[Light-Screen]
[ Zhang He's death, in the end, happened for one very simple reason:
He was too loyal to Wei.
Let's restate an important fact—Sima Yi was the supreme commander of the western front.
Yes, he had lost at Lucheng.
Yes, he had been humiliated—outplayed, harvested, and ignored.
Yes, every decision he reviewed afterward looked worse the longer he stared at it.
But in Sima Yi's eyes, Zhang He's problem was even bigger.
Three decisions—flawless.
A defeat that preserved the army.
A reputation that somehow came out clean.
That was… irritating.
So when Zhuge "Village Bumpkin" Liang withdrew, Sima Yi saw one last chance.
If Zhang He won, the western campaign's report would look better. Everyone wins.
If Zhang He lost—well, then he'd simply join Sima Yi, Guo Huai, and the rest in shared responsibility.
Everyone wins even more.
No one expected Zhang He to walk straight into an ambush and be cut down by a storm of arrows.
Incidentally, the Book of Jin later records this campaign as a Wei victory—claiming Sima Yi slew over ten thousand enemies before withdrawing.
If Zhang He saw that from the underworld, he'd probably feel more wronged than Dou E ever did.
You already won—then why send me to chase them?]
Zhang Fei fell silent for a long moment.
"Zhang He…" he finally said.
"Not the strongest fighter. Not the luckiest man. But his deployments were tight, his judgment steady."
"To die like this—over politics."
Huang Zhong chuckled.
"Thinking of Dángqú, General Zhang?"
Zhang Fei snorted.
"And you, Old General—Mount Dingjun scared him half to death."
They both sighed.
"Zhang He," Zhang Fei muttered. "A decent man."
Liu Bei added quietly,
"After Yiling, he followed Cao Pi to Jiangling and still made a name for himself in the east."
No one mentioned Jieting.
Ma Liang was present.
But Liu Bei understood something better now—why Zhang He hesitated after winning there.
A lifetime of hard battles against fierce opponents.
When victory finally came too easily… he didn't trust it.
Jian Yong asked curiously,
"If Shu had enough grain, and both sides dragged this out—who would win?"
Pang Tong answered without hesitation.
"Sima Yi would lose. Longyou would not fall."
He gestured at the map behind them.
"Heavy rains raise the Qishan waterways. Even if Shu had supplies, transport would be a nightmare."
"Sima Yi can draw grain across three hundred li of Guanzhong plains. Guo Huai can even requisition Qiang and Hu supplies."
"But Kongming—would he seize grain from civilians?"
Silence.
Zhuge Liang could say, 'If one man dies, the fault is mine.'
How could he rob the people?
Pang Tong shrugged and moved on.
"And don't forget—our 'ally' Sun Quan attacked Hefei again. And failed. Again."
"The eastern front is stable," he continued.
"So reinforcements can keep flowing west."
Jian Yong nodded.
"Shu probably has no more troops to spare."
[Light-Screen Commentary]
[ Now, about Li Yan.
One sentence sums it up:
Salting your own pants and complaining they sting.
When Zhuge Liang returned, Li Yan panicked.
"The supplies were fine! Why did you retreat?"
Then he confidently declared it must be the transport officer Cen Shu sabotaging things.
"I'll execute that traitor immediately!"
At the same time, Li Yan wrote to Liu Shan:
Don't punish the Chancellor! He's clearly feigning retreat to lure the enemy!
At that moment, Li Yan felt like the Joker holding both black and red cards—unstoppable, unhinged, magnificent.
Zhuge Liang didn't argue.
He simply submitted their previous correspondence.
Li Yan collapsed, speechless, and was stripped of office—reduced to a commoner.
After Liu Bei's death, authority had been divided clearly:
Zhuge Liang—primary regent.
Li Yan—secondary, overseeing internal and external armies, stationed at Yong'an.
Later, Zhuge Liang raised funds with Shu brocade, pacified Nanzhong with ruthless efficiency, and launched the Northern Expeditions.
Li Yan stayed in Yong'an. Watching. Seething.
What did Li Yan actually do in those years?
• Suggested carving eastern Yi Province into a new Ba Prefecture—headed by himself.
Zhuge Liang: No.
• Suggested granting Zhuge Liang the Nine Bestowments and making him king.
Zhuge Liang: Are you sick?
• After Cao Zhen's invasion, Zhuge Liang dragged him to Hanzhong to contribute something—anything.
Li Yan felt this was a power grab.
Zhuge Liang barely noticed.
After Lucheng's victory, Li Yan finally enacted his long-prepared "lesson."
Zhuge Liang probably sighed, stripped him of rank, and went back to planning the next expedition.
For centuries, historians have asked the same question:
Li Yan… what were you even thinking?]
Zhang Fei stared in disbelief.
"What was he thinking?"
"Was his head broken?"
Zhuge Liang felt a sudden wave of sympathy for that version of himself.
What kind of people did he have around him?
Pang Tong felt a warm gaze and turned to see Kongming smiling.
"Shiyuan," Zhuge Liang said gently,
"While we're in Yi Province—don't command troops."
Pang Tong blinked, then laughed.
"Of course. I still intend to compete with you on merit."
Even if I lose, he added silently, I still deserve my own shrine.
Zhang Fei suddenly slapped his thigh.
"This is Big Brother's fault again!"
Liu Bei didn't argue.
"When I was dying… who could've imagined this aftermath?"
"Third Brother," Guan Yu interrupted firmly,
"Anyone could suppress Nanzhong."
"But only the Chancellor could pacify it."
Zhang Fei sighed.
"And Li Yan was sick in the head."
"If he'd led troops, the Northern Expedition would never even begin."
Mi Zhu frowned.
"Urging the Chancellor to accept the Nine Bestowments—did he think Kongming was Cao Cao?"
Jian Yong snorted.
"He used to serve Liu Biao. When Cao Cao came, he surrendered immediately."
Mi Zhu shook his head.
"With judgment like that, even Wei wouldn't want him."
[Light-Screen]
[ History hides truth in small details.
Because of Li Yan's mess, Zhuge Liang had to personally explain matters to Liu Shan.
It would be their last meeting.
He may even have returned home briefly—to see his neglected son, his quiet, steadfast wife.
He was a great chancellor.
And he tried—earnestly—to be a father.
But for Zhuge Zhan, fatherhood was distant.
Expectation was close.
Zhuge Liang poured everything into this land, preparing for a final Northern Expedition—one unlike any before.
After Lucheng, Yong and Liang were thrown into panic.
Cao Rui rewarded generals to stabilize morale, but even the emperor worried.
The historians later summed it up perfectly:
"Armor was not removed in Yong–Liang;
Saddles were not loosened in the Central Plains."]
Zhang Fei whispered, awed,
"What power."
Guan Yu thought of Fancheng and Xiangyang.
Huang Zhong regretted his aging body.
Liu Bei thought of Yiling.
Everything began there.
Everything ended there.
Zhuge Liang said nothing.
Huang Yueying leaned against his back, silently crying.
He held her hands.
That was enough.
[Light-Screen]
[ Before the final Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang wrote to his elder brother.
He also wrote to Sun Quan.
The message was short:
Please—Jiangdong—try acting like human beings.]