Chapter 487 — An Outcry

Dou Yan thought for a moment, then said to Chen Yanzhou, "The heir is not the sort to shoot at nothing. He recalled Lu Ming in secret, so he must mean to guard against the Prince of Liao and the Duke of Ying. Please go brief Master Duan and the others once more."

"Rest easy, my lady. I will go and caution Duan Bing and the rest at once," Chen Yanzhou said. "Apart from Lu Ming, Duan Bing and his men have spotted Guard Chang as well. He has a band of men hidden in the shadows too. Duan Bing says several among them are consummate masters, faces he does not know, and he suspects they belong to the Prince of Liao..."

Dou Yan knew it could not be so simple!

Her brows arched faintly, and she gave a cold laugh. "That fellow Chang is tired of living! We held off before because he seemed a man of no great ability, and the Duke of Ying leaned on him like his own right arm. We reckoned that if we disposed of him, the Duke would only find someone more formidable, and that would make trouble for us. So we never touched him. And now look at him—a faithful dog to the Duke of Ying, bold enough even to bite the heir!" Her expression gradually turned grave. "Chen sou, with several consummate masters appearing out of nowhere, if Master Duan and Lu Ming join forces, are they sure they can hold those men?"

"Lu Ming has spotted them too," Chen Yanzhou said. "Before I came, Lu Ming, Duan Bing, and I put our heads together. Holding them will be somewhat difficult, but if we do not scruple to kill, we can risk an all-out strike."

Song Yan was in the light, Lu Ming in the dark. Lu Ming was leaving the decision to Dou Yan.

Dou Yan said, "Then let us risk an all-out strike! Even if we cannot take those unknown masters, use the confusion to finish off that fellow Chang!"

Chen Yanzhou assented with a smile and withdrew.

Yet Dou Yan still felt uneasy at heart.

It was like swinging a fist at a foe while knowing nothing of where his fatal weakness lay—mere brute force, nothing more.

She paced slowly back and forth in the room.

If she were the Prince of Liao, and met with someone like Song Yan, who blocked her grand design—what would she do?

Kill him?

No!

Song Yan came of a distinguished house and held office under the court; the consequences would be too grave.

Then it could only be a frame-up!

Corruption?

For one, Song Yan had never been corrupt. For another, planting false evidence is a fine craft, entangling too many people. Even if it succeeded, given Song Yan's rank and standing, the Emperor might privately laugh it off, summon Song Yan for a stern dressing-down, and let the matter rest. And should the scheme be exposed, the Prince of Liao's ambitions would stand revealed—too great a risk.

Treason?

A thief dare not cry "stop thief!"

What means was there to bring Song Yan down from the post of Commander of the Imperial Guards, and at the same time make the Emperor loathe him—so that he would never be employed again?

Dou Yan sat on the heated kang by the window, sipping her tea slowly and carefully.

Character!

Only if Song Yan's character were compromised, so that he could never again win the Emperor's trust, would the Prince of Liao and the Empress have a way to move Song Yan aside!

Yes, that was the only way!

In her former life, Song Cen had framed Song Yan for adultery with Lady Jiang's maid during the mourning for his mother—had that not been the very trick he used?

How had she not thought of it!

Was it because she had already defeated that trick before?

With a cry of "Ai yo," Dou Yan rose to her feet. She had no time to think further; she called loudly for Ruozhu, then instructed Ruotong, "Go and fetch Chen sou here."

The two flew off.

Liu Zhang, being in the inner courtyard, arrived first.

Dou Yan asked him, "Song Han came to keep the guests company. What people did he bring with him?"

Liu Zhang answered respectfully, "Besides two guards, two young servants. Two coachmen, the Second Madam, and the Second Madam's two maids and two attendant women. The two guards, the coachmen, and the attendant women are resting, as the rules require, in the warm chamber beside the sedan hall. The two young servants were stopped at the second gate. Only the two maids went with the Second Madam into the inner courtyard."

"The Second Madam came?" Dou Yan was somewhat surprised.

By rights, they had no mother-in-law. The woman ought to have come and paid her respects. Her absence before, when Dou Yan was not at home, was one thing—but now that she was back, Miao Zhi still had not shown herself... Had she gone home? Or did she not know Dou Yan had returned?

Liu Zhang explained in detail, "It seems neither the Second Master nor the Second Madam knew that the heir and you had gone to the lane behind the temple. When the Second Madam saw you were not at home, and that the Prince of Liao had brought no ladies, she prepared to leave. The Second Master thought her a nuisance, and handed her over to Du Ruo, the chambermaid of the Duke of Ying. The Second Madam went white with rage, but with the Duke present she dared not speak, and had no choice but to follow Du Ruo to the rear houses. She is still there even now, with Du Ruo keeping her company!"

To send a nameless, unranked chambermaid to attend upon the principal wife—such a slap in the face—that was exactly Song Han's way.

Dou Yan said, "Does the Second Madam not know I have returned to the mansion?"

Liu Zhang pondered, then said, "This servant does not know!"

Hardly had the words left his mouth when Chen Yanzhou walked in.

Dou Yan nodded to Chen Yanzhou, motioning him to a grand armchair at the side, and went on to Liu Zhang, "Go at once and see what the Second Madam is doing. Which two maids did she bring into the mansion to serve her? And what are those two maids and Du Ruo about?"

Liu Zhang answered "Yes," paid his respects to Chen Yanzhou, and ran out.

Dou Yan told Chen Yanzhou of her fears.

Chen Yanzhou laughed. "This is the Duke of Ying's own mansion! Lu Ming and his men are still watching from the shadows!"

Dou Yan agreed, saying, "Moreover, the heir is still in mourning for his mother! To win by surprise—the Prince of Liao cannot have come to the Duke of Ying's mansion merely for a cup of wine and a chat about old times with the heir. You must know that once such men fall out, it is a fight to the death."

Chen Yanzhou wanted to argue further, but then he thought of what had been discovered about Song Yan before—calling it bizarre would hardly be an exaggeration—and concluded that if yet another unexpected thing were to happen, it would not be so very astonishing after all.

Dou Yan said, "Let us first see what Liu Zhang has managed to find out."

Chen Yanzhou nodded.

The two of them fell to talking about Dou Huaide's provincial examination.

"You went to the alley behind the temple today—what did the Seventh Master have to say?" As a candidate who had failed the examination time and again, Chen Yanzhou was especially concerned with such matters.

"He said nothing at all." Dou Yan was likewise concerned, but because of the impressions carried over from his former life, he was not anxious. "I thought, the examination is already sat, and asking more about it would be pointless. I also feared that Twelfth Brother had not done well and would not wish to speak of it, so I did not ask."

Chen Yanzhou could not help but feel somewhat disappointed. "I hear the topic for this year's Northern Zhili provincial examination was 'Manifest the clear character; rest in the highest good,' and the topic for the Southern Zhili examination was 'The mean is the true way under heaven.' Both are worn-out topics; to shine on them is extraordinarily difficult. When the papers are published, I mean to read the top essays of both Zhili regions with great care."

Dou Yan chuckled.