Chapter 154 — The Envoy

Word of the commotion over on Song Cen's side soon reached Song Yan's ears.

"Mr. Tao, is it?" A faint, faintly mocking smile flickered at the corner of Song Yan's mouth. He instructed Xia Lian, "Have these letters delivered."

There were letters for the Third Princess, letters for the Lu family, and letters for Zhang Xuming, the Third Master of the Jingzhen Ducal Estate, and Ma Youming, deputy commander of the Divine Machine Battalion, among others.

Xia Lian answered and withdrew.

Song Han came, accompanied by Libai, to pay his respects to Song Yan.

"Elder Brother, rest well at home and mend your injuries," he said, with great propriety. "I will go keep vigil for Mother."

Song Yan mused a moment. "Three days from now will be Mother's third seventh-day rite, won't it?"

Song Han nodded.

The mourning period was set at seven days, with a sacrifice at each seventh day.

As the eldest son, Song Yan ought to preside over the rites.

If he truly had been beaten so badly that he could not stir, as Father wished—then at Mother's third seventh-day rite, the eldest son absent from the scene—what would the relatives and friends think?

Song Yan gave a cold laugh, then asked Song Han in a gentle voice, "Have you eaten your morning meal?"

"I have," Song Han said obediently. "This morning I had stir-fried vegetables, pickled eggplant, vegetarian buns, and a big bowl of noodles."

That was how he always answered when Jiang-shi asked him.

Hearing this, Song Yan was close to tears.

He sent Libai away and said to Song Han in a low voice, "I wasn't even home when Mother died. Tell me about Mother, will you?" His face wore a look of tender yearning.

Song Han suspected nothing. Wiping the corners of his eyes, he choked out, "Not long after you left, Mother fell ill. At first she was just listless and weak, and then gradually she couldn't get out of bed. Father summoned Yang Xiushan to examine her, but after several doses of his medicine she showed no improvement, so Father switched to Huang Zhongli—and Mother's illness only grew worse. It happened that the Empress's physician came to visit Mother and recommended Ren Chongming. Mother tried Ren Chongming's prescriptions, and still she did not improve. Father decided to switch back to Yang Xiushan..."

Huang Zhongli and Ren Chongming were both great masters famed throughout the realm. One habitually attended the Emperor, the other habitually attended the Empress's household; Huang Zhongli was moreover the chief of the Imperial Medical Academy. If there had been any problem with Yang Xiushan's prescriptions, the two of them could not possibly have failed to notice, nor could Father have made all three imperial physicians write prescriptions according to his will.

In other words, Mother truly had been ill...

Song Yan pondered, then asked Song Han, "When Mother was ill, who tended her at her bedside?"

"I did," Song Han said. "Zhujun and Qingli took turns helping Mother brew her medicine, and I waited on her at the bedside." Here he seemed to recall something amusing, and pursed his lips in a smile. "It turns out Mother was afraid of bitterness, just like me—every time she took her medicine, if she didn't add a great deal of rock sugar..." Then his eyes filled with tears. "Every New Year, Mother would sew new clothes for me with her own hands, and give me gold beans for my New Year's money..."

He burst into loud sobs.

Song Yan's eyes grew moist as well.

He wiped his little brother's tears with a handkerchief. "There now. Tian'en, don't cry! From now on, your elder brother will give you gold beans for New Year's money, and have..." Who could take Mother's place and sew new clothes for Song Han? He himself was not married... And suddenly there surfaced in his mind the look on Dou Yan's face as she crouched in the flower field digging up chrysanthemums.

Generous, natural, unruffled by honor or disgrace... If it were her, how would she comfort his little brother?

Song Yan had no time to think it through; the notion flashed past and was gone.

He coaxed Song Han: "Your elder brother will have Libai sew you new clothes. How about that?"

"I don't want new clothes!" Song Han sobbed. "I want Mother... I want Mother..."

Song Yan's expression darkened, and without a word he wiped Song Han's tears.

Song Han cried a while. His mood gradually settled, and he said to Song Yan, "Elder Brother, I won't ask for new clothes anymore, or gold beans either."

These few words only made Song Yan's heart ache the more.

He patted his brother's hand gently.

The two brothers sat facing each other in silence for a long while before Song Yan said softly, "Before Mother died, did she say anything to you?"

Song Han shook his head. "By the time Mother was dying, she could no longer speak!"

Song Yan was stunned.

Mother had been strong all her life. Even if she could not speak in her final moments, during the long illness that had confined her to bed, she ought to have made some arrangements. She could not have left the two brothers without a single word of instruction.

"What exactly happened?" Fury surged up in him despite himself. Though he knew he should not lose his temper in front of his brother and did his utmost to press the feeling down into his heart, the indignation that flashed from his eyes still gave Song Han a great fright.

"That day the weather was fine, and Nurse Xie took the maids and made, made a great many osmanthus cakes..." he stammered. "Father sat with Mother under the side gallery admiring the chrysanthemums, and I ran off to help Nurse Xie carry the osmanthus cakes. When I came back, Father and Mother both had long faces and weren't speaking. Mother forced down a single bite of osmanthus cake, then said the weather had turned a little cold and told Libai to take me back to change my clothes... I knew they must have something to say that they didn't want me to hear. Halfway there, I turned back... Nurse Xie and the servants attending Mother were all standing out in the courtyard... While Nurse Xie wasn't looking, I slipped onto the side gallery... Mother and Father were quarreling... quarreling terribly! Before I could make out what they were saying, Nurse Xie scooped me up and carried me under the grape trellis... Nurse Xie warned me that I must not tell anyone that Mother and Father had quarreled..." Here he looked at Song Yan in terror. "Elder Brother, I haven't told anyone!"

It was as if a great wave had crashed over Song Yan, drenching him to the bone.

He knew his brother badly needed comforting just now, but he truly could not summon a smile.

He gave Song Han's head a perfunctory pat and said in a low voice, "What happened then?"

"Then Libai took me back to my room," Song Han said, head bowed, tears pattering down onto his blue bat-head shoes. "And then Qingli came to fetch me, saying Mother was failing and I must hurry... When I ran over, I saw Mother vomiting great gouts of blood..." He buried his face against the head of Song Yan's bed, sobbing so hard he could not stop. "Father went up to her, but Mother pushed him away..."

Song Yan's vision blurred.

So Mother had coughed up blood and died after quarreling with Father!

What could it have been that drove such a deep rift between Mother and Father?

Could it have had something to do with his uncles?

He turned the matter over carefully and rejected the idea.

The business with his uncles had already been settled, and it had done no harm to the Song family's interests. His mother was a sensible woman; even if his father had not done his utmost when her brothers met with disaster—had, indeed, merely gone through the motions—she would not have blamed him for it. His father spoke for the Ying Ducal Estate, and the Ying Ducal Estate always followed the Emperor's lead in all things. His mother understood this perfectly well; she could not have been driven to vomit blood and die over such a matter.