Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3661 Wen Cheng's fishing rod, baited, hides a hook in the ashes, ultimately leading to his own demise.

Before the Li Laosi incident, Cheng Yu believed that he only needed to remain firmly in his command tent to obtain information through the blood and lives of others, deduce the true nature of the Flying Cavalry, and then drive others to continue using blood and lives to accomplish great plans, great undertakings, and great strategies...

But right now, he has a headache.

Outside of Wen County, were the cavalry's massive army truly enormous and real?

Or is it a carefully orchestrated deception?
Or...

Both exist, making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake?

Cheng Yu's gaze swept across the Hanoi region marked as a scorched wasteland on the map, finally settling on the lone ink dot of Wen County.

He felt as if he were in the center of a huge spider web woven from lies and resentment, where every piece of information coming from all directions could be a carefully designed trap or a desperate revenge from the lower-ranking soldiers.

He picked up a bamboo slip and stared at the ink-written characters on the intelligence document. The characters seemed to dance before his eyes, each one seemingly mocking his paranoia, yet also concealing a fatal truth.

He tried to analyze and discern with reason, but Li Laosi's eyes, full of resentment and mockery, always appeared at inopportune moments, shattering his pride in composure.

Damn!

Although Cheng Yu considered himself to be a fairly intelligent person, he still found the situation very difficult and couldn't think of a good solution for the time being.

Freezing three feet is not a day's cold.

How could you possibly change the name of the rat meat you ate to duck head just because you wanted to label it as a snack?

The night wind still howled, but instead of dust, it carried the lingering scent of ashes from the burned-down homes outside the city.

Cheng Yu was trapped in a city of sorrow, not only by the fog of the General's cavalry, but also by the raging flames of resentment he had ignited from within himself.

The fate of Wen County, and even the entire course of the Hanoi war, hangs by a thread. For the first time, Cheng Yu, the player of the game, feels that he can no longer even see the chessboard clearly.

Li Laosi's dying scream, filled with resentment and mockery—

"Guess which one is true?"

Like a maggot clinging to his bone, it echoed repeatedly in his mind, gnawing at the reason he was so proud of.

The subsequent intelligence that kept coming in was like a series of venomous snakes; he dared not believe it easily, yet dared not completely reject it either.

However, Cheng Yu is, after all, a member of the Cheng generation.

His so-called ancestor, Cheng Bofu, was nothing more than a symbol. Only after Cheng Yu became famous did people say, "Oh, he is a descendant of Cheng Bofu."

The first generation is mostly those who forge ahead and overcome obstacles, which is somewhat different from the second and third generations who enjoy the fruits of their labor.

After a brief period of panic, fear, and confusion, Cheng Yu forced himself to calm down and reread the contradictory intelligence reports one by one.

"Major advance", "Main force outflanking", "Empty barracks", "Epidemic in camps", "Unexplained unusual movements"...

Each one seemed to have a traceable pattern, yet each was riddled with doubts.

His thoughts inevitably drifted back to that most absurd and utterly despised piece of intelligence—

The General of the Cavalry was fishing by the river, accompanied only by three or five personal guards. The camp was deserted, and there seemed to be the sound of opera singing.

"Absurd! Absolutely impossible!"

Cheng Yu subconsciously denied it again in his mind.

Who was Fei Qian, the General of the Cavalry?
With the bearing of a tyrant and the skill of a military genius, how could he possibly place himself in such a dangerous situation during a major battle and make such a frivolous move?
This must be some crazy nonsense made up by that old soldier Li Laosi to vent his anger and take revenge!

However, amidst this complete denial, a thought flashed through Cheng Yu's mind like lightning.

What if what Li Laosi said is "true"?

Or is it that all of this information is both true and false?
This sudden thought unexpectedly overturned all his previous understanding.

"No, no... This is impossible, still impossible..." Cheng Yu stared at the intelligence report on "The Cavalry Fishing," muttering to himself, "Absolutely impossible..."

But under what circumstances would this "horse-riding fishing" become possible?

Suddenly, Cheng Yu thought of a possibility.

What if... there's a Stand?

Once this idea takes root, it spreads like wildfire and can never be extinguished.

Cao Cao had a body double, as did many other high-ranking officials in the imperial court.

They may not be the most convincing, but when necessary, these stand-ins can play a particularly important role.

"That's it... a Stand!"

Cheng Yu's pupils suddenly contracted.

He's all too familiar with these political maneuvering tactics!
A double can be used to confuse and mislead the enemy at crucial moments.

General Fei Qian, who controlled Guanzhong and had countless talented and extraordinary people under his command, how could he not have a substitute?

Finding someone with a similar build and appearance, having them wear his armor, and appearing on specific occasions would be a piece of cake for the cavalry!
So……

"Horseman Fishing"...

Cheng Yu's breath hitched, and a tingling, itchy sensation shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!
Fishing by the river... with only three or five guards...

This seemingly absurd behavior makes perfect sense if it's done by a stand-in!

Even……

That's incredibly clever!
The double doesn't need to command a large army or sit in the central command.

He only needs to play one role—

A leisurely, even somewhat absurd, "General of the Cavalry".

What could be more confident or assured of victory than going fishing by the river on the front lines when war clouds are gathering?
It even carried a hint of mockery and ridicule, almost showing contempt for Cao Jun and Cheng Yu!
This in itself is a powerful psychological deterrent!

This shows that the General of the Cavalry doesn't take Cheng Yu and Wen County seriously at all, and that the Cavalry Army is more than capable of handling the situation! This is more effective than the roar of thousands of troops in breaking the will of the gentry in Hanoi, and even the gentry in Ji Province!

At the same time, this is also perfect cover.

The more flamboyant and illogical the stand-in is, the more attention they attract!

Just like now...

Cheng Yu thought of this and couldn't help but tremble.

If he takes this information as false, then he is essentially agreeing with other contradictory information!

He didn't think the General of the Cavalry would go fishing, so what did he think the General of the Cavalry would do?
Is it a secret mobilization, or is it preparing some unexpected siege tactic?
Damn it!
Cheng Yu felt a chill run down his spine, and cold sweat trickled down his back.

Is the camp empty?

It could also be true!
After all, deliberately feigning weakness in an attempt to lure him into attacking is also a strategy!
There's another possibility that increasingly convinced Cheng Yu that the so-called "Horse Cavalry Fishing" was genuine intelligence, and that is...

What if the commander of the Flying Cavalry was not a "Flying Cavalry"?

Because they are stand-ins, they do not directly command the military academy officers at the front lines. Therefore, the military academy officers at the front lines design strategies according to their own ideas, which results in situations where one area might be 'empty camps' while another area might be 'secretly mobilized'!
"This...this...damn it, damn it!"

Cheng Yu felt a wave of dizziness, as if his heart was being gripped tightly by an icy hand.

Cheng Yu clenched his fist and slammed it on the table, making the other objects bounce. It was like the sound of a war drum, bringing some noise and a slight sting to his hand, but it couldn't dispel the inexplicable chill in his heart.

In order to catch the big fish, the General of the Cavalry, he did not hesitate to burn down the river and cut off his own escape route, turning Wen County and himself into bait.

He thought he was in control of the fishing rod, coldly calculating the sacrifices and rewards.

But now, this seemingly absurd intelligence is like a cruel mirror, reflecting that he may be the fish that has been caught in the trap!
That fish in the river where "Horse Racing Fishing" took place!

The real General Fei Qian might be hiding in the shadows, coldly watching Cheng Yu, who was overwhelmed by internal resentment and external confusion in the isolated city of Wen County, and was exhausted!
Or perhaps they simply didn't focus their attention here at all!
Cheng Yu thought he was important, thought Wen County was important, but...

The "leisure" of fishing by the river was the most biting and thorough mockery of all of Cheng Yu's efforts and sacrifices by the General of the Cavalry!
"Li Laosi... what he said... could it be...?"

The old soldier's resentful face reappeared in Cheng Yu's mind.

The intelligence that Li Laosi brought back was not entirely a lie told out of spite.

He might have actually seen it, but he's just making it sound like he's lying?
Or to put it more extremely, did Li Laosi deliberately make Cheng Yu believe that this intelligence was false for 'certain' reasons?
But Cheng Yu, due to his deep-seated prejudice, disregard for intelligence from the lower levels, and anger stirred up by the "rat meat" incident, personally stifled this clue that might have been closest to the truth?!

Thinking of this, a tremendous sense of frustration and anger at being fooled almost overwhelmed Cheng Yu's reason once again. He felt like a flying insect desperately struggling in a spider web, thinking he had seen through the trap, but unaware that every movement he made was tightening the noose of death.

He felt as if he were falling into a bottomless abyss, concerned with the fate of Wen County, his own fate, and even the course of the war in Hanoi. And from the bottom of the abyss, he seemed to hear the faint, detached laughter of General Fei Qian, as if watching a play.

"Guards!" Cheng Yu stood up, gritting his teeth. "Prepare the troops, armor, and horses! I must personally go to the front lines to scout!"

……

……

"Shoot an arrow! Shoot an arrow!"

"Pull up the suspension bridge! Pull it up!"

"Doctor! Doctor, come quick!"

The chaotic shouts echoed at the gate of Wen County.

When the city gates of Wen County closed, keeping the pursuit of the cavalry scouts outside the city, Cheng Yu finally lost his balance on his horse and, exhausted, tumbled off. He was then supported and helped to the side by the only remaining guards.

Cheng Yu's body was covered in mud, sweat, and blood, and his once carefully groomed hair was now a mess.

A deep arrow wound on his left arm, exposing the bone, was bleeding profusely, dripping blood.

"Doctor! Where is the wound care specialist?!"

Cheng Yu's guard shouted, then hurriedly took a water bag and handed it to Cheng Yu.

Cheng Yu exhaled a long breath, and the adrenaline he had just narrowly escaped death began to subside.

The military doctor rushed over and quickly treated the wound on Cheng Yu's arm. Every touch brought Cheng Yu excruciating pain. But this physical pain was nothing compared to the turmoil raging in his heart at that moment.

So close, it really was just a tiny bit...

Taking matters into his own hands was a desperate gamble he had made when he was driven to the brink of desperation.

When all intelligence became venomous snakes tearing at each other, and when Li Laosi's dying curse clung to him like a curse, he could no longer trust anyone or any information from any channel.

Therefore, only he could investigate personally!

The only thing he could trust was his own eyes!
He had to see for himself whether the absurd scene of fishing by the river and the empty camp like a ghost town were malicious fabrications by the lower-ranking soldiers or a shocking deception set up by General Fei Qian.

He carefully selected the most elite and loyal assassins, dressed them in the clothes of ordinary scouts, and even smeared mud on his face in an attempt to conceal his identity. However, Cheng Yu underestimated the keenness of the cavalry scouts, especially the extent to which the enemy's intelligence network knew about important personnel in Cao Cao's army.

He was eight feet tall with a long, beautiful beard.

This was practically a direct announcement of Cheng Yu's name!

So when Cheng Yu was on the outskirts of the Flying Cavalry camp, trying to take advantage of the darkest hour before dawn to spy on the camp's strength, especially to find the river where the Flying Cavalry fished and check for any possible traces, he suddenly realized that his squad was almost surrounded by the Flying Cavalry scouts without him even noticing!

The scouts of the Flying Cavalry arrived faster than expected!

What followed was a hellish chase.

The scout squads of the Flying Cavalry, like wolves that have smelled blood, coordinated perfectly, unleashing a hail of arrows from tricky angles.

The scouts of the Flying Cavalry Army clearly recognized Cheng Yu, or at least recognized him as a priceless target!

Cheng Yu's personal guards used their bodies to block the swords, spears, and arrows of the cavalry scouts, paving an escape route with their lives.

The screams and the dull thuds of swords piercing flesh filled the air as Cheng Yu fled, and one by one, the faces he knew fell and disappeared.

The look in their eyes as they gazed at him before they died was filled with a resolute determination to sacrifice, yet also...

It seems to echo the question posed by Li Laosi on his deathbed...

Is it worth it?
Just for this one seemingly futile attempt at spying?

Cheng Yu exhausted almost every method imaginable—scattering and luring, using the terrain, and with his personal guards risking their lives for cover—to barely escape. The price was that nearly half of his most elite guards were forever left behind in that desolate and dangerous buffer zone he himself had created with his scorched-earth policy.

After sitting back down at his familiar desk, his wounds bandaged and he changed into clean clothes, Cheng Yu felt colder, more confused, and more lost than ever before.

He saw it, but he didn't see it all.

He did indeed see the cavalry camp!

But it is neither as continuous as one might imagine, nor is it completely empty.

That was eerie, a carefully arranged "balanced density".

The camps closer to where he was peering appeared sturdy and heavily guarded, but further away, especially towards the river, the tents were sparse and the flags looked old, giving off a deliberately created sense of 'emptiness'.

"Half true, half false... a blend of reality and illusion... what a valiant general! What a brilliant strategist!"

Cheng Yu roared inwardly, filled with anger and helplessness at being manipulated.

He risked his life and his elite troops, but all he got in return was a blurry fog!

Was the "emptiness" he saw a decoy deliberately shown to him by the cavalry?
Or is it evidence that the main force is indeed not here?
What did it mean when he saw those fortified camps?
Is it a hidden army, or an area under construction for engineering machinery?

He still couldn't make a judgment!
What terrified him even more was the pursuit by the scouts of the Flying Cavalry.

The speed of their reaction, the clarity of their objective, and the exquisite coordination were far beyond what an ordinary scout team could achieve.

It's like a large net that's been prepared in advance, seemingly waiting to "fish" for him!
The absurd intelligence brought back by Li Laosi was like a precise bait, catching not just anyone, but Cheng Yu himself! Because those complicated yet contradictory pieces of information were like bait laid out, just waiting for him to come and examine them in person!
original……

"The cavalryman fishing" is truly about fishing for yourself, the fish that is willing to take the bait!
This realization was like ice water poured over his head, sending chills down Cheng Yu's spine.

He could accept that his martial prowess was inferior to those of the elite cavalry generals, and he could admit that his soldiers were not as elite as the cavalry. But now he discovered that his wisdom and strategies were being thoroughly outmatched by the cavalry...

In order to verify the authenticity of the intelligence and to prove his judgment, he risked his life, only to find that he had just played right into the other party's hands!

This is such a huge irony!
Cheng Yu, known for his wisdom and resourcefulness, is now like a reckless pawn, crashing headlong into the opponent's carefully crafted script!

The key issue is that the mystery surrounding the Flying Cavalry has not only not been resolved, but has instead snowballed and grown larger!

Do stand-ins for fishing by the river really exist?
If it exists, is its purpose merely to confuse and mock? Or is it to cover up a larger operation?

Is the camp real or fake?
If it's fake, where are the major players hiding? If it's real, where did they go? And what is their target?

How could the other party have been able to pinpoint his location so precisely?
Is there a deeper spy within? Or has the other side's intelligence analysis capability become so terrifying that it can predict his actions?
Cheng Yu closed his eyes wearily; his wounds ached, but his heart was in agony.

His prized wisdom appeared so pale and powerless under the combined attack of the treacherous fog of the Generalissimo and the poisonous fire of internal resentment.

He went to see it for himself, but he became even more confused.

The intelligence was still incomplete, and the doubts deepened.

Wenxian, the isolated city he set on fire with his own hands and which he himself trapped, seemed to have become a huge, absurd joke.

He sat there, holding the military tally, yet felt like a fool.

What’s the next step?
Should we continue to hold our ground, or take a risk and do something?
But what needs to be done? And what is the basis for that?
For the first time, Cheng Yu felt powerless.

After losing all the "voluntariness" of the common people and soldiers, he found himself completely deaf and blind.

Those ordinary civilians and soldiers whom he originally considered foolish, dull, and incompetent were the very foundation upon which his wisdom was built.

He thought that by ascending to the platform and possessing it, he could rise above the common people and soldiers, and freely display himself on the platform, shining brightly across the land. But in reality, when the foundation upon which the platform was built began to crumble, all his glory and wisdom also fell into the dust.

Cheng Yu slowly opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the wooden tablet on the table, stained with his own blood and containing fragmented observations.

The handwriting above seemed distorted and pulsating in his eyes, filled with endless mockery.

For the first time, he felt how far he was from the truth, how powerless his wisdom was, and how the shadows of failure and destruction seemed to be silently closing in from all directions, threatening to engulf him...

Biography of Cheng Yu in the Records of the Three Kingdoms (annotated by Pei Songzhi and quoted from the Worldly Anecdotes):

"Initially, when Emperor Taizu (Cao Cao) was short of food, Yu raided his own county, providing him with three days' worth of rations, which were mixed with dried human flesh."

This record indicates that during Cao Cao's campaign against Xuzhou (around 193-194 AD), due to a severe shortage of military rations, Cheng Yu, while collecting provisions in his hometown of Dong'e County (present-day Liaocheng, Shandong), mixed "human flesh" (dried human flesh) into the grain to alleviate the Cao army's food shortage.

Note that this is in his hometown!
Let me emphasize again, it's 'A-County'!
Liaocheng, Shandong!
Pei Songzhi added in his commentary: "As a result, he lost favor with the court, and thus his official position did not reach the level of a duke." This means that Cheng Yu's reputation was damaged by this incident, which prevented him from being promoted to one of the Three Dukes.

Historically, most historical records tend to downplay these events. For example, if a person is accused of killing many children, they might mention that the person later took over the orphanage and cared for the children to mitigate the impact.

Therefore, in the Three Kingdoms period, Ma Hou disliked Cheng Yu intensely. Of course, the *Shiyu*, which records this event, is a Wei-Jin unofficial history; Pei Songzhi quoted it but did not directly refute it. Chen Shou's *Records of the Three Kingdoms* does not mention this event, possibly due to taboo or selective use of historical materials. It's also possible that Cheng Yu simply resorted to extreme measures, but regardless, Ma Hou felt that "those who eat people deserve no good death."

Therefore, killing him with a single blow would be rather swift and satisfying.