The side hall in Gong'an was draped in a thick, heavy silence. Even Guan Yu, usually the bastion of stoic calm, found himself nursing a flicker of genuine envy.
Honor the man, not the god.
As someone who had spent his life steeped in the Spring and Autumn Annals, Guan Yu could appreciate the nuanced difference.
Future generations had seen fit to elevate Guan Yu to the heavens as a deity, yet they kept Kongming firmly on the earth as a man.
A god has no joy, no rage, and no sorrow. A man is built of laughter, hatred, and the pain of parting.
People pray to a god for ten thousand favors and protection, but they speak to a sage about the rise and fall of dynasties across a thousand autumns.
Guan Yu imagined his existence as a divine emperor, besieged daily by endless prayers for wealth, promotions, and academic success.
He might even have to field the occasional desperate plea from someone seeking a son for a heavy price.
And Kongming? Every day, he likely just listened to the gratitude of his descendants while sampling a buffet of exotic, free offerings they brought to his shrine.
Guan Yu sighed inwardly. Being the man sounded much better than being the god.
Jiang Wan remained expressionless. Having already processed the news of his own death, what was there left to say?
Since he was destined to be Kongming's right hand anyway, he figured he might as well ask Kongming to include him in whatever health-conscious regimen he practiced.
It was only logical. He decided then and there to lie flat and coast on the Military Advisor's longevity tips.
Ma Liang felt a similar pang of envy, but for a different reason, if he had not died at Yiling, would his name have appeared in that list as well?
And if it were him at Jieting… surely he could have held it.
[Lightscreen]
[At Wuzhang Plains, word of the Prime Minister's passing eventually leaked out. Sima Yi, now fifty-six years old, was overjoyed.
Had he not spent months rotting in his camp specifically for this moment?
But as Sima Yi gave chase, he was met at the mouth of the Xie Valley by Jiang Wei, who turned his banners around and beat the war drums as if preparing for a counterattack.
Sima Yi was terrified, convinced he had stumbled into yet another of that village bumpkin's traps, and retreated in a panic.
This allowed Yang Yi to lead the army back to Hanzhong with perfect composure.
The phrase a dead Zhuge scares away a living Zhongda became a laughingstock overnight.
Later, when Sima Yi inspected the empty Han camps, he could only sigh in admiration, calling the village bumpkin a genius of the age.
The Prime Minister was gone, but the hidden landmines he had spent years suppressing were about to explode. This brings us to a mystery that remains shrouded in fog even today.
The Death of Wei Yan.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Yan is depicted as a traitor who led his troops to pressure the Southern Commandery.
Taunted by Yang Yi, he supposedly shouted three times in front of the army: Who dares kill me? Only to be decapitated by a single stroke from the young general Ma Dai.]
Zhang Fei felt another surge of competitive annoyance. Scaring away Sima Yi? That is just a basic bluff! Why does everyone act like I am the only one who cannot use that trick?
"And they call this Sima Yi a famous general?" Zhang Fei scoffed. "All he did was hide behind a wall. I could do that! Is there really a general out there so incompetent they cannot even handle a defense?"
Liu Bei cast a long, silent look at his brother. But these were minor points. Liu Bei turned his gaze toward Wei Yan, thinking of the Ma Su incident, and hesitated.
Wei Yan, sensing the tension, turned pale. He immediately dropped to his knees, his forehead hitting the floor.
"The sun and moon are my witnesses! Wei Yan has no heart for rebellion! If I ever betray the Han, I am willing to be executed on the spot without a single word of complaint!"
Wei Yan felt profoundly wronged, and his voice carried a sharp, desperate edge. Liu Bei stepped forward and pulled him up. "Wenchang, never speak such heavy words again."
Guan Yu nodded in agreement. "Wenchang knows loyalty and righteousness. He would never do such a thing."
[Lightscreen]
[From a historical perspective, Wei Yan and Yang Yi were the classic case of two men doomed to clash.
They were remarkably similar, which is why the Prime Minister used to sigh: I value Yi's talent and I rely on Wei Yan's bravery, but I hate that they cannot stand each other. I cannot bear to discard either.
We have already covered Wei Yan's talent. The great victory at Yangxi earned him four consecutive rank promotions.
Yang Yi was equally gifted, and both Liu Bei and Kongming held him in high regard.
However, Wei Yan was haughty and arrogant, while Yang Yi was narrow-minded and irritable.
To put it simply, both were the type of people who wanted to be the boss and treat everyone else like servants.
Even their resumes were similar. Both started under Guan Yu.
Yang Yi was originally an administrator for Cao Cao, but he defected to Guan Yu before the Xiangfan campaign. They hit it off, and Guan Yu wrote a glowing recommendation to Liu Bei.
Their behavior also mirrored Guan Yu's own flaws. Before the Battle of Yiling, Yang Yi had a falling out with Liu Ba, a high-ranking official. That was insubordination.
Before the fifth Northern Expedition, Wei Yan clashed with Liu Yan, a senior imperial relative. That was also insubordination.
When two personalities like this collide, friction is inevitable. Wei Yan used his military merits to throw his weight around, and most people avoided him to save themselves the headache.
Only Yang Yi refused to back down, and the two became sworn enemies.
During the Northern Expeditions, Fei Yi had to act as a professional peacemaker, mediating between them while the Prime Minister kept a lid on the tension.
But, the moment the Prime Minister died, that lid blew off.]
"Second Brother, look at that. It turns out all this trouble started with you," Zhang Fei teased, relishing the rare chance to poke fun at his brother.
Guan Yu silenced him with a single, sharp sidelong glance.
He stroked his beard, his expression thoughtful, and turned to Wei Yan with genuine gravity.
"Wenchang, you must remember. Respect the scholars and love your soldiers. Only then can you sustain your position. Otherwise, you will end up like me at Xiangfan. It is a path that invites disaster."
Wei Yan nodded earnestly, committing the advice to memory. Currently, he had no great merits to his name, so his natural arrogance had not manifested yet. He was being exceptionally humble to everyone in the hall.
Guan Yu shook his head, still worried the lesson would not stick. He turned to Ma Liang. "Jichang, I will trouble you to prepare the accounts of the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford and the Xiangfan campaign for Wenchang to study."
Ma Liang agreed it was no trouble, and Wei Yan promised to take General Guan's teachings to heart.
Zhang Fei, realizing he could not bully his brother, decided to tease the current Administrator Wei instead. "Wenchang, do you want to try shouting those three lines right now?"
Wei Yan shook his head quickly, feeling a phantom chill crawl across the back of his neck.
[Lightscreen]
[The death of Wei Yan was essentially a political upheaval triggered by the power vacuum left by the Prime Minister.
Much like how the elites of Jiangdong became restless after Zhou Yu's death, every detail in the Records of the Three Kingdoms regarding this incident screams of foul play.
First, consider the final meeting. Instructions were given for Wei Yan to cover the retreat, but the only people present were Yang Yi, Fei Yi, and Jiang Wei.
Assigning a critical task to the General Who Conquers the West and the Prime Minister's military advisor without actually inviting him to the meeting was both illogical and insulting.
The record stating that Yang Yi secretly led the army away and left Wei Yan stranded, causing Wei Yan to fly into a rage, is frankly ridiculous.
Second, the Baoxie Road suddenly turned into a modern highway. The account in the Biography of Wei Yan is pure fantasy.
Yang Yi runs away first. Wei Yan gets mad, catches up, and burns the wooden plank roads. Yang Yi follows right behind him, repairing the roads as fast as Wei Yan can burn them.
Once through, Yang Yi writes a report accusing Wei Yan of treason, and the messenger somehow squeezes past Wei Yan's entire army to deliver it to Liu Shan in Chengdu.
The holes in this story are big enough to drive a wagon through. If Wei Yan was ordered to cover the retreat, he was the rear guard.
How does a rear guard leapfrog the entire main army to contest the road unless Sima Yi across the river was sound asleep?
Also, Zhao Yun burned those same roads once before, and a single fire was enough to force Cao Zhen to retreat. Compared to Yang Yi's magical road-repairing skills, Cao Zhen looks like he was throwing the game.
Ultimately, for a report to reach Chengdu while the roads were burned and Wei Yan's army was blocking the way is simply impossible. Therefore, the official cause of death in the Biography of Wei Yan is likely unreliable.
The Weilüe provides an alternative version. Before his death, the Prime Minister met with Wei Yan to discuss the aftermath.
Wei Yan followed orders, kept the death a secret, and retreated quietly, only announcing the mourning once they reached the Baokou pass.
Yang Yi, fearing that Wei Yan would purge him now that he held power, framed Wei Yan for defecting to Cao Wei and launched a coup.
Wei Yan's army deserted without a fight, and he was hunted down and killed by Yang Yi's forces.
This version aligns better with the ending of Wei Yan's official biography, which notes: Wei Yan's intent was not to defect north to Wei, but to return south and kill Yi and his followers.
We can safely conclude that Yang Yi did indeed frame Wei Yan for treason.
As for the rest, the total truth is lost to time. Chen Shou, in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, provided the most fitting epitaph: Looking at his actions and the rules he followed, he invited disaster upon himself. He has no one to blame but himself.]
"Look at it from a different perspective," Zhang Fei said, giving Guan Yu a big thumbs up. "Second Brother, you really know how to train talent!
Every single one of them is a handful!"
Guan Yu's face darkened, and he chose not to respond.
Zhang Fei, feeling quite jolly, slapped Wei Yan on the shoulder. "Wenchang, how are you feeling?"
Wei Yan remained silent for a long time before finally speaking. "As long as it is known that I had no intention of defecting to the Cao thieves, that is enough."
Zhang Fei burst into a loud laugh. "Wenchang, how about I have Big Brother write a couple of words for you too? Should it be Control Your Vanity or Control Your Arrogance?"
Wei Yan was speechless. He was still too young and green compared to the seasoned veterans in the room. Zhang Fei's easy banter was hard for him to handle.
"Yide!" Liu Bei waved a hand, his head throbbing as he tried to get his brother to be serious.
"Looking at the words on the screen, Wenchang was brave and Yang Yi was talented, but they were destroyed by their own inability to tolerate one another.
It is truly a tragedy."
Kongming felt a mix of relief and melancholy. At the very least, Wei Yan was not an empty talker like Ma Su.
"Wenchang, when you have time, you should read the story of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru."
Kongming left it at that. He was a busy man, and Wei Yan was a grown soldier. A subtle hint was all that was needed. Wei Yan accepted the advice in silence, bowing respectfully to Liu Bei and Kongming before sitting bolt upright in his seat, deep in thought.
Liu Bei, perhaps feeling a spark of inspiration, called for a piece of paper. He gripped a brush and wrote out Chen Shou's final evaluation in bold strokes.
He tossed the brush aside and barked, "Never mind Wenchang! Yide!"
Zhang Fei jumped, his back straightening like a spear. "I am here!"
Liu Bei shoved the paper into Zhang Fei's arms. "Your own future disaster... was that not also a case of inviting disaster upon yourself? You must reflect on this daily!"
Zhang Fei clutched the paper, pouting slightly as he drawled, "Your younger brother understands."
[Lightscreen]
[After the Marquis Wu returned to the heavens, the land of Longyou continued to echo with his legend.
Centuries later, in the late Tang Dynasty, there would be a warrior of the Great Tang.
Much like the Marquis Wu, he never saw the dynasty in its prime. But for the sake of its restoration, he poured out his heart and soul on this same land of Longyou, leaving behind a thousand-year regret.
His loyalty and martial spirit were in no way inferior to the Marquis Wu of the Great Han!]