"This was just something I dreamed up as a joke."
Late at night, in the pitch-black wilderness a good hundred paces from the campfire, Zhang Xing leaned comfortably against a tree as he answered.
"First, every night at midnight, I'd imitate a fox crying by the roadside, then shout, 'Great Bai shall rise, Yousi shall reign!'
"Then, when we reach a market up ahead in Qiao Commandery, I'd buy a big fish, stuff this 'If Heaven's Prop does not emerge, what shall become of the people?' inside its belly, then pretend I'd caught it in the river and have everyone clean it and roast it to eat.
"Then, when the bandits ahead come to seize the grain, I'd take the opportunity to go easy on them and let them carry some off. After that, I'd find the accounting officials and the escorting runners and say, 'The court has ordered us from the Jing'an Directorate to kill you all for missing the deadline and losing the grain, but we can't bear to do it,' and let them flee on their own.
"At that point, I'd bribe someone to stop them and say, 'If you run now, any local authorities along the way can kill you. Why not stick together and ask Inspector Bai, who took it upon himself to spare you, to stand up for you?'
"When they come looking, I'd say, 'Now, missing the deadline means death, fleeing means death, and launching a great undertaking means death too. Inspector Bai was born with the destiny of a phoenix. Why not acclaim him as king and stake everything on a great undertaking? Besides, I've heard that kings, nobles, generals, and ministers aren't born a breed apart...'"
"You can skip that part." Bai Yousi, standing in the tree opposite him, abruptly interrupted