Chapter 374 — Discontent

Beyond their breadth of experience, there was another weighty reason: host and advisor could live long years side by side, growing used to each other's habits and ways of thought until their minds moved in silent accord.

She paced about the room for a long while, and at last made up her mind and sent Gan Lu to invite Chen Yanzhou over.

Chen Yanzhou sat down across from Dou Zhiwei. Coming straight to the point, he smiled and said, "Now that Su Xin is to be married, the Madam must feel very much out of sorts — there is no one left to consult about the affairs of the inner household. And so you sent for me, is that not so?"

Dou Yan's face flushed at once.

Chen Yanzhou smiled instead and said, "As it happens, had the Madam not sent for me, I would have come to the Madam myself." As he spoke, his expression gradually grew grave. "I still remember the first time I saw the Madam. Master Bie was already near death, and the Madam came walking in calm and composed, wearing a plain, unpatterned beizi of deep color; the brightness of that hue made the whole room seem to light up in an instant. Master Bie begged you to take in the Bie sisters. Your heart was moved to pity, yet you still weighed the gains and losses with perfect coolness. That confidence of one who holds the whole reckoning in her hand made you like a jewel cast down among rubble — with only that single thread of sunlight, it flashed with a dazzling brilliance. I thought to myself then: this young girl must have been the darling of countless hearts, to carry herself with such air and such fortitude.

"Once I learned of the Madam's circumstances, I had nothing but admiration.

"So when the Madam asked me to be the household tutor, my heart was moved.

"I shall never again in this life serve as advisor to some great provincial governor, but I could help this young girl before me become the mistress of a clan.

"And the Madam did not disappoint me.

"Weighing the times and reading the circumstances, you sensibly gave up the notion of remaining unwed, and became a loving wife to the Heir.

"Yet now, after you have rightfully taken into your hands the power to preside over the household of the Duke of Ying, you have instead begun to hesitate, to waver, to hold back. You keep Master Duan and the others as though they were ordinary guards, and you shelter me as though I were a lamp guttering in the wind — going against the very decision you made when you first entered this house.

"But I know you.

"Since you have resolved to unravel for the Heir the mystery of the grievance between father and son, you will surely see it done.

"What I do not know is what new turn has come in between.

"But whatever that turn may be, I wish only to tell the Madam this: we who came from Zhending rise together and fall together with you. If some mishap should befall the Madam, then even if I wished to play Cheng Ying, given how close I stand to you, I fear I could not."

Dou Yan gave a small start.

Could he not?

Yet in Chen Yanzhou's heart it was as though a thousand waves had been stirred up.

Sure enough — the Madam had run into a matter of life and death.

He went on, "Even if the Madam were to send every one of us back to Zhending this very moment, we are duckweed without roots; whom among us, does the Madam think, would stand up for us?"

A single sentence woke the dreamer.

When she had Chen Yanzhou bring Duan Bing and the others to the capital, the fate of these people of Zhending had been bound fast to hers.

It was not something she could disentangle herself from simply because she wished to.

She had indeed made a mistaken decision.

Dou Yan's gaze turned firm as a mountain.

Chen Yanzhou began to smile.

Dou Yan rose and said, "Sir, let us talk in the pavilion in the back garden."

The view there was open; though everyone might see her and Chen Yanzhou, anyone who came near them could be seen just as clearly.

Chen Yanzhou nodded, and went with Dou Yan to the pavilion.

The spring wind still carried its bite, yet Dou Yan and Chen Yanzhou sat in the pavilion for nearly an hour; afterward they returned to the small flower hall and went on talking.

"So then, you suspect the Prince of Liao?" Chen Yanzhou's face was ashen, and the look he bent on Dou Zhiwei seemed somewhat veiled.

Dou Yan nodded slightly.

Chen Yanzhou lowered his head and for a long while said nothing.

The early-spring wind blew past; beyond the glass window the branches and leaves, just showing their green, trembled faintly, already soft with the yielding of spring.

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Second place — second place!

If the distance is close... ~~~~(_

Brothers and sisters, let us fight on through October!

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