Chapter 523 — Finality

"I don't know." Song Yan found the whole affair rather amusing. "Gu Yu only thinks Princess Jingtai as capable as Consort Shu. Word has it that within days of her entering the household, the Gu relatives were praising her without cease—some even said to simply let Princess Jingtai take charge of the Yunyang Earl's household. Gu Yu's stepmother could lie abed no longer and hurriedly declared herself recovered. She meant to take back the authority over the household, but Princess Jingtai talked the Yunyang Earl around in a few words and left Gu Yu's second aunt in charge. Now Gu Yu's second aunt could not be closer to Princess Jingtai, consulting her on everything, and has quite simply pushed Gu Yu's stepmother to one side."

Dou Yan's eyes went wide. "Then Gu Yu must be overjoyed?"

"Mm!" Song Yan said. "He feels that in the way he used to meet his stepmother head-on, blade against blade, it was no wonder others looked down on him—he was indeed a little too blunt and rough."

Perhaps. Was this the wife Gu Yu needed?

Dou Yan chuckled.

Songluo hurried in, her expression odd. "Young Marquis, my lady, the heir of the Huichang Earl's household, Shen Qing, is here to call."

Shen Qing?

Dou Yan and Song Yan exchanged a glance.

What had he come for?

Song Yan went to the flower hall.

The moment Shen Qing caught sight of him, he set down his teacup and came running. "Yantang, save me! My father wants to pack me off to the Xishan Camp. Find some way to get me into the Embroidered Uniform Guard, or the Shenji Camp—I'll owe you a favor for it. From now on I'll do whatever you tell me!"

Song Yan rubbed his brow. "The Xishan Camp isn't so bad. I know someone posted there. I'll write you a letter of introduction, and he can look after you a little..."

"Yantang, Yantang!" Shen Qing cut him off, catching at his sleeve. "Even if your friend there is a vice commander, can he excuse me from drill? You can't just stand by and watch me drown. Am I really worth less than Gu Yu? You helped Gu Yu that much. You can't help me a little?"

Song Yan's heart gave a jump. "How did I help Gu Yu?"

Shen Qing pouted. "If not for you, would Cui Yijun have spoken up on the Yunyang Earl's household's behalf? You've no idea—Gu Yu's stepmother has been groveling before my mother all this while, counting on my cousin to prop up the son she bore. Now that my mother knows Gu Yu's business was the Crown Prince's own wish, she won't even see Gu Yu's stepmother. Otherwise, would that woman have settled down so easily?"

It was the first Song Yan had heard of any of it.

"Are you going to help me or not?" said Shen Qing. "If you help me, I'll find a way to have my mother keep Gu Yu's stepmother in check!"

"I don't need you for that," Song Yan said. "Jingtai can keep Gu Yu's mother in check well enough."

Shen Qing slumped back into his chair in despair.

Song Yan looked at him, torn between irritation and amusement. "Are you truly so set against the Xishan Camp?"

"Yes!" Shen Qing said, his face miserable. "We're nothing but maternal relatives of the imperial house—our lot is to live peacefully and enjoy our comforts. Why must we go scrambling for credit against those titled houses? My father's been blinded by wealth and rank; he's lost all sense of where he stands."

Song Yan's eyes flickered slightly at that. "Since that's how you feel, I'll give it a try for you."

Shen Qing leapt to his feet. "You agree?"

"I only said I'd give it a try," Song Yan said.

"Oh, my father's sure to listen to you," Shen Qing said happily. "What my father envies most is how you killed all those guards and still dared have the bodies laid out in your courtyard—he says that's what a true house of power and honor looks like..." He caught himself and clapped a hand over his mouth. "I was talking nonsense. Just—just pretend you didn't hear that."

Song Yan landed a punch on Shen Qing's shoulder. "Go do what you're supposed to be doing!"

"Fine, fine, fine." Shen Qing bolted off like a streak of smoke.

The next day, Song Yan paid a visit to the Huichang Earl's household.

No one knew what was said, but Shen Qing's posting to the Shanxi Camp was quietly shelved.

Overjoyed, Shen Qing sent over two cartloads of gifts.

But within a few days, the Huichang Earl had packed Shen Qing off to the Fujian garrison command to serve as a brigade general.

Shen Qing, livid, stormed into Yizhi Hall to find Song Yan. "You broke your word! Give me back every last gift I sent you. I bought those with my own private silver!"

Song Yan's face was blank. He raised an eyebrow and instructed Chen He, "Return everything the young marquis sent over."

At that, Shen Qing dropped to the floor and burst into tears. "I don't want the things back—I want you to get me into the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

Song Yan had Chen He "escort" Shen Qing and his gifts alike out the door.

Dou Yan asked him, "Was that the right thing to do? Shen Qing may have a child's temper, but children do grow up in the end."

"I have my arrangements in mind for this," Song Yan said, keeping her in suspense. He stroked her belly. "Has the child been good?"

"He turns over every afternoon. The rest of the time he's too lazy to stir."

As the couple spoke of their unborn child, smiles crept into both their faces and eyes.

Soon the wind began to carry a biting chill against the skin.

The Yingzhen ducal household, too, began making preparations for Dou Yan's confinement, and the Crown Princess even came in person to Yizhi Hall to visit Dou Yan.

Then a piece of news suddenly spread through the capital.

The Huichang Earl had recommended the Yunnan grand coordinator, Wang Xingyi, as grand coordinator of Fujian.

The post was unchanged, yet the real power behind it was greater.

Dou Yan gazed at the withered yellow leaves, momentarily lost in thought.

Song Yan draped a fur jacket over her shoulders. "Is something troubling you?"

Dou Yan nodded.

"It was I who suggested it to the Huichang Earl," Song Yan said.

Dou Yan was stunned.

Song Yan took her hand and said gently, "I know. As for private virtue, Wang Yousheng has nothing to recommend him; but as for ability, he is a talent. All those years you and the Wangs fought so fiercely, and never once did you move against Wang Yousheng—only because you saw he could still serve the country and the people. But I do not wish to see you unhappy. That is why I recommended him to the Earl of Huichang, and settled Shen Qing in the Fujian Regional Military Commission: I mean Wang Yousheng to make Shen Qing's wedding clothes for him, to let him taste what it is to have his merits snatched away with no place to appeal..." By the end his face had turned cold and stern. "The Earl of Huichang wishes to raise his house's station, to see Shen Qing ennobled for his merits. Is Wang Yousheng not a master of war, has he not won victory upon victory? Then let him do the Earl of Huichang a good turn—surely His Majesty will remember his kindness as well."

What sort of man Shen Qing was, everyone like Dou Yan knew full well.

Thus, so long as Shen Qing wished to advance a single step in his career, Wang Xingyi could not leave Shen Qing's side—compelling him to serve the country while condemning him to live out his days pressed down beneath Shen Qing.

Dou Yan's eyes lit up at once.

"Yantang!" She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him hard. "You really are something!"

Song Yan smiled faintly. "Now you can set your mind at ease?"

Dou Yan pursed her lips and gazed at Song Dan, her eyes brimming with delight.

In Song Zhi's study, the palace lanterns cast a soft, round glow upon the scarlet chicken-wing wood desk.

The news of Ding Wei's death by gluttony lay pinned neatly beneath the bluestone paperweight.

(The End)

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