Chapter 190

Chapter 190: An Absurd Affair in Broad Daylight

In the Tao family’s study, Tang Rong had already told Lord Tao that he would help him obtain an outside posting to a good place, and he analyzed the situation in the capital, the benefits and the risks. He did not, however, say outright that he wanted his father-in-law to help him raise silver; to say it too bluntly would be inelegant.

He added: “As for Yi’er and what happened at the Moon Inviting Banquet, right and wrong are already hopelessly tangled, and pursuing the matter is useless. But my parents at home, as well as Grandmother, are very angry, so we can only have Yi’er stay with her family for a while.”

Lord Tao did not object, only said: “When she returns, keep a tighter rein on her. That child is naive and ignorant, timid too, easily provoked.”

Tang Rong replied: “Let us simply say she is unwell and needs to recuperate at home.”

[Lord Tao knew his own daughter’s temperament as well as anyone. In his eyes, Tang Rong was a treacherous wolf; Tao Yi Ran was no match for him. Those so-called tricks for managing a man were useless against Tang Rong. With the status of the marquis’s house and Tang Rong’s qualities, what beauty could he not obtain?] [If Tao Yi Ran kept making a spectacle of herself, Tang Rong’s remaining patience would be used up sooner or later. He was speaking civilly today only because he respected Lord Tao’s current office. If Lord Tao fell, the marquis’s household would make Tao Yi Ran vanish from public view with haste.] [How she would vanish had too many possibilities. If they were ruthless, even her life might not be spared.] [To be safe, he had to think of another method to restrain Tang Rong.]

With private calculations on both sides, father-in-law and son-in-law once again reached a shared objective. When they came out, both faces had eased. Lord Tao said: “Since you are here, go and see Yi’er. She has been blaming herself and grieving these days, and she has grown much thinner.”

Tang Rong nodded, and just then he saw Bao Qin peering from beside the rockery. When she spotted him she hurried over, and he conveniently went with the current straight to Tao Yi Ran’s courtyard.

A beauty is beautiful at any time. Before him, Tao Yi Ran wore thin garments; when she lifted her eyes, tears fell before words. Her figure was slender as a willow, fragile as if it might break. A lock of hair hung over her chest, adding charm and softness. Then she darted forward and threw herself into Tang Rong’s arms; her repeated “Lord Rong” made his heart soften, and the reproach he had intended to speak would no longer come out.

Her slender fingers traced his forehead, his brows, the bridge of his nose, and finally his lips, as if the two had just weathered life and death, or had been apart for ages.

At first filled with resentment toward Tao Yi Ran, Tang Rong’s heart now softened. He had meant to push her away and ask what truly happened that day, but Tao Yi Ran clutched him tightly and sobbed in a muffled whimper.

They pressed close, with only a thin layer of cloth between their skin. Perhaps Tao Yi Ran was deliberately tempting him, or perhaps it was the affection and longing brimming in her eyes. Having abstained while recuperating from his injuries, Tang Rong quickly surrendered under this assault, lifted her into his arms, and carried her toward the bed. He did not see the faint curve of Tao Yi Ran’s lips.

She gasped, voice trembling: “Lord Rong, your wound…” He answered curtly: “It is nothing.” She pleaded in a whisper: “Lord Rong, more gently…”

At the door, Bao Qin stared, stunned, unable to believe that in broad daylight the Heir Apparent and the young madam were together.

Qing Mo was speechless, thinking his Heir Apparent had grown increasingly unruly since marriage; if the young madam crooked a finger, he even cast ritual propriety aside. [If this were to spread, and then be embroidered by those with an agenda, his scholarly reputation would be in tatters.]

After roughly the time of a stick of incense, the stir within the room gradually subsided. Sheened with fragrant sweat, Tao Yi Ran nestled against Tang Rong’s chest, inwardly pleased. [She felt triumphant: handling Tang Rong was not difficult.]

After his release, Tang Rong only lightly pushed her away, rose, and dressed. When he had set himself in order, he once again fastened onto her the jade pendant that the Grand Matron had gifted her, then said: “For the next few days, stay at your parents’ home for now. When I have persuaded Father and Grandmother, I will come to take you back.”

She answered softly: “I will listen to Lord Rong.”

Tao Yi Ran sat up, her fragrant shoulders bare; she made no move to tidy herself. Instead she slipped from the bed and nestled into Tang Rong’s arms again, murmuring: “I will wait for Lord Rong here. Lord Rong must come early.”

Tang Rong gave a low “Mm,” then drew her by the hand to sit on the edge of the bed and told her to recount that day in full. Up to the time before the Moon Inviting Banquet, Tao Yi Ran told the truth; once it came to what followed, she naturally claimed she had been compelled: “Fortunately, my sister-in-law stepped in and pinched me, and that gave me the chance to leave.”

She went on: “I ruined things and was frightened. I meant to go home and ask Mother’s advice, but when she heard of it she blamed my sister-in-law for being too harsh, refused to let me return, and said she would demand justice for me.”

“I tried to stop her but could not. My sister-in-law has been wronged on my account. As for my injuries, they only look alarming; they are fine.”

Her already loose robe slipped at once, revealing bruises that had not yet faded along her arm; when she lifted her hand, the marks beneath her armpit were even clearer. Tang Rong frowned and said: “Your sister-in-law was indeed heavy-handed.”

Tao Yi Ran replied: “Do not blame her, she did not mean it.”

Tang Rong sighed. In this moment Tao Yi Ran looked particularly delicate and lovely, and his heart again began to stray, but his reason held. He said: “You have been wronged. Be good and wait for me here. I will come to fetch you soon.”

Husband and wife: one with honeyed words and a dagger in the heart, the other lying without blinking. Truly a match made in heaven.

After a spell of intimate murmuring, Tang Rong again felt his self-control slipping. This time Tao Yi Ran pushed him away and said, cheeks flushed: “Mind your wound.”

Tang Rong only grew more fond of her bashfulness. He parted from her with reluctance, went out, and left at once. Once inside the carriage, his expression turned grave. [He concluded that Tao Yi Ran had been used by the Crown Princess as a pawn. He did not know whether Tao Yi Ran was too foolish to grasp it, or whether one was willing to strike and the other willing to bear it. And she had lied; Father had not wronged her.] Thinking of the pleasure just now, a hint of ease returned to his face. [In his view, such little tricks before him did no harm; they were even a touch novel.]

At that very time, Auntie Cai had already sent the troublesome Concubine Yue away and entered Tang Rong’s storeroom. After confirming no one was around, she pulled out a key and opened a chest. The chest held bottles and jars, and they were not small. It would not be easy to take them out without a sound. Soon enough, that chest was locked again, and she opened the next.

She opened several chests in a row. Aside from bottles and jars, there were old bolts of cloth. Finely worked jade ornaments and valuable trinkets were nowhere to be seen; as for silver, there was not even a shadow of it.

She muttered under her breath: “We have met a thief. Madam Wang has a very black hand.”

By instinct, Auntie Cai concluded that the fine things from her mistress’s dowry had all been swallowed by Madam Wang. Her mistress’s dowry had not been small; in addition to costly gold and jade, there had been fields and shops. After these years, she should have accumulated a tidy sum. How could only this be left?

She knew nothing of the true cause, and she ignored why Tang Rong had always forbidden opening the chests. To make these few chests look decent, Madam Wang had even padded them out with items from the Wang residence’s storeroom. She had indeed moved some pieces around, but only by replacing a few; the count had not decreased. The final inventory had also been submitted for Tang Rong to review.

At this moment, Auntie Cai was torn. [If she rashly went to expose Madam Wang, she could not explain where the key came from. If she pretended ignorance, what should she do in the future?] Steeling herself, she simply chose one relatively small object from a chest, then used a few pieces of cloth to conceal it and carried it out of the storeroom. She went to the study, put the key back, and acted as though nothing had happened.