Chapter 180 — Slander

Song Yan had no idea that his fearsome reputation made both He Yu and Wang Yu wary of crossing him.

He walked slowly out of the North Zen Temple alley and took his leave of Wei Fan before the temple gates.

Wei Fan had by now recovered from his initial shock.

Deeply grateful to Song Yan, and thoroughly dispirited besides, he asked him, "Ji Jianming—why would he do such a thing?"

Husband and wife are one flesh. Ji Yong was Dou Zhiwei's cousin. What benefit could ruining his reputation bring to Dou Yan? To the Dou family? Or to Ji Yong himself?

There was far too much here to ponder.

Wei Fan was simply a man who did not think overmuch about people and affairs—but he was no fool.

Song Yan was silent for a long moment, then said in a low voice, "I do not know either."

His tone was full of melancholy.

Wei Fan's eyes dimmed.

If even Song Yan did not know... what was to be done?

He could not help scratching his head.

If Ji Yong spread this matter abroad and his mother learned of it, he feared it would be the death of her from sheer fury.

And his sister... she loathed this sort of tangled, sordid business above all things.

At the thought, he was consumed with anxiety and longed only to see his sister soon, so that she might help him decide what to do.

Wei Fan watched Song Yan's and Gu Yu's carriages vanish into the crowd, then at once took his own carriage to the Jingzhen Garrison Manor.

Wei Wan was not at home.

She had gone to the Puji Temple.

The Puji Temple was thronged with people—not only the faithful come to hear the sermon, but peddlers with baskets of incense, candles, and food.

With guards clearing the way, Wei Wan had a hard time squeezing in.

The spacious side hall was already seven or eight parts full, mostly noblewomen hung with pearls and jade.

Her sister-in-law—the eldest grand lady of the Jingzhen Garrison Manor, née Zhang—had secured a seat in the front row, her personal maid standing beside her glancing about. Seeing Wei Wan enter, the maid bent and murmured a few words to Zhang, who rose and nodded to Wei Wan, then sent the maid to invite her over.

Wei Wan nodded, but did not hurry over. Instead she greeted the ladies she knew while surveying those in the side hall.

Before long she spotted Wang Shuying at the southern end of the hall, exchanging pleasantries with a lady.

Wei Wan breathed a sigh of relief, and only then followed the maid to Zhang's side.

"Why has Sister-in-law only come now?" Zhang said with a smile. "Just now I met the Dowager of the Changxing Marquisate. If Lady Yunyang had not drawn her away, ."

The Dowager of the Changxing Marquisate was just past forty this year—not old at all. It was merely that her husband had died early, her eldest son had inherited the title and proved adept at the social graces, enjoying considerable imperial favor, and another son had married a princess. Thus the great houses of the capital all held the family in high regard.

Wei Wan smiled and thanked her, then fell to discussing the Changxing Marquisate's family affairs with her sister-in-law. "Their Sixteenth Miss must be of an age to be spoken for, surely?"

Zhang pressed her lips together and smiled, then glanced about; seeing that no one was paying them any mind, she whispered to Wei Wan, "The Duke of Yingguo wants to ally with their house..."

Wei Wan was somewhat surprised, yet thought the two families were of equal standing, so it was only to be expected. And because Wei Fan had been favored by Song Zhi and given a part in dredging the canal, she felt herself to be on no distant terms with the Yingguo Garrison Manor, and so naturally took a keen interest in its affairs. "The heir of the Yingguo Garrison Manor has not yet put off his mourning, has he? Is it not a bit early to be discussing a match now? And the Sixteenth Miss seems older than the Yingguo heir..."

"Where has your mind wandered?" Zhang laughed softly. "It is the Duke of Yingguo himself who wishes to marry the Shi family's Sixteenth Miss!"

Wei Wan was greatly startled. "You mean to say the two families are to be joined?"

Though the Duke of Yingguo was much older than the Sixteenth Miss, he was a proper garrison duke and could make his voice heard before the Emperor; he was no poor match.

"How could it be?" Zhang said in a low voice. "The heir of the Duke of Yingguo—what manner of man is that? He kills without blinking an eye! Were the Shi family to marry their daughter to him, and she bore a daughter, she would have nothing to rely upon; if she bore a son, she would still have to hope the Yingguo heir was pleased with her. One slip, and she might offend the Yingguo heir—why would the Shi family take on such a thankless burden? The Sixteenth Miss is the Dowager of Changxing's own youngest daughter; she could not bear to let her child suffer so! The Shi family declined the Duke of Yingguo with polite words. That is why the Dowager of Changxing is so worried sick. To marry a daughter up—what houses could outshine the Yingguo Garrison Manor and the Changxing Marquisate? To marry her down—after the Duke of Yingguo's proposal, what family would do? From what Lady Yunyang said, the Shi family had originally meant to marry their girl to the Yingguo heir. Truly, what a tangle of crossed stars..."

Wei Wan thought of Wei Fan.

Had it not been for the betrothal to the Dou family, the Wei family might well have had this chance to ally with the Shi family!

She sighed softly.

The pressing task was to dissolve the betrothal between the Wei and Dou families. Once it was dissolved, what maiden of good family could they not bring home?

Wei Fan chatted with Zhang about household matters, somewhat absent in spirit.

A few clear, resonant notes of bell and chime sounded in the side hall.

Everyone fell silent.

The abbot of the Puji Temple, robed in a great crimson cassock, his face ruddy, came walking in.

"I thank all you benefactors for coming to the Puji Temple to hear the Dharma." After a few opening words, the abbot began vividly recounting the tales of kindness from the Buddhist scriptures.

Everyone listened with great attention.

Half an hour later, the first sermon on the Dharma was finished.

The abbess sat down to tea as she did every year.

Some of the women crowded around to speak with her; others took the chance to slip off to the privy or to whisper among themselves with those beside them.

From across the way, Wei Wan greeted Wang Shuying, who sat toward the south side of the side hall: "...I never thought I would run into you here, my dear in-law!"

In the side hall, several women pricked up their ears to listen.

Wang Shuying gave a nod, then glanced at an elderly woman beside her—plainly dressed, her hair streaked with gray—and smiled. "I came with my mother to hear the Dharma."

So she really had brought out Madam Wang Xu!

Wei Wan's heart settled at once, and with a beaming smile she went over to pay her respects to Madam Wang Xu.

Madam Wang Xu chuckled, and with a fine show of elderliness took Wei Wan's hand and exchanged a few words with her, then urged her to come and sit at their house whenever she had the time.

Wang Shuying then introduced yet another woman beside her to Wei Wan: "This is the Fifth Madam of our household."

Fan-shi, Dou Bingheng's wife?

Wei Wan looked closely. It was the very woman who had been speaking with Wang Shuying a moment ago.

She could not keep herself from grinning wide.

This Wang woman certainly knew how to get things done!

She had not managed to bring Fan-shi in to play out this little two-man act with her, but to have drawn Fan-shi into it at all showed no small skill.

No wonder she had been elevated to wife.

Wei Wan hastily smiled and made her curtsy to Fan-shi.

This scene of kinship acknowledged drew the notice of many at once.

This was precisely what Wei Wan wanted, and her smile grew broader still.