Chapter 42: Dialectically Arguable Benevolence, Righteousness, And Morality
The Dragon Pearl contains disinfectant water, medicine, and suture thread. These things are very precious; using a little means having a little less, so naturally they can’t be casually used on someone like Feng An who has only a little acquaintance.
Feng An passed out from the pain, but the teenage boy with a high fever woke up. The first thing he did upon waking was to curse loudly at the front.
Despite his weak body, he cursed very filthily. At least, Yun Ce understood clearly the two phrases “your mother’s” and “at your age, the wood of your grave is already arched.”
It seemed this was not someone who liked to suffer losses; even if he suffered a loss, he would definitely find a way to get it back.
Yun Ce quite admired this kind of personality, because he also liked to curse his own family members, especially the old ancestor at home.
Compared to these two men, the girls and young girls were very quiet. Each held a piece of meat in her hands and gnawed on it slowly, seemingly content with their current life, quite adaptable to circumstances.
The cursing teenager was named Liang Kun. After cursing, he glanced at the horse carriage, then sized up Yun Ce, and immediately cupped his hands toward E Ji: “Please grant some food, Young Lord.”
Among the women on the sheep cart, E Ji was dressed the most simply. His sharpness allowed him to pick out the one who truly had the say; it had to be said he was capable.
The words “Young Lord” made E Ji’s heart bloom with joy. She immediately took a piece of lamb belly with lard from the jar for him, and thoughtfully sprinkled salt on it.
Liang Kun was probably starving mad. He took the mutton and started gnawing, finishing it in moments. He didn’t ask for more, but cupped his hands again: “Many thanks to Young Lord for the food. Liang Kun will never forget it.”
1 E Ji returned the courtesy: “It’s nothing. Young Master, no need to worry.”
1 Seeing Liang Kun’s lips cracked and peeling, she scooped a spoon of hot water from the pottery jar on the wood stove and handed it to him. Liang Kun took the spoon, blew it a bit to cool, and drank it down sip by sip.
1 After drinking the water, Liang Kun returned the spoon. He looked at Feng An lying beside him and cupped his hands toward Yun Ce: “Thank you for your trouble, brother.”
1 After speaking, he simply lay down and slept, so straightforwardly that even Yun Ce found it hard to accept.
1 E Ji jumped down from the sheep cart and whispered to Yun Ce: “These women don’t want to go back.”
1 Yun Ce frowned: “We still have a very long way to go. We can’t take them with us.”
1 E Ji also frowned: “I asked them. They’ve already been abandoned by their master. If they go back, they’ll become servants again.”
1 Yun Ce reached out, lifted E Ji’s chin, and said: “Speak properly!”
1 E Ji stomped her foot in shy annoyance: “Fine, fine. I just want a not-too-big courtyard with a water well in it. The well platform must be blue stone, preferably with patterns. It would be best if there are a few fruit trees. The house doesn’t need to be large: three rooms in the front, three on the left, three on the right, and best to have a backyard with a tall courtyard gate… In the courtyard, we can plant seven or eight Yi Trees, and best to have a large empty plot to grow bean pods… We must keep a few horses no matter what; there are too few horse carriages at home and we need more… Also, keep several mares that can produce milk and foal…”
1 After E Ji spent nearly half an hour pouring out her dreams, Yun Ce finally understood that the small courtyard she wanted would take at least over a hundred mu of land to fit all the things she chattered about.
2 In fact, this simple idea had only arisen less than an hour ago, when she was idly discussing their former homes with a few little girls.
2 She was the type who couldn’t tolerate others being stronger than her. Plus, deep down, she believed there was nothing in this world that could stump Yun Ce.
2 Since she wanted a courtyard and her man had the ability, why not ask for the best? Why not list more conditions?
2 Yun Ce treated it as the little girl having a hysterical fit. He tossed her onto the sheep cart, where he saw her take out all the money she had, counting it with the four half-grown girls, muttering who knows what.
2 At nightfall, they encountered another pack of doggies on the road. Yun Ce did the same, killing the leader of this doggy pack, and the doggies scattered.
2 With the doggies scattered, there were several piles of bones on the ground. A little girl in a water-red ruqun suddenly spotted a torn cloth fragment in a bone pile, then jumped off the sheep cart regardless, hugged the cloth fragment, and cried her heart out.
2 E Ji found a small green bell in the bone pile. After wiping it clean, she shook it in her hand, producing a crisp “ding ding ding” sound.
2 Seeing An Ji staring at her unblinkingly, she regretfully gave the bell to An Ji. According to the other little girls, it was her mother’s keepsake. Her mother was a musician in the City Lord’s Mansion, specializing in striking the bianzhong to set the tempo for song and dance.
2 Someone who could strike the bianzhong and set the tempo for dance music was absolutely top among musicians. In itself, the bianzhong was not something ordinary families could afford. A complete set had sixty-five bells, the largest weighing five hundred jin, the smallest five jin, and the total weight of a complete set exceeded two and a half tons.
2 This thing was not just a musical instrument, but a ritual vessel. The person in charge of this ritual vessel was absolutely an important figure in the family. Now, this important figure had been fed to dogs. It seemed the main family had reached the end of the road.
3 With the corpses piled together, it was impossible to tell which bones were An Ji’s mother’s. E Ji borrowed a shovel from Yun Ce and buried all the meatless corpses with the four little girls.
3 The recovered Feng An wrote a sacrificial essay for An Ji’s mother. Though the article was empty and meaningless, since Feng An didn’t know An Ji’s mother, it was already quite impressive.
3 After Liang Kun ate, drank water, and slept four hours, his spirits had improved. No longer feverish, but his spirit was greatly dispirited, staring blankly toward Pingyuan City without a word.
3 After burying An Ji’s mother, E Ji started cooking bean porridge. With many women and children, E Ji added extra minced meat to the bean porridge.
3 Feng An washed his hands by the water source, walked to Yun Ce who was sharpening crossbow bolts, and said: “Rebellion arose suddenly, leaving no time for preparation. In an instant, relatives died tragically, families separated, and people lived in panic day and night. Brother, what is the reason for this?”
3 Yun Ce’s hands didn’t stop as he casually replied: “It’s all caused by injustice.”
3 Feng An didn’t answer. Nearby, Liang Kun angrily said: “Does injustice justify killing?”
3 Yun Ce turned to look at Liang Kun and smiled: “I’ve suffered injustice, so why can’t I kill? Back when Chen Sheng and Wu Guang resisted tyrannical Qin, their slogan was ‘Are nobles and generals born noble?’ You hear these slogans and feel exhilarated.
3 Know that High Ancestor Emperor Liu Bang was actually one of the rebels back then, for the same reason of suffering injustice.
3 Now, it’s the Great Han’s turn to treat others unjustly. When they face resistance, how come you can’t stand it?”
4 Liang Kun angrily said: “My Liang family passes down poetry and rites. When have we ever oppressed others?”
4 The bean porridge was ready. Yun Ce took two bowls from E Ji, handed one to Feng An casually, and said to Liang Kun: “To those poor men, having money is a crime.”
4 “That money was accumulated generation after generation by our ancestors through diligence and frugality.” Liang Kun’s anger was hard to quell.
4 Yun Ce held his porridge bowl: “Wrong. Diligence leads to wealth is impossible. If it were true, the wealthiest should be those at the bottom. They get up earliest, sleep latest, eat worst, live worst, and are the most frugal.
4 Not those who sleep until the sun is three poles high.
4 Besides, I tested it in Hekou Village. Diligence can fill the belly, but forget about wealth. You should choose to forget what happened in Pingyuan City, and don’t grieve for lost family. It won’t be long before such things happen frequently on Great Han land. Then, everyone will be fallen people and will quickly get used to it.”
4 These words naturally couldn’t convince Liang Kun. Fortunately, the bean porridge tasted so good that it filled his mouth. So, under a bright moon, everyone slurped their porridge.
4 As for Yun Ce’s earlier assertion that the world was about to be in chaos, neither Liang Kun nor Feng An took it to heart. After all, the Great Han’s prestige was far-reaching at this time, with no one in the world disobeying.
4 Pingyuan City was just remote wildmen rebelling. If encountered, count it as bad luck.
4 Big events are easy for ordinary people to forgive in some way. But once it involves their own vital interests, it’s hard to be magnanimous.
5 The next day on the road, Yun Ce’s sheep cart encountered a group of travelers. The leading man, even now, still walked with a tiger’s stride and dragon’s vigor. The others couldn’t maintain his kind of bearing; faces pale, supporting their bodies with sticks, looking ready to collapse.
5 This was the result of the whole group sustaining one person.
5 As the sheep cart slowly passed them, the leading strong man suddenly spoke: “Young Master, could you give up the horse carriage? Our family is willing to pay ten times the price.”
5 Yun Ce had no intention of paying attention and drove the sheep cart to leave. E Ji on the sheep cart heard “ten times the price” and her eyes lit up immediately.
5 She jumped down from the sheep cart and said to the strong man: “There’s one empty seat here, which can be sold to you.”
5 The strong man was choked by E Ji’s words and spoke again: “Our family wants the whole horse carriage, not one seat.”
5 E Ji shook her head: “The cart is full of wounded, sick, women and children. No extra space for you. If you buy, only one seat. I see your wife can hardly stand; why not buy it for her to sit.”
5 E Ji pointed at the swaying woman in the crowd, smiling cheerfully. Yun Ce thought she resembled those black cab drivers on Earth touting for passengers.
5 The strong man said without hesitation: “In that case, no need.”
5 Seeing the strong man continue leading his family slowly on foot, E Ji was very disappointed. In fact, Yun Ce was even more disappointed.
6 After the horse carriage was far away, Feng An said to Yun Ce, who had a face full of disappointment: “I can understand Young Lord E’s disappointment, but I don’t know why Brother Liu is disappointed?”
6 Nearby, Liang Kun sneered: “He was hoping they’d try to rob. That way, he’d have reason to rob them.”
6 Yun Ce raised a thumb in praise: “The one who knows me is Brother Liang.”
