Courtship Rite

Overtime

Meng Yao let the numbers slip from his mind and sank into his office chair, listening to the creak of the leather as he relaxed. A glance to the left showed him the Gate of the East, lit with an image of a boat floating past waterlilies. He briefly wondered what kind of event would be related to such a design. When he'd first moved to Suzhou, he would have known. No matter. He didn't have time for frivolities. He'd worked his way to the top, not for the Jin as his mother had hoped, but for the Lan. Chief Compliance Officer. That, of course, was only his official title. Unofficially, he job was to take care of whatever the Lan family needed done. There hadn't been any issues on the wrong side of legal for over a month. He later wondered if he should have taken that as a warning.

The door swung open. Lan Wangji stood there, framed in the doorway, unannounced. Behind him, Qin Yingtai, Meng Yao's assistant, peered over Lan Wangji's shoulder looking distressed. "It's alright," Meng Yao told her. "I'll take it from here."

Lan Wangji looked upset. Interesting, but also disturbing given how rarely the man showed any emotion. Meng Yao approached him warily, the way one might approach a growling dog. "Please, come in." As he led Lan Wangji to one of the club chairs by the window, Meng Yao gestured for Qin Yingtai to close the door. Discretion was key when dealing with the Lans.

Meng Yao sat across from Lan Wangji and took a long look him. He'd been wrong earlier. Lan Wangji didn't look upset. He looked lost. "Is something wrong?"

"He acted afraid."

Meng Yao's appreciation for Lan Wangji's assistant rose dramatically. How did the man decipher such curt phrases? That was beside the point. Who was the unnamed man and why would Lan Wangji care if he was afraid? "I'm not sure who we're discussing," he tried. When Lan Wangji didn't reply, Meng Yao went for a more direct approach. "Who was afraid?"

"Wei Ying."

That would be helpful if Meng Yao had ever heard of Wei Ying. He tried a different tack. "Where were you with Wei Ying?"

"Fourth courtesan room."

Meng Yao's smile dropped. What had Lan Wangi been doing there? "Did you bring him to the courtesan room?"

"Mm."

Lan Wangji had never, to Meng Yao's knowledge, used the courtesan rooms. He'd thought the man was ace. The last question he'd asked replayed in Meng Yao's thoughts, and he remembered Lan Wangji's literal streak. "You brought Wei Ying there yourself? You didn't have a team pick him up?"

"I brought him in myself."

"Where did you pick him up?" Meng Yao asked quickly.

"Yunping."

Meng Yao froze. Yunping was outside the Lan territory. Had Lan Wangji been seen grabbing this man? No, that was unlikely. Tong Dizhou, the head of Lan Wangji's security detail, wouldn't allow such an oversight. Even so, Meng Yao made a note to double check that the pickup had been clean.

"I sent betrothal gifts." Lan Wangji sounded morose. "Wei Ying had no reason to be afraid."

"Betrothal gifts?"

"Tea, cakes, wine, chocolates. I wanted to send chickens, but my assistant said it would be too much." Meng Yao decided to have a long chat with Lan Wangi's assistant. Would a warning have been too much to ask? "It would have been better if I'd sent chickens. Wei Ying wouldn't be scared if I'd sent chickens."

Damn, were the gifts anonymous or would they lead an investigator to the Lans? "Please excuse me for a moment." Meng Yao closed the door as he left his office. Qin Yingtai immediately came to her feet. Good, she recognized the severity of the situation. "Lan Wangji has brought home a beau." He didn't need to explain. Beau was a code-word for the kind of date that ended up in a courtesan room. "Confirm with Tong Dizhou that the pickup was made with the utmost discretion. A number of gifts were sent to a Wei Ying; confirm with Lan Wangji's assistant that they were sent anonymously. Check with medical and make sure they've processed the beau. We don't want Lan Wangji picking up any diseases. And get Lan Xichen down here. Tell him it's his brother, and that he's not to come into my office until I call for him."