A few days after Liu Bei (劉備) had lodged a night at Master Shuijing’s (水鏡) hall and returned to Xinye (新野), a young scholar stood before the gate of Xinye.

The scholar wore a black kerchief upon his head and held a long staff in one hand. His eyes were clear, his steps light. A gate-keeper asked his name. “I am called Shan Fu (單福). I wish to meet Governor Liu (劉使君).”

Liu Bei received the name of Shan Fu. He came out at once before the gate and welcomed him. “Teacher. That you have honored our small walled city of Xinye today — this is my gratitude.” Shan Fu bowed his head low.

Liu Bei seated Shan Fu and offered a cup of tea. Shan Fu smiled quietly and spoke. “Governor. I have come today to seek a seat beneath Your Lordship’s grain.”

Liu Bei bowed his head low. “Teacher Shan. I receive your heart deeply today. Yet this grain of Xinye is very narrow, and many kindnesses will be hard to extend.” Shan Fu answered with a quiet smile. “Governor. A small grain is the seed of a great grain.”

Several days later, Cao Ren (曹仁), a general in the retinue of Cao Cao (曹操) at Xudu (許都), led thirty thousand soldiers down toward Xinye. Liu Bei invited Shan Fu to a seat and asked in a low voice. “Teacher Shan. How shall we receive General Cao Ren’s thirty thousand?”

Shan Fu smiled quietly. “Governor. Cao Ren’s grain is laid deeply upon the Eight-Gate Golden-Lock Array (八門金鎖陣). Of the eight gates of that array, the three gates Life (生門), Wound (傷門), and Scenery (景門) are auspicious (吉); the three gates Block (杜門), Death (死門), and Surprise (驚門) are inauspicious (凶). Charge toward the Life Gate, and exit through the Scenery Gate.”

Liu Bei nodded deeply. The three generals Guan Yu (關羽), Zhang Fei (張飛), and Zhao Yun (趙雲) charged at Shan Fu’s command through the Life Gate. The Eight-Gate Golden-Lock Array collapsed at a single stroke. Cao Ren’s thirty thousand scattered at a single stroke.

Cao Cao at Xudu received the news. Cao Cao asked in a low voice. “Who is Shan Fu of Xinye?” Cheng Yu (程昱) answered in a low voice. “My Lord. Shan Fu’s real name is Xu Shu (徐庶); his style, Yuanzhi (元直). He is a man of Yingchuan (潁川) who in his youth killed a man, moved the body, and changed his name. His talent (才) is among the finest of this age.”

That night, Cao Cao entrusted a low plan to Cheng Yu. “Zhongde (仲德). Xu Shu’s old mother (老母) is said to be in Yingchuan. Bring that old mother to Xudu. In the name of his old mother, let us draw Xu Shu’s step toward Xudu.”

At Xinye, inside a side chamber of the residence, Shan Fu unrolled a small map of the southern plains and laid it upon a low table. For a moment he stood with a palm upon the map and looked toward a spot marked Longzhong (隆中), a few days’ ride to the southwest. He did not name the spot aloud. A counselor who has read Master Shuijing’s two sobriquets in a certain scholar’s absence rarely names the spot on his own map. He folded the map and slipped it into his sleeve. The spot on the map was the place where a certain young scholar was, at this very hour, plowing a small field of beans.

At Xudu, Cheng Yu sat at his own desk and wrote a letter in a hand that imitated an old woman’s. The hand was not yet perfect; the grain of the first line curved a touch too smoothly. He tore the letter and began again. A counselor about to forge a mother’s letter rarely succeeds on the first attempt. By the third attempt, the hand’s grain was convincing enough. He folded the third letter, pressed a small plain seal upon it, and set it into a small lacquer box for a courier’s morning ride. The box was plain black, chosen for a reason Cheng Yu did not name to anyone.

Inside Liu Bei’s inner chamber at Xinye, Guan Yu sat at a low table opposite Shan Fu. He had watched the Life Gate charge from the rearmost rank of his own cavalry, and he had seen a single nod from Shan Fu lift the charge into its proper line. A general who has seen a single nod lift a charge rarely needs a long speech about its author’s worth. He poured a cup of tea for Shan Fu. Shan Fu received the cup without lifting his eyes. The two men sat across the low table for perhaps a quarter of an hour, in a quiet the size of three months of campaigning. At last Shan Fu set the cup down and rose; Guan Yu rose with him. The two nodded. Shan Fu walked back to his lodgings. Guan Yu remained a moment longer at the table, then rose and walked to Liu Bei’s chamber to tell his elder brother that from today he could sleep a grain deeper.

At Yingchuan, the courier carrying Cheng Yu’s lacquer box slept at a small inn near a wheat field. The inn’s landlord did not ask what was inside the lacquer box. A landlord of a small inn at a mid-year moon rarely asks about lacquer boxes. He only set out a plain meal of millet and pickled vegetables, collected the copper, and slept. By dawn, the courier was already three li down the road toward the old mother’s village.

The ninety-seventh evening of Book 4 deepened quietly upon the tower of Xinye. The three characters Seomyeong-hyeon (庶名現, the revealing of Xu Shu’s name) were planted as a seed: a black kerchief, the name Shan Fu, the Life Gate of the Eight-Gate Array, and the real name Xu Shu (徐庶) all lay at one seat. The lute of Day 96’s Sugyeong-geum (水鏡琴) had, this evening, reached the revealing of Xu Shu’s name.

—

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