Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3669 Empty Smoke Misleads the Long Robe, Suspicion Burns the Heart and Binds

"General Fei... truly has great courage!"

Cheng Yu muttered to himself, his eyes filled with solemnity and calculation, but also with fear and disbelief.

The General is here, the General is not here...

Cheng Yu wished he could find a flower to tear off.

But no matter what, he had to defend Wen County for Cao Cao and delay Fei Qian's advance, no matter the cost.

This time, he received 'conclusive' news!

Fei Qian personally went to the front lines in Hanoi!

This means that its control over the Ha Loc region is now secure, and the next step will inevitably be to remove the thorn in Wen County and consolidate control over the entire Hanoi County...

Wen County was naturally the first to be affected.

Ever since the cavalrymen began their siege and renovations, Cheng Yu had spent almost every day and night on the city walls. Initially, he was mostly worried and anxious, but people are very adaptable. As the noise from the "renovation" outside the city became a habit, Cheng Yu's brow furrowed more and more...

He followed Cao Cao through countless battles. Although he didn't serve as a commander-in-chief many times, his military life was quite rich, especially in terms of the details of logistical support, which were ingrained in his very being.

Cheng Yu stared at the seemingly bustling camp below the city, but he sensed that the cavalry's siege camp exuded an indescribable...

Intentionally.

Cheng Yu became excited, as if he had discovered Watson.

Cheng Yu scanned every corner of the camp.

His gaze finally settled on the back of the camp, where wisps of smoke were rising from the chimneys...

That was the kitchen area where people cooked their meals.

Yes, there is cigarettes. Quite a lot.

Wisps of bluish-gray smoke rose into the air, quite conspicuous against the clear sky, indicating that the camp was 'bustling with people'.

"Strange..." he muttered to himself, his voice hoarse yet carrying an undeniable insight, "The number of tents doesn't seem to match the abundance of flags and cooking smoke..."

Those rising plumes of smoke, though numerous, but...

It's too 'neat' and 'regular'!

In a normal military camp meal, the smoke will vary in intensity and speed due to differences in the fire, fuel, and food used in each stove.

But this smoke in front of me...

It seems that the color, the start and end times of the ascent, are all the same!

This is very strange!

As Cheng Yu continued to observe, he quickly noticed the second abnormal situation.

At dawn on another day, Cheng Yu lay prone on the battlements, staring intently at the area around the smoking hearths...

What about people? !
Mealtime should be the busiest and most crowded time in the rear camp's supply area. Judging from the size of the rising smoke column, there should be at least several thousand people gathered near the kitchen area queuing, waiting, and eating.

But as Cheng Yu looked around, there were definitely not thousands of people around those smoking stoves!

It's less than a thousand people!
sparse!

There was no sign of a large number of soldiers gathering for a meal!
The smoke was real smoke, and the fire was real fire, but there were few people around the stove. There was only "thick smoke for all to see," but no "human presence to respond"!
"This is a makeshift stove! The camp is empty!"

This thought flashed through Cheng Yu's mind in an instant!

Looking around the rest of the camp, Cheng Yu noticed that while the banners were indeed flying high and fluttering in the wind, their movement and position changes seemed too regular and rigid, lacking the dynamism and commotion that should accompany large-scale troop movements.

then……

What made Cheng Yu most uneasy was that he saw Hanoi youths inside the camp!
He saw several familiar faces in the teams patrolling or assisting with labor in the camp!
Those were young men from several prominent families in Hanoi who had been listed as "destabilizing factors" by him and whose information was on file!

They were excited and quick-witted as they helped the cavalry count their supplies. Some even rolled up their sleeves and jumped into the trenches to dig the soil themselves!

Although those men were also dressed in the standard uniforms and armor of the Flying Cavalry, their movements were clearly clumsy, and they appeared awkward and laborious when digging trenches, forming a stark contrast with the well-trained and nimble veteran Flying Cavalry soldiers around them.

Liu Heng!

The Liu family of Wen County!

The slightly reserved eyebrows and eyes in the portrait instantly overlapped with the clumsy young face of a construction worker digging a trench outside the city!
An indescribable shock, anger, and chill instantly gripped Cheng Yu!
"Hanoi youths...have openly joined the army?!"

A few days ago, news came from within the Hanoi gentry that the General of the Cavalry had come in person, as witnessed by Liu Heng and others. Fei Qian's true presence in Hanoi was no substitute, and his demeanor and knowledge were certainly not those of a substitute!
This news surprised and dismayed Cheng Yu, and even shook his judgment on the situation on the northern front. He urgently reported to Cao Cao that the main force of the Flying Cavalry might move to Hanoi, and might attack Wen County next, or detour to attack Ji Province!
But this camp before us...

Cheng Yu once again turned his gaze to the seemingly "bluffing" cooking fires and the other relatively "quiet" areas. A terrifying thought quickly formed in his mind: 'The cooking fires are filled with smoke but few people are eating; the flags fly high but few elite soldiers are present; and there are even newly surrendered soldiers from Hanoi mixed in to bolster the appearance… This is absolutely not the demeanor of a main, elite force! This is clearly a feint! A bluff!'

If General Fei Qian truly led his main force here, why would he need to make a show of force?
If the main force is indeed here, then what is the purpose of this bluff?
Cheng Yu had already experienced this confusing situation, where truth and falsehood were hard to discern, once before, and now it was happening to him for the second time!
but……

Cheng Yu suddenly found a "breakthrough" to confirm the truth: the sons of the Hanoi gentry were indeed present in the camp of the Flying Cavalry!

They wore the armor of cavalrymen, assisted with ranks, coordinated orders, and even did the manual labor; this was...

To entertain the troops?

Stance?
still is……

A deliberate display?!
Who is it shown to?
Naturally, it was meant to be shown to Cheng Yu, who was on the city wall!
A terrible, ironic conclusion took shape in Cheng Yu's mind...

Fei Qian himself did come to Hanoi, personally reassuring these Hanoi gentry youths, and perhaps even making some promises!
Otherwise, these Hanoi youths would not have appeared in the camp again!

The appearance of the Hanoi gentry in the camp was a way of announcing to Wen County, Cheng Yu, and Cao Cao's army that Hanoi now "belonged" to the General of Chariots and Cavalry!

The main force of the Flying Cavalry is in Hanoi! Wen County is completely surrounded!

Cheng Yu grinned and suddenly laughed...

If the city was truly besieged, why would they have spent several days repairing the siege camp, yet it still wasn't finished?

If it were truly the main force of the Flying Cavalry, and if Cheng Yu were the commander-in-chief, he would certainly not allow these Hanoi youths to appear in Wen County's sight!

This isn't a siege at its weakest point, where a single straw could break the camel's back. This is just the beginning of the siege; they haven't even launched any probing attacks yet. What's the point of sending these Hanoi soldiers?

Therefore, this seemingly empty camp proves precisely that the main force of the Flying Cavalry is not in Hanoi!
Fei Qian himself had already left, and the Hanoi youths in these camps were cooperating with the Flying Cavalry in a performance!

The message they conveyed about the "real cavalry" was true, but at the same time they were also making a lie!
"What a fine cavalryman! What a treacherous scoundrel!"

Suspicion, like a poisonous vine, instantly coiled around Cheng Yu's heart. His deep-seated distrust of the Hanoi gentry was amplified by the 'unclear truth' before him. The Hanoi youths active in the camp no longer appeared to him as simple acts of loyalty, but rather as part of a massive deception!
Cheng Yu clenched his teeth, his knuckles turning white, his chest churning with anger, and he felt a sense of shame and indignation at being fooled and humiliated in public!
Cheng Yu, a dignified strategist in Cao Cao's army, was actually led by the nose by the other party, going around in circles in a vortex of true and false intelligence!
"Pass on the order!" Cheng Yu's voice was icy cold, filled with barely suppressed rage. "Send another urgent message to the Prime Minister!"

"The previous report that the General of the Cavalry had appeared in Hanoi was likely a ruse to mislead the enemy! I personally witnessed the General of the Cavalry's camp outside Wen County; the stoves were empty, the smoke barely rising, and the troops were sparsely manned—clearly a feint! Furthermore, I saw members of the Liu family and other aristocratic families from Hanoi, dressed in the General of the Cavalry's uniforms, mingling in the camp, behaving suspiciously! This must be the Hanoi gentry colluding with the General of the Cavalry to create a false impression and mislead our army into misjudging the movement of their main force! Their main force and the General of the Cavalry are most likely still in the direction of Gongxian in Henan and Luoyang, or perhaps they have other plans! The threat from Hanoi has temporarily subsided, but the hearts of the Hanoi gentry cannot be relied upon. I urge the Prime Minister to thoroughly investigate the overall situation and make a decision as soon as possible!"

Cheng Yu signed and sealed the document, then dispatched soldiers again to sneak out of the city and urgently send messages back to the rear.

"That brat Liu Heng... and all the families of Hanoi..." Cheng Yu was filled with resentment, feeling as if he had been cuckolded. "You all think that by climbing the social ladder to become General Liu, you can rest easy? How dare you play tricks on this old man! Once this matter is over, I will teach you a lesson for what happens when you betray your master for personal gain, and waver between two sides!"

Cheng Yu turned and sternly ordered his deputy, "Order the entire army to strengthen their defenses! The troops outside the city are merely feints and nothing to fear! But we must be vigilant against their cunning sneak attacks! Also, send out elite spies to keep a close watch on any trace of communication between the city and the various factions in Hanoi! Anyone found making any unusual moves... will be killed without mercy!"

A heavy sense of suspicion and murderous intent hung over Wen County like dark clouds.

The already fragile relationship between Cheng Yu and the Hanoi gentry was completely torn apart by the true and false "traces of the cavalry" and the "appearance of the camp's young men," turning them into bitter enemies.

……

……

The suspicious circumstances surrounding Wen County and Cheng Yu's urgent yet contradictory military reports, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirred up a tidal wave in the aristocratic circles of southern Jizhou, especially around Anyang, which borders Henan.

Anyang is close to Hanoi.

So almost at the same time that Cheng Yu's urgent message, carrying alarms that "the Wenxian Cavalry is a feint" and "the sons of the Hanoi gentry have rebelled," was flying towards Ye City and south of the Yellow River, another completely opposite but equally certain message was also quickly spreading through the private channels of the Hanoi gentry to the ears of those families in southern Ji Province who had intricate connections with Hanoi.

"Gentlemen! Don't be fooled by that old scoundrel Cheng!"

In a private courtyard room in Anyang City, several young men from the Hanoi gentry were giving a passionate speech to representatives of several influential gentry families in southern Jizhou.

The speaker was Liu Yuan, Liu Heng's confidant. His face still bore the excitement of witnessing the "real General Fei Qian" and his resentment towards Cheng Yu. "We saw it with our own eyes! General Fei Qian personally came to Hanoi! His demeanor, his knowledge and breadth of vision, his erudition and insightful analysis—no substitute could ever imitate him! That old scoundrel Cheng spread the 'substitute rumor,' a scorched-earth strategy. Knowing his sins were grave, he feared the hearts of the people of Hanoi and Jizhou would turn to General Fei Qian, so he resorted to this despicable scheme to sow discord, attempting to obstruct the heavenly army and prolong his own existence!"

It's a natural thing!

There's a cause and an effect, and considering the impressions Cao Cao's army has left in Ji Province and Hanoi, it couldn't be more reasonable.

Another man from Hanoi standing beside Liu Yuan eagerly added, "Exactly! The General of the Cavalry personally promised to value only the 'three realities' of 'sincere heart, real talent, and practical work'! He will not hold past transgressions against him and will only promote those with talent! His ambition for reform and his pursuit of truth truly make him a wise ruler for the revival of our China! That old scoundrel Cheng acted perversely in Wen County, cruelly oppressing the people, and now he slanders the Emperor's authority—his heart deserves to be punished! How can the virtuous gentlemen of Ji Province be misled by him again and become his accomplices?"

"Let bygones be bygones"?
This is what the gentry of Ji Province love to hear most...

The testimonies of the Hanoi youths were filled with firsthand details and an undeniable surge of emotion, especially their descriptions of Fei Qian's "Three Realities" concept and his novel thinking of "the law does not tolerate sentiment, but sentiment does not negate the law" when analyzing the story of Duke Zhuang of Zheng. These descriptions were incredibly impactful and persuasive. This stirred the hearts of many of the Jizhou gentry youths present, their eyes gleaming with a strange light.

A good leader is one who forgives past mistakes and provides suitable positions for others.
This naturally stirred the emotions of the gentry from Ji Province…

However, after leaving the private gathering, the young men of Jizhou returned home and told their clan elders about it, only to find that most of the elders didn't take it seriously...

"Young man, this water is too deep; you can't handle it!"

After all, Cheng Yu's warning should not be ignored.

The Han Dynasty tradition is such that even the Qin Dynasty plus Xiang Yu were no match for rogues... well, Liu Bang was a match for them!
I'm not afraid of thugs, I'm afraid of Liu Bang and Zhang Liang combined!
This isn't the first or second time that Cao Cao's army has acted like thugs, and to make matters worse, these thugs are also educated...

Cheng Yu asserted with certainty that the troops outside Wen County were a feint, the camps and cooking fires were fake, the flags were deceptive, and there were even "traitors" from Hanoi mixed in among them...

So what if what those young men from Hanoi, the "traitors" Cheng Yu referred to as Hanoi, said was false?
In Anyang, the aristocratic circles of Jizhou split into two distinct factions almost within a short period of time.

One faction consisted mainly of young, ambitious men eager for change, or those who were frustrated under Cao's rule. They were more inclined to believe what the men of Hanoi had seen with their own eyes.

Anyway, all they had left were their robes. Now those old men and big guys, along with a pack of dogs, were warning them not to think they were anything special just because they were wearing robes. They were told to take them off when it was time to take them off! Bend over and stick your butts out to cooperate!
So once they realized that they had an opportunity like the General of the Cavalry to live a carefree life...

"Gentlemen! The Hanoi Liu family and others are no fools! Since they dared to verify it themselves and are so certain, how could it be false?"

While Cui Yue was secretly discussing matters with several like-minded individuals in his private room at home, his voice, though low, was full of power: "That old traitor Cheng has a notorious reputation; his methods are ruthless, and he treats us gentry like dirt! How can we believe his words?! Who knows if he's just deliberately spreading alarmist rumors to cover up his impending defeat at Wen County and drag us down with him? The arrival of the General of the Cavalry is a godsend! If we can help the imperial army capture the gateway to southern Hebei, the merit of surrendering the city will be enough to give us an advantage in the new dynasty under the General of the Cavalry and avenge the humiliation we suffered under Cao Cao!"

The Cui family can be considered the vanguard of the defection to Fei. As soon as they sensed the slightest hint of trouble, they would rush in secretly to incite and instigate.

To be honest, instigating and agitating requires skill. Without the Hanoi scions and the groundwork laid by the Wenzhou incident, even if Cui Yue had come to Anyang, he would most likely have been arrested immediately, instead of being treated as a distinguished guest and becoming a figurehead as he is now.

Gao Rou, who had also come with Cui Yue, nodded vigorously in agreement, echoing Cui Yue's words, "Excellent! Gentlemen! As the saying goes, opportunity knocks but once! I have secretly contacted several uncles in the city who are on good terms with my Gao family, gathered soldiers, secured the city, and are ready to welcome the royal army with food and drink!"

Looking at the group of people who had come to the gathering, Cui Yue thought, "A golden opportunity is right before us! The wise should seize it!"

The group looked at Cui Yue, then at Gao Rou; some were eager to try, while others were apprehensive.

Gao Rou smiled. "Gentlemen, don't forget... back in the day, Ye City had formidable defenses, yet General Wei Wenchang of the Flying Cavalry could come and go as he pleased. What could those remnants of Cao Cao's army do?! Now, the Flying Cavalry has already given orders. This advance action is called 'wisdom.' If we had waited until the enemy was at the city gates, it would have been a step down! At that time, your elders might be fine, since they are old and can get by as long as they can. But what about you? You are still young! How much time and how much merit will it take to make up for this step down?!"

Cui Yue nodded in agreement, saying, "That's absolutely right! And while you're trying to catch up, are those who are a level above you just going to stand still? They'll probably fall further and further behind, and the more you try to catch up, the less likely you are to succeed!"

The group looked at each other and agreed that what Cui Gaoyue said made sense. They had come to attend Cui Gaoyue's secret meeting in order to achieve a "leapfrog development" in their lives. If they waited, how would they be able to widen the gap with those steady and composed big shots?

If they can't keep their long gowns this time, what's the point of all their hard work over the past ten years?
Does this mean we should really follow the advice of the big guy in the clan, take off our long robes, go to farm, and stick our butts out with our anuses facing the sky?
There was no opportunity before, so even though I was unwilling, I had no choice but to endure it and grit my teeth.

Now, the opportunity is before us...

Since we've already gritted our teeth, we might as well grit them one more time!
Thus, under Cui Yue's encouragement, these people began to secretly connect, take stock of all the manpower and resources they could use, draw up maps of the city's key defenses, and even prepare wine and meat to reward the army and banners and slogans to welcome the cavalry, just waiting to launch an uprising and welcome the arrival of the "royal army".

However, these people clearly didn't have much experience as "underground workers," and their actions were quickly noticed by others, who reported it to the big boss within the clan...

(End of this chapter)