Chapter 235

Chapter 235: The Tactless Bead of Blood!!!

News came quickly: “It seems the talk fell through. They say Duke Xiang left in a fury.”

Hearing it, Tang Mo clicked his tongue with regret: “That means our first step is blocked. Next, we can only wait to see whether Zhu You improves.”

Xin An yawned; having drunk herself drowsy that afternoon and napped, she now could not fall asleep: “Even if Zhu You recovers, this matter is not without gains. Duke Xiang will surely hate Father and Tang Rong. With that grudge in place, Tang Rong will not have smooth sailing.”

She added with dry humor: “It is hard to win someone’s favor. It is easy enough to offend them.”

She laid out the plan, succinct and cool: “Later, you should take the initiative to ask about Zhu You’s condition and send some medicinal materials. If needed, take Divine Physician Hua to look in on him. He must not die, and we must not kill him. Take the chance to sell Duke’s Manor a favor as well.”

Her gaze sharpened as she gave the longer-term instruction: “From now on, when you speak and act outside, separate yourself from Father and from our dear neighbors as much as possible.”

Tang Mo nodded. After lying down, he was about to say more when discomfort pricked him and he muttered: “Tomorrow, keep your maids in line.”

Xin An was curious: “What did they do?”

Tang Mo wore the look of a long-suffering man and confessed in a whisper: “They sneaked around saying we only pull the quilt over our heads to chat, and that it must be my problem. They are even spreading rumors that I have an… issue. Lai Lai told me I should go find a miracle doctor to treat it.”

He puffed out his chest in wounded pride and demanded: “This concerns my dignity as a man. Tomorrow you must order them not to talk nonsense.”

Xin An barely held back a laugh, pressing it down as she asked with composure: “What exactly should I say?”

Tang Mo proposed with a straight face: “Say they have misunderstood Second Young Master. Tell them I am, in fact, very capable?”

Xin An yanked the quilt over her head and laughed so hard her shoulders shook. Tang Mo could only grind his teeth and fume: “Have you no conscience at all? You of all people know my situation.”

The wine from the afternoon had not completely faded, and she had sipped a little more with the crab at dinner. The wine gave courage to a coward. Far from being cowed, Xin An slid a hand to his waist, squeezed twice, and teased: “Don’t wrong me. How would I know your situation? I can’t explain this one.”

Tang Mo decided: “If you can’t explain it, then don’t. This is not something that needs explaining with words.”

Before Xin An could react, her mouth was sealed. Her body went briefly rigid, her mind blanking for an instant, while Tang Mo grew a shade too eager. He had held himself in check too long, and once he let go, he found it hard to rein himself in.

Xin An struggled and asked between breaths, trying to push him away though he did not budge an inch: “What do you think you’re doing?”

Tang Mo answered with brazen logic: “Doing what ought to be done, so you don’t have to explain.”

Xin An threw his own promise back at him with a gasp: “You said you would bow to heaven and earth with me.”

Tang Mo replied without missing a beat: “We will bow to heaven and earth. That doesn’t affect now.”

He cut off the talk and moved forward with rare bravado. He had steeled himself to cook the raw rice into cooked rice tonight. Who knew that, just as he shifted his leg, his foot bumped Xin An’s injured toe. Xin An yelped at once: “Ouch.”

Tang Mo froze and, half laughing, half crying, complained: “How is it hurting already? We haven’t even gotten to that step.”

Xin An glared at him: “You kicked my toe. It hurts.”

“Your toe?” he echoed, and then remembered. He flipped back the quilt for a look and deflated on the spot. Another bead of blood had welled up.

[What a tactless bead of blood!!!]

Resigned, he got up, fetched medicine, and dabbed it on, then found a strip of cloth to wrap her big toe, grumbling the whole time: “This toe really knows how to ruin things.”

He added under his breath: “It has spoiled the lord’s good business.”

Xin An laughed and offered wickedly: “Why not slaughter it then?”

Tang Mo turned his head and found her smug as ever. He growled: “Shut it. No laughing. Believe it or not, I won’t care whether you live or die.”

Xin An only sat up taller, triumph bright in her eyes: “Second Young Master is so ferocious. I am very frightened.”

In response, Tang Mo grabbed the foot resting on his thigh and started to tickle. Xin An squirmed backward, laughing uncontrollably: “Hahaha, stop it, hahaha~~~.”

She gasped between peals: “Hahaha~~~ I’m going to die~~~.”

The laughter was not quiet. Wearing their outer robes, Chun Yang and Chun Lv eased the door open and peered toward the main room, then lifted their eyes to the night sky and exchanged looks. They were just about to sneak over to eavesdrop when Auntie Wang coughed once at the neighboring door. The two maids hastily retreated. Auntie Wang listened to the laughter within, her face full of satisfaction.

The next morning, as Chun Yang combed Xin An’s hair, she noticed a mark on her neck. She said nothing, smiling like a cat with cream, and found a chance to whisper with Chun Lv. Chun Lv, who had tidied the bedding, reported blandly that everything was as usual. Chun Yang rubbed her chin and speculated: “Could that mark on Young Madam’s neck be a mosquito bite?”

Chun Lv nodded solemnly: “Possibly. There are mosquitoes even in early winter. Very fierce ones.”

Chun Yang concluded briskly: “Then we should burn some repellant.”

Auntie Wang overheard and smiled with mysterious depth. A young couple sharing one quilt and acting on impulse was the most normal thing in the world. Good, very good. She would continue to arrange a strong tonic soup for the son-in-law tonight. It would not do to have the will without the strength.

That night, Tang Mo grew even more restless in the middle of the night. He glanced at the person beside him and sighed in silence. [Guts do not visit often. I missed the chance. Regret is useless now.]

Several days passed without any sign of Tao Yi Ran sneaking out. Tang Mo made time to visit Duke Xiang’s manor again. Zhu You was awake, but still dazed. His obsession with Tao Yi Ran ran too deep; as long as he saw anyone connected to her, even if that person was Tang Mo, he wanted to ask more questions.

With eyes dim and a voice drained of life, Zhu You asked: “Is she… doing well?”

Tang Mo, speechless, answered bluntly: “She has long been another man’s wife and will soon be a mother. Why persist?”

He added the final cut: “Even if there was something in the past, now is the time to let go.”

Tang Mo was not close with him and did not care to persuade him further. Seeing that he would not die, he left. At the gate he met Duke Xiang. In only a few days, the duke’s hair had turned white at the temples. To vent his fury, he had sabotaged Official Tao’s posting out of the capital and tripped Tang Rong up as well, yet the suffocation in his chest remained.

[Such a fine son, ruined by a woman,] he thought bitterly.

Tang Mo spoke evenly, picking his words with care: “Your Grace, according to Divine Physician Hua, Third Young Master is ill in the heart. His body is not the problem. But in my view, lying around like this, lost in his thoughts, is too idle.”

He painted the current routine without mercy: “He just lies there all day, never getting out of bed. When he wakes, someone washes his face and hands. Before he is even hungry, someone feeds him spoon by spoon. The life-preserving ginseng soups are poured in whether he wills it or not. How is this different from the way we tend an old person who cannot get out of bed?”

He summed it up with a sharp edge: “He is almost idle enough to rot, half dead and thinking of a woman.”

Duke Xiang fell thoughtful. He felt Tang Mo made sense. The brat should be given something to do.

He frowned and admitted the worry: “I fear that even if I give him tasks, he will refuse.”

Tang Mo smiled a little, then praised and contrasted with deliberate art: “It depends on how you say it. My elder sister-in-law chose my eldest brother for good reasons. My brother is the marquisate’s Heir Apparent, well-proportioned and handsome, with learning in his belly. Wherever he goes, he wins the favor of maidens. Even if he does not have a harem, he has red sleeves to accompany him every night. Many in the capital envy him. Compared to my brother, your third young master is indeed the weaker.”