Chapter 261 — Doubts

He smiled. "I will speak to Master Yan and have him buy you a few estates before the tenth month. We will say only that your father bestowed them on you as private means." Here he could not help laughing. "With that chest of silver drafts as a foundation, no matter what shocking things your father does, I doubt anyone will find it unbelievable!"

Dou Yan glared at him in mock anger. "You are not to speak ill of my father!" The glance she shot him carried a touch of unwitting charm.

Song Yan's heart pounded.

"I would not dare, I would not dare!" he said hastily. "I only feel that your father is a man of passion, nothing more—certainly no mockery intended." Here something occurred to him, and he smiled. "Your father gave us such a lavish gift; sending a few guards along is only natural, a matter of feeling!" This would explain why Dou Yan had so many guards about her.

Only then did Dou realize what he had been worried about, and a flicker of mischief passed through her eyes. "You need not worry about that. After Old Chen and the others arrive, they will bring some of the family properties with them, and then no one will wonder why I have so many retainers."

Her father had spent at least five or six thousand taels of gold on Dou Yan's marriage; even if he supplemented her dowry with some more property, it would not be much.

Song Yan did not take it to heart, and asked about the Duke of Ying. "...After I left, did Father summon you for questioning?"

"No," Dou Xin said. "When my father-in-law left this morning, I was not yet up; and when he returns from the office, he usually has many engagements and comes back late, so it is not convenient for me to go and pay my respects—these past few days I have not encountered my father-in-law at all."

Song Yan was somewhat reassured. "Have you not run into Tian'en either?"

"The day before yesterday he sent a servant over with two packets of poria powder," Dou Yan said, then could not help laughing. "He said it would calm the spirit and nourish the qi. He told me to let him know once I had finished it."

Song Yan laughed too when he heard this, and said to Dou Yan apologetically, "That is simply his nature. His mother has spoiled him since he was small..." Here he trailed off with a sigh.

Dou Yan smiled and said, "I have no younger brothers of my own. I will treat him as though he were my own blood. Set your mind at ease."

Yes—with Dou Yan at his side, what was there left for him to worry about?

Song Yan swept away his earlier dejection and said with a smile, "By the way, I remember that your estate in Zhending and your family home both have large flower gardens, and there is a small garden behind Yizhi Hall as well. Tomorrow is my day off—why don't I help you turn the soil and put up trellises, and make a proper garden of it? Have a look and see where would suit. Shall we build a flower shed? I remember that the flower growers over at Fengtai all have sheds. Shall we add a few Taihu rocks as well? Gu Yu happens to have business in Huai'an these next few days—I will have him pick out a couple of good stones for you."

Dou Yan asked in surprise, "What were you doing in Fengtai?"

Song Yan said, "I have a friend serving at the Fengtai camp. On the road I saw ever so many flower sheds belonging to the growers, and my curiosity got the better of me, so I went over and asked about them." He was the sort who acted the moment a thought struck him; even as he spoke, he slid off the kang and pushed his feet into his shoes, ready to go with Dou Yan to the small garden.

Watching Song Yan's eager manner, Dou Yan did not know whether to laugh or cry. "The Beginning of Winter is almost upon us—who turns soil and raises trellises at this time of year? If you want to put the garden in order, you will have to wait until spring!"

"Is that so?" Song Yan said, abashed, his feet in their shoes frozen where they stood, an awkward look of being caught between advancing and retreating written across his brow.

Watching him, Dou Yan felt as though a stone had been dropped into the lake of her heart, and the ripples spread outward in ring after ring.

Song Yan was the heir of the Yingzhen State Duke's household—what sort of friend, serving at the Fengtai camp, could make him go in person to pay a visit there?

She seemed once more to see that handsome youth in the chrysanthemum field, sweating profusely as he dug up chrysanthemum seedlings for her.

"Still," Dou Yan said, gazing at Song Yan with a smile, a tenderness in her eyes of which she herself was unaware, "this is in fact just the right time to build a flower shed. We might even manage to get in a crop of radishes. Come the New Year, packed in little bamboo baskets, they would make the finest of holiday gifts."

Was she rescuing him from his embarrassment? Or could one truly grow a crop of radishes now?

Song Yan gazed at Dou Yan, and the smile in his eyes spilled over into his brows.

"Can you really grow radishes in a flower shed?" He put his shoes on properly. "How is it I have never heard of such a thing?"

"Which only shows you know nothing of farming!" Dou Yan said, walking out of the inner chamber shoulder to shoulder with Song Yan. "Otherwise, where would radishes and little cucumbers come from in the depths of winter?" She addressed Song Yan in a tone of consultation: "Shall we try our hand at it this year? And if they come up, we can send some to Princess Ninghuai, Old Madam Lu, and the rest of the relatives. What do you think?"

"Wonderful!" Song Yan understood nothing of such matters and naturally deferred to Dou Zhiwei in all things. "Should we bring someone in to help...?"

Talking as they went, the two passed through the connecting hall and made their way to the small garden.

Suxin, following behind them, could not help lowering her head and smiling to herself.

The young mistress had the least patience in the world for coaxing people, yet she could never resist coaxing the heir.

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Begging for pink votes!

o(n_n)o~

ps: Recommending a book to everyone.

"Lanxiang Yuan" by He Yanshan.

Book number: 2723760

Synopsis: She was the granddaughter of a Grand Secretary, and her family was convicted when it became entangled in the struggle for the succession.

She and her newly wed husband both died on the road to exile.

She was reborn with her memories intact, becoming Chen Xianglan, a bondservant born into the Lin family, a prominent clan of Jiangnan.

In this life, Xianglan has four suitors.

One she cannot have,

One she will not have,

One withered before it had properly bloomed,

And one more... ah, nothing but trouble...

This is the story of a little maid who wants to escape the inner quarters but cannot.

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