Chapter 282 — Reassured

"Lord Ji may not yet know," Song Yan said, his expression flat. "The former Commander of the Five Cities Military Command and the Prefect of Shuntian have both been thrown into the imperial prison. The Left Army Commander, the Earl of Donglin, has been appointed concurrently as Commander of the Five Cities Military Command..." He briefly and succinctly informed Ji Yong of the changes in personnel. "I have already sent my card to the Earl of Donglin's residence; when the time comes I shall sit down with the Earl of Donglin and Lord Huang to discuss it. Though I do think we should take this opportunity to clean up the various trades and factions of the capital, so that those thieves will not, in their ignorance of heaven's height and earth's depth, come out robbing again."

Dou Huaiying was struck dumb, and only after a long while managed to say, "Both the Prefect of Shuntian and the Commander of the Five Cities Military Command have been replaced?" His face was full of shock.

"Yes!" Song Yan said. "The Earl of Donglin has gone to the palace to give thanks for the imperial favor. He has not yet left the palace; as soon as he does, he should come here."

Ji Yong, however, could not stomach Song Yan's manner—seemingly understated, yet in truth arrogant.

He said, "His Majesty feels that those thieves have slapped the faces of the noble houses, and that without severe punishment there can be no deterrence to the lawless."

Dou Huaiying nodded repeatedly, and even counted it a blessing: "Yantang, this is your good fortune too—you must seize the opportunity and find a way to capture a few of the chief thieves. Punish them ruthlessly, and thereafter no one will dare set their sights on the Ying Ducal Estate."

Song Yan responded with a mild "Yes."

Ji Yong could only sigh in secret.

A flock of maids and serving women escorted Dou Yan in.

"Shouyuan!" Dou Huaiying stepped forward to look his daughter over; seeing her safe and sound, he nodded and smiled.

Dou Yan's heart ached faintly.

"Why have you come?" She supported her father by the arm, then caught sight of Ji Yong. "Cousin Ji!" She greeted him with a smile. "I never thought you would come to see me too! How have you been these days?" she inquired of him with easy openness.

Ji Yong shot a glance at Song Yan.

He saw Song Yan standing calmly to one side, as though utterly indifferent to it all.

Ji Yong smiled faintly and said to Dou Yan, "It is all over the outside world—they say roving bandits had their eyes on your dowry. They say that when they failed to seize the silver, they set fire to the Duke of Ying's estate. Seventh Uncle was frantic with worry. I happened to hear of it and hurried over to see you, and so came in together with Seventh Uncle."

Such gossip... left Dou Yan not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Song Yan said, "This rumor has served us well—we can spread the word that the silver was taken by the thieves, and then no one else will set their sights on you."

"An excellent plan," Dou Huaiying praised, then hesitated. "But if we say the silver was stolen, then when we report the case to the Shuntian Prefecture it will have to be written into the petition... I fear that would not be quite appropriate?"

Song Dan said, "I'll tell the Marquis of Dongping and Lord Huang that it was a stopgap measure to leave those thieves with no way out."

A hundred thousand taels of silver was no small sum.

If those desperate men of the jianghu discovered that the thieves had actually stolen a hundred thousand taels, then even if he himself wished to spare the thieves, those desperate men would not.

A pack of hunted thieves would have no mind left to scheme against the Ying Ducal Estate.

Dou Yan smiled at Song Dan and sat down with her father.

"...The Ying Ducal Estate is heavily guarded; this time it was simply that we had grown too comfortable for too long, and the night raiders caught us off guard," she said to her father, making light of the household's troubles. "The outer court only lost a stable and a few side rooms—nothing serious! A bit of rebuilding and it will be as good as new."

"Yantang has already told me," Dou Huaiying said with a smile, gazing at his daughter. Perhaps it was from hearing Song Zhi's account, but he could not shake the sense that she seemed somehow different from usual, as though she were more beautiful than she had been in the days of their seclusion at Yunqi Temple... more composed.

Dou Huaiying could not help but laugh.

He had gone in person and settled his daughter's marriage at once—unlike his aunt, who to this day had still not married off Zhangru.

At the thought, Dou Huaiying felt a small twinge of satisfaction.

The several of them sat talking in the study; Dou Huaiying had learned all he wished to know, and so rose to take his leave. "When I came, your aunt and your cousin insisted on following. I did not know what circumstances I would find you in, so I dared not let them come along. And your Sixth Aunt has sent someone over to ask after me—I must go back and send them word, to set their minds at ease."

Dou Yan felt a little regretful. "Your first visit, and you haven't even had a meal..."

"There will be time enough, time enough," Dou Huaiying said, well pleased with his visit. "When you return home for the bridal visit, I'll have a proper drink or two with Yantang."

Song Yan and Dou Yan saw Dou Huaiying and Ji Yong out of the Ying Ducal Estate.

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Because the stone is in my kidney, a relative of mine who is a doctor firmly opposed surgery, so I decided to use Chinese medicine. I never expected it to flare up again yesterday, and the pain was severe. After that I wrote a stretch and rested a while; the writing was not only rushed but also rather messy. This morning I started by heavily revising what I wrote yesterday for Chapter 281. It does not affect the later plot; I only placed more emphasis on characterization. Those who are interested may leaf through it, and those who are not will lose nothing in reading on.

Mobile users need only refresh.

o(n_n)o~

ps: Correcting typos bit by bit...

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