Wang Shi understood Xin An’s intention and let out a quiet sigh. Though she hadn’t come from a military family, her years in the marquis household had taught her just how difficult life could be for soldiers. Many brave veterans, after retiring from battle, lacked any trade or skill to sustain themselves. Those missing limbs faced even harsher fates. Over the years, the marquisate had spent heavily to support them—but they didn’t have endless coffers. It was simply impossible to care for everyone.
“Every time you get involved,” she said, “it’s a tangled mess. It takes a great deal of silver to settle these matters. Reasonable ones are fine, but there are always those who lean on their merits, acting entitled—dragging their entire families along, expecting the marquisate to rescue them. A couple of years back, some even rolled on the ground, causing a ruckus. So aside from the most important few, ties were gradually severed. Of course, those people now curse the household behind closed doors—but what can we do?”
Just thinking about it gave Wang Shi a headache. For once, she spoke her heart: “These men helped raise the marquisate to where it stands today—and now they’re its greatest burden.”
Most military households faced this at some point, but for the Marquisate of Wei Yuan, the situation was especially fraught. In the years of Tang Laoye’s rise, he had received little aid from his clan. His power was built by these very veterans, who gave their lives in battle. But most had fought for glory and wealth, not pure loyalty. And when that success never came, they began to twist the story—claiming they had fought out of loyalty to him, and that the marquisate owed them not just their futures, but also the futures of their children and grandchildren.
Wang Shi knew well that if Tang Mo wanted to rise, he would need his own allies. But all the resources and connections of the household were in Tang Gang’s and Tang Rong’s hands. Tang Mo had very little. Targeting these veterans as a possible base of support—well, it was one path.
“If this is the route you two intend to take, it’s not impossible. I’ll help you look into it. But you must be careful—this is a hornet’s nest.”
Xin An nodded solemnly. She already had a plan in mind. The two spoke a little longer before she excused herself.
On the way back, of all the bad luck, she ran into Tang Rong. After being cooped up for days, he had finally stepped out. The bruises on his face had faded from dark blue to a pale yellow, and in a few more days, his skin would look nearly normal.
“You’re just returning from Mother’s place?” he asked.
Xin An nodded. “Had some time, so I chatted with her a while. Is Eldest Brother out visiting friends?”
“Mm. I start at the Ministry of Rites tomorrow. I met with a few close friends today, just for a while.”
How unnecessarily detailed, Xin An thought.
Their courtyards were next to each other, so of course they walked together. Tang Rong held two small packages of pastries in hand. He offered one to Xin An. “I passed by Wenxiang Zhai on the way back. These lotus-flower pastries just came out of the oven—quite good. Take a pack and try them.”
Xin An declined immediately. To her, anything touched by Tang Rong might as well be laced with filth. “You must’ve bought them for Eldest Sister-in-law. If she finds out I took them, I fear it will cause unnecessary misunderstanding.”
Tang Rong didn’t withdraw his hand. “We’re family. There’s no need to be so formal. Your… Eldest Sister-in-law won’t mind.”
Xin An turned her head slightly. “I’m afraid my husband would.”
Tang Rong smiled faintly. Even with her words, he insisted on handing over the pastries. “Sister-in-law overthinks it. It’s just a pack of pastries—Second Brother isn’t so petty.”
Xin An’s mouth twitched. She truly hadn’t wanted to stoop to this level just to disgust Tao Yiran, but if Tang Rong insisted, who was she to deny him the satisfaction?
A single look from her, and Chunyang stepped forward and took the package. Tang Rong seemed pleased, and continued chatting with her. He was articulate and witty when he chose to be, and had a flair for clever conversation. Xin An couldn’t help but feel a strange pang—had Tang Rong ever spoken to her this freely in her past life? Not unless he wanted something. He’d never bothered otherwise.
Back in Autumn Harvest Courtyard, Xin An chuckled aloud. So Tang Rong is a dog in this life, too. Things were getting more interesting by the day.
Chunyang tossed the pastry box aside with obvious disdain. “That man from next door must be thinking Madam’s looking better and better lately. Disgusting. Who wants his stupid pastries?”
Xin An thought Chunyang made an excellent mouthpiece. Disgusting is right.
“Find a way to discreetly let the Young Madam in the next courtyard know about this.”
Chunyang froze for a beat, then skipped off cheerfully to deliver the news.
Lounging on her beauty couch, Xin An summoned Nanfeng.
“You were originally tasked with assisting Nanny Wang in managing the courtyard. But there’s not much to manage here, really. So I’m giving you something else.”
“Find a way to give me access to news from the outside—quickly, discreetly. The faster, the better.”
“Can you do it?”
Nanfeng had never done anything like this before, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to try. Xin An told her to start learning immediately and bring her a written plan. If the structure made sense, she would allocate funds.
“I’ll support you step by step as you build this intelligence network.”
For a maid, this was a tremendous opportunity. If Nanfeng could manage this well, her standing in front of Xin An would be entirely different. With a thud, she dropped to her knees.
“Thank you, Young Madam, for the promotion. I will give it everything I have.”
“Go on, then.”
Nanfeng left with determination. At the door, she nearly collided with Tang Mo, who was just returning. She abruptly stopped and veered off toward another corridor.
Tang Mo scoffed. “Did you see that? Now that she has someone backing her, she doesn’t even bother looking at me. Soon as she saw me, she turned right around. Feisty, huh?”
Lailai laughed heartily. “Nanfeng belongs to Young Madam now.”
If the Young Madam could keep the Young Master in line, then of course her maid would carry herself with pride.
Someone like him—Lailai—just had to keep swallowing his pride.
As for Ershan, Lailai gave him a glance. “You did well today. Keep it up, and maybe you’ll get to serve inside the courtyard soon.”
There was a small annex outside the main courtyard—Ershan currently lived there. It was a modest room, but he was content. Smiling, he cupped his hands and bowed. “Thank you for teaching me today, Master. I’ll do my best to earn the right to serve inside.”
Lailai beamed. Tang Mo found the whole exchange amusing. Not only had he gotten himself a new attendant, but Lailai had also found himself a disciple.
When Tang Mo stepped into the room, he was expecting praise from Xin An. But to his surprise, she was napping on the beauty couch.
“When did she fall asleep?”
Chunlu said she’d dozed off a little while ago, and explained everything Xin An had done that day—particularly noting that she hadn’t taken a midday nap.
Seeing that it was already late and they still had to go to the Wang household to finalize the deed, Tang Mo roused her gently. “If you sleep now, you won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
Xin An opened her eyes with a yawn. “Get me some water.”
Before the words were even fully spoken, the cup was already at her lips. Tang Mo grinned. “Feel touched by how attentive I am?”
Smiling, Xin An took the cup and drank. Then, passing it back to him, she said, “Sit. I need to talk to you.”
Tang Mo sat down on the beauty couch beside her. The two of them were close—but neither found it awkward. After Xin An explained the situation with the Wang family, Tang Mo instinctively lifted his hand to pat her arm. But midway through, he hesitated and redirected it to slap his own thigh instead.
“It really is connected,” he said. “No need to ask Mother to look into it—I know.”
“Old Master Wang served under Grandfather.”