Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

Chapter 277: I Only Want You to Treat Me Well for a Lifetime—I Don’t Care If You Have Money or a Betrothal Gift (2 / 2)

The March spring scenery was perfect. There was the sound of wind, water, and insects, along with the pleasant melody of an official who had picked up a flute and begun playing leisurely.

He played beautifully, and soon, a group of scholars and refined gentlemen gathered around him, enjoying the music.

But just then, Xu Yan Miao’s inner voice rang out—

[I’m not prejudiced against other ethnic groups. We are all one big family of 56 ethnic groups… BUT! The Wuhu people have a custom where, after the birth of the first son, they kill him and divide his body among the tribe to eat!]

“Woooo—”

A sharp, ear-piercing note screeched from the flute.

The newly appointed scholars, who couldn’t hear Xu Yan Miao’s thoughts, all exchanged bewildered glances.

One of them instinctively gasped, “This…” before quickly covering his mouth.

The officials who could hear Xu Yan Miao’s inner thoughts looked at their colleague with sympathy.

Until the official who had been playing the flute put it away at his side and gave up in frustration. “I was wrong. The moment I sensed something was about to start, I should have stopped playing! This is all my fault for not believing in this nonsense—I’m done playing, I’m going to lie down on a bamboo chair!”

“Start what?”

The newly appointed scholars were completely confused.

But no one answered them. When they asked the officials, all they got in return were mysterious smiles. The most anyone said was: “If you’re fortunate enough to stay in the capital, you’ll find out soon enough.”

—Some troublemakers even secretly placed bets on how many of them would be too weak in the knees when the time came.

However, the one feeling the most confused before securing an official position was undoubtedly “Second Rank, Thirteenth Place.”

Just moments ago, he had been chatting normally with the high-ranking officials, but suddenly, one of them kindly asked, “Young man, you don’t look like someone from the Central Plains, do you?”

“Second Rank, Thirteenth Place” didn’t see any reason to hide the truth and simply nodded. “That’s right. I’m a Wuhu tribesman from Yangshuo County.”

The official seemed to ask the question casually, and once he got his answer, he smoothly moved on to another topic.

At first, “Second Rank, Thirteenth Place” didn’t think much of it. But as he continued interacting with various officials, they all eventually asked him the same question—whether he was from the Central Plains or not. Meanwhile, his fellow scholars rarely asked him this. That was when he started to feel… that something was off.

“Oh, by the way, Brother Hai.”

“Second Rank, Thirteenth Place” turned to his cousin, a mid-level official from the Ministry of Personnel, feeling both embarrassed and hopeful. “You mentioned before that your younger sister was looking for a husband who could write poetry. You weren’t very satisfied with my younger cousin, were you…?”

His cousin immediately took three steps back and waved his hands frantically. “Don’t talk nonsense! I was never satisfied!”

Although he didn’t know why his cousin had told him earlier that if he dared to suggest a Wuhu man for his sister, he would have to step over his dead body on the day the matchmaker arrived, he figured that for the sake of his own life, it was best to distance himself from the matter entirely.

“Second Rank, Thirteenth Place” silently sat in a corner and began reflecting on what was happening.

Hanlin Academy Scholar Liu Bingwen was a little drunk. As he listened to Xu Yan Miao’s inner thoughts, he couldn’t hold back a chuckle.

His son-in-law, the one who placed seventh in this year’s imperial exam, was curious. “Father-in-law, what are you laughing at?”

Liu Bingwen proudly replied, “I’m just happy. I truly have an eye for talent. Other people’s sons-in-law all have their own flaws, but mine….”

Just then, Xu Yan Miao got up, intending to go to the restroom. As he passed by, he heard this statement and looked over with admiration.

[He deliberately let his lazy younger brother get close to your youngest daughter, sweet-talking her into not asking for a betrothal gift, house, or carriage. Tonight at the third watch, she’s planning to sneak out the back door and elope with him! The guy even plans to climb over the wall into your house first to get intimate with her, hoping to force you to accept the marriage once it’s too late to stop. And you still think you have an eye for talent… Wait?!]

[Why did Scholar Liu suddenly slap his dear son-in-law?!]

Scholar Liu forced a smile and looked at his now shell-shocked son-in-law, who was holding his face in disbelief. He said warmly, “Jiu Lang, there was a mosquito on your face just now. I was afraid you’d catch malaria, so I acted out of urgency… You don’t blame me, do you?”

—It was the Divine Physician Consort who had discovered that mosquito bites could transmit malaria.

The son-in-law hesitated for a moment, recalling how his father-in-law had always been kind to him, then considered the fact that he had been drinking a lot that night. After some thought, he slowly nodded. “Of course, I wouldn’t blame you, Father-in-law.”

“That’s good.” Liu Bingwen smiled, then suddenly—”PAH!”—gave him another resounding slap.

With a gentle voice, he asked, “Does it hurt? I just saw another mosquito.”

The son-in-law finally realized what was happening.

Somehow, he must have offended his father-in-law.

Being slapped twice in public would normally be infuriating, but after glancing at his father-in-law’s fifth-rank official robe, the son-in-law lowered his head. “It doesn’t hurt. Not at all.”

Liu Bingwen kept smiling.

Ah, right—he was in a good mood today. He planned to add some decorative pieces to the bottom of his courtyard walls when he got home. For aesthetic purposes, of course.

Hmm… how about some caltrops?

At the same time, he needed to make up for his earlier statement—pretend he had a hidden sharpness behind his smile.

So, he lowered his voice and said, “Of all the people in the world, I let my daughter marry you. I would’ve been better off marrying her to a pig!”

The son-in-law’s face turned bright red.

Liu Bingwen let out a cold laugh as he thought about the matter he had originally planned to cover up for him.

Of course, he still had to keep his voice down, making it seem as if he didn’t want others to hear. “Tell me, I trusted you, which is why I let your fellow countryman handle my household’s procurement. If he skimmed a little off the top, I could’ve turned a blind eye. But selling me a single egg for ten taels of silver—did you think I’ve never eaten an egg before?!”

[Huh?]

[Hahahahahaha! So it wasn’t about having an “eye for talent,” it was about having an “eye for pigs”! That line was pure sarcasm—no wonder he suddenly took the chance to slap his son-in-law.]

[A single egg for ten taels of silver… who even comes up with that?]

[Oh right, I need to remind Scholar Liu about his youngest daughter’s situation. Let me think of a way…]

[Hmm…]

Xu Yan Miao mentally apologized—he really couldn’t control himself from flipping two more pages of gossip about Liu’s youngest daughter.

[Wow! The man said: “Is a betrothal gift really that important? The two of us being happy together is what truly matters.”]

[The woman said: “Shilang, as long as you treat me well for a lifetime, I don’t care if you have money or a betrothal gift.”]

[Wow—]

Liu Bingwen: “…”

Forget it. Spiked planks it is.

“The people of Jiaozhi bathe together in the same river, hence their name. To their west is a nation that eats human flesh. When they have their firstborn son, they immediately kill and eat him, calling this custom ‘Yidi.’ If the taste is good, they send some to their king. If the king is pleased, he rewards the father. If a man marries a beautiful wife, he must offer her to his older brother first. The modern-day Wuhu people are the same.”

— “Book of the Later Han”

“In Yangshuo County, there is a tribe of foreigners called the Wuhu. They live in deep mountain caves and are skilled in weaving patterned cloth.”

— “Records of Geographic Marvels”

Some Additional Context:

Some scholars, after studying this practice, concluded that similar barbaric customs were common in ancient times.

They speculated that:

• Shun’s father insisted on killing him—not because of what was recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian (where he was mistreated due to having a stepmother), but because of this “firstborn sacrifice” custom.
• Similarly, Jiang Yuan abandoning Hou Ji (also known as Qi) wasn’t simply an act of cruelty. Instead, it was likely because of the same custom. However, Jiang Yuan couldn’t bring herself to kill Hou Ji, so she abandoned him instead—and specifically placed him in an alleyway, where he had a chance to survive.

“In ancient folk traditions, there was a barbaric practice of sacrificing and eating the firstborn son. Texts describe the use of ritual vessels to hold the remains, symbolizing the concept of ‘Meng’ (eldest, firstborn). Over time, ‘Meng’ came to mean ‘first, eldest, or beginning.'”

— “Interpretation of Meng”

Theories on Its Origins:

Some scholars believe this custom originated from the transition from group marriage to monogamy.

• During the group marriage era, no one cared about who the biological father was—children were simply raised by the community.
• But once societies shifted to monogamy, men began to fear raising a child that wasn’t their own. To prevent this, they started the practice of killing the firstborn, ensuring that the next child would be unquestionably legitimate.