Chapter 398
Liu Mang left Xinye and departed for Xiangyang. Liu Qi had offered to dispatch soldiers to escort Liu Mang but Liu Mang rejected his offer due to a lack of horses. He wanted to get to Xiangyang as fast as possible.
As soon as they left Xinye, Jia Xu asked about Liu Qi. In his opinion, it was a mistake to invest in Liu Qi. During peaceful times, Liu Qi would be a good friend because of his honest nature. However, during turbulent times, these honest people would be the first to be eliminated. If Liu Qi had been a smart person, he would have already searched for help from other influential families such as the Pang Family or the Kuai Family before getting sent to Xinye. Liu Qi may be far away from the persecution of the Cai Family but he would also be far away from obtaining power. Besides that, helping Liu Qi would mean becoming enemies with the Cai Family. Was this worth Xinye and ten thousand provisions?
“Wenhe. There are times when we do not get to choose our allies.” Liu Mang did not actually accept Liu Qi for Xinye. He had already found out that Pang Tong had joined forces with the Cai Family, Huang Family and Pang Family to go against him. The Huang Family was against him because of the incident at Jiangxia and the Pang Family was against him because of Pang Tong. However, Liu Mang did not know how he offended the Cai Family. The Cai Family were the ones in charge of the safety of Xiangyang including the guest station. In other words, the Cai Family had Liu Mang’s envoys killed on purpose.
There was also another benefit in obtaining Liu Qi’s help. Now, Liu Mang and the White Horses had a place to take refuge. Even if the White Horses were quick, they would not be able to march continuously for long periods. They would need a place to rest. Xinye was close enough to be a resting spot and Liu Qi would still be able to provide enough for the White Horses.
In other words, Liu Mang did not pick out Liu Qi as an ally. He was only given the option to accept or refuse Liu Qi as an ally because the Cai Family was already against him.
They quickly reached the river where they boarded a ship provided by Liu Qi to cross the river. The crystal clear water of the river was fascinating. It was unlike the water at the dam near the industrial area or the water in modern times.
“The gushing waters of the Yangtze River pour and disappear into the East,
washing away past heroes: their triumphs and failures,
all vanish into nothingness in an instant.
Yet, the green hills still stood as before, along with the perpetual rosy sunset
A gray-haired man fishes and splits firewood in a small island,
accustomed to observing the autumn moons and feeling the spring winds
A good old friend drops by happily with a bottle of crude wine;
all tales, old and new, shall then be told and shared together in laughter!”1
The ancient scholars could not be blamed for their poetic grace as the Yangtze River was just that beautiful. Liu Mang also could not help but recite that poem out of awe.
“Wonderful! I did not expect Milord to be able to deliver such a wonderful poem!” Jia Xu’s words caused Liu Mang to roll his eyes. This was simply plagiarism. The poem was actually first delivered by a scholar thousands of years later.
Liu Mang stared at Jia Xu coldly. Jia Xu also somewhat realized that he had said something wrong. He somewhat realized that Liu Mang could not have delivered such a poem. Jia Xu himself was not an expert but he knew that such a poem could only be delivered by one with many life experiences or one that lived a monastic life. It could only be delivered by a person as old as Jia Xu and not by someone as young as Liu Mang.
Jia Xu was correct. The one that actually first delivered this poem was Yang Shen who was banished to Yunnan after the Great Rites Controversy. It just so happens that he saw a fisherman and a lumberjack chatting happily. Yang Shen was so moved he immediately requested for paper and wrote down the “The Immortals by the River”.
Liu Mang did not want to talk about the poem anymore or he would fall into a trap.
Jia Xu also decided not to pursue the subject as people would feel unwelcome from being exposed. The ship travelled quickly and Xinye quickly disappeared from view. They then reached a fork.
“Your Majesty. There is a fork up ahead. Which road should we take?” The boatman asked
“Which road?” Liu Mang did not know much about the river. There could be plenty of turnings that appear along the way.
“One is the main road with many ships around while the other is a side path.” The boatman explained.
“Which one would get us to our destination faster?”
“The side path would be faster.”
“Then we would take the side path.” Liu Mang chose without hesitation. The boat then turned towards the shortcut.
Jia Xu then suddenly noticed a familiar small boat on the river. Feeling doubtful, he went towards Liu Mang and said, “Milord. That small boat seemed to be following us.” He did not notice the boat earlier because there were plenty of other boats around. However, it now became obvious that there was a small boat behind them.”
“Since when have they been behind us?” Liu Mang frowned. “Send someone to go and investigate!” It was best to exercise caution, even more so since Liu Mang did not have many men with him.
“Understood” Jia Xu nodded and then ordered a few sergeants to get the boatman to stop the boat.
“Sigh. What is there to see? Isn’t that just a fishing boat?” The boatman grumbled. Such a small boat is usually used for fishing and occasionally as transportation.
“A fishing boat?” Liu Mang was not too good with water. He didn’t even know how to swim very well. How was he supposed to tell whether that was a fishing boat?
“Your Majesty. Look on top of that small shack over there. Can you see a net?” The boatman pointed. “That is a fishing net. Right now, they should be ferrying someone over which is why they kept the net. You can also see those two birds at the side of the boat.” The boatman then pointed at the black birds.
“Those are crows. The fishermen use them to help catch fish.” The boatman explained. The ‘crows’ were actually cormorants. They are able to go down to the water to catch fish. Fishermen usually bring tamed cormorants with them when they go fishing. A snare is usually tied to their throats so that they become unable to swallow fishes. The bird would then return to the fishermen to have the fish removed. When encountering even bigger fishes, the cormorant would work together and once their job is done, the fishermen would remove the snares and feed them small fishes. It was a fascinating and effective method.
“Using birds to fish?” Liu Mang was fascinated but he had the fishing boat investigated anyway.
“Hey! What are you doing?” A white clothed scholar shouted in anger as the boatmen tried to explain himself to the soldier. After some time, they found out that it was truly just an ordinary fishing boat ferrying a person across.
“Perhaps Wenhe is making a huge fuss over nothing.” Liu Mang laughed at himself at the futile effort. Although Liu Mang only had a few people with him, that small fishing boat could not have more than him in numbers. Guan Hai and Zhou Cang were also around to protect him.
“Milord. It is better to be prudent.” Jia Xu did not know why but he felt as though he was being watched the entire time.
“Haha. Let’s go. Xiangyang is not far. We would arrive within a day.” Liu Mang patted Jia Xu’s shoulder and entered the cabin.