Chapter 391 — Old Matters
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
"It was during this time that the Duke of Zhenguo went to Wanming Temple to ease his mind. There he met a young woman whose father had died early and who lived with her widowed mother and her brother. Somehow the Duke and this woman became entangled, and he set up a small house behind Wanming Temple, where he met her from time to time.
"The Duke's personal servants quietly reported the matter to the old Duke of Zhenguo.
"The Jiang family had always made a habit of taking many concubines, so the old Duke was not worried about them. He only thought that this young woman, carrying on with the Duke before she was even married off, must be of questionable character, and sent the now-deceased Steward Chen to make inquiries.
"Steward Chen learned that the young woman had been betrothed in her early years, but the match was broken off when word got out that she had carried on with her own cousin.
"How could the Duke of Zhenguo let such a woman into the house?
"He had Steward Chen go settle the matter.
"But Steward Chen came back saying the woman was with child, three months gone, and the child was the Duke's own flesh and blood.
"The old Duke of Zhenguo was struck dumb.
"The Ying Estate of Zhenguo was thin in offspring, and the old Duke could not bring himself to be rid of it.
"Just then word came that Lady Jiang too had been found with child.
"The old Duke was torn this way and that. He feared that if the woman outside bore a son before the wife, and Lady Jiang then bore the legitimate eldest son, the two children would be too close in age, to the detriment of the estate. He feared that if the woman outside bore a daughter and Lady Jiang bore the legitimate eldest son, it would be a needless affront to Lady Jiang's feelings. And what he feared most was that the woman outside would bear a son while the household bore a legitimate eldest daughter, leaving trouble for the Ying Estate of Zhenguo.
"Old Lady Lu came to know of this.
"It was Old Lady Lu who had the firmest resolve.
"She said that whether the woman outside bore a boy or a girl, the child was a bastard and could not be kept.
"There would be grandsons enough in time. Even if Lady Jiang never bore a son, a woman of good family could properly be taken in to bear children and spread the branches of the Ying Estate of Zhenguo.
"Hearing this, the old Duke of Zhenguo sent Steward Li with one of Old Lady Lu's own matrons to force a draught upon the young woman.
"But the young woman was deep in cunning. After Steward Li left, she hid herself away.
"The old Duke of Zhenguo flew into a rage, all the more convinced the young woman was of a crooked mind. He called this old servant back from Baoding, and together with Steward Li they found her out.
"I had scarce received the order when the Duke of Zhenguo came running to plead with the old Duke. He said it was he who had hidden the young woman, and that if the old Duke must punish someone, he should punish him. He said it had been but a moment's folly, that he had kept her only out of regard for the child of his blood she carried, and that he never meant to take her into the house. He vowed to the old Duke that once the young woman gave birth, he would cut all ties with her and have no further dealings with her. Boy or girl, the child would be given to a good family to raise, and thereafter, in marriage or otherwise, would have nothing whatsoever to do with the Song family.
"A man might disown his woman, but there was no disowning his own child.
"How could the old Duke of Zhenguo agree?
"So the Duke of Zhenguo went to beg Lady Jiang.
"Lady Jiang was a woman of reason. She said that if the Duke liked the woman, taking her in would do no harm, but the child could not be kept, the two children being too close in age. If the young woman agreed, then once she rid herself of the child, Lady Jiang would decide the matter at once and let her into the Song household.
"The old Duke's face darkened.