Chapter 82 Transformation
After reading Meng Ying's letter, Minister Meng put it down expressionlessly: "Their branch of the family has already been separated. The clan should handle it as it sees fit, without worrying about me."
Clan Chief Meng clicked his tongue: "He is still your own son and grandson, even if he is born out of wedlock—"
Minister Meng said, "He wrote to me for help when he took in refugees and caused trouble, but I didn't care. I won't care today either. He is no different from me or other members of the collateral branches now. We will do what is right according to the clan rules."
Chief Meng couldn't help but say, "You are father and son, and you have no major conflicts, why do you have to be so cruel?"
Minister Meng said, “I didn’t help him when he was in trouble, and I won’t try to curry favor with him when he becomes successful. We can each go our own way. I have four sons to support me in my old age, so I won’t miss him.”
Chief Meng shook his head and left.
When Madam He found out, she couldn't help but retort, "Could Meng Ying have been adopted? It's one thing for his father not to help, but why is he making such sarcastic remarks? Even if he won't do anything, can't he at least say a few nice words?"
Chief Meng said, "Forget it, everyone has their own ambitions. The second son has always looked down on Meng Ying. Since he doesn't care, then I, as the chief, will take care of it."
Madam He said, "If you're going to say he looks down on them, his fifth son has been idle all these years and I've never heard him say a word. Meng Ying's son, Qi, is smart and quick-witted. He might pass the imperial examination one day. Why does he think his family is hopeless?"
Chief Meng said, "The fifth son is the youngest, and the youngest son is the most precious. Even if he's useless, would he treat him better than the fourth son? You're getting senile. Besides, what good teachers can you find in a place like Biyang County? No matter how clever and quick-witted Qi Ge is, without a good teacher to guide him, it will be difficult for him to even pass the imperial examination, let alone become a Jinshi."
Madam He said, “I’m not the foolish one, it’s your good second brother’s wife. She’s a grandparent after all. Even though Qi’er has passed the county-level imperial examination, she still chased him away and wouldn’t let him stay in the capital to study. I would love for Qi’er to pass the provincial-level imperial examination next autumn and then pass the metropolitan-level imperial examination three years later, so that the second brother and his wife would regret it so much that they couldn’t sleep.”
Chief Meng laughed, "If scholars could pass the imperial examinations with such ease as you, why would he so easily give Meng Ying away? Besides, how many of his grandsons have passed the county-level examinations? I think the sons of his eldest and second sons have a good chance of passing next year's autumn examinations, and the youngest's is a bit younger, but he's already quite well-known in the capital. His grandsons are too successful, and the family's resources are already insufficient. If they don't give even a little bit to Meng Ying's family, it will inevitably cause gossip. It's better to give them away cleanly..."
From this perspective, Chief Meng did agree with Minister Meng's decision to separate Meng Ying. A son born out of wedlock is a son born out of wedlock; he can't possibly receive better resources than a legitimate son. For example, regarding the quota for studying at the Imperial Academy, Meng Rong, as the Vice Minister of Works, had one quota, and Minister Meng, through his old connections, could take one more. There were only two quotas in total, but Minister Meng had five grandsons who had passed the imperial examinations. Could he really give up his opportunity to Meng Guanqi?
But if they gave nothing, they might be accused of mistreating their illegitimate son, so they decided to use this as an excuse to divide the spoils and avoid getting in the way.
Madam He said, "Then this matter is now on your shoulders. What are you going to do?"
Chief Meng said, "The New Year is just around the corner. Once Da Lang and Er Lang return home, we'll discuss how to manage things."
In the end, we still have to manage it, otherwise where will the Meng family put their face?
They're from the Meng family, after all. How badly have they been bullied? Drugging, raping, and sexually assaulting them—it's so humiliating if word gets out. And they can't even do anything about it? The Meng family will be laughed at to death.
However, we need to discuss carefully where to set the limits of regulation.
Madam He said, "I remember when your second brother divided the family property, he didn't give Meng Ying anything, did he? He didn't even give her a house. It was only after the third brother couldn't stand it and mentioned it that they gave her a perfume shop on East Street and a hundred acres of land in the suburbs of Beijing. What can such a small amount produce? If you find it troublesome, why don't you send some money to Meng Ying and have that man surnamed Lu apologize to their family? It would be best if he paid some money. Once he receives it, he will understand your difficulties and might not hold it against you."
As expected of the daughter of a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Revenue, Madam He's judgment was rarely wrong. When Meng Ying divided the family property, she didn't receive much money and was even fined half a year's salary. She was also sent to the impoverished Biyang County. She must have been short of money. Perhaps giving her more money could have calmed this storm.
The easiest way to settle this matter is to use money without having to use personal connections.
Chief Meng stroked his beard with satisfaction: "Let's discuss it like this for now. If the eldest and second sons agree, then we'll do it this way."
The New Year was just around the corner, and Meng Clan Chief's eldest son, Meng Wensheng, and second son, Meng Wenjun, were both on holiday. When Meng Clan Chief told his two sons about the matter, neither of them had any objections. They planned to settle the matter like this and send someone to Lin'an Prefecture after the New Year to complete the task.
As a result, the second son, Meng Wenjun, was summoned back to Tianjin by his superior before he could finish his New Year's Eve dinner. Not long after, two teams of imperial guards set off from the palace gates and headed straight for Tianjin. The guards in the capital suddenly became very strict. Half a day later, the news of the crown prince's return to the capital spread like wildfire.
It was common knowledge in all six ministries that the Crown Prince had gone south on official business. They assumed that the reason he hadn't returned before the New Year was due to bad road conditions or severe weather. Who would have thought that His Majesty would actually send the Imperial Guards to Tianjin to pick him up!
This is no ordinary little thing.
Those who could hold official positions in the Six Ministries, especially high-ranking ones, were no fools. For a time, servants from all over the country were constantly inquiring about the news, but unfortunately, they still couldn't find out what had happened even after the Imperial Guards welcomed the Crown Prince into the capital.
However, the Crown Prince had no intention of keeping it a secret. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, a shocking piece of news spread throughout the capital: the Crown Prince had been assassinated in Luzhou, narrowly escaping death twice, and his wounds had not yet healed. The Emperor was furious, but also worried about the Crown Prince's health, so he dispatched the Imperial Guards to the Tianjin ferry to welcome the Crown Prince.
When the Emperor saw his emaciated son in the Wuying Hall and saw the wound on his chest, he learned that only Wan Quan and Pang Shi remained of the guards he had taken with him, and that the Junior Chamberlain of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices had died far from home. He was so angry that he smashed his teacup and ordered the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to thoroughly investigate the case and not to tolerate it.
Meanwhile, news spread from the Eastern Palace that Meng Guanqi, son of Meng Ying, the magistrate of Biyang County, had twice saved His Highness the Crown Prince from danger. Before the Crown Prince could express his gratitude, the Crown Princess had already sent someone with generous gifts to the Meng residence to express her thanks. However, upon entering, she discovered that the Meng family had been separated from the previous Meng residence, and that this Meng residence was not the same as the previous one. Meng Ying did not have a residence in the capital.
The consular eunuch carried the gifts around the Meng residence, then carried them back untouched to report back.
Less than an hour later, the Empress's gifts of gratitude arrived. They were carried into the Meng residence, circled around, and then carried back.
I heard that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor's gifts had also left the palace. They happened to run into a eunuch who had returned after delivering gifts for the Empress. After talking to him at the palace gate, they all turned back.
It was the New Year, a time when the imperial court was sealing off its offices and everyone was resting at home. The Meng family's major mishap made them the latest laughing stock in the entire capital.
When He heard that Meng Lao Er's family had been humiliated so badly, He Shi burst into laughter, "What did I tell you? I told Lao Er not to be so overconfident. See, karma has come..."
The clan chief Meng's face was stern: "Are you still gloating here? Now the whole capital is laughing at our Meng family. We couldn't even handle the overwhelming wealth. The royal gifts were delivered to our door, but we had to take them back. We missed a great opportunity! Isn't the second son's loss also a loss for our Meng family?"
Thinking of this, his heart ached so much it felt like it was bleeding.
Since Minister Meng retired, how long has it been since the Meng family received any royal rewards? And this time it's not an ordinary reward, but an honor bestowed by the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and the Crown Prince together. Minister Meng never received such an honor from all four of them while he was in office. What exactly did they miss?
If the two elders from different rooms were so distressed, then Minister Meng, the person directly involved in the incident, was practically spitting out a mouthful of blood.
What happened? Who can tell him what happened? Meng Guanqi followed Meng Ying to that barren land thousands of miles away, how could he have saved the Crown Prince's life by sheer coincidence, and twice in a row?
Just before the Lunar New Year, Meng Yingming wrote a letter to the clan chief for help, saying that his son had been bullied and asking the clan to support him. How could he have become the Crown Prince's savior in such a short time?
Thinking of the royal family's four most honorable people's gifts entering the room, and since Meng Ying had already been separated and had nothing to do with him, they were carried out again, his vision went black and black again. He immediately called the steward: "Go and investigate immediately, investigate for me, what exactly happened?"
Before the steward even left the house, he encountered the two old men from the first and third branches of the Meng family, along with several other gentlemen, who had come to inquire about the situation and discuss countermeasures.
The main hall of the Meng family mansion was packed with male members of the second branch of the family aged thirteen and above. Everyone was eager to know what had happened, as it concerned the family's honor.
Unfortunately, the servants they sent out also encountered servants from other families, and they had to ask them for information. There was nowhere in the entire capital where they could get information.
Steward Xie, the head steward of the Meng family, returned, followed by Mao Neng, a servant left behind by Meng Ying in the capital.
Mao Neng hadn't been to the Meng residence for a year. He rented a small house in Yue Liu Lane in the north of the city and lived there with his wife and children. His wife no longer had a job at the Meng residence and earned some extra money by doing laundry for others. He, on the other hand, mostly frequented taverns, bookstores, and school gates to collect political news from the capital for Meng Guanqi. He would compile the information and send it to Biyang County through a security escort agency every month.
When Steward Xie found him, he had just heard that his young master had actually saved the Crown Prince's life. Overjoyed, he went to buy half a catty of wine and a roast goose to celebrate at home, only to be caught red-handed by Steward Xie.
The head steward of the main branch, who was in charge of the entire household, actually came to see him in person. Mao Neng was flattered and surprised. When he learned the purpose of the visit, he waved his hands repeatedly: "Head Steward, I certainly don't know as much as you do..."
But Steward Xie had no way to explain himself, so he insisted on bringing him back to the Meng residence.
Aside from the Lunar New Year, this was the first time Mao Neng had seen all the men in his family gathered together like this, with members from both the eldest and third branches of the family present. Moreover, there was a screen separating one side of the main hall, and the area inside was filled with people and quite a bit of noise, likely also packed with female relatives.
Such a grand spectacle made him feel uneasy, as if a heavy weight had been placed under his feet, making it difficult for him to walk. He looked like he was about to cry, and his masters were all staring at him intently, as if they were determined to extract some information from him.
Heavens above, earth below, he truly knows nothing!
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