Chapter 205 — Breaking Out

Gu Yu craned his neck and looked all around. "Where's Tianci gone off to? The bride's already in the bridal chamber—why hasn't he come back? He can't have gone home, surely?" Then, thinking that was just like Song Ke, he called his personal servant. "Go and find him."

The servant answered and went off.

Song Yan gazed at the Huai Shu Alley, where a few lamps now glimmered like scattered stars, and his face was darker than the night itself.

"No one at the Huai Shu Alley?" he confirmed again.

"Apart from a few servants, every one of the Dou clan has gone to the Heming Temple Alley," Zhu Chengyi said flatly. "Today the Fourth Miss of the Dou family is to be married. The Fifth Madam of the Dou clan and her daughters-in-law and grandchildren went to the Heming Temple Alley yesterday, and have not yet returned; only Old Master Dou and a few serving women are at home."

Could Dou Yan still be at the Yunqi Temple Alley?

Song Yan was frantic, his mind racing.

If the Wei family had wanted a different bride, they need only have broken off the engagement with the Dou family—why go to the trouble of substitution? Clearly, even the Wei family did not know the bride had been swapped.

The Dou family had been officials for generations. Dou Yuanji was moreover a Grand Secretary, and could not have been ignorant of the consequences of fraudulently passing one person off as another in marriage; the woman sent over must surely be of a status equal to Dou Yan's...

He thought of Dou Yan's younger sister.

Could the one sent to be married be Dou Zhiwei's younger sister?

But why?

Marriage is meant to bind two families in amity. The Dou and Wei families, one civil and one military, belonged to different circles; and the Wei family had neither power nor influence—there was no need at all for the Dou family to do such a thing, which, if known, would make them a laughingstock, merely to preserve the marriage between the two houses.

The thought flashed through him, and Song Yan's eyes went cold.

The summer palace was not as majestic and solemn as the Forbidden City, and the Emperor had lost the austerity he kept in the palace; not only did he often sport with the consorts and the young princes, he also frequently summoned the Imperial Guards who had accompanied him to demonstrate mounted archery—and since he and Dong Qi both came of prominent families, they were from time to time called before the Emperor for audience.

Just three days ago, the Ministry of War had submitted a memorial requesting that the Ministry of Personnel evaluate Wang Xingyi's official merit.

The Emperor had laughed at the time and said, "This Wang Yousheng is a talent too," and had Wang Yuan pass the memorial to the Senior Grand Secretary, Liang Jifang.

Could it be that the Wang clan was stirring up trouble behind this?

Song Yan's heart felt as though a layer of chili powder had been scattered over it—burning hot, seared with pain.

Bastards!

Every last one of them, a pack of bastards!

Substituting a bride—could a thing like that be accomplished by one person alone?

Song Yan thought again of the rumors that had swirled before Dou Yan's marriage. He thought of how Dou Yan had told him not to interfere, saying she had her own plans—was it that even then, Dou Yan had already sensed something?

Dou Yan was clever as ice and bright as snow; if she had looked down on Wei Fan, she would have broken the engagement long ago. Why would she have quarreled with the Wei family again and again?

She had set her heart on marrying into the Wei family, and they had simply torn her marriage apart!

Was it the Wang and Dou families acting together? Or was it the Wang family leading, with the Dou family turning a blind eye?

Had Wei Fan long since formed a secret attachment to Dou Zhiwei's younger sister?

Marriage comes but once in a lifetime; otherwise, what woman would be willing to marry in secret?

Or perhaps it was not secret at all, but open and aboveboard, a marriage conducted in broad daylight!

Song's riding crop sliced across the sky, striking the wall with a shrill whistle; dust and powder cascaded down, leaving a deep gash behind.

They were merely bullying Dou Yan because she had lost her mother young, because there was no one to stand up for her!

"Xia Lian!" Song Yan said in a low voice. "Take a few men to the shop under the Drum Tower and see whether Chen Sou and the others are there. If they are, bring them to the Longhua Temple Alley. If not, go at once to the Yandang Temple Alley. Zhu Chengyi, you and the rest come with me."

Xia Lian and the others cupped their fists in silence, their figures vanishing like ghosts into the vast night.

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It was with great effort that Dou Yan settled Lady Ji, and by then the fourth watch had already sounded at her ear.

She could not help looking up.

A crescent moon hung in the sky, and a few stars glimmered.

Tomorrow ought to be fine weather.

Suitable for dealing with the matter of Dou Ming.

Dou Yan was about to go inside when she saw Suxin hurrying over.

"Miss, Guard Duan just gave a signal—someone has broken in. He says we are to hide in our rooms and not come out."

Dou Yan was astonished. "My father is only a fifth-rank minor official; he does not even rate a place at the grand morning audience—why would anyone have designs on the Dou family? If they were going anywhere, it should be the Huai Shu Alley!"

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Sisters, brothers, today's update.

o(n_n)o~

?u