Chapter 458 — A Quiet Demotion

Chen Jia was hugely relieved. "Good, good!"

Jiang Yan was puzzled. "You don't want me to go plead with my brother for you?"

"No, no." Chen Jia said hastily. "It was all Huzi's own doing." And he told the whole story from beginning to end.

So Jiang Yan repeated Jiang Ling's words to comfort him. "...My brother is not the sort who fixes his eyes on a man and will not let go. Give it a few days and it will all blow over."

Song Yantang was not the sort to fix his eyes on a man and not let go? Then who on earth could be called the sort who fixed his eyes on a man and would not let go?

Chen Jia had to laugh at that, but before Jiang Yan he dared not show the slightest trace, afraid that if she pressed him, he would have no good answer to make; so he simply laughed along with her and agreed, and then told her why he had come. "The affairs outside are very tangled. Say nothing of a lady in the inner chambers — even a man like me, long used to the ways of officialdom, must turn a matter over two or three times in his head before he dares open his mouth. If you meet with such things in the future, you must never meddle. Do you understand?"

Jiang Yan was taken aback.

Chen Jia thought her as blank as a sheet of white paper, and feared his words would not convince her. After a moment he said, "Though this time I have lost my post as Commissioner of the Zhenfu Division of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I have been compensated with a hereditary Centurion title. This is likely the result of arrangements made behind the scenes by the Young Lord and Lord Shi. It is not as you imagine — that I have suffered some punishment from the Young Lord. Huzi is a child who does not understand such things, and he clamors at random. Do not listen to his nonsense." Then, with relief, he added, "It is lucky you did not go straight to the Young Lord to plead for me this time. Otherwise we would have made a great fool of ourselves."

This speech turned Jiang Yan's face bright red.

To think she had imagined that Chen Jia had been dragged down by her, and that in his heart he must be laughing at her for not knowing the height of heaven and the depth of earth. She wished she could crawl into a crack in the floor. In a low, ashamed voice she said, "I understand," and turned to go.

Chen Jia saw that her expression was not right, and in a fluster called Jiang Yan back. Yet when Jiang Yan meekly stopped and stood with her head bowed, waiting for him to speak, he gazed at her glossy black hair and for a moment did not know what to say. But saying nothing was even less fitting. So in confusion he said, "Have I spoken too harshly? I meant it for your good — you must not take it to heart. Sometimes you think too much, and keep everything bottled up inside. That is how people are sometimes: the more a person mulls a thing over alone, the more easily he imagines the worst, and before anything has happened he has frightened himself half to death. I know you are not at ease in this household. I think Mistress Wu is a forthright sort. If anything troubles you, why not talk it over with her..." As he spoke, he grew uneasy. He had meant to take this meeting — perhaps the last he would have with Jiang Yan — to hearten her well, so that in the future she might face things with a little more courage. But the flavor of his words had changed entirely; they had turned into a scolding of her. She was thin-skinned to begin with, and now she would likely be so hurt she would shed golden tears. He hastily pulled the conversation back. "But you did very well this time. You did not go straight to the Young Lord. I have only just learned of this matter. At the time I was thinking, this is the end — the Young Lord will surely misunderstand. I never thought you would be so cool-headed and would not have spoken to the Young Lord yet. It is I who came rushing over, and now I seem rather ridiculous..."

But before he could finish, Jiang Yan, who had been standing there quietly, suddenly turned and ran.

Chen Jia was dumbfounded.

He hurried after her.

But just as he reached the gate of the courtyard, Duan Bing stopped him. "Zanzhi, I brought you this news because the mistress consented to it. If you go charging into the inner courtyard like this, I fear it would be a breach of a gentleman's conduct."

Chen Jia's forehead was beaded with sweat from anxiety, but he calmed himself.

Yes!

He could no longer be entangled with Jiang Yan.

If Song Yan or Dou Yan came to hear of it, what was nothing would become something.

The thought flashed through his mind, and he panicked. He seized Duan Bing's sleeve and said, "Brother Duan, what did you say just now? My meeting with Miss Jiang was agreed to by the mistress?"

Duan Bing nodded.

Chen Jia felt the ground slip from under his feet, and nearly fell.

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Brothers and sisters, here is today's update.

o(n_n)o~