Zhuge Liang himself came up with a clever plan to scare off Sima Yi's attack before he died. What's the story?

The story is that the dead Zhuge scared away the living Sima.

After Zhuge Liang died of illness, the Shu army retreated to China. Sima yi sent troops to pursue him. Zhuge Liang anticipated Sima yi's move before he died, so he ordered someone to make a wooden statue of himself in advance and sit on his four-wheeled vehicle. When Sima Yi's pursuers arrived, Jiang Wei launched a woodcarving carriage. Sima Yi saw the woodcarving and thought Zhuge Liang was not dead, so he ran away immediately.

Extended data:

Related allusions

Sima Yi thought Zhuge Liang was dead and led an army to pursue him. Jiang Wei launched a woodcarving to look like Zhuge Liang and returned with a great army. When Sima Yi saw Zhuge Liang (woodcarving), he thought Zhuge Liang was playing dead and lured Wei Jun to attack. Hurriedly retreat, ran for miles, Sima Yi did not dare to catch up.

So the Shu army retreated calmly and entered the valley of obituaries. Afterwards, the people worked out a wonderful plan for Zhuge Liang. Sima Yi heard that the Shu army was in the inclined valley and sighed, "Zhuge Liang is really a genius in the world."

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-dead Zhuge scares away the living Sima