“No,” replied his father, “that would take a month, and delay would mean failure.”
Sima Yi gave orders to prepare to advance by double-rapid marches and threatened death to all loiterers. In order to avert suspicion, he sent letters to Meng Da by the hand of Military Adviser Liang Ji to tell Meng Da to prepare to join the expedition.
Sima Yi quickly followed Liang Ji. After two days' march Sima Yi fell in with an army of General Xu Huang over the hills.
Xu Huang got an interview with Sima Yi, and he said, “The Emperor has arrived at Changan to lead an expedition against Shu. Whither is the Commander-in-Chief going?”
Sima Yi, in a low voice, said to him, “Meng Da is on the verge of rebellion, and I am going to seize him.”
“Let me go as your van-leader,” said Xu Huang.
So Xu Huang's troops were joined to the expedition and marched in the van. Sima Yi commanded the center, and his sons brought up the rear.
Two days farther on, some of the scouts captured Meng Da's confidential messenger, and with him Zhuge Liang's reply. Sima Yi promised the man his life if he would tell all he knew. So the messenger told all about the letters and messages he had taken from one to the other.
When Sima Yi read, he remarked, “All able people think the same way. Our plan would have been foiled by Zhuge Liang's cleverness unless, by the good luck of the Emperor, this messenger had been captured. Now Meng Da will be helpless.”
The army pressed on still more rapidly.
Meng Da had arranged for his stroke with Governor Shen Yi of Jincheng and Governor Shen Dan of Shangyong and was awaiting the day he had fixed. But Shen Yi and Shen Dan were only pretending to abet him, although they went on training and drilling their troops to keep up appearances till the soldiers of Wei could arrive. To Meng Da they pretended delay in their transport as the reason for being unable to start. And he believed them.
Just then Liang Ji came, and when he had been ceremoniously received, he produced the order from Sima Yi and said, “The Commander-in-Chief has received the edict of the Emperor to call in all the forces in this area, and he has sent me to direct you to hold your troops in readiness to march.”
“On what day does the Commander-in-Chief start?” asked Meng Da.
“He is just about starting now, and is on the way to Changan” replied Liang Ji.
Meng Da smiled inwardly, for, this being so, he saw success before him. He gave a banquet to Liang Ji; and after Liang Ji took his leave, Meng Da sent to his fellow conspirators — Shen Yi and Shen Dan — to say the first step must be taken next day by exchanging the banners of Wei for those of Han and marching to attack Luoyang.
Then the watchmen reported a great cloud of dust in the distance as though an army was coming. Meng Da was surprised and went up on the ramparts to see for himself. Soon he made out the banner of Xu Huang leading. He ran down from the wall and in a state of trepidation ordered the raising of the drawbridge. Xu Huang still came on and in due time stood on the bank of the moat.
Then Xu Huang called out, “Let the traitor Meng Da yield quickly!”
Meng Da, in a rage, opened upon him with arrows, and Xu Huang was wounded in the forehead. He was helped to a place of safety while the arrows flew down in great numbers. When the soldiers of Wei retired, Meng Da opened the gates and went in pursuit. But the whole of Sima Yi's army soon came up, and the banners stood so thick that they hid the sun.
“This is what Zhuge Liang foresaw!” said Meng Da despairingly. The gates were closed and barred.
Meanwhile the wounded general, Xu Huang, had been borne to his tent, where the arrow head was extracted and the physician attended to him. But that night he died. He was fifty-nine. His body was sent to Luoyang for burial.
Next day, when Meng Da went up on the wall, he saw the city was entirely surrounded as with a girdle of iron. He was greatly perturbed and could not decide what to do. Presently he saw two bodies of troops coming up, their banners bearing the names of his fellow conspirators — Shen Yi and Shen Dan. He could only conclude that they had come to his help, so he opened the gates to them and went out to fight.
“Rebel, stay!” cried they both as they came up.
Realizing that they had been false, he turned and galloped toward the city, but a flight of arrows met him, and the two who had betrayed him, Li Fu and Deng Xian, began to revile him.
“We have already yielded the city!” they cried.
