Chapter 431 — The Miao Family

Song Cen, who had been joyfully awaiting the imperial edict, felt as though a thunderbolt had struck him when he heard its contents; for a long moment he could not collect himself.

By his reckoning, Wang Ge had sounded out the Emperor on his behalf and the Emperor had shown himself amenable, so even if Song Han could not wed Princess Jingyi—the Empress Yi's own daughter—he could at least have the loveliest of them, Princess Jingfu. And now the princess had become a country wench, and one who had appeared out of nowhere besides. His breath caught in his chest, and had he not heard Song Yan greeting the eunuch who had come to proclaim the edict, he might never have recovered himself.

How had it come to this?

Who exactly had meddled in the affair?

Song Cen looked at Song Han, who stood dumbstruck and at a loss, and his gaze could not help drifting to Song Yan, who was chatting and laughing with the eunuch.

So the moment the eunuch had gone, he sprang to his feet, jabbed a finger at Song Yan's nose, and demanded, "Was it you? How else would Empress Yi suddenly issue an edict betrothing a wife to Tian'en? It must be you—you saw that Tian'en had won the Emperor's favor and feared he would one day overshadow you, so you schemed behind the scenes..."

But before he could finish, Song Yan gave a cold laugh and said, "Father thinks far too highly of us! Am I one of the Three Dukes or the Three Solitaries, that I could sway the Emperor's thinking?" He shot him a contemptuous glance. "Don't blame this son of yours for not warning you—mind what you say, lest it reach the Emperor's ears and he take it that you are displeased with the arrangements he has made. And when he is vexed, don't go saying again that I had a hand in it. I hardly deserve such praise from Father!"

"You!" Song Cen's face flushed crimson.

Song Yan strode off.

Behind him Song Han called out plaintively, "Brother," then added in a low voice, "Father spoke only in a moment of anger; he did not mean to blame you. This betrothal came too suddenly. You serve at court—could you ask around for me and find out what this is really about?"

His tone was earnest and sincere, yet Song Yan might not have heard a word of it; his steps never faltered as he left the main hall.

"That little beast—I might as well have raised a dog for all the good he's done me," Song Cen cursed, shaking with rage at Song Yan's retreating back. "Had I known he would turn out this way, I'd have strangled him in the blood basin the day he was born, and spared myself the torment of this wretch." Having cursed his eldest, he turned on his second son. "And you—you mud that won't hold to the wall! He stopped thinking of you as a brother long ago, and still you go on calling him 'brother.' Have you no shame? He's your brother, not your father. Can you not live without him?"

He cursed until Song Han's face went red and then white, his head bowed like an eggplant nipped by frost.

The sight only irritated Song Cen the more. He lashed out a kick at Zeng Wu and snapped, "Well, go fetch Mr. Tao! Why is it that every one of you is a dumb goose that won't move unless it's called?"

Zeng Wu scrambled out of the main hall on all fours to summon Tao Jun.

Song Cen instructed him to inquire into the background of the Miao family of Wanping, while he himself went to the Third Princess's estate.

It was now the turn of the seventh or eighth month, the season when autumn osmanthus scented the air.

Shi Chonglan was in the back garden gathering osmanthus blossoms with the Third Princess.

Hearing that Song Cen had come, he could not help smiling. "He must have good news for us."

The Third Princess laughed coyly. "What have you been up to now?"

As the saying goes, better to tear down a temple than to ruin a marriage. Shi Chonglan reckoned he had done a fine deed, and, making no secret of it from the Third Princess, he told her with a smile of Song Cen's wish to have Song Han wed a princess, adding, "By my reckoning, the edict should have arrived these past few days."

The Third Princess frowned and chided him. "Why did you not speak to me of this beforehand? The Empress Mother intends to marry Jingyi into the Xingzhenguo Estate, only the Xingguo Duke's lady's own heir and the second and third young lords are long since married, and the seventh young lord is three years younger than Jingyi. That is why the Empress Mother has delayed in proposing the match. What business is it of yours to poke your nose in?"

Shi Chonglan was taken aback. "The Empress Mother intends the Xingguo Duke's third young lord for Jingyi?"

Somehow it struck him as odd.

But before he could think it through, the Third Princess was already urging him to go to Song Cen. "Go and come back quickly; later we'll go look at those green-calyx plum trees together."

Shi Chonglan loved plum blossoms, and the Third Princess had gone to great lengths to procure plum trees of every variety and plant them in their garden.

He nodded with a smile and went to the study.

Yet before the time it takes to burn a stick of incense had passed, Shi Chonglan returned, his expression grave.

The Third Princess asked in surprise, "What has happened? Is the matter of the princess not going well?" she added. "Best leave this business alone, then, lest you put the Empress Mother out of humor!"

"Not going well is putting it mildly!" Shi Chonglan smiled bitterly. Wishing to enlist the Third Princess's help, he told her in exhaustive detail of Song Cen's tale. "The Empress Mother has actually issued an edict betrothing the sixth young lady of a Miao family in Wanping to Song Han as his wife. Just which family is this Miao family of Wanping? Are they old friends of the Empress Mother, or the descendants of some fallen meritorious official? I have never heard of them. Do you recall them at all?"

Consort Miao had in her day outshone all Six Palaces, but that was a matter of twenty-odd years ago; now she was merely a woman forgotten in a corner, eking out her days beneath the Empress Dowager's stern authority. How many still remembered her?

"The Miao of Wanping?" The Third Princess frowned and pondered a long while, then said hesitantly, "Could it be Consort Miao's maiden family?"

At the mention of Consort Miao, Shi Chonglan remembered.

He turned and made for the door. "I'll go tell Song Cen and have him send someone to look into it."

The Third Princess watched Shi Chonglan's retreating figure and shook her head.

Song Cen was struck dumb. "Consort Miao's maiden family? The Empress Mother would be merciful to leave Consort Miao her life at all—why would Empress Yi bestow a Miao girl in marriage? What, what is the meaning of this? No wonder she would have me make kin with a common tradesman's household?"

The very thought of it disgusted him, as though he had stepped in a pile of dung.

Shi Chonglan, however, had begun to see a glimmer of what lay behind it.

Song Cen's luck was simply wretched. He would speak of the princess matter neither early nor late, but must needs bring it up at just this moment, and Empress Yi—whether on a whim or after long deliberation—had made him the scapegoat.

Still, the Song family was of illustrious birth, and Song Han, though a second son, was more than match enough for a Miao girl. By rights, Empress Yi ought not to slight Song Han so. Could there be something more to this?

Only then did Shi Chonglan feel deep regret.

He truly should never have meddled in this affair.

If he had spoiled Empress Yi's plans and thereby earned her enmity, then even with the Emperor's protection, her temper was such that she could make his life miserable enough.

He was minded to withdraw. Tactfully he said, "Since there are traces to follow, there's no fearing we won't find the reason. I'll ask around for you; do you also send someone to probe into the Miao family's background, so that when the betrothal gifts are sent you'll know where you stand."