Chapter 326

Chapter 327: You, Tang Rong, Are Truly a Most Miserable Person

Tang Gang did not dare imagine Tang Rong as truly ill-intentioned; he could not accept such a result. Almost instinctively he shrank back, praying: [Let this have nothing to do with him.]

“Young Madam, we have traced it,” Nan Feng reported. With Liu Chang’s help she quickly found the trail leading to Madam Zhang: “Yesterday morning, while the masters of the household went to the Ouyang residence for the banquet, a woman from Lady Wei’s side went out to meet someone at Spring Rain Teahouse. That man frequents teahouses and taverns to collect talk; he was the first to spread the rumor.” She added crisply: “The Marquis’s men have already seized him.”

Xin An let out a cold snort and said: “Go and inform my mother-in-law.”

Tang Gang and Madam Wang interrogated the detained men in front of Wei Liang Cai. When all the evidence pointed to Madam Zhang, Tang Gang exhaled in fierce relief. Even if he guessed that Tang Rong had prompted her, or hinted to her to do this, as long as it did not directly point to Tang Rong, he could keep deceiving himself and believe Tang Rong innocent. Everything was Madam Zhang’s fault.

Tang Gang said with measured courtesy: “This affair has gone too far. I will not belabor right and wrong, nor do I wish to summon Elder Sister-in-law to confront anyone and damage the ties between our families; I only hope such a thing will not happen again.”

It was face given to Wei Liang Cai, a colleague he might yet need in official life.

It was also face given to Tang Rong, the son he favored most.

How could Wei Liang Cai not see that Madam Zhang had fallen into Tang Rong’s snares? Yet at this point he would by no means drag Tang Rong into it. He could only admit he had not kept his household in order and apologize to Tang Gang and Madam Wang: “As for the second son and the Second Young Madam, I am truly in the wrong. As an elder, I will make it up to them.”

He had let a single misstep by Madam Zhang cause such a calamity. If he handled it poorly, how could he speak of relations with the marquisate in the future?

Tang Gang once again raised the blade high only to let it fall light, even hoping to fish some benefit from the Wei family. Madam Wang would not agree. She would not allow Tang Rong to wriggle away.

She cared nothing for Wei Liang Cai’s presence and immediately sent for Tang Rong from Chun Hua Courtyard. She looked coldly at Tang Gang and said: “If the coals have not fallen on your own instep, you do not know how it burns.”

Then she declared, her eyes hard: “Now the names of me and the second daughter-in-law are dragged through the mud; do not think to fob me off with high-sounding reasons.”

[Did they think they could sing in harmony before me and wave the matter away? Do they take me for something molded from mud?] She had already decided: [I will be the villain today.] She knew that even if they drove the Wei family out this very day, or slapped Madam Zhang until her mouth swelled, it would not mend matters. But she could set this household at odds with Tang Rong, so they would stop running to Chun Hua Courtyard several times a day and disturbing the peace.

When Madam Wang was angry, even Tang Gang had no answer. Seeing there was no graceful way to close the scene, Wei Liang Cai could only send for Madam Zhang.

Madam Zhang felt uneasy; Tang Rong felt even more guilty. On the way he had already guessed that his maternal aunt had slipped. Now he thought only of distancing himself. So the moment he entered, he seized the initiative and knelt directly before Madam Wang, saying: “Mother, though it was my maternal aunt who did this, at bottom it was to defend me. My maternal aunt has misunderstandings about Father and my second brother. I failed to persuade her in time; everything is my fault. Please punish your son.”

Madam Wang gave a cold laugh and said: “Heir Apparent, you jest. You are the marquisate’s Heir Apparent; I am the vicious stepmother. How would I dare punish you?”

She added with biting irony: “I fear that if I speak two stern sentences today, by tomorrow the talk outside will be that I have already harmed you.”

“After all, if even your own father can be painted as having harmed you simply because you were injured and temporarily could not go out, then as your vicious stepmother, would I not be said to grind you to dust?”

She meant to remind Tang Gang on purpose: if my name is in ruins, you are no good person either; what becomes of your reputation for fatherly kindness outside? Sure enough, Tang Gang’s face darkened again, and the look he gave Tang Rong changed.

Madam Zhang was one to act and take responsibility. Seeing Tang Rong speak for her only to be mocked by Madam Wang, her temper flared. She snapped: “So you know you are a stepmother. You must also know that before my younger sister you were but a concubine; my nephew is half your master.”

“You think yourself a grand dish now that others lift you up; in what way are those people outside wrong?”

“Do you dare say my nephew’s successive misfortunes bear none of your hand? Do you dare say you did not swallow my sister’s dowry? Do you dare say you have no selfish intent?”

“Shut your mouth,” a voice barked. Madam Zhang spoke too fast and with flying spittle; Wei Liang Cai could not stop her. Madam Wang’s face flushed with anger. She ignored Madam Zhang and asked Tang Rong instead: “Are your maternal aunt’s words your idea?”

“If you had not prompted her, how would she know the inner matters of this house, how would her thoughts run in this direction?”

Straightening her back, she raised her voice toward Madam Zhang: “I am the marquisate’s mistress, personally betrothed by the Old Madam; the three letters and six rites were all in order, and I entered through the main gate with full honor. I am a second wife, yes, but I am also the principal wife.”

“Elder Sister-in-law of the Wei family, did you hear clearly?”

Madam Zhang snorted and turned her head aside. Madam Wang flicked a glance at Tang Rong: “How I treat you is visible to the entire household. If something displeases you and you cannot speak it plainly, you should go to your grandmother to complain, or take it straight to your father. Why concoct falsehoods and spread them until the whole city knows?”

“You are the marquisate’s Heir Apparent; you should guard its honor. Why, for your own selfish ends, would you cast aside the marquisate’s face, paint your father and me, and your second brother and his wife, as utterly depraved people? So that in the entire household only you, Tang Rong, are a good person, and you and your wife are the most pitiable?”

“Parents unkind, brother forcing you, you endlessly helpless; you, Tang Rong, are truly a most miserable person.”

Madam Wang was at full fire, tearing away Tang Rong’s fig leaf: “You knew your maternal aunt has a blunt nature and cannot withstand instigation, and you used her as your gun. She is your own aunt. Did you not consider that when the truth came out your uncle would be put in a difficult position, and that the bond between our families might be damaged?”

Madam Zhang tried to speak again, but Wei Liang Cai yanked her wrist hard and silenced her. Madam Wang had already offered a step down. If they followed her lead, the loss could be reduced to the minimum and he and Tang Gang could preserve their present relationship.

Tang Rong was Tang Gang’s own son. What could Tang Gang do to him? At most, a small punishment as a stern warning.

Wei Liang Cai stepped forward to help Tang Rong up and said to Madam Wang: “My lady, please do not be angry. Out of pity for her nephew, my wife blurred right and wrong and did a foolish thing. I will certainly give my lady, the second son, and the Second Young Madam an accounting.”

“My nephew has always been courteous and well-bred; he would never harbor disrespect toward my lady. When my sister passed, he was still young; only with my lady’s careful raising has he become what he is today. For this, our Wei family is grateful.”

“In the past half year the child has met with many misfortunes and grown frustrated. Before his maternal aunt he may have said a few resentful words to vent his feelings. Unfortunately my wife misunderstood, and in her heartache she lost her judgment and created this trouble for the household.”

“Rumors are many; once words are spoken, they slip beyond control. Outsiders delight in heat and never think the hubbub too much, adding oil and vinegar in search of a laugh; the snowball grows and cannot be stopped. This was not my wife’s intention. Though she has some misunderstandings about my lady, she is not so malicious. I ask my lady to set her mind at ease. I will do everything I can to resolve matters outside and reduce the impact to the lowest level.”