Zhuge Guanqi smiled. "If you trust me, my lord, do as I say." He leaned close to Zuo Xingjian's ear and whispered a few words.
Zuo Xingjian looked doubtful, but he had no better choice at the moment. He nodded. "Then I shall do as you advise!" He cupped his hands toward Zhuge Yunchun, then actually ordered the troops stationed on the gate tower to withdraw, the South Gate of White Spring City to be opened, and the drawbridge lowered. They would still await the enemy with an empty city, only now Zhuge Guanqi would be the one carrying out the plan.
Standing atop the gate tower, Zhuge Guanqi watched the army gradually approaching in the distance, his expression calm and utterly unruffled. Beside him, Gao Yuan began to lose confidence and asked quietly, "Sir, will they march straight in?"
"They will!" Zhuge Guanqi said.
"Then how should we deal with them?" Gao Yuan asked.
Before Zhuge Guanqi could answer, Zhan Peng hurried up onto the city wall and saluted him with clasped fists. "Sir, Zuo Xingjian has abandoned the city and fled through the South Gate with his troops!"
Zhuge Guanqi was not surprised. Zuo Xingjian really was far too timid. The so-called empty-city stratagem he had proposed earlier was merely a smokescreen; he had probably decided to flee the moment he saw the enemy army approaching. Zhuge Guanqi's offer to step forward in his place had suited him perfectly. Smiling, he nodded. "Unfurl the large banner we brought!"
Zhan Peng acknowledged the order, took the large banner from the pack on his back, and hoisted it onto a flagpole. An enormous character for "Hu" fluttered in the wind.
Zhuge Guanqi gave Zhan Peng a few instructions, and Zhan Peng nodded repeatedly.
Before long, Zu Dacheng arrived outside White