"Grand Preceptor Wu? Or is that title even appropriate anymore?"
Xiao Shaojin tilted his head, his voice dripping with mockery.
The Grand Preceptor woke with a start. His hand instinctively went to his neck. His last memory was a sea of fire and a blood-soaked demon dragging him from his carriage.
He looked around. He was in a high-ranking Border Army tent. But the embroidery on the walls was exquisite—four-clawed pythons.
Beside him burned a brazier of silver charcoal. Opposite him sat a boy in a white robe embroidered with gold pythons, idly playing with the Twin Jade of Eagle and Serpent.
"Who are you?" the Grand Preceptor asked, sitting up slowly.
"Why not guess?" Xiao Shaojin lay back, crossing his legs casually. "I've sent for good food and wine. In the meantime, have some water and dry bread."
The old man drank greedily from a silver cup and tore into a piece of bread.
"Any milk tea?"
"We captured some from your supplies. But no one knows how to cook it. Do it yourself?" Xiao stuffed a pastry into his mouth. "I tried your Northern milk tea once. Disgusting. Like drinking oil."
"You have no taste," the old man scoffed. He moved to a small stove and began brewing tea. He glanced at the food box by Xiao's hand. "Kid, you have good food but won't share. What kind of manners is that?"
"Hahahaha! If you eat this, you'll know who I am. Guess first. If you're right, you eat."
The Grand Preceptor straightened up. "Easy. You wear a Python robe, so you are royalty or high nobility. You look twelve or thirteen. Are you the Prince of Yan from the Imperial Yuwen family, here for a summer vacation?"
Xiao shook his head. "I'm much better looking than him. And I don't have a Yanyun accent."
The old man squinted. " The Prince of Chu in the Southwest has handsome sons, but none your age. The Marquis of Xie in the Southeast can't wear Python robes or leave his territory. So... you must be Xiao Shaojin, son of Xiao Hong, the Prince of Dongqi."
"Correct. Reward him with a fruit!"
A guard placed the food box before the old man. The Grand Preceptor didn't stand on ceremony.
"Purple sandalwood box... Nine Phoenix pattern... Hmm? Jade Dew Dumplings, Seven-Return Cream, Concubine's Red Lychees... Good heavens! You even have Cherry Biluo Pastries! Shipping cherries from Huainan to the border costs a fortune."
"You know your stuff," Xiao yawned. "I don't even know half these names. I guess being a hostage in the Capital of the Zhou Dynasty for years gave you an expensive palate."
Instead of being insulted, the old man stopped eating. He bowed nine times towards the south. "May the Zhou Emperor be safe and healthy."
Xiao laughed. "The Zhou Emperor abdicated twenty years ago. You should be bowing to the Yuwen Emperor now."
The old man's face twisted in rage. "Yuwen Zhentai! That usurping thief! May he die a dog's death!"
"How dare you speak the Emperor's name!" Xiao snapped, feigning anger. "That's enough to execute your nine generations!"
The old man laughed bitterly. "Kid, I was already..."
"Call me Your Highness," Xiao interrupted softly. His voice was calm, but the threat was palpable. "Or I will bury your 20,000 elite soldiers alive."
The Grand Preceptor froze. He bowed stiffly. "Your Highness... I won't survive the night, will I?"
"Correct," Xiao replied coldly.
"I know I have lost," the old man said. "But if you want more than just my life—if you want me to order a surrender—I need to offer more chips."
Xiao smiled. "I like talking to smart people. Let's talk."
"I see you holding the Twin Jade. You know how we lost. I offer you the secret of using this Jade... and my own life. In exchange for my younger brother's life."
The boy in white sat up, thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"He is just a scholar," the old man pleaded. "Let him go back to teach the children to read."
"I can learn the Jade's secret elsewhere," Xiao refused. "And your life is already mine." He pointed a finger at the old man. "Old man, you are not sincere."
The Grand Preceptor lowered his head. He felt the depth of this boy's mind. The rumors of a "useless silk-pants" were a perfect disguise.
He sat cross-legged on the rug. "What does Your Highness want?"
Xiao held up three fingers.
"The Wu Tiger Tally. 20,000 Warhorses. And a Truth."
Rage flared in the old man's heart. "The Tiger Tally? You want the Wu Tribe to surrender to the Court? This isn't the Zhou Dynasty anymore. The Northern Nations take no orders!"
Xiao lay back down on the bed. "Not surrender to the Court. Surrender to ME. To the Heir of Dongqi."
"In the year 766, the Northern Nations invaded the Central Plains and slaughtered the people. You were there, weren't you? Don't play the 'loyal subject' card with me. Six years ago, the last Zhou Emperor named you Grand Preceptor. A few years later, you rebelled. What kind of 'good trash' are you?"
"The war thirty-five years ago wasn't what you think!" the old man argued. "The Zhou Emperor gave us titles and trade. We went from wearing skins and starving to wearing cotton and eating rice. Why would we rebel?"
"Greed," Xiao replied instantly. "From slaves to commoners to nobles. You got comfortable, so you wanted more."
"NO!" the old man screamed. "It was the Yuwen clan! They increased taxes and forced labor every year! They worked our young men to death! They stole our women! They took girls as young as ten to serve in the Five Capitals! Why does one country need five capitals and five palaces?!"
"Why so angry?" Xiao shrugged. "You don't have to listen to them anymore. Didn't you hear about the War of the Five Capitals when you were a hostage?"
"Of course," the old man muttered. "Year 412. Four princes fought for the throne. They built four new capitals to woo the Emperor. In the end, the youngest Seventh Prince won. To secure power, Prime Minister Qi Ye stripped the princes of their armies and exiled them to the four new capitals."
"See? You know history," Xiao smiled. "But when you invaded, you killed Zhou soldiers and civilians. You didn't touch the Yuwen clan."
"Because the Yuwen clan controlled the army!" the old man retorted. "We didn't hit the wrong target."
"Enough history," Xiao's patience ran out. "Grand Preceptor Wu. Wu Gouyoutie. Right and wrong don't matter anymore."
"I give you two paths. One: Do as I say. I release your brother, and your elite soldiers live. Two: Test my patience. Everyone dies. And I will send an army to flatten the Wu Tribe in the North until you have no place to stand."
The old man knew the rules of the Empire: Defensive only. But in Youzhou, Xiao Hong's word was law. And his son was clearly a lunatic who would do anything.
He fell silent, stirring the milk tea. He wanted one last taste of home.
"I accept," the old man said finally. "But I have a request."
"Speak."
"I studied divination under Celestial Master Zhang in my youth. My life is a candle in the wind. Allow me to use my remaining lifespan to cast one last divination for the future of the Wu Tribe."
"Granted," Xiao nodded. "Now, my items?"
The old man fished a bone-inlaid bronze Tiger Tally from his robe and placed it on the floor. He poured two cups of tea, then knelt at the desk to write two letters. He placed his official seal on top.
He took a sip of tea and sighed. "Still not like home."
Xiao Shaojin read the letters. "20,000 warhorses. Good. I'll send men to collect them." He handed the items to a guard.
"This Tally only controls the 50,000 men I brought," the old man warned. "The troops in the north valley belong to the Fourth Prince; I cannot command them. After the battle, my forces are down to 20,000. Please treat them well. They are true warriors."
"I will teach them Chinese and how to read," Xiao said, putting the tea aside. "They will be my hidden hand. Oh, by the way... I misremembered. It's not 20,000."
Xiao grinned wickedly. "It's 40,000. Yesterday, you only lost about 15,000 men to death and desertion."
The old man jumped up. "YOU! Bastard Xiao! You tricked me!"
"I am the Heir of Dongqi. Even when I curse, I curse correctly," Xiao laughed. "Letting you know: If you hadn't surrendered the Tally, I wasn't sure I could beat the remaining 40,000."
The light died in the old man's eyes. "It wouldn't matter. Without weapons or horses, how could they fight?"
Xiao winked playfully. "Who said they have no weapons? They are currently facing off against my army outside Yangtai Pass. But my guards just arrived with your brother's corpse and your letters. They will think you surrendered to save them."
"Why did you say you captured 20,000?" the old man asked, stunned.
"I lied," Xiao giggled. "Master Sun said: All warfare is based on deception."
The old man stared at him in horror. "You... you comprehended the Ghost Valley Arts? That is a forbidden text! Aren't you afraid the Imperial Family will kill you?"
"My dad made me learn it," Xiao shrugged. "Thanks to you, I completed my enlightenment yesterday. I am now the 37th Successor of Ghost Valley. And I told you... Call me Your Highness. You Barbarians really don't understand human speech."
An incense stick of time later, a guard brought a report.
Xiao Shaojin read it and beamed. He turned to the slumped old man.
"I now have 40,000 new elite troops. Thank you, Grand Preceptor!"