Chapter 1629 — Going Out Together
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
So Old Master Tang had no need to declare himself at all—Tang Yu spoke up first: "Whoever she may be, and however little good may be said of her, that woman is still my birth mother. Let her quarters be exchanged with those of the Third Concubine. Would Elder Qing permit that? The Third Concubine and I have been close since I was small, and I will wait upon her as I would upon a mother—the Third Concubine can vouch for it..."
Tang Yu's words were plain enough on the surface, but in truth he was telling Xiao Qing that he had swapped the places of his mother and Xiao Ming. Their lodgings had changed, and with them their standing—only he had stopped short of driving anyone out altogether.
"I can vouch for that... I was the one who raised Yu'er and carried him about at play when he was small; he has always loved and respected me..." Xiao Ming hastened to add.
"Very well," Xiao Qing nodded. "Then the matter is settled. When the head of the Tang family arrives, have Xiao Li—Steward Li—get in touch with me."
"That... Elder Qing, my eightieth birthday is not far off, and every member of the Tang family will come to attend, including the collateral branch descended from my cousin. So—would you see whether the Palace Master might come as well, in the character of a Tang?" Old Master Tang asked cautiously. "That way, once we are there, it will not be too late to do the parentage test."
"That is not mine to decide. I will put it to the Palace Master and bring you her answer afterward." Xiao Qing committed herself to nothing; she only noted it down.
"Good, good!" Old Master Tang nodded happily. "Elder Qing, I have put you to great trouble!"
Xiao Qing waved a hand and made no reply, but turned and left Old Master Tang's room. Then she was gone, drifting away like a breath of wind...
Hearing Xiao Qing's account, Bing Tang pondered a moment, then agreed to Old Master Tang's request. For one thing, she wished to see the place where she had been born; for another, she wished to seize the chance to go out and travel a little. It might fairly be said that Bing Tang had spent the past twenty years and more inside the Ice Palace and had never once gone beyond its walls; all tidings of the outside world were passed in to her by the outer sect, and she had never seen any of it for herself.
So Old Master Tang's proposal stirred her. Not out of any deference to him—she simply wanted to see the world with her own eyes.
"Fine, I will go." Bing Tang nodded. "Go and give him your reply. Since it is his eightieth birthday and the clan may attend—well, if he means to use the occasion to vaunt his strength by inviting other families, then I will not show my face."
Bing Tang was clever enough; how could she not see through Old Master Tang's little scheme? The matter of her attending the birthday feast was best kept quiet. If the Ice Palace meant to keep the Hidden Tang family working in its service, a limit had to be held: these people must not be allowed to swell with their own importance, draping themselves in a tiger's pelt to make a banner and doing ugly things under the Ice Palace's name.
"I understand, Palace Master!" Xiao Qing nodded.
"I am going to look in on our young junior sister. I will take her along on this trip—she has only just come here and has been moping, unable to settle in. I am afraid she will fret herself into a sickness." Bing Tang said this, and it was plain that she held Feng Xiaoxiao very much in her thoughts.
"Yes, all right. I will go and speak with the Hidden Tang family now..." Xiao Qing nodded and went back to deliver the reply, while Bing Tang rose into the air and flew toward the peak of the Snow and Ice Spirit Mountain where the spiritual energy ran thickest.