A staged act or conflict where both parties are willing participants, often to deceive a third party; a situation where both sides are playing along or are mutually willing to engage in a seemingly unfavorable action for a greater purpose.
Era:
Modern
Frequency:
Synonym:
Story:
During the Three Kingdoms period, Huang Gai, a general of Eastern Wu, was ordered to feign surrender to Cao Cao's camp. To gain Cao Cao's trust, Zhou Yu deliberately found an excuse to severely beat Huang Gai, making Huang Gai pretend to be angry and defect to Cao Cao.
Huang Gai then persuaded Cao Cao to link his warships together, thereby creating favorable conditions for Zhuge Liang (Kongming) to use a fire attack. Ultimately, the Sun-Liu alliance achieved a decisive victory in the Battle of Red Cliffs.