Although most people in the Qin Clan survive by farming, there are a few wealthy families who send their children to study, and two of them have successfully passed the imperial exam to gain the title of Scholar.
The scholars were the first to get angry, as the court has laws specifying that officials cannot have someone with slave status within three generations of their family.
Unlike the previous dynasty, the current dynasty does not discriminate against those who sold themselves into servitude, so it is easy for someone with slave status to change to commoner status, as long as their master is willing to release them. However, slave status is different for those of lower, unchangeable status; once you become one, you can never change to commoner status.
Criminals automatically become part of the lower status, as do women who sell themselves to a brothel. Having someone of this lower status in the family is a disgrace to the entire clan.
