He unfolded the three rolls of parchment. The writing on them was neat and forceful, recording many short stories, and each story carried a profound moral, much in the style of Zhuangzi.
Ying Si actually found himself unable to put them down. At first he merely skimmed quickly, but later, after reading each story, he carefully pondered it.
These were all records made by Song Chuyi on her journey, noting what she had seen and heard along the way. It had taken no more than two months, and the matters recorded were not many, yet between the lines it was filled with wisdom and thought-provoking.
When the sky was about to brighten, Ying Si reluctantly set down the parchment rolls and untied the bamboo slip.
At one look, he was even more shocked at heart.
The three striking large characters at the beginning – On Destroying States – had completely drawn him in. His grand ambitions were buried deep in his heart, and before he had complete strength, he would never reveal the slightest bit of them. Yet this piece of discourse happened to coincide exactly with the thoughts deep within him, making him immediately feel that if in life he could have such a kindred spirit to join hands with and gallop across the world, it would surely be an incomparably delightful thing.
After reading the discourse, Ying Si could not help but strike the table and cry out in admiration.
“Hahaha!”
The sudden burst of laughter startled the attendant standing quietly nearby into a jolt, and he stealthily glanced in astonishment at this young ruler. Ever since ascending the throne, he had never once even curved the corners of his mouth, and many people thought he did not know how to laugh. Who could have imagined that in the middle of the night he would laugh so wildly?
Ying Si carefully read On Destroying States once again, firmly committing the contents to memory, and then threw the bamboo slip into the brazier.
He lowered his eyes and watched the bamboo slip in the basin gradually turn black, and on his handsome face there still lingered a trace of a smile that had not yet faded.
The attendant stared blankly, thinking to himself, so the ruler is not an iceberg that never melts in ten thousand years after all. “My lord, it is almost dawn. Please rest,” the attendant said, seeing that Ying Si was in a good mood, and boldly ventured another reminder.
“Yes.” Ying Si conveniently placed the three rolls of parchment into a jade box and rose to walk toward the bed.
The next morning.
Song Chuyi rose early from bed, because today the Lord of Qin might summon her, and she also had to begin preparations to go to the next state.
In the room, the fragrance of orchids rose faintly. Longgu Buwang was reading a book nearby, while Song Chuyi set up a chessboard and played against herself. The black and white pieces were locked in fierce battle, evenly matched and checking each other, and for the moment neither side could immediately find a breakthrough. So she temporarily stopped and asked, “Yu, whom did the ruler send to Qi?”
For this round of persuasion, Song Chuyi was responsible for Qin, Zhao, and Han, while to save time, separate envoys had been sent to Qi and Chu.
Qin’s court and countryside were currently unstable, and within half a year it was unlikely to launch a large-scale invasion of another state. Zhao had fallen into internal turmoil, and although its foundations would not be shaken, it was still not a good time for external war. Therefore, the main forces in this siege against Wei lay with Qi and Chu.
Whether this war could be launched depended on the situation on Song Chuyi’s side, while whether it could be won depended crucially on whether Qi and Chu could mount powerful offensives.
“Master Min,” Ji Yu said.
“Min Chi.” Song Chuyi pronounced the name, then expressionlessly tossed the piece in her hand into the bowl, speaking as if to herself and yet also to Ji Yu, “The ruler quite trusts him.”
“Are you acquainted with Master Min, master?” Ji Yu asked.
Song Chuyi did not answer, and Ji Yu did not press further. Instead he explained, “He was first a disciple of Guiguzi and studied the School of Military Strategy, but he is also very capable in diplomacy. During one year in Wey, he shared a great deal of the ruler’s burdens, which is why the ruler relies on him especially.”
Song Chuyi curled her lip. “Guiguzi’s disciples, if not a thousand then eight hundred. How could that compare with our school, few but refined?”
The disciples Zhuangzi truly accepted into his school numbered only a few dozen. Compared with Guiguzi, that was indeed extremely few.
“Tch, although I now count as a member of the school too, I still have to say it: Guiguzi is famed throughout the world, scholars from everywhere flock to him, and we simply cannot recruit disciples at all, can we?” Longgu Buwang finally seized an opportunity to take Song Chuyi down a peg.
Song Chuyi raised her hand and smoothed her brow, then asked leisurely, “Do you know what school you belong to?”
Longgu Buwang choked for a moment. “If you had not told me, how would I know?”
“Mm, it is like this.” Song Chuyi looked at him with a smile. “I can guarantee that our school is also famous throughout the world. However, we are rather strict in taking disciples. Your grandmaster said that when traveling abroad, sometimes one is inevitably forced to take in one or two disciples of poor aptitude, poor comprehension, and no bearing. If unfortunately one does accept such a disciple, under no circumstances may one reveal the school to them.”
“Poor aptitude? Poor comprehension? No bearing?” Longgu Buwang flew into a rage and slammed the bamboo slip heavily onto the table.
Song Chuyi leaned idly against the armrest, propped her cheek on her hand, and said, “There is no need to rush to prove that you truly have no bearing. I understand you. Do not feel inferior, young man.”
“Ah…” Long Gu Buwang let out a furious roar and stormed out with great strides. He feared that if he looked one more time at Song Chuyi’s half-smiling face, he would not be able to resist rushing over and beating her up. White Blade, who had originally been squinting and about to fall asleep, was startled awake and suddenly hopped out happily after him, probably thinking there was something fun.
Earlier, when Song Chuyi had asked about Min Chi, Ji Yu had already sensed that she was in a bad mood, and Longgu Buwang had still gone and run straight into the blade, conveniently giving her an outlet for her anger. Who could he blame?
Ji Yu sighed inwardly. Truly asking for trouble.
The room quieted down. Song Chuyi toyed with the pieces in the bowl and suddenly gave a soft laugh.
She had not expected that her first offering of strategy would ultimately be carried out together with him, which abruptly made her lose interest in the matter and feel a certain weariness. Still, one should finish what one starts, and she, Song Chuyi, was not someone so petty. So what if she just gave him a chance to rise?
To lift someone up and then let them fall – such a process was quite thrilling too. At this thought, Song Chuyi became happy again, picked up a piece, and continued playing against herself with great interest.
Ji Yu watched her subtle shifts of mood, which changed even faster than the skies of June, and for a moment was somewhat speechless.
Half an hour passed.
Seeing that Song Chu had actually become so absorbed in playing chess against herself, Ji Yu could not help asking, “Master, is playing against yourself so interesting?”
“Mm…” Song Chuyi murmured in thought, a black piece held between her fingers as she frowned and considered where to place it. Only after quite a while did she say, “Of course.”
Most people, when they first begin playing against themselves, do not know where to start, because ordinary people find it hard to split their attention in two. Both sides’ thoughts are in one’s own mind, and since one already knows the other’s strategy, the pleasure of the game is lost. But for Song Chuyi, the greatest benefit of playing against herself was that it trained her to consider matters from every angle.
“Master, the Lord of Qin summons you,” Ji Huan reported from outside.
White Blade came rushing in like a gust of wind from behind Ji Huan, a piece of white cloth in its mouth, and delivered it into Song Chuyi’s hand.
Song Chuyi lifted it and looked. “An undergarment?”
It looked as if it had already been worn. This size… seemed to be what Longgu Buwang wore.
“Well done.” Song Chuyi reached out and patted White Blade on the head, then took a slice of dried meat from her sleeve pouch and tossed it to it.
Song Chuyi straightened her clothes and cap. Just as she stepped out the door, she heard Longgu Buwang roaring from the bathhouse. “Someone bring me a middle garment! A bunch of lowly slaves dare to bully me too!”
“What is going on?” Song Chuyi asked Ji Huan with great interest.
Ji Huan wiped away a bit of sweat on Longgu Buwang’s behalf and said, “Just now White Blade was playing in the bathhouse. When it came out, it ran off chasing the maid delivering replacement clothes, frightening all the maids into fleeing helter-skelter…”
“That is simply outrageous, White Blade!” Song Chuyi called out.
White Blade darted out from the room and sat down on its haunches in front of Song Chuyi.
Sigh, at least she has not yet lost all human nature. Ji Yu had just thought this when he heard Song Chuyi scold White Blade. “Since you took the middle garment, why did you not take the outer robe as well? And you still have the nerve to eat a piece of my dried meat – utterly shameless.”
Ji Yu and Ji Huan broke out in sweat on their foreheads, secretly vowing that in the future they must not offend anyone, but especially not Song Chuyi.
“Master, it is time to set out,” Ji Yu said.
“Yes.” Song Chuyi answered.
White Blade watched the several of them leave with a grieved look. It had thought that being called over meant there would be more dried meat to eat, but in the end there was nothing, and its master even seemed very fierce. Although it did not understand what Song Chuyi’s words meant, it had discovered that carrying something over in its mouth got it food… Mm, this time it definitely had to carry over more things.
White Blade smacked its lips and quickly ran toward the bathhouse again.
Song Chuyi got into the carriage and heard the screams and roars in the courtyard, a scene of complete chaos, and could not help but curve her lips and say to herself, “As expected of a little pet raised by me. Clever.”
Outside, the snow was still falling, though much lighter than the day before, and the wind had gradually weakened.
The snow on the road was half a person deep and had already covered most of the doors on both sides. Some icicles hanging from the eaves reached all the way to the ground. The snow on the road had long since been cleared away, and many people were still busy in front of their own doors.
The whole way was unobstructed to the Qin palace.
Two palace maids led Song Chuyi to a warm chamber.
This time the attendant did not stretch his voice to shout, but only said respectfully toward the tightly closed door, “My lord, the envoy of Wey has arrived.”
“Yes,” came a indifferent response from inside.
“This way.” The attendant opened the door.
As soon as Song Chuyi stepped into the room, she felt warmth rush to her face.
The warm chamber was not especially large, perhaps only six meters in both length and width. It was piled with many bamboo slips. Before the large desk, the ruler in a black splendid robe was writing something on a piece of silk. Hearing footsteps, before Song Chuyi could speak, he said without raising his head, “Sit.”
“Thank you.” Song Chuyi still performed a proper salute before kneeling down on a soft cushion to one side as instructed.
Ying Si was writing with full concentration and for the moment had no intention of paying attention to her.
Song Chuyi then began boredly sizing up the furnishings in the room. After looking around, her gaze fell again on Ying Si. She smacked her lips and sighed inwardly, truly good-looking. Song Chuyi actually had no thoughts at all about marriage and would not want to trap herself in someone’s back courtyard, unless someone took the whole world as their back courtyard. She simply felt that if in the future she could come to Qin, leaving other things aside, just looking at this would be pleasing to the eye. Apart from discussing state affairs, perhaps she might even take the opportunity to touch him a few times, see him half-naked or something…
Ying Si put down the brush and looked up to see Song Chuyi wearing a rippling smile. Expressionless, he asked, “Is there something that pleases you? You may as well share it with me.”
“Ahem.” Song Chu had not expected Ying Si to actually say so many words as soon as he opened his mouth. It was truly not easy, so she gave a dry laugh and said, “I was merely captivated by the lord’s elegant bearing. Nothing else, nothing else.”
