Can I Reach the Other Shore?

Guo Jia's thinking was indeed very simple.

He was merely curious.

An emperor whom outsiders considered useless and meek actually harbored a heart rich as brocade, along with the lofty ambition of restoring the Han imperial house.

Was this the true face of the Great Han's Son of Heaven?

Guo Jia found it fascinating.

After hearing those words, Liu Xie finally dispelled his misgivings. The great stone weighing on his heart dropped away, and his taut nerves relaxed.

"You nearly scared me to death."

Liu Xie spoke through gritted teeth, truly wishing he could give Guo Jia a beating.

Why was this bastard so punchable?

Guo Jia smiled. "Your Majesty misunderstood. I... what is that?"

Before he could finish, he saw Liu Xie toss something dark onto the ground. Looking closely, he realized it was a dagger.

"A dagger. Never seen one before?"

Liu Xie snorted and said expressionlessly, "I nearly killed you just now!"

A hair's breadth. He had come within a hair's breadth of doing it.

Guo Jia froze. Looking at the dagger gleaming coldly on the ground, his heart chilled, followed by a shiver down his spine.

He had never imagined that a single probing test would nearly cost him his life.

This emperor...

Guo Jia gave Liu Xie a long look. He realized he had still underestimated this Son of Heaven of the Great Han. The man was far more frightening than his appearance suggested.

How unsafe did he feel, to carry a dagger around with him?

"Then why did Your Majesty refrain? Under those circumstances, killing me would have been the best choice, wouldn't it?"

Guo Jia voiced his question.

He put himself in Liu Xie's position. Had he been the emperor, he would certainly have chosen to kill him, or perhaps take him hostage.

Yet Liu Xie had done neither. Instead, he had laid his cards on the table.

Liu Xie curled his lip. "If Yuan Shao had sent you, what good would killing you do? I still couldn't escape Ye City."

"Rather than drag an innocent man into the grave with me, I might as well die with dignity and not disgrace my status as the Son of Heaven."

In truth, besides those two reasons, there was another that Liu Xie left unspoken.

He could not bring himself to do it.

There were no firearms in this era. Killing was not as simple as pulling a trigger; he would have to physically plunge a blade into someone's heart.

Even to survive, Liu Xie could not bring himself to do that.

Perhaps this was what people called a woman's softheartedness, but what could he do? He was only a miserable college student who had transmigrated. He had never even killed a chicken, much less a person.

"Your Majesty truly surprises me."

Guo Jia spoke with feeling. He could now be certain that the Son of Heaven before him was no ordinary man. All this time, he had been concealing his brilliance and biding his time.

He had actually fooled everyone.

"Enough. I don't want to answer any more of your questions. Get lost, and stop disturbing my fishing."

Liu Xie impatiently shooed him away.

After that little episode, he had abandoned the idea of winning Guo Jia over. He had discovered that not only was this fellow rather devious, but his mind also worked in abnormal ways. Upon hearing that Liu Xie had intended to kill him, his first reaction had not been fear, but to ask why he had refrained.

Was that how a fucking normal person's mind worked?

Guo Jia readily rose and bowed. "Then I shall visit another day. For now, I take my leave."

"Hey, you fucking..."

Liu Xie nearly stamped his feet in anger. One visit wasn't enough? He intended to keep coming back? He hurriedly called Guo Jia back.

"All right, all right! I'll tell you!"

Left with no other choice, Liu Xie could only give in to Guo Jia.

He did not want this fellow pestering him in the future.

"I am all ears."

Guo Jia straightened and spoke solemnly, ready to listen carefully.

Holding his fishing rod with his back to Guo Jia, Liu Xie said calmly, "Mencius once said: the people are paramount, the altars of soil and grain come second, and the ruler comes last."

"Let me ask you: rivers and mountains, altars of soil and grain-what do they mean?"

Liu Xie turned the question back on Guo Jia.

The question was so simple that Guo Jia answered without thinking. "Rivers and mountains stand for the state, while the altars of soil and grain represent the people's livelihood. Together, they embody the realm."

Liu Xie continued, "Then to a ruler, which matters more: the rivers and mountains, or the altars of soil and grain?"

Guo Jia frowned. This question was much harder than the last.

Since ancient times, the two had always been spoken of together as a single concept. If he truly had to decide which mattered more, the choice was difficult indeed.

"Please enlighten me, Your Majesty."

Liu Xie said, "Since ancient times, all who won the people's hearts won the realm, while all who lost their hearts perished. King Zhou of Shang and the tyrannical Qin are precedents."

"Mountains and rivers endure forever; the passage of years cannot destroy them. But once the altars of soil and grain are lost, the state falls and the dynasty perishes. This truth has remained unchanged throughout the ages."

"Rivers and mountains and the altars of soil and grain have never been separate things. Yet countless people throughout history have misunderstood them, believing the former to mean territory and dynasty, and the latter to mean the common people. In truth, they are gravely mistaken."

"Xunzi said: water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it."

"I believe those words should be understood thus: the boat represents the ruler, and the water represents the common people. The boat borrows the water's strength to cleave through the waves. Water can exist without a boat, but a boat cannot do without water."

"Without a ruler, the people are still the people. Without the people, how can a ruler be called a ruler? Even with ten thousand miles of territory, he would have nothing but a lifeless land."

"And so a ruler's true realm is his people!"

Drawing on the classics, Liu Xie explained in an unhurried flow.

This Rivers and Altars Discourse had been an essay topic his supervisor once assigned him. He had spent a long time writing it, and knew its contents by heart.

Behind him, Guo Jia had already fallen into a stupor.

Chapter 26: Oh No, My Heart Is Fluttering

The ruler was the boat, the people the water; together, they were the realm.

Liu Xie's words had shaken Guo Jia profoundly.

Since ancient times, the Son of Heaven had shepherded the people on Heaven's behalf and ruled over all lands.

The Son of Heaven was the supreme existence, the one to whom everyone beneath Heaven submitted. The common people depended upon his every breath to survive. This was what Guo Jia had been taught since childhood.

Yet Liu Xie had put forward an entirely different judgment.

It was not the people who needed the Son of Heaven, but the Son of Heaven who needed the people.

Without the Son of Heaven, the people remained the people. But without the people, how could the Son of Heaven be called the Son of Heaven?

This was the true reason the people were paramount and the ruler came last!

"I have learned much."

With a complicated look in his eyes, Guo Jia bowed deeply to Liu Xie, paying him the fullest respect.

His admiration was heartfelt.

He could tell that Liu Xie was neither spouting empty grandiloquence nor reciting words from a book. He truly possessed profound insight.

"Then can you leave now?"

Liu Xie rolled his eyes and bluntly dismissed him.

Just then, however, an unexpected visitor arrived.

It was none other than Ju Shou.

"Fengxiao? What are you doing here?"

Ju Shou had come to see Liu Xie, but when he spotted Guo Jia standing beside the emperor, he could not help asking in puzzlement.

Ju Shou's sudden arrival immediately unsettled Liu Xie, whose gaze involuntarily darted toward the dagger on the ground.

If Ju Shou discovered it, it would be difficult to explain.

Just as Liu Xie was at a loss, Guo Jia took a step forward, discreetly concealing the dagger behind the hem of his robe. He then smiled mildly at Ju Shou. "Nothing in particular. I happened to be passing the palace, so I came to pay my respects to His Majesty."

"I see."

Although Ju Shou found it somewhat unexpected, he did not grow suspicious.

Quite a few people had come to visit Liu Xie lately. Yuan Shao's civil officials and military officers had all come, one after another, to pay their respects.

As for their purpose... naturally, it was to see whether this Son of Heaven was genuine.

After all, the outside world was in an uproar over the question of the true and false Sons of Heaven. No one knew whether the one in Xu County or the one in Ji Province was genuine.

Yuan Shao had not prevented his officials from seeking an imperial audience, either. Allowing it also served to reassure his subordinates.

"My minister Ju, what brings you to the palace?"

Liu Xie took the initiative to ask, changing the subject.

Ju Shou cupped his hands in salute, then said, "Your Majesty, Liu Bei, Inspector of Yu Province, has arrived in Ye City with his brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. They wish to request an audience."

"The three are currently at the Grand General's residence. The Grand General sent me to ask whether Your Majesty wishes to receive them."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xie was utterly dumbfounded.

Liu Bei? Guan Yu? Zhang Fei?!

How had those three ended up here too?