Chapter 282 — Reassured

Everyone took their seats according to rank, and Song Yan personally brewed a pot of the finest Tieguanyin for Dou Huaiying.

The mellow fragrance of the tea soothed Dou Huaiying's anxious heart. He thought of the men from the Five Cities Military Command he had seen at the gates of the Ying Ducal Estate on his way in, and could not help asking, "Have all those thieves been caught?"

"Every one who broke into the Ying Ducal Estate has been taken," Song Yan said, skillfully glossing over the situation. He rose to refill Dou Huaiying's cup. "As for the others, the Five Cities Military Command and the Shuntian Prefecture are hunting them down."

Dou Huaiying breathed a sigh of relief.

But Ji Yong spoke up: "The Ying Ducal Estate is the foremost noble house in our dynasty, the Duke of Ying himself holds the seal of the Vanguard Command of the Five Armies' Military Command, and you, brother-in-law, are the Vanguard Commander of the Jinwu Guard. Yet those thieves dared to scale the walls of the Ying Ducal Estate and make off with goods. If they were clever enough to devise the trick of luring the tiger from its mountain, why did they not consider what would happen if they failed? And it just so happened that they struck when both the Duke of Ying and you, brother-in-law, were away from home... now that is truly strange, is it not?" By the end his voice had trailed into a murmur, as if he were asking himself, yet it pulled Dou Huaiying's nerves taut as a bowstring.

"Yantang, have you given offense to someone?" Dou Huaiying ventured hesitantly. "The whereabouts of my in-law and yourself should not be something ordinary folk could know, surely? And the rumor about the silver notes has grown so wild—how did it suddenly become a hundred thousand taels..."

The moment he saw Ji Yong, Song Yan knew trouble had arrived.

But he had never been one to fear trouble!

"This matter was my carelessness," Song Yan apologized earnestly to Dou Huaiying. "Shouyuan's and my marriage was decided in haste, and I feared idle tongues would wag, so when I heard people exaggerating Shouyuan's dowry I did not stop them. I had thought that since the world judges a man by his coat before his character, if it could spare Shouyuan some trouble, it might not be so bad—but I never imagined it would summon thieves to our door. I have also considered what Lord Ji said. Shouyuan summoned the stewardesses to her chambers to speak with them, partly to steady the household's morale, and partly to keep those stewardesses penned in the parlor of the rear courtyard while I sent men to investigate where these people have been these past days." He added, "I am young and have seen little of the world. My honored father-in-law has crossed more bridges than I have walked roads. If there is anything I have overlooked, I beg you to remind me, and I will mend the fold after the sheep is lost—I shall give the orders at once. Whatever it takes, Shouyuan's safety must be guaranteed. Today they could leak my father's and my whereabouts. Who is to say they will not leak Shouyuan's one day?"

When it came to such practical affairs, Dou Huaiying was worse than useless; even to offer Song Yan a reminder, he would first have to find some shortcoming in him!

What suggestions could he possibly make!

Seeing Song Yan so candid and humble, he could only nod inwardly, affirming him: "You have thought it through most thoroughly. With you handling matters with the Five Cities Military Command, I am much reassured. I have nothing to remind you of."

Ji Yong was choked speechless for a good while.

Song Yan pretended not to notice and went on speaking warmly with his father-in-law: "This is the first time Shouyuan has summoned the household stewardesses to speak with them, so it may take a while. Do try my tea first. The heir of the Marquis of Yan'an, Wang Dahai, sent it over a few days ago. I tasted it and thought it rather good. Shouyuan said you are fond of Tieguanyin, and I was just thinking of sending you some in a few days..."

It seemed Shouyuan and her husband got along well—well enough to discuss what tea he liked. And the son-in-law was a decent sort too, thinking of sending him tea to try.

Dou Huaiying mused, and decided not to tell Song Yan that what he liked best was Xinyang Maojian—he was not a stubborn man, after all; when his son-in-law was present, he would simply drink Tieguanyin.

Song Yan apologized silently to his father-in-law in his heart.

He and Dou Yan had been married barely eleven days. Half of that time he had spent in the palace, and of the other half he had spent with Dou Yan, his mind was wholly occupied with what she liked and disliked, and how he might get along with her more harmoniously—what leisure had he to concern himself with other people and other matters? He had only seen that Dou Yan liked drinking Tieguanyin, and so made a bold guess—and to his surprise, he had guessed right. It seemed he would have to cultivate some connections with the Fujian Regional Military Commission; in future he would often be sending Tieguanyin to the Yandang Temple Alley.

The son-in-law and father-in-law smiled at each other, each with his own thoughts.

Song Yan was all the more determined not to let Ji Yong's croaking affect Dou Huaiying's mood, and so he told Dou Huaiying how Dou Yan had abandoned the pawn to save the king, ordering the young servants to fall back to the hanging-flower gate to fend off the thieves; how she had set fire to the firewood as an alarm; how she had scalded those would-be robbers with boiling water until their skin split and they dared not attack the hanging-flower gate recklessly... At first he had meant only to draw Dou Huaiying's attention and deny Ji Yong the chance to spout nonsense, but the more he spoke, the more he felt Dou Yan was extraordinary—generous in character, and possessing both wisdom and courage, a rare and remarkable woman—and a note of admiration gradually crept into his tone.

Dou Huaiying was by nature sensitive to matters of love and affection, and by now he could hardly mistake Song Yan's meaning. He was so delighted that he chuckled aloud, grinning from ear to ear.

This was a Dou Yan Ji Yong had never seen before.

He listened somewhat dumbfounded.

Yet a faint notion stirred in his heart: Dou Yan was like a gemstone—the more it is polished, the finer it becomes, the more dazzling, the more brilliant, the more beautiful... Or perhaps only a life like this could make Dou Yan refract such a dazzling light?

But the notion flashed past and was soon ignored by Ji Yong, whether deliberately or not.

"I never imagined Fourth Sister had suffered so much!" Ji Yong sighed. "Thank heavens above, Fourth Sister turned misfortune into fortune and calamity into blessing." He asked Song Yan, "I wonder what plans the Five Cities Military Command and the Shuntian Prefecture have? It has been two or three hours since the incident, has it not? However brainless those thieves may be, once their scheme was exposed they must know to lie low for a while. The capital is so vast—if they are determined to hide, I fear they will be hard to find. So much happens in the capital every day; the Five Cities Military Command and the Shuntian Prefecture cannot be stopping and searching everyone who passes through the capital for this one matter day after day, surely? And if one day those men take it into their heads to raid the Ying Ducal Estate again, what then?"

His words set Dou Huaiying worrying again.