Chapter 29: Striking Tang Yuntao
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As soon as Old Madam Tang heard this, her expression darkened even further.
She pointed at the people sprawled across the ground.
“Why are you still lying there? Get up and hold that little wretch down!”
But the matrons and maids on the floor all lowered their heads in silence.
Could they possibly stop Second Young Miss with their skills?
Tang Cha朝朝 ignored Old Madam Tang and advanced step by step toward Tang Yuntao.
Hidden behind Madam Zhou, Tang Yuntao’s body had already begun to tremble.
Old Madam Tang flew into a rage.
“You little wretch, how dare you rebel! Go ahead and try laying a hand on someone in front of me!”
Tang Cha朝朝 suddenly stopped and turned to glance at her grandmother.
“Grandmother, don’t forget that I hold the title of Commandery Princess, at least. Teaching a cousin who cannot control her tongue a lesson will not bring me any criticism. Even if it does, I am not afraid. Compared with daring to abduct the Prime Minister’s legitimate daughter, this is nothing.
“But if word gets out that you abused your authority and intended to beat my mother, what would people outside say? And what would my maternal grandfather’s Duke’s residence think?”
Old Madam Tang’s face changed dramatically at those words.
She had been blinded by anger today and had actually wanted to strike Song Rongzhi.
Now, regret came too late.
What infuriated her even more was that Tang Cha朝朝 did not regard her grandmother in the slightest.
Tang Cha朝朝 paid no attention to Old Madam Tang’s face, which shifted from dark to pale and back again.
Madam Zhou shielded her daughter tightly behind her and berated Tang Cha朝朝.
“How dare you touch my Yuntao? The Crown Prince will never spare you!”
“The Crown Prince?” Tang Cha朝朝 repeated with amusement.
“Then today, I insist on seeing what the Crown Prince can do to me after I beat Tang Yuntao! Second Aunt, let me advise you to move aside. Otherwise, if I accidentally hit the wrong person and you accuse me of assaulting an elder, I certainly will not admit to it!”
Madam Zhou did not believe Tang Cha朝朝 truly dared to strike her, so she continued to protect Tang Yuntao with all her might.
Tang Cha朝朝 curved her lips.
A silver needle shot straight from her sleeve.
Madam Zhou felt her body go limp, and she collapsed sideways onto the ground.
Tang Yuntao hurriedly caught hold of her mother and cried out in panic, “Mother! Mother! Are you all right?”
But a shadow fell over her, and she instinctively looked up.
She met Tang Cha朝朝’s beautiful, immaculate face.
“Your mother will be fine. But you are going to be in trouble.”
Using both hands and feet, Tang Yuntao scrambled backward.
“Tang Cha朝朝, you cannot hit me! If you really do, you will regret it. His Highness the Crown Prince will never forgive you!”
Tang Cha朝朝 gave a mocking laugh. The Crown Prince had only visited the General’s Residence once, yet this mother and daughter had firmly decided that he had taken a fancy to Tang Yuntao.
She had no idea where they got such confidence.
Besides, so what if he was the Crown Prince?
“Ahhh!”
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Along with Tang Yuntao’s shriek, a footprint instantly appeared on her face.
That was right—it had been left there by Tang Cha朝朝.
By the time the mother and daughter left the Longevity Peace Courtyard, Tang Yuntao’s anguished sobs could still be heard behind them.
Song Rongzhi said worriedly, “Cha朝朝, by doing this, you may earn yourself a terrible reputation in the capital.”
Tang Cha朝朝 shrugged indifferently.
“I don’t care. I never cared about that sort of thing anyway. I cannot beat the two old ones, so beating the younger one at least lets me vent some of my anger for you, Mother.”
How could Song Rongzhi not understand why her daughter had done it?
When mother and daughter returned to their courtyard, Tang Wu was already sitting there drinking tea. When he saw them return, he said nothing.
Tang Cha朝朝 flashed him a toothy grin.
“Mother, Father was worried that I might not be able to bring you back safely, so he has been waiting here!”
Tang Wu pretended to be angry.
“The screams from the Longevity Peace Courtyard reached all the way here. I was worried about them, not you two!”
Tang Cha朝朝 plopped herself down opposite him.
“Father, are you feeling sorry for Grandmother?”
Tang Wu said nothing.
Song Rongzhi stepped forward and began kneading his shoulders.
“We have not seen her for several years, yet the old madam’s temper has become even stranger.”
Tang Cha朝朝 nodded in agreement.
“Father, I do not know what Grandmother used to be like, but when I went there just now, she ordered a whole group of matrons and maids to seize Mother. She even intended to enforce the family discipline!”
Tang Wu’s heart lurched. He looked nervously at Song Rongzhi.
“Did Mother hit you?”
Song Rongzhi shook her head.
Tang Cha朝朝 fanned the flames. “If I had arrived half a moment later, Mother would probably have been carried out.”
Tang Wu shot to his feet and headed straight outside.
Tang Cha朝朝 stopped her mother, who was about to go after him.
“Mother, let Father go. I cannot protect you every moment of every day. Neither can Father. Grandmother is always looking for trouble every few days. Aren’t you tired of it?”
Song Rongzhi sighed.
“What else can we do? She is your father’s mother.”
Tang Cha朝朝 tilted her head.
“Since life here is so difficult, you might as well have stayed in Huai City.”
Song Rongzhi tucked the loose strands of hair from her daughter’s forehead behind her ear.
“With both you and your father here, of course I have to be here too.”
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Tang Cha朝朝 propped her chin in both hands and gazed toward the courtyard gate.
“Mother, once everything is settled, let us return to Huai City. I can even take you to Cloudmist Mountain for a while.
“Let me tell you, there are no troublesome relatives on Cloudmist Mountain. Every day, animals will keep you company; birdsong will wake you in the morning, and the chirping of insects will lull you to sleep at night.
“There is no need to plant flowers, because every spring, the entire mountain will be covered in blossoms…”
The beautiful scenery Tang Cha朝朝 painted with her words stirred Song Rongzhi’s heart.
“Very well. When the time comes, I will have your father resign from office. Shall the three of us live in seclusion on the Cloudmist Mountain you describe?”
Tang Cha朝朝 narrowed her eyes happily at that.
Before then, she would have to earn more money.
Not only did she have to tear down the old Taoist priest’s dilapidated temple and rebuild it, she also needed to construct a small courtyard for her parents.
She wondered whether the dowry her mother had mentioned would be enough.
If it was not, she would have to think of a way herself.
Hidden in the darkness, A-Bei had also begun yearning for the life on Cloudmist Mountain that his young mistress had described.
Surely there was no one who would dislike such a paradise beyond the mortal world.
When the Third Prince, Murong Si, heard from his subordinate that a human head had been hung outside his residence, his gloomy face filled with fury.
Before he could send anyone to investigate, however, someone arrived from the palace.
Emperor Kangjian did not summon him to court.
Instead, he directly informed Murong Si of the identity of the head outside his gate.
He also told him that the matter was connected to Xiao Liuzi, the eunuch at his side.
Furious, Murong Si ordered someone to summon Xiao Liuzi.
But what enraged him even more was that when the servants went looking for Xiao Liuzi, they discovered that he was already dead.
This sudden blow left Third Prince Murong Si completely caught off guard.
He swept the writing desk to the floor.
“Investigate! Find out whose man this Xiao Liuzi really was!”
Immediately afterward, Third Prince Murong Si went straight to the palace.
He was determined to drag the person behind all this into the light. Anyone who dared set him up was courting death!
Tang Yuntao’s face had been beaten so badly by Tang Cha朝朝 that she could no longer show it in public.
When Tang Wen returned that evening, she went to him with a swollen, pig-like face and wailed,
“Father, you must stand up for your daughter!”
At first, Tang Wen did not recognize his own daughter. Only after realizing who she was did he stare in shock.
“What happened to make you look like this?”
Sobbing miserably, Tang Yuntao recounted everything that had happened that day.
Furious, Tang Wen slammed his palm onto the table.
“Big Brother truly raised an excellent daughter!”