Before this, the cold numbers flickering on the screen had felt distant.
Three rebellions in a year—spoken aloud, they were just words.
But now, as each event unfolded one after another, the room finally felt it.
One rebellion erupted in the very heart of Cao Wei's power.
The other two were not even schemes of ambition—they were screams forced out by corvée labor.
Three rebellions. One year.
The hall went quiet.
So this was Cao Cao's governance.
So this was the price of his taxes, his levies, his "order."
Liu Bei let out a silent sigh.
And in that sigh, his resolve hardened yet another notch.
With a traitor like Cao Cao, he thought, and a ruler like Sun Quan…
If one truly seized the realm—what would it even be for?
[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[In the twenty-third year of Jian'an—218 AD—Hou Yin was the most regrettable case of all.
His position was excellent. Too excellent.
Wan City lay directly behind Fancheng.
When Cao Ren had to turn his army back to rescue Fancheng, Wan City became the flame licking at his rear courtyard.
Hou Yin's move was no different from Liu Bei marrying Lady Sun—
A polite ceremony on the surface, a knife hidden behind the door.
Cao Ren and Pang De rushed back in haste, encircling Wan City with brutal speed.
But there were two problems.
First: winter.
The rivers ran low. The winds were wrong. The dry season made naval warfare useless.
Lord Guan could only wait—and waiting meant watching.
Second: the war itself had stalled.
Or to put it plainly—
Liu Bei was still blocked at Yangping Pass by Xiahou Yuan.]
The generals turned as one toward the map hanging behind them.
Wan City had no great mountains, no rivers to shield it.
Yet its position made it impossible to ignore.
Guan Yu stroked his beard, eyes half-lidded.
"Judging by Cao Cao's habits," he said slowly, "the fortifications of Fancheng must have been repaired at great haste. Forced labor. Forced grain. Wan City would have borne the burden."
He paused.
"That is why Hou Yin rebelled."
The name settled into his heart.
Hou Yin.
The screen had mentioned him again and again.
Now Guan Yu finally understood why.
Hou Yin had been a defending general. He could have gone along with the tyrant, eaten the people dry, and lived well.
Instead, he chose to strike stone with an egg.
For the people.
A righteous man, Guan Yu thought. One worthy of remembrance.
Liu Bei's thoughts drifted.
"Yangping Pass…" he murmured. "Mountains at the back, water at the front. A pass like that shouldn't fall easily. I remember… wasn't it breached the following year?"
"First month of 219!" Huang Zhong blurted out immediately.
He remembered that date far too clearly.
Zhang Fei curled his lip.
Fine. Fine.
You've got 'Beheaded Xiahou Yuan' carved into history. I'm not jealous. Not jealous at all.
As for the screen comparing Hou Yin's rebellion to Liu Bei's marriage—
Liu Bei's lips twitched.
Only two words escaped.
"Your father!"
[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[Cao Cao's decision this year—to deploy troops but not commit them—was pure deterrence.
First, he believed Yangping Pass was impregnable. He had tested it himself.
When he took it from Zhang Lu, it was luck more than strength.
With Xiahou Yuan guarding it now, Cao Cao didn't believe Liu Bei could stir trouble.
Second, Guan Yu's power at Xiangyang and Fancheng was growing day by day.
Cao Cao himself did not believe Cao Ren could truly hold them forever.
And what happened next—we all know.
That is why Mount Dingjun is still spoken of with relish today.
Liu Bei maneuvered brilliantly.
And then—on an open battlefield—a seventy-year-old general beheaded the enemy commander.
A plot no storyteller would dare write.
With the commander-in-chief dead, Yangping Pass became untenable.
Cao Cao had no choice but to abandon deterrence and rush to Hanzhong.]
A slow smile crept across Liu Bei's face.
So that's how it was, he thought.
Cao Cao… you took Yangping Pass because Heaven threw you a bone.
"What a pity!" Zhang Fei slapped his thigh.
"If Cao Traitor hadn't come running, Big Brother would've smashed Yangping Pass head-on! Taking such a pass would've shaken the world!"
Exaggerated—but not wrong.
In an age of crude siege tools, few formidable passes ever fell by frontal assault.
"Cao Cao was indeed clever," Guan Yu said calmly.
An army that moved without committing could strike either Hanzhong or Jingxiang at any moment.
It forced everyone else to tread carefully.
"But Heaven favored us," he added.
[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[And this is why Hou Yin's rebellion is so regrettable.
If he had delayed—just a little.
If he had coordinated with Guan Yu.
If he had waited for Xiahou Yuan's death—
He could have been the final nail sealing Cao Wei's fate.
But Cao Ren understood this too.
So he attacked Wan City with desperate ferocity, with Pang De at his side.
The Comprehensive Mirror records:
Spring, first month. Cao Ren massacred Wan, beheaded Hou Yin, and again garrisoned Fancheng.
Cao Ren knew they stood on the edge of something decisive.
To eliminate future trouble, he gave the order:
"Massacre Wan."
Hou Yin fell—
Just one step short of changing history.]
"So ruthless…" Ma Liang whispered.
Shock froze him for a breath—then anger flooded in.
He had visited Wan City as a child.
Its customs were no different from his hometown. Half-fellow townsmen, at least.
What crime had they committed?
"Just because they didn't want forced labor?" Ma Liang's voice trembled. "They deserved massacre?"
Jiang Wan placed a steady hand on his back.
Ma Liang blinked hard, then bowed deeply.
"I beg my lord—aid the people of Wan City!"
"I will not fail Jichang's trust," Liu Bei said solemnly.
Massacring a city.
Is this something humans do?
"The Cao traitor and his ilk are all the same!" Zhang Fei roared.
"Fighting armed men is heroism. Slaughtering civilians—what kind of hero is that?!"
[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[When we discussed Hanzhong, we mentioned Cao Cao's old habit.
Forced relocation.
For Cao Cao, Liu Bei taking Hanzhong was bad enough.
Liu Bei taking Hanzhong with its people was unbearable.
If that was the case—
Why not take the people first?
So Cao Cao entered Hanzhong in the third month.
By the fifth month, he withdrew at lightning speed—
Dragging the population with him.]
Even knowing this outcome, Liu Bei ground his teeth.
So that was always the plan.
"To feed his tuntian," Liu Bei snarled. He drew his sword and hacked off a corner of the table.
"When we defeat the Cao traitor, I'll lock him inside one of his own tuntian camps before killing him! To appease Jingzhou's dead!"
No one defended Cao Cao's habit of relocating civilians.
Kong Ming frowned.
"Forced tuntian labor. Casual executions. Endless corvée. They are called his people—but they are slaves."
Guan Yu glanced around, suddenly realizing Lei Xu wasn't present.
What a pity, he thought.
If Lei Xu were here, perhaps his heart would feel lighter.
Compared to Cao Cao, Gong'an might even be called mercy.
Yet—
His gaze lifted to the screen.
Even Gong'an was marked.
But was it truly safe?
[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[Ceding Hanzhong was meant to seize initiative in Jingxiang.
Cao Cao, having retreated to Chang'an, did not relax.
On one side, Liu Bei had not withdrawn.
On the other—Guan Yu was already at his throat.
The Records of the Three Kingdoms state:
"In the 24th year of Jian'an, Taizu was in Chang'an. He sent Cao Ren to attack Guan Yu at Fan."
But read carefully.
Cao Ren was already stationed at Fancheng.
How could he "attack Guan Yu at Fan"?
There is only one answer.
After Cao Cao moved on Hanzhong—
Guan Yu came knocking.
Relying on his navy, he sealed the Han River, bypassed Xiangyang, and struck straight at Fancheng!]
"This should be around the fifth month," Huang Zhong said again.
"The dry season's over," Zhang Fei nodded. "No wonder Second Brother moved."
On the map, it was unmistakable.
Xiangyang and Fancheng faced each other across the Han River—
And Guan Yu's ships roamed the waters freely, arrogantly.
Guan Yu's reasoning was simple and merciless.
"Control the Han River," he said, eyes sharp.
"Strike Fancheng."
"If Fancheng falls—Xiangyang falls without a fight."