Chapter 137: Thunderstorm

In the blazing summer heat, Gongsun Xun rode east out of Hulao Pass.

However, after exiting the pass and regrouping with the rest of his men, he did not turn directly to cross the river and head to Wei Commandery to "deliver the goods." Instead, he temporarily left the main force behind and, taking only Lou Gui, Han Dang, and a few White Horse guards, rode straight toward the slightly southward Pei State.

In truth, this was not because Gongsun Xun was being careless, but rather stemmed from a suggestion by Gongsun Fan... The kid proposed that since Wei Commandery was, after all, Cao Jie's hometown and the "delivery location" proposed by the other party, there might be danger. So it would be better to let him handle the matter, while his "elder brother" could detour ahead and avoid the risk.

This was, of course, utter nonsense. Gongsun Xun did not think that Cao Jie, in the state he had been in that day at the Imperial Secretariat, would be so depraved. But how to put it? Considering that Gongsun Fan was now of age and had even been given a literary courtesy name by Liu Kuan when leaving Luoyang, it wouldn't do to dampen the fellow's enthusiasm, so he just held his nose and agreed.

As for why he wanted to take this detour to Pei State?

According to Gongsun Xun's personal explanation, it was naturally because of Cao Mengde. The man had stolen a cat and fled, leaving without a word of farewell — of course he had to come and demand an explanation! Otherwise, east of Hulao Pass and south of the Yellow River, how many people did he, Gongsun Wenqi, even know?

And besides, although Pei State was located quite far south, the Qiao County where Cao Cao's family home lay was actually situated right at the northernmost corner of Pei State. Gongsun Xun's party, just a handful of men on fast horses galloping hard, would merely have to pass through one Chenliu Commandery and one Liang State to reach the place... And these two commanderies in the Central Plains were typically densely populated yet small in area, so it truly wouldn't delay them much.

A brief meeting in Qiao County, then they would turn north and head back.

Thus, even Zhao Yun could find nothing to say... Her husband was determined to visit a friend and guaranteed it wouldn't delay the journey — what could she do?

However, once they actually set out on the road, Gongsun Xun and the others discovered they had thought far too simply of traveling.

"Young lord, it's far too hot — let's sit for a while at the pavilion up ahead!" Under the blazing sun, Lou Gui was drenched in sweat, his whole body soaked through. And after saying this, without a care, he directly grabbed a waterskin and gulped wildly.

Gongsun Xun reined in his horse and couldn't help sighing... They had barely traveled thirty li from Junyi City since morning and already needed to rest — this journey was going to take a while. But looking at Lou Zibo, whose face was flushed red as he focused only on guzzling water, he was helpless.

"Young lord." Han Dang was also soaked through with sweat, but his reasoning was a bit more solid. "Traveling in such weather truly requires some caution. Even if the men can endure it, our mounts cannot, can they? We must still slow our pace appropriately, and after traveling a stretch, let the animals drink."

Gongsun Xun nodded slightly, and so the group gently urged their horses forward, dismounting to rest beside a pavilion by the official road ahead.

Speaking of which, they were fortunate to be in the heartland of the Central Plains, where the population was dense, so there was no shortage of pavilions along the road for travelers to rest and drink water. Otherwise, traveling in this weather might truly have cost lives.

"Thankfully, from Junyi County to Chenliu County, it's all bustling, populous territory, and the official road doesn't lack pavilions." The moment Lou Gui dismounted, he couldn't help but sigh loudly. "Otherwise, I truly would have died of heat."

"Honored sirs, please sit over here — it's cool here!"

"Please, young masters, have some cool water from the deep well!"

The people in the pavilions of such a prosperous area naturally knew how to read expressions and tones. As soon as Gongsun Xun and his party dismounted, the Pavilion Chief took the initiative to clear a patch of shade for them, brought over several campstools and two small tables, and attended to their seating. Then, the Pavilion Father personally drew a bucket of cool deep-well water from the backyard and brought it before them.

Correspondingly, the various other people sheltering from the heat under the tree shade in front of the pavilion — mainly local villagers from the nearby fields — could only take turns using the communal large bowl to draw water from a large well in front of the gate.

"Pavilion Chief, there's no need for such trouble." Han Dang responded with practiced ease. "Take this bucket of water to those people over there. We've brought our own waterskins to drink from. We'll only trouble the pavilion staff to look after our mounts and boil a pot of water for us... Here is something for your trouble!"

As Han Dang finished speaking, a small ingot of Anli Trading Company's special reward silver was pressed into the Pavilion Chief's hand, and a string of wuzhu coins was also handed out by an attendant to the Pavilion Father, the thief-catcher, and the others... These were routines they had grown accustomed to on the road.

At this, although they found it odd and troublesome, the pavilion staff all broke into delighted smiles and hurried off to do as instructed.

"Old sir!" Seeing that the freshly drawn bucket of well water had been carried over to the rest of the heat-sheltering crowd, where an elderly man was the first to rise, take some with a large bowl, and then it was quickly divided up entirely, Gongsun Xun picked up a vacated campstool and walked over on his own initiative. "Please, sit!"

"No need." The commoner elder squatting on the ground drinking water was completely unbothered by the gesture. "No need — sitting on the ground is cooler. The pavilion did offer me a low stool on account of my age, but I declined it. You needn't mind me, honored sir."

Gongsun Xun was momentarily speechless. He could only set down the campstool and continue to urge, "Well water may be cool, but it's not good for the stomach. Today's heat is exceptional, so it can't be helped, but in the future, old sir, you might drink more hot water..."

"What kind of talk is that, honored sir?" The commoner elder couldn't help but size up the other man while holding his large pottery bowl. "Doesn't boiling water require firewood? Doesn't chopping firewood require effort? It's not winter, when one needs hot broth to warm the body... Why drink hot water? Now, in the blazing summer, the crops in the fields are scorched yellow. Wouldn't it be better to use that strength to carry some water for irrigation?"

Gongsun Xun followed the direction of the elder's pursed lips toward the nearly yellowed expanse of fields across the road and was again speechless for a moment... In truth, he had wanted to say that drinking hot water could prevent epidemic diseases, but the matters of firewood and drought had choked the words right out of him.

Thinking carefully, it made sense. Even his own mother, Lady Gongsun, had spent twenty years and personally experienced several epidemics, yet had only managed to gradually make the half-commandery of Liaoxi and the Anli Trading Company accept the principle that drinking hot water reduced illness. And even that was partly because, after the heated brick bed was popularized, the northern regions had an enormous demand for firewood, creating a scale that ensured no shortage of heat sources.

And here he was, in the heartland of the Central Plains, under such weather, forcefully lecturing people about drinking hot water... Wasn't that a bit like that imbecile emperor his mother always spoke of, who asked, "Why don't they eat meat congee?"

Ah, speaking of which, was that imbecile emperor Sima Fang's great-great-grandson or great-great-great-grandson?

"I have been taught!" After a bout of wild thoughts, Gongsun Xun honestly cupped his hands and withdrew.

Then, he returned to his own patch of shade and sat down, hurriedly uncorking his waterskin and drinking large mouthfuls of the cooled boiled water inside... He had to admit, this weather was truly unbearable. He only hoped it wouldn't last too long and cause a great drought!

And so, Gongsun Xun and the others drank some water, caught some breeze, and after their bodies felt somewhat refreshed, they chatted idly for a while, yet still made no move to depart... The boiled water was ready, but it still needed to cool in the shade before it could be poured into the waterskins. And even the waterskins couldn't store water for long in this weather — they needed washing too.

"So Zibo's Lou surname actually originated from the Cao surname?" Gongsun Xun had indeed broadened his knowledge. "No wonder you've known Cao Mengde since youth..."

"Young lord, you're overthinking it." Lou Gui immediately laughed. "That was merely a pretext when we first became acquainted. Lou originating from Cao is an old matter from the Spring and Autumn period. Back then, south of Mount Tai, there was a state called Zhulou, which originated from a Ji-surname enfeoffment. Its rulers took Cao as their surname. Later, the state was destroyed, and its descendants took the state name as their surname, giving rise to our branch of the Lou surname... That was over five hundred years ago. Where under heaven are there relatives of five hundred years?"

The group couldn't help but laugh at this.

Just then, Lou Gui, who had been chatting idly, suddenly furrowed his brow. Gongsun Xun and the others, not understanding why, followed his gaze and saw a commoner traveler on a nag coming along the official road... Or rather, a young commoner scholar.

Looking closely, the man's features were not bad, but his whole body was soaked with sweat, and with the fierce sun overhead like fire, he was also in a wretched state.

"Zibo knows this man?" Gongsun Xun couldn't help but be curious.

"Yes and no." Lou Zibo replied in a low voice. "This man does not know me, but I know of him. Yet I also don't know his name or background — I only know that he is likely from Qingzhou."

"Now that's strange." Seeing the man riding a nag with a bundle strapped to the horse, his whole body drenched, pause briefly before the pavilion but then, with slight hesitation, ride past it, Han Dang immediately couldn't resist asking. "I've truly never heard of such a way of being acquainted!"

"There's a reason for it." Lou Gui stroked his not-very-long beard and, watching the man's receding figure, explained. "Back in Luoyang, when the young lord assisted Yang Qiu in expelling the Zhang Feng and Zhang Hao brothers — Grand Commandant Zhang Hao returned to his hometown in Changshan, but Regular Palace Attendant Zhang Feng merely retired to Wancheng. Because of this, the young lord had me keep an eye out, to guard against any counterattack from this man..."

"That did happen." Gongsun Xun also recalled the matter. "This scholar is actually connected to eunuchs? But why is he riding such a nag?"

"That I don't know." Lou Gui was also puzzled. "Logically, he shouldn't lack for money or goods, because this man is extremely trusted by Zhang Feng..."

"Is that so?" Gongsun Xun's heart stirred, and he thought again of that Luo Mu, Luo Zixian, who had been at Cao Jie's side. He wondered what that big-bearded fellow was doing now, whether he had been killed in Cao Jie's anger... In any case, he was a man of excellent intellect. And he wondered what this man was like?

"Exactly." Lou Zibo naturally had no idea what Gongsun Xun was thinking and continued his explanation on his own. "The young lord may not know, but according to the intelligence I gathered during my investigation back then, after Zhang Feng returned home, probably due to this setback, he fell ill and never recovered. And while bedridden, he actually entrusted nearly all household affairs to this man! Moreover, given the unfavorable situation at the time, outsiders rarely entered Zhang Feng's residence, and the Zhang clan members were likely restrained from leaving without permission. So often, this man was the only one coming and going each day, procuring medicine and food for Zhang Feng... When I heard the report back then, I didn't quite believe it, so I went to investigate personally, and thus had a chance encounter with him on the streets of Wancheng."

Everyone suddenly understood. And just then, seeing that the Pavilion Father and pavilion staff had already begun helping the attendants fill the waterskins with cooled boiled water, they stopped pondering further, rose to help, and prepared to continue their journey.

However, at that very moment, they saw that drenched scholar actually turn his nag around and come back... Clearly, he was unbearably hot and had decided to return here to rest a while and drink some water to quench his thirst.

But what was interesting was that, after Gongsun Xun couldn't help scrutinizing the man a few more times, he actually discovered that the man had brought his own wooden bowl, rather than using the pavilion's communal pottery bowl. And what happened afterward was even more interesting... The man first earnestly entreated several villagers to draw water for him, and after the water was drawn, while repeatedly thanking them, he continued holding out his bowl and earnestly entreating them to pour the water for him, rather than directly dipping his bowl into the bucket to scoop water.

Just as Gongsun Xun was silently speechless, thinking this scholar was overly fastidious, the fellow, holding his water, actually dodged the villagers who had helped him as if avoiding a plague, retreating far back before finally standing at the edge of the tree shade and lowering his head to drink.

And he repeated this several times, drinking several bowls of water before hurriedly setting off again, as if this place were somehow filthy!

To be honest, if this had been in his younger days, Gongsun Xun would certainly have taught this impoverished pedant who looked down on villagers yet served eunuchs a lesson on the spot. But today, the sun was too fierce, and he was in a hurry to travel, so he couldn't be bothered to say much... Only, shortly after they resumed their journey, he deliberately made the man eat a bit of their dust.

However, after traveling barely another ten-odd li, still far from their day's destination of Chenliu City, the seat of Chenliu Commandery, Gongsun Xun's party was forced to stop once again... This time, it wasn't the sun that forced them, but a sudden summer thunderstorm!

Truly, summer weather changed in an instant. Moments before, the sun had hung high, the heat oppressive, but as a gust of wind and a bank of clouds pressed over, followed by several muffled rumbles of thunder... At this, the party, who had just filled their bellies with water, all changed color and immediately turned their horses around, heading back to another pavilion they had just passed!

One must understand, getting rained on in this weather — whether you drank boiled water or well water — would likely make you ill... And in this age, once you fell ill, from the Son of Heaven down to the common folk, nothing was certain.

And sure enough, the group had just reached this rather shabby pavilion behind them, tied up their horses, and ducked into the building, when they heard another roll of muffled thunder pass overhead, followed immediately by raindrops the size of beans pelting down.

Gongsun Xun and the others looked at each other, at a loss for what to do!

The rain poured down like a waterfall, and more and more people came to take shelter... Most of the later arrivals were farmers who had been working nearby. Almost all of them were soaked through, and as soon as they entered, they stripped off their shirts and went bare-chested under the eaves. And whether out of goodwill or a desire not to provoke the anger of Gongsun Xun and his party standing under the eaves, the Pavilion Chief was quite accommodating. Far from showing any intention of scolding them, he instead directed these bare-chested villagers into the adjacent rooms to take shelter.

Seeing this, Gongsun Xun said nothing more; instead, he gave up the empty room behind him as well, letting the farming women, who had also been out in the fields fighting the drought, take shelter in this side room... Indeed, in this era, what woman didn't work in the fields? All the more so during a severe drought.

Of course, this downpour would likely ease the drought considerably — one could sense as much from the bawdy jokes the men and women villagers were trading through the walls of the houses on either side, and from the helpless expression on the face of the tingzhang beside him.

"Young lord!" Just as Gongsun Xun was listening with a faint smile to the Henan countryside's bawdy banter, Lou Gui suddenly nudged him in the ribs.

"I've seen him." Gongsun Xun narrowed his eyes slightly and looked up to see a 'familiar face' who had just entered the ting compound gate, leading a nag. "The Luoyang matter is already settled. We meet by chance on the road — pay him no heed!"

Lou Gui and the others immediately nodded.

"May I ask the tingzhang, is there a place to shelter from the rain?" This 'familiar' scholar, after tethering his nag, came before the veranda. Then, heedless of the rain pouring down on his head like a drenching, he actually stood in the courtyard and, from a distance, addressed the tingzhang standing beside Gongsun Xun.

Seeing that the other party was a scholar, the tingzhang did not put on airs and simply told him the truth: "There are no rooms left. Our ting is cramped to begin with, with only two empty rooms. Thanks to this noble gentleman's generosity, those two rooms were given over to the men and women villagers working the fields outside. If you wish to go inside and shelter from the rain, go to the room on the left where the men are. If you'd rather not go in and smell the sweat, you may take some shelter under the eaves... In any case, come quickly and get out of the rain — don't just stand there getting drenched!"

Hearing this, the man hesitated repeatedly in the rain, and then actually bowed slightly, turned, and walked away!

Even though Gongsun Xun did not wish to stir up trouble, at this moment he could not help a surge of anger rising within him, and it took great effort to suppress his temper as he coldly called the man to halt: "That scholar with the Qingzhou accent — come back here!"

It must be understood that although Gongsun Xun wore no official seal or ribbon and was excessively young, he had, after all, been tempered by experience in the army and the Imperial Secretariat, and had developed a certain bearing and manner. Moreover, considering his clothing, his mount, and his attendants, anyone with a modicum of discernment would likely be able to tell that he was what one might call a 'noble gentleman'!

Thus, when he called out like this, and even more so when he pinpointed the Qingzhou accent, the scholar immediately and obediently turned back... However, the fellow still stood in the courtyard under the rain, unwilling to come forward.

"Where are you going?" Gongsun Xun stood with his hands behind his back, his expression displeased, and immediately demanded.

"In reply to you, my noble lord, I was going to take shelter in the stables..." The man could not help wiping the rain from his face and answered wretchedly.

It must be said, this man's previous repeated posturing had led Gongsun Xun to assume he had some strange obsession with cleanliness, or that he relied on his status as a scholar to look down on villagers, and so in his heart he had merely been sneering coldly. He had even felt somewhat indignant because the man was unwilling to stand under the eaves with him and the others.

But now, hearing that the other party was actually going to take shelter in the stables, prepared to share a shed with numerous beasts of burden and their dung, and that he did not abandon propriety even in the rain, Gongsun Xun could not help but begin to doubt his own judgment... Had he formed a preconceived notion because this man was connected to the Regular Palace Attendant Zhang Feng?

And just as Gongsun Xun was hesitating and uncertain, some villager in the room behind him sneezed wretchedly, drawing a burst of laughter from within, which unexpectedly stirred something in his heart.

"Come up onto the veranda and get out of the rain!" Gongsun Xun lowered his head and made room, then immediately urged him. "I am the newly appointed Prefect of Xiangping, Gongsun Xun. What is your name, and where are you from?"

Hearing this, the man could not help but look up in astonishment at the person under the eaves, yet he still refused to come forward, and instead performed a salute right there in the rain and answered:

"Wang Xiu, styled Shuzhi, of Yingling in Beihai. I have met the White Horse Gentleman! I have long admired the gentleman's great name, but truly did not wish to meet the gentleman by chance upon the road!"

——————I am the dividing line of restless air——————

"Wang Xiu, styled Shuzhi, a man of Yingling in Beihai. At twenty, he traveled to Nanyang to study and stopped at a public hostel. Later, learning it was established by the Regular Palace Attendant Zhang Feng, he prepared to leave. He encountered Zhang Feng being driven out by Yang Qiu and returned to Wan, where his entire family fell ill, with none to care for them. Xiu, having left, turned back, personally tended to them with compassion, and only departed after they recovered." — A New Account of the Tales of the World, Chapter on Appraisal

PS: Thanks to book friend Loneliness for the two red-tipped donations, and everyone please join the new book group 684558115

(End of Chapter)