Chapter 290 — Putting on Airs

Ji Yong stared at the bustling crowd outside the Shuntian Prefecture yamen, and the fire in his chest flared up again.

Was it really going to end like this?

What was Song Yan thinking?

Just letting these people be played for fools?

After some thought, he headed for the Ying Zhenguo Estate.

When Song Yan heard Ji Yong had come, he dismissed him with a single line: "Tell him I'm not home."

Ji Yong thought, fine—if you're not home, all the better. He then asked to see Dou Yan, saying to the servant: "Tell her I've come about the fire at the Ying Zhenguo Estate."

Proud men disdain to lie.

Dou Yan received Ji Yong in the flower hall.

Ji Yong told Dou Yan about his trip to the Shuntian Prefecture, adding: "If those thieves learn that the yamen ultimately intends to find someone to take the fall, they'll only grow more brazen—they might even set their sights on the Ying Zhenguo Estate again. After all, word has spread that you brought a hundred thousand taels in silver notes as dowry, and the rumors grow more outlandish by the day. Right now you must not only hunt down those thieves but also find a way to divert attention—you can't let people's eyes stay fixed on your dowry. There will always be those who risk life and limb. A man can be a thief for a thousand days, but no one can guard against thieves for a thousand days."

Dou Yan was grateful for Ji Yong's concern and, with some reservations, shared Song Yan's plan: "The heir said the same thing you did. So he means to use private connections to catch the thieves—even if he can't catch them all, he'll grab the greater half, and let those in the jianghu know that the Ying Zhenguo Estate is not to be trifled with."

Hearing this, Ji Yong felt somewhat reassured; Song Yan, at least, was not entirely muddle-headed.

He urged Dou Yan: "If you get any word, send me a message. At the Shuntian Prefecture, with my uncle's calling card, I can at least have some say."

The prefect of Shuntian was a civil official; the Ji family had produced officials for generations, and Ji Yong was himself a palace graduate of the highest examinations—by any measure of reason or sentiment, Prefect Huang Qi would grant Ji Yong some courtesy. Ji Yong meant every word sincerely.

Dou Yan thought the Shuntian Prefecture in this matter likely wanted only to smooth things over, and she had already resolved not to let Ji Yong get involved. Yet seeing such earnestness, she could not bear to throw cold water on him, and so thanked him again and again.

Ji Yong was a little displeased. "You and I are cousins—we practically grew up together. If you have something to say, say it plainly. This endless thanking is far too formal. Before you married, you were forthright and brisk. How is it that after marriage you've turned into a common, fussy matron? Could it be Song Yan keeps you on a tight leash? Then you'd have been better off staying in Zhending. In Zhending, who would dare boss you around?"

Song Yan had not expected that, failing to see him, Ji Yong would go straight to Dou Yan; and since he had always given Dou Yan equal rights and dignity with himself, the household servants would naturally not stop her. But at the thought of the Ji family's former designs on Dou Yan, and of Ji Yong's sheer audacity, Song Yan could not sit still.

After much deliberation, he decided to seize the chance to "return."

Only, he had never in the least anticipated—

Song Yan's face was dark and grim; only after a long while did he recover. He circled once more outside the flower hall, judged that his expression had returned to normal, and only then entered with a smile.

"Magistrate Ji. To trouble you to make the trip yourself over the fire at the Ying Zhenguo Estate—many thanks, many thanks!" He bowed to Ji Yong with cupped hands and sat down beside Dou Zhiwei.

Ji Yong arched an eyebrow. "Shouyuan is my cousin. She was robbed by thieves and badly frightened; if her husband's family cannot protect her, then we of her maiden family must at least come and ask after things!" Then, to Dou Yan: "It's settled, then. Rest well—I'll come see you again in a few days."

"Take care, Cousin Ji!" Although it was always Ji Yong who provoked first whenever he and Song Yan met, and Song Yan mostly kept his silence, each encounter inevitably ended in sparks flying. Dou Yan did not wish to witness such a scene; she personally saw Ji Yong to the ornamental gate, and when she returned and saw Song Yan sitting there lost in thought, she could not help a bitter smile. She explained: "Cousin Ji went out of his way to visit the Shuntian Prefecture over the fire at our estate, only to find that Prefect Huang had no intention of hunting down the thieves at all—he means to collude with the Five Wards Military Command and find a scapegoat…"

Song Yan patted Dou Zhiwei's hand. "I know Magistrate Ji is cold in manner but warm at heart, and proud besides, and that this matter was indeed my fault—which is why he barbed every word at me. Don't worry that I'll quarrel with him; I haven't taken his words to heart. I was thinking about what you said—the Risheng Silver House courting Guo Yan…" He then told Dou Yan about Empress Wan's commission for him to visit the Prince of Liao in Liaodong. "…I thought it was a trivial matter, a good chance to look in on my fifth uncle besides. But now it seems this will require careful planning!"

What did Dou Yan fear most?

That Song Yan, as in her last life, would be used as a tool by the Prince of Liao and end up notorious through the ages, with no decent end.

At these words her hair stood on end; the friction between Ji Yong and Song Yan seemed by comparison like the harmless scuffling of children.

"Can you not go?" Dou Yan asked Song Yan. "You're the Emperor's personal guard—surely you can't leave the capital at will?" But Empress Wan's schemes were limitless—of that Dou Yan, who had lived two lives, was only too certain. Moreover, in her former life she had dwelled at the very bottom of aristocratic circles, so no one had bothered to keep secrets from her, and she knew far more than she did now. "If the Empress insists you go and it's hard to refuse, could you ask the Emperor for an edict?" At least then you'd have something to say before the Crown Prince.

Song Yan nodded with a smile. "I'll give the Crown Prince word as well—no matter how you look at it, the Crown Prince and the Prince of Liao are brothers. Since I'm going to visit the Prince of Liao, it's only natural to ask the Crown Prince if he has any words or gifts to send him."

All the better.

Dou Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

Song Yan hesitated. "Have you ever met the Prince of Liao?"

In my last life, yes.

Dou Yan muttered inwardly, then said, "No, I haven't."

Song Yan looked rather puzzled. "Then why are you so wary of the Prince of Liao? Have you heard something? Or has some elder in the family said something?"

"Not at all." Dou Yan's mind raced. "Didn't you say the Emperor's health is poor—that sometimes he doesn't even recognize people? I just thought: if the Emperor's years are numbered, the Ying Zhenguo Estate is the foremost of the noble houses. So long as we remain impartial, even if we can't win the new Emperor's favor, we needn't be dragged down by palace intrigues… Whoever ascends the throne, no one could move against the Ying Zhenguo Estate while it remains a pure official, could they?"

In her last life, even a sovereign as formidable as the Prince of Liao, once enthroned, had done no more than kill the chicken to frighten the monkey—disposing of a few noble houses that had spoken disrespectfully of him.

Song Yan nodded thoughtfully. "I think in a few days we should pay our respects to the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess," he said. "Originally I meant to wait until after your month-long stay at your maiden home. Now it seems that may be too late."

Best to call on the Crown Prince and his consort before Song Yan set out for Liaodong.