Chapter 133 — Gambling

Feng Zhi flushed with fury and was about to say something when Song Yan suddenly stood up. Smiling, he said, "The banquet must be starting by now—let's call it a day!" Then he gestured at the loose silver and silver notes on the table. "It's rare for us all to get together like this. If I just walked off now, I'd likely be drunk under the table before long. I'll just give you back your silver, and you can't use this as an excuse to pour drinks down my throat later."

This was the last thing anyone expected, and a cheer went up. They crowded forward to take back their silver.

Zhang Xuming, smiling, walked Song Yan and Gu Yu out of the mountain lodge.

Feng Zhi gazed at Song Yan's retreating back, his expression shifting darkly.

Dong Qi, too, watched Song Yan go, a thoughtful look on his face.

Earlier, a cadet branch of the Marquis of Changxing—a fellow whose father held a post in the Shanglin Park—had somehow caught sight of Gu Yu and shouted, "Gu Yu's here! Quick, drag Gu Yu in here to gamble!"

Everyone knew that Gu Yu held his birth mother's dowry in his name, which brought in twenty or thirty thousand taels of silver a year.

A few of Gu Yu's acquaintances joined in the teasing laughter and volunteered to haul him over—only they hadn't counted on the Earl of Yingguo's heir, Song Yan, coming along too.

Most of them knew Song Yan only by nodding acquaintance, yet Song Chuzhi was a man who made their eyes sting with envy—only two brothers in the whole family, and he had been made heir since childhood. No quarrels behind the screen wall; a wealthy household, with private funds in his own name besides. Silver he could never spend; always so refined and aristocratic—and yet, confound it, the fellow actually had something in his head...

Then he heard Feng Zhi whisper to Zhou Jinping, "Here comes another rich one!"

Zhou Jinping still hesitated.

Feng Zhi said, "What are you afraid of? There's no such house as the Duke of Dingguo anymore!"

Zhou Jinping thought it over, then said in a low voice, "Let's do it!"

Then he egged him on: "Remember how the Duke of Dingguo confiscated your family's private ships back in the day? Don't you want to win a bit of that back?"

Of course he wouldn't be taken in.

But when he saw Song Yan's hand resting so naturally on the crimson brocade armrest of the grand tutor's chair, all gold-flecked and glowing—that lustrous white against that vivid red, a beauty dazzling to the utmost extreme—he heard himself, as if possessed, answer, "All right."

Who would have thought Song Yan could gamble!

In less than half an hour, everyone had lost until their faces were pale.

He was certain Song Yan was cheating, but look as he might, he could find no flaw.

"Damn it!" Feng Zhi's bellowing reached Dong Qi's ears. "A motley five and an Earth High Nine, of all things."

Dong Qi couldn't help looking over.

Feng Zhi had thrown the four tiles into the middle of the table—moon-white ivory faces, seven red dots brazenly showing, as if mocking their cowardice.

"What's so grand about that!" Feng Zhi said bitterly. "Careful the Emperor doesn't bring their whole house down along with the rest!"

A few others still lingered in the lodge; at these words they scattered like startled birds and beasts.

Dong Qi looked at the silver notes left on the table, slowly drew them over, and tucked them into his bosom. Then, unhurried, he said, "What I fear is that the Emperor still holds the Jiang family in old affection. Otherwise, why leave them their sacrificial fields, their ancestral home, and a few boys under five..."

Feng Zhi was struck dumb.

Dong Qi had already left the lodge.

He saw Song Yan and Gu Yu taking their leave of Zhang Xuming.

Zhang Xuming pressed them eagerly to stay, but seeing their minds made up, he escorted them out himself.

"Brother Tianci," Gu Yu said indignantly, "that Zhou Jinping and Feng Zhi..."

Song Yan raised a hand in a gesture for him to say no more, and said mildly, "Clowns capering on a beam—not worth worrying about." In his heart, though, he understood: now that trouble had befallen the Jiang family, there were those who wanted to use him to make a show of themselves.

Gu Yu swallowed his anger, though he could not hide his resentment.

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The next day, Song Yan and the others met by the moat outside Xuanwu Gate.

Wei Fan and Wang Qinghai rode the Mongolian horses Zhang Yuanming had given them; Song Yan and Gu Yu rode two ordinary Mongolian horses.

The two were somewhat surprised.

Song Yan did not explain. He sat on his horse, letting the reins go slack so the animal could graze at will along the embankment, while he chatted idly with Wei Fan—how many people were in his family, what they were like, when he had first begun his studies, who his first tutor had been...

By the moat in the early morning, the air was fresh and the greenery lush.

Wei Fan and Song Yan found themselves talking more and more congenially, until at last Wei Fan told Song Yan even the age at which he had been weaned.

How could there be such a fool in all the world!

Gu Yu rolled his eyes and followed behind Song Yan and Wei Fan with Wang Qinghai, the two of them trailing like a pair of shadows.

It was not until the sun rose that Song Yan took his leave of Wei Fan, arranging to meet again in three days.

Back at home, Chen He said to Song Yan in a low voice, "Old Chen seems to be looking into something. He had the pages gather up all the official registers and gentry rolls of the past twenty years, saying he wanted to read them."

Now that the man had entered the household, what could he do that Song Yan would not know of?

What was his purpose in doing this?

Was this affair connected to Dou Yan, or was it not?

Or was it merely that he wished to have a look?

Song Yan pondered a moment, then said, "Do not startle the snake in the grass just yet. Tell those two pages to wait on Old Chen with particular care."

Chen He assented and withdrew.

Song Yan stood before the window, gazing at the brocade of blossoms beyond it, and was silent for a long while.

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Brothers, sisters—I shall make up the missing update tomorrow morning when I get up.

o(n_n)o~

ps: Begging for pink votes...

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