Chapter 146 — Heavy Rain
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
Chen Yanzhou pondered, and stepped out from behind the window.
Someone came running toward him through the rain.
Chen Yanzhou looked closely—it was Wuyi.
Like Songluo, he went straight to the side room.
Chen Yanzhou sensed that something was not quite ordinary.
He thought for a moment, then crept softly to the door of the side room and listened to the sounds within.
"Hurry and change out of those wet clothes—mind you don't let Old Chen catch you."
Wuyi's voice was low, but on such a night it carried with perfect clarity.
"What rotten luck! To run into such heavy rain!" Songluo muttered.
But Wuyi asked, "Did you find out anything?"
"I couldn't find out a thing," Songluo said, his voice dejected. "All I know is that the Duke of Dingguo himself gave the order for that Wang Xilai to make the arrest. As for why, nobody knows. We can only wait for the heir to return and deal with it." His tone turned puzzled. "Strange, though—half the guards in the household now are men I don't recognize, and they kept interrogating me about my identity. If I hadn't run into Guard Xie, I might not have made it back! In the old days, new guards were always paired with someone for a while, until they'd learned most of the faces in the household, and only then were they put on patrol. But this time, out of four men, Guard Xie was the only one I knew..."
"That's why I say something's wrong!" Wuyi's voice was full of worry. "Brother Chen Tao served the heir closely—the heir praised his caution more than once, even trusted him with his own private silver. What could Brother Chen Tao possibly have done? And Guard Wen—when the heir left, he told him right in front of me to keep a closer watch on our courtyard while he was away in Liaodong, and he told me to go to him if anything came up. But I've gone looking for him several times and never found him. What is he doing..."
The two fell silent at the same moment.
Chen Yanzhou hurried back to his room and lay down.
Before long, Songluo came in.
"Old Chen! Old Chen!" he called softly to Chen Yanzhou.
Chen Yanzhou grunted and turned over.
Songluo let out a long breath and lay down on the large kang by the window outside the screen.
But Chen Yanzhou could not sleep at all.
He knew Chen Tao—just as Wuyi said, a careful young man, sparing of words and quick to read a face. With a temperament like that, he was perfectly suited to be a personal attendant.
What could he possibly have done?
He wondered how Dou Yan was faring.
With Duan Bing and Chen Lanxu at her side, she should be safe enough.
That day had been truly terrifying. If the young lady had not acted on the instant, they would all likely have died at the farmstead.
What a pity, though—she was to marry Wei Fan!
The fool had no brains at all. He never stopped to think how far apart he and Song Ke were in both age and station—so why on earth would Song Yan go out of his way to court him with such courtesy?
Should he warn Wei Fan?
He certainly could not tell him about the farmstead. The Fourth Young Lady's acquaintance with Song Yan would have to be given some new explanation. But a lie is like a snowball: the more it rolls, the thicker it grows.
Chen Yanzhou sighed and listened to the rain all night.
By the next morning, the rain had slackened considerably.
Wuyi said to him with a smile, "I have business—I need to go find Guard Wen. Could Old Chen spare me for the day?"
Chen Yanzhou thought of the conversation between Wuyi and Songluo the night before, and said, without betraying anything in his face, "Go on. I have Songluo here with me."
Wuyi thanked him again and again and went out, overjoyed.
He did not return until noon. After the midday meal, he said he would go out again to look for Guard Wen: "...Didn't find him. Or perhaps he's gone off somewhere on some business?"