Chapter 479 — The Western Garden

When the Emperor went to the Western Garden to escape the heat, the standard-bearer guard was in charge of the procession, the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the close attendants, and the Jinwu Guard of the outer perimeter. Though all three guards were the Emperor's own, they all held the same rank of third grade. The standard-bearers and the Jinwu Guard were one matter; but the Embroidered Uniform Guard had always thought highly of itself and never deigned to defer to the other two. And for years past, the commander of the palace move had always come from the Embroidered Uniform Guard...

Song Yan thought it over, then went to see Wang Yuan.

When Wang Yuan saw Song Yan, he gave a few cries of "Aiyo!" and said, "So you really have taken the bit between your teeth! The Emperor is the master, and we are all his servants. You are pitting your arm against a thigh — mind you do not break the arm."

"Have I any other choice?" Song Yan put on a helpless look. "I had barely spoken when that bastard Wang Ge carried it straight to the Empress." Then he complained, "How do you take on disciples? How did you come to fancy that ungrateful wolf? If I do not fight back, sooner or later he will carry this matter to the Emperor."

Wang Yuan rolled his eyes and said, "And whose fault is that? If it was meant to be a whispered word, it should never have been spoken in the great hall. Even if you could not hold it in, you should have looked about you before you opened your mouth. But that is not on you either — you were raised in a pile of brocade and silk, where it is always others watching your face, never you watching theirs. Still, you had no call to drag me into the water! I mean to serve out the Emperor's reign in peace and quiet, and then keep his tomb for him after he is gone..."

Song Yan cut him off without ceremony: "That depends on whether you have the life for it! The grand eunuch beside the late Emperor had his head struck off by the Emperor!"

Wang Yuan shut his mouth.

Song Yan said, "Well then, give me a word." He added, "I am not asking you to rebel — only thinking that a good man needs three helpers, that is all. It would make the work easier."

Wang Yuan sighed and said, "Then let us be clear: in the matter of the Prince of Liao, I will not meddle."

Song Yan gave a cold laugh. "If you can endure Wang Ge climbing up over your shoulder, then stand aside and enjoy the show. I should like to see whether the people in the palace, who always serve the dish to match the guest, will still scramble to call you 'godfather' and 'grandfather' once they know you can do nothing about Wang Ge."

Wang Yuan went livid with rage and stamped his foot.

Song Ke walked off as if nothing had happened.

Before the Dragon Boat Festival had passed, the Imperial Observatory presented several auspicious hours for the move to the Emperor.

The Emperor chose the sixth day of the fifth month and said, "Today we shall hold a dragon-boat race at the Western Garden. Let the Jinwu Guard, the Divine Mechanism Camp, and the Five Camps all send men to take part."

Wang Yuan went off smiling to have the Messenger Office issue the decree.

On Song Yan's side, preparations for the move began.

His fierce reputation went before him; he was also a scion of the nobility and in the Emperor's favor. Whether it was Li Ruxiao, commander of the standard-bearer guard, or Shi Chuan, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, both were courteous to him. Li Ruxiao even sent Wu Liang, deputy commander of the standard-bearers, and Fu Shijie, deputy commander of the Jinwu Guard, to take charge of the move together, and matters went smoother than anyone could have expected.

Only on the day of the procession, the yellow and green banners meant to clear the way in front had vanished, and the red silk parasol with the curved handle was torn in a great gash.

The standard-bearers charged with raising the banners and holding the parasol had collapsed on the ground in terror, while the company commander in charge of the procession was white as paper, murmuring over and over, "I checked it all again last night — it was all in order. How could this happen? How could this happen?"

It was the company commander's quick-witted confidant who spoke up: "Had we not better report this to Lord Wu at once? Open the storehouse first and draw two banners and a red silk parasol to make up the loss, and talk after."

The company commander came to his senses with a start and hurried off to find Wu Liang.

Wu Liang was Jiang Ling's father-in-law and naturally gave Song Yan his full support.

But at that very moment, he had been summoned away by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who said something had gone wrong on their side and they wished to question him.

The company commander was struck dumb. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I will go find Lord Li!"

Suddenly a man ran out from the side and stopped him with a smile, saying, "Lord Li is discussing matters with Lord Song and Lord Shi at this very moment! If this matter reaches Lord Li's ears, it can no longer be kept from the Jinwu Guard and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. All three guards act together, yet trouble falls on our standard-bearers alone — where would Lord Li's face be then? Even Lord Wu would likely be implicated. Why not let me think of a way?" (To be continued)