Chapter 60: Gains and Losses (Part 1)

  Can't think for too long, or it will be suspected of lying. Rong Hua made up her mind and said: "I came out with Fourth Aunt, but it was too dark outside, and I was a little scared in my heart. Fourth Aunt walked in front, and I followed behind, but somehow I got lost. Later, I heard the sound and went over to see Third Aunt. I thought that Fourth Aunt might have found that I didn't follow up, so she returned to find me."

  Listening to Rong Hua's words, the fourth aunt had no doubt at all. The things she said were so reasonable and should be that way. Old Lady Tao nodded, "Good child." She also asked the maid to bring some snacks over.

  The curtain outside was lifted and a maid walked in.

  With a satisfied tone and a comfortable breath, this interrogation can be considered concluded.

  After having some dim sum, the old lady gave Ronghua a sky blue plum blossom inkstone and a six-sided flower bird ceramic pen holder. Ronghua hastily thanked her.

  The old lady smiled kindly and said: "Your filial piety is rare, what's wrong with me giving you some things?"

  She smiled slightly with pursed lips.

  The old lady seemed very satisfied and said a few more words to Ronghua before he stood up and took his leave.

  Ronghua left with her maid, and Old Lady Tao said to Ruiqing: "Ba Lian didn't seem to be lying. That night, there were so many things, she's still young and doesn't know the cruelty of the people in this mansion, she shouldn't have thought much."

  Rui Qing watched from start to finish and also felt that Miss Ba's performance was normal, without any signs of concealment. "Miss Ba is so young, encountering such a scene would have made her flustered early on, probably didn't have the extra thoughts to think of anything else."

  Old Lady Tao nodded, "There's no need to ask Eighty anymore, lest we raise suspicions by asking too much," she said with a smile, "I think this girl, although raised outside the manor for many years, is indeed knowledgeable and reasonable...the characters on her embroidery are also beautifully written..."

  As soon as Rui Qing got these, she knew that the old lady would definitely like Miss Ba. The old lady liked Wang Xizhi's "Huang Ting Jing" the most, and Miss Ba copied these with small regular script, a thousand words on one piece of paper, not a single mistake.

  Old Lady Tao asked Rui Qing to bring it over and take a look, "Don't say that our family doesn't have such good calligraphy, I haven't seen anyone outside who can copy better than this. Wu Yatou's handwriting was good in the past, but it was too revealing. Zheng An said that it was dignified and magnificent, with an open and expansive atmosphere, but I don't like it."

  Rui Qing couldn't help but laugh.

  Mentioning the fifth young lady, Old Lady Tao sighed, "It's a pity about Wu Yaotou too. With so many relatives in our family, if she had told me first, we could have found someone suitable for her and it wouldn't have ended up like that."

  Rui Qing didn't know what to say and just stood by listening.

  Old Mrs. Tao asked again, "Who are those two maids brought by Eighth Miss?"

  Rui Qing poured a cup of tea to serve the old lady, "You've all seen them, one is Jinxiu from Madame's room, and the other is Feicui, also from Madame's room. She used to serve in Second Miss's room before going to Eighth Miss's place."

  The old lady snorted, "She doesn't trust anyone, there's no house without her people." She paused, "Is that the one called Feicui who was sent out by Er Ya?" The old lady furrowed her brow, "When did Er Ya also have such thoughts."

  Rui Qing stood by silently. The old lady's favoritism towards the second miss was never excessive, just a slight bias, and asking about it would be enough, she wouldn't intervene further.

  The old lady Tao did not continue asking, but a cold light flashed in her eyes. "Is there anyone else who has been in contact with the fourth aunt?"

  Rui Qing reported back to Lao Taitai what had been said about that night: "All I heard was that someone from the Flower Room side said that Chiao Hsiao went out for a while that evening."

  Old Lady Tao looked up at Rui Qing and instructed, "Call over Chu Xiao to ask her what she knows about this matter. With the family members arriving soon, we can't let such a shameful thing happen. No matter how it's handled, it must be covered up."

  "Old lady, don't worry," Rui Qing said with a smile. "Didn't the old master say before that those two thieves were badly injured and probably can't speak?"

  Mrs. Tao said, "Although it's said like this, we can't be too careless. What if she says something and our Tao family loses face?" As she spoke, Mrs. Tao furrowed her brow, "She's only been in charge of the household for a few years and has already turned it into such a state. If she hadn't sent Fourth Aunt to the small courtyard outside to recuperate earlier, who knows what would have happened later?"

  "There's trouble outside, but instead of thinking about how to protect the house, she wants to take advantage of the situation to get rid of people who are in her way. As a result, she ends up making things worse and inviting thieves into the house." Old Lady Tao's face grew increasingly ugly. "She hasn't made any progress over the years. Now that things have reached this point, she's still openly investigating Fourth Madam's affairs within the household. I'm afraid others don't know that our family has a traitor. As the head of the clan, because of infighting between wives and concubines, we've let wolves into our home. How can our clansmen speak of this?"

  "Madam Anguo still cherishes our past favors, but if she knew that these calamities were all brought about by ourselves, what would she say then? Could I still marry her daughter?"

  Rui Qing gently patted Mrs. Tao's shoulder, "Don't get angry, old lady. Fortunately, you had arranged for Fourth Aunt and Liu Er to enter the courtyard early on, so outsiders won't know what's going on inside."

  The old lady nodded, "She came to me for shelter on her own initiative, which saved me a lot of trouble." After a pause, she continued, "I think it's not suitable to delay, I'll have the master called over tonight."

  Moreover, without mentioning that Wei Qing found an opportunity to call Chu Xiao over to talk, and asked about the events of that night, reported back to Old Lady, and invited Big Master over in the evening.

  Rui Qing lit all the lamps and brought tea and snacks. The maidservants retreated, leaving only Tao Zheng and his mother to talk.

  The old lady said: "Try this pastry and see if it's still that flavor."

  In front of him was a plate of Osmanthus cake, Tao Zheng'an took out a piece to taste, only his mother could make such a flavor here.

  "You've loved eating these little pastries since you were a kid, and in the blink of an eye, so many years have passed."

  Tao Zhengan also remembered things from his childhood, and in those years, his mother had indeed shown him a lot of care. Although the relationship between Tao Zhengan and his mother was not as good as before after the miscarriage of the eldest lady, the affection of those years still remained.

  Mrs. Tao said, "I've heard about what's been going on these past few days, I don't know how you plan to handle it. With the Winter Solstice ancestor worship coming up, if things aren't settled properly and our relatives bring it up, how will you respond?"

  Upon hearing this, Tao Zheng'an was startled in his heart, "What news has Mother heard?" The old lady and several elders of the clan often exchanged letters, who knows what information she had received.

  The old lady Tao looked at Tao Zheng'an and said, "When there is news, it will be too late."

  Tao Zheng let out a sigh of relief.

  The old lady Tao snorted, "Don't think I'm scaring you, someone who can't even manage their own household, how can they be the head of the family? When the elders ask you about it, how will you explain? Fourth Aunt was locked in a small courtyard outside the mansion to recover from her illness, and when the thieves came, why didn't you bring her back into the mansion? This is not falling into the hands of the thieves, what if they ruined her reputation, where would your face be? Those thieves burned down the small courtyard after entering the mansion, how did they know to rush to my Qian Xi residence?"

  "The elder daughter-in-law summoned the people in the mansion to ask, can this kind of thing be asked about? If only her own family members knew, it would be fine, but if outsiders found out, how could they bear it?"

  "What happened to those two thieves who escaped from prison?"

  Tao Zheng'an hastily replied: "He hasn't even been tried yet and he's already died from his injuries in prison."

  The old lady nodded, "Things outside have been taken care of, no one will speak out of turn. But as for the people in the mansion, do you have a plan in mind, what exactly are you going to do?"

  Tao Zheng'an furrowed his brow, "The tenth daughter of the Third House..."

  The old lady's face sank and she said, "Don't drag me into the third house, can the third house compare to your first house? If it were the third house's business, would I need to call you over to ask? You two have already counted on it in your hearts, haven't you?" Her tone was now laced with sarcasm.

  "Fourth Auntie, what are you going to do with her?"

  Tao Zheng'an's heart sank as he looked at his mother's cold face, seemingly with no room for maneuver. He thought to himself that at his age, it was hard enough...

  Old Lady Tao sneered: "I know what you're thinking, Fourth Aunt is finally pregnant, and you can't bear to part with the flesh in her belly."

  Tao Zheng'an fell silent, his heart understood.

  Old Lady Tao picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip, "Don't mention that we don't even know if she's really pregnant or not. Even if she is, after what she did, can you still protect her for the sake of the child? In the future, when the child is born, if someone questions his identity, where will your face be? Where will the Tao family's face be? What if someone says that the Tao family raised a thief's child, can you go and shut their mouths? Why did she get pregnant at this time, why not earlier or later, but only after a thief entered her courtyard? Even if it's true, that child is still an unlucky one."

  Old Lady Tao's face turned stern, "Before, when you and your wife handled Xiao Wu together, you didn't even tell me, now why are you changing the rules?"

  "Xiao Wu can handle it, why can't she? Even if she really is pregnant, the child in her belly is yours, not Xiao Wu's."

  Old Lady Tao forced Tao Zheng'an to be speechless with her every word.

  Old Lady Tao gave Tao Zheng'an a cold glance, "In case your little star causes a death or two, I'm afraid you'll blame me. This morning, I had someone put an abortion pill in Fourth Aunt's soup bowl, she drank the soup... A day has passed and her body is fine without any unusual signs, don't believe me? Go take a look at her in the room." After saying this, Old Lady Tao heavily placed the teacup on the table, then someone heard the noise and opened the door.

  Tao Zheng'an widened his eyes and looked outside again upon hearing this.

  The old lady Tao shouted again: "Go!"

  Tao Zheng got up and went out of the house, led by a maid who guided him to the outside of Fourth Aunt's house.

  Tao Zhengan only felt an unusual heaviness in his legs, and didn't know whether he should continue walking forward. Liu'er, who was working outside, had sharp eyes and saw Tao Zhengan, immediately putting down her things and welcoming him, "The master has arrived."

  Tao Zheng'an entered the house and Fourth Auntie heard the sound and came out to greet him.

  Tao Zheng'an looked up and saw that Fourth Aunt was wearing a pale blue robe, her eyes misty, standing prettily under the lamp.

  When she saw Tao Zheng'an, Fourth Aunt smiled slightly and her eyes sparkled with joy. "Master, what brings you here today?" She said as she took Tao Zheng'an's arm and invited him into the inner chamber.

  Liu'er brought over the tea set, and Fourth Auntie took it from her. She lifted her head and gave Tao Zheng'an a smile, "Master is waiting, I'll go brew some good tea for you."

  Tao Zheng was dazed, staring at Fourth Aunt as she made tea. He had been drinking her tea for years now, and at first, her technique wasn't very skilled... Now, she could probably make good tea even with her eyes closed.

  Before Fourth Aunt had even brought over the tea, Tao Zheng'an had already stood up and walked away.

  Fourth Aunt was somewhat surprised by Tao Zheng'an's enthusiasm.

  Tao Zheng'an's mind was in a daze, only seeing the beautiful eyebrows and eyes in front of him, those shiny lips, and a slight smile that revealed a round dimple.

  Fourth Aunt glanced at Liu'er, and Liu'er quickly walked out and gently closed the partition. With no one else in the room, Fourth Aunt picked up the tea cup and leaned into Tao Zheng'an's arms, bringing the cup to his lips. "This tea was given by Old Lady, I deliberately saved it for Master."

  There's nothing good in her house unless it was given by the mistress or the old lady, and even then, she would only bring it out when he came.

  One time he didn't visit her for several months, and she was delighted to take out a tea canister, only to find that a small insect had crawled inside, which made her heart ache. She then changed to other tea leaves, but they were no longer available.

  She followed him all these years but didn't enjoy any blessings. She finally gave birth to a son, but he died early and wasn't even entered into the family tree.

  Sixth Aunt gave birth to Big Brother Hong, and everyone in the mansion called him Second Master Hong. She also made a fuss for a while, saying "Who is Second Master? The one I gave birth to? The one I gave birth to is the real Second Master."

  Tao Zheng'an sat in a chair drinking tea, with Fourth Aunt waiting on him by his side. She couldn't bear to remove her hand from Tao Zheng'an's knee, so she used her left hand to pour the tea. When Tao Zheng'an's expression softened, Fourth Aunt spoke up, "Master, do you still remember promising me that you would find a good marriage for Yanhua?" Although it was a question, she didn't mention it directly and didn't bring up the Wang family. "Now Yanhua is not young anymore, as long as the families are compatible and the person has good character..." She paused, "Even if the family is ordinary, but the person has talent, that's also acceptable. Yanhua can suffer for a few years, and in the future, she'll have a chance to rise up." Finally, she added, "As long as it's a legitimate wife, Master will have a way out, and Yanhua will have someone to rely on. This is an excellent marriage arrangement, and both Yanhua and I will be grateful to you, Master."

  Tao Zheng'an glanced at Fourth Aunt and his gaze softened, "So you're all for Yanhua..."

  Fourth Auntie lowered her head and smiled, "Something that came from my belly, how can I not think about it." She and the Eldest Madam wanted those things too, in order to give them to Yan Hua as a dowry in the future.

  She no longer cared about anything, as long as Renhua's marriage could be successful, she could let go of everything. Thinking of this, a bright and beautiful smile floated up again, desperately trying to please Tao Zheng'an.

  She was not burned to death in the small courtyard, and she begged those thieves, telling them that there were gold, silver, and jewels in this mansion. She was afraid that the thieves would rummage everywhere, and if they accidentally broke into Yanhua's room, it would damage Yanhua's reputation. So she pointed out the location of Qianxi Residence. She originally wanted to use the thieves' hands to get rid of Ronghua.

  It's a pity that Yan Hua was almost kidnapped by thieves in the end.

  It's all her fault, and it harmed Yanhua.

  She must have brought the thief into the house, and she thought there was no way out. She had come to ask Miss Er with her last hope, but it was Chū Xiǎo beside Miss Er who helped her think of this plan.

  Whether she has a child in her belly or not, everyone will know sooner or later.

  What's the use of knowing? At most, it's just one death. Even if I have to die, I want to see Yan Hua marry happily first.

  "Zheng An," Fourth Aunt pulled Zheng An's hand and placed it on her belly, raised her head, smiled slightly, but there was a layer of mist in her eyes, "This time I must give birth to another brother."

  This remark seemed sincere, and Tao Zheng'an stretched out his hand to pull the fourth aunt into his arms. "Now that you're pregnant, taking care of your body is a priority. Wait until the child is born before worrying about Ronghua's affairs." Tao Zheng'an clearly felt the body in his arms stiffen.

  Fourth Aunt suddenly became anxious and was no longer so calm, "How can that be? Yan Hua is not young anymore."

  Tao Zheng'an's enthusiasm dissipated by more than half in an instant, and he looked at Fourth Aunt quietly, "It doesn't make a difference of one or two years."

  Fourth Aunt's face changed suddenly, "I just think we should find a good candidate earlier, even if it's not a perfect match, at least settle on someone first."

  Tao Zheng said after a long while: "Have you told Yan Hua about these things?"

  Fourth Aunt hastily said: "How can I say these words?" After a pause, thinking of Yan Hua's appearance over the past few days, she was warmer to her than before, constantly glancing at her belly, as if she would soon have a younger brother.

  She couldn't know how much effort Ruihua had put in, nor could she explain why her "illness" suddenly got better. She just gave a vague response and Ruihua didn't ask further.

  It's her fault for having a lowly status. A servant bought back by the Tao family, although she was promoted to be a concubine, she is still just a servant after all.

  One day, someone will do something extraordinary and let them all see. Fourth Aunt stretched out her hand, clasped five fingers from inside to outside, wiped away the tears, smiled again on her face, stretched out her arm and hung it around Tao Zheng'an's neck, a pair of eyes looked at Tao Zheng'an with deep affection.

  ……

  Ronghua had already ordered the maids to shut the doors and called Mu Qi and Jin Xiu over to tell them about today's events.

  "Miss, you're too kind. It's clearly Fourth Aunt who's being malicious, why don't you tell Old Lady about it?"

  Rong Hua glanced at Mu Jin, and Mu Jin immediately shut up. Rong Hua then said, "What I want to say is this. That day, there were many people in my house, so I suppose not many people would have thought of this. You two understand what's going on in your hearts, but no one is allowed to go out and say a word about it. Otherwise," Rong Hua's face sank, "if something happens, I won't be able to protect you either."

  After hearing this, Jinxiu and Mugen both tensed up. The former was just deep in thought, while the latter couldn't help but ask again, "Miss, what's going on?"

  She also repeatedly thought about it and realized that the matter of Fourth Aunt couldn't be made public, as it would damage the reputation of the Tao Manor. That's why Old Madam had kept Fourth Aunt and Liu'er by her side. As for how to resolve this matter, she didn't dare make a decision yet; all she could confirm was that this affair would bring no good fortune to her.

  The more the merrier.

  Wish you all a happy Lantern Festival.

  Thanks for the experience shared by everyone, I've already asked my husband to buy colostrum for our kid.