If he were a sensible person, he would most likely have had the grace to help her cover up that lie. But Zhao Yilou was clearly not that sort. Almost without a second thought, he ruthlessly exposed her. “I dare swear to heaven – it was your stomach that growled.”
The soldiers nearby nearly burst out laughing, but because they had seen Gongsun Gu treat her with such courtesy earlier, they held it in and dared not make a sound.
“Really? Then I must have misheard.” Song Chuyi had never been one to have a thin skin – if anything, it was only ever thicker. Such a trivial matter would hardly stir any sense of shame or embarrassment in her. This was also, in part, because she had been quite influenced by Daoist thought.
The aristocratic clans had always viewed personal virtue, character, and reputation as more precious than life itself. But Daoism says: “The highest virtue is not virtuous, therefore it has virtue; the lowest virtue never loses sight of its virtue, therefore it has no virtue.”
What this means is that a truly virtuous person acts out of nature, simplicity, and inner truth – so on the surface, there is no trace of “virtue” at all, yet virtue has already merged into their very marrow. Such virtue is the highest virtue. Ordinary people, on the other hand, perform acts of virtue under the influence of external factors – it is superficial, outward, and formal. Thus, even though they display all the signs of “virtue,” they are already far removed from the true, natural character of virtue. Such virtue is the lowest virtue.
In other words, Daoism does not pursue outward refinement, courteous bearing, or the image of the benevolent gentleman.
Setting aside whether Song Chuyi truly possessed virtue in her core or not, she had certainly taken the latter half of that saying as her life’s motto – and followed it to the letter.
Song Chuyi was truly ravenous. Hunger made the cold all the more unbearable, so she had no choice but to huddle close to Zhao Yilou, sneaking glances now and then at the roasted rabbit over yonder.
“Master Huaijin,” a soldier said, having been sent by Gongsun Gu with half a rabbit.
It was the plumpest of the rabbits. Song Chuyi showed no false modesty – she thanked Gongsun Gu, took the meat, and shared it with Zhao Yilou.
Zhao Yilou was used to going from one meal to the next with nothing in between, so whenever he had food, he would always try to save some for later. Seeing him hold back, Song Chuyi said, “Don’t save any. Eat it all.”
Zhao Yilou hesitated for a moment, but when he saw Song Chuyi eating with relish, he stopped holding back. He had once dreamed of one day being able to eat his fill of meat – in his view, that was a goal that would take a lifetime of struggle to achieve. Before yesterday, he had never dared to harbor such a hope, yet his dream had come true so quickly that it felt like he was still in a dream.
After they had eaten their fill, Gongsun Gu seemed somewhat tired, and the soldiers, worn out as well, took turns resting.
About half an hour later, Song Chuyi saw that aside from the two soldiers on guard, everyone else seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. She reached over and tugged at Zhao Yilou, then used a branch to draw a diagram in the dirt for him to see.
When she finished, she looked at him with questioning eyes: Do you understand?
Zhao Yilou stared at the drawing for a long while, then finally nodded.
Song Chuyi glanced at him and then whispered, “Didn’t you say you needed to relieve yourself?”
Earlier, she had secretly told him that whenever she said “relieve yourself,” it meant he was to hide in the woods, knock out the guards, and escape.
Zhao Yilou didn’t understand – Gongsun Gu had treated her with such respect, so why run away? But he felt that Song Chuyi was a person of talent and that her decisions were unlikely to be wrong. Besides, he was also very afraid of these soldiers. So after only a brief hesitation, he rose and walked into the woods.
For the past few days, Zhao Yilou had been using that patch of woods for his business. The two guards watched him disappear among the trees, but since Song Chuyi was still there, they didn’t follow.
After a while, Song Chuyi began to grow restless, constantly looking toward the woods. A little while later, she stood up and started craning her neck to peer into the distance.
“Good sirs,” Song Chuyi said, walking toward them. Careful not to raise her voice and wake the others, she lowered it and spoke with earnest sincerity, “There are tigers in these woods. My brother has been in there for quite a while and hasn’t come back – I’m starting to worry. Would you be willing to go into the woods with me to have a look?”
The two guards mulled it over for a long moment, until one of them finally said, “Someone has to stay here. I’ll go with you, but we can’t go too far – we’ll need to come back quickly.”
“Yes, yes, thank you, good sir,” Song Chuyi said hurriedly in a low voice, expressing her gratitude.
The soldier took up his bronze sword and headed into the woods with Song Chuyi.
Song Chuyi was not very familiar with this area – she had only passed through once yesterday when they came up the mountain. She followed the traces left in the withered grass, trying to stay as close as possible to where he could strike.
They had to knock this soldier out in one blow, without making a sound. If they woke the others, not only would they fail to escape, but they might very well bring death upon themselves.
She had no idea whether Zhao Yilou had truly understood her message, and she was growing anxious. If it weren’t for the fact that Gongsun Gu had kept a close eye on her – intentionally or not – such that even when she went to relieve herself someone would follow, she would certainly have taken matters into her own hands.
“The footprints stop here,” Song Chuyi murmured as the trail came to an end.
The soldier frowned. “There are no animal tracks nearby either. Unless…”
Song Chuyi looked around and finally spotted a clue beneath a cluster of bushes off to the side. Seeing that the soldier was about to walk toward the tree ahead, she deliberately let out a soft “ah.”
Startled, the soldier stopped in his tracks. “Have you found something?”
Song Chuyi lowered her voice and leaned closer to him. “I’m sure you’ve already guessed that someone must be lying in ambush. But although the footprints end here, they’re still some distance from the tree. Unless a person could fly, there’s no way they could be hiding under that tree.”
With that, she turned him around and continued in a hushed tone, “My guess is that they deliberately left these footprints going forward to mislead us. Once we follow the trail, they can circle around and attack us from behind.”
“Brilliant!” the soldier exclaimed in admiration, and was about to turn back to search.
He had barely taken half a step when a dull thump rang out, and the soldier crumpled to the ground.
Song Chuyi turned around and saw Zhao Yilou still holding a large wooden club. Though he was thin, he was remarkably strong – and having just eaten his fill, anyone struck with such a blow would be hard-pressed not to black out.
“Quick, let’s go!” Song Chuyi said at once.
Zhao Yilou dropped the club, turned, and dragged out a bundle wrapped in dry grass from a hollow in the tree. Then the two of them ran at full speed, only slowing down once they had cleared the woods.
“Where are we headed?” Zhao Yilou asked, panting heavily.
Song Chuyi was already gasping for breath. After a moment to recover, she said, “Toward the state of Wei. Do you know which way that is?”
Zhao Yilou raised his hand. “That way.”
Without pausing, the two hurried off in that direction.
As they ran, Zhao Yilou couldn’t help voicing the doubt that had been nagging at him. “I saw that General Gongsun treated you with great respect. He accepted everything you said without hesitation. So why did we have to flee?”
Song Chuyi didn’t slow her pace in the slightest. “When did he ever accept what I said?”
“You said he should turn back and return to Zhao, and he immediately agreed to turn back,” Zhao Yilou said. If that didn’t count as humbly accepting advice, then what did?
