Mission: Protect Xiao Zhan (Completed)

ARC 5: Your Highness 2

It was no news that men in this era often slept with other men, whether ger or not but no monarch since time immemorial had ever shown his interest for another man openly. If he were a ger, that would have been encouraged as they had the highest fertility rate but Xiao Zhan...

Well, Xiao Zhan had always hidden his ger identity. Save for his late father, no one else knew he was a ger. Gers always had a red mark, and this mark was always placed openly on their body. As long as one was a ger, it was obvious except one went the extra mile to hide it.

"Your highness, the concubines have arrived". Yu Bin's voice roused Yibo from his sleep. When he woke up, he found Xiao Zhan fully dressed, his red mark covered with his hair. He had taken the liberty to cut his long hair short and wore it in a rough manner, subtly hiding his mark.

"If you want it covered, just say so. I'd give you what you ask for. Do you want make up or a mask?"

The previous night, both men didn't get to talk much. After dinner, Yibo pulled him to bed for a good night sleep. Xiao Zhan was used to being coveted by other men. In fact, this was why he killed his father.

His father was a well-respected soldier in the country. He went to war in a foreign country when taking prisoners, he found the newly orphaned Xiao Zhan. Xiao Zhan was a teenager who was close to puberty. At first, his father genuinely liked him. having no son of his own, he quickly adopted Xiao Zhan. Zhan had carefully hidden his mark as Gers were taken off as birthing machines. It took his father 4 years to find out about Xiao Zhan's ger status.

When he did, his love for Zhan changed from what it was to lust. He tried several times to convince Zhan to be his lover but Xiao Zhan resisted. Not that there were no other Gers, he simply claimed that he loved Xiao Zhan.

"I'd prefer make up", Zhan replied. Yibo had none lying around so he agreed to send for some later, asking Yu Bin to personally carry out the task to stop people from prying. In the meantime, Xiao Zhan wore a silver mask which covered only his eyes.

As for the newly arrived concubines, it was customary for every monarch to have a harem. These concubines have been specially groomed from birth. There is a selection process and only fertile women make it into the harem in the end. The king was free to have other lovers. The main aim of the concubines was to reproduce. Once they got into the palace, if they were lucky, the king could take a liking to one of them and elevate the person's status to 'queen'. Another thing was that these women fought hard to go to bed with the king just to produce a child. Having a child for the king automatically changed their status from concubine to senior concubine which was just 2 ranks lower than the queen. There were also certain aspects of inner palace politics that were handled by women only. Most Gers detested these jealous fights hence concubines were restricted to women only.

"Would you come greet the concubines with me?", Yibo wanted to show off his man. From now on, Zhan would go wherever he went.

"Whatever your highness commands". This 'highness' thing was getting annoying.

"I know but... what do you want A-Zhan?".

Being referred to so fondly by the king, Xiao Zhan felt uneasy. Truth was he expected to king to have his way with him last night and he had prepared to commit suicide if need be. He had stayed this long and wasn't going to submit to anyone just to save his life, not even the king.

He slightly resented Yibo for the death of his family. This country was responsible for the death of his family. Though Yibo wasn't directly responsible, he was still royalty.

"I'd prefer to stay behind, that's if your highness would permit".

"Hmm. Call me Yibo from now on. That's an order".