The study door yielded under Li Yan’s palm with a low, dry creak. Harsh midday light cut across the threshold and spilled over the polished floorboards like a thin blade.
The air inside hung heavy with pine-soot ink, aged cedar, and the sharp medicinal incense Lord Li always burned when he handled business he found distasteful. Li Yan stepped over the high wooden sill without hurry.
His head stayed lowered, shoulders gently curved inward, hands folded loosely at his waist—the exact posture of the frail Ger son who had spent years learning how to take up as little space as possible.
He had come on his own.
No servant had dragged him.
No summons had been shouted across the rear courtyard. He walked the long covered corridors, past the whispering maids and the averted gazes, and pushed the door open himself.
Li Wei lounged behind the dark rosewood desk as though it were a throne. Indigo silk embroidered with silver cloud patterns draped his frame; a flawless white jade thumb ring turned slowly between his fingers.
He was older than Li Yan by a few years, so everything about him bloomed with peacock arrogance—the lifted chin, the half-lidded eyes, the way he occupied more air than his body required.
Beside him sat Lord Li, brush poised above a freshly inked sheet of parchment. The older man’s face might have been carved from winter stone. He did not look up when the door opened, nor did he pause.
He continued writing, the tip of the brush moving in clean, indifferent strokes.
Li Wei’s gaze finally lifted. A slow, glittering smile stretched his mouth, bright and empty of warmth.
"Well. Look what crawled out of the rear courtyard on its own legs." He gave a soft, theatrical laugh and flicked an imaginary speck from his sleeve with exaggerated elegance. "I was just considering sending someone to haul you here by the collar. How unexpectedly convenient."
Li Yan stopped three paces from the desk and bowed deeply. "This one greets Father. Greets Elder Brother. I knew today was important. I did not wish to cause further trouble by delaying."
Lord Li set his brush down with a precise click.
Yet, he did not grant Li Yan the courtesy of a glance. His voice emerged flat and final, the sound of a ledger being balanced.
"Wei. End it. I will not have this matter festering under my roof another night. The Wei family expects the goods before the Hour of the Sheep."
"As you wish, Father." Li Wei rose in a whisper of expensive silk and circled the desk until he stood directly in front of Li Yan. He was close enough that the cloying scent of plum-blossom perfume filled the small space between them.
With two fingers, he caught Li Yan’s chin and forced it upward, examining him as a buyer examines livestock at market.
"Soft skin. Weak bones. That perpetual frightened-rabbit expression." His lip curled, mixing open disgust with lazy amusement. "Born a Ger—neither proper man nor useful woman. Spending the rest of your short life on your knees practicing sodomy with whatever man who tosses enough silver your way. That is the only road left for trash like you." He paused, licking his lips. "But, at least today the family finally turns that shame into profit."
The words landed cleanly. Li Yan let his lower lip tremble. He allowed a thin sheen of moisture to gather along his lashes. He kept his voice small, frayed, and perfectly broken.
"I know what I am, Elder Brother. I have always known. A burden. A disgrace. If selling me brings even a little peace to Father and to you, then I accept it without complaint."
Li Wei laughed, delighted. He patted Li Yan’s cheek with the back of his hand—once, twice—the condescending tap one might give a dog that had finally learned not to soil the floor.
"Listen to him, Father. Even the little cut-sleeve has learned his place today. How refreshing." He released Li Yan’s chin and stepped back, chest swelling with performative generosity.
"I have decided to be merciful. Instead of letting the servants drag you out like a sack of mildewed grain, I will take you myself. We will ride together to visit my friends. You should feel honored. Most Gers are thrown into a cart and forgotten. You get to travel beside the future master of the Li family."
Li Yan raised his head just enough for wide, shining eyes to catch the light—hope—false, fragile, carefully counterfeited—bloomed across his features.
"Truly, Elder Brother? You would allow me to accompany you?" His voice cracked under the weight of the manufactured emotion. "I have never even properly seen the city gates. To ride in the same carriage as you...It is more kindness than someone like me could ever deserve. I will be good. I will keep my head down and speak only when spoken to. Thank you. Thank you so much."
Li Wei basked in the gratitude as though it were sunlight. His shoulders rolled back; the peacock displayed.
He glanced toward their father for approval, but Lord Li had already turned away, pressing a heavy stamp of vermilion seal-paste onto the contract. The older man’s voice floated back, cold as river ice.
"Keep him quiet and presentable. If he shames us before the Wei family, you will answer for it personally. Now remove both of yourselves from my sight."
"As Father commands." Li Wei offered an elegant bow, then snapped his fingers at Li Yan as though summoning a page. "Come. The carriage waits in the west courtyard. And try to look less like a walking funeral tablet. My friends prefer their toys to at least pretend at liveliness before they break them."
Li Yan bowed once more toward the uncaring line of his father’s back, then followed Li Wei out of the study.
The moment the heavy door closed, the corridor air felt almost gentle by comparison. Servants flattened themselves against the walls as the peacock and his shadow passed.
Some faces held pity—most held open contempt. None of them received a glance in return.
He walked half a step behind his brother, head still lowered, steps light and obedient. Li Wei chattered the entire length of the covered walkway, voice bright with self-satisfaction.
He boasted of the price he had wrung from the Wei family, of Young Master Wei’s particular fondness for soft-spoken Gers, of how magnanimous he himself was by personally delivering the merchandise instead of leaving the task to underlings.
Li Yan answered only with soft yeses and shy, breathless thanks.