Chapter 2: The Mu Estate

  The mid-1920s to the mid-1930s were later referred to by historians as the "Golden Ten Years" of the Republic. During this period, China's national capital emerged from its competition with foreign capital and achieved rapid development despite numerous difficulties. The Nationalist government played a certain positive role in promoting industry and commerce during this period.

  Although China's political arena is like a lantern changing its commander, corruption has become deeply ingrained, but new ideas, new thoughts, and new values are still emerging with the revolutionary tide, shining brightly on the land of China. With Sun Yat-sen as the leader, the Kuomintang put forward the slogans of "Uniting with the Soviet Union", "Uniting with the Communist Party" and "Assisting Workers and Peasants". The first high tide of cooperation between the KMT and the CPC is about to arrive. Moreover, the National Revolutionary Government is about to start anew, and the revolutionary tide has already swept across Guangdong. The Communist Party, led by Marxist-Leninists, has also begun its ideal journey.

  In the spring and summer of 1915, the news of Mu's young master's resurrection spread like wildfire in Beijing, causing a sensation throughout the city. Whether it was ordinary people or high-ranking officials, whether it was ladies or village fishermen, everyone was talking about this bizarre incident with great interest. Perhaps the lives of Chinese people were too dull, and such strange news was enough to whet everyone's appetite.

  Mu Tianyi's father was an official in the Ministry of Civil Appointments during the Qing dynasty, but later abandoned his post to venture into the jewelry industry. The Mu family had lived in Beijing for decades by the time Mu Tianyi came along, and their wealth had grown considerable. Mu Tianyi graduated from the Imperial University, despite being steeped in traditional "Taixue" culture, he still followed in his father's footsteps and took over the jewelry business. Due to his deep-seated disgust with the corruption of the Qing dynasty, Mu Tianyi had lost interest in officialdom.

  Since Mu Tianyi took over Rongbaozhai, due to his good management and deep understanding of traditional culture, the business quickly flourished and became a leader in the antique industry. After the fall of the Qing dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, he purchased this mansion from a prince and it later became the famous Mu Mansion in Beijing.

  The prestige and fame of the Mu Mansion are related to Mu Tianyi's career. In the second year of the Republic, Mu Tianyi was invited by a classmate from Beijing University to take office. He gladly accepted due to his hopes for the Republican government. Within just 10 years, he became the Deputy Director of the National Telegraph Bureau, and thus the Mu Mansion also gained fame.

  Mu Tianyi and his wife had three sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Mu Yaping, was the one who died and came back to life, and he managed his father's antique shop. The second son, Mu Weiping, is currently working in the Beiyang Army Ministry. The third son, Mu Hepping, stopped studying after graduating from middle school and spent his days idling away with nothing to do. The eldest daughter, Mu Anxiang, graduated from Women's College at the beginning of the year and is now idle at home. The youngest daughter, Mu Lanxiang, is still in school.

  Among the 5 sons and 2 daughters of Mu Tianyi, only Mu Yaping inherited his father's business and received his recognition. The eldest young master is honest, capable, and kind-hearted. It can be said that Mu Tianyi entrusted him with the family business, placing all his hopes on him. In terms of ability, Mu Tianyi believed that the eldest young master was good at preserving the existing business but not enough to expand it, yet he still handed over the antique shop to the young Mu Dashi.

  It was around the Spring Festival that the young master suddenly felt unwell. At first, he had a dizzy head and a cold body all over, and he sweated at night when sleeping. Wang Yu physician came to diagnose and treat him, diagnosing it as an accidental encounter with wind and cold, but after taking several doses of medicine, his condition worsened instead. As the condition gradually worsened, Wang Yu physician finally diagnosed it as labor disease {pulmonary tuberculosis}, which was basically incurable at that time. Wang Yu physician also had no way to help, and thus the whole family fell into despair.

  In the 1920s, tuberculosis was almost a death sentence. Neither Chinese nor Western medicine had effective treatments for it. Once you got this disease, it was as if you had been sentenced to death. According to traditional Chinese medical theory, people with tuberculosis could only be nursed and rely on their own physical quality to sustain life. A month later, the young master was bedridden and his lifespan began to be measured in days.

  Seeing her son approaching the end of his life, Mrs. Mu was heartbroken as a parent. Perhaps desperate to save her son, Mrs. Mu, who normally kept a vegetarian diet and prayed to Buddha, began to pin her hopes on the Buddha. Every day, apart from sincerely praying to Buddha for her son's recovery, she also spread the word that if anyone could cure her son, she would be deeply grateful. Before long, a Taoist immortal came to visit her.

  This Taoist priest introduced himself as Yun Yidao, a master from Mount Wutai. He had come especially for the young master's illness and performed some rituals. With a mysterious performance, he concluded that the young master must get married to ward off evil spirits, and the Mu family needed to achieve three joyful events to bring the young master back to life.

  Anyone with a bit of common sense can see that this Taoist priest is just here to swindle money. As the saying goes: "No illness, no need for a doctor." Mu Tianyi had no choice but to agree to his wife's tearful pleas and requests in front of their father. Out of devotion to Buddha, Mrs. Mu deeply believed the Taoist priest's words. She discussed with her husband that their eldest son had grown up with his cousin since childhood, so there was no problem with their marriage. Their second son had also been engaged to Hou De-gui's daughter, Hou Jing-ru, a few years ago, and there was no problem with their marriage either. The key was that their third son, Mu He-ping, had not yet settled down, and if he were to marry just anyone, they feared he would cause trouble, which put Mrs. Mu in a dilemma.

  Mrs. Mu first found Li Yuqiu to discuss the marriage, naturally there was no problem, she is Mrs. Mu's niece, and had been engaged to young master Mu Yaping since childhood. When Li Yuqiu was very young, her parents passed away one after another, and she was almost raised by Mrs. Mu. Mrs. Mu and Mu Tianyi also visited the Hou family, originally the two families had already arranged the marriage, and simultaneously welcoming the bride also had no objection.

  The difficulty lies in Mu Huaping, the third young master. As the saying goes: The eldest son is old, and the old lady's **. In peacetime, Mrs. Mu loved her youngest son the most. With an older brother to take care of him and a younger sister to protect him, the third young master developed a lazy and free lifestyle. Since Mu Huaping graduated from high school, Mu Tianyi asked him to find something to do, but under the protection of Mrs. Mu, he did nothing and spent his days freely, doing as he pleased. For this reason, Mu Tianyi often scolded him.

  Now Mrs. Mu is determined to make three joys come to the door, and in view of the situation of the third young master, she tells her worries to Mu Tianyi. Of course, the meaning is very clear, that is, to use the authority of the old master to force the third young master to surrender. To be honest, Mu Tianyi is a new official after all, and he doesn't care much about the matter of rushing for joy. Unable to help it, Mrs. Mu is anxious, and in order to save the life of the eldest young master, she can only follow her husband's will. In his opinion, it would be better to find a maid to marry the third young master casually.

  Mu Tianyi said: "To be honest, the marriage is just a matter of marrying a daughter-in-law. The eldest and second sons are both qualified, but only Saner has not been engaged. It's really hard to find a suitable girl in such a short time. Moreover, Saner is always out of tune, I think it's better to find a maid and marry her to him first, and then solve the urgent problem."

  Madam said, "That's not possible, our third son doesn't have any illness. If we do this, aren't you afraid he'll resent us for the rest of his life?" Mu Tianyi said, "Madam, what do you think we should do?" Madam Mu said, "I have a suitable candidate in mind, but I don't know if the young lady will agree." Mu Tianyi asked, "Whose daughter is it?"

  Mrs. Mu replied, "Liu's daughter, Xiangyun, a classmate of Hua Ping." Mu Tianyi shook his head and said, "You're muddled, Xiangyun is a talented woman, Hua Ping can't match her at all, aren't you randomly pairing them up? You'd better give up this idea, I don't want people to laugh at me behind my back. No way! Absolutely not."

  Mrs. Mu said, "Xiangyun is a good girl, isn't she going to get married? Usually I see Saner and Xiangyun getting along well, they've been playing together since childhood, it's also considered a childhood sweetheart. Maybe if we marry her into our family, under her care, Saner will become more disciplined." Mu Tianyi said, "It seems like you've already made up your mind, are you asking me to swallow my pride and propose on your behalf? If you want to go, you go, I'm not going."

  Mrs. Mu said with confidence: "In the early years, your father had a favor for the Liu family. At that time, your father helped the Liu family's rice shop and avoided bankruptcy. Our two families have been friends for generations, I think the Liu family will not refuse our face." Mu Tianyi was angry and said: "You actually did such a thing, it's simply humiliating to the Mu family, this matter is absolutely impossible." Unexpectedly, Mrs. Mu suddenly burst into tears, calling out "Big young master" left and right, Mu Tianyi was really annoyed and said: "Alright! I promise you, but on one condition, Miss Xiangyun must agree, otherwise you can't make trouble again."

  The details of Mu Tianyi and Mrs. Mu's engagement need not be repeated. Liu Daxiang regretted agreeing to the marriage as soon as he did, for it would affect his daughter's happiness for her whole life. As the saying goes: "A gentleman's word is his bond; a team of horses cannot overtake him." At dinner time, Liu Daxiang told Liu Xiangyun about Mu's proposal and the rescue during the fire, but unexpectedly, Liu Xiangyun was unusually calm, while their youngest son, Da Zhuang, strongly opposed it.

  "Mu family's third young master, what a thing! Uneducated and idle, just a spoiled brat. The Mu family is willing to sacrifice my sister's happiness for the sake of saving their eldest son, what kind of logic is this? Sister, we are now in the Republic era, you have the right to make your own decisions about marriage, you can't marry him."

  Liu Bu Tong bellowed, "You good-for-nothing, it's not for you to direct things now. This family must listen to me, this marriage will happen whether you like it or not, that's the decision." Liu Bu Tong finished speaking and went back into the house. Madame Liu spoke on her husband's behalf, "You don't know the whole story, our Liu family owes a great debt of gratitude to the Mu family, your father has no choice either."

  Liu Xiangyun said resolutely, "Mother, I won't make things difficult for you. I've decided to marry Third Master Mu. This is my fate." Da Zhang angrily said, "Sister, you..." and then got up and left. Liu Xiangyun also stood up and walked outside. Her mother saw that she hadn't eaten much rice and couldn't help but let out a deep sigh. In any case, once Xiangyun marries into the Mu family, she won't be poor.

  Liu Xiangyun is a new woman who has received modern education and upbringing. In the 1920s, Chinese society was in a period of intense ideological fermentation and conflict between old and new ideas, feudal thinking and modern civilization. It was in this environment that Liu Xiangyun grew up. However, she was a weak woman, deeply influenced by the stubborn feudal ethics. The invisible shackles of her parents' orders still bound her hands and feet. But she could resist, as to why she readily agreed, there were other reasons.

  。