My Wife Is A Sword Immortal
Chapter 481 - 326 Saint and the Great Thief

Chapter 481: Chapter 326 Saint and the Great Thief

Autumn winds in gusts.

In the rustling sounds of the bamboo forest, on the empty ground of the lonely pavilion, stood a woman who seemed like a fairy among mortals, her dress and sleeves fluttering among the falling leaves.

Her long black hair was pinned up, entwined with a ribbon blushed with purple, elegantly dangling from it.

On the flawless visage of the autumn-eyed lady, beneath her left eye, there was a faint mole resembling a tear.

Far from marring her beauty, resembling an unmatched Qinglian, it instead added a captivating touch that made her even more memorable.

At that moment, her limpid autumn eyes stared unblinkingly at the elderly man inside the pavilion.

By her side stood a pretty, fairy-like young maiden, lifting her chin slightly, sharing her mistress’s indignation.

In fact, the young girl was just then daydreaming, counting the days until her next visit to a certain blockhead, vexed by how slowly time seemed to crawl, which hadn’t seemed the case before.

It was during such daydreaming that the fairy-like maiden suddenly realized her mistress had stood up and said something.

She hadn’t caught it clearly but didn’t care, abruptly standing firm beside her, her demeanor unyielding; she would agree with whatever her mistress said, except for ... hogging food, Zhao Lingfei, don’t you dare! Hmph.

Meanwhile, the residence students sitting on the ground around them all fixated their gazes on them.

Including a certain fairy from Taiyi Mansion who had put away her propitious Dragon Carp, for at this moment on the field, there stood a lady who used even the East Coming Purple Energy casually to tie her hair, leaving no room for others to show off ...

Not far off, a young Confucian scholar dressed in a student’s blue collar stopped his skulking and looked back.

But most had not paid him any heed, for the protagonists of the scene were the Daoist gentleman in the pavilion and the graceful lady outside it.

Shortly after her subdued words fell,

"Do something."

Tao Yuanran quietly repeated it, his gaze on Zhao Lingfei, emotionless.

In his hand, a string of wooden Flowing Beads still rolled, yet one bead in particular, lacquered bright purple, distinguished itself.

Tao Yuanran glanced at the purple ribbon hanging from Zhao Lingfei’s hair, a smile playing on his lips as he surveyed the crowd and spoke out loud:

"Is there anyone else who shares these ladies’ sentiment?"

Before he could finish, surprisingly, nearly half of the residence students raised their hands.

"Hm?" Zhao Rong raised an eyebrow. My wife has such good rapport with people?

When his eyes swept the crowd, he realized that it was almost all men who had raised their hands.

Zhao Rong’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Do you share the same thoughts as Qing Jun and Qian’er? This is despicable!

Zhao Qian’er turned her head to look, her expression unchanged.

Only her gaze briefly paused on Liu Kongyi in the unnoticeable crowd who had kept his hand down.

The mischievous girl, who had almost thoroughly investigated Brother Rong’s stay at Taiching Prefecture, narrowed her eyes slightly.

Zhao Lingfei continued to look straight at Tao Yuanran, indifferent to the silent support from her peers.

Tao Yuanran nodded slightly and softly said:

"To do something, do we really need to ’do something’? What if, no matter what we do, how hard we try, it’s wrong? And the more we do, the more mistakes we make?"

Zhao Lingfei furrowed her brows slightly, "Please, teacher, enlighten me."

Tao Yuanran’s expression remained neutral, shaking his head, "I dare not presume to instruct."

"Since the lady decided to stand up and ask this old man this question, regardless of right or wrong, she has her own thoughts, which is commendable. And also... presumably, there are learned relatives or mentors around her, from whom she has absorbed much."

Zhao Lingfei shook her head, no reply forthcoming, "I dare not presume, it’s just that I, a simple girl, cannot comprehend your logic, Teacher, why you demean the Confucian scholars, the Tai Zong, Emperor Xuan’s Law, and the ancients’ Great Emperors."

Tao Yuanran stroked his beard and nodded, "The old have heard that the wise delight in resolving doubts; thus I steal the name of the wise, my lady, and will explain to you."

Zhao Lingfei’s voice was clear, "I’ll listen attentively."

The elder in the pavilion asked in a serious tone, "Do we really need to ’do something’ then?"

The field quieted for a moment as everyone awaited the Daoist gentleman to speak.

Yet, Tao Yuanran suddenly laughed, seemingly reminded of something.

Looking at Zhao Lingfei, he chuckled:

"An old man is reminded of a young Daoist I once met, whose words might make more sense to Miss Zhao and possibly convince the lady better than mine."

Zhao Lingfei remained cool, not speaking.

Tao Yuanran smiled.

"Not to honor the clever, to keep the people from contention; not to prize goods hard to come by, to keep the people from stealing; not to show what is desirable, to keep the people’s hearts from confusion. Thus, the governance of the Saint always keeps the people unknowing and desiring, making the knowledgeable dare not act. By doing nothing, all is governed."

Tao Yuanran paused slightly and kindly asked:

"Miss Zhao, ’doing something,’ striving to act, do you truly believe it’s better than ’doing nothing,’ than the inaction of standing idly by?"

"The Confucian scholars, who value honor, uphold morality and benevolence, and establish rites, ’act’ the more, the greater the mistakes they make!"

Zhao Lingfei furrowed her brows, thinking deeply, and did not respond for a moment.

At this moment, on the field outside the pavilion, you could hear a pin drop, as most of the residence students appeared contemplative.

Just then, Tao Yuanran spoke again.

The old man’s face showed a hint of nostalgia, "That little Daoist friend also said..."

"The more taboos there are in the world, the poorer the people; the more weapons people have, the more confused the state becomes; the more cunning people are, the more strange affairs arise; the more laws are displayed, the more thieves there are."

"Thus I do nothing, and the people transform themselves; I love peace, and the people right themselves; I am without affairs, and the people enrich themselves; I desire nothing, and the people are simple."

"When everyone knows beauty as beauty, there is already ugliness; everyone knows good as good, there is already badness. Thus being and nonbeing produce each other, hardship and ease complete each other..."

Not far away, ever since Tao Yuanran began to speak, Zhao Rong, with his hands tucked in his sleeves, had maintained a calm gaze, gently nodding his head.

Right now, the important part of Tao Yuanran’s words was just understanding that key phrase.

The rest mostly discoursed on this principle.

That is, ’When everyone knows beauty as beauty, there is already ugliness; everyone knows good as good, there is already badness.’

This is the leading statement, meaning:

All under heaven knew what the standard of beauty was, and thus, the standard of ugliness was simultaneously established;

All under heaven knew what the definition of goodness was, and the definition of evil was likewise determined.

On the surface, there seemed to be nothing wrong.

Beauty and ugliness, goodness and badness had been defined, which was good, wasn’t it progress?

But was it really so?

Zhao Rong enjoyed reading various books, especially official and unofficial histories.

During this period at the Academy, while teaching and attending classes, he had read enough history to satisfy himself.

However, when reading history late at night, he often closed the book and stared wordlessly at the orange lamp light.

The windows of the north room were closed with no autumn breeze blowing, but it felt chilling to the bone.

Categorizations like ’good person,’ ’bad person’ are extremely dangerous.

The Confucian Saints revered goodness and beauty, and Confucian scholars created rituals to promote goodness and beauty.

Yet, once all under heaven knew what goodness and beauty were, goodness and beauty became a capital that could be exploited.

At that time, the apparent goodness and beauty often became a disguise or performance, enabling the disguised to do whatever they wanted.

Consequently, the Confucian moral standard, the ritual that should have promoted goodness and beauty, turned into... a man-eating ritual.

It became a ladder for countless people’s promotion, and a tool for killing.

That was also what Tao Yuanran wanted to express.

Therefore, ’do not value the virtuous,’ ’do not treasure rare goods,’ ’avoid desires,’ ’do not enact laws’... do not promote benevolence, righteousness, morality, and courtesy.

Only then can ’people not compete,’ ’people not steal,’ ’people not be chaotic’... allowing people to transform, correct themselves, enrich themselves, and simplify.

Do not engage in ’active’ deeds; govern with ’inaction.’

And so,

’Inaction,’ yet ’not lacking action’...

Shortly after,

after the thought-provoking words restated by Tao Yuanran on behalf of someone else,

the room fell completely silent, everyone’s expression was remarkable.

Lingfei’s brows were tightly knit, as if understanding but not quite.

Some Residence Students took a deep breath, nodding as if enlightened.

Some Residence Students still frowned, confused.

There were also Residence Students who had been listening with closed eyes and suddenly opened them, showing a look of surprise.

The recent exchange between Tao Yuanran and Zhao Fairy was nothing short of remarkable.

The words of ’others’ restated by Tao Yuanran were indeed striking.

In the back row on the open ground, where Tao Yuanran always came to ’discreetly’ listen in on classes, Liu Kongyi also widened her beautiful eyes, unable to resist standing up and saying,

"Teacher, you said..."

She paused slightly, her chest heaving dramatically, her tone softened yet still filled with amazement, "The senior who spoke these words, who might he be?!"

Tao Yuanran acted as if he did not hear Liu Kongyi’s question.

He nodded to himself and sighed.

"That little Daoist friend spoke truly well, not just in the heat of the oral skirmish, but truly understanding and comprehending our Daoist Saints’ teachings, knowing how to govern with inaction,"

Tao Yuanran shook his head, "And he said, he had only casually flipped through some Daoist scriptures during his spare time... Such comprehension, yet not choosing to follow the Daoist path and cultivate, is truly a great pity."

The crowd looked at each other in dismay.

The elderly gentleman seemed to smile but not really.

Just then, Lingfei pondered for a while, and her brows slightly relaxed, then suddenly furrowed again.

She gently shook her head.

Lingfei didn’t chase after the Sagely Seniors like Liu Kongyi, at most internally acknowledging the path of that previous senior.

But as for who this person was, she dared not be interested.

Lingfei only wished to clear the doubts troubling her mind.

Why the ’actions’ of Confucian scholars, Mo Xia were wrong.

This was also why she stood up today to question this Daoist gentleman.

It’s not because you have high cultivation or a great title that you must be right.

To have me sit down, bring out reasoning that can convince people.

Lingfei didn’t care whom Tao Yuanran referred to as this ’little Daoist friend’; if he couldn’t convince her with reasoning, then even if this great person were the Daoist Ancestor, it wouldn’t matter!

He’s not brother Rong’er, who could unreasonably bully her, forcing Lingfei to reluctantly agree with him and heed his words.

And such an existence, in this world, there was only her husband alone.

Lingfei’s face tightened, a cold expression overtook her features, yet in the eyes of certain men, it seemed an entirely different and exceedingly beautiful landscape, seeming even more beautiful.

During the event, Zhao Qian’er didn’t really listen to the debate between her young lady and Tao Yuanran, instead, she cautiously watched over her, acting as her Flower Guardian.

The unblinking gazes of some men greatly annoyed the young girl, especially since... some were even looking at her!

Qian’er nodded to herself, thinking probably because she was new to the mansion, ha, those toads thought she was easy to bully, her sword not swift.

It seemed it was time to show them the prowess of the infamous ’Rong’er brother’.

Yes, her Lifebound Flying Sword’s private nickname was ’Rong’er brother,’ but now it seemed a name change was necessary, because someone might overhear...

It should be more hidden, perhaps ’Stinky Pig’s Trotters,’ no one would associate that, heehee.

The young girl suddenly smiled, her eyes and brows radiating happiness.