Chapter 225 — The Rendezvous
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
On the twelfth day of the eighth month, the Emperor moved his court from the summer palace in the Western Park to the Forbidden City.
The returning procession was headed by the Banner Guard and closed by the Golden Caterpillar Guard. The distance was but a few dozen li, yet the train stretched so vast that while the leaders had already entered the palace gates, the rear had not yet left the summer palace, drawing excited crowds of onlookers who pointed and chattered without ceasing.
Song Yan had just handed over his duties and was about to leave the palace when Wang Yuan's adopted son, Wang Ge, invited him to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility.
The birth mother of Princess Jingfu, Consort Ning, was there as well.
Seeing Song Yan enter, she cast him a sidelong glance, then, smiling, bent low and whispered a few words to Empress Dowager Yi, who sat upright upon the arhat couch. The Empress Dowager nodded with a smile and beckoned Song Yan over warmly, asking after the affairs of the Song household.
Ordinarily Consort Ning seemed meek and indecisive, yet at the crucial moment she had proved so resolute, coming straight to the Empress Dowager's door the moment she entered the palace.
It seemed he had underestimated these palace consorts after all!
Song Yan silently steeled himself.
He smiled respectfully and answered the Empress Dowager's questions.
Empress Yi and Consort Shu arrived together.
Seeing Song Yan, Empress Yi smiled and nodded toward Song Ran, while Consort Shu looked quite surprised, a flicker of mockery passing through her gaze at Consort Ning.
Song Yan had no wish to stand here and be thought of by others, especially since he could not possibly become entangled with these people again.
Smiling, he made his bow, exchanged a few pleasantries, and rose to take his leave.
Empress Yi smiled and watched him go.
Once out of the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, Song Yan smiled and returned to the Yingguo Estate.
But Yan Che told him: "The Lord Defender of the Realm submitted a memorial early this morning; he has now gone into the palace to see the Emperor."
Song Dan said: "His entering the palace must be to tell the Emperor about the betrothal between me and the Dou family." Otherwise, once the Emperor's edict came down and he was already betrothed to Dou Yan, the edict would become a laughingstock—if the Song family broke off the match with the Dou family because of it, the imperial house would gain a reputation for forcing a subject to marry another; if the Song family did not break it off, where would the dignity of the imperial house lie?
The Emperor had just returned to the palace and barely settled in when he heard that Song Cen sought an audience. Thinking that this man might one day become his in-law, he set aside even the Crown Prince's memorial and received Song Cen first.
But he had never imagined that Song Cen, hurrying to him with such urgency, had come merely to request a few more days of leave for Song Yan.
"So you and the Dou family have already exchanged the betrothal documents, and set the wedding for the twenty-fourth of this month?" The Emperor leaned slantwise upon the great kang, and in his eyes—seemingly clouded from too much wine and women—flickered a gleam of sharpness. His tone was light: "Then you must be in-laws with Dou Yuanji now? That Dou Yuanji—before me he let not a single word slip!"
Song Cen said hurriedly: "How would I dare disturb Your Majesty's peace with the private affairs of my house?"
The Emperor said no more, and waved his hand.
Song Cen hastily withdrew with due reverence.
The Emperor's face darkened.
Wang Ge came in beaming: "Your Majesty, Empress Dowager Yi asks you to come and talk." He added, "Empress Yi, Consort Ning, and Consort Shu are all there."
Wang Yuan, attending at his side, could not help shooting Wang Ge a furious glare.
Wang Ge was taken aback.
The Emperor had already flung the memorial in his hand fiercely onto the desk.