Chapter 301

Wang Cong pointed toward the village center: "The hard part isn't your third disciple's parents—it's their clan chief. If the chief doesn't agree, your third disciple's parents will keep going back and forth."

"And…"

Wang Cong turned to look at Tao Yanbai, who seemed well-behaved, and said: "The key point is, your third disciple must pass the ordination exam. If he fails, this secular identity of his does him more harm than good."

Pan Yun gasped: "Then why didn't you stop me? I've offended everyone now—can I still go back and make amends with his parents?"

Wang Cong smiled: "It's not too late. Every two years they cause a scene like this, then make up again. As long as your third disciple has real skill, they won't truly cut ties with him."

Pan Yun relaxed, patted her chest, and asked Tao Yanbai: "Do you think you won't pass the ordination exam?"

Tao Yanbai whispered: "I plan to try next year. If I get the entrance ticket, I'll pay my father to go to the magistrate's office."

Pan Yun glanced at Tao Fu and thought it unlikely Tao Fu would endure the beating to let Tao Yanbai qualify for the next round.

Besides, even after the beating, Tao Yanbai still couldn't take the exam—Tao Fu would have to serve a year of forced labor elsewhere.

Pan Yun patted his shoulder: "You two have a filial bond. Your father might risk himself for your dream—but your relationship is this fragile. Wait until you're of age, then try passing the exam yourself. If you fail, you'll get eighty strokes. I'll give you a few yellow talismans to carry, so your back and waist won't hurt so much."

Unlike modern people's assumptions, in this world, many parents are enlightened and don't forbid their children from becoming monks or Taoists.

Oh, a large part of the reason is probably that ordination lets one evade corvée labor and taxes.

So Old Zhu enacted many policies to block commoners from becoming monks or Taoists for profit.

In truth, this also somewhat prevented parents from abandoning their children.

In Great Ming, unless they drowned them, parents habitually left unwanted children at temple or Taoist shrine gates.

The Three Pure Ones Shrine was built atop a mountain, too high and with too treacherous a path, so no one dumped children there—but the lower mountain shrines like Yushan Temple, Lingji Temple, Fuxing Shrine, and Fuyuan Temple received plenty of abandoned children.

Heartless people were many, but more parents lacked the heart to abandon their children. So during Song and Yuan times, many parents raised their children until a few years old, then sent them to temples or shrines to ensure they'd be taken in and survive.

Old Zhu's policies targeted precisely these parents.

His logic was simple.

Children lack sufficient understanding to decide their own lives, so if parents force minors into ordination, they commit a crime.

But laws are hard to enforce at the grassroots level. Most of the time, sending children to ordination was ignored unless they applied for ordination certificates.

Great Ming's household registration system was strict—everyone needed a verifiable origin.

Even Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He, after being found, had to be immediately reported to the magistrate's office and given household records, or they couldn't move an inch.

Sometimes, enforcement was so strict they couldn't even enter Yushan County.

So when monks and Taoists applied for ordination certificates, Old Zhu's law could be enforced: if underage, first beat the parents, then punish them with six months to a year of forced labor elsewhere—only after completion could the child take the exam.

Adults could decide for themselves.

So after passing the preliminary exam, if one failed the ordination exam, they received eighty strokes and were sent back to civilian life.

Of course, after three years, the stubborn could try again—Old Zhu placed no limit on attempts.

So in Great Ming, becoming an ordained monk or Taoist required not only sufficient skill but also a strong body.

Tao Yanbai felt comforted. He glanced at Wang Cong and said: "Then I'll wait until I'm of age and take the ordination exam like Senior Brother."

Pan Yun patted his shoulder: "A true man's ambition lies beyond the four corners—don't fixate on small gains or losses."

Tao Yanbai's heart surged; his long-uncertain resolve hardened at once. He nodded firmly.

Pan Yun had advised Tao Yanbai this way, yet still left him an escape route—she stepped forward to block the increasingly furious couple, who were about to come to blows.

This was the painstaking care Wang Feiyin and the others had shown Tao Yanbai. She refused to let it go to waste.

So she smiled sweetly at Tao Fu and Tao Mu: "Don't worry—it's just over a hundred taels. Now that Yanbai is nearly trained, he can go out and practice medicine to earn money. He'll repay it in five or six years at most. You two really don't need to quarrel over this."

Were they quarreling over this?

Clearly they were quarreling over…

Both fell silent. They'd forgotten why they'd started fighting.

But Tao Fu immediately remembered: "Five or six years? By then, how old will Yanbai be? I was planning to have him return these two years to get familiar with things, then marry in another couple of years."

He said: "When he marries, I'll have fulfilled my duty to his mother."

Pan Yun: "Even if it's six years from now, he's still young. No rush."

"He's already over twenty-one—what's young about that? By then, kids his age in the village are already working the fields," Tao Fu hesitated, then sidestepped: "Little Taoist, you see how poor my family is, and his birth mother died early. This money—"

Pan Yun's face darkened: "This money must be repaid. Even brothers settle accounts clearly. He's only a registered disciple of my second senior brother. I pity him, but I pity my money more."

Tao Fu choked, muttering under his breath: "Saying you care for my son, yet now it's clear you care more for money than for people…"

Pan Yun heard him. Clearly he'd said it on purpose—his voice was low, but too close.

So Pan Yun didn't pretend not to hear. She nodded directly: "My disciple's indeed unfortunate—his birth mother died, his stepmother treats him poorly, his own father treats him worse. Alas, even I, his auntie, am cruel—I care more for money than for people."

Pan Yun asked Tao Fu directly: "Good man, do you love people more than money? Why not pay part of this debt for him?"

Tao Fu hadn't expected Pan Yun to break convention—not only did she expose his meaning, she directly demanded money.

Always image-conscious and fond of hiding behind others, Tao Fu blurted: "Where would I get money?"

Only after speaking did he realize his mistake. He quickly glanced at Wang Cong, then wore a pained expression: "Little Taoist, you saw it yourself—my house is bare. How could I pay off this disobedient son's debt…"

The little girl, who'd been standing by the door holding a sickle, suddenly spoke: "We have money, Father. Help Big Brother pay some of it."

Tao Mu snatched up a wooden stick and swung at her: "What business is this of yours when adults are talking?"

Tao Yanbai rushed forward, grabbed the stick, and stopped her from striking. Amid the commotion, the door to the left of the main room opened. A seven- or eight-year-old boy rubbed his eyes and stepped out, shouting: "What are you all yelling about? I can't sleep!"

Seeing Tao Mu holding a stick, the big boy grumbled, "Mom, why are you hitting Sister again?"

Seeing Tao Mu with the stick, the boy frowned: "Mother, why are you hitting Sister again?"

"Mind your own business! This child sides with outsiders. If I don't beat her to death today, I'm not your mother!"

Tao Yanbai blocked her. Tao Hua cleverly hid behind him, occasionally peeking out: "Mother, Big Brother is family too. The family's savings should include his share."

"When did this house become yours to manage? When did you get to decide? I'll teach you to chatter—when you marry, go manage your husband's house!"

The boy didn't understand the argument, but seeing the stick about to strike his sister, he rushed forward, hugged his mother's arm, and shouted: "Sister, stop yelling—run away!"

Tao Mu flew into a rage, shoved the boy aside, and kicked him in the side.

The boy raised his head, rubbed his throbbing nose, looked at his scraped palm, and burst out crying with a wail.

Pan Yun turned her head to look at Tao Fu, who had remained unmoved all along.

Seeing Pan Yun looking at him, Tao Fu, perhaps finding it annoying, roared at the mother and her four children: "Enough!"

He glared at Tao Mu. "Can't you see there are people here? Letting them watch us make a fool of ourselves…"

Only then did Tao Mu notice that the neighbors had, at some unknown point, gathered outside their courtyard wall, craning their necks to peek inside.

Because she had arranged her stepson's room in the cattle shed, the village gossips had already been talking plenty; lately Tao Mu hardly went out at all, and being seen at the door now still made her cheeks burn.

Tao Fu cared about face even more than she did. He paid no heed to Pan Yun or Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He, but he could not afford to ignore Wang Cong.

Wang Cong looked every inch a young man of promise, and his father was the Abbey Head!

So even though from the moment they entered it had been Pan Yun taking the lead, Tao Fu still instinctively treated Wang Cong as the one in charge.

He gave Wang Cong an embarrassed smile and invited them inside the main hall to talk it over.

Wang Cong glanced at Pan Yun, then went into the main hall with Tao Fu after all.

Tao Mu, afraid Tao Fu would really pull out money to pay off Tao Yan Bai's debt, hastily dropped her wooden stick and chased after them, wanting to sit in on the discussion too.

Pan Yun did not go in. Her aim was not really to get money—Wang Cong must know what she wanted, and must know what was best for Tao Yan Bai. He had the means, the ability, and a heart that was not soft; she had no need at all to follow them in.

She walked toward the villagers outside the wall and asked them about Tao Yan Bai's life in the village.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He immediately followed.

Tao Yanbai stepped forward, picked up his younger brother, who was still wailing with no one paying him any mind, brushed the dust off his knee, then fished a candy from somewhere and stuffed it into his mouth.

The boy stopped crying at once, hiccuped once around the candy, wiped his tears dry, and said, "Big Brother, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Tao Yanbai led him to the well, drew water to wash his hands and face, and after drying them, sprinkled a little medicinal powder on his palm. "Stop touching things at random, let the powder stay on a bit longer—go play now."

The boy answered happily and ran off to play with the neighbors outside the wall.

Tao Hua picked up her carrying pole and was about to shoulder the basket and go cut pigweed, when Tao Yanbai stopped her and led her back into the cattle shed.

Closing the door, Tao Yanbai took from his sleeve a handful of copper coins and two five-tael silver notes and handed them to her. "Keep this money, find a place to hide it, and spend it whenever you need it later."

Tao Hua was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly waved her hands. "No, Big Brother, at home I never lack food or clothes—what would I do with money? Take it and pay your martial uncle back."

(End of this chapter)