Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

Once he heard the statement, Yin Kaishan and Liu Wenjing were left completely speechless.

At first, Yin Kaishan thought that Prince Qi's words were just an excuse, or a tactic to delay the battle.

He wanted to fight, but clearly, Prince Qi was timid and only listened to Lord Qin, which is why he resolutely refused to go to war.

As for the so-called "the time has not yet come" or "the accomplishment of annihilating Xue Ju is already a sure thing," these were nothing more than mystifications or another kind of excuse.

Therefore, Yin Kaishan unwillingly kept asking what exactly the right moment referred to.

Was there a precise time?

If it was just an excuse, then Prince Qi surely wouldn't be able to provide a precise time.

He would only say things like "the time has not yet come, be patient."

If Prince Qi had really done that, Yin Kaishan couldn't have done much about it after all, as the military power was in Prince Qi's hands at the moment, and if he disagreed, he could only stew in silence.

But unexpectedly, Prince Qi actually provided a specific reason and a specific time!

Observing the heavens at night, he discovered that Xue Ju only had a month left to live?

And they had already set the attack for thirty-five days later, both proportionate and exact?

This was totally outrageous!

You know, in the military there are no jokes. Although it was Prince Qi's first time commanding a major army, he had started strategizing from Jinyang and fought several tough battles with Lord Qin; surely he knew this principle well enough.

He should have been clear that such things could not be spoken of carelessly.

If it turned out to be unfulfilled by then, it would be a huge blow to his prestige, and once Lord Qin returned, he would have to completely step aside.

Even with Lord Qin's backing, if the soldiers no longer respected him, thinking he was nothing but a charlatan full of empty talk, then what could be done?

Even being Prince Qi, he should not spout such nonsense.

But what if it did come true?

That would indeed be invincible—the manifestation of a deity on earth, but the problem was, could such an accurate prophecy really come true?

Xue Ju only had a month left to live?

Previously, Xue Ju had come himself to challenge them—vibrant and bouncing with life.

At his prime age, without external forces intervening, the only possibility of sudden death was an abrupt, incurable illness.

But in the eyes of the ancients, dying from a sudden illness was almost akin to a heavenly punishment.

Especially during a crucial period when two armies were at a standoff.

The likelihood of this prediction coming true was almost zero.

But anyway, since Prince Qi had given a very clear time point, Yin Kaishan and Liu Wenjing could only wait patiently.

...

The Liang Army allowed Xue Ju's forces to keep challenging them, always maintaining their defensive stance.

However, during this period Li Hongyun was not idle; he continually sent Yin Kaishan and other commanders with cavalry to raid Xue Ju's supply lines.

But they didn't achieve much success.

Because at this time, Xue Ju's cavalry outnumbered the Liang Army's, and Yin Kaishan's capabilities were clearly inferior to Lord Qin and the commanders under him, so there weren't many accomplishments.

But no matter, Li Hongyun's action was merely a gesture; the key to victory wasn't here.

He spent most of his time on psychological warfare.

He first had his subordinates gather a lot of silk, on which they wrote a simple line: "On the day of Xin Si, Xue Ju dies! The army's morale is scattered, Liang Hulang requests surrender!"

This makeshift prophecy was actually not very literary, but prophecy itself needs no literary flourish—it has to be simple, catchy, and easy to remember.

The day of Xin Si is the ninth day of the eighth lunar month.

In ancient times, days were recorded using the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches system, with a cycle of sixty days.

So, there is no need to consider which month the Xin Si is from; there is only this one Xin Si in nearly two months, the ninth day of the eighth lunar month.

Of course, it could be misconstrued as the Xin Si of the next cycle.

But that doesn't matter, because Xue Ju's death date has been pinned down—to the next Xin Si. So even if the generals on Xue Ju's side misunderstood, when all this really happens, the shock it brings them will be even more intense.

As for "Liang Hulang," he was a commander under Xue Ju at that time.

According to the original course of history, by the second time Lord Qin campaigned in November, Xue Ju had already died, with his son Xue Rengao leading the army.

Both sides had been at a standoff for more than sixty days, with Xue Rengao's army running out of food; Liang Hulang was among the first batch of well-known commanders to surrender.

This shows that Liang Hulang, among these commanders, was probably already unsupportive of Xue Rengao and pessimistic about the war, and he held a not-too-low military position.

Writing his name on the prophecy could further divide and dissolve the cohesion and morale in Xue Ju's forces.

After writing, Li Hongyun sent these commanders to secretly wrap the silks around arrows and shoot them into Xue Ju's camp.

Merely shooting a few wouldn't have much effect; it couldn't spread far.

So over the course of a month, Li Hongyun seized every opportunity to have people shoot arrows—from all directions and all angles—to ensure that the message spread quickly throughout Xue Ju's camp.

...

In Xue Ju's camp.

"What the hell is the Liang Army trying to pull!

"Do they really think such a ghostly trick would confuse our army? It's laughable!"

Xue Ju, holding the prophecy cloth in his hand, couldn't help but smile wryly.