Chapter 377 — Tracing the Roots
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
Every serving woman in the Duke of Ying's household had signed a deed of sale. If one ran off, she became a person without registration; once caught, even if she were beaten to death, ...
Steward Li's second grandson ran away, and yet no one ever spoke of it.
Had someone covered it up for Steward Li? Or had so many died that year that there was simply no way to trace it?
Dou Yan's expression shifted slightly.
After she took charge of the household's inner affairs, the account books of the inner quarters had been handed over to her, and through the household's expenditures over the years she could trace certain old matters of the Duke of Ying's house. But the outer quarters' accounts were kept in Song Cen's hands, so they were relatively powerless where the outer quarters were concerned, and could only find ways to verify things slowly.
"If only we could get our hands on the roster of the outer quarters' serving women!" Chen Yanzhou found it a headache as well. "At least then we would know who exactly has vanished. Pull up a radish and the mud comes with it — who knows what else we might dig up."
Dou Yan thought for a moment, then said, "I will find a way about that. But as for the tailor Li — what else did he say? He is a mere tailor, with no household registration. Who stood surety for him, that he could go south and work the boats?"
Chen Yanzhou could not help giving Dou Yan a thumbs-up. "My lady's mind is as sharp as ever!"
Dou Yan laughed. "There is no one else here. Praising me like this is no better than wearing fine robes in the dark. Let us get to the real business."
Chen Yanzhou chuckled a few times, then composed his face and said, "My lady guessed right. Two others went south with the tailor Li. One was a third-class steward in the Duke of Ying's household's reception office, surnamed He, named Yuan. His father had once been an accountant in the Duke of Ying's household and, on Madam Jiang's orders, had gone to Guangdong many times to inspect the Heir's properties. Before He Yuan formally took up his post in the reception office, he had often followed his father to Guangdong to amuse himself, and had several friends there.
"One was surnamed Li, named Xiaoli. His father died young; his grandfather had been a steward of the gatehouse, and he inherited the post, serving at the gatehouse as well. He and Steward He grew up together and were very close. On the day disaster struck the Duke of Ying's household, they had drunk too much and quietly lain down to sleep in the gatehouse, and so escaped.
"Steward Li was on very good terms with He Yuan's father. When the tailor Li came to the household to settle accounts, it too went through He Yuan's hands. The two knew each other very well.
"After He Yuan fled, the first person he sought out was also the tailor Li.
"Later, it was He Yuan who proposed going south to work the boats.
"Because he had left the household early, he knew little about Steward Li's affairs. It was only when his grandnephew fled to him that he learned something had happened to the Duke of Ying's household. He had gone into the city to inquire, but not only did he learn nothing — many of the people he had once known had died suddenly. Only then did he begin to be afraid, and to preserve a bit of his brother's bloodline, he agreed to let his nephew go south with He Yuan.
"He had also worried that someone might come looking for him, ...
"For the past few years he has kept watch on the Duke of Ying's household. He also secretly inquired about the events of that year, but found nothing.
"After He Yuan went south, he twice sent word to him through intermediaries, both times asking about the situation in the capital and how the Duke of Ying's household fared.