Chapter 485 — Counterplot

The Emperor was plainly pleased by the Prince of Liao, and in a mood for talk. He did not merely repeat the strange and diverting tales of Liaodong that the Prince had told him, but went on to describe the customs and manners of Goryeo and other lands.

As for men like the Prince of Huainan, who among them could not read another's countenance? Smiling, they followed the Emperor's lead, drawing from him laugh after laugh.

Song Yan stood at the very back of the crowd, his eyelids lowered.

In the Eastern Palace, however, the Crown Prince was pacing in circles, frantic. Anxiously he asked Cui Yijun, "What am I to do?"

Cui Yijun now showed not the least trace of the petty furtiveness that seized him whenever he sniffed some small advantage. Instead, immovable as a mountain, he said, "Your Highness, what were Master Zeng's last words of counsel to you? You are the pillar of the realm. So long as you do not move, no one can move you a hairsbreadth."

"Master Zeng" meant Zeng Yifen, the cabinet elder who had served three reigns and was now deceased.

The Crown Prince recalled the earnest gaze in Zeng Yifen's eyes as he lay dying, and his heart gradually grew calm. He walked to the great writing desk, took up the brush, and wrote the word "endure" ten times in succession. Then he drew a deep breath and went to the Crown Princess's chambers.

Cui Yijun quietly burned the ten "endure" characters the Crown Prince had written to ashes. Only then did he summon the junior eunuchs in to tidy the study.

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The Prince of Liao made a most conspicuous appearance in the capital.

Today he called at this house, tomorrow he paid a visit to that one. By the twelfth of the ninth month, the gate of the Liao princely residence was thronged with carriages and horses, for every last guest he had invited had come.

The Prince of Liao had not brought the Princess of Liao with him, but he had brought his eldest son back to the capital. With this five-year-old son he stood at the entrance of the great hall to welcome the guests, while the inner courtyard was seen to by the Third Princess on his behalf.

The moment Dou Chu stepped down from her carriage, she caught sight of Miao Zhi, following close behind Her Highness the Princess Ninghuai.

She was greatly surprised.

Those who had come today were either consorts of the highest rank or princesses of the first and second degree. Miao Zhi held no patent of nobility.

Miao Zhi, gazing at a room full of noblewomen in grand gowns and phoenix capes, was herself ill at ease. She leaned toward Dou Yan and explained in a low voice, "It was almost lamp-lighting time yesterday when the Liao residence finally sent us an invitation. They said they had not known the Second Master had set up a separate household, and had sent cards only to my father-in-law and my husband's elder brother. I thought the Prince of Liao was merely being polite, but the Second Master insisted on coming. He said the Prince was doing him honor, and that if he could attend the Prince of Liao's feast, he would be able to hold up his head in the Jinyi Guard hereafter. So I had no choice but to come with him."

Dou Chu and Miao Zhi had never clashed, but to have Miao Zhi address her in this tone felt strange to her. She smiled and said, "No wonder I had not heard you were coming. But since you are here, you may as well enjoy the chrysanthemums of the Liao residence at your leisure. A few years ago I picked up two black chrysanthemums at the Fengtai flower market; they say the gardener who raised them came from the Liao estate, which shows they have a master of chrysanthemum culture in that household. I came this time precisely in hopes of seeing something of it."

A wife takes her luster from her husband.

Song Han had neither rank nor power, and so no one gave a second thought to Miao Zhi as his wife.

Miao Zhi knew this well enough, and seized the chance to attach herself to Dou Yan: "Sister-in-law, let me come along with you! I don't know a single one of these people; I hardly know which leg to lead with when I walk."

Dou Xin said, "Then you should have done as you were doing just now and stayed close to Her Highness the Princess Ninghuai—she is of lofty birth and gracious bearing; follow her, and you could not go wrong whatever you did!"

Miao Zhi could feel Dou Yan's distance from her.

Her face fell slightly, and she forced a smile.

Just then the wife of the Marquis of Changxing came over.

Dou Yan, as though she had not seen, smiled and stepped forward to greet the Marchioness, and the two of them, chatting and laughing, went side by side into the flower hall.

After paying her respects to the Third Princess, Dou Yan took a seat beside the Princess Ninghuai.

The Princess Ninghuai quietly indicated a woman beside Miao Zhi, dressed in a rose-red jacket of figured silk, and asked, "Who is that? Do you know her?"

※

Suddenly I realize that at my age, even wanting to rest when ill has become a luxury.

~~~~(_

I've actually caught a cold!