Chapter 226

Chapter 226: Tang Rong Roasted Over the Fire

Tang Mo stepped forward to the current duke, Zhu You’s father, and cupped his hands: “If Old Duke is unharmed, I can be at ease.”

Then he added with measured courtesy: “I have some excellent tonics and restorative herbs on hand; I will have someone send them over later. I hope Old Duke recovers soon.”

Divine Physician Hua was not someone just anyone could invite. The fact that Tang Mo had brought him to Duke’s Manor had already dispelled much of the household’s anger. Seeing Tang Mo’s respectful manner, they did not vent their temper on him, although they did not engage him in conversation either.

Tang Mo then invited Divine Physician Hua to take a look at Zhu You; since he had come, Divine Physician Hua would not put on airs and simply said: “Lead the way.”

Zhu You’s condition was far more serious than Old Duke’s, though fortunately, after a round of diagnosis and treatment, it turned out his illness was not much related to his injuries.

Divine Physician Hua frowned and asked with a keen eye: “So young, yet so weighed down that it harms the spirit. Is it heartbreak?”

It took a physician seasoned by the world to see through it at a glance. Duke Xiang hurried forward and asked: “Is there serious danger?”

Divine Physician Hua shook his head and sighed: “Your son’s emotions cannot settle; his vital energy is stagnating, and on top of that he broods too much. The high fever is only a surface symptom. This is a heart-sickness that medicine alone cannot reach. As the saying goes, a sickness of the heart needs a remedy of the heart; the one who tied the knot must untie it. If the knot in his heart is not opened, even an immortal’s elixir will be in vain.”

The truth was that Zhu You had indeed been living miserably of late: the more he could not obtain something, the more he fixated on it. Huang Wei refused to let matters rest; her maiden family was forceful, their words were sharp as knives with no mercy. At home, his elders regarded him as a disappointment; their voiced dismay was more than he could bear. In such a time, he could only clutch firmly at the image of Tao Yi Ran in his heart, but Madam Li’s words at the Tao Family’s gate extinguished all hope. Thus he fell into this current coma.

Divine Physician Hua concluded with another sigh: “Heart-sickness is the hardest to cure. For now I can only use medicine to wake him first. If, once awake, his emotions remain tangled, then alas.”

Dying of melancholy would be Zhu You’s end.

Madam Zhu covered her mouth and wept in silence. Duke Xiang seemed to age on the spot; his eyes went dull with gray despair. Tang Mo considered that to untie Zhu You’s knot, only Tao Yi Ran would do; that would tilt the balance back toward the marquis’s estate. [He was almost certain Duke Xiang would quietly come to the marquis’s residence to beg his old man; whether the old man would agree was another matter.]

After Divine Physician Hua finished with Zhu You, the imperial physicians in the inner quarters also came forward to take his pulse and arrived at the same conclusion. Now that the root was known, the path to rescue was clear. At last Duke Xiang looked Tang Mo squarely in the eye and asked: “Second Young Master, do you know how the Tang Heir Apparent is faring?”

Tang Mo cupped his hands: “My elder brother is all right, only a bruise at the corner of his eye. He reported to the Ministry of Rites for duty early this morning.”

Behind his back, Duke Xiang’s fist suddenly clenched, though his face remained calm as he said: “Divine Physician Hua is difficult to invite. I must thank you for this thoughtfulness.”

Tang Mo returned the salute, neither servile nor arrogant: “I am not clear on what transpired after my father called here today. Hearing rumors left me unsettled, so I thought that no matter what, I should first save lives. If there is a misunderstanding, we can speak and set it straight. If anything we did was amiss, I beg the duke’s forbearance. I wish only for Old Duke and Third Young Master to be safe.”

Duke Xiang studied him for a moment longer: “You are a filial son. Marquis Wei Yuan will surely be pleased to know it.”

There had been rumors that the Heir Apparent of Marquis Wei Yuan’s manor was gentle, magnanimous, and broad-minded, while the marquis’s second son was grasping and petty. It seemed there were scarcely two parts truth in such talk.

Leaving Duke’s Manor, Tang Mo went to Herbal Cuisine House to fetch Physician Qin, then together they went to the Wei Family. Having received word, Wei Ye was already waiting at the gate. He came down the steps to meet them. Tang Mo dismounted and said: “I have brought them. There are matters at home that I must hurry back to, so I will not come in today. When Sister-in-law is better, Xin An and I will come to pay a visit.”

Wei Ye grasped his arm and said with heartfelt gratitude: “Go take care of your affairs. Getting them here is a favor as great as heaven.”

Tang Mo had said he could invite Divine Physician Hua, and Wei Ye had thought it mere comfort; he had not expected the physician to truly come. How could he possibly begrudge Tang Mo’s hurry.

Tang Mo nodded and saluted the two physicians: “Physician Qin, Divine Physician Hua, thank you both. I will head back first.”

Divine Physician Hua waved him off: “Go.”

Qin Bai watched him ride away with a cheerful look, then asked with a smile: “How is our son-in-law?”

Divine Physician Hua stroked his beard and laughed: “He will do.”

Qin Bai snorted a grin: “You praise your eldest girl to the skies; how could the son-in-law be any worse?”

Divine Physician Hua chuckled: “Even if he were a little worse, in your eldest girl’s hands he would be properly shaped.”

Qin Bai puffed up with pride: “That is true.”

In high spirits, Qin Bai turned and followed Wei Ye inside.

Two sticks of incense later, Tang Mo brought news to Tang Gang. Hands clasped behind his back, Tang Gang paced as he repeated softly: “A heart-sickness needs a heart-remedy; the one who tied the knot must untie it?”

He looked up and asked: “Is that what Divine Physician Hua said?”

Tang Mo nodded: “I would not have been allowed through Duke’s Manor’s gate today. Getting in at all was entirely due to Divine Physician Hua’s face. Even after he treated Old Duke, the Zhu Family still had little to say to me. Only once Zhu You’s condition was made clear did they grow a shade more courteous.”

He added in a level tone: “I think the Zhu Family will have a request, and it will come within these two days.”

As to what that request would be, Tang Gang naturally understood. He gave a cold snort: “Delusions.”

Tang Mo said no more: “If you have no other instructions, Father, I will take my leave.”

Tang Gang glanced up at him: “Go. This matter should not be spread. Keep it firmly in mind.”

“I know.”

The moment he left the study, he hurried back to Qiu Shi Courtyard; once he stepped into his own room, the steadiness he had shown earlier vanished without a trace. He leaned to Xin An’s ear and whispered with glee, schadenfreude all over his face: “Do you think the old man will agree?”

Zhu You’s condition left little room for comfort; Tao Yi Ran was his best medicine now. For his son’s life, Duke Xiang would surely come to invite Tao Yi Ran to untie the knot. The crux was whether she would go.

Xin An sipped the freshly delivered floral tea and said: “If she goes, Tang Rong will lose his face for good. His pregnant wife would be going to comfort a man who is infatuated with her; how could he stomach that?”

She held her cup and continued calmly: “If she does not go and Zhu You kicks the bucket, Duke Xiang will certainly bear a grudge. After all, it is a life.”

Thus Tang Rong was set over the fire to roast, sizzling and dripping oil.

Xin An tapped the rim of her cup and concluded: “My guess is Father will agree. He will take the opportunity to name conditions. Profit comes first.”

She arched a brow and added: “He may even indulge in wishful thinking, secretly bringing Tao Yi Ran in and sending her back quietly, thinking heaven and earth will never know.”

They did not realize that just a wall away were two pairs of wide eyes.

Xin An thought it through and shook her head: “But Tang Rong will not agree; he cannot afford to lose that face. Tao Yi Ran will not agree either. As Zhu You is now, he is of no use to her. Going would bring a hundred harms and not one benefit; the people of Duke’s Manor will not be grateful just because she goes.”

She set down the cup and emphasized: “Besides, she is pregnant.”

[To Tang Mo, this was a dead end for Tang Rong unless Zhu You suddenly came to his senses on his own.]

He said briskly: “I will secretly set people to watch and see what choice they make.”

Then he added with a sly glint: “When the time comes, pass word quietly to the Huang Family. The couple’s peaceable divorce has not yet gone through; this can serve as another reason. It might even help win more benefit for Huang Wei.”

Xin An gave him a thumbs-up and sighed once more: “Meeting us is their good fortune.”

They both could not help laughing. After that, they simply waited for the show.