Chapter 321: Chapter 321: Registering the Household
Ji Huan had once heard that in the early days of modern society, some more remote places didn’t have the custom of obtaining a marriage license.
As long as they held a banquet and invited their neighbors, friends, and relatives, a couple was considered married.
Even if a couple had been together for several years and had children, a "divorce" simply meant the woman moving out of the man’s house. There were no formal divorce proceedings or division of property.
So, she had always assumed that bowing to heaven and earth in front of the villagers and going through the motions would be enough.
But Aunt Gao reminded her that it was far from enough.
First, they needed a marriage certificate.
The marriage certificate, also known as a Dragon and Phoenix Post or a Mandarin Duck Ritual Book, was divided into a main certificate and a supplementary certificate.
The main certificate consisted of the groom’s family’s marriage proposal and the bride’s family’s acceptance, mostly filled with pleasantries and formulaic phrases.
Things like "a grand ceremony commences, a fine match is made," "the red thread was tied long ago, may you grow old together," "poems sung of ospreys," and "odes to the unicorn’s feet."
The supplementary certificate was the main body of the document, recording the actual details of both the man and the woman.
However, it was later simplified a great deal. It was enough to write down the newlyweds’ family relations, their "eight characters" birthdates, and the auspicious date and time of the ceremony.
Only after the marriage certificate was signed and sealed was the marital relationship officially recognized.
Ji Huan was dumbfounded after hearing all this.
"But... but isn’t that a contract from the time of betrothal?"
After being introduced by a matchmaker and settling on the marriage, the man and woman’s families would sign the marriage certificate. The completed document would be kept by the matchmaker as proof, and copies would be given to both families for the future wedding.
This step was indeed very important, but... but in a place like Dafeng Village, it wasn’t strictly necessary, right?
’Ji Huan really wanted to skip this part, too, because this thing seemed to be legally binding.’
Why did she think that? Because even after both parties signed the certificate, breaches of contract still happened from time to time.
If the man’s side broke the agreement, they just had to explain it to the government office and forfeit the betrothal gifts, and that would be the end of it. At most, it was just a financial loss.
But if the woman’s side broke the agreement and the man took it to the government office, the officials, based on the marriage certificate, would rule in the man’s favor and award the woman to him without even asking about the reasons.
In other words, once this document was signed, the woman no longer had the right to break the engagement.
’So its legal power only seems to apply to women.’
Ji Huan had no desire to put a "golden hoop" on her own head, placing herself in such a disadvantageous position.
Besides, she and the homeless man were just putting on an act. There was no need to make it this real.
"Aunt Gao, we can skip this, right? Really, in the countryside, we don’t need all this..."
Aunt Gao shook her head. "It’s true that no one cared in the early years, but ever since County Magistrate Pan took office in Yeyang, he’s suddenly cracked down on it. At first, no one took it seriously, but then all the village chiefs were summoned to the government office and scolded. Our own Village Chief Meng was chewed out something fierce. When he came back, he banged the gong to gather everyone at the old banyan tree and repeatedly declared that all marriages must follow the rules. Otherwise, a fine would be a light punishment; you might even get caned at the government office."
Ji Huan sighed. It seemed she hadn’t come at a good time. There were no more loopholes for her to exploit.
"We don’t have to go to the government office, do we? Besides the official marriage certificate, isn’t there also a private agreement?"
A private agreement, also known as a commoner’s marriage contract, was a betrothal signed privately by both parties through a matchmaker, which didn’t need to be processed at the government office.
Different dynasties had treated private agreements differently. Some didn’t recognize them, while others considered them valid proof.
But in the Great Zhou, private agreements had always been popular. Did that mean she could also...
"That was abolished long ago. The government officially decreed that for a marriage between two families, you have to go to... which department was it at the government office? The Household Department or the Rites Department, I think, to get the marriage certificate. The village chief can handle it on your behalf."
Ji Huan’s face instantly clouded over with worry.
The trouble was one thing, but the key issue was that the homeless man was an unregistered person.
Aunt Gao added that she would have to see the village chief to solve this, too.
Fine, she’d better go see him then.
Village Chief Meng hadn’t expected Ji Huan to come looking for him.
To be honest, his feelings toward Ji Huan were a bit complicated at the moment.
However, this complexity didn’t contain many negative elements.
After all, during the disaster relief and grain collection at the beginning of the year, Ji Huan had given him an idea that helped immensely. He’d even received praise from the county magistrate for it, and he remembered that favor.
The reason for his complicated feelings was the rumors about Song Jing and her.
He never would have imagined that Song Jing would fall for Ji Huan, only to be rejected.
The whole affair was... so awkward. Even he, the man’s uncle, felt awkward.
When Ji Huan suddenly showed up at his door today, he thought she had come because of Song Jing.
’Has she regretted it? Seen the light? Had a change of heart and decided to say yes?’
Unfortunately, she was a few days too late. Song Jing had already married someone else. Hadn’t she heard the news?
’Sigh, when you thought about it, he and Ji were in the same boat, destined to be the ones left behind...’
"Have a seat."
Village Chief Meng pointed to the long bench next to Ji Huan.
Just as he was pondering how to break the cruel news to Ji Huan, she got straight to the point and stated her reason for coming.
Village Chief Meng’s rear was just about to touch the bench when he heard her. He missed his seat entirely and, with a THUD, fell flat on his back.
Ji Huan couldn’t just stand there and watch, so she stepped forward to help him up.
Village Chief Meng scrambled up. Without even bothering to dust himself off, he stared wide-eyed and asked, "What did you just say... Say that again?"
So Ji Huan had no choice but to repeat herself.
"You... you want to take on a live-in husband? You’re having that homeless man marry into your family?"
Ji Huan nodded. "That’s him. I heard I need to see you about the marriage certificate and the matter of the homeless man’s household registration. You see..."
Village Chief Meng was completely stunned.
He felt that either his hearing was going, or Ji Huan had gone mad.
"Are you serious?"
Ji Huan sighed. "Village Chief Meng, do you think I have nothing better to do than to come here and tell you jokes?"
"That’s not it..." Village Chief Meng coughed a few times, bent down to right the bench, and sat down, pressing one hand on the seat. "Sit, you sit too."
After Ji Huan sat down as told, Village Chief Meng called for his young grandson to bring him his tobacco pouch.
He had been troubled by many things lately. On the day of Song Jing’s wedding, he had been stung by the words of the Song Family clansmen and felt deeply upset. He came home and had a fight with his wife, who got angry and went back to her parents’ home. Now, his sons and daughters-in-law didn’t dare to come near him.
So much worry. A few puffs would at least help him relax.
Ji Huan got a headache watching Village Chief Meng take on a pensive expression and begin puffing away on his pipe.
She really couldn’t stand the smell of that dry-leaf tobacco. Finding it terribly acrid, she urged him, "Village Chief Meng, is there a way? If he can’t get household registration, can we hold off on the marriage certificate for now and get it done in a couple of years?"
’In two years, the homeless man would have long since become a missing person, so there would be no need to get it done at all.’
Village Chief Meng finally ended his contemplation. After exhaling the last of the smoke from his mouth, he spoke.
"Going without a marriage certificate is absolutely out of the question. As for the household registration... it’s true that a migrant needs to reside here for a full three years before they can register. But there are exceptions, and you just happen to meet the criteria for one."
With a loud CRACK, Ji Huan’s beautiful dream shattered.