Chapter 214 — Three Days

Smiling like a little fox, he took the apple and flung himself back down on the broad kang by the window. "Brother Tianci, when you marry, let me go fetch the bride for you! I'll look after you then, and not let them pour wine down your throat..."

But Song Yan's thoughts had turned to the matter of Dou Zhiwei.

Yesterday the Dou and Wei families had redrawn the marriage contract. The Wei family at once invited their two witnesses, the Marquis of Yan'an and Zhang Jiming, to stand surety on the contract again. Today, once the newlyweds had acknowledged kin and drunk the return-visit wine, the Dou family ought to invite Yang Sen and Cai Bi to stand surety on the contract, and then take it to the Shuntian Prefecture to be filed.

And so the tale of the Dou sisters trading places in marriage would soon be spread abroad.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was almost upon them, and the Emperor would certainly not spend it at the summer palace. Once His Majesty returned to the capital, Jingfu's marriage would be brought out into the open. By then he would have outsmarted himself in earnest!

One way or another, he had to get the matter settled before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Song Yan ignored Gu Yu's grumbling and called out loudly to Chen He: "Go back to the residence and see whether Mr. Yan has any word for me."

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Ji Yong went in person to invite Yang Sen to his residence.

Yang Sen could not help sighing: "Poor Fourth Miss Dou—on the very eve of her wedding, to be stricken with such a strange illness."

Ji Yong laughed. "It is nothing but a rash on her face. Not incurable—merely a little troublesome. The Jining Marquis's household was overly cautious; it just so happened that their Fifth Miss was still unbetrothed, and so the Dou family agreed to the match."

The implication being that the Wei family had taken a dislike to Dou Yan and forced the Dou family to marry Dou Ming into the Jining Marquis's household.

Yang Sen said nothing. But Cai Bi, who knew the ins and outs of the affair and was eager to curry favor with Dou Bingheng, was not about to let the opportunity pass. He laughed. "Blame it on Fourth Miss Dou's dowry being too generous."

Meaning that the Wei family had set its sights on Dou Juan's dowry, and that was why they were unwilling to break off the engagement with the Dou family.

Ji Yong's eyelid twitched, and he regarded Cai Bi with a measure of newfound respect.

Yang Sen, however, shook his head in disapproval, sighing "the world grows worse by the day" several times over, and only then allowed Ji Yong to help him into his sedan chair.

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Tao Jun's news came sooner than Song Cen had imagined.

No sooner had they finished the evening meal than Tao Jun requested an audience with Song Cen, his expression grave.

"The Heir Apparent is likely to be made a consort prince!" he said in a low voice. "The word came out of the Yan'an Marquis's household. By now every noble house of any standing in the capital must know of it."

Song Cen nearly knocked over the teacup at his elbow.

"What did you say?" His face changed drastically. "Is the news reliable?" Even as he spoke, he thought of his son's uncanny comings and goings, and before Tao Jun could answer, he had already half believed it.

"It is reliable," Tao Jun said. "The Heir of the Yan'an Marquis's household told me himself—no doubt to give our household an accounting. He also said that both Her Majesty the Empress and Consort Ning have taken a liking to the Heir Apparent. Consort Ning has already spoken to His Majesty, and His Majesty is inclined to agree; but because Her Majesty wished the Heir Apparent to marry Princess Jingyi, the matter has been stalled. Still, the Heir Apparent's becoming a consort prince is as good as settled."

Song Cen slumped into the grand armchair.

"How could this be?" he murmured. "These past years, the ones made consort princes have all been sons of declining houses. Song Sui is the Heir of the Ying Town Defender's Estate... How could Consort Ning have set her eyes on him..."

"It must be the Heir Apparent's own design!" Tao Jun said bitterly. "If the Heir Apparent becomes a consort prince, no one will be able to shake his position as heir... You should have had the Second Young Master keep closer company with the Heir Apparent... The Heir Apparent has burned his boats..."

The destructive force of it was staggering!

"No, no!" Song Cen paced in frantic circles. "He cannot be allowed to become a consort prince..." He instructed Tao Jun: "Didn't the Earl of Donglin say last time that he had a daughter of the same age as Song Yan? Let it be her, then! Tomorrow morning, go to the Earl of Donglin's house first thing and..."

"My Lord Marquis," Tao Jun reminded him again in a low voice, "by now every noble house in the capital must know that the Heir Apparent is to become a consort prince."

Who would dare betroth a daughter to the Song family at such a time!

Song Cen froze. "Is there no other way, then? Are we simply to watch Song Yan become a consort prince?"

Tao Jun said nothing.

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To all you sisters and brothers reading—I have picked up the pace and cut some content, so this update is a little late. My apologies!

o(n_n)o~

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