Offering to the Bai family
Ningxi 700 years ago.
In the capital city of Dayong, which has stood for seven hundred years, there is a three-courtyard house in an alley in the south of the city. The family living there is surnamed Bai, and the neighbors all call them the "Bai Family of Offering Sacrifices".
With a sizzle, the pork fat hit the pan, and the water and oil bubbled and churned. A spatula stirred the tiny bubbles, creating a clinking sound, and an enticing aroma wafted out of the kitchen and into Bai Zhu's nose.
The fair-skinned Bai Shu girl, the daughter of the "Bai family," is only sixteen years old.
Bai Zhu returned with a basket of elm seeds and wild vegetables that she and the young ladies had gathered outside the city. As soon as she crossed the threshold of the courtyard, she smelled the enticing aroma of oil. The little girl, following the scent, ran to the kitchen and asked, "Mother, what delicious food are you making?"
When the lard was rendered and the heat was about to be turned off, the golden fat in the pot was sizzling and bubbling. Madam Bai chased Bai Shu away, saying, "Stay away, or you'll get splattered with oil."
Atractylodes macrocephala doesn't leave, it's greedy.
Bai Shu stood at the doorway, clinging to the door frame, her bright, sparkling eyes fixed on her mother, her emotions overflowing, and she exclaimed in amazement, "Wow!"
Madam Bai wiped her hands, scooped out the crispy fried pork cracklings, put them in a straw basket, mixed them with salt, and gave them to Bai Shu: "Go out and eat."
Bai Zhu chuckled and said, "Thank you, Mother!" Then she put down the basket of wild vegetables she had brought back. "I want to eat elm seeds stir-fried with chicken eggs."
"Alright, alright, I'll make it for you." Madam Bai replied with a smile, adding, "Wash your hands afterward."
"Okay, Mom."
Bai Zhu skipped and hopped to the backyard, carrying a bag of pork cracklings. Her sister-in-law was chopping eucommia there. The spring sunshine was lovely, and many medicinal herbs were drying in the courtyard. As a family of imperial physicians, the roof beams were practically permeated with the aroma of the herbs.
"Sister-in-law, Mom just fried some pork cracklings, they're so fragrant and crispy." Bai Shu was beautiful and had a sweet tongue, and she never kept any good food to herself. "Come on, let's eat together."
Madam Bai was busy with her work and couldn't handle oily or greasy things, so she smiled and said, "Little Miss, these medicinal herbs are most afraid of being tainted by other smells. I can't free my hands, so you eat them."
"Oh no, they're freshly fried. They won't taste good if they get cold." Bai Shu couldn't allow the delicious food to be wasted, so she pinched a piece and brought it to Bai Da Niangzi's mouth. "Sister-in-law, open your mouth."
Madam Bai opened her mouth and took it, chewing it with a satisfying crunch. Bai Shu smiled, her eyes crinkling, "Delicious, isn't it?"
Madam Bai nodded: "Delicious, it smells so good."
“Come on,” Bai Zhu said, even happier, “another piece.”
Inside the house was Bai Zhu's five-year-old nephew, who was learning about medicinal herbs with his great-grandfather. Hearing the commotion in the yard, he ran out and teased Bai Zhu, saying, "Auntie, what delicious food do you have? I want some too."
Bai Shu patted him on the head and handed him the basket: "Eat it as a snack."
Little White Boat happily ran back to the house to eat, carrying a big basket of pork cracklings. His cheeks were bulging, and he was covered in chubby fat.
Bai Shu went to wash her hands and help her sister-in-law pack the prepared medicinal herbs when she suddenly heard her grandfather calling her. The old physician, carrying a basket of pork cracklings in one hand and brushing aside the little Bai Zhou who was swarming at him for "snacks," said to Bai Shu with a look of exasperation, "I told you to learn some medical principles, but you refused. Look, you gave him a whole basket of pork cracklings. How old is he? Pork cracklings are hard to digest; if he eats too much and hurts his spleen and stomach, are you going to treat him?"
Feeling guilty, Bai Shu secretly gave Xiao Baizhou a look, then smiled apologetically and reached out to touch her grandfather, saying with a grin, "No, Grandpa, I asked Xiao Zhou to bring it for you to eat. He's so small, of course he can't eat it all."
The old physician Bai asked, "Is it really for me to eat?"
Bai Zhu swore to the heavens, "It was meant for you to eat!"
The old physician Bai was even more furious. He smacked Bai Shu on the head and said, "You're still giving me food? I'm over seventy years old and about to die. What are you trying to do?"
Bai Zhu shrank her head.
The old physician Bai insisted that she explain in detail before asking, "Can I eat this?"
Bai Zhu said, "No."
The old physician Bai asked again, "Why not?"
Bai Zhu said, "You are getting old."
The old physician Bai pressed on, "Continue."
Bai Zhu racked his brains: "Because, because... pork cracklings are greasy and sticky, dry and hot, and they damage body fluids. Damage to body fluids leads to dry mouth, dry mouth damages stomach qi, insufficient stomach qi leads to blood deficiency, blood deficiency leads to qi deficiency, and qi deficiency damages body fluids... Ah no, I've already mentioned damaging body fluids, let me think again..."
It mainly focuses on talking nonsense.
The old doctor sighed, lamenting the misfortune of his family. Pointing at the little white boat, he said, "You tell me. If you're wrong, you'll get a beating along with your aunt."
Bai Zhou, fearing a beating, said in a soft, childlike voice, "Pork cracklings are greasy and sticky, which helps generate dampness and phlegm. The spleen is responsible for transportation and transformation, so this will damage the spleen. Dryness and heat will damage body fluids and deplete yin fluids; stickiness will hinder qi and obstruct the flow of qi, thus causing blood stasis. Therefore, it can neither nourish nor promote the growth of pathogenic factors, so it should not be eaten in large quantities."
The old physician glared at Bai Shu, his face clearly saying: Look at you, you're not even as good as a five-year-old!
“Grandfather taught her well, and Zhou’er is also smart. Our Bai family will have a successor in the future!” Bai Shu said with a smile, coaxing her grandfather. “It is my filial piety after all. A little bit should be edible. Grandfather, please have a taste.”
The old physician sighed heavily, "You won't learn even if I teach you. I don't expect you to bring glory to the family, just don't embarrass the Bai family when you go out. Sigh." How did we end up with such an uneducated girl?
The old physician Bai, worn down by his smiling granddaughter's nagging, picked up a piece of pork cracklings, which tasted quite good.
Around noon, Bai Jia Dalang finished his shift and went home, bringing back two bolts of fine satin.
"These were bestowed by a nobleman; he said they were made of Suzhou brocade." The eldest son of the Bai family handed two bolts of satin to Madam Bai and said, "Spring is coming; you and your sister should make two sets of clothes."
The two bolts of satin shimmered with iridescent colors, one in lake blue and the other in spring pink, both adorned with jacquard patterns.
Madam Bai's eyes lit up, and she touched it, saying, "It really is Su brocade, so beautiful. It's a pity that I'm too old to wear it; it would look better if your wife and maid each wore one." As she spoke, Madam Bai called to Bai Shu's younger brother, Bai Ju, "Go and invite tailor Jiang over this afternoon to take your sister-in-law and sister's measurements."
Bai Ju agreed and ran to help Madam Bai put the satin into the house, jokingly saying, "You must ask the tailor Jiang to be careful so that my sister can find a good match."
Bai Shu wanted to kick him, saying, "I don't want to get married."
Madam Bai said, "Nonsense, how could a perfectly good young lady not seek out her husband?"
"No," Bai Shu grumbled. "I don't want to get married. I want to stay at home and be an old maid."
Bai Shu made a scene with her mother and then with her sister-in-law. Bai's mother laughed and said, "Fine, fine, if you don't want to marry, then don't. Your brother and sister-in-law will take care of you."
Bai Jia Dalang added, "If my younger sister has a son-in-law she likes, it's perfectly acceptable for her to take him as her husband."
Madam Bai shook her head and chuckled, saying, "You all spoil her."
Old Physician Bai chuckled and said, "I think what you said is right, it wouldn't hurt for our family to take in a son-in-law."
As they were talking, the food was served, and the whole family sat around the table to eat. Halfway through the meal, they suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.
Bai Jiadalang put down his chopsticks and went to open the door. Seeing that it was the village head, he hurriedly welcomed him into the house.
The village chief bowed to the old physician Bai, apologizing for the intrusion, and asked, "Old physician, how are you feeling?"
"Kang Jian, Kang Jian," the old physician chuckled, then asked the village head, "How is your father?"
The village chief smiled and said it was fine. Madam Bai invited the village chief to have a meal together, but the village chief said it was no trouble and then got down to business—
"Miss Bai is not married yet, is she? Madam, you should hurry up and find her a match." The village head said, "The imperial court has just issued a decree that if a woman is over seventeen and unmarried, her parents will be punished and the prefecture will arrange a marriage for her. Miss Bai is sixteen, isn't she? Your family should hurry up and find her a match."
a bolt from the blue!
Bai Shu was stunned, and the Bai family was dumbfounded.
Bai Jia Dalang asked, "When did this happen? Is it true?"
The village head said, "The imperial decree was just issued, and I only just received the news. I told your family about it. Why don't you have your servant ask the nobles in the palace for a solution? It's not easy for us to do our duty under imperial orders. I have to go to the next house, so I won't stay any longer. Young master, please stay, there's no need to see me off."
With the village head gone, I couldn't finish my meal.
The whole family was shrouded in gloom. Bai Zhu was so worried that she wanted to cry. She said, "Mother, I don't want to get married."
Madam Bai embraced her tenderly, patting her back to comfort her, "If you don't want to get married, then don't. Ask your father to think of a way. It's alright, sweetie."
Madam Bai nudged her husband and whispered, "Go out and find out what the plan is."
"Okay." Bai Jia Dalang agreed, changed his clothes, and hurriedly went out to the street.
Old Physician Bai tapped the table twice and said to Bai Shu, "Girl, don't panic, eat first. Things will work themselves out, don't be afraid."
Bai Zhu gave a muffled "hmm," held back her tears, picked up her chopsticks, and continued eating.
Tasteless and bland.
In the afternoon, Bai Jia Dalang returned and said, "A notice has been posted on the street: women who are unmarried by the age of fifteen will have to pay five times the tax; women who are unmarried by the age of seventeen will be punished by their parents with a cane."
Bai Shu's face turned pale.
Madam Bai hugged her to comfort her, and then asked, "Is there any other way?"
Bai Jia Dalang said, "Becoming a nun might be an option. I've seen some families sending their daughters to Guichen Temple to be ordained. I hope that in a few years, the court might loosen its grip and allow us to bring our daughters home."
Bai Shu's face turned even paler upon hearing this, and she covered her hair, saying, "No, Mother, I don't want my hair shaved."
Madam Bai was also worried, saying, "What should we do?" She looked outside and muttered, "I sent Xiao Si to find his father, but why hasn't he returned yet?"
I waited for a long time again.
Finally, Bai's father returned, and the whole family surrounded him, asking repeatedly, "What did the palace say?"
Bai's father was a court physician. He heard the news in the morning and inquired about it everywhere. He was so anxious that he didn't have time to drink a drop of water all day.
After gulping down two cups of tea, Bai's father said, "This time the imperial court is really serious. A few days ago, Yao Cheng sent his two daughters to Guichen Temple, but he said that Guichen Temple no longer has monks' quarters and is no longer accepting nuns."
"This..." Madam Bai's face also turned pale, "What about the other temples?"
“It’s not easy either,” said Father Bai. “The imperial court only shows some respect to Guichen Temple, but it’s hard to say about other temples. If they are found to have become monks to escape marriage, they will be exiled to the army.”
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