I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 458 Empty City
Zhuge Liang looked around Yexian County and could clearly see the mountains and terrain.

Yexian County truly lives up to its name, as it is like a person's armpit, sandwiched between the Bohai Sea to the east and numerous mountains to the south.

Many rivers flow from the mountainous areas in the south, namely the valleys and low-lying areas of Yashan and Kunyu Mountains, the largest of which is the Ye River.

"The rivers in Jiaodong are all short and rapid, and their course changes with the seasons. The Wuhuan cavalry must have come along that dry riverbed."

After surveying the terrain, Zhuge Liang had a general idea of ​​what to do.

"Zilong, you will lead the cavalry to the north, display the banner of the Great General, and do not advance, but patrol the left and right sides."

Chen Gong, standing beside him, looked distressed.

"Kongming, the only fighting force that Yexian can be considered is their cavalry. How could you send them to the north? What were you thinking?"

Zhuge Liang spread his feather fan, but instead of pointing north or west where the enemy was approaching, he pointed towards Yexian.

By this time, countless wooden houses had already been built in layers around Yexian County to house the people.

These wooden huts were all temporary structures, and there was no time to make mud bricks, so the walls were simply made by haphazardly binding branches together and then sealing the gaps with dry grass, which was barely enough to keep out the cold.

Just like the people gathered here, they are incredibly fragile, seemingly on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice, "The danger at present lies not only in the approaching Wuhuan cavalry, but also in these people."

"If we spread rumors that the enemy has invaded and that the general is not here, the people will be terrified. Therefore, the most urgent task at present is to prevent the people from panicking."

Zhuge Liang then instructed Chen Gong: "Please ask Gongtai to go and gather a thousand able-bodied men, and tell them that you want to build a beacon tower on the mountain."

Although Chen Gong did not understand what Zhuge Liang wanted to do, he still obediently gathered a thousand able-bodied men and went with Zhuge Liang to the top of the mountain where the Wuhuan cavalry had been discovered.

"And then? Kongming!"

When Chen Gong turned around and saw Zhuge Liang, he almost spat out a mouthful of blood!

Zhuge Liang's page had already found a flat spot, laid out a mat, and placed an ancient zither on a bluestone.

"No! Kongming! You're here to play the zither?"

Chen Gong was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, while Zhuge Liang simply pointed to the package beside him.

"There are also tea utensils inside. If you have nothing to do, you can drink tea by yourself while I play a tune."

"..."

Chen Gong paced back and forth around Zhuge Liang, his anger flaring up!

But in the end, he could only sit down opposite Zhuge Liang.

"Suit yourself! Anyway, at this point, what other choice do you have?"

Zhuge Liang smiled slightly, adjusted the strings, and actually began to play!
His slender fingers glide across the strings, producing a music that is neither hurried nor slow, just like Zhuge Liang's demeanor—unperturbed, calm, and unhurried.

Taking a deep breath, Zhuge Liang chanted with his left hand, the sound long and melodious like swirling clouds and mist, without the slightest hesitation, but rather like a clear mountain spring flowing gently.

"High Mountains and Flowing Water!"

As a fellow scholar, Chen Gong immediately recognized that the piece Zhuge Liang was playing was the famous melody "High Mountains and Flowing Water," which had been passed down since the Spring and Autumn Period.

As Zhuge Liang sat atop the mountain, the body of his zither sometimes condensed into a wisp of silk, swirling and floating in the mist, and sometimes scattered into countless silver rays, crashing against the rugged stone walls... Chen Gong truly felt that the two of them had become like Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi, reclusive hermits who did not concern themselves with worldly affairs, living a carefree and leisurely life!

but……

Now is not the time to experience such a carefree life.
Whether it was his imagination or not, Chen Gong could even hear the sound of horses' hooves coming from afar!

"Kong, Kongming!"

"Please enjoy your tea in peace, Gongtai."

Throughout the entire performance, Zhuge Liang's zither playing was flawless, never a fraction faster or slower than intended.

Helpless, Chen Gong could only pound his thighs twice to force himself to calm down, then stare intently at the kettle in front of him, as if he could see something amazing in it...

In fact, the sound of horses' hooves that Chen Gong had just heard was not a hallucination.

Moments later, Wuhuan cavalrymen began to appear in the valley below.

The melodious zither music, combined with Zhuge Liang's snow-white attire, made it almost impossible not to notice him.

More and more Wuhuan cavalry began to gather, but they all tacitly stopped in place, letting their warhorses sway from side to side, but they did not take a single step forward. Instead, they looked at the scene in front of them with suspicion.

On that not-so-tall mountain peak, a young scholar wearing a small hat and with a rather handsome appearance gently played the guqin. Behind him stood only two weak pageboys, and opposite him sat a Han Chinese man dressed in the same simple style, boiling water and brewing tea. In addition, not far away, many young men seemed to be moving stones and piling up beacon towers.

Is this normal?

The Wuhuan cavalry had only ever seen Han civilians fleeing in panic or Han soldiers with banners flying everywhere; they had never seen such a scene before.

Even the Wuhuan leader who came upon hearing the news was undecided, hesitatingly looking at Zhuge Liang who was still playing the zither.

"Sir! What are those Han people doing?"

When a Wuhuan cavalryman asked a question, he stumped the Wuhuan leader.

But he couldn't pretend not to know, so the Wuhuan leader could only cautiously look around.

"The mountains here are so continuous that you can't see what's behind them."

"That Han scholar's playing was most likely a ploy to lure our troops closer and then ambush us!" "You are indeed wise, sir!"

The Wuhuan leader blushed upon receiving the praise.

He couldn't explain what was in front of him.

However, his years of nomadic experience taught him that if he found meat near a tiger's den, then the tiger was probably nearby!

The Wuhuan leader hesitated even more at this moment, unaware that Chen Gong was also on tenterhooks!
He had assumed that even if the Wuhuan cavalry that appeared in Yexian were just scattered soldiers, at most only a hundred or two hundred men.

But looking up from here now, there are probably at least a thousand people!

"Kongming, are you really alright? Are you sure the enemy won't charge at us?"

This time, Zhuge Liang didn't even answer Chen Gong's question, but continued to pluck the strings of his zither, playing a melodious tune.

The young men around them were initially flustered when they saw the Wuhuan cavalry, but when they saw Zhuge Liang and Chen Gong sitting calmly playing the zither and drinking tea, they immediately felt relieved.

Especially since someone just said they saw General Lü Bu's banner to the north, maybe this is just a scheme by the General, just waiting for the Wuhuan cavalry to charge over, and then the General can ride Red Hare out from somewhere and kill them all!

The Wuhuan chieftain below remained unmoved by Zhuge Liang's zither music, but his own heart was filled with turbulent waves.

"withdraw!"

The Wuhuan were put in charge of making the decision!

"The Han army must be lying in ambush here! Perhaps Lu Bu or Zhao Yun are leading a large army to encircle our retreat!"

"Your Excellency is wise!"

"go!"

……

Chen Gong finally breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the Wuhuan cavalry retreat.

He pressed down on his knees, forcing his trembling legs to stand up: "How could Kongming have predicted that those Wuhuan cavalry, who were like jackals and wild beasts, would retreat?"

At this moment, Zhuge Liang waved his sleeves, just as he finished playing the last note, as if watching the clouds and water disappear into the sky, completing the final stroke of a landscape painting.

It was only at this moment that Zhuge Liang opened his eyes.

Upon discovering this, Chen Gong burst into a tirade: "So that's why you weren't nervous! You've been keeping your eyes closed the whole time!"

Zhuge Liang ordered his page to put away the guqin, a smile playing on his lips: "Not so."

“When I was in western Liaoning, I had a lot of contact with the Wuhuan people and I have a certain understanding of them.”

People often say that barbarians are fierce, tyrannical and unwise, but this is a misconception.

Zhuge Liang corrected the stereotypes held by people from the Central Plains, such as Chen Gong, about the Wuhuan.

"The Wuhuan and Xianbei are both descendants of the Donghu. They were born in remote and harsh areas and had to be careful and cautious at all times in order to survive in the border regions."

"People like this are the least likely to take risks."

"Moreover, like the Xiongnu and Xianbei, the Wuhuan are all led by their own chieftains and Chanyu. The death of a few dozen young men could severely damage their reputation; the death of a few hundred young men could lead to their annexation by other tribes. Therefore, unless they are absolutely certain of success, even if they have only a slight concern, they probably would not risk their own tribe's young men by launching a full-scale attack."

There was another reason, which Zhuge Liang did not explain, but Chen Gong could figure out for himself.

Under Yuan Tan's indulgence, the Wuhuan ravaged most of Qingzhou, ravaging the once prosperous Linzi area and causing widespread suffering among the people, while also plundering a considerable amount of wealth.

The most dangerous time for a wolf is always when it is most hungry.

Now, the Wuhuan cavalry have been fed so much by Yuan Tan that they're practically burping, and it's hard to say for sure how much fighting power they still have.

However, it is certain that after consuming far more food than they could stomach, the Wuhuan's movements eventually became slow and heavy, unlike their initial fiery attacks.

Zhuge Liang reminded Chen Gong: "This matter is not over yet."

"The Wuhuan are cunning and will not give up easily. We still need to take action tonight."

Having experienced what had just happened, Chen Gong was completely convinced.

"No wonder His Majesty favors you so much at such a young age, even entrusting you with such a huge task as Liu Bei's affairs."

"Fine! You name your demands, and I'll do it today!"

That night.

News of this circulated among the people of Yexian County.

"I heard there's coal nearby that can help keep warm during the winter!"

Coal was used in iron smelting long ago, so the people naturally knew what it was.

Without the Han soldiers urging them, groups of civilians immediately lit torches that night, illuminating almost half of the sky above Yashan Mountain as they searched the mountain and the sea!
As Zhuge Liang had predicted, the Wuhuan leader had not actually gone far.

Upon seeing the overwhelming force in Yexian, they were immediately thrown into a panic: "Just how many troops does Yexian have left?"

This force was clearly beyond the capacity of a thousand or so Wuhuan cavalrymen to withstand, and the Wuhuan leader immediately made a decision—

"withdraw!"

Why risk your life for such a tiny bit of credit?
(End of this chapter)