[As for Pang De's son later following Deng Ai into Shu, entering Chengdu after Liu Shan's surrender, and taking revenge on what remained of the Guan family—that comes later.]
Guan Yu let out a long, quiet sigh, his gaze unfocused, as if he were looking far beyond the hall.
Zhang Fei went tense immediately. "Second Brother… Second Brother, you alright?" He hesitated, then blurted out, "That Pang De—he should still be in Liangzhou right now. If you're worried, I, Zhang—"
Words like slaughtering an entire clan stuck in his throat. Even Zhang Fei couldn't force them out. His mouth opened, then closed again.
Guan Yu sighed once more, his voice low and distant. "If we were able to defeat Wei and restore the Han, how could such calamities ever come to pass? The historians praised Pang De so highly—by that account, he must indeed have been a true hero."
Huang Zhong couldn't help but reassess Guan Yu.
Most people, upon hearing that their family line would later be destroyed, would not remain this composed.
…Then again, wasn't the Huang family basically down to just himself now?
Should he return home someday and see if there were distant relatives to adopt an heir from?
Huang Zhong also fell into thought.
[Under these circumstances, the Ma Chao who surrendered to Liu Bei was already a man with no real way out.
The Western Liang army was slipping from his control as his subordinates grew increasingly disloyal. From a purely military standpoint, however, "Ma the Fifth" still wasn't a bad deal.]
"Then that makes me Zhang the Sixth?" Zhang Fei perked up instantly, pointing at Guan Yu and Zhao Yun in turn. "Guan the Fourth, Zhao the Second—ha!"
The others stared at him in silence.
No one understood what there was to be so happy about.
[Worth mentioning is that after surrendering to Shu, Ma Chao either achieved sudden enlightenment—or Liu Bei finally figured out the correct way to use him.
Which brings us to a new character: Peng Yang.]
Huang Zhong snapped out of his thoughts. Weren't we talking about the Hanzhong Campaign?
Who was Peng Yang now?
[Peng Yang had originally served as a clerical officer in Yizhou. Talented, but slandered by others, he was punished by Liu Zhang with the sentence of kunqian—his hair shaved off and an iron collar locked around his neck.
In that era, it was an intensely humiliating punishment.
Defecting to Liu Bei afterward was practically inevitable.]
"Kunque punishment," Liu Bei said softly. "That's effectively being reduced to slavery."
There was sympathy in his voice.
…And, admittedly, a trace of satisfaction.
Another one who came willingly.
The punishment wasn't lethal, but the humiliation was extreme. Many scholars would rather die than endure it.
[With recommendations from Pang Tong and Fa Zheng, Peng Yang was appointed as Director of Affairs—roughly equivalent to a senior chief secretary today. A meteoric rise, by any standard.
Unfortunately, the Records of the Three Kingdoms put it bluntly:
'Once elevated above others, his demeanor grew arrogant, his self-regard excessive.'
In short—he got smug fast.
Zhuge Liang had no patience for that. He reported to Liu Bei that Peng Yang was 'ambitious beyond measure and difficult to restrain.' Liu Bei promptly reassigned him as Administrator of Jiangyang, sending him out of the capital.]
Zhuge Liang's expression didn't change. Monitoring officials was part of his job. This was called preventive maintenance.
Liu Bei thought the decision reasonable as well. Talent without temperament needed tempering. A stint in the provinces might polish him into a proper pillar of state.
Jian Yong shook his head with a knowing smile. He had seen too many men who let sudden success go straight to their head.
He could already guess how this story would end.
[Demoted from the center to a remote post, Peng Yang grew bitter. He sought out Ma Chao for wine and complaints.
During the drinking, Ma Chao asked politely: 'The lord values you so highly—why assign you to a small commandery?'
Peng Yang immediately snapped: 'That old leather-skinned brute—how could one reason with him!' He openly insulted Liu Bei.
Ma Chao was terrified into silence.
Unfortunately for him, Peng Yang was just getting warmed up.
The Records of the Three Kingdoms records the exchange verbatim:
'You act outside; I act within. The realm would be easy to settle.'
Ma Chao, a guest dependent on grace, lived in constant fear. Hearing this, he was shocked beyond words and dared not respond.
The rest followed naturally. Ma Chao reported the conversation. Peng Yang was arrested and executed at the age of thirty-seven.]
The hall fell silent.
No one quite knew what to say.
Liu Bei chuckled dryly. "I suppressed the Yellow Turbans, fought Dong Zhuo, battled through Xuzhou, held firm at Red Cliffs. Calling me an 'old soldier' isn't exactly wrong."
Then he shook his head. "I thought him a rare talent. Turns out he was just another madman."
Did Peng Yang really think he could rebel?
Liu Bei genuinely couldn't see it. Ma Chao was already a toothless tiger. As for himself—Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong—one move and Peng Yang would be crushed flat.
What rebellion?
Guan Yu glanced sideways at Zhang Fei, who suddenly looked uncomfortable.
"Second Brother?"
"Drink less," Guan Yu said calmly. "Loose words after wine lead to death."
"I know, I know," Zhang Fei replied, thumping his chest.
[This incident reveals Ma Chao's true situation in Shu: he lived in constant fear.
This was worlds apart from the young Ma Mengqi who once annihilated his own father in a moment of fury.
But for someone with almost zero political experience, living like this may actually have been the safest option.]
Ma Chao's life in Shu wasn't shabby. He rose to General of Swift Cavalry, held the title Governor of Liangzhou, and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Lixiang.
Granting him Liangzhou showed that Ma Chao was meant to be a key piece in Shu's long-term strategy.
Unfortunately, the disaster in Jingzhou and the flames of Yiling shattered all those plans.
Worse still—Ma Chao died of illness in the second year after Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor.
He was only forty-seven.
[Looking back on Ma the Fifth's life—
In youth, he destroyed his own father.
In middle age, just as he wanted to accomplish something, he died early.
Only near the end did he finally regret it all.
In a memorial to Liu Bei, he wrote:
'More than two hundred members of my clan were exterminated by Cao Cao. Now only Ma Dai remains of my bloodline. I entrust him to Your Majesty.'
That was his final plea.]
"Only forty-seven?!" Zhuge Liang blurted out.
The age was shocking.
Liu Bei himself wasn't even fifty yet—and according to the heavenly screen, his own life had barely begun its ascent.
Huang Zhong was past seventy and still charging as a vanguard, cutting down enemy generals.
And this Liangzhou linchpin—this man so hard-won—just… died?
In Zhuge Liang's mind, a corner of Shu Han's ultimate failure quietly lifted.
After securing Yizhou and advancing into Hanzhong, Ma Chao should have been the keystone—holding the land of Qinzhou, waiting for the world to change, then leading troops east as laid out in the Longzhong Plan.
This was Ma Chao's home ground. His reputation there was ironclad. With Liu Bei's benevolence added—
Liangzhou should have been inevitable.
So why did he die?
Liu Bei didn't notice Kongming's turmoil. He was instead struck by Ma Chao's final appeal, reminded of his own trust left at Baidi.
"Perhaps," Liu Bei murmured, "when a man nears death… his words finally come from the heart."
"Xianhe," he added.
Jian Yong burst out laughing. "My lord, are you thinking of sending me to Liangzhou?"
Liu Bei waved it off. "No hurry. I'll discuss it with Kongming first. We just reclaimed four commanderies of Jingzhou—let's all enjoy the New Year first."
Zhang Fei chuckled. "Ma Mengqi 'snaps his fingers and kills his dad'—if it were anyone else, that'd sound like praise. Used on Ma Chao though…"
He laughed until he wheezed.
[Ma Dai did not disappoint his cousin. He later put down Wei Yan's rebellion, ensuring a smooth transition after the Chancellor's death—no small merit.
As for Zhang Fei, everyone knows his story. We'll skip him for now.
Let's return to the Hanzhong Campaign.]
Zhang Fei jumped up. "Hey! What do you mean skip? Does Zhang the Sixth not deserve a mention?!"