Chapter 391 — Old Matters

So the old Duke of Zhenguo had reckoned it all out: the son was still his son, and the grandson still his grandson, no matter how kindly the Duke of Ding treated Song Yan.

Dou Chi sneered inwardly.

In the last life, Song Ji had cut off the Ying Estate of Zhenguo's line of succession with his own hands!

If the old Duke of Zhenguo knew of it beneath the earth, would he regret the decisions he had made that day?

Song Shize saw the chill flit across Dou Yan's face. Recalling that Dou Yan too was a daughter-in-law of a great house, his heart tightened, and he found himself defending the old Duke of Zhenguo without meaning to: "There were reasons behind what the old Duke did..." He hesitated. "When the Duke of Zhenguo was young, he kept a mistress outside..."

A mistress?

Dou Yan was so startled she nearly leapt to her feet.

From Song Zhi's account, she had gathered that Song Cen and Lady Jiang, if not a harmonious pair, had at least treated each other with respect. Where had this mistress suddenly come from?

And ever since Song Cen and Song Yan had fallen out, Song Yan had raked up every last thing about Song Cen. If Song Cen had once kept a mistress, Song Ke might know nothing of it. Lady Jiang's death most likely had its roots in a tangle of feeling with Song Cen, yet in all Song Yan's analysis of Lady Jiang's death he had never once considered this angle. Clearly Song Yan had never heard of the matter either.

A thing so secret must be no small matter.

Her expression turned grave.

Song Shize hurried on: "That was all long ago. After the old Duke of Zhenguo killed the woman with his own hands, the Duke never strayed again. The Ding family are fierce by nature. The old Duke guarded against Lady Jiang out of fear that once she held power she would grow too great and settle accounts with the Duke in the end, ruining the prospects of the Ying Estate of Zhenguo. He meant nothing more by it..."

Dou Yan had no patience left for his explanations. She cut him off in a low voice: "Tell me carefully, what exactly happened? Why has no one in the household ever spoken of it? Who else knows of this?"

Song Shize said hesitantly, "Apart from the old Duke of Zhenguo, Old Lady Lu, the Duke of Zhenguo, Lady Jiang, myself, and two old stewards now dead, not even the Jiang family of those days knew the whole of it.

"To tell it, I must begin with the marriage of the Duke of Zhenguo and Lady Jiang.

"The old Duke of Zhenguo had his eye on Lady Jiang chiefly because the women of the Jiang family were known for bearing children well. And second, because Lady Jiang, though young, was already helping Lady Mei run the household, handling the affairs of the Ding Estate of Zhenguo with such order and ease that she ranked among the foremost of the virtuous wives in the capital's circle of noble houses. But the Duke of Zhenguo was none too pleased. He had set his heart on marrying a woman from a scholarly family, and thought Lady Jiang, coming from a house of generals, could hardly have read many books. It was Old Lady Lu who contrived for the Duke to meet Lady Jiang once, and only then did he gladly consent to the match.

"After the Duke of Zhenguo and Lady Jiang married, the two were fond of each other at first. But Lady Jiang was forever going on about what her brothers had done this way and that, and the Duke found his wife ever more disagreeable to look at. Once they even fell to quarreling, and the Duke flung a cup of hot tea at Lady Jiang, so that she went white with rage and would not speak to him for nearly half a year. Had Old Lady Lu not stepped in to make peace, the two would likely have gone on quarreling.

"It was during this time that the Duke of Zhenguo went to Wanming Temple to ease his mind. There he met a young woman whose father had died early and who lived with her widowed mother and her brother. Somehow the Duke and this woman became entangled, and he set up a small house behind Wanming Temple, where he met her from time to time.

"The Duke's personal servants quietly reported the matter to the old Duke of Zhenguo.

"The Jiang family had always made a habit of taking many concubines, so the old Duke was not worried about them. He only thought that this young woman, carrying on with the Duke before she was even married off, must be of questionable character, and sent the now-deceased Steward Chen to make inquiries.

"Steward Chen learned that the young woman had been betrothed in her early years, but the match was broken off when word got out that she had carried on with her own cousin.

"How could the Duke of Zhenguo let such a woman into the house?

"He had Steward Chen go settle the matter.

"But Steward Chen came back saying the woman was with child, three months gone, and the child was the Duke's own flesh and blood.

"The old Duke of Zhenguo was struck dumb.

"The Ying Estate of Zhenguo was thin in offspring, and the old Duke could not bring himself to be rid of it.

"Just then word came that Lady Jiang too had been found with child.

"The old Duke was torn this way and that. He feared that if the woman outside bore a son before the wife, and Lady Jiang then bore the legitimate eldest son, the two children would be too close in age, to the detriment of the estate. He feared that if the woman outside bore a daughter and Lady Jiang bore the legitimate eldest son, it would be a needless affront to Lady Jiang's feelings. And what he feared most was that the woman outside would bear a son while the household bore a legitimate eldest daughter, leaving trouble for the Ying Estate of Zhenguo.

"Old Lady Lu came to know of this.

"It was Old Lady Lu who had the firmest resolve.

"She said that whether the woman outside bore a boy or a girl, the child was a bastard and could not be kept.

"There would be grandsons enough in time. Even if Lady Jiang never bore a son, a woman of good family could properly be taken in to bear children and spread the branches of the Ying Estate of Zhenguo.

"Hearing this, the old Duke of Zhenguo sent Steward Li with one of Old Lady Lu's own matrons to force a draught upon the young woman.

"But the young woman was deep in cunning. After Steward Li left, she hid herself away.

"The old Duke of Zhenguo flew into a rage, all the more convinced the young woman was of a crooked mind. He called this old servant back from Baoding, and together with Steward Li they found her out.

"I had scarce received the order when the Duke of Zhenguo came running to plead with the old Duke. He said it was he who had hidden the young woman, and that if the old Duke must punish someone, he should punish him. He said it had been but a moment's folly, that he had kept her only out of regard for the child of his blood she carried, and that he never meant to take her into the house. He vowed to the old Duke that once the young woman gave birth, he would cut all ties with her and have no further dealings with her. Boy or girl, the child would be given to a good family to raise, and thereafter, in marriage or otherwise, would have nothing whatsoever to do with the Song family.

"A man might disown his woman, but there was no disowning his own child.

"How could the old Duke of Zhenguo agree?

"So the Duke of Zhenguo went to beg Lady Jiang.

"Lady Jiang was a woman of reason. She said that if the Duke liked the woman, taking her in would do no harm, but the child could not be kept, the two children being too close in age. If the young woman agreed, then once she rid herself of the child, Lady Jiang would decide the matter at once and let her into the Song household.

"The old Duke's face darkened.

"But Old Lady Lu thought it a fine arrangement."

Here Song Shize could not help a long sigh. His face looked somewhat bleak.