7
The entire backyard was completely silent.
After a long moment, the Marquis of Nanyang took a deep breath and gave a light cough. “Cheng’er, this is against the rules. It will harm your reputation.”
Tang Cheng lifted her chin slightly. “No room for negotiation. I don’t care about reputation or any rules of propriety. I’ve made up my mind, I’ll give birth first and then get married. Marry me and get a child as a bonus. The Young Lord Wen is getting a great deal.”
She had a constitution that made it easy to conceive, with a maximum fertility value. In the empire, she would have been a hot commodity, a prized asset. To rush into marriage while carrying a baby in her belly and have people gossip about her was absolutely unbearable.
Marry her and get a child as a bonus…
The Marquis broke out in a cold sweat. He had only ever heard of marrying a wife and having children. His precious daughter had just invented “marry me and get a child as a bonus”…
“What if you give birth to a girl? What if the Young Lord Wen refuses to marry you but wants the child instead?” the Marquis asked, his head aching as he tried to make his precious daughter change her mind.
“Then I’ll marry someone else. Father, your daughter is so outstanding—there’s no shortage of suitors. There are plenty of good men in the world; we don’t need the Young Lord Wen,” Tang Cheng said with a carefree wave of her hand, shocking everyone with her words.
The Marquis nearly choked on his own saliva. Where on earth did his precious daughter get such confidence?
He had worried himself gray over her marriage prospects.
In his heart, of course his precious daughter was wonderful in every way, but the reality was that her reputation was poor. Others didn’t like her and didn’t want to marry her.
Zhenzhu and the others were completely dazed.
Her mistress’s overwhelming self-confidence… they had to bow down in defeat.
Nanny Cao and Nanny Gao’s mouths twitched repeatedly.
Fourth Miss Tang was truly overconfident.
If it weren’t for the child of the Young Lord Wen in her belly, the Young Lord Wen wouldn’t marry her at all.
The elderly physician was stunned by Tang Cheng’s shocking words. Staying behind had been the right choice, Fourth Miss Tang had not disappointed him.
“Miss, the Young Lord Wen is actually quite good. You’re not still pining for the Fourth Prince, are you?” Zhenzhu cautiously interjected.
If she weren’t still pining for the Fourth Prince, why would Miss say something like giving birth before marrying?
If Miss were carrying the Fourth Prince’s child, she would have married him joyfully long ago.
The more Zhenzhu thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Given Miss’s reputation and her relentless, chaotic nature, she would never find a better husband than the Young Lord Wen.
“Zhenzhu, you’re overthinking it. Although the Young Lord Wen isn’t in the best health, he’s handsome, and I quite like him. The Fourth Prince is ancient history,” Tang Cheng said with a cheerful smile.
The Marquis of Nanyang: “…”
Before, his precious daughter had eyes only for the Fourth Prince—it was him or no one. Now, she had swung to the complete opposite extreme. The Marquis was deeply worried.
Children were nothing but debts.
“If a year from now, the Young Lord Wen wants the child but not the mother, and the Fourth Prince is willing to marry me as his primary consort, I might consider marrying him,” Tang Cheng added unexpectedly, lifting her chin slightly, her beautiful apricot eyes full of pride.
The Marquis of Nanyang: “…”
He had nothing to say.
His precious daughter thought of herself as a prized asset that everyone wanted a bite of.
Worrying.
Was it too late to contain the news?
The four maids: “…”
It seemed their mistress was suffering from delusions. What should they do?
The elderly physician: “…”
Fourth Miss Tang was aiming for the skies.
Everyone else was dumbfounded.
“As long as you’re happy,” the Marquis finally forced out a dry smile after a long pause.
“If the Fourth Prince isn’t willing, Father will find some outstanding young men for you to consider.”
No one had anything to say.
The Marquis had been led down the garden path by Miss. The conversation had started about Miss marrying the Young Lord Wen, and now the Marquis was considering finding other young men for her, with the Fourth Prince dragged into the middle of it. The topic had gone further and further off course.
Tang Cheng smiled with delight.
“Father, you’re the best.”
Nanny Cao and Nanny Gao: “…”
Were they really so insignificant that the Marquis of Nanyang and Fourth Miss Tang could so brazenly make contingency plans like this?
Just then, the servants brought the bathing tub.
To observe the effects, Tang Cheng waved her hand grandly and had the tub placed in the open space of the backyard.
Several strong servants poured hot water into the tub.
To preserve the Marquis’s dignity, all the lower servants in the courtyard were cleared out, leaving only Tang Cheng, the four maids, the two matrons, the elderly physician, and the Marquis’s two trusted servants.
Everyone withdrew temporarily, returning only after the Marquis had changed his clothes and entered the tub.
Tang Cheng looked at her father in the tub and, based on its size, poured out a small bowl of the body-strengthening potion from the pot.
“Pour this bowl of potion into the tub,” Tang Cheng instructed Servant Jia, one of her father’s attendants.
Servant Jia steeled himself and poured the bowl of dark, murky liquid into the tub.
The elderly physician watched with great interest from close by.
Moments later, the clear water in the tub turned completely black.
The Marquis inside the tub gradually felt a dense, prickling pain. Before long, a layer of fine sweat covered his face, and his complexion slowly turned pale.
“Marquis, are you alright?”
Servant Jia grew anxious, pacing back and forth.
The elderly physician looked thoughtful.
“Is the potion taking effect?”
Meanwhile, Tang Cheng had the four maids attend to her as she lounged lazily on a newly brought-out chaise lounge, happily enjoying tea, fruit, and snacks.
The spring breeze brushed her face, the sun was bright, and she was utterly comfortable.
“Miss, is soaking in this body-strengthening potion supposed to be very uncomfortable?” Zhenzhu asked weakly as she massaged her mistress’s shoulders.
“No, it’s very pleasant,” Tang Cheng said.
“But the Marquis looks like he’s in great pain,” Zhenzhu said, her face paling slightly as she watched the Marquis in the tub, who seemed to be enduring considerable suffering.
“Miss, is this potion really safe?” Hupo, who knew medicine, asked worriedly.
“Of course it’s safe. Didn’t the elderly physician examine it?”
Tang Cheng gave a light snort. She looked up and indeed saw her father struggling painfully. She froze, suddenly remembering that ancient people’s bodies were much weaker than the genetically optimized citizens of the empire. The dosage of the body-strengthening potion should have been reduced by about half.
Having made such a big mistake, Tang Cheng felt embarrassed and sheepishly touched her straight nose.
“No experience the first time—I misjudged the dosage. But no pain, no gain. I won’t make this mistake again.”
The four maids: “…”
The two matrons: “…”
Poor Marquis. He had been sabotaged by Fourth Miss Tang.
What a bloody lesson.
Fourth Miss Tang was truly unreliable.
When these words reached the ears of the Marquis, who was being tortured to death, he gritted his teeth and bore it as a doting father.
While the Marquis was in the depths of suffering, Tang Cheng’s bold declarations spread like wildfire throughout the capital, causing an uproar.
Never before had they seen such a shameless, rebellious woman.
Fourth Miss Tang’s astonishing words were truly an eye-opener, leaving everyone speechless.
Who on earth had given her such confidence?
Everyone felt sympathy for the Young Lord Wen.
Madam Zhang saw black before her eyes and nearly vomited blood from anger. Despair crept into her gaze. Fourth Girl was so incorrigible that if she never married, given how much the Marquis doted on her, wouldn’t Fourth Girl end up living in the marquis’s residence for life?
Madam Zhang felt that the future was utterly bleak.
The other concubines in the rear courtyard shared Madam Zhang’s sentiment. Only the two already-married concubine daughters quietly counted their blessings.
Tang Xin had nothing to say about this fourth sister, though she secretly envied Tang Cheng’s unrestrained boldness.
In this conservative and feudal ancient world, Tang Cheng was truly an anomaly.
Jian’an Earl’s Mansion
Liu Jintong laughed heartily.
That fool Tang Cheng truly did not disappoint her. Her talent for self-destruction was truly astonishing.
Giving birth before marrying, it just showed she hadn’t given up on the Fourth Prince.
And then those outrageous boasts—saying that if the Fourth Prince was willing to marry her as his primary consort, she would consider marrying him.
She really thought too highly of herself.
Liu Jintong smiled scornfully and secretly sent someone to fan the flames, spreading rumors that Tang Cheng still had lingering feelings for the Fourth Prince.
Let that fool Tang Cheng end up with nothing.
The other branches of the family coveting the Duke of Zhen’s title, like Liu Jintong, secretly stirred the pot, their sole aim being to provoke Tang Cheng into miscarrying.
The rumors grew increasingly intense and increasingly exaggerated.
Tang Cheng’s ignorant, vain, and troublesome nature, along with her reputation for relentlessly pursuing the Fourth Prince, was once again deeply ingrained in people’s minds.
The reactions of the three parties involved at the center of the storm were somewhat intriguing.
The Fourth Prince was completely unconcerned. Even when his brothers used the matter to mock and attack him, he remained unaffected.
In his eyes, Tang Cheng was merely a spoiled, willful little girl who liked to bounce around in front of him.
He felt nothing particular for Tang Cheng.
A spoiled, stupid child.
She had a stunning appearance but was willful, capricious, vain, and brainless, easily led around by the nose by a maid. She was so stupid it was exasperating, yet so straightforward that she was easy to see through at a glance.
Even though this stupid child had once drugged him, the Fourth Prince did not despise Tang Cheng.
No one knew that the Fourth Prince, who had seen more than his share of scheming, political maneuvering, and all kinds of conspiracies, actually harbored a certain tolerance for Tang Cheng.
Wen Huai’an felt much the same as the Fourth Prince.
“Huai’an, look at how this Fourth Miss Tang is ruining your reputation everywhere. First, she said you had a weak constitution and wanted to send you some random potion, then she made a fuss about giving birth before marrying, and now she’s brazenly talking about looking elsewhere. Are you really not planning to call off this engagement?” The eldest young master of the Duke of Qiguo’s asked, utterly shocked.
Wen Huai’an sipped his tea gracefully.
“No, I won’t call it off. Marry me and get a child as a bonus—two happy events in one.”
The heir of the Marquis of Dingbei looked as if he had swallowed something unpleasant.
Is that how “two happy events in one” is used?
The eldest young master of the Duke of Qiguo’s: “…”
Wen Huai’an ignored the expressions of his two friends and decided to pay a visit to the Marquis of Nanyang’s residence.
**