Episode 6 — The Shape of Jealousy
Morning came without peace.
Li Wei woke to the sound of steel leaving its sheath.
Not drawn in panic—drawn in ritual.
Shen Zhiyuan stood by the open window, fastening his sword at his side, the pale dawn outlining the hard planes of his face. He had not slept. Li Wei could tell by the tension coiled through his shoulders, by the way his eyes tracked every movement outside the courtyard as if expecting another shadow to leap.
"You watched all night," Li Wei said.
Shen did not deny it. "You slept."
"Barely."
Shen turned. Their eyes met.
Something passed between them—an unspoken acknowledgment that the night had changed something neither of them could undo.
"You should not attend the council today," Shen said.
Li Wei sat up. "You don't get to decide that."
"I do when your life is the price."
Li Wei swung his legs over the bed. "Keeping me hidden will only confirm their fear."
"And parading you will invite another blade."
Li Wei stood. "Then stand between me and it."
Shen stared at him for a long moment.
Then—slowly—he smiled.
A dangerous, pleased curve of his lips.
"You learn quickly," he said. "Very well."
The council was smaller this time.
More private.
More dangerous.
Minister Xu Ming was there.
So was Lord Han Zhen.
And a new presence—Commander Zhao Yun, recently returned from the western front, young, charismatic, beloved by the soldiers.
His gaze lingered on Li Wei a fraction too long.
"You're the scholar who survived the night," Zhao said lightly. "Impressive."
Li Wei inclined his head. "Luck favors the cautious."
Zhao laughed. "And the protected."
The word landed wrong.
Shen Zhiyuan's hand tightened on the table.
As the meeting dragged on, Li Wei spoke—sharp, precise, cutting through false reports and half-truths with unsettling ease. Zhao Yun listened intently, admiration open on his face.
Too open.
"You should join my command," Zhao said suddenly. "A mind like yours deserves air, not cages."
The room stilled.
Shen Zhiyuan rose.
Li Wei felt it before he saw it—the shift, the tightening of something dark and territorial.
"He already has a commander," Shen said quietly.
Zhao raised an eyebrow. "Does he?"
Li Wei opened his mouth—
Shen cut in.
"He does."
The silence that followed was heavy enough to choke on.
After the council, Zhao Yun found Li Wei alone in the corridor.
"You're dangerous," Zhao said with a grin. "I like that."
Li Wei's smile was polite. "You mistake observation for interest."
Zhao stepped closer. "Do I?"
A shadow fell over them.
Shen Zhiyuan.
"That will be all," Shen said.
Zhao looked between them, understanding dawning slowly.
"…Ah," he said softly. "I see."
He bowed—to Li Wei, not Shen—and left.
Shen turned on Li Wei the moment they were alone.
"You encouraged him."
Li Wei stared at him. "I answered questions."
"You smiled."
Li Wei laughed incredulously. "Am I forbidden from that now?"
Shen stepped closer. "Men like him do not smile at scholars unless they want something."
"And men like you," Li Wei shot back, "do not guard scholars unless they already have."
The words hung between them.
Sharp.
Exposed.
Shen's jaw clenched. "You are under my protection."
Li Wei's voice dropped. "Or your control?"
Shen reached out—
Stopped himself.
A visible effort.
"You do not understand what attention like his invites," Shen said. "You are already marked."
"I was marked the moment you chose me," Li Wei replied.
Shen's eyes darkened.
"Yes," he said. "You were."
That night, Li Wei dreamed of hands—some gentle, some cruel—of steel and silk tangling until he could no longer tell which burned more.
He woke to find Shen seated beside the bed again.
Watching.
"You followed me," Li Wei said quietly.
"I protected you."
"From him?" Li Wei asked. "Or from yourself?"
Shen did not answer.
Instead, he reached out and tucked the blanket more securely around Li Wei's shoulders.
The gesture was small.
Intimate.
Unnecessary.
Li Wei's breath caught.
Shen noticed.
His hand stilled.
Their eyes met in the dim lantern light.
For a heartbeat, Shen's control fractured.
Not enough to act.
Enough to ache.
"You should sleep," Shen said hoarsely, withdrawing.
Li Wei lay back, heart racing.
For the first time, the danger no longer came only from shadows and blades—
It came from the way Shen Zhiyuan looked at him like something already lost if taken by another.
And from the terrifying realization settling into Li Wei's chest:
He did not want to be taken.
He wanted to be chosen.