Duan Yan and Song Fengsui had both been waiting for word from the yamen. Eight or nine days passed without so much as a breath of news. Then they heard that Kong Youhua had met with several local gentry from the surrounding villages, and they began to suspect that the matter had fallen through.
Even Tax Officer Qin believed Kong Youhua was unwilling to let anyone from the Song family work at the yamen. It was not as though he had accepted any favors from them, and whether the Song family came or not had little to do with him. Still, he was displeased that Kong Youhua would use some local notable as an excuse to fob him off.
It was at that very moment that Kong Youhua suddenly summoned Song Wushen to the yamen.
Everyone grew tense, especially Duan Yan and the members of the Song family, afraid that something had gone wrong.
Who would have thought that Kong Youhua would not only receive Song Wushen in person, but also courteously invite him to tea and ask whether he would be willing to temporarily take up the position of secretary and handle some clerical work for the yamen?
Song Wushen had spent many years in officialdom, and dealing with Kong Youhua was naturally effortless for him. By the end of their tea, he had secured the position and even left Kong Youhua smiling broadly.
Duan Yan had deliberately stayed at the yamen that day so he could wait for Song Wushen. If anything unexpected happened, he would at least be there to handle it at once.
But it had all been a false alarm. After finishing his conversation with Kong Youhua, Song Wushen specifically called for Duan Yan to escort him home.
They went straight to the house in town. Song Fengsui had been waiting anxiously as well, and when he saw that his father had returned safely, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
“How did he change his mind? He suddenly agreed to let Father come work there, and he was so courteous about it. Could there be some trap involved?”
Song Wushen replied unhurriedly, “I sounded him out during our conversation. As it turns out, this military inspector is being transferred next year. He’s received some news and will most likely be sent south.”
At once, Song Fengsui understood most of the situation. Duan Yan, however, was still puzzled. “What does going south have to do with it?”
“Before our family fell, several of Grandfather’s favorite pupils were sent out of the capital to take office in the south. Besides that, your maternal grandfather’s family has considerable influence in Jiangnan.”
Song Fengsui slowly explained it to Duan Yan. “Kong Youhua has made arrangements for himself. Now that he knows where he’ll be posted next, people outside the capital will naturally offer him a few pointers and let him know who is in charge in that area ahead of time.
“He’s doing our family a favor because he wants to pave the way for himself before he leaves.”
Duan Yan finally understood. Indeed, the thing that could move officials like these was always personal gain. He believed Kong Youhua would loosen his stance for the sake of his future. After all, when Duan Yan himself had gone to plead with him earlier, Kong Youhua had also been leaving himself a way forward.
Now that the matter had been settled, Duan Yan arranged a feast and invited Tax Officer Qin. On the one hand, it was to thank him for speaking on their behalf. On the other, before Song Wushen took up his post, he wanted him to become acquainted with the official he would be working alongside. That way, they would be less awkward with each other once they began working together.
Two days later, Song Wushen entered office with due humility.
He had once been an important minister in the capital, and his ability was certainly no boast. In only a few days, he had organized nearly all the documents that had piled up before his arrival. With time to spare, he even helped Tax Officer Qin deal with quite a few minor matters concerning taxation.
Tax Officer Qin admired him immensely and often praised him to Duan Yan in private.
Duan Yan had not needed to smooth things over for Song Wushen at the yamen at all. Song Wushen had managed to establish good relations with everyone there as naturally as a fish taking to water.
Although Song Wushen’s salary was meager, the Song family’s life improved by more than a little once he began working at the yamen. No one in the village dared point fingers or gossip about them anymore. Whenever the villagers encountered someone from the Song family, they greeted them with a smile.
As for food and daily expenses, Song Wushen now had a salary, Song Fengsui earned some money by seeing patients, and Mu Linghui could still sell one or two handkerchiefs each month. They practically had nothing left to worry about.
Seeing that Song Xuemu was the only one working in the fields, Duan Yan feared he would exhaust himself trying to keep up. He simply arranged for some tenant farmers to go help him.
Duan Yan and Song Fengsui had now made their relationship official, so to speak. Whether he helped the Song family or the Song family made things convenient for him—such as when his merchant caravan returned and Song Wushen cleverly used the official registers to save him more than half of the customs duties—the two families helped one another. Naturally, the Song family did not refuse his kindness this time.
With more free time on his hands, Song Xuemu spent his days tinkering at home with drawings. One day it was farming tools; the next, some sort of irrigation channel. He was perfectly content amusing himself with them.
Just as their lives had begun to show a little promise, however, the smoke of war had already been rising in secret, and it struck their briefly relaxed nerves like a heavy hammer.
That day, Song Wushen was working at the government office, handling travel permits and customs documents. He examined the certificates carefully, hoping he might find some information among them.
Some time earlier, he had used his position to issue several blank travel passes and send them out. If anyone on the outside received the signal, they would send back a reply. Yet he had carefully checked them every day and still had found nothing.
Just as he was thinking about this, one travel pass that differed slightly from the others caught his eye.
Song Wushen’s heart tightened. He hurriedly took out the pass and, following the hidden instructions written on it, retrieved three other passes. Then, as he had done countless times before, he read the message encoded in the latest gazette.
When he pieced together the characters, Song Wushen’s heart gave a violent lurch. Afraid he had misread them, he carefully deciphered the message three more times.
Each time, it said the same thing:
The capital is in chaos. Protect yourselves by every means.
His hand trembled visibly as he held the gazette, and he nearly lost his balance.
The message had taken so long to arrive, and had been sent with such extreme secrecy. Song Wushen naturally could not optimistically assume that it referred to some minor disturbance.
Moreover, the fact that they were telling him to find a way to protect himself meant that they were already struggling to save themselves. It was enough to show just how dire the situation in the capital had become.
Although he had come to Yan Town and no aid had arrived from the capital or Jiangnan for so long, he had already had a vague sense that something was wrong. He simply had not expected matters to have become this dangerous.
The thing he had feared most had finally come true, and Song Wushen’s heart grew exceedingly heavy.
He stood silently by the window for a long while. Only when large drops of rain drenched the courtyard outside did he come back to himself. A yamen runner then came to tell him that a servant had brought an umbrella to escort him home after work.
Song Wushen gathered up the stacks of documents and walked out with measured steps.
“The rain isn’t as fierce as it is in summer anymore. Once a quick shower passes, it turns into a steady drizzle. It really does feel like autumn now.”
Song Fengsui rested his chin in his hand and gazed out into the courtyard. The rain had lowered the temperature, making him feel much more comfortable. The plantain leaves rustled beneath the rain, their green growing brighter and more vivid. It had been a long time since he had been able to sit so leisurely and watch the rain.
After a while, he noticed that Duan Yan had not said anything and turned to glance at him. Duan Yan was busy calculating the accounts.
“Still not finished sorting them out?”
Duan Yan replied, “The figures themselves are clear. It’s just that there isn’t much money left in the accounts, which is rather worrying.”
“These past two months, you’ve had Gou San’er and the others make three trips, spending more than three thousand taels of silver. The grain shop has also been buying stock continuously, which keeps costing money, but there hasn’t been much business. You won’t let the grain from the farms be sold either. The ironworks is the only place bringing in revenue, and no matter how well business is going there, it can’t withstand spending at this rate.”
Seeing Duan Yan hoard everything without selling any of it, Song Fengsui was somewhat worried that he had become addicted to stockpiling grain. If they could not get rid of it later, it might go moldy in their hands.
The sight of rainy days in particular worried him. Late autumn was approaching, and when it arrived, the rain would fall endlessly day after day. His concern could not help but deepen.
Thus, even knowing that this might dampen Duan Yan’s spirits, he still tried to advise him tactfully. “At this rate, you’re not merely spending your entire fortune. I see that we’ve already stocked up on quite a lot of grain. Why don’t we stop for a while?”
“There are three farmsteads. The Tian Shui Farmstead has two hundred and twenty dan of grain in storage, Little Wild Goose Farmstead has three hundred and forty, and Pomegranate Farmstead has one hundred and seventy—for a total of seven hundred and thirty dan.”
Song Fengsui counted on his fingers as he calculated for Duan Yan. “The grain shops in the city have another five hundred and forty dan stored away. That includes rice, millet, wheat, sorghum, and the like, but even so, the total is considerable. And that doesn’t include the beans and other provisions you bought, nor the grain stored at the ironworks and in the estate.”
“An adult man only eats one dan of grain every two months. By that calculation, the grain we have on hand would be enough to feed one person for more than two hundred years.”
Hearing him calculate that it would last two hundred years, Duan Yan let out a light laugh. “It sounds impressive, but as you said, that’s only enough for one person.
“Just counting the members of our two families, there are already nearly ten of us. That’s without including the hired workers, the brothers under our command, and the tenant farmers working at the estates. All told, there are no fewer than fifty people who need to be fed. By that calculation, it would only last about four years. And that’s without even considering everyone else who might need provisions.”
After doing the sums carefully, Duan Yan grew even more worried. So far, they had only managed to stock up on some rice and grain—barely enough to make do. They had not yet begun purchasing flour, oil, meat, salt, tea, and all the other necessities.
And now, they had only a little over five thousand taels of silver left to spend…
Watching the man seriously tallying their accounts, Song Fengsui joked, “What’s with this grand display? You’re acting as though you’re stockpiling food for a war. I haven’t seen you training troops, though~”
Duan Yan paused, then smiled. He set down the ledger and joined Song Fengsui by the window. A gust of wind washed clean by the heavy rain blew straight in, and he raised a hand to shield Song Fengsui from it.
“The seasons are changing. Don’t get careless and catch a chill.”
Song Fengsui took the opportunity to slip into Duan Yan’s arms and lean against him.
“Now that we’re together, I don’t want there to be any secrets between us. We should be honest with each other.”
Duan Yan wrapped both arms around him. He caught the faint, cool fragrance clinging to Song Fengsui, and his restless thoughts gradually settled.
“All right. I promise. It’s just that some things can’t be explained in a few words. Give me some time, and I’ll tell you everything slowly when the time comes.”
Song Fengsui was not inclined to let him off so easily. “You always say that—that you’ll tell me once everything has settled down. Do you really think I’ll forget just because enough time passes?”
“What do you mean?”
Duan Yan turned his head to look at Song Fengsui. “When have I ever done that?”
Seeing that he still refused to admit it, Song Fengsui began bringing up old grievances. “During the epidemic, you said that once it was dealt with, you had something to tell me. Has this day not come yet? Have you told me?”
Duan Yan’s heart gave a sudden jolt. Of course, he remembered.
When Song Fengsui saw him fall silent, his guilty gaze shifting away, what had originally been an offhand remark suddenly aroused his curiosity.
“You still refuse to explain yourself?”
“Father went to the office this morning without taking any rain gear. I hope he hasn’t been caught in the rain.”
“I already instructed someone to take an umbrella to the office as soon as it started raining and meet Father there. They’ll drive him straight back to the country estate. He should probably be home by now.”
Song Fengsui narrowed his eyes. “Don’t change the subject!”
Looking at Song Fengsui’s little face drawn tight with displeasure and the stern, interrogating air in his phoenix eyes, Duan Yan knew that Young Lord Song would not let him off easily unless he explained himself today.
He said, “First, you have to promise me that you won’t get angry after I tell you.”
Song Fengsui nodded despite himself. “Fine.”
Duan Yan was just about to explain that what he had wanted to tell Song Fengsui back then was that he should turn back before it was too late and stop loving him—
when a tenant farmer responsible for guarding the gate hurried into the inner courtyard.
“Master, Doctor Song, Lord Song sent word just now that the two of you must return home immediately!”
At his words, both Duan Yan and Song Fengsui’s brows twitched. A light rain was falling outside, yet Lord Song had demanded that they return at once. However they looked at it, there had to be some urgent matter.
Neither of them knew what was going on, but they did not dare delay. They immediately set aside what they were doing, hurriedly made their preparations, and returned home.
