Chapter 320 — Headache
Purple Streets of Chang'an Page 1 of 2
Guard Chang could not help glancing at Tao Jun, and saw that Tao Jun's lips were pressed together, his eyelids lowered.
He laughed coldly to himself, several times over.
What Guard Chang loathed most was that affected air of mystery Tao Jun put on—when he had long since made up his mind, yet must needs be urged three times and four by the Lord Defender of the State before he would, as though leaking the secrets of Heaven, vouchsafe a few words; and the worst of it was that the Lord Defender of the State swallowed it whole, treating his words like the voice of Buddha himself.
He thought it over, stepped forward two paces, and said in a low voice, "Lord Defender of the State, your servant has a word to say, if I may be permitted to speak or not?"
Song Cen was at that very moment all six spirits and no master, and hearing this felt his displeasure rise—thinking, at a time like this, what mischief are you up to?—but Leng Heng shot him a glance and said with a frown, "If you have something to say, say it straight out."
Guard Chang rejoiced inwardly and lowered his voice a notch further. "Lord Defender of the State, I am a coarse fellow, and of other things I know nothing. I only think: since the heir was rescued by that old man Chen, and old man Chen was the accountant of the Lady's family before her marriage, then the heir and the Lady must certainly have known each other before the wedding. Did not the Dou family once have that business of sisters exchanging marriages? Perhaps it has to do with the heir. If this matter were to get out... I fear the Jining Marquis's household and the Wang family, and even the Dou family, would all come to settle accounts with the heir. And with this hanging over him, the heir would have to restrain himself somewhat before the dukes, marquises, and earls..." As he spoke, he watched Song Cen's expression out of the corner of his eye.
Song Cen's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
He thought of all that had passed since Song Yan and Dou Yan were wed, and could not but be alarmed.
What sort of man the son he had begotten was—how could he not know?
Could that unfilial wretch truly have known the Dou woman before the marriage, as Guard Chang said? Otherwise, how had he accepted her so quickly? And defended her so fiercely at every turn, stopping at nothing to ruin his own marriage prospects again and again so that the Dou woman might preside over the household... Then—then had he himself been duped by that unfilial wretch?
At the thought, Song Cen's breath caught and his chest tightened.
He had meant to check Song Yan through Song Zhi's marriage, and all at once this Dou woman had appeared—a person he had never even heard of... He had meant to settle Song Zhi's marriage early and keep everything simple. And the Dou family, officials for generations, had raised not a single objection... It had gone as smoothly as a dream, exactly as he had wished.
Could the Dou family have known all along about the little games Song Yan had played?
Otherwise, why would they have been so obsequious over the Song-Dou match, and even sent a whole pallet of silver notes as the Dou woman's dowry?
And then there was Tao Jun.
It was he who had proposed this marriage; it was he who had personally seen to the investigation of the Dou woman...
"Little beast!" He could not hold back a thunderous shout, and his gaze fell darkly upon Tao Jun. "To dare carry on 'clandestine exchanges' with the Dou woman before the marriage, and in the end to trick me into letting him wed her—you have dragged the Song family's face through the mud! I shall summon the Lu family. Open the ancestral hall, and try that wanton woman properly!"
Instinctively, he felt that Song Yan would certainly not admit it; and even if he did, a man's dalliance was a man's error. The Dou woman was another matter entirely—let her bear the name of unchastity, and see what Song Yan would do then. And had not Old Madam Lu and Princess Ninghuai praised the Dou woman as virtuous? Then let Old Madam Lu and Princess Ninghuai both be invited, and let them see what manner of goods the Dou woman was. That was why he had spoken of opening the Song family ancestral hall, yet summoning the Lu family to judge the matter.
A flicker of delight passed through Guard Chang's eyes.
But Tao Jun sighed heavily in his heart.
Unwilling as he was to admit it, even Guard Chang had realized that something was wrong with the heir's marriage. He could no longer deceive himself.
He truly had been duped by the heir!
Host and guest for more than ten years—was he not clear on the Lord Defender of the State's temper? At this moment, he feared, the account would be laid at his own door.
In other matters the Lord Defender of the State might forbear; in this one he would never. This talk of opening the ancestral hall and inviting Old Madam Lu and the others to punish the Dou woman was easy to say, but hard to do. And when the time came, the Lord Defender of the State would in all likelihood lay the account at his door.
Tao Jun smiled bitterly to himself.
Yet how could he have foreseen it?
On the road to the Osmanthus Court he had already vaguely sensed it. From that wonton shop onward, he had been caught in another man's snare!
But the consequences of this affair—he had no way to bear them.
At least, when the Ying Estate's Lord Defender's wrath boiled over, he could not bear them!
Otherwise, what awaited him was ruin of name and reputation, departure from the capital bearing a disgrace that could never be washed away, and perhaps harm to the reputation of his sons and grandsons besides...
"Lord Defender of the State!" Tao Jun had no choice but to glance lightly at Guard Chang and say in a low voice, "This marriage had the three letters and six rites complete. If rumors spread that the heir and the Lady carried on 'clandestine exchanges' before the wedding, I fear the good names of both the Dou and Song families would suffer. Guard Chang's words are indeed reasonable, but consider, Lord Defender of the State: before this came to light, the heir was in Zhending and the Lady in the capital—how were they to know each other? The Lady is but a woman; how could she command the guards about her to seek out the heir? Why, even I did not know of this," and here he paused meaningfully, and glanced at Guard Chang again, "so how did the Lady come to know? How did old man Chen come to know? And in a great Ying Estate, Lord Defender of the State's, so heavily guarded—how did old man Chen get the heir out?" Having said his say, he made a deep bow to Song Cen. "Lord Defender of the State, you must think thrice before you act! The heir has but lately been transferred to be vice-commander of the Imperial Guard—and you would make it certain that the heir and the Lady carried on 'clandestine exchanges' before their marriage? What is His Majesty to think? What is the Dou family to think? What is the world to think? I fear a single word from the heir—'slander'—would leave you unable to step down from the dais!"
Song Cen gave a start.
He thought of how His Majesty had summoned him into the palace and told him with his own lips of Song Yan's promotion!
That little beast was ever full of tricks—think on how he himself had been duped; it was small wonder if he had hoodwinked the Emperor as well!
Just as Tao Jun said, if this got out, it was he who would lose.
Perhaps that little beast was even now waiting for him to fall into the trap? Otherwise, how had Guard Chang come to discover that fellow surnamed Chen? With Song Zhi's venom, why would he have left the man surnamed Chen alive to testify... No. He could not let that little beast dupe him again... This matter must be discussed at length with Tao Jun... But had Tao Jun, after all, had some secret dealings with that little beast?
His expression shifted, now fair, now foul.
Tao Jun could guess what Song Cen was thinking.