Chapter 1 — Quarrel

"Have the matron on duty at the second gate go and look in the outer courtyard, to see whether the Marquis is resting in his study," Dou Yan said anxiously. "If he is not there, tell the guards at the main gate that the moment he returns, they are to ask him to come to my rooms."

Cuileng answered and went out.

In less time than it took to drink a cup of tea, she came hurrying back: "My lady, the Marquis is back!" She paused a moment, then added, "The Marquis has just come in from outside, and the moment he arrived he headed straight for your rooms."

"I understand." Dou Yan struggled to sit up.

Cuileng was just about to help her redo her bun when Wei Fan stepped into the inner chamber.

Though he was past thirty, Wei Fan did not resemble those dukes and marquises and earls who lived as comfortably as he did—men either hollowed out by wine and women and left listless, or grown bloated and dull from a life of ease. He was tall and straight, with handsome, refined features, nimble in his movements, brimming with vitality in every gesture, and in spirit he seemed more vigorous than in his youth. At first glance he looked no more than twenty-five or twenty-six, and he was renowned in the capital as a beauty of a man.

Seeing Dou Yan sitting up with a robe thrown over her shoulders, he said in surprise, "Why are you still awake?"

Dou Yan countered, "What did Fourth Master Wang want with you?"

"Oh!" Wei Fan's eyes shifted evasively. "Nothing much. He was feeling bitter in his heart, so he asked me to drink with him..."

"My lord!" Dou Yan raised her voice and cut him off without ceremony. "Fourth Master Wang came to ask for your help, did he not? Have you thought carefully about why the Earl of Donglin was really thrown into prison? If you wade into these muddy waters and bring the fire down on yourself, what trouble will follow? Even if you have no care for me, your mother is advanced in years and the children are still small—will you pay no heed to them either?"

"Do not always treat me like a three-year-old child," Wei Fan said with a smile. "The Earl of Donglin merely spoke a few drunken foolish words and touched the Emperor's reverse scale, and that is why he was thrown into the imperial prison. Never mind me—who in all the capital does not know it? Do not worry. I have my own judgment in this matter, and I will not drag you and the children into it." His tone was rather perfunctory.

The present Emperor had ascended the throne through a palace coup, and what he dreaded most was people discussing that affair in private. The so-called drunken foolish words of the Earl of Donglin had most likely arisen from exactly that.

After more than ten years of marriage, Dou Yan knew Wei Fan's temper inside and out.

The way he put it only made her more anxious, and she insisted that Wei Fan give her his word: "...whatever has to do with the Zhou family, you will not meddle in it!"

Wei Fan's anger rose at her words. "What do you mean by that?" he said displeased. "Dahe is my closest friend. He is in trouble now—if I stand by and do nothing, am I still a man?" Then he added mockingly, "It is a good thing Dahe did not ask me to go beg my father-in-law, or you would be ready to break with me for good!"

Dou Yan's father, Dou Huaiying, was Chancellor of the Hanlin Academy and Junior Deputy of the Household Administration of the Heir Apparent. His office was no higher than the fourth rank, yet he was greatly valued by the Emperor, who often summoned him into the palace to lecture the Crown Prince and the other princes.

Hearing these cutting words, she was so angry she nearly choked.

At the sight, Wei Fan could not help feeling a little guilty. "Do you know what Dahe came to me for?" he said in a low voice. Then his eyes went wide with fury, and he said indignantly, "That dog Song Yan has actually taken the Zhou family's thirteenth and fourteenth young ladies into his own household!"

Dou Yan turned pale with shock. "And what of Lady Zhou?"

"She is in his residence as well," Wei Fan said, his voice as faint as a mosquito's, his expression awkward.

Dou Yan drew a sharp breath.

Lady Zhou was the Earl of Donglin's second wife, niece of Cao Jie, commander of the Miyun Guard. She was only thirty-two this year, and strikingly beautiful. The thirteenth and fourteenth young ladies of the Zhou family were two sisters born of Lady Zhou, and they surpassed their mother in beauty; before they had even come of age, suitors had worn a groove in the doorstep with their visits.

"He casts virtue aside and relies on force, acting against all that is right—and the Emperor does not restrain him?"

Wei Fan gave a cold laugh. "He killed his father and murdered his brother, and the Emperor did no more than fine him three years' salary, strip him of his office, and let him redeem himself by good service. Do you think the Emperor will censure him over a matter like this?"

Dou Yan fell silent.

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Sisters and brothers, a new pit has been opened!

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A rebirth story.

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