Chapter 227

Chapter 227: The Agitated Tang Rong

Tang Rong’s predicament did not cost Xin An much thought; she was only there to watch the play. What weighed on her mind was still Young Madam Wei’s illness.

She asked in a worried murmur: “I wonder how things are at Sister Zhao’s place.”

Tang Mo had originally wanted to accompany the physicians into the Wei Family to see the situation for himself, but matters piled up at once and illness could not be delayed: “It was all in a rush. Should I go ask?”

Xin An considered and said: “The Wei Family seems reluctant to make a fuss. Why not wait at Herbal Cuisine House and ask in private?”

“That works. Do not dwell too much on it. We will do our best. Compared to the timeline in the previous life, even without treatment this is not the time yet. I was still alive and well then.”

Xin An looked up at him. Tang Mo immediately tapped his own lips and winced: “I should not curse myself.”

In the previous life, she had died after him; strictly speaking, she was luckier than he was.

He drank a cup of tea, ate a small pastry, then left the house. He and the two physicians arrived at Herbal Cuisine House almost at the same time. As soon as Qin Bai saw him, he shook his head. Tang Mo stepped closer and asked in a low voice: “Is it very serious?”

Qin Bai kept shaking his head. Divine Physician Hua turned his head and said dryly: “Since when did you learn to be cryptic?”

Qin Bai grunted: “She is your patient. I will keep my mouth shut.”

Divine Physician Hua replied without missing a beat: “I thought your lips had been sewn up.”

He turned to Tang Mo and said evenly: “Everything that needs saying has already been said to those who should know. You are an outsider; do not pry. Go back.”

Tang Mo pressed for more, but neither physician answered him. He could only leave dejected.

As soon as he left, Qin Bai sighed: “What a pity. So young.”

It was poison from the womb. The toxins had already grown symbiotic with the body. If one forced a purge, the patient would die faster. Medicine could only drag it out for a few years.

Both men were physicians who had seen their share of life and death. After that brief sigh, they let it go. In the next breath, Qin Bai was boasting about Herbal Cuisine House again: “Well, how about it? Not bad, right? I am telling you, every single dish here was set by me. The flavor is unquestionable. You will know once you eat.”

He added with expansive generosity: “In the future, just give my name.”

Divine Physician Hua arched a brow: “Will it be free?”

Qin Bai laughed: “I can at least get you a private room. I am telling you, we are in high demand. Without connections you cannot even book a table.”

Though newly opened, Herbal Cuisine House’s business was already booked out to seven days later, a room almost impossible to come by. People are like this: the harder something is to get, the more they want it. With the itch of why you have eaten it and I have not, Herbal Cuisine House became a sensation. At midday and in the evening the private rooms were fully booked.

Tang Mo returned and told Xin An what little he had learned. Xin An was not surprised: “In the previous life, it was only said she died of illness; how she died was unknown. I also heard that people in the Zhao Family suffered from a similar sickness.”

Tang Mo frowned deeply: “Is it hereditary after all?”

Xin An did not know. She only instructed Auntie Wang to select a few good tonics for Tang Mo to deliver the next day: “It would not be right to ignore them. If they will not speak, they have their reasons. There is no need to press. Let our goodwill be enough.”

Tang Mo nodded: “We should be more careful ourselves from now on. We ought to have a monthly peace-of-body pulse check, and we should not skimp on food.”

If a person is gone, then truly nothing remains.

Xin An agreed readily: “Only with good health is there a future. We should be even more cautious.”

Having lived one more life, they both feared death all the more.

Duke Xiang was more anxious than Tang Mo had expected. Before nightfall he sent a secret letter to Tang Gang, saying he would come that night and that no one must know.

There was no help for it. In the afternoon, Zhu You’s fever spiked again; he kept calling Tao Yi Ran’s name. Even knowing it offended propriety, for his son’s sake Duke Xiang had to make this trip.

He had already asked Zhao Wen and Ma Qi. Both swore that it was Tao Yi Ran who first enticed Zhu You. They named times and places and repeated the words spoken. Duchess Xiang, in a fury, cursed Tao Yi Ran as a vixen and said she must take responsibility to the end; otherwise she would ruin her completely.

The moment Tang Gang received the letter, he grasped the situation. He would not meet Duke Xiang at such a time; citing His Majesty’s punishment of self-reflection, he declined. Then, as soon as Tang Rong returned, he had him summoned to the study.

Soon, the very same day that Tang Rong had been ridiculed at the Ministry of Rites, before he could catch his breath, he received this news. His face went ashen and he was silent for a long time.

Tang Gang raised his eyes and asked in an even tone: “Was everything smooth at the Ministry of Rites today?”

Tang Rong shook his head. Tang Gang drew a slow breath: “I could have guessed. You have not even served a full month altogether at the Ministry of Rites. It has been either accidents or illness. There are already memorials in the Imperial Court impeaching you, so your position would naturally be uncomfortable.”

He concluded decisively: “Change departments.”

Tang Rong’s luck at the Ministry of Rites was too poor. If it was not the courtyard’s feng shui, then it was a clash of fate with that ministry, where accidents came with every duty day. Tang Gang felt that changing posts might not be a bad move.

He proposed with deliberation: “A position opened a few days ago in the Stores Division of the Ministry of Revenue. The Stores Division manages the treasuries, minting, and the collection of tea and salt taxes. It is a good place.”

Of course Tang Rong knew it was a good place, but they had no one in the Ministry of Revenue and lacked reliable connections. The Second Prince currently supervised the Ministry of Revenue. They had once spent a spell in the Crown Prince’s camp; there was no guarantee the Second Prince bore no grudge.

Tang Gang said calmly: “We have none, but Duke Xiang does.”

“Father?” Tang Rong understood his father’s plan and refused outright: “You want me to compromise, to trade for a Stores Division post at the Ministry of Revenue?”

“I can go without a post.”

He was the marquis’s Heir Apparent; he did not have to serve. There were many positions that could be arranged anyway. To make him trade his face for an appointment was impossible: “If word gets out, how will I live in the capital?”

“People will say my post was bought with my wife. I will be a laughingstock for life.”

He was agitated; he could not believe that the father who had always favored him would say such a thing: “Zhu You’s illness has nothing to do with me. If he dies, then he dies. Can Duke Xiang make me pay with my life?”

Tang Gang looked at him coolly: “Do you think that because Divine Physician Hua said it has little to do with you, Duke Xiang will believe it has nothing to do with you?”

“If Zhu You dies, will Duke Xiang let you go?”

“He will not demand your life, but he can keep on retaliating against you and against the marquis’s house.”

Tang Rong gave a bitter laugh: “So in Father’s eyes, my face is not worth as much as the marquisate’s interests.”

He had always believed he was different. From childhood he had received his father’s special favor. He had thought he would always be the one his father liked best.

But then Tang Mo appeared. At that time, Tang Mo was still small, very cute, fair and plump. Whenever he saw Father, he would open his arms and throw himself into Father’s embrace, laughing happily. Tang Rong could see that Father liked Tang Mo very much then.

But someone long used to being favored cannot accept having that favor taken away. So he did everything to attract Father’s attention and used small tricks to make Father dislike Tang Mo. As he grew more outstanding and Tang Mo grew more dissolute, Father utterly grew to despise Tang Mo.

He had thought he would always be the victor and that Father’s eyes would only ever have him. Yet how had Father treated him lately?

He stared at Tang Gang and asked through clenched teeth: “Do you know what kind of humiliation it would be if I agreed?”