According to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Wei commander Sima Yi once led 150,000 troops to assault Xicheng in the hope of capturing Zhuge Liang.

Having sent out all the generals and only left with a handful of civil officials and 2500 soldiers, Zhuge Liang ordered all the banners and flags to be hidden and all the soldiers to stay where they were and stop clamoring.

Anyone who disobeyed the order would be beheaded immediately.

He also ordered all the four gates to be opened and had some soldiers disguised into civilians to sweep the streets while he sat high up on the platform of the fortress calmly playing his zither with two children beside him.

Sima Yi was puzzled by the scene. To his understanding, Zhuge Liang was an extremely prudent military tactician who rarely took risks.

Entry into the apparently empty city would have drawn his troop into an ambush. So he ordered his troop to retreat in case of being set up.