Chapter 20: The Family Register
What was this? In the face of this family register, Feng Yuzhen’s reasoned arguments, along with all her desperate struggles in her past life, were like a heavy punch to the face.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, she was like the most ridiculous clown, with nowhere to hide her shame.
Seeing the ugly, waxen expression on Feng Yuzhen’s face, Liu Guilan immediately waved her arms to smooth things over, with nothing more than conciliatory words like, “It must have been forgotten in the rush of the wedding. The family register is such an old thing, no one looks at it carefully.”
It was nearing dusk, and the main residence was not close to the west of the village. They couldn’t make it back overnight. Plus, this matter had not yet been settled, and there would probably be another commotion tomorrow.
To prevent any further trouble from meeting at night, Liu Guilan separated the two powder kegs. Fourth Uncle Cui and his group would naturally stay at the main residence, so Feng Yuzhen and Cui Jingkong had to make do for one night in the nearby ancestral hall.
Walking out of the main residence, half of the sun had already been swallowed by the distant green mountains. The defiant afterglow of the sunset painted half the sky red.
The still-dazzling sunlight made Feng Yuzhen’s eyes sore. Her legs felt as if they were filled with lead. Cui Jingkong, who was walking in front of her, turned back and saw his widowed sister-in-law standing in place with her head bowed.
So he walked back, squatted down with his back to her, and after a moment, the soft female body quietly leaned against him. The widowed sister-in-law’s slender arms wrapped around the young man’s neck, her calves dangling in her loose trousers. She silently buried her head in the young man’s shoulder, not saying a word.
Cui Jingkong’s hands supported her legs. He stood up and walked very steadily, slowing his pace, as if he were carrying a porcelain vase that needed to be handled with care. The fabric on his shoulder was soon soaked.
Supporting the person on his back with one hand, he pushed open the gate of the ancestral hall and walked into the side room where Feng Yuzhen had slept for a few nights a few months ago. But the person on his back still wouldn’t let go.
Cui Jingkong’s voice was gentle, almost coaxing her. “I’ll turn around first.”
Only then did Feng Yuzhen let go and sit on the bed, her eyelids red and swollen. Cui Jingkong sat down beside her, put his arms around her waist and calves, and pulled her into his embrace.
Feng Yuzhen clutched the front of his clothes, like a drowning person clinging to a piece of driftwood. She clung tightly to Cui Jingkong. It wasn’t that she had any other feelings for her brother-in-law. If it had been Liu Guilan with her, she probably would have done the same.
She just hid in Cui Jingkong’s arms and sobbed, a faint whimper escaping her throat, her face unseen.
His chest was warm, it was unclear if it was from her tears or something else. Cui Jingkong just had to imagine it, and he couldn’t help but be moved by her pained expression.
Summer was approaching, and their clothes were getting thinner, yet they were so close, so intimate. He found it strange. He clearly felt no pain, but he just wanted to touch her. This thought had already detached from its original purpose and was gradually becoming indistinguishable from the truth.
Just a glimpse of her crying for her long-dead brother, her red eyes like a cat’s meow, would make the pain subside, but his heart would itch unbearably. The desire could not be suppressed, and it was in a stalemate with his reason, neither able to win.
No, I still want to touch her.
After a long time, his hand slowly moved to his widowed sister-in-law’s back. He patted her very awkwardly a few times. He could roughly feel the ribs on her back. They trembled pitifully under his palm. Cui Jingkong rested his chin on her head and unconsciously held her tighter.
The clumsy wooden hairpin was still in her hair bun, and it was uncomfortable. Cui Jingkong pulled it out and tossed it onto the bed without a second glance.
After she had been somewhat comforted, there was a knock on the door. Cui Jingkong pulled away and went out. Liu Guilan was standing outside, looking very awkward. She asked anxiously, “How is Zhen’niang? No, no, I’ll go in and talk to her for a bit!”
Cui Jingkong stood to the side, silently blocking her way. “Sister-in-law is tired and has fallen asleep. If you have anything to say, I can relay it.”
The two of them walked a little further away, not wanting to wake Feng Yuzhen.
Liu Guilan wrung her hands, finding it difficult to speak. “I really couldn’t bring myself to explain it clearly just now. How could Ze’ge’er have forgotten to write Zhen’niang’s name? The young couple were as sweet as honey. It’s not his fault.”
It turned out that after Third Master Cui’s death, he had left behind two children. The main residence had originally not wanted to take either of them, but out of a sense of duty, they had agreed to take in the older one, Cui Ze.
Cui Jingkong, on the other hand, had been rejected on the grounds of being “unlucky” and “having caused his father’s death.” Fortunately, a monk from Lingfu Temple had come down the mountain and taken him back to the temple. Otherwise, Cui Jingkong would have starved to death at home long ago.
But Cui Ze’s life under someone else’s roof was not easy either. The main residence had forcibly taken over the house and land that should have belonged to him. At sixteen, he had started to make a living on his own, regularly handing over the little money he earned. Later, he had wanted to voluntarily remove his name from the family register and cut all ties with the main residence.
However, the current dynasty strictly controlled household registration. To establish a new household, one had to go to the government office with an identity tablet to register, and also pay an extra sum of money. Otherwise, if discovered, one would be punished according to the law. All the identity tablets of the people in the main residence were held by First Uncle Cui. When he went to ask for it, the other refused, unless he could come up with five liang of silver to compensate.
To get a replacement from the government office, the procedures were complicated. Without connections in the government, it would be difficult to get things done in a few years. Secondly, he needed the identity tablets of at least two relatives to prove his identity, which he couldn’t gather.
Five liang was an astronomical sum. Cui Ze had no choice but to ask Liu Guilan for help. Liu Guilan understood his suffering over the years, but at that time, the older generation of the clan had just passed away, and she had just taken over the household. She was new to many things and couldn’t find where her husband had hidden Cui Ze’s tablet, no matter how hard she looked. She had even swept under the bed, but First Uncle Cui had refused to say a word.
Helpless, Cui Ze had slowly saved money, and he couldn’t afford to fall out with them just yet. Since he was going to leave the Cui family sooner or later, he naturally wouldn’t go to the extra trouble of adding Feng Yuzhen’s name.
Judging from today’s situation, it was clear that Cui Ze had hidden this from her—after all, he was a poor hunter of a certain age, and with his debts, it would have been even more impossible for him to find a wife. Perhaps he had thought of telling Feng Yuzhen at a more appropriate time, but who was to blame? In less than half a year, he had died young.
“When he married Zhen’niang, he had already paid back more than half by scrimping and saving. It was almost… I deliberately didn’t say it just now. Ze’ge’er is buried in the ancestral graves. I was afraid that if someone like your fourth uncle found out he wanted to remove his name, he might dig up his grave tonight.”
“The Cui family is not united…” Liu Guilan let out a long sigh, her face suddenly aging a lot. “I have wronged the young couple. I have no face to see them. Kong’ge’er, please go and tell her for me. At least let her feel a little better.”
She was about to leave when she happened to see that Cui Jingkong’s expression was somewhat sinister. When she looked again, the young man had returned to his usual calm.
When Cui Jingkong went back in, Feng Yuzhen was lying on her side on the bed, staring at one spot without blinking, her eyes wooden. In one hand, she was clutching the wooden hairpin he had thrown away, as if she would stay like that with her eyes open until dawn.
He pulled the quilt from behind him and covered her, but it only made her look smaller. He heard Feng Yuzhen murmur, “Why didn’t he write my name?”
Did he really forget, or did he also think it was unnecessary? Or did he think she wasn’t presentable enough?
She tried hard not to be suspicious of her late husband, but her heart couldn’t help but break. It was like a piece of dirt under the white snow, or like a bowl she was holding suddenly cracking, the warm water she was holding to warm her hands suddenly becoming scalding hot, so hot that her whole body cracked.
Even though she had been tormented day after day, her time with Cui Ze had supported her. When things were bitter, she could still taste a hint of sweetness, so she could persevere. But now, she wasn’t even sure if her only sugar was mixed with poison. Just the thought of it made her world go dark, as if there was no place for her in this world.
She couldn’t ask a dead person. No one could answer her.
Cui Jingkong dragged a chair and sat in front of her. He took the wooden hairpin from her hand and said, “Perhaps… he felt the time was not right.”
“That’s right. It’s my fault my belly is not up to the task,” she seemed to have finally found a glimmer of hope, and her speech quickened. “If I had been able to get pregnant, Ze’ge’er would have definitely added my name.”
She deliberately didn’t think too much about it. The more she tried, the more flaws she found. She couldn’t help but recall the hall filled with red silk, with First Uncle Cui and First Aunt sitting on either side. Cui Ze had led her in, and the nightmarish family register was spread out on the table, the yellowed paper lying there squarely.
This time, she couldn’t even deceive herself. There was no such big rule in the village that one had to be pregnant to be on the family register. It wasn’t some noble family. The countryside was simple. If you couldn’t get pregnant, you couldn’t get pregnant. It wasn’t uncommon to adopt a child from a relative.
Her husband just didn’t want to write her name. There was no reason why he couldn’t.
Feng Yuzhen suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold. She was now a complete outsider lying in the Cui family’s ancestral hall. Wasn’t it ridiculous?
Her expression was dejected, and her hand hung limply at the side of the bed. Another hand suddenly reached out and gently touched the pad of her finger. Feng Yuzhen swayed slightly but didn’t move it away.
Cui Jingkong first touched it lightly, then slowly opened his five fingers and intertwined them with hers. Feng Yuzhen’s eyelashes trembled, and finally, she allowed him to close his hand firmly, their fingers interlaced.
Perhaps it’s because she’s too cold tonight, Feng Yuzhen thought, so she’s a little greedy for the warmth he’s offering.
She heard the young man say, “Sleep.”
The next sentence was like a flower blown from a branch in the spring wind, or more like something she had heard in a half-dream. “I will always be behind you.”
***
Early the next morning, the main residence was in an uproar. Not only was First Uncle Cui, who hadn’t returned yesterday, present, but even the bald village chief from half a village away had been invited and was sitting in the main seat with his eyelids drooping. The neighbors had heard there was a lawsuit to be seen and were craning their necks to watch the excitement. The entrance to the main residence was surrounded by people.
First Uncle Cui was wearing a deerskin hat. His features were regular, but his cheeks were sunken, as if two pieces had been carved off with a knife. The dark circles under his eyes gave him a look of depleted vitality.
Feng Yuzhen had not slept well, getting up several times during the night, almost falling out of bed. It was Cui Jingkong who had been by her side to support her.
Seeing this culprit who had had designs on her in her previous life and had ultimately caused her to be drowned, and just as First Uncle Cui happened to look at her, Feng Yuzhen immediately felt a strong wave of nausea, and even felt a little sick.
Fourth Uncle Cui felt that the matter was settled and had deliberately called everyone over. He was quite pleased with himself. “You’re an outsider. What face do you have to stay here?”
Feng Yuzhen no longer had the same momentum as yesterday. Although her voice was small, she still retorted logically, “Even if I’m not on the Cui family register, this house was built with the money and effort of both Cui Ze and me after he married me. I have a share in it, and I have a say.”
First Uncle Cui smiled faintly and said magnanimously, “That’s true. But after all, Cui Ze was raised in the main residence. It must have been him, a man, who did most of the work building the house. His share can be divided among us, and we can take turns living there in the future. Wouldn’t that be fine?”
In this large room, most of the people were on her opposite side. Many pairs of eyes were staring at her, whispering something.
Even First Aunt, due to the pressure of the crowd, had to remain neutral. After all, she was in charge of the main residence and couldn’t be too biased towards her in this matter. An indescribable sorrow suddenly welled up in Feng Yuzhen’s heart, and she couldn’t help but doubt the meaning of her persistence.
Cui Jingkong stood beside her and saw her pale face, her hand unnaturally clutching her chest. He suddenly said, “That’s not right.”
Everyone looked over with fresh interest. Oh, it was the Scholar Cui who had made a name for himself half a year ago. Fourth Uncle Cui muttered, “Cui Er, what are you meddling in?”
“My brother is dead. It should naturally be passed down to me. When the father dies, the son inherits. When the elder brother dies, the younger brother inherits. This is how it should be.”
Feng Yuzhen also looked at him. Cui Jingkong’s gaze swept over her upturned face. “I have already decided. If my uncles do not agree, then we can go to court.”
For a moment, there was an uproar both inside and outside. The faces of the Cui clan members changed drastically. The village chief in the main seat also opened his eyes. Cui Er was going all out, threatening to take it to the authorities!
Who wasn’t afraid of those black-faced constables and the gavel that was like a guillotine? In the early years, someone in the village had been caught stealing chickens and had his trousers pulled down and his buttocks beaten to a pulp. He had been carried back half-dead. It was easy to get in, but you couldn’t get out without losing a layer of skin!
“The county magistrate is just and impartial,” Cui Jingkong’s expression was very calm. He let out a light laugh at the end. “He will surely satisfy my first and fourth uncles.”