Chapter 30: Who Could Be More Ruthless Than I?

Everyone was startled. Only Chai Xiao, having long since recognized the voice of the Junior Tutor, immediately stepped forward to greet him.

"Sir, you have returned!"

The person who arrived was none other than Su Zhongjing. From the moment he stood at the East Drum Tower to strike the first beat and address the entire city, a mere four quarters of an hour had passed, yet he had already made all the necessary arrangements. He had organized the people to build the platforms and set up the stages for Heaven, Earth, and Man, ensuring the drums were beaten and announcements made every quarter-hour to keep the populace informed. The other three bell and drum towers were following suit. What appeared to be an impossible task to others, this Junior Tutor handled with ease, directing and coordinating everything with methodical precision.

When the general is capable, the soldiers are brave. When the commander is wise, the troops are strong. Conversely, an incompetent leader exhausts the entire army. Every time Chai Xiao saw Su Zhongjing, he felt a sense of wonder. They say that when the Creator closes a door, He always opens a window. It was truly so!

Being transmigrated into the body of this Ninth Prince—a fool among fools—was utterly exasperating. That door had been slammed shut tight! Even his massive, obese body had blocked the gap so completely that not a single ray of light could penetrate. Yet, the Junior Tutor, Su Zhongjing, possessed the brilliance of a legendary strategist while retaining a pure and humble heart. To possess such a man is to possess the world! What a wide, luminous window this was—a magnificent floor-to-ceiling window indeed!

Watching Su Zhongjing, who had changed into his ritual robes, Chai Xiao noted his lean face, eyebrows like slanted swords, and deep, profound eyes that shone like cold stars in the night sky. As he walked, he exuded an extraordinary air of refined elegance. His sleeves fluttered, his beard swayed gently, and he moved with the carefree grace of a breeze through the mountains. Every gesture carried an undeniable aura of authority. Perhaps this was what they called the "bearing of a great prime minister."

From the Great Tang and before, there were the likes of Yi Yin, the Duke of Zhou, Guan Zhong, Zhang Liang, Xiao He, Zhuge Liang, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Di Renjie. After the Great Tang, there were Wang Anshi, Ouyang Xiu, Liu Bowen, Zhang Juzheng, and Zhang Tingyu. These names rang like thunder. If this history after his transmigration were to be recorded, he was certain Su Zhongjing would stand among them.

Chai Xiao gave a subtle signal to Heyun. Understanding, she performed a graceful curtsy and turned to leave. Su Zhongjing walked up to the stone table without ceremony, picked up a twig, and pointed directly at the moat of the outer city on the city defense map.

"The Sovereign intends to station the fifty men here, is that not so?"

Chai Xiao was stunned, as if struck by lightning, and stood frozen in place. He hurriedly checked his surroundings. Fortunately, Lan Zhi and the guards, knowing that the Junior Tutor had come for urgent matters with the Sovereign, had retreated to a distance.

Su Zhongjing smiled. "What? Did this 'tapeworm in the Sovereign's belly' guess wrong? Or does the Sovereign have other thoughts?"

Chai Xiao hurriedly waved his hands. "Sir! You are no tapeworm! If anyone is to be a tapeworm, it can only be me! Let me guess why you think men need to be stationed at this place, shall I?"

Su Zhongjing spread his hands and handed the twig to him. "Taking the initiative!"

"Sovereign, please!"

*You are the Sovereign, you have the final say!*

Chai Xiao forcibly suppressed the shock in his heart and slowly steadied his emotions. In truth, ever since returning from the East Drum Tower, he had been thinking. Had the Second Prince, Chai Huo—who had run off so hastily—really just left in such a "dejected" manner?

Put yourself in his shoes! If he were this "Eight-Pearl Prince" whose status was at its zenith, he certainly wouldn't give up so easily. Although he had achieved his goal of luring the "Ninth Prince" into the trap by delivering the imperial decree, a man with a heart smaller than a needle's eye could not be measured by the standards of ordinary people. Not to mention, he hadn't obtained the two beauties, Heyun and Lan Zhi, who had made him drool, but had only received embroidered pillows of the Four Beauties. He surely couldn't swallow that resentment.

A petty person is bound to have extraordinary tricks up their sleeve. And the places where such tricks could be played were limited to three categories: people, things, and events.

Regarding people: The Yellow Gate Attendant, Huang Zhongyong, was only one of the "dark pieces." He had arrived to block the door the moment the Sovereign had cut a lock of hair from the two women, intending to have them serve him. Buying off a Huang Zhongyong was clearly far from enough. Looking at it now, the Imperial Guard Commander, Xiang Shouyue, must also be one. As the city defense map showed, it was very easy to pass messages from the outer city gates to the Prince's mansion through various overt and covert sentries. Of course, once inside the mansion, it was under the jurisdiction of Yao Jin and his four hundred elite guards. This meant that some of these four hundred "inner guards" had also been bought as "dark pieces"—internal traitors. This was the most fatal and dangerous threat. However, precisely because it was fatal, it showed that the Second Prince had invested much effort here. It was best not to act rashly and alert the enemy. Let them slowly reveal themselves, then pull them out by the roots! Or, better yet, use them as counter-spies to pass false information and let "Chai Huo" bring fire upon himself.

Regarding things: What would the Second Prince use to cause trouble? Metal, wood, water, fire, earth. It was hard to guess!

Regarding events: The most important thing currently was the "Sacrifice and Celebration" for being spared from the flood, covering the Heaven, Earth, and Man stages. If the Second Prince hadn't gone far, he likely already knew the news. What would be the most effective way to sabotage this?

After repeating "Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth" and "Heaven, Earth, Man" twenty times in his mind and under his breath, a thought suddenly struck Chai Xiao! A ruthless, extreme thought!

The Junior Tutor had said that the Yellow River had encroached upon the Huai River, turning at Taizhou and heading toward Bozhou, no longer posing a threat to Great Xu. As long as they kept an eye on the recent rainfall, the Ying River flowing through the city would not surge, and Great Xu would be safe from floods. The Second Prince had clearly known the situation but intentionally concealed it, insisting that Great Xu was in danger. He had simply wanted the "foolish" Ninth Prince to "fall into the trap!"

Now that he had fallen into the trap, and the weather had been clear for days with no rain, the Ying River level remained stable. Heaven be praised, there was no disaster, and everything seemed peaceful. But what if it were "man-made" rather than a "natural disaster"?

The moat marked on the city defense map was fed by the Ying River, which flowed through the city. If one were wicked enough to use earth and stone to block the entrance where the Ying River entered the outer city, they could wait until the water pressure built up and then suddenly remove the barrier! The water, fueled by the drop in elevation, would rush into the moat, inevitably creating a "threat of flood."

Although this "threat" would be extremely brief—because the Ying River itself wasn't flooded and was relatively calm, and there were only four quarters of an hour until the noon ritual—it wouldn't hold much volume. After the surge, in two or three quarters of an hour, it would gradually dissipate into the water systems beyond the moat. But even if the "threat" lasted only a moment, it would be enough to cause immense panic.

The noble Sovereign of Great Xu would be there, leading the Junior Tutor, Consort Yun, the civil and military officials, along with the elders and children, in a grand sacrifice to Heaven. Giving thanks to the heavens, the earth, and the people for sparing Great Xu from the flood. Before the thanks were even finished, a surging flood would come crashing down! Wouldn't that be a slap in the face?

At that moment, if one were to add a little more malice—finding one or two people in plain clothes to hide in a corner and, upon seeing this scene, emerge and shout: "Run! The flood is here! Heaven is not blessing Great Xu, it is implementing divine punishment! We thought the new Sovereign was a great lucky star, but he turns out to be a complete disaster!"

With such a cry, the drum tower would surely fall into chaos, the people acting like headless flies. Children would scream, the elderly would weep, and the able-bodied would trample each other to flee. People would push and shove, leading to serious casualties, with some even falling from the drum tower. That would truly be a transformation from joy to sorrow, falling from heaven into hell in an instant!

If this scheme were to succeed, the Second Prince's mouth would surely stretch wide with a grin. He could then ask: "In today's Great Qi, who dares to be more venomous than I?"