MHNEB 18 (2/2)

Book 1:  Now we don’t hear the loom shuttle; we only hear our daughter sighing.

第18章 求助木兰

Chapter 18: Helpful Mulan [Part 2 of 2]

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A few days ago, after receiving the information from the two wandering swordsmen, He Mulan let her younger brother and some fellow male villagers take the two thieves to Yu City county. 

Thanks to the grace of those Yulin lads writing letters for the Yingguo county villagers, many villagers and Hua younger brother have become closer. Some people are very curious about the female heroine of the Hua family, and some would even be so curious that they would ask around about Hua Mulan’s past. Gradually, their curiosity morphs into respect. Occasionally when she wakes up, she would find stuff like a basket of vegetables in front of her door.

These people brought the wandering swordsmen who failed in their attempt in robbing to Yu City county magistrate. However, Magistrate You was not in the county, and the whole county was in a state of chaos. When Hua MuTuo went to find out what was happening, he found out that the Magistrate went to Liangshou County Governor’s manor. Thus, he could only leave the two unlucky bastards to the county officials and with He Mulan’s written “Interrogation Report”. They obediently went home after that.

Unexpectedly, within a few days, the county magistrate returned. He also brought a guard from the Liangshou county governor’s manor.

"What you are saying is, the LuShuihus are currently stationed at the Qiuyuan Temple outside of Yu City?" He Mulan was sullen. "He even dared to proclaim to all of you where they were when they clearly kidnapped someone?"

"They want to use Brother Huai Jin(4) to make an exchange for the two great monks, Xi Yuan and Shi YuanJia. Naturally, they hoped that more people would pay attention to their actions. Moreover, now that Brother Huai Jin is still in their hands, no one dares to rashly take any action individually ..."

"So that’s the case." He Mulan nodded, indicating her understanding.

"I came here because I heard that General Hua had seen the leader of the bunch of thieves." You Ke’s official uniform were full of wrinkles. It was apparent that he hadn't groomed for days. "From what the Yu City’s wandering swordsmen had said, the leader of the bunch of thieves was defeated by General Hua. Is this true?"

"He did not stake his life in our fight. I destroyed his weapon after we exchanged 20 manoeuvres. He immediately withdrew from the fight and fled, so it is hard for me to evaluate his true strength." He Mulan estimated conservatively. “If I were to estimate his strength based on what he had shown, on a one-versus-one fight, I have about 80% confidence in winning.”

Hua Mulan has practised Martial Arts since she was young, and her body is strangely strong. She does not practice any exquisite sword techniques. Skills like riding horses while using a bow, wielding swords and using guns were all honed out of her hard work. She’s just good at these because she has practised hard. 

“Oh, kind one!”

The county magistrate hurriedly collapsed onto the ground in front of He Mulan. "I beg of General Hua to help me rescue Brother Huai Jin!"

He Mulan helped the county magistrate up and simply said, "You can tell me what you want me to do."

"Eh?" You Ke felt a little shocked, as he raised his head up.

She promised that easily? 

Didn’t Cui Lin mention that General Hua’s attitude towards him wasn’t that good?

"It is our duty to maintain social order, protect the personal safety of citizens, and our personal freedom is..." He Mulan fluently uttered a phrase of words, then the sound of “pat” was heard as she patted her forehead.

"What am I doing, it’s not as if I am talking to the reporters ..."

Her smile stiffened, as she muttered a few words that You Ke could not hear. Then, she immediately said to You Ke in a serious tone: "Although the matter of the LuShuihus abducting Cui Lin has nothing to do with me, purely speaking about this matter, it is unjust for them to do so. Cui Lin and I can be counted as acquaintances since we met once. As for this person, Gai Wu, who harboured a killing intent towards me because he failed in trying to steal my possessions, naturally, he isn’t any kind soul. With such justifications, I am willing to help you this time.” 

She had a very good impression of You Ke. Although Cui Lin was annoying, the LuShuihu-Gai Wu, was even more disgusting. After weighing the pros and cons of her choice, she felt that taking a trip down does not matter.

"This one that is surnamed You will carve General Hua’s benevolence in my heart!" You Ke was overjoyed and immediately uttered what he had thought honestly.

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Speaking of the LuShuihus, there is one strange custom of the tribe we have to discuss. 

The LuShuihus are brave and good in fights, and they have been active in various major battles since the Han Dynasty.

During the Han dynasty, the royal court of the Han Dynasty had long employed the LuShuihus to fight, but sometimes, when both opposing parties hire the LuShuihus at the same time, they had to kill one another. So, over time, for among the LuShuihus there is a rule:

— ‘If the two sides are locked in an impasse and when the problem is unable to be resolved by force, the leaders of both opposing parties must battle three rounds consecutively. If either of them wins the consecutive three rounds, when the loser meets the winner again, the loser must retreat three li. ’

This rule made the LuShuihus rarely go into conflict with others albeit their unruly natures. This is the case especially for ones that are facing those brave people. If one rashly become enemies with the brave people, your enemy might purposely go out of the way to find trouble for you, taunting you in moments when you are able to win a fight.

Don’t become enemies with someone who could win you in a fight three times, because you could possibly lose your life to that person.

The reason why Gai Wu came to stole Hua Mulan's belongings was most likely because he heard the words of those wandering swordsmen. Hence, he momentarily felt eager to obtain her wealth. After all, the LuShuihus were poor, and they were not good at farming. They took the job of a “mercenary” to seek a living. 

That lad, Gai Wu was quite confident in his martial arts. After confronting "Hua Mulan", he found that he was not an opponent, yet, he was unwilling to avenge himself. This, he decisively decided to retreat and not continue fighting with her.

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He Mulan was riding "Shadow", at her side was "Pan Shi", while she rode to Yu City with You Ke. After listening to You Ke and that soldier’s explanation, she could not help but be amazed at the LuShuihu’s rule. 

This model is used as a subset of mercenary ethics applied by the later generations. All subjects gather with the allure of money, and life is used as a fuel to earn money. When they are able to not start a feud, they will never start one. They must risk their lives in the job, and be a force that never disbands.

It seems that the young man, Gai Wu, is not a simpleton. With just about a dozen of people, Cui Lin can be easily abducted. From this, Gai Wu can be probably seen as not a simple-minded person.

"I do not know such rules. I didn’t imagine that Lord You is so knowledgeable that you are familiar with the customs and rules of the LuShuihus.”

He Mulan was really impressed with this Magistrate. He went around finding soldiers that could be mobilized for his friend, and for the sake of his friend, he even thought of such a rule. It had to be said that Cui Lin had a good friend. 

If one travels at his fastest speed, the journey from Yu City to Ping City will take 10 days. By then, it is not known how much suffering Cui Lin would have to endure. But it is better to consider how to save the hostage than to consider the capital would release the two eminent monks to exchange for Cui Lin. 

Seeing that You Ke went to the governor’s manor, she gauged that he should have gone there to find mobilizable soldiers to rescue him. However, this soldier looked reluctant. To think of it now, it appeared that these mobilizable soldiers that could be sent to rescue him had little use. 

"I am ashamed to admit that all of this is what I learned from my paternal uncle. He lived in Guangping, and many LuShuihus gathered there. He had seen two Lu Shuihus leaders fight between one another, and the outcome was determined by that competition. There was a day where the two of us were leisurely chatting. He had inadvertently told this story back then. The day after something had happened to Cui Lin, I immediately remembered this."

You Ke did not accept her praise. He honestly admitted that he heard the information.

"You have a good memory, and your brain is flexible. You are much better than most people."

"General Hua, do not patronize me. My heart’s intention is to save people. But I lack the strength to even truss a chicken, therefore, I could only rely on General Hua.”

"It’s no matter." He Mulan smiled in mockery to herself. "With me here, though I lack other skills ..."

“……I am still able to fight well.”

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(4)Huai Jin: courtesy name of Cui Lin.

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Fleur's Corner:

I'm going on a vacation overseas soon, so I'm not sure whether I have time to translate & upload the next part before I go on vacation. If I'm not able to update by then, the next part will be updated by 14/1. I'll try to upload the next part by 2/1. 

I wish all my readers of MHNEB a happy new year in advance! Thank you for reading. 

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