Chapter 3 Bai
At this time, in Shu, besides the bustling Zizhou Medicine Market, there were also merchants lining the streets at the Daci Temple Medicine Market in Chengdu. This small market, located at Baiyuzhuang in Mimu Town, was open only three days a month, so the merchant traffic naturally couldn't compare to the larger markets. Meng Yin went to the Baiyuzhuang Medicine Market, not to investigate a pharmacy, but to meet a man. For over forty years, this man had been a renowned herbalist on the Qingbai River, named Bai Zhuan.
Bai Zhuan's business relied on "trading and moving what was available." He traveled between Zizhou, Pixian, Lixian, Weizhou, Maozhou, Heshui (Town), Jiange, and Qingchuan. He also frequently traveled west along the Minjiang River to the Tubo Xiandi Songpan area to purchase medicinal herbs, which he then transported to Chengdu for sale. Traveling too far inevitably led to encounters with robbers. Bai Zhuan was once kidnapped by Qiang bandits in Heshui Town, and his right ring finger was severed. Descendants of the Bai family say that Bai Zhuan sold medicine for forty years, specializing in ten herbs: angelica root, raw saltpeter, pepper, antelope horn, Tianxiong herb, Aconitum, Morinda officinalis, Gentiana macrophylla, and Cordyceps sinensis, earning him the nickname "Bai Shizhong." Although he was a traveling merchant, he was regarded by many major apothecaries as a discerning eye. Bai Zhuan could distinguish the authenticity and quality of medicinal herbs, and even determine their quality. But he had his own unique personality. When discussing medicine, never talk about money. If you talk about money, never talk about medicine. Take, for example, notoginseng. It's found in Tonggui County, Jiannan, Maozhou, Jingzhou, and Songpan, but it grows best in dense forests in Songpan and Maozhou. Notoginseng prefers heights and cannot tolerate direct sunlight or high tides, so it thrives near trees. Notoginseng from Songpan and Maozhou resembles a large silkworm, is oily, and has a yellow-brown hue. They're equally good. However, there are too many vendors in Songpan, and half a pound of silkworm notoginseng is made up of long-necked notoginseng and large-headed notoginseng. Therefore, the notoginseng from Maozhou is the best. Another example is cordyceps. It prefers heights even more than notoginseng and grows in sedge. Where there are more sedges and ranunculus, there's better cordyceps. Grass notoginseng is larger, but not as potent as mountain notoginseng, and Minshan notoginseng is not as potent as Wenshan notoginseng. The cordyceps sold by herbalists in the Maozhou area can be offered as tribute and fetched in coins, but not by merchants from other places. Even if it resembles the Maoshan notoginseng in appearance and color, its medicinal properties are different.
After he finished speaking, he asked his clerk to negotiate with the buyer. The clerk talked about money, not medicine. The locals explained Bai Zhuan's behavior, saying that medicine traveled from place to place, curing illnesses and saving lives, and everyone who passed through it gained merit. Money traveled from place to place, and whoever gained wealth lost merit. Bai Zhuan did not seek to accumulate merit when selling medicine. He separated the medicine from the price, hoping to offset the loss of merit with merit. But he was still too rich. The merit he earned from the herbs he sold to cure illnesses and save lives could not offset the loss of merit. Or he was kidnapped by bandits, but only his ring finger was cut off, which had already preempted his life's merit. He had to face the pain of losing his son. When he handed over all his business and returned to Baiyu Village, his daughter and son-in-law had passed away. One of his two sons was dead, and the other had gone to Zizhou. At this time, the one who stayed by his side to show filial piety was his daughter's granddaughter, Miss Bai. Miss Bai was filial but determined not to marry. She did not want to marry because she practiced Zen. She often went to Chengdu to visit the monks at Zhaojue Temple to study Buddhist scriptures and listen to cases.
At that time, Luo Wuzhuo was not yet Yuanwu Keqin, and the Chengdu Zen master was still studying the Yunmen School of the Fourth Patriarch, Xuedou. Without Yuanwu Keqin, the temple was sparsely populated by dignitaries, but instead, devotees would applaud and chant the Zen koans from "One Hundred Ancient Poems." Miss Bai, uninitiated in Zen, often interacted with the locals of Baiyu Village, unable to grasp the realm of "embracing the universe, cutting off all streams, and following the waves." She loved koans, enjoyed language, and enjoyed a quick exchange of words. Since she couldn't become a monk, she didn't need to meditate, so she stopped musing, "If I'm not meant to be, how can I be born?" and instead watched celebrities bicker, like Ouyang Xiu's comment on Huailian "making liver buns," or the boy whose finger was chopped off by the monk Juezhi and instantly attained enlightenment. Like the phrase "peek into the donkey from the well" with the words reversed. For example, Fayan composes a salacious poem for a layman, who nods in agreement: a chicken suddenly climbs onto the railing, Yuanwu attains enlightenment, and Fayan says, "The Buddha's great deeds are beyond the reach of those of small and inferior faculties." These are all wild fox amusement, not the aura of the Samadhiraja. Miss Bai isn't meditating on Zen, she's meditating on meaning. She doesn't want to marry because she can't find anyone she can talk to. Locals say Meng Yin went to Baiyu Village to meet Miss Bai. Meng Yin wants to enter the pharmacy business and can't do without Bai Zhuan. Asking Bai Zhuan to come out of retirement is more difficult than forcing himself into the pharmacy, so he decides to pursue Miss Bai. However, pursuing Miss Bai isn't much easier than asking Bai Zhuan to come out of retirement.
Zeng's descendants said that Zeng, who was known as Bai's maid, said that when Meng Yin went to Baiyuzhuang for the first time, Bai Zhuan did not tell him about medicine, and he did not tell him about it the second time, but he did talk about porcelain. Bai Zhuan said that he had a set of superior Youshan stone glaze cups, gray, reminiscent of the ancient Han and Sui dynasties, and the same as those unearthed from Hongnong County. Bai Zhuan was so excited that he wanted to show Meng Yin something, so he asked Zeng to order some green tea. When the tea set was served, two gray cups were missing, and Bai Zhuan felt a little embarrassed. He asked Meng Yin to wait and went to the study to get them himself. After a long while, he finally brought back two coarse pottery bowls. These two bowls were of course famous, old-fashioned and retro, and because they were so ancient, the rims of the bowls were a bit harsh. After discussing porcelain, they turned to the celebrities and wealthy families of the Qingbai River. They talked about how Yuwen Zongxiang's father-in-law bought land to build a temple, how Wang Jian's tomb was robbed, where to buy an unearthed silver scratcher, how the prefect went to the Altar of Grain and Grain to offer sacrifices to the Third Lady of the Salt Well Saint, and how Zhang Tangying's "Shu Taowu" (Shu Taowu) claimed that Wang Jian "used to plunder with Jin Hui and his peers when he was young" was a fabrication. Bai Zhuan said that Zhang, in order to curry favor with the court, not only fabricated many of these stories but also reversed the facts in the Later Shu Chronicles. They then discussed how Emperor Zhenzong bestowed upon Meng Chang the title of Prince of Yingsheng Linggan, and how Xue Yuanwai planned to build a temple for Liu Benzun on the Qingbai River and hire people to invite the Four Heavenly Kings... At this moment, Miss Bai emerged from behind the gate, holding two ash cups. Without looking at Grandpa or Meng Yin, she placed the cups on the tea table and muttered, "Mr. Xue has the money to invite gods, so he wants a yoga god to preside over the ghosts."
Meng Yin listened to Bai Zhuan's words and agreed; he could bear the annoyance. However, when Bai Zhuan mentioned Mr. Xue, Meng Yin became annoyed, because he knew that the monks in Mr. Xue's family had said that Meng Bao's tomb looked like a vagina. Bai Zhuan's praises of the Xue family also annoyed him. Suddenly, he heard Miss Bai scolding the Xue family, and Meng Yin felt relieved. He asked, "Who is the yoga god that Miss Bai is talking about?"
Miss Bai said, "Master Liu."
Meng Yin asked, "Who is this deity?"
The white girl said, "God."
Meng Yin asked, "Do you have any magical powers?"
Miss Bai said, "What magical power? A god who cuts off noses and gouges out eyes."
Meng Yin asked, "Is it me or yourself?"
The white girl said, "Of course it's yours, melon rind."
After Miss Bai left, Bai Zhuan's face was once again etched in his chest. He stopped talking about the Hao clan and chatted about local matters, then the conversation shifted from the past and distant places back to home. Meng Yin stood up and said goodbye. This was his second visit to Baiyu Manor. He had arrived disappointed but left with dignity. He would go again someday and become Miss Bai's sister. Bai Zhuan had no choice but to agree, as no one could stop Miss Bai from running to Chengdu. Bai Zhuan thought that with Meng Yin by her side, Miss Bai would spend less time with the monks and laymen with shaved heads and bare chests. He was wrong. He had no idea that this couple had been mingling with the monks and laymen.
Locals say the two frequently visited not only Zhaojue Temple but also Jinsheng Temple. Whether before or after their marriage, Bai and Meng Yin visited Qingcheng Mountain, over a hundred miles away, and stayed for several days in Anyue. Locals speculate they visited Pilu Cave. During their relationship, Meng Yin built a temple for the Wu family from the Majing area, where jade statues of the Wu family's ancestors and Liu Benzun were enshrined. Locals say the Wu family's third grandfather was a monk who had been ordained at Jinsheng Temple. Inspired by the influence of senior monks there, he practiced Tantric Buddhism and could recite secret mantras to cure plague and madness. In the Bingwu year of the Zhiping reign, the Wu family's third grandfather was invited to Qingcheng Mountain to write a chronicle. He wrote about "Wang Xiaobo, a villager from Tuguo Village." He mentioned the uprising, but rather than using denunciations, he also described the uprisings that occurred throughout Qingcheng and the corruption and abuse of power by officials in Pengshan County. The people of Qingcheng reported him to the government, and the Wu family's whereabouts have been unknown since then. Locals say it's highly likely—that Miss Bai and Meng Yin once trained under the Wu family's Third Master. Evidence for this lies in the name Meng Yin left on a stele at the Wu Family Ancestral Hall: Meng Xingcai. Xingcai was Meng Yin's nickname, bestowed upon him by the Wu Family's Third Master. Chengdu residents say the Wu Family's Third Master was a bald-headed scoundrel. He met Meng Yin through Miss Bai and used his eloquence to extort money from him to build his own ancestral hall. Chengdu residents also claim Bai Zhuan sent Meng Yin with Miss Bai simply to provide Zhaojue Temple with a new, less-than-sophisticated partner, alongside his own wife. After carefully counting the money Meng Yin had deposited in various locations, they claim Xingcai is truly the reincarnation of the boy Shancai.
In the first year of the Zhiping reign, Miss Bai married Meng Yin, leaving Bai Zhuan furious. After a violent altercation with her grandfather, Miss Bai ascended Jintang Yunding Mountain and took up residence in a nunnery nestled on the mountainside. Zeng descendants claim that Meng Yin, in an attempt to dissuade Miss Bai from becoming a nun, imitated Liu Benzun and cut off his flesh in front of her. Meng Yin, in fact, was not a believer in religion. He claimed that Liu Benzun, observing the suffering of ordinary people, burned his index finger to achieve enlightenment. Meng Yin built ancestral halls for Liu Zong's group of lay monks, offered them Buddhist treasures, and provided them with food and prostitution fees, all in pursuit of Miss Bai.
Today, no one knows how Meng Yin persuaded Miss Bai to return home from Yunding Mountain in Jintang. No one knows for sure why Miss Bai ran away. However, descendants of the Zeng and Bai families all say that Meng Yin's eldest son, Meng Xian, was not Miss Bai's son. The Bai descendants say Miss Bai is barren, while the Zeng descendants say otherwise. The Zeng descendants say the Meng family is to blame. In the first year after Meng Yin married Miss Bai, his uncles and aunts, distant cousins, and sister-in-law's daughter-in-law often visited. In February, the uncles and aunts, distant cousins, and sister-in-law's daughter-in-law came to celebrate Easter and told Miss Bai that the twelfth month, when earth gives birth to gold, was auspicious for adding children. Her sister-in-law said her son was born in the twelfth month, could walk in September, and called "dad" in October. Now three years old, he can already understand the teacher's lectures. Miss Bai said that being born in June is good, as from summer to winter, after ten autumn rains, it's unlucky for a child to be born in the twelfth month. After that day, the uncle, aunt, cousins, sisters-in-law, and sisters-in-law all showed off their skills, waving banners to summon spirits and telling lies. Half a year later, the uncle and aunt of the Bai family started to interact with the Meng family again. Aunt Bai gave Miss Bai a brocade bag. Miss Bai took the medicine according to the prescription in the bag. In August, she called a doctor to take her pulse, and the doctor said she was pregnant with a baby boy. In October, Miss Bai miscarried. Aunt Bai did not come again, and no one told the lies about waving banners to summon spirits anymore. Miss Bai returned to Baiyu Village and lived in her grandfather's house for a year. After the New Year, she returned to Chengdu, but did not return to the Meng family. Instead, she lived in the family temple a hundred steps away from the Meng family.
This made Meng's uncles, aunts, distant cousins, and sisters-in-law anxious, and they all came to persuade Meng Yin to remarry. His aunt found him a niece from his natal family, and his sister-in-law found him a granddaughter from his third aunt's grandmother's family, but Meng Yin disliked both. However, the concubine he later married, Chu Er Niang, was not completely unrelated to these people. Chu Er Niang, the daughter of a tenant farmer, had fed the donkeys of his aunt's natal family and combed the hair of the niece of his aunt's natal family. Chu Er Niang had her husband's family annul her engagement when she was young, making it difficult for her to remarry, and therefore she was particularly suitable for being a servant. When Miss Bai had a miscarriage, Meng's aunt came to visit her and brought Chu Er Niang with her. Chu Er Niang was wearing a round scarf on her head and driving a donkey. When his aunt entered the Meng family's house, Chu Er Niang was watching the donkey outside the door. After a while, Meng Yin sent his aunt out, but he did not see Chu Er Niang, but Chu Er Niang saw him.
The locals said Chu Erniang was beautiful. Initially, this beauty resembled the fine flour of the mid-summer heat, bland to chew, but still better than rice bran and wine dregs. Later, after entering the Meng family, Erniang wore goose yellow and grass green, still plain, but evoking associations: tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) or dumplings from the beginning of autumn. Finally, this beauty became magnificent, like roasted meat at the winter solstice, its fragrance so red and radiant that it suffused one's face. This was lewdness. Indeed, Chu Erniang was a whore. On this point, the people of Chengdu and the maid Zeng agreed.
After meeting Meng Yin, Chu Er Niang went to work as a waitress at the Fengning Tea Shop. Fengning Tea Shop was owned by a tea official, with the Jichu Pavilion upstairs. Merchants from the nearby Jincha Market often came here to discuss business. Meng Yin hired guides and compradors from the shop when he visited the medicine market in Zizhou. Chu Er Niang, working as a waitress at the Fengning Tea Shop, rushed to serve Meng Yin whenever she saw him. At the end of the year, the Meng family's treasurer was busy collecting debts from various locations and was looking for help. Meng Yin spoke to the tea shop owner about this. Dissatisfied with Er Niang's lack of knowledge about brewing and grinding tea, the owner recommended her to the Meng family. Before the Spring Festival, Er Niang and the treasurer followed Meng Yin to Qiongzhou. The treasurer and the heads of the various markets handled the accounting and clearing of accounts. Meng Yin interacted with prominent figures in the county and township, always bringing Er Niang with him. February after the festival, Meng Yin married Er Niang and let her live in the backyard. Not long after, Meng Yin approached the housekeeper and said he wanted to renovate the backyard, demolish the house where his aunts had lived, and build a lotus pond instead. The housekeeper said, "What a shame!" and walked away. The next day, Meng Yin asked why it wasn't allowed. The housekeeper replied, "If we let her live in the separate courtyard, where will the next one live?"
Meng Yin said, "I also live in a separate courtyard."
The steward gnashed his teeth and said, "Having wives and concubines in their own courtyards will inevitably bring disaster to the family. If the principal wife lives in a separate courtyard, it means she is a Buddhist, but it will also make her famous in the Qingbai River and embarrass her in Yizhou Prefecture. If the concubines also live in separate courtyards, then what about the maids and servants? If you and the master marry seven women, and all seven live in separate courtyards, who will guarantee their chastity? If seven women are separated by walls, there will be no competition, and how can we have many children and grandchildren?"
Meng Yin promised not to take concubines and asked the steward what he thought. The steward glared at him and said, "If you want to have a single-line inheritance, you will end up with no descendants. If you want to have a single-line inheritance, I'd rather die soon."
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