Now, Huang Gun had drawn up his troops and was waiting for his son. Huang Ming and Zhou Ji saw a body of troops deployed in the distance, and Huang Ming said to Huang Feihu, “The old master has drawn up his troops, and there are prison carts too. This doesn’t look like good news.” Long Huan said, “Let’s see the old master first and hear what he says, and then decide what to do.” The few riders went forward. Feihu bowed slightly in the saddle and said, “Father! Your unfilial son Feihu cannot pay you the full courtesies.” Huang Gun said, “Who are you?” Feihu answered, “I am your eldest son, Huang Feihu, Father. Why do you ask?” Huang Gun gave a great shout: “For seven generations our family has enjoyed the Son of Heaven’s favour and honours; we have been the arms and legs of the house of Tang of Shang. Among us there have been the loyal and the filial, the worthy and the good, but never a rebel or a treacherous flatterer. What is more, the house of Huang has never had a son who broke the law or a daughter who married twice. And now, for the sake of one woman, you have turned your back on the great kindness of your king and your father, thrown away seven generations of hatpins and tassels2, cast off the precious jade at your waist, abandoned the great rites of human relations and forgotten the shelter the state gave your forebears. You have betrayed your lord to seek glory and risen in rebellion without cause: you have killed officers appointed by the court, forced the Son of Heaven’s passes, seized your chance to loot and plunder, and brought disaster on the common people. You shame your ancestors down in the Nine Springs and put your father to shame among the living. You could not be loyal to the Son of Heaven, nor fully filial to your father. Beast! You held a prince’s rank for nothing — and you’ll make your father taste the blade! Alive, you are a disgrace before the world; dead, you will bring shame on those who went before you! How dare you show your face to me!” Feihu was left speechless by his father’s words. Huang Gun went on, “Beast! Will you be a loyal subject and a filial son, or will you not?” Feihu said, “What do you mean, Father?” Gun said, “If you want to be a loyal subject and a filial son, get down from your mount at once and let your father take you to Zhaoge in fetters. Then I, Huang Gun, will have the merit of handing over my son, and the Son of Heaven will surely not harm me. My life will be spared; you will die still a subject of Shang, and your father will still have a worthy son. Beast — that way you can be both loyal and filial. If you won’t be a loyal subject and a filial son — well, you have already rebelled against Zhaoge and there is no Son of Heaven in your eyes, so you are disloyal already. Then work your long spear and run me through and knock me off my horse. No doubt you’ll go over to the western lands, and you can do as you please there; my eyes won’t see it and my ears won’t hear it, and I’ll be content. Would that suit you? At least I shan’t be left in my last years with a cangue on my neck and ropes on my arms, to die in Gaojie Street while people point and say, ‘That’s the father of so-and-so. His son rebelled, and that’s what brought him to this!’” When Feihu had heard him out, he cried from his divine ox, “Don’t blame me, Father! I’ll go with you to Zhaoge to be handed over!” He was about to dismount when Huang Ming, on horseback beside him, shouted, “Don’t get down, brother! King Zhou is without the Way, a ruler who has lost his government. He gives no thought to those of us who served him loyally and upheld the state. An old saying has it: ‘The ruler employs his subjects with propriety3; the subjects serve the ruler with loyalty.’ Since the ruler is not upright, and has overturned the bonds of human relations and gone against all that is right, why should his subjects let him drive them? We came out through the Five Passes through who knows how many hardships — ten chances of death to one of life. Now, if you listen to one speech from the old general and give up your life for nothing, what good will it do? You’ll die a pitiful death, and your wrong will never be set right before the world!” Feihu felt there was sense in this, and he lowered his head on his ox and said nothing. Huang Gun cursed Huang Ming: “You pack of rebels! My son would never have had a mind to rebel. It’s fellows like you — knowing neither father nor king, without humanity or righteousness, lacking the Three Bonds and cut off from the Five Constants — who put him up to it and made him do this. And right before my eyes you tell my son not to get down from his mount! If that isn’t you leading him by the nose, what is? You’ll be the death of me with rage!” He spurred his horse, swung his sabre and went for Huang Ming. Huang Ming quickly parried the blade with his axe and said, “Old general, hear me out. Huang Feihu and his brothers are your sons, and Huang Tianlu and his brothers are your grandsons; we are not your sons or your grandsons — so why bring prison carts to take us? Old general, you have the wrong idea! Since ancient times it has been said that even a vicious tiger won’t eat its cubs. Now the court has lost its government and overturned the bonds of human relations; there is turmoil everywhere and war rising on every side, Heaven sends down ill omens, and disaster is already upon us. Your daughter-in-law was shamed by the king, your own daughter was flung to her death by the king, and their wrong cannot be righted. Instead of thinking to avenge your own flesh and blood, you would deliver your son to Zhaoge to be put to death. The saying goes: ‘When the ruler is not upright, his subjects go over to other states; when the father is not kind, the son must part from him like Shen and Shang4.’” Huang Gun was furious. “Rebel! With your clever tongue and your glib arguments, you’ll be the death of me!” He hacked at Huang Ming with his sabre. Huang Ming parried and shouted, “Old man Huang! You’re the sort who ‘won’t go home while the sky is clear, but waits for the rain to pour on his head’! You’ve been a great commander all your life, yet you have no idea which way the wind is blowing — all you do is hack at me with your sabre. Doesn’t it occur to you that the axe in my hand has no eyes or eyebrows? If by some chance it hurt you, your whole life’s glorious name would come to nothing. How would your nephew dare!” Huang Gun flew into a rage, spurred his horse and, whirling his sabre, came flying straight at him. Zhou Ji said, “Old general, we’ll have to offend you today — we can’t hold back any longer.” Huang Ming, Zhou Ji, Long Huan and Wu Qian, the four of them, closed round Huang Gun in a ring, axes and halberds crossing, their war horses rearing and plunging. Huang Feihu, at one side, saw the four of them surround his father, and his face darkened with anger. He thought to himself, “These churls are hateful! I’m right here, and still they bully my father.” Then Huang Ming shouted, “Brother! We’ve got the old master surrounded — why aren’t you getting out through the pass? Are you waiting to be invited?” Feibiao, Feibao, Tianlu, Tianjue and Tianxiang, together with the household guards and the carts, all charged out through the pass at once. When Huang Gun saw his sons break out through the pass, his rage pierced his very liver; he fell from his horse and was about to draw his sword and cut his own throat. Huang Ming jumped down and caught him in his arms. “Why do this, sir?” Huang Gun came to himself, glared and cursed, “Ignorant bandit! You’ve let my rebel son go, and still you stand here making excuses!” Huang Ming said, “This humble officer can’t tell you the half of it — truly I have a grievance I can’t air. I’ve taken no end of bullying from your son. He wanted to rebel against Shang; I begged him again and again not to, and at every turn he wanted to kill the four of us. We had no choice. We agreed among ourselves to come as far as Jiepai Pass, see you, General Huang, and find a way to seize him and deliver him to Zhaoge, and so clear the four of us of all blame. This humble officer was signalling to you with his eyes, but you just kept talking and paid no attention. I was afraid the plan would leak out and spoil everything.” Huang Gun said, “Then what do you propose?” Huang Ming said, “Old general, mount quickly, go out of the pass after Feihu and just say: ‘Huang Ming has been telling me that even a vicious tiger won’t eat its cubs. All of you come back, and I’ll go with you to Xiqi to present ourselves to King Wu. What do you say?’” Huang Gun laughed. “Beast! Fine words — and now you’d lure me too!” Huang Ming said, “Of course you won’t really go. This is only to coax him back inside the pass. Have wine and food laid out for them in your residence, old general. The four of us will get ropes and hooked poles ready; you strike the bell as a signal, and we’ll all set on them together, put your three sons and three grandsons in the prison carts and send them to Zhaoge. All we hope is that by your great kindness, old general, the four of us may keep our gold belts of office. We shall be deeply grateful!” Hearing this, Huang Gun sighed. “General Huang, so you’re a good man after all.” Huang Gun hurriedly mounted, rode out after them beyond the pass and called, “My son! Huang Ming has been talking to me, and there’s real sense in what he says. I’ve been thinking it over myself, and I may as well go with you to Xiqi.” Feihu thought, “Why is Father saying this?” Feibao said, “It’s Huang Ming’s trap again. Let’s go back quickly and do as he directs, so things can go our way. We must go back into the pass, to the residence, and pay our respects to Father.” Huang Gun said, “You’ve been in the saddle all the way. We’ll quickly get wine and food ready, and when you’ve eaten we’ll all go to Xiqi together.” Now, the attendants on both sides hurried to bring wine and food, and Huang Gun kept them company. After four or five cups, seeing Huang Ming standing beside him, Huang Gun struck the gold bell several times. Huang Ming heard it but acted as though he hadn’t. Meanwhile Long Huan said to Huang Ming, “What now?” Huang Ming said, “You two load the old general’s savings onto the carts and get everything packed up. You, set fire to the grain and fodder stacks. Then we’ll all mount together. The old general is bound to ask me; I’ll have an answer for him.” The two of them went off. When Huang Gun saw that Huang Ming had heard the bell and done nothing, he called him over to the table and asked, “Just now the bell rang — why didn’t you strike?” Huang Ming said, “Old general, the executioners weren’t all in place — how could we strike? If they had caught on and got away, it would have spoiled everything.” Meanwhile Long Huan and Wu Qian loaded all the old general’s household goods onto the carts and set a fire blazing. Men on both sides came to report: “The grain and fodder stacks are on fire!” Everyone mounted at once and went out through the pass. Huang Gun cried out in anguish, “I’ve fallen for these bandits’ trick!” Huang Ming said, “Old general, I’ll be honest with you: King Zhou is without the Way, while King Wu is a humane and wise ruler of sage virtue. We are going there to borrow troops and take revenge. If you come, come. If you don’t — you have failed in your charge of the stores, the granaries are burned and the grain and fodder gone, and when you get to Zhaoge you won’t escape death. Better by far to go over to King Wu with us; that is the best plan.” Huang Gun pondered, then heaved a long sigh. “It is not that your servant indulged his son and was disloyal; there was no satisfying so many voices. For seven generations my house has been loyal and good, and now your old servant has become a rebel and a fugitive.” He faced toward Zhaoge and bowed eight times, hung his fifty-six seals of command in the Yin’an Hall, and mustered three thousand troops; with his household guards and the rest they numbered more than four thousand. They put out the fire and left the lofty pass. There is a poem to prove it. It says: