Chapter 103 Magistrate Du, are you not going to die?
"Are there any reservations?" Meng Qing asked bluntly, making no attempt to hide her purpose.
"Benefactor," the head monk spoke up to stop him, "it's time to perform the ritual."
Meng Qing nodded, ignoring the strange looks from those present, and said quickly and shamelessly, "The New Year is just over a month away. Copying Buddhist scriptures and offering them before the Buddha will take at least a month. Those who are interested should prepare in advance. You can come and pay the deposit after today."
After saying this, Meng Qingchong nodded to the monks, then stepped aside and asked them to perform a ritual to deliver the souls of the dead from the boat.
The monks struck the wooden fish with a clanging sound, each went to their respective places, sat cross-legged, and chanted scriptures. The surrounding crowd gradually quieted down.
As if by divine intervention, a sudden gust of wind arose, causing the monk's robes to flutter wildly. Along the riverbank a mile away, waves surged violently, creating an underwater spectacle resembling a thousand-strong army battling, with the waves roaring to the heavens.
Night fell suddenly, and the atmosphere between heaven and earth instantly became tense and solemn. Only the sound of striking the wooden fish and chanting remained unaffected, the rhythmic clanging of the bells reaching people's ears one after another, possessing the power to dispel fear.
Du Li stood beside Meng Qing and quietly took her hand. He stared warily at the paper boat surrounded by monks, glancing occasionally at the churning river.
Meng Qing looked on with suspicion. She stared intently at the paper boat until the ritual ended, but she didn't see any spirits or ghosts.
"Light the fire and perform the sacrificial offering," the head monk instructed.
Du Li looked at Meng Qing, Meng Qing looked at Du Min, and Du Min looked at General Lu. He raised his hand and said, "Lord Lu, the task is accomplished. You may finish it off now."
Lu Zhenjiang glanced at him, and he took the torch handed to him by the yamen runner and lit the six paper boats lined up side by side one by one.
As the fire raged, the tung oil and glue separated the paper from the scriptures on it. Under the scorching heat of the fire, the rigid scriptures came alive with the melting glue, each word dancing and falling. Finally, the paper boat turned to ashes, and the writing disappeared.
The last glimmer of light disappeared, and the surroundings suddenly darkened. Once people's eyes adjusted to the darkness, the shimmering moonlight illuminated the houses and the river.
The wind stopped, and the river calmed down.
"Alright, the deceased can rest in peace now," Meng Qing said, breaking the silence.
"Thank you all for coming down the mountain to perform the rituals. You must be tired after a long day. I will arrange for the yamen runners to escort you back to the temple," Du Min said.
The monk nodded.
Immediately, yamen runners carrying torches went to clear the way.
"Thank you all for your kindness today. The ceremony is now complete, so please go home now." Du Min added, "It's getting dark, so please watch your step on your way back, stay away from the river, and it's best to go in groups."
The crowd dispersed, but a small group of people remained, whispering amongst themselves. Just as Du Min was about to ask them why they hadn't left, he saw them kneel down.
“Your Honor, I kowtow to you on behalf of my son. My son drowned in the Yellow River two years ago. He fell in and disappeared without a trace. His body was never recovered. Today, he can finally be free.” A woman said in a loud voice, both sorrowful and relieved.
"I will also kowtow to the magistrate on behalf of my son."
"I will kowtow to the magistrate on behalf of my mother..."
"..."
The shouts stopped the crowd from leaving. Under the gazes of the crowd, the sixty or seventy people who knelt down prostrated themselves and kowtowed, their foreheads hitting the ground with loud thuds.
Du Min smiled from the shadows. He exhaled and quickly stepped into the crowd to help them up. "Get up, get up. This is my duty as a local official. It is what I should do."
“Our Heqing County has welcomed a good official,” said an elderly man who was helped up by Du Min.
Du Min helped the old man up and tightened his clothes, saying, "Old man, let's go home."
"Yes," the old man nodded.
"Go home, everyone." Du Min raised his arms and waved, then said again, "Go home, everyone, walk slowly on the way, don't stumble or trip."
After most of the people had left, Du Min returned to General Lu's side and said, "Lord Lu, shall we escort you back first?"
Lu Zhen waved his hand, looked at Du Min carefully for a few moments, and advised, "Lord Du, if you simmer it slowly in this way, you will achieve your goal in a few years."
Du Min nodded, but completely ignored the advice. On the way back, he sat on the donkey cart and couldn't wait to assign tasks: "Gu Wudong, starting tomorrow, you will work under the county magistrate. You will patrol with him and keep an eye out for funerals in the county. I will give you a list later. If any of these people have a family funeral, you must immediately notify me to come and offer condolences."
Gu Wudong subconsciously agreed, but after accepting the task, he realized what he meant and asked, "Are you planning to personally inspect the burial goods at the funeral?"
“Yes.” Du Min nodded readily. “What’s the use of just issuing decrees when I’m a newly appointed magistrate? Those people aren’t illiterate and don’t understand the law. Simply posting decrees won’t work. I need to take action now. I need to be there in person to oversee things, and I might even go with them to carry the coffin up the mountain. I don’t believe I can’t control them.”
After saying that, Du Min looked at the people on another donkey cart and said, "Second sister-in-law, I want to be the first donor to your charity school. I want five hundred of those bulging paper copper coins that used to be sold in paper horse shops."
“Okay.” Meng Qing nodded.
Gu Wudong looked around and, seeing that no one else had any objections, swallowed his worries. Going to someone's funeral to cause trouble might just get him beaten up.
*
As Du Min's political affairs progressed, Meng Qing's free school and the Meng family's paper horse shop also opened after the Cold Clothes Festival, attracting mostly Buddhist worshippers. These people were deeply influenced by the tradition of donating incense money, and with just a slight hint from Meng Qing, they immediately agreed and took out money on the spot to support the development of the free school.
The paper horse shop was a business with clearly marked prices. Some people who found it troublesome, or those who wanted to make demands, were invited by Meng Qing to go next door to place a deposit.
But this booming business only lasted a month. During that month, Du Min attended nine funerals, from the mourning to the burial, and he was there every day with his yamen runners. The families who were organizing the funerals gradually went from being wary to being furious, and finally they angrily kicked him out. They would rather the living go to jail than let the dead have a grand funeral.
Du Min quickly squandered the good reputation he had built up through the Cold Clothes Festival and earned the bad reputation of being a plague god in the streets.
Due to the anger of the people, the free school and the paper horse shop were boycotted by everyone in Heqing County. Some people even went to the outside of the free school and the paper horse shop to burn paper money. Even half of their apprentices were incited to leave.
Du Min was so angry that blisters appeared on his lips, but he refused to back down. All the troublemakers were arrested and sent by the yamen runners to dredge river mud to repair roads during the day, and locked up in jail at night. As always, he paraded through the city with the yamen runners who were despised and unable to lift their heads, and his figure could be seen wherever there was a funeral.
"Third brother, quickly bring men and come with me." Du Li ran back panting, rubbing his face which was frozen by the cold wind, and said, "There is a funeral procession that is about to cross the Heyang Bridge. There are probably two or three hundred people in the procession, and forty or fifty carts of burial goods. Go and arrest them quickly."
Du Min immediately ordered the county constable to count the people. The next moment, he looked at Magistrate Sun and asked, "Whose funeral did I miss? Such a grand funeral, how could I not have heard about it? Or did the people below cover it up?"
"It might be a funeral procession from another county," Magistrate Sun reminded him. Looking at the ruthless plague-like official, he deliberately asked, "Do we have to interfere with funerals from other counties?"
Du Min pondered for a moment, then looked at Du Li and asked, "Did my second sister-in-law know you came back to report the news?"
Du Li's face immediately fell, and he said expressionlessly, "...Your second sister-in-law sent me back."
"Bring your men and follow me." Du Min immediately took action.
County Magistrate Sun: "..."
*
North end of Heyang Bridge.
Meng Qing and Meng Chun, along with their apprentices, blocked the funeral procession to pay their respects. The filial sons and grandsons standing before them all had gloomy faces.
“Madam, you’ve already burned three baskets of paper money. When are you going to stop? My father has no relation to you. It’s strange that you’re worshipping him so devoutly. What’s your purpose?” Wang Dalang, dressed in mourning clothes, asked sternly.
“I had a dream last night, and the scene in the dream is exactly like this. In the dream, someone was talking in the coffin. He told me to go to his coffin to pay my respects and burn ten baskets of paper money.” Meng Qing looked distressed. “In the dream, I wanted to move but couldn’t, and I was scared half to death when I woke up. I thought it was just a dream, but today I actually encountered your funeral procession, and the style of the coffin was exactly the same as in my dream, which made me believe it. Although I don’t know why, your father came to my dream and gave the order, so I have no choice but to come to his coffin to burn paper money.”
"Nonsense! Get out of the way and don't block the way. If you delay the auspicious time to go up the mountain, I'll take your life." A man rushed up and shouted, "Men, beat these people away with sticks!"
“You are unfilial! You actually drove away the people who were offering sacrifices! Did you even ask your father’s opinion?” Meng Chun asked, pointing at the coffin.
"Beat them!"
The funeral procession surged forward, and Meng Qing rallied his men and ran, but they were heading towards the pontoon bridge. With them blocking their way, the funeral procession couldn't reach the other side.
"Sir, the government officials are coming after us."
"Hurry! Hurry! Quicken your pace and get to Heyin County's territory on the other side before they arrive."
"Carry the people in front of you away, and push any ungrateful ones off the bridge."
"Sister, what should we do?" Meng Chun asked upon hearing this.
"Let's delay a little longer, that's right..." Meng Qing jumped twice on the pontoon bridge, and seeing the bridge sway, she led the people to start shaking the pontoon bridge.
The funeral procession behind them instantly descended into chaos.
The government officials came onto the bridge.
Wang Dalang closed his eyes as he watched the jackals and tigers chasing him from the front and back.
"No need to shake it anymore," Meng Qing said as she saw Du Min arrive.
“Squire Wang?” Du Min was surprised. He wasn’t from another county. Wasn’t this the old acquaintance who had driven him away? He stood behind the coffin and looked at the people dressed in mourning clothes in front of him. He said, “Didn’t you hold a funeral yesterday? Did you take your father somewhere else? And where did you get so many burial items? These tomb guardian beasts are extraordinary. Even a third-rank official might not be able to use them after death.”
“I’ll go with you. Leave the illegal burial items behind. Let my father’s coffin go up the mountain first,” Wang Dalang said. “Magistrate Du, the funeral procession doesn’t turn back. If you ruin my father’s funeral today, my Wang family will fight you to the death.”
“Okay.” Du Min nodded, gesturing for the people in front of him to step back.
The coffin-carrying procession continued on its way, leaving behind anything that didn't conform to the rules. Du Min then ordered the servants pulling the carts to take all the burial goods back to the north end of the bridge.
A large crowd gathered on the north bank of the Heyang Bridge, their eyes filled with hatred as they glared at Du Min and the officials. But seeing the local gentryman Wang and the thirty-eight cartloads of burial goods being taken away by the constables, their restless flames were completely extinguished. The gentryman Wang had gone to such lengths, almost leaving Heqing County's territory, only to be brought back; the officials were determined to fight to the death over the burial goods…
Lu Zhenjiang, accompanied by two subordinates, stood at a distance watching. He said with a mixture of doubt and admiration, "I don't know if this Magistrate Du is just incredibly lucky or as stupid as a pig. His methods are so ruthless that they're frightening. Isn't he afraid of dying?"
"Magistrate Du, aren't you afraid of death?" Wang Dalang walked up to Du Min and asked in a sinister tone.
"I'm scared," Du Min replied. "Sir Wang, if you followed the law, none of this would have happened. I was forced into this situation by you."
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