Liu Bei stirs Lady Sun with craft; Zhuge Liang unleashes his second stratagem against Zhou Gongjin.

The narrative says Liu Bei saw that Lady Sun's room had spears and blades arranged along both sides, and all her attendants wore swords. He could not help but turn pale. A house stewardess stepped forward and said, "My lord, do not be alarmed. Lady Sun has loved watching martial displays since childhood and always told her attendants to fence with swords for recreation. This is why the room is so set."

Liu Bei said, "This is no matter for the lady to watch. My heart is unsettled. You should have it cleared for a time."

The house stewardess reported to Lady Sun, who said, "The weapons are all in the room, and the lady is uneasy as a lady guest is present. Now we can have them removed."

Lady Sun laughed. "After two lives in bloodshed, can you still fear weapons?" she said, then ordered them taken away and told the attendants to sheathe their swords and wait nearby.

That night Liu Bei and Lady Sun were joined as husband and wife, and they shared close joy for the long days. Liu Bei gave the attendants gold and silk to buy their goodwill, and had Sun Qian return first to Jing Province with the happy report. From then on, they drank together for days. Empress Dowager Sun favored her greatly.

Then Sun Quan sent a messenger to Zhou Yu in Chaisang Commandery: "My mother insisted on this and has already given my sister in marriage to Liu Bei. Who would have imagined that a feigned match would become true? How should we now proceed?"

On hearing this, Zhou Yu was greatly shocked; he could not sit or lie still. He formulated a plan, wrote a secret letter, and sent it back with the messenger for Sun Quan to read.

The letter read:

The scheme you planned has turned out not as expected. Since this has become real, we should now make use of it. Liu Bei is a man of tiger-like force, and he has General Guan, General Zhang, Zhao Yun, and Zhuge Liang with him. He is not one who bows easily for long. It would be best to soften him here in Wu, build grand houses and halls to dull his heart; send him abundant treasures and silks and beautiful gifts to please his eyes and ears. Then separate him from Guan, Zhang, and Zhao, and distance him from Zhuge Liang; place them in different locations. Then, when he is thus separated, strike him with troops and the matter will be secure. If you let him go now, he may be a dragon that has found rain; he is no mere creature of a pond. May the Lord consider this carefully."

Sun Quan read the letter and showed it to Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Zhao said, "Gongjin's plan matches my own thoughts exactly. Liu Bei rose from obscurity and ran all over the world; he has never enjoyed wealth or rank. If we now give him grand halls and courtyards, household attendants, and treasures of gold and jade, he will naturally drift away from Kongming, Guan, and Zhang. Then each will nurture resentment and Jing Province can be planned against. My lord, let you follow Gongjin's plan and carry it out quickly."

Sun Quan rejoiced and immediately had the East Mansion repaired, planted many trees and flowers, arranged every utensil in abundance, and invited Liu Bei and his sister to live there. He also added dozens of female musicians, along with gold, jade, and brocade toys and objects. Empress Dowager Sun thought this was only Sun Quan's kindness and rejoiced without measure.

Indeed Liu Bei became absorbed in music and beauty and did not think to return to Jing Province.

Now Zhao Yun with five hundred troops stayed before the East Mansion and had no duties, only riding out beyond the walls to shoot arrows and run horses. When the year came to its end, he reflected: "Kongming gave me three brocade pouches and said this: when I arrived in Nánxú, open the first; after I stayed through the year-end, open the second; when danger leaves no path, open the third. Each contains his divine stratagem. They all kept my lord alive and saved him once. This is now near year-end. My lord is enthralled by women and does not come out. Why not open the second pouch and act on it?"

So he opened it and read. It was indeed a marvelous stratagem. He went straight to the hall to see Liu Bei.

An attendant announced, "Zi'long has urgent matter for my lord."

Liu Bei called him in and asked what had occurred.

Zhao Yun feigned surprise and alarm and said, "Your lordship rests in painted halls and does not think of Jing Province, is this so?"

Liu Bei asked, "What is this that has startled us so?"

Zhao Yun said, "Early this morning Kongming sent word by messenger that Cao Cao seeks to repay the feud of the battle at Red Cliffs. He has raised five hundred thousand elite troops and marched all the way toward Jing Province. It is most grave. Your lord should return at once."

Liu Bei said, "I must discuss this with my wife."

Zhao Yun replied, "If you ask permission, surely she will not let you return. Better to tell her nothing and begin the march tonight. Delay will cost us."

Liu Bei said, "Withdraw for now. I will reason this out."

Zhao Yun deliberately pressed him several times and then left. Liu Bei entered Lady Sun's apartment, tears falling in secret.

Lady Sun said, "Husband, why this grief?"

Liu Bei said, "I think of my own person drifting in foreign lands. I cannot attend my parents, nor can I offer sacrifice to our ancestors. I have become gravely unfilial. Now, when the new year is near, the thought chokes me."

Lady Sun said, "Do not hide it from me. I have already learned it. A moment ago Zi'long reported that Jing Province is in grave peril and you wanted to return; he said this in order to leave."

Liu Bei knelt and said, "Since you already know, how could I still hide? If I stay, Jing Province may fall and I will be mocked by men; if I go, I cannot leave you. It is for this reason that I am troubled."

Lady Sun said, "I have served my lord, and wherever you go, my lord can lead. I will go with you."

Liu Bei said, "Lady, though your heart is generous, what of Empress Dowager and the Prince? Will they consent to this? If Lady pitying Liu Bei asks it, you might leave after a temporary farewell."

After tears poured down like rain and he finished speaking, Lady Sun said, "Husband, do not be troubled. I will make my mother a painful plea and force her to send me with you."

Liu Bei said, "Even if Empress Dowager permits it, Wu Hou will still oppose us."

After Lady Sun thought long in silence, she said, "The day we paid respect at first dawn, we can claim that we go to the river to offer sacrifice to our ancestors. We need not inform anyone and can leave that way."

Liu Bei knelt in gratitude and said, "If you do this, I could never forget it even in life and death. Do not let this leak out."

The matter was decided in private. Liu Bei quietly summoned Zhao Yun and gave him instructions: "On the first day of the new year, you should lead the troops out first and wait along the highway. I will say I am coming to make the ancestral offering and go with my wife."

Zhao Yun took his leave.

In the spring of the fifteenth year of Jian'an, on the first day of the first month, Wu Hou gathered civil and military officials in the hall. Liu Bei and Lady Sun paid their respects to Empress Dowager Sun.

Lady Sun said, "My husband long to honor his parents and ancestral tombs. They all rest in Zhuo Commandery, and he grieves day and night. Today he wishes to go to the riverbank and look northward to sacrifice. I can only tell my mother this."

Empress Dowager said, "This is filial piety. Who could deny it? Though you do not know an aunt by marriage, you may accompany your husband. It is fitting for a wife."

Lady Sun together with Liu Bei bowed and took leave.

At this time, only Sun Quan was in ignorance.

Lady Sun climbed into the carriage with only a few personal soft goods. Liu Bei mounted his horse and led several riders out of the city, where he met Zhao Yun. With five hundred soldiers clearing ahead and behind to protect, he left Nánxú behind and hurried on.

That night Sun Quan was drunk, and attendants guided him into the back hall. All civil and military officials were gone. By the time the officers learned Liu Bei and his wife had fled, night had deepened. They tried to report it to Sun Quan, but he had not sobered.

When he fell asleep, it was already the fifth watch.

Next day Sun Quan learned they had fled. He quickly summoned civil and military officers to meet and asked Zhang Zhao: "This man left us today; he will certainly cause chaos at night and day. We should pursue at once."

Sun Quan ordered Chen Wu and Pan Zhang to choose five hundred picked soldiers and chase without pause and bring them back. The two commanders took command and rode out.

Sun Quan's resentment against Liu Bei was so deep that he shattered the ink slab on the desk.

Cheng Pu said, "My lord has rage reaching the sky. I think Chen Wu and Pan Zhang will not catch this man."

Sun Quan said, "How dare I disobey my lord?"

Pu replied, "the Commandery Princess, Lady Sun has loved martial spectacles since youth and is firm and severe. All commanders fear her. Now that she chose to follow Liu Bei, she will stand loyal. If we chase the one she has gone with, how can we take him when she is there?"

Sun Quan became furious. He drew the sword he carried and called Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai: "You two take this sword. Capture my sister and bring me Liu Bei's head. Whoever disobeys, I will execute at once!"

Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai took the order and soon after led three thousand soldiers in pursuit.

Liu Bei whipped up the reins and rode hard; they only rested for two watches in the night before rising again in haste. Soon they reached the border of Chaisang. In the distance they saw a great cloud of dust behind. A messenger shouted: "The pursuers have arrived!"

Liu Bei asked in alarm, "Now that pursuit has come, what are we to do?"

Zhao Yun said, "My lord should press forward. I will hold behind for now."

When they reached the slope before the mountain, a troop surged forth and blocked the road. In front were two senior commanders who shouted hoarsely, "Liu Bei, dismount and submit. I hold the order of Chief Commander Zhou and have waited here a long time!"

In truth, Zhou Yu, fearing Liu Bei might get away, had first sent Xu Sheng and Ding Feng with three thousand horse and infantry to camp at a key chokepoint and have men watch from high points. He had counted on Liu Bei passing this route. On the day he saw their approach, he ordered them to draw weapons and block the way.

Liu Bei, alarmed, drew back his horse and asked Zhao Yun: "There is a blockade ahead and pursuit behind. With no road before or behind, what are we to do?"

Zhao Yun said, "Do not be alarmed. The strategist has three excellent plans, most of which are in the brocade pouches. We opened two and both proved true. The third remains unopened and may be opened only in desperate times. Yet this is desperate. We should open it now."

He opened it and handed it to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei read and came quickly to the front to Liu Bei and said with tears, "Lady Sun, I have a matter of great urgency in my heart. I shall speak plainly."

Lady Sun said, "What must the lord say may be told."

Liu Bei said, "Your brother and Zhou Yu worked together and first invited you to join Liu Bei not for your sake, but to imprison him and seize Jing Province. Once Jing Province is taken, he surely intends to kill me. So you were bait to draw Liu Bei. I did not come though I feared death, because I believed you, in your man's heart, would pity me. Yesterday I heard that Wu Hou would seek to harm us and that he used the danger in Jing Province to justify our return. Now he sends men behind us to chase and Zhou Yu sends men ahead to block. Only you can untie this danger. If you do not consent, I shall die in the cart to repay your virtue."

Lady Sun cried out in anger: "My brother no longer treats me as true kin, and how can I meet him with any face? I will loosen my own bonds here."

With that she shouted to her attendants to push the carriage forward. She pulled up the screen and, in her own voice, cried to Xu Sheng and Ding Feng: "Do you two seek rebellion?"

Xu Sheng and Ding Feng at once dismounted and dropped their weapons. Bowing on the carriage step, they said, "How dare we rebel? We only hold the order of Chief Commander Zhou and stand here to wait for Liu Bei."

Lady Sun roared in anger: "How dare Zhou Yu, who calls himself treacherous, act this way in my Eastern Wu! Liu Bei is the Great Han uncle, and he is my husband. I told mother and brother that we would return to Jing Province. Why have you, by choosing this place by the mountain path, brought men and horses to block the road and seek to loot my household?"

Xu Sheng and Ding Feng stood and repeatedly nodded, saying, "We do not dare. Put down your anger, Lady. This is none of our concern. It is Zhou the Chief Commander whose order we obey."

Lady Sun snapped, "You fear Zhou Yu, but not me? Zhou Yu can kill you, but if he wrongs me, why should I not kill Zhou Yu?" Then she scolded Zhou Yu in public. She ordered the carriage to move.

Xu Sheng and Ding Feng thought, "We are underlings; how could we withstand her?" and, seeing Zhao Yun in fierce anger, they made the troops hold their breath and opened a wide road for them through.

As soon as they moved only five or six li, Chen Wu and Pan Zhang arrived from behind.

Beforehand, Xu Sheng and Ding Feng had conveyed the whole matter. Chen and Pan said, "You let him through by mistake. We two came at our lord's command to seize him and take him back."

The four commanders assembled the soldiers and rushed on. As Liu Bei walked, behind him a loud cry rose.

Liu Bei said to Lady Sun, "Now the pursuers have reached us again. What should we do?"

Lady Sun said, "Husband, go ahead. I will stand behind with Zi'long."

Liu Bei first drew three hundred troops and moved toward the riverbank. Zi'long reined in at the carriage side, ordered the soldiers to spread out, and prepared to meet the coming cavalry.

When the four commanders arrived and saw Lady Sun, they dismounted and stood with hands clasped.

Lady Sun said, "Chen Wu and Pan Zhang, what business brings you here?"

The two generals answered, "By command of the lord, we bid Lady and Lord Liu return."

Lady Sun spoke in stern voice and said, "It is you and your sort of small men who sowed discord between my brother and me. I have already married another man. Today my return is no elopement. I came with my mother's order and I and my husband must return to Jing Province. Even if my brother himself comes, he must act by ritual propriety. Does one armed with troops have he now intended to kill me?"

She spoke so harshly that the four men glanced at one another and each thought: "For ten thousand years she is no more than sister and brother. Plus Empress Dowager rules now. Wu Hou is a son of devotion. How dare anyone ignore his mother's word? Tomorrow the face may turn, and then it will be said we failed. Better to act as people of feeling." In the ranks they saw no Liu Bei, only Zhao Yun with eyes blazing and brows knit, waiting to fight. So the four commanders repeatedly bowed and withdrew.

Lady Sun told the attendants to move the cart forward.

Xu Sheng said, "We four should go report this to Commander Zhou."

The four hesitated, when suddenly a force came like a whirlwind. It was Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai.

The two commanders asked, "Have any of you seen Liu Bei?"

The four said, "He passed this way earlier. It has already been half a day."

Jiang Qin said, "Why did you not seize him?"

The four each spoke of Lady Sun's rebuke. Jiang Qin said, "Wou Hou fears this very situation and gave this sword to be delivered here: first kill his sister, then behead Liu Bei. Anyone who disobeys will be beheaded."

The four replied, "He is now too far. What can we do?"

Jiang Qin said, "These are only foot soldiers; they cannot catch pace with you. Let Xu Sheng and Ding Feng report to Commander Zhou quickly and order them to row fast boats by water. As for us, we will pursue from the bank. River or land, we will overtake and kill."

So Xu Sheng and Ding Feng rushed to report to Zhou Yu, and Jiang Qin, Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, and Pan Zhang led men along the river and pursued.

Meanwhile Liu Bei and his party, moving fast, went farther from Chaisang, and reached Liu Lang Port. Their hearts were a little at ease. Along the riverbank, they searched for crossing, and there was no boat in sight. Liu Bei and his attendants stood still a while.

Zhao Yun said, "My lord escaped from the tiger's jaws; now we are almost in our own boundary. I know the strategist must have planned this. Why do we still worry?"

Hearing him, Liu Bei suddenly remembered the prosperity in Eastern Wu and could not stop tears.

Later people wrote this poem:

When Wu and Shu were married, the water was clear, pearls spread on the canopy, house of gold in gleam. Who knew one woman, light as heaven under all men, sought to change Liu Lang's steadfast heart.

Liu Bei ordered Zi'long to scout ahead for boats. He reported at once that dust was rising thick from behind.

Liu Bei mounted and looked back from a high place. He saw soldiers and horse covering the ground and said, "Days of running are over; men are tired and horses spent, and the pursuers have arrived again. There is no place to die!"

Then as the shouts came nearer, an auspicious sight appeared on the bank: more than twenty covered boats with drooped awnings were being tossed in a single line on the river.

Zhao Yun said, "By heaven's favor, ships are here! Oar across to the opposite bank and keep distance!"

Liu Bei and Lady Sun hurried onto the boat. Zi'long brought all five hundred troops aboard as well.

Suddenly one in the boat with a silk kerchief and ceremonial robe rose laughingly and said, "My lord, rejoice! Kongming has waited here for a long time." The attendants who appeared to be guests in the boat were all river soldiers from Jing Province.

Liu Bei rejoiced greatly. Soon the four commanders arrived.

Kongming laughed, pointed to the men on shore and said, "I have prepared this for many days. Go and tell Zhou what you have seen, and he should stop using these tricks with beauty."

As they sent arrows from the bank, the boat was far enough.

The four commanders only stared in amazement.

As Liu Bei and Kongming traveled onward, suddenly the river roared hard. Looking back, they saw countless battle ships. Under the battle pennant at the front, Zhou Yu himself led the seasoned river troops, with Huang Gai on his left and Han Dang on his right. Their momentum was like flying horses, their speed like falling stars.

As the chase closed, Kongming ordered the rowers to turn toward the north bank, abandon the boats, and all dismount and continue on foot.

Zhou Yu reached the bank and dismounted to pursue. Everyone else also disembarked and gave chase on foot, except one mounted officer.

Zhou Yu was in front, with Huang Gai, Han Dang, Xu Sheng, and Ding Feng close behind. Zhou Yu asked the soldiers where they were. They said, "The front is the head of Huangzhou Commandery."

Looking ahead and seeing Liu Bei's horsemen not far away, Zhou Yu ordered a massed pursuit.

As they chased, a drum beat resounded. From the valley emerged a line of sword-bearing men, and at its head a leading general.

It was Guan Yu, whose courtesy name was Yunchang.

Zhou Yu lost his composure and spurred his horse to flee. As he fled, Guan Yunchang came on. Zhou Yu leapt forward on horseback and raced for his life. At that moment, on the left rode Huang Zhong, and on the right Wei Yan; both sides surged forward and the Wu armies were smashed.

Zhou Yu climbed into a boat in urgency, but all the infantry soldiers called out together, "Zhou Lang's clever plan to stabilize the realm now costs us the Lady and loss of troops!"

Zhou Yu said in fury, "Let us return and do battle decisively once more!"

Huang Gai and Han Dang held him back by force. Zhou Yu thought to himself, "My scheme has failed. With what face can I go back before Wu Hou?"

He cried out once, a wound in his chest split open, and he sank into the boat. The commanders rushed to save him, but he was already insensible.

It ended with this:

Twice I play at trickery and make it clumsy, today I keep angry words and yet still carry shame. How Commander Zhou's life will continue, we do not yet know.

How this turned out will be told in the next chapter.