Then Cao Ren, furious, raised the whole of his own force and crossed the river by night, intending to trample down Xinye.
At that time Dan Fu had returned from a victory, and he said to Liu Bei: “Cao Ren has stationed his army at Fan City. Now that he knows the two generals have been executed, he will surely bring a large force to fight.”
Liu Bei asked, “How should we meet him?”
Dan Fu replied, “If he brings out all his soldiers, Fan City will be empty. We can strike then.”
Liu Bei asked for a stratagem, and Dan Fu leaned in and whispered the plan to him in detail. Liu Bei was overjoyed; he had already prepared in advance.
Suddenly a scouting horse arrived: “Cao Ren has crossed the river with a large army.”
Dan Fu said, “It is just as I predicted.” He then asked Liu Bei to lead out the troops to meet him.

The two formations faced one another. Liu Bei sent Zhao Yun out to call across to the opposing commander for words.
Cao Ren ordered Li Dian to form the front line, where he crossed spears with Zhao Yun. After ten or more bouts, Li Dian judged that their enemy force was too strong and reined his horse back into the ranks.
Zhao Yun spurred his horse in pursuit. Their two wings closed up, then both sides drew back and returned to camp.

Returning to Cao Ren, Li Dian said, “That enemy is all chosen soldiers; we must not treat it lightly. It would be better to fall back to Fan City.”
Cao Ren was furious. “You already weakened the army’s spirit before we were in battle, and now you ran from the line. The crime deserves execution.” He ordered the executioner and the axe-men to bring Li Dian out to behead him. The generals interceded so fiercely that only then was he spared.
He reassigned Li Dian to command the rear and led the troops forward himself.

The next day he beat the war drums and advanced the army, forming an array. He sent to Liu Bei: “Can you read my array?”

Dan Fu climbed to high ground and looked closely before saying, “This is the Eight-Gate Golden-Lock Formation. Its gates are Rest, Life, Harm, Obstruction, Splendor, Death, Alarm, and Opening. From Life Gate, Splendor Gate, or Opening Gate is auspicious; from Harm Gate, Alarm Gate, or Rest Gate, one is wounded; from Obstruction Gate or Death Gate, one is lost. Today the eight gates are set in perfect order, but the center still lacks a controller. If you strike through the Life Gate at the southeast corner and pass out through the west Splendor Gate, the formation will break.”

Liu Bei issued orders for the front to hold the gates of the array and told Zhao Yun to lead five hundred men in through the southeast, straight westward to break out.
Zhao Yun obeyed. He stood upright in the saddle, leapt forward, and with raised spear and horse dashed toward the southeast corner, crying out, then drove into the center. Cao Ren immediately turned northward in retreat.
Zhao Yun did not give chase. Instead he burst out through the west gate and then circled, coming back through the southeast corner from the west. Cao Ren’s army became a rout.

Liu Bei waved his troops forward in a renewed assault, and Cao’s soldiers suffered a crushing defeat and withdrew. Dan Fu ordered that pursuit cease, then gathered his men and withdrew homeward.

After losing that engagement, Cao Ren at last believed Li Dian’s warning. He again asked Li Dian to counsel him and said, “Liu Bei certainly has outstanding men with him; he has still broken my formation.”
Li Dian replied, “Though I stand here, I still fear for Fan City.”
“Tonight we raid the camp,” Cao Ren said. “If we win, we can discuss plans. If we fail, we will retreat and return to Fan City.”
Li Dian said, “No, we cannot. Liu Bei will be ready for us.”
Cao Ren snapped, “If you are always so suspicious, how should a man do battle?” He refused Li Dian’s advice. He led the troops in the front rank and made Li Dian the rearguard. They were to raid the camp at the second watch of the night.

Meanwhile Dan Fu and Liu Bei were still discussing matters in camp when a sudden gale rose.
Dan Fu said, “Tonight Cao Ren is surely coming to raid the camp.”
Liu Bei asked, “Why do you say so?”
Dan Fu smiled. “I have already made my reckoning.” He quietly apportioned their defenses in secret.
By the second watch, Cao Ren’s troops had drawn near the camp. They saw fires flaring around all sides of the stockade, the fences already burned. Cao Ren knew there had been preparation and ordered immediate withdrawal.

Zhao Yun’s men killed those coming too near. Cao Ren could not withdraw his whole force and return to camp in time and fled toward the north bank of the river. Reaching the bank, he tried to find a boat to cross, but a band of soldiers had already arrived on the bank. At their head was none other than Zhang Fei.
Cao Ren fought desperately. Li Dian protected him while he boarded and crossed. A great part of Cao’s force drowned in the water.

Crossing over, Cao Ren reached the bank and ran to Fan City to call the gate. A drum sounded on the wall, and one general rode out with troops and shouted, “I have held Fan City for long already!”
Everyone stared in astonishment; it was Guan Yu. Cao Ren was shocked and whipped his horse into flight. Guan Yu chased and cut down men around him. Cao Ren lost yet more horses and in the night rode for Xuchang. On the road he learned that Dan Fu had served as their strategist and had laid this plan in advance.

Nothing need be said of Cao Ren’s defeat as he withdrew to Xuchang.
Meanwhile Liu Bei had achieved a complete victory and brought his army into Fan City. The county magistrate Liu Bi came out to welcome him. Liu Bei pacified the local households quickly.

Liu Bi was from Changsha and a relative of the Han court. He invited Liu Bei home and served him a feast.
A man standing at his side caught Liu Bei’s eye by his commanding presence, so Liu Bei asked Bi who he was.
Bi said, “That is my nephew Kou Feng, son of the former Lord of Luo, Kou. Both his parents died, so he depends on us here.”
Liu Bei grew fond of him and wished to adopt him as a formal son. Liu Bi gladly agreed, and Kou Feng knelt to Liu Bei as father. Liu Bei gave him the new name Liu Feng, then brought him back and ordered him to call Guan Yu and Zhang Fei his uncles.

Guan Yu said, “My lord already has a son; why adopt this moth of a man? Disorder may come after.”
Liu Bei answered, “I will treat him as my son, and he must serve me as if I were his father. How could trouble come from that?”
Guan Yu was displeased.
Liu Bei consulted with Dan Fu and ordered Zhao Yun to lead a thousand men to guard Fan City. Then he led the rest back to Xinye.

Cao Ren and Li Dian returned to Xuchang and, kneeling on the earth before Cao Cao, sought forgiveness. They reported the losses in full.
Cao Cao said, “Victory and defeat are ordinary in war, but tell me: who devised strategy for Liu Bei?”

Li Dian said it was Dan Fu.
Cheng Yu smiled. “It is not Dan Fu. This man, as a child, loved study and swordplay. In the later years of Zhongping, he once avenged a blood debt by killing a man and then fled with hair wild and face smeared. Caught by the authorities, he would not give his name. The officers bound him to a cart and dragged him through the marketplace with drums, calling on the townsfolk to identify him. None dared to speak, though some did know him. A companion secretly freed him; he changed his name and escaped, then humbled himself and sought out great teachers. He once even debated with Sima Hui. He is indeed Xu Shu of Yingchuan, courtesy name Yuanzhi. Dan Fu is just his assumed name.”

Cao Cao asked, “How does Xu Shu’s talent compare with yours?”
Cheng Yu said, “Ten times yours.”
Cao Cao sighed. “It is a pity that such a worthy man has gone to Liu Bei. He has acquired both wings and feathers; how can we lose him?”
Cheng Yu said, “If Xu Shu is truly there, your request would easily bring him.”
Cao Cao asked, “How can we get him to come?”
Cheng Yu answered, “Xu Shu is deeply filial. His father is long dead. Only his old mother remains at home. His brother Xu Kang is already gone, and no one tends his mother. If the Chancellor orders her brought to Xuchang and has her write to him, Xu Shu will have no choice but to come.”

Cao Cao rejoiced and sent men through the night to fetch Xu Shu’s mother. Within a day they brought her. He honored her with proper care and said, “I have heard of you, Xu Yuanzhi, and know you are a singular talent under heaven. Now you are in Xinye, helping the rebel Liu Bei, turning his back on the court. It is like fine jade fallen in mire—truly a pity. Do us this kindness: write to him and call him back to Xuchang, and I will petition the Son of Heaven to grant you rich rewards.”

He then ordered attendants to bring the four pieces of the scholar’s studio and made his mother write. She asked, “What sort of man is Liu Bei?”
Cao Cao answered, “A small man of Pei Commandery, one who brazenly calls himself imperial uncle, without faith or righteousness. He looks like a cultured gentleman but is a petty man at heart.”
Xu’s mother shouted back, “How deeply you lie! I have long heard that Liu Bei is of the line of King Jing of Zhongshan, grandson of Emperor Wen, and his reputation for courtesy and humanity is already well known. Men of every rank—the yellow-haired boy, the gray-haired elder, the village steward, the woodcutter—know his name. He is truly a hero of this age. My son chose to assist him and found a worthy lord. You may wear the title of Chancellor of Han, but you are a bandit of Han in deed. Yet you dare call Liu Bei a rebel and seek to force my son from light into darkness. How could you not be ashamed?”

After she spoke, she took up a stone inkstone and struck Cao Cao.
Cao Cao, angry, ordered soldiers to seize her and bring her out to execution. Cheng Yu hurried him to stop.
He remonstrated, “Xu’s mother has offended the Chancellor; she invites death by her own act. If Your Lordship kills her, you win a reputation for injustice and her virtue will only be greater. Once she is dead, Xu Shu will surely die to avenge the wrong with Liu Bei. Better to keep her alive: then Xu Shu will be divided between heart and duty; even if he aids Liu Bei, he will not give his full strength. If she remains safe, I can still devise a way to bring Xu Shu here.”

So Cao Cao heeded him and spared her life, placing her in a separate room to be cared for.
Cheng Yu visited daily, falsely saying he had sworn brotherhood with Xu Shu and treated her as his own mother. He always sent gifts and included a written note by hand. She too began writing replies with hand-signed notes.
Cheng Yu used her handwriting to copy a family letter, forged in her hand, then sent a trusted officer with it straight to Xinye to ask for Dan Fu.

At Liu Bei’s camp, the officer asked for Dan Fu. The sentry brought Xu Shu out. Seeing that his mother had a family letter, Xu Shu called him in immediately.
The messenger said, “I am a servant from her household. Madam has sent words with this letter.” Xu Shu opened and read:

Your brother Kang has recently died, and there is no one left on earth for me to look to. In this time of grief, I never expected that Chancellor Cao’s men would be sent to bring me to Xuchang, saying you had betrayed him, and that I was confined in chains. If Xu Shu comes in, perhaps I can live. By this letter’s arrival, remember all your care for me and come at once through the night to fulfill filial duty; then afterward I may plan to return and farm our old fields. I will not survive if you do not save me. I have no more to say.

When Xu Shu had finished reading, tears poured down him like springs. He took the letter to Liu Bei and said, “I am Xu Shu of Yingchuan, courtesy name Yuanzhi. I changed my name to Dan Fu when I fled the turmoil. I had heard that Liu Jingsheng had gathered worthy men; I went to visit him. When we spoke, I came to know he was a person of little use. I wrote him a farewell note and at midnight went to Sima’s Water-Mirror manor with that letter, laying out my case.
The master at Water-Mirror severely rebuked me for not knowing my lord and said: ‘Liu Yu Province is here. Why do you not serve him?’ I then acted insane and sang like a madman in the market to move my lord. By Heaven’s favor he did not reject me and soon gave me high command. Only this old mother remains, and now Cao Cao has trapped her as part of a trick to summon me and has her confined, intending harm.
If my old mother has called me home in this way, I cannot in good conscience stay on.”

Liu Bei wept. “Parent and child are joined by nature. Yuanzhi need not think of himself. When we meet with the old lady, perhaps you may receive my guidance again.”
Sun Qian whispered to Liu Bei, “Yuanzhi is a man of extraordinary talent throughout the realm. He has known our camp in full—its strengths and weaknesses. If Cao Cao gains him, he will be used greatly and your danger is plain. Lord, hold him here and do not let him go. If he does not return, Cao Cao will have his mother killed. Learn this: if Yuanzhi learns his mother is dead, he will seek revenge with all his strength.”

Liu Bei answered, “No. To let him go after the king has ordered his mother executed would be cruel; to keep him here and cut him off from his mother and sonly duty would be unjust. I would rather die than commit either cruelty or injustice.” All men were moved by this.

Liu Bei invited Xu Shu to drink. Xu Shu answered, “I have just heard my mother is in custody. Even the finest golden-and-jade wine cannot pass my throat.”
Liu Bei said, “Since I hear you will leave, I feel as though I lose both right and left hands. Even if this wine were made of dragon livers and phoenix marrow, it would still have no taste.”

The two men sat facing each other and wept, waiting together for dawn. The generals had already arranged a farewell banquet outside the outer watch. Liu Bei and Xu Shu rode out together from the city gate and, at a long pavilion, dismounted and said their parting words.

Liu Bei raised his cup and said to Xu Shu, “My affection is shallow, my ties are little; I cannot hold you longer. I beg you now to serve your new lord well and become famous by succeeding.”
Xu Shu wept and said, “My talent is small, my intellect shallow. I owe deep gratitude to you for your favor. It is my misfortune to part in mid-course, but only for my mother’s sake. Even if Cao Cao pressures me, I will never devise a single stratagem for him.”
Liu Bei said, “Once you leave, I too will head far into the mountains and forests.”
Xu Shu replied, “The reason I worked with you on the matter of empire was this small heart within me. My mind is now in ruin because of my mother. Even if I remained, it would help no one. My lord should seek another worthy man to aid him. Why should you be so disheartened?”
Liu Bei answered, “Among this age’s worthies, none surpasses you.”
Xu Shu said, “I am only a poor block of timber and common timber. I do not dare receive such praise.”

As they prepared to part, Xu Shu turned to the generals: “Please all serve my lord well, that your names be remembered on silk and your merit marked in blue histories. Do not follow me in my own failure of constancy.”
None could hide their grief.

Liu Bei could not bear to part and sent him off for a stretch, then sent him off for another. Xu Shu finally begged, “Please do not trouble yourself to see me farther. I will part here.”
Liu Bei reached for his hand in the saddle and said, “When you go now, our destinies are parted beneath different skies. I do not know when we may meet.” His words ended in tears that fell like rain. Xu Shu too wept as they separated.

Liu Bei stayed mounted by a grove and watched Xu Shu ride away with his attendants in haste. He cried, “Yuanzhi is gone. What can I do?” He fixed his eyes on the road, but a screen of trees cut off his sight.
He tapped his whip against a tree trunk and said, “I want to cut down these trees.”
The men asked why.
Liu Bei said, “They block my view of Xu Yuanzhi.”

While he still watched, Xu Shu suddenly turned and came back at speed on horseback.
Liu Bei said, “Yuanzhi returned—does he not wish to stay?” and joyfully rode forward to meet him.
Xu Shu reined in and said, “My mind is in confusion like tangled hemp. I forgot to tell you one thing. There is a remarkable man twenty li west of Xiangyang, at Longzhong. Why not seek him out yourself? If you gain this man, it is no different from Zhou gaining Lü Wang, Han winning Zhang Liang.”

Liu Bei said, “Please, by all means, ask this man to come before me.”
Xu Shu said, “He cannot be dragged here at your command. Your lord should go in person to seek him. If we gain him, it is no different from Zu of Lü Wang and Han’s Zhang Liang.”
Liu Bei asked, “How does he compare with you in talent and virtue?”
Xu Shu said, “Compared with me, it is like a plow-horse beside a qilin, a carrion crow beside a pair of phoenixes. He often compares himself to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi; from where I stand, even Guan and Yue are not his match. He has the talent to measure heaven and map the earth. I think he is one in all under heaven.”

Liu Bei said with joy, “I want to hear his name.”
Xu Shu said, “He is of Langya, Yangdu. His surname is Zhuge, personal name Liang, courtesy name Kongming. He is descended from Zhuge Feng, Commandant of the Metropolitan Censors. His father was Gui, courtesy name Zigong, once the Magistrate of Taishan Commandery. His father died early. Liang lived with his uncle and in time followed old ties to Liu Jingsheng in Jingzhou; he therefore made his home at Xiangyang. After his uncle died, he and his younger brother, Zhuge Jun, returned to till fields by themselves in Nanyang. He was fond of singing old songs in the style of Liang Fu. The place where he resides has a rise called Wolong Hill, and so he calls himself Master Wolong. He is a genius without peer in this age. Your lord should, without delay, alter his route and meet him. If this man will assist, why should the kingdom not be set in order?”
Liu Bei said, “Water-Mirror once told me, ‘If one of Fulong and Fengchu can be gained, the world can be pacified.’ Could this be Fulong and Fengchu in person?”
Xu Shu said, “Fengchu is Pang Tong of Xiangyang. Fulong is indeed Zhuge Kongming.”

Liu Bei exclaimed, “Today I understand those words. How could I have lived blind-eyed if not for your counsel?”

Later generations praised this as the verse Xu Shu wrote when he rode to recommend Zhuge:

Bitter is it to meet such a worthy and never meet one like him again; at the roadside farewell, our two hearts were thick with sorrow.
Yet one brief word, like spring thunder, could awaken the Crouching Dragon of Nanyang.

Xu Shu recommended Kongming, bid Liu Bei farewell, and rode away again.
After Xu Shu’s words, Liu Bei suddenly understood Master Sima’s earlier counsel, as if waking from drunkenness, as if waking from a dream. He returned to Xinye with his men, prepared rich gifts, and sent Guan and Zhang ahead to summon Kongming in Nanyang.

When Xu Shu had left Liu Bei, he remained troubled by how much he had been loved and feared that Kongming might refuse to leave his mountain. So he pressed on in one ride to Wolong Ridge, entered the thatched cottage, and met Kongming.
Kongming asked the reason for his coming.

Xu Shu answered, “I wished to serve Liu Yuzhou. But my mother was seized by Cao Cao, and a letter came summoning me. So I had to leave. Before I went I spoke of you to my lord and praised you. Liu Bei is coming to make his full court before you at once. Please do not turn him away; if you will not reject him, may you display your life’s gifts and lend him your aid.”

Kongming’s face changed as he listened and said, “Do you take me for the sacrificial meat of a feast?” He brushed past with his sleeves and withdrew. Xu Shu, ashamed and embarrassed, turned away and spurred on for Xuchang to see his mother.

Thus it was:

Out of love for one’s lord, I spoke one faithful word,
Rode a thousand li to tend to my grieving heart and mother.
Who can say what comes after this,
How this turned out will be told in the next chapter.