Chapter 080

Chapter 80: Feng Shui Turns in Cycles

By now Tang Mo hid nothing from Xin An and spoke freely about how he had come to know Wang You: three years ago Wang You had come to the marquis’s manor to seek help, but the gatekeeper refused him entry; by chance Tang Mo returned just then, and with a private intent to win Wang You over, he began a secret correspondence with him that has lasted three years.

Tang Mo explained: “Those few storefronts would attract buyers the moment word got out; if not for these inside circumstances, how could I possibly have bought them.”

Xin An suddenly understood; she had been wondering why the Wang family had never come knocking and why a fifth-rank Commander like Tang Gang would have let the matter drop. As it turned out, they had come, but Tang Mo intercepted them.

Xin An asked: “What’s the situation now, short on money?”

“Short,” Tang Mo sighed, then said, “Old Master Wang passed away a few years ago, and Wang You heads the household now. There have been no wars these years, so the military officers have had little off-the-books income; a salary can’t support so many mouths. At the moment his son is to marry and his daughter is to be wed out; betrothal gifts and dowries all cost money, and the residence needs refurbishing, so he had no choice but to sell those four shops.”

Tang Mo went on with another sigh: “A penny can stump a hero. Even with a price twenty percent over market, he still had his son come in person to speak to me. The boy looked so stifled it was hard to watch. Pity I’m no tycoon; what I can put up is limited.”

Those four storefronts were indeed excellent. Why did he not take them for himself? Because acquiring four prime locations at once would strain him; he could only let Xin An have the bargain.

He then asked: “How about it; I’ve arranged to sign the contract shortly. Do you want to come?”

“I’ll pass,” Xin An said. She truly did not want to go out again today, so she rose, fetched a banknote, and handed it to Tang Mo, saying: “Handle everything on my behalf.”

Tang Mo counted the sum and found an extra one hundred taels, so he asked with a grin: “My referral fee?”

“It’s a congratulatory gift for the Wang family,” Xin An instructed, adding: “Make sure they know the money is from me, but there’s no need to make a fuss.”

“You want to win the Wangs over?” Tang Mo teased, then added with a mock frown: “Planning to steal my business?”

Xin An felt the urge to slap him and retorted: “Am I trying to set up shop on my own, let alone snatch business from you?”

Tang Mo rose with a happy chuckle and tucked the banknote into his breast: “Then I’m off; don’t wait dinner for me.”

Watching his hurried back, Xin An smiled. She had to admit that Tang Mo was far more capable than Tang Rong: when he wanted something he went after it himself, never hinting around to push her into acting. Because he had made the first move to cultivate the Wang family, how much trouble had that saved her?

[Seems I should press him tonight and find out how many things I still don’t know.]

On her way to dine in the front courtyard, Xin An again encountered Tang Rong, and the two went in together. Very soon Tao Yi Ran learned that Tang Rong had sent pastries to Xin An; it was Auntie Liu who said so herself. Tao Yi Ran frowned and murmured: “Aunt must have misheard.”

Auntie Liu replied: “I heard it with my own ears from two maids in Qiu Shi Courtyard gossiping. The Heir Apparent did not avoid others at all, and…”

Already losing her appetite, Tao Yi Ran said quietly: “Go on.”

Auntie Liu relayed how, over the past two days, Tang Rong had repeatedly taken the initiative to speak with Xin An. Ordinarily a few words between an elder brother-in-law and a younger sister-in-law and even a gift of pastries would be normal. But not for Tang Rong and Xin An; they had already bowed as bride and groom and were one step away from being husband and wife.

Auntie Liu concluded with concern: “By rights they should avoid suspicion. It isn’t even a full month since the wedding. It would be improper if the talk spreads. Today, both when the Heir Apparent came home and just now when he went to the front courtyard to dine, he was together with the Second Young Madam.”

Tao Yi Ran clutched her chest; this time she truly could not catch her breath. The thought of the two making eyes at each other smothered her; imagining them eating at the same table gave her a headache, so she ordered: “Go call the Heir Apparent home and say I’m unwell.”

Auntie Liu advised that the matter should not be publicized and ought to be handled gradually, but Tao Yi Ran was miserable and could not accept Tang Rong spending time with Xin An. She insisted that he be summoned.

Because Tao Yi Ran insisted, Auntie Liu had no choice. Thus, after only two bites of his meal, Tang Rong saw Auntie Liu appear. When Tang Gang heard that Tao Yi Ran was unwell, his temper flared; Madam Wang asked about symptoms, then told Tang Rong: “If a doctor is needed, summon one; if that won’t do, go to your father. Take his visiting card and request a royal physician from the palace.”

What could Tang Rong say? With an apologetic bow, he took his leave and returned full of helplessness.

Xin An, for her part, kept eating steadily and did not say a word. After he finished, Tang Gang went to the study, and Madam Wang conversed with Xin An for a while before they each retired.

Back at Qiu Shi Courtyard, Chun Lv came to report: “Eldest Young Madam cried, and very hard at that.”

Xin An was in quite good spirits. [This is only the beginning; if she’s already crying now, won’t she be crying herself to death later?]

In the previous life, Tao Yi Ran had people summon Tang Rong away at all hours, as if he were a divine physician whose very presence could cure illness. [Feng shui turns in cycles.]

Meanwhile, next door, a tear-streaked Tao Yi Ran reproached Tang Rong, saying: “You have trampled my dignity into the dirt. I can barely hold myself upright before her as it is, yet you chat with her and send pastries. Have you already changed your mind?”

Tang Rong bristled with anger. He had never imagined that the usually decorous and talented Tao Yi Ran had such a side to her, nor could she understand his difficulties. He forced himself to explain patiently: “We met on the road; naturally one greets the other and says a few words. We live in the same manor; should we act like enemies, as though we don’t know each other?”

He added in frustration: “I didn’t avoid anyone; it was all aboveboard. How did you come to think these things?”

Seeing him remain so adamant, Tao Yi Ran only cried harder. Tang Rong grew more and more irritable and even regretful; the woman before him was nothing like the Tao Yi Ran of his imagination. He had believed that her talent and respectable family would make him look good in public and that after marriage she would surely be of help; who knew it would be like this.

He said curtly: “Since we are husband and wife, you should trust me. Stop listening to gossip from below. I have done nothing to wrong you. Think about it.” In a fit of temper he went to sleep in the study, and Tao Yi Ran wept even harder; this time she truly would fall ill.

Xin An did not know the content of their argument, but when she heard that Tang Rong had chosen to sleep in the study, she grew even happier; those two were the fountain of joy in her otherwise dull life.

When Tang Mo returned, he found her laughing and asked: “What has you so pleased?”

“Come here and I’ll tell you something amusing,” Xin An said, patting the bed. Tang Mo sat on the edge, and Xin An recounted the scene next door as a joke. He grasped it at once and asked with a knowing look: “You did it on purpose. You deliberately let the news reach her ears, didn’t you?”

“Aren’t you clever,” Xin An answered, very pleased. “You don’t know how much of this I suffered before. They would send for him at all times and in all places; sometimes they even came to shout in the middle of the night. A widowed younger sister-in-law putting on a show of being unable to live without her elder brother-in-law—more than once I nearly died of rage.”

She added with dark humor: “Lucky for you that you died early; otherwise sooner or later you’d have been angered to death.”

“Let me tell you,” she said with a glint in her eye, “this is just an appetizer. When I’m in the mood, I’ll serve her a full banquet.”

Tang Mo’s face turned sour. [What karmic debt am I paying off?] Feeling wretched, he muttered, “How did I end up falling into the hands of you two women in succession?”