Chapter 206 — Resentment

From within came faintly a man's voice: "...Shouyuan has been sensible since she was small... only she must be the one to bear the grievance... the fault was mine, for not seeing people clearly... For her to do such hurtful things again and again—even if I took a concubine and had a son, that mother and child would likely be hounded by her until they had not a patch of ground to stand on. Why should I harm another person besides? Am I really to let Shouyuan raise my child? Better to keep Shouyuan at home! For Ming to be married off in such an unclear fashion—her days ahead will not be easy either. However broad Shouyuan's heart, she cannot be without resentment; those two sisters... will never again have a day when they can speak kindly to one another... Since Shouyuan is staying at home, it will be well enough while I am here, but once I am gone, Ming must not dream of taking a single tael of silver from this house again... apart from the twenty thousand taels of dowry she brought with her. You prepare another fifty thousand taels for Ming—buy her some land, or buy her some shopfronts, or help her buy into a partnership with some great merchant of Jiangnan. This is the last I can do for her... From now on the family's properties have nothing more to do with her..."

Song Chu knew at once that the speaker was Dou Huaiying.

He was so angry his heart ached.

So you knew all along! Instead of going to comfort Dou Yan, who lost her marriage, you stand here grieving for the daughter who was married off in her place... Who is going to grieve for what Dou Yan has suffered? Pretty words, keeping Dou Yan at home to take a live-in husband. The whole Dou family estate left to Dou Yan—but what man of any spine would ever agree to marry into the wife's family?

I fear he would not even measure up to Wei Fan!

And from the tone of Seventh Master Dou, he is not in the least worried that the Wei family will renege on the bargain. The Dou household is calm and unruffled, as if nothing at all had happened—plainly this substitution of brides was arranged between the Dou and Wei families, kept hidden only from Dou Yan... Or perhaps Dou Yan knows as well!

The image of Wei Fan's face, unable to contain its joy as he bowed to Heaven and Earth, surfaced in Song Yan's mind.

He could not help cursing under his breath: "Baseborn wretch!"

However capable Dou Yan might be, the whole family had agreed to it. Can an arm outmuscle a thigh? And even if she did force it through, could she stand in the way of Wei Fan and Mingjie's mutual affection? Even if she could block Wei Fan and Mingjie—what pleasure is there in a melon twisted from the vine? How could Dou Yan possibly prize such a thing?

He clenched his fists. The blood in his body was like water boiled to a rolling fury, bubbling and churning through every limb and vessel, and the rage in his heart knew no bounds as he strode out.

The very air around him seemed to sense his wrath and shrank away on every side, emitting a whistle so faint it was scarcely audible.

Dou Yan came in, talking with Suxin as she walked.

Song Yan froze.

Suxin sensed at once that someone was in the courtyard. She pulled Dou Yan behind her in one motion and was about to shout "Who goes there?" when she looked up and saw Song Yan, his eyes glinting with a savage light beneath the fish-belly white of the dawn sky.

Her heart clenched. Her voice dropped of its own accord, and she called out hesitantly, "Young Lord."

Dou Yan saw Song Yan too.

After a night of turmoil she was already exhausted, and believing herself to owe Song Yan a life-saving debt, she did not study him as carefully as she once would have to see how he would treat her; she simply stepped out from behind Suxin.

"Why are you here?" she asked softly. "Has something happened on your side?"

Song Yan looked straight at Dou Yan.

Her hair was somewhat disheveled, faint threads of red visible in her eyes, her expression weary—like a flower left over from the night before, drained of water, bereft of luster.

He stepped forward and seized Dou Zhiwei by the arm, and said fiercely, "Dou Yan, I will marry you!"

Dou Yan could not believe what she had heard.

She blinked, looking rather dazed.

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Xia Lian, who had come hurrying from the avenue beneath the Drum Tower, stared at Duan Bing with a similarly dazed look, and only after a moment came back to himself and shouted in a low voice, "Stop!"

The two sides broke apart from their grapple and stood facing each other, left against right, then turned to look at him one and all.

"A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!" Xia Lian hurried over. "This is all a misunderstanding!" He hastened to introduce them to each other. "This is Guard Duan of the Dou household; this is Guard Zhu of Yizhi Hall."

Duan Bing said courteously at once, "So that is who it is—such skill, and from the ranks of the Duke of Yingguo's young lord! Forgive my disrespect, forgive my disrespect!"

Zhu Yicheng promptly returned the salute, murmuring "Not at all," and said, "Guard Duan's fist work is remarkable—the first of its kind I have seen in all my days. I have learned much!"

Yet inwardly he was puzzled: since they knew the Dou household's people, why had the young lord still chosen to break into the Dou residence by night?

Over there Duan Bing had already struck up conversation with Xia Lian. "What are you doing here? What on earth has happened?"

Xia Lian said quickly, "Our young lord said something might have happened to the Fourth Miss, so he had us come and take a look..."

"Something happened to our Fourth Miss?" Duan Bing said, baffled. "What could possibly happen to our Fourth Miss?!"

Today was the Fourth Miss's wedding day—could it be that the young lord, heartsick, had found himself an excuse to come and brood mournfully in the Fourth Miss's boudoir?

Xia Lian reflected privately that he seemed to have asked a very foolish question, and could not help feeling a little embarrassed.

Duan Bing knew that between Song Yan and Dou Yan there were certain secrets, nothing to do with affairs between men and women, yet known to few; naturally he would not press further. He steered the conversation aside to ease the moment. "A chance meeting beats a formal invitation. The sky is nearly light, and the bean-curd milk seller at the mouth of the alley should have set up his stall by now. Brother Xia, my treat—shall we go have a bowl of bean-curd milk?"

Xia Lian, feeling this was no longer any concern of his, was somewhat tempted.

Zhu Yicheng did not approve. He said gravely, "If the young lord comes out..."

"Just leave two men here to watch, that will do!" Duan Bing was ever openhearted. He said a word to Chen Lanxu, then took Xia Lian and Zhu Yicheng by the arm and headed in the direction of Yandang Temple.

Zhu Yicheng naturally refused, declining again and again.

But Xia Lian whispered in his ear: "It is fine—the Dou household guards are here! Our two houses share a bond of life and death. The young lord will not be coming out for a good while yet, and it is rare for Guard Duan to extend such hospitality. We must at least put in an appearance, or it would be far too rude."

The two bands, who had been crossing blades only moments before, went off toward the mouth of the alley, chatting and laughing.

Chen He and Chen Lanxu each led two men and stood in the lane exchanging pleasantries.

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After resting two days my spirits are much better and my mind is quick again, so I reread what I had written these past days and was not very satisfied. Starting from Chapter 203 I have revised a few details; any brothers or sisters who are interested may go and have a look.

o(n_n)o~

ps: Begging for clicks, recommendations, pink votes...

It was probably just some idle rumor that had reached her ears, and she was worried and had come to ask after her.