Chapter 7

Wu Dongming said nothing; he handed over a grease‑paper parcel.
Mu Wanqing froze. What was going on?
She looked down and found six white steamed buns, plump and round, giving off an irresistible aroma. The coarse corncakes they’d been eating before could not compete.
She stared. What was happening?
She counted again, no more, no less, exactly six.
Could it be... luck? Sixes all the way? Would the Mu family get through this? No more worries about the chopblock?
She looked up. A faint smile passed Wu Dongming’s eyes, what a clever little girl.
He was simply returning a favor and making a small kindness.
It was nothing but a tiny courtesy, harmless and easily justified, no one could complain.
After he took Mu Zhongde away, the family swarmed over eagerly. “What is it? Ah, white steamed buns!”
They practically drooled, desperate to eat, ravenous with desire.
Mu Wanqing brushed the greedy, stinking throng aside. What are you squeezing for?
I know you’re all drooling for these white buns!
But had they forgotten how they’d treated the second branch these past days?
Ever since she’d torn things open with Old Madam Mu, the Mu family saw her as a thorn in their side; if fights were allowed in the jail, they’d probably have torn her to pieces.
It didn’t faze Mu Wanqing at all, this was playground stuff for three‑year‑olds; funny they’d played it so earnestly.
“How would I know? Go ask Lord Wu.”
Who would dare ask? No one wanted to lose their life.
Old Madam Mu asked maliciously, “You can’t possibly be unaware. Could it be that at your age you’re wayward, deliberately tempting, ”
Falling from cloud to valley, the contrast was too great; her equilibrium gone, she wasn’t the least bit kind, almost a little perverse.
She hated Mu Wanqing now.
That was not the way an elder should speak; Madam Qian was moved to tears by the humiliation.
Mu Wanqing’s eyes went cold. “I advise you not to speak carelessly. Offending me may be small, but Lord Wu’s reputation is tainted, how do you think he might deal with the Mu family? Do you want to die? Your grandchildren haven’t had their fill of living yet.”
She smiled icily. “Third Uncle, what do you think?”
Come on then, let’s make a scene.
Third Master Mu jumped up as if pricked. “Mother, don’t say such things.”
The other descendants hurried to placate her. “Grandmother, please, just be quiet.”
“How can we argue with a Wuyi Guard lord? Grandmother, you’re old, are you losing your mind?”
They’d already suffered enough. If they offended the Wuyi Guards on top of that, who could say whether they’d live through it?
Old Madam Mu had been spoiled her whole life, the exalted matriarch everyone kowtowed to at home. Now, with their heads on the line and the hangman’s block a moment away, who had the energy to dote on her?
She clutched her chest with pain.
Mu Wanqing took a white bun and offered it to Madam Qian. “Mother, you eat.”
Madam Qian’s mouth watered; she brought it to her lips but then paused and looked toward the other family members. “Your father and your brothers haven’t eaten yet.”
Second Master Mu was greedy too, he hadn’t had a proper meal in days, but he forced his eyes away. “No, you keep them. My sons and I are men; we can withstand it.”
Wives and daughters were delicate and needed better food.
Her two elder brothers shook their heads, enduring the hunger.
Before Mu Wanqing could say anything, a cold voice snapped, “Our Mu family is a long‑standing scholarly household, we have dignity. We do not accept charity. Give it back at once.”
It was the Old Madam Mu, adopting the posture of a lecturing elder.
Really, she simply couldn’t bear to see Mu Wanqing prosper, she wouldn’t allow her to outshine her own daughter.
Even though Mu Wanqing had just given her daughter a medicinal pill.
Even if it were a transaction, with silver exchanged, she wouldn’t stoop to such petty standards.
Mu Wanqing bit into a white bun. Fluffy and tender, the savory meat juices melted in her mouth, delivering a sublime burst of flavor.
She was especially delighted, "Ah, it's a meat bun! Thin-skinned, packed with filling, the meat so tender and juicy. So delicious."
When Madam Qian heard that, she simply couldn't help herself and took a bite. Oh my, it really was a meat bun. Ahhh, bliss.
After days of eating scraps, a single meat bun tasted like the finest delicacy.
The mother and daughter ate greedily, their manner so tempting that everyone else watched with envious stomachs, schemes stirring in their minds.
Mu Wanqing ate particularly slowly, savoring each bite.
She saw their intentions at a glance and said, "Don't try to snatch them. Everything that happens here will be reported, and then..."
She left the sentence unfinished, leaving plenty to the imagination.
The jailer beside them had already figured it out, Lord Wu treating this little girl differently couldn't be without reason.
He didn't dare pry; offering a bit more attention couldn't hurt.
"Anyone who breaks the rules will be dragged out and beaten, dead or maimed, no exceptions."
At that, who dared make a scene? They only stared and drooled.
"Sister Wanqing, my little maid hasn't eaten much. If this goes on she won't hold up. I'm begging you, have mercy, let the child have one bite."
This was Jiang, a daughter-in-law from the sixth branch, holding a sickly little girl in her arms.
The child's throat was delicate and couldn't handle coarse food; she was so weak from hunger she didn't even have the strength to cry.
Mu Wanqing hesitated for a moment, then split a meat bun in two, one half for her, the other for the eldest branch's little niece, who was only three this year.
She had run-ins with the main branch, but she had nothing against little children.
The two little girls held their buns and ate in big bites, utterly content, happiness radiating from them.
The others looked on hungrily, wanting to snatch but not daring. Third Master Mu was very displeased. "Why give them to those girls? They're useless little things. The men of the house should get them, it's the men who carry on the family line."
He had been spoiled; once a rake in his youth, now he marries and sires children, still blunt and domineering in temperament.
Mu Wanqing didn't bother to look up and said lightly, "Because I'm a girl too. Girls helping girls is nothing wrong."
The crowd: ...makes sense. They couldn't argue with that.
Madam Yao watched her two daughters looking so pitifully at the buns that her mouth watered; a pang hit her heart. "Third Miss, respect for the elderly and kindness to the young are virtues, we're one family. You should first offer it to the eldest matriarch of the house, then give it to the frail children..."
Before she finished, Mu Wanqing cut her off, "Wrong."
"What?"
"The second branch is the family that truly loves one another." This was Mu Wanqing's definition of family: a small household, not a sprawling clan.
She pointed at the sharp-featured Old Madam Mu. "You, using your status to oppress our second branch at every turn, trapping us in the compound and forbidding us to go out, afraid we'll show our faces, this is unkind."
Then she pointed at Third Master Mu. "And you, disrespectful to your half-brothers, acting as if brothers and sisters-in-law don't even exist, this is unrighteous."
They pander to the main brother's family, scraping and grabbing benefits wherever they can.
"As for the head of the household, the eldest uncle, he only knows how to protect his own interests, an officious man obsessed with rank and gain. Aware that the second branch has been wronged yet pretending ignorance, lacking generosity, unfit as a family head and elder brother, he's a principal reason for the Mu family's decline; this is heartlessness."
She then pointed at Old Madam Mu. "As the matron in charge, you intentionally skimp on the second branch's provisions, nitpicking every little thing, petty and mean-spirited, this is incompetence."
Many enjoy wealth and honor, but none plan and scheme; those in charge are consumed by self-interest with no long-term strategy; the people beneath fight for power and profit, caring only about themselves.
Each generation worse than the last.
Those she singled out were furious, faces contorted.
But what could they do? They couldn't strike her, only glare viciously.
Glare away, who's afraid of whom?
She shook her head and sighed. "The Mu family, from top to bottom, is rotten through and through, indulgent and extravagant. No wonder they're falling apart."
After her scorching rebuke she felt better. "Officer, please take this oiled paper bag to my father."
Inside were three meat buns, just enough.
The jailer was polite; the small favor was an easy thing to do, so he helped.
Because of his stance, the rest of the Mu family didn't dare rush forward to snatch them.
Second Master Mu didn't hesitate and split the buns between his two sons. Third Master Mu on the other side went red-eyed with fury.
"Good Second Brother, give me one. My limbs feel weak, my heart's racing, I'm going to starve myself sick. We're true blood brothers; you don't want to see me fall, do you?"
He had a thick skin.
The main branch's eldest son, Mu Zifeng, swallowed. He was so hungry he felt feverish; only one thought filled his mind, he wanted a proper meal.
"Second Uncle, give me one. I'm the eldest legitimate grandson of the Mu family, more honorable than anyone."
Among the younger generation he was the oldest; he'd married and fathered a son and a daughter, the daughter was the little girl Mu Wanqing had just given half a bun.
But now he had to scramble for food like this, no trace of the dignity of the main branch's eldest grandson.
Second Master Mu hesitated; he'd been raised to yield to the main branch, taught to be deferential and to sacrifice for the family.
Mu Wanqing wouldn't indulge them. "Ah, our brothers have it so hard, growing up too afraid to compete, even eating a few extra pieces of meat would get them scolded. That's why the second branch had to set up its own little kitchen, but the ingredients and cloth they receive are the worst. They sew their own clothes; when furniture breaks they have to mend it themselves. Born Mu family scions yet living worse than commoners."
The second branch had endured untold grievances just to have that little kitchen.
"The heirs of the main branch are different, every day they feast on exotic delicacies and meat until they're sick of it; they'd toss it to the dogs rather than share with their cousins. The airs of these noble scions are something to behold, resistance is futile."
Hearing that, Mu Ziang snatched a bun, took a fierce bite, it tasted divine.
"Father! Big brother, eat quickly!"
They wouldn't give him meat, so he wouldn't give them meat buns, no shame in that.
Second Master Mu and his sons, under huge pressure, began to eat as well.
Third Master Mu was torn between shock and fury, how dare they treat him like this?
All the good things should be his; why should the second branch dare to compete with him?
Blinded by anger, he sprang up and lunged at Second Master Mu without thinking. Unprepared, Second Master Mu fell to the ground and the bun in his hand flew out.
Everyone swarmed to grab it; the scene was utter chaos, and Second Master Mu was trampled several times.
In the dim prison, the darker sides of human nature were magnified, revealing the ugliest faces.
All that talk of magnanimity, courtesy, virtue, who are they putting on a show for at a time like this?
They had only one goal: to live, even if it meant treading over other people's corpses.
Madam Qian grew frantic. Mu Wanqing furrowed her brow and shouted, "Officer, my third uncle is going to rebel."
A stick came crashing down. Third Master Mu, caught off guard, took it right on the head and howled in pain.
"That's not true, I didn't, please stop hitting me."
The stick lashed out at others; wherever it landed they dropped to their knees and begged for mercy.
Mu Ziang and his brothers hurried forward to help their father up. Second Master Mu's clothes were torn, his hair loose, his eyes full of vexation. "I only took one bite of my meat bun."
The buns had already been snatched and divided by several people, they were in their bellies.
Everything that happened here would be reported. After hearing the jailer's account, Wu Dongming couldn't help but smile.
Cunning and capable, compassionate yet clear-minded, yes, very good.
"From now on, give her six meat buns at every meal."
"Yes." The jailer looked puzzled. "Only buns?"
"That's enough." Wu Dongming's words were heavy with meaning.
At the next meal Mu Wanqing received fragrant meat buns again. One bite filled her mouth with meat, she felt close to tears from the satisfaction.
"Why does only she get them and we don't? That's not fair."
"You not satisfied? Want to lecture me about fairness?" The jailer sneered and swung his stick.
Mu Wanqing didn't hoard them. Each member of the second branch received one; any extra went to her.
She usually ate just one, made do with the meager slop to barely fill her stomach, and the remaining bun she would give away depending on the situation.
It might go to an obedient child, or a frail girl, or someone trying to curry favor with her.
It is not scarcity we fear most but inequality; not poverty but unrest.
Because of that single meat bun and the guard's quiet favor, she stirred the waters, she broke the clique of people banding together to exclude them.
Already lacking unity, they displayed their tricks over a single bun, playing palace intrigue.
Mu Wanqing didn't much care, but her parents and brothers were people of clan loyalty; they couldn't stand apart from the rest.
She never meddled, she watched with cool detachment, and when she felt generous she would give a bit to those who had behaved well.
When she wasn't in the mood, she couldn't have cared less.
Soon the verdict came down: the entire clan was exiled three thousand li, sent to Liangcheng in the northwest to serve in the army.
The frontier was bitter and cold, sand whipping through the air; it was a wild, desolate place with terrible conditions. If war broke out they would be sent into battle and could easily become cannon fodder.
Moreover, many wouldn't reach their destination, people died of illness along the road.
Several fainted on the spot; others wailed and cried their eyes out.
Mu Wanqing, however, breathed a sigh of relief. It's fine, she was a craftswoman!
Seeing her mother silently in tears, she gently comforted her, "Mother, don't be afraid. I'm here."
Madam Qian looked at her frail daughter and felt like crying even more.
Could the whole family possibly arrive in Liangcheng safe and sound? She had no confidence.
Mu Wanqing, however, was full of fighting spirit and hope.
There is endless pleasure in striving against Heaven; endless pleasure in striving against Earth; endless pleasure in striving against others.