7 Chinese wives and concubines

Prologue. Seven Chinese Wives and Concubines
It doesn't happen that way, but that's how I want it.

So, one Chinese official had seven wives. I’m generally silent about concubines; there were many, many of them. And it so happened that our official left. Well, sometimes there are business trips, trade deals. As you understand, there were no planes, trains, or cars at that time, so he left by traditional transport, on a horse. The official was not only poor, he had something in his pocket, and a lot, but he was also not very rich by the standards of that time, so he had to get to the big city on horseback, and the roads from the estate to the big city were soggy after rain. The only transport he could use was a horse. Our official left, and without a word, without a word. The six wives, not counting the concubines, were bored and sad. Sometimes they even fought. Yes, yes, there were fights, to be honest. Each wife lived in a separate mansion, with her own servants, trusted people, nannies, aunts, and eunuchs. That's how they fought, tower to tower. When the official left, everything was in order, discipline, peace and goodness. However, the fact is that during the official’s absence, his mother died, who held the entire female kingdom of the estate in her fist. Yes, yes, the estate was orphaned. The eldest wife, who seemed to be entitled to it by rank, tried to take power, but it didn’t work out for her. The other five wives did not want to obey the sixth wife. The fact is that the eldest wife was, as it were, the eldest, but at the same time she was not the eldest. She was now, as it were, the first, but in fact the second wife. How is this, you ask? And I'll explain! There were actually not six wives, but seven, as I already said. But the official took the very first, main wife with him on the trip. The first wife was a kind, worthy, and, most importantly, beautiful woman, by the standards of that time. If she had remained on the estate, then naturally there would have been no fight. Because everyone obeyed her unquestioningly, well, according to her status, this was due to her. She had an excellent relationship with her mother-in-law, the mother of an official. She wasn’t exactly friends with the other six wives, but she was on even terms. She understood that polygamy was an evil that she could not eradicate from this single estate, such were the traditions of that time. The higher the rank of an official, the more wives and concubines he was required to have. Whether the official wanted it or not was of no interest to anyone. So, let’s summarize our story, let’s summarize the introduction, so to speak. The official's estate was left without a rudder and without sails, because the official took his most beautiful wife with him on a business trip. He left for a long time, leaving behind his estate and the noisy kingdom of women. The official knew that he was leaving for a long time, but he was confident and calm, since the official’s mother remained on the estate - she was a woman with an iron will and not yet at all old. The mother herself died or one of the wives or concubines contributed to this, history is silent. So, what do we have, and we have six sexually unsatisfied wives and a certain number of concubines. I won’t indicate the number yet; there will be a separate discussion about concubines.
So, back to the fight.
I’ll tell you a secret, the fight happened over a newborn child. Until the birth of this child, the official did not have an heir. The eldest wife had a child with the official, but, unfortunately, it was a girl, a daughter. The daughter was treated like a princess, but the fact remains that the official needed an heir. And then the child was born. The official, of course, knew that his youngest, seventh wife was pregnant, but as you understand, the gender of the unborn child was unknown at the time of his departure. Ultrasound, as you understand, was not available then. The child was born six months after the official left. The child turned out to be, as I already said, a boy - the heir. So what, you say, was born and born. What is the problem?
And the problem was very serious. The other five wives did not have children from the official. Do you understand what I'm talking about? No, don't understand yet?
Okay, I'll explain. The heir's mother automatically received high status. Of course, she would not have become the first wife, but before the second wife, the official, upon his return, would definitely have raised her.
But there was a catch: according to the laws of that time, the first wife could declare the child her own, and the child’s mother had no right to object, but this only if the real, first wife was on the estate at that moment. By the way, the seventh wife, a very young woman, had a close family relationship with the first wife, well, the one who left with the official. If the first wife had declared the heir her son, the seventh wife would not have made a tragedy out of it. It was a completely different matter now. The second wife tried to lay her raking hands on the main treasure of the estate now - the heir, and the mother of the child could not let this go. A fight broke out, the servants, nannies and other people did not allow the second wife’s people into the seventh wife’s mansion. Everyone living on the estate was divided into two camps. The dispute is whether the second wife, who is now a householder, has or does not haveAlthough she remained first, the right to name the heir as her son now occupied the minds of everyone who lived on the estate. People from the mansion of the fourth wife and three concubines decided to fight for the second wife, and the rest of the people of the estate decided to fight for the nursing mother. The young mother’s henchmen began to build barricades and arm themselves with whatever they could, including kitchen knives and hatchets for cutting meat, but the fight was stopped for a while, there was a knock on the gate.
Development of action. Chinese wives and concubines
So we continue our story about the wives and concubines of one Chinese official.
Events of the previous episode.
An official, the owner of an estate, goes on a business trip, taking his first wife with him. The first wife is the mistress of the estate, smart, beautiful and a real lady. The business trip was expected to be long and therefore, in order not to get bored, the official took his most beloved wife with him. There were still six wives and fourteen concubines left in the estate. One of the wives was pregnant at the time of the official’s departure. The official understood perfectly well that this entire female kingdom, left without a firm male hand, could cause a lot of trouble, but the official left with a light heart, because his mother, a practical woman with a firm hand, an iron heart and high moral principles, remained on the farm. But disaster struck; the official had been away for almost six months when his mother’s iron heart failed. The family doctor was at a loss; the official’s mother died suddenly. Before that, she had never been sick or complained about anything. Shaking his head, the doctor came to the conclusion that household chores had undermined the health of this heroic woman. He had some suspicions, but he kept these suspicions to himself until the owner arrived. The family doctor suspected that the official's mother had been poisoned. She kept the official's wives and concubines in her fist, and there were also maids, nannies, and a dozen distant relatives - hangers-on. Of course, there were also male servants, among whom there were many eunuchs, but the male half of the estate was run by a distant relative of the official - the manager. And then trouble happened - the official’s mother died. After the due mourning, unrest began on the estate. The official's second wife, who now remained on the farm as the first wife, tried to take over the power. The other five wives did not object when the second wife took the keys from the table, symbolizing power over the estate. Women understood that someone had to command the servants, give orders to the manager, and so on. However, when the second wife wanted to appropriate the newborn boy who was born to the seventh wife, a riot began on the estate. According to the laws of that time, if one of the wives of a lower rank had a son, then the first wife had the right to take the child for herself and declare it her own son. However, the second wife was not the first, and therefore, during the first attempts to take the child for himself, a riot began on the estate. The seventh wife's servants began to arm themselves. The estate was divided into those who supported the second wife and those who were sharply against her. Not many people supported her; the fourth wife and several concubines sided with the second wife. Each wife and each concubine had her own mansion, her own servants, eunuchs, nannies, aunts, and so on. All these brethren took the events on the estate very seriously. The discussion was about what status each of the wives would now receive. So far, one thing was clear, the seventh wife, the moment the official returned, would be treated kindly, rewarded beyond measure and, most likely, would become the second wife. Naturally, the second wife will then be moved to third place, and the rank of the remaining wives will correspondingly decrease. Events took a serious turn. The servants armed themselves with whatever they could, and any minute a real battle could begin, but fortunately at that moment there was a knock on the estate gate.
Now the second series will begin.
So, again, there was a knock on the gate.
No, it is not the owner of the house who has returned from distant travels. There was knocking and knocking on the gate, we had to find the manager, who hid from the showdown. The manager did not want to take sides, and therefore decided to sit out in one of his outer rooms, announcing to everyone that he was sick. However, now it was impossible to do without a manager. A stranger stood outside the gate and demanded to be let into the estate. The servants hastily pulled on the manager's formal clothes and soon the manager was already standing near the gate. The gate shook so much that small dust and chips fell from it, the manager asked the Buddha for help in his soul, and with a nod of his head he finally ordered the servants to open the gate.
A luxurious palanquin was brought into the gate, followed by a line of servants and maids, and the column was completed by six carts with the property of the arriving guest. A nephew arrived to visit his aunt. The official, leaving for distant lands, decided to play it safe and sent a letter to his cousin asking him to visit the estate and live there for some time while he, the official, was away. The letter took a long time, and the cousin took even longer to get ready for the trip. And finally, the official’s request was fulfilled, the cousin arrived to stay on the estateuntil the official returns. The cousin, however, let me call him more briefly, brother or cousin, was unpleasantly surprised when he learned that his aunt had died. This changed everything! The cousin was not at all happy about staying in this estate full of sexually unsatisfied wives and concubines. But there was nothing to do - my brother’s request had to be fulfilled.
The cousin was a famous poet, favored by the emperor himself. In keeping with his status, he had 14 wives and 28 concubines. The laws of that time clearly regulated the relations of male relatives with the wives of the owner of the estate. Finding himself in the pavilion, which was intended for guests, the cousin, after all the rituals: greeting, worshiping the ashes of his aunt in the home chapel and ablution, became thoughtful. He realized that he had taken his brother's request lightly. Going on the road, the cousin thought that he would communicate only with his aunt and his main wife, but the young man did not imagine that he would find himself in the epicenter of women's fights. The servants quickly scouted out the situation and reported to the owner what was happening on the estate. Having so many wives and concubines in his own house, the cousin knew firsthand about women’s treachery.
He knew very well that everything was used to achieve his goals - bribery, blackmail, bullying. When all these techniques did not help, heavy artillery was used: poisons, knives, even a rope around the neck. All this was extremely unpleasant and terrified the subtle soul of the court poet. The cousin suffered all night, he could not understand what to do. On the one hand, right in the morning he needed to congratulate his seventh wife on the birth of an heir, but the poet understood perfectly well that if he did this, he would strengthen the status of the seventh wife and offend the second wife. If he intends to greet his second wife right in the morning, this will offend the seventh wife. Overall, there was a lot to think about. Finally, unable to find a consensus, the poet decided to trust his muse. Usually it was she, the muse, who gave him the hint! And so it happened! In the morning, when the cousin opened his eyes, he understood how to behave. Calling the manager to him, he announced that he was expecting all six wives in the ceremonial hall at noon. Each wife had, so to speak, her own booth behind a thin curtain-screen in the ceremonial hall. This made it possible for wives to participate in the life of the estate while remaining invisible to men. This usually happened when an official invited guests. This is what happened today, all six booths were occupied when the guest of honor arrived, only one booth was empty. The owner of this cabin, as you know, was now far from the estate and was enjoying sole happiness with her husband, an official.
Climax and finale. Wives and concubines

Introduction. Summary of the previous two episodes

The owner of the estate, together with one of his wives, leaves on trade business. Six of his wives and fourteen concubines remain on the estate. During the absence of the owner, the following changes occur in the house: his mother dies, a son is born from his seventh wife, and a rebellion is brewing in the estate. The second wife, with the rights of the first wife, wants to take the newborn child from the seventh wife - the mother of the heir. However, the unrest subsides when the owner’s cousin, hereinafter briefly referred to as cousin, arrives at the estate. The cousin is a famous person in the empire, favored by the emperor himself because of his poetic talent. The cousin arrived at the estate not on his own initiative, but because his cousin, the owner of the estate, asked him about it in writing. Having spent only a few hours on the estate, the cousin already knows that a riot is brewing. Trying to figure out what to do so as not to end up in the epicenter of women's wars, the cousin decides to gather six daughters-in-law in the reception hall in the morning.

So, the third series begins!

Part one. The second wife disappeared

Accompanied by the sound of pipes and timpani, the cousin entered the reception hall. There everything was ready for the meeting of the cousin of the owner of the estate and his six daughters-in-law to take place at the highest level.
However, the high meeting never took place. It turned out that the second wife, who was now in the position of the first wife, had disappeared. They searched everything, but the woman disappeared into thin air. The manager ordered to bring the second wife's confidant - her nanny. However, the elderly woman was also not there. Things took an unpleasant turn. The manager asked for an audience with his cousin. The meeting took place behind the closed doors of the negotiation house, but somehow soon everyone on the estate learned that the cousin had ordered all the servants of the mansion where the second wife of the owner of the estate lived to be brought to the negotiation house, and the brother’s wives were to be notified of the cancellation of the meeting. The investigation lasted almost until late in the evening. During this time, the cousin and the manager took four breaks to rest and drink tea, but still felt exhausted. When the courtyard of the estate became completely dark and the crickets sang their eternal song, the cousin gave in, he ordered the manager to close the books, wipe the pens, close the inkwells, and put out the candles. The investigation was completed for today. Before leaving, the cousin decided that, just in case, the servants of the tower would have a secondIt would have been better for Ena not to leave the aisles of the hall where the investigation was going on, but he quickly came to his senses. There were too many people being commanded by Second Lady. Yes, the second lady used the services of a large number of people. The servants included: 30 eunuchs, 50 maids, 10 noble ladies, 10 cooks and 10 cooks. But this was only the tip of the iceberg, about ninety more people were at their beck and call, because it was not right for those who worked in the second mistress’s mansion to stoop to menial work. As you understand, this whole warm company could not fit into the hall where the owner of the estate usually received honored guests.
In fact, more than one room was reserved for receiving honored guests and for meetings. The meeting house was a separate house, in which there were about nine small rooms located around the hall, where the meetings actually took place. It was here that the cousin wanted to leave everyone who had previously lived with the disappeared second lady for the night. But the servants of the second mistress’s mansion were accustomed to living in bliss and luxury. Here, in the meeting house, there were no conditions. Of course, there were modest sofas and small tables, as well as braziers to maintain heat on cold and foggy summer nights, but the inhabitants of the second tower did not want to spend the night here. A parliamentarian was sent to the manager. The manager, who was afraid of everything in the world and did not want to make any decisions, ordered his servants not to open the door. The manager's servants announced that their master was ill. The parliamentarian stood under the manager’s windows, and then went to the guest tower, where his cousin had already settled down to rest. However, the envoy was not allowed to even approach his cousin’s door; the guards that the cousin brought with him blocked the envoy’s path. The young man had no choice but to return to the negotiating house. Struck by the unpleasant news that they would have to spend the night in unsuitable conditions, the servants of the owner’s second wife began to grumble, but realizing that no one heard them and no one sympathized with them, they decided to go to their rooms. Of course, the conditions were not comme il faut. This entire brethren, which numbered about two hundred people, had to fit into nine rooms and a meeting room. The night was warm, and several people decided to sleep on the street, but the guards did not allow them to do so. Until the trial and the case, it has already begun to get light. Those who had not yet slept were delighted, they decided that very soon the owner’s brother would appear in the negotiation room again, ask about something, and let the people go home. But that was not the case, as I already said, the brother of the owner of the estate was a poet, that is, of a delicate and pampered nature. The interrogation tired him so much that the man woke up only in the evening of the second day. While they were organizing dinner, this and that, it was too late to continue the interrogation. The cousin ordered that the people who were locked in the meeting house be fed. That was where all his worries ended. In general, the interrogation was continued only on the third day. However, it turned out that the truth was already on a silver platter. Exhausted by the unknown, people locked in the negotiation house decided to take fate into their own hands and conducted an investigation themselves. As a result of the investigation, it was found that the mother of the owner of the estate died for a reason. The cause of death was poison placed in the old woman's food. The owner’s second wife was so thirsty for power that she decided to bring her finest hour closer in this way. It was important for the second wife that the mother of the owner of the estate be removed from the chessboard before the seventh wife had a child. If the mother of the owner of the estate had remained alive, of course, there would have been no dispute about who the baby would stay with. After the mother of the owner of the estate died, all economic life on the estate stopped. People were confused, and according to the plan of the owner’s second wife, the keys of power fell into her hands completely without any struggle.

Part two. Junior Librarian

Everything was going well for the second wife, but the plan was disrupted when a cousin knocked on the gate of the estate. Feeling guilty, for some reason the second wife decided that her cousin knew everything, and he arrived to escort her to the Imperial Court. Without waiting for dawn, the second wife, along with the nanny, simply fled from the estate. A young man who worked in the library of his second wife’s mansion was able to find out all this in a short time. The young man was well-read, but lazy. He loved to read, but did not like to work. The senior librarian often beat the young man because he did not want to copy sacred texts from a book into a notebook. The young librarian was lazy, as I already said, but he was not stupid - he had the makings of a detective. During the two days that he spent with everyone else in the conversation hall, he easily collected all the information he needed and put it in the right order. The picture he got didn't surprise him much. The young man knew the character of his mistress and had the opportunity to observe that if his mistress wanted something, she would never stop at anything. However, he did not imagine that the woman would plan to killproperty. The young man kept the results of the investigation to himself, firstly, he knew that he was not taken seriously and no one would listen to his reasoning, and secondly, he simply did not want to share his upcoming triumph with anyone.
When the manager and the cousin were located, according to their ranks, in the hall, they invited those present to decide for themselves who would speak first. However, people were silent. The sniffling of two hundred noses could be heard, but not a single hand was raised, and not a single mouth was opened. The young librarian wanted to come forward, but decided that it was not time yet. Three times the owner’s cousin invited those present to speak voluntarily, but everyone remained silent. As lunch time approached, my cousin’s head ached from the stale air and his eyes began to hurt. The manager was completely falling apart, right before his eyes, he was sneezing, and tears were continuously flowing from his eyes. Only when the cousin slammed the table and promised to torture everyone present did the junior librarian step forward. The young man felt that his finest hour had come. His story sounded so connected and brief that the cousin suddenly became suspicious. For some reason, the cousin of the owner of the estate suddenly thought that the young librarian was an accomplice of the owner. Otherwise, how could the young man find out such details about the plans of the owner’s second wife? However, whether the junior librarian was guilty or not was no longer important. The cousin caught the young librarian’s main idea perfectly. The second lady went on the run and had a three-day head start. But the cousin no longer cared about the outcome of this matter. Having written a letter to the emperor, certifying the letter with his seal, he sent a messenger to the imperial palace. The servants of the second tower were finally released, and then it was time for dinner. The next day, the cousin invited the young librarian to his place. He was interested in the young man's train of thought. Of course, the cousin understood that the young man realized that all the laurels and investigations would go to him, the cousin, but still it was necessary to understand how the young man came to the conclusion that the second lady fled from the estate because she turned out to be a murderer. The conversation was long, the court poet was pleasantly surprised by the erudition and erudition of the junior librarian. The young man knew a huge number of texts from ancient books and quoted them by heart. The cousin ordered to bring a couple of books from the library to his mansion, and gave the young librarian a kind of exam. When the impromptu exam came to an end, the cousin was amazed and excited! The young man memorized a book of one hundred pages, and never made a mistake. In general, the cousin soon forgot about his delusion that the young librarian was an accomplice of the second mistress. Another week passed, it would have been possible to go home, but the cousin hesitated, he was afraid to leave the estate without a man’s hand. After consulting with the manager, and in order to avoid further scandals, he temporarily appointed the seventh lady, the mother of the heir, as the mistress of the estate. If there were any unrest on the estate, thanks to his decree, he did not notice them. The order was given, and soon the keys passed into the gentle hands of the seventh lady. Meanwhile, bad weather began, prolonged rains brought sadness and melancholy. After thinking a little, the cousin decided to wait out the bad weather, and only at the moment when the ground became hard, set off. He whiled away his leisure time by checking the manager's business books, enjoying the songs and dances of the actors who lived on the estate, as well as philosophical conversations with the junior librarian. However, all the librarians of the estate, as well as the manager, were sometimes invited to such conversations. The earth froze, it was possible to set off, but something stopped the cousin, some thought did not give him peace. Finally, desperate to catch the insidious thought by the tail, the cousin invited the geomancer and told the old man to calculate the auspicious day when it would be possible to set off. The astrological forecast was ready within a week. According to the forecast, the moon was waxing, and there was nothing stopping the cousin from heading home tomorrow. The cousin did not like quick decisions, and therefore only two days later he announced a general gathering for his servants and servants and ordered them to slowly begin packing for the journey. Slowly, little by little, they began to gather. The cousin understood that he had found a real diamond on this estate. We are talking about a junior librarian.
The young librarian was not averse to going on a journey with his cousin, especially since the cousin decided to visit the capital of the state, and also report his arrival to the emperor himself. The young man, who thought that all his talents would disappear on this small estate, was amazed by the scope of the talent of the cousin of the owner of the estate and it took his breath away when he thought and dreamed about the events and about the life that awaited him if he will join his cousin's servants. In a private conversation, he agreed that all the laurels of the investigation would belong to his cousin. It was for them, for these laurels, that the cousin was going to go to the capital. The brother of the owner of the estate knew that his second daughter-in-law had long been found and capturedEmperor's guards. Finally, the preparations were completed, and the column set off. At the front of the column rode two riders - a cousin and a young librarian. The junior librarian was mistaken when he thought that his cousin would place him among the ranks of servants. No, the young librarian was destined for another position; from now on he was to become his cousin’s confidant and his secretary.

Part three. What was it?

The capital was not far from the estate of his cousin's cousin, but the column of carts loaded with things moved slowly. Two weeks passed when the gates of the imperial capital appeared ahead. The guards bowed their heads as the cousin showed his badge. The imperial poet was a famous person in the state, so he would have been allowed in even without a badge, but rules are rules. If there is a sign, you need to show it. The cousin did not go alone to the audience with the emperor; he took a young librarian with him. And then this day of triumph came: doors painted red, one after another, opened before the court poet. There was only one door left, the door behind which the Emperor was waiting for the poet. The young librarian held his breath - the hour had come! Now he will see the emperor! The court poet took hold of the door handle and was almost throwing the door open when suddenly the young librarian felt himself being pulled by the ear. That was incredible! Who dared?
However, someone continued to pull the young man by the ear, and also lightly hit him on the cheek.
Well, I had to open my eyes.
“Wretched boy, when are you finally going to work?” - the angry head of the department bent over the young man, - Did you fall asleep in front of the computer? What about the report? The Department of Literature is waiting for a report on Chinese poets of the 15th century. What did you do all this time?
- I... I was looking for information!
- What? What kind of information?
- I was looking for information that is not on the Internet!
- This cannot be, all the books from the imperial palace have been translated into digital form and posted on the Internet.
“No, not everything!” the young man covered his head, because he understood that after his words the boss would definitely hit him, “not all the information has been translated into numbers!”
It is not known how long the dispute would have continued if the young man’s boss had not been called to a meeting by a higher-ranking boss.
There was silence in the office for a while. The office was partitioned off by low booths, from which the clicking of a keyboard could be heard again. The young man rose above his booth and immediately lowered his eyes; his colleague looked at him point-blank, with dissatisfaction. The girl’s face brought back some memories to the young man. However, there was nothing surprising in this, because with all his thoughts the young man was still there, in the past into which he was suddenly transported. What was it? A dream, or simply a jump in time, or rather, a transfer in time. The time machine transported him and brought him back. The girl who was looking at him arrogantly now was almost a double of the runaway second wife of the owner of the estate, and the boss who was pulling the young man’s ear looked almost identically to the senior librarian on the estate.
The young man came to his senses; he urgently needed to write down everything that he saw and felt in his strange, either dream, or transference to the past. After all, memories are such a thing that evaporate almost instantly.
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