Chapter 081

Chapter 81: The Soot-Dark Grand Matron

Tang Mo felt waves of panic. One was his wife from the previous life, who pined after his elder brother and spent her days plotting to put a green hat on him; the other was his wife in this life, who not only had him firmly under her thumb but, just to watch a spectacle, colluded with that scoundrel Tang Rong and ran with the tiger. [Did I crush Tang Rong’s bones to ash in some past life, to deserve this now?]

He demanded abruptly: “The pastries?”

[He wanted to stomp them to mush.]

“I gave them to Xia’er,” Xin An replied with a shrug, then added with a wrinkle of her nose: “The person is disgusting, but the pastries are innocent.”

“Hmph,” Tang Mo snorted, then said, “From now on, don’t respond to Tang Rong for any reason. This is harming the enemy a thousand at the cost of eight hundred to yourself. To feed the other side excrement, you take a bite first?”

“Shut up,” Xin An said, genuinely disgusted by his phrasing.

“My deed?” he asked pointedly.

“Do you think I have arms reaching the sky? I can only get the red deed processed tomorrow,” she answered.

Tang Mo went to wash, then returned to Xin An’s bedchamber and, as a matter of course, took off his shoes and got into bed. Xin An sat cross-legged watching him until he glanced over and declared: “I’ve been busy all day and I’m sleeping here.”

Xin An said nothing for a while, then turned to face him and announced: “I still intend to repay her in her own coin. I want Tao Yi Ran to feel miserable. Stop shielding her.”

Tang Mo opened his eyes and asked: “Which eye of yours saw me shielding her?”

“Both,” she shot back. “Otherwise why won’t you let me do this?”

The more she thought, the angrier she grew. Having endured suffocation in her previous life, she now vented her anger on the spot: “You must be feeling sorry for her. What, do you have a taste for your sister-in-law?”

Tang Mo felt that even with a hundred mouths he could not explain himself. Seeing Xin An still glaring, he relented and said: “I’m only afraid your eyes will go blind and your heart soft again. What if that one across the way lures you off once more? In short, there’s no need for this. If you want to watch a show, I’ll help; I have my ways.”

“Must you personally eat the excrement then?” he added with a grimace.

“Must you say it so disgustingly?” Xin An rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry; I know what I’m doing. I’ll only exchange a few words with Tang Rong when it serves our purpose.”

Only then did Tang Mo reluctantly agree. He shifted closer to her and reported: “I’ve already told people to process the red deed tomorrow. Wang You is very grateful to you.”

“Mm,” Xin An replied.

“He said that when his son marries, he wants to invite you to the house for a cup of celebratory wine,” Tang Mo added.

“All right,” she said.

He glanced at her cautiously and asked: “Are you angry?”

“No,” Xin An said, opening her eyes. “I was thinking whether there’s some way to help Wang You further. If there were a place to settle those with disabilities, or if we established some kind of workshop—even if it didn’t turn a profit—as long as they could support themselves. Keeping them as dependents like this really is a heavy expense.”

Tang Mo said that those people usually tinkered up stools and tables to sell, and even then they struggled to get by. Many had families to feed. If there were sons, they might find rough work to keep food on the table; for daughters, it was far harder.

“He’s thought of opening an embroidery workshop to employ the women and girls,” Tang Mo added, “but embroidery isn’t something any woman can do; not many have truly deft hands.”

“It isn’t urgent,” he said as he turned over. “We’ll see as we go.”

“Sleep,” Xin An murmured.

She closed her eyes with a soft sound of assent. After sleeping for a long time, Tang Mo opened his eyes, turned lightly, and, by the faint sliver of light, gazed at Xin An in a blur until midnight.

In the days that followed, Xin An went out only once to Tang Yong’s residence, where she spoke with Madam Gu for half a day and brought back a basket of grapes. Otherwise she stayed within the manor, admiring flowers and taking leisurely strolls.

Tang Mo also sent her a puppy, something else to tease and play with, and her days were quite pleasant. Unfortunately, Tang Rong had gone to the Ministry of Rites on duty, and the ministry was busy just now; for several days in a row he returned only after dark. Tao Yi Ran continued not to step beyond her courtyard gate, quietly “recuperating.” With no lively scenes to watch, Xin An felt it all a bit dull.

Just then a maid came to announce: “Second Young Madam, Grand Matron has returned. Please go to Chun Rong Hall at once.”

The day of the banquet at Duke En’s residence was approaching, and Grand Matron meant to attend; one could say she had counted the days to hurry back.

“Grandmother?” Xin An exclaimed when she arrived, genuinely startled to see that Grand Matron had been tanned a great deal.

“Grandmother’s darling granddaughter-in-law,” the soot-dark Grand Matron sighed, “tell me, what am I to do?”

Gan Lu stood to one side holding a new outfit, cut from fabric Xin An had gifted earlier. The deep purple, which should have proclaimed wealth, now only made Grand Matron look darker.

Grand Matron said ruefully: “I was hoping on the day of the banquet to outshine those other grand matrons. Now if I’m not mocked, it’ll be Amitabha. Should I feign illness and not go?”

The love of beauty is universal, and the urge to compare persists even into one’s seventies and eighties. Grand Matron regretted her fondness for fishing; she had fished herself as black as charcoal. She had been merry while at it; now it was too late for regret.

Xin An calculated the days and smiled: “We still have five days; that’s enough.”

She instructed briskly: “For the next five days, Grandmother must not leave your room and must not be sunburned again. The Complexion Nourishing Balm mustn’t be neglected. Pearl powder mixed with honey can also lighten the skin. And doesn’t the Imperial Medical Bureau have whitening formulas? I’ll go at once. We’ll nourish the skin properly for five days, give it another treatment on the morning of the banquet, and then apply a thin layer of powder. It should be all right.”

At that, Grand Matron pinned her hopes on her and urged: “Hurry along; Grandmother will be waiting for you.”

Xin An went out, bought the emollient balms and ointments required, and even invited back a female physician. The physician said that Grand Matron’s skin was not only tanned but also sunburned, and that both internal remedies and external applications were required.

“Female Physician Zhao,” Xin An said solemnly, “I entrust my Grandmother’s face to you. On the fifth day she must be radiant.”

Female Physician Zhao judged the task difficult, but faced with Xin An’s generous reward—and since the marquis’s manor lacked for no fine medicines—she agreed at once.

With a physician in attendance, Grand Matron felt at ease. She remembered a promise she had made earlier at the estate and told Gan Lu to choose two treasures for Xin An to take away, to pave a path for Tang Mo’s official career.

Xin An said with a cheerful smile: “Grandmother, your grandson says he wants to rely on his own efforts; he won’t let us seek connections or use backdoors, so we haven’t prepared any gifts.”

“Truly a man of ambition,” Grand Matron said, greatly pleased. When the old marquis was alive, he never sent gifts; others came bearing heavy gifts to beg his favor. After the marquisate passed to Tang Gang, things no longer followed the straight path; whenever anything needed doing, the first thought was not to strive oneself but to look for someone and send gifts.

“Even with having a son,” she snorted, “before he’d even entered the Ministry of Rites he was already thinking of greasing palms and pulling strings, and he even dreamed of prying something out of me. As if.”

She lifted her chin and declared: “Tell the second boy that Grandmother thinks highly of him. Let him throw himself into the fray. What hurdle can’t he cross? When your grandfather started out, he barely knew a handful of characters. He relied on sheer valor; even after winning a battle, he didn’t rush to drink wine and eat meat. When he sacked the enemy’s camp, he first seized their military texts. You could say he fought and studied at the same time to become what he later was. Are today’s days not far better than back then?”