Top Scholar

Chapter 574 I am the mistress of the house!
West Chang'an Street, the residence of the top scholar.

In the backyard garden, chrysanthemums of various colors are vying for attention under the warm sunshine.

The eldest aunt was teasing the little lion head in her arms while giving her three daughters-in-law a long lecture on childcare.

"You have to be a bit shrewish when raising kids; they're easier to raise if they're a little dirty. Nowadays, conditions are better, but they can't be too clean either, or they'll always get sick..."

At this moment, Erni came in to report: "The Lady of the Marquis of Wuding across the street has come again."

The eldest aunt immediately became nervous, handed the child back to the second son's wife, and awkwardly straightened her clothes.

During the Hongwu reign, when Yunnan was conquered, Marquis Wuding was the commander-in-chief of the western route army, and the ancestors of the Su family were ordinary soldiers under his command.

Therefore, when she saw the mistress of the Marquis's mansion, the eldest aunt subconsciously felt inferior to the other women.

"Mom, why are you so nervous?" Zhu Yin smiled and comforted her mother-in-law. "It's not like this is her first time visiting our family. Besides, this is how many generations of her family have she been here. Do you think she can use old relationships to pressure you?"

Huang E, standing to the side, softly chimed in, "Auntie, if you feel uncomfortable, I'll accompany you to meet the guests."

"Okay, okay!" Auntie nodded repeatedly, pulling Huang E along as she walked out, saying to herself with a self-deprecating smile, "My dear daughter, I'm only a bully at home. I'm really afraid of meeting these pampered ladies; I don't know where to put my hands and feet."

“Auntie, you are now a dignified fourth-rank Lady Gong!” Huang E gently patted her hand, encouraging her aunt, “Besides, their titles were passed down from their ancestors, while our titles were earned by our own men. Why should we be inferior to them in the slightest?”

"That's true." Auntie was awakened by these words, and her back straightened up a bit unconsciously.

"Besides, even if you're a bully at home, this is still our own home," Huang E said, covering her mouth with a laugh. "In Grandpa's words, it's 'Don't lose face!'"

"Oh right! If Dad saw me looking like this, he'd have to walk around Beijing three times to vent his anger." Upon hearing this, Auntie's earlier panic vanished, and she strode confidently into the main hall.

~~
Above the main hall, plaques bearing the inscriptions "Six Top Scholars," "Third Scholar," and "Martial Arts Champion" hang high!

Looking at the three plaques that brought glory to their ancestors, the eldest aunt's last bit of restraint disappeared, replaced by a sense of pride—with the achievement of "three brothers achieving top honors in the imperial examinations and two scholars achieving top honors in both civil and military fields," she was second to none in the capital!
Lady Liu, the wife of the Marquis of Wuding, was already seated in the guest seat. Upon seeing her enter, she smiled and rose to her feet: "Sister-in-law, I invited you to my residence for a small gathering the other day, but you always declined. So I've come to bother you again!"

"Oh dear, what are you saying, Madam!" The eldest aunt quickly stepped forward to greet her, her face beaming with smiles, and said, "I wouldn't dare to disturb you."

Liu held her hand and smiled warmly: "Sister-in-law, what are you saying! You've raised three outstanding individuals; who in the capital doesn't admire you? Our two families should visit each other more often."

When we first moved here, Liu paid a polite visit once. Although she was very courteous to my aunt at the time, she was not nearly as enthusiastic as she is now, otherwise my aunt wouldn't have been so hesitant to see her.

"Alright, alright!" Upon seeing this, the eldest aunt realized that she had been too naive and thought the Marquis's wife hadn't discriminated against her at all.

She readily agreed, feeling ashamed, and patted her chest, saying, "If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask. I may not have many other skills, but I'm quick and efficient and don't mind trouble."

When Liu heard that the woman had made it clear to her, her smile widened. She hadn't expected this village woman to be so perceptive; perhaps her nephew had already spoken to her and was just waiting for her to come over.

Since that's the case, she stopped pretending and leaned closer, smiling as she said, "To be honest, I did come here today because I have a favor to ask of you, sister-in-law."

"Tell me! I'll do whatever I can without hesitation!" Auntie agreed without a second thought.

"Of course I can do it." Liu lowered her voice and said, "Could you please ask the top scholar if he could help our family get back the money we entrusted to Linggu Temple?"

"Huh?" Auntie was stunned. So it wasn't asking her to help with chores?
Thinking that she was deliberately provoking her, Liu gritted her teeth and said, "Don't worry, we'll give your family 10% of the money we get back as a reward for their hard work!"

Upon hearing this, the smile on the eldest aunt's face vanished completely, and her tone turned cold: "I thought it was some kind of wedding preparation or something, but it turns out it's this kind of thing!"

"Yes, yes," Liu said with a smile. "When my son gets married, I will definitely ask you to set up the bed for him. But for now, I would also like to ask you to help me with this."

To everyone's surprise, not only did her aunt refuse, but she also started scolding Liu.

"Didn't your husband teach you? Women shouldn't meddle in men's affairs outside the home! Men are responsible for external affairs, and women are responsible for internal affairs. This is a rule passed down from our ancestors. If you break this rule, there will be trouble in the family!"

“Oh, sister-in-law,” Liu said with a smile, “what you’re saying are just old customs of the peasants! Now that you’re a noblewoman, we women with official positions should do things that men can’t do in front of others and say things that they can’t say in front of others.”

“This title was earned by a man; we should share their burdens, not bring them trouble!” The eldest aunt stood ramrod straight, her voice regaining its usual booming quality.
"I don't care what others say, as long as I am still the matriarch of the Su family, this rule cannot be broken! No one can change it!"

After saying that, she pointed to the three plaques hanging high behind her and said in a firm voice, "These three plaques were earned in this way!" Her words left Liu speechless. She sat there for a while, feeling dizzy, before finding an excuse to say goodbye and go home.

"Come visit again, sister-in-law!" The eldest aunt saw Liu to the door, and seeing her return home, sighed dejectedly.

"Sigh, I have such a bad temper. I don't care about anything when I get angry. I'm afraid I'll offend someone."

Huang E clapped her hands and praised, "Auntie, what you just said was absolutely right! So impressive and strong! The Su family's traditions are truly admirable!"

Hearing Huang E say this, the eldest aunt became happy. "You didn't lose face?"

"Not at all, in fact, it's a huge boost to our reputation!" Huang E gave a thumbs up.

"Hahaha!" The eldest aunt's tail immediately swished in the air. "Don't you know who I am? I'm the mistress of the house!"

~~
Grand Secretary Yang was right; this "purification of the six senses" operation went incredibly smoothly.

Within three days, all the small and medium-sized temples in the capital city had reopened their gates.

The common saying "kill the chicken to warn the monkey" may not be effective, but the method of "kill the monkey to warn the chicken" is absolutely effective. Ever since the fifty-six major temples in the capital were destroyed, the monks of many small and medium-sized temples have been silent.

Not only did they obediently accept the government orders to survey the land and verify the number of monks, but they also dared not shirk their responsibility to pay back taxes owed over the years—this was already a lenient treatment from the imperial court.

Otherwise, even if the government doesn't directly seal up and confiscate the temples like it did with the major temples, they would still be unable to withstand the strict punishment imposed according to the regulations of the "Edict on Rectifying the Sangha".

In addition, 244 medium-sized temples paid between 10,000 and 30,000 taels of silver as atonement, depending on the severity of their offenses. No abbot dared to delay paying this sum, because if they didn't pay within a month, they would be wiped out, just like the larger temples…

What distressed the abbots the most was that many of them had transferred their wealth to the large temple, which they had originally thought would be safe from harm.

Now all of that was for naught... The abbots had no choice but to sell their belongings to pay the fines. Some temples scraped the gold leaf off the Buddha statues, while others removed the gold hooks and jade rings from the abbot's robes and sold them, barely managing to raise the money.

While punishing the wicked monks, the imperial court also commended temples that abided by the law and observed the rules and regulations.

They then went to great lengths to select the fifty most eminent monks in the capital, and appointed these fifty virtuous and disciplined monks as abbots of the temples that had been raided, in charge of the subsequent rectification matters.

This combination of kindness and severity effectively dispelled the rumors circulating that "Eunuch Liu intended to destroy Buddhism"...

What is most surprising is that this reform of the monastic community has been unanimously supported by the people of the capital.

This was all thanks to Su Lu's three-pronged approach to winning people's hearts—

The first measure is to waive the high interest on all Buddhist debts owed by ordinary people, requiring only the principal to be repaid on time!

In this year of great disaster, countless people in the capital incurred Buddhist debts. Some might ask, knowing full well that borrowing at exorbitant interest rates would ultimately lead to ruin and death, why did they still borrow?
Those who don't borrow money to buy grain will face ruin and death tomorrow...

This one point alone is enough to make all the people who have borrowed money from the Buddha fervently support it.

The second measure is that any shops and land that have been forcibly seized by temples can be reclaimed by the people as long as they can produce proof.

The third tactic was to publicly announce all the details of the corruption cases within the monastic community uncovered during the raids!
This was the most ruthless tactic: the Imperial Guards turned the monks' confessions into posters and posted them on the outer walls of the temples, leaving the common people to judge.

Those posters were filled with tales of the monks' debauched and dissolute lives. These bald monks indulged in all manner of vices, including drinking, gambling, and whoring; some even took wives and concubines and had children, completely disregarding the monastic rules!

Even more appalling are the heinous acts that no normal person would even dare to imagine—

Some large temples have been found to be administering drugs to elderly and infirm monks, immobilizing them in a meditation posture by piercing their anus with an iron rod, then burning them on a pile of firewood, euphemistically calling it "passing away in meditation." This is a fabricated charade of a high-ranking monk ascending to heaven, used to deceive and gain the worship of devout men and women!

There are even those who seal living people in mud to create 'living Buddhas,' and those who use virgin skin and children's skulls to perform evil rituals... It's simply unbelievable!

Once news of these atrocities spread, the people were outraged. They were already deeply dissatisfied with the monks' decadent lifestyles, so how could they possibly believe this was persecution by the court? They were more than happy to applaud!

In this atmosphere, if any believer dares to speak up in defense of the monks, they will immediately be scorned by the crowd and asked if they were born to a monk. Who would dare to say anything more then?
In this way, the operation to rectify the monastic community became a widely praised act of acting on behalf of Heaven. This greatly reduced the psychological and social pressure on the investigators, ensuring the smooth progress of the entire operation…

(End of this chapter)