Wolf King And His Fox Consort

Chu Yun caught up to Gu Wei and Jin Luan in the courtyard, when they were already walking towards the prison doors.

They stopped at the door and the guard escorting them said something, and then Gu Wei lifted his hand, probably showing them Xiao Zai's waist token.

The guard opened the doors for him, but Gu Wei kept talking. 

Hiding behind a shrub, Chu Yun watched the scene play out without being able to hear anything, but whatever Gu Wei was saying now the guards were struggling to obey him -- looking between each other often.

Finally, Gu Wei showed them the jade token again and Jin Luan squared his shoulders in the kind of posture that was immediately intimidating.

The guards exchanged one more look and then walked away from the door and from the prison itself. Chu Yun watched them in confusion. What was Gu Wei planning?

Chu Yun's confusion only grew when moments later several other guards filed out out of the prison as well. With Xiao Zai's token, everything Gu Wei said was as if an order from the King himself -- but why was he telling all the guards to leave the prison?

Chu Yun doubted he had any intention of releasing Xiao An, but he definitely had something planned.

After everyone left the prison, Chu Yun sneaked out of his hiding place and approached it quietly. He realised how weird it was for the King Consort to be skulking around in his own home, but he was certain that Gu Wei would put an end to whatever was happening inside if he saw him.

He tried the door only briefly. He knew it would be locked from the inside, neither Gu Wei or Jin Luan would leave that kind of thing up to chance. So he went around the building out of view from anyone walking out into the courtyard. 

The back of the building led to a minuscule strip of overgrown courtyard, with one of the palace complex's walls right next to it. With some effort, Chu Yun managed to wedge himself between it, with his hands crammed against the wall, feeling humiliated and slightly ridiculous. 

Finally, he reached one of the tiny barred windows, propping himself with his back and feet against both walls, to keep himself steady while he listened in.

He could look inside from the corner of his eye, just enough to see Jin Luan's side, and the white hem of Gu Wei's robe, who was sitting down in front of a cell Chu Yun couldn't see into.

But he could hear them well enough -- their voices echoing inside the dank, cavernous cells.

"Why so quiet, Bailiu? I thought you'd want to gloat."

"You've lost any authority to call me that," Gu Wei said, his voice barely changing. "I'll have to think of another courtesy name, because I have no interest in continuing to use the one you gave me."

Xiao An chuckled, but there was no true amusement in it, just resentment. "You think forgetting me will be that easy? You have my mark on you, Bailiu, we have a son together. The ghost of my memory will stay with you long after I'm gone."

The cool chilling tone of his voice sent a shiver down Chu Yun's spine. It made him wonder if he wasn't right, if Gu Wei would ever truly be free of him. If anyone who Xiao An had touched would ever truly be free of his poisonous stench.

He could see Jin Luan's balled fists at his side, the tense line of his jaw, but he said nothing. He always ever only watched and let Gu Wei do the talking. Chu Yun wasn't sure how he was in private, but in public, his utter devotion to Gu Wei was obvious.

"No one will remember you as anything but a cruel, brief, footnote in the history of this nation," Gu Wei said, his voice mellow, almost sweet. "And that's all you'll be in my life as well. Don't fool yourself into thinking your touch has the power to change anything about me. I'm not made of clay."

There was silence for a time. 

Chu Yun assumed Gu Wei would want to say some vicious, cruel things to Xiao An, rub it in his face how everything he had done had been for nothing, but that wasn't what he was doing. 

Maybe it was because Chu Yun didn't fully understand Gu Wei...maybe it was because some part of Gu Wei was now finally at peace. 

"And who is this?" Xiao An asked, his tone dismissive. Chu Yun imagined he was nodding at Jin Luan, even though he couldn't see them.

"He's A-Xiang's father," Gu Wei answered truthfully, making Chu Yun's breath seize in his throat.

Xiao An laughed. He laughed until his laughter became a raspy wheeze, and then a cough. The prison was cold and humid, he'd probably gotten sick in his days there.

"I always knew you were a whore," he said, his breath still rattling. "I should never have believed you, I should have known Xiao Yuan wouldn't have the balls to rape you."

The way he spoke, as if Xiao Yuan was a disappointment for not raping Gu Wei, turned Chu Yun's stomach. He shouldn't have been surprised that Xiao An would say something like that but it was still revolting.

Jin Luan must have thought so to, because the thread of his firmly held control finally snapped. He slammed a fist against the cell bars, making the whole thing rattle loudly.

"Don't talk with him like that, you are not worthy."

There was another prolonged silence, and then Xiao An's rumbling voice sounded: "I've seen you around, I remember your face. Don't remember ever hearing your voice, though. Did Bailiu keep you leashed? Or did he have other uses for your mouth?"

The sound of Gu Wei's feet scratching the rough stone floor sounded through the prison. He was growing impatient. He had gone to visit Xiao An for a reason, but he wanted to say his piece first.

"He had nothing to say to you then, and he has nothing to say to you now." He got up to his feet and leaned closer to Jin Luan. Chu Yun could see the flutter of his robes moving as he rested his fingers over his arm.

Xiao An scoffed. "Looks like he has a lot to say, judging from that mean look on his face." He paused. "What is it boy? Are you angry that I whelped Bailiu before you got the chance? Or that his child with me is almost as old as you."

He laughed at his own crude joke, but neither Gu Wei nor Jin Luan had any reaction and eventually his laughter petered out into nothing. 

"You have always been a sad, cruel, man," Gu Wei said, no inflection to his voice. "Maybe if circumstances had been different I could have felt something for you other than hatred. You're right, we do have a son together, and that should mean something." He sighed loudly, a heavy sound, filled with regrets. "It should, but it doesn't. And I feel sorry for Xiao An most of all, he deserved to have a father."

Chu Yun struggled to see more into the cell, but his vision was limited in this position, and any other would require him to hang on to the bars too conspicuously. Even so, he managed to parse that Gu Wei had taken something out of his pocket and handed it to Xiao An.

"What is this?"

"A way to put an end to this," Gu Wei said. "You will be tried soon, and found guilty and executed. Xiao Zai will give the order to do it."

Another derisive snort from Xiao An. "So? Are you trying to save me from the executioner's block, Bailiu?"

"No. But I think a son shouldn't be responsible for his father's death."

Xiao An's deep inhale sounded ragged, but he said nothing. Gu Wei wasn't done speaking, "You haven't been a good father to any of your children, but you can still spare them the humiliation of seeing you tried for your crimes."

He turned around then, Jin Luan following after him like a shadow. "If you have any dignity, any modicum of honour left, you will take that pill and die without making it a shameful spectacle for your family. It would be the noblest thing you ever did in your life."

After that, the prison's door opened and closed, as Gu Wei and Jin Luan left. Xiao An still hadn't said anything.

Moments later, the guards filed back in into the prison, taking their posts without a word either with Xiao An or themselves. Chu Yun waited for a moment before leaving his hiding place and circling back towards the front of the prison.

He wanted a word with Xiao An too, and unlike Gu Wei, he'd only need to say so for the guards to leave. 

Being King Consort came with its privileges.