Kou Zhong laughed and said, "This story must be fake; if He Clan's jade annulus was thrown really hard like that, how could it not shatter?”
Song Lu emotionally replied, "Kou Xiao Xiong [little brother] certainly has clear understanding like deities, but this story is absolutely true. It was because the jade was not an ordinary jade. In those years, a Chu[5] man named Bian He went to Mount Jingshan [Hubei] to chop firewood. He saw a beautiful phoenix perched on a piece of bluestone. Recalling that ‘phoenix don't perch on anything that is not a treasure' he concluded that this bluestone must be a treasure; thereupon he presented the stone to King Li of Chu. Who would have thought that all precious stone craftsmen of the Chu court pointed out that the stone Bian He presented was an ordinary stone? In his anger King of Chu chopped his left foot and expelled him from his presence. In his heart Bian He felt he was wronged. When King Wu ascended the throne, again he presented the treasure, this time his right foot was cut-off. When King Wu's son, King Wen ascended the throne, he heard about this matter, and had the bluestone brought back to the Palace. He ordered the artisans to carve and polish with utmost care, and cut open the stone. From inside they obtain a piece of glossy, flawless, sparkling and translucent, bright and clean, wonderful treasure that was out-of-this-world. In honor of Bian He, henceforth it was called He Shi Bi [jade disc of He].”
[Translator's note: Wikipedia has a full entry on He Shi Bi in English, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Shi_Bi]
Song Shidao said, "If it were ordinary jade, it's impossible for the Chu court's precious stone craftsmen not to know it. Their mistake was to think it was an ordinary stone. Moreover, precious stones have never been found on Mount Jingshan. Evidently He Clan's jade annulus was totally different from other jade or precious stones. Also, it was the first time that such amazing treasure was discovered; therefore, nobody recognized it. Being thrown down to the ground and broke only one corner clearly demonstrated He Clan's jade annulus' extraordinary property.”
This time, even Fu Junchuo showed interest. She asked, "What actually is the He Clan's jade annulus?”
It was the very first time that this beautiful woman ever asked him anything. Song Shidao was secretly very happy; he gladly explained, "According to our Song Family legend from the ancient times, this piece of jade is a magical stone that came from the world of the immortals; it contains a world-shattering secret, only nobody knows what the secret is.”
Xu Ziling was curious, "So in whose hand is the He Clan's jade annulus now?” he asked.
Liu Jing laughed and said, "Legend has it that by the time of Emperor Shao[6] of the end of Han Dynasty, He Clan's jade annulus was lost. By the time of the Three Kingdoms [220-280AD], the governor of Changhe [lit. ‘long river', not sure if it is a province name; can't find it in the list of provinces of modern China] Sun Jian[7] was patrolling inside Luoyang[8] city walls, suddenly he saw rays of light radiated all around from a water well. He ordered his men to investigate, and they dredged up the corpse of an imperial concubine. There was a red box hanging from her neck, when they opened it, it was precisely the He Clan's jade annulus. When Sun Jian went to war and died, the He Clan's jade annulus fell into Cao Cao's[9] hand, which he then passed on to his later generations. Until the Sui [dynasty] exterminated the Southern Chen [557-589], Yang Jian searched everywhere in the Chen Palace, but he failed to find the He Clan's jade annulus that was supposedly among the treasures hidden by the Chen Lord. This has been a matter for regret for Yang Jian in all his life.”
Fu Junchuo could not resist asking, "Gentlemen, why did you suddenly bring up this He Clan's jade annulus matter?”
Song Shidao's countenance changed, "Apparently although Miss is in Jianghu, you did not quite know what major event is happening in Jianghu.”
Stroking his beard, Song Lu said, "He Clan's jade annulus, Yang Gong's [Duke Yang, see Chapter 1] treasure-trove, the two are actually one, they can pacify the world [again ‘tian xia', i.e. China]. Right now fire beacons are everywhere, everybody wants to be the world's emperor. So the people under the heavens are vying to obtain these two things. Recently there is a rumor in Jianghu that He Clan's jade annulus has appeared in Luoyang, hence people who think that they have some ability are rushing to Luoyang to try their luck. In this trip, after delivering the goods to Sichuan, we may make a trip to Luoyang to see what will the Song Family's destiny be.”
This Song Lu's demeanor was extremely elegant, no matter how big he talked, he always made the listeners feel comfortable.
Kou Zhong's eye lit up; he said, "Whoever obtain the He Clan's jade annulus may obtain the world. Ha! Xiao Ling and I will also go to try our luck.”
Fu Junchuo's eyes flashed with cold light; staring hard at Kou Zhong, she said, "Do you think you, these two little demons fit to do that? I definitely won't allow you to go to Luoyang. If you keep indulging yourselves in wild fantasy, later on I will not … I will not pay any more attention you.”
She was going to say ‘I will no teach you the secret method', but at the last moment she corrected herself. Naturally the power of her threat was greatly diminished.
Song Lu was still unclear of the relationship among these three people, but although Fu Junchuo was using harsh words, it was clear that she showed concern toward these two free-spirited boys.
Song Shidao warmly said, "Miss Fu is right. It would be wise not to take advantage of this excitement, especially because the He Clan's jade annulus involves the most mysterious sect in Wulin. This sect sends out their people every so often to enter the world to practice their religion; they are becoming more unpredictably mysterious.”
"What sect is that?” Fu Junchuo asked in amazement.
"Miss Fu is asking the right people,” Song Lu replied, "If you asked other people, there is a good chance that they have not even heard about it.”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling's interest was greatly piqued; they were listening attentively.
Song Shidao said, "This sect is called Ci Hang Jing Zhai [ci - compassionate/merciful, hang - boat/ship/to sail/to fly, jing - calm/quiet, zhai - abstain from meat, wine/give alms, hence it is some kind of religious organization; I checked xlandhenry's translation and he/she uses ‘monastery']. For the last several hundred years, it has an unsurpassed status among the black/mysterious organizations; but those who know the Jing Zhai location are unwilling to reveal anything pertaining to this Sect. Therefore, although because of He Clan's jade annulus we conducted open enquiries and secret searches on this Jing Zhai, what we know is not too much. We only know that the practitioners of this heavenly law are women. It was said that one time the number one martial art expert of the Taoist sect, Shan Zhenren [see Chapter 6] Ning Daoqi went up the Jing Zhai to look for the presiding master to discuss martial art. Surprisingly, the presiding master of the Jing Zhai let him look at their treasured book, ‘Ci Hang Sword Canon'. Before Ning Daoqi finished reading, he already vomited blood and was injured; in the end he retreated from this awkward situation. Not many people know about this, hence it is not spread in Jianghu.”
Kou Zhong slapped Xu Ziling's shoulder and said with a sigh, "Now that is the real secret manual!”
Among those people, naturally only Xu Ziling and Fu Junchuo knew what he was talking about.
Song Lu sighed and said, "There are people beyond people, there are skies above the sky. The more we learn, the more we realize how minuscule our knowledge is; then we won't dare to rely on force to go on the rampage anymore.”
Delighted, Xu Ziling said sincerely, "Song Daye [big master, as in master-servant relationship] is indeed a great man.” In Yangzhou, he was used to call other people Daye, hence he automatically used that appellation.
Song Lu laughed and said, "Two Xiao Xiongdi's basis and bones are extremely good. If I came across you a few years earlier, the Ol' Song will definitely let you get away.”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling's countenances changed, their hearts sank. Their Niang has told them that, and now Song Lu said the same thing; apparently they could forget being martial art experts in this lifetime.
[5] Chu, a kingdom during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods (722-221 BC).
[6] Emperor Shao of Han (176-190) (other name King of Hongnong), was briefly an emperor of China during the Han dynasty; his name literally means ‘young emperor (of Han), a name which he shares with several other emperors with brief reigns. He came to power in 189 and was deposed and then poisoned by Dong Zhuo in 190.
[7] Sun Jian (155-191), famous general at end of Han dynasty, forerunner of the southern kingdom of Wu of the Three Kingdoms.
[8] Luoyang, a prefecture level city in Henan, old capital from pre-Han times.
[9] Cao Cao (155-220), famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted poet and calligrapher, later warlord, founder and first king of Cao Wei, father of Emperor Cao Pi; he was also the main villain of novel the Romance of Three Kingdoms.