Chapter 510 — Stepping Forward

The youngest branch of a family always produces the senior generations.

Jiang Baisun was only twelve years older than Song Yan.

He stood tall and elegant in a lilac straight-hemmed robe, his face mottled with bruises, his right eye swollen to a mere slit—one glance was enough to tell what sort of treatment he had lately received. By all rights, a man in such a state should have looked wretched, yet he stood there with his back straight, his spirits high, his face utterly unconcerned, and there was a bluff heartiness about him, the vigor of a northern man.

No wonder the master of Tan Family Manor had thought him worth noticing!

Dou Yan cast him one glance, then dutifully lowered her eyes and stepped forward to bow with proper respect.

Jiang Baisun looked her over carefully and laughed. "First meeting, and I ought to give you a gift of greeting, but your fifth uncle hasn't a penny to his name at the moment—I'll make it up to you later." Then, before Dou Yan could speak, he had already turned with a grin to Song Yan. "Back then my sister praised Miss Dou before our mother, saying she was a woman who yielded nothing to any man, and that she wished to make her acquaintance. Who would have thought that the stars would turn and the years would shift, and Miss Dou would become her daughter-in-law. If my sister knows it down in the springs, she must be smiling even in her sleep." As he spoke, he landed a punch on Song Yan's shoulder. "This is the best thing you ever did, you rascal. Your grandmother and I were fretting over your marriage!"

He had given her such lofty praise; Dou Yan could not help blushing.

Song Yan chuckled, his brows and eyes brimming with pride.

Dou Yan withdrew, instructed the serving maids and menservants to attend to them well, and returned to the main courtyard, leaving the uncle and nephew to talk at leisure.

Dou Huaiying had already heard about the affair at the Fragrant Hills Villa. Since the capital was under curfew and carriages and sedans were forbidden to travel, he had sent Gao Sheng to inquire after the situation.

Dou Yan naturally told only the good parts, and since Grandmother had not been hurt in the least, Gao Sheng could not help but breathe a sigh of relief and went back beaming to report the news.

Song Yan returned to the principal chamber.

"Why are you back so early?" Dou Yan wrung out a cloth with her own hands and attended him as he washed. "I thought you would be keeping Fifth Uncle company at the midday meal?"

"He still carries his wounds and is applying medicine!" Song Yan took the cloth, kissed Dou Yan on the cheek, and only then said with a smile, "First let him rest and recover. In a few days, when he has caught his breath, it will not be too late to feast Fifth Uncle."

Dou Yan thought it over and said, "Does His Highness Prince Zhaohua know about Fifth Uncle's affair? Is he staying for a few days only, or does he mean to nurse his wounds here? If relatives and friends come calling, are we to receive them or not?"

"I haven't had a chance to tell His Highness Prince Zhaohua yet," Song Yan said. "But I've already sent a card into the palace. These days are peculiar, though, and I don't know whether the card will reach His Highness in time. While the situation in the palace remains unclear, Fifth Uncle will stay with us and be treated. As for his return, I've already warned Wuyi and the others to keep their mouths shut—you may simply pretend you know nothing. Close the residence gates and keep the household from running about."

The Prince of Liao had committed treason; with so great a matter afoot, every noble house had shut its doors and declined visitors, terrified of being tainted by any connection to it. Theirs was no different.

Dou Yan nodded again and again.

Wuyi came running in drenched in sweat. "My lord, madam, an inner attendant has come from the palace. He says he was sent by the Crown Prince to summon my lord into the palace. He won't even drink a cup of tea—he just stands in the hall waiting, and won't say a word no matter what he's asked, only that the Crown Prince wants my lord to hurry over, that the matter is urgent..."

Husband and wife could not help exchanging a look.

Could the Crown Prince have learned of Fifth Uncle's affair so quickly?

"I'll go into the palace at once!" Song Yan said.

Wuyi ran off to reply, while Dou Yan directed the little maids to help Song Yan change into an official robe, and Song Yan went into the palace under the blazing sun.

To show his respect, the Crown Prince did not confer with the ministers in the eastern side hall where the Emperor usually conducted state affairs, but received his officials in the chamber east of the great hall.

By the time Song Yan hurried over, not only were several grand secretaries of the Grand Secretariat present, but also the Prince of Huainan, the Earl of Yunyang, the Marquis of Xuanning, the Earl of Huichang, and other elder kinsmen of the imperial house and noble lords. Yet the chamber was utterly silent. The Crown Prince toyed with the agarwood prayer beads in his hand, his expression somewhat fretful, and the great ministers all wore ashen faces; the Earl of Yunyang in particular shrank behind the Prince of Huainan, looking for all the world as though he dared not show his face. The atmosphere was most strange.

He stepped forward and bowed to the Crown Prince, and when he raised his head he saw Dou Bingheng signaling to him with his eyes.

Song Yan was utterly baffled.

The Crown Prince had already motioned for Cui Yijun to bring Song Yan a stool.

Song Yan thanked him for the favor and sat below the Prince of Huainan.

The Crown Prince glanced at Liang Jifen and said, "The Prince of Liao has taken my father hostage, and we dare not attack for fear of harming what we hold dear. But this cannot go on forever! So I asked my imperial uncle and several of the most esteemed marquises and earls to advise me—whether the Prince of Liao might be persuaded. Grand Secretary Liang, however, recommended you—saying you grew up with the Prince of Liao, that my father favors you above all others, that the Empress and Lady Jiang are the closest of friends and she has always treated you like her own nephew. There is no one better suited to go and talk him into surrender. So I summoned you to the palace in all haste!"

A matter of life and death—was this something a few words could settle?

He had never offended Liang Jifen in any way, had he?

This was no recommendation—this was hoisting him onto a fire to be roasted!

No wonder Fifth Uncle had signaled to him with his eyes!

Song Yan cursed Liang Jifen roundly in his heart, yet he knew this matter had become the Crown Prince's gravest concern, and that if he bluntly refused, the Crown Prince would likely take it ill.

He thought for a moment, then said, "Your Highness, might I have a few words with you alone?"

The assembly was astonished; no one had expected Song Yan to be so bold as to make such a demand of the future sovereign.

The Crown Prince, however, did not hesitate for an instant, and went with Song Yan into the side chamber next door, which had been partitioned off as a retiring room.

Song Yan said in a low voice, "Your Highness has always been generous and benevolent. The Prince of Liao is now merely putting up a desperate resistance. Your Highness might announce to the world that the Prince of Liao was incited by the sorcerers around him, and, out of kinship, decline to pursue his treason, confining him instead within the Prince of Liao's residence."