"Mr. Su, can you explain more about the Five Elements? Before your explanation was too short, and I want to find out more about it."
The spacious palace garden was quiet and empty, only the chirping of birds accompanied them. The princess took Zhu Su there to ask him further about the Theory of Five Elements. The princess was definitely very fond of philosophy.
"Of course you can, Your Highness. Which part do you want to know?"
"Yesterday you mention that Five Elements are correspondence of Five Emotions. Do Five Elements have correspondence with the other topics?"
"Yes, they do. For example with Color, it is called Five Colors: Green, Red, Yellow, Black, and White. Then, Direction: East, South, Central, West, and North."
"Anything else?"
"If you want to know the whole of it, I have to write a list of tables in order to help you in memorizing."
"Fine. Write it down, the whole of it. Hey, get paper, brush, and ink!" She ordered the court lady who became their translator.
The court lady quickly did as instructed. Zhu Su soon wrote down the table of Five Elements, then handed it to the princess.
"Wow, lots of it!" The princess screamed. "And you must memorize them all? I won't be able to remember all of them!"
"Actually, this is not to be memorized, but to be understood. If we have understood it, there is no need to memorize it because we have memorized it automatically."
"Understand? How to understand it? Everything you write down seems so strange and puzzling!" The princess pulled the paper up to be parallel with the direction of her eyes and watched it thoroughly, her wide eyes and furrowed eyebrows signed that she was thinking hard.
"The Five Elements consist of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Why does it have to be arranged in such an order? Can we change it into Fire, Metal, Water, Wood, and Earth? We can't. Why? Because, each element has its own characteristics and associations with Nature."
"Nature?"
"Besides the Restriction in the Five Elements I've described, there is also another interaction in Five Elements, named Generation in Five Elements. Wood fuels Fire, Fire forms Earth, Earth contains Metal, Metal carries Water, Water feeds Wood. So here's the thing. The first element being mentioned is Wood. Here Wood refers to plants. Trees produce Wood, right?"
The princess nodded.
"Wood fuels Fire. If the Wood is rubbed, it will make Fire. We know it very clearly in the process of making a campfire."
"Oh, I see! That's why it's called Wood fuels Fire. Then what else? What about Fire forms Earth?"
"After Wood is burnt and Fire disappears, what is left over?"
"Ash..." The princess' eyes widened. "Ah yes! Ash is Earth! Then, why is it called Earth contains Metal?"
"How do people get mining goods?"
"By digging it..." The princess clicked her hand. "Mining goods are Metal! Metal is buried underground! So it is said that Earth contains Metal!"
Zhu Su nodded. "Then, Metal feeds Water. Now you should have guessed the philosophical meaning about it?"
Princess thought for a while. "Mmmm, I don't know..."
"When Metal is heated, then being cooled, Water droplets will appear as a result of condensation."
"Ah, no wonder I have no idea about it. I never see metal processing." Princess laughed. "But now I understand why Water feeds Wood. We need to water plants so that they will keep growing, then bloom and bear fruit, right?"
"Exactly. You are so smart, Your Highness."
"Ah, this is super easy!" The princess laughed much louder. "Wow, how interesting! You must explain the other parts! Oh yes, the King said, you examined the Queen Dowager in a strange way?"
"Do you mean, taking pulse?"
"Yes, that's right. You were holding Queen Dowager's wrist for a long time, and after that Miss Hu still pressed on several certain areas of Queen Dowager. But only with such a diagnosis, you have been able to deduce the cause of Queen Dowager's illness. During this time I've never seen such kind of diagnosis method."
"Taking pulse is one of the important examinations in Chinese Medicine. The strength of the pulse shows the strength and weakness of Qi and Blood, as well as the Zang-fu organs..."
"Qi? Zang-fu organs? What are these?"
"Qi is the vital energy of our body. We can live and do activities, all thanks to Qi. This energy is invisible, but its existence can't be ignored. Meanwhile, the zang-fu organs consist of five Zang and 6 Fu. Five Zang consist of liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, while the Six Fu consists of the gall bladder, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, bladder, and Sanjiao."
The princess turned into a gape, it was obvious that she did not understand. Zhu Su smiled, "This is a very complicated and difficult knowledge. We Ming people have to learn it for a very long time and it took years of hard work. Therefore, Princess won't be able to immediately understand with just this brief explanation. And it's very incredible since you can get into this level of understanding. Only a few people can comprehend as quickly as you."
The princess' face beamed with delight. "Thence, I want you to give explanations for me whenever I have spare time, okay? I am really curious about this knowledge. But it's been my nature, I really like to study. I like it so much when it comes to master new knowledge!"
As the princess said so, her face appeared so beautiful. The sunlight brightening her face made her look glitter, as glittering as golds and diamonds and other jewelry which studded to decorate her long hair. Seeing the princess looked so happy, Zhu Su gleamed, his heart was incredibly joyful. Delighted at the sincere acceptance of Ava Princess. She was a princess, but she was willing to talk with him and even treated him very well, without underestimating his status. Although the princess had no idea about his true identity, she still appreciated him. Such a great acceptance from the princess, as well as from the king, was truly a great gift which he was very grateful of.
However, if Zhu Su's feelings towards Ava Princess was pure and sincere, the perception of others about him was on the contrary. Social perception is always almost different from what we expect. Especially if it relates to something bad. The reality can be covered with lies, the right can be changed into the wrong, and before we even hear about the badness spreading all over society... we have been ruined.