Chapter 350 — The Earl's Manor
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 3 of 4
Gu Yu nodded again and again. He ate two big bowls of noodles, then hauled out everything he had picked up for Song Yan in Liaodong.
"Look at this fur—the hairs are like needle points, genuine black sable, just right for a fur coat." He showed off his treasures. "And this one, fox fur, red. You don't see that often, do you!"
But Song Yan's eyes had fallen on a small piece of white sable.
Gu Yu, quick to catch on, smiled. "This one for a coat for my nephew." He took out several pieces of pearl fur as well. "And this for my sister-in-law's jacket."
That pearl fur was the pelt of newborn lambs, warmest of all for a close-fitting jacket.
Song Yan did not stand on ceremony. He smiled. "Then I'll thank you on behalf of your sister-in-law and nephew."
Gu Yu, grinning smugly, dragged out a tiger skin. "A whole tiger skin. Put it in your study—just looking at it is imposing..."
Things like these could not be bought even with money.
And as for the Prince of Liao—these past few years, whenever his officials came to the capital they spent lavishly, and people privately joked and called him the "King of Liaodong."
Without his consent, where could Gu Yu have gotten such fine things?
Song Yan smiled without changing expression. "You carried these out of the Prince of Liao's storehouse, didn't you?"
Gu Yu gave an embarrassed laugh. "I said I couldn't hide anything from you. But the Prince of Liao said you'd surely be fooled!"
Song Yan tapped Gu Yu on the head. "You!"
Gu Yu chuckled. "Anyway, he has plenty of good things. No point in not taking them."
Song Yan neither confirmed nor denied. Except for the tiger skin—which he said he feared would invite taboo, and told him to give to the Emperor, so that come spring he could ask the Emperor for a post—he refused it; everything else he had his servant put away.
By the time he returned to the Yingzhen Ducal Manor, it happened to be the day of Suxin's wedding.
After receiving Suxin's salute and giving the bride her trousseau money, the Zhao family's bridal sedan arrived.
On an occasion like this, if Dou Yan and Song Yan were present, it would be hard for anyone to make merry and tease. So Dou Yan and Song Yan stayed in the inner room.
Song Yan took the chance to show Dou Yan the things Gu Yu had given them.
Dou Yan liked the snow-white sable, flawless as it was, very much; but hearing that these things had been carried out of the Prince of Liao's storehouse, she still felt some misgivings, and decided to put them away for the time being and decide later whether to use them.
Song Yan then told Dou Yan about the visit to the Yunyang Count's manor: "...the old Count actually wants to be buried with our grand-aunt after his death. Fearing his son would refuse, he wrote a will and insisted I keep it, so that I could act for him when the time comes."
Dou Yan was dumbstruck. "This sort of thing—it's not proper for us to meddle in, is it?"
"That's what I said too." Song Yan clearly had already made up his mind. "Let the old Count hand this matter to Gu Yu—if the old Count can be buried with our grand-aunt, then when the time comes he can demand that the Heir be buried with his own birth mother."
"Truly, every family has its own sutra that's hard to recite." Dou Yan sighed with feeling.
Song Yan laughed. "It's a good chance to let Gu Yu practice. If he can't sweep his own room, how will he sweep the world? In the court, things are far more complicated than this."
Dou Yan turned to concern about Jiang Yi. "Do you know who he offended?"
"For now there's not a stir." Song Yan said, "Let's wait a couple more days and see."
Dou Yan thought it was Song Yan's fearsome reputation that had frightened the others.