Chapter 3 Merchants are considered lowly.

On the third-day celebration, before dawn, Meng Qing's mother and younger brother carried bundles and a chicken coop to the ferry to wait for the boat. Meng's father didn't go; he had to go to the paper horse shop near Ruiguang Temple to keep watch. Meng Qing's uncle was a monk at Ruiguang Temple, and thanks to him, most of the offerings used for chanting and prayers at the temple were supplied by the Meng family's paper horse shop. Meng's father had to cut paper money and make incense every day, so he couldn't leave home.

They set out before dawn, and by mid-morning, Meng's mother and Meng Chun had arrived at Dujiawan Ferry by boat.

In spring, the river overflows its banks, spilling over the stone steps. Meng Chun takes off his cloth shoes, carries his mother barefoot ashore, and then returns to the boat to retrieve his bundle and chicken coop.

Standing on the bank, Meng's mother looked into the distance. All she could see were farmers leading oxen and plowing in the paddy fields. She muttered, "Your sister is in confinement during the spring planting season. There's no one free during the busy farming season. I'm afraid her mother-in-law won't be able to take good care of her. Your sister is going to suffer."

Meng Chun put down the chicken coop, wiped his feet, put on his shoes, and said, "The Du family took 120 strings of cash from my sister, which is equivalent to three or four years of their harvest. How dare they mistreat her?"

Mother Meng twitched the corners of her mouth and said, "I'm afraid the Du family won't approve. The owner of Yu Ji Rice Shop in Tongyuan Lane is willing to offer a dowry of three hundred strings of cash to marry his second daughter to the Du family. Compared to three hundred strings of cash, your sister's one hundred and twenty strings of cash is not enough."

“How can Yu Erniang compare to my sister? My sister is no less than a daughter of an official.” Meng Chun is three years younger than Meng Qing and grew up following her around. He trusts her the most, and in his eyes, Meng Qing is good in every way.

Knowing her youngest son's character, Mencius' mother didn't argue with him. Instead, she picked up a bundle and went into the village.

Meng Chun picked up the chicken coop and hurried after them.

As Mrs. Du was plucking chicken feathers on the bluestone slab where she was chopping chicken feed, she saw two people walking towards her house from afar. Only when they were right in front of her did she look up and greet them in a low voice: "Oh, our in-laws are here. You've come quite early. You left before dawn?"

“Yes, it’s better to be early than late.” Meng’s mother noticed that Du’s mother was staring at her clothes. She looked down in confusion, but there was nothing unusual about the clothes.

“Mother-in-law, is your long gown indigo?” Madam Du’s expression changed instantly. She stood up abruptly, raised her neck, and questioned arrogantly, “How can you wear this color? Tang law stipulates that merchants belong to the miscellaneous category, the same as servants and slaves, and can only wear black, white, and brownish-yellow. You are a merchant’s wife, so you can only wear these three colors.”

The merchant's wife... Mencius' mother blushed with embarrassment. She tugged at the hem of her clothes and forced a smile as she retorted, "Many merchants in the city wear clothes of this color, and nobody cares."

“You can’t say that. If our two families weren’t related by marriage, I wouldn’t care what color you wear. I wouldn’t mind if you wore red or purple. But we have a scholar in our family, and my youngest son is going to be an official. You need to behave yourselves and not affect him,” Mother Du said arrogantly.

Meng Chun sneered. He recalled Du Min's visit to his family's paper horse shop three days ago to inquire about the funeral industry, the veiled sarcasm in his words blatantly obvious. He retorted sarcastically, "Auntie, don't speak too soon. It's still uncertain whether your youngest son will pass the exam."

"Meng Chun, shut up!" Meng's mother glared at her, her eyes sweeping over Du's mother. Du's mother was so angry that she glared at her with her nostrils flared up like a donkey, clearly indicating that she had been hit where it hurt.

“My dear in-law, Suzhou is far from Chang’an, and the Emperor can’t govern such a distant place. Tang law is Tang law, but there’s a saying that the law doesn’t punish everyone. Merchants in the city all dress like this, so the government won’t punish them. Don’t be too afraid, it’s alright.” Considering that the two families were related by marriage and her daughter was a daughter-in-law of the Du family, Meng’s mother explained kindly.

Du's mother persisted: "Anyway, you can't wear this color to my house. If you want to wear it, then close the door and wear it in your own home."

Meng's mother couldn't hold back her smile any longer. She retorted, "Du Min is your son, not my son, much less my son-in-law. Even if something happens to me, it won't affect him. You just need to control yourself."

Du's mother was so angry that her face turned black.

Meng's mother was also furious, but as a merchant's wife, she had a lot of experience dealing with people and had developed the skills to keep a straight face no matter how angry she was. She said with a fake smile, "Mother-in-law, you're busy. I'll go check on Qingniang and the child. Mengchun, come with me."

Meng Chun was seething with anger but couldn't vent it. He roughly picked up the chicken coop, and the chickens inside flapped their wings and struggled, sending out feathers that covered Du's mother's face.

"You little bastard!" Mother Du spat, her chest heaving with anger. Seeing the mother and son, who had no manners, swagger into her house, she grabbed a chicken from the basin and smashed it on the ground. "Eat, eat, eat shit! Merchants are indeed lowly, they can't be served in the proper place."

Mencius' mother was so angry she felt like vomiting blood when she heard this, but she could only pretend not to hear it. Merchants had a low social status and were often looked down upon. She grabbed Meng Chun and whispered, "Let her scold us. She still has to cook for us after she's done."

He then added, "Don't tell your sister about this. She's still in her postpartum period and can't take any upset."

Meng Chun took two deep breaths. Unable to feign happiness, he gave up and said, "Never mind, I won't go in. I'll go out for a walk and see where my brother-in-law is working."

Mencius' mother waved her hand, signaling him to leave.

"Mother?" Meng Qing heard a familiar voice.

When Meng's mother pushed open the door, she glanced at the room and found it neat and tidy. She felt a little relieved; although Jiang's wife looked down on her, at least she hadn't mistreated her daughter.

"Did you suffer a lot when you gave birth? Did the baby bother you?" Meng's mother put the bundle on the table, walked to the bedside and sat down. When she saw the baby on the inside of the bed, she smiled. "Oh, is he awake? He doesn't make a sound. He's a good child."

Meng Qing took the child out and handed him to her, saying, "He's a pretty well-behaved child. As long as he's eaten his fill and cleaned up, he rarely cries."

Mencius' mother lovingly touched her son's face and said, "He looks just like you. His eyes and mouth are exactly the same as when he was a child."

Meng Qing leaned against the headboard, quietly watching the scene before her. She had been reborn into the body of a baby, with the soul of a twenty-three-year-old inside. She had memories from birth, including those from her infancy.

"Mom, when I was little, my grandma touched my face and said my mouth and eyes were exactly the same as yours when you were little," Meng Qing said jokingly.

“Nonsense, you don’t remember that time.” Meng’s mother laughed, clicking her tongue to tease the child, and looked up to say, “This child really looks like one of our Pan family members, they all have a pair of crescent-shaped eyes.”

Meng's mother's surname was Pan, and her name was Pan Sunian. She had three brothers and one sister. All five siblings had crescent-shaped eyes, and when they smiled, their eyes curved as described in books. Meng Qing and her brother Meng Chun both inherited her eyes, and now Meng Qing's child also has a pair of crescent-shaped eyes.

"I wonder if my little brother will inherit our crescent-shaped eyes when he has children in the future. By the way, where is my little brother? I think I heard his voice earlier," Meng Qing asked.

"I went to see his brother-in-law to see if he could help," Meng's mother said casually, then changed the subject: "By the way, has the child's name been decided?"

“Wangzhou, Du Wangzhou, it was named by his uncle,” Meng Qing said. “Mom, what do you think of the name?”

“Wangzhou… is a good name.” Mother Meng nodded. “It was right to let him choose it. He was the one who chose the name, so he should show more affection for the child. By the way, Qingniang, your father didn’t come. He had to watch the shop. He told me to tell you something. Your brother-in-law went to our paper horse shop around noon three days ago to inquire about business…”

"I know, he came back that night and wanted to persuade me to help my father make a pair of flying horses for his classmate's grandfather." Meng Qing interrupted her mother, worried that someone might overhear, to prevent any trouble from arising.

Mencius' mother was surprised and suspicious. She lowered her voice and said, "Did he say anything else? I think his meaning is not simple. It seems that he is interested in doing business. He spent most of the time in the paper horse shop, and he kept encouraging your father to make a big splash and do business with the rich. Why would a scholar like him want to get involved in such a thing? Your father and I did not dare to say much, so we asked your brother to give us a hint and tell him to come back and find you."

Meng Qing was about to confess honestly when she remembered the scene in her dream. Du Min wanted to be a clandestine broker, so she would personally hand over his commission, preventing any leaks. Du Min was the golden phoenix of the Du family; even if the Du family dreamed of rebellion, they wouldn't reveal his involvement in commerce. She, on the other hand, had married Du Li and given her 120 strings of cash as dowry to support her brother-in-law's imperial examinations, all for Du Min's future. She would never ruin his future. Therefore, it could only be that her family had let it slip, or that one of his classmates at the academy had noticed something amiss and reported it.

"I didn't say anything else." Meng Qing heard her mother's voice, which she had been hiding, and she lied and said, "Mother, you misunderstood. The Du family took my dowry money and used it on him. Du Min felt guilty and wanted to make it up to us in other ways."

Mencius' mother was stunned for a moment, "Did we guess wrong?"

Meng Qing nodded firmly, "Du Min has studied for thirteen years. In the past two years, he has always been the top student in every exam. Passing the imperial examination is a sure thing for him. Even if he were bewitched, he wouldn't ruin his future."

That makes sense, and Mencius's mother and father had been pondering it at home for two or three days, and they both thought the same thing. But they were afraid that Du Min might misunderstand and go astray, so they came to give their daughter and son-in-law a heads-up, thinking that if they guessed correctly, they could stop them in time.

"That's good, that's good. We were worrying for nothing." Mother Meng breathed a sigh of relief.

"Du Min absolutely must pass the exam. He can't afford to do anything reckless. If he fails, you'll be in deep trouble." Mother Meng sighed again. She looked down at her child, who had fallen asleep sometime earlier. She tapped his nose and said, holding back her anger, "Your mother is doing all this for you. You must strive to be like your uncle, study hard, become the top student, and eventually become a high-ranking official. Get your mother an official title so she can wear fine silks and red, yellow, and green skirts. Your grandmother will benefit from your success and have something to boast about, so no cat or dog will dare bully me."

Meng Qing remained silent. This dynasty was in the early Tang Dynasty, nearly a century before the An Lushan Rebellion. The laws and regulations were strict, agriculture was highly valued and commerce was suppressed, and the court's control over merchants was extremely harsh. Merchants and artisans were classified as lowly, and not only could they not hold official positions for generations, but in their daily lives, merchants could only wear linen clothes in white, black, and brown-yellow, and could not wear brocade or gold and silver jewelry.

Meng Qing lived in the Tang Dynasty for nineteen years, only wearing a light red wedding dress on her wedding day. For the rest of her life, she only came into contact with bright red and rich green when making funerary objects such as paper figures and horses. As someone who had studied art and attended university in her previous life, how could she be willing to endure the barrenness of color and unfair treatment in her life?

Therefore, she took a liking to Du Li, the second elder brother of Du Min, a poor student who consistently ranked first in Chongwen Academy, and was willing to give her entire dowry of 120 strings of cash to her husband's family to support Du Min's studies. In doing so, she married into the Du family, thus securing an opportunity for her descendants to study and take the imperial examinations.