Chapter Summaries

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei arrived in Ye City to pay respects to Liu Xie and ask Yuan Shao for troops to retake Pei County from Lü Bu. Yuan Shao agreed to consider the request overnight, then escorted them to the palace, where Liu Xie was waiting to receive them.

• Liu Xie welcomed news of Liu Bei's arrival and ordered Ju Shou to bring the three brothers to the palace; Guo Jia stayed behind to meet them later.
• Guo Jia returned Liu Xie's dagger and cautioned him to be careful with his words and actions in the palace.
• Liu Bei told Yuan Shao that Lü Bu had taken Pei County and captured his wife and children, then asked to borrow troops to defeat Lü Bu and reclaim the county.
• Zhang Fei grew impatient with Yuan Shao's hesitation, but Liu Bei rebuked him and accepted Yuan Shao's promise to decide the next day.
• Yuan Shao agreed to escort Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei to meet Liu Xie, and Liu Xie waited in the palace hall.

Liu Xie met Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, acknowledged Liu Bei as an imperial uncle, and heard Liu Bei ask Yuan Shao for troops to retake Pei County from Lü Bu. After the audience ended, Guo Jia returned to speak privately with Liu Xie.

• Yuan Shao brought Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei to meet Liu Xie in the great hall.
• Liu Xie called Liu Bei his Imperial Uncle after hearing that Liu Bei descended from Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan.
• Liu Bei asked Yuan Shao for troops to drive Lü Bu from Pei County and rescue its people and Liu Bei's family.
• Ju Shou urged Liu Bei to remain in Ji Province and serve Liu Xie, but Liu Bei insisted he had to recover Pei County first.
• Liu Xie ended the audience and left Liu Bei and Yuan Shao to discuss the matter themselves.
• Guo Jia returned after the others left and told Liu Xie he had questions for him.

Liu Xie explained why he distrusted Liu Bei and challenged Guo Jia to reveal whether he served the Han or sought his own ambitions. He condemned the great aristocratic clans as the cause of the Han’s decline, leaving Guo Jia moved and questioning the depth of Liu Xie’s hatred.

• Liu Xie told Guo Jia that Liu Bei had ambitions of his own and could be used but not relied upon, so asking him for help would merely make Liu Xie someone else’s puppet.
• Guo Jia praised Liu Bei’s composure and bearing, then admitted he had lost faith in Yuan Shao and intended to leave his service.
• Guo Jia said he had planned to join Cao Cao, but Liu Xie asked whether he would serve the Han or seek advancement under a future emperor.
• Liu Xie called Guo Jia a scholar seeking to fulfill his aspirations and said he did not condemn him for choosing another lord.
• Liu Xie declared that he would purge the great aristocratic clans if he regained power and blamed their monopolies, wealth, and control for the Han’s decline and the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Liu Xie explained his plan to use imperial examinations to break the great clans’ monopoly on office and give scholars from humble families a path to advancement. Guo Jia, moved by the vision, pledged to help Liu Xie restore the Han Dynasty on the condition that he establish the system.

• Liu Xie told Guo Jia that force alone could not overcome the great clans and that sweeping reforms were necessary.
• Liu Xie described examinations open to candidates regardless of birth and said officials would no longer be able to recommend candidates directly.
• Guo Jia realized the imperial examination system offered a path for humble-born scholars and broke down in tears of joy and grief.
• Guo Jia knelt before Liu Xie and pledged to help restore the Han Dynasty and crush the rebels.
• Guo Jia swore to serve Liu Xie until death and asked him to implement imperial examinations and open a path for scholars from humble families.

Guo Jia pledged himself to Liu Xie and advised him to wait for Yuan Shao’s enemies to create an opening, while secretly weighing whether to bring Xun Yu into a plot against Yuan Shao. A month later, Liu Xie attended Yuan Shao’s New Year’s Eve banquet, where the officials ignored him until Yuan Shao arrived with his followers.

• Guo Jia pledged his allegiance to Liu Xie after securing his promise to support imperial examination reform if he restored the Han Dynasty.
• Guo Jia advised Liu Xie to lie low because Yuan Shao needed the emperor’s name and would face opposition from other warlords, especially Cao Cao.
• Guo Jia burned the unopened letter Xun Yu had sent from Xu County and considered, then rejected, a plan to recruit him against Yuan Shao.
• A month later, Yuan Shao summoned officials and their families to a New Year’s Eve banquet in the palace in Liu Xie’s name.
• Liu Xie sat ignored at the banquet while Guo Jia sat near the entrance and Zhang He and Gao Lan guarded the palace gates.
• Yuan Shao entered the hall with Liu, Guan, Zhang, and his strategists, then apologized to Liu Xie for arriving late.

At Yuan Shao’s New Year’s Eve banquet, Liu Xie was ignored and then dismissed so Yuan Shao could speak privately with the officials. Liu Bei left with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and decided to visit Liu Xie, while still waiting to see whether Yuan Shao would lend him troops.

• Liu Xie announced the banquet, but the officials waited for Yuan Shao’s approval before responding, leaving the emperor isolated.
• Yuan Shao claimed Liu Xie had caught a chill and ordered guards to escort him back to his bedchamber.
• Guan Yu condemned Yuan Shao’s disrespect, and Liu Bei left the banquet with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
• Zhang Fei asked whether they should seek troops from Gongsun Zan, but Liu Bei chose to wait until after the new year before deciding.
• Liu Bei told Guan Yu and Zhang Fei they were going to see Liu Xie.

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei visited Liu Xie after Yuan Shao humiliated him, and Liu Xie revealed how Yuan Shao controlled and mistreated him. Liu Bei vowed to rescue the emperor, but Liu Xie refused to issue an edict because he feared Yuan Shao would discover it.

• Liu Bei left the banquet with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and requested an audience with Liu Xie.
• Liu Bei asked whether Yuan Shao was coercing Liu Xie, and Liu Xie wept as he described his confinement, hunger, and forced appointment of Yuan Shao as Grand General.
• Liu Bei asked Liu Xie for an edict so he could rally the lords and rescue him, while Zhang Fei and Guan Yu urged him to agree.
• Liu Xie refused because Yuan Shao might discover the secret edict and punish or kill him.
• Liu Bei promised Liu Xie that he would find another way and rescue him.

Liu Xie told Yuan Shao that Liu Bei had sought an imperial edict, then secretly sent Zhang He to warn Liu Bei. Liu Bei returned to his residence with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, uncertain whether to seek help from Gongsun, and found someone lurking outside their gate.

• Liu Xie pretended to be loyal to Yuan Shao and reported Liu Bei's request to rally the lords against him.
• Yuan Shao praised Liu Xie for refusing Liu Bei and promised him three beauties as a reward.
• Liu Xie worried Yuan Shao might move against Liu Bei, so he secretly gave Zhang He a note to deliver to Liu Bei's residence.
• Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei discussed seeking help from Gongsun as they returned to their residence.
• Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei spotted a furtive figure outside their gate.

Liu Bei received a warning that Yuan Shao knew about his plan to seek an imperial edict, then decided to meet Yuan Shao at the Imperial Palace with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Yuan Shao’s advisers urged him to kill Liu Bei, but Yuan Shao still coveted Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and Tian Feng proposed ambushing the three brothers when they arrived unarmed.

• Zhang He secretly delivered Liu Xie's warning to Liu Bei: Yuan Shao knew.
• Liu Bei explained that Yuan Shao had arranged the private audience to expose their intentions, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei considered escape or fighting their way into the palace.
• Liu Bei chose to go to the Imperial Palace and see Yuan Shao.
• Tian Feng and Shen Pei urged Yuan Shao to kill Liu Bei, while Yuan Shao hesitated because he wanted Guan Yu and Zhang Fei in his service.
• A guard reported that Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei had arrived unarmed, and Tian Feng proposed luring them inside to shoot them with arrows.

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei entered Yuan Shao’s palace to negotiate for troops, despite the danger of an ambush. Liu Bei asked Yuan Shao for a definite answer, while Liu Xie learned that the meeting was underway and feared Liu Bei had walked into a trap.

• Yuan Shao ordered three hundred armored soldiers to lie in ambush and summoned Yan Liang and Wen Chou to the palace.
• Liu Bei explained that Yuan Shao had delayed because he wanted Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to join him, and the three brothers reaffirmed their oath to live and die together.
• A guard led Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei into the palace, where Yuan Shao and his advisers awaited them with Yan Liang and Wen Chou.
• Liu Xie heard Yuan Shao’s soldiers pass the Bedchamber, then learned from Zhang He that Liu Bei had requested an audience with Yuan Shao.
• Liu Bei told Yuan Shao he had come to ask for a definite answer about borrowing troops, and Yuan Shao laughed at his request.

Liu Bei secured five thousand troops from Yuan Shao by pledging to capture Pei County within ten days, while Yuan Shao’s advisers praised the decision as a clever scheme. Tian Feng warned that Liu Bei would bring down the Yuan clan, prompting Yuan Shao to challenge his loyalty.

• Yuan Shao refused to lend Liu Bei troops at first, and his advisers and generals threatened Liu Bei and his brothers when Zhang Fei confronted Feng Ji.
• Liu Bei promised to take Pei County within ten days with five thousand troops and offered to accept military punishment if he failed.
• Yuan Shao agreed to provide the troops and support Liu Bei after the New Year, and Liu Bei left with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
• Tian Feng condemned Yuan Shao for sparing Liu Bei, while Guo Tu and Xu You praised the decision as a plan to gain Pei County without risk.
• Tian Feng declared that Liu Bei would destroy the Yuan clan, and Yuan Shao angrily told him to seek another position if he did not want to die alongside him.

Liu Xie learned that his warning had helped Liu Bei survive Yuan Shao’s threat, and Guo Jia cautioned him to rely on better counsel. Half a month later, Yuan Shao assembled a fifty-thousand-man army and sent Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei to lead the vanguard against Pei County, with Liu Bei’s fate tied to the mission’s success.

• After Yuan Shao left the hall, Tian Feng warned Shen Pei and Ju Shou that Liu Bei would become a great enemy if he was spared, while Guo Jia silently judged Yuan Shao’s court.
• Liu Xie told Guo Jia he had arranged for Zhang He to warn Liu Bei, and Guo Jia confirmed that Liu Bei survived by promising to take Pei County with five thousand troops in ten days.
• Guo Jia warned Liu Xie that his actions could have exposed Zhang He and provoked Yuan Shao, and Liu Xie asked Guo Jia to advise him and secretly report developments.
• Yuan Shao prepared for war while Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei drilled five thousand troops, and Liu Xie traveled to offer sacrifices to Heaven and his ancestors.
• At the military review, Yuan Shao showed Liu Bei the fifty-thousand-man army he would lead to support the attack on Pei County.
• Yuan Shao appointed Liu Bei to lead the vanguard with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as deputies, gave him a military tally to command the Mountain Battalion, and Liu Bei accepted the assignment.

Yuan Shu pressed ahead with his plan to declare himself emperor despite warnings from Yan Xiang and Sun Ce. The Altar of Heaven was completed, and Yuan Shu ascended the throne in Shou County.

• Yuan Shu ordered ten thousand laborers to finish the Altar of Heaven within seven days after Zhang Pi warned that the scheduled date was an exceptionally auspicious opportunity.
• Yan Xiang condemned Yuan Shu's plans and harsh demands, so Yuan Shu ordered him imprisoned despite pleas from the ministers.
• Yan Xiang left Yuan Shu a letter from Sun Ce warning that Sun Ce would sever ties if Yuan Shu declared himself emperor; Yuan Shu read it but ordered the construction to continue.
• Yuan Shu forcibly conscripted laborers, and many died from exhaustion or freezing as they built the Altar of Heaven.
• Yuan Shu completed the altar on the eve of the ceremony and declared himself emperor in Shou County the next day.

Zhou Yu persuaded Lu Su to leave Juchao and join Sun Ce in Jiangdong after Yuan Shu declared himself emperor. Sun Ce received news of Yuan Shu’s ascension and prepared to break with him, while his strategists questioned why their warning had failed.

• Zhou Yu told Lu Su that Yuan Shu’s declaration would make him an enemy of the regional lords and urged him to leave Juchao.
• Zhou Yu revealed his close bond with Sun Ce and invited Lu Su to join them in Jiangdong.
• Lu Su accepted Zhou Yu’s invitation to help Sun Ce pursue hegemony.
• Sun Ce received the report that Yuan Shu had declared himself emperor and called him a fool.
• Chen Duan asked Sun Ce whether Yuan Shu had ignored the letter warning him not to claim the throne.

Sun Ce broke with Yuan Shu after he proclaimed himself emperor, while Cao Cao learned of the usurpation and weighed whether to campaign against him. Cao Cao decided to wait and see how Yuan Shao would respond, leaving the question of war unresolved.

• Sun Ce rebuked Qin Song for suggesting the Imperial Seal should have belonged to him and ordered a public break with Yuan Shu, while postponing military action until Cao Cao and Yuan Shao moved.
• Cao Cao heard that Yuan Shao had sent fifty thousand troops, including Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, toward Xu Province to help Liu Bei recover Pei County from Lü Bu.
• Xun Yu and Xun You told Cao Cao that Yuan Shu had proclaimed himself emperor, founded Cheng, and made Shou County his capital.
• Xun Yu urged Cao Cao to campaign against Yuan Shu, but Cao Cao cited Yuan Shu’s strength and Sun Ce’s military ability as reasons for caution.
• Xun You reported that Sun Ce had already broken with Yuan Shu, and Cao Cao chose to wait and see whether Yuan Shao would oppose or protect his half-brother.

Cao Cao accepted Xun You’s plan to order Zhang Xiu to attack Yuan Shu, while Yuan Shao learned that Yuan Shu had proclaimed himself emperor and collapsed in fury. Liu Xie discussed the usurpation with Guo Jia, praising Yuan Shu’s audacity as other regional lords concealed similar ambitions.

• Xun You persuaded Cao Cao to use an imperial edict to send another lord against Yuan Shu, and Cao Cao chose Zhang Xiu.
• Yuan Shao received a secret report that Yuan Shu had proclaimed himself emperor in Shouchun and killed the scout who delivered it.
• Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Shen Pei, and the other advisers found Yuan Shao raging in his study, and Yuan Shao fainted after lamenting that Yuan Shu had ruined him.
• Guo Jia told Liu Xie that Yuan Shao had collapsed from anger and explained the consequences of Yuan Shu’s usurpation.
• Liu Xie told Guo Jia that he admired Yuan Shu’s audacity and suggested that other lords secretly wanted the imperial title too.

Liu Xie and Guo Jia discussed how Yuan Shu’s imperial proclamation could damage Yuan Shao’s reputation, then Guo Jia praised Liu Xie and assessed the realm’s warlords. Guo Jia offered three strategies for weakening Yuan Shao and freeing Liu Xie, leaving Liu Xie bracing for the familiar choice of an upper, middle, or lower plan.

• Guo Jia explained that Yuan Shu’s proclamation could make Yuan Shao’s soldiers doubt his loyalty to the Han, even if Yuan Shao’s strength and followers remained intact.
• As Liu Xie drank wine with Guo Jia in the rain, Guo Jia mistook his homesickness for discouragement and encouraged him to restore the Han Dynasty.
• Guo Jia dismissed most warlords as unworthy of concern but named Liu Bei and Cao Cao as the only heroes Liu Xie needed to watch.
• Liu Xie redirected the discussion toward using Yuan Shu’s actions to weaken Yuan Shao and escape his control.
• Guo Jia said he had devised upper, middle, and lower strategies, and Liu Xie anticipated that the middle plan would be the one he wanted to choose.

Liu Xie heard Guo Jia’s strategies for escaping Yuan Shao’s control and chose the plan to exploit Yuan Shao’s death and the resulting conflict in Ji Province. After Yuan Shao woke from his collapse, he severed ties with Yuan Shu and ordered a request for an imperial edict against him.

• Guo Jia advised Liu Xie to seek refuge with Liu Biao, kill Yuan Shao to take advantage of a succession struggle, or undermine Yuan Shao over several years.
• Liu Xie chose Guo Jia’s plan to profit from turmoil after Yuan Shao’s death and told him to proceed.
• Yuan Shao awoke after being unconscious all night and recalled that Yuan Shu had proclaimed himself emperor.
• Yuan Shao ordered his followers to disown Yuan Shu and petition the Son of Heaven for an edict to punish him.
• Ju Shou reported that Sun Ce had severed ties with Yuan Shu, Cao Cao had requested permission to send troops, and Zhang Xiu, Liu Biao, Liu Zhang, and Gongsun Zan had not moved.
• Yuan Shao criticized Cao Cao for using Zhang Xiu’s troops to gain a reputation without risking his own soldiers.

After Yuan Shao recovered from his collapse, Yuan Xi proposed rallying the Han lords to punish Yuan Shu for proclaiming himself emperor, turning the crisis into a chance to weaken rivals and expand Yuan Shao’s influence. Yuan Shao put Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang in charge of the city’s affairs, leaving his advisers to navigate the brothers’ growing rivalry.

• Yuan Shao learned that Liu Bei had failed to take Pei County so far and planned to wait for the ten-day deadline before sending Yan Liang and Wen Chou.
• Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi arrived to visit their weakened father, and Yuan Shao explained that anger over Yuan Shu’s proclamation had caused him to faint.
• Yuan Xi urged Yuan Shao to summon the Han lords for a joint campaign against Yuan Shu, and Ju Shou and Xu You supported the plan as a way to weaken Cao Cao and Lü Bu and gain territory.
• Yuan Shao praised Yuan Xi and assigned him and Yuan Shang to share responsibility for the city’s affairs, instructing Yuan Xi to guide his younger brother.
• Yuan Shang left the courtyard in displeasure while Yuan Xi asked Guo Tu and Xu You to help him learn the city’s affairs; Ju Shou worried about the challenge of serving both brothers.

Liu Bei struggled to escape Yuan Shao’s demand that he take Pei County, until Zhang Fei’s words inspired him to seek Lü Bu’s help instead. The story then shifted to Xiapi, where Lü Bu celebrated his birthday with his generals.

• Liu Bei rejected Zhang Fei and Guan Yu’s proposals to attack or flee, explaining that Yan Liang and Wen Chou guarded them and the army’s supplies.
• Zhang Fei remarked that Lü Bu would not simply return Pei County, prompting Liu Bei to realize he could ask Lü Bu for help.
• Liu Bei decided to tell Lü Bu about the Son of Heaven’s circumstances and his own predicament, and asked Guan Yu to send a letter to Xiapi.
• Lü Bu held a birthday banquet at his residence in Xiapi and drank with his generals.