My Wife Is A Sword Immortal-Chapter 77 - 66: Acting and Non-Acting

Chapter 77: Chapter 66: Acting and Non-Acting

The next day, at the second watch of the morning.

Zhao Rong got up, washed up, and after many busy days, he finally slept soundly. Although he was still worried about the Kui Bull Demon Pill Furnace Core which had been lost who knows where, he also faintly understood that this matter could only be left to fate.

He resumed his morning routine of practice and study, which he had abandoned for a few days, bathing in the first light of dawn, he walked to the woods one hundred and eighty steps behind the courtyard.

A thin mist slowly made its way through the gaps in the thick woods, and countless particles meandered leisurely in the beams of golden morning light leaking through the gaps in the leaves.

Zhao Rong completed the three hundred fist stances from the “Mountain Carrying Volume” in his lazy clothes, feeling no movement of Innate Primordial Qi within his body, he shook his head with a bitter smile, not knowing when he would find that vital Qi.

Last evening, Liu Sanbian came to visit him, checked his progress and condition, and offered him a comforting word to take things slowly before he left, his demeanor slightly gloomy without the influence of alcohol.

...

Wiping his neck with a sweat cloth, Zhao Rong returned to the courtyard, washed his face, and prepared to practice calligraphy at the table. A breeze wafted in from the window, Zhao Rong casually turned his head, breath in the fresh cool air, his gaze passing through the partially closed lattice window, caught sight again of the cliffside stone carving, and felt stirred.

He carefully observed the distant horizon, those faintly visible four characters from the stone carving, combined with the impression in his memory, he slowly began to transcribe them onto paper.

The first time he looked up, the ancient style of the stone carving calligraphy had left a deep impression on him.

Speaking of these four characters, “Inaction and Tranquility,” they truly summarize the Daoist philosophy and governance.

He knew that the conflict between the Lin family of Lanxi and Chong Xu Temple was actually rooted here.

To act or to remain inactive.

Chong Xu Temple believed that, on a broader scale, governing the country through inactivity and maintaining a state of minimal governance was the best solution. On a smaller scale, it left the mundane tasks to the Confucian Scholars, which they considered an optimal plan.

One thing to note is that Chong Xu Temple subscribes to Daoism, not Daoism as a philosophy, which includes governance techniques. Daoism focuses on cultivation, with governance being a secondary concern because it controls the Zhongnan Country to better utilize Zhongnan Mountain’s rich cultivation resources.

Furthermore, Chong Xu Temple understood that if everyone practiced inaction and focused only on cultivation, no one would handle practical matters, which would not sustain the country long-term. Therefore, without the involvement of Confucianism geared towards governance, supporting some Confucian forces, letting the scholars handle affairs at the grassroots level was in their interest, with the Lin family of Lanxi being the chief benefactors.

In fact, the Lin family of Lanxi and the Confucian scholars of Zhongnan Country had always been compromising to the Daoist force led by Chong Xu Temple. After all, the former lord of Zhongnan Country had invited Great Scholars to govern with the tacit consent of Chong Xu Temple, which had deep roots in Zhongnan Country, making them difficult to shake by newcomers.

However, looking back over the past few centuries of history, led by Lin Wenruo, these Confucian scholars found that a governance philosophy centered on Daoism and assisted by Confucianism, primarily acting through inaction, was unworkable. They realized something needed to be done, hence “to act.”

New laws emerged accordingly, and this round of reform differed from the past superficial changes in Zhongnan Country. Driven forcefully by a Confucian scholar, it was thoroughly enacted and thus stirred resistance from the established privileged class. If the current power structure of Zhongnan Country was maintained, these new laws could not be fully implemented.

Therefore, Lin Wenruo orchestrated this debate between Confucianism and Daoism, aiming to root out what he saw as the obstacles hindering the progress of Zhongnan Country’s carriage and to seize complete control.

As Zhao Rong reflected on this, he continued to transcribe the four-character stone inscription, his recent scripture copying inadvertently honed his ability to multitask.

Squinting his eyes, he suddenly recalled the heartfelt conversation during a moonlit night at Moonlit Lake Pavilion with Lin Wenruo.

At that time, the scholar, intoxicated by the Zhongnan night rather than wine, holding an ancient zither, leaned against the railing, looked out of the pavilion with an unclear expression but a calm tone.

“Despite having the richest resources and all the benefits of the natural world, we have always been self-complacent. For a thousand years, there hasn’t been an inch of progress in our country’s territory, and the system has become increasingly corrupt, problems arise one after another. Meanwhile, our neighbors, Beiqi has strong generals and strong armies, Southern Wei has capable ministers in control, all posing threats around us. Zhongnan is not just a place to seek peace; it’s a place we must contend for. And yet, now, with internal troubles and external threats, our country is as precarious as eggs piled upon each other.”

“Are there really no men of capability in Zhongnan?”

Thinking this, Zhao Rong suddenly stopped writing, looking at the four characters on the paper.

“Inaction through serenity.”

The conflict between the Lanxi Lin family and Chongxu Temple, superficially a dispute over state governance, fundamentally mirrored the juxtaposition in the Xuanhuang Realm between the Daoist and Confucian ideologies of ‘action versus inaction’.

This was the fundamental divergence between the two schools.

It involved conflicts of past versus present, morality, and heaven versus humanity.

Although he was now a Confucian Scholar, having studied these issues from an unbiased perspective in his previous life while completing his thesis on the Pre-Qin philosophers, he held this understanding.

He supported the grounded actions of the Confucians, yet he didn’t dislike the Daoists; on the contrary, he greatly admired the grandeur of their Great Dao.

However, the “Law of Inaction” promoted by Chongxu Temple did not appeal to him.

This was one of the reasons he agreed to join Lin Wenruo in the Confucianism debate tomorrow, not merely out of courtesy from a friend’s invitation.

“Zhao Rong, Zhao Rong…”

His thoughts were interrupted by the soft, mellow call of a little Fox Demon outside the door.

Zhao Rong paused his writing, tidied up a bit, and then went out to join Su Xiaoxiao in her courtyard for breakfast.

The little girl had been bragging yesterday that she had learned an exceptional cooking skill from the cook, and this morning, she wanted to make a hearty breakfast for him that was both brain-nourishing and body-enriching, claiming that if he didn’t finish it, he would be disrespecting the “Little Fox Fairy Chef”.

Zhao Rong caught a glimpse of Su Xiaoxiao’s big fox eyes eagerly watching him. He took a deep breath, and under the eager gaze of the little Fox Demon, he reluctantly swallowed the bun—larger than his face and still without filling even after eating half of it. Huh? Why are there two little handprints on this bun?

You clever little Su Xiaoxiao, are these handprints yours?

Show those hidden hands you’re hiding behind your back!

No wonder the bun is so large; so you simply pinched the dough randomly and wrapped it around the filling. Is this how you make a bun?

Zhao Rong couldn’t help but laugh as he left Su Xiaoxiao’s courtyard to attend to his duties. Today he had to return to Chongxu Temple to try his luck again and see if he could find that Furnace Core.

Su Xiaoxiao, feeling wronged, massaged her snow-white little hand that had turned red from the smack from that mean person who ate her painstakingly prepared breakfast. But seeing the spotlessly clean plate on the stone table, she tilted her head, squinted her eyes, hummed a tune, and began cleaning up.

She thought to herself that from now on, she would stop sleeping in and get up early to make breakfast—oh, and maybe make some for him, just incidentally.

————

The sun rose high and slowly set again by the afternoon, and Zhao Rong returned to his estate, exhausted.

The trip to Taibai Mountain was fruitless; there wasn’t a clue about the Furnace Core. He had been ‘visiting’ inside the temple long enough and staying any longer would draw attention, possibly encountering the aloof Daoist nun who he had met on the winding mountain path yesterday. Being recognized could spell disaster, so Zhao Rong reluctantly headed back home.

Gui couldn’t help saying, “If it’s not working out, just let it be. When cultivating on the mountain, one must not cling to obsessions. For that nearly Perfection Li Ji Sword Pill, I will think of a way later to see if we can reuse the wastes. As for the Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace, although it’s unusable without the Furnace Core, its material is the rare Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold, which we can melt down to use as material for your future Lifebound Flying Sword.”

Zhao Rong nodded slightly, took a deep breath, let out a carefree laugh, and returned to his courtyard.

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No sooner had he settled down than he saw a tall and straight man with broad sleeves and a robe, barefoot but in clogs, carrying a black lacquered pot with a red lid, push the door open and walk in.