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Chapter 59: Fifty-Nine Treasures ?

The person replied, "Then we scholars will live and die with Longmen."

He spoke with conviction, but Xu Zhen criticized, "That’s arrogance, not true integrity."

The man was immediately too angry to respond.

Xu Zhen asked others, but no one answered her.

The cold wind carried the heavy sounds of clashing contradictions, and hot blood merged into the sea of snow, flowing into the city with the melting ice.

Growing impatient, Xu Zhen stood up and urgently said, "Let’s burn the supplies! Go burn the supplies now! I’ll find a commander at the gate; let the Hu soldiers starve! We won’t survive anyway!"

These words immediately alarmed some people.

"Wait! You can’t do that!" The blue-robed man who had been speaking out earlier stood up, frowning angrily. "I already said, the chaos in the world is due to a lack of universal love. Confucianism promotes benevolence, but what is benevolence? It’s benevolence that leads to distinctions between closeness and inferiority! Only by abolishing Confucianism and promoting universal love can the Hu-Han war end. This little war is nothing; I’m looking at much longer-term issues!"

Xu Zhen retorted, "Why don’t you consider the immediate situation? People in Chang'an hate the Hu; why are you still concerned about the Hu?"

The blue-robed man was also furious: "Forsaking myself is a small matter; the world is more important. The world won’t change because of this little incident! No matter the outcome of this battle, fighting is the military officers’ job. What we need to do is find a permanent solution."

His solution was to win this war and then pursue peace and love, striving to negotiate and reconcile with the Hu people.

Xu Zhen thought to herself, "Finally, someone with the right idea, but they can't seem to grasp the time and place."

Fortunately, her true intent wasn't actually to burn the grain but to deceive the spy.

She was about to say something when the scholars began applauding: "Zhao Lang is right."

Among the scholars, there might be some genuine talents, but Xu Zhen couldn't distinguish them.

The sounds of battle grew more intense, with the noise of flesh being torn and arrows whistling through the air, the cries piercing the windows.

Snow blew in, causing the windows to rattle like an angry roar.

Outside, a dark mass of Hu soldiers was almost at the gate, the stench of blood thick enough to make one nauseous.

Inside, Xu Zhen suppressed her anxiety, careful not to reveal her true intentions amid the chaos. She sat and drank a cup of water to calm herself.

Her goal was to make the spy hurry to report back, facilitating her next step.

The scholars began discussing reconciliation.

In the chilly air, some were silent, others indignant, and some were stirred with passion.

Xu Zhen restrained her other thoughts, choosing her words carefully to debate with the man in blue: "What you said earlier isn't quite right."

The man in blue was in the midst of discussing with others. Hearing Xu Zhen, the room quieted, and he asked with a sneer, "What's wrong with it?"

Xu Zhen said, "There's nothing wrong with distinguishing between those who are close to us and those who are distant. I accept that love can be preferential, but universal love without distinction is impossible. If you fall to the ground, those nearby might help you up, but how can someone far away assist? That's the difference in closeness. If someone hits you, you feel the pain; if they hit me, you don't. That's another difference."