanted to smell the strong scent of oil or wait for his partner to struggle with removing their complicated jewellry when he wanted sex. No, sometimes simple was better, especially when Ajax didn’t know what the emperor liked or disliked – this way, there would be a smaller probability of offending him. 

Thankfully, Gan Jing obeyed his wishes, which elevated his impression of her even further. She simply attached a small pouch of dried fruit to his waist and tied his hair loosely with a sapphire clasp. In turn, Ekaterina dressed him in a pale blue robe sparsely decorated with white lotuses at the hem and sleeves.     

Ajax let them do so a little awkwardly. In truth, he wasn’t used to being served like this: before his current – previous, now – job, he had simply been a normal middle-school student from a middle-class family, who dreamt of some day being able to attend university in the capital. Even after officially joining the Fatui’s Harbinger branch, he’d never been comfortable with the excessive luxury that came with his position, not in a way that his coworkers had been. Being waited on hand and foot, oftentimes quite literally, in this new world embarrassed him slightly – not that he’d ever admit it.

After giving himself a glance in the mirror, he gave an approving nod and moved to the sitting room, and not a moment too soon: in the distance, he could already see the glow of the red lanterns held by the emperor’s entourage of servants to illuminate his path.

The man who stepped through the entrance of the residence a few minutes later was both everything and yet nothing like what Ajax thought he would be. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and his amber eyes held a sure, imposing gaze. Yet his presence wasn’t domineering like Ajax assumed someone who knew bloodshed would be: his expression was calm and his demeanour quiet, almost reserved, hardly like a war-hardened brute. 

In fact, if Ajax didn’t know better, he almost seemed like a scholar. Not a man who seized the throne at nineteen years of age by killing the previous emperor and most of his direct siblings.

Interesting, he thought. This emperor Zhongli really was something else.

And also someone to be wary of – they say still waters run deep, and a person who was calm and collected despite holding a position of power was much more dangerous than a person who outwardly and arrogantly abused it. Ajax would have preferred it if the emperor was the latter kind of man, because men like that only wanted two things: power and their ego. This one, however…was going to be a bit trickier to read.

“This concubine welcomes Your Majesty,” he said, standing up to perform a low bow, “the night is warm; this concubine will prepare a chilled beverage.”

He motioned for a servant and she left the room, later returning with a tray holding a ceramic pitcher, two cups, and two small spoons. The emperor said nothing as she poured the plum juice into the cups and retreated to the back of the room, except for raising his eyebrows slightly. 

“What is this?”

“This drink is named kompot, Your Majesty,” Ajax smiled, taking the spoon beside his cup and using it to stir the juice inside, “it is a sweet drink from this concubine’s homeland, created from cooking fruit in a large volume of water and oftentimes sugar.”

As per protocol, he waited for the emperor to take a sip from his cup before he drank from his own. He saw the man sitting across from him swallow his mouthful before staring down into his cup, as if trying to analyse the liquid inside. Ajax noticed that his eyes were edged with a thin line of deep red, the shade of an overripe pomegranate. He idly wondered whether the emperor personally applied his own makeup every morning, or if he got someone to do it for him. 

“This is called kompot, you say?” The subject of his idle speculations murmured appreciatively. ”Plum, sugar, and a hint of cassia¹… Liyue has a similar drink but the usage of cassia in a beverage is quite intriguing.” 

Ajax smiled again, taking another sip. “For Your Majesty to enjoy it is its greatest honour.”

As he raised the cup to his lips, his sleeve fell down slightly to reveal a pale, slender wrist. He pretended not to notice the heavy gaze lingering on the sliver of exposed skin.

Hah, men.

But this was a good thing – it meant that the emperor wasn’t someone distanced from his baser desires. Ajax had been slightly worried that he simply wasn’t attracted to sex itself, as while flicking through the original body’s memories he’d heard a few rumours that the emperor rarely visited concubines at night, but it seemed like it wasn’t the case. 

Good. It was much easier to attract a man who was susceptible to beauty than someone who wasn’t.

“We know you had only recently travelled from your homeland to Liyue,” the emperor set his cup down onto the table, “how have you found adjusting to Our country?”

‘Recently?’ The original body came to Liyue more than a few months ago. This man truly hadn’t bothered about him, did he.

But hm, this was quite the loaded question. From here on, based on his answer, Ajax would need to begin cementing his persona in front of this man. Should he play the part of the scholarly beauty, with both looks and literary talent? Or the pure virgin, as untouched as white snow? Or the seductive vixen, skilled in the affairs of the bedroom?

In the span of a second, his mind flitted through various different scenarios. 

In the next moment, he made his decision. 

“Truthfully, Your Majesty, it was difficult being away from my home,” he replies softly but not weakly, “however, I am steadily adjusting to my new surroundings, and I find myself becoming enraptured by the beauty and culture of Liyue.” 

He ducks his head to take another sip of kompot, skillfully avoiding the emperor’s gaze. 

His answer was a little bit of a gamble; no one in the palace, let alone the concubines in the Inner Palace², liked admitting their weaknesses for obvious reasons, but here he was directly saying he had trouble adjusting to this country. Yet it wasn’t anything he would get into too much trouble for; the worst case scenario being that he’d be seen as a bit spoiled – but so what?

And besides, he’d said that specifically to conduct a small test of his own, as well.

He counted three beats before the emperor spoke.

“We hear Snezhnaya is well-known for its particular species of narwhals, which is unique to the nation.” His tone was neutral, but there was just the slightest hint of warmth that Ajax would have missed if he hadn’t been specifically looking for it. “We will have a sculpture of it sent to your residence, so that you will not miss your homeland so.”

Oh ho? 

Ajax made a small gasp as he raised his head quickly, eyes widening. “Really, Your Majesty? I…” 

Just as fast as he made his slip in speech, he corrected it. He glanced up at the man sitting across from him, eyes filled with nothing but sincere gratitude and admiration. “This concubine gives his most sincere thanks. Your Majesty is too kind.”

This time, the emperor smiled – it was small, barely the tiniest twitch of his lips, but it transformed his entire expression into something warmer and gentler.

Hot damn, Ajax thought, now that is a face that’s my type.

Too bad it belonged to a man with a harem of three thousand women. Never mind that three thousand was an exaggeration – if he recalled correctly, the emperor actually had quite the relatively small harem of roughly fifty women –, Ajax liked beauty, but that didn’t mean he wanted someone else’s sloppy seconds, thanks.

“We are only doing what We should,” the sloppy seconds murmured, tracing the rim of his cup with the tip of his finger. When he met Ajax’s eyes, his smile widened.

“But if you wish to express your gratitude, perhaps there is a way you can thank Us.”

Ah, there it was. The highlight of tonight. 

When the emperor stood and offered a hand to him, Ajax did not hesitate to take it. 

“This concubine would be honoured to.”

The candles were dimmed; the servants excused. Both emperor and consort retired to bed.

The next morning, Ajax visited the empress’ palace to pay his daily respects with the other concubines. It was a tedious routine, another petty display of power, but it wasn’t like he had anything better to do.

The imperial palace was truly large, he observed as he walked. The palace grounds alone were as large as a city. And it truly was a city, in a sense, as all the harem’s concubines and servants lived here – and that was without including the other servants, eunuchs, and their families. One could literally spend their whole life from birth to death within the palace.

Nothing but a gilded cage.

“Master?” Ekaterina peered at him worriedly from beside him. Technically, as servants, she and Gan Jing should have been walking behind him, but Ajax insisted they both walk beside him, as he wanted someone to talk to as they walked. “Is your honoured self alright?”

Her brown eyes were wide, glittering with clear worry. What a cute child.

Ajax reached down and patted her head. “I’m alright, just thinking.”

He was almost impressed at the speed at which her cheeks flushed red; it must be a sign of good blood circulation. 

“I…I…” She stammered, “this slave is just worried, Master. The last time your honoured self visited the empress…”

He tilted his head to the side, going through the original body’s memories. Ah, yes. As a low-ranked cairen who couldn’t even speak eloquently, it was inevitable that he would have been the subject of mockery amongst the other concubines every morning when they all gathered to pay their respects to the empress. Specifically, Ekaterina was referring to yesterday morning when he had been walking back from the empress’ palace and came across Jieyu Bai, where she had her maidservant slap him on the cheek.

Politics. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.

He turned to his other side, where Gan Jing was. Being more reserved than Ekaterina, she said nothing, but he could still see the concern in her eyes. 

Man, they both were cute kids, weren’t they? 

“It will be fine,” he hummed softly, “don’t worry.”

They arrived at the empress’ palace right on time, not too early or too late. Punctuality was another strange thing in the imperial harem; being too early could potentially be a sign of disrespect depending on your rank and relationship with the host, and that’s not to say about being late. Ajax walked through the doors into the main hall, where a long table stood. 

Already, most of the table was occupied, each concubine’s seat arranged in the order of their rank, and at the head of the table sat the empress of Liyue.

He knelt on the ground, bending down until his forehead touched the ground in a standard kowtow. “ Cairen Li pays his respects to the empress.”

“You may rise, Cairen Li,” a pleasant voice said, “this Empress thanks you for visiting today.”

He rose to his feet, looking up.

Empress Guizhong was beautiful, in the effortlessly regal and elegant way that many women try and fail to emulate. With her pure white hair cascading down her back and shoulders and almond-shaped brown eyes that crinkled at the corners when she smiled, it was no wonder that she was known as one of the harem’s three beauties. When Ajax accidentally met her gaze, she smiled gently at him.  

He took note of it, and how it seemed perfectly genuine. Yet another character to watch out for, it seemed. No wonder she was the empress; she looked just as inscrutable as the emperor.  

“This concubine thanks the empress.”

Swiftly, he made his way to his seat close to the end of the table, while Ekaterina and Gan Jing stood behind him. The concubines were seated closer to the empress according to how high in rank they were, so naturally he would be placed far away from her. 

No one greeted him, which was natural; who would waste their time on an unfavoured foreign concubine? 

But Ajax simply took a sip of his tea, enjoying the mellow taste. How nice, he thought. Even the cheaper tea for low-ranked concubines tasted so much more luxurious than any other teas he had tried back home. 

The morning meeting passed relatively quickly, as in truth it was basically a glorified roll call that served to cement the empress’ position as the mistress of the imperial harem. As the official empress, she was in charge of managing the harem and ensuring that everything was in order, a tiring and thankless task.

Yet, as the meeting was about to conclude, someone sitting close to Ajax spoke up.

“Oh dear, Cairen Li, has your face recovered?”

At the mention of his name – well, this body’s name –, Ajax turned towards the source of the sound, meeting the eyes of a dark-haired, dark-eyed young man. 

Hm…not my type. His features were a little too pretty for that; Ajax preferred men with more handsome features. 

But if he wasn’t wrong, this man was Guiji ³ Ran, one of the concubines who followed Jieyu Bai. His ranking in the harem wasn’t exactly high, which is why he was seated closer to Ajax, but he was still a Guiji, meaning he was higher-ranked than Ajax, a Cairen. According to the original body’s memories, he was often bullied by him.  

Although the bruises Ajax had sustained from Jieyu Bai’s slap were quite minor, they had not yet disappeared, so there was still a faint purple-blue imprint on his cheek. It wasn’t very noticeable unless it was pointed out or one leaned in close, so last night he’d requested Gan Jing to cover it with makeup when he’d received the notice of the emperor’s arrival, but couldn’t be bothered to do so this morning. 

To purposefully point it out, it was obvious what Guiji Ran wanted to do: he wanted to humiliate him.

Immediately, Ajax felt the weight of multiple gazes on him. It should have been intimidating, but he simply set down his cup and turned to Guiji Ran, smiling brightly at him.

“This concubine thanks Guiji Ran for his concern,” he chirped, “this concubine’s face should be healed within the next few days.”

The other man blinked in obvious confusion, clearly thrown off by his chipper attitude. He quickly covered it with the hem of his sleeve, however, as he sat up straighter and looked down at Ajax with his gaze: a clear gesture of condescension.

“That is fortunate to hear,” he said demurely, eyes narrowed, “it would not be good for your face to be scarred from a minor lesson. As brothers in the harem, we naturally have to look out for each other.”

‘ Scarred. ’ Come on, it was just a slap. Hearing him, one might think Ajax had gotten stabbed instead.

Behind Ajax, he heard Ekaterina inhale sharply, and Gan Jing shushed her quietly. Guiji Ran sounded caring and concerned on the surface, but it wasn’t hard to discern the scorn underneath; to emphasise that Ajax had gotten his bruises from a ‘minor lesson,’ he was clearly implying that Ajax deserved to have been slapped because he was disrespectful.

Of course, most of the concubines at the table, being of higher rank, would not have bothered to know that Ajax had gotten those bruises from being slapped, nor who exactly had ordered him to be slapped. But they could easily infer it from the conversation; such were things in the harem, to constantly look beneath the underneath. 

Contrary to what Guiji Ran was probably expecting, however, Ajax only smiled brighter.

“Of course, this concubine understands. This concubine may have been a prince and has been taught the importance of etiquette, but this concubine hails from a small country and is still lacking. This concubine implores Guiji Ran to forgive him.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a quiet titter of laughter sounded throughout the hall. Guiji Ran’s eyes widened, his cheeks flushing a blotchy red as his nostrils flared.

Who in the harem didn’t know that Guiji Ran was a commoner before entering the palace? In fact, he had been working as an entertainer in a high class brothel. He had been one of the highest-ranked entertainers, meaning that he mostly entertained clients with his beautiful looks and wit and so was still a virgin – which was why he was able to enter the harem –, but the fact remained that he still had been working in a brothel. With Ajax mentioning his own background as a prince, wasn’t he just mocking him?

Guiji Ran snarled, nearly forgetting to cover his lower face with his sleeve as he bared his teeth. “You forget yourself, Cairen Li.”

Oh, was he picking another fight? Ajax’s eyes shone with excitement. 

However, just as he opened his mouth to reply, an eunuch walked briskly into the main hall and knelt.

“This slave greets the empress, imperial consorts, and concubines of the imperial harem."

The table went quiet. The eunuch’s clothes were distinctly of a better quality than the usual eunuch uniform, meaning that he was of a higher status – he likely worked in the emperor’s palace himself. For him to come here, it was a high possibility that he was to convey a message from the emperor.

What could it be? The question hung in the air.

“You may rise,” Empress Guizhong said neutrally, “what brings you here?”

The eunuch rose, but kept his gaze fixed firmly on the ground in a gesture of respect. “This slave is here to convey His Majesty’s order.”

The empress wasn’t fazed in the slightest, only smiling softly. “Do speak.”

In response, he cleared his throat and pulled out a scroll from his sleeve; the paper was set in a fabric embroidered with gold, the colour that only the emperor could use. Quickly unrolling it, he held it before his eyes as he read the message written on the paper. 

“His Majesty states that he is satisfied with Cairen Li’s charming disposition, and so he will be elevated to the position of Wanyi ⁴ . From henceforth, Cairen Li of Shanchi Courtyard will be addressed as Wanyi Li.”

With this, he excused himself with the Empress’ permission and swiftly left.

Almost instantly, the hall was filled with soft whispers and discussions. 

A cairen to wanyi? That was a rise in two whole levels – not tiers, but levels – in rank. It wasn’t exactly unheard of, some concubines in the harem had even been promoted three ranks at once, but for the receiver of the promotion to be the foreign, dim-witted prince from a small country? Wanyi was still a lower rank, but why did His Majesty grant his promotion so suddenly?

Had he perhaps spent the night at Wanyi Li’s residence?

Ajax took another sip of his tea. He looked completely calm and unbothered, as if he was unaware that he was the current topic of conversation. On the other hand, Guiji Ran’s eyes were wide in indignation. He had even forgotten to keep his arm up to cover his lower face with his sleeve, so Ajax could see that his jaw was clenched so tightly a muscle in his neck bulged. 

This reaction was to be expected: after all, the rank of Wanyi was one tier higher than the rank of Guiji.

Ajax smiled gently back at him, his eyes curving into slight crescents. 

“This concubine has not forgotten himself, Guiji Ran.”