Chapter 513 — The Accusation

Dou Yan was a clever woman. Hearing the tone beneath the words, she understood at once what Miao Zhi meant.

A false accusation?

In her previous life, had not Song Cen and Song Han done exactly this to Song Zhi?

Dou Chiyou smiled faintly and said softly to Miao Zhi, "The method is sound, but the person to carry it out?"

Miao Zhi's eyes lit up at his words.

She had lain awake half the night thinking it over.

The Duke of Ying was set on using Song Han to deal with Song Yan. Song Yan held the upper hand now, but who could say when the wind might shift? And if Song Han gained the upper hand, would he ever let her off?

Between her and Song Han, only one could live.

Yet if she wanted to bring Song Han down, there was no doing it without Song Yan's help.

Her position alone ruled that out.

A marriage bestowed by imperial decree, a daughter-in-law of the Song family. The matter of the Prince of Liao could not be mentioned; in the eyes of others, Song Han was merely careless in his dealings with women, and if she made a fuss over it, the fault would be hers. To cut herself loose from Song Han, she would have to find another path.

Then she thought of how Song Han had tried to frame Song Yan for adultery with Du Ruo and failed.

Dou Yan must hate Song Han and Song Cen to the bone.

Perhaps this was her only chance.

Miao Zhi said in a low voice, "If you trust me, Sister-in-law, why not leave this matter to me?"

"Oh?" Dou Yan inclined her head to listen.

Miao Zhi whispered, "Do you remember Qixia, the senior maid in Song Han's household? She was a proud girl, and after Song Han ruined her, she hated him to the marrow. If you will only tell me where she is living now, I will persuade her, and when I accuse Song Han, she need only step forward and testify for me. As for the concubine-born woman, a bedchamber maid raised to concubine, with no principal wife in the house, is no more than a matter of a written record. And besides, that Du Ruo is the daughter of a disgraced official. The Duke of Zhen has not proclaimed it abroad, yet he lets the household's serving women treat her with the courtesies due a concubine—she may well be reckoned a concubine mother."

Dou Yan frowned slightly at this and said, "Then you mean to go to the Shuntian Prefecture and accuse Song Han?"

A flicker of astonishment crossed Miao Zhi's face.

She had thought Dou Yan would applaud her plan.

"I cannot bear it unless his crimes are proclaimed to all under heaven," a shadow of gloom passed over Miao Zhi's brow. "Even if I must take the beating, I will accept it."

For a wife to accuse her husband, she must first receive twenty strokes of the rod from the magistrate before he would even look at the complaint.

But Dou Yan had other misgivings.

The Manor of the Duke of Ying, when all was said, was still the Manor of the Duke of Ying of Song Zhi—her son's manor. Once the scandal of Song Han's adultery with his concubine mother broke,

Why should her husband and son taste the bitter fruit of Song Han's sins?

Going to the Shuntian Prefecture to accuse Song Han was out of the question.

Yet joining hands with Miao Zhi was a rare opportunity.

Dou Yan stroked her teacup and mused, "Leave this matter with me. Let me think it over carefully."

Miao Zhi returned to the country estate in disappointment.

Dou Yan paced the room for a long while, then instructed Ruotong, "Go and invite Old Chen here."

This matter required careful reckoning.

Chen Yanzhou soon arrived at the study with Ruotong.

Dou Yan was already waiting there.

She told Old Chen the whole of the affair from beginning to end, and said, "I keep feeling this is a rare opportunity, but how to bring it off to perfection still needs your counsel, sir."

Chen Yanzhou, too, hated Song Han for scheming against Dou Yan, and at her words he could not help but grow keen. "Then how does the lady think she might be avenged?"

Knowing Dou Zhiwei's limits, he could better help her devise a plan.

Dou Yan said, "Since the Heir Apparent has sent Song Han to the Northwest Camp, he must already have arrangements in place—once Song Han goes there, no good end awaits him. But one thing Miao Zhi said struck home with me: even if he dies in the Northwest Camp after every torment, whenever I think that in the eyes of the world he is still a noble and honored son of a meritorious house, I feel the injustice of it in my heart."

Chen Yanzhou made no reply; the lid of his cup tapped softly against the rim as he sank into thought.

Dou Yan did not disturb him, but sat quietly to one side drinking her tea.

After about the time it takes two sticks of incense to burn, Chen Yanzhou said, "Letting the Second Madam go to the Shuntian Prefecture to lodge a complaint is certainly out of the question. Fortunately, the Second Madam's aim is the same as ours, and if she steps forward, the Heir Apparent and you may both keep clear of it. Moreover, there have long been rumors in the capital that Song Han has carried on with the Duke of Zhen's bedchamber maid—that is an excellent pretext. Qixia is now in Zhending, and not only she, but Caiyun, the personal maid who once served Song Han, could also testify. If only the Duke of Zhen would stand on our side! Let the Duke of Zhen question Song Han; Song Han will have no defense to offer, and the matter can be taken all the way to the Emperor, who may permit the Song family to strike Song Han's name from the clan register. In this way we need not explain Song Han's deeds to outsiders at all—let them guess. We can avoid stirring the authorities, and yet ruin Song Han's name utterly."

It was indeed a good plan.

But how to bring Song Cen over to their side?

Dou Yan and Chen Yanzhou said in one voice, "Could we make use of the matter of the Prince of Liao?"

The two could not help exchanging a smile, and then in unison they politely deferred, "You first!"

Laughter, bright and cheerful, filled the room.

When the laughter subsided, Chen Yanzhou again invited Dou Yan to speak first.

Dou Chi made a show of courtesy and said, "Song Han was thrown into the firewood shed the moment he returned, and though the Duke of Ying came twice, the Heir Apparent turned him away both times. Song Han has always looked upon the Duke of Ying as his pillar; there is no way the Duke of Ying did not know of his collusion with the Prince of Liao. We might as well work on the Duke of Ying—tell him that Song Yan had Song Han tortured, and that Song Han confessed his dealings with the Prince of Liao were all instigated by the Duke of Ying himself; and that Song Yan, out of fatherly affection, has kept the matter hidden, so that neither the Emperor nor the Prince of Liao knows of it. If he strikes Song Han's name from the family register, then even at the cost of the Yingzhen Guogong Manor's century-old reputation, we will see this matter carried to the Emperor's ears." Here she could not help but give a cold laugh. "This may be called turning a man's own methods against him—letting Song Han taste what it is to be betrayed by his own father!"

In the last life, was this not precisely how Song Cen and Song Han had done it!

Chen Yanzhou nodded again and again, and said with a smile, "This is best done by you, madam—you are a daughter-in-law of the Yingzhen Guogong Manor, and your attachment to it runs nothing so deep as the Heir Apparent's; and most importantly, you are a woman, so the manor will quite naturally mistake your motives for clearing obstacles from your son's path to the title."

Dou Yan rose, rather excited, and said, "Then it is settled! I will go see the Duke of Ying at once."

Chen Yanzhou hastened to say, "Be careful—you are still with child!" Then, uneasy, he added, "Better let me go with you, lest when you see the Duke of Ying you grow so agitated that you disturb the child."