MHNEB 22 (1/2)

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

第22章 慈悲木兰

Chapter 22: Benevolent Mulan [Part 1 of 2]

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He Mulan hated these types of propositions that required one to "choose someone to die or choose a hundred people to die".

In her years of serving as a police officer, she has also seen the generation of poor and vicious criminals take hostages to demand this and that. Although she was just a forensic doctor, there were those poor hostages who eventually died, and she was asked to investigate the cause of death.

Many families can't accept that their families died because of the murderer's madness. They would rather believe that the government was unwilling to accept the compromise of the criminals, which forced the victims to their deaths. 

Many times, even if they compromise to the extortions, the hostages may not be able to return safely.

Sometimes, this nature of work can make He Mulan depressed for many days.

In modern times, in order to stabilize the criminal's emotions, their desire to be satisfied is naturally fulfilled as much as possible. Additionally, some concessions are given to them in the negotiations with them. But there are some requests such as "give me 500 million" or "Let xxx commit suicide for me". Their requests are simply indescribable. 

Everyone knows that this is impossible to fulfil the request, but, there are still many people who use innocent people as a bargaining chip, hoping that the kind "rulers" or the media can satisfy this wish in a "humanitarian" spirit.

People like the LuShuihus, if they were living in He Mulan’s era, would be directly classified as anti-humanitarianism and anarchic terrorists.

If, in modern times, the lives of ordinary people are at least regarded by the media and the general public with great regard, then in places where the spread of such information was not developed in ancient times, if the rulers deliberately concealed the news of death, even with the death of the entire township, the rulers could just pass down the decree that "The thieves are revolting". With this, the ruler can successfully pass on the fault to the "thieves."

These LuShuihus had planned carefully and cleverly arranged in accordance with the plan, but they may not understand what kind of people the "politicians" are.

He Mulan had no obligation or objectives she wanted to achieve to care for both parties, but Hua Mulan's family was located here.

He Mulan, who inherited everything from Hua Mulan, had to consider this body’s familial situation now.

He Mulan didn't know what kind of people were in the Cui family, and what kind of choice Tuoba Tao would make in the face of this kind of "abduction" that would destroy his dignity. Therefore, she couldn’t bet on it. 

She can neither bet that Cui's family would “place righteousness first over the lives of their relatives," nor can she bet that Tuoba Tao would obediently release two monks.

At first, one could say that she was persuaded by You Ke to save Cui Lin here. Initially, she wanted to a request like “Release Cui Lin and leave Yu City” of Gai Wu after defeating him ……

However, from the time when Bai Ma who was obviously frightened revealed their plans, He Mulan quickly figured out how to stop the tragedy that could possibly happen. 

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If you like to watch programs such as "Human and Nature"(0), you probably know that the locals will definitely find a way to kill those beasts that have attacked people. Because once the animals have attacked people and found that it is easier to hunt humans than other animals, the animals have already tasted the sweetness. (1) They would start to attack the humans from then.

Even if humans have guns and weapons, the animals will not retreat.

Therefore, animals that have attacked humans must be killed even if they have not actually killed or eaten humans. Otherwise, that group of animals will soon become a calamity, as they develop into a cannibalistic monster that despises human capabilities and invade human’s living space.

Human beings as animals with higher intelligence are in some cases no different from these beasts. If the LuShuihus tasted the sweetness of "I will threaten the lives of civilians as soon as the Wei Royal Court will compromise," there would be an increase in such incidences.

In order to prevent the LuShuihus from doing these sorts of things repeatedly, the Wei Emperor will inevitably send troops to completely suppress the LuShuihus.

The LuShuihu-ren did not only consist of Gai Wu’s branch, including the branches in the conquered Beiliang, but the number of LuShuihu-ren also is not small.

If most of the Lushuihu-ren in the Wei territories are mercenaries, then many of the Lushuihus who originally lived in the Beiliang country farmed or had small businesses for a living. Therefore, how can these people be innocent?

Just as there are more Islamic extremists and more terrorist attacks in modern times, many ordinary people start to fear to hate those fanatical Muslims. Emotional fear is a kind of difficult thing to avoid. He Mulan had settled down in the Northern Wei Dynasty with much difficulty. She didn’t want the Northern Wei Dynasty, who is involved in a foreign war, to evolve to be embroiled in a civil war.

She believes that "Hua Mulan", who she did not know where she had gone to, does not want this to happen.

With the blessing of Hua Mulan, He Mulan had been able to experience the happiness of removing her armour and returning to her hometown. She began to lead a peaceful life there. She did not want to don her armour again.

Therefore, this terrible cycle of incidences will only end if the LuShuihus taste the failure before they taste sweetness. Then, this will completely stop Gai Wu’s way of thought. 

He Mulan did not want Gai Wu’s life or anyone's life.

She wants everyone to live.

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Gai Wu unwaveringly stared at He Mulan so desperately that it seems that her request was tantamount to sealing his future pathways. 

"Kill me." Gai Wu gritted his teeth. "If I agreed to such a request, anybody with a hoe or a sickle in the future can kill us, but we can't fight back."

"I am the leader and cannot make such a decision for my people."

"You can." He Mulan smiled. "You can just not be embroiled in a situation where the ordinary civilians would want to use a hoe or a sickle to fight with you.”

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Finally, You Ke and Cui Family’s people were relieved.

Cui Lin does not have an official position, not to mention he’s not a soldier or from a military family. From the definition of "ordinary civilians", Cui Lin is also a "civilian".

The LuShuihus believe in Buddhism and believe that those who died or were killed in a battle are "victims" who can receive enlightenment to become a Buddha.

The teachings of Buddhism in this era are not strictly enforced. Sometimes, akin to what people do in modern times, just by chanting "Amitabha Buddha" and burning the incense, one think that one can make their wishes come true. The religion are here to promote the teachings of different imperial administrations, different nationalities, different regions. And within these differences, the meaning within is also different.

The Southern Dynasties had all Han Chinese rulers. When they emphasized "Traditional Virtues", they preached "Mercy."

In the early years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the ordinary people experienced the burden of war every year, and the people were extremely burdened with the heavy tax brought about by the war. Therefore, the Northern branch of Buddhism’s teachings emphasized on “Fortitude” and preached “By dying in a battle, one will gain enlightenment”.

Because the Buddhist sect often raised children that became orphans in the war, taught civilians and Hu-ren how to read words and some general knowledge, the religion was much more supported by the victims and the more vulnerable people.

In an era of turbulent hearts and unpredictable lives, all kinds of beliefs that support people's continued progression in their lives have become extremely important.

The LuShuihus had harder lives as compared to the people and soldiers of Great Wei, and to them, their beliefs were more important than their lives.

If Gai Wu vowed that the "Gods and Buddha will abandon him" vow, for the LuShuihus, it means about the same thing as the Han-ren’s "no life after death" and "to die without a burial site”. 

The LuShuihus had Cui Lin in their hands, and their calvaries were aiming for the lives of the people in Yu City, and Yu City’s local officials and governmental manor’s soldiers were useless at this point. Since the officials and the soldiers were the “tiger” that left the tiger’s hideout, they could only remain passive and not set into the Lushuihu’s trap.

The only one who can turn the tide by force is He Mulan in front of everyone. Or……

--Only "Hua Mulan" can do it.

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(0) Human and Nature is a TV program on CCTV-1 (China Central Television). Mainly, it seeks to educate people about nature, science and the like. The show is hosted by Wang Caiqin.  

(1) Tasted the sweetness implies that no one likes to let go of the power/easiness/something that one has obtained once he has tasted it.

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Fleur's Corner:

Happy Belated Valentine's Day everyone! Sorry for the late update, this chapter is longer than usual and I have been busy the past few days. If you spot any grammatical errors in this chapter, please let me know!

Next Update will be in a week's time.

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