Seeing the patches on Tang Mingfan's official robes and the sweat glistening in the sunlight on his forehead, Tang Zhuyun was deeply moved and cursed her predecessor another ten thousand times in her heart.
The three men in the family had protected her so well, yet she was mud that would not stick to the wall.
"Lord Tang," Ruan Anruo said anxiously, "she brought something dangerous in here. What was she planning?"
Tang Zhuyun stepped forward and bowed to Tang Mingfan, then took his arm. "Father, I'll handle this myself."
Tang Mingfan was panting from running. Evidently, he had heard that something serious had happened and rushed straight over from the yamen next door.
Tang Mingfan was somewhat stunned. His daughter seemed a little different today?
Tang Zhuyun tilted her head and looked at Ruan Anruo. "Come on, tell me. What dangerous thing did I bring in?"
Ruan Anruo said, "Knockout powder. There's knockout powder in your purse! You said you were going to scheme against the prince, and you also said he wasn't so far above you that you couldn't aspire to marry him. Didn't he have a daughter too? It wouldn't be his first marriage either..."
Tang Zhuyun's predecessor really had thought that.
Although she had an illegitimate son, who even knew who had given birth to the Prince of Jin's daughter? Weren't the two of them a perfect match?
The Prince of Jin's face darkened. Like a giant air conditioner, he pumped out blasts of cold air.
If looks could kill, Tang Zhuyun would probably have been hacked to pieces by now.
Tang Zhuyun put on a look of surprise. "Have you been watching too many plays, or are you having hysterics? Given my family's circumstances, would I dare scheme against the Prince of Jin? The Tang household has one maid and one old woman guarding the gate. The Prince of Jin has dozens of people attending him. What could I possibly use to scheme against him?"
"It's not as though you haven't done such things before."
"And you used to wet the bed!" Tang Zhuyun sneered.
Tang Zhuyun had actually said something so vulgar in public. Ruan Xinruo's face flushed red with anger. "You're just feeling guilty."
"Me, feeling guilty? I was worried you wouldn't be able to save face." Tang Zhuyun took the purse from her waist, reached inside, and pinched out some fine powder. Under everyone's watchful eyes, she put it in her mouth and sucked on it. "Powdered sugar. Want a taste?"
"Impossible!"
"Enough!" the Grand Princess said angrily. "You're both daughters of respectable officials, yet you've caused such a scene. Have you no sense of dignity? Attendants, throw the two of them out. They're never to set foot in the princess's residence again!"
"Your Highness, please listen to my explanation..." Ruan Anruo panicked. She had still hoped to cling to the Grand Princess's golden thigh! This was the emperor's own elder sister, whom he held in high regard.
Tang Zhuyun, however, couldn't wait to leave. She called to the three men of her family, "Father, Brother, Linlin, let's go home."
Tang Baixin glared at her. The princess and the Prince of Jin hadn't left yet. Where did they think they were going?
Tang Zhuyun was baffled. After a moment's thought, she assumed Tang Baixin was still angry with her, so she didn't dare make a sound.
The Prince of Jin gave Tang Zhuyun a long look, then left with the Grand Princess.
Tang Mingfan spoke up. "Let's go home first. We can talk about it there."
Tang Zhuyun hung her head like an eggplant struck by frost and followed the three men home.
The Tang residence was a dilapidated two-courtyard house, extremely plain and shabby. Tang Mingfan lived in the main house, Tang Zhuyun in its side extension, and Tang Baixin and Linlin in the east wing. Old Madam He, who guarded the gate, lived with her daughter Xiu'er in the west wing.
Old Madam He and her daughter had been alone and without support. They had lost their home after a lawsuit, and Tang Mingfan had taken them in.
Though neither mother nor daughter knew much of the world, both were hardworking and loyal, and they kept the residence very clean.
Everyone in this household, from top to bottom, was dependable except for Tang Zhuyun. The only problem was that they had nothing but four bare walls.
By the time Tang Mingfan got home, he seemed to have aged more than ten years. His back was no longer straight, and he leaned against a chair, gasping for breath.
Tang Zhuyun had a vague sense that her father by circumstance had poor heart and lung function.
Tang Baixin, meanwhile, said, "Hand over that filthy drug!"
Xiu'er dropped to her knees with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly. "Eldest young master, it was all my fault, all my fault..."
Tang Mingfan said, "Go and fetch a physician to examine the young lady first. As for the consultation fee, ask him to put it on credit for now!"
There was anger in his eyes as he spoke, but even more worry.
"Come on, Xiu'er, get up." Tang Zhuyun sighed. What else could she do but clean up the mess?
She slowly knelt. "I was foolish before and made Father and Brother worry. It won't happen again. The drug Xiu'er bought was fake. Someone tricked her with powdered sugar, so I'm fine."
They had only wasted five taels of silver-and she had borrowed that money from a loan shark.
Tang Zhuyun felt that her predecessor was utterly beyond redemption.
Tang Mingfan received an annual salary of three hundred taels of silver, and Tang Baixin received fifty. With allowances for firewood and the like, it all added up to over four hundred taels.
Tang Mingfan now sent two hundred taels to his family. The remaining two hundred and more should have been enough for them to live quite comfortably, but Tang Zhuyun had squandered it all.
This wasn't her first time borrowing from loan sharks, because Tang Baixin kept her in check and wouldn't give her that much silver.
They had filled the holes she made more than once or twice. All in all, she really deserved a beating.
Tang Zhuyun made a rough calculation. She still owed more than a hundred taels of silver outside the household, and those debts hadn't even come to light yet. Now she had to take the blame for them all.
Heavens above and earth below, what sin had I committed to transmigrate here and take the blame for someone else?
Who in the capital didn't know that the Tang family had a lovesick old maid who couldn't find a husband?
"You, you!" Tang Mingfan's hands trembled with anger. "Baixin, bring the family discipline rod!"
"Father, my mother-think of my mother. Spare me this once!"
Though Tang Zhuyun scorned her predecessor for invoking her dead mother every time she got into trouble, not even letting her rest in death, she still lost her nerve when faced with a beating.
Sure enough, Tang Mingfan fell silent. Thinking of his late wife and looking at his daughter's face, almost identical to hers, the old man wept freely.
Tang Baixin sneered. He had known this would happen!
Nor did he believe Tang Zhuyun would ever truly mend her ways. A dog could never stop eating shit!
He took Linlin's hand. The pretty little boy had been expressionless since they got back and hadn't so much as looked Tang Zhuyun in the eye. "Come on, Father will take you back to our room to study."
One grown and one small, the two handsome figures walked coldly past Tang Zhuyun.
"Get up." Tang Mingfan had suffered a terrible blow. He said weakly, "Only when I close my eyes and go to find your mother will I no longer have to worry about you. You may go. I have to return to the yamen."
He rose unsteadily to his feet, only to nearly fall.
Tang Zhuyun got up and steadied him. "Father, take it slowly. Rest a while first. Wait-wait until after the meal before going back to the yamen."
She took the opportunity to feel Tang Mingfan's pulse and nearly cried.
Tang Mingfan was a dignified second-rank official, yet his pulse was weak and feeble, his hands were icy, and he suffered from heart weakness and shortness of breath. Clearly, poor nutrition had left him unable to produce enough qi and blood.
He was only in his early forties, yet his hair had already turned completely white.
He was plainly a capable and diligent official whose name could have shone for ten thousand generations, yet he had been dragged down to this state by a daughter who amounted to nothing.
"Bamboo arrows have their inner skin, just as pines and cypresses have their heartwood." Steadfast and noble-that was what Tang Mingfan demanded of himself when he chose her name and her brother's. Linlin's name, meanwhile, expressed the hope that he would live with dignity and vigor. What a noble, proud heart Tang Mingfan had.
And she, this heap of mud that would not stick to the wall, had utterly ruined his reputation for wisdom, and he could see no hope at all.
Tang Mingfan sank into the chair, sorrow and despair in his eyes.