Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Sea
“Yes, Lord Fei Yi. This is how you can calculate it.”
“Ohhh. I see. I never dreamed such a method of calculation even existed. To think you came up with something like this.”
“It came to me because I’ve been sitting around with nothing to do.”
“Even so, this… it looks as though it will become a remarkable invention.”
I had roughly put together an abacus from the idea that had struck me the last time I looked at Go stones. Now Fei Yi and I were handling it together while I explained how to use it.
I may not be able to build an electronic calculator here, but an abacus ought to be workable enough. I had learned how to use one in my original world, though I had never actually put it into practice.
“Ohhh. The calculated value comes out at once like this.”
Fei Yi marveled as he tapped and flicked the beads. Being something of a genius, he mastered the method in no time.
“I must teach the usage to my subordinate civil officials as well. It can be used not only for calculating military provisions and matériel, but for all manner of administrative work. Once it is properly distributed, it should raise the efficiency of administrative duties dramatically.”
Fei Yi was also delighted that finishing work faster would mean more time for drinking and playing Go. Hmm. For all his easygoing air, Fei Yi always got his work done.
While recuperating I had pushed several matters forward with him, yet the lack of any word from Xu Shu in Jiangling still left me uneasy.
I had received reports that Lu Xun was confronting Man Chong at Hefei and had only fought a few small-scale skirmishes. If things simply continued like this and Jingzhou remained safe, that would be ideal.
Right then, as if timed to the moment, Zheng Sui entered and reported.
“General. A letter has arrived from Military Advisor Xu in Jiangling.”
“Ah, is that so? Quickly—give it here.”
I unfolded the letter I received from Zheng Sui. Please, let there be nothing wrong.
Zhou Fang of Eastern Wu has made secret contact with me.
This…
The two characters for “Zhou Fang” froze me solid.
“General Jin. What is the matter? Has something happened in Jingzhou?”
“It says Zhou Fang of Eastern Wu has contacted Military Advisor Xu. And in secret, at that.”
“Zhou Fang? I believe I have heard the name somewhere.”
“Yes. He is one of Sun Quan’s advisors—and a rather outstanding one.”
Fei Yi might have only heard the name, but I knew Zhou Fang well.
He was, after all, the central figure of the famous Battle of Shiting in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The Battle of Shiting was a great victory Wu won against Wei. The man who made the decisive contribution there was none other than this Zhou Fang.
Zhou Fang sent a secret letter to Cao Xiu of Wei, falsely claiming he would surrender. Lured by the sweet deception, Cao Xiu advanced deep into enemy territory and was ultimately crushed by Wu’s forces at a place called Shiting.
The shock of that crushing defeat left Cao Xiu wasting away until he finally died.
The Battle of Shiting would never occur here, yet the fact that Zhou Fang had sent a secret letter to Xu Shu was deeply suspicious. And Jiangling currently held Huang Hao, along with unsettled elements such as Shen Tan and Shen Yi.
“Is this Zhou Fang truly so formidable? What has he done?”
“He sent a secret letter to Military Advisor Xu. And he filled it with lavish praise for him, it seems.”
“Hmm. Why would he do such a thing?”
Zhou Fang had used a similar method when he deceived Cao Xiu.
He had not opened with a direct “I will surrender” to Cao Xiu.
Over several months he sent Cao Xiu a total of seven letters. In the first of them he wrote words of praise and flattery for Cao Xiu—exactly as he had just done with Xu Shu.
After that he did not rush. He sent the letters one by one.
The second letter said he would surrender and asked that a position be promised him.
The third spoke ill of Sun Quan while simultaneously revealing confidential information such as Wu’s troop dispositions.
In this fashion he gradually diluted Cao Xiu’s suspicions until he finally reeled him in.
In short, it was a long-buildup false surrender.
“It is only a conjecture for now, but he may be trying to deceive Military Advisor Xu and seize Jingzhou—just as in the last siege.”
“What?! Does Wu even have the strength for that?”
“They appear ready to play both a desperate hand and a gambler’s throw. They cannot simply sit and watch us grow stronger alone.”
Even so, if this too failed, Sun Quan might truly have to keep Jiangdong crouched for at least several years. The losses would be heavy, and he would have forced the matter through internal opposition. All or nothing, then.
But that was Sun Quan’s problem. I could not simply sit and take the blow; I had to take measures of some kind.
“Zheng Sui. Summon a courier to send to Military Advisor Xu.”
I handed the courier a letter of warning and ordered him to deliver it with all possible speed. And, all things considered, I would have to go down there myself.
“Lord Fei Yi. I believe I must go to Jiangling as well.”
“What? You are still far from fully recovered—where do you think you are going? You already strained yourself traveling to Jiangxia, and your recovery has been slow because of it.”
“I am not a professional physician, but I can treat myself well enough. I can tend to it while riding in a carriage.”
Truthfully I only wanted to focus on the work right in front of me. Knowing so much was exhausting in itself. Still, better that than letting a major crisis erupt later.
“If I go openly, the other side may notice, so I will have to go in disguise.”
“Disguise?”
“Yes—to keep Wu from learning that I am going. If word suddenly spreads that I have headed south, the enemy may go to ground, or they may press their operation all the harder.”
I had originally planned to hole up in Xinye as if dead and, once fully healed, strike at Wei’s weak points. To think I would use the same idea against Wu instead.
But how to disguise myself? I fretted for a moment, then looked at Zheng Sui standing beside me and an idea struck.
“Zheng Sui. That thing you mentioned before—let’s do it now.”
“Pardon? Which thing do you mean?”
“Decorating the carriage.”
The carriage I currently rode was a crude thing fit only for the battlefield. The thought came to me of dressing it up luxuriously so that it looked like the sort of carriage a wealthy family’s daughter would ride, and traveling in that.
“Yes. Understood. Leave it to me.”
Grasping my intent, Zheng Sui brightened with delight.
“It cannot be helped. Then I shall help as well.”
Unable to break my stubbornness, Fei Yi offered his assistance. Yet what that “help” turned out to be…
“General Jin. How is it? Does it please you?”
“Ah… Lord Fei Yi. Do we really have to go this far? It seems more likely to draw the eye.”
At present I was wearing gorgeous robes and ornaments, and heavy makeup on top of it all. In modern terms, it was full makeup plus luxury clothes and jewels.
Fei Yi had summoned people from somewhere and turned me into this state.
“The daughters of wealthy houses in Jingzhou all go about like this. Only then will people fail to recognize you.”
“Will a little adornment really keep people from knowing my face?”
“You put on a face veil as well.”
“Yes. The General has always been so frugal that no one will imagine you would travel like this.”
Is that so… Even Zheng Sui, who had watched me for so long, was saying it, so I had no retort.
“Hmm. This side’s disguise seems well done too.”
Fei Yi nodded as he looked at Zheng Sui.
Zheng Sui had cast off his soldier’s garb and was now dressed as a servant.
“A servant attending a young lady of a noble house. Exactly that.”
A young miss of a powerful family from a historical drama, and the manservant attending her. That was precisely our appearance now.
Come to think of it, Zheng Sui and I had once used a similar disguise operation in Hanzhong to lure Zhang Pae.
As Zheng Sui and I stood awkwardly in our unfamiliar clothes, Fei Yi tossed out a joke.
“If you truly cannot settle, shall I dress the two of you as a married couple? If I put my mind to it, that is possible as well.”
Fei Yi laughed heartily, and Zheng Sui’s face went scarlet as he bowed his head.
“Ah. The matter is urgent, so we will go as we are.”
Thus I decided to take Zheng Sui and several soldiers, all disguised as servants, and head south.
Yet there was another problem besides this.
“I have five hundred subordinates. If we all dress as servants and throng about together, it will look strange.”
Fei Yi helped with that as well.
He dressed my men as merchants, laborers, travelers, and the like. They would scatter into several groups and move separately, while Yu Eun would disguise himself with a few soldiers as a merchant party and follow behind me.
Fei Yi’s connections were so wide that he resolved even this sort of matter with ease.
And Ma Su also heard of our plan.
“Wait—is this truly General Jin? I have never seen you adorned like this before. Hmm. Your beauty shines even more brightly, yet the splendor seems to dull that distinctive dignity of yours just a little. In any case, I did not recognize you at first.”
Well, the disguise seems effective enough.
“You said you would go to Jiangling in this disguise? Aha! The stratagem of Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Sea! To cover the sky and cross the ocean—to blind the opponent’s eyes, then strike in a way they never expected!”
Ma Su slapped his palm with a fist.
“Yes. Something like that.”
“But is that way of walking also part of the disguise? You are walking so very demurely…”
“You—this man…!”
Fei Yi, standing beside him, jabbed Ma Su with an elbow and rebuked him.
“…No. It is only because my body has not fully recovered yet.”
“Oh dear! How rude of me… I apologize… I have not seen you in so long.”
“No. It is fine.”
At any rate, Ma Su agreed to help us as well.
Knowing the terrain well, he would take a portion of my men along a shortcut and arrive in Jiangling one step ahead.
And once every preparation was complete—
“General Jin. Do not overexert yourself, and travel carefully. I will keep Xinye safe.”
“Yes. I leave it to you, Lord Fei Yi.”
I draped something like a face veil over my features and walked toward the luxuriously appointed carriage.
“Gen—ah, no. Young lady, allow me to attend you. Please board the carriage.”
Zheng Sui supported me until I was seated inside.
“We depart.”
Zheng Sui drew on the reins, and the carriage began to glide forward.
Around it, my men—likewise disguised as servants—came along as well.
If the enemy comes with a false surrender, I will answer with a false infiltration.
Still… Jiangling was practically my home base. To think I had to infiltrate my own home base.
Please—let nothing happen until I arrive.