Chapter 502 — Summer Night

Beneath the great red lanterns, Song Han's face seemed to grow even paler.

He said in a low voice, "Come out, all of you!"

Five or six guards stepped out from behind him, dropped their weapons in the courtyard, and raised both hands high.

Duan Bing did not approach. He only smiled and said, "Is this all of them?"

"This is all of them!" Song Han said, his face ashen. "The rest are not my men!"

Duan Bing nodded to the men beside him.

Several agile guards came forward with ropes and bound every one of Song Han's people.

Song Han watched, his face flushing red and paling by turns.

Duan Bing said with a smile, "Forgive the offense," and, producing a rope from somewhere, walked toward Song Han.

Realizing what he meant to do, Song Han stumbled back several steps and shouted, "You dog! What do you think you're doing?"

Duan Bing's face darkened. "Second Young Master, you instigated the murder of the heir's wife and eldest legitimate grandson of the Yingzhen Duke's household. Even before His Majesty, that is a capital offense. I call you 'Second Young Master' out of respect, so do not throw that respect back in my face!" Then he roughly bound Song Han and dragged him toward the small row of servants' rooms west of the back garden.

The Xiangshan villa was property of the Duke of Yingguo. When Song Han was small, he had often come here with Lady Jiang to escape the summer heat, and he knew those small rooms were where the villa's serving women lived. Regret crept over him. He had never imagined Dou Yan would be hiding here! But how had she discovered his scheme?

He thought and thought but could not fathom where he had given himself away. He could only press his lips together and stumble along as Duan Bing hauled him into the last side room at the very back of the servants' quarters.

The window lattice of the room was covered with blankets, so that from outside it looked pitch-black. Inside, however, two palace lanterns were lit. With no ventilation the room was somewhat close and hot, but a faint fragrance of wintersweet drifted in the air, so it was not unbearable. Yuanheng lay fast asleep on the large heated kang by the window, sweet and fragrant. An unfamiliar old woman fanned him with a palm-leaf fan, while Jingui and Yingui stood nearby in attendance. Dou Yan sat at the edge of the kang, her eyes fixed on him as cold as distant stars, betraying neither anger nor pleasure.

Song Han's heart quailed. He hastily called out "Sister-in-law," and tears fell from his eyes. "I have been raging in the courtyard all this time, but no one paid me any mind, and I could not even send word to you and the Old Madam. Thank heavens you and Yuanheng are unharmed. I was terrified you might have met with disaster, and then I should have been guilty of a crime no death could expiate..."

Dou Yan felt only disgust.

She said coolly, "Second Young Master, you must be tired from playing your part. I, who have been watching the play, am the one who is tired. Tell me what really happened, and I will treat you as one who was taken captive and pursue the matter no further. But if you mean to keep circling around me, then I shall have no choice but to hand you over to the heir to deal with. Second Young Master had best make up his mind quickly. The weather is hot, and I have not the patience to wait while you weigh this side and that and plot back and forth!"

Song Han struggled to step forward. "Sister-in-law, you cannot wrong me so..."

Dou Yan cut him off with a cold laugh. "When the Yingzhen Duke's household caught fire and the heir was not at home, did I not hold Yizhi Hall all the same? Song Han, you underestimate me far too much!" As she spoke, she turned to Jingui. "Count to one hundred for me. If the Second Young Master is still singing the same tune... Master Duan," she said, turning to Duan Bing, her face seeming to frost over, "drag Song Han out and cut him down for me. He keeps insisting he was taken captive, so afterward we need only say the kidnappers silenced him for good!"

Duan Bing answered cheerfully, "Yes!" His face alight with eagerness, he said, "Rest assured, this is not the first time I have done such a thing. Was that not how we beat the Pang boy into a cripple last time?"

The two of them discussed killing and brawling as though no one else were present, while the old woman beside them listened as calmly as if they were discussing the weather.

Amid Jingui's somewhat trembling count, a chill rose in Song Han's heart.

The door was suddenly pushed open, and Chen Lanxu, who had been guarding outside all along, burst in. "Madam, something is wrong! There is not even the sound of insects outside anymore."

Dou Zhiwei's hair stood on end.

She and Duan Bing exchanged a glance. Duan Bing said, "I will go and have a look."

Dou Yan nodded.

Chen Lanxu slipped back out at once.

A rustling sound arose outside, and then a man's gloomy voice rang out: "Madam Dou, please bring your eldest son and come out. We mean nothing else—we only wish to invite you to our residence as a guest for a few days. Please do not offer any futile resistance. We have more than fifty crossbows aimed at your room. Mind that you are not shot full of holes."

Crossbows were controlled goods, permitted for military use only.

Dou Yan's expression changed drastically.

A thought flashed through her mind.

Duan Bing was filled with remorse. He stamped his foot and said, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. It is all my fault—I fell for Song Han's treacherous scheme!"

Dou Yan glanced at Song Han, in whose expression there still lingered a trace of astonishment, and shook her head. "This is not your fault. Song Han did not know he was being used as bait. So it is clear the other side is determined to have me and Yuanheng." She asked Duan Bing, "Could Song Han suddenly break free?"

Duan Bing drew himself up. "Apart from my late master, no second person has ever untied a knot I tied."

Dou Yan nodded. "Push Song Han out in front of me. I want to speak with them."

"No..." Song Han's legs gave way, and he nearly collapsed to the floor.

But Duan Bing showed no mercy. He hauled Song Han up and shoved him to the doorway.

Dou Yan looked out over Song Han's shoulder.

Beneath the bright, clear moonlight, people stood on the rooftops all around, the sharp tips of their arrows glinting with a cold, faint light, as though at the slightest misstep they would fly over and pierce a heart through.

Dou Yan's heart tightened.

But Song Han let out a wail: "Don't shoot, don't shoot! I am the Second Young Master of the Yingzhen Duke's household! Your master promised me that as long as I caught the Dou woman, he would give me a future..." Then Dou Yan and Duan Bing caught the stench of urine.

Dou Yan frowned.

Duan Bing sneered. "With that little courage, you still wanted to learn to rob and kill! No wonder your master did not take you seriously." He mocked him further. "You are nothing but a discarded pawn. Otherwise they would not have made you the brick cast to draw out the jade. So stop gilding your own face. Believe me, if they and the Madam exchange one wrong word, the first one they shoot dead will be you."

Song Han trembled and shivered, unable to utter a single word.

Duan Bing kicked him. "Hurry up and confess who the mastermind is—or are you waiting to die?"

Song Han's eyes showed terror, yet he kept his mouth clamped shut and said nothing.

Dou Yan could not be bothered with him; he turned to Duan Bing and asked, "If those crossbows keep firing at us, how long can we hold out?"

Duan Bing hesitated a moment, then said, "If none of us are wounded or killed and we defend this little house to the death, we should be able to last until dawn."

Chen Lanxu and the others were all outside the house. The worry was that the moment they moved, the enemy would loose a volley at them.