488 BC The Capital of Yue State
King Goujian moved his capital to a village in the Mount Kuaiji area. And the little village developed and turn into a city now.
King Goujian made a lot of reformation, including encouraging agriculture. When he was not busy with court affairs, he would talk to his people and did farming with them.
King Goujian's wife taught the women in the village to weave. She opened up some weaving factories and taught the women to weave textile made of plant fiber and hemp.
King Goujian and his officials still could not forget the national humiliation they had to endure when they had to be Fuchai's slaves at Wu. They determined they had to revenge Wu.
Yet Wu was more potent and bigger than Yue. They knew that to win, they had to use strategies.
Goujian, with the help of Fan Li, had set up long term strategies to defeat Wu. And the whole people of Yue were part of the plan.
The men of Yue were encouraged to get married at a young age. The country needed human resources. Women had to work whether in the field or in weaving factories to produce enough food and textile that could be traded.
Goujian and his ministers worked hard to make the people prosper. While at the same they also used many tricks to weaken Fuchai's government.
Fuchai was a capable king of Wu. He was a capable man at his young age. Therefore later, in his middle age, he became arrogant and thought that he knew everything.
He had two capable ministers. One was Wu Zixu, a native of Chu State and Bo Pi.
Wu Zixu was a smart military man. He served the court of Wu since Fuchai's father era - King Helu of Wu. Together with Sun Wu, Wu Zixu helped Wu to reach its height. He was a righteous man.
Meanwhile, Bo Pi was the opposite of Wu Zixu. He was just a smooth talker, and he only thought about his benefit. Bo Pi often received bribery from Yue. It was because of Bo Pi's persuasion under Wen Zhong's bribery that Fuchai, later on, released Goujian back to Yue State.
From Bo Pi, Goujian and his close circle knew everything about Fuchai. And they silently and fervently do anything to weaken Wu State and Fuchai. Knowing that Fuchai had a weakness in women, they decided to find beautiful maidens of Yue to be sent to Fuchai.
Goujian assigned some men to search in the whole country beautiful girls to be trained to be Fuchai''s women.
Not only beautiful, but the girls also should be patriotic and willing to sacrifice their lives for the country. They also should be less than fifteen years old, and smart enough to be taught to be the women of talent.
One day Fan Li who loved fishing, went fishing near the river. Some women were washing clothes by the river.
The peaceful day was interrupted by some bandit who plundered and about to kidnap some young women. A few young women managed to flee and run away until they reached the river while they were screaming for help.
There were only three bandits rode their old horses. But for ordinary people and weak women like them, the bandits were scary enough for them.
When Fan Li and his two guards saw the injustice, they took their swords and dealt with the bandits to save the women.
Fan Li introduced himself and said, "My name is Fan Li. I am a servant of King Goujian. You all better follow me and stay at my house while at the same time I will send some soldiers to go to your village and she how is the condition now. If everything is fine, then you all could return home!"
The women kneeled and expressed their gratitude to Fan Li.
That afternoon Fan Li went to the palace to meet Goujian. He didn't expect to see the queen, and Wen Zhong was also there. Some young girls were kneeling in front of them.
"Look at those girls! What do you think? They are the ones that we are going to send to serve Fuchai." Goujian said and pointed at those girls.
Fan Li observed the girls, and after some time, he smiled and said, "Your Majesty, having beautiful girls is not enough. Those girls, although quite pretty, but Fuchai also has many beautiful girls. What makes our Yue girls superior compare to his women?"
Goujian was a bit surprised. Indeed he had never thought about that.
"These girls are unpolished jade. They can't be sent to Fuchai now! They need to undergo training to be superior talented women before they are sent to Wu."
"How to make them superior talented women?" the queen asked curiously.
"We need at least one year to train them in dancing and how to walk elegantly. Three years to learn how to read, write, and make poetry. Another one year to learn how to convey feelings through eyes and smile. Therefore they would become irresistible women! No man will be able to refuse them!"
Goujian nodded his head and said, "Fan Li is right. Therefore for this matter, I have to entrust this case not only to my wife. But also to you, Fan Li!"
"Yes, my king! But these ten girls are still not enough. With the three years of training, probably only one out of ten girls who could succeed. Therefore, we have to search for more."
They all agreed and determined to find more beautiful girls to help them to revenge Wu.
When Fan Li returned home, he invited the women he saved earlier that day for dinner. He had a conversation with them to get to know more about the life of the people.
Who would have thought that among those women, there was a young woman dressed in a man's clothing? The young woman looked beautiful although she deliberately made her face dirty full of dust
"Girl, what is your name? And where are you from?"
The girl braved herself and answered, "My name is Shi Yiguang. I come from the village in the west of Kuaiji. Therefore I use to be called Xi Shi!" *
*Xi Shi or Shi from the west - she's known as the Four Beauties of China.
Fan Li asked again, "Do you still have any family or relative?"
"I have a father and a mother. But when our village was attacked by bandits last night, they asked me to follow these younger women to flee. I could only hope that my parents survive so I could return home!"
Fan Li nodded and said, "Even if your parents survive, I hope that you don't need to return home. Our country needs someone like you!?"
Shi Yiguang raised her head and questioned Fan Li with her eyes, "I'm just an educated woman, how can our country needs someone like me?"
Fan Li smiled and explained to her how a woman like her could help her country to revenge the national humiliation they had a few years earlier.
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A few days later, the queen went to one of the weaving factories to check the quality of the cloths.
Fuchai loved to wear loose-fitting garments. Once Goujian sent him some garments made of kudzu vines fiber, and Fuchai loved it so much. Therefore Goujian ordered the women in the capital to weave these cloths to be presented to Fuchai to curry favor him.
That day when the queen was checking the factory, she saw something unusual. She saw a young girl who was delivering food for her mother.
A young girl in a weaving factory was not an uncommon sight. There were all women in the factory, young and old. But the girl she saw was special.
That girl covered her head with a white cloth. She wore old clothes with some patches here and there. She was barefoot, and her skirt was a bit too short for her tall stature. Yet she walked elegantly. She could see her beautiful legs and feet although her feet looked dirty.
The girl was taller, with fairer skin compared to the other women in the factory. She looked different and stunning compared to the other girls.
"Girl, what's your name?" asked the queen as she saw the girl.
"Your Majesty, she's my daughter, Ying. I hope she didn't offend you! Ying, kneel and give respect to our queen!" her mother said.
Ying looked nervous, and she kneeled and gave respect to the queen. She didn't say anything. Her cloth that covered her head fell on the ground and exposed her bald head.
The queen was a bit surprised to see the young girl's bald head. "What happened to your hair?"
"My lady, after my husband died, my daughter wanted to observe the three years mourning period. She shaved all of her hair two years ago. She seldom leaves the house and only works in the field. Today is her very first day that she comes here!" Ying's mother answered.
"Oh, this is the first time I heard a daughter observe a three years mourning ritual!" the queen surprised. "You must be proud of your filial daughter!" she continued.
Madame Wu, laughed and answered, "My lady, for a noble like you, she's a filial daughter. But for a poor peasant like me, she's a burden. She supposed to get married two years ago. But when her father died, she shaved all of her hair to mourn, and she declared that she wouldn't want to marry until three years of mourning! Now everyone in this village knows about her stubbornness. Who would want to marry a stubborn old maid like her!"
The queen laughed and observed Ying. Indeed she's a lovely girl. She's slender and tall, with her beautiful eyes and nose and cute lips. Her eyes were bright. She saw the girl in front of her was extraordinary.
"Girl, tell me why did you shave your hair and observed for your father for three years? The mourning period is meant for sons, and not for daughters!" said the queen. "And only people from nobility or other states do that!"
Ying answered, "My late father and my mother are not my real parents. But they have been so kind to me. In my entire life, I can't repay their kindness. I only cut my hair, dressed in white, and didn't leave my house for three years. But the rest, I still work and live like a normal person. I don't think that what I'm doing is special," said Ying.
The queen was surprised to hear that. Indeed the girl was not only beautiful but also brave. She immediately said to Ying's mother: "Madame, I like your daughter. Let me take her to the palace!"
Madame Wu was surprised. She immediately kneeled and said, "My lady, it's not that I disagree. But Ying is a stubborn girl. I am afraid that she would cause you trouble! This girl is not a daughter born from my womb. That day my husband found a baby girl in the woods. She was raised by wolves when she's a baby. My husband then took her, and we raised her. But she's lack of education and manner,…I am afraid that…"
The queen was surprised. She heard before that wolves wouldn't kill babies. If wolves encountered a baby, most likely, mother wolf would raise the baby as its child. But she thought that was just a myth. After pondering for a while, she smiled and said, "If a wolf raises her, it means that she has a piece of great luck! You don't have to worry about her. From now on, she will be under my care!"
The queen brought Ying to the palace. And the first thing she did was to let her maids help the girl to take a bath and dressed up properly.
For the first time in her life, Ying wore silk dresses and shoes made of delicate fabrics. She wore a white silk dress and white cloth to cover her head as she's still in the mourning period. The queen's maids even put some fragrance and powder on her face and rouge on her lips.
She was summoned to meet the queen when the queen had a banquet with other high official wives.
The queen and the women in the room were astonished when they saw the girl walked slowly and elegantly into the room. She walked slowly as she was afraid that if she walked too fast, her new shoes might worn out.
The queen rose from her seat and disbelieved what she saw, "Are you, Ying?" She took off the cloth that covered her clean, shaved head.
Ying kneeled in front of the queen. The queen held her hand and helped her to stand up. "Let me gaze at you!" She still disbelieved what she saw.
The queen gazed at the girl from head to toe and said, "You are such an unpolished jade! Three years from now, after you learn how to behave and act like a lady, you surely become one of the most beautiful girls on earth!"
Hearing the queen's word, Ying felt a lump on her throat. She wanted to cry as she remembered her father's words. Who would have thought that she who had used to be called as wolf girl would wear a beautiful silk dress and talked side by side with a queen?
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