Xiahou Zuo had said he wanted to hire two large carriages — but words are one thing, actions another. As one of Jizhou’s most prominent second-generation sons, he had always maintained, in his own words, that he was not extravagant with money.
In Li Chi’s words: that’s because you actually don’t have much money.
Xiahou Zuo had no comment. For in truth, he was not particularly wealthy on a daily basis. The more heavy-handed students at the academy would take money from the meeker ones — and Xiahou Zuo would take it from the heavy-handed ones.
In general, how flush he was at any given time depended on how flush those heavy-handed students happened to be.
Again in Xiahou Zuo’s own words: living at the mercy of others’ purses — wouldn’t you say that’s hard?
They hired one top-quality carriage with a top-quality driver, then went to collect Li Diudiu’s master, the Daoist Changmei — only to discover that Changmei had sustained injuries as well.
The two injured masters, master and disciple, looked at each other for a moment when they met, neither saying much — just looking at the other, with enough concern in their eyes to say everything that needed to be said.
Changmei crouched down in front of Li Diudiu. In his memory, when he crouched down they were about the same height — he wasn’t sure when it had happened, but Li Diudiu was now far taller than he remembered.
Crouching there face to face with Li Diudiu, Changmei raised his hand and gave a few gentle pats on Li Diudiu’s shoulder. A thousand words — all contained within those soft pats.
Li Diudiu likewise patted Changmei on the shoulder, mirroring his master’s gesture. One old, one young — and in this way they completed their mutual reassurance and unspoken pledges.
Very simple.
When the carriage left Jizhou City through the gate, the garrison soldiers — on edge after the great case of the past two days — had to conduct a thorough check. When they opened the carriage door and saw Xiahou Zuo, they immediately stepped back several paces and bowed low, each of them carrying on as though they had seen a demon or a ghost.
Xiahou Zuo couldn’t even be bothered to say a word to them. He didn’t particularly enjoy being feared — but he knew many people, perhaps the vast majority, loved that feeling.
“That is one of the reasons people claw their way to the top.”
Xiahou Zuo had the carriage door closed again. He looked at Li Chi and said: “Those who have status want more of it. Those who have wealth fight to acquire status. Those who have neither status nor wealth still want others to fear them — and so you get those ruffians and thugs who go around picking fights and proving their toughness.”
He leaned back a little, seeming to grow uncomfortable after sitting too long. Li Diudiu decided this was the moment for a friend to do something, and so he patted Yan Qingzhi’s thigh and said: “Lie down here — don’t stand on ceremony.”
Yan Qingzhi: “?”
He had assumed Xiahou Zuo would never actually do it — surely everyone maintained a sense of dignity. Who would have expected that Xiahou Zuo would give him not even a shred of face, actually turning sideways and stretching out to lay his head on Yan Qingzhi’s thigh. Yan Qingzhi gave a startled jolt, as though struck by lightning.
“You actually lay down!”
A moment later, Yan Qingzhi let out an exasperated shout.
Xiahou Zuo was perfectly at ease. In his view, Yan Qingzhi’s exasperation was entirely beneath his concern — he was lying comfortably, after all.
Yan Qingzhi said helplessly: “You can lie there if you want — but stop filling his head with all that nonsense. It is useless talk.”
Xiahou Zuo curled his lips: “What I say is useless? Is what the academy teaches — benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, fidelity — useful then?”
Yan Qingzhi said: “You dare say what the academy teaches is useless?”
Xiahou Zuo said: “It is useful — but not for times like these… If one day Dachu returns to what it once was: prosperous and flourishing, with officials following their proper path and the common people following theirs, with wholesome customs and proper order between elder and younger — then benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and fidelity would certainly be useful. They would be of the greatest use. But now…”
Xiahou Zuo said: “Teacher Yan — do you think the rebels would listen if you faced them with the academy’s way of reasoning?”
Yan Qingzhi said: “If you keep talking nonsense, get up!”
Xiahou Zuo said: “Then I’ll stop… The thigh is more important.”
Li Diudiu said from the side: “Master, don’t argue with him — think of it as humanitarian aid.”
Yan Qingzhi: “You shut your mouth! You’re no better! Why don’t you offer up your thigh?”
Li Diudiu answered seriously: “It is too inexperienced. It should not yet be made to bear what it cannot bear.”
Yan Qingzhi: “…”
The three of them traded remarks back and forth. Changmei said nothing throughout, only watching his disciple Li Diudiu with a foolish, fond smile. He felt that this foolish disciple of his had really come into his own — the way he looked in his academy robes was truly something, completely different from those old ragged clothes. To be able to trade jokes like this with the likes of Yan Qingzhi and Xiahou Zuo — he thought Li Diudiu was remarkable.
He thought they were trading jokes like equals…
The old man looked at his foolish child. The more he looked, the better he seemed.
“By the way.”
Xiahou Zuo shifted to a new topic: “Li Chi — have you heard of Master Yuming?”
Li Diudiu shook his head: “I haven’t.”
Xiahou Zuo looked at Yan Qingzhi: “You tell him.”
Yan Qingzhi: “Why should I?”
Xiahou Zuo said: “I have a chest wound. I can’t speak too much — it tires my mouth.”
Yan Qingzhi glared at him, but still explained to Li Diudiu: “Master Yuming’s reputation is not as grand as our Headmaster Gao’s. But in terms of seniority, he is actually Headmaster Gao’s senior classmate — they both once studied under Master Pingyan, though when Headmaster Gao entered, Master Yuming had already left.”
Xiahou Zuo said: “If you don’t understand, I can give you a rough explanation. Scholars look down on men of the jianghu — especially scholars who have made a name for themselves, who have achieved rank. They all feel that jianghu men are rough and unrefined, not fit for polite company.
“But in truth there is not much difference. Men of the jianghu must seek a master lineage — take the gangs of Jizhou City, for instance: on the underground circuit, anyone wanting some standing has to find a way to get taken in by a faction like Wind and Thunder Gate or Golden Feather Tower. Say you’re a small-time ruffian on the streets — if you want an identity you can brag about, you find a way to get taken in under Wind and Thunder Gate or Golden Feather Tower. You finagle your way in and end up as a disciple of some second-generation boss — that makes you a third generation. When you go back out and hustle, you can tell people you’re someone from Golden Feather Tower’s so-and-so big brother. It makes you seem more impressive — only scholars don’t say ‘impressive’ in such crude terms. They’d probably say something like ‘much honored to meet you, I’ve long admired your name’ — though in truth they’ve admired nothing at all…
“For instance, two famous scholars — one says he studied under Headmaster Gao; the other says he studied under Master Yuming. Both of them would think the other was impressive. Isn’t it all the same? Same principle entirely.”
Yan Qingzhi’s expression had been growing increasingly dark. Xiahou Zuo said: “I’ll shut up now — let me rest a while…”
Yan Qingzhi said: “Don’t listen to his nonsense.”
Li Diudiu nodded: “Yes, Master.”
Changmei listened to all this and let out a sigh: “It’s really not the same, though. The jianghu now is different from the jianghu of old… In the old days, when you named your lineage in the jianghu, people would respect it. These days, naming your lineage is useless — what counts is who you belong to among the powerful.”
Yan Qingzhi whipped around: “You shut up too!”
Changmei: “Ah…”
Yan Qingzhi froze, then immediately apologized: “I’m sorry, Daoist — that slipped out…”
Xiahou Zuo said: “That’s just how things are. What use is it to let him hear only high-sounding words? Seeing clearly what kind of environment we are actually in — that is what matters. In the academy you teach, and tell the students that the rivers and mountains are still magnificent, that all under heaven is at peace… actually, that’s telling lies.”
Yan Qingzhi let out a long breath and said no more.
“Master Yuming is something finer than our Headmaster Gao.”
Xiahou Zuo said: “Master Yuming chose to live in seclusion precisely because he felt scholars had already lost all backbone. In Dachu, the less backbone a scholar has, the more easily he rises. A few years ago, a disciple of Master Yuming’s wrote a lengthy essay of seven thousand characters heaping lavish praise upon the chief eunuch of the Surveillance Bureau, Liu Chongxin.
“Liu Chongxin was greatly impressed and immediately brought this man into the Surveillance Bureau, elevating him at once to a fifth-rank official — a previously idle person with no path into official service…
“Because of this, Master Yuming was furious. In his rage he left the capital Daxing and returned to this part of the country, going into seclusion in Tang County. Beyond scholarly matters, he refuses to pay attention to anything else.”
Yan Qingzhi said: “If you had said all that without bringing Headmaster Gao into it, it would have been perfectly proper to say.”
Xiahou Zuo said: “The Gao surnamed one is the one without propriety — what does that have to do with me?”
Yan Qingzhi thought for a moment and then said: “Now I will shut up. I am going to rest a while.”
Xiahou Zuo shrugged. Yan Qingzhi was scowling, but Xiahou Zuo was still lying on his thigh — using him as a pillow, clearly finding it quite comfortable. Yan Qingzhi was angry, but he didn’t throw Xiahou Zuo off. That was its own kind of interesting.
“Master Yuming is a man who prizes his reputation.”
Xiahou Zuo continued: “At the very least, he still knows what baseline a man of letters should not cross — and he will not yield an inch of that baseline. Border soldiers guard the passes with their lives against enemies on the frontier — that is their baseline, not to be yielded an inch. Men of letters should have their own baseline as well, not to be yielded an inch.”
He tilted his head back to look up at Yan Qingzhi: “Because all culture, all spirit, all resolve — and everything a people ought to carry with them — is passed down through the pens of men of letters. Writing does not merely carry the Way. Writing carries the inheritance of a people.”
Yan Qingzhi was lost in thought for a long, long time after hearing those words.
When Xiahou Zuo had said his fill, he spoke no more. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the pleasant passage of time.
The driver’s skill was excellent, and the carriage moved smoothly. The interior was fitted with sufficient comfort, and the gentle rocking seemed to make it easier to fall asleep.
Before long, Xiahou Zuo had genuinely dozed off. He fell silent, no longer trading pointed remarks with Yan Qingzhi — yet Yan Qingzhi’s expression was growing worse and worse.
“Master — bear with it.”
Li Diudiu saw Yan Qingzhi’s raised hand and offered a word of counsel.
Yan Qingzhi said: “Look at his drool! His saliva is flowing onto my leg!”
That shout startled Xiahou Zuo awake. He opened his eyes and looked around in momentary confusion, then felt something damp near his cheek and instinctively reached out to touch Yan Qingzhi’s thigh — and gave a start.
“Did you wet yourself?!” he asked Yan Qingzhi.
Yan Qingzhi: “No one stop me. I am going to kill this person.”
Li Diudiu immediately moved to sit beside his master, the two of them — old man and young — arranging themselves in the most enthusiastic spectator formation, both looking thoroughly entertained and expectant.
Tang County was not very far from Jizhou City — just over a hundred li. They were in no hurry, planning to take two days to get there, spend five or six days in Tang County, then take another two days to return — about ten days in all.
Though not far from Jizhou City, it was practically another world. Along the route they took in the scenery — and also the desolation.
Tang County was not among the most devastated areas. After all, right next door was Laiku County, hometown of the powerful eunuch Liu Chongxin, with garrison troops stationed there, which gave the roving bandits at least some pause.
In particular, the Gui’an Mountain Estate on Yuntu Mountain in Tang County — their destination — lay just on the other side of the mountain from Laiku County territory, the very village where Liu Chongxin came from. So no bandits had disturbed it.
Master Yuming detested Liu Chongxin enough to curse him into the ground, yet had chosen to live in seclusion right next door to Liu Chongxin’s hometown. Wasn’t that its own kind of interesting?
They entered Tang County seat planning to lodge there and set out again early the next morning. From the county seat to Yuntu Mountain was still sixty-odd li, which at their pace would take a full day.
Tang County had a very famous tavern called Only Drink Wine, which had existed for over a hundred years — a genuine old establishment.
The reason it had always flourished was a liquor uniquely its own: a spirit called Burning Blade. Rumor had it the fragrance carried for ten li — most of those ten li was probably an exaggeration, but the wine itself was genuinely good.
The carriage stopped in front of Only Drink Wine. Another carriage also stopped there. Li Diudiu climbed down first. From the other carriage, a young man also climbed down.
That young man’s eyes caught on Li Diudiu’s academy robes and lingered for a moment, something distant crossing his gaze.
He looked at Li Diudiu. Li Diudiu looked back at him.
—