Chapter 006

Chapter 6: Tang Rong Has No Defense

In the front court, Madam Wang had already apologized once more, while the head of the household, Marquis of Weiyuan Tang Gang, neatly shifted the blame downward as the servants’ negligence.

Lord Tao, suppressing a smile, spoke hypocritically of a destined affinity, Heaven’s arrangement, and the workings of fate in the unseen.

Having checked on her own daughter, Madam Tao sat calmly to converse with Madam Wang. Tang Rong bustled about with apologies and tea service. The atmosphere was hardly tense, as if the matter had already blown over.

Xin An’s father, Xin Kuan, sat with a bland expression, watching coldly as the others performed their play. What bound the Xin family to the Tang family was Tang Gang’s father, the Old Master Tang who died on the battlefield. When the war had turned urgent in those days, it was Xin Kuan who provided money and support for Old Master Tang’s decisive campaign; afterward, the Old Master set a betrothal with the Xin family.

In recent years, the Xin family had indeed sailed even smoother thanks to the Tang family, yet they had not been stingy with their filial offerings to the Tang family. Although theirs was a subordinate relationship, Xin Kuan had no intention of swallowing this insult. He was a salt merchant. If he willed it, the capital teemed with aristocrats eager to woo him, and his standing could surpass that of the Tang family.

When Madam Xin entered, all eyes gathered on her. Xin Kuan asked in a low voice: “How is An?”

Madam Xin, her face dark with anger, echoed him with a bitter edge: “How is she? After something like this, besides crying herself blind, how else could she be?”

She said, “She went off joyfully to be married, and then this happened the very next moment. That foolish child, she sat there stupidly in a bridal chamber that did not belong to her, crying the whole night. Her eyes are swollen like walnuts, and even powder cannot conceal it.”

She added with a tremble, “No one even thought to send a message home.”

Xin Huan immediately brought the blade down. He first snorted, then looked at Tang Rong with open ridicule and said: “And what use would a message be? By then her bridegroom was already rolling in red waves with his own sister-in-law. If she truly made a fuss about it, would Tang Rong and that woman from the Tao family still have the face to live on?”

He bit down hard on the words sister-in-law. Madam Tao could no longer sit still, for this concerned her daughter’s reputation. Her face went ashen as she said: “This matter has already been explained. It was drunken confusion. In that muddle, who could recognize anyone?”

Xin Huan had waited for exactly that line. He let out a derisive laugh, turned the muzzle back on Tang Rong, and rattled off a volley of scorn: “You really are talented. So drunk you could not tell people apart, yet you still remembered the bridal chamber and even succeeded in consummating it. Truly exceptional natural gifts.”

He said, “Did you not previously boast that you had not kept a single bedmate before marriage? It seems you have read your share of filthy booklets in secret and count as quite the seasoned hand.”

He added, “Nor is the bride an ordinary person. I hear you are regulars at the great banquets of the capital. How easy is it to mistake familiar faces and familiar affairs? Or did she grow bored alone in the bridal chamber, pour herself drinks in advance until she was drunk, then let you have your way?”

He tore away the fig leaf the Tang family and the Tao family were trying to hold up for themselves without the slightest politeness. Throughout, Xin Kuan did not open his mouth to stop him. Madam Xin still kept her head bowed, dabbing at her tears, then picked up right after her son finished: “Tang Rong, our families’ betrothal was set by your grandfather. For years the Tang family never mentioned it, and we treated it as a jest, given the difference in rank. But since you came again to propose, you ought to take responsibility for my An.”

She said, “If you did not like her, you had only to say so. The girls of the Xin family are not unmarriageable. Since you sought her properly by the rites, why did you make her lose all face?”

She finished with a sting: “They all call you a gentleman, speaking of self-restraint and propriety, of a gentleman like the chrysanthemum. Are these the deeds of a gentleman?”

Mother and son joined hands. Tang Rong’s face turned pale; he had no defense.

The Tao family were no less furious. At such a moment they could not afford to care about anything else. If they could not dump the chamber pot onto Tang Rong’s head, Tao Yi Ran would be branded licentious, and the Tao family could not bear that.

Madam Tao’s eyes reddened at once. She said: “She too was a new bride. Yesterday my Yiran also went up to the bridal sedan in high spirits, only for this to happen. That girl was spoiled from childhood and knows nothing of the world. When she realized the wrong person, her mind went blank. How can a weak woman compete with a drunk man? If this were shouted from the rooftops, all three families would become the capital’s laughingstock. Just now when I went to see her, she even said she wished she were dead.”

She pressed on: “But can she die, dare she die? It is hard enough to be a woman, one’s body not one’s own to command. If she dies, she drags Tang Rong into ruin. So she gritted her teeth and swallowed this matter whole. This concerns a woman’s entire life.”

She declared, “She has already suffered such a grievance. I will never allow you to slander her.”

With the Tao family’s shove, all fault was heaped onto the Tang family, and in the end it all settled on Tang Rong. In the mouths of the two mothers, Xin An and Tao Yi Ran had kept silent last night for the Tang family’s reputation. Madam Wang felt as if she had lifted a stone only to smash her own foot; in the end, it was her ill-considered arrangements that had caused this.

He was her son after all. Though Tang Gang wished to beat him to death, he had to protect him now. He said, “Our three families have long been on good terms. No one wished for this to happen, but since it has, it must be resolved. Once a woman enters the Tang family gates, she is our daughter-in-law, and that cannot be changed.”

He ordered, “Tang Rong, kneel.”

Tang Rong knelt. Even kneeling, his back was straight. He said, “All began because of me. Whatever punishment is proper I should bear. I only hope this will not implicate Yiran. She is innocent.”

At this moment, his attempt to shield Tao Yi Ran did not strike anyone as responsible; it only made him seem premeditated and ill-intentioned. Tang Gang said in a deep voice, “Punishment there will be, and not little. In this matter, Xin An has suffered the most grievance and should be compensated. Take three tenths from the dowry your mother left and send it to Qiu Shi Courtyard. What say you?”

Madam Wang’s gaze flicked up swiftly, then returned to calm. Tang Rong nodded to accept and bowed his head to Madam Wang: “I trouble Mother to arrange it.”

She answered, “As I should.”

Tang Gang turned his head toward Madam Wang and said: “Since the eldest is married, give him as well the rest of the dowry his mother left.”

Madam Wang smiled and nodded, looking at Tang Rong with gentle affection: “I will sort it and send it to you later. If Elder Sister could see you marry with her own eyes, she would be overjoyed.”

Tang Mo felt a stab of tension. His mother’s dowry had long been all but gone. [With what would they return it?]

Madam Wang gave him a steadying look, then stood to bow in apology to Madam Xin in person. After a stream of fine words, Madam Xin’s expression finally eased somewhat. The Tang family had expected the Xin family to accept the moment and withdraw, but Xin Kuan spoke again: “We have come today to take An away. If we explain the truth clearly outside, people will understand. Though remarriage will not be easy, it is still better than wasting her life in the Tang family’s back courtyard.”

The Tang family could not possibly agree. Madam Wang tried again to persuade him with kind words. Xin Kuan raised a hand and said: “No need to persuade. We agreed before to betroth her to the Tang family’s Heir Apparent. After this, there is absolutely no reason to switch to the second son. She is not an object to be exchanged, and it would be unfair to the second son besides. To avoid future resentment, it is better that each marry elsewhere.”

He said, “I, Xin Kuan, would sooner exhaust my family fortune than fail to find an ideal match for my An.”

To think they could smooth over his daughter’s grievance with a bit of stale dowry, how naive.