When King Youwang was enthroned in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the dynasty was at the brink of collapse, with lingering disasters and famines. Youwang, however, only continued to indulge himself in dissolute living.

Baosi, his favorite concubine, seldom ever smiled. The king used all kinds of ways to tease her hoping she would burst into laughter, but to no avail. He then announced that he would award a thousand silver coins to anyone who could make Baosi smile.
Guo Shifu, a high-ranking court official, always excelled at pleasing the king. He offered Youwang a notorious suggestion - that he could play a trick on the regional lords by sending false emergency signals.
In an effort to cope with possible attacks from the Quanrong tribe to the west, the Zhou Dynasty had built every few kilometers a total of over twenty signal towers on Lishan Mountain near Haojing. In case of attack, the soldiers defending the towers were to light fires to inform each other. When regional lords saw the fires, they would send troops to rescue the capital city.
Youwang and Baosi came to Lishan Mountain and ordered fires lit to signal the towers. Believing the capital to be under attack, nearby regional lords rushed to the rescue with their troops. They were all bewildered upon arrival, as they could not see a single invader, but only heard the sounds of merrymaking wafting from the palace in the mountain. Seeing the lords making such a great fuss, Baosi broke into laughter. When they realized that it was all a hoax, the frustrated "rescuers" angrily departed.
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