Chapter 445 — Borrowing Money

Gao Sheng's wife laughed. "How could there be more than he can use? Not to speak of this fine cloth for his undergarments—take this fur for a jacket: sable for a cloak, because it looks handsome; lambskin for a vest, because it is soft; gray squirrel for a jacket, because it is gentle... each has its own use. And this is only what the master has prepared for the eldest young master for the winter. Come spring, when the new-patterned Hangzhou silk and jiao cloth arrive from Jiangnan, the eldest young master will need spring robes and summer clothes again."

Miao Zhi said nothing.

Dou Xin said, "Go and tell Father quickly, and ask him not to put himself to such trouble. Children grow before your eyes—all those clothes and trousers made with such care, and some are too small before they are even worn. If there is anything he needs, I will send someone back to tell Father."

Gao Sheng's wife chuckled. "What the eldest young master cannot use, he can leave for his younger brothers and sisters—it comes to the same thing!"

Jiang Ling chimed in eagerly, smiling. "Uncle Dou has arranged everything splendidly!"

Dou Yan thought of how ardent Song Zhi had been these past days, and reflected that once she had weaned the child, she might well be with child again before long.

Her face flushed faintly. She teased Jiang Ling a few words, then turned the carriage homeward.

Song Yan came back very late.

Dou Yan had already gone to sleep, but Song Zhi's spirits were running high, and before Dou Yan woke he had already entered the body of Dou Zhiwei...

Afterward, thinking that this was her third time and she was utterly spent, Dou Yan asked Song Yan, "Did something good happen to you?"

Song Zhi's hand still lingered on her body. At her words he said lightly, "The Emperor has given me the great seal of the Jinwu Guard."

The great seal of the Jinwu Guard?

Dou Yan was instantly wide awake.

She seized Song Zhi's hand and, eyes wide, said, "What has happened?"

Song Yan said helplessly, "The Emperor was in good spirits today. He bestowed on Liang Jifen a set of 'Boundless Longevity' moon-glow cups that the Gansu Commander had presented at the Imperial Birthday Festival some days ago, and on Yao Shizhong a pair of Ru-ware wine vessels presented by the Zhejiang Governor. But when the two Grand Secretaries returned to the palace to collect their rewards, the two items had vanished into thin air. The Emperor had Shao Wenji given twenty strokes of the rod on the spot and thrown into the Imperial Prison, and handed the great seal of the Jinwu Guard to me."

"Isn't there still the Bannermen Guard?" Dou Yan muttered. "Why trouble your Jinwu Guard? In just a few days, the Jinwu Guard has gone through two commanders-in-chief. You would be better off as a vice commander of the Jinwu Guard! With a commander-in-chief in front to shield you, you would not have to face the Prince of Liao directly."

What the Prince of Liao wanted to win over was the commander-in-chief.

"You need not worry," Song Yan said. "The post of commander-in-chief of the Jinwu Guard is a fine one. I have only to put out word that I am not contesting it, and there will be those who set their eyes on the position—who knows, someone may even bribe me for it!"

But Dou Yan was still uneasy. "Be careful!"

Song Yan gathered her into his arms.

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In Bishui Pavilion, Jiang Yan had not slept either.

Only now did she discover that she had a monthly allowance of twenty taels of silver.

She had been in the household three months. Her daily food and expenses were all at Yizhi Hall, and apart from the two taels of silver she had once given each of Yinghong and the others as a reward, she had had no other outlay, so of the sixty taels, forty-eight remained.

In another three months, she would be able to repay Chen Jia's silver.

At this thought, her heart settled, and she decided to send someone to tell Chen Jia.

When Chen Jia got the word, he waved his hand impatiently. "Go and tell your Miss Biao that it was not such a great sum—she need not repay the silver."

Did Chen Jia think she had claimed to have no silver because she meant to welsh on the debt?

Jiang Yan sat on thorns.

She wrapped the only forty-eight taels she had in a length of bright red silk and had a servant boy deliver it to Chen Jia, saying, "I will repay twenty taels every month from now on."

Chen Jia stared at one of the pieces of snowflake silver that had been clipped halfway through, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

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Sisters and brothers, I beg for pink votes!

ps: There will be an extra update tomorrow around five in the afternoon.