Chapter 378 — Hypothesis

Ruozhu answered and withdrew.

Song Cen pinched Dou Yan's nose, pretending he had not seen the look Ruozhu had cast her a moment before — some things fell within Dou Yan's sphere of authority, and he must learn to be blind to them.

Before long Huang Qing came in, his face a mask of woe.

"My lady, this is a matter of the inner quarters. I am only a steward of the outer court — how could I presume to step forward?" He dropped to his knees before Dou Yan the moment he crossed the threshold. "I beg you to come forward, my lady, and calm things down."

Dou Yan was holding a damp cloth, wiping down the leaves of a money tree as tall as a man — the very one she meant to send to Princess Ninghuai as a birthday gift in a few days' time.

Seeing Huang Qing kneel before her, she did not so much as glance at him; her whole attention remained fixed on the money tree. She went on wiping the leaves, and said, a little absently, "Steward Huang, you speak rather too hastily. I am only a daughter-in-law — how could I reach into the household of my widowed father-in-law? And besides, Lord Zhenguo has never meddled in the affairs of Yizhi, just as Yizhi Hall has never meddled in the affairs of the Duke of Ying's household." Here she turned and fixed her eyes on Huang Qing. "Have you thought this through, Steward Huang? You are quite set on my stepping forward to calm things?"

How could he have forgotten this?

Cold sweat broke out all over Huang Qing.

Dou Yan smiled. "I think the chief steward had best hurry and fetch Lord Zhenguo back — that is the proper course." Then she handed the damp cloth to Ruotong, who stood in attendance, and let the little maid serve her as she rinsed her hands.

Huang Qing murmured his assent and scrambled out of the warm pavilion on hands and knees.

Ruotong pursed her lips. "The moment there is trouble he knows to come looking for my lady? Where was he before? My lady, you must not meddle in the affairs of Guixiang Court."

Dou Yan smiled and went back into the inner chamber.

Song Cen had not yet returned from the study.

Dou Yan asked Ruodan, "What is the heir doing?"

Ruodan smiled and set the tea she had just brewed before her. "The heir is talking with Master Yan."

Dou Yan cut out a few small garments in the inner chamber.

At the first watch drum, Song Cen came back.

Dou Yan brought out clothes for him to change into and asked him offhandedly, "What were you talking about? Sitting with Master Yan until this hour?"

Song Cen kept nothing from her. Once the little maids had all withdrawn, he told her about Ma Youming's drunkenness, and said, "I keep feeling there is something strange in it. I had men watching Ma Youming, and today I learned that he has quietly sent his wife and children back to his hometown, without even taking his valuable vessels with him — as though he were fleeing some calamity. And yet I have found nothing out of the ordinary. I was just wondering whether, after leaving the office tomorrow, I should invite Ma Youming for a drink and have a talk with him."

Something stirred in Dou Yan's heart at these words. She sat there blankly, and for a long while did not come back to herself.

Song Cen laughed and called "Hey, hey" twice, waving his fingers before her eyes.

Dou Yan, half amused, slapped his fingers away.

"Don't worry," said Song Cen. "I will get you the roster of the outer court's serving women, past and present."

Dou Yan laughed despite herself, thought for a moment, and said, "It isn't that I was thinking of."

Song Cen looked surprised.

Dou Yan gazed at him without a word.

Song Cen hesitated a good while, and at last said in a low voice, "What have you discovered?"

Dou Yan answered with a question of her own: "Yantang, if you were the Prince of Liao and wanted to be emperor, what would you have to do?"

Song Cen's brows knit slightly; then his face changed utterly.

Dou Yan asked, "What have you thought of?"

Song Cen's expression was strange.

Dou Yan could not help saying, "Whatever you have thought of, at least tell me."

Song Cen sighed. He cupped Dou Yan's face in his hands and kissed her once. "I don't know whether to call you clever, or bold — or neither clever nor bold, but uncommonly lucky!"

This was the first time Dou Yan had so openly, in front of Song Cen, supposed that the Prince of Liao might rebel...

She grew a little impatient. "Stop talking in circles and tell me."

Song Cen said quietly, "If the realm is at peace, and the Prince of Liao truly harbors such designs, then a palace coup is his only road. And for a coup to succeed it must be swift as thunder and lightning — by the time men realize something has changed, he must already have the situation in his grasp.

"But to hold the situation, the first necessity is trusted men in the imperial guards and among the palace eunuchs.

"The former can bring blades and arrows to bear and leave the emperor no strength to resist; the latter carry word, so that the Prince of Liao knows every shift within the inner palace, and at the critical hour can even cut the emperor off from all news for a time, and keep him lulled.

"Empress Wan now governs the inner palace. With her managing the eunuchs, that quarter is beyond failure. As for the guards — leave the Jinyi Guard aside for the moment. The Jinwu Guard keeps the palace gates, the Five Cities Command defends the inner city, the Divine Machine Battalion is stationed beyond the outer city, and the Five Armies Battalion answers them from afar. If any one of these garrisons stirs, the whole thing comes to nothing."

As he spoke, his expression turned grim.

"And among them all, the Jinwu Guard is the crux. If the Jinwu Guard can quietly seal off every scrap of news from the inner palace, the business is already half won.

"Next comes the Divine Machine Battalion. Once the inner palace changes hands, they are armed with firelocks and move fast over short distances — there is no garrison under heaven more formidable — and they lie closest to the capital. Give them a handwritten order from the emperor or the crown prince, and they will march without a heartbeat's hesitation. The Jinwu Guard would be no match for them. Not only might the tide turn, but the Prince of Liao might be caught like a turtle in a jar, with no strength left to resist.

"Then there are the Five Cities Command and the Five Armies Battalion.

"If the Divine Machine Battalion attacks the city, the Five Cities Command sides with the Prince of Liao. With the Jinwu Guard and the Five Cities Command, there is risk enough, but who would win is still undecided. And in such a pass, if the Five Armies Battalion stationed at Wanping also backs the Prince of Liao and joins hands with the Five Cities Command and the Jinwu Guard inside the city, then the outcome is settled.

"Conversely, if the Divine Machine Battalion and the Jinwu Guard join hands, then even should the Five Cities Command and the Five Armies Battalion receive a handwritten edict from the emperor or the crown prince and come to the rescue of the throne — never mind that the Five Armies march slower than the Divine Machine — their camp lies half a day's march away. By the time they arrive, I fear the matter will already be decided."

The Emperor's personal guards — did anyone truly imagine they could be turned so easily?

Let a single link in the chain go wrong, and a whole house could be cut down to the last man.

Just hearing it made Dou Yan's scalp prickle.

This Prince of Liao was quite a piece of work!

He had actually brought off a palace coup.

A pity that in her last life the Prince of Liao had kept the whole affair buried in silence, and the Jining Marquis household had been a lamp guttering in the wind, unable to bear the slightest disturbance — how would she have dared probe into a coup? Had she known the Prince of Liao's arrangements, she might at least have spared herself some wrong turns.

But the most formidable of them all was Song Yan.