Since the appearance of zouyu managed to enthrall Shuntian, then it was more uproarious in the city the zouyu first appeared, Kaifeng. And as expected, Huan Shikang and his cronies had heard that news.
"Zhou Wang gains support from zouyu?! How come?!" Huan Shikang smoldered with anger as his subordinate gave report. The subordinate also reported that some of Huan Shikang's followers was keen on the news of "zouyu's arrival to the government" and started to be confused about whom they must follow, how could Huan Shikang not be angry?
"Or maybe Zhou Wang lies? The animal he caught isn't zouyu but he says a lie that it is zouyu?! For Heaven's sake, zouyu doesn't exist!"
"But even the Emperor himself said that the creature is really zouyu. Yingtian people, then the whole palace, all Fan Wangs, all ministers and generals... so many people have watched it, it must be true, then?"
Huan Shikang became more frustrated. De Ta's face also turned cloudy. "Zouyu is the Messenger of Heaven. It only appears in the era of benevolent leaders. Its appearance is really a big blow to our movements. Because it clearly shows Zhou Wang is in facet a benevolent leader..."
"You are wrong."
They turned over. Rumilie was standing behind them.
"Rumilie! Where did you go all this time, bumpkin?! You just want to get the good one while we must endure severe torture!"
Rumilie smiled. "The hero always suffers and faces lots of torments at first, but he will come out as a winner and get worshiped by the whole world at last. And me, just becoming an advisor standing behind the scenes, and it will be the same until the end. So why do you get jealous of me while the portion you get will be much better than mine?"
Huan Shikang snorted.
"You don't need to be afraid of the appearance of zouyu. If we get scared and let the news keep spreading over, they'll get what they want. But if we attack them back by spreading fake news to oppose that news, then the result will be completely different."
"Spreading fake news? What do you mean?"
"The society is basically a group of blind sheep, they can't distinguish what is right and what is wrong. We'll spread another fake news; That the zouyu captured by Zhou Wang is a fake zouyu."
"But even the Emperor, the Fan Wangs, the ministers and generals, and other officials declare that it is really a zouyu!..."
"It is the Emperor and the Ming loyalists who make the statement. We are fighting against the Ming government. So zouyu is the emperor's fake news to fool the people in order to make them submit to the government."
Huan Shikang's face, which was disheveled before, now turned enthusiastic, as if he was just hit by an electric shock. "My gosh, you are a true cunning fox! Awesome!"
"But, how about Yingtian people? They have also seen zouyu?..." Wan Ya asked in doubt.
"Yingtian and Kaifeng are separated by hundreds of kilometers, how can they be certain that the news spreading in such that far area is true? Who knows, the news saying that the Yingtian people have seen zouyu is only a rumor? Have Kaifeng people seen zouyu by themselves?"
De Ta, Suo Junhuan, Yu Mu Li La, Wan Ya, and the others smiled cheerfully.
"The lie will lose to the truth, that's what the proverb said. But I think that's a wrong proverb. The important thing isn't a matter of lie or truth, but which one is stronger, and which one is weaker. We must make the lies stronger than the truth, then the truth will be covered by the lies. And thus, people will assume that the truth is a lie, and the lie is the truth."
Wan Ya clapped his hands. "Awesome, Sir! You are deserved to be titled "The Rebirth of Sun Tzu" !"
Rumilie was a real formidable strategy planner. Kaifeng people never saw zouyu because it was too chaotic to display the zouyu and the government was afraid that the zouyu might perhaps be killed by rebels at once. Moreover, he blew his fan hard to spread the fake news, even a small fire would immediately ignite the news to explode. The masses who were once moved to defect, soon returned back to their initial choice. They were even angrier at the government than before.
"The government is the real shit! How dare they deceive the people! Huh, their sin is more severe because they dare to utilize Heaven for their deception!"
Rumilie was right, that Method of Lying is still useful even in modern times. Moreover, they initially worshiped Huan Shikang, it was easy for them to return to their original decision. And the riots in Kaifeng still kept going.
"How dare they slander that this is a fake zouyu!" Zhu Su's temper sparked.
"But, how can they believe that lie?" Wu Qi was confused.
"They have worshipped Huan Shikang so much, after all. Once somebody has been obsessed, everything can't change his mind because he has stuck with his possession. He will absolutely support the lie. And maybe, the masses realize that it's a lie, yet their obsessed mind automatically rejects to believe the truth, so in the end they choose to follow the lie and reject the truth," Liu Ku responded.
Wu Qi let out a harsh breath when Chen Xinyi stepped into the room.
"Why are you tensed up, Boy?" He asked.
"Because of those stupid masses, believing that the appearance of zouyu is a big lie! Damn Huan Shikang, he is the real liar, but he accuses us as the liars instead!"
Chen Xinyi looked around. He saw that Zhu Su was staring back at him confusedly and Liu Ku was raising his brow as if he was thinking hard.
Then, he smiled broadly.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. No need for you to care about Huan Shikang and his dirty strategy, they will lose anyway." Chen Xinyi approached Zhu Su. "Because, I have found out their flaw!"
"Really?!"
Chen Xinyi nodded. "Huan Shikang's supporters don't come from Kaifeng people. In fact, most of Kaifeng people don't support them."
"Huh?! But how about the people I met?! The farmers... the traders... how about them?!"
"They are poor people and victims of disasters coming from both Kaifeng - in this case, those who are suffered from the disaster in Kaifeng as well as Kaifeng's suburbs - and other cities. They are paid to make chaos here. The chaos has been set up from the beginning."
"But, how can they pay so many people that they can even form a village..." Wu Qi mumbled. "They must spend a lot of money to feed their followers, then, where do they get that kind of money..."
"So, they are the vandals paid to disguise themselves as the oppressed Kaifeng people? Then, where are the real Kaifeng people? Why don't they appear to reveal that rioters hijack their names?!" Zhu Su asked.
"Because they are frightened. Huan Shikang has apparently threatened them. He arrested the headmen and killed those who intended to defy in public. His cruelty made the guts of the people immediately shrank. When the riots broke out, they still hid inside the house."
Zhu Su nodded. "Can you help me to meet with them? I want to talk with them in person."
"Your subject obeys!"