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Zhuge Liang said, “You can save your life by writing a letter to Sima Yi telling him to come to raid our camp. I will spare you on this condition. And if I capture Sima Yi, I will give you all the credit and reward you handsomely.”

There was nothing for it but to agree, and the letter was written. Then Zheng Wen was placed in confinement.

“How did you know this was only a pretended desertion?” said Fan Jian.

“Sima Yi looks to his people,” replied Zhuge Liang. “If he made Qin Lang a leading general, Qin Lang was certainly a man of great military skill and not the sort of man to be overcome by this fellow Zheng Wen in the first encounter. So Zheng Wen's opponent certainly was not Qin Lang. That is how I knew.”

They congratulated him on his perspicacity. Then Zhuge Liang selected a certain persuasive speaker from among his officers and whispered certain instructions in his ear. The officer at once left and carried the letter just written to the Wei camp, where he asked to see the Commander-in-Chief. He was admitted, and the letter was read.

“Who are you?” said Sima Yi.

“I am a man from the Middle Land, a poor fellow stranded in Shu. Zheng Wen and I are fellow villagers. Zhuge Liang has given Zheng Wen a van-leadership as a reward for what he has done, and Zheng Wen got me to bring this letter to you and to say that he will show a light tomorrow evening as a signal, and he hopes you will lead the attack yourself. Zheng Wen will work from the inside in your favor.”

Sima Yi took great pains to test the reliability of these statements, and he examined the letter minutely to see if it bore any signs of fabrication, but he found it was Zheng Wen's writing.

Presently he ordered in refreshments for the bearer of the letter, and then he said, “We will fix today at the second watch for the raid, and I will lead in person. If it succeeds, I will give you a good appointment as a reward.”

Taking leave, the soldier retraced his steps to his own camp and reported the whole interview to Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang held his sword aloft toward the North Star, took the proper paces for an incantation, and prayed. This done, he summoned Wang Ping, Zhang Ni, Wei Yan, Ma Dai, Ma Zhong, and Jiang Wei, to whom he gave certain instructions. When they had gone to carry them out, he ascended a hill, taking with him a few score guards only.

Sima Yi had been taken in by Zheng Wen's letter and intended to lead the night raid. But the elder of his sons, Sima Shi, expostulated with his father.

“Father, you are going on a dangerous expedition on the faith of a mere scrap of paper,” said his son. “I think it imprudent. What if something goes unexpectedly wrong? Let some general go in your place, and you come up in rear as a reserve.”

Sima Yi saw there was reason in this proposal, and he finally decided to send Qin Lang, with ten thousand troops, and Sima Yi himself would command the reserve.

The night was fine with a bright moon. But about the middle of the second watch the sky clouded over, and it became very black, so that a man could not see his next neighbor.

“This is providential,” chuckled Sima Yi.

The expedition duly started, soldiers with gags, and horses with cords round their muzzles. They moved swiftly and silently, and Qin Lang made straight for the camp of Shu.

But when he reached it, and entered, and saw not a soldier, he knew he had been tricked. He yelled to his troops to retire, but lights sprang up all round, and attacks began from four sides. Fight as he would, Qin Lang could not free himself.

From behind the battle area Sima Yi saw flames rising from the camp of Shu and heard continuous shouting, but he knew not whether it meant victory for his own army or to his enemy. He pressed forward toward the fire. Suddenly, a shout, a roll of drums, and a blare of trumpets close at hand, a bomb that seemed to rend the earth, and Wei Yan and Jiang Wei bore down upon Sima Yi, one on each flank. This was the final blow to him. Of every ten soldiers of Wei, eight or nine were killed or wounded, and the few others scattered to the four winds.

Meanwhile Qin Lang's ten thousand troops were falling under arrows that came in locust-flights, and their leader was killed. Sima Yi and the remnant of his army ran away to their own camp.

After the third watch the sky cleared. Zhuge Liang from the hill-top sounded the gong of retreat. This obscurity in the third watch was due to an incantation called “Concealing Method.” The sky became clear, because Zhuge Liang performed another incantation to have the Deities of Six Layers sweep away the few floating clouds that still persisted.

The victory was complete. The first order on Zhuge Liang's return to camp was to put Zheng Wen to death.

Next he considered new plans for capturing the south bank. Every day be sent a party to offer a challenge before the camps of the enemy, but no one accepted.