Chapter 118 — Making a Move

Chen Yanzhou saw Yan Che come in, but he forced a friendly smile and respectfully saluted him.

Yan Che returned the courtesy with impeccable politeness.

The two took their seats, host and guest.

A slight, spare-built man served them tea with light, noiseless steps.

Though the man's appearance was utterly ordinary, there was a steadiness and ease in his every movement that made Chen Yanzhou glance at him twice before turning to Yan Che with a smile. "I wonder if Master Yan still remembers this old man? My surname is Chen, my given name Bo, my courtesy name Qushui. I once had the great fortune to receive the Duke of Dingguo's mercy—he spared my life. Now, in my dotage, I have taken shelter in the household of the Seventh Master of the Dou family of Beilou, serving as a bookkeeper. I never expected the rains in Zhending County to drag on without end. Our Seventh Master is away serving in the capital, and the old madam at home fretted over the crops in the fields. Our young lady, whose filial devotion is pure as can be, could not bear to let the old madam go out in such wind and rain. After much persuasion, she finally prevailed upon the old madam to stay, and convinced her to let her come in her place to have a look. The old madam, seeing that I am the eldest among them, appointed me to accompany the young lady, so that there would be someone at hand to run errands if need be. I never imagined I would meet Master Yan here."

"It gave me quite a fright at the time. I thought to myself that I had fallen so low—how could I have the face to meet an old acquaintance again? Yet when I thought of how the Duke of Dingguo's kindness to me was as heavy as a mountain, and how I had never been able to repay him, my heart grew deeply uneasy. If I could speak of my shame to someone from those days, that too would be a kind of fate. So I have come presumptuously, and for any intrusion, I beg Master Yan's forgiveness!"

His words carried several layers of meaning.

First, that he had not forgotten the Duke of Dingguo's mercy in sparing his life, and was deeply grateful for it. Second, a warning to Yan Che and his people: Dou Yan was the young lady of the Dou family of Beilou, and her visit to the farmstead had been sanctioned by the family elders—a hint that Yan Che should not act rashly, or he would bring the Dou family of Beilou down upon himself. Third, that he was now impoverished and, to make a living, had no choice but to serve as a bookkeeper in the Dou household. The reason he could accompany Miss Dou to the farmstead was simply that he was the oldest among them—no need to avoid suspicion—and not because the Dou family held him in any special regard, implying that the Dou family knew nothing of his true identity or origins. Fourth, that he was well content with his present life, and he hoped Yan Che would not expose his identity—just as he would say nothing to the Dou family about theirs.

Yan Che did not believe a single word of it!

When the Japanese pirates had been driven back, the Duke of Dingguo, in his kindness of heart, had let Zhang Kai's men choose whether to stay or go. This Chen Yanzhou had been the first to leave Fujian.

If this Fourth Young Lady of the farmstead was held in such esteem by the Dou family's old madam, then in such wind and rain they need only have sent a steward to look in on the farmstead. Why would she need to come in person?

Chen Yanzhou claimed to be nothing but an ordinary bookkeeper—so why had he come to pay his respects to the young master only after seeing the Dou family's Fourth Young Lady?

And his claim that he would not reveal the young master's identity or origins to anyone was an even greater lie—if the Dou family's Fourth Young Lady knew nothing at all of the young master, how could he have spoken such words?

He had no intention of saying much more to Chen Yanzhou. The young master had already made his decision; anything more was a waste of breath.

"You speak too gravely, Old Chen," Yan Che said, therefore smiling with great forbearance, warmth, and perfunctoriness. "They are all matters long past—you need not trouble yourself over them. Speaking of which, for us to meet in a strange land is indeed fate. Ah yes, the events of that year are still vivid before my eyes. I remember the autumn of that year was especially hot. When word came that the Japanese pirates had laid siege to Fuzhou, the Duke of Dingguo and I were in the courtyard eating the first autumn pears of the season..."

He made no mention of today's business at all.

Chen Sishui's heart sank slowly, as though soaked through with water.

※※※※※

Half an hour later, Yan Che saw Chen Sishui out.

Then he went to Song Yan's inner chamber.

Song Yan was sitting on the large kang by the window, head bowed over a map. The man who had served Chen Yanzhou tea now stood behind Song Yan, eyes lowered, expression meek, quiet as a wooden carving on the curio shelf beside him.

Hearing the movement, he looked up and asked mildly, "Has the man gone?"

"Gone!" Yan Che reported to Song Yan, one by one, all that had passed between them.

Song Yan nodded slightly. "Let them be," he said. Then, to the man behind him: "Lu Ming, go and see whether Shi An has returned."

Lu Ming answered and left.

Yan Che's eyes showed his puzzlement.

Song Yan said, "I intend to make our move tonight, at the hour of the boar."

Yan Che's gaze sharpened.

Xu Qing came in, his face honest and plain.

"Young master!" He saluted Song Yan with clasped fists. "The Dou family's patrol guards have all been suddenly summoned to the front courtyard. They are drawn up and ready to march—it looks as though they mean to leave."

"Oh!" Song Yan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Yan Che with a smile. "I didn't expect that Old Chen to move so quickly. Reading the situation and weighing his options—he's a capable man, I'll grant him that." He thought a moment, then climbed down from the kang. "Come, let's go have a look—just how do they mean to leave?"

He had posted men at every place from which one could enter or leave the residence.

The two answered in unison and accompanied Song Yan out of the side chamber.

The rain showed no sign of slackening, pattering down on the roof tiles, the leaves, the ground, the air thick with moisture.

The Dou family guards, in straw capes and bamboo hats, were hurriedly escorting a girl likewise caped and hatted—save that she wore a pair of wooden clogs that the others did not—toward the gate. That Chen Yanzhou, who had sworn to tell no one of their whereabouts, held a tung-oil umbrella and kept close at the girl's side. Not a maid or serving woman was to be seen—clearly they had thrown the pawns to save the chariot, and meant to expend every effort escorting this Fourth Young Lady of the Dou family off the farmstead.

Song Yan gave a derisive laugh and called out, "Fourth Young Lady Dou."

The girl turned her head to look.

Beneath the bamboo hat was a face white as snow, long brows sweeping to her temples, eyes brilliant, a soft beauty shot through with a certain martial spirit.

He was momentarily taken aback.

Yan Che had already made a gesture.

From the rooftops all around, men appeared as if by sorcery, each with a heavy quiver at his back and in his hands a crossbow of a kind found only in the army, all aimed squarely at the people in the courtyard.

Chen Yanzhou's scalp prickled with dread.

Such crossbows could pierce a man clean through at a hundred zhang.

"Young lady," he warned Dou Yan, "mind those crossbows!"

Duan Bing too rumbled in his gruff voice, "Young lady, get behind me, quickly!"

Dou Yan nodded, yet took a few steps toward the eastern wing where Song Yan stood, and called out in a clear voice, "Young Master Mei, what is it you mean to do?"

The Dou guards shifted with a great clatter of footsteps, closing in around Dou Yan once more.