Chapter 020
Chapter 20: The Rotten Pair Returns to the Capital
Jian Ping leaned close to the heir apparent’s ear and whispered: “The men we sent to Northern Fortress Pass are back.”
Duan Yi Chen frowned, his sword-straight brows drawing tight, then said as he rose: “I’m stepping out for a bit. If anyone asks for me, say I’m asleep.”
Ping An wanted to stop him, but he feared drawing attention, so he gave up and went back.
Xia Meng Yan walked her mother back to her courtyard, and Chun Yue supported her as they headed toward Autumn Lotus Court.
Chun Yue praised with a grin: “Our eldest miss is still the clever one, you settled them with just a few words.”
She added, speaking of the second master: “He lacks real skill but is jealous of the eldest master’s success. Serving before the emperor isn’t easy. People only see the eldest master’s glory; they don’t see the gray at his temples.”
Xia Meng Yan sighed, helpless, and said: “If only a few words could really settle them.” She thought: [In my last life, when I left the Capital, Grandmother nearly hanged herself for Second Uncle’s post. Later the city was full of gossip saying Father despised his younger brother and drove their mother to death, calling him unfilial.]
She considered calmly: [Knowing Grandmother and Second Branch, they wouldn’t dare spread such talk. That means someone else took advantage of the chaos.]
She thought back and judged carefully: [In my last life I loved Lin Ye Lan with all my heart and let him do as he wished. It wouldn’t have been Ping An Marquis Manor stirring the pot.] She lowered her eyes, thinking who would harm the Xia Family.
A sudden wind swept past.
Chun Yue lifted her arm to shield Xia Meng Yan’s eyes and said: “Miss, the wind is picking up, let’s go back.”
Xia Meng Yan’s gaze shifted. She smoothed her sleeve and nodded: “I’m a little hungry. I want the red date balls you make.”
Chun Yue laughed: “This maid will see you back first, then head to the kitchen.”
Back in the inner room, Xia Meng Yan rubbed her forehead, looking a bit tired, then said: “You all go out. I’ll rest for a while. Unless it’s important, don’t let anyone disturb me.”
Nanny Song led the maids out and closed the door.
The instant the door shut, the window was pushed open from outside.
Duan Yi Chen flipped in, glanced at the entry, and teased: “The people in your courtyard are still so careless, they didn’t even station someone at the door.”
Xia Meng Yan kept her eyes closed to rest and said evenly: “If you have business, speak.”
In her last life she often slipped out. Later, her father found out and confined her to the manor. When Duan Yi Chen couldn’t find her, he started climbing her window at night. After a while, Xia Meng Yan had stopped thinking anything of it. She thought now, calmer and older: [That was truly improper.]
Duan Yi Chen came up beside her. Seeing her poor color, he lost his lazy air and said: “I’m here to confess my mistake.”
Hearing “confess,” Xia Meng Yan opened her eyes: “What trouble now?” She saw Duan Yi Chen staring straight at her and added, cool and sharp: “Is it about me?”
Duan Yi Chen nodded, helpless: “I really didn’t mean it…”
She cut him off: “The point.”
He gave up and blurted everything: “Lin Ye Lan is coming back. After I returned to the Capital and saw you tear with Ping An Marquis Manor, I guessed you were serious this time. I thought if Lin Ye Lan came back, you could get a clean separation. A general on campaign can’t return without a summons unless he’s at death’s door, so…”
Xia Meng Yan arched a brow. She already understood most of it.
She asked plainly: “What did you do to Lin Ye Lan?”
Seeing she wasn’t angry, Duan Yi Chen gained a little confidence and said: “The Huo Family army offended the people at Northern Fortress Pass because Qiao Sheng violated a villager. I sent my men to pose as bandits and harass the locals. To fix relations, the Huo troops would surely send someone to wipe the bandits out. My men lured Lin Ye Lan into the woods. Eager for merit, he fell into a trap we set in advance. I don’t know how, but Marshal Huo persuaded the Court’s auditors, and they actually agreed to let Huo Ying Zi escort Lin Ye Lan back to the Capital to heal.”
He grimaced at himself: [Good intentions turned into a mess.] If he had known Xia Meng Yan could force Grand Madam Lin to write a separation letter in just a few days, he wouldn’t have bothered.
Even so, he thought, even if Lin Ye Lan tried to backtrack now, it would be useless.
Duan Yi Chen took out a separation letter and laid it face-up before her: “Do you like this present? Consider it me making up for my mistake.”
Seeing what it was, Xia Meng Yan looked up, shocked: “How did you manage this?”
He puffed up, ready to boast: “Naturally with my silver tongue. You don’t know that I—”
She didn’t let him finish and slid five silver notes onto the table: “Use this.” Then she put the separation letter away at once. She thought with fierce relief: [With this, Lin Ye Lan and I can go our separate ways forever.]
Duan Yi Chen looked at the notes, half helpless and half amused. Fine, he thought, I’m just the errand boy.
“Not enough?” Xia Meng Yan asked when he didn’t move. She reached to take them back, but his hand flashed faster than a falling star. He scooped them up and said with a grin: “Since you’ve given it, how could I take it back?”
His heart felt warm; Yan’er was always generous.
Xia Meng Yan asked, testing a guess: “Do you have people at Northern Fortress Pass?” The pass was a thousand miles from the Capital. Even a fast horse took many days. She suspected he had used secret posts that Marquis Xuan Ping’s household kept hidden at Northern Fortress Pass.
Duan Yi Chen answered as if it were easy: “After I came back, I complained to my father and asked him to check that town carefully and, along the way, have Lin Ye Lan brought back.” In truth, he had begged the Eldest Princess for a long time before she told him about those secret posts.
Xia Meng Yan said softly: “Thank you.” Warmth rose in her chest. The two of them weren’t kin, but he still helped her without hesitation for the sake of their childhood bond. She thought: [In this world, besides my parents, only Duan Yi Chen treats me this well.]
He waggled the silver notes with a laugh and said: “No thanks between us. Besides, I didn’t help for free.” Then he lowered his voice, serious again: “You still carry Lin Ye Lan’s child. Once he gets back, he’ll likely pester you. Do you want me to assign a few people to guard you?”
Xia Meng Yan shook her head: “No. Lin Ye Lan has admired Huo Ying Zi for years. Now that the Huo Family is under the emperor’s suspicion, this is his chance to prove himself. He won’t have time to care about me.” She remembered: [In my last life, he left me while I was in labor to chase after Huo Ying Zi. That shows how much she mattered to him.]
She looked down at her belly. She thought, clear-eyed and cool: [This child is a big unknown. Only if Lin Ye Lan has a child of his own with someone else will he forget about mine.]
Xia Meng Yan gazed out the window. The moon looked like a bright lantern. Even in the dark, it could guide a person home. She spoke calmly, almost light: “Since Lin Ye Lan likes Huo Ying Zi, why don’t we help him?”
Duan Yi Chen saw the sly curve of her smile and knew Lin Ye Lan was about to suffer. He leaned in, teasing and loyal all at once, and said: “I await Miss Xia’s orders.”
At Ping An Marquis Manor, Grand Madam Lin received a letter from Lin Ye Lan telling her to keep Xia Meng Yan steady and saying he would return soon. She passed the letter to Lin Hong, but her face showed no joy.
Lin Hong said after a sleepless night, uncomfortable all over: “Mother, when Second Brother comes back and learns we wrote the separation letter for him, will he blame us?” He grumbled with resentment: “It’s all Xia Meng Yan’s fault. She said she would only take her dowry, then she stormed into Second Branch’s courtyard and claimed the Li Hua wood carved and gilt bed was bought with her dowry. She said we should either move it out, pay for it, or go to court. If outsiders learn that Ping An Marquis Manor survives on a daughter-in-law’s dowry, how can we show our faces?”
“As for money,” he added bitterly, “there wasn’t any, so we could only watch them carry the bed away.”
Grand Madam Lin said with tight anger: “The Xia Family has silver, but Ye Lan’s career matters more. The Lin Family holds a marquisate; we can’t let people come scold us. In that situation, if we didn’t speak first, outsiders would be even more sure we were greedy for the Xia Family’s silver and would look down on Ping An Marquis Manor.” Thinking of Xia Meng Yan made her hands shake with rage. She thought: [How can there be such a shameless woman?] Then she spat, “Pregnant and still making a scene to force a separation. Unheard-of.”
Madam Jiang hadn’t expected Xia Meng Yan to be so bold either. She muttered with a sour face: “I thought we married a God of Wealth. Turns out we married a termagant.”
The steward rushed in with a letter clutched in hand and blurted: “Eldest Master, something terrible—”
Grand Madam Lin cut him off with a scold: “This is a marquis manor, not a market. What is this shouting? Even if the sky falls, it won’t crush this manor.”
The steward drew a deep breath and held out the letter, then said solemnly: “Old Madam, the sky really fell.”