Chapter 386 — An Errand
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
Could it be that Gu Yu, in this life as in the last, would take the eleventh young lady of the Yong'en Earl's household as his first wife?
Dou Yan was silent for a moment.
Gu Yu was more than merely displeased with Lady Feng—one might fairly call it loathing.
Lady Feng was the granddaughter of the Yong'en Earl's younger brother. Dou Yan had never met her in his previous life; he had only heard it said that she was plain of face, timid of temperament, and dull of manner.
In the second year after the Prince of Liao ascended the throne, Gu Yu divorced Lady Feng on the grounds that she had borne him no children.
Lady Feng hanged herself in the Feng family shrine.
It was only when the Fengs came to lay her out that they discovered she was still a virgin.
For this the Feng family dragged the Gus before the throne in dispute.
The Prince of Liao naturally took Gu Yu's side, declaring that Lady Feng was mediocre and wholly unfit to be the wife of the Yunyang Earl. Not only did the Fengs gain nothing—the Yong'en Earl was fined two years' stipend. Within days, the old Earl fell ill and died, and the Feng family thereby lost the favor of the throne, never to recover, plunging in short order from the first rank of the nobility to the third.
Gu Yu, by contrast, received a marriage granted by Empress Wan and soon took to wife the legitimate eldest daughter of the Marquis of Anlu, Zhou Chao.
Dou Yan had seen this Lady Zhou. Beyond her beauty, she was skilled in writing and painting. After the Yunyang Earl died and Gu Yu's father was exposed in a scandal of debauchery during the mourning period, Gu Yu bypassed his father and inherited the Yunyang title directly. The Gu household was thrown into disorder for a time, yet Lady Zhou managed the inner quarters with perfect order, and throughout the noble circles of the capital it was said that the Yunyang Earl had married a virtuous and gentle wife.
Strange to say, Gu Yu's relations with this Lady Zhou were likewise exceedingly cold.
He moved out of the Yunyang Earl's residence and took up residence next door to Song Yan. Song Yan's household was a very cloud of beauties, and his own was crowded with concubines. Song Yan had no offspring; Gu Yu, every few days, produced a bastard son or daughter and sent the child back to the Yunyang Earl's residence for Lady Zhou to raise. It was said that, having too many children, when he returned at New Year to sacrifice at the ancestral hall, he failed even to recognize his own eldest bastard son.
For a time, he and Song Yan became a spectacle of the capital.
In this life, was he to walk the same old road as the last?
Dou Yan thought it over, then said, "Since Gu Yu is not well pleased, why not give him a hand? Don't let him be too hard-pressed."
Song Yan gave a startled "Eh?" and laughed. "Did you not say you would never play the matchmaker again? How is it you are meddling in Gu Yu's affairs?"
Dou Yan protested, abashed, "His uncles care nothing for him and his aunts dote on him not—am I not simply pitying him for having no one to look after him? Marriage is a matter for a lifetime; to force two people together is never good in the end..."
Song Yan brightened and leaned close to ask her, "You think marriage is a matter for a lifetime?" As he spoke, he stroked her cheek lightly, as though unable to help himself—a scene of the most flagrant ambiguity, so much so that Ganlu, serving in the room, blushed and withdrew.
Dou Yan brushed his hand aside and scolded, "What nonsense is this? After a night in the palace, are you not aching in the back and the waist? Go wash and dress at once, and I will rub your shoulders for you!"
Song Yan beamed and answered in a loud voice.
Dou Yan could not help shaking her head with a smile.
At times Song Yan was steadier than she, who had lived two lives; at others he was as childish as a boy.