Chapter 502 — Summer Night
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
Dou Yan cut him off with a cold laugh. "When the Yingzhen Duke's household caught fire and the heir was not at home, did I not hold Yizhi Hall all the same? Song Han, you underestimate me far too much!" As she spoke, she turned to Jingui. "Count to one hundred for me. If the Second Young Master is still singing the same tune... Master Duan," she said, turning to Duan Bing, her face seeming to frost over, "drag Song Han out and cut him down for me. He keeps insisting he was taken captive, so afterward we need only say the kidnappers silenced him for good!"
Duan Bing answered cheerfully, "Yes!" His face alight with eagerness, he said, "Rest assured, this is not the first time I have done such a thing. Was that not how we beat the Pang boy into a cripple last time?"
The two of them discussed killing and brawling as though no one else were present, while the old woman beside them listened as calmly as if they were discussing the weather.
Amid Jingui's somewhat trembling count, a chill rose in Song Han's heart.
The door was suddenly pushed open, and Chen Lanxu, who had been guarding outside all along, burst in. "Madam, something is wrong! There is not even the sound of insects outside anymore."
Dou Zhiwei's hair stood on end.
She and Duan Bing exchanged a glance. Duan Bing said, "I will go and have a look."
Dou Yan nodded.
Chen Lanxu slipped back out at once.
A rustling sound arose outside, and then a man's gloomy voice rang out: "Madam Dou, please bring your eldest son and come out. We mean nothing else—we only wish to invite you to our residence as a guest for a few days. Please do not offer any futile resistance. We have more than fifty crossbows aimed at your room. Mind that you are not shot full of holes."
Crossbows were controlled goods, permitted for military use only.
Dou Yan's expression changed drastically.
A thought flashed through her mind.
Duan Bing was filled with remorse. He stamped his foot and said, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. It is all my fault—I fell for Song Han's treacherous scheme!"
Dou Yan glanced at Song Han, in whose expression there still lingered a trace of astonishment, and shook her head. "This is not your fault. Song Han did not know he was being used as bait. So it is clear the other side is determined to have me and Yuanheng." She asked Duan Bing, "Could Song Han suddenly break free?"
Duan Bing drew himself up. "Apart from my late master, no second person has ever untied a knot I tied."
Dou Yan nodded. "Push Song Han out in front of me. I want to speak with them."
"No..." Song Han's legs gave way, and he nearly collapsed to the floor.
But Duan Bing showed no mercy. He hauled Song Han up and shoved him to the doorway.
Dou Yan looked out over Song Han's shoulder.
Beneath the bright, clear moonlight, people stood on the rooftops all around, the sharp tips of their arrows glinting with a cold, faint light, as though at the slightest misstep they would fly over and pierce a heart through.
Dou Yan's heart tightened.
But Song Han let out a wail: "Don't shoot, don't shoot! I am the Second Young Master of the Yingzhen Duke's household! Your master promised me that as long as I caught the Dou woman, he would give me a future..." Then Dou Yan and Duan Bing caught the stench of urine.
Dou Yan frowned.
Duan Bing sneered. "With that little courage, you still wanted to learn to rob and kill! No wonder your master did not take you seriously." He mocked him further. "You are nothing but a discarded pawn. Otherwise they would not have made you the brick cast to draw out the jade. So stop gilding your own face. Believe me, if they and the Madam exchange one wrong word, the first one they shoot dead will be you."
Song Han trembled and shivered, unable to utter a single word.
Duan Bing kicked him. "Hurry up and confess who the mastermind is—or are you waiting to die?"
Song Han's eyes showed terror, yet he kept his mouth clamped shut and said nothing.