Chapter 234

Chapter 234: Clearly Jinxed

A stabbing pain nearly sent Xin An to the floor, and she let out a muffled wail: “Wuu~~~.” Tang Mo tossed aside the drawing paper and stepped forward: “Look at you. Let me see.”

He steadied her on the edge of the bed, crouched to examine her foot, and found the nail bed intact but a bead of blood seeping from the edge of the nail: “I’ll get medicine.”

He found medicated liquor, dabbed it on, then tilted his head and concluded: “It’s fine. It’ll hurt for a bit and pass. Nothing serious.”

Xin An glanced down; after he wiped it clean, no more blood welled up. Other than the pain, it was manageable, so she did not have anyone fetch Fang Xiao Xiao. She glared at Tang Mo and accused: “This is all your fault. You drew me so ugly.”

Tang Mo put away the medicated liquor and retorted: “You didn’t draw me that handsome either, and I didn’t cry.”

Xin An refused to concede and huffed: “But mine was better, more vivid, and more fun.”

Tang Mo relented with a smile: “All right, all right, mine was bad. I’ll draw properly next time, all right?”

Xin An shot back, eyes narrowing: “There will be a next time?”

Tang Mo straightened and leaned in, lifting a hand to pinch her cheeks as he laughed: “You really are not to be provoked.”

Xin An cried out in exasperation: “Tang Mo~~~.”

She was on the verge of breaking down. This scoundrel had touched her foot and then came to squeeze her face; even if the foot was her own, that was not acceptable at all. [What a ruthless woman, he thought; it was her foot I touched. If it had been my own foot that touched her face, she would probably have had my blood splatter on the spot.]

After the time it takes to burn two sticks of incense, Chun Yang finished Xin An’s makeup with a smile and coaxed: “Young Madam, don’t be angry. Second Young Master surely didn’t mean it.”

Xin An felt helpless. Thinking back, she was not someone with a delicate little-daughter temperament. As the eldest daughter, from the time she became sensible she had not casually pouted or openly displayed her emotions. Besides, she had been through a great deal. Just now she had indeed been a bit less than steady.

All in all, she turned and shot Tang Mo a fierce look: it was his fault.

Tang Mo stacked his ugly caricature of Xin An with his own self-mocking ugly sketch and tucked both into a drawer. Meeting Xin An’s gaze, he volunteered a line for his own safety: “I washed my hands. Twice.”

[What a terrifying woman,] he thought. [And it was her foot I touched. If it had been mine, she would have killed me on the spot.]

Chun Yang swallowed a laugh, briskly finished dressing Xin An, and slipped out. Xin An rose and made a show of rubbing her throat as if it were uncomfortable. Tang Mo offered hot water at once and pleaded with exaggerated humility: “My lady ancestress, great beauty Xin, I was wrong. Please forgive this small man just this once?”

After a sip, Xin An passed the cup back and asked with wounded pride: “Did I really have a snot bubble while crying?”

How could she possibly have cried that ugly?

Tang Mo chuckled and confessed that she had not; when he was drawing, he felt it was not lively enough and added it himself: “Come on, let’s go eat.”

Seeing Xin An still unmoved, Tang Mo clasped his hands and bowed dramatically: “My lady ancestress, let’s go eat. I was wrong. In the future I will paint you as a celestial fairy.”

Xin An sniffed and said with a tiny hum: “As if you had that kind of skill.”

Tang Mo stepped forward to support her and asked with concern as they moved: “Does your foot still hurt?”

Xin An answered, keeping the grievance alive: “It hurts. The nail almost flipped. All your fault.”

Tang Mo admitted readily: “Yes, entirely my fault. Next time I won’t dodge.”

Joking and talking, they headed to dinner. Tang Rong, face not looking too good, had just stepped out of his courtyard gate and saw Tang Mo playing the dutiful lackey, supporting Xin An as they walked ahead. He thought sourly that for a little advantage, one could abandon even one’s dignity.

He had not meant to greet them, but they were too close. He had to call out: “Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law.”

Tang Mo stopped and turned, the smile still on his face, and replied with easy courtesy: “Eldest Brother. You look well.”

[Clearly jinxed,] he thought.

Tang Rong let out a light laugh and said: “I thought Second Brother stayed away from women entirely. As your elder brother I used to worry. Now that I see you taking such careful care of your wife, I can be at ease.”

The words made Tang Mo want to plant a big footprint right on his face, but he kept a smile and parried smoothly: “Eldest Brother, you jest. You have outstanding talent and excellent looks. Wherever you go, maidens favor you. Though you may not have a household full of wives and concubines, you have red sleeves to accompany you every night. How many in the capital envy that.”

He added with pointed sweetness: “Your younger brother lacks Eldest Brother’s world-governing talent and broad generosity. My heart is small and can hold only one wife, so of course I must take pains to care for her.”

With that, he turned and continued to support Xin An: “Let’s go. Mind your footing.”

Xin An held in her laughter and let him assist her. When they reached the dining hall, Madam Wang at first thought she was unwell. Learning that she had only twisted her foot a little that afternoon, she relaxed and beamed: “Come, sit. Tonight we all get to benefit thanks to you. We’re having a Crab Feast.”

Tang Gang looked at the table piled with crab-forward dishes and could not feel happy. The crabs were small, but they represented that Xin Kuan was beginning to slip out of his control. So long as Xin An remained in the marquis’s household, the Xin Family’s specialties would never again land in his hands. Xin An had secured a foothold in the capital quickly by relying on those rare Huai River tributes. If those things were in his hands, they would be far more useful than sending them to the women’s quarters.

Year’s end was approaching. In past years, when the Xin family sent the year gifts in the eleventh month, Xin Kuan would add twenty thousand taels to fund the marquisate’s year-end social obligations. He wanted to see whether he would send it this year. If he did not, or if he sent it into Xin An’s hands again, then Tang Gang would have to show Xin Kuan a bit of color and let him learn who the master was.

Tang Rong’s thoughts were complicated as well. Your wife’s family could be a help or a burden. The Tao Family was doing well enough if they did not add to his troubles. If his in-laws had been the Xin Family instead, then now…

In a foul mood, Tang Rong naturally had little appetite. After only a few bites, he claimed he was full. Tang Gang also ate without pleasure. Once those two left, the atmosphere in the dining hall lightened at once. The Grand Matron felt unwell and had not come. Only Madam Wang and her daughters-in-law remained, and without strictures of formal etiquette, the three women ate more freely as laughter bubbled.

Madam Wang praised with satisfaction as she savored a bite: “Those crab roe buns from last time were good, but these are even fresher.”

Xin An agreed, commenting as she dipped a morsel: “The meat is fresh and sweet with a lingering finish. Paired with fragrant vinegar it’s a different layer of flavor.”

Madam Wang was thoroughly pleased and almost wished that only the three of them lived in the household. Those two men, father and son, felt entirely superfluous.

Night fell. Duke Xiang arrived with high hopes, promising a heap of benefits. Tang Gang’s heart was moved, but with Tang Rong’s resolute stance and Tao Yi Ran confined to bed to preserve the pregnancy, what could Tang Gang do?

He spoke gravely, cloaking refusal in benevolence: “To save a life is better than building a seven-storied pagoda of merit. I should not turn down Your Grace. Yesterday, after my son returned from your residence with Divine Physician Hua, he told me truthfully of your young lord’s condition. I then guessed Your Grace would come and made my preparations.”

Duke Xiang assumed he was ready to name his price and braced himself to be bled: “And what is the result?”

Tang Rong shook his head with a sigh and delivered the excuse he had prepared: “As soon as I brought it up, my daughter-in-law grew so anxious she stirred her fetal qi. She said that if the household forced her, she would not go on living. She is now confined to bed for the sake of the child.”

He concluded with fatherly propriety: “Children are paramount. As her father-in-law, I cannot force her. I cannot assist Your Grace in this matter. If you require it, I can invite Divine Physician Hua to visit again. I believe he will find a way.”

He had dumped the pot squarely onto Tao Yi Ran. Tang Gang deliberately reminded Duke Xiang that it was the marquisate who had invited Divine Physician Hua, staking a little proprietary claim. Duke Xiang’s eyes flashed with anger. If Zhu You’s passion had been one-sided, that would be one thing, but if Tao Yi Ran had not deliberately enticed him, how would his son have come to this? And now she wore the mask of a chaste and virtuous woman.

Duke Xiang rose and delivered his farewell with frigid courtesy: “In that case, it is our Duke’s Manor that has made things difficult for the Eldest Young Madam. I take my leave.”

Tang Gang stood to see him out. Once the duke departed, Tang Gang’s face turned ugly. He had wanted to speak to Madam Wang, but feared she would pass the matter on to Xin An and Tang Mo, so he swallowed the sulk down and kept it to himself.