Chapter Summaries

Zhou Yu began training the Imperial Court’s navy and was astonished by the discipline and precision of Lü Bu’s Bing Province Army. After Lü Bu challenged his loyalty, Chen Gong welcomed Zhou Yu and helped arrange for him to train the army; Zhou Yu judged its soldiers far superior to Jiangdong’s.

• Zhou Yu began preparing to train the navy, deciding to start with the Imperial Court’s battle-tested troops rather than recruit new sailors.
• Zhou Yu watched Gao Shun’s soldiers march and drill in precise formations, and marveled at their discipline and strength.
• Lü Bu accused Zhou Yu of spying and pretending to submit, while Chen Gong rebuked Lü Bu and apologized to Zhou Yu.
• Zhou Yu explained that he wanted to train the Bing Province Army first, and Chen Gong agreed to summon its senior generals and promised Lü Bu would not interfere.
• Zhou Yu told Chen Gong that the Bing Province Army surpassed Jiangdong’s elite troops in discipline and soldier quality.

Liu Xie ordered the Foundry Bureau to build warships for a southern campaign, and Meng Yang presented its new military inventions, culminating in a demonstration of the Ten-Shot Repeating Crossbow. The weapon devastated armored targets, leaving Liu Xie impressed by its battlefield potential and aware of its cost and limited range.

• Liu Xie tasked Zhou Yu with training the navy and asked Meng Yang whether the Foundry Bureau could build enough warships within three months.
• Meng Yang showed Liu Xie drawings for an improved Stone-Throwing Engine, a Second-Generation Mo Dao, and lighter, stronger heavy armor.
• Meng Yang introduced the Foundry Bureau's Ten-Shot Repeating Crossbow and asked Liu Xie to watch it fire.
• Tiger Warriors Army soldiers fired the crossbow at targets four hundred paces away, piercing their armor and embedding the bolts in a palace wall beyond them.
• Meng Yang explained that the crossbow could penetrate five layers of armor within three hundred paces, had a maximum range of five hundred paces, and was expensive to manufacture.

Liu Xie praised the Foundry Bureau’s ten-shot heavy crossbow, ordered mass production for the coming campaign, and asked Meng Yang to develop a portable repeating version with Zhuge Liang’s help. He visited Guo Nüwang, who asked to resume serving him in the Xuan Room but accepted his refusal; the chapter ended with Zhuge Liang studying the crossbow’s drawings when his wife brought him tea.

• Liu Xie asked Meng Yang to make a handheld repeating crossbow and ordered the Foundry Bureau to produce ten-shot heavy crossbows in large quantities for the march south.
• Gao Lan said five hundred ten-shot heavy crossbows could change the course of a battle, and Liu Xie then went to Yunhua Hall to visit Guo Nüwang.
• Guo Nüwang told Liu Xie she wanted to return to the Xuan Room to assist him, but he refused because an imperial consort could not appear there under court rules.
• Liu Xie comforted Guo Nüwang, and she responded to his kiss as the palace maids withdrew from Yunhua Hall.
• Zhuge Liang studied the ten-shot heavy crossbow drawings sent by the Foundry Bureau and wondered how to simplify the weapon.
• Zhuge Liang’s wife entered his study with tea and asked why he was still awake.

Zhuge Liang and Huang Yueying devised a seven-shot repeating crossbow, which Liu Xie praised and promised to name after Zhuge Liang if it proved successful. Liu Xie then announced the creation of Lingyun Pavilion, where anyone could earn lasting honor through merit, leaving the court astonished.

• Huang Yueying advised Zhuge Liang to design a new repeating crossbow rather than simplify the Ten-Shot Repeating Crossbow, and they sketched a seven-shot design together.
• Zhuge Liang presented the design to Liu Xie, who praised him and ordered the Foundry Bureau to develop it, promising to call it the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow if it met military standards.
• Zhuge Liang credited Huang Yueying for inspiring the design, and Liu Xie acknowledged her contribution.
• Liu Xie announced that he would establish Lingyun Pavilion to honor meritorious people, regardless of birth, and allow even the lowest-ranking soldier to enter through military merit.
• Guo Jia recognized Liu Xie's announcement as a way to motivate the court and army with the promise of lasting glory.

Liu Xie announced Lingyun Pavilion as an honor for meritorious officials and named its first five third-floor inductees. He ended by honoring the late Dong Cheng for helping him escape Cao Cao’s captivity.

• Liu Xie established Lingyun Pavilion with three floors ranked by the size of each official’s contributions.
• Liu Xie named Guo Jia the first inductee, praising his early aid and strategies, and Guo Jia wept with gratitude.
• Liu Xie selected Lü Bu second and Jia Xu third, while Lü Bu smugly challenged Zhang Liao with his ranking.
• Liu Xie awarded the fourth place to Yuan Xi for placing righteousness above family, and Yuan Xi kowtowed until his forehead bled.
• Liu Xie named his late imperial uncle Dong Cheng for the fifth place, recalling that Dong Cheng had helped him escape Cao Cao’s captivity.

Liu Xie established Lingyun Pavilion and publicized its tiers, honoring officials and military leaders while inspiring a surge of recruits and ambitious scholars. Sima Yi reacted to Zhuge Liang’s exclusion, while Huang Zhong learned that he had been placed in the second tier.

• Liu Xie named Guo Jia, Lü Bu, Jia Xu, Yuan Xi, and Dong Cheng as third-tier candidates, and Guo Jia vowed to repay the emperor’s trust.
• News of Lingyun Pavilion and Liu Xie’s poem spread across the realm, prompting young men to enlist and talented people to seek service in Chang'an.
• The court announced the three tiers, placing Zhuge Liang outside the pavilion and Sima Yi on the first tier.
• Sima Yi lamented that Zhuge Liang had been excluded, and Lady Zhang scolded and struck him for taking out his frustration on her.
• Ju Yi congratulated Huang Zhong after the second-tier list reached the military camp, and Huang Zhong expressed gratitude for the honor.

Huang Zhong encouraged Ju Yi to seek a place on Lingyun Pavilion’s second level, while Cao Cao and his advisers reacted to the pavilion’s influence and Xu You’s selection. As the Imperial Court prepared to march south, Cao Cao summoned powerful clan heads to a banquet and asked what they thought of the conflict between the true and false Sons of Heaven.

• Huang Zhong praised Ju Yi’s prospects, and Ju Yi vowed to serve as vanguard and earn a place on Lingyun Pavilion’s second level.
• Cao Cao read the poem praising Lingyun Pavilion, and Xun You proposed that Emperor Xian establish an Ascending Heaven Pavilion in response.
• Cao Cao showed Xu You the selection list, and Xu You wept with relief upon seeing that the Son of Heaven had remembered him.
• Cao Cao told Xu You that he might ask him for a favor if he lost the coming war against the Imperial Court.
• Emperor Xian announced the Ascending Heaven Pavilion, while Cao Cao invited the great clan heads of Jing Province, Jiangnan, and Jiangdong to a banquet.
• At Cao Cao’s banquet, the Huang Clan head and the Zhang Clan head discussed the danger of the coming conflict, and the Zhang Clan head asked what the guests thought of the two Sons of Heaven.

Cao Cao pressured the great clans into supporting his campaign against the northern Pretender Emperor by threatening to list them among the meritorious subjects in Ascending Heaven Pavilion. The clans agreed to help him move the emperor to Changsha and fortify the Yangtze, while the Imperial Court's troops eagerly awaited the coming campaign.

• Cao Cao asked the clan heads who would win the war, and they publicly declared loyalty to the Han orthodoxy and confidence in his victory.
• Cao Cao admitted his chances were poor and warned the clans that Lü Bu and Yuan Xi might punish them if he lost.
• Cao Cao threatened to put the clans' names in Ascending Heaven Pavilion, which they feared would make them targets for retribution.
• Cao Cao proposed relocating the emperor to Changsha, fortifying the Yangtze, and destroying most of the docks.
• The clan heads agreed to assist Cao Cao, who promised them rewards if they defeated the Pretender Emperor.
• The court and its soldiers grew eager for the campaign, hoping to earn merit through Lingyun Pavilion.

As Great Han prepared for war, Liu Xie recognized that many fallen soldiers would be forgotten once their families were gone. He proposed turning the mountain behind the imperial mausoleum into a Martyrs' Cemetery with three hundred thousand steles, and assigned Zhuge Liang to oversee it.

• Liu Xie told Guo Jia, Zhuge Liang, and the other ministers that his visits to soldiers' families had revealed many fallen soldiers left no descendants.
• Liu Xie explained that people suffered a final death when the last person who remembered them forgot them, and argued that nameless soldiers deserved to be remembered.
• Liu Xie proposed building a Martyrs' Cemetery with a stele for every fallen soldier and said he would be buried there if he failed to recover Great Han's realm.
• Zhuge Liang, Guo Jia, and Sima Yi asked for steles for themselves, while Yang Xiu raised concerns about the cost.
• Liu Xie ordered Zhuge Liang to oversee the cemetery's construction and directed that the unused funds for his mausoleum pay for it.

Liu Xie’s memorial for fallen soldiers won broad support, while Cao Cao’s forced evacuation of Xinye exposed the growing divide between his cause and the Son of Heaven’s. The chapter ended as young Deng Ai confronted a Huang Clan servant who was about to kill a farmer’s ox.

• Liu Xie announced that every fallen soldier would be honored with a monument and pledged to be buried among them if he failed to defeat the rebels.
• People across Great Han donated labor and supplies to build the Great Han Martyrs’ Mausoleum, and Liu Xie had his own monument erected first.
• Cao Cao ordered Xinye’s people and supplies relocated south, and Cao Ren inspected the evacuation with the Huang Clan’s elders.
• A Huang Clan servant whipped an old farmer’s ox, was knocked into a puddle when it tossed its head, and drew his saber to kill it.
• Young Deng Ai stepped between the servant and the ox, citing Great Han law against slaughtering farm oxen without authorization.

Deng Ai challenged Cao Ren over the forced migration of Xinye’s people, but soldiers blocked their return and the procession continued. Later, anger among the displaced commoners turned toward rebellion when Liao Hua declared it was their only chance to survive.

• Deng Ai confronted a Huang Clan servant who threatened him, and Cao Ren stopped the servant before asking the boy his name.
• Deng Ai questioned Cao Ren about forcing the people south, prompting the crowd to protest and try to return to Xinye.
• Cao Ren blocked the routes with soldiers and insisted that migrating was an imperial command; Deng Ai’s uncle apologized and took him away.
• Deng Ai’s uncle warned him to guard his words but privately predicted that the Son of Heaven in Chang’an would defeat Cao Cao.
• Commoners complained around a bonfire about the forced migration and praised the northern court’s policies.
• Liao Hua told the gathered young men that rebellion was their only way to survive.

Liao Hua led thousands of migrating commoners in a revolt against Cao Cao’s forced relocation, and the rebels plundered the Huang Clan’s wagon train before fleeing toward Guanzhong. Cao Ren arrived too late to stop them, reported the disaster to Xiangyang, and the story left the uprising on its way north.

• Liao Hua persuaded displaced commoners to rebel against the Pretender Emperor and flee to Guanzhong, promising to seize weapons from the Huang Clan’s wagons.
• After the migrating column left Xinye, Liao Hua and over a hundred men attacked the Huang Clan’s servants, seized weapons, and set a wagon alight as a signal.
• Several thousand commoners joined the uprising, overwhelming the Huang Clan’s servants and plundering grain, supplies, and weapons as the column fell into chaos.
• A Huang Clan servant reached Xinye and informed Cao Ren that the migrating commoners had rebelled.
• Cao Ren marched out to suppress the uprising but arrived days later, after the rebels had fled and the Huang Clan had suffered heavy losses.
• Liao Hua led the rioters toward Guanzhong while Cao Ren sent news of the revolt to Xiangyang.

Liu Xie inspected the newly completed navy, praised its weapons and training, and appointed Zhou Yu to join the campaign against Cao Cao. He decided to lead the expedition himself and assigned commanders and strategists to the three fronts, while Zhuge Liang remained the only adviser without an assignment.

• Meng Yang reported that the navy had 121 warships and explained how the Foundry Bureau had equipped some vessels with Ten-Shot Repeating Crossbows and Stone-Throwing Engines.
• Zhou Yu told Liu Xie that 60,000 soldiers had trained to fight aboard ships, and Liu Xie invited him to accompany the campaign against Cao Cao.
• Liu Xie announced that he would personally lead the expedition and proposed dividing the forces among Yi, Yang, and Jing Provinces, despite his ministers' warnings.
• Guo Jia recommended Zhang Liao, Huang Zhong, and Lü Bu to lead the three armies, then volunteered to assist Huang Zhong in Yang Province.
• Sima Yi volunteered to accompany Zhang Liao to Yi Province, while Jia Xu chose to remain in Chang'an and Fa Zheng, Yang Xiu, and Lu Su offered to join Liu Xie's army.
• The officials looked to Zhuge Liang, who had not yet chosen an assignment.

Liu Xie learned that displaced people from Jing Province had rebelled against Cao Cao’s relocation policy and ordered them settled while publicizing the news. As his expedition against the Pretender Emperor approached, Cao Cao struggled with the backlash and demanded a swift victory in Yi Province; Liu Xie’s army gathered for its oath-taking ceremony in the rain.

• Zhuge Liang declared that he would join Liu Xie’s expedition to punish Cao Cao and prove his worth.
• Gao Lan reported that armed refugees from Jing Province had entered Si Province, and Liu Xie ordered their settlement and publicized their flight from the Pretender Emperor.
• The Imperial Court spread the news, prompting popular anger and further resistance to Cao Cao’s forced relocations.
• Cao Cao condemned the uprisings, ordered the relocation effort accelerated, and gave Cao Hong two months to capture Yi Province.
• Ten days later, Liu Xie’s officials and officers gathered outside Chang’an for the imperial army’s oath-taking ceremony as rain fell.

Liu Xie assembled the Han Army for its campaign against Jing Province and ordered the execution of Sun Quan and his captured followers. Sun Quan’s veteran retainers died beside him, and the chapter ended with Sun Quan facing the executioner’s blade.

• Guo Jia, Fa Zheng, and Gao Lan watched the Han Army assemble as Fa Zheng declared his wish to fight alongside the troops.
• Lü Bu, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, and the other generals gathered on the Military Drill Platform before Liu Xie arrived with the Three Thousand Feathered Forest Cavalry.
• Liu Xie addressed the kneeling army and ordered the rebel Sun Quan brought forward for execution.
• Sun Quan apologized to Cheng Pu, Han Dang, and the others, while they affirmed their loyalty and accepted their fate.
• Zhang He oversaw the execution of Cheng Pu, Han Dang, and the other captured retainers, leaving Sun Quan to face the executioner.

After Sun Quan was executed, Liu Xie rallied his army to march south against Cao Cao and the pretender emperor. Zhang Liao’s force reached Chengdu with forty thousand reinforcements, where Xu Shu reported that Liu Bei was fighting Cao’s army in Swordland and that half of Yi Province had been lost.

• Sun Quan was executed, and Zhou Yu swore to kill Cao Cao to avenge him.
• Liu Xie rallied the soldiers to march south, then divided the army into three forces led by himself, Guo Jia, and Zhang Liao.
• Zhang Liao’s force traveled by river through Yi Province, while Zhang Liao teased the cold Sima Yi and praised his abilities to Zhang He.
• Zhang Liao’s army reached Chengdu, where Xu Shu welcomed him and explained that Liu Bei was fighting Cao’s army in Swordland.
• Zhang He told Xu Shu that the emperor had marched south and sent forty thousand troops to reinforce Yi Province.

Cao Cao ordered Cao Ren and other commanders to reinforce Xiangyang after learning that Liu Xie was leading a major army south through Jing Province. Liu Xie’s strategists planned to use the swollen Han River to destroy the Cao navy, while Cao Ren waited for the Imperial Court’s fleet and wondered why it had not arrived.

• A scout reported to Cao Cao that Liu Xie had entered Jing Province with at least eighty thousand troops and that two other armies were advancing toward Yan Province and Yi Province.
• Cao Cao ordered Cao Ren to take command at Xiangyang and Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Shang to ambush the Imperial Court’s forces along the Han River.
• Zhao Yun told Liu Xie that the Cao Army had destroyed the river docks and strengthened Xiangyang’s defenses.
• Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu advised Liu Xie to halt the fleet and build an upstream dam so the raised waters could sweep away the Cao navy at Xiangyang.
• Cao Ren waited with the Jing Province navy near Xiangyang, puzzled that Liu Xie’s fleet had not arrived as expected.

Cao Ren’s Jing Province navy was devastated when Zhou Yu’s Han fleet unleashed a flood and attacked with stone-throwing engines. As the two sides fought on the Han River, Lü Bu and Zhao Yun led the Han Army in boarding combat, leaving Xiahou Yuan determined to face them.

• Cao Ren ordered the troops on both banks to evacuate after he spotted a flood rushing down the Han River, but the flood and sharpened logs engulfed the banks and damaged the navy.
• Zhou Yu ordered the Han fleet to attack, and its stone-throwing engines sank more than twenty Jing Province warships.
• Cao Ren realized the Han Army had built a dike to store water, then ordered his remaining ships to form up and counterattack.
• Lü Bu and Zhao Yun led Han troops onto Cao Army ships as the two navies clashed on the river.
• Xiahou Yuan recognized Lü Bu and Zhao Yun, then seized his spear and said he would face them.

After defeating Cao Ren’s navy, Zhuge Liang sent Zhao Yun and Gao Shun to Xiangyang City disguised as Cao Army soldiers, hoping to seize the city by surprise. Xu Huang discovered the deception as the Han soldiers climbed onto the wall, and the chapter ended with Zhao Yun’s men attacking the defenders.

• Cao Ren ordered his defeated navy to abandon its ships and retreat overland, while Zhuge Liang ordered his forces not to pursue and seized the surviving warships.
• Zhuge Liang directed Zhao Yun and Gao Shun to disguise Han soldiers as Cao Army troops and sail ahead to Xiangyang City; Lü Bu stayed behind because he was too recognizable.
• Xu Huang saw the disguised ships approach Xiangyang City and accepted the general’s false account that Cao Ren had repelled the enemy and the navy needed supplies.
• Xu Huang noticed a Han soldier carrying a saber unlike those issued to the Jing Province Navy and realized the visitors were impostors.
• Zhao Yun ordered his men to attack, and Xu Huang retreated while summoning the city’s defenses and ordering battalions to prepare for battle.

Zhao Yun and the Han Army seized Xiangyang City after the flood let their ships reach its walls, and Cao Ren abandoned the city when he saw the reinforcements arrive. Xu Huang was captured and taken prisoner, while Lü Bu complained that he had been denied a chance to fight before an unexpected voice answered his remark about Gongtai.

• Zhao Yun fought Xu Huang as Han Army troops climbed the western wall, and Gao Shun ordered signal smoke to summon the main army.
• Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, and Lü Bu led the fleet downstream, while Cao Ren recognized the Jing Province Navy’s ships at Xiangyang and ordered a retreat.
• The Han Army breached the city walls and fought the flooded-in defenders until they surrendered; Zhao Yun captured Xu Huang alive.
• Lü Bu struck Xu Huang for insulting the Han Army, ordered him gagged, and complained to Zhuge Liang that he had missed the fighting.
• Lü Bu praised Zhuge Liang over Sima Yi and Gongtai, then an unseen speaker agreed that Gongtai’s abilities were inferior.