Chapter 5 The Current Marriage System in Otsuki
Xiao Yuanyan sat down beside the bed, as if he didn't dare to disturb her, and spoke in a very low voice.
It turns out that Xiao Yuanyan's mother was also a daughter of a wealthy merchant, and his biological father was General Wuwei in the northern border.
During the battle with Di Rong in the north, enemy spies sneaked into Yanbei City, set fire and looted, and took many citizens in the city as hostages, including several women.
His father Xiao Heng was afraid of the consequences and led his personal soldiers to attack the enemy camp in order to rescue the hostages. In order to give the people time to escape, the soldiers risked their lives to delay Di Rong's army, resulting in the death of Xiao Heng and 3,000 soldiers. Yanbei City was lost and the people in the city fled everywhere.
It was not until later that General Yu Heng, a junior general in the court, led his troops to resist and defeated Di Rong and recovered Yanbei.
General Wuwei was defeated and died in battle, and the court did not pursue the matter, but Xiao Yuanyan and his family could not return to Yanbei City.
His second brother was killed by a stray arrow, his mother was too weak to survive the escape, and his third and fourth fathers were all missing.
As for my elder sister, she was kidnapped by unknown bandits when she fled to Qishan. Although women in Dayue are generally not in danger of death, the bandits are brutal and I don't know what kind of suffering my elder sister has to endure.
Xiao Yuanyan stayed in Qishan for several days and made several inquiries, but found nothing. In the end, he had to live in seclusion here with his second father and younger brother.
As Jiang Yuyan listened, she became increasingly confused about what the terms father, second father, third father, and fourth father meant.
Xiao Yuanyan thought that Jiang Yuyan might come from an unknown country or a secluded family. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain her strange clothes and slightly inconsistent speech and behavior, so he explained it to her in detail.
Except for Di Rong, several countries near Dayue Kingdom had suffered from the epidemic hundreds of years ago, and women were scarce. Gradually, they became the current polyandry system, and the court also encouraged polyandry. Only the royal family was an exception to keep their blood pure.
His Majesty can have a concubine in addition to the Queen. The princes and the princes are monogamous. If the princess of a prince or the princess of a prince has another husband, she must be demoted to a husband's maid and take a sterilizing drug. The princess of a prince who has the hope of inheriting the throne is not allowed to take a husband's maid.
Jiang Yuyan was shocked when she heard about polyandry, "Then... how many husbands can a woman have here?"
"…a woman must marry one husband at the age of fifteen, three husbands at the age of sixteen, and five husbands at the age of twenty."
Xiao Yuanyan looked at the pretty woman in front of him and found that she knew nothing about the Dayue Kingdom. He was even more puzzled about her origins. However, judging from her appearance and demeanor, she did not seem to be from Dirong. He could only wait until she was willing to tell him the truth in the future.
But at this moment, Xiao Yuanyan thought of a key question. "I wonder how old Miss Jiang is this year?"
It was a bit inappropriate to ask a girl about her age, but Xiao Yuanyan suddenly became serious, as if he had some important considerations.
"Eighteen years old." Jiang Yuyan replied.
"Is that girl married?" Xiao Yuanyan stood up anxiously and blurted out.
Realizing his own rashness, he stammered, "Miss, I... I don't mean anything else, it's just that the court..." Xiao Yuanyan was not good at speaking to begin with, and now he was even more unable to talk about such a topic that was only suitable for people who were very familiar with each other.
“Never…”
Jiang Yuyan thought of the marriage law Xiao Yuanyan had just mentioned and asked, "I am already eighteen years old. What if I am still not married?"
Xiao Yuanyan didn't expect that she was still unmarried at the age of eighteen. He was surprised and indescribably happy. After thinking for a moment, he said seriously: "Miss Jiang doesn't even have a certificate of birth certificate now. But our dynasty has always treated women well. All prefectures have official schools for women. The court allocates funds to support poor or helpless women and gives them marriages when they are of appropriate age. Miss Jiang is now eighteen years old. I'm afraid she will be chosen as a husband if she enters the official school."
Girls in government schools would also be taught some simple skills, and it didn't matter if they couldn't learn them. Nowadays, embroidery and clothing making were all done by men, and women at home had nothing to worry about, and no one criticized them.
This official school was originally a way for the prefecture to make money. The wealthy families in the prefecture would give money to the prefect in advance to see beautiful girls and get priority in marriage. The more outstanding the girl, the higher the price.
Women were confined to a small area, favored by the court, and were strictly protected once they entered the official school. They were not allowed to leave without formal marriage. Therefore, almost all women in the official school would accept the arrangements made by the prefecture. After they got married and moved their household registration, they would marry some husbands and servants that suited their taste.
However, there are very few girls in official schools nowadays. Dayue State is a strong country, and most families have large populations. No matter how hard life is, girls will not suffer the most. Naturally, there are very few girls who end up like this.
Xiao Yuanyan explained the twists and turns of this official school to Jiang Yuyan in a veiled way.
Jiang Yuyan understood, but she was now an illegal resident, and it was difficult for her to move forward in this era. How to avoid going to the government school, avoid being forced to marry, and how to settle down in this place were her primary concerns.
"Can I not go to the government school? Is there any way to help me get my identity documents?
Seeing that she made a judgment immediately after listening to it and arranged the next important matters, Xiao Yuanyan admired her even more and said, "I have some friendship with the head of Qingxi Village. It happened that there was a flash flood in Hongshan County this summer. I said that you are my cousin who fled from Hongshan County. All your family members died and your household registration was lost. You want to come to me and settle down in my household in Qingxi Village."
"To register your household registration at the county government, you need the village head to act as a guarantor. Then you can say... say you are my fiancée, and change your age to fifteen. If you have relatives to rely on, you can be exempted from the official school. But you may have to spend more money to avoid the county magistrate asking you to be present in person."
When Xiao Yuanyan mentioned the word "fiancée", his heart was trembling, revealing a hint of hidden sweetness.
Jiang Yuyan didn't know why he avoided being present. She guessed that it might be because she was not really from Hongshan County, and Xiao Yuanyan used the money to avoid trouble.
In fact, it was because it was not easy for single women to seek refuge in recent years. Sending people to the state government school could gain some benefits, but the county government was only a small part of it.
The household registration of ordinary people only needs the household registration officer of the county government. However, the household registration of women will be handled by the county magistrate himself, which means checking the age and appearance when registering the household registration, recording the skin color, height and facial features, in fact, it is to observe the appearance of women and assess their value.
Xiao Yuanyan felt that Jiang Yuyan's appearance was too stunning. If she went to the county government, the county magistrate might just come up with a trick to refuse her a permanent residence and send her to the capital. Then he would never see her again.
Thinking of this, Xiao Yuanyan inexplicably felt a lot of reluctance, and his heart felt like it was bitten by something. At one point, he even thought: Wouldn't it be better if I hide her in this deep mountain and stay with her forever? But when he saw her bright, dark almond eyes that were always filled with water, he quietly put this thought out.
Jiang Yuyan also frowned when she heard the word "fiancée", "Won't this delay you?"
Xiao Yuanyan looked at her silently, thinking: I will never marry anyone else in my life since I carried you back and wiped your body myself. I can't, and I don't want to. Even if no one knows.
He didn't show it on his face, and said, "It's just a verbal agreement between the two families. It's not a marriage certificate registered with the county government, so it doesn't count."
Jiang Yuyan nodded and said, "Mr. Xiao, how much money will it cost?"
"I once saved the second son of the village head while hunting in the mountains. He owes me a favor. I should be able to give him five taels of silver. As for the county magistrate, I'm afraid he'll need two hundred taels of silver."
Xiao Yuanyan was also thinking about it. He was lucky enough to kill a big insect two years ago, and sold it in the city for seven or eight hundred taels of silver. Over the years, he saved some money for himself and his younger brother. Otherwise, how could he talk about marriage in the future? It was more than enough to take out his share to give her.
Jiang Yuyan had no idea about the value of silver in this era, but now she was penniless. The only thing that might be valuable was the jewelry she had put aside when she changed her clothes. She picked up a pair of earrings and asked Xiao Yuanyan uncertainly, "I have two deep-sea pearls here. Can I pawn them for some silver?"
When Xiao Yuanyan first discovered her, he saw the pearl jewelry on her neck and earlobes. They were sparkling, big and bright, and very extraordinary.
In this era, river pearls were rare, and the so-called sea pearls were even more valuable, especially such a large sea pearl. One pearl could be worth more than a thousand taels.
Xiao Yuanyan told Jiang Yuyan the truth, and then advised: "I still have some silver in my hand, which is enough to register your household registration. These jewelry are priceless, you can keep them for yourself. But keep them well, and be careful not to let thieves steal them."
"No, no, no, how can I use your money? You saved my life and took care of me like this. If I use your money again, who would I be?"
Jiang Yuyan said anxiously, "Please help me sell these two sea pearls. After I get my household registration, I can buy a house in the county and find a job... just a job."
She didn't know what to say about the job here.
Xiao Yuanyan was a little surprised. The men all thought that women were proud to spend money. Moreover, women in Dayue country did not engage in production. Even women in government schools received monthly wages. Women had no worries about food, clothing and daily expenses. However, Miss Jiang said that she wanted to find a job.
He looked at her thin body that could be lifted by one hand, and it was hard to imagine what kind of work she could find. But she seemed to be very reluctant to spend his money, did this mean that she did not accept him?
Xiao Yuanyan's heart was in a mess. Since he found her, all his heart fell on her, and he wanted to stay with her all the time. If she didn't accept him...
Xiao Yuanyan thought coldly in his heart: It’s a pity that from the moment I found you in the mountains, even if I would fall to pieces for you, I’m afraid there’s no turning back…
Xiao Yuanyan remained calm and said, "Registering your household registration is important. I'll pay for it first. When we get to the capital, we can sell the sea pearls. We can get a higher price. You can pay me back then."
Jiang Yuyan thought it made perfect sense and blinked happily, "Then I will sell the sea pearl and pay you back double, so as to repay Mr. Xiao for saving my life and taking me in."
Xiao Yuanyan was once again dazzled by Jiang Yuyan's actions, and even his body felt numb.
The small bamboo house seemed to be brightened up because of her smile.
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