Inside the Rundu, there was a burst of cheers. Under the city gate, the soldiers were overjoyed when they saw the ground full of arrows that they couldn't even finish using their carriages.
The Uto's arrows were sharper and stronger than Da Wei's arrows. Now, they could obtain tens of thousands of arrows without any effort. No one expected such a thing to happen. Borrowing the arrows was secondary. The most important thing was that the grievances they felt from being attacked by the Uto all these days were swept away. The Uto had set them up, and this time, they made the Uto suffer such a big loss. They were speechless.
"They're just a bunch of boorish people who only know how to use their strength!" Zhao Shiming stroked his beard and said with a smile, "They don't know how to use their wits."
He looked at the young man who was walking at the front and jogged to catch up with him, "This time, it's all thanks to Xiao He!"
'Xiao He's already called' Xiao He '? He Yan smiled, "If everyone in the city didn't work together to make so many scarecrows, I wouldn't be able to do this alone."
Zhao Shiming's impression of this young man became even better. He thought to himself, 'No wonder he was promoted to an official at such a young age. He didn't steal the credit nor was he arrogant. His temper is much better than Li Kuang's.' He asked, "Then what do we do next?"
He Yan turned to look at the old man, then looked at the people around her. The soldiers around her were also staring at her with burning eyes. When she first arrived at the Rundu, she only felt that the city was lifeless. Everyone was just waiting for death to come. Now, only one night had passed, and there was something called 'hope' in their eyes.
Hope was always very precious.
"I will discuss the next plan with Lord Li. However, there's one thing that I need your help with, Lord Zhao." He Yan said.
Zhao Shiming quickly smiled and said, "Of course, of course. Xiao He, please say it."
"For this matter, I still need to trouble all the craftsmen in the city." She lowered her eyes, "Help me make a mask. The sooner the better."
In the hall, Li Kuang turned around and looked at the two people in front of him. Yi Luo stood behind Li Kuang and stared at the beautiful woman in the room.
Ying Xiang handed over the token and scroll. Li Kuang took them and looked at them before saying to Chu Zhao, "So it's Fourth Young Master Chu."
The name 'Fourth Young Master Chu' was much more famous than the Wu An Lang who had come that day. After all, he had a father who was known throughout the country for being a playboy, and a teacher who was powerful enough to overturn the imperial court. He was also born handsome and gentle. It was hard not to notice such a person in the crowd.
"Lord Li, my young master was trapped in the Rundu on his way back to Shuojing. Now that the situation in the Rundu is like this … the Prime Minister has ordered us to ask Lord Li to escort my young master out of the city?"
When Yi Luo heard this, he let out a sigh of relief. This woman was so beautiful. If she stayed in the Rundu, it would be unsettling. What if Li Kuang took a liking to her and took her as his concubine? She couldn't give up her position as the most favored concubine.
Li Kuang looked at Chu Zhao and said, "It's not difficult."
No matter how dissatisfied he was, he had to give face to Xu Jingfu. Li Kuang couldn't help but think of He Yan. In this world, people were different. He Yan was far away in Liangzhou, but because he was worried about the Rundu, he traveled thousands of miles to live and die with the Rundu. On the other hand, Chu Zilan was in the Rundu, but he wanted to escape unscathed and leave as soon as possible.
However, he didn't have the ability to force people to stay. The tunnel that General Fei Hong had dug back then was to move the commoners over, but now it had become a tunnel to send these powerless young masters out.
Li Kuang suppressed his resentment and unwillingness, but a smile appeared on his face. This smile could even be said to be a bit flattering. "Fourth Young Master Chu, after you leave the city, if you pass by Jinling or other cities, can you ask for reinforcements for the Rundu?" He awkwardly rubbed his hands. "Right now, the Rundu is in danger. If the Prime Minister is willing to help …"
"Of course," Chu Zhao smiled. "Once this servant and I leave the city safely, we will definitely find a way to ask for reinforcements for the Rundu."
"Thank you." Li Kuang was a bit sullen. When did Da Wei's survival become a joke in the hands of the Prime Minister? The Uto probably already knew that the imperial family was corrupt, so they took advantage of the situation.
Just as they were talking, another person came in. This person said, "Lord Li, after today, I plan to …"
He Yan's voice suddenly stopped. He looked at Chu Zhao and said in surprise, "Brother Chu?"
"Brother He?" Chu Zhao was also stunned. "Why are you here?"
He Yan didn't expect to meet Chu Zhao in the Rundu. He only said, "I … came to help."
"What?" Li Kuang was also stunned. "You two know each other?"
"Fourth Young Master Chu stayed in the Liang Province Guard for a period of time." He Yan asked, "Brother Chu, you still haven't told me why you are here."
"When Ying Xiang and I were returning to the capital, we passed by the Rundu. The Uto attacked the city, so we were temporarily trapped in the city. I didn't expect that Brother He would come. "When Chu Zhao said this, he actually smiled." We can be considered to be fated. "
Who would have thought that she and Chu Zhao had been separated from each other for such a long time. She didn't expect to meet him in Rundu. This really was as Chu Zhao had said, "Let's go together." Although she had many questions, now wasn't the time to talk. He Yan said to Chu Zhao, "Brother Chu, I still have something to discuss with Lord Li. If you aren't in a hurry, can you wait until I finish speaking with Lord Li before coming back?"
"It's fine, I'm not in a hurry." Chu Zhao made a "please" gesture.
He Yan said to Li Kuang, "Lord Li, let's go inside and talk."
Li Kuang and He Yan entered the inner room. Yi Luo glanced at the two of them, then bowed and left the room. Ying Xiang said hesitantly, "Fourth Young Master …"
"We won't leave for now."
"But the Prime Minister …"
"I have my own plans."
After a while, Ying Xiang said, "Fourth Young Master, are you not leaving because you're worried about Miss He?"
Chu Zhao didn't answer her question. His smile faded. "Ying Xiang, you've said too much."
Ying Xiang didn't say anything.
Inside the room, Li Kuang turned around and looked at He Yan. "You still want to hang scarecrows? The Uto fell for it once, they won't fall for it a second time. "
"Those Uto are stupid, but they're also cunning. After this lesson, they'll only be more suspicious in the future. Anyway, there's no loss in hanging scarecrows at night. Why don't Lord Li give it a try? If they're still willing to fall for it, it'll be good to collect more arrows. "
"What if they don't fall for it?"
"That's even better."
Li Kuang shook his head. "Brother He, I don't understand what you're trying to do."
He Yan looked at Li Kuang. She had also fought alongside Li Kuang on the battlefield in the past. Li Kuang was a serious and old-fashioned person. When he fought, he was very methodical. Although he was capable, he didn't like to use tricks. He Yan turned around and looked at the map hanging on the wall in the room. "Lord Li, if you were the Wutuo people, and you knew that you were played like a fool last night, and you played the same trick again today. What would you do tomorrow if it was the same?"
"I would be so angry that I wouldn't fall for it again!"
"You wouldn't shoot arrows at the people coming down from the city gate tower?"
"Of course."
"That's good." He Yan turned around and looked at him with a smile. "Then for the third time, our people can directly leave the city. After all, they'll think that the people coming down from the city gate tower are fake scarecrows. "
Li Kuang was stunned.
Everyone had heard of the story of the boy who cried wolf. They were fooled once or twice, but the third time, even a fool wouldn't believe it. Uto was the same. They lost so many arrows in vain. Even if they had a few more chances, they wouldn't shoot at the scarecrows. They didn't know that in the last time, the scarecrows were quietly replaced by real Rundu soldiers. They sneaked into their camp under the cover of the night.
Li Kuang understood He Yan's meaning, but there was still something he didn't understand. "You mean, we should let them leave the city?"
"Lord Li, I've said it before. It's better to attack than to defend. If we continue to defend like this, sooner or later, the Uto will immediately attack the city. Yesterday's arrow borrowing had already angered them. Now is the time when they're least calm. We can still find an opportunity to attack them after they've recovered. The Rundu's troops won't be able to stop them from breaking the city gate. "
Li Kuang's heart jumped when he heard this. He couldn't help but say, "Of course I know this. But even if we sneak attack at night, we still don't have enough troops!"
"It's impossible if we don't wipe out the Uto soldiers in one fell swoop. What we need to do is burn their provisions and break their morale. Without provisions, the Uto will panic and their morale will be unstable. They will be even more hesitant against the Rundu and buy us some time. "He Yan said," Lord Li, ask for help from Jinling. "
"Jinling?"
He Yan looked at him. "Lord Li, don't place your hopes on hopeless people. General Feihong won't come. If he came, he would have come a long time ago. If the Rundu wants to defend, we must find another way to survive. No matter how much you trust He Rufei, the lives of tens of thousands of Rundu's citizens cannot be compared to your trust. "
The young man's eyes were firm and his tone was unquestionable. For a moment, Li Kuang's heart wavered. After a while, he looked at He Yan. "That's easy for you to say. Even if you sneak attack at night, how can you guarantee that you can burn the Uto's provisions? They have a lot of troops guarding the provisions. I'm afraid that before they even get close, they will be discovered by the Uto soldiers. "
"Five hundred men."
"What?"
"I need five hundred elite soldiers," the young man said. "Lord Li knows better than me what the Vanguard means. With me as the leader, the five hundred Vanguard will definitely burn their provisions. Even if we die on the battlefield under the blades of the Uto, it doesn't matter. Lord Li, please continue to defend the city. Don't waste everyone's sacrifice. "
"Of course," she said. "If we can bring back Huyate's head, that would be even better."
Ever since the day the scarecrow borrowed the arrows, for three days in a row, when night fell, dozens of ropes would slowly hang down from the Rundu's city tower. There would be people hanging on the ropes that would fall to the ground. Not long after, another group of "people" would follow the same pattern.
At first, the Uto would test the waters by shooting dozens or hundreds of arrows. In the end, they were too lazy to be fooled and only shot a few scattered arrows before stopping.
All the craftsmen in the city gathered together and worked through the night to make masks. Wang Ba dragged an ox-cart full of boxes over. He and the others moved all the boxes to the ground and said to He Yan, "It's all here."
Under everyone's gaze, He Yan walked forward and bent down to open the lid of a box. The box was filled with masks. Zhao Shiming picked up a mask and looked at it. He saw that the mask had a green face and fangs, and its eyes were like copper bells. It was very scary. He couldn't help but let go of the mask and let it fall back into the box. He muttered, "It's quite scary."
"A He Ge, are we going to wear these masks to fight the Uto?" Xiao Mai asked nervously. "These … are all masks of evil spirits! It's really scary. "
He Yan smiled. "Is it scary? I don't think so. "
When they were in Jiyang, a "Liar" mask was enough to make Ling Xiu and the others run away. If they saw the masks now, they would probably be scared to death. When Zhao Shiming recruited all the craftsmen in the Rundu to make the masks for her, He Yan only had one request. The more creepy and scary the masks looked, the better. It would be best if they looked like the little ghosts in the 18 levels of hell, ferocious and ugly.
When she looked at the masks, she felt that they were really ugly, but not scary. It was probably because in her life, humans were much scarier than ghosts. The truly creepy and scary things she had seen were far worse than this.
Among the masks in the box, the one at the top was particularly different. It didn't look like there were any fancy patterns on it. The whole mask seemed to be made of iron, and it was airtight. Only a pair of eyes and chin could be seen. He Yan picked up the mask and gently covered her face.
Wang Ba was dissatisfied. "Why does yours look so much better? Can't you treat everyone equally? Why do we have to wear something that even dogs think is ugly? "
Li Kuang sucked in a breath of cold air and said, "General He!"
Everyone looked at Li Kuang. Jiang Jiao smiled. "Lord Li, Brother He is only Mu An Lang now. He hasn't been promoted to General yet."
Li Kuang realized that his words were misunderstood by others. He explained, "I mean, this mask is General Feihong's mask."
When he and He Rufei fought side by side in the past, He Rufei had worn a mask that looked very similar to this one. He wanted to take it off a few times, but it was like the mask grew on He Rufei's face. He couldn't take it off no matter how hard he tried. Later, his beloved concubine, Yi Luo, told him that He Rufei cared a lot about the scar on his face. It was better not to expose other people's shortcomings. Li Kuang gave up on the idea.
A few years later, He Rufei returned to the capital. It was said that he took off his mask in front of the Emperor. He had a handsome and upright face, and it was very stunning. When Li Kuang heard this, he was very angry. He felt that this person was crazy. What he said about being "ugly and unattractive" was all nonsense. It was possible that he was just looking for a gimmick for himself to make others feel the contrast.
Apart from seeing He Rufei once when he went to court in the capital, the two of them hadn't seen each other for a few years. Now, he saw the shadow of He Rufei in the youth in front of him. He was heroic and generous as always.
But he definitely wasn't He Rufei.
Li Kuang muttered in his heart. Could it be that He Rufei had a brother in his family? This youth was still young, but he already had the demeanor of a general. And they both had the surname He … Did He Yuansheng also have an illegitimate child outside like Chu Linfeng?
He Yan didn't know that Li Kuang's thoughts had already drifted so far. On the side, Jiang Jiao asked, "General Feihong's mask? Lord Li means that this mask is very similar to General Feihong's mask? "
It had been too long. He couldn't remember the details of He Rufei's mask, but he felt that it wasn't far off. He nodded, "It's very similar."
He Yan smiled slightly. Ever since He Rufei replaced her as "Feihong", she never thought that there would be a day when she would wear this familiar mask.
"Brother He, what are you trying to do?" Huang Xiong was puzzled.
"Fake and real, real and fake. Huyate also hasn't seen the real General Feihong. But he must have heard of the Masked General's fierce battle with the Western Qiang people. If I wear this mask and kill my way into the enemy camp, they won't know who's under the mask. Their hearts will be wary, and their morale will be in chaos. That will be our chance. "
"You …" Li Kuang suddenly understood.
"I want to pretend to be General Feihong," the youth said.
The night gradually deepened, and it began to drizzle tonight.
The sound of insects could be heard in the wilderness. The Utuo soldiers were resting in their tents.
A few days ago, Li Kuang's "scarecrow to borrow arrows" in Run had caused them to waste a hundred thousand arrows. They had been cleaning up these past few days. A hundred thousand arrows was not a small number, and their original plans had to be changed. Huyate was flustered and exasperated, and he killed several archers.
And Li Kuang's "scarecrow to borrow arrows" continued. Every night, there would be scarecrows hanging down from the city walls. At the beginning, the Utuo soldiers still had vigilant thoughts when shooting arrows, but later, they were no longer fooled, and even felt that Li Kuang's actions were mocking and humiliating them. Huyate angrily said, "When the day comes, I will bury all the Rundu soldiers alive. I will chop that bastard Li Kuang into pieces in front of the entire Rundu city!"
After all, being played in circles was truly too shameful. He was still mocking Maka earlier, but he didn't expect that it would be his turn so soon.
"General, what if Li Kuang releases those scarecrows again tonight?" The subordinate asked.
"What do we do?" Huyate asked with a dark face. "Do you want me to be a fool again? Idiot! "
The subordinate didn't dare to reply.
On the city walls, He Yan, dressed in black, was currently tying ropes around her body. Behind her, there were 500 elite soldiers that Li Kuang had selected for her from the Rundu soldiers, each of them outstanding in their own way.
Xiao Mai and Hong Shan weren't originally part of the Liang Province Vanguard, and their skills were only average. Looking at the brothers preparing, Xiao Mai worriedly said, "A He Ge, those Uto, will they really not shoot arrows here? If they shoot here, wouldn't it be too late for everyone to turn back? "
He Yan stood on her tiptoes and patted his head. Although Xiao Mai had already grown taller than her, there were many times when he was more like a child, which always made He Yan think of He Yunsheng. She patiently said, "All things under the heavens are born from something, and something is born from nothing. On the first day, we used the scarecrow to borrow arrows to create this kind of illusion, and purposely let the Uto see through it. They thought that they knew our plan and let down their guard. After that, they turned nothing into something, turned what was false into reality, and turned what was false into reality. When our people really attack them at night, Huyate will definitely think that it's fake and won't be on guard. We will take advantage of this opportunity to catch them off guard. "
"But how can you be sure?" Xiao Mai didn't give up.
He Yan said, "There is nothing in this world that can be confirmed for sure. I can only try my best to guess what Huyate is thinking. "
This was a psychological battle, and also a huge gamble.
He Yan turned her head and looked at the people behind her. These carefully selected Rundu soldiers, because of the long time spent fighting the Uto, looked very thin and weak, but their eyes were burning with fire. They were attacked in front of their home, and now they finally had a chance to fight back, even if the price was their lives, Da Wei men didn't care.
"When we go down, maybe the Uto won't shoot arrows, but maybe they will. The brothers who are shot must not make a sound or move. " He Yan paused for a moment, then continued, "Only when we treat ourselves as' scarecrows', will the Uto believe that we are really 'scarecrows'."
Li Kuang's face was solemn, he naturally knew what He Yan meant. When there is war, there will be sacrifices, especially tonight's 500 elite soldiers. If they made a sound or moved after being shot, it was very likely that the Uto would find out. At that time, all their previous efforts would be wasted.
But to endure the pain of being shot was too difficult, too difficult.
"Maybe this arrow will injure us, maybe we will die." He Yan looked at everyone and said calmly, "But we have to remember what our goal is. Even if we die, we will die to protect the Rundu. The Uto's arrows don't have a specific target, it can hit anyone, including me. I need you to understand the possible consequences. If anyone can't accept it now, you can stand up and leave. Otherwise, if the entire night attack fails because of one person, I will not let you off easily! "
The young man's eyes were cold, and his eyes were cold. Usually, he was gentle and easy to talk to, but when he was really cold, no one dared to refute. No one stood up.
Li Kuang was surprised to find that he had unknowingly handed over the command of the Rundu to this young man. He was still young, and he didn't even know this Mu An Lang called He Yan.
But he had the ability to convince people, just like that year, when General Feihong was still the deputy general.
"Is everyone ready?"
"Yes!"
"Very good." He Yan curled her lips and put the mask on her face.
The mask covered the young man's face, and even the immature childishness disappeared, revealing only a pair of beautiful eyes that were as sharp as a knife, concealing all the sharpness of the young man.
She walked in front of Li Kuang, and before Li Kuang could react, she snatched the sword from Li Kuang's hand.
"Lord Li, lend me your sword."
"Hey …" Li Kuang was slightly annoyed. This person did it a little too naturally.
Li Kuang's sword was a good sword. Although it was not as good as Qing Lang's, it was still sharper and lighter than ordinary swords. He Yan weighed the sword in her hand. For a moment, it was as if she had returned to the battlefield in the past. She was still the general who led the Fuyue Army to charge and break through the enemy lines.
"General Feihong cannot be without a sword." She turned her head and said coldly, "Boys, put on your masks and follow me!"
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