Chapter 351 Shamelessness

Chapter 351: Shameless and Disgraceful

What Song Tingzhou said was already concise, but most clan members still listened in a fog. Song Tingzhou then had Song Run explain it several more times in plainer language before the new clan rules were finally made clear to everyone.

Someone muttered quietly, "We didn't have so many rules before, and everyone got by just fine."

No one likes being bound by rules. Women and male youths feared being gossiped about the most, but when it came to these men, they weren't so willing to comply.

Unlike Meng Wan taking the seat of honor, or young men and women entering the ancestral hall, the clan rules were something they truly understood—rules they would actually have to follow. Since it touched them personally, there was much murmuring and discussion.

Meng Wan took the opportunity to discuss the details with the clan chief and others. "From now on, in the Song family genealogy, regardless of gender—man, woman, or male youth—as long as they are members of the Song family, they must be recorded. Married daughters and male youths must also be recorded."

The moment he finished speaking, the objections nearly blew the roof off.

"I've heard that other villages with genealogies don't record women or male youths. Once they marry out, they belong to someone else's family. Why record them?"

Meng Wan stared at the man who spoke. "Who did you hear say that genealogies don't record women and male youths?"

The man hadn't expected that despite so many voices of opposition, Meng Wan would single him out. He shrank his neck and stammered, "Just the Wang family."

Meng Wan smiled and suggested, "Our Song family has decided it this way. If you're dissatisfied, you can move to the neighboring village and take the Wang family as your adoptive kin."

"...Pfft!" Song Run couldn't help but laugh from the side. He was a child from the dining hall that Meng Wan had established, only twelve this year. In two more years, he could no longer stay at the dining hall and would have to set up his own household.

Regardless of what the other clan members thought, he and the other children from the dining hall were wholly loyal to Meng Wan.

Song Tingzhou stood up and quelled all dissenting voices. "In the past, there were no clan rules because the Song family only had a few dozen households, and only a few families were related to my ancestors. Everyone lived in seclusion, women weaving and men farming, self-sufficient. The furthest anyone traveled was to the county seat."

"But after I became an official, the clan school flourished. Some clan members have already passed the imperial examinations, left the village, and elevated their family's standing. Everything in this world has two sides. If you want to get ahead, you have to pay the price."

No one spoke. If there was hope, who would want their sons and grandsons to keep tilling the soil with them?

Scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants—those were distinctions made by the upper class. Ordinary farmers scraped a living from the soil, their kids couldn't even get enough to eat. Who worried about being noble or common then? Who didn't envy the town's skilled craftsmen or the wealthy merchants doing business?

Even in their dreams, they only dared to imagine their children making something of themselves—going to town to work, marrying a town girl. As for scholar lords, provincial graduates, or high officials who could decide life and death—they didn't even dare dream of such things.

Now that three children from the clan had actually passed the examinations, anyone with even a bit of foresight had sent their children to the clan school. Who didn't want their family to produce a high official as accomplished as Song Tingzhou? Even if they couldn't become a high official, like Song Tingyue's family, who managed to produce a scholar, their land taxes could be waived.

Song Tingzhou said calmly and steadily, "In the twenty-fifth year of Qisheng, Wu Yong, the prefect of Changping Prefecture, was convicted and his household was confiscated. His four limbs and head were each tied to one of five fierce horses, and the executioners drove the horses to rip his body apart. His father's clan, mother's clan, and wife's clan—all three clans were executed, not a single person spared."

The clan chief wasn't hard of hearing this time. He caught every word Song Tingzhou said. His aged voice trembled, "A whole family—parents, wives, children—all... all dead?"

Meng Wan's stunning, luminous eyes were half-lowered, and he purposely lowered his voice. "A family? You think 'three clans' just means one family? The father's clan alone includes parents, siblings, children, uncles, nephews, and even the children of paternal aunts—all counted as part of the father's clan."

Gasps swept through the ancestral hall. The clan chief's whole body shook. In the middle of summer with the sun blazing outside, he broke out in a cold sweat from sheer fright.

Meng Wan wasn't done yet. He went on in that eerie tone, "And that's not all. There was also the Wu family's maternal clan—the criminal Wu Yong's maternal grandparents, maternal uncles, and their children. And the wife's clan—her father, mother, brothers, and their children..."

Seeing everyone straining to listen, Meng Wan let out a heavy sigh. "No matter what these people were doing at the time, as long as they were within the borders of Yuguo, they were all seized and beheaded."

For a full fifteen minutes, everyone was petrified, not moving an inch, their breathing barely audible.

"Cough..." Song Tingzhou cleared his throat lightly and continued, "And it didn't end there. That same year, the Zhu family, imperial merchants who had conspired with him, were sentenced to the even harsher punishment of executing nine generations of kin."

Meng Wan helpfully translated, "If three clans meant that many heads rolled, nine generations means even more. Anyone in the Zhu family who was still alive had to die. Even the cats and dogs, even the rats in the rice jars, were boiled to death."

Everyone's hair stood on end at this. The packed ancestral hall felt like it was filled with chilling drafts.

"Oh my god! The Zhu family—I know them! Wasn't the salt shop in our town theirs? Everyone working at the salt shop was dragged out and beheaded back then."

Someone suddenly shouted, startling everyone around him. If the Wu family seemed remote, the Zhu family—famous across the north—was known to all. When the salt shop was shut down, everyone had been in a panic for a while—without rice and salt, people would starve.

Song Tingzhou didn't sit down. He went on in a flat tone, saying things that sent chills down everyone's spine. "Last year, in the west, there was a great clan that had lasted several generations. All their people—mountain folk, servants, and livestock—six thousand eight hundred and ninety-three souls in all. Infants in swaddling, elderly at death's door, able-bodied men, women, and male youths—not one was spared. All were executed."

"The convenience and glory a family provides, once it goes astray, becomes a blade aimed at everyone." Song Tingzhou's words echoed through the ancestral hall, followed immediately by Meng Wan's sinister threat: "Right now you can sit here comfortably enjoying blessings. If my husband were truly implicated and committed an offense before the Emperor, every single person here—even those who married out—won't escape."

...

A complete set of clan rules should have both rewards and punishments, but Song Tingzhou clearly wouldn't establish private punishments. Before leaving, he said to the elderly clan chief, "If the above clan rules are to be further refined, they must be approved by the entire clan before new provisions can be added. Anyone who violates them must take their family and form their own household, removed from the Song genealogy, and have no further connection with the Song family."

If you won't listen to advice, then you don't get to enjoy all the conveniences the family brings. Go off and do whatever you want—that was the meaning.

Having the clan rules established counted as resolving a major matter for Song Tingzhou and Meng Wan. They knew that perfecting a family was not something accomplished overnight, but at least they had set down rules and taken the first step in leading their clan forward. As for the future, it would depend on the descendants themselves.

Even the Lezheng family, one of the four great houses renowned throughout the land, could take one wrong step and be destroyed. Countless smaller families that flourished briefly and vanished were too numerous to count.

Song Tingzhou wanted to elevate his kinsmen; Meng Wan just wanted to make sure they didn't drag them down.

"Have Songshan and Songqiao follow the clan chief's son to find craftsmen to expand the clan school. Once the school is initially established, should we head back to the capital?" Meng Wan asked Song Tingzhou.

The two had just come out of the ancestral hall. The sun was setting in the west, the sky tinged with orange light. Song Tingzhou walked alongside Meng Wan, fanning him as they went. "His Majesty only gave me three months of leave. Half the time has already passed. At most five more days, and I must set out back to the capital."

There was reluctance and helplessness in his voice, but there was much to do at court. The new emperor clearly intended to give him important responsibilities. The three-month leave was something he had fought hard to obtain—he absolutely could not delay any longer.

Song Tingzhou had traveled at breakneck speed to get here. What took Meng Wan and Chang Jinhua two months, he had covered in one month by traveling day and night. The return to the capital would also require haste, so he was destined to leave first.

"Ah, I don't think Mother has had her fill of her hometown yet. She rarely gets to come back. I might need to stay with her for another two months." Meng Wan was depressed at the thought of being separated from Song Tingzhou, but he couldn't bear to leave Chang Jinhua alone in her hometown either.

Just as the two were talking about Chang Jinhua, they saw someone up ahead on the path grabbing and pulling at her. Song Tingzhou's face darkened. He strode over and pulled the person away, while Meng Wan moved Chang Jinhua behind him. "What's going on, Mother? Who are these two?"

Even without sun, there was no relief from the heat in the dog days of summer, from morning to night. Chang Jinhua had been tugged around until she was covered in sweat. Sweat dripped down her temples, stinging her eyes. She said irritably, "Song Zhi's eldest aunt and second aunt. They're like madwomen who don't understand human speech."

The two women had been separated from her by Song Tingzhou, but upon hearing Chang Jinhua's words, they lunged forward again. "Sister-in-law, how can you talk like that? Aren't we just anxious about the two children's marriage? I've already sent word to the prefectural city. See, Tingzhou and the others are all here. Once Song Zhi comes back, let's just hold the wedding for the two children!"

"Bullshit!" Chang Jinhua rarely cursed, but she did now. "Who's marrying into your family! Who agreed to anything!"

Meng Wan gently patted her back. "Mother, don't be angry. Go home first. Your husband and I will handle things here. It's fine."

Chang Jinhua still had to make rice noodles for Meng Wan today, and it was indeed getting late. She shot a fierce glare at the two women and hurried away with quick steps.

The two tried to chase after her, but Song Tingzhou blocked them with an intimidating presence, and they didn't dare continue pestering Chang Jinhua.

Meng Wan walked over to stand beside Song Tingzhou. "Two aunties, what's all this about? Did you write to Song Zhi to call him back?"

Song Zhi's eldest aunt smiled ingratiatingly. "I did. That day your mother-in-law came to my house asking about Song Zhi—wasn't it about Yu Ge'er's matter? The two children are so—"

Meng Wan's lips twitched into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I ask you something, and you answer. Don't say any extraneous nonsense. Understand?"

A cold, impatient light flickered in his eyes. In an instant, he transformed from a courteous young man into something like a ferocious killer fresh from the mountains. Song Zhi's younger aunt had never seen anything like this. She was so frightened she lost her voice and tugged hard at her elder sister's sleeve.

Meng Wan said coldly, "I won't waste words with you. Whether my mother ever said she would betroth Yu Ge'er to Song Zhi—you know the truth yourselves. If you spread rumors in the village and cause people to gossip, not only will Yu Ge'er never marry Song Zhi, I will go to the prefectural school and file charges of slander and defamation. I'll have the academic official strip him of his scholar title. That's what happens to families who love to wag their tongues and destroy people's reputations!"

Song Zhi's younger aunt was frightened, but his eldest aunt was a shameless troublemaker. She just kept pushing to form a marriage alliance with Song Tingzhou's family. "What is Wan Ge'er saying? We're about to become one family. Don't talk about lawsuits—people will laugh. Just have Yu Ge'er prepare her dowry. When our Song Zhi comes back, the two children can get married. His house is falling apart too. I heard you're looking for craftsmen. Why not build him a new house as well? Our family lives right next to his, so if it's no trouble, build for both of us. When I'm old, I can still help take care of the children."

Meng Wan looked at her for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "You don't need to play the fool with me. Just wait and see."

Song Zhi's younger aunt knew at once that this didn't bode well. She had married into another village and had only come back because she truly believed the two families were forming a marriage alliance. Who would have thought it was all her elder sister pestering them?

Seeing that her sister was about to chase after them again, she quickly grabbed her. "Elder sister! What are you doing! They clearly don't want this. If you keep chasing after them, you'll really offend them!"

"You don't understand a thing! Spread the word, and once Yu Geer's reputation is ruined, who else could he marry but Song Zhi? Song Zhi is our family's honored scholar—eligible young ladies are lining up at the village entrance to marry him. Marrying a lad like him is hardly doing him a favor!" Song Zhi's eldest aunt wouldn't listen to reason.

Song Zhi's younger aunt knew exactly what her elder sister was like; her finger trembled as she pointed at her, "You... you..." She didn't know how to rebuke her sister and didn't want to get further involved, so she turned on her heel and stormed off home in a huff.

When Song Tingzhou and Meng Wan returned home, they headed straight to their room. "Song Zhi has the brains to pass the imperial exam, so he must know what his aunt is really like. He'll surely write back to ask about the situation first."

"I'll draft a letter to the prefectural school, telling Song Zhi to come back and rein in his relatives. Otherwise, if he advances further in the future, his eldest aunt will be a constant source of trouble." Song Tingzhou had encountered all sorts of people and knew that reasoning alone wouldn't work with such scoundrels; there was no need to wrangle with her—solving the problem at its root was the right approach.

The two discussed it briefly, deciding there was no need to get angry over someone like her, though it was certainly irritating. Yu Geer's marriage prospects had indeed been a rocky road—a fine-featured young man, yet made to seem like he couldn't find a match.

Meng Wan hadn't particularly liked him before, but now he couldn't help but feel he was rather pitiable.

"Wan Geer, and Da Lang, come out and eat!" Chang Jinhua called from the courtyard.

Meng Wan had craved rice noodles yesterday, so Chang Jinhua had gotten up early this morning to make rice batter with Jin Gu. Now bowls of rice noodles topped with braised sauce were being brought to the table by Zhifan and the others.

"Try it quickly—there's no pickled beans or bamboo shoots, but the sauce is made from potatoes and eggplant." Chang Jinhua had long since cooled her anger; she brought out a large basin of fragrant braised meat from the back, complete with eggs and offal like heart and liver, all sliced thick and neatly arranged.

Before Song Tingzhou returned, Meng Wan and Chang Jinhua had used plates and bowls, but now that he was back, it was more convenient, and the family ate straight from the basin.

"I love it even without pickled bamboo shoots. Mom, sit down and eat too." Meng Wan said eagerly.

Once Chang Jinhua sat down, the family gathered under the doorway and picked up their bowls to eat. Meng Wan lifted a chopstick-full of rice noodles coated in sauce and took a slurping bite—smooth and chewy—and in that instant, he felt revived in the sweltering summer heat.

"Mom, this is amazing!"