Chapter 402 — Yigui

Two lifetimes of living had taught Dou Yan that some things could be proven only by time.

She left the matter for Ruozhu to keep watch over.

For Chen Jia had come back.

His clothes were neat enough, but weariness lay plain between his brows.

After he had made his bow to Dou Yan, he said in a low voice, "The man Miss Yigui married is surnamed Wei, given name Quan, courtesy name Bairui, eight years her senior. A native of Jiangxi. His father once served as assistant magistrate of Qingyuan County and died early, leaving the family no property to speak of; they lived off the charity of his elder sister, who had married a household tutor. When he was fifteen his sister died, and after a petty quarrel with his brother-in-law he was driven from the house. With no hope in the examinations and nothing else to his name, he took service as a retainer to He Qingyuan, a notable of Qingyuan County.

"He Qingyuan had a son named He Hao, who came to the capital two years ago for the academy examination, and Wei Quan was sent with one of the He household stewards to smooth the way along the road. The compound He Hao rented at the time stood in Shoe-and-Cap Lane, not far from Comb Lane. Somehow or other Wei Quan came to know Madam Li, and talked Li Liang round into giving Yigui to him.

Dou Yan was astonished. "So this Wei Quan has no tie to the Li family at all — he is merely a hanger-on who lives off other men's bounty?"

"No tie at all, and yet the man has a certain skill in handling people," Chen Jia said tactfully. "Li Liang did go to Qingyuan himself to make inquiries. In the years he has spent with He Qingyuan, Wei Quan has not only come by a small house of half a mu but bought a dozen or so mu of fields in the countryside besides. He is a very handsome man and open-handed in his dealings, and when his father was assistant magistrate of Qingyuan he built up a good deal of goodwill; Wei Quan's name in Qingyuan is still rather well spoken of."

Dou Yan frowned. "That being so, why did Li Liang and Madam Li quarrel?"

Chen Jia coughed softly, and only then lowered his voice. "After Miss Yigui married Wei Quan, the two were, one might say, zither and lute in harmony. Only on the sixteenth of the first month this year, the night of the lantern market, Wei Quan took her out to see the lanterns, and she suddenly went missing..."

Dou Yan was aghast. "How could a person simply go missing? Did the Wei family report it to the authorities? What did the magistrate say?"

Chen Jia had not expected such agitation. "Be at ease, madam. I have settled Miss Yigui in the Longfu Temple not far from here. If you wish to see her, I can bring her quietly into the residence at any time."

Hearing the implication beneath his words, Dou Yan straightened and said gravely, "What exactly is going on here? Conceal nothing from me. Tell it all, carefully."

Chen Jia bowed with an answering "Yes," and said, "Wei Quan was a retainer of the He family, and could hardly do otherwise than court He Hao's favor; one thing led to another, and he and He Hao became intimate. Even after Wei Quan married, He Hao went in and out of the Wei house as before. Miss Yigui's beauty had caught his eye, and he conceived a perverse desire.

"At first he resorted to tricks to coax her; when she refused him, he turned his mind to Wei Quan.

"Wei Quan might be a man of no discrimination in his appetites, but he was still unwilling to give Miss Yigui up.

"So He Hao offered him a great many advantages: he not only transferred a hundred mu of good farmland out of his own name into Wei Quan's, but redeemed one of Wei Quan's former mistresses from service and gave her to him. With that woman whispering in his ear at night, Wei Quan soon changed his mind.

"On the Lantern Festival he made the excuse of taking Miss Yigui to see the lanterns at Baoding, and brought her to the place he had agreed on with He Hao. He handed her over to He Hao, gave out that she had gone missing, and reported it to the authorities in both Baoding and Qingyuan...

Dou Yan could not keep back a curse: "Beasts!"

Man and woman were not the same, after all, and speaking of such things to Dou Yan left Chen Jia somewhat embarrassed.

He lowered his head and drank some tea, then went on: "He Hao's wife is the daughter of his own paternal aunt. Her family brought a great estate with her as dowry, and she has borne him two sons. He Hao did not dare take the woman home, and so kept Miss Yigui in the He family's residence in Baoding.

"At first Miss Yigui would sooner have died than submit. Then, when she learned that it was Wei Quan who had given her to He Hao, and that He Hao had taken her by force, she stopped eating and drinking.

"So He Hao took up residence in Baoding and waited on her hand and foot.

"As time went on, He Qingyuan grew suspicious.

"At first he thought his son had set up a vixen somewhere outside the house, and went to catch them at it, keeping it from the rest of the family.

"But when he saw Miss Yigui, his own crooked desires stirred, and he took her from his son.

"He Hao would not swallow it, and carried the business to his mother.

"Then Madam He, taking advantage of He Qingyuan's being away from home, made Wei Quan write out a deed of wife-sale, and quietly had men seize Miss Yigui and sell her to a traveling merchant passing through Baoding.

"Miss Yigui would not have it. She tried to hang herself at the inn and failed, and it happened that I traced her there. Part frightening her and part coaxing her, I gave the merchant thirty taels of silver, bought her, and brought her quietly back to the capital."

As he spoke, Chen Jia studied Dou Yan's expression. "Since I did not know how you meant to settle Miss Yigui, I did not dare bring her to you without ceremony..."

Dou Yan did not know how best to settle this young woman called Yigui.

If she did not take her in, the girl had nowhere to go.

If she did take her in, the girl's own mother and her mother's own brother were both living.

Dou Yan asked, "Is the girl very beautiful?"

"Very beautiful." As he spoke, the face rose before Chen Jia's mind — pale as pear blossom beaten by rain, and for all that so poignantly lovely that he could not help saying, "To my eye, she has something of the Heir's look about her."

Dou Yan started violently, and could not keep her voice from dropping. "Are you certain of what you saw?"

Chen Jia nodded gravely. "If you do not believe it, madam, I can bring her out one day, and you may take a quiet look at her."

Dou Yan had no doubt of Chen Jia's eye.

It came to her suddenly that this was no longer a matter she could carry on her own shoulders.

She thought a while, then said to Chen Jia, "Go back first. Set good men to watch over the girl; let nothing go wrong. As for this business, we will decide once I have talked it over with the Heir."

Chen Jia had guessed that Yigui was Song Yan's half sister by another mother. How would he dare ask more? He assented respectfully and withdrew.

Huzi, waiting at the gate, came up at once and said in a low voice, "What did the madam say?"

Chen Jia gave him a savage glare. "Is that a question for you to ask?" he warned. Then: "Take a few men to Longfu Temple yourself. Keep that young woman supplied with good food and good wine, and see that no mishap comes to her. As for the others, give each of them a sum to hold his tongue, and I will recommend them to colleagues in the south for service. They are never to come back to the capital. If they cross my path again, let them remember that blades have no eyes."

Huzi shrank back in fright, but could not help saying, "Did you not say the madam might use the girl against the Duke of Yingguo? Surely the more who know, the better? These are men who have followed us for years..."