Chapter 176 (Part 1) The Empty City Stratagem
“Misha?! Why isn’t he dead yet?” When Su Mei heard Misha’s name, she began to yell. “This bastard is so lucky. Even like that, he didn’t die! Miss, it is said that cats have nine lives. You say, is he a cat demon?”
“Hehe…,” Feng Qi Qi laughed. She carefully folded Feng Cang’s letter and put it in a small wooden box. Inside there were only letters written by Feng Cang. Since the first one, Feng Qi Qi has treasured them. It could be said that this box is now her treasure.
Feng Qi Qi didn’t feel surprised at Misha’s reappearance. She grew up with this man. She knew him very well. He’s someone who wouldn’t give up before succeeding. He’s very ambitious. He must obtain the things he wants.
It was just, Feng Qi Qi didn’t expect Misha to be so lucky. He could survive even being seriously injured. It seemed that he was coming to Min province for her.
“How many people? When would they arrive?”
“About five thousand people. We don’t know if they have reinforcement. They would probably arrive at Min province tomorrow. Wangfei, yesterday our people escorted the grains to Liang City. Now, there are only a hundred men in the city. Now, Misha is coming aggressively, what should we do?”
Although Nalan Xin wanted to remain calm, but he was still very anxious. This time, Misha certainly came for Feng Qi Qi. If something happens to Feng Qi Qi, how would he justify himself in front of Feng Cang?
Min province is just a small city. It had a small population. The citizens of the whole city are less than three hundred families and at most thousand people. Even if they allocated the citizens, it would still be a great gap with Misha. If they fight force with force, they simply wouldn’t do.
“Miss, why don’t we give up Min province?!” Su Mei and Su Yue knew the current situation of the city. Even if they sent people to look for reinforcement, they may not be able to arrive on time. Feng Qi Qi is pregnant and can’t stand being rushed on the road. If by chance that sicko Misha did something to Feng Qi Qi, then, what should they do?
“Don’t get anxious. The more anxious you get, the worse the situation will be.”
Feng Qi Qi let Su Yue bring the map. After looking at it for a long time, Feng Qi Qi’s frowned eyebrows slowly loosened.
“Nalan Xin, let people go ask for help from Liang City. It would take two days to arrive from Liang City. It would be fine if we hold Misha for a day.” Feng Qi Qi whispered some orders in Nalan Xin’s ear. Nalan Xin’s eyes showed surprise. He looked a long while at Feng Qi Qi before he nodded and retreated.
“Miss, what did you let Nalan Xin go do?”
Su Mei saw that Feng Qi Qi said those last words so secretively, she couldn’t help but ask Feng Qi Qi curiously.
“The mysteries of heaven must not be revealed!” Feng Qi Qi did a no gesture with her fingers and stood up. “Let’s go. We should go deploy to welcome this old friend.”
Inside the city of Min province, it was still the same as every day. The citizens weren’t afraid or panicked because of their small city being occupied by Bei Zhou. Because of Bei Zhou’s ‘Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention’, they didn’t disturb the citizens. Therefore, the lives of the citizens didn’t change much from before the war. They still lived the same as before.
“Miss, just now I verified it. There are only 728 people inside the city, of which only 316 are young adults. Plus, with our soldiers, there are only 416 people who could go to battle.” Su Yue told Feng Qi Qi the result of her investigation. When she got this result, Su Yue was a bit panicked. How could four hundred-something people deal with Misha’s five thousand people?
“Miss, why don’t we retreat! We still have time. It would be enough! Inside this city lives Dong Lu’s people. They may not be on one mind with us. If by chance the city collided with the outside, it would be a big problem. Besides, even if we left them behind, Dong Lu’s army wouldn’t hurt their own citizens. Miss, it’s better to get out of here!”
Feng Qi Qi could understand Su Yue’s concern. After all, now is a special case. From the normal point of view, the best would be if she leaves the city.
However, Min Province is the hub connection between Bei Zhou and Dong Lu. When the grains of Bei Zhou arrived here, they would be allocated to the front. If Min province is taken over by Misha, they would need to bypass another place to allocate the grains. That would delay a lot of time. If the front didn’t get food, the military would be unstable and would directly affect the effectiveness of combat of Bei Zhou. So, no matter what, Min province needs to be kept.
“Su Yue, you don’t have to be so worried! I’m a pregnant woman and couldn’t stand being scared. If you continue to scare me like this, it will affect the health of the baby in my belly!” Feng Qi Qi smilingly pinched Su Yue’s cheek. “Trust your miss. I already considered this matter. You don’t have to worry!”
“Right, ah. Su Yue, what kind of person is our miss?! When Misha comes, we will certainly beat Misha until he’s utterly defeated!” Compared to Su Yue’s nervousness, Su Mei was a lot more optimistic. Under the influence of these two people, Su Yue was a lot more relaxed. “Miss, no matter what, I and Su Mei will be at your side!”
“Thank you…” Looking at the two people in front of her, Feng Qi Qi smiled gently. “I will be safe. You will also be safe. Don’t worry!”
The information was indeed correct. At noon the next day, Misha’s five thousand men approached the city of Min province.
In July, the sun shone. The sun burned the ground and accompanied five thousand men, making a yellow dust. After waiting a long time for the five thousand men to settle, did the dust settled down.
Misha sat in an open carriage and looked at the city of Min province in front of him. His lips were in a tight line and his heart was thrilled. Here is Min province. Yi Lian is here!
“Young master, so weird!” Xia Xue’s ‘weird’ pulled Misha’s back from his deep thoughts.
“What’s the matter?”
“Young master, look!”
Going along with Xia Xue’s fingers, Misha saw that the gate of the city of Min province was open. At the entrance, several elders with crooked backs were sweeping the floor. Inside the city, there was no sound. Also, there was no one who came out.
“Young master, why are they so calm? Could it be that Feng Qi Qi didn’t receive the news that we were coming? Even if they didn’t get the news, it was such a big movement when we came. Could it be that Feng Qi Qi didn’t notice anything? Or is there a conspiracy inside this?”
Xia Xue didn’t finish speaking when a string of sounds came over. On the city gate tower, Feng Qi Qi dressed in snow white sat in front of the zither. Her fingers caressed the strings. Standing beside Feng Qi Qi and blocking her from the sun were Su Mei and Su Yue.
“Yi Lian!”
Seeing Feng Qi Qi, Misha’s heartbeat accelerated. His eyes had been fixed on Feng Qi Qi on the city gate tower. Before, when he saw Feng Qi Qi, she was dressed like a man. Although, she had a magnificent style unmatched to her generation, but she couldn’t be more charming and passionate than when dressed like a woman.
He hadn’t seen her just for a few months, but Feng Qi Qi changed greatly. Her whole body exuded the aura of a mature woman, making people couldn’t help but be attracted to her. She didn’t seem to have seen him. She was only immersed in the sound of the zither. The song played Feng Qi Qi played was <<Fade away>>.
This was once his favorite song. Later, he used it as his mobile ringtone. He didn’t expect that she still remembered! She still remembered! Misha immediately got excited.
“Really a beautiful little girl!” At a side, a man riding on a horse commented on Feng Qi Qi’s appearance. “I heard she’s Bei Zhou’s princess Zhen Guo. Don’t know how the taste of a princess in bed will be!”
“When we seize Min province, you can try, ah!”
“Hahaha!” After hearing the man, the whole group of people laughed. Misha frowned. He waved his sleeve. A plum dart went out and stuck into the man’s throat. The people around him weren’t able to detect it. The man shouted once and fell straight down. He died on the spot.
Misha’s action made those men who discussed Feng Qi Qi’s appearance immediately shut up. “Hey, why did you kill him?!” Dong Lu’s great general Tian Zhi Xin saw that Misha killed his subordinate, his face immediately sank.
“If anyone disrespects Feng Qi Qi and said those words of just now, don’t blame me for being impolite!”
They insulted Yi Lian. This was something Misha couldn’t accept. He treated her like a treasure. These men actually said such words to defile her. Really deserving of death.
At this time, the chill coming from Misha’s body made Tian Zhi Xin shudder slightly.
Although, they didn’t know Misha for a long time, but Tian Zhi Xin knew the personality of this person which was as good as his words.
Misha is someone from Penglai Island. When he left the capital, Jun Lan Xin told Tian Zhi Xin to obey every command of Misha. Therefore, even if he was commanded by a paralyzed Adonis which made them very unwilling, but they couldn’t not listen to the empress dowager. So, they had tolerated him until now.
According to Tian Zhi Xin’s thoughts, he wanted to cut Misha very much and kick his head as a ball.
However, this person is Penglai Island’s disciple. Just looking at his act of just now, he knew that Misha’s martial arts were good. Even if they wanted to get rid of Misha, they need to pay a considerable price. Tian Zhi Xin decided to endure it for now and let Misha be proud for a while. When they’ve seized Min province, then, he could look for an opportunity to settle this arrogant paralyzed person!
Feng Qi Qi played the zither on the city wall tower like nothing was going on. A touch of sadness like an infectious disease spread among the five thousand people under the city’s wall.
Seeing that every soldier was immersed in Feng Qi Qi’s music, Tian Zhi Xin shouted badly in his heart. This song was clearly to shake their military spirit.
“Sir Misha, when do we attack the city?” Tian Zhi Xin came to Misha’s side.
“Attack the city?” Hearing this, Misha laughed.
In front of them was obviously an ‘empty city stratagem’. The gate was open. At the entrance, there were only a few old people who swept the floor. Inside the city was quiet. On the city gate tower, Feng Qi Qi played the zither. This was exactly the replica of the empty city stratagem of Zhuge Lian during the Three Kingdoms. “Have you ever faced such a situation when attacking a city? Were there people who opened the gate and waited leisurely for you to attack the city?”
After Misha said this, Tian Zhi Xin shook his head. “I haven’t seen anything like this! However, didn’t the intelligence we got before tell that there were not many Bei Zhou’s soldiers in the city and that there were only a hundred people?”
“Where did your information come from? Is it truthful and reliable news or was it deliberately released by the other party?”
This question from Misha made Tian Zhi Xin confused once again. That’s right, ah! If it was truthful news, why when meeting them would Feng Qi Qi be so calm and collected? Why didn’t she leave Min province and find a safe place to hide? If the news was false, then the one who released the news must be Feng Qi Qi. Her purpose is to let them take the bait!
“Sir Misha, then what should we do now? The more I think of what you said, the more I feel that there is a conspiracy inside this city! We can’t enter!”
The more Tian Zhi Xin looked at the Min province in front of him, the more he felt that there was a problem. If he were Feng Qi Qi, he would’ve certainly closed the door, let people guard everywhere and held on till the reinforcement arrived. However, the other party’s actions were exactly the opposite. Anybody would suspect that there must be a conspiracy.
Seeing Tian Zhi Xin being so cautious, Misha chuckled.
Zhuge Liang was a prime minister of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period.
One time, Zhuge Liang found himself in a city called Xicheng with a very small force and facing the Cao Wei general Sima Yi and his army of 150,000. Zhuge Liang was in a very precarious position. His handful of soldiers would be no match for Sima Yi’s army and reinforcements were too far to help. So Zhuge Liang came up with a plan.
Zhuge Liang later explained that his maneuver was very risky but because he had established a reputation as a very careful commander, always making sure there were few risks in his plan, Sima Yi thought his relaxed demeanor indicated there was an ambush waiting inside. Zhuge Liang used what his enemy knew of him to his own advantage. Ordering his men to dress in civilian clothes and sweep the streets of the city, Zhuge Liang had the gates thrown open and sat conspicuously above them, playing his guquin (a kind of zither). There he sat, watching the massive army approaching the city. When Sima Yi saw his rival perched atop the gates, nonchalantly plucking at his instrument, he stopped. Sima Yi assumed this had to be some sort of ambush set up by the master strategist and so he marched away rather than attack.
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