Chapter 36: The Black and White Elders

Yao Jin cupped his hands in a salute and took his leave. Xiang Shouyue stood by the window, watching until Yao Jin had faded into the distance.

A light knock sounded at the door.

"Enter!"

A figure in a black robe slipped inside.

"General! Should we report this situation to the Second Prince?"

Xiang Shouyue hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

"No need! The Second Prince is concerned with the Junior Tutor's maneuvers; there is no need to disturb him with such trivial matters as a lion dance wager."

The black-robed man responded, "Understood!"

Before long, the soft "coo-coo-coo" of a bird echoed. The black-robed man removed a small bamboo cylinder from a mottled pigeon, patted its wings, and turned back to the room.

"General! Another letter from the Second Prince!"

Xiang Shouyue was taken aback. "So soon? Let me see. What does it say?"

The subordinate retrieved a slip of paper from the cylinder and presented it with both hands. Xiang Shouyue unfolded it to find it densely packed with writing.

"So long?"

After reading it, the Sixth-Rank Imperial Guard General couldn't help but gasp. He immediately issued an order: "There is no time to lose! Have all the deputy generals in the camp report to me at once!"

...

Just as Yao Jin and Xiang Shouyue were "sparring" over the challenge to the lion dance competition, a mottled pigeon flew toward the carriage of the Second Prince.

"Coo-coo-coo!"

The pigeon's call seemed to say, "I have arrived!"

"Coo! Coo! Coo!"

A burly man in a black robe beside the carriage mimicked the sound, as if to say, "Come here! Hand over your treasure, and I shall reward you with a feast!"

The pigeon nodded and landed on his hand, stretching its neck to peck at the grains he held, devouring them with gusto. The man removed the bamboo cylinder from its leg and presented it to the Second Prince’s carriage.

"Your Highness! A letter from Xiang Shouyue of the Great Xu Imperial Guard!"

The carriage curtains remained drawn. "Read it."

"Yes! 'The sacrificial ceremony shall last ten days! Stages are being erected across the first to third floors!'"

The Second Prince, who was drinking at a spacious table inside the carriage, froze at these words.

"Ten days? And they are building stages? What are they up to?"

"Huang Zhongyong! Take this note and invite the Black and White Elders! They have refused to show themselves, insisting on staying outside the city. Now that we have passed the city gates and reached the neighboring province where they reside, it is time for them to emerge and devise a plan! That fool of a Ninth Prince may be a simpleton, but his Junior Tutor is not! If we do not formulate a strategy now, all the limelight will be stolen from us!"

The Gentleman-in-Waiting, Huang Zhongyong, who had been standing to the side with his hands hanging low, immediately replied, "Yes!" He took the note and hurried off.

Before long, two elders dressed in black and white Taoist robes walked with measured, rhythmic steps toward the Second Prince's carriage.

"Your Highness!"

The curtain finally lifted. "Please, enter."

The Second Prince looked at the two men sitting before him and ordered tea to be served.

One was dressed in a black robe that seemed to swallow all light, like the deepest darkness before dawn. His hair was pitch black, his face cast in a sallow, ink-like pallor, and his eyes were sunken, deep as black holes, radiating an endless chill.

The other wore a white robe, not pure as snow, but a dismal, faded grey, like the color of bones eroded by time. His hair was white and disheveled, strands fluttering across his forehead like a banner for summoning spirits. His face was etched with deep wrinkles, each seemingly hiding an unknown past.

"Elders, what is your wise counsel?"

"Your Highness, please look." The White Elder spread out a map and pressed a finger to a spot just right of the center. "This is the defensive map of the Great Xu Royal City. They are holding the sacrifice at the East Drum Tower. Building stages up to the third floor means that after the sacrifice, they intend to celebrate with the common folk! It is highly likely that the West, South, and North Drum Towers will follow suit."

The Second Prince nodded, his expression cold. "This must be the Junior Tutor's idea. My fool of a Ninth brother would never think of this."

The Black Elder extended a skeletal finger and tapped the icon of the East Drum Tower. "Your Highness, how do you wish to play with this fool?"

The Second Prince tilted his head and smiled. "I want to startle him, but not so much that it causes a total disaster! I am hoping he raises the million taels of silver to help me ascend the throne, yet I also hope he fails to raise it easily—otherwise, he will steal all the glory! Is that thought not grotesque?"

The White Elder also laughed, revealing bared, white teeth. "Those who respect us call us the Black and White Elders. Those who do not call us the Black and White Monsters, do they not? In this world, who is not grotesque? Does it really matter whether one is or is not?"

The Second Prince burst into laughter. "Then let us pull off a grand prank! One that will make them slap their own faces! But do not kill them; leave them with a breath of life. When the time comes, whether they live or die will depend entirely on my mood. How does that sound?"

The Black and White Elders pointed simultaneously to the Ying River, north of the outer city.

"Divert the Ying River and flood the city! The Junior Tutor, Su Zhongjing, is a man well-versed in history. Seeing such a sight, he will surely panic! When Qin destroyed the six states, the capital of Wei, Daliang, had sturdy defenses. The Qin general Wang Ben diverted the Yellow River to flood the city. After three months, the walls collapsed, the grain rotted, and the King of Wei surrendered. During the Three Kingdoms period, Lü Bu held Xiapi. Cao Cao adopted the strategies of Xun You and Guo Jia to open a canal and divert the Yi and Si rivers to flood the city. Lü Bu's subordinates, in a state of panic, bound him and surrendered, and Cao Cao executed him at the White Gate Tower to seize control of Xuzhou. When the Tang Dynasty was newly established, Liu Heita stood against Li Shimin. Li Shimin lured the enemy deep, and as Liu Heita crossed the Ming River, he ordered his heavy cavalry to charge. Liu Heita's forces were forced to retreat into the dry old riverbed, whereupon Li Shimin breached the upstream dam. The rushing waters descended, and Liu Heita was utterly defeated."

The Second Prince’s eyes lit up, his nostrils flaring as he seemed to scent a golden opportunity to see the First Prince demoted and confined once more. "Tell me, how shall we do it?"

The Black and White Elders drew a line along the Ying River.

"Right here, have Xiang Shouyue send men to block the river's entrance! The moment their sacrificial drums sound at noon, breach it! The water will suddenly surge into the moat, creating a massive disturbance! Since the time is short and the water volume will not be massive, the surge will not last long, but the sheer spectacle will scare them half to death! Then, have two men on the Drum Tower shout that the Great Xu has been spared from a flood—does that not make you a savior? The Monarch is a fraud, no star of fortune, but a harbinger of disaster!"

"Ha! Ha!" The Second Prince clapped his hands, unable to contain his glee.

In his mind, he could already see the scene: on the drum tower, the fool of a Ninth Prince and the Junior Tutor were in a state of sheer panic, fleeing in all directions, descending into utter chaos. He imagined several people falling from the top stage, the Ninth Prince and the Tutor landing face-first, being trampled underfoot, wailing in agony.

"Splendid! This face-slapping will be glorious! Truly glorious! No time to lose, start the preparations! Tell Xiang Shouyue that if this succeeds, he shall have another hundred taels! If it fails, not a single cent of the two hundred previously promised will be given, and he must cough up another hundred! For the two men shouting on the East Drum Tower, use the secret agents we have bought within the Great Xu court—send their names over!"

"As you command!"

The Black and White Elders bowed, lifted the curtain, and stepped out to coordinate with Huang Zhongyong.

Before long, a mottled pigeon let out a "coo-coo-coo" and took to the sky.

...

Having received the Second Prince’s detailed instructions, Xiang Shouyue did not dare to delay. He mobilized his deputy generals to begin the arrangements immediately.

Half an hour later, a fifteen-man elite team in civilian clothes, led by a deputy nicknamed "Water Ghoul," set off carrying two large trunks.

Almost immediately after, another fifteen-man elite team in full armor, carrying recurve bows and quivers, followed the same path. Because of the large sum of reward money involved, Xiang Shouyue was uneasy and had dispatched a "rear-guard" force.

At the same time, within the Great Xu Royal Mansion, the fifty men mobilized by Su Zhongjing using ten tree leaves were also fully prepared and ready to depart.