Chapter 446 — Repaying a Debt
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
Chen Jia, however, reflected that Jiang Yan had gone so far as to bring him even that half tael of silver, which surely meant she was deeply uneasy about the matter. Not wishing to put her in a difficult position, he said to the young servant who had delivered the money, "Go back and tell your young lady that I have received the silver. There is no need for her to hurry to repay the remaining fifty-two taels."
The servant nodded and returned to the residence to report to Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan breathed a sigh of relief, then fell to worrying over how she might repay Chen Jia's silver as quickly as possible.
Her gold and silver ornaments were absolutely not to be pawned—otherwise outsiders would think her brother and sister-in-law had treated her shabbily.
Her monthly allowance was a mere twenty taels, so she would have to save for at least three months, and by then it would nearly be the New Year.
Whose debt was ever dragged past the New Year? How unlucky that would be!
But if any social obligation arose during those three months, she would not be able to repay the silver before the year's end either...
The very thought left her uneasy, and she could not help silently praying that no trouble would befall any of her relatives before the New Year.
Yet it is ever the way that the thing you fear most is precisely the thing that comes to pass.
Within a few days, word spread from the Lu household that the eldest young madam had suffered a miscarriage.
The Lu family's line was already thin, and even Dou Yan was anxious on behalf of the old Madam Lu and Princess Ninghuai when she heard the news.
She reflected that Song Cen's silence on the matter of Jiang Yan had depended entirely on the two old ladies restraining him, and since Jiang Yan was herself a married woman, she took Jiang Yan along with her to the Lu residence to visit the eldest young madam.
Jiang Yan, however, was somewhat worried. "Is it appropriate for me to go?" she asked.
After all, her status was uncertain at present.
"Appropriate? Of course it is appropriate!" Dou Yan had to put it tactfully. "The two old ladies are especially sympathetic toward you. Their refusal to attend Song Han's wedding was on your account, to speak up for you. If you go, they will only be pleased—there is no reason they would resent you. Between people, the more you visit one another, the closer you grow."
Jiang Yan felt that it would not do to arrive empty-handed.
Dou Xin said, "Set your mind at ease. I have long since prepared a tonic for you to give in your name; the nurses will present it to the eldest young madam when the time comes. You need only come along with me."
Jiang Yan had entered the household with nothing but the clothes on her back—and even those clothes had been bought for her by Chen Jia. Dou Yan knew better than anyone how little she had to her name, so how could she let Jiang Yan spend her money?
Thinking of this, she recalled that a few days earlier Jiang Yan had sent someone to see Chen Jia.
To make Jiang Yan feel that the Yizhi Hall was her own home, where she might do as she pleased, Dou Yan had not instructed anyone to report her every move. But Jiang Yan lived in the Yizhi Hall after all, and some things could not escape Dou Zhiwei's eyes.
She asked Jiang Yan with studied casualness, "What did you go looking for Chen Jia about? Have you run into some difficulty?"
How could Jiang Yan bring herself to tell Dou Yan that she had borrowed money from Chen Jia? Would that not amount to asking Dou Yan to repay the silver for her?
She said, "I asked him to look into the matter of Li Liang for me."