Chapter 142 — Aftermath
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
Dou Ming sat on the bed, her face ashen, her eyes vacant, like a puppet whose soul had fled.
Granny Zhou held her and wept aloud.
Dou Yan stood by the window, watching the scene before her with cold detachment.
Ever since Duan Bing had brought Dou Ming back, she had been like this.
If Madam Pang had conducted herself with honesty and propriety, how would Dou Ming ever have mistaken Yu Er for someone sent by Pang? How would she ever have fallen into a trap as full of holes as Yu Er's?
Yet the ways of the world were strange indeed.
They loved to weave schemes and intrigues, and in the end it was those very schemes that stole in through the gaps they left.
Was this not what they meant by the swimmer drowning in water?
As she mused, Su Xin hurried in and reported in a low voice, "Miss, Guard Duan is here!"
Dou Yan glanced at Dou Ming, then turned and left the inner chamber.
None of them noticed that Dou Ming's fingers stirred ever so slightly.
In the hall, Duan Bing bowed respectfully to Dou Yan. "Fourth Miss, I have handed the people over to the authorities as you instructed. Prefect Lu said he will certainly handle the matter impartially and will never let that Wang Laoqi and Mo Ergu talk nonsense. Please set your mind at ease." There was a note of lightness in his voice as he spoke—were it not for his service as a guard in the Dou household, how would Prefect Lu, a metropolitan graduate of the highest honors and a fourth-rank prefect, ever have spoken to him so courteously? It gave him a sense of walking in the open light, a steadiness worth more to him than any amount of silver.
"I am indebted to Guard Duan for his trouble," Dou Yan said gratefully, then asked about Mo Ergu. "Did she confess anything?"
Duan Bing smiled bitterly. "She said plenty that amounted to nothing—Yu Er had been on close terms with Wang Laoqi back in Lingbi County. This time he claimed he had gotten into trouble at the Wang household and was short of silver, so on the road he snatched up a young lady to trade for a few taels. That young servant called Shang'er was killed as well. If you want to know what possessed Yu Er, or whether anything can be learned in the capital, that is where inquiries must be made."
"I fear this matter will require another trip from Guard Duan," Dou Yan said after a moment's thought. "With something this grave, even if the rumors outside can be suppressed, we cannot fail to give an account to the elders at home. In her present state, the Fifth Miss is hardly fit to remain in Zhending. I intend to send Su Xin in my place to see my father, and to have Dou Ming return to the capital, and to speak of this matter to the Wang family as well. First, to see whether any clues can be found; second, to let them know that the Fifth Miss was deceived precisely because she believed what Yu Er told her, and to urge them to act more openly in the future, rather than always skulking about as if they had something to hide. Even a single word must needs be wrapped in shadows and spoken in stealth."
Duan Bing had always been bold, and with his experience at Prefect Lu's yamen behind him, he felt far more at ease about paying a call on the household of the Grand Coordinator of Yunnan.
He answered "Yes" in a solemn voice. Reflecting on how greatly Dou Yan respected him—in matters of guarding she asked only after the result and never the process, the ten taels of silver she allotted him each month for expenses were never audited, and even a crisis of this magnitude in the household had been entrusted to him—he felt she had recognized his worth, and his loyalty to Dou Yan grew all the more sincere. With a frankness more befitting friends, he reminded her, "Su Xin is, after all, only a young girl. Will the Wang family listen to her?"
Dou Yan said, "Is the Second Dowager not there as well?"
Duan Bing did not understand.
Dou Yan said, "I shall keep you in suspense for now. You will know when the time comes."