Chapter 125 — News of Death (Extra Chapter, Begging for Pink Tickets)

Since the Fourth Miss Dou was to marry into the Jining Marquisate, if the Heir Apparent could be on good terms with the Heir Apparent of the Jining Marquisate, that would be a check upon the Fourth Miss—she surely would not wish her husband to know all that had happened at the manor.

"The Jining Marquis passed away a few days ago." All those earth-shaking events began with some trivial matter. He kept constant watch on all manner of news from the capital, and now that Song Yan asked, he could answer at once. "Our family and theirs had some ties several generations back, but these past generations there has been no contact, and we have received no mourning notice. The Jining Marquis had only one son and one daughter; the son is the Heir Apparent, Wei Fan. After the old Marquis's forty-nine days are past, the Wei family should apply to inherit the title—with the Fifth Master Dou's help, there should be no problem. The daughter married Zhang Zongyao, and through the Zhang family we can come to know Wei Fan."

Zhang Yuanming, whose courtesy name was Zongyao.

Suddenly Song Yan was a little reluctant to meet Wei Fan.

He mused, "We will speak of this matter when the time comes."

Yan Che also felt this matter could not be rushed—the Jining Marquisate was nothing but a declining house barely holding itself together, while the Yingguo Duke's Household was a resplendent family whose imperial favor never waned; the two were as far apart as earth and heaven, and originally had no dealings at all. If Song Yan suddenly drew close to Wei Fan, it would doubtless arouse suspicion in many minds.

He would have to create an opportunity that came about as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

The two fell to talking of affairs at court: "His Majesty has shelved Lord Lu's memorial without issuing it. It truly gives one some cause for worry."

The Lu family had no ties to the Jiang family, but was connected by marriage to the Song family. Lu Zongyuan's third son, Lu Zhili, had married Princess Ninghuai, and his granddaughter by a daughter had been given to Zhang Xuming, the third son of the Duke of Jingguo. To have Lu Fuli submit a memorial was to cast a stone and feel for the road. Now His Majesty said nothing and simply shelved it, which made it awkward for them to keep putting others up to memorializing.

Song Yan was suddenly seized with irritation. "Why not divide our forces into two prongs? Find someone to impeach my uncle as well, and see how His Majesty reacts?"

"I fear the madam will not agree." It was the safest course, and Yan Che's face darkened. "The madam cannot bear that the Duke of Dingguo should have so much as a flaw in his white jade!"

Song Yan knitted his brows.

Yan Che's personal servant came stumbling in. Seeing Song Yan present, he forgot even to make his bow, and cried out, his face streaming with tears, "His Lordship the Duke of Dingguo—they say the punishment was too severe, and he died of his injuries..."

"What did you say?" Song Yan's face went deathly pale in an instant, and he seized the servant by the shoulder. The man felt as though his shoulder were clamped in iron pincers about to crush it, pain piercing to the marrow, yet he dared not utter a sound. He hastened to say, "Word has just come from Fujian. They say the Lord Defender of the Realm was tortured by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, then hurried along the road day and night without anyone to tend him, and his injuries were too grave... he has died of them..."

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard was only charged with escorting the Lord Defender of the Realm back to the capital," Yan Che, who had followed him in, cried out in a voice gone hoarse with shock. "The Lord Defender of the Realm was never convicted of anything—by what right did they torture him? Where is Xu Qing? Where is Shi An? Were they not told to take men and guard the Lord Defender in secret? What have they been doing?"

"By the time Xu Qing and the others arrived, the Lord Defender had already been tortured," the servant said. "The men the Embroidered Uniform Guard sent out this time were all the elite of the Guard. By the time they made contact with the Third Master, the Lord Defender had already... he passed away the very next day... The Third Master and the Fourth Master were tortured as well. The Third Master says it was because men from the jianghu came to break into the prison, and so the Embroidered Uniform Guard had a pretext to strike the Lord Defender down for good. He bids us on no account cry out that we have been wronged—thunderbolts and rain and dew alike are all the grace of the sovereign. He says also: while the green hills remain, there will be no fear of firewood."

Song Yan felt as though a fire were burning in his chest, setting all the blood in his body to seething. His ears were filled with a bubbling, gurgling sound like water at the boil, and even the talk between Yan Che and the servant grew blurred.

Slowly he released the servant's shoulder, drew a deep breath, and said, "Does my mother know?" His voice was calm and rational, composed and steady.

The servant stared at Song Yan, the dread in his eyes impossible to conceal, until Yan Che's stern gaze fell upon him. Only then did he come to himself and say hurriedly, "We—we did not dare tell the madam."

Song Yan held out his hand, palm fair and fine, with a thin callus at the fingertips. "Give it to me!"

The servant was bewildered for a moment before he understood what Song Yan meant, and hastily drew the brocade pouch from his breast.

"I will go and tell my mother." The pouch was clenched tight in Song Yan's palm. Without haste, his steps composed, he walked out of Yan Che's room.

Yan Che was suddenly overcome by a pain that seemed to tear him apart, heart and lungs.

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Sisters, brothers—save today's bonus chapter for tomorrow!

o(n_n)o~

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