Chapter 513 — The Accusation

Dou Yan nodded and said with a smile, "Bring the Jin Gui and Yin Gui sisters as well, and Duan Bing and a few others—lest the Duke of Ying fly into a rage and turn violent, and we come off the worse for it!"

It was like going to a brawl.

Chen Yanzhou found it both amusing and stirring, and said, "Good—I will give the orders at once."

Dou Yan then sent an old serving woman to summon Song Cen.

Song Cen was already on tenterhooks over the news that the Prince of Liao had been detained in the forbidden palace; and then Tao Jun insisted on resigning his post and returning to his native place, and could not be held back no matter what. His face went livid with anger, and he simply pretended to be deaf and dumb, as though he did not know when Tao Jun meant to set out—neither instructing the stewards to prepare parting gifts for Tao Jun, nor arranging a farewell banquet. He shut his door and buried himself in writing in his study.

Hearing that Dou Yan wished to see him, he waved his hand impatiently and scolded the old woman, "I am run off my feet—where would I find the time to see her! If she has something to say, have her send a message."

The old woman curtsied with a smile and withdrew.

This time it was a married serving woman who came to see Song Yan.[[59]] When next someone came to see Song Yi, it was a different woman—a servant's wife.

Song Cen recognized her as the wife of Gao Xing of Dou Zhiwei's household. His face fell at once, and his expression turned grave. "What does your mistress want?"

Gao Xing's wife said with a genial smile, "My mistress says the Heir Apparent has had the Second Master tortured, and the Second Master says it was the Duke who set him on to entangle himself with the Prince of Liao, and that he has even produced a letter the Duke once wrote to the Prince of Liao."

Song Cen's body gave a shudder, and he nearly stepped forward to clap a hand over Gao Xing's wife's mouth.

Truly, whatever one fears comes calling.

He had been worrying that the Emperor might pry open the Prince of Liao's mouth, and that the Prince would spill everything like beans from a split bamboo tube.

"What nonsense are you speaking?" Song Cen's face was like frost as he shouted, cutting Gao Xing's wife short. "You are a serving woman—is this a thing for you to be discussing? Get out of my sight at once! Mind that the household law shows no mercy!"

All bluster and no substance—let him face the Heir Apparent and my mistress, and he cannot squeeze out so much as a fart.

Gao Xing's wife cursed Song Cen roundly in her heart, though her face showed only fright. "Your Grace, it was my mistress who bade me say it, not I who wished to."

Song Cen was too furious for words. He snatched up his teacup and was about to fling it at Gao Xing's wife, but then he recalled that she was of Dou Zhiwei's household, and that Dou Yan was a shrew of a woman; swallowing his anger, he set the cup down hard upon the tea table and said in a stern voice, "Have your mistress come and speak to me herself."

Gao Xing's wife assented meekly and withdrew.

Only at the door did she mutter, in a voice just loud enough for Song Cen to hear, "Truly, hard to please—my mistress would come, and you say she must not; a message will do, you say. My mistress sends a message as you bid, and now you say she must come and speak to you in person."

Song Cen nearly toppled over backward.

Since when had the household serving women dared to talk back to him?

He thought to call Gao Xing's wife back, but on second thought felt it would be beneath his dignity, and so let it be—though a faint ache began to stir at the corner of his heart.

Fortunately, Dou Yan arrived before long.

He left Dou Yan waiting outside while he wrote five pages of large characters in the inner chamber; only when he had grown impatient with it himself did he go to the flower hall.

To his surprise, Dou Chi was sitting there bolt upright waiting for him, and had summoned all the household's managing matrons to receive their instructions in his presence.

As he walked in, he thought he had come to the wrong place.

The managing matrons greeted him one after another.

Dou Yi rose and made him a curtsy, explaining with a smile, "The household is busy with the Mid-Autumn Festival, and when the servants said you were practicing your calligraphy, I thought it would be no brief matter, so I had them come here directly." Then, with concern, "I hope we did not disturb your writing?"

Song Cen choked with rage and said through clenched teeth, "If you knew I was practicing calligraphy, you should have waited. What sort of propriety is this?"

The atmosphere turned tense at once.

The managing matrons all stood to one side, heads bowed and shoulders hunched, and some quietly edged toward the door.

Dou Chi was unabashed, and said with a smile, "Truly, the Emperor is not anxious but the eunuch dies of worry. It seems my father-in-law has not taken the Prince of Liao's affair to heart, and I have been presumptuous. Since you are occupied and I am busy as well, I will speak with you of this matter when we are both at leisure!" And with that he strode out, head high and chest out.

(To be continued)