Chapter 4: Huangfu Family

These events were recorded in "Meng Bai Family Records" by Bai Wenfeng, a lay Buddhist. Bai Wenfeng was a descendant of Bai Zhuan and had a close relationship with Meng Jian, the grandson of Meng Yin. "Meng Family Records," written by Meng Yin's son Meng Xian at the request of Xu Wei from Hanzhou, mentions only that Er Niang was a servant of Meng family relatives and offers no further details. "Meng Bai Family Records" differs in that it offers a frank account of the Meng family's affairs, documenting many of the locals' opinions of Meng Yin. Author Bai Wenfeng explains that the "Meng Bai Family Records" primarily rely on the granddaughter-in-law of a maid named Zeng, a native of Wuming Village under the jurisdiction of Linqiong County. Zeng, a maid, served the Bai family. When the Bai family moved into the family temple, she refused to allow Zeng to stay with her, instead ordering her to serve Meng Yin in the main courtyard. Zeng left the Meng family in the Yimao year of the Xining reign. What the locals knew about Meng Yin stemmed largely from Zeng's own accounts, now relegated to history. Therefore, Bai Wenfeng was unsure of the veracity of the "Family Records." However, this record is straightforward and does not favor personal relationships, which makes it more realistic than the "Family Chronicles".

According to the "Family Records," after Er Niang married, although she didn't live in her own courtyard, she spent every night with Meng Yin. On the first night, Zeng Shi listened from outside the door all night, grumbling and cursing Er Niang for sores. During the first two years of Meng Yin's marriage, he often stayed in the backyard for seven days at a time, never leaving the house for food or drink, which shocked the entire family. When relatives visited, Meng Yin refused to see them, and they stopped coming. Er Niang had no children for two years, but in the third year, she gave birth to Meng Xian. He nursed her until the following year, and it was assumed that Meng Yin would hand her son over to his wife for upbringing. However, Miss Bai refused to return home, so Meng Xian remained in Er Niang's care. The following year, she gave birth to another daughter, who died at the age of three, leaving Er Niang devastated. During the autumn of the Gengxu year of the Xining reign, a severe drought struck, and a fire broke out in Jinchang, Huai'an. Meng Yin, along with the money and the money manager, went to Huai'an. The fire destroyed the courtyard of Jinchang, but it didn't spread much, burning only the old locust tree that served as the sewing shop next door, leaving its branches bare. The headman of Jinchang discussed rebuilding with Meng Yin and produced the land deed, which stated, "The house has twenty-one rooms, one hundred and fifty bows from east to west, and seventy bows and three feet from north to south. It was sold to Meng Bao (Bo Yi), a native of Chengdu." The earthworksman took measurements and revealed that the ink mill, a pine smoke burning business to the east, and Zhang's sewing shop to the west had both occupied Meng's land. Meng Yin then learned that the headman of Jinchang had sold the Meng family's land to both families.

When Meng Yin began to blame the chief, he agreed to pay him seven thousand coins in compensation and offered to treat him to an apology. Meng Yin declined the invitation. It wasn't that he didn't forgive the chief, but rather that, as the owner of seventeen Jinchangs, it would seem condescending to sit at the table with the chief of one of the seventeen Jinchangs. "No personal relations with subordinates" was also a rule Meng Bao had established. Meng Yin never broke any of Meng Bao's rules. But outside of Meng Bao's rules, Meng Yin had no rules. His family urged him to establish family rules, saying that if everyone else had them and he didn't, it would be like having no reputation for his family. The steward demanded new rules, but Meng Yin quoted the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, saying, "What has not been established will not be established again, and what has been established will not be abolished. It must be observed and followed." The steward hadn't read the Nirvana Sutra and didn't understand what he meant. Every time he heard it, he would exclaim, "He's insane." Meng Yin was indeed insane, especially on that night. That night, he met Huangfu in the small wine shop. The local prostitute, Huangfu, was twelve years old and not yet ready to be a prostitute. She could only work in a wine shop less than twenty feet away, burning charcoal. Meng Yin suddenly heard someone call out "Huangfu" and asked the short girl if she was a local. Huangfu shook her head. Meng Yin asked, "Are you from Jizhou?"

Huangfu said: "What are you talking about?"

Meng Yin said, "There are few people with the surname Huangfu in Shu." He added, "Either you are a descendant of the Huangfu family in Shanxi, or you are from Chao Na. Or, you are from Hebei."

Huangfu said, "He is from Yangjia Village, Huaizhou, Huaian."

Meng Yin said: "You are talking about household registration, I am talking about ancestral home."

Huangfu said, "My ancestor was a mule dealer."

Meng Yin said, "Think of a mule dealer, he has a background as well."

Huangfu said, "Yes, there are mules, horses, and donkeys."

The son of a Huaizhou flower weaver claimed that a female worker at the Huaian brocade field weaved Tujia brocade. If this is true, it suggests that Huangfu might have been Tujia. Others say that Huangfu's employment at the brocade field was not the same year as the fire. When Meng Yin first met Huangfu, she was a fireman; when they met again, she had become a prostitute. Zeng said that between leaving the liquor store and arriving at the brocade field, Huangfu had worked as a prostitute. Meng Yin witnessed her taking a boatman into her house, donning the prime minister's long-winged hat, and sitting naked with a small copper hammer, impersonating the Emperor Taizu. Zeng believed that Huangfu had no other skills or beauty, so she couldn't be as promiscuous as Chu Erniang. However, she was evil, lowly, and had a sharp tongue, capable of causing others to commit vulgar acts. Meng Yin asked her to work at the brocade field simply out of pity. This pity was unnecessary. The following year, Huangfu left Jinchang and stole three banknotes from the foreman's cabinet and a bowl of money from the desk. The foreman said, "That short, sleazy woman is either arguing with others or committing adultery. She's gone, so she's gone. It's better to run away than to die." Hearing this, Meng Yin lost his temper and cursed. He wasn't cursing Huangfu, but the person who had spoken: "You, a bitch, stole my land too, yet you're living a carefree life."

The Meng family's affairs were all about getting by. Zeng said that the prostitute Huangfu ran away, but who would have thought that she would come out of her nest again and go to Jinchang to ask the headman to deliver a letter to the boss. The headman had been scolded by Meng Yin for stealing money. He didn't hate Meng Yin, but he hated her, so he said he would not deliver the letter. Huangfu argued with the headman, saying that when she died next year, she would become a ghost and lick your eyeballs. The headman was scared and had to agree to deliver the letter. The letter came into Meng Yin's hands like a hook hooking Meng Yin's neck and leading him to Yangjia Village. Zeng didn't say what Huangfu said in the letter, and there was no record in the "Family Records". Zeng only said that after reading the letter, Meng Yin rushed to Huai'an, changed into his accountant's clothes at Jinyuan, and went to Yangjia Village to find Huangfu's uncle's home. He lied that he was the accountant at Jinchang, where Huangfu worked from Huai'an, and had come to congratulate her on her upcoming marriage. Huangfu's lame uncle and aunt accepted his gifts and entertained him. At night, Meng Yin slipped through a bamboo fence, waded through a chicken coop, found Huangfu, and took her away from Yangjia Village.

Zeng said that according to the rules, Huangfu could only be a maid, but she insisted on being a concubine. The steward disagreed with her being a concubine or a maid. But since she was already here, she had to have a status, so Meng Yin made her a concubine. At first, Huangfu only slept with Meng Yin occasionally because she had warts. Meng Yin called in doctors to treat her, but when her condition did not improve, he went to the temple to ask a magician to perform a ritual and hired a Taoist priest to burn talismans on the street. Huangfu's warts were not cured, but that did not stop her from getting angry and fighting with the neighbors. When the neighbors said she was short and dark, she would poke the belly button of their children with an awl. When the neighbors said she had dark hands and loved to steal, she would say she was clever and could embroider a thousand-petal lotus from a person's body with a single thread. At that time, she was ill and pregnant with Meng Tie. The steward disliked her harsh words and did not send a maid to serve her. Once, Meng Yin returned from Zizhou and took the goat given by the headman of Jinchang to the backyard, asking the goat to keep Huangfu company. After that, Huangfu often talked to the goat, and the topic she talked about most was Chu Erniang's affair.

By then, Er Niang had become a graceful and elegant woman in the Meng family. If the locals had seen her, their bold and daring nature would have led them to say she resembled fifteen Huarui Ladies, just as they, in their own bold and daring ways, would have described Huangfu as "like a snake, rat, hedgehog, or mountain monkey." Huangfu wasn't the only one to know about Chu Er Niang's affair with the yard worker, but she was the first to know. Zeng said Huangfu loved to watch Er Niang's affairs, but she told no one else but the sheep. Huangfu then asked the sheep to cast a spell to transform her into Er Niang's likeness. Later, at the age of sixty-five, Huangfu recounted to her maid Zeng how Er Niang had called the yard worker a "castrated black pig" and then summoned him. In the first year of the Yuanfeng reign, Er Niang died and was buried in an ear pit beside her husband's grave. Meng Yin watched as the workers lowered Er Niang into the coffin and lowered it into the ground. He then jumped into the grave and inspected his own chamber, saying "good" and "very good" several times.

A month later, Miss Bai returned to the Meng household and raised Meng Xian. Five years later, in the year of Renxu, Meng Yin died and was buried to the left of Er Niang. The remaining members of the household were the Madam, Huangfu, Meng Xian, Meng Tie, the housekeepers, the money keepers, and the servants. Everyone knew that Madam and Huangfu were at odds. A Meng servant told Zeng that Huangfu often told the sheep that Madam controlled all power in the household, like a civet cat in power, as ferocious as a tiger. She said that Madam raised Meng Xian to hold the emperor hostage and control the other princes. She said that Madam was a hen pretending to be a rooster, dominating the nest without laying eggs. The sheep were afraid of her, bleating and always running to other yards. Once, she ran to a neighbor's house and was almost stewed. Huangfu resented Miss Bai and envied her burial in Meng Yin's tomb after her death. According to Meng household custom, the principal wife and concubines were buried to the husband's left and right: one for the wife, one for the concubine, and two for the pit. No one else, regardless of how they served their master or how many years, was allowed to be buried in the Meng family tomb after their death. To be buried in the Meng family tomb, Huangfu could only ask the mistress or the steward to posthumously confer the title of aunt on Meng Xian's behalf. However, Miss Bai and the steward agreed not to allow Huangfu to accompany Meng Yin after her death. So, Huangfu cursed them, hoping to wait until they died so she could personally persuade Meng Xian to change the old rules. Miss Bai, knowing her thoughts and her love of talking to the sheep, approached her and said, "You think the sheep is your confidant, not realizing it, like you, was your late husband's servant." Huangfu was furious and scolded the sheep for betraying her, refusing to give it any more fodder. The sheep bleated and went to Miss Bai... In short, during those years, Huangfu loved to make up stories to prove Meng Yin's love for her. So many stories, so many and so true, that even she could no longer distinguish truth from falsehood. A few years before her death, she stopped making up stories and always told her family, "Don't bury me in that idiot's grave and don't treat me as a member of your family."

This verbal fight started in Yuanfeng and ended in Yuanyou. In the Gengwu year of Yuanyou, Miss Bai died. At that time, Meng Xian was in Qiongzhou, Huaian and Zizhou, and only the maid and Huangfu were at home. Miss Bai wrote a suicide note, in which she agreed to bury Huangfu in Meng Yin's tomb. Now some locals say that in fact, since the beginning of Yuanyou, Miss Bai agreed to Huangfu's request to be buried. There are two reasons for this. One is that Guan Yuan died, and the other is that Meng Tie ran away from home. After Guan Yuan died, the lady's temper improved. Meng Tie ran away, and Huangfu completely lost her support. From then on, she withdrew into a corner, allowing the lady to blame and order her around.

Monk Yuanyan of Zhaojue Temple wrote in his "Records of True Enlightenment" that Meng Yuanwai of Jinmafang once made a donation to the Buddhist temple. In the fourth year of the Dingwei reign of the Zhiping reign, he donated the lotus pedestal for the main beam. In August, a son was born. The master donated four great merits and named him Xian, meaning "Golden Ze." The "Meng Family Chronicle" also records that Meng Xian was born in the fourth year of the Dingwei reign of the Zhiping reign, and was born in the Year of the Sheep. A native of Zizhou witnessed Meng Xian checking accounts at the pharmacy at the end of the Yuanfeng reign, confirming that Meng Xian had already begun running the family business before Meng Yin's death. (Thus, the local claim that Meng Xian was supported by his wife, Mrs. Bai, is likely untrue.)

The locals' belief stems from the fact that Miss Bai was once sworn sisters with the wife of the Baimou County Magistrate. After Meng Yin's death, Miss Bai frequently interacted with the wives, concubines, and relatives of various officials. This also suggests that, although Meng Xian had long since established a household, it was Miss Bai who maintained the Meng family's nepotistic relationships with the officials for many years. The Meng family, despite their nepotistic relationships with officials, continued to engage in commerce, avoiding officialdom, unlike most Shu merchants. In Shu, merchants of salt, wine, brocade, and precious stones were all looked down upon by the government. Once their businesses expanded, they were required to contribute to military reserves and pay tribute. Consequently, many Shu merchants were willing to enter the government. Previously, a Shu merchant, aided by a relative, secured the position of Langguan prefect of Caizhou. Later, Chen Taichu, a commoner from Meishan, achieved Jinshi (Jinshi) status and became a minor county official. The Meng family's heavy tribute payments had long since made Meng Yin aware of the importance of official status. Meng Yin wanted Meng Xian to study, and the tutor he hired was Li Shouyi, a disciple of Long Changqi, a renowned scholar at the provincial school.