Chapter 156 — Decision

Within a few days, the capital welcomed the first snow of winter.

Four hundred li away in Zhending, the wind was howling and the snow was falling thick and fast as well.

A few days earlier, the steward of the estate had come to deliver the goods for the New Year and presented two snow-otter pelts as tribute. They were a little too few for a waistcoat, and it would have been a shame to use them for trimming a skirt, so Dou Yan thought it over and decided to make a collar for her grandmother, and with the remainder a cloud-patterned autumn-yellow Zhaojun head wrap, just in time for the New Year.

The weather was cold and there was little to do, so Ganlu and the others sat with Dou Yan on the heated kang by the window of the inner room, doing needlework.

Suxin slipped quietly into the room.

"Miss," she said, winking at Dou Yan with a smile, "there's something off about the accounts sent over from the estate a few days ago."

At that, Ganlu and the others immediately withdrew.

Only then did Suxin draw a letter from her bosom: "Miss, Old Chen had someone bring this back."

Dou Yan took the letter with some nervousness.

Eight or nine days had passed, and still no word had come from the capital. She seemed at ease, but in truth her mind was on it constantly, and at night she often tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

She read the letter at a glance, and could not help letting out a long breath of relief.

Seeing this, Suxin, who had been watching her anxiously, let her own expression relax as well, and presently broke into a delighted smile: "Miss, Guard Duan and the others—are they all safe and sound?"

Dou Yan nodded and gestured for Suxin to light the ram's-horn palace lantern nearby. Burning the letter as she spoke, she said softly, "Young Master Mei's position is now secure. On the twenty-first he presided over Lady Jiang's memorial rites. Old Chen and Guard Duan will be back in a few days!"

Even someone as composed as Suxin could not help but rejoice at the news that Chen Yanzhou and the others would soon return: "That's good, that's good!"

Dou Yan could not help laughing at her delight, and said, "Go tell Lu Ming, so they don't worry."

Suxin went off in high spirits.

Dou Yan stared for a long while at the letter reduced to ashes.

Song Yan was indeed not the sort to tamely submit to ill treatment.

If his father meant to frame him, he would fight back just the same.

She had sent Duan Bing, Chen Lanxu, and the others racing through the night to rescue Song Yan. It had been a very risky decision.

But whenever she thought of what Song Yan had suffered in her previous life, she could not stand by and watch the tragedy repeat itself.

Still, why the Duke of Yingguo would want to frame his own eldest son was a question Dou Yan had found no answer to, in her past life or in this one.

In her previous life, the Jiang family had been exterminated root and branch; Lady Jiang had lain lingering on her sickbed and passed away not long after. Song Yan had just lost his uncle, and then his mother; beyond exhaustion of body and mind, he must have felt some resentment as well. He could not, and had neither the heart nor the strength to, pay attention to matters around him—which was what gave the Duke of Yingguo the chance to lay his plans at leisure, opening the curtain on the slander against Song Yan with an impeachment by the censors. In this life, though Jiang Meisun and the others had still been killed, Lady Mei and the other women and children had survived. To protect the Jiang clan, Song Yan had not sunk into despair over the deaths of Jiang Meisun and the rest, but instead thrown himself more actively into the capital's circle of nobles. He had even deliberately lost the autumn hunt's archery contest, to test the Emperor's intentions and re-establish his standing in the Emperor's eyes.

Song Yan, with his towering reputation, was a scalding hot potato for the Duke of Yingguo, who in the end had no choice but to strike the moment Song Yan returned to mourn... Her warning, and the Duke's helplessness, had together given Song a thread of life.

Sometimes, one's position is a kind of bondage.

Now that he had escaped danger safely this time, she hoped that, having kept his place as heir, he would not become as frenzied as he had in her previous life.

Dou Yan sighed faintly.

At dusk, Lu Ming came to take his leave of her.

Without a word, he first knelt and kowtowed three times to Dou Yan: "Fourth Miss, your great kindness—not only the heir, but all of us will never forget it!" Then he said, "The heir is wounded and needs someone to tend and assist him, but he is short-handed. Mr. Yan and I have discussed it, and we mean to set out for the capital tonight. Xu Qing's injuries are too severe; I'm afraid we must trouble you, Fourth Miss, to let him recuperate at the estate for a few more days."

Lu Ming had been at the Dou household for half a year and had always been respectful to Dou Yan, but not like this—respect tinged now with a certain deference, and plainly sincere.

Perhaps because she had saved Song Yan.

"Get up and speak," Dou Yan said, pondering. "There's no one else at the estate, so let Xu Qing rest there in peace." Then she had Suxin give him fifty taels of silver for the journey. "Be careful on the road. My people haven't returned yet, so I have no way to escort you back to the capital."

Lu Ming did not stand on ceremony, and tucked the silver note into his coat: "It's only five or six days' journey from here to the capital. Now that the matter is settled, the Duke of Zhenguo presumably has no time to bother with us at the moment. We should reach there safely."

Dou Yan thought so too. After a few more words of caution, she handed him his tea and saw Lu Ming out.

Ganlu came in to announce: "Miss, Gao Xing is back!"

A month earlier, Gao Sheng had been sent by Dou Huaiying to bring Dou Ming back to the capital.

Dou Yan had sent Gao Xing along with them.

She received Gao Xing in the hall.

"Miss, the journey went smoothly." There were still traces of melted snow on Gao Xing's clothes—one look told her he had come to see her before even settling in. "Lord Seven even summoned me to ask a great many things about you." He grinned broadly. Dou Huaiying's concern for Dou Yan plainly showed how much he valued his eldest daughter, and Gao Xing was happy for her. "He had me bring back a great deal of the capital's specialties, saying they were for your New Year."

Dou Yan thanked him for his trouble, had Suxin go through the goods, and asked after her father's health.

"Lord Seven is very well," Gao Xing said with a smile. "On his days off he goes to the temple to discuss the Dharma with the masters. Everyone praises Lord Seven's profound understanding of the Buddhist teachings—even we basked in the reflected glory." As he spoke, he took a safety amulet from the pouch at his waist. "This was when I went to Puji Temple to look around—the guest-prefect monk, Fude, learned I was one of Lord Seven's people from the Dou family of the North Tower, and specially gave me an amulet blessed by the abbot himself!"

Dou Yan was taken aback, and then burst out laughing.

In those days, Abbot Fude of Puji Temple and Master Yuantong of the Great Longshan Huguo Temple were the two most renowned Zen masters in the capital—one could talk a dead man into life, the other a living man into death; one was dignified in appearance, the other outstanding in bearing. Every year at the Ghost Festival, the grounds before Puji Temple and the Great Longshan Huguo Temple would be packed with women come to hear the Dharma. It was said that when the monks collecting incense money came out carrying the merit boxes, the copper coins would come down like rain.