King You clapped his hands. "Splendid!"
He immediately rode side by side with Consort Bao toward Mount Li. That very night, he held a banquet at Li Palace and ordered the beacon fires lit. In an instant, flames soared into the sky and thick smoke billowed; drums rolled like thunder crushing over the mountain ridge, while cannon fire dyed half the heavens blood-red.
The vassal lords in all directions saw flames soaring skyward from the direction of Haojing. Suspecting turmoil in the royal capital, they each donned armor, mounted their horses, mustered their troops, and rushed through the night. Yet when they reached the foot of Mount Li, they heard only the melodious pipes and flutes and the clamor of laughter within the palace. King You and Consort Bao were raising cups to one another. He sent envoys out to receive them, saying with a smile, "Fortunately, there is no external threat. You have all worked hard; there is no need to mobilize your armies."
The vassal lords looked at each other, furled their banners and put away their armor, then withdrew in silence. Consort Bao stood atop a high pavilion, leaning against its vermilion railing. Watching the troops from every direction hurry here, only to hurry back after a fruitless run, she finally could not hold back her laughter. Clapping her hands, she laughed until her silver-bell voice rang across the mountaintop.
King You clapped his hands and sighed. "Beloved Minister, with that one smile, ten thousand charms bloom forth! It is all thanks to Lord Guo's ingenious scheme!" He immediately bestowed upon him a thousand yi of gold.
Thus the four words "a thousand gold for a smile" spread among the common folk and have endured to this day. Later generations wrote a poem devoted to this affair—