Legend of Great Tang’s Twin Dragons

Translator: Foxs' Wuxia

In the morning light, Xu Ziling stood on the bow, admiring the beautiful and touching mountains and waters [i.e. scenery] of the south.

Kou Zhong came to his side and said, “There are still about two sichen, and then I can see Zhizhi. What is the first thing I should say to her? For example, I have a big gift for you. No! That will be too cheap! I should be a bit humble like Ning Daoqi, saying something like I have come to Lingnan specifically to ask for Zhizhi’s forgiveness. Ay! That does not look like my usual style. Huh! Why don’t you answer me? Ah, I know! You are thinking about the problem with Shi Feixuan and Shi Qingxuan. Ay! This is called easy to grasp but difficult to put into practice, I am fully aware that I shouldn’t think about Shang Xiufang, but my heart fails to live up to expectations.”

Xu Ziling spoke in displeasure, “People are always a bit more optimistic and energetic when they just got out of bed, Shimin Xiong still has not up yet?”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Don’t change the subject, what optimistic and energetic thing did your little brains was thinking about?”

Revealing a pondering look, Xu Ziling said, “I was thinking about the word that often hangs by Shi Zhixuan’s lips, which is the two-character ‘ru wei’ [down to the smallest detail/fine and detailed].”

Staring blankly, Kou Zhong said, “Turns out you were thinking about a problem in the martial art study; just consider me blaming you wrongly. I have heard Shi Zhixuan say it as well, but it was used to mock my martial art skill has not reached the perfect level yet. I have also heard Song Que mentioned it. Humph! ‘Ru wei’? What does it mean?”

Xu Ziling looked at him, his pair of eyes was gleaming with a strange light of wisdom, he spoke indifferently, “That should refer to some kind of a mystery within a mystery realm hidden inside the human body after it merges with the treasure-house, the realm that only martial art masters of Shi Zhixuan, Song Que caliber can understand.” [Translator’s note: the word ‘bao ku’ could be translated as treasure-house, or treasure-trove, often used figuratively to refer to the book of treasured wisdom.]

Shaken, Kou Zhong said, “Well said, Song Que often said that heaven, earth, and man are one. By man, isn’t he referring to the treasure-house within the human body? Having method, but without any method, obtaining the saber [or blade] but then forget the saber. After heaven, earth, and man become one, man is no longer a man, now that can be regarded as the genuine Moon in the Well realm. Neither empty nor real [or solid], neither real nor illusion.”

Emotionally moved, Xu Ziling said, “You, this kid’s saber technique seems to make another breakthrough, at least in terms of realm, it is a bit higher than before.”

Kou Zhong said, “Actually, we haven’t discussed and researched martial art study for a long time, because the war did not give us that kind of leisurely mood, and our hearts are completely focused on the magnificent-army-with-thousands-of-men-and-horses Way of the War. But now that the situation has been reversed, not that I am bragging, but Ning Daoqi and my future father-in-law have made it clear that they would no longer care about the things of the world. Therefore, in Wulin today, only the two of us plus Lao Ba left to support the scene. The ones we are dealing with are Shi Zhixuan, Bi Xuan, Fu Cailin, Yuwen Shang, You Pozi [granny, old woman], that kind of martial art masters. If we still cannot grasp the ‘ru wei’ realm, we will still end up in the inferior position of only taking a beating like in the past.”

Xu Ziling said, “We must pass this Song Que barrier first before we can put everything aside and focus our mind on the Martial Art Way.”

Kou Zhong said confidently, “As long as we let him, the Senior to see Li kid, he will definitely be able to untie the tight knot. Song Que is a person with discerning eyes, otherwise he can’t possible look upon me, ha!”

Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “I always feel that with me going to see him first is a bit inappropriate.”

Kou Zhong said, “In that case, the three of us might as well stepped into the Mo Dao Tang to meet him. How about using wonder troops for a surprise attack?”

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Xu Ziling said, “That will be a bad start. We absolutely must not let Song Que feel that we are using tricks and schemes on him, we should use a newborn baby’s sincerity to seek after his approval.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “What you said is very reasonable. In that case, let us wait respectfully outside the Mo Dao Tang for his favor to receive us, with Lu Shu going in to ask for instructions. We will thus submit to the will of heaven, ay! It really gives me a headache.”

This moment two Song Family warships were coming fast to meet them, Song Lu appeared on the other ship traveling together with Kou and Xu’s, and greeted the approaching Song Family navy ship.

They finally arrived in Lingnan.

Song Lu waited until the two ships got close to each other and then he soared into the air and landed on the deck, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling came forward to greet him.

His expression strange, Song Lu said “Let’s go inside the hall to talk.”

Li Shimin stood outside the cabin door, he saw the two entering the cabin with Song Lu and signaling him, thereupon he followed them into the cabin.

Inside the cabin, they sat down around the table. Song Lu said, “Dage already knew you were coming to Lingnan, these two ships have been waiting for a day.”

Hearing that, Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, and Li Shimin, three men looked at each other in dismay.

Xu Ziling asked, “Does Fazhu know about Kou Zhong coming to Lingnan, or is he clear about Shimin Xiong?”

Song Lu took out a letter from his pocket and spread it out on the table, “Just look at it!”

The three men cast their eyes towards the letter, which said, ‘Bring him to Mo Dao Tang’ seven characters [dai ta dao mo dao tang] brimming with calligraphic quality. There was no addressee, there was no signature.

Scratching his head, Kou Zhong said, “This is impossible, could it be that the information has leaked out?”

Hearing that, Li Shimin and Xu Ziling’s countenance changed.

Song Lu said, “Precisely like Xiao Zhong said, this is impossible. How did Dage know?”

Shaken Li Shimin said, “Could it be that Fan Zhaizhu has seen Fazhu one step ahead of us?”

Xu Ziling shook her head and said, “She practically did not know that we would go to Lingnan.”

Song Lu said, “I thought about that possibility, so I asked them, there have been no outsiders visiting Lingnan recently.”

Kou Zhong exhaled slowly and said, “It doesn’t matter if she has been here or not, it will save us a lot of effort. Now this whole thing is in Fazhu’s hands. Let’s go to the Mo Dao Tang together to listen to his instructions!”

And then he acted like wanted to say something but hesitated, in the end he did not say anything.

Song Lu smiled and said, “Yuzhi went to Poyang, but she should be back tonight.”

Kou Zhong sighed inwardly, when he saw Song Yuzhi tonight, most likely he would not be the Song Family’s future son-in-law anymore.

Under Song Lu’s arrangement, the three of them boarded a sealed-up horse-drawn carriage to secretly take them up the mountain city, and arrived outside the Mo Dao Tang.

Revisiting the once familiar place, Kou Zhong recalled the instruction he received from Song Que, which led to him making a breakthrough in the Way of the Saber; he was overcome with a peculiar feeling.

“Get in!” Song Lu said.

Noticing his grave expression, Kou Zhong sighed in his heart, and led the way. Xu Ziling and Li Shimin followed behind him, they were both shaken and intimidated by the magnificence of Mo Dao Tang, lofty admiration for Song Que grew in their hearts.

The three silently stepped onto the long stone steps of Mo Dao Tang, passed the main gate, and arrived at the main hall.

Like a deep pool, erect like the highest peak of a mountain ridge, Song Que stood in front of the whetstone, his deep, unfathomable eyes fell on Kou Zhong first, then moved to Xu Ziling, and was finally fixed on Li Shimin.

The three promptly saluted and paid their respects. Without saying a word Song Que, his hands behind his back, walked towards the three, passed through Li Shimin’s side, and stopped at the main gate. Looking at the front garden under the illumination of the setting sun, he spoke indifferently, “You may be wondering why Ol’ Song can predict without being a clairvoyant that Qin Wang is honoring us with his presence?”

Kou Zhong nodded behind his back and said, “Indeed we remain puzzled after pondering over it a hundred times.”

Song Que spoke softly, “Because I received Fan Qinghui’s letter, the first letter in forty years. Do you get it?”

Until now, Kou Zhong still could not figure out Song Que’s intention, he said, “But Qinghui Zhaizhu had no idea that we would go to Lingnan to pay our respects to Fazhu.”

Song Que sighed lightly and said, “Qinghui did not mention that you, two brothers would accompany Qin Wang to see me, she only mentioned past events, with only a few words concerning you, hoping that I will be able to empathize with your painstaking effort.” Finished speaking, he looked up to the sky and sighed again.

Suddenly he paced back again, walked past Xu Ziling’s side, and stopped with his back against them about ten paces away, he spoke heavily, “If I cannot guess that you would come together to see me, would Song Que still be Song Que? In other words, if Qin Wang is unwilling to personally meet Ol’ Song, what else is there to say?”

Shaken, Kou Zhong said, “In that case, there is still room for negotiation!”

Song Que turned around like a whirlwind, the divine light in his pair of eyes flaring greatly, he ran his eyes over the three men back and forth, and spoke with a cold snort, “Do you know? Now you are standing before my eyes, this is precisely the decisive moment in the forty years that Qinghui and I have pitted against each other. If I refuse, Qinghui will immediately loses this trial of strength.”

Hearing that, all three men felt their scalp went numb, even though they had thousands of words, they could not speak out half a word.

Song Que’s gaze fell on Xu Ziling. Beyond the three men’s expectation, unexpectedly he revealed the first hint of smile, and spoke slyly, “What makes Ziling think that Qin Wang will be a good emperor?”

Hope grew inside the three men’s heart at the same time, because Song Que was at least interested in getting to know Li Shimin.

Xu Ziling knew that one wrong answer might lead to completely different results. He respectfully replied, “Wanbei [younger generation] had for a very long time thought that Shimin Xiong would make a good emperor. In retrospect, it might be because of Shimin Xiong’s Tian Ce Fu is like the epitome of the imperial court, where Shimin Xiong and the imperial strategic advisers, the officers and soldiers under his command, are always researching the ways to govern the world, and their achievements in practice are even more obvious to all.”

“Good answer!” Song Que shouted, “To be the ruler, one must first have the way of governance before one can put it into practice. Qin Wang, please answer me, what effective prescription [fig. good plan] do you have to rule the country?”

Li Shimin met Song Que’s sharp, able to pierce leather, wood, metal and stone - gaze, and responded modestly, “Shimin has surveyed comprehensively the rise and fall of the dynasties over the past three generations, and came to the conclusion that the monarch must implement the rule of enlightenment, accept advice and appoint worthy or virtuous person, to put benevolence and righteousness first, only then will the people obey. The Zhou’s [dynasty (1046-256 BC)] Kong Ru teachings [i.e. Confucianism] are never feasible in troubled times; the Shang’s [dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC)] and Han’s [one of the Seven Hero States of the Warring States] criminal law, from the quiet, peaceful era, became the politics that disturb the people. Therefore, Shimin believes that in order to achieve the goal of the big governance of the world, it is necessary to use benevolence and righteousness as the foundation, reason and law as the inessential detail, and respect, courtesy and morality as the humble punishment.”

Song Que spoke with astonishment, “Qin Wang actually thinks highly of Kong Meng’s [Confucius and Mencius] benevolent governance; indeed it is beyond my expectation. In that case, I will ask you another question. Since ancient times, although the emperor’s martial art [or military accomplishments] is enough to pacify and subdue our Central Earth Huaxia [old name for China], yet it was unable to subdue the barbarians [orig. yidi, non-Han tribes in the east and north of ancient China]. In this aspect, I wonder if Qin Wang has any unique and different view.”

Hearing that, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling looked at each other in dismay. This was a difficult problem that no one since ancient times was able to resolve, how should Li Shimin answer? But if he could not answer, perhaps the three of them would be immediately swept out of the Mo Dao Tang by Song Que.

Who would have thought that Li Shimin remained calm and unhurried, he calmly replied, “Since ancient times, bright rulers have come forth in our Huaxia in large numbers, people who can praise and accept advice, and are generous and tolerant, can be found everywhere. Only in dealing with outside tribes, all adopted the Huaxia is noble, the yidi is lowly, which gives birth to loathing, rather die than submit - attitude. Shimin is untalented [humble way to say ‘I’], if I could ascend the imperial throne, then it does not matter whether Huaxia or yidi, there will be universal love as one. Those who don’t submit will be punished [by military campaign], after they are subdued, they will be treated as the same country, without guessing and guarding against, those who are able will be put to government position, the tribal chiefs as commander-in-chief and provincial governor, and be given a high degree of autonomy. This is Shimin’s humble opinion, Fazhu, please bestow directions.”

Song Que, his pair of eyes did not blink at all, stared at Li Shimin. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling groaned inwardly, Song Que had always viewed the outside tribes as the enemy, Li Shimin’s opinion must be running in the opposite direction to the firm view in Song Que’s heart. However, the two admired Li Shimin in their hearts at the same time, they had crashed their way through the area beyond the Great Wall, they knew the enmity between the Han people and the various tribes outside the Great Wall better than anybody, all because the monarch of the Central Earth adopted the Huaxia is noble, the yidi is lowly - attitude. Therefore, Li Shimin’s universal love policy hit the problem at the core.

Li Shimin sensed the peculiar atmosphere, he smiled bitterly and said, “Although fully aware that Fazhu don’t like to hear it, this is indeed the genuine way of thinking in Shimin’s heart, I dare not hide it.”

Without saying a word, Song Que turned slowly, took a stride toward the whetstone, unhurried and tranquil, he spoke softly, “Kou Zhong, tell me, why did you have the guts to bring Qin Wang here to see me, Song Que?”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “First of all, because of Qin Wang’s ruthless determination, willing to sweep away all obstacles for the sake of the common people. Another prerequisite is that we must obtain your, the Senior’s nod of approval, otherwise everything will be invalidated. Ay! The current situation …”

Song Que cut him off, saying, “Don’t talk nonsense, I, Song Que know the current situation better than anyone, furthermore, I did not blame your heart at all, I know even more about what kind of person you, Kou Zhong, are.”

And then he turned around to face Li Shimin, and spoke slowly, word by word, “Did Qin Wang determine to punish [older] brother and kill [younger] brother, and force father to abdicate?”

Li Shimin’s entire body shook violently, he hung his head down and said, “Shimin gave my word to Shaoshuai, I definitely will not renege.”

Song Que threw his head back in laughter, he said, “Good! This is a painful decision for anyone, but you have no other choice. How are you going to clear up the aftermath?”

Both Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were stunned, because they never thought about the problems after putting Jiancheng, Yuanji in order.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Shimin replied, “Stability in everything is the supreme goal, we must first implement a leniency policy, whoever is willing to receive appointment from me, I will never care about whether they are the East Palace or Qi Wang’s former subordinates, Wang Xiong, Wang Di’s people, reconciliation is the main objective.”

Song Que strolled slowly and stopped in front of Li Shimin, tranquil and calm and at ease, he said, “Qin Wang must think carefully.”

Li Shimin said dejectedly, “As Fazhu said, Shimin has no other choice.”

Song Que looked up at the beams of the room, his pair of eyes emitted a reminiscing, sad expression, and he spoke softly, “Ol’ Song is beginning to understand why Qinghui could support you.”

Kou Zhong was greatly delighted, “Fazhu is willing to consider our proposal?”

Song Que cast his gaze on Kou Zhong, he said, “Actually, I have withdrawn from the dispute over the world a long time ago, leaving everything to you, Kou Zhong. The one making decision should be you, not me. Why did you come to seek Song Que’s opinion?”

Xu Ziling said, “Without Fazhu’s nod of approval, Xiao Zhong would never dare to proceed presumptuously.”

Song Que smiled indifferently. Fixing his gaze on Li Shimin, he said, “Shimin’s words that can really move me is your attitude to regard yidi and our Han peoples as one. This is something that Ol’ Song never thought of and would never do. So I began to understand what Qinghui said about our Central Earth’s future hope lies in the Hu-Han agreeable new generation. I still don’t know whether this method is feasible, but I do know that Shimin’s way of thinking is unprecedented, and this is precisely the reason Shimin surpasses the previous generations, the ancients. After all, Shimin is a Han going through Hu transformation of the Northern Dynasties, your idea of Yi-Xia differences is weak, which is very different from Ol’ Song’s.”

Seeing that Song Que’s attitude greatly relaxed, Kou Zhong put forward a suggestion, “Fazhu once said that history is created by humans. In that case, I wonder if we could ignore any controversy and create a flourishing period on the basis of our great effort to create large-scale unification of the world and long-term peace and stability! Let the common people of the world, whether north or south, pass their auspicious days in peace and happiness?”

Song Que laughed aloud, he turned around and walked towards the whetstone with his hands behind his back, and spoke leisurely, “Speaking about governing the world, Kou Zhong, you are definitely not as good as Li Shimin, what else can I say? Li Shimin, you have to remember with reverence, to obtain the world, one must not speak extravagantly about benevolence and righteousness; that is merely an excessive tendency to clemency [orig. the benevolence of women]. But to govern the world, benevolence and justice must be the first, so benevolent government will be put in place. Jealousy must not overcome self, evil over upright, but must respect virtuous person and the wise, not showing pity to the unworthy. Yang Guang perished, you must draw a lesson from him. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. Speaking about military accomplishment, who can surpass Ying Zheng? However, the country perished in his son’s hands. The wise and just Son of Heaven attaches most importance to the people, the tyrannical person abandoned and not used them. Therefore, as the ruler, one must use the past as a mirror, be prepared for danger in times of peace, Shimin must be cautious.”

Kou Zhong was overjoyed, “Fazhu agrees with us!”

Song Que turned around slyly, the divine light his pair of eyes flashing, he spoke indifferently, “I am weighing the pros and cons, and have no choice but to make another compromise, other than with Yang Jian. Kou Zhong, you have the power to obtain the world, but you have no ambition to govern the world. With Shimin doing it for you, I can set my mind at rest. If I shake my head and say no, the world will fall into north-south confrontation, making the outside yi [barbarians] watching for a gap to invade, no one knows when the chaos and the fire of war will end. In the end, Qinghui still wins! If not for the battle against Ning Daoqi, with me, Song Que presiding over the overall situation, what can’t be done? That’s it! Let the world’s affairs be handled by you, these young people. Now that you have obtained my all-around support, you can have a free hand to fulfill your dreams. But one day you are still unable to control the whole situation, this matter must be kept secret. You may go! I will meditate on some questions alone.”

The three of them were greatly delighted, they saluted and expressed their thanks, and withdrew from the Mo Dao Tang.

Song Lu had been waiting impatiently for a long time. Seeing the three men’s happy expressions, he said in surprise, “Unexpectedly Dage is willing to give you a nod?”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “Fazhu promised us his full support.”

Song Lu was greatly delighted, “Thank Heaven and thank the Earth!” he said.

Song Que’s voice was suddenly heard from inside the hall, “Kou Zhong, come here!” he said.

Kou Zhong was stunned; turning around, he walked back into Mo Dao Tang.

Song Lu watched as Kou Zhong’s back disappearing inside the door, he said, “What instructions did Dage have?”

Li Shimin replied, “Fazhu instructed that this matter must be kept secret, no rumors can be leaked.”

Song Lu nodded and said, “You should hide into the boat first, and then after Xiao Zhong has seen Yuzhi, leave immediately.”

Xu Ziling and Li Shimin exchanged glances, lofty admiration toward Song Que welled up in their hearts. Although it was the first time they met Song Que, but Song Que’s standing-tall-and-seeing-far wisdom, as well as his big-tolerance aspiration, deeply moved them.

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