Winter Clothes

Having cadged some military equipment for nothing, the men clearly had no wish to linger. They returned to their seats, each drank a cup and ate a few mouthfuls, then thanked Master Xu repeatedly.

A little later, Liu Acheng slipped out on the pretext of relieving himself and returned to the market. Quite naturally, he called the men outside in to carry the equipment out. Then all three Lius rose together, offered their thanks once more, took the opportunity to pick up the weapons they had chosen, and headed straight out.

Master Xu wore a faint, ambiguous smile throughout, but did nothing to complicate matters.

Of course, neither Master Xu nor the young men of the Lu clan made any move to see them off.

They had finally managed to get the equipment carried out and securely lashed onto the mules and horses and were about to leave when Lu Gu and Lu Song emerged from the hall with several other Lu clansmen, also preparing to depart. Master Xu personally escorted them out, and several large carts of goods were brought out as well, all drawn by sturdy oxen. Seeing this, the three Lius had no choice but to go over and offer another round of thanks.

After all that bustle, Lu Gu and the other Lu clansmen actually departed first, riding horses and taking several cartloads of goods with them. Lu Song, who belonged to a collateral branch of the same clan, stayed behind for some reason instead of accompanying them.

But that seemed to have nothing to do with the three Lius. Once they had left the Way of the Celestial Masters' private market, even Liu Jili and Liu Acheng were visibly exhilarated, to say nothing of Liu Huzi, whose heart was set on hunting a tiger... Yet after they had walked several hundred paces, chatting and laughing, Liu Acheng suddenly noticed something and grew puzzled.

"Did something happen to you back at the Private Estate?" Liu Acheng fixed his eyes on the able-bodied men following them. These were all men who usually ran around with Liu Huzi; he recognized only two or three of them. "Why aren't you smiling?"

"Why should they smile?" Liu Huzi was baffled. "They didn't get any food. All they've done is walk and work."

"You're smiling. If nothing were wrong, they ought to smile along with you." Liu Jili caught on too and looked at the plainly nervous men. But this was his first day here, and he knew nothing about them, so he could hardly question them directly.

"Aren't we missing someone?" Just before anyone could speak, Liu Huzi suddenly realized it. "Where's Water Slave?"

The men exchanged glances. For a moment, none of them dared explain.

"Did the people from the Way of the Celestial Masters pull him away to preach to him?" Liu Acheng realized what had happened too.

"He wanted to go ask them something himself, and then Acheng came out to call us," someone hurriedly explained. "Then you came out too, young master..."

Liu Ahu's face instantly darkened. Clearly, for a low-ranking scion of a gentry clan who rode about with a bow slung at his side, having a trusted companion climb to a higher branch was a serious blow to his pride-and even to his substance. After all, fallen as low as he had, that little bit of pride was about the only thing of value he had left.

These men clearly understood that too, which was why they had been nervous all along the way.

"Why don't we wait a bit?" Liu Jili's expression was rather odd. "Joining the Way of the Celestial Masters requires a contribution of five pecks of rice. If you don't have rice, they want millet; if you don't have millet, they want cloth. Without an offering, they don't readily accept people..."

Liu Ahu's face darkened further.

"That isn't necessarily so," Liu Cheng replied, shaking his head. "We're camped too close to them, and there are so many of us. The Way of the Celestial Masters must have some designs on us... Otherwise, why would they have given us equipment so readily today?"

"Then what should we do?" At the mention of equipment, Liu Huzi glanced at the weapons on the mules and horses, looking plainly helpless. "We've just taken so much equipment from them. We can hardly go demanding our man back."

"I'll go take a look." Liu Cheng thought for a moment, then answered seriously. "Whether we ask for him back doesn't matter. At the very least, we need to know what lies beneath these people's pleasant faces-whether their intentions are good or bad, whether they mean to act sooner or later... Take the equipment back first, then send someone to meet me. Whatever happens, we mustn't take the equipment back in there."

"All right," Liu Jili answered at once. "I know the way. I'll take them to the junction in the woods, then come back for you."

Liu Acheng nodded and turned back, carrying only the crossbow outfit he had already been wearing.

Once he had gone, Liu Huzi, with nothing left to say, grew visibly agitated. Almost every hundred paces or so, he would look back, then turn around again and brood.

Beside him, Liu Jili could only offer reassurance. "Acheng is the only one who can do this. Your status is what it is, and you have a quick temper. If they provoke you with a few words, you might ruin things."

Liu Ahu nodded, but after a few more steps he grew restless again. "I'm just afraid Acheng won't be able to handle them alone."

"It's precisely because he's alone that he can handle them," Liu Jili said, shaking his head. "I noticed it back in the hall... When it comes to dealing with people, even the two of us together are no match for him."

"How are we no match?" Liu Huzi's attention shifted at once.

"Did you notice Master Xu mocking us?" Liu Jili immediately asked in return.

"Of course I noticed. But he didn't show it openly; he was merely rude in his manner. And we'd accepted his equipment. How could we turn on him?" Liu Huzi shook his head repeatedly.

"That's exactly where you fall short of Acheng, Brother Ahu." Liu Jili shook his head as they walked. "Some of Master Xu's remarks were already quite blatant. But you'd just finished drawing that bow, and you really thought he was praising you, so your mind wasn't on the barbs hidden in his words..."

"What do you mean?"

"He called all three of us from the Liu Clan of Pengcheng 'Elite Soldiers'... He was mocking our plan to hunt a tiger and flatter the Grand Commander as a lowly undertaking, unbecoming of the gentry. He was also mocking the decline of our Liu Clan of Pengcheng," Liu Jili explained with a sigh. "Brother Ahu, a man of the gentry doesn't ride out and draw a bow himself to become an 'Elite Soldier' unless he has absolutely no other choice."

"I really didn't notice at the time..." Surprisingly, Liu Huzi did not get angry.

"I noticed, and I almost lost my temper. So I looked at the two of you. First I saw that you hadn't noticed, then I looked at Acheng. He's always been perceptive, so he couldn't possibly have missed it, but he acted as though he hadn't understood. I imagine he was afraid of alerting you and ruining the tiger hunt. Seeing that, I held my temper too," Liu Jili continued.

"Was that really what happened?" Liu Huzi still did not get angry. Instead, he looked rather dispirited. "But to tell the truth, I think Acheng was probably right. We really are disgracing ourselves, yet we have no choice... Who told us to fall this low? We have no offices to hold and no family property. What else can we do but become 'Elite Soldiers'? And it's not as though we can become 'Elite Soldiers' just because we want to. We have to think of hunting a tiger to curry favor with the Grand Commander before we can even do that. How can we resent someone for mocking us over it?"

At this point, Liu Huzi seemed to think of something. He paused before saying, "I know I've always underestimated Acheng. I just never imagined it was by this much."

Liu Jili glanced at him but said nothing more, merely lowering his head and pressing on.

Meanwhile, Liu Acheng, entirely unaware that he was being discussed behind his back, soon returned to the Private Estate. He found his way back to the same shop as readily as before, but rather than asking about the missing man or requesting an audience with Master Xu, he asked to meet Lu Song, whom he had seen at the banquet.

A short while later, they met outside a bamboo grove toward the rear side of the Private Estate. Liu Acheng wasted no words. He explained that one of their companions had stayed behind and asked Lu Song to help look into it.

Lu Song listened with his hands behind his back, his expression unchanged. He merely studied the youth before him several times, then asked earnestly, "Brother Acheng, if your own companion has gone missing in this Private Estate, why not seek out Master Xu, who oversees this place? Why come to me, a guest who has only just fled here from the north, just like you?"

"Brother Lu, why tease me?" Liu Cheng sounded helpless. "Precisely because you've only just fled here from the north, and because there's no need for you to go out of your way to deceive us about that, I felt certain you must count as half a host here... Otherwise, how could you have found this place to settle in as soon as you came south? And how could you introduce your clansmen and arrange aid for them? At the banquet, I noticed that Master Xu was clearly closer to you. When I saw your clansmen leave while you stayed behind, I guessed that you must already have belonged to the faith up north, and held no low position in it."

Lu Song listened carefully, gave a dry chuckle, then shook his head with his hands still behind his back. "You're young, but you have a sharp eye... That's right. My father and grandfather were well-known men of the faith in Qing Province, and I was entered into the Immortal Register at an early age. Otherwise, how could I have found Master Du's Manor as soon as I arrived in Jingkou and requested aid for my clansmen? And why would I have parted from them to stay here? Very well, I'll ask for you..."

As he spoke, he beckoned over a burly man wearing a crimson headcloth and sent him to make inquiries.

Once the man had gone, Lu Song looked at the youth before him, visibly thoughtful, as though he wanted to say something.

For his part, Liu Cheng hesitated, then took the initiative and clasped his hands in salute. "Brother Lu, I've already been rude repeatedly, especially when Master Xu has just given us so much equipment. But as you've seen, of the three who came today, Liu Ahu is still fairly well off-he has his clan to rely on. Brother Jili and I, however, are wandering alone, reduced to the utmost poverty. We don't even have enough clothing to cover ourselves... So might I presume to make a request? Could you give us two plain sets of winter clothes? If you help us, and we still have a way to survive in the days ahead, we will do everything we can to repay your kindness."

Lu Song narrowed his eyes at that. "Have you guessed that I want to bring you into the faith, Brother Acheng, and said this first to block my way? You should know that if you joined us, we would hardly leave you wearing a Coarse Tunic and Trousers like a menial servant among the Slave Retainers."

Liu Cheng had not actually guessed that the man wanted to recruit him. He truly wanted a set of winter clothes to get through the winter. They were so wealthy, after all. They had already let him cadge military equipment off them; surely asking for two more sets of winter clothes would do no harm?

Besides, although Garrison Commander Gao had offered them a way forward, could they really count on the authorities to settle them? Hadn't the Grand Commander's orders to the troops guarding the Huai River been to help the refugees cross? And how had that turned out?

So whatever preparations he could make were worth making.

Of course, returning to the matter at hand, since the other man had brought up joining the faith himself, Liu Acheng's position was clear: he simply did not dare join it. The Way of the Celestial Masters looked fine enough, but who knew what hellish shape it would take once he was inside?

Was this something he could just recklessly join?

By comparison, Liu Huzi's thinking-the family had declined, there were no offices to hold, so they might as well all become soldiers and fight their way to rank and renown with blade and spear-seemed more in line with a certain understanding of the "proper course of history," did it not?

"You actually want to bring me into the faith, Brother Lu?" Liu Cheng's thoughts ran wild, but his face showed astonishment. "Can these celestial official talismans be conferred so readily? Or do I have an affinity with the Way, so they can be conferred on me directly? If I receive the talismans, will I also be given a manor this large?"

In your dreams! Do you really think the wealth of the Way of the Celestial Masters falls from heaven?

If even a fully equipped manor like this could be bestowed so easily, why would joining require five pecks of rice? And why would the followers have to farm, weave, and forge iron to support themselves?

Speechless inwardly, Lu Song could only give a dry chuckle. "I did have that thought, but it was only a thought. After all, a fine young talent like you would need Master Du Ming himself to confer the talismans. Since he isn't here, your destined affinity with the immortals has yet to arrive. There's nothing to be done... Talismans cannot be conferred lightly."

"That truly is a pity." Liu Cheng assumed a regretful air, then lowered his head in another bow.

After standing there awkwardly for a while, Lu Song grew bored too. He beckoned over another Crimson-Turban Strongman and told him to fetch two sets of winter clothes. Liu Cheng hurriedly reminded him that one must be longer and the other shorter, to suit their builds.

Soon, the two thick sets of winter clothes arrived first... Liu Cheng had lived more than thirty years in his previous life; why would he care about saving face? He simply clasped his hands in thanks, took them, and immediately opened them to look. Each set contained a robe, a padded jacket, a pair of trousers, and a headcloth. They had even included two large pieces of blue cloth for wrapping them.

The robes were blue, and the jackets were made of fur, though he did not know what animal pelts had been tanned to make them. The trousers were undyed coarse hemp in its natural yellow-brown color, while the headcloths were indeed crimson.

After inspecting them, Liu Acheng could not help feeling delighted and thanked the other man over and over... He was genuinely grateful. Whether cadging things was shameful, whether the giver looked down on him while offering charity, even whatever dangers the Way of the Celestial Masters posed-none of it mattered. He was truly on the verge of falling below Great Jin's kill line. If someone was willing to lift a hand and give him these clothes at such a moment, that was a tremendous kindness.

What was more, the outfits included robes. That meant that once winter came, he could escape the rights-less condition of someone wearing a Coarse Tunic and Trousers and have a slightly easier time passing himself off as a member of the gentry. It also meant that Lu Song really did regard him as a low-ranking gentry scion.

How could he not be grateful?

After he had finished thanking him, the man originally sent to find their companion still had not returned. Both Lu and Liu felt rather helpless and could only continue chatting fitfully.

Yet Liu Acheng clearly had no sense of propriety. Even after receiving the clothes, he would not behave himself, remaining as curious as ever. He fiddled with the crimson headcloth and asked, "I was already wondering earlier: why does your faith use crimson as its distinguishing color? It seems rather difficult to dye. Otherwise, why would ordinary robes still mostly be blue, white, earthy brown, or black?"

"When serving Heaven, what does difficulty matter? Our only fear is that it might not be difficult enough to show our faith's sincerity." At first, Lu Song sounded rather pleased with himself, but when he reached the specific reason, he visibly lost confidence. Clearly, he was not quite certain either. "As for why we use crimson, naturally it is because... because certain rites originally required blood sacrifices. Crimson substitutes for blood, just like cinnabar, and represents sincerity."

"So that's how it is. I was overthinking it." Liu Acheng tied up the two sets of clothes and repeatedly expressed his wonder as he slung them onto his back.

"What did you think, Brother Acheng?"

"I originally thought that since your faith arose during the Later Han, and the Han belonged to the virtue of fire, you used crimson in accordance with that and handed the practice down to this day." With the clothes secured on his back, Liu Acheng spread his hands. "Especially since the dominant Daoist movement then was the rebellious Way of Great Peace. They called themselves the Yellow Turbans and proclaimed, 'The azure heaven is dead; the yellow heaven shall rise.' Meanwhile, the Way of the Celestial Masters has always maintained good relations with the authorities, so it had all the more reason to distinguish itself from them by choosing crimson... I never imagined it served the same purpose as cinnabar, replacing blood sacrifices."

Lu Song was startled into sober reflection.

Seeing that Lu Song said nothing, Liu Acheng could hardly ask any further questions. He merely shifted about, looking at the military crossbow at his waist one moment and tightening the securely wrapped winter clothes on his back the next. He felt that with this equipment, he could survive another three years as a refugee. Today's trip had certainly not been wasted. This starting setup... As his thoughts wandered, someone finally brought over the man who had gone missing earlier, and he looked decidedly dejected.

"Ah Shui," Liu Cheng spoke first, barely remembering the man's name. "I'm not here to take you away. It's just that you left without a word, so Brother Ahu specially sent me to check on you... If you want to stay, that's perfectly fine."

The man nicknamed Water Slave was utterly disheartened. "Even if you don't take me away, Acheng, there's nothing I can do. Joining the faith requires five pecks of rice or other goods. I begged them for ages, but they still wouldn't take me... And now I'm afraid Ahu will fly into a rage if I go back!"

"Don't worry. We'll go back together. If he loses his temper, I'll talk him round." Though Liu Cheng said this, he looked toward Lu Song. "Brother Lu, sending him back will only anger Liu Rengong's side... Why not let him stay?"

"The rules cannot be broken. Otherwise, how could we command everyone's respect?" Lu Song shook his head repeatedly. "Besides, you just said yourself that if he joined the faith, Liu Huzi would certainly be angry. He would feel we were digging away his foundations while he was down. However far Liu Rengong and his son have fallen, they are still genuine pillars of the Liu Clan of Pengcheng. They have several hundred households of clansmen, Garrison Commander Gao right here to rely on, and they are about to pay their respects to the Grand Commander. Why create friction lightly?"

Whether this stance had been deliberately voiced for his benefit or was simply a natural expression of their thinking, Liu Cheng had obtained the final answer he wanted from this trip. He merely nodded, let the matter rest, and turned to the man. "Ah Shui, you heard him. Let's go back first... If it really doesn't work out, stop going hunting with Ahu. You can gather firewood and carry grass instead. Once we've settled down and you've saved five pecks of rice, come back and join the faith."

Water Slave had nothing to say and could only nod.

Liu Cheng thanked Lu Song repeatedly, then turned to leave. Water Slave was clearly unwilling, but the impatient Crimson-Turban Strongmen shoved him along after Liu Cheng.

The two set off and walked several li without much conversation. When they reached the low hill they had passed on the way there, although it was still early, Liu Cheng suddenly plopped down. He claimed only that they would have to pass through wooded hills ahead, where there might be tigers, and should wait for the person coming to meet them before proceeding.

The man nicknamed Water Slave found this absurd. It was still so early, and within sight the private market was bustling with people coming and going. Plenty of people were also working in the surrounding fields. Why worry about tigers?

Yet no matter what he said, the youth simply would not move.

Quite apart from Water Slave's own uneasiness, even if his conscience had been perfectly clear, he would still have had to take the other man's possible gentry status into account. Especially after today's events, the youth's standing seemed all the more firmly established. So he could only wait there blankly.

After a while, someone did indeed come to meet them, but it was only Liu Jili. Ah Shui was even more speechless. With just one extra man, what could they do if they really encountered a tiger?

Liu Jili glanced at the bundle on Liu Acheng's back. Though he did not know what was inside, he guessed why the other man was being so cautious. Naturally, he had nothing to say either.

And so the three set off again, passed through the narrow path without incident, and reached the camp. Along the way, they saw not a tiger, nor even a rabbit... Once they were back, Water Slave went off on his own. Liu Acheng, however, called Liu Jili to a halt just as he was about to seek out Liu Huzi to discuss the tiger hunt. He untied the bundle on his back, rummaged through it, found the parcel containing the longer set of winter clothes, and handed the whole thing over.

Perhaps he had already noticed something and formed a guess on the road. Just as Liu Acheng said little, Liu Jili showed no unnecessary reaction. He simply accepted the winter clothes without a word and nodded.

Lang replied, "When we were once at Jingkou, reduced to utter destitution, Acheng begged for two sets of clothes and gave one to me. How can you say there was no kindness or loyalty?"

-New Book of Qi, Biographies, volume three

P.S. My deepest thanks to reader Broken Halberd Sinking in the Sand 33 for the alliance-leader donation... I am endlessly grateful.