"General Han, you may rise," Xiao Shaojin said, staring unblinkingly at the fire.
The leader of the 'Barbarians' stood up slowly. "Your Highness, do we strike now?"
In the corner, Lin Huaijue squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for death. But Xiao Shaojin ignored him completely.
"Sixty riders came tonight?"
The burly man nodded and bowed. "Sixty-three in total."
Xiao Shaojin smiled. "I know you were eager to earn merit, General Han. Before I came, I told my father that your unit has worked the hardest these past two years. You and your deputy are both promoted one rank, with double salary."
Instead of joy, the burly man looked terrified. The phrase 'eager to earn merit' made his head buzz with panic. He dropped to his knees, kowtowing repeatedly. "Your Highness, this subordinate deserves death!"
Xiao ignored the man on the ground. He pulled an exquisitely shaped, rusty red eagle whistle from his robe and blew hard.
SCREECH—!
A sharp, piercing cry cut through the silent border night.
Instantly, the sounds of clashing iron, galloping hooves, and startled screams erupted from below. From the two small hills flanking the beacon tower, two columns of cavalry poured out.
They wore red armor and red robes, wielding red blades and spears. They were the Red Rust Army. They swarmed around the small Barbarian squad, encircling them. Firelight illuminated the sky as shouts of slaughter filled the air.
Xiao Shaojin helped the man up. "I assume there's a reason you broke our usual rules tonight. You aren't a man who chases glory blindly; otherwise, you wouldn't have volunteered to transfer from the Winged Riders to the newly formed Drill Battalion."
The burly man looked like a wronged child, his voice choking up. "Your Highness... tonight, the Barbarians..."
"The Barbarian Grand Preceptor is getting suspicious, isn't he? The hunting party tonight was likely organized by a Centurion, deployed by the Preceptor himself to specific locations, rather than raiding at random," Xiao Shaojin finished the man's sentence. "Am I right?"
The man nodded vigorously. "Your Highness is divine in his calculations!"
"You ambushed and eliminated about forty of them on the way here. That's why you were fifteen minutes late," Xiao continued. "You were worried about my safety, fearing the Red Rust squad behind me wouldn't be enough to handle half a full-strength Barbarian company?"
The man froze, then nodded again.
"Stop nodding!" Xiao Shaojin snapped. "My plan, laid out over two years, was almost ruined by your pointless worrying! Even if you bring back a hundred heads, the Grand Preceptor will be suspicious. What will you tell him? That two hundred border guards showed up for the rotation? Two hundred men would trample this dilapidated tower flat!"
Realizing the magnitude of his mistake, the man turned pale. "This subordinate, Han Zhong, deserves death! After escorting Your Highness home, I will take my own life."
Xiao Shaojin was furious. He lifted his leg to kick Han Zhong, only to realize his twelve-year-old legs were too short to reach the man's chest.
"Butt over here!" Xiao shrieked in his childish voice.
Han Zhong immediately prostrated himself. Xiao Shaojin delivered a full-force kick to the general's backside. But Han Zhong, clad in heavy muscle and armor, didn't even budge.
Xiao coughed awkwardly to cover his embarrassment. "Military law will deal with your error. But since there is no precedent for 'being too worried about the Heir,' I'm setting a new rule: anyone who disrupts the plan out of concern for my safety gets a kick in the ass. My dad only kicked me once when he was most angry."
Xiao Shaojin sat down cross-legged, puffing out his chubby cheeks and frowning like a miniature adult. "Now, I need to think of a way to dispel the Grand Preceptor's suspicions."
"Should Your Highness take some soldiers from the Drill Battalion back as prisoners?" Han Zhong suggested. "I can claim we were ambushed."
"Do you think the Grand Preceptor is a moron?" Xiao shook his head. "He will send people, or go himself, to inspect the battlefield. If the details don't match, the whole plan fails, and you and your men will be exposed and executed."
Xiao lay back on the ground, narrowing his eyes. "Give me a moment. Go help the Red Rust Army clean up the mess below. Those Barbarians are too noisy."
Han Zhong obeyed and went downstairs. The two 'Barbarian' guards remained, shielding Xiao with their bodies.
Lin Huaijue, who had overheard everything, felt a rollercoaster of emotions—terror, worry, and finally, realization.
The Barbarians were actually undercover Border Guards!
The Red Rust Army had been lying in wait. No wonder Xiao Shaojin never looked scared; he had been in control the entire time.
As the sounds of battle faded, Xiao Shaojin opened his eyes. He looked around and spotted Lin Huaijue in the corner.
"Hey. If you have questions, ask them. I don't want you becoming a confused ghost who can't reincarnate."
Lin Huaijue approached and knelt. "I offended Your Highness earlier to protect myself. I beg for your forgiveness. I will repay this debt."
Xiao Shaojin burst into laughter. "I'm barely twelve years old! What 'forgiveness'? What 'magnanimity'?"
He stood up and began unbuttoning his Python robe. "I know you're confused, but you've probably guessed the truth. Our intelligence reports on your Lin family arrived at the Prince's Mansion three months ago."
Lin Huaijue felt a chill. The appointment order for his father came in mid-April, but the Prince of Dongqi was investigating them in March? A sense of powerlessness washed over him. He bowed lower.
Xiao Shaojin recited from memory: "Lin Shimo, native of Chuzhou. Wealthy family. Enlightened at eight. Passed the Imperial Exam in the year 780. Served in the Hanlin Academy, Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Rites. Good reputation. A rare pragmatist among the 'clean stream' officials. Normally, he should have been sent to a wealthy province to gather merit before entering the central cabinet."
Xiao patted Lin on the shoulder. Lin was sweating profusely.
"But your old man came to Youzhou. Tsk tsk tsk." Xiao shook his head mockingly. "Everyone knows that to build a political resume, you need tax revenue and safety, not a war-torn border. Unless... you offended someone powerful? But the current Grand Secretary Gao is also from Chuzhou. Your ancestral homes are five miles apart. Who would believe you aren't part of the Gao Faction? So, someone even more powerful than the Grand Secretary sent you here?"
Xiao finally threw his Python robe aside and pointed at the sky. "Since your father is following the Emperor's decree, fine. But you, Master Lin, sent people to track my carriage this morning and staged a 'chance encounter.' Why shouldn't I play along?"
Lin Huaijue gritted his teeth, anger rising at being toyed with. "You went to great lengths, Your Highness. But aren't you afraid of the Barbarian horde? If they attack in force, we are just meat on the chopping block!"
"Hah!" Xiao laughed again. "Everyone says I'm a hedonistic brat who doesn't know the height of the sky, but do you think I'm stupid enough to risk my own life? Let me teach you something: If anyone tells you the Heir of Dongqi is in danger within Youzhou's borders, do not believe them."
"But you colluded with Barbarians! I saw it!" Lin pointed at the two guards. "Iron-clad proof!"
Xiao waved his sleeve.
The two 'Barbarian' guards knelt instantly. "Vice Generals Wang Yong and Li Shan of the Youzhou Drill Battalion greet Your Highness!"
Xiao waved his hand, and they returned to their guard stance. "The Drill Battalion is a covert unit my father founded two years ago to infiltrate the tribes. Only a few old farts in the Capital know about it."
Lin was speechless. He looked closely—their tattoos, their round faces, even their scent matched the Barbarians perfectly.
Two more men arrived on the platform: Han Zhong and a general in red armor.
"Reporting victory," the red-armored general said after kneeling. "The Drill Battalion lured fifty riders here. All eliminated. Captured 42 horses, one banner. Casualties: one light injury on each side. Per protocol, we have prepared twenty disfigured death-row inmate corpses, twenty sets of damaged gear, sixteen bags of coarse salt, nine bags of tea, and silver to send back to the Barbarians as 'spoils of war'."
Xiao nodded.
"General Yan Chuanzhi pleads for leniency for General Han," the red-armored general added. "Whatever his mistake, he sought to protect Your Highness."
"I already kicked his ass. It's over," Xiao said dismissively. "But the casualty ratio is wrong. If a hundred Barbarians attack, we should lose at least thirty or forty men. The spoils aren't enough to satisfy the Grand Preceptor. If he investigates and finds out where I was, my plan is ruined."
Han Zhong knelt again, begging for punishment.
"However..." Xiao Shaojin interrupted, "What if we give them my Python robe... and this Master Lin, who is only three years older than me?"
Han Zhong and Yan Chuanzhi looked at each other, stunned.
Yan Chuanzhi hesitated. "Your Highness, isn't that... immoral? He is the Governor's son. The Prince hates dealing with civil officials. If the kid dies, your father will have to bribe the Capital to smooth things over."
"No, you misunderstand. Master Lin absolutely cannot die," Xiao shook his head. "Besides, he isn't worthy of dying in my place. Even if Han Zhong dared to bring my corpse to the Grand Preceptor, the old man wouldn't dare accept it—it would mean total war with my father. I need a mix of truth and lies. The plan is: The Grand Preceptor sees 'Master Lin in the Python Robe' but cannot confirm it. Do you understand?"
"Understood," Yan Chuanzhi bowed. "I will deploy two thousand Red Rust elites from Yanhui Camp. We will wait twenty miles south of the Barbarian camp for your signal."
"Good. The Iron Pagoda Heavy Cavalry is on rotation for my guard duty. They are less than ten miles west. Summon all eight hundred of them. Use my Tiger Tally."
Xiao reached into his boot and pulled out... a small, stuffed cloth tiger with the character 'Jin' embroidered on it. He handed it to Han Zhong.
Lin Huaijue watched this absurd scene numbly. The Heir used a doll as a military seal? And the generals obeyed without question?
He looked at the disciplined troops below and felt a surge of pride. This is the might of the Huachao Empire.
Han Zhong scratched his head, holding the doll. "Your Highness, where are we marching three thousand elite cavalry tonight?"
Xiao smiled and patted Han's arm, wincing as his hand hit the iron armor. "Han Zhong, you watched me grow up. Do you know why Yan Chuanzhi is my Personal Guard General while you are still a Vice General?"
Han laughed awkwardly.
"Take the death-row corpses," Xiao explained. "Yan knows to source them from Yanzhou because Youzhou is too peaceful lately. He plans ahead. My strategy is to make the Grand Preceptor arrogant, luring him to attack weak points during the autumn harvest, where we will crush half his army. This will balance the power between the Di, Wu, and Xianbei tribes, ensuring ten years of peace."
Xiao kicked Han again. "If you still don't get it, go serve as a stable master and breed horses!"
Han Zhong's eyes lit up. He finally understood. He bowed and left.
Xiao nudged the kneeling Lin Huaijue with his toe. "Take off your robe. Put on my Python robe. If you obey me, I guarantee no one in Youzhou will dare bully you again. Except me, of course."
Less than fifteen minutes later, a sound like a herd of trumpeting elephants echoed in the distance. It was the distinctive wind-bells of the Iron Pagoda banners.
Xiao Shaojin had already cut his own clothes to fit better. He led Lin Huaijue down the tower.
Seeing the Python robe on a stranger, an Iron Pagoda guard moved to intercept, but Xiao waved him off. Two guards lifted Xiao onto a massive black horse with white hooves. Lin was given an ordinary warhorse.
Xiao Shaojin reined his horse, pointing his whip toward the northeast.
"Soldiers! Tonight, we perform the play 'The Civet Cat Swapped for the Crown Prince' for the Barbarian Grand Preceptor!"
He switched to a dramatic opera voice. "We shall make him scream that divine soldiers have descended from the heavens!"
An Iron Pagoda trooper shouted, "MOUNTAIN CALL!"
Eight hundred heavy cavalry and two hundred Red Rust riders roared in unison:
"WIND! WIND! WIND!"
Xiao Shaojin screamed in his high-pitched voice: "Han Zhong leads the way! Three miles spacing! Order: KILL!"
Watching the young boy command this army of death, Lin Huaijue felt a chill shoot from his heels to his skull. He couldn't stop shaking.