Perhaps it was due to the blood connection and telepathic bond between siblings—Song Yan also happened to have just written a letter to send to Song Chuyi, and had begun pondering how to reply to Song Jue. Although Song Jue had told him to make all decisions himself, for the sake of caution, no matter what he did, Song Yan would run through it several times in his mind first. Only after feeling there were no problems would he write to Song Jue explaining what he planned to do—naturally, he wouldn’t receive a reply. With the vast distance between them, if he waited to receive Song Jue’s letter before making decisions, the daylilies would probably have already withered. This was merely to set his own mind at ease.
After pondering for a long time, he finally finished writing. He had Wangyue personally take the letter to Second Master Wang, asking Second Master Wang to send it to the capital. Then he headed to Young Master Wang’s study. Young Master Wang was apologizing profusely to Cui Yingtang and Cui Yingxun. His mother and grandmother had both severely berated him, instructing him to speak more favorably on their behalf before the two Cui family in-laws, sincerely hoping they could maintain this marriage.
Cui Yingxun was still somewhat hesitant and gave Cui Yingtang a meaningful look. The two came out together and happened to encounter Song Yan. Not avoiding Song Yan despite his youth, Cui Yingxun discussed with his second brother, “What the Wang family says does make sense emotionally and logically. Old Master Wang even personally dragged his ailing body here to apologize to us. Should we first write home to ask Mother and Third Sister-in-law’s opinion, then write to Shaoting and his wife to discuss it?”
Song Yan, standing nearby, couldn’t help but frown. Cui Huaying had spoken very clearly—she was unwilling to continue living with someone like Young Master Wang. Though he wasn’t a bad person, he loved men, yet deliberately hid this and deceived her into marriage. She was unwilling to maintain appearances by living with someone who could never be a proper husband.
Cui Yingtang also shook his head upon hearing this, immediately rejecting his suggestion. “That won’t do. Before we came, it’s not as if we didn’t receive sister-in-law’s letter. Sister-in-law made sense—is our family the kind that only cares about reputation and disregards the life and death of our descendants? Since Huaying has said she’s unwilling to continue living in the Wang family, and it is indeed the Wang family’s fault, naturally each should go their separate way.”
Cui Yingxun had only thought the Wang family’s attitude in admitting fault seemed sincere, and Young Master Wang appeared to know his error. Thinking that if things continued this way, they could still get by reasonably well, he had mentioned it to his second brother. Since he now knew his sister-in-law’s thoughts, he naturally wouldn’t say more. He nodded, “That’s fine too. In any case, no matter what, she’s our Cui family’s daughter.”
Only then did Song Yan breathe a sigh of relief. Seeing Young Master Wang inside hanging his head dejectedly, not knowing what he was thinking about, Song Yan headed toward Cui Huaying’s quarters. Cui Huaying had nearly finished packing her things. In truth, the Wang family were indeed shrewd—upon hearing that the two Cui family in-laws were also coming, and seeing that Cui Huaying looked absolutely determined to leave, they had already separated out her courtyard. Unless Cui Huaying herself gave orders, no one else from the Wang family would come to disturb her.
She was happy to have this peace and quiet. The anxious feelings from the night before her wedding now seemed like a lifetime ago when she thought back on them. She simply decided not to dwell on it anymore—after being hurt once, she would know how to walk the path ahead. As for the future, she truly wasn’t very worried. Setting aside the fact that Cui family daughters had no shortage of suitors and this wasn’t her fault to begin with, even Song family’s Second Cousin, after remarrying, hadn’t she also lived splendidly? She smiled at Song Yan, “I’ve already packed most of my things myself. I’ve asked Madam Wang to help me find a broker to sell the villa, the suburban estate, and the forest land. The price is quite fair—I didn’t suffer any loss. When your business is finished, I’ll go to the capital with you.”
In comparison, Young Master Wang, this grown man, seemed more like an abandoned, resentful wife. Song Yan couldn’t help but smile. “Understood. When the time comes, I’ll give older sister and the others advance notice.”
Cui Huaying knew he had come out of concern, and her smile grew even more radiant. “Go ahead and tell them. Also tell them not to worry about me—I’m doing well. Finding out what kind of person he is just half a month after marriage is better than suffering for a lifetime.” Then she asked Song Yan, “How are things going with your matter?”
Song Yan looked up at the sky, seeing the sun had nearly reached its zenith, and stood up. “It’ll be within the next day or two. I’m heading over there now. I’ll come find you to talk later.”
He quickly ran to the study to find Second Master Wang, wanting to pull Second Master Wang along to Changfeng Tower. Second Master Wang thought of how Lin Yuanchuan had declined Old Master Chen’s banquet invitation a few days ago and couldn’t help asking, “Didn’t you say the Prefect didn’t need to go?”
“How could it be that he didn’t need to go? Haven’t I been telling the Prefect to reschedule?” Song Yan watched him go behind the screen where servants helped him change into going-out clothes before emerging again, then said, “Of course we had to let Old Master Chen cool his heels for a few days first. When Old Master Chen can’t find any channels to ask about Yang Qing’s situation, that’s when he’ll become anxious. Once he’s anxious, he’ll easily reveal his hand.”
Second Master Wang didn’t understand why Song Yan could be so certain Old Master Chen was the mastermind based solely on one visiting card from Old Master Chen, but he had no objections. Whether it was true or not, they would know after listening.
When they arrived at Changfeng Tower, the banquet in the adjacent room had just begun. He stood by the window listening for a while, then turned back to tell Song Yan, “Eunuch Feng, the supervising eunuch of Nanjing, is also there.”
Old Master Chen had always had a good relationship with Eunuch Feng, and was even closer to Eunuch Feng’s nephew Feng Yinglong. It was normal that he would invite him as a co-host this time. Song Yan nodded, then heard a knock at the door of his own room.
Second Master Wang thought the food and drink had been brought up. When he looked back, he saw a middle-aged scholar in his forties wearing everyday clothes enter. He glanced once, and when he looked a second time, he couldn’t help but stand up and cup his hands toward the middle-aged man. “Censor Shi!”
Why on earth had Song Yan invited the Jinling Supervising Censor here as well?! He turned back to look at Song Yan in astonishment, and suddenly felt a pang of worry for Old Master Chen in the adjacent room—this was clearly inviting someone here to deliver a killing blow. If Old Master Chen truly was as Song Yan said, coming to plead on Yang Qing’s behalf, then Old Master Chen was finished. Censor Shi would impeach him into prison without fail—and not just imprisonment. Back in the day, how many capital officials had Censor Shi successively brought down? This was a famously tough customer who couldn’t tolerate even a grain of sand in his eye. More importantly, this Censor Shi was Censor Tao’s man! Not only was he Censor Tao’s subordinate, he was also Censor Tao’s examination classmate! No wonder Song Jue felt so assured leaving all these matters here to Song Yan. If his Wang family had such a capable descendant, he too would dare to send him alone to Taizhou! This whole nest of Song family members had truly become spirits!