Chapter 501 — Refuge

Because he still had duties to attend to back at the palace, Song Yan rose at the third watch the next morning. After a simple breakfast, he mounted his horse and hurried back to the capital.

Songluo stayed behind, charged with the trivial affairs of the outer courtyard, while Duan Bing and Chen Lanxu took responsibility for guarding the separate residence.

Behind the residence lay a small plot of vegetable garden. Dou Yan accompanied Grandmother in watering the plants and catching insects. Had it not been for Yuanheng's mischief at their side, the days might have seemed to slip back to the time before Dou Yan was married.

When Song Yan came to see her, he could not resist tweaking her nose and laughing. "When we're old, we'll move out here to live. You'll plant the flowers and I'll water them. On festivals we'll go back to visit the grandchildren. If they please us, we'll give them a few extra red envelopes; if they make us angry, we'll go back and throw a tantrum..."

Dou Yan bent over with laughter.

After Song Yan had gone, Ji Lingze came to call on her.

Grandmother knew she had been raised in a great household and understood nothing of farming, so she received her specially in the small flower hall.

She sat chatting with Grandmother for a long while, all smiles, and then played with Yuanheng for another long while.

Watching her, Dou Yan felt it must be tiring. Seeing that it was nearly noon, she simply made the excuse of asking her to help season the cold noodles, and talked with her in the tea room: "Has something happened at home?"

Seeing that lunch was noodles made from freshly harvested buckwheat, garnished with emerald-green cucumber, tender white sprouts, and golden peanuts, Ji Lingze could not help sighing with envy. She said softly, "Yesterday the Second Madam of the Wang family in Willow Leaf Alley came to visit and brought some gold and silver, saying they hadn't known when your twelfth brother and I married, so this was their congratulatory gift. She also said that now that my twelfth brother has taken a wife, it isn't proper for the Seventh Madam to go on living in the Wang household, and that I should send someone to bring her back—that this is what a virtuous wife would do. I thought this wasn't something a daughter-in-law like me could decide, and I was afraid the elders might misunderstand, so I came to tell you, Fourth Aunt."

Dou Yan gave a cold laugh.

The Wang family had planned it well.

If Dou Huaide had married another family's daughter, the new bride, eager to win a reputation for virtue upon entering the household, might well have taken the matter into her own hands, and it would inevitably have become a troublesome affair.

Fortunately Dou Huaide had married Ji Lingze, and they knew each other through and through. Otherwise, merely explaining the ins and outs of it would have been embarrassing beyond words.

She spoke bluntly: "I went to great trouble to send the Seventh Madam out of the house. Sister-in-law, whatever you do, don't bring her back."

Hearing this, Ji Lingze narrowed her eyes and smiled. "With those words from you, I can rest easy." She changed the subject and asked about Dou Zhiwei's health: "Your steps are so light—you don't look like a woman carrying a child. Do you have some secret?"

Dou Yan could not resist teasing her: "Why be in such a hurry, sister-in-law? When your good news reaches me, it won't be too late for me to pass on some experience."

It made Ji Lingze blush scarlet.

After lunch, having seen Ji Lingze off, Dou Yan rested in the inner chamber.

The noon sun beat glaringly down on the courtyard, leaving one listless and without the energy to stir.

Half asleep, she heard a burst of clamor.

Dou Yan frowned and instructed Ruotong, who was attending her: "Go and see who's making that racket out there."

Ruotong trotted out of the room and soon hurried back.

"Madam, it's the Second Master," she said urgently. "They say the Second Master went with friends to White Sparrow Temple, and the carriage suddenly overturned. His leg was pinned, and it hurts terribly whenever he moves. Thinking that you were summering at the separate residence, the Second Master had his guards hire a sedan chair and carry him here, and asked us to send for a physician."

Dou Yan frowned. "How many came with him in all? Where are they now?"

Ruotong said, "Fifteen in all. Three are the Second Master's friends, and the other twelve are his guards. Songluo has settled them all in the east side-courtyard of the outer compound. The Second Master's leg is injured, so two servants are supporting him in the small study of the outer courtyard, and a servant has been sent to fetch a physician."

No sooner had she finished speaking than a young maid came running in: "The Second Master's personal servant says that, on the Second Master's orders, he has come to pay his respects to you and the Old Madam."

It was merely a matter of courtesy in any case. Dou Yan had a few pieces of broken silver brought to dismiss Song Han's servant, and instructed Ruotong: "Go and relay my words—tell Master Duan to add more men to the patrols. Whatever happens, don't let the Second Master's people slip through the inner gate."

Ruotong curtsied in acknowledgment and withdrew to deliver the message.

Songluo soon brought a physician.

The physician said Song Han might have sprained his ankle, but it was also possible the bone was injured. It would be best to take two doses of medicine, avoid moving him, and let him rest quietly for a few days. If the leg still hurt, the bone might be injured; if only the ankle was swollen, it might be nothing more than a sprain.

Song Han turned pale with fright at this and urged Songluo repeatedly: "Quick, go to the Imperial Medical Office and fetch an imperial physician." He also had his personal servant go ask Dou Yan for a luohan bed: "If I really have broken the leg bone, I'll be a cripple. None of you are to move me—I want to lie on a luohan bed and rest quietly."

Dou Yan could not be bothered with him. She had the kitchen door taken off its hinges and sent to the front courtyard, saying, "There are no spare luohan beds in the storeroom. Since he needs to lie in bed and rest quietly, use this door plank to carry him to the guest room for now."

Song Han trembled with fury, but with three companions present, he had no choice but to agree sullenly and let his guards carry him into the guest room.

Songluo settled Song Han's three friends in the guest room next to his, and then sent a servant into the capital to fetch an imperial physician to examine and treat Song Han.

When the young maid serving the front courtyard brought the decocted medicine, Song Han, in a foul temper, knocked it to the ground and, craning his neck, shouted hoarsely, "What fool are you, from which courtyard? Didn't you see that was a quack just now? You dare give me a prescription he wrote? Do you have a death wish?!"

The young maid ordinarily did nothing but watch over empty rooms and sweep and clean. She had never seen such a display, and burst into frightened tears at once.

Song Han's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

His friends stepped in and coaxed the maid out, comforting her: "The Second Master has hurt his leg and is out of sorts. Don't take it to heart."

The maid nodded and withdrew, sobbing.

The front courtyard was in an uproar all afternoon—first wanting tea, then snacks, then something to relieve the boredom—and only quieted down at lamp-lighting time.

Grandmother asked Dou Yan, "Shall I send a young maid over to have a look at his injury?"

"No need!" Dou Yan said lightly, playing cat's cradle with Yuanheng. "The day after tomorrow Yantang has his day off. He'll surely hurry over tomorrow evening; we'll let him deal with it then."