Daily Life in the Great Ming Dynasty

Xie Jiujiu is the eldest daughter of the Xie family, who runs a modest restaurant called Yunke Lai in LuJiao Town. Her father, Xie Dechang, died of a stroke three years ago, leaving the household in the care of his widow, Huang Juan, and their three children: Xie Jiujiu, the frail but studious Xie Wenji, and the young Xie Zhinniang. During the three-year mourning period, the Xie clan, led by elders such as Zuye and Xie Baozhu, took control of the family’s assets, including the restaurant and their farmland in Luming Village. They managed the business poorly, siphoning profits through inflated expenses and gifts to yamen officials, while the widow and orphans received only a fraction of the income. Xie Jiujiu, raised with business acumen by her father, watched silently, learning to bide her time until the mourning period ended.

On the first day of the New Year, clan members visited to pressure the family into extending their control, but Xie Jiujiu deftly deflected them by citing the mourning customs. After the mourning period concluded on the seventeenth day, the clan elders invited the family to a banquet at Xiangyun Lou, intending to force Huang Juan into a remarriage with a disreputable local man. Their goal was to sever the widow’s ties to the family property, after which they would seize control of the children’s inheritance. Xie Jiujiu anticipated this move and turned the tables by publicly announcing her intention to take in a live-in son-in-law, or Zhuixu. This arrangement would ensure that a male heir remained in the household, preventing the clan from claiming guardianship over the estate. She also proposed establishing a private school using the family’s farmland income, a move that won the support of the village elders and pressured the clan into returning the restaurant.

With the clan’s plan foiled, Xie Jiujiu began searching for a suitable husband. She sought a man who was literate, upright, and capable of standing up for justice, rather than one who was merely shrewd or socially adept. Granny Tian, a local matchmaker, recommended Pei Yuan, a young man from a neighboring alley. Pei Yuan was the illegitimate son of Third Master Pei and a concubine named Madam Guan. After his mother’s family fell from grace and was exiled, he was raised in obscurity. His father had purchased him from a widow who intended to force him into prostitution. Pei Yuan was later adopted by his grandfather, Pei Yubo, a former Zongqi military officer, in exchange for returning the hereditary military position to the main Pei family branch. After Pei Yubo’s death, Pei Yuan was left with a large but dilapidated house and significant debts. He supported his family by copying books and working as a temporary scribe for the county yamen, living a frugal life while preparing for the imperial examinations.

Pei Yuan initially hesitated to accept the match, concerned about the implications of becoming a live-in son-in-law while still being responsible for his biological mother and the ancestral tablets of his adoptive grandfather. However, he agreed on the condition that he could bring the Pei family ancestral tablets into the Xie household, ensuring they continued to receive offerings. Xie Jiujiu agreed to this arrangement, recognizing his integrity and sense of duty. The two families began negotiations, with Granny Tian acting as the intermediary. Xie Jiujiu insisted on meeting Pei Yuan in person to assess his character, inviting him under the pretext of consulting him on calligraphy for her brother’s education. The meeting marked the beginning of a partnership that would secure the Xie family’s future and provide Pei Yuan with the stability he had long lacked.