Chapter 14

A knock sounded. The visitor was a middle-aged woman, accompanied by an official messenger.
She held the list and introduced herself as the innkeeper's wife.
She would handle the purchase of the supplies.
"We only have three bolts of white silk and four pairs of polished shoes, but there are thousand-layer shoes, would you like those?"
Ordinary households make their own thousand-layer shoes; only men of some standing wear the lacquered shoes. The town doesn't keep many in stock.
Mu Wanqing understood at once, these thousand-layer shoes were the landlady's own handiwork. "Yes, five pairs, please. And if you have any scraps of fabric or thread, set some aside for us too."
"Very well."
Mu Wanqing brightened. "Do you have any clothes that haven't been worn? Either men's or women's, price negotiable."
The landlady slapped her thigh and laughed. "Yes, yes, yes, my daughter is about to be married, and I prepared several new outfits. If you want them, I'll spare you some."
No sooner had she asked than someone brought pillows, four new outfits in total, complete through and through, and Mu Wanqing took them all.
"Ah, do you have new bedding? Sell that to me too." New brides always prepare that sort of thing.
The landlady, pleased by her ready money, was happy to do the deal; after all, the wedding was still more than a month away, there was time to prepare more.
And so Mu Wanqing walked away with two brand-new sets of bedding. She ran her hand over the mattress, stuffed with pressed, softened straw, it was quite substantial.
The quilt was soft and pleasant to the touch.
The landlady suddenly smacked her head. "Oh, and a guest couldn't pay for his drink and left a rabbit-fur cloak as collateral, do you want it?"
"Let me see it."
It was a man's black rabbit-fur cloak, loose and about sixty percent new, plain to look at, but wonderfully warm when worn. Mu Wanqing couldn't help but smile inwardly and took it.
This was perfect for winter; during the day it could be thrown over the shoulders for warmth, at night used as a blanket.
Of course, the price was steep. All told, including the items on the list, it came to one hundred taels.
The landlady was happy; those from the second branch felt the pinch, the money didn't stretch far.
Mu Wanqing didn't mind. If not for the cramped space in the mule cart, she'd have bought even more.
With supplies in hand, she felt reassured.
The whole time the official messenger watched from the side, supervising the transaction.
The four outfits she'd bought were rather bright: one ginger yellow, one pink, one vivid red, and one teal.
Two were lightweight and two were thick winter garments; they were a bit large and made of ordinary fabric, this was a small household with limited means.
Madam Qian nimbly altered the clothes smaller to fit her daughter.
Hot water was brought, and everyone insisted Mu Wanqing bathe first. After a few refusals, she accepted their kindness.
She enjoyed a comfortable hot bath, washed her hair, changed into clean clothes, she felt like a new person.
Looking at how dirty the bathwater had become, she couldn't help pursing her lips, she'd never been so filthy.
She didn't put on the new dresses; instead she chose the altered men's clothes, more practical.
Mu Wanqing gave two sets of underclothes and the teal outfit to her mother; the other colors were too showy.
Madam Qian felt they weren't particularly suitable, but after her daughter's persuasion she accepted them happily.
The whole family took turns bathing; it was a rare opportunity, who knew when they'd have another?
After bathing they ate the inn's offering of mutton soup and flatbread for dinner.
The mutton soup had a hint of gaminess but the meat was tender, neither tough nor dry; the flatbread was quite good.
Mu Wanqing's hair hung damp over her shoulders; between mouthfuls she remarked, "They should add some pepper."
"Pepper's too expensive." Mu Zicheng ate happily; for him this was already a heavenly day.
“If every day could be like this, I'd be satisfied.”
There was hot water for a bath, a clean quilt to sleep under, and enough to eat until they were full.
Mu Ziang's mouth was full as he kept nodding, only after suffering did he realize how fortunate he now was.
Second Master Mu took a long swallow of mutton soup and squinted with pleasure. “This is all thanks to Qing'er. Zicheng, Ziang, you must remember that.”
“We know. We're all indebted to our sister.”
“Mm-hmm. From now on I'll do whatever sister says, if she says one, I won't argue.”
While one side was all warmth and harmony, the main house and the third house were beset by misery.
They'd paid for two communal sleeping rooms, each could fit ten people, so adults and children were squeezed together.
Old Madam Mu stubbornly refused to book better single rooms, saying they were already better off than prison and should be content.
Every coin she had had to cover the travel expenses for more than thirty family members and the costs of settling down on the frontier.
Third Master Mu lay moaning on his berth. “Find a Physician, quick, find a Physician.”
His hand had only been roughly treated; after the whole bumpy ride on the cart, the wound hurt even more.
The whole family clustered round him and cried, the dozen or so concubines wailing as if their hearts would break.
The third branch had the most concubines, some gifted by Madam Mu, some handmaids Third Master Mu had taken to, and others brought in from outside.
They called it all for the sake of producing sons. He had only one boy; that was far too few.
When the household was ransacked, the servants were sold off, and the concubines could only follow in exile, all exhausted and ruined, full of regret; some even thought being sold might have been better.
Old Madam Mu's eyes were rimmed red as she drew twenty taels of silver from her bodice. “Eldest, go see to the bailiffs, grease some palms.”
Eldest Master Mu inclined his head, took the silver, and left.
The atmosphere inside was tight; amid the sobs came Old Madam Mu's scolding.
She cursed the second branch as unfilial, denounced Mu Wanqing as vicious and cruel, and wished her a bad death.
She spared no insult.
Everyone was tired and hungry, aching all over; they only wanted to eat their fill and collapse to sleep. Their faces were dull; they had no strength to chime in.
They'd walked all day and only wanted a proper rest, why was that so hard?
Old Madam Mu, the senior wife, shot a worried look at her daughter. Mu Jinyao stared blankly into nowhere, like a flower stripped of water, wilting quickly.
Her expression fell. “Mother, the children are hungry. Let them eat something first.”
Old Madam Mu's thoughts were fixed on her wounded youngest son; she glared at her. “All they think about is eating. Missing one meal won't kill them.”
Her tone was so harsh a child was frightened to tears. “Waa.”
At his cry the other children began to wail too, and soon the air was filled with the high, piercing sobs of the youngsters.
Old Madam Mu's head throbbed. She called for her eldest grandson. “Enough. Zifeng, take the children to the next bunk room to eat. Don't make trouble here.”
“Yes.” Mu Zifeng, relieved, couldn't wait; he scooped up his son and hurried out, the others following quickly.
The grandchildren and great-grandchildren cleared out completely; even the sobbing descendants of the third branch had fled, leaving only the female relatives of the second house.
The provisions sent by friends and relatives hadn't been finished yet; two steamed buns and a bowl of hot water per person would have to do.
The little mite in his arms looked up pitifully. “Daddy, I want meat.”
“I want some too,” Zifeng murmured, but all the money was held in Old Madam Mu's hands.
After such upheaval, Old Madam Mu valued every coin all the more and grew impossibly stingy, no one could get money from her, and she wouldn't spend extra on better rooms.
They couldn't exactly seize it from her by force.
Others could leave, but Madam Xu, the senior wife, couldn't, she remained to attend Old Madam Mu's side.
She suggested cautiously, “Shouldn't we buy some supplies, just in case?”
The things friends had sent were dried food, spare clothes and medicine, no household items.
Old Madam Mu clutched the money close. “What's the rush? This has just begun. We'll deal with it later.”
Third Master Mu couldn't help crying out, “Mother, buy a carriage. I can't walk, the flat cart is too jolting. If I want to heal properly, we need a proper carriage.”
A mule cart might be sturdy, but its cabin was cramped and nowhere near as comfortable as a carriage.
Old Madam Mu hesitated. “Well…”
Third Master Mu sobbed, “Mother, you're getting old, you must take care. Money isn't more important than life. Mother, your son still wants to be filial to you for another hundred years.”
Those words struck a chord with Old Madam Mu and she wavered.
Madam Xu seized the chance to urge, “Then buy another one. The children are pampered; they can't stand this kind of jolting.”
Old Madam Mu didn't agree at once. When Eldest Master Mu returned with the Physician, the physician checked the wound and dressed it. “A bone is fractured. He must rest well, no unnecessary movement.”
“Physician, thank you.” Eldest Master Mu brightened. “I'd like to buy some prepared medicines from you.”
Although friends had sent some supplies, with so many people it wouldn't be enough.
The Physician was only an ordinary one; his medicine box held common remedies, and who knew how well they'd work.
Old Madam Mu wouldn't allow bulk buys; they took only one packet of each item.
As Eldest Master Mu saw the Physician out, Old Madam Mu suddenly proposed buying two carriages, one for each branch of the family, and to inform the bailiffs first.
At that, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Eldest Master Mu went off in high spirits to find Officer Zeng, but Zeng looked at him as if he were a fool.
Eldest Master Mu felt his heart sink. “Sir, is there a problem?”
Officer Zeng shook his head slightly, long used to high office and out of touch with such matters. “Only the capital has a real horse market. Where in this small town would you buy a carriage?”
Eldest Master Mu had assumed carriages were easy to come by; his family had once owned five, two per household, and Madam had her own roomy, comfortable carriage.
“Then the inn should have a carriage. I'll pay double to buy it.”
A fine horse fetched seventy taels; an ordinary one went for about fifty, and a plain carriage cost around ten taels of silver.
They asked the shopkeeper, who only had a single open-topped donkey cart for hauling goods.
And even for that he demanded an outrageous price.
But thinking of the long road ahead, Eldest Master Mu gritted his teeth and bought it.
Madam Xu found an excuse to slip outside, pulled her daughter into the shadows, and dropped her voice low. "Your grandmother is miserly as ever, clutching the money. Did your second aunt slip you any cash? Take some out, I’ll buy a few necessities."
Mu Jinyao pursed her lips and took a silver note from her purse.
"Buy some meat buns," she suggested.
It seemed meat buns had become an obsession people couldn't get past.
Seeing the second household eating meat buns every day behind bars, those who couldn't have them longed for them even more. Even Mu Jinyao found herself craving them, who would believe it?
Madam Xu felt a sour, bitter pang in her chest.
She had kept her daughter cosseted in fine silk and extravagant delicacies.
And now… she actually wanted greasy meat buns.
"You… try to get on Mu Wanqing's good side. She…" Madam Xu hesitated, struggling to force out the next words, "she's resourceful. She might be able to help when it matters."
She urged her daughter, "Besides, you're cousins, it's only right to support one another."
Mu Jinyao looked bewildered. "I never helped her before. How could I expect her to help me now?"
Madam Xu’s head ached. The child had always been smart and quick-witted, why was she being so stubborn now?
"It's mutual help. You can help them drive the mule carts."
It sounded nicer than it was, really, it meant hitching a ride. Better than walking, at least.
She was worried her pampered daughter couldn't endure the hardship.
Mu Jinyao glanced at her shoes, wrapped in strips of cloth. The shoes were worn through; she'd torn fabric from her clothes and bound them in layers to make them barely serviceable.
Her feet were blistered all over; popping them made her cry out in pain.
"She doesn't like me." She couldn't bring herself to grovel.
"Is it so hard to make friends? You…" Madam Xu thought back to how beloved her daughter once was, not just by men but by other girls who doted on her.
Yet now, not one of them had come forward to help.
"Don't act like the celebrated beauty of the capital anymore, the Mu family's most honored eldest legitimate daughter. Times are different now, don't be so proud. Learn from Mu Wanqing. She may have faults, but she gets fed, she has a cart, and she shields her family."
Mu Jinyao fell silent.
A sharp voice rang out, "Who's hiding in the shadows? Come out!"
Mother and daughter started; Madam Xu hurriedly wiped her hand through the dirt and smeared it across her daughter's pale face.
In misfortune, being too beautiful is a curse, not a blessing.