Chapter 67 - The Fox And The Wolf Play Their Parts

A pair of finely dressed servants led them through the courtyard and into the reception hall. Xiao Zai couldn't stop noticing how impressive the entire estate was. The walls were filled with priceless tapestries and calligraphy scrolls of very high quality. In every direction hung a virtuous painting depicting bucolic nature scenes.

It only served to increase Xiao Zai's dissatisfaction. How could a Minister have an estate that could rival in luxury with the royal palace?

They found the Minister waiting for them in a room adjacent to the reception hall, surrounded by countless beauties.

Xiao Zai couldn't hide his displeasure at the sight. The Minister of Works was a middle-aged man, rail-thin, with a long, reedy moustache clinging to his upper lip by sheer willpower, and yet he was surrounded by young omega concubines half his age -- at the bare minimum, many looked younger.

The combined flowery scent wafting off from them was making Xiao Zai's eyes itch. Individually, perhaps their muted, mated omega, fragrance was pleasant to the senses, but with so many of them in a single space it became quickly overpowering. Xiao Zai could only guess at how much worse it would have been if they weren't mated.

He turned to give Chu Yun a sideways glance, who had his eyebrows drawn, and his fan raised in front of his face. Xiao Zai knew that look -- his sharp mind was making very fast calculations.

The Minister opened his arms wide and extricated himself from the circle of his concubines. "Your Second Highness, your Grace, this lowly one is humbled to welcome the two of you into his home," he gestured to an adjoining room, and at the same time two servants opened the doors leading up to it, "Come, let's enjoy a hearty meal in each other's company."

Chu Yun fanned himself, drawing the Minister's eye. "Thank you Minister Hu, we are flattered for the invitation."

The Minister smiled unctuously, bowing to both of them with his hands clasped in front of his chest. Xiao Zai caught the way his gaze snagged on Chu Yun's fan.

---

Chu Yun had never seen these many omegas in a single place. Not even in the Lanzhou brothels, which employed a lot of omegas, but several betas too.

The Minister had brought out the entirety of his concubines, who sat in rows on each side of the table, with Minister Hu at the head, and Chu Yun and Xiao Zai at the foot.

It was almost impossible to see the tabletop under the heavy weight of all the laden plates and bowls the servants kept bringing out.

The Minister was putting on a display, but of what? Of wealth? Of power? Of virility? Did he want to rub it in their faces that they were two young alphas married to each other, when he had a crowd of female and male omegas ready to attend to his every need?

Was that supposed to impress them?

Chu Yun kept smiling agreeably over the arc of his fan as the food was being brought out. The Minister looked in his direction often, although his wondering hands were never very far from the nearest omega, fondling and petting them as if they were alone.

It made Chu Yun's stomach turn.

At his side, Xiao Zai was almost vibrating with banked impatience. "I must say Minister Hu's invitation surprised us," he said, putting down his chopsticks and looking over at the Minister from across the table. "To what do we owe the honour?"

The Minister chuckled, the sound was surprisingly strong for a man so insubstantial, who gave the impression of swimming inside his fine robes. "Can't an old man want to entertain the younger generation?"

From the looks of it it seemed he was trying to marry the younger generation, not entertain it.

That wasn't all there was to his invitation. Chu Yun could tell Xiao Zai was close to losing his temper, so he slid one hand onto the crook of his arm below the table to hold him back, and said, "We are flattered, regardless."

The Minister's fixed smile dropped somewhat when the two of them just kept eating their food in silence. Clearly he had been hoping his showmanship would have had more of an impact.

He cleared his throat after some time, "Actually, his Highness and his Grace must know they are the source of must speculation in the capital."

Chu Yun made a point of exchanging a look with Xiao Zai, before returning his attention to Minister Hu. "Indeed?"

Again, the man became flustered that they weren't reacting in the way he expected. "Yes, well, There are rumours that the two of you were seen visiting a brothel in Lanzhou."

Immediately this declaration generated an excitable titter from the assembled concubines, many of them pretending to be scandalised as if the nature of their union with Minister Hu wasn't just as transactional. And perhaps they had just as little choice about the position they now found themselves in as some of those courtesans. 

Chu Yun nodded, "That's because we did," and returned his attention the the slices of honeyed pork.

Xiao Zai just hummed and took a sip of his wine, adding nothing to Chu Yun's admission.

Minister Hu couldn't just come out and ask them what they did at the brothel, although it was obvious he wanted to. The laws of propriety held him back, which gave Chu Yun immense pleasure.

It was obvious they were frustrating the Minister. Whatever his true intentions were for inviting them he was about to reveal them out of sheer irritation.

"It is also said that his Grace frequently visits on of his Majesty's concubines often," he said, his tone leading and his eyes glued to Xiao Zai waiting for his reaction. "It is odd that his Majesty allows this, considering his Grace is an alpha. So much unsupervised time with an omega...."

Chu Yun smiled, leaning towards Xiao Zai until his head touched his shoulder. "His Majesty knows how devoted I am to his son, I would never think to stray," he fluttered his lashes and looked up at Xiao Zai. "Isn't that right, dear?"

A slow smirk spread across Xiao Zai's lips, and he raised his right hand to Chu Yun's face, running his thumb over a high cheekbone.. "That's right, Yun-er belongs only to me."