Zou Ji came out of Tian Ji''s house and went in to see King Xuan of Qi that night. He said to King Xuan, “General Tian seems to be reluctant to go on this expedition, and I am worried that General Tian is just doing it for show. As a precautionary measure, the king may send Dafu Gongsun as a supervisor to accompany General Tian on the expedition and supervise him.”


    King Xuan said, “General Tian and Dafu Gongsun have mutual prejudices, so it is not appropriate for Dafu Gongsun to be the supervisor, is it?”


    Zou Ji said, “It is precisely because they have mutual prejudices that neither of them, no matter who they are, would dare to conceal themselves from the Great King.”


    King Xuan thought that Zou Ji''s words were reasonable, and ordered Gongsun Yue to be the supervisor and accompany the army to the battlefield.


    The hesitant Gongsun Yue came to Tian Ji''s tent, and after he saluted him, he laughed, “General Tian, I didn''t expect it, did I, that the Great King sent me to be your supervisor.”


    “It must be Zou Ji who recommended you, right?” Tian Ji smiled faintly.


    Gongsun Yue didn''t answer, he smiled as he sat on the mat cushion and absently said to Tian Ji, “Does General Tian know the power of an overseer?”


    “Every soldier knows.” Tian Ji said impatiently.


    “In that case, I would like to know General Tian''s battle plan for recovering the border cities. That''s not too much to ask, is it?”


    Tian Ji said, “I haven''t thought about it yet.”


    “The army has already assembled, it''s impossible for Great General to have not thought of it.” Gongsun Yue sneered.


    “This expedition was too hasty, it''s only natural that I haven''t thought it through.”


    “What the general said seems to be very reasonable ......” Gongsun Yue said and stood up, ”I do not force you, when you think well, when to tell me. Please General arrange a tent for me, I will wait for you in mine.”


    After Gongsun Yue left the palace, Sun Bin planned to have Zhong Li Chun disguise himself as a servant and enter the palace to look for an opportunity to persuade King Xuan, he purposely took a fortune for this purpose. In the living room of Tian Ji''s mansion, Sun Bin was sitting on a seat, holding a handful of yarrow for divination, in front of him there was a four-sided wooden plate, in which yarrow was arranged in two trigrams: the left one was “Gradual” trigram, the right one was “Compulsion” trigram. Tian Ji sat next to Sun Bin and stared at the wooden disk. Sun Bin changed one yarrow at the bottom of “gradual” trigram, the first six lines changed to yang, the trigram changed to “family”, and then changed continuously, “family” changed to “small animal”, and “small animal” changed to “small animal”. “Small Animal”, ‘Small Animal’ into ‘Zhongfu’, ‘Zhongfu’ and then change ” Crawl”, ‘Crawl’ then ‘Partition’.


    When Sun Bin put down all the yarrow in his hands, looking at the trigram disk, like self-talk, but also like to Tian Ji murmured: “The geese fly down on the high mausoleum, although there are nine three and six four block, nine five, six two love, love birds even if a moment to be broken up, and ultimately will be reunited....... The ending of the auspicious, Zhong Li Chun can be in the palace. ”


    “But ...... this hexagram is an anticlimax, if the king looks at the Zhong Li girl ...... “ Tian Ji looked at Sun Bin worriedly, ”Why don''t we change the woman.”


    “There isn''t a second woman who can take on such a heavy responsibility.”


    There was a silence.


    At night, Sun Bin found Zhong Li Chun and explained his idea to her. Zhong Li Chun''s face sank and she said in a resolute tone, “Don''t say any more, I won''t go even if you tell me to break the sky. It''s okay for me to kill people, it''s not okay for me to persuade people, and it''s even worse for me to persuade the King of Qi.”


    Sun Bin repeatedly reasoned with her, but Zhong Li Chun just wouldn''t agree. Sun Bin had no choice but to kneel down for Zhong Li Chun, Zhong Li Chun was heartbroken for his leg and backed down, agreeing to go to the palace but with one condition, to dress up as an ugly woman to go to the palace.


    “How can that be, ugly women can''t enter the king''s palace.” Sun Bin disagreed.


    Zhong Li Chun said, “I have my own way to enter the palace.”


    “Even if an ugly girl enters the palace, she can''t get close to the Great King.”


    “I have a way to get close to the Great King.”


    “Even if you get close to the Great King, the words of the ugly girl will not be listened to by the Great King.”


    Zhong Li Chun huffed a bit and said, “According to you, I have to dress up beautifully and then the Great King sees me at a glance and accepts me as his consort.”


    Sun Bin was stunned and mumbled, “How can this ...... be ......”


    Zhong Li Chun snorted coldly and said, “How wouldn''t it? Since the Great King is horny, he''s bound to want to take possession of a beautiful woman when he sees one.”


    Sun Bin was speechless for a moment, then asked, “But ...... if you dress up as an ugly woman and the Great King doesn''t even want to see you, how will you persuade the Great King?”


    “As I said, I have a way.”


    Zhong Li Chun dressed herself up in a strangely ugly manner, called herself a saltless woman, and applied for a job as a maid at the king''s palace. The state temple people who were in charge of managing the chores of the king''s palace disliked her ugliness and refused to accept her. Zhong Li Chun said, “The royal palace recruits servants, not princesses, as long as they can work, what''s the harm in looking beautiful or ugly?”


    The king''s temple man yelled, “The palace is the place where the king lives, and all women, whether they are princesses or servants, must be beautiful to make the king feel comfortable. If I take in an ugly woman like you, the Great King will be disgusted at first sight and blame it on me, I can''t afford it.”


    Zhong Li Chun cried and pestered Guo Ji Man, saying that she would not go home until she saw the king. The state temple was pestered and promised to give the king a word.


    King Xuan of Qi was playing chess with Mei Yu and Jia Nu, and when he heard that the ugly girl from Wushan wanted to see him, he impatiently said to Guo Si Ren, “Guo Si Ren, why bother me with such a trivial matter, aren''t you getting more and more confused as an official? Is it possible that all the decent people in the world can see me? Get rid of that ugly woman!”


    Mei Yu suddenly had a whim that she had to see the ugly woman, she wanted to see how ugly she really was.


    The state temple people brought Zhong Li Chun to King Qi Xuan, who looked at Zhong Li Chun for a few moments and couldn''t help but laugh out loud, “It''s really ugly enough.”


    “If I were that ugly, I would have run headlong into the ground.” Mei Yu also tsked and laughed.


    Jia Nü was original and said, “If I were an ugly girl, I would accompany sister Meiyu at all times, an ugly girl accompanying a beautiful girl would better reveal sister''s beauty.”


    Meiyu thought that “an ugly girl with a beautiful girl” was really interesting, so she asked King Xuan to keep Zhongli Chun in the palace. King Xuan couldn''t help but agree.


    When Zhong Li Chun was leaving the palace, he turned around in a way that looked familiar to King Xuan, and he called out to Zhong Li Chun and looked at her for a moment, but he could not remember where he had seen her before. Zhong Li Chun had once saved King Xuan of Qi in the Suburban Master''s Mansion, although she was disguised as a palace guard at that time, but after all, she had a one-sided acquaintance with King Xuan of Qi, so Zhong Li Chun turned around again with caution.


    Qin Gu was worried about Zhong Li Chun entering the palace, he said to Sun Bin: “Mr. Sun, Zhong Li Chun entering the palace is a risky enough move ...... I have a premonition that Zhong Li Chun will be the master of the king''s palace, I''ve taken a divination for this and that''s what the divination said.”


    Sun Bin also secretly worried when he heard Qin Gu''s words, but on his face he pretended to be unconcerned and said, “Mr.Qin is overthinking it, the king can''t even look at an ugly girl.”


    On this day, Zhong Li Chun was cleaning the palace courtyard when King Xuan of Qi passed by with Meiyu, Jia Nu and many court ladies returning from a trip. Zhong Li Chun put down the broom in her hand and raised her eyes and showed her teeth to the King of Qi. King Xuan of Qi couldn''t help but stop and look at Zhong Li Chun curiously.


    Mei Yu frowned slightly and said to Zhong Li Chun, “Ugly girl, you''re even uglier when you look like this, stop it.”


    Zhong Li Chun stops raising her eyes and showing her teeth and raises her hand repeatedly, then taps her wrist and says to King Qi Xuan, “Dangerous, isn''t it? Dangerous, isn''t it?”


    Meiyu said to her, “Ugly girl, what''s wrong with you today, you don''t look good like this either.”


    King Xuan of Qi laughed and joked to Zhong Li Chun, “Ugly girl, are you trying to amuse me and make me like you?”


    “Bitchy girl has no such intention at all.” Zhong Li Chun replied indifferently.


    “Then why are you doing these odd maneuvers?”


    “Other people say that the Great King is smart, I want to use this to test the Great King ...... May I ask the Great King, what is the meaning of the Bitch Girl''s movements just now?”


    “Well ...... I didn''t pay attention, you do it again for me.”


    Zhong Li Chun once again raised his eyes and showed his teeth, then repeatedly raised his hand, tapped his wrist, and asked, “Dangerous, right? Dangerous, right?”


    King Qi Xuan thought for a moment and said, “I don''t know.” Turning to Jia Nü, he asked, “Jia Nü, do you know?”


    Jia Nui shook her head.


    King Xuan of Qi then asked Meiyu, “Meiyu, what about you?”


    Meiyu said disdainfully, “Your Majesty, these strange movements of hers don''t mean anything at all, she just wants to use them to get close to Your Majesty.”


    Jia Nü thoughtfully said, “No, these movements of the ugly woman are interesting.”


    King Xuan of Qi pondered for a moment and said to Zhong Li Chun, “Ugly Lady, what exactly do you mean by these movements?”


    Zhong Li Chun intentionally sold out and said, “Your Majesty is so smart that you were even quizzed by the cheap girl.”


    King Xuan of Qi laughed coldly: “Don''t be complacent, you can''t test me with these two tricks.”


    Zhong Li Chun said, “Within three days, can you tell me the answer?”


    King Xuan of Qi laughed, “It won''t take three days, tomorrow at the latest, I will tell you the answer.”


    At the end of the night, except for the palace guards on night duty, most of the people in the palace went to sleep. King Xuan of Qi still did not come up with an answer, he sat on the mat like a demon, and over and over again, he followed Zhong Li Chun''s example, raising his eyes, showing his teeth, raising his hand again and again, and then tapping his wrist, saying to himself, “Dangerous, isn''t it? Dangerous, right?”


    Mei Yu walks over to King Xuan of Qi and urges the King to say, “Great King, go to sleep.”


    King Xuan of Qi ignores her and raises his eyes again, showing his teeth.


    Jia Nü walked over to King Xuan and said, “Your Majesty, I suspect that the ugly girl is a witch.”


    King Xuan of Qi was stunned, stopped moving, and asked, “Why do you think so?”


    The Beautiful Lady said, “Those movements of hers are witchcraft, that''s why the Great King is wasted, like a demon.”


    King Xuan of Qi shook his head and said, “I asked Tai Shi during the day and he said that it wasn''t sorcery, it was cryptic.”


    Mei Yu asked, “The Great King didn''t ask Taishi what these cryptic words meant?”


    King Xuan of Qi said, “Taishi couldn''t say either.”


    Mei Yu said with hatred, “This damn ugly woman, I will drive her away tomorrow!”


    “You can''t drive her away, if you drive the ugly girl away,” King Xuan of Qi said, ”She must have underestimated me, thinking that I couldn''t come up with an answer to drive her away. Tonight, even if I don''t sleep, I will think of the answer.”


    Jia Nü thought for a moment and said, “Your Majesty, I have an idea that will enable you to get the answer without having to think hard about it.”


    King Xuan of Qi asked her what idea she had, and Jia Nü replied, “Tomorrow, the king can go to the court and use the ugly woman''s cryptic words to test the Dafus in the court, and if they get the answer right, they will be given a heavy prize, and then the king can use their answer to answer the ugly woman again.”


    “What if the Dafus in the court can''t answer either?” Mei Yu asked.


    Jia Nü laughed, “If they all can''t answer, the Great King will be able to plug their mouths with this, so that they don''t think they are right and talk about what the Great King is doing at every turn.”


    King Xuan of Qi nodded his head and praised it as a good idea.


    The next day, King Xuan of Qi went to the court on time, and said to the Dafus in the hall, “I was not feeling well the other day, and was not able to go to the court, and I have heard that some people have quite a lot to say about this ......” Here, he swept the crowd, “I don''t want to pursue this matter, I just want to take a test. This matter, I just want to test all of you here, if you answer what I asked, I reward a hundred taels of gold; if you can''t answer, don''t think you''re right in the future, and judge me at every turn for what I''ve done.”


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.Gao Daifu said, “Your Majesty, if my humble servant answers, my humble servant does not want a hundred taels of gold.”


    King Xuan of Qi asked, “What do you want?”


    Gao Daifu said, “I ask the king to allow the microscopic minister to speak his mind to the king without blame.”


    King Xuan of Qi granted his request.


    King Xuan of Qi made the Dafus look at him, then raised his eyes, showed his teeth, raised his hand again and again, tapped his wrist, and said to the crowd, “Dangerous, isn''t it? Dangerous?” When he was finished, King Xuan asked the crowd, “These actions of mine are cryptic, do any of you know the meaning of this cryptic?”


    The Dafus did not know how to answer.


    “What, is there not a single smart person in the court?” King Xuan of Qi looked at the crowd.


    The crowd was silent.


    King Xuan of Qi said directly to Dafu Gao, “Dafu Gao, don''t you want my reward very much, why don''t you say anything?”


    Gao Daifu thought for a moment and said, “Although I want to be rewarded by the Great King, I don''t know if I understand the cryptic language correctly.”


    “There is no harm in not being right, speak.”


    “To raise one''s eyes means to see far; to show one''s teeth means to speak loudly; to raise one''s hand again and again means to have great strength; to tap one''s wrist means to be able to do things for others; to shout ''danger'' means to be cautious in doing things.”


    After retiring from the court, King Xuan of Qi told Zhong Li Chun the explanation made by Dafu Gao.


    “This interpretation is not correct.” Zhong Li Chun shook his head and continued, “To raise the hand means to take the place of the king in observing the change of the beacon fire, and that there will be war in the country; to show the teeth means to take the place of the king in opening the mouths of the ministers, so that they will dare to criticize; to raise the hand means to repel the treacherous and sycophantic, and to recommend the virtuous to be the ministers; and to slap the wrist means to take the place of the king in tearing down the platform of amusement and drinking in honor of the winds of thrift and frugality. ”


    King Xuan of Qi thoughtfully asked, “Then ...... what does ‘danger’ mean?”


    Zhong Li Chun said with a straight face, “The country is about to have a war, but turn a blind eye to it, dangerous or not? The ministers are only concerned about their own safety, and do not dare to criticize directly, is it dangerous? Is it dangerous to have sycophants in power and not to have good ministers? Is it dangerous to indulge in fun and feasts without honoring thrift and frugality? Your Majesty, it''s dangerous!”


    King Xuan of Qi suddenly felt that this ugly woman is not ordinary, staring at her and asked, “You ...... are really who?”


    Zhong Li Chun hurriedly hung her head and answered in a low voice, “A saltless woman.”


    King Xuan returned to the court and repeated Zhong Li Chun''s explanation of the cryptic language in front of the Dafus. The Dafus praised it and said that the explanation was simply a good strategy for governing the country, it was wonderful! Gao Daifu bowed to King Xuan of Qi and said, “Your Majesty, to be honest, some days ago, I saw that the king did not care about the dynasty, and was with his two royal concubines day and night ......” He realized that he had slipped his tongue, and immediately kowtowed, “Your Majesty , the microscopic minister should be damned and should not have mentioned the royal consorts.”


    King Xuan of Qi at this time consciously in front of all the ministers to raise eyebrows, the heart is happy, then did not count, let him continue to say.


    Gao Daifu face with excitement, continued: “I thought that the king thought no great wisdom, chest no big plan ...... Today, the world, the vassals contend for supremacy, do not think of progress, will be destroyed by the strong, I am deeply worried about the state of Qi ...... Today, listening to the king''s words, my heart is clear. Today, listening to the words of the king, I have a clear mind, so the king is such a smart person, as long as the king will put this smart into action, the state of Qi why worry about not hegemony!”


    King Xuan of Qi was infected by the words of Gao Daifu, frankly said, “Gao Daifu some words, said I am very ashamed ...... ‘ pause for a moment, he continued to say, ’Do you know, this cryptic language, is the interpretation of the person? ”


    The crowd looked at King Xuan of Qi in great confusion.


    “Wasn''t it you, Great King?” Gao Daifu asked.


    “No ...... “ King Xuan of Qi shook his head, ”It was a woman, a very ...... usual woman... ...”


    “What the king said, is it true?” Gao Daifu could hardly believe it.


    King Xuan of Qi said seriously, “As the head of a country, how can I lie?”


    “Where is this woman?”


    “Right here in my palace.”


    “Is it a royal concubine?”


    King Xuan of Qi did not answer.


    Gao Daifu said, “If it is a king''s consort, the king should have crowned her queen; hasn''t the king not crowned a queen yet?”


    King Xuan of Qi shook his head and said, “She is not a king consort, she is a servant who does rough work ......”


    Another Dafu said, “Your Majesty, how can such an intelligent woman be made a servant? She should be made the king''s consort, no, the queen!”


    Gao Daifu nodded his head and said, “Your Majesty, if you have such a queen to assist your king, Qi will surely dominate the lords!”


    “But ......” King Xuan of Qi hesitated for a moment and said in a difficult manner, ”But this woman is ...... a bit ugly looking ......”


    Gao Daifu said, “The queen of the king should be the internal master of the palace affairs, and external knowledge of the country''s safety and security, should be an intelligent person, looks are only secondary.”


    The next Dafu added: “In the palace of the king, there are many beautiful princesses and courtesans, and there is no shortage of people who compete for favor, if there is no intelligent woman in charge of the harem, the king will have no peace.”


    Still hesitant, King Xuan of Qi asked Zou Ji, who hadn''t said a word: “Zou Xiangguo, what do you think?”


    Zou Ji did not want to let the beautiful woman Gongsun Yue gave to the king do whatever he wanted either, and he responded, “What Dr. Gao and the others have said makes sense; the queen should be an intelligent person, and her looks are only secondary.”


    King Xuan of Qi finally made up his mind and made Zhong Li Chun the queen.


    King Xuan of Qi''s decision left Sun Bin and Zhong Li Chun dumbfounded! They were panicked and didn''t know what to do. Are they going to lose all the years of love between them? Zhong Li Chun was extremely reluctant since she was in a hurry, “Mr. Sun, quickly think of a way ......” she said to Sun Bin, “If there''s really no way, I''ll have to leave the king''s palace.”


    Sun Bin paced back and forth a few steps, shaking his head, “No, if you leave the king''s palace, we will have given up all our previous efforts.”


    “How about ...... we just tell the Great King the truth.”


    “Even less, deceiving the Great King, not only will we be unable to escape justice, but General Tian''s family will also be implicated by us.”


    Zhong Li Chun said impatiently, “This won''t work, that won''t work, is it only possible if I marry the Great King?”


    Sun Bin didn''t know how to answer.


    “Sir, speak up!” Zhong Li Chun urged.


    Sun Bin was in a dilemma, and after a long time, he spoke with difficulty, “Maybe this is fate ...... Heaven''s fate is hard to disobey, only if I marry the Great King ...... When you become queen, you can take Gongsun Yue''s beautiful woman ......”


    Before hearing him finish, Zhong Li Chun raised his hand and slapped Sun Bin in the face, roaring in anger: “Sun Bin, did you have this in mind long ago and deliberately let me drill your trap? I could tell long ago that you didn''t want me and wanted to get rid of me!”


    Sun Bin couldn''t wait to rip out his heart and show it to Zhong Li Chun, he said to Zhong Li Chun, “Zhong Li Chun, I would never do this even if I were to die! For so many years we''ve lived and died together, in times of trouble, I love you from the bottom of my heart ......”


    Tears turned in Zhong Li Chun''s eyes as she grunted and asked, “Then why did you delay marrying me? If you had married me earlier, I wouldn''t have gone on to become some bullshit queen!”


    “Zhong Li Chun, don''t I want to marry you?” Sun Bin said from the bottom of his heart. “It was Pang Juan who caused us to be uprooted, not even a little bit of peace and quiet, and I didn''t have the chance to marry you ...... I had planned to return to Qi this time, and as soon as we settled down, we''d do the marriage, but, I didn''t expect to run into this... ...”


    Tears wept from Zhong Li Chun''s eyes as she hugged Sun Bin and cried, “Sir, I can''t live without you, I can''t ......”


    Sun Bin''s cheeks were also covered in teardrops, he gently stroked Zhong Li Chun''s shoulder and murmured, “I can''t live without you either ...... But, seeing our homeland, being messed up like this by Gongsun Yue, and those two damned demonic women, I can''t think of any other way... ...For you and me, such an ending is the last thing we want to see......But for Qi, for General Tian, and for the subjects and people who want Qi to be strong, this ending......should be said to be the best. ...... is the best. ...... An intelligent queen is enough to subdue the lecherous demoness, free the king from evil entanglements, alienate the treats and sycophants, and get close to the wise and virtuous, so as to revitalize the state of Qi ... ...Zhong Li Chun, I don''t force you, and I don''t want to force you, you see to it ......If, in your opinion, our marriage is more important than the state of Qi, than the people of Qi, than General Tian, Mr.Qin, who are all friends of the liver, I''ll follow you to a place where there are no people, to live our own life ......”


    Outside the window was a serene night sky with a bright full moon hanging high in the night sky.


    Zhong Li Chun was silent for a long time.


    On the day the queen was crowned, King Qi Xuan and his royal concubines all gathered in the harem, waiting for Zhong Li Chun, who was dressed. With a scornful look on her face, Mei Yu whispered to Jia Daughter, “An ugly girl as a queen, a wonder of the world.”


    Jia Daughter whispered in agreement, “There will be times for her to cry in the future.”


    Although King Xuan of Qi favored Meiyu and Jia Nu, he did not want them to talk about the newly appointed queen in public, especially not to talk about the queen being ugly! Having an ugly queen was already a hidden sickness in King Qi Xuan''s heart, and he turned his head to stop Meiyu and Jia Niang''s comments with a look.


    “Great King.” A soft and somewhat familiar voice came, King Xuan of Qi turned his head back to look ahead, and he suddenly froze. Zhong Li Chun, dressed in the queen''s full regalia, came down to the harem hall accompanied by two palace maids, and for the first time, she revealed her true face of radiance and grace. King Xuan of Qi was stunned! Mei Yu and Jia Nu were also stunned! The concubines present were all stunned!


    Zhong Li Chun slowly stepped in front of King Xuan of Qi, saluted, and said softly, “Greetings, Your Majesty.”


    King Xuan of Qi sized up Zhong Li Chun for a long time and sighed, “Queen, I didn''t expect you to be so beautiful ...... ‘ Then King Xuan of Qi praised in a loud voice, ’This is my queen, the queen of Qi! ”


    King Xuan of Qi held Zhong Li Chun''s hand, walked to the front of the king''s consorts, and said in a loud voice to all the concubines and courtesans present, “From now on, the harem up and down, everything must obey the queen''s orders, if there are those who disobeyed the orders, the queen can be disposed of as she pleases!”


    Note: “Turn the Guest into the Host” is the thirty-third plan in the Thirty-Six Stratagems. The meaning of the plan is: from guest to master, strive for the initiative. Sun Bin in order to break the “beauty plan”, sent Zhong Li Chun into the palace to persuade the King of Qi with cryptic words, the King of Qi recognized Zhong Li Chun''s intelligence and wanted to appoint Zhong Li Chun as the queen, Sun Bin gave up his personal feelings for the country and persuaded Zhong Li Chun to become the master of the palace, turning passive into active. To know how Zhong Li Chun dealt with the beauty that haunts the palace, please read the next installment: “Pointing at the mulberry tree and cursing the locust tree”.