Inside the small side hall, the civil and military officials exchanged looks in stunned silence.
Could a man truly be this naïve?
Zhang Fei was the first to break the tension, his voice thundering with disbelief. "Is this really the seed of Cao Cao?"
Cao Cao had been many things—cruel, ambitious, and often ruthless beyond measure—but no one could deny his command of war. To win a wager as perilous as Guandu demanded a level of strategic mastery few in history had ever reached.
"How did such a man sire a son this gullible?" Ma Liang muttered, shaking his head.
The question echoed silently in everyone's mind.
"Liu Ziyang's counsel was flawless in every respect," Pang Tong said slowly. Having himself tasted the bitterness of possessing talent without a stage, he felt a sharp kinship with Liu Ye's fate. "After Yiling unfolded exactly as he predicted, one would think Cao Zihuan might finally recognize the man's worth."
Guan Yu stared at the light-screen, his expression heavy with weary disbelief. "It is one thing for my elder brother to raise an army in a surge of righteous fury. But for Cao Cao's son to do the same—to be driven by petty resentment—how can such a man command an empire?"
"He watches the fire from the far bank when he should strike," Guan Yu continued coldly, "then launches a campaign only after the opportunity is gone."
Zhang Fei, by contrast, was practically glowing with schadenfreude. "Why worry about him, Second Brother? If Cao Zihuan takes a beating from our 'green-eyed brother-in-law,' maybe he'll finally learn some humility. It'll ease the burden on our Military Advisor in Yi Province, won't it? A blessing!"
[Light-Screen]
Cao Pi remained obsessed with his so-called 'revenge,' deaf to all reason. Once again, Liu Ye stepped forward to oppose the decision.
By this point, it was common knowledge within the Wei court that their sovereign behaved like the 'King' or 'Ace' in a deck of cards—conspicuous, loud, yet utterly isolated. When Sun Quan first sent his letter of surrender, the ministers rejoiced, and Cao Pi personally composed the "Letter to the King of Wu, Sun Quan."
To be made a fool of immediately after such public spectacle was more than his vanity could endure. Among the court, only Liu Ye—a true loyalist of Wei—dared to speak plainly.
But Liu Ye was no Wei Zheng, and Cao Pi was certainly no Li Shimin. The Emperor ignored him and launched a massive, three-pronged invasion:
• East: Cao Xiu, Zhang Liao, and Zang Ba led eighty thousand local troops against Dongkou.
• Center: Cao Ren advanced with twenty thousand veterans toward Ruxukou.
• West: Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang, Xu Huang, and Zhang He—an entire constellation of elite generals—commanded seventy thousand men to besiege Jiangling.
"Local troops can serve only as a diversion," Zhao Yun said at once, his doubts clear despite Zhang Liao's presence in the east.
"Cao Ren's force is the same," Guan Yu added. "Ruxukou has been mentioned repeatedly on this screen—a narrow choke point with formidable defenses. Twenty thousand men will achieve nothing there."
"Seventy thousand troops and four great generals…" Zhao Yun said thoughtfully. "The west is clearly the true objective. This must be the battle where Zhu Ran uses the city General Guan built to make his name by repelling Wei."
The timing and terrain aligned perfectly.
"Second Brother slew Yan Liang and shattered Yuan Shao's army," Zhang Fei mused. "He advanced on Xiangfan and nearly forced Cao Cao to abandon the capital. And now our ten-thousand-man brother-in-law uses the very walls Second Brother built to block the younger Cao—who only attacks because he was too foolish to realize he was being toyed with."
Zhang Fei offered no formal critique. He simply felt that Sun Quan's skin must be thicker than the walls of Jiangling themselves.
Meanwhile, Ma Liang and Jiang Wan whispered among themselves about unfamiliar names. "This 'Li Shimin'… from the tone of the screen, he must be a figure of immense renown in the chronicles of the future."
"Perhaps," Jiang Wan replied cautiously. "Or perhaps it is merely a borrowed name used to make a point. We should not accept it uncritically."
Though they did not understand what a 'King' or 'Ace' of 'cards' might be, Cao Pi's conduct made the meaning unmistakable: he was an isolated fool.
[Light-Screen]
At this time, Cao-Wei was stronger than Eastern Wu—but not overwhelmingly so—and Wu was still riding the momentum of its victory at Yiling.
Cao Pi's fatal mistake was dividing his forces. In the east, the gravely ill Zhang Liao managed to defeat Lü Fan, but the legendary general died later that same year.
In the west, the main army besieged Jiangling for six months, only to withdraw without success. This failure established Zhu Ran's reputation and confirmed Sun-Wu's dominance in the post-Yiling era.
"With vast armies and famed generals," Zhang Fei laughed until he nearly choked, "he used his weakness to strike the enemy's strength! By his father's own military code, leading an army to such failure and losing men like that would be a capital crime!"
Jian Yong grinned. "That might be hard to enforce. I don't recall the elder Cao executing himself after Red Cliffs."
"Wenyuan… died on campaign," Guan Yu said softly. Zhang Liao of Hedong had lived a full warrior's life. His feats at White Wolf Mountain and Xiaoyao Ford would echo for a thousand years, earning him a place in the martial temples of later ages. To die in the saddle, even while ill, was a fitting final chapter.
[Light-Screen]
Two fates from this period deserve mention. The first is Liu Ye.
After his failed counsel to Cao Pi, he fell from favor and was no longer summoned to private audiences. When Cao Pi died young and Cao Rui ascended the throne, the new Emperor initially showed him respect.
Hoping to seize this second chance, Liu Ye abandoned his blunt honesty and began telling the young ruler only what he wished to hear. His duplicity was quickly exposed by rivals. Cao Rui grew distant, and Liu Ye—unable to bear the loss of standing—eventually went mad and died at fifty-five.
Pang Tong sneered. "With a heart like Cao Pi's, he must have hated Liu Ziyang after Yiling proved him right. That Cao Rui favored him at first only proves the man's talent was undeniable. Cao Pi simply chose blindness."
"Of course he ignored him," Jian Yong laughed. "Liu Ziyang's brilliance was a mirror reflecting Cao Pi's own short sight. Had Cao Pi been a man like Yuan Shao, Liu Ziyang wouldn't have merely lost his mind—he would have lost his head."
Amid the laughter, only Liu Bei looked truly pained. "To possess such talent, yet be forced to endure the whims of a rebel… to have one's genius reduced to a joke for all ages. Poor Ziyang."
"Then the future historian was wrong," Zhang Fei said, recalling the earlier words. "He had a brain, yet died of madness?"
Mi Zhu, understanding the toll such a life exacted, shook his head. "It is precisely because he was so intelligent that he went mad. To serve three rulers, to see every move on the board, and yet be forbidden to make even one play—how could a man not lose his mind?"
The room fell silent beneath the weight of that thought.
[Light-Screen]
The second figure of note is Jia Xu.
The retreat from Jiangling was officially blamed on a plague, so Cao Pi did not consider himself truly defeated. He wanted another attempt.
Remembering his frustrations with Liu Ye, he sought counsel elsewhere—though he still had not learned his lesson—and turned to the venerable Jia Xu.
Jia Xu's talent needs no introduction; even Cao Cao once said the man made him "trusted by the world." Facing his father's old adviser, Cao Pi adopted the posture of a diligent student and asked in all seriousness:
"Between the two disobedient states of the East and the West… which should I thrash first?"
"I may not be a grand strategist," Zhang Fei said, shaking his head, "but I understand Cao Pi's heart. He's like a fresh recruit from a good family—convinced he's the next Huo Qubing until the first arrow whistles past his ear. Jia Xu shouldn't waste breath on plans. It's pointless."
"He should just give Cao Pi a good, hard slap across the face!"
"Third Brother…" Liu Bei began, rubbing his temples out of habit.
The other ministers glanced at Zhang Fei's massive palm and thought the same thing: General, you simply want to be the one delivering that slap.
[Light-Screen]
Jia Xu was already in his seventies, nearing the end of his life. Ever the cautious survivor, he chose to offer one final piece of pragmatic wisdom.
His reply to Cao Pi was long, but its essence could be reduced to three words: Build the economy.
Jia Xu saw the situation clearly. Yi and Jing were shielded by natural barriers. Zhuge Liang was a master of governance, Sun Quan a veteran of political tides, and Lu Xun a genius of the battlefield. All three were formidable. To force a confrontation was to invite disaster.
His guiding principle was simple: "Win first, then fight." Use the eight provinces of the North to outproduce and outlast the two provinces of the South, grinding them down through sheer scale.
It was a brilliant, statesman's strategy. Yet Cao Pi was deeply displeased. "I, the Emperor of Great Wei, seek a war plan, and you answer me with talk of farming?"
And so, once again, the Emperor did not listen.
"He really should have gone with the slap," Jian Yong muttered.