属下怕打草惊蛇
“Fearing I'd alert the enemy”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
只出不进
“No one in, only out.”
属下 怕 打草惊蛇
“Fearing I'd alert the enemy”
扰了少君的大计
“and ruin your grand plan, Mr. Mu,”
“Don't blame me for holding back; I was only being cautious for your sake.”
Underlings under strict rulers often rationalize passivity by framing inaction as tactical prudence to avoid fatal reprimands.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
to act rashly and alert the enemy
A common idiom originating from the Thirty-Six Stratagems, used widely in both modern and historical Chinese to warn against tipping off rivals.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“We may alert him.”
“In order not to alert him,”
“Do not alert him.”
“Don't alert the suspect!”
“You'll only alert her.”
“to avoid tipping him off.”