Chapter 134 — The Autumn Hunt
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 3 of 4
"Tian'en has gone to the school," said Lady Jiang, taking the tea her son had poured for her with his own hands and smiling brightly. "I'm not in any real danger—surely I can't let my own affairs hold up Tian'en's studies?" At this point, recalling the purpose of her visit, she could not help but show a hint of hesitation.
Song Dan looked at his mother and waited patiently for her to speak.
Lady Jiang turned it over in her mind again and again, then finally put it tactfully: "I heard that when Zhang Zongyao inherited the title of Heir, the Zhang family engaged the Guanglian Troupe to perform?"
Song Yan laughed aloud and spoke bluntly: "Mother, what you really want to ask about is my gambling with Dong Qi, isn't it? Rest easy, I know my limits." As he spoke, his smile gradually faded. "If I were to excel at both letters and arms, and the court and the country sang my praises, I fear His Majesty would lose sleep the moment the thought crossed his mind. But if I shrank back from everything and pushed nothing forward, His Majesty would think me good for nothing. The middle way, truly, is the hardest thing under heaven."
Lady Jiang could not help but fall into thought.
Song Yan sat beside her, quietly sipping his tea.
The wind stirred the treetops, rustling softly.
Song Yan's thoughts drifted rather far.
He thought of what Chen He had told him a few days ago: "Old Chen is investigating the Yunnan governor, Wang Xingyi."
Wang Xingyi was the father of Dou Yan's stepmother. Why would anyone investigate Wang Xingyi?
Should he himself look into Dou Yan?
The thought had scarcely formed before he suppressed it.
The worth of a friend lies in mutual understanding. If he were to investigate Dou Yan, what would the two of them become?
But why was the thought so tempting?
Uneasy, he took a sip of tea, and before he knew it, he choked on it and coughed again and again.
"Careful." Lady Jiang patted her son's back, her heart aching. "You've been practicing archery. Is it for the autumn hunt in a few days?"
Each year in autumn, the Emperor held a hunt. The noble houses all sent sons of fifteen and older to accompany him, and the Emperor used the occasion to test their horsemanship and archery and, on that basis, to promote talent.
Song Yan had been granted a hereditary fourth-rank assistant commissioner's post within days of his birth, and had begun attending the spring and autumn hunts before he could even walk—though it was not until the spring when he was nine that he truly began to take part in the mounted archery.
At his first autumn hunt, he placed second in riding and fifth in archery; among the sons of the nobility, he ranked first. He was the youngest of all the competitors, and it was the finest result any noble son had achieved in decades.
The Emperor was delighted, taking it as a sign that the noble houses had worthy successors, and bestowed on him a small estate of fifty acres.
His brilliance eclipsed even the top three finishers.
For the next two years, he took first place.
The Taizong Decree—the Emperor's uncle, Prince Yu, once drunk, had grumbled before the Emperor: "I say the Heir of the Duke of Yingguo shouldn't be allowed to compete in the mounted archery anymore, or he'll crush the spirit of the other young lords."
The Emperor, also rather drunk, laughed heartily at this—then tore a Hetian jade pendant from his waist and tossed it to Song Yan, saying, "Song Yan, keep them all pinned firmly behind you!" And then, loudly, to the princes and ministers present: "Whoever can beat Song Yan, I'll grant him the post of Vice Commander of the Imperial Guard!"
Hearing his mother raise the question, Song Yan nodded. Then he said gravely, "As for what His Majesty truly thinks of our family, we won't know until we test it!"
Lady Jiang's eyes brimmed at once. "It's all your mother's fault for dragging you both down!" A hint of a sob, barely perceptible, threaded through her voice.