Chapter 197

Chapter 197: Zhu You Spectacularly Falls into a Pit

The marquis’s household was small in number and the manor tranquil. Thinking that many more people would soon come, and that trouble might well follow, Tang Mo’s brows drew together: “They should arrive only after the New Year, right?”

It was already this late in the year. Why come to the capital now? Better to spend the New Year at home. Once you came to the capital, returning was not easy.

Xin An murmured, “Who knows?” Then she reflected, [I have become lazier and lazier. In my past life I was so industrious, carrying the inner residence of the marquis’s household on my shoulders and still going out to socialize. I felt inexhaustible strength. Now I am clearly so much younger, yet I do not want to move at all.]

There was nothing in this that Tang Mo could help; he had his own matters and could not rest either. [If you want to advance, want that title, want to shine before others, you must pay for it behind the scenes.]

The two each drank a bowl of snow pear with bird’s nest, then rose and strolled slowly to the front courtyard for the meal. From a distance, one might almost think they had both given up on striving.

Night fell, the lanterns came on. Curfew had not yet struck, and teahouses and taverns were still lively. Beaten out of Duke Xiang Manor, Zhu You found a restaurant to dine in and dragged along two congenial cronies, Zhao Wen and Ma Qi.

After three cups of wine he was already slightly tipsy and poured out his grievances to them: “You have no idea how vicious that shrew Huang Wei is. When she hit me, she meant to do real harm. If I had persisted back then, I would not be suffering this hellish life.” He added with a groan: “If only I had married her.”

Ma Qi set down his chopsticks: “I told you at the time to hold your ground, but you would not. If a woman dares lay hands on a man, you should divorce her.”

Zhao Wen chimed in: “Exactly, you should divorce. It is perfectly normal for men like us to have three wives and four concubines. Your wife is far too jealous.” He continued with a sneer: “If you ask me, the Tao Family beauty marrying Tang Rong is a grievance. They cannot keep the peace for three days together, and he even turns a bit of qin-playing into a grand matter of principle.”

Another jab followed: “Now she has returned to her mother’s home. Tang Rong does not know how to cherish fragrant jade. If she had married Brother Zhu, would she not be living well every day?”

The more they spoke, the more worked up they became. Drinking in sullen silence, Zhu You could not bear that the woman on the tip of his heart was treated like this, and he could not help imagining how carefree life would be if he had married Tao Yi Ran. He muttered: “What use is saying this now?”

Zhao Wen waggled his eyebrows: “How is it useless? At last year’s Third Princess’s flower-viewing banquet, she sent you secret glances. That look surely meant she liked you.” He leaned closer: “Now that the beauty has been wronged, if you step forward to comfort her with a few words, how could she not throw herself into your arms?”

Ma Qi immediately pressed close: “Brother Zhao speaks reason. Even we could see she has feelings for you.”

Egged on thus, Zhu You became all the more convinced that Tao Yi Ran was fond of him; thinking of her present plight made his heart ache. Zhao Wen and Ma Qi exchanged a smile; idlers that they were, they never feared the pot not being big enough to boil. The idea of Zhu You secretly meeting Tao Yi Ran was thrilling; they were determined to watch when it happened.

Leaving the restaurant, Zhu You grew all the more stifled at the thought of returning home. His two hanger-on friends said that if he did not wish to go back, then do not; after all, the capital was full of lands of tenderness. They began recommending their favorite courtesans.

As the trio passed, two men walking by let their conversation drift just loud enough: “Isn’t that Tang family Heir Apparent supposed to be so good? How can his private behavior be like this? The Tao family lady is too pitiful,” said one.

His companion added: “Exactly. She was driven back to her mother’s home and cries all day. Her own family does not even favor her, ai…”

Their words reached the three perfectly. Zhu You instantly seized one of them by the arm: “What are you talking about?”

What followed was only natural. Under a mix of coaxing and intimidation, and with a little benefit slipped to them, the two passersby spun out Tao Yi Ran’s “tragic” situation: how she was not favored by the Tang Family and suffered every indignity there, how Tang Rong treated her poorly and often cursed her in private; now that she was at her mother’s home, she was everywhere met with white eyes, and she had wept out a whole basket of tears. As for how they knew so well, of course there was an acquaintance serving in the Tao Family. One sighed: “It is said Miss Tao’s qin is exquisite, her looks first-class, and she is kind besides, the sort who will not even step on an ant. How did such a person end up with such a husband?” The other lamented: “If a husband does not protect her, is that not telling outsiders that anyone may bully her? Ai… she truly married the wrong man.”

As they spoke with such plausible detail, Zhu You’s heart nearly broke. He itched to see Tao Yi Ran at once, to tell her to have done with Tang Rong and that he could protect her. At that moment, a small book slipped from one passerby’s sleeve, and the words Eighteen Arts of the Boudoir lay exposed to view. Ma Qi snatched it: “What is this?”

The fellow wriggled his brows: “A good thing. You have not seen it, right? It is in high demand.”

He snickered: “They say the man and woman in it are modeled on the Tang family’s Heir Apparent and the Tao Family beauty. Once you start, you cannot stop; you will even be unable to sleep at night.” His smile and laughter were thoroughly lewd.

Zhu You grabbed the booklet and flipped through it; the more he read, the angrier he grew. Although the characters’ names had been changed, the allusion was clearly to Tao Yi Ran. He demanded: “Who wrote it?”

The man replied: “Wu You Sheng.” He added glibly: “He just appeared on the scene recently. He writes excellent books that are hard to get. Pity no one has seen him, so we do not know who he is.”

Zhao Wen and Ma Qi traded a look of relish, then flicked over a piece of silver: “We will buy this booklet.”

“Ah, many thanks,” the man chirped.

Having pocketed the silver, the pair scurried off. The storybook was a flourish they had added, and it worked wonderfully. Once they found a quiet spot, they hid to observe the trio; when the three set off, they slipped after them.

By then the moon was high, curfew had begun, and the streets were growing empty. Under Zhao Wen and Ma Qi’s urging, Zhu You crept to the outside of the Tao Family’s surrounding wall. To the other two, a paragon like Tang Rong, the son lauded by parents, was hateful; the more shame his wife brought, the happier they felt. They sneered: “What refined gentleman? What self-disciplined virtue? In the end, did he not marry a wife of loose morals who cannot endure loneliness?”

“Climbing the wall is not a good idea,” Zhu You said, not yet wholly bereft of sense. “If we are discovered, they will break our legs.”

Zhao Wen considered that there was some reason in it; chiefly, even if they got in, they would not know where Tao Yi Ran lived. If the fun ended so quickly, how dull it would be. He proposed: “Better to write a letter and use a little silver to have it carried in. If Miss Tao learns how sincere Brother Zhu is, she will surely be moved; then we can arrange a place to meet.”

Ma Qi agreed: “Exactly. We were merely being too anxious for Brother Zhu. To barge in would be to startle the beauty. Write the letter and invite her to meet.”

Zhu You thought it over and nodded. As good friends, Zhao Wen and Ma Qi naturally had to contrive for him. Once they decided how the letter would be sent inside, the three slung arms over shoulders and headed toward the brothels. Passing a narrow alley, they saw a man coming out of a gambling den, his silhouette rather familiar. The three moved in, calling out: “Brother Tao?”