Chapter 222 — Not as Good
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
The sudden visit of Song Cen, the Duke of Ying, to Yunqi Temple Alley made Chen Yanzhou, who had until then kept all his attention fixed on the Huai Tree Alley, sense that something was out of the ordinary.
When it came to matters in Yunqi Temple Alley, Dou Yan ought to know better than he did.
He hurried off to see Dou Yan.
But Dou Yan had gone to Drum Tower Street with his aunt and his elder cousin to do some shopping.
By the time Chen Yanzhou reached Drum Tower Street, Dou Yan and the others had already returned to Heming Temple Alley.
Chen Yanzhou hurried on to Yan Dang Temple Alley.
Stepping through the gate, he ran into Gao Sheng.
Gao Sheng greeted him with a face full of smiles. "What a coincidence, Mr. Chen! The Fourth Miss has just come back and is talking with the Master right now. What is it—some urgent business at the shop?"
"Nothing all that urgent," Chen Yanzhou said evasively. "There is a deal I am not quite sure about, and I wanted the Fourth Miss to give me her opinion."
Gao Sheng said warmly, "Shall I help?"
Compared with the Dou family's affairs, Dou Zhiwei's little stationery shop was not worth mentioning at all.
"I will know once I have asked the Miss," Chen Yanzhou put him off.
Gao Sheng suspected nothing. He nodded with a smile, personally ushered him into the accounts room to sit down, and instructed a serving boy, "As soon as the Master and the Fourth Miss have finished talking, report to Mr. Chen at once." Such unusual attentiveness set Chen Yanzhou's heart pounding. It was only with great difficulty that he waited until Dou Yan and Dou Huaiying had finished their conversation—by which time it was already the hour for the evening meal.
Dou Yan received Chen Yanzhou in the flower hall.
Chen Yanzhou told Dou Yan about Song Cen's visit to Dou Huaiying, and added, "Does the Miss know why the Duke of Ying came to see the Seventh Master?"
Their dealings with the Song family had always been kept out of sight. If the Duke of Ying were to learn of them, no one could predict what would happen!
Dou Yan was dumbfounded. "What did you say? The Duke of Ying came to visit my father?"
Chen Yanzhou nodded. "I have already looked into it. It seems that Tao Jun of the Duke of Ying's estate arranged it through Xu Zhiji, a colleague of the Seventh Master's at the Hanlin Academy. But as for the specific reason, there was no time, and I have not yet found out."
Yet fine beads of sweat had broken out on Dou Yan's forehead.
The Duke of Ying and her father were two men with no connection whatsoever.
The world was vast, and she was without name or reputation. Under ordinary circumstances, there was no way the Duke of Ying could possibly have taken notice of her.
If there was any link between them at all, it was Song Yan.
If the Duke of Ying knew that it had been she who sought out the Songs in the first place, he would have had any number of ways to deal with her. He would never have come calling at Yunqi Temple Alley with such an air of courtesy.
In other words, there was a nine-in-ten chance that the Duke of Ying had no idea of any connection between her and Song Yan.
Then why had he come to visit her father?
Song Yan's eyes, quiet as the night sky, rose in Dou Yan's mind.
That day, when he learned that Dou Ming had married Wei Fan in her place—"Dou Yan, I will marry you."
She had taken it for the fervor of youth.
She had not taken it to heart at all.
And she had been certain that he could never persuade the Duke of Ying to agree to his marrying her.
So she had told him with perfect assurance, "If we are fated to be man and wife, then fate will find a way."
Could the Duke of Ying's visit be for the purpose of proposing marriage on Song Yan's behalf?
Dou Yan thought of how she had earlier suggested that Song Yan marry a princess.