The plants and trees are all [enemy] soldiers
To describe people who are in a state of acute nervousness, fear, or suspicion
Negative
9·11事件发生初期那种草木皆兵的状态却也逐渐缓和 | 9·11 shìjiàn fāshēng chūqí nà zhǒng cǎomùjiēbīng de zhuàngtài què yě zhújiàn huǎnhé
The hysteria of the early days after 9/11 has abated
[Source]
投资者似乎已经开始草木皆兵了 | Tóuzīzhě sìhū yǐjīng kāishǐ cǎomùjiēbīngle
It seems investors have already started to get extremely anxious
[Source]
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Note that this Qín (秦) kingdom happens a few hundred years after the first Qín Dynasty (秦, 221 - 207 BC)
《晋书》(Jìn Shū), a work documenting the history of the Jìn Dynasty (晋, 265 - 420). It was written by Táng Dynasty (唐, 618 - 907) historian 房玄龄 (Fáng Xuán Líng)
During the Eastern Jìn Dynasty (东晋, 317 - 420), the nearby state of 前秦 (Qián Qín, 351 - 395) controlled most of northern China. Its king, 苻坚 (Fú Jiān), wanted to capture more territory, so he personally led over 900,000 troops to attack the Jìn. As they neared, the Jìn generals 谢石 (Xiè Shí) and 谢玄 (Xiè Xuán) were deployed to resist them — but they only had 80,000 troops. When 苻坚 learned of the massive numerical advantage he had, he grew delighted. He assumed that his forces would be able to crush the enemy in one fell swoop, and without much delay, he ordered a first wave of troops to launch an assault.
The Jìn forces, however, had a card up their sleeve: a soldier from 苻坚's army had defected and told them where to focus their attacks. They heeded the defector's advice and utterly crushed 苻坚's troops. A terrified 苻坚, watching the battle from atop a city wall, turned his gaze from the scene of the onslaught and looked at the remainder of the Jìn troops camped on the distant mountainside. They were in an orderly formation, and behind them, as the wind started to blow, the trees and the bushes also looked as though they were soldiers standing in line. The king began to deeply regret that he'd underestimated his enemy.
However, despite his regrets, 苻坚 still continued to advance. He sent his troops to the shores of a river in attempts to use geography turn the fighting to their advantage, but again, the Jìn managed to get the upper hand and deliver a devastating defeat. When the battle was done, bodies of 前秦 troops lay scattered across the ground, and 苻坚 himself had been struck by an arrow.