Refusing the Marriage Alliance, I Founded a Dynasty - chapter 10

The legitimate eldest daughter of the Marquis of Boyuan is a woman who shocks the world.

She apprenticed herself to a great sage of the age, learned the arts of archery, horsemanship, sword and spear, dressed in men’s clothing, loved to fight, and was ruthless by nature.

Father cherished me for twenty years, yet he once pointed at me and said I had the heart of a tiger or wolf.

Elder Brother cherished me for twenty years, yet he too sat apart from me, unable to bear looking at me.

My younger brother, A Fan, fled a thousand miles with me, but after returning home, he shut himself in his room, unwilling to see me.

My younger siblings all respect me, but they fear me even more.

The Concubines dare not stir up any trouble.

I am insidious, I am ruthless. As the eldest sister, I have never been kind to my siblings. At five, I could push my sister into the lake. When I studied at the academy, I often caused trouble and fought.

I finished the pot of wine and recounted my journey to Mr. Feng in detail.

I am about to turn twenty. The past is unbearable to recall, weighing heavily on my heart. The person before me is a rare talent in this world-loyal, benevolent, beloved by all, pure and simple. I was not meant to be like this.

The wine rose in my veins, and I asked, “Mr. Feng, what is a good person, and what is a bad person?”

When I was ten, my hometown Yunchuan suffered drought and locust plague. I had read history books before, and saw that in years of disaster, the people could not survive. Though I felt pity, it was hard to imagine. Now, I understand the feeling of ‘Why not eat minced meat?’ all too well.

“In years of great famine, people eat each other.”

That year, Mother took me and Younger Brother to mourn Grandmother at home. The court issued nine orders, and Father had no choice but to go to Yuezhou to take up his post. Mother selected Concubines and younger siblings to accompany her, and Elder Brother, being the Eldest Son of the Legal Wife, naturally went as well.

Only Mother, Younger Brother, and I remained at home.

Then came the great disaster.

The people harvested nothing; even grass roots and tree bark were eaten clean. Their throats were so parched they bled, their rough skin cracked into ravines. Their eyes turned to the yellow earth of the fields. The children, cheeks sunken to skin and bone, bellies swollen, cried out pitifully for Father and Mother, saying, ‘It hurts.’ But there was nothing to be done-their Father and Mother were the same: thin as skeletons, dry as the yellow earth, bellies drum-like, faces twisted and terrifying.

I sneaked out and ran home with all my strength, voice trembling as I begged Mother to raise the courtyard walls, strengthen the guards, and send someone by carriage to find Father.

In famine, there are no people-only those who eat people.

But Mother rebuked me harshly, saying I had the heart of a tiger or wolf, that I was selfish and ruthless.

Yes, I am the daughter of the Marquis of Boyuan, born to luxury, unable to see the suffering of the people. Since Father has high hopes for me, how could I watch our clan and the people starve in the streets and do nothing?

I knelt under the corridor, crying and begging Mother not to give out all our grain for relief, knowing that those who knew we had food would come to seize it; not to send the servants out to comfort the people, lest they discover the mansion was empty, with only women and children; not to personally go to aid the victims, lest they learn the lady of the house was kind-hearted and Meng Mansion would fall into peril.

Mother pushed me aside and scolded me as worse than a beast.

Yes, the world is good. In the city, everyone praised the lady of the Meng Clan as virtuous and kind. As long as we eat a little less, as long as we do not waste, as long as we send out enough people, everyone will get through the hardship together, and the famine will pass.

She made me and Younger Brother serve porridge on the street, so I could see what those who did not have enough to eat were like.

I did not feel shame, only fear.

Those people were not looking at their benefactors-they were looking at food.

The Meng Family rose because of Father, and so we were wealthy.

But no matter how wealthy, how could we feed all the victims in the city?

Father sent people to find us, but Mother refused.

Mother said, “The Meng Family is Yunchuan’s Meng Family. As the lady of the Meng Family, how can I abandon the people here?”
From that moment on, I knew that Mother was destined to die.

Her kindness was a kind of cruelty; she ignored the fact that she, a woman with two children, was powerless against the world. She did not understand the principle of gradual progress. After a few words of praise from the refugees, she became elated-not only did she give them thick porridge, she gave them rice; when the grain was gone, she gave them money, pawning her own jewelry for cash to relieve the refugees and buy food.

Without Father’s army to suppress chaos, without Father’s iron-blooded methods, without Father’s wisdom and talent, she could accomplish nothing.

That night, the Meng Clan’s Mansion was surrounded, the storerooms were looted, and I hid with Younger Brother in the rockery by the pond, barely escaping being seized and devoured.

Younger Brother and I hid for two full days before we dared to come out and search for Mother.

Mother was barely alive, and she entrusted me to go to Yuezhou to find Father.

She made me swear to take good care of Younger Brother.

I closed my eyes, took Younger Brother, and left without looking back.

The spoiled little chubby boy struggled and screamed, wanting to take Mother with us. I showed no mercy and slapped him.

On the day Younger Brother and I turned one, the clouds at the horizon were brilliant, and a fortune-teller came from afar, asking for a cup of wine.

He pointed at me and said, “This girl is no ordinary person.”

He could never have imagined that before I could achieve anything great, I would nearly be taken away and cooked because of a high fever.

We dared not reveal our identities, dared not speak to anyone. There was fighting all along the way; famine had killed many, and those who survived either rose in rebellion or became bandits.

After all, I was only ten. Mother entrusted me to care for Younger Brother, but I was powerless to do so; just managing not to starve was my limit.

I was deceived, beaten, and nearly sold.

I mingled with beggars; on lucky days, I could beg enough food for a day. Younger Brother wolfed down his share beside me, while I picked up a stick and wrote passages from the Records of the Grand Historian on the ground.

Younger Brother was abducted by traffickers. I pretended to sell myself to bury my father, sold myself, flattered the trafficker, got him drunk, and smashed his limbs. When I turned back, Younger Brother stepped away, his eyes full of fear.

Walking through the mountains, never knowing when a tiger might leap out and swallow us both, I made Younger Brother recite the Book of Songs, telling him we had only a month left.

At night, keeping watch, I often murmured a passage from Mencius:

“Therefore, when Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on someone, it first exercises their mind with suffering, their sinews and bones with toil, starves their body, deprives them of possessions, and frustrates their actions, so as to stimulate their mind, toughen their nature, and increase their abilities.”

A journey that should have taken three months took Younger Brother and me two full years.

I witnessed the vastness of the land, the splendor of the world, the plight of the displaced, the ravages of famine and war.

The man who picked me up trembled as he slapped himself, weeping: “I’m sorry, child, I was too hungry.” But before the water boiled, he died beside the pot.

A little girl begging by the roadside broke her bun in half and gave me some, whispering, “I know there’s a broker by the street. Later, I’ll take you to find your Younger Brother.”

A wealthy young master in fine clothes laughed as his vicious dog attacked people: “How dare these lowly folk compete with my beloved dog for food?”

A woman clutching her child dashed her head against the yamen gate, while the fat official looked on with disgust: “What bad luck!”

I lost my train of thought, rambling incoherently, my words disjointed. Feng Qing was silent, and when I finished, his tears soaked his robe.

When the wine was gone, I rose and said, “Tomorrow, sir, you may leave! I will reopen the Dali Temple and try the backlog of cases. If you are willing, I ask for your help; if not, your wife and son await your return home. Yu has been discourteous, please forgive me.”

I turned and left. After a long while, suppressed sobs echoed from the cell.