Chapter 53

Mu Wanqing looked at them steadily. "You have two choices. First: remarry, you cannot take the children with you. I'll give a hundred taels as your dowry."
"Remarry?" The crowd was stunned, their husbands weren't dead yet.
Besides, no one in the Mu clan had ever remarried; the custom was for women to remain widows for life.
Mu Wanqing didn't care about that; everyone would follow the rules she set. "All the grown men of the main branch are dead. As Clan Leader, I allow widows to remarry."
The clan fell silent; it felt more like an act of revenge, how could they stop it? If it made her happy, so be it.
Madam Xu was famed for her virtue; there was no way she'd remarry. "What's the second option?"
Mu Wanqing partly wanted to test their character and partly wanted to change the custom, she intended to permit remarriage.
"Raise your children well. Make it to the child's thirteenth year, and I'll give five hundred taels in a lump sum. During that time, you'll have to support the household yourselves."
Madam Xu and the younger daughter-in-law, Madam Mo, exchanged worried looks. "We're just weak women; we don't have the ability to earn money."
Mu Wanqing said calmly, "I've taken on a batch of ready-made clothing work. Anyone who knows needlework can take it, the more you do, the more you earn. I can't promise everything, but supporting yourselves won't be a problem."
She wasn't trying to make things hard; she wanted everyone to stand on their own feet.
It's better to rely on oneself than beg others.
A stir went through the crowd. "Wonderful, I'll sign up first. My needlework is quite good."
Though everyone got two hundred taels, who would ever complain about having too much money? They had the settlement funds, but what about life afterwards? The children's marriages? Everything required money.
"I'd like to try too, I just don't know how hard it is."
"I can't do the cutting, but I can sew, what should I do?"
"My needlework isn't good, but I want to earn money too."
The women chattered all at once. Mu Wanqing waved them off. "I have rules of my own; don't worry. We'll handle things one at a time."
She looked at the two daughters-in-law of the main branch. "Have you decided?"
Madam Xu didn't hesitate. "I'll stay to care for the children. I can do needlework."
Madam Mo also insisted, "I won't remarry either."
Even if one were to remarry, they'd need a suitable match, where would one find that in short order?
A few of Eldest Master Mu's concubines grew anxious. "We want to remarry. Third Miss, please find us good men."
Mu Wanqing asked coolly, "What counts as a good man?"
A bolder concubine glanced at the Mu clan's men. "One who can provide me with food and clothing."
She might as well have said it plainly, they were still willing to be concubines.
Mu Wanqing had no desire to get involved. "Then I can't help you. Once you're on the frontier you may find your own matches, but you must not set your sights on any of the clan's principal men."
The concubines were puzzled. "Why?"
Mu Wanqing raised an eyebrow. "Why? That's my rule. Do I need to explain it to you?"
They didn't need an explanation, and the concubines fell silent. The third house had the most concubines, so Mu Wanqing simply grouped them into teams of five, rented a cart for each group, and told them to fend for themselves.
A timid voice piped up. "Third Miss... Clan Leader, I know needlework. Could you let me take a cart on credit? My mother, my brother, and Stepmother Ji can earn money with me."
The brother Nannan mentioned was the main branch's illegitimate son; his mother was Stepmother Ji. That mother and son had almost no presence, like invisible people.
They had even less presence than Mu Nannan and her mother.
She looked nervous and trembled slightly. She was afraid Mu Wanqing might take her anger out on them.
Mu Wanqing was a little surprised that a never-forward illegitimate daughter wanted to stand up for herself. "Very well," she said.
Mu Nannan burst into tears of joy. "Thank you, thank you so much."
Stepmother Ji secretly breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly thought it might be for the best that Eldest Master Mu and the others had fled.
When they were here, everyone in the main house suffered with them. Once they left, those who'd been abandoned immediately got carts. Although it would cost money, beforehand there was nothing to buy even if you had the cash.
Madam Mo suddenly asked, "I do want to work and earn money, but my young child needs care and we have no servants, what should I do?"
Mu Wanqing already had a plan. "All children between three and seven will be gathered to learn together during the day and return to their parents at night."
It would be a mobile nursery, get them under care first.
"Sixth Aunt."
Sixth Aunt hurried out of the crowd. "I'm here."
"Starting today, the Mu Nursery is officially established. I'll be the director and you the deputy. The monthly wage is five taels of silver. You're responsible for daily operations and ensuring each child is well cared for."
She'd observed Sixth Aunt for a long time: soft‑hearted, energetic and decisive, fond of children, and most importantly, she didn't favor sons over daughters.
"All right." Sixth Aunt was thrilled, she finally had a task, and a monthly wage besides.
Mu Wanqing instructed, "First count how many children there are between three and seven. Each cart will be assigned six children of similar ages and one aunt to look after them. The caregiver must be attentive and fond of children, pick them from the clan carefully. This selection is very important."
That way, the adults could free themselves to earn money.
Sixth Aunt beat her chest in assurance. "Don't worry. But how will they learn?"
Mu Wanqing looked at the little tots, they would be her future little helpers, and needed careful tending. "I'll teach an hour every evening. During the day they'll review and practice in the carts, and I'll quiz them whenever I have time."
This made things harder on her, but education must begin in childhood.
The Mu Academy was officially established, with Mu Wanqing still serving as dean. Everyone pricked up their ears, eager to see whom she would choose to run the school.
The sharper ones knew the academy would be the Mu clan's true foundation.
Mu Wanqing's gaze swept the crowd and settled on Fourth Miss Yu. "Yu Wanrou, you'll be deputy dean."
Sigh, there's never enough hands. Hopefully the next generation can be trained up quickly.
But that post was too important to entrust to anyone else.
Her parents and two elder brothers each had their own matters and couldn't take it on.
Everyone was stunned; Yu Wanrou, the one called on, looked equally bewildered. "Ah, but I'm not a Mu family member."
"My sworn sister is, of course, part of the Mu family." Mu Wanqing had no better candidate.
Yu Wanrou occupied an awkward position: although she had accepted the Second Master Mu and his wife as her foster parents, the clan kept their distance from her.
This couldn't go on; people are social creatures and need their own circle.
People must have something to do, or they'll brood and cause trouble.
But since she didn't bear the Mu name, she could never really draw in Mu family members; selfish motives wouldn't change that.
She had to perform well and work hard.
Yu Wanrou hesitated. Her upbringing forbade her from drawing attention, yet watching Mu Wanqing in recent days had stirred something in her.
Mu Wanqing was younger than her, a single young woman, yet she had become head of the clan and commanded everyone's respect.
Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed such a thing, or such a girl, could exist.
Mu Wanqing often said that nothing was impossible; you only needed the courage to dream and to fight.
She was like a beam of light, drawing those around her closer, making them want to emulate her.
"I don't know anything. I've never done it before."
"No one has done it before, if you don't know, you'll learn." Mu Wanqing smiled faintly and tapped herself. "You have the best teacher in the world: me. It's decided."
Yu Wanrou: ...Is it really okay to praise yourself like that?
Yet her confident, commanding manner oddly put people at ease.
"Well... I'll give it a try."
It was the best way to integrate into the Mu clan, and her first step out of a closed, old world.
From then on, Mu Wanqing completed the organizational framework for the Mu clan, putting everything under her control.
Every link had someone in charge, all reporting directly to her.
She had two assistants to supervise and share the load, perfect.
The so-called ready-made clothing business came from fashion patterns she got from Guo Er, plus modifications she made to those designs to make them cleaner and more streamlined.
They produced eight ready-made styles in total, four for men, four for women, to test the market.
As for fabric, she chose mid-grade cloth; turning it into garments was more profitable than selling bolts of cloth.
She turned it into an assembly line: those better at cutting handled cutting, those skilled at sewing did the stitching.
This raised efficiency and stabilized quality.
Those not good at needlework could use leftover scraps to make cushions, bags, layered shoes, and the like, there was something for everyone.
Mu Wanqing wasn't skilled at needlework, but she could design. When she had Madam Qian produce a patchwork crossbody bag and slung one over her shoulder, it caused an immediate stir and became all the rage in the Mu clan.
You could tuck your things inside, convenient, secure, and pretty, while freeing your hands.
Every woman wanted one, and even children carried crossbody bags, perfect for pens, ink, and books.
Mu Wanqing rolled out a batch of finished goods to test the market, sending Officer Zeng ahead to the next town with the wares. Affordable and attractive, they sold like hotcakes.
The styles weren't difficult, easy to pick up. The real challenge was piecing together attractive patterns, which required a sense of artistic taste.
And another point: ordinary people didn't have many fabric scraps, so buying full bolts of cloth raised the cost, it's cheaper to buy a ready-made bag.
She targeted households with a bit of disposable income; truly destitute people who couldn't afford to eat wouldn't be buying trinkets.
She also made a small run of higher-end pieces, elegant embroidered bamboo-patterned purses that particularly enhanced a scholar's bearing.
Not to mention, both lines sold extremely well.
Town folk loved the colorful patchwork bags, while students preferred the understated satchels, both low-cost.
The clothes sold well too, limited quantities, but everything sold out. The trial was a success.
Officer Zeng handled sales, scouting ahead, running pre-sale promotions and marketing. These were all tricks they'd learned selling soap.
When winter came and the flowers died back, materials became scarce, so they simply halted that side of the business.
Work and sales ran side by side; the whole assembly line was in motion and money naturally poured in.
After expenses and paying Officer Zeng and his crew, Mu Wanqing kept a tenth for herself and distributed the rest.
Everyone, holding warm money in their hands, felt a surge of enthusiasm, they practically wanted to work day and night without eating or sleeping.
Even on the road, the women refused to rest for a moment in the carriage, busy as could be.
One day, Sixth Uncle's youngest son came with a few companions. "Clan leader, could you give us some advice? What should we do to earn a living?"
Now that women could earn money and hold their heads high, the family's status rose, and the men... had grievances they couldn't express.
It made them feel useless.
Earlier, Mu Wanqing had selected a group of reliable men, assigning them to various departments; Officer Zeng, short on hands, sent a few over.
They picked some as coachmen and recruited a dozen or so able-bodied men to form the Mu clan's militia for patrols.
In any case, no one was allowed to be idle.
These men were paid wages, but not much, nowhere near what the women were earning.