Chapter 017

Chapter 17: My Loss Wasn’t Unjust

In the past, whatever Auntie Cai said, Tang Rong would at least listen. Even if he did not adopt her suggestions, he gave her ample face. This time, he would not let her lay a finger on the dowry and even placed the keys and the inventory ledger with great care into Tao Yi Ran’s hands, asking her to keep them well.

Auntie Cai clenched her fists. She had suffered a heavy setback in the neighboring courtyard yesterday, and the servants of the household were all laughing at her. [She had to restore her authority quickly.]

“Heir Apparent,” she called, stopping Tang Rong just as he was about to escort Tao Yi Ran inside, and said with ceremonial righteousness: “The young madam has entered the gate, and today is an auspicious day. We ought to invite the Marchioness to drink a cup of daughter-in-law tea.”

Both Tang Rong and Tao Yi Ran felt that this was indeed proper. Tao Yi Ran said at once, gentle and dutiful: “I truly should offer Mother tea. Please see to the arrangements, Auntie Cai.”

Auntie Cai immediately ordered the Chun Hua Courtyard servants to make ready. Before long everything was set out. When Tao Yi Ran arrived, she found Auntie Cai standing and holding the memorial tablet of the late Marchioness in her arms. A chair had been placed dead center, with a kneeling cushion before it. Though there was an altar table, Auntie Cai insisted on holding the tablet herself. Tao Yi Ran’s dowry matron, Auntie Liu, instantly understood and smiled as she asked lightly: “Auntie Cai, why have you brought down the late Marchioness’s tablet?”

With a solemn face, Auntie Cai declared: “In life, the late Marchioness most loved the Heir Apparent, and on her deathbed she was least at ease about him. Now that he takes a wife, she must be delighted. Of course she ought to personally drink this cup of daughter-in-law tea.”

Still smiling, Auntie Liu said pleasantly: “The late Marchioness was of noble station and a kind heart. She would surely pity a daughter-in-law. Since Auntie Cai has thought so carefully, why not invite the Marchioness to drink the tea on the late Marchioness’s behalf?”

[Shameless old woman, she actually wants to accept the grand salute meant for the late Marchioness and drink my young lady’s daughter-in-law tea. How dare she.] Auntie Cai’s gaze slid to Tang Rong; she felt certain the boy she had raised would grant her this face.

But Tang Rong’s brows knit tight as he said in a low voice: “Auntie Cai, please return Mother’s tablet to the altar. Mother is kindly by nature and will like Yi’er.”

Auntie Liu’s smile deepened; at her look, two maids stepped forward and moved the chair away. Auntie Cai’s face was as dark as still water as she walked step by step to put the tablet back upon the altar.

Tao Yi Ran knelt. A maid brought the tea. No sooner had the cup been placed in her hands than an exclamation rang out, followed by the crash of the cup on the floor. Steam rose from the tea that splashed across Tao Yi Ran’s knees, scalding her so that tears brimmed in her eyes. Auntie Liu stepped up quickly and said, voice sharp beneath the pleasant tone: “Who prepared this tea? It was sent in still boiling. Was this done deliberately so the late Marchioness would not receive this daughter-in-law tea?”

The reprimand Auntie Cai had intended for Tao Yi Ran stuck in her throat. She turned and slapped the little maid who had carried the cup: “Wretched girl, you can’t even handle a small task.”

The girl dared not speak and hurried to prepare fresh tea. Heart aching for Tao Yi Ran’s injury, Tang Rong moved to support her back to the room for salve, but Tao Yi Ran, eyes red yet stubborn, shook her head and said through clenched teeth: “Mother has not yet had my tea. I am fine.”

Tang Rong’s distress only grew. After that farcical interlude, the offering of tea finally concluded smoothly. He could wait no longer and carried Tao Yi Ran back to the bedchamber in his arms to apply ointment with tender care.

After supper, news from across the way reached Tang Mo, and he let out a derisive laugh, saying to Xin An: “How does she have the nerve to say she’ll yield the yellow jade peony to you? Anyone hearing it would think the piece is already hers.”

Xin An was not surprised by Tao Yi Ran’s little performance; what interested her was Tang Mo’s attitude. She asked with a teasing curl of her lip: “I seem to recall you used to dote on her madly. You should have known she has a nature that avoids contention. Why so indignant now?”

Tang Mo shot her a look: “Didn’t my illustrious elder brother also strut about showing the world how he doted on his wife? And now you want to settle him with a cup of poison too.”

Xin An rolled her eyes, and Tang Mo gave a wry, self-mocking smile as he went on: “Tao Yi Ran has always been lenient with herself and strict with others, gifted at putting on a show and slapping labels on people. Tang Rong is still counting on her to fight for that yellow jade peony. Little does he know she’s thinking the same thing. Both are waiting for the other to fight on their behalf. Do you think they’ll end up like dogs snapping at each other?”

Xin An had no mood to dwell on it. A complicated mix of feelings tugged at her as she said quietly: “My losing to Tao Yi Ran wasn’t unjust.”

Tang Rong, with her, had only used her; with Tao Yi Ran, he truly liked her. Whether one is liked or not makes an obvious difference.

“In my previous life,” she continued, voice even, “I suffered greatly at Auntie Cai’s hands. First, because Tang Rong did not care for me and thus did not care what grievances I bore. Second, because the Xin Family’s standing was not high, Auntie Cai never stopped making an issue of my birth. Though I had the wit to refute her, I worried about making things difficult for Tang Rong. Auntie Wang and Chun Yang and Chun Lv took their cue from me, and we all lived stifled.”

“Tao Yi Ran, whether with you or later once she attached herself to Tang Rong, always lived comfortably and never suffered the least grievance.”

She let out a faint laugh at herself: “To think that today I secretly hoped Auntie Cai would grind Tao Yi Ran a bit. How ridiculous. Tang Rong is a man with eyes and a heart; in the past, he simply didn’t see me.”

Tang Mo turned, incredulous, his fingers tightening around his cup. He demanded, pacing his words: “Explain yourself. ‘Later she attached herself to Tang Rong’—how did that happen, and when?”

Listless, Xin An did not care to elaborate. Hands on hips, Tang Mo paced back and forth through the room and said, half to her, half to himself: “Was it coercion from Tang Rong? Well, they, a mother and daughter with no backing in the household, who knows how you might have bullied her. It was only right for her to seek help from Tang Rong.”

Lifting her eyelids, Xin An said coolly: “If that kind of self-deception makes you feel better, by all means.”

Tang Mo stopped in his tracks, looked back, and let out a bitter smile: “It is indeed a bit of self-deception.” [Even while I was alive, the two of them were already exchanging glances. Why would coercion be necessary?]

“You say she never had me in her heart,” he pressed on, frowning, “so why did she agree to marry me? That was something I never figured out in my last life.”

“Of course she was betting on your Mother’s skill,” Xin An said, voice steady, “betting on whether you could be the one laughing at the end. You can’t be unaware that the Tao Family originally meant to send her to the Second Prince’s residence as a concubine.”

One glance at Tang Mo’s blank expression told her he truly hadn’t known. Xin An exhaled a long breath and said: “I learned it idly, gossiping with other madams. She had invested effort in the Second Prince, and the prince naturally had a fancy for her. But the Second Prince’s Consort’s father not only commanded troops, he was decisive by temperament. He personally stepped in and humiliated her. The Second Prince needed his consort’s family to accomplish his aims and naturally did not dare offend her.”

“Though the matter was not trumpeted, quite a few households knew. That being so, there weren’t many families willing to take her. After picking and choosing, you became the tallest among the short and were selected.”

“If you had ultimately inherited the title, she would have profited. Now that it’s switched to Tang Rong, a proper Heir Apparent, would she hesitate?”

Tang Mo gave a bitter smile. In that instant, he understood why Tao Yi Ran had always looked down on him. He had once thought he simply wasn’t good enough. Now he realized he had only been the tallest of dwarfs, never anyone’s first choice.