Among the crowd, Zi Qi sighed inwardly. Sure enough, King Zhou had planned everything long ago.
He had used the goading tactic so smoothly, and Zi Qi had fallen straight into his trap.
With such a challenge thrown down, the military officers would surely fight to the death. Throughout Xia and Shang history, no king had ever fled without fighting. Even Xia Jie had only fled after fighting fiercely and losing.
Yet Zi Qi remained resolute.
Defying Heaven would ultimately end in failure.
Chong Heihu and the rebel army outside the city were merely a smokescreen.
The troops he, Lei Kai, and the others controlled inside Chaoge City were the true killing blow.
As long as King Zhou mistakenly believed the rebels were only outside the city and scattered his troops among Chaoge's four gates, the palace defenses would inevitably be left hollow.
Then they could capture the palace in one stroke.
To catch the bandits, first catch their king.
By the time the lords arrived in Chaoge, he would already have eliminated King Zhou.
Then, with the Late King's Edict in hand, he could rightfully ascend the throne. Surely quite a few lords who resented the doctrine of Heaven's mandate would support him.
Zi Qi sighed inwardly. His younger brother had his schemes, but he was truly too idealistic, too naive.
How could he not know that the Mandate of Heaven stood opposed to royal authority? But raising royal authority above the Mandate of Heaven was certainly not the work of a single day.
A king with aggressive methods might manage it, but King Zhou...
Things had already reached this point. Despite knowing the clues, he had not gone to their residences to arrest anyone, merely using the Beacon Fire to force the traitors out.
Even if someone harbored thoughts of rebellion, so long as they had not acted on them, he left them room to turn back.
King Zhou was too naive, too merciful! These were rebels!
Did he think this would make the traitors overflow with gratitude and never harbor rebellious thoughts again?
Zi Qi secretly shook his head.
Too kindhearted and an idealist to boot-such a king could accomplish nothing. He would only end up like Wu Yi.
At the head of the gathering, Zi Shou stared at the indignant military officers, somewhat bewildered.
Don't fight to the death!
Why were people rebelling? Wasn't it to overthrow me?
And didn't wanting to overthrow me mean they were dissatisfied with me and thought I was a foolish ruler?
If we all ran away together, the soldiers wouldn't have to die on the battlefield, the rebels would succeed, and I could relocate the capital, keeping myself safe while earning foolishness value. Wasn't that killing three birds with one arrow?
But...
Looking at the outraged officers, Zi Shou felt he could not stop them at all.
Still, he had another way.
What if we lost?
Wouldn't losing give us a perfectly legitimate reason to run away together?
You can fight to the death, but that doesn't stop us from running!
Zi Shou looked toward Lu Xiong.
This man was the key. A renowned general with seniority, he was the only commander in Chaoge capable of leading a large army, a sea-calming divine needle holding everything steady.
He only needed to find a way to hold Lu Xiong up and delay the deployment. If the rebels had already fought their way into Chaoge by the time the troops marched, they would surely have no choice but to flee together.
I've got it.
"I know full well of General Lu's loyalty and valor. Come with me into the palace. We have important matters to discuss."
With that, he returned to the palace first.
Zi Qi's heart sank sharply. King Zhou really had made arrangements long ago!
He even knew that someone at court was serving as the rebels' eyes and ears, and had deliberately summoned Lu Xiong into the palace to give him instructions in person.
This would be difficult.
But he had to press on.
Zi Shou first tidied up his bedchamber. Noble Consort Huang, who had been playing a board game with him there, was gone, presumably back at the Western Palace. Just as well. If that perpetually restless girl had been there, he would have had to ask Lu Xiong to step aside and find somewhere else.
When Lu Xiong arrived, Zi Shou welcomed him into his bedchamber. They were the only two people in the vast chamber.
Zi Shou took out an object and said, "Minister Lu, do you know what this is?"
"This... forgive my ignorance, Your Majesty. I do not."
"This is Go."
Zi Shou explained the rules of Go to Lu Xiong. To drag things out and delay the opportunity for battle, he explained every rule in great detail.
Lu Xiong was deeply anxious, but as he listened, his mind gradually settled.
When he heard that victory in Go depended on claiming territory and capturing stones, the tangled brush blocking his understanding suddenly cleared.
Wasn't this just marching troops and fighting battles? The black and white stones were two armies. Whichever side had more surviving soldiers and occupied more territory was the victor.
His Majesty must intend to use Go to teach me how to deploy our forces in Chaoge.
Seeing Lu Xiong's expression, Zi Shou knew he was reading too much into it.
But that was normal. Go readily lent itself to comparisons with warfare. There was a reason the ancients enjoyed playing it. To some extent, it really could cultivate an understanding of the bigger picture.
All the better if he overthinks it. If I let Lu Xiong believe I'm using Go to teach him how to deploy his forces, he won't resist. That'll let me stall even longer!
Zi Shou invited Lu Xiong to play a game, and Lu Xiong, laboring under his misunderstanding, gladly accepted.
As they played, Lu Xiong increasingly felt that Go demanded great care. Either side's momentary gains and losses were crucial. Like a battlefield, the situation changed in an instant. Was a lost stone a careless blunder that cost soldiers and generals, or a lure drawing the enemy deep, cutting off their liberties and blocking their supplies...
Every stone placed had a strategy behind it.
Only...
Lu Xiong looked up at Zi Shou, who was earnestly playing.
Why did His Majesty's moves have no strategy at all, as though he were a beginner?
I haven't seen any deployment instructions in them either!
Impossible! His Majesty invented this game. How could he not know how to play?
Noticing Lu Xiong looking at him, Zi Shou grew even calmer.
My Go skills aren't even as good as those of a roadside board-game vendor. At least those vendors can bluff a few people!
But that was precisely the effect he wanted. What strategy could anyone possibly discern from a hopeless player's moves?
And I really am playing seriously. I just can't win! There's absolutely no chance of anything unexpected happening!
Lu Xiong won the first game; he won the second as well; and the third still went to him.
Every game ended in a crushing defeat for Zi Shou.
Afraid he might lose face, Lu Xiong said, "Your Majesty... your skills are superb, letting me win like this..."
"No, no. Victory and defeat are commonplace in war. Go is merely a minor pursuit. Let us speak no more of it today. Once you return victorious, General, we shall play a few more games."
Zi Shou saw Lu Xiong out of the palace. Now he would surely earn the stain of being a foolish ruler who delayed a military opportunity.
Lu Xiong walked toward the barracks in a fog, looking rather grim.
He had gleaned no commands whatsoever from their games. Had they simply wasted three games' worth of time and delayed their chance to act?
But...
Would King Zhou do that?
As he walked, the more Lu Xiong thought about it, the more something felt wrong.
When he happened to recall the words "Victory and defeat are commonplace in war," understanding suddenly dawned.
"Victory and defeat! The king's command lay not in the process, but in the outcome!"
"The board is like a battlefield. If I had suffered repeated defeats, my fighting spirit would surely have drained away. His Majesty let me win three games in succession to bolster my courage and confidence, so I could carry the momentum of those victories into leading the army to triumph!"
"In warfare, momentum comes first. Wherever the army's spearhead points, nothing can stand in its way. That is exactly the spirit we need! A general could ask for nothing more. His Majesty is wise indeed!"
Lu Xiong's aura surged stronger at once, his confidence soaring. This was His Majesty's true intention!
Soon, he reached the barracks.
But he discovered that the troops had already been assembled, and someone was assigning commands to the officers.
This isn't right!
At court, I seem to be the only one qualified to command such a large force!
Who is in the camp?
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