Chapter 275 — Fire in the Night (Extra Update — Begging for Pink Votes)

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Wasn't Song Cen going to Xuantong for half a month?

She still had plenty of time!

She greeted Song Han, who had just returned from school, with a beaming smile.

"These are autumn white pears from Shandong, these are pine-nut candies from Suzhou, these are peach-stone dates from Nanjing, and these are honey tangerines from Tangqi..." She gestured toward the fruits and pastries spread across the kang table. "I didn't know what the Second Young Master liked, so I prepared a little of everything."

Song Han stared, his mouth watering.

"Sister-in-law, you're so good to me." Chewing on a pine-nut candy, he mumbled, "You even know that Shandong's autumn white pears are the best, and Tangqi's honey tangerines the sweetest... I was worried before that a sister-in-law from the countryside wouldn't understand such things and that we'd have nothing to talk about." Then he flashed Dou Yan a brilliant smile, and for a moment he did look rather like Song Zhi in his radiance.

Song Han was a handsome man by any measure; only beside Song Yan did he seem like a morning star against a bright moon—not on the same plane at all.

Of course, in two lifetimes Dou Yan had never seen anyone to compare with Song Yan, so it was hardly Song Han's fault.

At that thought, a flicker of pity for Song Han passed through Dou Yan's heart.

She brewed a pot of newly arrived Tieguanyin for him herself.

Tieguanyin was slightly bitter, the pine-nut candies sweet; drinking the tea and eating the candies, the tea seemed all the more mellow and the candies all the more fragrant, and Song Han's face was wreathed in contentment.

Dou Yan then asked after his daily life: "Who usually looks after the Second Young Master? Are the maids and pages obedient? Is your schoolwork heavy? Is your monthly allowance enough?" She wore the very picture of a devoted elder sister-in-law.

Song Han did not take offense, and began telling her about his household. Before long the conversation turned to hunting, and he grew animated at once: "...When I was nine I shot two golden pheasants and a hare!"

This was a feat Song Han was rather proud of and often brought up; there was no one in the Yingguo Duke's household who had not heard of it, and Dou Yan had naturally heard it long ago.

She clucked in admiration and played along.

That spurred Song Han on further: "I had meant to follow my elder brother's example and join the autumn hunt when I turned ten, but then my mother passed away and I had to observe mourning..." Here a flicker of bewilderment crossed his face, as though he had lost his goal and no longer knew which way to turn.

Perhaps Song Han's relentless rivalry with Song Yan at every turn was meant as a show for Lady Jiang?

Dou Yan wondered. She sighed along with Song Han and consoled him: "With skills like yours, Second Young Master, there will be plenty of chances ahead."

Song Han nodded, but his earlier high spirits had vanished.

Seeing that it was growing late, Dou Yan invited Song Han to stay for supper, adding: "The Second Young Master can tell me all about the autumn hunt. I only knew that one must sit the examinations to become an official—the civil examinations for civil officials, the military examinations for military officers. This is the first I've heard that one can become an official through archery and horsemanship as well."

So Song Han happily began to explain the autumn hunt to Dou Yan.

Suxin and several maids were setting out bowls and chopsticks in the hall.

Lü Zheng came over, meaning to ask Song Han back to the upper rooms for supper.

Dou Yan said, "Everything is ready here. Let the Second Young Master dine with me!"

Lü Zheng looked toward Song Han.

Song Han was just reaching the crux of his tale; seeing Lü Zheng waiting for his instructions, he waved his hand, signaling him to withdraw.

Lü Zheng bowed respectfully to Dou Yan and Song Han, and withdrew.

Dou Yan fell into thought.

Song Han clearly had not lost his freedom.

And according to Song Zhi, Song Han had been close to him since childhood, but because Song Cen disliked Song Han associating too much with him, and because he did not wish to put Song Han in a difficult position, the brothers had not been as close as before. Yet every time Song Han saw him, he was still affectionate.

That being so, why did Song Han not visit Song Yan more often?

She thought of her previous life. For all her vigilance and her undisguised loathing of Madame Zhu, Wei and Rui had still contrived every means to see her... If one truly cared for someone, should one not long to see that person at every moment? And the more bitter and forlorn one felt, the more one should crave that person's comfort and counsel, no?

Yet Song Han did nothing but play the dutiful son.

Or was it that, in Song Han's heart, his father mattered more than his brother?

Dou Yan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Thinking of the past life, she felt all the more that Song Han had betrayed Song Yan's brotherly affection.

Song Yan would be back tomorrow—should she tell him about this?

At the thought of Song Yan being kept in the dark, she felt wronged on his behalf, indignant on his behalf, and the more she thought, the less she could sleep.

She simply threw a robe over her shoulders and sat up.

Suxin, on night duty, was always attentive; hearing the movement, she sat up as well.

"Madam, shall I bring over another lamp?"

Within the bed curtains, only a small octagonal palace lantern burned on the little stool.

"No need," Dou Yan said, a little listlessly. "I just can't sleep. I'll sit up for a while."

Suxin murmured an assent and poured Dou Yan a cup of tea.

Suddenly a commotion erupted outside.

Both of them started. Dou Yan at once told Suxin, "Go and see what has happened."

Suxin answered and went out.

But the clamor only grew louder, faintly threaded with a woman's wailing.

Dou Chi frowned.

Suxin came back: "Madam, the stables in front have caught fire."

How could they have been so careless?!

Dou Yan happened to be unable to sleep anyway; she slipped on her shoes and said, "Let us go and see!"

Suxin assented and accompanied Dou Yan out of the main chamber.

The blaze was fierce, lighting up half the sky. Men's roars, women's weeping, a confused and noisy uproar rushed at them head-on; standing beneath the covered walkway of the main chamber, one could already feel the panic and disorder of the front courtyard.

Everyone in the main courtyard of Yizhi Hall had been startled awake; maids and old matrons alike threw on their clothes and came out to look, gathering in twos and threes to murmur among themselves.

Seeing Dou Yan come out, they all curtsied, their faces full of unease.

Dou Yan raised her head and studied the sky, then tested the direction of the wind, and said to them all, "We are to the north, and today's wind blows from the north, so the fire cannot spread this way. Even if the wind should veer, Yizhi Hall has no buildings adjoining the front courtyard, and we shall have ample time to fight the flames." She instructed Suxin, "Go and ask Mr. Yan what exactly has happened. Is anyone hurt or missing? A fire at the Zhenguo Estate is no small matter; has the Shuntian Prefecture been notified? When can their men arrive?" Then she instructed Sulan, "Go and tell Wuyi to gather all the young servants of the main courtyard and keep watch at the main gate. The moment the wind shifts and the flames begin to spread, he is to report to me at once." She pointed out several of the rough-work matrons and put them under the charge of a sharp-featured young wife: "Go and see whether the water jars along the wall are full. If they are full, wait where you are for orders and help Wuyi and the others draw water. If they are not full, go now and fetch water until they are."

The main courtyard of Yizhi Hall had a small kitchen.

A small kitchen it might be called, but it came complete with a seven-hole stove, a firewood shed, and a well.