As with any two like things connected by a thread of qi, whereby the actions of one influence the other even at a distance, so an emperor’s worthiness determines the fate of the land he rules.
having grown up on a peasant’s monotonous diet, and with only a half-formed suspicion that better things might exist, her imagination was limited to the dimension of quantity.
But when she tried to imagine the future, she couldn’t. There was nothing in her imagination to replace the formless, unchanging days of starvation. She clung to life because it seemed to have value, even if only to her. But when she thought about it, she had no idea why.
One meal a day wasn’t enough to fill anyone’s time. The heat was most unbearable in the late afternoon, when the sun slashed backhanded across the village, as red as the last native emperors’ Mandate of Heaven. After sunset the evenings were merely breathless.
How much do we gain from having the oportubjty to think about thibgs beyond food?
The girl and Chongba sat listlessly in their doorway, looking out. One meal a day wasn’t enough to fill anyone’s time.
the names of places that were even farther away than their district seat of Haozhou, which was two full days’ walk from Zhongli village and already the farthest place Zhu could imagine.
As she went into the latrine, she thought coldly that it was better to be a flawed monk and desire honestly, like Xu Da. Denying desire only made yourself vulnerable to those who were smart enough to see what you couldn’t even acknowledge to yourself.
what’s unusual about you is that most strong-willed people never understand that will alone isn’t enough to guarantee their survival. They don’t realize that even more so than will, survival depends upon an understanding of people and power.
He had a privileged youth’s expectation of doing well, of being recognized and raised to his rightful place at the top of the world.
All those expectations laid bare without any idea that he might be hated for them. He watched the emotions race across the boy’s face like clouds: surprise, disbelief, resentment.
History twisted and turned like a snake. When you were in the moment, how could you tell which way it would turn next? There was nothing about the Mandate that promised the rebels this particular victory—or indeed any victory at all.
But for all that Ouyang was a general of the Yuan, he didn’t fight for the empire. His efforts had only ever been for Esen. He suddenly felt a deep longing to be back on campaign. Campaign was his and Esen’s world, where the only things that mattered were the pride of carrying oneself honorably in battle, and the love and trust between warriors. The only place where Ouyang was ever happy.
Aren’t you risking your life right now to bear and raise a child? A woman gambles all of herself, body and future, when she marries. That’s more courageous than any risk a bureaucrat takes when it concerns only his face, or his wealth.”
“But you know what’s worse than suffering? Not suffering, because you’re not even alive to feel it.”
“Learn to want something for yourself, Ma Xiuying. Not what someone says you should want. Not what you think you should want. Don’t go through life thinking only of duty. When all we have are these brief spans between our nonexistences, why not make the most of the life you’re living now? The price is worth it.”
Then, very carefully, she cupped Ma’s cheek, leaned in, and kissed her. A soft, lingering press of lips against lips. A moment of yielding warmth that generated something infinitely tender and precious, and as fragile as a butterfly’s wing. It was nothing at all like the unrestrained, half-violent passions of the body that Xu Da had described. It felt like something new, something they’d invented themselves. Something that existed only for the two of them, in the penumbral shadow of their little room, for the span of a single kiss.