Chapter 115

Chapter 115: Tang Rong’s Regret and Anger

He asked: “You spent the whole day at home doing only this?” Tang Mo had worked hard all day and returned home. As soon as he entered, Xin An showed off her new hair ornaments and freshly dyed nails. She said: “Do not underestimate this. Physician Zhao spent the whole day attending to me and Mother. It is very time-consuming.”

Tang Mo held her fingers and examined them carefully, then concluded: “They do look good. Do not tell me you dyed your toes too?” She answered: “Of course.”

He sat and took a long swallow of tea that soothed his throat, then looked up: “You really are a temptress, and yet no one else can see you.” She leaned closer with a grin: “I see myself. I look at me and my mood improves. I never dyed them before, nor did I ever hire a physician to give me a facial and loosen my back and shoulders. You have no idea how comfortable it is. I lost out before.” He groaned: “I labor myself half to death outside while you enjoy yourself at home. I am so jealous.” He crossed one leg over the other and said with a laugh: “But to come home and see you dressed like a fairy puts me in a good mood at once.”

Xin An laughed aloud: “At least you have good taste.”

After a bout of teasing, Tang Mo asked about next door. He said that on his way back he had seen Tao Yi Ran, just back from outside, her eyes swollen like walnuts: “Do you know what happened?” She said: “I do not.” She truly did not. “Mother probably knows, but she has no intention of telling me.”

She added: “I suppose they went in person to the Count of Chang Ning’s residence to apologize. Madam Tao came in the morning, and they went out together.” Tang Mo sighed: “Countess Chang Ning is a ruthless one. She must have caught them by the handle. Otherwise why would they need so many people to apologize? It is not that big a matter. No need to push it so far.” She said: “Who knows?” She lifted her eyes: “You are not feeling sorry for her, are you?”

Tang Mo fell silent. He said: “I only want to know the inside story.” She snorted: “You are definitely feeling guilty.” He rubbed his forehead: “I will say no more. Let her cry herself hoarse. But what is the inside story?” Xin An said it was certainly about the Tao family, though the specifics were unknown: “But it should be no small thing. If Mother has not spoken, I fear it even involves the marquis’s household.” [In my last life, losing to Tao Yi Ran was truly humiliating. Dealing with her now would be all too easy. Shameful.]

She said: “Tomorrow I will send a gift to the Second Prince’s residence to thank the Second Prince for looking after me at the Water Blossom Banquet.” She continued: “And today I had Auntie Wang deliver some local specialties from the Huai River region to Liao Zhi’s residence, handed personally to Madam Liao. I merely said that we hit it off at the Water Blossom Banquet and asked her to taste some of our Huai tea. She sent a return gift, two packets of pastries from Xu Prefecture, said to have just arrived with the Xu family’s caravan.”

“No matter what, I have made this acquaintance. Since Lady Ma introduced me to Madam Liao, she cannot be left out either. My Huai River specialties are running low. Later I will write to my mother and ask her to send more.” Tang Mo gave her a thumbs-up: “Eldest Miss of the Xin family, Second Young Madam of the Tang family, your abilities are extraordinary. My good fortune indeed.”

She returned a thumbs-up: “Second Young Master Tang, thorough in all considerations.” Xin An felt delighted. She adored the feeling of being praised and thanked after getting things done. It filled her with energy to do more.

Tang Mo was just as pleased, adding that everyone envied the cut of his clothes: “I will host a banquet and invite those people to bring their wives. You can match faces to names. With your skill, I believe that within three months you will swim like a fish in the sea of capital ladies.” He said: “And I will bask in your reflected glory.”

Xin An did not refuse. More friends meant smoother roads, and even superficial goodwill was better than none at all. She added: “There is one more thing.” She turned to take out a sheet of paper and handed it to Tang Mo: “I thought of this today. They are people Tang Rong used to draw to his side. You know I do not know much about matters outside, only some of the people around him. Whether you can win them over depends on your skill.” She said: “Do not approach these few. They are ones I can recall who did not end well.”

Tang Mo read the list, his expression growing complicated. He slowly lifted his gaze to Xin An: “If even with this I cannot surpass next door, then I am a mediocrity.” Xin An made no comment. [If the two of us working together still cannot suppress that brute next door, that would be even more embarrassing.]

Meanwhile, in Chun Hua Courtyard, Tao Yi Ran sat turned to one side on the edge of the bed, shedding tears like scattered pearls. Countess Chang Ning’s tongue was vicious. Though she was of a count’s household, she refused to give the marquis’s household a shred of face, let alone the Tao family. She had trampled the Tao family into the dust and had nearly stopped short of calling her a courtesan from a brothel.

After suffering such humiliation, Tao Yi Ran had thought that for the sake of their being one body as husband and wife, Tang Rong would at least comfort her a little. Instead…

As the Heir Apparent of the marquis’s household, Tang Rong’s face was dark as water. From birth his father had placed high hopes on him, and he had not disappointed. Since the day he began his studies he had worked tirelessly. Without claiming to be gifted in both the civil and the martial, he was nevertheless among the best of the capital’s young men in either field, and the praise of others had followed him.

His life had gone smoothly, with only a regret in the matter of marriage. A merchant’s daughter was not worthy of him, yet it was not something he could change. Opportunities often arrive unannounced. On his wedding day, as soon as he entered the courtyard he sensed something was off. In the bridal chamber, he guessed the bride had been switched. After only the briefest hesitation, he chose to let the mistake stand. Whether the Tao family or Tao Yi Ran, both far surpassed the Xin family and Xin An.

At minimal cost, he had exchanged for a wife to his liking and believed life would thereafter proceed even more smoothly, with his father-in-law to assist him in the Imperial Court and a talented and charming wife at home. Who could have foreseen…

He now felt regret, helplessness, stifled grievance, and anger. When he looked at Tao Yi Ran there was not the slightest trace of affection.

Still weeping, Tao Yi Ran said: “I did not choose the family I was born into. Even at home, few knew Grandmother’s identity, and she has hardly gone out these years. Why must they cling to her birth and refuse to let go?” Seeing Tang Rong unmoved, Tao Yi Ran began to panic. She quickly recalled her grandmother’s teachings and her mother’s instructions from earlier that day, and a plan formed in her heart.

She rose, went to him, and knelt between his legs, her hands resting on his knees. Lifting her chin to reveal a slender white neck, she let a single tear slide down and asked with a tremulous voice: “Lord Rong, do you regret it?” She added softly: “Did I make you lose face?”

Tang Rong met her gaze. He could not deny that at this moment Tao Yi Ran possessed the look of a beauty about to shatter. For an instant his heart tightened and softened, but only for an instant. The Tao family’s disgrace enraged him. She clasped his hand, still tilting her face upward, tears brimming in her eyes and a faint smile at the corner of her lips: “That spring at the Peach Blossom Banquet, when I first saw Lord Rong, I could not help thinking that to marry a man as upright as pine and cypress, as clear and gentle as a mountain spring, would be the greatest blessing.”

“I prayed to the Bodhisattva day and night, yet when I learned Lord Rong already had a fiancée my heart turned to ashes. Then I told myself that if I could not marry Lord Rong, it would not matter whom I married. But Heaven took pity. When my bridal veil was lifted and I saw Lord Rong, I was wild with joy and anxious besides, afraid it was only an illusion…”