Chapter 225 — The Rendezvous

On the twelfth day of the eighth month, the Emperor moved his court from the summer palace in the Western Park to the Forbidden City.

The returning procession was headed by the Banner Guard and closed by the Golden Caterpillar Guard. The distance was but a few dozen li, yet the train stretched so vast that while the leaders had already entered the palace gates, the rear had not yet left the summer palace, drawing excited crowds of onlookers who pointed and chattered without ceasing.

Song Yan had just handed over his duties and was about to leave the palace when Wang Yuan's adopted son, Wang Ge, invited him to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility.

The birth mother of Princess Jingfu, Consort Ning, was there as well.

Seeing Song Yan enter, she cast him a sidelong glance, then, smiling, bent low and whispered a few words to Empress Dowager Yi, who sat upright upon the arhat couch. The Empress Dowager nodded with a smile and beckoned Song Yan over warmly, asking after the affairs of the Song household.

Ordinarily Consort Ning seemed meek and indecisive, yet at the crucial moment she had proved so resolute, coming straight to the Empress Dowager's door the moment she entered the palace.

It seemed he had underestimated these palace consorts after all!

Song Yan silently steeled himself.

He smiled respectfully and answered the Empress Dowager's questions.

Empress Yi and Consort Shu arrived together.

Seeing Song Yan, Empress Yi smiled and nodded toward Song Ran, while Consort Shu looked quite surprised, a flicker of mockery passing through her gaze at Consort Ning.

Song Yan had no wish to stand here and be thought of by others, especially since he could not possibly become entangled with these people again.

Smiling, he made his bow, exchanged a few pleasantries, and rose to take his leave.

Empress Yi smiled and watched him go.

Once out of the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, Song Yan smiled and returned to the Yingguo Estate.

But Yan Che told him: "The Lord Defender of the Realm submitted a memorial early this morning; he has now gone into the palace to see the Emperor."

Song Dan said: "His entering the palace must be to tell the Emperor about the betrothal between me and the Dou family." Otherwise, once the Emperor's edict came down and he was already betrothed to Dou Yan, the edict would become a laughingstock—if the Song family broke off the match with the Dou family because of it, the imperial house would gain a reputation for forcing a subject to marry another; if the Song family did not break it off, where would the dignity of the imperial house lie?

The Emperor had just returned to the palace and barely settled in when he heard that Song Cen sought an audience. Thinking that this man might one day become his in-law, he set aside even the Crown Prince's memorial and received Song Cen first.

But he had never imagined that Song Cen, hurrying to him with such urgency, had come merely to request a few more days of leave for Song Yan.

"So you and the Dou family have already exchanged the betrothal documents, and set the wedding for the twenty-fourth of this month?" The Emperor leaned slantwise upon the great kang, and in his eyes—seemingly clouded from too much wine and women—flickered a gleam of sharpness. His tone was light: "Then you must be in-laws with Dou Yuanji now? That Dou Yuanji—before me he let not a single word slip!"

Song Cen said hurriedly: "How would I dare disturb Your Majesty's peace with the private affairs of my house?"

The Emperor said no more, and waved his hand.

Song Cen hastily withdrew with due reverence.

The Emperor's face darkened.

Wang Ge came in beaming: "Your Majesty, Empress Dowager Yi asks you to come and talk." He added, "Empress Yi, Consort Ning, and Consort Shu are all there."

Wang Yuan, attending at his side, could not help shooting Wang Ge a furious glare.

Wang Ge was taken aback.

The Emperor had already flung the memorial in his hand fiercely onto the desk.

Song Cen, however, wiped his sweat and only then set off for home.

Hearing that Song Yan had returned, he ordered a servant to summon him.

If Song Yan knew what manner of match he had arranged for him, his expression would surely be something to behold.

Song Cen could not help smiling.

But the servant returned and said: "The Young Heir has gone out."

It was as if a man pleasantly warmed with wine had suddenly had a basin of water dashed over his head.

Song Cen's expression turned stern, and he shouted: "Where has the Young Heir gone?"

The servant trembled. "This humble one does not know!" he said in dread. "The people at Zhezhi Hall would only say the Young Heir had gone to see friends—who exactly, this humble one dared not ask..." he mumbled, shrinking back, bracing himself for a beating.

Song Cen's chest rose and fell with anger; after a moment's thought, he let the servant off after all.

Song Yan, meanwhile, had slipped into the shadows of the flowering trees nearby. Only after two night-watch women had passed by, chatting and laughing in low voices, did he pick up a pebble from beneath the tree and tap it with a "tok" against Dou Zhiwei's window lattice.

A lamp still burned in Dou Zhiwei's inner chamber. Yet for a long while there was no movement.

Song Yan was in no hurry; every few breaths he tossed another pebble.

Dou Yan was leaning against the headboard reading, but Su Xin, doing needlework nearby, was struck by a thought; without a word she opened the window a crack and saw Song Yan standing in the tree's shadow.

"Miss, the Young Heir is here," she said in a low voice.

Dou Yan gave a great start.

She had thought Song Yan would come tomorrow morning.

"Ask him to come in and talk!" Dou Yan said, and having changed her clothes, went into the unlit hall.

Suxin opened the door for Song Yan.

Song Yan handed Suxin a two-box gift and nodded. "Pea flour cakes from the palace."

Suxin could not help glancing at Dou Chu. She curtsied, murmured her thanks, served the tea, and withdrew.

Song Yan asked Dou Yan, "What urgent matter did you want to see me about?"

For a long moment, Dou Yan could not think what to say.

Song Yan did not press her. He sat quietly, waiting for her to speak.

Bright moonlight poured through the lattice window, sparse and fine as snow.

"I am sorry," Dou Yan said with a guilty air. "When you asked me back then whether I would be willing to marry you, I knew your father would never consent to your taking a wife of your own choosing. That was why I said that if fate allowed, we would naturally become husband and wife..."

In the moonlight, the clever Song Yan's face went deathly pale.

For a long while he said nothing.

And Dou Yan, for her part, had no idea what to say either.

In the silence, she heard Song Yan draw a deep breath and say softly, "I see." Then: "Do not worry. I will take care of this matter."

His voice was faint, like the clouds drifting about a crescent moon, ready to scatter at a blink, and yet it left her with an indefinable steadiness—no need for a loud voice, no need for much expression, and still it made you believe that whatever he promised, he would surely accomplish, and set your heart at rest.

"I am sorry!" Dou Yan apologized to Song Yan again, yet for some reason her heart ached faintly, and tears in an instant brimmed her eyes.

She shut her eyes quickly to hold them back.

"It is nothing." Song Yan was not looking at her at all, but gazing at the moon beyond the window. In a low voice he said, "It was I who failed to see clearly at the time..."

Or rather, he had simply never considered the matter in that light!

Song Yan could not help curling his lip in self-mockery.

If she broke off the engagement with him again, and word of it got about, it would likely be very hard for her to find a husband hereafter.

She was so clever—how could she fail to think of that?

There must be some other plan, surely?

Suddenly the image of Ji Yong rose in his mind.