Don't Mistake Me for Someone Else

Zhang Fei was overjoyed at successfully taking Jiang Wei under his wing. The two men rode at the very front of the procession, their hearty laughter drifting back from time to time.

Watching the scene, Zhang Da quietly asked the guard Wu Er, "What exactly is so remarkable about Jiang Boyue? Why does the General think so highly of him? Isn't he afraid Han Shao sent him to feign surrender?"

Wu Er shook his head. "The General values Jiang Wei because General Lan recommended him when they were in Xiangyang the year before last. That is why the General has taken him so seriously. As for whether he is a Tianshui spy, I believe the General has his own judgment."

"So that was how it was with General Lan."

Zhang Da still vividly remembered Lan Tian's performance in Jing Province. Even the aloof Guan Yu had obeyed his every word. Pang De, whom Lan Tian had favored and nurtured, had also been taken away by Guan Yu. Zhang Da wondered whether General Lan might become the next Xu Shao.

When they stopped to rest the horses that night, Jiang Wei ate the compressed rations again. Curious, he asked Zhang Fei, "General, I have never seen these rations before. Why does eating such a small piece make me feel so full?"

Zhang Fei answered with a smile, "They're called compressed military rations, made through a special process. The Strategist specially made them for me."

"The Strategist?" Liu Bei had more than one strategist under his command, and Jiang Wei did not know whom Zhang Fei meant.

Zhang Fei explained, "Zhuge Kongming—the one known as Mister Crouching Dragon, who carries a feather fan and waves it whether it's winter or summer."

"I have heard of Mister Crouching Dragon's great name. They say