Chapter 294 — Claiming the Reward

Song Yan pulled out the letter and skimmed it. It was full of reproaches, and only at the very end did his father ask how matters stood now. Suddenly he thought of how Dou Yan had seized the tally in the midst of the chaos, and something stirred in his mind. He wrote back to Song Cen, saying that in the past it had all been his own fault for being so narrow-minded, carrying only Yizhi Hall in his heart and forgetting that Yizhi Hall was but a part of the Yingzhen Ducal Estate. Now, having heard his father's teachings, he had reflected deeply on his errors and resolved to shoulder the responsibilities of the Heir of the Yingzhen Ducal Estate—to exercise the Duke of Ying's authority in his father's absence. He went on to report, point by point, that he had ordered Tao Jun to repair the burned buildings within fifteen days, that he had temporarily set aside fifty thousand taels as a reward for the capture of the thieves who had broken into the estate, which the Emperor had endorsed, and that he had obtained from His Majesty's own hand three places in the Imperial Guard, and so forth—all told to Song Cen in full. Then he instructed Song Cen's courier: "Six hundred li by express, day and night without pause—put it in the Duke's hands at once."

The courier dared not delay, and set off with the letter at once.

In his heart, Song Yan still felt a rankling indignation. He said to Dou Yan, "Unless he puts me in the ground, I doubt he'll ever let it rest!"

Dou Yan stroked his arm gently and said softly, "That depends on whether he has the ability. You've already died once—must you die a second time before it counts as 'filial piety'? And what of your mother? She poured so much of herself into you—would you simply turn a deaf ear to all that?"

Song Yan laughed despite himself. "Rest assured, I am neither blindly loyal nor blindly filial. As you say, I've already died once. Now he wants to put a knife to my throat and have me say nothing while he does as he pleases—well, he can forget it." Then he put his arm around Dou Zhiwei's shoulders. "Shall we go to Fengtai again tomorrow to buy flowers? Even if we can't find any rare plants, it'll do us good to get out and clear our heads."

Dou Yan pursed her lips and smiled.

It was that he did not want to stay home and be troubled by all these petty matters, wasn't it?

The next day after the midday meal, she accompanied Song Yan to Fengtai.

Someone tipped off the Yingzhenguo household about the thief's whereabouts, and the men of the Shuntian Jing'an City Garrison Command joined forces and soon brought the man to justice. Under interrogation, he was indeed one of the thieves who had broken into the Yingzhenguo residence—and the one who had given him up was none other than his own elder brother!

The men of the Shuntian Jing'an City Garrison were in an uproar.

But what was even more unforeseen was this: the thief had learned of the bounty posted by the Yingzhenguo household and knew that even if he escaped their pursuit this time, he would thereafter face the combined hunt of his Jianghu brethren and the authorities, and would spend the rest of his days living under a false name, ever on the run.

Better that than to live in such constant terror. Far better to let his own elder brother claim the bounty—at least then his brother would have the money, and could honor their parents in his stead.

He told his elder brother to cut off his head and take it to report the crime.

His brother could not bear to do it, so, fearing that once he was dead there would be no witness to confirm the deed, the thief reported the crime in his brother's name and hid himself in a small alley in the north of the capital, waiting for the authorities to come and seize him.

When Yan Chaoliao heard of it, his eyes lit up. He instructed Xia Lian: "Deliver that thousand-tael bounty with great fanfare—we care only for results, not the process."

Xia Lian assented and went off.

The capital's underworld and the authorities alike were thrown into chaos.

The one who had set it all in motion, however, was strolling idly through the flower market at Fengtai with his wife.

Someone came forward to meet them: "Might you be Lord Song, heir of the Duke of Yingguo?"

The form of address was a little irregular, yet it had seen through Song's true identity.

The newcomer was clearly well acquainted with Song Yan.

Song Yan did not recognize him.

Without betraying a thing, he stepped in front of Dou Yan and shot the man a swift glance. "I am Song Yantang," he said coolly.

Dou Yan gazed at the newcomer with curiosity.

He was barely past twenty, plain of face and simply dressed, yet his eyes flashed with a keen light, betraying a shrewdness and competence at odds with both his years and his looks.

She could not help feeling puzzled for a moment.

This man—how familiar he seemed!

She felt as though she had seen him somewhere before.

And it seemed somehow important, too, as though he had left a deep impression on her heart.

Dou Yan frowned.

Why couldn't she remember?

Zhu Yicheng, who had been warned not to approach them, quietly drifted closer without any fuss.

The newcomer bowed respectfully to Song Yan and said, "I am Chen Jia, courtesy name Zanzhi. I serve as a minor standard-bearer in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Years ago I was ordered to escort the Duke of Dingguo back to the capital from Fujian..."

Song Yan's expression changed drastically.

Chen Zanzhi acted as though he had seen nothing. "I have always admired the Duke of Dingguo for his noble character and his upright, aboveboard conduct, and I have long wished to discover on whose orders the Embroidered Uniform Guard was sent to seize the Duke. I only fear that my rank is too low and my position too humble to make any progress." Here he showed a trace of bitterness. "Several years have passed now, and I truly feared that the young lord had forgotten the grievances of those days. I knew that to meet the young lord in such a manner would surely earn his contempt, and I turned it over and over in my mind, but in the end I came. I ask only that the young lord help me investigate the cause of the Duke of Dingguo's death, and clear his name..."

Alarm bells rang in Song Yan's heart.

The Duke of Dingguo had been dead for three or four years now, and he had never dared to investigate the cause of his eldest uncle's death!

Thunderbolts and rain and dew alike are the grace of the sovereign.

If the investigation ultimately showed that the Emperor had been involved, were they to go and reason with the Emperor himself?

Perhaps they would only stir the grass and startle the snake, making the Emperor think he harbored resentment—and then he might not only lose the Emperor's favor and land himself in prison, but also drag down the Jiang family, already tottering and unable to withstand another blow, and his fifth uncle, exiled to Liaodong.

The only thing he could do was wait.

Wait until everyone had forgotten the matter, wait for the new emperor to ascend the throne, wait until he had strength enough to force the new emperor to make a choice... but not now, when he himself was no more than a raw newcomer who had barely set foot in officialdom, to touch this sensitive case of injustice. Especially not now, when, after his eldest uncle's death, the Japanese pirates ran rampant and no one moved to stop them.

Brothers and sisters, my apologies—I am a little late today.

Let me post a draft first; I will catch the bugs tomorrow.

O(∩_∩)O~

(To be continued.