Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Who could predict what the future truly held?
Jiang Pengji loved battles, but she was not a bloodthirsty person. As long as no one provoked her, she would not find fault with anyone. As for what the old monk had said about her becoming a sovereign ruler, that would depend on the situation.
Jiang Pengji was not one to create trouble, but she was not one to shy away from it, either.
Jiang Pengji’s feelings were as calm as the setting sun outside the carriage, but Liu She was far from feeling calm.
When they returned to the manor, Liu She sent Jiang Pengji to check on her stepmother. He returned to the main wing and told his maids, “Stay outside the room and don’t allow anyone inside. Tell Lanting, too, when he stops by.”
The two beautiful maids nodded submissively. Without looking twice at them, Liu She quickly entered the room that he and Gu Min had once shared. According to the customs of the era, the first lady usually stayed in the east wing. Liu She and Gu Min, however, were close and had shared a room.
The room looked the same as it had before his wife passed away. Liu She surveyed the room quickly and then walked towards a corner.
He carefully moved some boxes aside and used his jade hairpin to carve into the floor a few times. He followed the carved lines and moved a brick, exposing the hollow space underneath it. There were a few copper boxes with gilded gold and silver decorations. Each box was locked, but he had the key.
He opened one of the boxes and carefully removed a neatly folded silk cloth. The cloth was filled with words.
Liu She quickly read the words on the cloth, and his expression turned dark and gloomy. He stayed in the same position until the maids outside informed him that Jiang Pengji had arrived to pay her respects. He reluctantly folded the silk cloth and returned everything back to the way it had been.
Liu She cleared his expression and smoothed out the creases in his outfit before leaving the room into the main courtyard.
He told Jiang Pengji that she did not need to go to the family school anymore. Since Wei Gongcao was still sick, Liu She would tutor her for the time being.
He took the bamboo slip and book from Jiang Pengji and flipped through them. “This is what you’ve been reading?”
It was a book called Military Strategies and half a scroll of The Analects of Confucius.
Liu She had studied with these same materials, and many of the pages even had his own annotations in them.
He noticed that Jiang Pengji had made new annotations in the scrolls. It seemed like his daughter preferred Military Strategies over The Analects of Confucius. She had written her notes, opinions, and even some hypothetical strategies in Military Strategies. The other book, however...
Liu She and Jiang Pengji both disliked The Analects of Confucius. The more they read it, the worse their headaches got. “These words are meant to deceive unintelligent people...”
He closed the bamboo scrolls and placed them aside before carefully looking through Jiang Pengji’s annotations in Military Strategies.
Jiang Pengji came to the conclusion that Liu She was a weirdo in this era, a peculiar and elegant weirdo who somehow managed to look normal.
This is the age of the scholars. Is it even okay for him to say that about the sage?
Even if this had happened in her era of advanced technology and huge territories, it would still be considered weird.
Jiang Pengji curiously said, “‘The sovereign ruler is like a boat; the commoners are like water. The water can hold up a boat, but it can also sink it. So the commoners are more important than the ruler.’ Don’t tell me even that is false?”
Liu She shook his head. “No, don’t say ‘false.’ Say ‘too perfect.’”
He knew that his daughter was not ordinary, but she was still inexperienced. Gu Min had always said that 12-year-old children were very young. They still needed guidance and should not be overindulged or left to study on their own.
12 was the best age to mold people. Once they were past that age, their ideologies became fixed and hard to change.
His daughter did not like The Analects of Confucius. Liu She could tell because she had only made a few annotations in it. But that did not mean they should completely ignore it.
He believed the saying “If someone were to follow half of the analects of Confucius, they could could rule the world.” But one needed to learn them smartly and selectively.
For emperors, learning the analects trained their temperament. It also gave them wisdom on when to control or win the people’s hearts, and it also taught them how to observe the the people’s will... There were many advantages to learning the analects.
Liu She had spent his years away as a governor. The land he governed had flourished under his rule.The country had gone through tremendous changes, and everyone had been affected, from the impoverished to the rich and powerful.
He could even tell which children would become successful. And he was worried that Jiang Pengji would turn crooked due to her curiosity and arrogance.
“The sage’s words are to restrain a nobleman, not a vile man. You don’t have to read too deeply into those overly vague words. Just take a look.”
If Liu She said those words in public, the old-fashioned scholars would have condemned him for treason and heresy.
“Although this has some semblance of truth: ‘If you have the support of the people, you can rule the world.’”
Was Dongqing not the same?
The previous emperor had been absurd. He had committed patricide to ascend to the throne. He was gullible, indulged in little pleasures, led a promiscuous life, and practiced cronyism... But that was not all: He had even toyed with his uncle’s wife and then killed his uncle.
The current emperor’s history was even more interesting. He had killed his elder brother and seized his brother’s wife, along with his minister’s wife. He was slack in government affairs, and he idled his time away by seeking entertainment. He was arrogant and tyrannical, decrepit and idiotic, patronizing and crafty. He indulged his aides and persecuted the worthy generals... The court was corrupt. The officials embezzled and rotted the foundations of Dongqing. They brought false charges against innocent people... With such an emperor, Dongqing was doomed.
The nobles of northern Xinjiang and its government would be the last straw to break the camel’s back.
Without a peace treaty, Dongqing could still survive for another few years. Then when it became time for the crown prince to take over, he might be a worthy emperor and could probably save Dongqing. But if they went ahead with the peace treaty and invited the wolves into a herd of sheep... Well, that would be hard to say.
There was turmoil, and that was why Liu She believed the Great Master Liaochen.
Jiang Pengji watched the the smiling Liu She. His words were serious and in no way a jest.
“I will remember what you have said.” Jiang Pengji mentally rolled her eyes. Liu She was trying to admonish her.
There was a huge generation gap between this current era and the era she was from. This era was socially and culturally very different from the one she knew. Liu She’s advice had been helpful, but she still needed time to understand everything he had said.