Chapter 114 — Seeking Lodging
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
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To its east ran a small river from north to south; to its west lay a stretch of good farmland slightly lower than the house. In dry years the river could be drawn on for irrigation; in a flood like this one, all they had to do was dig open the southernmost gap, and the standing water would follow the lie of the land straight into the Lang family's fields.
"We can't dig the gap," Dou Yan said, recalling the scene on her way here. "All of Zhending has turned into a land of water. Even if we opened the gap, it wouldn't solve anything—and cutting off another family's livelihood is a wicked thing to do, the sort that stirs up quarrels between neighbors. A distant relative is no match for a close neighbor; our fields have marched with the Langs' for years without a single dispute. We can't have them pointing their fingers at our spines over this."
Those seated here were the village's elders—men of standing who knew farming—and until now they had feared that Dou Yan, being so young, might dig the gap or seize the winter seedlings by force just to give her grandmother an accounting. Hearing her words, they all let out a breath at once.
The winter wheat was certainly a total loss; all that remained was to see how matters might be salvaged.
The men gazed at Dou Yan in silence.
Dou Yan understood what was on their minds. "When I came," she said, "Aunt Cui told me over and over that you are all old hands at the land who have followed her for a dozen years and more. She said that no matter when the rain stops, or whether we can still make the autumn sowing, the rent for this year is waived. When you go home, spread the word to every household—there's no need to fret too much."
Every face eased at once. They praised Aunt Cui for a heart as merciful as a bodhisattva's, praised Dou Yan for the purity of hers, and kept voicing their thanks.
Seeing the hour had grown late, Dou Yan raised her teacup to see her guests out.
Chen Yanzhou hurried in. "Fourth Miss, word has come from the capital—His Majesty has issued an edict appointing Liang Jifang Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat."
Dou Yan was briefly taken aback.
She remembered the man.
After the Prince of Liao's coup, he had dashed his brains out in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
In those days she had been no more than a woman of the inner chambers, concerned with firewood, rice, oil, and salt. She had heard people speak of it afterward and done no more than sigh twice. She knew nothing of the man.
But a man who would batter his own skull against the floor of the Hall of Supreme Harmony must have been a man of unyielding integrity.
She invited Chen Yanzhou to sit.
Chen Yanzhou sighed. "Who would have thought that in the end it would be him made Chief Grand Secretary? It's a dark horse, and it caught everyone flat-footed."
"What is his background?" Dou Yan asked.
If he had some connection to her Fifth Uncle, the odds of her Fifth Uncle entering the Grand Secretariat would rise considerably.