Work Text:
At present, the relationship between the Chief of the Zuoyue Bureau and the Deputy Chief of the Jiejian Bureau was an open secret amongst their subordinates. It was not as if the pair made the slightest effort to hide it—the way they came and went from one another’s residences at all hours of the day and night… It would truly take a fool not to realize what was happening.
And Pei Jingzhe, for all his faults, was no fool.
But the entire situation made him feel like an animal caught in a trap, suffering in the knowledge that any wrong move would cause him to lose his head, and that even a successful escape would send him straight into the jaws of a waiting predator.
One might think that such a level of… cooperation between the two government agencies would make the work easier for someone like Pei Jingzhe, but if anything, the stress he was under had increased tenfold.
Now, each time Feng Xiao asked him to pass a message to the Zuoyue Bureau he had to bite his tongue.
Why not just tell Chief Cui yourself?
Pei Jingzhe was at this very moment being held hostage under the weight of his knowledge.
Although the main players of the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai had been taken care of, there were still a few ‘insignificant stragglers,’ as Feng Xiao had put it, that both Bureaus were working to weed out in order to bolster the security of the Emperor’s position.
To Pei Jingzhe’s utter chagrin, the chiefs appeared to have turned the mission into a competition, vying for who got the credit for each successful arrest.
“Take a message to the Zuoyue Bureau, let Chief Cui know he needn’t bother with that run-down pleasure house on the northern outskirts of the city. The Jiejian Bureau has already followed that lead to its natural conclusion.” Feng Xiao declared with an air of self-satisfaction. His now shoulder-length hair was pulled into a topknot that felt almost too severe for his ostentatious personality.
Pei Jingzhe’s heart was gripped with fear when he realized he’d waited a beat too long to respond.
Feng Xiao’s eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward, his gaze boring into his assistant like he could somehow look into his very soul. “Is there a problem?”
“No my Lord Chief! I-I’ll deliver the message right away!” Pei Jingzhe stammered and fled the office before he could earn himself another salary reduction.
His racing pulse slowed as he made his way out of the sprawling maze that was the Jiejian Bureau headquarters. He was almost to the exit when a voice nearly startled him out of his own skin.
“Pei-Gongzi, why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Ming Yue inquired.
---
Zhangsun Bodhi sat across from Cui Buqu in the Chief’s home office as the latter read through a stack of reports.
The Thirteen Floors of Yunhai had all but folded in on itself after the incident at Daxingshan Temple, so at this point the Zuoyue Bureau was dealing with minor accomplices that stood accused of funneling funds or information to the organization. Most of these individuals were motivated by money rather than ideology, and were hardly a threat on their own, but the Zuoyue Bureau and its esteemed leader were nothing if not thorough.
A red-faced Pei Jingzhe had burst in less than an incense time ago to inform them of one less person they needed to concern themselves with.
Zhangsun found it amusing the way that both Chief Cui Buqu and Deputy Chief Feng Xiao still insisted on sending messengers when they could just as easily speak directly to one another during their increasingly lengthy visits. By now, they surely spent more of their lives together than apart.
The sun had already set, and the lantern light danced across the ceiling when Cui Buqu finally placed the scroll he had been holding down on the desk.
“We will resume work in the morning, you may go.” Chief Cui said—a clear dismissal.
Zhangsun rose and bowed. “Rest well, Lord Chief.”
“Goodnight Zhangsun.”
Some evenings, Zhangsun might inquire after the Chief’s health. But ever since Cui Buqu had recovered from his ordeal in the labyrinth, he’d seemed to be in relatively good spirits. His skin still bore a sickly pallor, and he often looked like even the slightest breeze might cause his ailing body to topple over, but lately there was a brightness behind Chief Cui’s eyes that Zhangsun hadn’t remembered seeing before.
With nothing more to say, Zhangsun turned to leave, but his feet failed to propel him forward.
He turned back towards where Cui Buqu sat, his face unreadable.
“Lord Chief.”
“Yes?”
“…Are you happy?” Zhangsun wasn’t quite sure what possessed him to ask such a question, only that he was suddenly struck by the memory of a mostly-dead Cui Buqu being carried out of a dark and dusty passageway by a certain Deputy Chief.
“What use is happiness in this world? Our purpose is not to be happy, it’s to be useful, and ideally, indispensable.”
Zhangsun knew he had overstepped. “I understand. Goodnight my Lord.”
Cui Buqu said no more, and this time Zhangsun was able to leave the room and make his way to the front door.
He had only just stepped onto the street when he heard the faint sound of a voice that was not Cui Buqu’s coming from inside the Chief’s residence.
“Ququ, your wife is home!”
As with most situations involving the Jiejian Bureau’s Feng Xiao, Zhangsun Bodhi was left speechless.
---
Zhangsun’s Bodhi’s question echoed in Cui Buqu’s mind. He would never admit it, but it had rattled him in a way he hadn’t expected.
Happiness was not meant to be the sort of thing that the Chief of the Zuoyue Buearu needed, let alone desired. What was happiness when you had a dynasty to protect? When you’d had to stubbornly fight for every breath you took? When the crucial task of doling out justice fell to you?
How ridiculous!
Cui Buqu had glimpsed a tell-tale white sleeve in the window, which was why he had dismissed his subordinate when he had.
Feng Xiao lingered outside until the sound of Zhangsun’s footsteps on the wooden floors could no longer be heard.
“Ququ, your wife is home!” Feng Xiao said as he perched on the windowsill, dropping down onto the floor with all the grace of the acclaimed martial artist that he was.
Cui Buqu said nothing as the Deputy Chief flicked an invisible speck of dirt from his left shoulder before approaching. He treated Cui Buqu’s house as if it were his own, never bothering to wait for an invitation.
At least when their positions were reversed, Cui Buqu gave him the courtesy of knocking.
Feng Xiao sat down on the floor next to Cui Buqu, as close as he could without being on top of the other man. Fang Xiao used his right hand to grab Cui Buqu’s chin, forcing the Chief the turn his head and look at him. “Well? No words of welcome for your poor neglected spouse?”
Cui Buqu scoffed. “No one as spoiled rotten as you can speak of neglect.”
“I assure you, there’s something for which I’m starving.”
“I doubt that.” Cui Buqu said, looking Feng Xiao up and down as if he were assessing his appearance.
By now they both knew what they wanted, but it was always more satisfying when Cui Buqu maintained the ruse and played along.
“Perhaps a demonstration will help Chief Cui understand.”
Feng Xiao didn’t wait for a response before he closed the distance between them and pulled Cui Buqu into a kiss.
Before, Cui Buqu might have spurned him in earnest, but now he just had to decide what kind of games he wanted to engage in tonight.
He felt when Feng Xiao’s tongue forced its way inside and decided to let his oleander spirit have his way for the time being.
Cui Buqu held back a moan, refusing to give too much too soon. Eventually he made a show of shoving Feng Xiao away.
“Deputy Chief is far too forward.”
Feng Xiao’s response was to bite the side of Cui Buqu’s neck as the Chief struggled in his arms.
“First the Jiejian Bureau takes all the credit for the capture of one of the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai’s spies—despite the Zuoyue Bureau’s assistance, and now Deputy Chief Feng has come here to bully me in person. Have you no shame?”
“Cuqu, such bitterness does not suit you.” Feng Xiao said before licking the mark he had created on Cui Buqu’s skin.
“How can I be expected to feel any other way when you take advantage of my weak constitution to harass me?”
There was a grain of truth to what Cui Buqu said. It was true that Feng Xiao was physically much stronger, really even an ordinary person was stronger than Cui Buqu, let along one of the cultivation world’s best martial artists. If Feng Xiao wanted to, he could easily use force on Cui Buqu and the sickly man would be completely powerless to stop him. But Cui Buqu had placed his life in the Deputy Chief’s hands, and so far he had proven an excellent caretaker.
“I apologize.” Feng Xiao said, not sounding sorry in the slightest. “How can I make it up to my husband?”
“Credit for the next successful arrest will go to the Zuoyue Bureau.” Cui Buqu said without missing a beat.
“Now who’s trying to take advantage of whom!” Feng Xiao protested, leaning towards Cui Buqu, but the Chief pushed back, keeping him at arm’s length.
“It’s only fair; the majority of the work that went into finding the pleasure house he was using as a hideout was done by my people.” Cui Buqu was forced to slowly lean back to avoid Feng Xiao’s advances.
“We can share credit for the next one.” Feng Xiao countered.
“No.” Cui Buqu said. He was now lying flat on the floor, Feng Xiao hovering over him, the lanternlight outlining his silhouette. “The Zuoyue Bureau will receive full credit for the next successful mission.”
“Or what?” Feng Xiao sneered.
“Or.” Cui Buqu said, pitching his voice lower as he emphasized each syllable. “I won’t let you fuck me.”
Feng Xiao’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment before his face split into a grin.
“Cui Buqu! Does the Emperess know how low the Chief of her mighty Zuoyue Buearu has fallen? Reduced to exchanging sexual favors for merits. How despicable! You put even a demonic practitioner like myself to shame.”
Cui Buqu ignored his blustering. “Is that a yes then?”
“…Yes.”
“Swear it.”
“I swear, The Zuoyue Bureau will receive full credit for the next successful mission, regardless of the level of the Jiejian Bureau’s involvement.”
“Feng Xiao, if you go back on your word, I’ll cut your balls off.”
Feng Xiao gave a sharp laugh, taking the empty threat for what it was. Cui Buqu relaxed his arms, allowing Feng Xiao to lean down and catch his lips in a white hot kiss.
If you were to ask any of their nosy underlings, they probably assumed this scene was a regularity in the respective Cui-Feng households. After all, why else would two adults share a bed night after night? However, Cui Buqu’s need for this sort of release was sporadic at best, to the point that for years before he’d met Feng Xiao, Cui Buqu had assumed the desire for intimacy was simply not present in him at all. Most of the time he didn’t feel particularly amorous, and even when he did it was often that his body was too pained or fatigued to handle anything more than a handjob. Tonight was a rather rare occurrence of the stars being in perfect alignment.
Cui Buqu was about to suggest they relocate to the bedroom before Feng Xiao took him right here on the floor, when he felt the brief sensation of weightlessness.
Feng Xiao had gathered the Chief in his arms. On instinct, Cui Buqu wrapped his own arms around Feng Xiao’s neck where he felt the faint tickle of the Deputy Chief’s short, loose hair.
Cui Buqu smiled, grabbed a strand, and pulled.
Feng Xiao, to his credit, didn’t even flinch.
“If my husband hopes to see my hair grow longer, he should learn patience rather than resort to such crude methods.”
By now they had crossed over the threshold of the bedroom. Cui Buqu watched the frown that flickered over Feng Xiao’s face when he realized the sheets on the bed had already been used.
“I don’t understand why Chief Cui doesn’t have one of his many employees prepare his bed for him.” Feng Xiao’s lip curled in a faint expression of disgust.
“I do.” Cui Buqu said in the placating tone of an oft repeated conversation as Feng Xiao deposited him in the middle of the mattress. “I just don’t see the point in doing it every day. The Deputy Chief is the only person so picky about such matters.”
“I’m never coming back here again.” Feng Xiao said as he knelt on the mattress, swinging one knee over to straddle Cui Buqu’s thighs. “From now on if you want my attention, you’ll have to come to my home instead.”
Liar.
“Who said I wanted your attention? You are the one who came here uninvited.”
Fang Xiao began to loosen the various ties and fastenings that secured the many layers shielding Cui Buqu from the chill of the evening air.
“I’m afraid Chief Cui’s words do not match his actions.” Feng Xiao said, pressing one hand over the fabric that still covered Cui Buqu’s hardening cock.
Motherfucker!
Cui Buqu bit his lip to keep from vocalizing anything that might be wielded against him.
“Does the great Chief of the Zuoyue Buearu have nothing to say in response?”
“I hope you choke on a radish.”
“Ha! So you could find a way to seize the power of the Jiejian Bureau for yourself? Keep dreaming Cui Buqu.”
The Chief was covered in nothing but his underrobes. Perhaps feeling over-dressed, Feng Xiao turned his attention to stripping off his own clothes, stacking them in a neat pile on a bedside table that he seemed to determine was clean enough.
Cui Buqu could’ve helped, but he’d much rather invoke his status as an invalid and let Feng Xiao do all the work.
“Does my husband like what he sees?” Feng Xiao inquired once they were both in a similar state of undress.
Everyone knows that even a blind man would fall victim to your preening.
“It’s adequate.”
Feng Xiao reeled back at the devastating blow to his ego. “You—!”
“Is the Deputy Chief going to fuck me, or do I have to take matters into my own hands?”
“What did this wife do to earn such cruelty?” Feng Xiao whined, his bottom lip jutting out in an exaggerated pout.
“Haven’t you heard it said: ‘a wife with a long tongue is like a stepping-stone to disorder?[i]’”
A glint of mischief appeared in Feng Xiao’s eyes. Before Cui Buqu could react, Feng Xiao’s mouth was on his, the ‘disorderly tongue’ in question making a mess of Cui Buqu’s resolve.
Blessed silence descended upon the room now that it’s two occupants’ mouths were otherwise engaged.
Cui Buqu felt his underrobe loosen, the air across his newly exposed skin causing him to shiver. Feng Xiao had grabbed one of his hands, guiding it down for Cui Buqu to begin preparing his own entrance.
After all, the venerable Feng Xiao could never sully his own hands in such a way.
It felt like an age before Feng Xiao ceased his assault on his lover’s lips. A flush had blossomed on Cui Buqu’s cheeks from all the stimulation, causing his complexion to lose some of its typical corpse-like hue.
“Now, does my loving husband have any more disparaging remarks regarding my tongue?”
Cui Buqu just glared at him, even as he continued to stretch himself open for Feng Xiao’s benefit.
But Feng Xiao refused to show him mercy.
“Has anyone ever told Chief Cui he looks rather adorable when he’s angry?”
Cui Buqu scoffed. “If I were truly angry, I would’ve bitten off that silver tongue of yours and banished you from my sight.”
Feng Xiao’s answering smirk made it clear he didn’t believe him in the slightest.
Cui Buqu was more than ready. He carefully removed the fingers from his entrance and began to adjust his position. Feng Xiao immediately got the hint, giving Cui Buqu space to spread his legs before he settled in the middle of them.
Feng Xiao lifted the other man’s hips, stuffing the now open space between his body and the bed with silks and cushions to create the most comfortable angle possible.
With very little ceremony, Feng Xiao began to push inside.
Cui Buqu didn’t miss the way that his wife watched his face, waiting for evidence of even the slightest hint of discomfort.
But he would never find it.
The reality was this part of the process was always uncomfortable at first, but Cui Buqu was used to enduring far worse with practiced stoicism.
He wondered if Feng Xiao realized this. More than likely, he did, and chose to ignore it, either in favor of being the attentive lover, or because he thought Cui Buqu already satiated enough by now to actually let his true feelings show.
Feng Xiao buried himself up to the hilt and Cui Buqu let out a sigh as his body began to relax around his partner.
And then Feng Xiao began to move.
The pace he set was on the slower side, but not agonizingly so. It was a steady rhythm, that they’d found still allowed the participants to carry on a conversation.
Even at in times like this, silence between them never lasted long.
“I’d like to speak to the Emperor.” Feng Xiao began. “Ask him to legally recognize our marriage.”
“Don’t be absurd.” Cui Buqu said dismissively, raising his arms above his head to grip the bedframe.
Feng Xiao had been rather fixated on this idea of late, while Cui Buqu didn’t really understand the point.
“I’m certain he would agree.” Feng Xiao continued.
“Would it not be seen as conflict of interest to have the Jiejian and Zuoyue Bureaus… in bed together?” Cui Buqu countered, he could feel the friction of his cock between their stomachs. “The Emperor and Empress created separate investigative agencies for a reason.”
“In case it had escaped Chief Cui’s notice, both Bureaus are already ‘in bed’ with one another.”
Cui Buqu let out an exasperated huff, loosening his hold on the headboard to instead circle his arms around Feng Xiao’s shoulders. “Well then Deputy Chief Feng must not have understood that my turn of phrase was meant to imply conspiracy and corruption. Without an official written contract, we would have plausible deniability in the case of any accusations.”
“Hiding away like criminals when we’ve done nothing wrong does far more to draw suspicion.” Feng Xiao leaned down to plant a kiss on Cui Buqu’s forehead. “It could be argued that greater cooperation between our respective agencies would better serve our mission to secure the dynasty. And just think how poetic it would be if relations between the Zuoyue Bureau and Jiejian Bureau mirrored those between the Emperor and Empress themselves.”
Cui Buqu closed his eyes, saying nothing for several long moments before he finally spoke again.
“Very well. If it’s what my wife desires, who am I to stop him?”
Feng Xiao began to pepper kisses across Cui Buqu’s neck and collarbone. “With an official marriage contract, I, as the wife of a high-ranking official such as yourself, would not be permitted to remarry in the event of your untimely death[ii]”
For the second time that evening, Cui Buqu felt himself thrown off-balance.
It was a beautifully romantic sentiment, if an odd way of expressing it.
It was as if Feng Xiao had said: I want you and only you for the rest of our lives and even your death would not cause me to seek out another.
But of course, none of these thoughts came through in Cui Buqu’s reply.
“And what would be so wrong about a wife finding comfort with a new lover after the passing of a husband? If the positions were reversed, I certainly would.” He said, chin confidently tilted up and a note of challenge in his voice.
Feng Xiao’s eyes blazed with phoenix fire. “Cui Buqu!” His next thrust was forceful, causing the man under him to let out a yelp.
“You think you’d own me from beyond the grave Feng Xiao[iii]? Ha! You wish—Ah!” He was prevented from rambling further by Feng Xiao using one of his hands to pinch a nipple.
“I know Ququ doesn’t mean such spiteful words.”
Before Cui Buqu could craft a reply, Feng Xiao adjusted his angle, perfectly hitting the place inside Cui Buqu that caused him to lose all use of his faculties. Whatever words he had been about to say died on his tongue and were replaced by a high-pitched moan.
“What did my husband say? I couldn’t quite understand him?”
Another thrust, and Feng Xiao hit the target again, causing Cui Buqu to gasp. The air was sucked into his body so quickly it set off a coughing fit.
“Y-Yuntian.” He managed to say once he’d recovered.
“Yes?” Feng Xiao purred.
“Don’t you dare stop.”
Feng Xiao didn’t need to be told twice.
He began fucking into Cui Buqu with fervent enthusiasm.
Cui Buqu, at long last, released his hold on all the sounds of passion he had locked away.
“P-please A-Xiao, Ah!” He moaned.
Cui Buqu felt when Feng Xiao’s true qi began to flow into his body at each point of contact, giving him a burst of energy. His grip on Feng Xiao’s upper back tightened as he felt his own release drawing near.
Feng Xiao’s breath had grown ragged, but he still managed to string a sentence together. “Be honest with me h-husband, w-what did you t-think of me when we first met?”
“You—fuck! I-I wanted to dump a bowl of c-congee on your head! Ah!”
Feng Xiao laughed, and Cui Buqu came with a sharp cry.
He felt when Feng Xiao released inside of him with a groan that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
Feng Xiao had half-collapsed on top of Cui Buqu, twisting to one side so as to not completely crush the other man.
“Asshole.” Cui Buqu muttered, but his tone was fond as he ran a hand though Feng Xiao’s hair.
Feng Xiao took a moment to collect himself before he pulled out. No sooner had this occurred before he was off the bed, looking around for something to clean himself off with.
Predictable.
Cui Buqu didn’t move, his limbs sprawled across the mattress.
It wasn’t long before Feng Xiao returned with a damp cloth and began to wipe away the evidence of their lovemaking from Cui Buqu’s body.
Once he was satisfied with his work, the Deputy Chief left to dispose of the rag before rejoining Cui Buqu in the sheets.
Cui Buqu’s eyelids had already begun to droop, and his half-conscious mind brought his deepest thoughts to the surface.
“Yuntian.”
“Hm?”
“Are you happy?
Sex had a bad habit of turning Feng Xiao into an uncharacteristically sincere man. “Why wouldn’t I be? I have power, influence… and a dazzling beauty warming my bed.” He emphasized this last point by pulling Cui Buqu in close.
Perhaps it really was that simple.
“And my husband, is he happy?” Feng Xiao asked, turning Cui Buqu’s own question against him.
Cui Buqu gave him the rare gift of one of his true smiles. “Yes, I think I am.”
[i] Slightly paraphrased from “Shi-jing (The Book of Odes),” 大雅 (Section III), 蕩之什 (Chapter 3), Poem number 264.
[ii] Sun, Jaihui (2023) “When Did the Cult of Widow Chastity Start in China?,” The World of Chinese, https://www.theworldofchinese.com/2023/06/widow-chastity-in-ancient-china/.
[iii] Despite Feng Xiao’s romantic notions, the reality for many widows in Ancient China was far from glamourous. See: Sun, Xiaohui (2018) "The Tragedy of Widows in Traditional China," Liberated Arts: a journal for undergraduate research: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 6.