Chapter 330

Chapter 331: Regret, such regret

Cai Quan kept pleading, but Tang Rong could wait no longer. Madam Wang’s recent attitude had shown him the household’s shifting winds. Even the stepmother who always prized appearances had pointed at his nose and scolded him, stopping just short of tearing the veil. What more did he need to understand?

He could not allow Tang Mo to keep rising.

The last few days before the New Year were the best chance.

After a fraught silence, he waved a hand and said mildly: “You make some sense. You may go.”

Cai Quan would be useless; forcing him would only ruin the plot.

Cai Quan hadn’t expected to be let off so easily. Suspicion pricked at him, but he still withdrew as quickly as he could. As long as they didn’t drag him into it, he didn’t care how others courted death.

Qing Mo, who had been eavesdropping, kept his head down and held his tongue. Tang Rong seemed to have returned to normal.

The sky was still overcast. After sleeping straight through from yesterday to this morning, Tang Mo lazed in bed, loath to rise. Already dressed to go out, Xin An spoke as she paused at the door: “Your five younger cousins are waiting for you. Get up early.”

Tang Mo felt a pang of regret. When he lay down yesterday, he’d only meant to rest his eyes a bit; [after days apart from his wife, shouldn’t he have a little time to dote on her?] Who knew he would sleep until dawn; as folks jest about daylilies, he had overslept by a mile, and she had gotten up before him. [Regret, such regret.]

Nan Feng came quickly to meet Xin An just as she was about to step out and said in a lowered voice: “My lady, Qing Mo has sent word.”

Xin An turned back, and Nan Feng followed her inside. In front of Tang Mo, she relayed the message. Xin An answered with a clipped nod: “Qing Mo handled it well. Reward him with two taels of silver.”

Nan Feng withdrew at once and considerately closed the door.

Tang Mo gave a cold laugh: “I was just thinking I ought to earn some merit before year’s end, and he delivers himself to my door. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

Xin An mused aloud, eyes narrowing with calculation: “He really does have a lot of silver. Looks like I should add fuel to the fire. Auntie Cai’s son ought to be useful.”

She issued her quiet instructions: “Arrange for someone to saddle him with a large debt. And Auntie Cai needs to be cautious; after all this time she still hasn’t moved that stash.”

Tang Mo nodded: “Affairs inside the household are yours; outside are mine. We just can’t let him enjoy a good New Year.” [He and Tang Rong were already at the point of no return, but he could not send Tang Rong off just yet; what if he arranged for him to lose a leg?]

Seeing him still sitting on the bed, Xin An urged again with a smile: “Up you get. Sister Lin is waiting for me.”

Lin Yao arrived and, upon seeing Xin An, didn’t bother with detours. She explained briskly: “Every year about now, the Empress opens soup kitchens under the name of Qian Jin Hall at several city gates and outside the walls. They run from the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month through the fifteenth day of the first month, so that those too poor to go home or hard up can at least have a bowl of hot food for the festival. On New Year’s Eve, the first, the seventh, and the fifteenth, there will be meat dishes as well. The Empress’s private treasury covers part of the cost and the people of Qian Jin Workshop cover part. I’ve come to raid your purse today.”

Xin An made it clear she would not be outdone in doing good: “I’ll keep up. And I’ve arranged some things privately as well. My father always says that at year’s end you should look back: if the year went smoothly and your business earned money, then you are more fortunate than many. To make the coming year better, and to keep the full moon from tipping into waning, you should scatter a little wealth and accumulate merit. Back in the Huai River region, our Xin family’s soup kitchens also run from New Year’s Eve through the Lantern Festival.”

She smiled and added with genuine warmth: “I’m carrying on my father’s will. You don’t need to come in person for this sort of thing, Sister Lin; sending someone to tell me would have been enough.”

Lin Yao laughed: “I knew you’d be generous. I just wanted an excuse to chat. You have no idea how I’ve been flying everywhere lately; it’s rare to steal a lazy hour, and I wasn’t going to let it slip.” She then launched into cheerful complaints about where she had to call, what gifts she had to exchange, which elders needed New Year’s greetings: “Not a moment’s rest, more exhausting than a battle.”

Xin An commiserated: “It’ll ease up after the Lantern Festival.” She had been about to say it would ease up in a day or two, then remembered that from the first day onward Lin Yao would be banquet-hopping, as most of her relatives were in the capital.

Stealing only half an hour, Lin Yao rose to go. Xin An tucked a banknote for two thousand taels into a lacquered box and sent it with her. She turned and almost ran into Tang Gang.

Whether because the Imperial Court’s affairs had slackened or because the household had guests, Tang Gang had been spending more time at home.

He asked evenly: “Are you helping with Qian Jin Hall’s work?”

Xin An did not conceal it: “Hardly work. I simply sent a boatload of medicinal herbs.”

He probed: “Your father prepared them?”

She smiled: “Of course.” Then she took two steps closer and asked with bright candor: “Is Father interested in the matter?”

Words rose to Tang Gang’s lips and he swallowed them. Unless necessary, he preferred not to speak with Xin An alone; he did not know why, but [he always felt he would come off worse].

He settled for a neutral question: “Is your father coming to the capital after the New Year?”

“Yes. Would Father like to speak with him again? Our old cooperation model may no longer be suitable. My father earns only so much in a year, and now he has more expenses. Father might consider new business with him—something that involves real investment.”

These days, they no longer had to rely only on the Marquis’s household. If the Marquis’s household still wanted money for nothing, it would not be appropriate; to draw the same returns as before, they would have to put in more.

Tang Gang understood exactly what Xin An meant. He shot her a glare and waved her off: “Go on with your tasks.”

This husband and wife had their abilities, and they were maddening.

Xin An returned to Qiu Shi Courtyard. Learning that Tang Mo had gone to Ning Cui Courtyard, she told Nan Feng to send a runner to Herbal Cuisine House to reserve the largest private room; she was going to host a meal.

Madam Wang agreed readily: “Good. It should have been arranged in the residence, but everyone’s been too busy. The household will cover the cost.”

Xin An smiled: “No need to trouble the household. I’ll invite the elders and our brothers and sisters in my husband’s name, and I’ll ask Second Uncle’s family and Uncle’s family as well. Let’s add a little bustle before the New Year.”

“You really do think of everything,” Madam Wang said approvingly, then asked whether she also meant to invite the Wei family and Tang Rong.

Xin An’s answer was frank: “If I’m hosting, of course the whole household is invited. I’m not so small-minded. And it will please Grandmother during the festival.”

Grand Matron had treated her well and given her many good things; this would repay her in part and show that she and her husband could see the larger picture.

Madam Wang nodded with a smile. With a daughter-in-law so thorough, a mother-in-law could not lag behind; she would go speak well of Xin An before Grand Matron.

The three girls heard Xin An invite them with their own ears, and their smiles were so bright their brows nearly flew off their faces. They chattered: “We’ve all heard that Second Sister-in-law’s medicinal cuisine is famous in the capital. Without a reservation you can’t get a table, and they say there are many soups especially good for women. We’ve long wanted to go, but we were afraid you’d think us greedy, Second Sister-in-law.”

Tang Ke’er’s eyebrows all but danced. They had been uneasy about coming to the capital, afraid they wouldn’t be liked. Who knew they would meet such a good Second Sister-in-law.

Xin An loved spending time with the three girls; they made her feel especially young. She said with an easy laugh: “I should have taken you earlier, but I truly haven’t had a spare moment. Now most things are arranged, so let’s enjoy a proper meal. When spring opens, I’ll take you all around the capital. I’m not very familiar with it myself, so we’ll have your second cousin lead us.”

The three girls were even happier at that. Madam Zhao smiled until her eyes turned into crescents and began planning to prepare a separate gift for Xin An. The three girls would surely need her care in the future; since she was so thoughtful, they could not accept without reciprocating. Even among relatives, there should be give and take.