I'm still destined to die in the dungeons of the Azure Phoenixes. Or on the road to their stronghold, citadel, castle—whatever you want to call it. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, it's all the same death—so thought Xiao Tai, grimly watching her students dutifully writing essays about the nature of the fifth verse of the "Canon of Forty-Two Laws of Life," their heads tilted to one side. How does she know? It's all very, very simple—her trick went unpunished. The Head of the Won Mi family, patriarch and Guide of the Eight Trigrams—didn't even blink when she started tyrannizing young Lady Liling here. Giving her cuffs on the head, lecturing her, making humiliating remarks about the "stupid little sister"—nothing too critical, but for a spoiled young brat it was quite an ordeal. Which she bore with honor, apparently subordination and hierarchy are unshakeable in her head. Maybe she cried into her pillow at night or something, but she shows no outward rebellion—the girl is no carbonari, no. It's not even known whether she complained to her father or not, so for greater clarity and certainty that the Head would learn about everything, Xiao Tai once gave her a public dressing-down. She endured it. And the Head said not a word. And what does this mean, boys and girls—she thinks, looking at her students—it means that this Xiao Tai, who so wants to live long, is finished. Final and irrevocable—at least the Head himself thinks so. But there's nothing to confront her with, suspicions and test results in the spirit of "you're being too kind, daddy, don't you feel guilty about planning to kill me?"—can't be applied to the case. Not to mention that excessive directness would only harm things now. Well, suppose she corners the Head and adoptive father with her impeccable logic and facts, then what? He'll hang his head and say "you're right, Xiao Tai, what was I thinking..."—immediately repent and let her go free? Fat chance. Everything will remain the same, only they'll double the guard. And they'll think up some other nastiness, some "spiritual shackles" or "Chain of Five Trigrams," or even cut out her tongue altogether. So she won't be too clever. A mute wife—that's just a fairy tale.
So she wasn't going to tell the Head anything about the results of her loyalty test. She simply drew conclusions. The side results of the test turned out to be two students—one young Lady Liling, who showed quite decent results for a bookworm, and the second... a short but sturdy girl from the servants, one Minmin. Or as her companions called her—Pot, since she was the proud owner of an ancient bronze pot. Despite her nickname, Min Wok (pot) turned out to be quite clever, quick-witted, and not lacking in humor. That's precisely why Xiao Tai took her as a "student," since this very Minmin had been assigned to her as a personal servant, so to speak a personal attendant. And she could do whatever she wanted with her, for example—teach her to read and write.
Why did she do this? As part of another torment for poor Liling, to show her that the difference between a high lady and a servant isn't so great. If it exists at all. Of course, if you compete in knowledge of canons and treatises that Liling studied while Minmin washed clothes and swept the courtyard—then Liling would beat any servant girl. That's why it seems to these children from noble families that they're so smart and educated, while commoners are all fools and idiots. They just don't know about the Battle of Red Cliffs and can't name the third wife of Emperor Jing Wenhua of the Jing Dynasty, can't distinguish high verse from low, name the twelve signs of a worthy husband and eight unforgivable sins, can't maintain a conversation about the peculiarities of monetary policy in the era of warring kingdoms, can't compose poems on time, and so on and so forth...
But knowledge doesn't yet mean a person is smart. It's just knowledge. If Minmin had studied all this from childhood, she would have been the same as Liling, and possibly even better. In turn, this Liling probably doesn't even know how to wash clothes or cook dinner. So Xiao Tai, in order to demonstrate to her little sister the full depth of her fall—taught differently. Something that wasn't in the books Liling had already read. This also helped her in directing Liling in the right direction. Toward where awareness of her path, her destiny would eventually come. After all, progressivism should be recognized as a criminal offense, thinks Xiao Tai—the world isn't ready for the new yet. But her strategic task is to reach the heights, become better and seize all the power and authority she can reach. And the tactical one—not to die at the hands of the Azure Phoenixes or the captain of the Won Mi house guard on the way to these very Phoenixes.
"I'm ready!" Liling raises her hand, and you can see from her face that she's happy and proud—well, of course—she managed to find the answer before Minmin! Xiao Tai just shook her head. This Liling is soft as clay and just as suggestible—she didn't even notice how she started competing with Minmin, though initially, on the first day—she just pursed her lips. As if to say, don't make my elegantly embroidered red silk and pearl slippers laugh. Who am I—a worthy daughter of the high house of the Won Mi family, and who is she—an ordinary commoner, a servant. But not even a day passed before Minmin's ability to quickly absorb new knowledge and draw conclusions, her natural wit and speed of thinking—made the princess of the Won Mi family sweat. As a result, now Liling already perceives Minmin as a rival, though to her credit—she makes no effort to resolve the matter "unsportingly." Say, send the competitor to the stables to old Weidun or occupy her with the most unpleasant and heavy work. Not that she could, after all Minmin is her personal servant, but in theory—she could have tried. However, Liling made no attempts to deal with Minmin outside of studies. Minmin in turn—was very worried that sometimes she gave correct answers while the young lady gave incorrect ones. As a result—she gets praised while the young lady gets scolded. And not just scolded! They might hit her shoulders with a bamboo stick!
Therefore Minmin made it her habit not to speak first, to wait until the young lady expressed herself, so as not to get in the princess's way into hell. But even this didn't help much—Xiao Tai deliberately singled her out, sometimes even pointedly unfairly. Yes, princess, life is generally unfair—you'll stay home eating peaches in honey, while someone will go to the Azure Phoenixes in a month.
"I'm listening," Xiao Tai nods, and Liling stands up and raises a sheet of paper in front of her, begins reading in the usual, dreary recitative. They need to work on expressive reading here, thinks Xiao Tai, listening to her little sister.
"...thus the text says that the respected general acted correctly by postponing the attack. Because Heaven's Will was for the heir's army to be defeated," she finishes.
"Heaven's Will," Xiao Tai chuckles. "Let's talk about Heaven's Will. The whole problem with Heaven's Will is that many don't understand the full depth of Heaven's Will, trying to go with the flow. However, even the most wretched rabbit fights to the last, wanting to live. Isn't this Heaven's Will? And if you think about it—isn't Heaven's Will more important than a father's will in the family or a governor's will in the city?"
"Of course it's more important! Heaven's Will is more important than any other will, Tai Dajie!" Liling blurts out, rejoicing that she can answer on topic, and so quickly too.
"Excellent," Xiao Tai nods. "Correct. However, what exactly does Heaven's Will contain? Is there a code that says 'obey your elders'? Or, for example, a set of Heaven's laws?"
"But... Tai Dajie... everyone understands this. You must obey your elders. You must submit to your father. It's written in the Shijing and in the treatises, in the Canon of Family, for example."
"Yes. It's written. For example, in the Shijing, verse one hundred fifty-three says 'a wife shall be obedient and submissive,' while verse eighty-three says 'no one will support a husband who goes against Heaven.' No one—meaning the wife too, right?" Xiao Tai squints. With her memory, she can instantly find dozens of contradictions in canons and treatises. It's understandable—canons actually examine separate examples, in each specific case the right path is only recommended, life is complicated, different cases happen, and people are different too. Finding a direct contradiction in the text isn't difficult. Explaining it though...
"No one will support a husband who goes against Heaven's Will, and the wife shouldn't support him either," Liling says firmly.
"Good. And how exactly should we determine whether a husband is going against Heaven's Will or not?" asks Xiao Tai. The trap snapped shut.
"It's immediately obvious. Heaven's Will... it's immediately obvious! If Heaven is against it—it's immediately obvious!"
"So inside you and inside every person there is Heaven's Will that indicates—this is wrong, and this is right? Is that so?"
"Uh... probably."
"Now imagine that a young husband returns home after a long absence and sees his wife embracing an unknown man of wondrous beauty. What does Heaven's Will tell him at that moment? How will he act? Is it surprising that his hand would reach for his sword to pierce them both?"
"You can't cheat on your husband, you can't do that. Heaven's Will will guide his hand with the sharpened sword to pierce the adulterers," says Liling, leaning forward, clearly agitated. She's still young, romance and hormones boiling in her blood, and here they're discussing such a close topic.
"So this is an example of Heaven's Will. Good. Now imagine that while her husband was absent, his young wife finally found her long-lost brother who returned home from war. And that's why she hugged him. But then her husband bursts in and kills them both. Is this Heaven's Will?"
"But... he didn't know that this man was her brother!"
"So Heaven's Will depends on the amount of information gathered?"
"Uh..." Liling thinks painfully. Xiao Tai turns to Minmin, who is listening to their conversation.
"And what do you say, Minmin?"
"This worthless one asks permission from Lady Liling and Lady Xiao Tai to express her opinion!" the girl with the amusing nickname "Pot" immediately stands and bows. As befits a servant—she refuses to call them simply by name, though Xiao Tai tried to force her. No way. However, you can understand her—it's still unknown how fate will turn, and quarreling with young Lady Liling is dangerous. And with young Lady Xiao Tai too, for that matter. For a servant, quarreling with masters is more trouble than it's worth—better to be overly cautious than to relax.
"Heaven's Will may depend on truth. Who is a liar and who speaks truth, who is a murderer and who is wrongly accused. Without truth, it's impossible to know Heaven's Will. If a judge doesn't know who is guilty and who isn't—how can he pass a righteous sentence?" says Minmin and bows her head.
"Is that so? But if we don't learn the whole truth... does that mean we don't know Heaven's Will? Is it unknowable?"
"This worthless servant cannot know!" Minmin bows again. Xiao Tai turns to Liling. Raises an eyebrow. The princess is extremely reluctant to admit her defeat, and she's not going to do it. She'll struggle a bit more.
"Heaven's Will is in each of us!" she persists. "You must obey your elders. Lead a righteous life. Honor your ancestors. Be faithful to your husband and your homeland."
"And if an elder goes against Heaven's Will?"
"If he goes against Heaven's Will—then you can't obey him!"
"We just learned that in order to determine this very Heaven's Will—you first need to find out what it consists of. But if there's no time for long deliberation?"
"Then you must act as Heaven's Will in your heart commands!" the heated Liling blurts out, and Xiao Tai nods with satisfaction. That's right, her student chooses with her heart, she has no time for long deliberation, she's not used to reflection. But it's precisely this path, the path of the heart, the path of passion—that leads to that very idea. Nothing is true, everything is permitted. Actually, there's another idea, higher than this idea, and that's precisely Kant's categorical imperative, which introduces a universal law practically equal to Heaven's Will, but her student doesn't need to know about this. To build—you first need to destroy. A simple and understandable scheme of the world—what's good and what's bad, what's right and what's not, what you should do and what you can't—all this first needs to be shaken, broken and destroyed. Sow seeds of doubt—that Heaven's Will is no longer so observed, everywhere there are doubts and heresy. Then ask the question—what, actually, does Heaven's Will consist of? And the conclusion that Liling just reached—fits right into this framework. This is the third stage of initiation, which states that Heaven's Will is in your heart. From here to the next statement is just a stone's throw. What's the next statement? You and your desires are Heaven's Will. Here she'll have to stop, teach her to follow new laws... break her. So that later—cast her in a ready form and temper a new blade. And then Liling won't turn out to be a modest and submissive wife. Won't turn out to be an ordinary subject ready to live life like everyone else. And no, for her this won't be a curse, for her—it's a blessing. Armed with this idea and her knowledge, little sister will definitely live this life successfully and happily... it will be a curse for those around her. She needs to be encouraged.
"Well done," Xiao Tai nods. "You thought of a simple and logical answer yourself. If there's no possibility to establish this truth, then we can accept the axiom that everything happens according to Heaven's Will, which means this will is also in your heart. Today's lesson is over." The girls stand, bow and leave. Minmin—quietly, head bowed, Liling—happy, with a flushed face, pleased with the praise. An old trick, thinks Xiao Tai—first create the image of a gloomy and strict teacher, grumble and punish over trifles, and then stingy praise will melt the heart better than dithyrambs and odes in your honor. Young Lady Liling has other teachers, many of them. And all of them—receive salary from Head Baoshu. All of them—praise young Lady Liling to her face and behind her back. She's both a genius of the generation and the glory of the whole family, and the divine embodiment of wisdom and beauty—so they say. And the price of these praises in Liling's own eyes is a penny on market day. But the stingy "well done" from Xiao Tai—causes a blush on her cheeks and makes her proudly straighten her back and square her shoulders. Big sister herself praised her! Lord, what children they all are here. Xiao Tai sighed and shook her head. Now she has some time for her experiments with "qi."
The teacher stopped training her as soon as she reached the first, Elementary stage. What does this stage mean? The practitioner's senses become sharper—her current sense of smell caused her a lot of trouble, she began to distinguish such odors that sometimes she would have preferred to do without enhanced smell. Maybe for a service dog this is good, but Xiao Tai herself sincerely believed that knowing when and which of the servants started their period, or how well the merchant who came to the gates washed his hands after the toilet—was excessive information. The same could be said about hearing—the buzzing of night moths flying toward the light sometimes drove her crazy, not letting her sleep. Besides, she could tell exactly who among the household servants was having an affair with whom. Or what to call that panting in the storeroom and rhythmic sounds of flesh hitting flesh? Honestly—she could have done without this knowledge. Vision also became better, but there's nothing to complain about here—she always wanted to see in the dark. What else did the elementary stage mean? Strength—now she could arm-wrestle with an adult man, and also—lift with one hand the heavy log stump that stood at old Weidun's place instead of a chopping block for cutting meat. Awkward, she had to squat, try not to dirty her dress, but she could lift it! Speed—yes, this was frankly delightful, speed was something that was very, very needed. Apparently those miracle pills finally worked, or the dynamic meditation with wushu forms and karate kata, methods of meditation in movement and energy exchange from the pastwere effective. She would like to continue her training; she was caught up in a certain excitement, although she still hadn't felt the circulation of qi in her body, it just seemed like warmth was spreading her body, and that's all. But there could be no mistake, all the traits of the Elementary stage had manifested strongly—this new strength, speed, and perception. However, to her dismay, her teacher Wun Ju had ceased her training, citing an order from the Head, and the Head in turn had said that the higher the level of cultivation, the less chance there would be of pulling her from the Phoenix clan later; it was better not to be too valuable but to be below average. In a way, he was right, of course, but considering all the circumstances, she needed to become stronger. And the sooner, the better. Thus, she continued to experiment with "qi," but now on her own. The Harvest Festival was just around the corner.