Hasting to avenge an elder brother, Zhang Fei meets his death. To wash away grief for a younger brother, the Lord of Shu raises his army.

Yet the Lord, Liu Bei, whose courtesy name was Xuande, raised his force for an eastern campaign. Zhao Yun, whose courtesy name was Yunchang, remonstrated:

“Cao Cao is the rebel against the state, not Sun Quan. Now that Cao Pi has usurped the Han, Heaven and men alike are in righteous anger. Your Majesty should early make plans for Guanzhong and station troops on the upper reaches of the Wei River to punish the treacherous usurper. Then the men of principle in the lands east of the pass will saddle up, gather grain, and ride out to welcome the army of the Son of Heaven. If Your Majesty leaves Wei and attacks Wu, once armies meet can they be separated at once? Please inspect this matter carefully.”

The Lord replied, “Sun Quan harmed my younger brother. In addition, Fu Shiren, Mi Fang, Pan Zhang, and Ma Zhong are all among those whose teeth grind against me. To consume their flesh and erase their clans is what will quiet my resentment. Why do you still hinder this?”

Yun said, “The Han usurper’s wrong is the realm’s wrong; your brother’s wrong is a private matter. I beg Your Majesty to hold the kingdom above all.”

The Lord answered, “If I do not avenge my brother, even though I possessed ten thousand li of land from river to river, what nobility would that give me?”

He would not heed Zhao Yun’s counsel and ordered the troops to march against Wu. He also sent envoys to Wuxi for fifty thousand auxiliary troops to coordinate for support. At the same time, he dispatched another mission to Langzhong, promoting Zhang Fei to General of Agile Cavalry, appointing him Colonel of the Capital Censors, Marquis of Xixiang, and also Governor of Langzhong, with imperial decrees in hand.

When word reached Zhang Fei in Langzhong that Guan Yu had been killed by Eastern Wu, he cried out and wept morning and evening; his collar was soaked with blood from his own fury. The officers offered him wine to soothe him, but as he drank his rage increased. In his pavilion and camp any who offended him at all were immediately lashed, and many died under the whips. Each day he clenched his teeth and glared southward, sobbing without pause.

Suddenly an envoy arrived. Zhang Fei hurried to receive him and had him read the decree aloud. After receiving the command and paying court in obeisance, he set out a proper welcome with wine. After drinking once, he demanded:

“I have lost my brother; my vengeance is as deep as the sea. Why has not the court put forward its ministers to begin this campaign at once?”

The envoy answered, “There are many who urged Your Majesty to eliminate Wei first and only then punish Wu.”

Zhang Fei thundered, “What is this nonsense? In the peach orchard of our youth, the three of us swore brotherhood and shared life and death. Yet by ill fortune one of my two elder brothers has already gone on the way halfway through life. How can I alone enjoy rank and safety? I must see Your Majesty in person and ask to lead the vanguard, in mourning garb, against Wu, to take the traitor alive and report to my brothers so we may keep our former oath.”

Once he had spoken, he departed with the messenger toward Chengdu.

At home, the Lord continued to drill horses and men at the parade ground, preparing on an auspicious day, and was to lead the campaign personally. So all ministers gathered in the Chancellor’s residence and addressed Kongming: “Your Majesty has only just ascended to the throne; personally commanding all six armies is not fitting for the weight of altar and state. You hold the office of balancing the realm as Chancellor. Why do you not remonstrate?”

Kongming answered, “I have already given remonstrance many times, but I was not listened to. Today you all come with me to the drill field; we will remonstrate him there.”

He then brought all officials to the training yard and submitted to the Lord:

“Your Majesty has just ascended the great seat. If Your Majesty truly intends to march north and punish the Han usurper, thereby serving the greater justice under Heaven, then only then should You personally lead six armies. If You wish merely to attack Wu, a single senior commanding general would suffice to command. Why must you personally wear yourself with the holy carriage?”

The Lord, seeing Kongming’s repeated remonstration, let his thoughts soften somewhat. Word came that Zhang Fei had arrived. He immediately summoned him.

Zhang Fei entered the martial hall, threw himself to the ground before Liu Bei, and clung to the Lord’s feet while crying. The Lord also wept.

“Your Majesty is emperor now,” Zhang Fei said, “yet you have forgotten our oath of the Peach Garden! How can we not repay the blood-debt of my two elder brothers?”

The Lord said, “Many ministers oppose this; I did not dare to act lightly.”

Zhang Fei replied, “Do others know what oath we made in the days gone by? If Your Majesty does not go, I will give up this body to pay back my two brothers. If I cannot bring vengeance, I would rather die than see Your Majesty.”

The Lord responded, “I shall go with you. You will bring out your own troops from Langzhong. I will bring the chosen troops and join with you at Jiangzhou. We will together attack Eastern Wu and wipe out this grievance.”

As Zhang Fei was about to depart, the Lord warned him: “I have long known that after wine you become violently angry, that you lash men and then keep them at your side again; this is a road to disaster. From now on, be restrained and do not be as before.”

Zhang Fei bowed and withdrew.

The next day the Lord arranged his army and prepared to depart. The scholar Qin Mi submitted counsel:

“Your Majesty, with imperial dignity in Your chariot, to favor a petty cause is not behavior of the ancients. Please consider this.”

The Lord said, “Zhao Yun and I are still one body. The great righteousness remains; how can it be forgotten?”

Qin Mi, kneeling on the ground without rising, said, “Your Majesty does not follow Your servant’s words; I truly fear there will be loss.”

The Lord grew angry: “I have resolved to raise arms. Why can you utter such unpropitious words?” He ordered soldiers to drag him out and execute him.

Qin Mi kept his face unchanged, looked back at the Lord, and smiled:

“Your servant has no grievance in dying, only regret that the work newly built may be overturned.”

Many officials pleaded for Qin Mi’s release.

The Lord said, “For now, imprison him. After I return from vengeance, I will dispose of this affair.”

When Kongming heard of this, he submitted an urgent memorial:

Servant Kongming and others humbly submit that the treacherous wiles of the bandits of Wu caused the disaster in Jing Province and the ruin of our frontier. Our hearts have tumbled from the stars of Dipper and fallen like a broken pillar in Chu land; this grief is real and cannot be forgotten. Yet it was Cao Cao who moved the Han cauldron; it was Sun Quan who displaced Liu’s fortune. If Wei’s usurpers are removed, Wu will of itself fall into submission. If Your Majesty accepts Qin Mi’s stone-and-metal words and gathers the strength of the soldiers, another sound plan can be made, and the state will be fortunate—very fortunate indeed, and all under heaven will be fortunate.

After reading it, the Lord threw the memorial to the ground and said, “My decision is made. Do not counsel me again.”

He then ordered Chancellor Zhuge Liang to hold the crown prince and keep the two Rivers secure. The General of Chariots and Cavalry Ma Chao and his brother Ma Dai would assist Wei Yan, the General Who Guards the North, in Hanzhong to meet Wei troops. Zhao Yun, General of Tiger Might, was assigned as rear support and also to supervise provisions. Huang Quan and Cheng Ji served as strategists. Ma Liang and Chen Zhen managed documents. Huang Zhong was made leading vanguard. Feng Xi and Zhang Nan were made deputies. Fu Tong and Zhang Yi were middle-army captains. Zhao Rong and Liao Chun were made to combine the rear guard.

Several hundred Sichuan officers, together with allied troops from Wuxi, brought the total force to seven hundred and fifty thousand. The date was set for the bingyin day of the seventh month in the first year of the Zhengwu era, and the army would march.

Zhang Fei returned to Langzhong and ordered that within three days the whole command should be outfitted with white flags and white armor, all under mourning colors, and set forth against Wu. The next day two junior officers in his camp, Fan Qiang and Zhang Da, came into his quarters and reported, “The white flags and white armor cannot be completed at once; a short extension is necessary.”

Zhang Fei shouted with fury: “I long to repay my vengeance and regret not reaching the enemy lands by tomorrow. How dare you disobey my command?” He ordered soldiers to bind the two and strap them to a tree and lash each of their backs fifty times.

“Tomorrow both of you must have it done! If you miss the deadline, I will execute you both before all.”

When the punishment was done they bled from the mouth. They returned to the camp to confer.

Fan said, “We have already been punished today; how can we complete this by tomorrow? This man’s temper is like fire. If it is not completed, both of us will be killed.”

Zhang Da replied, “It is better that he kills me than that I kill him.”

Fan said, “Yet we cannot get near enough.”

Da said, “If we are not to die, he will fall drunk in bed tomorrow; and if we are to die, he will be sober.”

They resolved and waited.

As for Zhang Fei, his whole mind was confused and his motions unsteady, dazed and absent, so he asked a staff officer, “I feel my heart in alarm and my flesh trembling; I cannot sit or lie still. What does this mean?”

The officer answered, “My lord, it is your thoughts of Guan Yu that bring it about.”

Zhang Fei ordered wine brought and drank with the officer until he grew fully drunk, then fell into the pavilion. Fan and Zhang, learning of this and waiting for the first watch, each hid a short knife and entered the pavilion in secret, pretending to report a matter of grave military importance and pressing straight to the bedside.

Since Zhang Fei never slept with his eyes truly closed, the two villains saw his beard bristling and his eyes wide; they would not dare move at once. When they heard breath like thunder, they dared to approach and drove a short knife into his belly. Zhang Fei cried out once and was dead. He was then in his fifty-fifth year.

Later people composed a poem of lament:

It is said in Anxi that he once lashed an Inspector, The Yellow Turbans were swept as one and Liu was consumed by flame. At Hulao Pass, his roar sounded first, By the Changban bridge the water seemed to run backward. In righteousness he released Yan Yan and pacified Shu, By wisdom he deceived Zhang He and secured the Central Lands. He died before his campaign against Wu could be won; In Langzhong, autumn grasses grow and brood in sorrow.

That night Fan Qiang and Zhang Da cut off Zhang Fei’s head and then, with several dozen men, fled through the night to Eastern Wu.

The next day, when camp learned the news, the army set out in pursuit but could not catch them. At that time, a former subordinate of Zhang Fei, Wu Ban, came from Jing Province to report to the Lord. The Lord appointed him Guardian of the Palace Gate and made him co-responsible with Zhang Fei for guarding Langzhong.

First, Wu Ban submitted a written report to the Son of Heaven. He then ordered his elder son, Zhang Bao, to prepare a coffin-case and storage. He sent his younger brother Zhang Shao to hold Langzhong, while Zhang Bao himself came to report to the Lord, who was already choosing a marching date. All major and lesser officials accompanied Chancellor Kongming as far as ten li and returned.

When Kongming came back to Chengdu he was ill at ease. He told the officials, “Had Fa Xiaozhi still lived, he surely could have restrained His Majesty from marching east.”

That night the Lord woke trembling in fear and could not sleep. Looking at the sky from his pavilion he saw in the northwest a star as large as the constellation Dipper suddenly fall from heaven. Doubting it deeply, he sent for Kongming through the night.

Kongming reported back, “Within three days, an upper commander will be lost. Within three days we will receive warning.”

The Lord therefore held his troops in place.

A court official then reported, “Wu Ban, a battalion commander under Zhang Fei at Langzhong, has sent someone with an imperial memorial.”

The Lord stamped his feet and said, “Ah! my third brother is no more!” When he read the report, indeed it carried the terrible news of Zhang Fei’s death.

He screamed, then fainted.

Officials revived him. The next day a troop of riders arrived in a rushing wind. The Lord rode out to inspect. After a while, a young general in white robe and silver armor dismounted in rolling saddle and threw himself to the ground and wept. It was Zhang Bao.

Zhang Bao said, “Fan Qiang and Zhang Da have killed my father and carried his head and delivered it to Wu.”

The Lord was overwhelmed with grief and took no food. Courtiers remonstrated bitterly: “Your Majesty now seeks to take vengeance for your two brothers; how can you first break down your own body?”

Only then did the Lord take a little meal. He said to Zhang Bao, “You and Wu Ban, would you dare to bring your own troops forward as vanguard to avenge your father?”

Bao said, “For country and for father, I would not refuse even death!”

The Lord had just resolved to dispatch Bao, when yet another column came in with wind-driven speed. He ordered an attendant to investigate. In a while, an attendant led in a young general in a white robe and silver armor, who threw himself down in tears. The Lord looked and saw it was Guan Xing.

On seeing Guan Xing, memory of Guan Yu surged up; the Lord burst into tears again.

The officials urged him repeatedly to take comfort. He said:

“When I was still in plain clothes, I had bound myself with Guan and Zhang and sworn to live and die together. Now as emperor I would have wished to share wealth with both my brothers, but unluckily both are dead by untimely fate. How can I see these two young nephews and not break my heart?”

He spoke and cried again.

The officials said, “Let these two young generals withdraw. Allow the Son of Heaven to preserve his body.”

An attendant informed him, “Your Majesty is past sixty years old and should not indulge so deeply in grief.”

The Lord answered, “Both of my younger brothers are gone. How can I endure to live alone?” He ended by striking his head to the ground and crying.

Many officers deliberated. Ma Liang said, “If His Majesty personally leads the main army against Wu, and yet cries all day, it will not favor him in war.”

Chen Zhen said, “I have heard that to the west of Qingcheng Mountain there is a hermit named Li, called Li Yi. The world says this old man is over three hundred years old and can know men’s life and death, good and evil—he is called an immortal of this age. Why not inform the Son of Heaven to summon him and ask about fortune and misfortune? Better than our words.”

He submitted this.

The Lord approved and sent Chen Zhen with an imperial summons to Qingcheng Mountain.

That very night, Zhen arrived and was guided by a villager into a remote valley. Far off he glimpsed an immortal’s courtyard, where light clouds drifted and auspicious vapors seemed unusual. A small boy appeared and greeted him: “Is the one who comes no one other than Chen Xiaoqi?”

Zhen was startled: “How could this divine boy know my surname and given name?”

The boy said, “My master said last night, ‘Today there must be an imperial edict to arrive, and the envoy will be Chen Xiaoqi.’”

Zhen exclaimed, “A true immortal! The world does not lie.” He entered with the boy and met Li Yi, announcing the edict from the Son of Heaven.

Li Yi rose slowly and would not move to receive him. Zhen said, “His Majesty urgently wishes to see the elder immortal. Please do not withhold your carriage.” After repeated pleading, Li Yi finally came.

He arrived at the royal camp and entered in audience. The Lord saw Li Yi, whose hair was like an old crane’s feather and countenance like a child, eyes green and round and bright like polished jade, radiant, with a body like an ancient cypress, and understood him to be an odd man. He was treated with high courtesy.

Li Yi said, “I am but a village elder of wild mountains, unlearned and ignorant. I am ashamed to answer a summons from the Son of Heaven. What instruction would His Majesty have me give?”

The Lord said, “For more than thirty years I have held life-and-death friendship with Guan and Zhang, my brothers. Now both my brothers were harmed; I now lead the great army to avenge and know not where this will end. I have long heard that you understand the subtle mechanisms of fate. I ask for your instruction.”

Li Yi said, “This is Heaven’s allotment; not known by this old man.”

The Lord pressed him further. The hermit then asked for paper and ink and drew forty or more sketches of troops, horses, and military implements, then tore each up one by one. He drew a large figure of a person lying on his back on the ground, and beside it one man digging a pit and covering him with earth. Beside this he wrote a huge character, “white.” After bowing, he departed.

The Lord was displeased and said to the officials, “This mad old man cannot be trusted!” He had him burned in a fire and then hurried the army forward.

Zhang Bao submitted a memorial: “Wu Ban’s cavalry and horsemen have already arrived. This servant begs to be the vanguard.”

The Lord admired his zeal and handed him the vanguard seal. As Bao was about to bear it, another young commander suddenly stepped forward crying, “Leave the seal and give it to me!” He was Guan Xing.

Bao said, “I already have an imperial command.”

Guan Xing said, “What skill have you that you dare take this charge?”

Bao said, “I learned arms from boyhood. Not one of my arrows has missed.”

The Lord said, “I wish to test the prowess of my worthy nephews and decide who is superior.”

Bao ordered his unit to plant a banner one hundred paces away with a red heart drawn upon it. He drew three arrows and shot; all three struck the red heart. All praised his skill.

Guan Xing, bow in hand, said, “To strike the red heart, what is surprising in that?” As he spoke, a line of wild geese passed overhead. He pointed and said, “I shall shoot the third goose in that flight.” One shot and the goose fell to his string.

Civil and military officers all cried approval.

Bao, angered, leapt to his horse, brandishing the steel-tipped halberd his father had used, and shouted, “Do you dare to challenge my martial skill?”

Guan Xing also mounted, drew the great broad sabre passed down in his family, and said as he cantered, “You can wield a lance—am I then unable to wield a blade?”

The two commanders were about to clash when the Lord shouted, “The two of you, show no impropriety!”

The two dismounted in haste, threw down their weapons, and knelt in the dust to ask forgiveness.

The Lord said, “From my days in Zhuo Commandery I entered into sworn brotherhood with your fathers and became as kin by blood. You two now are of equal age as younger brothers. You ought to stand together with one heart to repay your fathers’ blood-debts. How can you compete and quarrel among yourselves, losing this great righteousness? The mourning for our fathers is not yet recent—what then of later days?”

The two again knelt and begged pardon.

The Lord asked, “Which of you is older?”

Bao said, “This servant is one year older than Guan Xing.”

The Lord then ordered Guan Xing to bow to Bao as elder brother.

The two took broken arrows before him and swore by them to aid and protect each other always.

The Lord then issued an edict making Wu Ban the vanguard and ordering Zhang Bao and Guan Xing to guard him. On water and land alike the campaign advanced with ships and cavalry together, a vast tide of men and horses driving toward Wu.

Now Fan Qiang and Zhang Da brought Zhang Fei’s head to the ruler of Wu as tribute and set forth in brief the events. Sun Quan listened and then detained the two. He said to the assembly:

“Liu Bei has now taken the imperial seat and, with over seven hundred thousand selected troops, leads the army in person. What response can we make now that his force is so great?”

All officials turned pale and stared at one another.

Zhuge Jin stepped forward and said, “I have long eaten from your household bounty, Lord of Wu. I can no longer offer useful service. I wish to cast off this remnant of life and go to the Shu lord to speak of advantage and peril, to bring the two states to harmony and together punish Cao Pi for his guilt.”

Sun Quan rejoiced and immediately sent Zhuge Jin as envoy to ask the Lord to cease hostilities.

That is:

Two kingdoms are at odds and rely on one envoy’s mission; by one word he may untie their knot.

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