Chapter 479 — The Western Garden

Dou Yan asked Song Yan under her breath, "Are you hoping Gu Yu will carry a message to the Empress?"

"No!" Song Yan said flatly. "Gu Yu won't tell anyone." As he spoke, he cast a blank glance behind him. "Someone will carry the message for me soon enough."

Dou Yan followed the direction of his glance with the corner of her eye and saw the two guards who shadowed Gu Yu at all times.

Dou Yan understood.

She called out to Miao Zhi, and with a smiling face carried Yuan Heng off to the rear hall where the women were gathered.

Miao Zhi followed at Dou Yan's heels, hand after hand, step after step.

Princess Ninghuai and several other senior princesses and consorts of the imperial clan were sitting there talking. When they saw Dou Yan come in carrying a child, they all started. Princess Ninghuai, being Dou Zhiwei's elder, spoke bluntly: "Why have you brought the child in here? We still have to go pay our respects to the Empress Dowager Yi presently."

At a banquet like this, not to mention a child, even grown men could scarcely bear it. But before everyone, the words could not be said plainly.

She reached out for Dou Yan to hand her the child, saying, "Has Yuan Heng's wet nurse come in with you? You had best give the child to her and have her take him back to the residence first."

Dou Yan smiled bitterly. "The Empress Dowager Yi specially sent a eunuch to the residence with an imperial decree, commanding that I bring Yuan Heng into the palace on the day of the birthday feast."

The gaze of the senior princesses and consorts toward Dou Zhiwei changed markedly from before. The Princess of Huainan even laughed and said, "This child takes after his father — he really is beautiful. Who knows which family's daughter will have the fortune to take him as a son-in-law."

Yuan Heng grew more like Song Yan every day.

Snow-white skin, jet-black lustrous eyes, big eyes, lashes long and curling, plump and pink — utterly adorable.

The Third Princess teased, "Didn't your household just welcome a granddaughter a few days ago? I say there's no need to look further. Send Yuan Heng to your family as a bridegroom."

Dou Yan's forehead broke out in sweat.

The Princess of Huainan said, "As if I hadn't thought of it! It's only a pity my granddaughters are all born of concubines." As she spoke, she gently clasped Yuan Heng's little hand.

Yuan Heng was at the age of recognizing faces, and having often come into the palace with Dou Yan these days, he was frequently picked up and played with by unfamiliar eunuchs and palace maids, so he was not shy of strangers. He gave the Princess of Huainan a sweet smile, which delighted her so much that she untied a mutton-fat jade pendant from her waist — one used to keep her skirts from rustling — and hung it around Yuan Heng's neck: "Here, take this to play with."

Dou Qu stepped forward to give thanks.

The Princess of Huainan nodded with a smile. "When you have the leisure, come visit my residence. My ninth grandson is only four months older than Yuan Heng."

Dou Xin answered "Yes."

The Emperor came out supporting the Empress Dowager Yi.

Behind them followed the Empress and the Crown Prince's family.

The great hall fell instantly silent, and everyone bowed respectfully.

But the innocent Yuan Heng knew nothing of such things. Seeing familiar faces, he lifted his head from his mother's bosom and babbled loudly at the Emperor and Empress Dowager at the center of the hall, his voice jarringly abrupt and loud in the quiet.

Dou Yan and Yuan Heng became the focus of everyone's attention.

And the Third Imperial Grandson, who had been lying quietly in his wet nurse's arms, began to squirm and call out toward Yuan Heng as well.

The solemn, dignified atmosphere suddenly turned somewhat comical.

The Empress frowned, almost imperceptibly.

But the Empress Dowager Yi and the Emperor laughed. The Empress Dowager even instructed the eunuch beside her: "Bring He'er over and let him play with the Third Imperial Grandson."

The eunuch, fawning and smiling, took Yuan Heng in his arms.

As he passed by the Emperor, the Emperor smiled and chucked Yuan Heng's little cheek.

The air in the great hall caught for a moment, then quickly resumed its former ease.

The Emperor's eldest paternal cousin, the Prince of Huainan, led the imperial kinsmen in wishing the Empress Dowager Yi a long life.

Song Han followed at the very back, staring fixedly at Song Han and Gu Yu standing at the very front. His heart was a tangle of every bitter feeling.

When the birthday greetings were done, the birthday feast began.

The Empress and the Crown Princess flanked the Empress Dowager to the western hall. The Empress chatted with several senior imperial uncles while the eunuchs quietly laid out the bowls and chopsticks.

Song Yi, having finally made his way before the Emperor and exchanged a few words with him, beckoned to Song Han.

Song Han went over at once.

Song Cen said respectfully to the Emperor, "This is my second son, Song Han, whose childhood name is Tian'en."

Song Han hurriedly knelt.

The Emperor nodded with a smile. "Today is a family feast; there's no need for such formality." Then he called out loudly, "Song Yan," and said, "go tell the Wine and Vinegar Bureau to bring over a few jars of pear-blossom white. This thick wine is too mild — it has no kick."

Song Dan answered yes.

The Emperor turned and began talking with Shi Chonglan about the Marquis of Changxing: "...I hear he's taken another concubine? How many legitimate sons and how many sons by concubines does he have now?"

From beginning to end, he paid Song Han no mind at all.

Song Cen was greatly disheartened.

Song Han stood beside Song Cen, watching Song Yan laughing and chatting with the people in the great hall, looking so thoroughly at ease with them all, and the smile on his own face would no longer stay put.

He had not expected that even before the Emperor, Song Cen counted for less than Song Yan.

No — less even than Yuan Heng. A moment ago, when they had offered birthday greetings, the palace eunuch had carried Yuan Heng out, and everyone had teased him into bowing to the Empress Dowager Yi. Yuan Heng had managed, with great effort, to hook his little finger and bob twice, and the Empress Dowager had chuckled and rewarded him with two boxes of pastries and a pouch of gold beans.

It seemed there was no hope for his own errand after all.

And what was he to do from now on?

He could hardly live off the modest income from the estate and his father's subsidies, could he?

As the saying went, firewood may be plentiful and rice may be plentiful, but the days are more plentiful still. If his father took another wife and got a legitimate son, would those subsidies, never set down in writing, still come to him as before? And even if they did, he would likely have to bow and scrape and beg for them.

At these thoughts, Song Han felt at a loss.

※※※※※

After the Empress Dowager Yi's birthday, the Ministry of Rites began preparing for the Emperor's own birthday.

June was already fiercely hot, and the Emperor decided to spend the Longevity Festival at the Western Garden.

The Empress laughed and said, "Why not let Yantang take charge of the palace move this year? He is young, yet he holds the Jinwu Guard, and though many say nothing to his face, they whisper behind his back. This is just the chance to shut those mouths."

The Emperor thought the Empress made sense and issued an edict making Song Yan commander-in-chief of this year's move.

Song Yan was silent for a long while after receiving the decree.