Now, when the treacherous prince heard his spies’ report, he roared like thunder in his fury. “We are uncle to the Emperor himself1! And who is this Yan Chasan, that he dares to talk of seizing Us to avenge the common people? That is talking far too big — it is truly infuriating! Because he is Black Bao’s protégé2, he dares to look down on Us. If We let him sit here comfortably in office, how are We ever to bring off Our great enterprise? We must find some scheme to do away with him: for one thing, to vent this spite; for another, to clear the way for the rising.” Then another thought came to him: “As the saying goes, ‘To catch adulterers you need the pair; to catch a thief you need the loot3.’ Our power must have grown so great that the court has caught some wind of it. We need only keep the covenant safely put away, guard it closely and let it fall into no one else’s hands. With no evidence against Us, how can they lay anything at Our door?” Having thought it through, he ordered the many bravos and ruffians of the Jixian Hall to take turns guarding the Chongxiao Tower every night. All the hidden triggers and trip cords were set and made ready, and on top of that he posted archers and spearmen. At the first sign of trouble, a gong would sound the alarm. All were to pull together and do their utmost, and not slacken in the least. But for all the prince’s precautions, who would have thought that someone had already been there in secret to spy the place out? And who was it, you ask? None other than Bai Yutang, who always had to come out on top and would never bow to anyone.

Ever since Inspector Yan had received his seal and taken up his post, he and Mr. Gongsun had been busy with official business, without a moment to spare — and more than half the cases concerned the Prince of Xiangyang. Bai Yutang, meanwhile, had been making quiet inquiries of his own, and had already heard about the Eight Trigrams Copper Net Array4. Late at night, when all was still, he changed his clothes, slipped out of the yamen and made straight for Xiangyang Prefecture. First he looked the place over in general; then he went over the wall, alert at every step. He listened at the Jixian Hall for a long while, but the night was silent, not a sound. Crossing several walls over the rooftops, he soon saw a tall tower over there, soaring straight up into the Milky Way. “No wonder they named it the Chongxiao Tower, the Tower that Soars to the Clouds5,” he thought. “It really does stand tall. I’ll go down and take a look.” He reached back, took out a small pebble and lightly tossed it to ask the way. Listening closely, he heard it land on solid ground, so he quickly sprang down and crept forward on tiptoe, leaving no trace, gliding along. When he came close and straightened up, he found himself feeling along an enclosure walled with wooden boards, a stockade with a stone footing below and battlements above, and the battlements all set with sharp blades. In the middle were three doors, shut tight. He pressed on one with his hand, but it was bolted so fast from inside that it did not budge a hair. He could only go round to the next face — again three doors, double-leaved and shut tight. He went round four faces one after another, and every one was the same. “I’ve done four faces,” he thought, “and the other four are most likely no different. Eight faces, three doors to each — I suppose that is how they work the eight trigrams out of these doors. Every door is shut fast. I’ve come on the wrong night. I’d better go back for now and come again another day to see how things stand.” With this thought he was just about to turn away when he heard a gong over there, and then the rap of a wooden clapper, and knew the night watch was coming. He looked carefully and saw a little watchmen’s hut over there. He quickly slipped round behind it and pricked up his ears.

Before long the gong and clapper sounded together, came up to the hut and stopped. One man said, “Hey, Old Wang, it’s your turn to make the rounds. Let us have a rest too.” Another answered, “Come on in and rest, all of you. There’s nothing doing tonight. Don’t you remember, last time we were on duty we had a night just like this? All the doors are shut everywhere, so what’s there to be afraid of? It’s the same again tonight. It’s as good as a night off for us — no harm in a bit of slacking.” Another man said, “That may be so, but the orders from up top are strict. If the gong and clapper go quiet for too long, the head man will come asking questions again. Why ask for trouble? Sorry, Wang the Third, Li the Eighth, but you two will have to put yourselves out. We’ll take over from you when you get back.” With that, Wang and Li went off on their rounds. Under cover of the noise of the gong and clapper, Bai Yutang slipped away from the hut, darted across roofs and over walls and got back to the yamen. It was already the fifth watch6. He went quietly into his room and lay down to rest.