Romance of the Three Kingdoms

by Guanzhong Luo

Thereupon Yuan-te told his confidants the whole story.

  Kuan Yu said,“You yourself think your speech offended the Prefect, but he said nothing to show displeasure. You need pay no attention to the babble of outsiders. Hsiangyang is quite near and, if you do not go, Liu Chinchou will begin to suspect something really is wrong.”

  “You speak well,” said Yuan-te.

  Said Chang Fei,“Banquets are no good; gatherings are no better; it is best not to go.”

  “Let me take three hundred horse and foot as escort; there will be no trouble then,” said Chao Yun.

  “That is the best course,” said Yuan-te.

  They soon set out for the gathering place and Ts’ai Mao met them at the boundary and was most affable and courteous. Soon arrived the Prefect’s sons at the head of a great company of officers, civil and military. Their appearance put Yuan-te more at ease. He was conducted to the guesthouse and Chao Yun posted his men so as to guard it completely, while he himself, armed, remained close to his chief.

  Liu Ch’i said to Yuan-te,“My father is feeling unwell and could not come, wherefore he begs you, Uncle Liu, to preside at the various ceremonies and conduct the inspections.”

  “Really I am unfit for such responsibilities,” said Yuan-te,“But my brother’s command must be obeyed.”

  Next day it was reported that the officials from the forty-one departments of the nine districts had all arrived.

  Then Ts’ai Mao said to K’uai Yueh,“This Liu P’ei is the villain of the age and if left alive will certainly work harm to us. He must be got rid of now.”

  “I fear you would forfeit everybody’s favour if you harmed him,” replied K’uai.

  “I have already secretly spoken in these terms to Prefect Liu,” said Ts’ai,“and I have his word here.”

  “So it may be regarded as settled; then we can prepare.”

  Ts’ai Mao said,“One of my brothers is posted on the road to the Hsien Hills from the east gate and the others are on the north and south roads. No guard is needed on the west as the T’an Torrent is quite safeguard enough. Even with legions he could not get over that.”

  K’uai replied,“I notice that Chao Yun never leaves him. I feel sure he expects some attack.”

  “I have placed five hundred men in ambush in the city.”

  “We will tell Wen P’ing and Wang Wei to invite all the military officers to a banquet at one of the pavilions outside the city, and Chao Yun will be among them. Then will be our opportunity.”

  Ts’ai Mao thought this a good device for getting Chao Yun out of the way.

  Now oxen and horses had been slaughtered and a grand banquet prepared. Yuan-te rode to the residence on the horse of ill omen and when he arrived the steed was led into the back part of the enclosure and tethered there. Soon the guests arrived and Yuan-te took his place as master of the feast, with the two sons of the Prefect, one on each side. The guests were all arranged in order of rank. Chao Yun stood near his lord sword in hand as a faithful henchman should do.

  Then Wen and Wang came to invite Chao Yun to the banquet they had prepared for the military officers. But he declined. However, Yuan-te told him to go, and, after some demur, he went. Then Ts’ai Mao perfected his final arrangements, placing his men surrounding the place like a ring of iron. The three hundred guards that formed the escort of Yuan-te were sent away to the guesthouse.

  All were ready and awaiting the signal. At the third course, I Chi took a goblet of wine in his hands and approached Yuan-te, at the same time giving him a meaning look. Then in a low voice he said,“Make an excuse to get away.”

  Yuan-te understood and presently rose as if stiff with long sitting and went outside. There he found I Chi, who had gone thither after presenting the cup of wine. I Chi then told him more of the plot and that all the roads were guarded except that to the west. And he advised him to lose no time.

  Yuan-te was quite taken aback. However, he got hold of the horse of ill omen, opened the door of the garden and led him out. Then he took a flying leap into the saddle and galloped off without waiting for the escort. He made for the west gate. At the gate the wardens wanted to question him, but he only whipped up his steed and rode through. The guards at the gate ran off to report to Ts’ai Mao, who quickly went in pursuit with a half company of soldiers.

  As has been said Yuan-te burst out at the west gate. Before he had gone far there rolled before him a great river barring the way. It was the T’an, many score feet in width, which pours its waters into the Hsiang. Its current was very swift.

  Yuan-te reached the bank and saw the river was unfordable. So he turned his horse and rode back. Then, not far off, he saw a cloud of dust and knew that his pursuers were therein. He thought that it was all over. However, he turned again toward the swift river, and seeing the soldiers now quite near, plunged into the stream. A few paces, and he felt the horse’s fore legs floundering in front while the water rose over the skirt of his robe. Then he plied the whip furiously, crying,“Tilu, Tilu, I trust to you.”

  Whereupon the good steed suddenly reared up out of the water and, with one tremendous leap, was on the western bank. Yuan-te felt as if he had come out of the clouds.

  In after years the famous court official, Su Tung-p’o, wrote a poem on this leap over the T’an Torrent:—

  I’m growing old, the leaves are sere,

  My sun slopes westward, soon will sink,

  And I recall that yester year

  I wandered by T’an River brink.

  Irresolute, anon I paused,

  Anon advanced, and gazed around,

  I marked the autumn’s reddened leaves,

  And watched them eddying to the ground.

  I thought of all the mighty deeds

  Of him who set the House of Han

  On high, and all the struggles since,

  The battlefields, the blood that ran.

  I saw the nobles gathered round

  The board, set in the Banquet Hall,

  Amid them, one, above whose head

  There hung a sword about to fall.

  I saw him quit that festive throng

  And westward ride, a lonely way;

  I saw a squadron follow swift,

  Intent the fugitive to slay.

  I saw him reach the River T’an,

  Whose swirling current rushes by;

  Adown the bank he galloped fast,

  “Now leap, my steed!” I heard him cry.

  His steed’s hoofs churn the swollen stream;

  What recks he that the waves run high?

  He hears the sound of clashing steel,

  Of thundering squadrons coming nigh.

  And upward from the foaming waves

  I saw two peerless beings soar;

  One was a destined western king,

  And him another dragon bore.

  The T’an still rolls from east to west,

  Its roaring torrent ne’er dry.

  Those dragons twain, Ah! where are they?

  Yes, where? But there is no reply.

  The setting sun, in dark relief

  Against the glowing western sky,

  Throws out the everlasting hills

  While, saddened, here I stand and sigh.

  Men died to found the kingdoms three,

  Which now as misty dreams remain.

  Of greatest deeds the traces oft

  Are faint that fleeting years retain.

  Thus Liu P’ei crossed the rolling river. Then he turned and looked back at the other bank which his pursuers had just gained.“Why did you run away from the feast?” called out Ts’ai Mao.“Why did you wish to harm one who has done you no injury?” replied Yuan-te.

  “I have never thought of such a thing; do not listen to what people say to you.”

  But Yuan-te saw that his enemy was fitting an arrow to his bowstring, so he whipped up his steed and rode away southwest.“What spirits aided him?” said Ts’ai Mao to his followers. Then he turned to go back to the city, but in t
he gate he saw Chao Yun coming out at the head of his company of guards.

  By wondrous leap the dragon steed his rider’s life could save,

  Now follows him, on vengeance bent, his master’s henchman brave.

  The next chapters will tell what fate befell the traitor.

  CHAPTER XXXV

  YUAN-TE MEETS A RECLUSE AT NANCHANG: TAN FU MEETS A NOBLE LORD AT HSINYEH

  J ust as Ts’ai Mao was going into the city he met Chao Yun and his three hundred coming out. It had happened that, while at the banquet, Chao Yun had noticed some movement of men and horses and had at once gone to the banquet-hall to see if all was well with his lord. Missing him from his place he had become anxious and gone to the guesthouse. There he heard that Ts’ai Mao had gone off to the west gate with troops. So he quickly took his spear, mounted and went, he and the escort, in hot haste along the same road. Meeting Ts’ai Mao near the gate he said,“Where is my lord?”

  “He left the banquet-hall quite suddenly and I know not whither he has gone,” was the reply.

  Now Chao Yun was cautious and careful and had no desire to act hastily, so he urged his horse forward till he came to the river. There he was checked by a torrent without ford or bridge. At once he turned back and shouted after Ts’ai Mao,“You invited my lord to a feast; what means this going after him with a squadron of horse?”

  Mao replied,“It is my duty to guard the officials who have assembled here as I am the chief captain.”

  “Whither have you driven my lord?” asked Chao.

  “They tell me he rode quite alone out through the west gate, but I have not seen him.”

  Chao Yun was anxious and doubtful. Again he rode to the river and looked around. This time he noticed a wet track on the farther side. He thought to himself that it was almost an impossible crossing for a man and a horse, so he ordered his men to scatter and search. But they also could find no trace of Liu Pei.

  Chao Yun turned again to the city. By the time he had reached the wall Ts’ai Mao had gone within. He then questioned the gate wardens, and they all agreed in saying that Liu Pei had ridden out at full gallop. That was all they knew. Fearing to reenter the city lest he should fall into an ambush, Chao started for Hsienyeh.

  After that marvellous life-saving leap over the torrent, Yuan-te felt elated but rather dazed. He could not help feeling that his safety was due to an especial interposition of Providence. Following a tortuous path, he urged his steed toward Nanchang. But the sun sank to the west and his destination seemed yet a long way off. Then he saw a young cowherd seated on the back of a buffalo and playing on a short pipe.

  “If I were only as happy!” sighed Yuan-te.

  He checked his horse and looked at the lad, who stopped his beast, ceased playing on the pipe and stared fixedly at the stranger.

  “You must be Yuan-te, the General who fought the Yellow Turbans,” said the boy presently.

  Yuan-te was taken aback.

  “How can you know my name, a young rustic like you living in such a secluded place?” said he.

  “Of course I do not know you, but my master often has visitors and they all talk about Yuan-te, the tall man whose hands hang down below his knees and whose eyes are very prominent. They say he is the most famous man of the day. Now you, General, are just such a man as they talk about, and surely you are he.”

  “Well, who is your master?”

  “My master’s name is Ssuma, a compound surname, and his ming is Hui; his other name is Te-ts’ao. He belongs to Yingchou and his Taoist appellation is Shui-ching, ‘The Water-mirror.’”

  “Who are your master’s friends that you mentioned?”

  They are P’ang Te-kung and P’ang Tung of Hsiangyang.”

  “And who are they?”

  “Relatives. P’ang Te-kung is ten years older than my master; the other is five years younger. One day my master was up in a tree picking mulberries when P’ang Tung arrived. They began to talk and kept it up all day, my master did not come down till the evening. My master is very fond of P’ang Tung and calls him brother.”

  “And where does your master live?”

  “In that wood there, in front,” said the cowherd pointing to it. There he has a farmstead.”

  “I really am Liu Yuan-te and you might lead me to your master that I may salute him.”

  The cowherd led the way for about two li, when Liu Pei found himself in front of a farm house. He dismounted and went to the centre door. Suddenly came to his ear the sound of a lute most skilfully played and the air was extremely beautiful. He stopped his guide and would not allow him to announce a visitor, but stood there rapt by the melody.

  Suddenly the music ceased. He heard a deep laugh and a man appeared, saying,“Amidst the clear and subtle sounds of the lute there suddenly rang out a high note as though some noble man was near.”

  “That is my master,” said the lad pointing.

  Liu Pei saw before him a tall figure, slender and straight as a pine tree, a very “chosen vessel.” Hastening forward he saluted. The skirt of his robe was still wet from the river.

  “You have escaped from a grave danger today, Sir,” said “Water-mirror.”

  Yuan-te was startled into silence, and the cowherd said to his master,“This is Liu Yuan-te.”

  “Water-mirror” asked him to enter and when they were seated in their relative positions as host and guest, Yuan-te glanced round the room. Upon the bookshelves were piled books and manuscripts. The window opened upon an exquisite picture of pines and bamboos and a lute lay upon a stone couch. The room showed refinement in its last degree.

  “Whence come you, illustrious Sir?” asked the host.

  “By chance I was passing this way and the lad pointed you out to me. So I came to bow in your honoured presence. I cannot tell what pleasure it gives me.”

  “Water-mirror” laughed.“Why this mystery? Why must you conceal the truth? You have certainly just escaped from a grave danger.”

  Then the story of the banquet and the flight was told.

  “I knew it all from your appearance,” said his host.“Your name has long been familiar,” continued he, but whence comes it that, up to the present, you are only a homeless devil?”

  “I have suffered many a check during my life,” said Liu Pei,“and through one of them am I here now.”

  “It should not be so; but the reason is that you still lack the one man to aid you.”

  “I am simple enough in myself, I know; but I have Sun Ch’ien, Mi Chu and Chien Yung on the civil side, and for warriors I have Kuan Yu, Chang Fei and Chao Yun. These are all most loyal helpers and I depend upon them not a little.”

  “Your fighting men are good: fit to oppose a legion. The pity is you have no really able adviser. Your civilians are but pallid students of books, not men fitted to weave and control destiny.”

  “I have always yearned to find one of those marvellous recluses who live among the hills till their day arrive. So far I have sought in vain.”

  “You know what the Master said, ‘In a hamlet of ten households there must be one true man.’ Can you say there is no man?”

  “I am simple and uninstructed; I pray you enlighten me.”

  “You have heard what the street boys sing:—

  In eight and nine begins decay,

  Four years, then comes the fateful day,

  When destiny will show the way,

  And the dragon files out of the mire O!

  This song was first heard when the new reign-style was adopted. The first line was fulfilled when Liu Piao lost his first wife, and when his family troubles began. The next line relates to the approaching death of Liu Piao and there is not a single man among all his crowd of officers who has the least ability. The last two lines will be fulfilled in you, General.”

  Yuan-te started up in surprise, crying,“How could such a thing be?”

  “Water-mirror” continued,“At this moment the marvellously clever ones of all the earth are all here and you, Sir, ou
ght to seek them.”

  “Where are they? Who are they?” said Yuan-te quickly.

  If you could find either Fu-lung (Hidden Dragon) or Feng-ch’u (Phoenix Fledgeling), you could restore order in the Empire.”

  “But who are these men?”

  His host clapped his hands, smiled and said,“Good, very good.”

  When Yuan-te persisted and pressed home his questions “Water-mirror” said,“It is getting late. You might stay the night here, General, and we will talk over these things tomorrow.”

  He called to a lad to bring wine and food for his guest and his horse was taken to the stable and fed. After Yuan-te had eaten he was shown to a chamber opening off the main room and went to bed. But the words of his host would not be banished and he lay there only dozing till far into the night.

  Suddenly he became fully awake at the sound of a knock at the door and a person entering. And he heard his host say “Where are you from, Yuan-chih?”

  Liu Pei rose from his couch and listened secretly. He heard the man reply,“It has long been said that Liu Piao treated good men as good men should be treated and bad men as they should be treated. So I went to see for myself. But that reputation is undeserved. He does treat good men correctly but he cannot use them, and he treats wicked men in the right way, all but dismissing them. So I left a letter for him and came away; and here I am.”

  “Water-mirror” replied,“You, capable enough to be the adviser of a king, ought to be able to find some one fit to serve. Why did you cheapen yourself so far as to go to Liu Piao? Beside there is a real hero right under your eyes and you do not know him.”

  “It is just as you say,” replied the stranger.

  Liu Pei listened with great joy for he thought this visitor was certainly one of the two he was advised to look for. He would have shown himself then and there, but he thought that would look strange. So he waited till daylight, when he sought out his host and said,“Who was it came last night?”

  “A friend of mine,” was the reply.

  Yuan-te begged for an introduction.“Water-mirror” said,“He wants to find an enlightened master and so he has gone elsewhere.”

  When the guest asked his name his host only replied,“Good, good.” And when he asked who they were who went by the names of Fu-lung and Feng-ch’u he only elicited the same reply.