Recaps

Lü Bu and Zhao Yun broke Cao Ren’s formation at Guandu, while Cao Cao seized Jiangdong and cut off Sun Quan’s retreat. Sun Quan’s attempt to reclaim the region through Tongling Ferry failed, and he turned toward Hefei as Zhang Liao gathered his forces and civilians inside the city.

• Lü Bu struggled against Cao Ren’s seven generals until Zhuge Liang identified the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation and led Zhao Yun through its Birth and Scenery Gates, breaking it at the cost of Xiahou Dun and Cao Chun.
• Cao Ren retreated to Guandu, while Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi deduced that Cao Cao had taken his main force to seize Jiangdong as Sun Quan fought the Imperial Court.
• Cao Cao won the support of Jiangdong’s clans, killed Yu Fan, and forced the local families to back his rule, while Lu Su refused Sun Quan’s offer of office and urged Zhou Yu to join the Imperial Court.
• Sun Quan rejected surrender, replaced Zhou Yu with Cheng Pu, and pretended to accept Liu Xie’s pardon so he could fight Cao Cao and reclaim Jiangdong.
• Lü Meng’s disguised soldiers captured Tongling Ferry in a night attack, but Cao Cao retook it, routed the defenders, and Lü Meng killed himself rather than be captured.
• With the ferry lost, Sun Quan chose to attack Huainan, Lujiang, and Jiujiang, while Zhang Liao learned Sun Quan had feigned surrender and ordered his scattered troops and civilians into Hefei.

Zhang Liao captured Sun Quan at Hefei, allowing Liu Xie to recover territory and plan the return to Luoyang while weighing war, aristocratic power, and the imperial succession. As Cao Cao entered Jing Province and Liu Bei negotiated with Liu Zhang, Liu Bei discovered that the peace feast in Shu Commandery concealed an ambush.

• Zhang Liao, Huang Zhong, and Qu Yi trapped Sun Quan’s army at Hefei, captured Sun Quan, and forced his commanders to surrender after Taishi Ci arrived with Imperial Court troops.
• Liu Xie learned that Zhang Liao had recovered Xu Province and the Three Commanderies North of the Yangtze, rewarded his generals, and sentenced Sun Quan and several of his commanders while sparing Zhou Yu from execution.
• Liu Xie delayed an advance into Jing Province, pardoned Lu Su, and approved his proposal to move the capital to Luoyang with the great aristocratic clans funding its reconstruction.
• Liu Xie approved an expedition against the Wuhuan and appointed Huang Zhong to lead ten thousand Bing Province Iron Cavalry, while officials pressed him to expand the Imperial Harem and settle the empress question.
• Cao Cao arrived in Xiangyang as Emperor Xian of Han sought to return with him, but Cao Cao dismissed the emperor’s accusations against Cai Mao and entered the city without seizing it.
• Liu Zhang invited Liu Bei to negotiate after offering half of Yi Province, and Liu Bei accepted the talks despite Zhang Fei and Guan Yu favoring continued war.
• At the welcoming feast, Guan Yu noticed Liu Zhang’s disguised soldiers, and Fa Zheng warned Liu Bei and Guan Yu that armed men waited outside and urged them to escape through the unguarded West Gate.

Huang Zhong defeated the Wuhuan and brought Goguryeo under Han rule, while Liu Xie faced new questions about military expansion and succession after Lü Lingqi became pregnant. The story then returned to Liu Bei’s campaign in Yi Province, where Xu Shu proposed a scheme to draw Yan Yan away from Swordland.

• Fa Zheng warned Liu Bei that Liu Zhang planned to ambush him, and Liu Bei escaped Chengdu with Guan Yu before fleeing south on Dilu.
• Liu Xie ordered Huang Zhong’s army to attack the Wuhuan, and Huang Zhong killed Chanyu Tadun at White Wolf Mountain.
• Guo Jia advised the court to execute Wuhuan leaders and absorb ordinary prisoners, while Liu Xie ordered Goguryeo conquered as former Han territory.
• Cui Lin provoked the King of Goguryeo and was imprisoned, but the king later sent him to negotiate as Huang Zhong’s army advanced.
• Guo Jia secured Goguryeo’s incorporation into Great Han without casualties, and Liu Xie made it a Han commandery while reducing its king to a marquis.
• Liu Xie expanded the army and honored Huang Zhong, while Zhen Mi and Noble Lady Fu grew close and Lü Lingqi fainted after martial practice.
• Hua Tuo revealed that Lü Lingqi was pregnant, and Liu Xie and Lü Bu celebrated the news as Liu Xie sought advice on managing the succession and political balance.
• Liu Bei’s officers urged an assault on Swordland, but Pang Tong warned of Yan Yan’s defenses and Xu Shu proposed spreading rumors to make Liu Zhang recall him.

Liu Bei captured Yi Province while Cao Cao seized Jing Province, and Liu Xie prepared to confront Ma Chao by building an elite Mo Dao Army. Ma Chao rejected surrender and demanded Liang Province, leaving Sima Yi facing a difficult campaign as Liu Xie uncovered possible neglect of fallen soldiers’ families.

• Yan Yan refused to abandon Swordland when Liu Zhang recalled him, but he eventually obeyed, returned to Chengdu, and was arrested.
• Liu Zhang put Yan Yan in charge of defending Chengdu, but Liu Bei’s army tunneled into the city and killed Yan Yan after he refused to surrender.
• Cao Cao used Emperor Xian of Han’s accusations to kill Liu Cong and Cai Mao, then promised Liu Zhang aid against Liu Bei.
• Liu Xie considered how to respond to Cao Cao’s growing power and decided to seek Ma Chao’s surrender before sending troops to reclaim Chang’an.
• Liu Xie commissioned five thousand sets of Mo Dao Army equipment from the Zhen Clan, and Zhang Liao trained an elite force that impressed the emperor and generals.
• Ma Chao rejected the emperor’s surrender terms, detained Ma Teng, and demanded Liang Province as his hereditary fief, prompting Liu Xie to order Sima Yi to lead a campaign against him.
• Zhuge Liang offered Sima Yi a plan for defeating Ma Chao, but Sima Yi refused to read it and kept the brocade pouch after Zhuge Liang left.
• Liu Xie met the orphaned Zhaodi and her grandmother, suspected they had been denied compensation and supplies owed to fallen soldiers’ families, and resolved to investigate.