"Know thyself, know they enemy, and in a hundred battles you will never be in peril...[1]"
It was a relatively uneventful morning: no lessons until noon, and no Song Chang Ge and Luo Yin bickering endlessly while Ding Meng Meng fanned the fire on the sidelines. Having learnt the hard way that "privacy" and "peace" couldn't coexist outdoors, Zi Hua decided to spend her off time reading military books she'd packed in the dorm room.
Sunlight streamed from the windows, casting an angelic glow on her figure by the table. In a white dress, she was a serene picture, different from her boisterous self in the red skirts of the past—as though time itself was a kind embrace she basked in contentedly.
When Ding Meng Meng entered the room, she was greeted by this eye-pricking sight.
It took the wind from her step, and the words from her throat. She subconsciously slammed the door shut to break the peace.
Bang!
Zi Hua leisurely flipped to a new page.
"A hidden enemy is more dangerous than one already revealed..."
Seeing her tactic had failed, Ding Meng Meng strode over and sat down opposite Zi Hua. "What are you reading?"
Zi Hua didn't even look up.
"'The Thirty-Six Strategems of War'," she answered curtly.
Ding Meng Meng grimaced.
'What's the point of reading this when you can't even go on the battlefield?'
Aloud, she lied, "That sounds interesting."
Zi Hua eyed her dubiously. "It is. It was written by an undefeated general from the previous dynasty."
"If it's the previous dynasty, wasn't that general defeated then?"
"Not in battle," Zi Hua shook her head, the facts flowing seamlessly from memory. "Before the Li family's ancestors united the empire five hundred years ago, the seven largest provinces were governed by warlords: Xiping and Fangzhou to the west; Beichen and Suzhou to the north; Shandong to the east; Yongrui and Jiangnan to the south. General Hu devoted his life to protecting Xiping from other lords' and barbarians' invasions alike, developing thirty-six failsafe battle strategies which earned him the title of 'Undefeated General'. However..."
Her eyes turned misty, her heart clenching on behalf of a long-dead hero who deserved better.
"In the end, General Hu died of an incurable disease, withering away on his deathbed while the Li army stormed Xiping's city gates and his lord raised the white flag. There was no grand battle, just peaceful surrender," she finished.
Ding Meng Meng's face was blank, and Zi Hua instantly knew she didn't get it. Few not from military families did.
It was always easier to write about battles and paint heroic acts than to witness or experience them in person. Poems praising victors were passed down through generations, while history stained the losers' names, but both sacrifices were summed up in ink and words, the blood spilt never fully understood.
Scholars could debate all they liked, but who would ever know if the victorious general had ever doubted himself, or how the loser had felt marching to certain death?
Just how many who had opined on the outcomes of wars had stepped foot on a battlefield and fought with blood, sweat, and tears themselves? How many, with their soft hands and untested wills, could relate to having battle scars both etched on skin and seared into minds?
They wouldn't know. They never would.
Even she herself wasn't conceited enough to claim comprehension, for despite being there to bandage her brother's bleeding wounds, and clutching her father's hand while his broken leg was set with a terrifying 'crunch'... she was not a soldier.
She was only a girl, full of daydreams beyond the capabilities of the body and era she was born in.
So the least they could do—as descendants of those protectors, and descendants of those protected—was to remember.
Remember those who had fought valiantly for this land, and even those who supported them silently, for it was them who paved the way for a better future.
Remember them, so their legacy lived on to inspire their descendants.
"A-Ahem!"
Ding Meng Meng cleared her throat loudly, interrupting Zi Hua's line of thought.
Seeing she had her attention, she stuck out her hand, offering her a round, silver compact.
"Anyway, I came to give you this!"
The fervent blaze in her eyes made Zi Hua glance down in discomfort. Ironically, the first line on the page was: "Be mindful of receiving sudden, unwarranted favours, for surely a price is intended."
She raised her head with a politely awkward smile. "No thanks, Young Lady Ding. You listening to my story was reward enough."
Ding Meng Meng stiffened comically. The compact in her still-outstretched hand glinted in the light, begging to be anywhere else.
'No, no, no... It wasn't supposed to go like this! Doesn't every young lady love rouge?!'
She chewed on the inside of her mouth, gaze flicking between Zi Hua and the door. In a flash, she shoved the compact into Zi Hua's hands and started rambling while running outside. "No! This is my apology gift for everything, so you must accept it—I insist! Goodbye!"
Bang!
And she was gone.
Zi Hua facepalmed.
Never in her life had she ever been forcefully given a gift, and such a belated "apology" gift at that. Ding Meng Meng really wanted her to have this compact, huh?
The door creaked open.
Zi Hua's eyes flew open in impatience.
"I already told you: I don't want your—"
A freckled girl in servants' garbs stared back at her in bewilderment. "C-Courtier Yang? Is something wrong?"
"Ah... Chun'er, is it?" Zi Hua patted the servant's shoulder apologetically, pasting on her most amiable expression. "Forgive my outburst. This is for you. It's rouge—I'm not a fan myself, and it'd be a waste to throw away, so have it."
Chun'er blinked and a dainty silver compact was resting in her palms. For a moment she didn't know whether to be surprised by the present, or the fact that Courtier Yang knew her name.
Her mouth opened and closed. But then the silver winked under the sunlight.
She licked her dry lips and pocketed the compact.
"Thank you, Courtier Yang," she bowed. "You are most kind."
***
[1] Sun Tzu, 'The Art of War'.