Chapter 512 — Not Letting Go

Jiang Baisun did not need to guess to know what Song Yan was thinking.

"I have already made up my mind about this matter." He smiled faintly. "If your wife had not given my sister such a good idea, and if you had not arranged things so well, we would all have been dead long ago—what would there be to speak of in reviving the family name? Since we are people who have already died once, what is there left to fear? You need not try to stop me. As for my eldest sister-in-law, I will tell her myself." Then he asked, "If I am to return to Liaodong, when can I set out?"

He was still a man awaiting judgment, so even if he wished to return, he would have to inform the Heir Apparent first.

"Fifth Uncle," Song Yan said, frowning deeply, "do not act on impulse! The Heir Apparent knows in his heart what happened this time. At most, you will have to wait a few years—"

"And then?" Jiang Baisun waved a hand, and a certain solemnity crept into his brows. "Live off my elder brother's remaining influence, inherit the Dingzhen Guogong Manor, and be a peaceable Duke of the Realm? You may think that would be best. But whenever I think of my elder brother's tragic death, and the humiliation my third and fourth brothers suffered, I cannot sleep at night. I cannot avenge them, but neither am I willing to let my elder brother have a younger brother who does nothing but eat and drink!"

He gazed at Song Yan, his eyes firm.

Song Yan gave a bitter smile. "I underestimated you, Fifth Uncle!"

Jiang Baisun laughed heartily and clapped Song Yan on the shoulder. "You did not underestimate me—it is only that over these years you have gradually taken up the heavy burden of supporting and managing the household, and have grown used to looking after others. Back then, my sister worried you would be spoiled, never imagining that in the blink of an eye you would have grown so tall. If my sister knew down in the earth, I wonder whether she would feel more comfort or more pain."

Song Yan smiled faintly.

Jiang Baisun said, "Still, your wife is truly excellent. If your maternal grandmother were still alive, who knows how happy she would be! As the saying goes, a good wife is half of one's blessing. You must learn to cherish her."

Song Yan's face reddened slightly, and he said with embarrassment, "I treat her quite well."

"Seeing as you have had two children in three years, that is indeed quite well." As Jiang Baisun spoke, the air of the famed gallant of the capital came over him again.

Song Yan's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, and he hastily changed the subject. "Since you have decided to return to Liaodong, Uncle, it would be best to discuss it with my eldest aunt sooner rather than later. And Cousin Lizhu—we should have her come pay her respects to you as well."

Back then, when Jiang Meisun and the others were all in Fujian, Jiang Baisun had stayed behind in the capital. Cheerful by nature, he had looked after his nephews and nieces a great deal, and the younger generation all liked him.

"I will certainly see them before I leave," Fifth Uncle said. "The Wu family is not bad either. If you can help them, then help them."

Song Yan nodded. "Now that the men of the Embroidered Uniform Guard have been wiped out in one sweep, there are plenty of posts to fill. A couple of days ago I had Yuan Heng's mother pass a word to Lizhu—whatever position the Wu family has its eye on, it should not be a problem." At this point he thought of himself and Dou Zhiwei as "matchmakers," and could not help smiling. "Fifth Uncle, that child is still at the Tan family's. When do you think would be a good time to bring him back?"

Jiang Baisun was silent for a long while, then said, "Let him stay with the Tan family. To be born into our family may not necessarily be a good thing. His mother is gone already. If he can grow up safe and sound, take a wife and have children, that will be enough. His mother, knowing this, would surely agree with my decision."

Great families enjoyed prominence, but they also bore peril. The Jiang family could not yet be called entirely safe, so it was just as well to leave the child with the Tan family. At most, he himself would keep a closer watch over him in the future.

He said no more about the child.

Jiang Baisun asked about Song Han. "How do you plan to deal with him?"

The matter of the Prince of Liao was kept secret, so Song Han's charges naturally could not stand.

"I plan to send him to the Northwest Camp," Song Yan said tactfully. "Jiang Yi may be transferred to the Northwest Camp as Vice Commissioner."

"That would be wonderful!" Jiang Baisun said. "The Northwest Camp is hard going, but the Vice Commissioner is a rank-three deputy. That boy Jiang Yi has come out ahead."

Song Yan chuckled.

Jiang Baisun sighed. "Speaking of him, I practically held him in my arms and raised him from a child. I never thought matters would end up like this."

Song Yan hesitated a moment, then said, "Fifth Uncle, do you know why the Duke hates my mother so?"

Jiang Baisun said with some helplessness, "It is simply that your mother was too capable, and made him feel he had lost face! Before our family fell into trouble, your father and mother did quarrel at times, but a word or two of persuasion was enough to settle it, like any married couple. Neither I nor your maternal grandmother ever glimpsed that your father's hatred for your mother ran so deep—otherwise your mother would never have been schemed against by your father."

Song Yan felt a pang of sorrow.

Jiang Baisun's expression dimmed slightly, and he began to speak of the situation in Liaodong.

※※

When the Wu family received the word, they discussed it for a long while and decided that the Embroidered Uniform Guard's fearsome reputation was too much, and that it would be better to enter the Imperial Insignia Guard instead.

Jiang Ling came to reply to Dou Yan, bringing several small jars of pickled vegetables that Mrs. Wu had made herself. "Very good with rice," she said. "Eat only a little, Sister-in-law, to whet your appetite."

Dou Yan enjoyed such exchanges between relatives. She had a jar sent to Jiang Yan, told Jiang Ling that Jiang Baisun was at home recovering from illness, and said apologetically, "Earlier I did not know the Emperor's and the Heir Apparent's intentions, so I never told you."

Jiang Ling was both startled and delighted. "Sister-in-law, please do not give it another thought. Our family has always led troops into battle. The men may be eating at the table one moment and dropping their bowls the next to receive an imperial decree—who has returned to the capital, who has stayed on the battlefield, these are things one cannot ask and cannot speak of. The women of our family are all used to it."

This was somewhat exaggerated, but not entirely idle talk either.

Dou Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and with a smile led Jiang Ling to pay her respects to Jiang Baisun.

Jiang Baisun was overjoyed to see Jiang Ling, teased her a few times, and only then did the two begin to speak of how they had fared since they parted.

Dou Yan had her personal maid Ruozhu serve them tea.

The two talked until the midday meal. Jiang Ling stayed to eat with Jiang Baisun before returning home.

The next day she sent over clothes, shoes, stockings, and other daily necessities.

Wu Liang even made a point of bringing Wu Zijie to visit Jiang Baisun.

For a time the household became quite lively.

Dou Yan was a little worried, and asked Song Yan, "Is this all right?"