Chapter 032

Chapter 32: Beating Tang Rong to Vent Anger

After several days of eating and drinking outside, Tang Mo felt unwell; he sprawled on Xin An’s beauty couch with his eyes closed to rest. When Chun Yang brought hangover soup and a bowl of vegetable porridge, he lifted his gaze and asked with lazy suspicion: “So considerate?”

He added with a smirk: “What, worried that if I drink myself to death there will be no one left to do your bidding?”

Chun Yang was ready to snap back, but Xin An lifted a hand for her to withdraw and rest. Chun Yang still shot Tang Mo a daggered glance as she left, thinking he had no conscience at all.

Tang Mo watched her go and muttered with mock injury: “Why are all your girls so temperamental?”

He downed the hangover soup and instantly felt better; the light porridge soothed him further until his whole body loosened. Lounging even more shamelessly on the beauty couch, he grinned. Xin An only smiled without answering his tease and instead asked whether things had gone smoothly today.

He answered with a shrug: “Not bad; now we wait for the result.”

Propping his head on one hand, he mused: “I used to have little contact with Second Uncle and rarely saw the younger male cousins. I spent half a day there today and ate a meal. Second Uncle struck me as straightforward, not the least bit affected.”

Xin An sat beside him and said with quiet clarity: “I did not know before either. Only when something happened to the marquisate did I see it. At that time everyone avoided us as though we carried the plague. He had been separated from the household early, was not implicated, and had never enjoyed benefits from the marquisate. He could have stood aside and watched the spectacle, yet he was the one who ran about most diligently.”

She sighed: “I regretted it then. If we had given him a little help in ordinary days and been two degrees closer, how good that would have been. First, our hearts would have felt easier; second, with him better off, he would have had more strength to help rescue us.”

Staring into her eyes, Tang Mo asked bluntly: “Can you tell me what exactly happened to the marquisate? If we know, we can get ready and avoid some of it, can’t we?”

Xin An’s gaze chilled as she answered coolly: “That kind of thing will never happen in this lifetime.”

Seeing she would not speak further, Tang Mo grew antsy and scratched his head. He coaxed with a half-playful plea: “My aunt?grandmother, tell me, won’t you? How am I supposed to sleep tonight if you keep me in suspense?”

Xin An’s face darkened little by little. She snorted and started to rise, but he caught her hand in a quick grip and begged: “Say it, please.”

He tried again, this time solemn: “This is the first time in two lives I have begged you. Please, tell me.”

Xin An sat back down and said in a steady voice: “Your son embezzled on a massive scale and also got entangled in factional strife. After the scandal broke, he planted the crimes on my son. My son died wrongfully in prison. Second Uncle was the one who collected his body.”

Tang Mo fell silent.

[He had wanted to ask about his son Tang Hui for a long time, but the words had always stuck in his throat.] He had not been favored by his own father; naturally, his son had not been valued either. After he himself died, how had his son managed to pin the charges on Tang Xuan?

A single possibility came to him; his brows drew tight. Looking at Xin An again, a hint of pity flickered in his eyes. He ground out between his teeth: “That creature Tang Rong is worse than a pig or a dog. How could he do such a thing!”

Xin An dabbed the corner of her eye and said with a brittle little laugh: “I thought you would be pleased.”

“Pleased?” He let out a self-mocking chuckle and said: “Tao Yi Ran looked down on me. Under her influence, Tang Hui had only his Eldest Uncle in his heart. He thought I, his father, only made him lose face. How old was he then?”

“About four,” Xin An answered.

Remembering, Tang Mo closed his eyes and said quietly: “He was disrespectful to me. I scolded him, and he shouted that he did not want me for a father, that it would be better if his Eldest Uncle were his father.” [A child’s small words stab deepest at a father’s heart; even now, the memory made his chest ache.]

Their moods soured together. Xin An, getting more and more frustrated the more she thought, punched him lightly in the shoulder and snapped: “It is all your fault. Why did you ask at all?”

Then she declared with stubbornness: “I do not care. Tomorrow go and make Tang Rong uncomfortable so I can feel better.”

Tang Mo rubbed his brow and offered with wicked cheer: “How about I send someone to kidnap him and lock him in a secret room? Then whenever you are in a bad mood, you can go give him a few lashes.”

Xin An arched a brow and countered crisply: “Have your men throw a sack over him and give him a thorough beating. It will vent the anger.”

His eyes brightened with sudden mischief. He had not intended to use such underhanded means, but now, with his temper clogged, there was nothing for it but to beat Tang Rong to let off steam. He grinned: “I will arrange it. Just wait for the news.”

Xin An nodded, already feeling lighter before a single blow had been struck. Tang Mo changed the subject and said he had asked Yan Shi Mao to help smooth things over. When she learned he had spent one thousand taels, Xin An calmly gave her view: “No one can predict what comes next. We may not necessarily succeed in the end. We must leave ourselves a way out.”

She added, practical as ever: “Whatever the retreat, we will still need silver.”

Tang Mo agreed at once and confessed that he actually had two shops and a teahouse run in partnership with Yan Shi Mao and others; each month he earned a little: “I can take home a few dozen taels.”

“I want to do some business,” Xin An said, “but I cannot let outsiders know it has anything to do with the marquisate. To put it plainly, even if one day the marquisate is raided, these ventures must not be traceable to it.”

Tang Mo sat up, convinced that planning ahead was only wise, and asked: “Do you have suitable people?”

Xin An nodded. The Xin family were salt merchants with plenty of stewards under them; transferring one over would not be difficult. She added, choosing her words with care: “But I will need to borrow your name, or the marquisate’s name. You understand me?”

Tang Mo did. He summed it up neatly: “You want to borrow the marquisate’s banner to shield your ventures while keeping anyone from knowing the businesses were originally yours.”

“That can be done,” he said after a beat. “The old man will not meddle in such things; at most he will scold me twice. But I want half of your businesses.”

“On what basis?” Xin An shot back at once.

Tang Mo answered as if it were only right: “Because you need me. What I can provide is more than protection, all right? Look, you boss me around whenever you like; I am also responsible for thrashing the fellow next door to amuse you; I must be filial to your parents on your behalf. As your son-in-law, I already enjoy their favor. Should you not reward me with something?”

Xin An laughed and teased: “Have I not been showing filial piety to your mother?”

“Think about how many benefits you have coaxed out of my grandmother and my mother these past few days,” he said cheerfully. “Do not be stingy. You will have plenty of occasions to need me. I am the kind of man who dares to put himself on the line. Believe me, at most in half a year my mother will start urging you to conceive. At that time I will claim I have a hidden ailment so as never to make things difficult for you. Is that not worth half?”

Xin An’s expression turned very complicated. Compared with Tang Rong’s brand of shamelessness, this different kind of shamelessness left her with no reason to refuse at all. She said simply: “Deal.”

Tang Mo smiled in triumph, hopped off the beauty couch, cupped his hands, and bowed solemnly as if before a superior: “From now on, I must ask Boss Xin to take care of me. I, your humble follower, will get rich by your side. Should you have any orders, I will go through fire and water, laying down my life to share Boss Xin’s burdens.”

Xin An could not stop laughing: “Well said. From now on, I must also ask Second Young Master for his guidance.”

Only a short while earlier both had been stifled and angry; now their moods were buoyant and the bond between them closer. When night grew late, Tang Mo finally returned to his own rooms. Lai Lai, who had kept watch outside the courtyard, hurried up to serve him and asked with a grin: “I thought you would stay over today, Young Master. How is it that you have come back?”

Though he did not know what had been said in the room, he had heard the laughter clearly. Tang Mo flicked a knuckle lightly against his forehead and said with mock sternness: “Your young master is a gentleman. Do not let your mind wander.”

Lai Lai pouted and muttered under his breath: “You are properly married. What has that to do with being a gentleman?”