Chapter 30: Outside Luoyang City

At dusk, the sky was exceptionally clear. Han Dang rode ahead to clear the way, while Gongsun Xun and Gongsun Yue followed behind on horseback, chatting as they rode… In truth, though they were almost at the foot of Mount Goushi, the two were still debating the earlier matter without pause.

“Elder brother, we won’t be staying long in Luoyang. It’s no harm to humor Xu You for now, but Fu Xie is truly a man worth befriending deeply.” Gongsun Yue spoke earnestly. “You mustn’t let a thing like this estrange you from such a person.”

“Do you think I don’t know that Fu Xie is bound to achieve great things?” Gongsun Xun answered helplessly. “Just as I know perfectly well that Xu You is insatiably greedy. But Ah-Yue, regardless of what these men are like, I have another consideration in my heart…”

“What reasoning is that?” Gongsun Yue pressed.

“Ah-Yue, look around. Luoyang is nothing like Liaoxi. This place gathers nearly all the outstanding talents under heaven — young heroes are as numerous as carp crossing a river. And every one of them, in family background, connections, and ability, is not necessarily inferior to us; some even far surpass us… So at a time like this, as we expand our social circle and seek learning and fame, we must pay heed to one fundamental matter: we must never lose our own true purpose!”

“What is this true purpose?” Gongsun Yue pursued seriously.

“To take oneself as the center.” Gongsun Xun answered frankly.

“To take elder brother as the center?”

“No,” Gongsun Xun corrected helplessly. “To take oneself as the center. That means, no matter whom you associate with — whether high in rank or low, whether their virtue inspires admiration or their conduct invites contempt — you must firmly hold to your own true purpose. You must not drift with the current, and still less must you lose your own autonomy in the interaction. Ah-Yue, Fu Xie may be a remarkable man, but you must never let how he is dictate how you should be! No matter how fine a person is, if he cannot be of use to you, and instead you must bend yourself to suit him — is that not putting the cart before the horse?!”

Gongsun Yue was struck speechless… This reasoning, though at first hearing it sounded selfish to the point of grating, faintly held a certain truth. Because others might not know, but he did: his elder brother’s phrase “of use to oneself” carried no moral implication whatsoever; it was purely a matter of priority.

But after a moment’s thought, Gongsun Yue could not help bringing up another person: “Eldest Brother, though…”

“Eldest Brother’s temperament has been like that since childhood.” Gongsun Xun lowered his eyelids and replied. “It’s not as if you don’t know. Some principles — even when he understands them in his heart — he always has to go against them perversely… And as his younger brothers, how can we say much?”

Gongsun Yue glanced at his elder brother and was about to speak again when he suddenly heard a commotion ahead. Looking over, he saw that Han Dang, riding point, had encountered Liu Bei and his companions, who were riding with hounds, and they were chatting and laughing there.

The Gongsun brothers immediately fell silent, spurred their horses forward, and joined in conversation with these “fellow students” they had not seen for several days.

After some laughter and talk, they learned that the other group was still in a loose, free-ranging state, and that group had long known the Gongsun brothers had attached themselves to a truly powerful patron. Yet neither side felt any sense of estrangement… This was natural. Just as back in Liaoxi, when Gongsun Zan was suddenly chosen as son-in-law by the Grand Administrator, Gongsun Xun might have had the standing to feel jealous, but the other young clerks in the commandery office had no such standing. Who told them his surname was Gongsun? Who told them he was eight chi tall, majestic in appearance, and had a “great voice”?

By the same logic, who told them the Gongsun brothers were already the best among this group? And that Liu Bei was merely a “scion of the Han imperial house” whose family had fallen into decline?

And so, the two sides chatted and laughed for a while. Since one group needed to return to the foot of the mountain to rest, and the other needed to go into the county town to return the hounds and such, they parted ways there… However, after riding no more than a few paces, Gongsun Xun suddenly reined in his horse and turned his head to look back at Liu Bei’s party, now moving away from him.

“Elder brother?”

“Young Lord?”

Gongsun Yue and Han Dang both looked at Gongsun Xun in surprise.

“What do you think…” Astride his horse, silhouetted against the setting sun, Gongsun Xun hesitated. “Compared to Fu Xie, does this Liu Bei have any strong points in how he conducts himself and handles matters?”

“Elder brother… you’ve got it backwards, haven’t you?” Gongsun Yue and Han Dang exchanged a glance, and the former spoke first. “If you were to ask what strong points Fu Xie has compared to Liu Bei, I could list more than ten!”

“If that were truly the case, I wouldn’t be asking you.” Gongsun Xun held the reins and said. “What I’m asking is precisely Liu Bei’s strong points compared to Fu Xie… There must be some. Tell me what you see.”

Gongsun Yue fell silent. His answer was self-evident.

“Forget it.” Gongsun Xun shook his head and turned to ask Han Dang. “What does Brother Yigong think, then?”

“I think much the same as Young Master Yue — Fu Xie’s strong points far outnumber Liu Bei’s.” Han Dang at first frowned deeply and shook his head repeatedly, but then, as if pondering, he added one more sentence. “However, if I must name a strong point of Liu Bei over Fu Xie… I don’t know if this even counts as a strong point, because it may well be due to my own overly humble origins…”

“No matter. Speak freely.”

“Yes… Young Lord.” Han Dang said seriously. “You may not realize, but these past few days, I, a man of humble family, have been staying with you young lords in the Liu residence in Luoyang. Aside from Lord Liu himself, whose genuine leniency toward others wins hearts, whenever I face the other aristocratic young masters, I always feel a sense of being out of place, which is quite uncomfortable. And facing that rigidly proper Fu Xie is even more like having a thorn in one’s back. Yet at Mount Goushi, though there are also many aristocratic sons, whenever that fellow Liu Bei is around, he can always make a person unconsciously relax.”

Gongsun Xun’s expression was calm as he listened intently. Gongsun Yue once opened his mouth as if to speak, but finally closed it again.

“In fact, it’s not just me.” Han Dang continued. “Here at Mount Goushi, among the hundred or so people in the entire residence, from Aunt Jin down to the little Sanhan maids, though none would say they especially like Liu Bei, almost none dislike him. Whenever he comes with some matter, everyone helps if they can. As for that Fu Xie, though I admire him immensely, I wholeheartedly agree with one thing you said, Young Lord — it’s best to keep him at a respectful distance; only then can one feel at ease.”

“A fine ‘keep him at a respectful distance.’” Gongsun Xun could not help sighing. “In truth, human nature is universal. If you and I both feel this way, how must others feel? Fu Xie conducts himself with lofty integrity — who doesn’t feel a thorn in their back before him? Liu Bei may fool around, but from Eldest Brother to me to Ah-Yue, has any of us disliked him? Brother Yigong, you have spoken exceedingly well… But come, let us hurry back. Tomorrow we must go to Luoyang again.”

Han Dang and Gongsun Yue nodded together, turned, and urged their horses on. Gongsun Xun followed behind, riding slowly, his gaze fixed absently on the setting sun at the end of the distant official road.

In truth, Gongsun Xun’s thoughts went far beyond this single layer.

Hearing Han Dang speak thus, he suddenly recalled the “deeds” and assessments his mother had told him about Liu Bei… This Liu Bei could “win people”!

As for these “people,” at this moment, probably because order still prevailed, they could only be the gentry. Others — whether warriors with martial strength or peasants who could till the fields — did not count as “people” in the eyes of the gentry. And since Liu Bei was still young and could not reach many gentry, his ability to “win people” was not yet apparent. But if one thought carefully, once the chaos began, these “people” would no longer be just the gentry. From high ministers down to common peasants, anyone with a useful skill would naturally count as a person, and this man’s ability to win people would naturally stand out all the more.

As the saying goes, “When you see a worthy, think of emulating him.” Comparing the two, Gongsun Xun could not help but reflect… From his earliest childhood, his mother had taught him that all things and affairs are rooted in people. Though he had taken it to heart, he had made one enormous mistake: limited by his background and perspective, he had, for a long time, never truly grasped the concept of “people.” Managing to gather a Han Dang was merely following a map to find a horse… It seemed he must now “recognize his error and correct it”!

In a daze, a commotion ahead signaled that they had arrived at the villa at the foot of Mount Goushi. Gongsun Xun dismounted, and without a word about dinner, headed straight for the rear courtyard to find Aunt Jin, who managed the villa.

“Liu Bei… was magnanimous, resolute, and generous, knowing men and treating scholars well, possessing the manner of Emperor Gaozu and the vessel of a hero. In craft, authority, and strategic ability, he did not match Yan Wu, and thus his foundation was also narrower. Yet he bent but did not break, and in the end would not be subservient — perhaps judging that others’ measure would not tolerate him, he acted not solely to contend for advantage, but also to avoid harm.” — Old Book of Yan, Scroll 28, Hereditary Houses, Part 3

(End of Chapter)