Chapter 256 — Taking Stock (Bonus Update, Asking for Pink Votes)

Dou Yan caught sight of Song Han.

He was squeezed into the crowd, buying things.

Someone shoved him aside; he gave the man a fierce push in return and sent him sprawling to the ground. The man scrambled up, ready to come to blows, and the Song household guards hurriedly pulled him away. Chen He ran over and whispered a few words to Song Han; Song Han nodded reluctantly and stepped to one side, and Chen He squeezed his way in.

The Song guardsman pointed at the man who had shoved Song Han and said a few words, as though asking Song Han how he wished it handled.

Suddenly Song Han raised his head and looked toward the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.

Dou Yan was badly startled, thinking the Song guardsman had noticed her and reported it to him; she was just about to ask Song Yan whether they should greet Song Han when she saw Song Han lower his head, wave a hand at the guardsman, and let the man who had shoved him go.

Chen He, sweating profusely, presented a packet of roasted nuts to Song Han.

Song Han looked delighted, and with Chen He attending him, went into the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.

Dou Yan turned back and saw that Song Yan, too, was quietly watching Song Han.

"The Second Lord has come!" she said with a smile, taking a seat at the great table that could hold more than a dozen people, though the scene of Song Han pushing that man kept surfacing in her mind.

Song Yan poured Dou Yan a cup of tea.

Song Han came clattering up the stairs.

"Sister-in-law," he said, happily presenting the packet of roasted nuts to Dou Yan, "sugar-roasted peanuts from the Yao shop. Everyone who comes to eat at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion buys a packet to take home and taste."

Dou Yan had not expected that he had bought the sugar-roasted peanuts for her. After a brief start, she took the paper bag with great pleasure and thanked Song Han.

"Try some, sister-in-law," Song Han said eagerly, plainly delighted that Dou Yan liked what he had bought. "If you like them, I'll come buy them for you often."

Seeing the warmth in his eyes, Dou Yan smiled and nodded, opened the paper packet, and tasted one.

Sweet without cloying, crisp and savory.

Dou Yan nodded repeatedly, had Suxin tip a small portion into a blue-and-white dish, and invited everyone to taste.

All said they were delicious, and at Dou Zhiwei's signal they thanked Song Han in unison.

Song Han smiled.

That smile seemed rather forced, and when he looked at Dou Zhiwei again there was none of his former familiarity; it was as though he blamed Dou Yan for giving away what he had given her, slighting his good intentions.

Dou Yan fell into thought.

※※※※※

By the time they returned to the Yingzhen Duke's mansion, it was already noon.

Song Yan had to go to the palace for duty.

He said to Dou Yan, "I get one day of rest every ten days; three of those I stay overnight in the palace, and the other six I rise at the hour of the tiger and leave my post at the hour of the rooster. Today I'll be staying in the palace. If anything comes up, just have Wuyi send word to Chen He." Then he lowered his voice. "Lu Ming is now steward of one of my residences over by Jishuitan. He has a group of men under him, working in concert with Du Wei. If you think something is truly urgent, have Suxin go tell Lu Ming."

In other words, the men under Lu Ming were retainers Song Yan kept.

No wonder she had not seen Lu Ming all these days.

Dou Yan felt she still had much to say to Song Yan, but time did not permit; she could only say, "Old Chen and the others will come to the capital in the tenth month. There are some matters of mine I'll need to discuss with you then."

Song Yan said, "That's fine. You can tell me whenever you like."

Dou Yan laughed despite herself.

She very much liked this unhurried manner of Song Yan's, which seemed to assume there was ample time ahead; it gave her a sense of tranquil peace and far-reaching calm, and her state of mind, forever fretting over what would become of things four years hence, grew composed as well.

Dou Yan saw Song Yan out the door.

Back in her rooms, she began to take stock of her dowry, adjusting a few small details of the furnishings to suit her own habits and tastes. Early the next morning, she took out the layout diagram of the Hall of Cherished Aspirations that Chen Yanzhou had drawn, and with Suxin and Sulan in tow, followed the map to familiarize herself with the hall's layout.

Wuyi, who was attending nearby, was thrown into a great fright. While quietly instructing Songluo to hurry and tell Yan Che of this, he smilingly helped Dou Yan by describing the sights of each place, all the while memorizing every place Dou Yan visited, so that if the heir or Master Yan asked, he would be able to answer.

If Dou Yan meant Song Yan harm, why would she have gone to the trouble of saving him from a thousand li away? Besides, they were husband and wife now: honor shared, ruin shared.

Yan Che said with a smile, "Wherever the madam wishes to go, whomever she wishes to see, just attend her well. There's no need for alarm, and no need to report it to me."

Hearing this, Wuyi broke out in a cold sweat. When Dou Yan questioned him again, he was less smooth and attentive, and more earnest and respectful.

By the afternoon, everyone in the Hall of Cherished Aspirations knew of the matter.

When Dou Yan summoned the maids, matrons, and serving women of the Hall of Cherished Aspirations for questioning, they told her all they knew and left nothing unsaid, and she soon had a rough understanding of the place.

The Hall of Cherished Aspirations was where the heirs of the Duke of Ying had lived through the generations. To cultivate in each heir the ability to handle affairs independently, the hall was a small Yingzhen Duke's mansion in its own right: accounting office, receiving office, guard office, stables, laundry... it had everything. The hall's side gate even faced the waist-gate of the Yingzhen Duke's mansion directly, so that the people of the hall need not use the mansion's main or side gates but could come and go through the waist-gate, wholly self-contained and exceedingly convenient.

Dou Yan had once managed the Jining Marquis's household, so when the roster of personnel and the account books were brought to her, she looked over the monthly totals of expenditure for the past half year and already had a rough idea of how much the Hall of Cherished Aspirations spent each year in each quarter.

She turned the matter over in her mind for a long while; seeing that it was still early, she went to Yan Che and asked his advice: "If I wished to return to the Jiming Temple Lane, how might I obtain the Duke's permission?"

Yan Che said tactfully, "The Duke also attends court at the hour of the tiger each morning and leaves his post at the hour of the rooster, and takes one day of rest every ten days."

Dou Yan nodded, and had word sent to her father that she had something to discuss and wished to see him.

The next morning, after breakfast, she left the Yingzhen Duke's residence by the side gate and returned to the Hening Temple alley.

Dou Huaiying, having no idea what had happened, had slept badly all night; when he saw that Dou Chu had come back alone, his expression grew even more grave.

He hurriedly drew Dou Yan into the study, shut the door, and asked in a rush, "What happened? Where is Yantang? Why didn't he come back with you? Did you two quarrel? Even the upper lip and the lower lip have their fights, to say nothing of a newly married couple! Shouyuan, you are a wife now, and a wife must be forbearing in all things. Don't go running back to your family at the least little thing. Can your family keep you forever? In the end, you still have to live out your days with Yantang..."

Dou Yan did not know whether to laugh or to cry.