Chapter 225

Chapter 225: Tang Gang’s Complicated Thoughts

Auntie Wang delivered the prepared visiting gifts, and Tang Mo took them and went straight out for the Herbal Cuisine House. At that time, Tang Gang was already waiting outside the Imperial Study. He waited through the time of two sticks of incense before being admitted to see His Majesty the Emperor; the moment he knelt, he began to lament: “I beg His Majesty the Emperor to uphold justice for your minister. Your minister is going to be wronged to death.”

His Majesty the Emperor looked surprised and asked evenly: “What has happened?”

Tang Gang laid out the matter in a few words, his tone choked with bitterness as he said: “My eldest daughter?in?law has seldom gone out since she married into our family, and now she is with child…” He paused as a sudden thought struck him. [Wait… how did I forget this? If the Old Duke can faint from anger, then Tao Yi Ran could just as well have been so enraged that her pregnancy was put at risk. How did I not think of this earlier?] Regret pricked at his heart, but his tongue did not falter as he continued: “She was baselessly entangled in this by that Zhu boy and was so distressed that she suffered a threatened miscarriage. She is now confined to bed to preserve the fetus, and the physician says the prognosis is not optimistic.”

He pressed on with indignation: “I could not swallow the anger and only then called on them today. Who knew that just after I left, word would spread that the Old Duke fainted, and that it was I who angered him. They say I overstepped. May His Majesty the Emperor see clearly. I am already deeply ashamed that I lack my late father’s bearing and, in daily affairs, I tread most carefully for fear of bringing discredit to his name. How could I possibly behave overbearingly before the Old Duke?”

“With the Old Duke’s fainting, I am truly alarmed and have no way to defend myself.”

His Majesty the Emperor did not answer at once; he sipped his tea slowly, and in the Imperial Study one could hear a pin drop. Tang Gang’s heart rose and fell; he dared not say another word.

After a while, His Majesty finally spoke, his tone mild: “Beloved minister, you are different from before.”

Tang Gang did not understand what His Majesty meant. He stammered, lowering his head as he said: “Your minister was discourteous. I beg Your Majesty’s pardon.”

“How is the Old Duke?” His Majesty asked.

Tang Gang hastened to reply: “Tang Mo has already gone to invite Divine Physician Hua. By the reckoning of the hour, Divine Physician Hua should already have arrived at the Duke’s Manor. No matter how the Old Duke came to faint, your minister dared not ignore it. Fortunately, my in?laws have some friendship with Divine Physician Hua, so we were able to invite him.”

“Your in?laws… the Tao family?” His Majesty asked without expression.

“The Xin family,” Tang Gang answered at once.

Tang Gang then repeated the account Tang Mo had given him. His Majesty said with cool approval: “The Old Marquis had keen eyes. The family he chose was naturally not the wrong one.” He paused, then added, almost in passing: “It is a pity that Tang Rong is short?sighted.”

“Attend,” His Majesty commanded, and then ordered a messenger to go to the Old Duke’s residence to see the situation, taking an imperial physician along.

His Majesty’s gaze returned to Tang Gang, this time holding a trace of displeasure, and he asked in a low voice: “Did I not tell you last time to keep your inner household in order, that the inner household must not be in chaos?”

Tang Gang bowed his head and could only admit: “Your Majesty did instruct so.”

His Majesty continued: “There are no few memorials impeaching your son. How long has it been since he married, and how many incidents have already arisen? What do you make of it?”

“It is that I have failed to discipline my son,” Tang Gang answered, genuinely afraid now.

His Majesty gave a cold hum. “Your residence allowed the scandal of swapping the bride on the wedding night. You did your utmost to cover it and only then recovered a bit of face. All the more should you have been cautious in word and deed, and yet the disturbances have not ceased. If you cannot restrain the women of your own inner courtyard, how am I to trust that you can still handle official duties well?”

He set down his cup and pronounced: “The Old Marquis in life was upright and unbending, and the marquisate was renowned. Only a few years after his passing, your house has become the laughingstock of the common folk’s idle talk. I punish you to return home and kneel before the Old Marquis’s spirit tablet to reflect on your faults.”

“As for the Old Duke’s matter, I will make my own determination about right and wrong. You may withdraw.”

“Your minister has not dared for a single day to forget my father’s teachings. I know I have brought harm to his good name. I will return at once to reflect upon my faults,” Tang Gang replied, knocking his head to the floor again. He then said in a low voice: “Your minister takes his leave.”

“Mm,” His Majesty answered.

Sweat beaded along Tang Gang’s back as he left the Imperial Study. Only after he had walked a hundred paces did he let out a quiet breath. Behind him an inner attendant came hurrying and called out: “Marquis, please stay.”

“Marquis, please stay,” the man repeated as he caught up. This was an attendant close to His Majesty the Emperor, so Tang Gang was appropriately courteous as he asked: “Eunuch Zhao, does His Majesty have further instructions?”

Eunuch Zhao smiled pleasantly. As one of His Majesty’s trusted attendants, there were things His Majesty preferred not to say directly that they would say on his behalf. He offered in a low voice: “His Majesty respects the Old Marquis. Hearing that your marquisate’s authority has been diminished, he had to say a few words. To tell the truth, this anger has been held in for some time. I beg the Marquis to be more cautious in the future. Nothing must go wrong with the Heir Apparent. Several elder ministers proposed today that the Ministry of Rites send the Heir Apparent back to the residence. His Majesty did not give assent, but he is not well disposed toward the Heir Apparent at present.”

Tang Gang had expected as much. In the Imperial Court, those old gentlemen prized ritual and regulation above their own lives; they kept a constant eye on every noble house and filed impeachments whenever there was the least misstep. With Tang Rong’s repeated troubles, he had naturally fallen into their hands.

Eunuch Zhao then laughed again and added comfortingly: “But Marquis, do not be overly anxious. Two days ago His Majesty also praised your good fortune.”

Tang Gang came to attention at once and asked: “How did he put it?”

Eunuch Zhao explained that two days earlier Liao Zhi had been speaking with His Majesty and had mentioned Tang Mo: “He said the Second Young Master, though born into a house of dukes and marquises, has not a trace of slickness about him; he can endure hardship, has a head on his shoulders, and does his tasks solidly. His Majesty was very pleased and said the Old Marquis’s grandson could not be far off the mark. He even told Commander Liao to temper the Second Young Master more, so that in the future he may shoulder great responsibilities.”

“He also said the Heir Apparent is naturally brilliant and that his recent misfortunes are only a matter of bad timing. If he lays low and bides his time, he will certainly turn misfortune into blessing.”

“With the Second Young Master receiving Commander Liao’s favor, bringing glory to your gate is just around the corner,” Eunuch Zhao finished with a smile as he concluded: “Two outstanding heirs in one household. Marquis, is that not good fortune?”

Tang Gang gave a small smile and exhaled a long breath as he said: “If it truly is so, that would be good.”

He knew Tang Rong’s ability well. In his eyes, Tang Rong was merely suffering bad luck of late; at worst, after the New Year his fortunes should rise. Tang Mo’s emergence, however, he had not anticipated; that he could earn Liao Zhi’s appreciation surprised him. [It must have been the favor owed for the ten thousand taels Xin An lent him,] he thought instinctively.

At this moment his feelings were exceedingly complex. He should by rights have been happy that Tang Mo had shown a measure of distinction, yet he had never invested any care in Tang Mo. When the boy was six, he had already decided he would not amount to much and had ignored him thereafter, pouring all his efforts into Tang Rong. Tang Mo’s excellence would only prove that his judgment had been wrong and slap him across the face. How could he be happy? He could only feel regret that Tang Rong had not enjoyed Xin An’s assistance.

Even after leaving the palace, those complicated thoughts still entwined in his mind as he kept rehashing the changes in Tang Mo of late. At that very time, Tang Mo, whose ears had begun to burn a little, had already succeeded in bringing Divine Physician Hua to the Old Duke’s residence. At first, he could not even get through the door, and it was the weight of Divine Physician Hua’s name that opened it for them.

The Old Duke, pale?faced, lay on the bed and was truly unconscious. After taking his pulse, Divine Physician Hua gave his judgment in calm tones: “The Old Duke has worried too much for too long, and a sudden surge of anger compounded it, causing this fainting. Fortunately, the problem is not serious. When he wakes, two days of rest should set him right.”

It was good news that the primary cause of the fainting was excessive worry. The bad news was that this fainting really did have something to do with Tang Gang.