Chapter 184: You Are Different From Others

  "Hehe," Xiàomèi smiled and said, "Come on, let's go inside and talk."

  "It's been a long time since I've seen you, and it wasn't easy to get here. How could I possibly come empty-handed?" Song Chu said.

  The girl looked at her suspiciously and turned around to search the surroundings. The gift that Song Chuyi was talking about was probably not an ordinary object!

  There is no place to hold anything except for a horse cart around.

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, he saw it and thought it was a good place, so he said, "Why don't we go take a look?"

  "What is this mysterious thing?" Ji Meng said, taking a step towards the carriage.

  When he was still less than two zhang away from the carriage, the door was pushed open from inside. A slender girl with a curved skirt slowly got off the carriage and stood there, her palm-sized face, smoke-colored eyebrows and phoenix eyes, under the sunlight, the mole under her right eye faintly showed a red color, even a coarse linen dress couldn't hide her delicate appearance.

  Ji Mian slowed down her footsteps, staring at Wei Jiang in astonishment. After a long while, she called out in a trembling voice, "Princess."

  "Long time no see, feeling a bit awkward now."

  Suddenly, Wei Jiang's tears fell down her face. She could have come alone, she could have been fearless, and she could have killed anyone who offended her without hesitation. All of this strength turned into endless grievance the moment she saw Ji Mian and heard him call her "Princess".

  Ji Mian was momentarily flustered, hastily walking over, and only after inserting her hand into her sleeve did she realize she didn't have a handkerchief. She could only lift her hand to use her fingers to help her wipe away tears, "Don't cry, don't cry."

  Wei Jiang took a half step forward, stretched out his hand and gently wrapped it around his waist. "Missing you, longing for you, not seeing you, my heart is anxious."

  "Why are you so kind and capable? You deserve such treatment." Ji Mian sighed, raised her hand and hugged her.

  During the Warring States period, Ji Meng's level of skill in playing liubo was unmatched. When the Marquis of Wei hosted a banquet, he would invite many famous scholars. Ji Meng, due to his reputation for being skilled at liubo, was also among those invited. The first time he met Wei Jiang, she was still just a young girl who had not yet reached adulthood. Over the many years, the two saw each other only a few times. They mostly kept in touch through letters.

  This hug is the first time, the deep affection is far more than the excitement.

  In a chaotic world, true love often ends in tragedy. Seeing the loving couple reunited here from afar, Ji Yu and Qi Bian couldn't help but be moved to tears.

  A long time.

  Song Chu interrupted them with a few dry coughs, "Ji Wu Mei, take advantage of the sunny day. Let's make the most of our time to catch up, and you can get married tonight."

  Ji Bian quietly turned around, and Ji Yu's face was calm as he leaned against it.

  Ji Mian smiled a few times, calmly grasping Wei Jiang's hand and walking in front of Song Chu, "Thank you, Huai Jin, for taking care of A Jiang."

  "Tsk." Song Chu smacked her lips, "How shameless! Just now you were still Princess, and in the blink of an eye you've turned into Ah Jiang!"

  He curled his lip and thought to himself, "Birds of a feather flock together."

  "Let's go. First, let's go to the tavern." said Ji Meng.

  This tribe is close to Witch City, which was once the capital of Ba State and still vaguely visible today's prosperity.

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, one said, "You have been separated for a long time and reunited, why don't you live in the city? It's not good to inconvenience the princess, is it?"

  Wei Jiang looked at Ji Mian and stopped him from saying what he was about to say, "No matter how luxurious the place is, it's all ordinary, only when you are there does it become special."

  Although Weiguo is not a powerful country, she is a princess of the country. The wealth and nobility under heaven are not uncommon to her, and she can put aside the glory and wealth, so she doesn't mind suffering. She also sees that Ji Mian's current life is struggling, and reuniting should be a joyful event, there's no need to add insult to injury.

  Song Chu smiled faintly, but sighed in his heart. Wu Mei, I've brought Wei Jiang to you, hoping that it can calm you down and take a look at this world.

  "Why don't we just stay home then?" Song Chuyi said.

  Ji Bian went into the house and fetched two mats, which he placed under the trees in the courtyard. He then went to boil a kettle of water. Ji Yu protected Wei Jiang as she took a look around.

  "Let's have tea instead of wine." Ji Miandu picked up her teacup.

  Song Chu-yi also picked up his tea. As the water was too hot, both of them only took a light sip.

  "Is everything all right?" Song Chu asked as he put down his tea cup.

  "Nothing's wrong."

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, as soon as he saw his expression, he knew that there might be a clue to the reform in Ba Guo. She sighed and said, "I rarely want to say something serious, are you listening or not?"

  "Listen! You always talk seriously but this time you're teaching me how to be frivolous." Ji Mian straightened her back.

  Although he didn't mean it seriously, Song Chu Yi still restrained his usual nonconformity and said solemnly, "Ba Shu can never change its laws, especially not the state of Ba."

  Ji Mian's expression turned serious for the first time, and she was slightly taken aback. She immediately became serious as well, "Why? I had just established a connection with him the other day, and I'm confident that I can interest King Ba."

  "Do you know that all seven states have undergone changes in their laws, but why is it that only Qin has thoroughly changed its laws, while the other six states have only made superficial changes?" Song asked.

  "The reason is that Qin was already in a state of disarray at the time, and someone was urgently needed to salvage the situation. Shang Yang was like a life-saving straw, and Duke Xiao of Qin naturally grasped him tightly."

  Song Chu shook his head, "What you said is not the root of the problem."

  She paused for a moment, and slowly said, "It's all about the four words 'destroy before establishing'! And Laozi once said 'governing a large country is like cooking a small fish', which ruler isn't cautious? Since ancient times, how many people have had the courage to take on 'first destroy'?"

  The fish meat is tender and must be carefully stirred while cooking, cannot be rough. This metaphor is vivid, Ji Meng nodded in agreement.

  "This is only one aspect. Another reason why the laws of various countries are not thoroughly changed is also due to the complex forces of clans. Apart from this, it's the 'people', can they accept the subversion of their accustomed rules?" Song Chu said up to here, paused for a moment, no longer paying attention to Ji Mian's expression, and turned to look at the scenery outside the earthen wall.

  "Take Zhou as an example, the people all know the laws of Zhou. If we were to suddenly overthrow the entire law system of Zhou, wouldn't it lead to chaos? In the past, Qin's legal system was in disarray, the mountains and rivers were broken, but the people of Qin, although uncivilized, could still distinguish right from wrong. When Shang Yang reformed the laws, he took advantage of the favorable timing, geography, and human conditions, yet it was still so difficult. What about other countries?"

  Ba-Shu has had an independent cultural heritage since ancient times, and it is vastly different from the culture of the Central Plains. The worship of ghosts and gods is unshakeable, and the rules are in the hands of those great shamans. Although the current great shamans have gradually declined, they still cannot be shaken by the power of the masses.

  "Wake up, 'Tian Shi' has already passed, don't force it." Song Chu turned his head and looked at Ji Mian.

  You just wait and see, the era of Legalist technicians is already over, in the future it will be Strategists who take control. Song Chu Yi swallowed these words back down after seeing Ji Meng's disapproving expression.

  "Alright, let's just drop it. You're being stubborn, I'll say my piece and you listen. If you think it makes sense, take it to heart; if not, just let it blow away like the wind." Song Chu smiled as he picked up his tea cup, "It's been a long time since we last met, I toast to you."

  ——————————

  For the sake of my dignity, I won't tell you there's another one today.

  PS: When I was young, I read a sentence from Lao Tzu - "Govern a big country as if cooking small fish". I always thought the meaning of this sentence is: Governing a big country is as simple as cooking small fish. It's a phrase that describes the ruler having a very arrogant attitude. At that time, I thought it was the most awesome thing Lao Tzu had ever said, and I firmly believed so for over ten years. Kids who agree with me please raise your hands.

  Until half a year ago, when I was watching Baijia Lectures, Professor Yi Zhongtian saved me. Only then did I realize that the saying "small fish should not be turned over repeatedly during cooking" is actually an analogy for the great taboo of frequent changes in governing the country. Thank you, professor.