Chapter 114: Yet Have You Gentlemen Consulted the Spirits?

At a pavilion lodge outside Ruo County, while the convict laborers sat glumly tethered together resting, they took advantage of the pavilion guards and garrison soldiers' inattention and once again began murmuring among themselves.

"Who knows when we'll get a chance to flee…"

"The Pavilion Chief is overbearing, the pavilion guards are vicious — I fear they'd catch us and kill us…"

"The weather grows colder by the day, and we're only wearing coarse hemp clothes. If we keep heading north, we'll likely freeze to death. How does the Pavilion Chief and guards' cruelty compare to the winter cold?"

"I've heard that north of Yan County lies the Sanshi River, also called the Canglang River. When the time comes we'll cross by boat — why not throw ourselves into the water and hide?"

"Entering the water in winter with both hands bound — I fear you'd die even faster!"

Just as the convict laborers were secretly discussing this, someone suddenly stepped out from behind a tree, giving them a terrible fright! If their words were reported, they'd be in for no small flogging.

The newcomer was none other than Bu Cheng, his hair hanging loose. Bu Cheng waved a hand to set the convict laborers at ease.

"Gentlemen, rest assured — what I just heard, I will never speak of."

As he spoke, Bu Cheng walked into their midst and chatted idly with them for a while. Once they had let down their guard, he smiled and said, "Gentlemen, I understand your desire to flee. Yet in all endeavors that succeed, one part lies with man, the other with Heaven. On the human side, you have already discussed matters thoroughly — but have you gentlemen consulted the spirits?"

"Consulted the spirits?" The men looked at one another. Indeed, they had not yet inquired of the ghosts and spirits about this matter — could that be why those two before them had failed in their escape?

At once, a quick-witted man bowed to Bu Cheng with clasped hands and said, "I have long heard that Bu Cheng is a day-diviner of Yunshui Village, from a family that has practiced divination for generations. Might you be able to cast a divination for us?"

"I can."

Bu Cheng stroked his sparse beard and said, "One coin per man, and I shall divine for you."

Although they were convict laborers, they still had a bit of personal property; one coin per man was something they could produce. After Bu Cheng had collected the coins, he took the yarrow stalks from his bosom and laid out twelve of them on the ground…

"I shall use the twelve Jianchu gods from the Day Book to inquire of the spirits on your behalf, gentlemen."

The so-called Day Book, put plainly, was the almanac of this era, filled entirely with divination, geomancy, yin-yang, physiognomy, and other such feudal superstitions — yet the vast majority of people believed in it without a doubt.

Years later, when Qin began to impose speech controls and burned the Odes, the Documents, and private book collections, the Day Book alone was spared, because the common people of Qin had reached a point where they simply could not live without it.

The Day Book divided the days of the year into twelve categories — namely "Establish, Remove, Full, Balance, Fix, Hold, Break, Danger, Complete, Receive, Open, Close" — called the "Twelve Jianchu Gods." These twelve gods were linked to the twelve months and further combined with the twelve earthly branches used to mark the days, allowing it to tell you precisely what you could and could not do on a given day of a given month of the year, so as to pursue fortune and avoid calamity.

For example, if you were a military officer and opened the Day Book to find that the entry for today's date read "Favorable for field battle, shall surely capture a marquis or king," you would promptly rouse your spirits and prepare for combat, hoping to capture an enemy state's leader in a single stroke during today's field battle, and then be enfeoffed, promoted, and return home in silken robes.

If you were a farmer and saw in the Day Book that "Grain taboo days: for millet, the dragon is at yin. For sorghum it's chou, for rice it's hai, for wheat it's zi…" — this meant that on any day marked yin, planting rice was taboo; on chou days, planting sorghum was taboo; on hai days, planting paddy rice was taboo; on zi days, planting wheat was taboo… So you'd count on your fingers, realize today was a zi day, and decide not to plant wheat — go plant rice instead!

If you were a minor clerk, it was even more crucial to watch the days, for this was intimately tied to your career fortune. Because the Day Book said that if you went to see your superior to report on work on a zi day, if you went in the morning he would listen attentively to the end, but if you went in the evening he would not listen at all, and if you went at dusk, your superior would certainly make you come back again. If you went to see your superior in the morning on a chou day, he would fly into a great rage, but if you went in the evening you would earn his praise…

There were also no few taboos for travel. For instance, setting out eastward in the first, fifth, or ninth month would bring fatal disaster; heading southeast would cause you to be separated from your family; going south was likewise inauspicious — as for what kind of inauspiciousness, the Day Book did not specify, so one could only leave it to fate.

In short, for marriage, childbirth, funerals, farming, travel — the Day Book's guidance and predictions for the common people's lives reached a degree of exhaustive detail. For the Qin populace, who revered divination and spirits, to open one's eyes at dawn each day without glancing at the Day Book truly made every step arduous and left one at a complete loss…

However, apart from a small number of wealthy ranked households, not everyone among the Qin common folk could read. Thus a profession arose specifically to read the Day Book and perform divinations for people. They could be called diviners, or "day-diviners" — the Records of the Grand Historian even devoted a special "Biographies of Day-Diviners" to this group.

And Bu Cheng was precisely a folk day-diviner from Anlu County.

To officials, he might not be worth mentioning. But to the superstitious convict laborers and garrison soldiers, this diviner who could recite most of the Day Book was a remarkable figure, one who could help them communicate with the mysterious and unfathomable ghosts and spirits, to clearly discern future fortune and misfortune…

Thus, as Bu Cheng performed the divination according to the Day Book's twelve Jianchu gods, the convict laborers fell silent, as if facing a matter of grave solemnity.

After calculating for a while, Bu Cheng's originally rather relaxed face grew extremely grave, and he shook his head incessantly. "Ill-omened, ill-omened indeed…"

The convict laborers immediately tensed up and asked, "Diviner, what is ill-omened?"

Bu Cheng rose, his head drenched in sweat, and pointed in alarm at the arrangement of yarrow stalks that the convict laborers could not understand at all. "According to the numerology in the Day Book, the entire tenth, eleventh, and twelfth months — any escape attempt will meet with calamity! I further inquired of the spirits in detail on your behalf, gentlemen, and the spirits said…"

"What did the spirits say?" The convict laborers were on edge.

"The spirits said: under no circumstances attempt to flee, or you shall die an unnatural death, your head severed from your body, and your families punished!"

"Ah!" The convict laborers were scared ashen-faced. Strangely enough, when threatened with statutes and ordinances, they were thoroughly accustomed to it, but when the very same words were presented as the pronouncement of ghosts and spirits, this group believed without a doubt.

Even the few who harbored misgivings did not dare openly question the day-diviner's divination results.

What they did not know was that, at this very moment, Heifu had long since deliberately drawn away the other garrison soldiers and pavilion guards, and was himself watching this scene from a distance behind the lodge.

From a modern person's perspective, these convict laborers' blind faith in the Day Book might seem somewhat absurd and preposterous. But thinking of how, over two thousand years later, plenty of people still relied on the almanacs passed down from their ancestors to choose houses based on feng shui and select auspicious dates for weddings, Heifu no longer found it strange.

The next day, when they reached Yan County, Pavilion Chief Heifu suddenly announced that since they were about to leave the borders of Nan Commandery, he would take out some money to buy fish to reward everyone.

"The garrison soldiers get meat, the convict laborers get soup — everyone gets a share."

Hearing this, the men were naturally overjoyed. So they took Heifu's money and bought several dozen jin of fish at the Yan County market, and everyone set to work preparing it together.

As one garrison soldier cut open the belly of the largest grass carp with his knife, he suddenly let out a cry of surprise!

"What's this?"

The garrison soldiers and convict laborers, hearing this, all crowded around, only to see the garrison soldier pull out from the fish's belly a small wooden tablet. After washing off the fish blood, they saw that there were actually characters carved into it with a small knife!

Most of the garrison soldiers and convict laborers were illiterate. As they looked at one another in bewilderment, Bu Cheng squeezed in as well, took it in his hand, and read aloud: "Flee not, obey the Pavilion Chief, earn merit, redeem your crimes…"

He hastily raised the wooden tablet high and declared, "This is the ghosts and spirits hiding a letter in a fish's belly, sending word to us! Flee not, obey the Pavilion Chief, earn merit, redeem your crimes — this is the will of the ghosts and spirits! Gentlemen, you must bear it firmly in mind!"

"The will of the ghosts and spirits!"

The convict laborers recalled Bu Cheng's divination back in Ruo County, and now this letter hidden in a fish's belly — the two seemed to confirm each other. For a moment they were fearful and uneasy; aside from a few who defied superstition, the great majority of the convict laborers believed it without doubt.

After drinking the fish soup, when the convict laborers rested they no longer whispered among themselves plotting how to escape, but instead fervently discussed the latter half of the message in the fish-belly letter.

"Obey the Pavilion Chief, earn merit, redeem your crimes…"

They turned their gazes toward Heifu, who was pretending as if nothing had happened. At this moment, the convict laborers began to recall again how, after Heifu had taken office, he had repeatedly earned merit and won ranks. Perhaps by faithfully following this Pavilion Chief's orders, they really could survive, and even earn merit to redeem their crimes?

…

"Thanks to Bu Cheng's help, the convict laborers have indeed settled down. He truly is a remarkable day-diviner."

As agreed, after the deed was done, Heifu handed the remaining hundred and fifty coins to Bu Cheng in a secluded spot. Bu Cheng naturally offered profuse thanks — this much money was enough for him to buy a thick set of clothes to endure this harsh winter.

At the same time, Bu Cheng said ingratiatingly, "Pavilion Chief, this humble one can not only recite the Day Book and calculate fortune and misfortune, but also practice physiognomy. Would the Pavilion Chief care to try it as well?"

Heifu smiled. "How much would it cost?"

"This time, no charge, no charge."

"Very well." Heifu nodded and turned his face toward Bu Cheng. "Go ahead and take a casual look for me."

Though he did not believe in the art of physiognomy in the slightest.

Bu Cheng studied Heifu's facial features carefully for a moment, clicking his tongue in wonder.

"The Pavilion Chief has a broad forehead — a sign of an intelligent man. Large, thick ears — a sign of a blessed man. A pair of tiger-like eyes full of spirit, commanding and martial — the makings of an official. The Pavilion Chief's career path will surely be smooth in the days to come. In ten years' time, you may well become…"

"Oh? And what office will I hold ten years from now?"

Bu Cheng had meant to say County Magistrate or County Commandant, but the words reached his lips, and seeing Hei Fu's expression, he swallowed them back. He simply decided to boast big!

"Ten years from now, you shall be a Commandery Governor!"

"Commandery Governor?"

Hei Fu heard this and burst out laughing. "Good! Bu Cheng, you've spoken what was in my heart. I do indeed desire to be a Commandery Governor, to carry out good governance and education, to build a name and reputation, and make the gentlemen of the age clearly know of it… A Commandery Governor under the Great King? Mm, that is my ambition!"

Yet in Hei Fu's eyes there was a trace of dismissiveness. The convict laborers aside, did he not know Bu Cheng's skill at swindling and deception? He did not believe the diviner's flattering words.

Bu Cheng, however, secretly clicked his tongue. After Hei Fu had left, he muttered to himself, "This Bailiff Hei Fu — I only said it offhand, and he actually agreed. A mere bailiff, yet he expects to become a Commandery Governor? Isn't that too arrogant!"

…

Hei Fu had no idea that, just as he was copying that incident of the "fish-belly vermilion script" which should have happened at Great Marsh Village, far away, several hundred li northeast of Yan City, in Yangcheng County of Shangcai Commandery in the Chu kingdom — already occupied by the Qin army — a bastard-born son of the Chen clan, about the same age as Hei Fu, fleeing the flames of war and following his clansmen as they abandoned their home and migrated toward Huaibei, suddenly sneezed several times without any warning…

Turning his head to gaze at his homeland growing ever more distant, the young man tightened the coarse brown robe around him, his eyes full of worry.

He was merely a collateral bastard of the Chen clan, no different from a servant. After reaching Huaibei, he did not even know what he would rely on to make a living.

"The great swan flies south, but it will return one day. Only, I wonder — in Chen Sheng's lifetime, will he ever see Yangcheng again?"

(End of Chapter)