Song Chuyi untied her cloak, brushed the snowflakes from her hair, and sat down in front of the low table. She hauled the little snow wolf over to warm her hands.
The carriage was quiet, and outside they could hear the sound of horse hooves and the rumbling of wheels. Song Chuyi casually took a bamboo slip scroll from the table, shook it open, and skimmed through it roughly. She murmured to herself, “Mm, White Blade, excellent.”
Song Chuyi raised her head and said to Longgu Buwang, “From now on, this little furry beast I’m raising will be called White Blade.”
Longgu Buwang let out a snort of laughter, cast a sidelong glance at that tiny little beast, and said with folded arms, “That’s also the little beast that pissed my bedding wet. Giving it this name is bound to be a waste.”
White Blade carried the meaning of a blade’s edge – cold and sharp just from hearing it. On that little creature, Longgu Buwang could find not the slightest trace of any matching temperament.
“It’ll be fine once it grows up. I don’t believe you never wet your bedding when you were young,” Song Chuyi said.
“Absolutely never,” Longgu Buwang said decisively.
Only after Song Chuyi felt the chill on her body had mostly been driven off did she say, “About last night’s matter, I wonder what you’ve made of it?”
Longgu Buwang was silent. After a moment, he said, “I was too impulsive.”
Song Chuyi smiled slightly and nodded in satisfaction. “Good. It’s good that you can see where the problem lies. Buwang, your greatest flaw is that you’re impulsive and act on emotion. You must understand: when two armies face each other, if you cannot keep your heart calm and your mind steady, then no matter how many brilliant strategies you have, they’ll all be in vain.”
Longgu Buwang was not stupid; it was simply that his emotions were easily affected. When something happened, his emotions inevitably took the lead. He would not think about anything else and would first rush forward for revenge. Perhaps the time he spent not using his brain was only a brief half-moment, but for someone who wanted to put him to death, that was already enough.
“Buwang, since you like reading Zhuangzi, then you must read it thoroughly. It is exactly what can remedy your shortcomings.” Song Chuyi’s overly solemn expression suddenly changed, and she smiled, saying, “However, rather than Free and Easy Wandering, I would suggest you carefully read The Great and Venerable Teacher.”
Longgu Buwang was already accustomed to this sort of state in Song Chuyi – no, whatever she did, he would not find it strange. So he merely said calmly and respectfully, “Buwang accepts the teaching.”
For a person with ambition and ideals, not much discipline was needed. When Song Chuyi suggested that Longgu Buwang read The Great and Venerable Teacher, he began to study it carefully.
“The Great and Venerable Teacher” means the teacher most worthy of admiration and reverence. From the title, one might think it teaches the principles of how to conduct oneself and handle affairs, but in fact, this is a piece that discusses “the Way.”
Zhuangzi believed that “the Way” is the Great and Venerable Teacher. What is the Way? To sum up the views in the text: purifying the heart and stilling the spirit, departing from form and discarding wisdom, forgetting life and death, and complying with nature. This is called “the Way.”
When Song Chuyi read this piece, she did not achieve complete self-forgetfulness, but she still comprehended many principles, and her heart would gradually return to tranquility.
The heavy snow drifted for two days straight, and the roads became harder and harder to travel. Fortunately, they were already approaching a small city of Wei called Baima.
After reaching Baima, there was still one more day’s journey before they would reach the Yellow River. Then, following the Yellow River all the way west, they could arrive near Hangu Pass of Qin.
As soon as the caravan entered Baima City, it immediately drew the attention of many people. Ji Yu had just chosen a spot on an open patch of ground to settle down when someone came over carrying goods, asking whether they wanted to trade.
The things commoners brought to trade were generally cloth and grain.
“Sir, shall we trade?” Ji Yu had never done business before and was somewhat uncertain.
Song Chuyi asked, “Does the caravan lack these things?”
Ji Yu said, “We’ve only been out of Puyang for three days. Barring accidents, our food can still last about ten more days, enough to reach the next city.”
“Tell them we deal in the buying and selling of people. If there are unwanted sons or daughters in their families, they can bring them to trade,” Song Chuyi said.
Ji Yu’s mouth twitched slightly. Even if they really were “unwanted sons and daughters,” there was no need to say it so bluntly.
Song Chuyi added another sentence, “Check carefully. Do not take any with defects. The girls must be neat and proper in appearance. The boys… do as you see fit.”
“Yes.” Ji Yu accepted the order and withdrew, loudly announcing to those commoners what Song Chuyi had just said.
As soon as the crowd heard that they were not trading for goods, but for people, they immediately scattered with a great clamor. Ji Yu sighed. There was so much war and chaos now, and many places had already become desolate. Where were there still extra people to spare? But precisely because of this, the people trade had always been enormously profitable. Every year because of war, the population continuously dwindled, yet the nobility’s demand for slaves did not decrease in the slightest. Therefore, the slave markets between the various states had always been quite active.
Ji Yu was just about to order people to set up a stove and cook when he saw a large crowd suddenly appear on the road, voices clamoring. Some were crying and struggling, some were quietly sobbing, and there were also women stumbling after them, shouting themselves hoarse.
Most of these people were women and children, with only a few able-bodied adult men. They stopped not far from the caravan. One bold child took half a step forward and asked, “Me – am I all right?”
They were selling themselves into slavery.
Among these people, some were selling themselves, some were selling their sons and daughters, and some had caught unrelated children to sell.
Song Chuyi opened the window, let down the curtain, and watched that group through the gap, scanning every one of them with eyes shining brightly.
“Therefore, when the sage uses military force, he destroys a state without losing the people’s hearts; his benefits and bounty are bestowed upon ten thousand generations, not because he loves particular people. Sir, how should this sentence be explained?” Longgu Buwang asked.
Song Chuyi did not even turn her head and said, “When the sage uses military force, he annihilates an enemy state yet does not lose the hearts of that state’s people; his benefits and bounty are widely bestowed upon ten thousand generations, not for the sake of favoring any particular person.”
Longgu Buwang frowned. He naturally understood the literal meaning. Seeing Song Chuyi’s absentminded appearance, he felt somewhat displeased, but still asked patiently, “How can military force be used without losing the people’s hearts? How can benefits and bounty be widely bestowed so that it does not count as favoring any particular person?”
“Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, trustworthiness.” Song Chuyi’s gaze rested on a little girl of seven or eight, and she examined her carefully many times over.
These were Confucian concepts. Longgu Buwang asked, “The benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and trustworthiness that you speak of – are they the same as the benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and trustworthiness in Confucian doctrine?”
“The meaning is indeed the same, but… huh?” Song Chuyi saw a middle-aged man tugging at the little girl she had just taken a fancy to, and quickly called out, “Ji Huan, Ji Huan!”
“Sir.” Ji Huan strode over.
Song Chuyi stretched out her hand, pointed across the way, and said, “Go see what’s going on, and find a way to buy that little girl.”
“Yes.”
“Sir, but what?” Longgu Buwang asked.
Song Chuyi turned her head and said, “Hm? But what?”
“You were just explaining to me the matter of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and trustworthiness,” Longgu Buwang said.
Song Chuyi thought back for a moment, folded her arms, and said, “You’re not fooling me, are you? That stuff about benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and trustworthiness…”
Longgu Buwang narrowed his eyes, his voice slightly deepening. “Do not tell me you were just speaking nonsense a moment ago.” As he spoke, he suddenly roared, “How can one who serves as a teacher be so frivolous?”
Song Chuyi dug at her ear and said lightly, “I remember. I was only testing whether this morning’s teaching to you had any effect.”
Longgu Buwang was stunned, then painfully clutched his head, falling silent in self-reflection. He had said he must keep calm and steady his heart, yet in the end he had still easily flown into a rage.
Song Chuyi slightly raised an eyebrow, turned her head, and continued looking outside the carriage, thinking to herself, Finally, I can observe in peace…
