Chapter 151 — Futility

"Yes... yes, yes!" Guard Chang's words brought Song Cen back to himself. As though he had been startled awake, he said hurriedly, "Not only must those two servants be thoroughly interrogated, but everyone else in Yizhi Hall must be questioned as well. And send men to inquire whether any suspicious persons have been seen coming and going in the alley." Here he paused, then said, "And Chen Tao as well. Make careful inquiries there too, to see whom Song Yan has been in the habit of associating with, and put those people under watch as well; Song Yan may go to them for shelter..." Then, with a face full of remorse, he said, "Never mind, there is no need to question Chen Tao. Nothing would come of it, and it might only put the fellow on his guard and make him realize that Song Yan has fled, so that he talks nonsense and leads us astray."

Guard Chang thought of Chen Tao, beaten half to death yet not uttering a sound. A hundred mixed feelings rose in his heart; he assented with a "Yes, sir," and withdrew.

Song Cen began pacing in circles about the room.

Now his hands were clasped tight, now clenched into fists, until the sky grew light and the maids came in to invite him to wash; only then did he realize that it was already the next day.

In a fluster, Song Cen called for Guard Chang. He ordered the maid, "Go and fetch him at once!"

Not knowing what had happened, the maid nervously set down the washing things and told the guards outside to bring Guard Chang in.

"How goes it?" Song Cen asked urgently. "What did those two servants say?"

Having gone a day and a night without sleep, Guard Chang had a stubble of dark beard on his face, and looked all the more haggard for it. "The two servants say only that they were ordered by Yan Che to attend Chen Bo. Chen Bo was the same as yesterday: after the evening meal he strolled about the courtyard, then said he was going to the front courtyard to watch the excitement and told the two of them not to follow. They stayed in the study, tidying and sweeping, and when Chen Bo had not returned by the second watch, they searched the courtyard front and back and could not find him; they were just wondering at it when we arrived... They know nothing!"

"How is that possible?" Song Cen flew into a rage. "Put them to the torture, and see whether they still refuse to talk!"

"We did." At the thought of how the two servants had wept and wailed the moment the torture began, yet when questioned had done nothing but repeat the same few sentences over and over, utterly unlike Chen Tao's silence and yet yielding just as little, a deep weariness seemed to seep from Guard Chang's very bones. "Both of them swear they do not know where Chen Bo went!"

With a crack, Song Cen smashed his teacup to the floor. His handsome face, twisted with fury, looked savage, and he shouted, "Beat them, beat them without mercy! If they still will not talk, beat them both to death! And that Chen Tao, if he still says the jade pendant was not Song Zhi's, beat him to death along with them!"

Guard Chang assented in a low voice and was about to withdraw when the guard sent to watch Gu Yu came in. "My Lord Zhenguo, just now Manager Chen of the curio shop on West Street, on the heir's orders, delivered a letter to Young Master Gu, saying that the heir wishes to see the Emperor and asking Young Master Gu to help smooth the way so that he may be granted an audience as soon as possible."

The curio shop on West Street was the Song family's own.

Guard Chang involuntarily halted at the sound of the Duke of Yingguo's furious roar behind him: "Are you all good-for-nothings? Get out there and bring the heir back!"

The guard offered a low-voiced defense: "We have already questioned Manager Chen. He says it was He San, a servant from the mansion's stables, who told him to deliver the letter; he knows nothing of what has happened, and the heir is not in his shop."

"A pack of fools!" Song Cen was beside himself with rage. "Get that He San bound and trussed at once! What are you standing there gaping for?"

"My Lord Zhenguo!" the guard said, steeling himself, "He San has not returned since he left the mansion."

"Good-for-nothings, good-for-nothings, every last one of you is a good-for-nothing..." Song Cen was stamping his feet and cursing when the other guard sent to watch Gu Yu returned; seeing the state of the room, he reported cautiously, "My Lord Zhenguo, Young Master Gu has taken his sedan chair to the palace."

Song Cen glared at him with a savage look. "Then why have you not stopped them!"

The two guards lowered their heads, and though they said nothing, they exchanged a glance.

By what right were they to block Gu Yu's sedan chair!

Song Cen too sensed that he had misspoken, and railed at Song Yan: "...nothing but a pack of demons and monsters, every one he consorts with!" Then he cursed Song Han: "...good for nothing but eating and drinking!"

If Song Han were a few years older, he could have helped him stop Gu Yu.

Everyone in the room shrank into themselves, as though by so doing they might draw less of the wrath upon themselves.

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Sisters, today's update!

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Tomorrow's update will be a little late as well...

I've made some revisions to Chapter 150, but they won't affect your reading. If you're interested, you can flip through it, or you can skip it.

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