Chapter 203

Chapter 203: The Quilt Won’t Be Back for Now

Tang Mo had been living in the main bedchamber for quite a while, and there had always been two quilts on the bed. Though they shared a bed and a pillow, each covered themselves with their own quilt. Xin An looked up and confirmed there was truly only one, then dropped her gaze to the sole quilt in her hands and said calmly: “Go look through the cabinet.”

“Oh.”

Tang Mo did not overthink it. He obediently went, lamp in hand, and searched in a circle, then reported: “None.”

“Impossible.”

Xin An insisted: “There are plenty of quilts in the cabinet. How could there be none?”

“There really are none. The cabinet is empty.”

Tang Mo gave her a meaningful look and asked with mock gravity: “You did not do this on purpose, did you? Have you been coveting this young master’s good looks for a long time?”

Xin An rolled her eyes and got out of bed to check for herself. When she saw the big chest empty as a drum, even she was taken aback. The room flared bright again, and she hurriedly shrank back into bed, wrapped herself in the quilt, and covered her ears. Only after that peal of thunder passed did she sit up again and suggest briskly: “Go take a look in the next room?”

With one hand on his waist, Tang Mo refused: “The wind and rain outside are fierce. I am not going out.” He climbed straight into bed and stated matter-of-factly: “A quilt this big, you cannot use it up by yourself. What is wrong with me covering half?”

As he spoke, he reached for the quilt. The two of them engaged in a brief tug-of-war. Before the next clap of thunder, they had already lain down and pulled the quilt up together.

Xin An held on to a corner tightly and reminded him: “You are pressing against me.”

Tang Mo pinned down another corner and refused to budge: “You were the one who inched over to me first.”

She ordered softly: “Move further that way.”

He warned in a hushed voice: “Do not kick me. The quilt is only so big; if I move over, I will not be covered. A handsome man like me, being allowed to lie next to a Grand Matron like you, should count himself satisfied.”

Xin An shot back instantly: “You are the Grand Matron. Do not think of taking advantage of me.”

He muttered under his breath: “I am not sure who is taking advantage of whom…”

All for a single quilt, the two of them spent the last of their energy for the day. At that very hour, Auntie Wang looked at the pile of quilts stacked high in her own room and let a smile curl her lips. Not only had she carried off every quilt from the main chamber, she had also fetched the quilts from the young master’s own rooms. The young lady and the son-in-law had been sharing a bed for quite some time without any progress at all, so she could only worry more and act.

Perhaps wrestling for the quilt spent their strength, and perhaps both of them were thick-skinned. As the thunder grew fainter, the two in the room drifted into sleep pressed close together. One person might sleep very neatly, but with two under one quilt anything could happen. The distance between them, which had been there at first, vanished without either of them noticing until…

The thunder faded, but the rain did not. Inside, the two slept comfortably in the warm quilt. In the Ancestral Hall, however, Tang Rong could only kneel on the cold floor, letting the damp chill invade his body. The cold did clear his head. Qing Mo wanted to bring him a quilt, but Tang Rong, having his own calculations, refused to use it. In the end, it was poor Qing Mo who hugged the quilt and stood shivering under the eaves.

After a sound night’s sleep, Tang Mo woke first to find someone pressed tightly against his back and an arm draped over his waist. After a brief spell of drowsy confusion, his lips could not help but curve. [He told himself that this woman obviously wanted to take advantage of him.] He gently moved the arm from his waist, rolled over to lie flat, and found that the sleeping Xin An still nestled close to him, which made him even happier.

He struggled between getting up and going back to sleep. After estimating the time and deciding to forgo breakfast, he closed his eyes again, content.

When Xin An woke, there was no one beside her. The warm quilt made for a wonderfully comfortable sleep. Tang Mo waited for her to wake for a while to no avail, then regretfully got up and left. Chun Yang reported with a smile: “The young master rose late today. From getting up to going out took only half a stick of incense. He drank a cup of warm water, stuffed a piece of taishi cake into his mouth, and left in a rush.”

Why had the young master gotten up late?

Chun Lv smiled so widely her eyes disappeared. In her heart, she thought: Aunt truly has ability.

Xin An saw through it but did not say so. As soon as Auntie Wang came in, she said with an innocent smile: “Yesterday I found that one quilt had loose threads, so I thought to check all the bedding. But these old eyes of mine are dim, and it may take a few days to examine everything. If there are problems, some mending will be needed, which may take more effort. Fortunately there is one good quilt left.”

Xin An was helpless; this excuse had not even been thought through. Chun Yang chimed in with a grin: “There was a heavy rain last night, and it is much cooler this morning. It is a bit chilly sleeping alone. Two sleeping together are warmer.”

Xin An asked with a smile: “Shall I quickly arrange a husband for you, then?”

Chun Yang waved it off cheerfully: “No need. I will sleep with Chun Lv.”

Chun Lv nodded at once: “Exactly. The two of us together are warm.”

Chun Yang turned to Auntie Wang: “Aunt, I will help you check the quilts. We must examine them very carefully. No carelessness.”

Xin An sighed: “It seems my quilt will not be coming back for a while.”

The women tittered, then swiftly helped her dress and wash. Before breakfast had been served, Nan Feng arrived to report that yesterday Tang Rong had been punished to kneel in the Ancestral Hall. Gan Lu, unable to keep her mouth shut, mentioned it before the Grand Matron. The Grand Matron summoned Madam Wang and Tang Gang to question them. They could not deceive her and had to explain the ins and outs of the matter. The Grand Matron fainted on the spot, her condition more serious than Tang Gang’s had been the day before.

Xin An had no time to eat. When she hurried to the Chun Rong Hall, the family physician had already left. Maids and old women were kneeling all over the floor. Gan Lu knelt in the main room. Above sat Tang Gang and Madam Wang.

Tang Gang’s face was iron blue, and Madam Wang’s expression was angry. She was speaking to Gan Lu as Xin An entered: “You are a long-time servant who attends to the Grand Matron. You should know the state of her health. Moreover, last night I already sent word to all the courtyards not to chatter, and I specifically had Ping Qiu make a trip to the Chun Rong Hall.”

She continued sternly: “I feared the Grand Matron would be anxious and upset. That is not good for her health.”

She pressed hard: “Yet you insisted on dragging this matter before the Grand Matron and nearly brought on hemiplegia. You are usually steady. How could you be so muddle-headed this time?”

Madam Wang would not permit such a consequence, and Tang Gang would allow it even less.

With the Grand Matron collapsed, Gan Lu was already in a panic, ridden with guilt. At Madam Wang’s words, she could only weep and admit her fault. Tang Gang lifted his eyelids and said coldly: “The Grand Matron is accustomed to your service. That is your good fortune. But you must recognize who you are and not forget your station.”

Hearing this, even Xin An could see Gan Lu’s body go rigid and [thought that Tang Gang knew how to strike at the heart]. Gan Lu had begun serving the Grand Matron when she was still a girl. Later, under the Grand Matron’s arrangement, she had married, but her husband died early and she had no children. She then returned to the Grand Matron’s side to serve and had even helped raise Tang Gang. Such a person might keep a servant’s proper bounds, but in her heart she had long regarded herself as part of the marquis’s household.

The person Gan Lu cherished most was Tang Gang, and next was Tang Rong, because after Tang Rong’s mother died, he was raised before the Grand Matron and cared for by Gan Lu. In her previous life, after Xin An had a child, Gan Lu often came to help look after the baby, and in her talk she frequently spoke of what Tang Gang was like as a boy and what Tang Rong was like as a child, regarding the two as her own sons and grandsons.

Now, the person she cherished most was telling her not to forget who she was.