Chapter 237

Chapter 237: Auntie Cai’s Family Has Struck It Rich

“I am your hope?” Tang Mo, automatically filtering out the word our that followed, only heard Xin An say that he was her hope, and his heart swelled with delight.

“Of course,” Xin An said, placing a hand on his shoulder and, suppressing a smile, speaking in all seriousness: “Second Young Master Tang, whether I live well in this life is entirely entrusted to you. Do not disappoint me.”

Tang Mo was jubilant. All at once he felt especially tall and heroic. “With you here, I feel particularly steady,” he said. “Rest assured, I will not let you down.” [Oh dear, why is my nose stinging a little? How am I so cherished?]

“Young Madam,” Nan Feng said from the doorway, holding a small chest, “Young Madam Ou Yang sent many milk curds from the grasslands for you to taste.”

“Bring them in and let me see,” Xin An said.

Nan Feng entered and set down the chest. The instant the lid opened, a rich dairy aroma drifted out. Tang Mo, saying this was good stuff, added: “I have heard that when the steppe cavalry ride out, they carry more of this than anything else. It is very filling.”

“They are strong and robust, and it is said they eat these from childhood,” he added.

Xin An had tasted the stuff back in Huai River and admitted it was a bit hard to accept at first: “Do not be fooled by the fragrant smell. When you eat it, there is a raw dairy tang, and it is sour. The first time I ate it, I thought it had spoiled.”

Tang Mo pinched up a piece and put it in his mouth, saying: “It is all right.” Then his eyes slid shut, his brows knotted, and only after a long moment did he open them, blinking several times. “This stuff…” he began.

Seeing him lean back like that made Xin An’s teeth ache in sympathy. Tang Mo forced a smile and said: “Say what you will, if you chew carefully you can taste a rich milk fragrance. It is quite mellow.”

“Then eat more,” Xin An said, handing the whole chest to him. “Eating more makes you less likely to fall ill. You are weak. You should supplement your strength.”

Smacking his lips twice, Tang Mo wanted to say he could not quite accept it either, but as long as it could strengthen his body he wanted to try more. He pinched up another piece and put it in his mouth, striving to adapt, and even said against his better judgment: “Mm, the more I taste it, the better it is. It seems I am suited to eating this.”

“They are all yours,” Xin An said.

Tang Mo did not stand on ceremony and had Nan Feng fetch oiled paper to wrap a few pieces for him. He would eat them when he was on duty and hungry. Perhaps, if he kept eating them, he would get used to the taste. If not, he could give them to Zhuang Shi and the others. One way or another, they would be finished.

Seeing he really did seem to like them a little, Xin An said: “If you truly get used to them, I will ask Young Madam Ou Yang where to buy them. It seems they are only available in winter.”

“I will finish these first before we talk about buying more,” Tang Mo said.

Xin An did not press him. After a while, the taste in Tang Mo’s mouth became purely milky; the tang was still there, but tea could suppress it.

That evening, Tang Gang and Tang Rong returned to the residence together, both of their faces sour. Perhaps due to Duke Xiang’s retaliation, over the past two days the Imperial Court had seen a steady stream of memorials impeaching the father and son, dredging up matters as trivial as sesame seeds and mung beans. Especially with regard to Tang Rong, they impeached him as lacking in virtue and unfit to serve in the Ministry of Rites. If this went on, he truly would not be able to keep his post at the Ministry of Rites.

Neither father nor son had any appetite. They ate a few perfunctory bites and went to the study. With a single look from Madam Wang, a serving lad waiting outside withdrew without a sound. It could be said that, so long as Madam Wang wished it, nothing that happened in the study could be concealed from her.

Feigning indifference, Tang Mo and Xin An finished their meal and strolled hand in hand back to Qiu Shi Courtyard. They had just arrived when Nan Feng came to say that Liu Chang had come. “He has been waiting for quite a while. Would the young master like to see him?”

Tang Mo nodded: “Show him in.”

Liu Chang brought Tang Mo a piece of news: the neighbor, Auntie Cai’s family, had struck it rich.

“Not only did they repay their silver on schedule, they also bought several servants and have been spending lavishly. Today my father heard they were secretly inquiring about shops, so it looks like they want to buy property.”

Raising his brows, Tang Mo asked: “Did you find out where their silver came from?”

“Cai Quan has gone to the pawnshop twice, but the clerks there are tight-lipped. We could not learn what he pawned.” For a servant to come and go at a pawnshop so often, he was either pawning on his master’s orders or had sticky fingers. Liu Chang guessed the Cai family belonged to the latter.

Tang Mo’s lips curved faintly. Tossing Liu Chang a piece of silver, he said: “You handled this well. Keep watching them. If possible, find out exactly what they pawned. Do not make a fuss.”

Catching the silver, Liu Chang said: “Many thanks, Second Young Master.”

Xin An soon received the news and sneered: “He was a sly creature to begin with. Not surprising.”

“Leave it for now,” she said. “We will have use for it later.”

Tang Mo agreed, adding: “I keep feeling the neighbor will not sit and wait for death. He will certainly do something.”

“We just do not know whether he will do it openly or use dirty tricks.”

Xin An sent Nan Feng to warn Qing Mo that Tang Rong must be watched even more closely.

That night, Tang Rong returned to Chun Hua Courtyard. When he passed Qiu Shi Courtyard, he stopped and stared at its tightly closed gate, lost in thought. He himself was worn down to this state, while Tang Mo rose day by day. [Can this be fate?] [I cannot let him go on so smoothly.]

“Heir Apparent, you are back?” Auntie Cai came out to greet him and said: “It is chilly at night, and you are thinly dressed. Do not stand outside. There is autumn pear soup warming on the stove. Have a bowl to warm yourself.”

Tang Rong entered. As usual, Auntie Cai waited on him attentively. After two sips of the pear soup, Tang Rong suddenly remembered something and asked: “Aunt, what has Cai Quan been busy with lately?”

“Still on duty,” Auntie Cai said after a glance at his expression. “Just ordinary tasks.”

“Mm,” Tang Rong said, setting down the bowl. “Year’s end is nearly here. The shopkeepers from several shops should be coming to settle accounts. I had originally thought of buying a few more properties and letting Cai Quan and his father manage them. After a year of hard work, they ought to be rewarded. Unfortunately…”

“Times are not what they were. I, the Heir Apparent, cannot draw even two thousand taels of silver from the accounts.”

Auntie Cai was taken aback: “The household funds have always been at the Heir Apparent’s disposal. In the past, sending Qing Mo to fetch the silver was enough. How is it that now it cannot be done?”

Tang Rong gave a bitter smile and did not answer. He only sighed and said: “Auntie Cai, tell me, why have my days grown ever more ill-starred?”

A deep frown creased Auntie Cai’s brow. She knew their family’s rise and fall depended entirely on Tang Rong. If Tang Rong failed, their family would certainly be the first Madam Wang swept out of the marquisate. They had once hoped that after Tao Yi Ran conceived, they would rise in the household and she would enjoy greater dignity, making everything easier. Who knew that now Tao Yi Ran shut herself away, doing nothing each day but nursing the fetus, so that even the servants who attended her had to rack their brains for excuses just to go out. The Heir Apparent seemed plagued by misfortune. At this rate, no one in Chun Hua Courtyard would have a good time.

“Heir Apparent,” Auntie Cai said at last, “there are some words an old servant is not at liberty to speak, but consider: has it not been since you moved to Chun Hua Courtyard that things stopped going smoothly?”

She had pondered this for a long time and was convinced that Tang Rong’s present misfortunes were the work of Madam Wang and Tang Mo. Otherwise, how could a man in fine shape stumble again and again?

Tang Rong lifted his eyes and asked: “Aunt, what do you mean?”