While Zhuge Liang sails off into eternal fame, the Wei emperor Cao Rui goes in search of eternal youth.

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Welcome to the Romance of the Three Podcast. This is episode 135.

Last time, the kingdom of Shu was in trouble. Its indispensable man, Zhuge Liang, had died. And what’s more, its most fierce warrior, the general Wei Yan, had started a rebellion. But when Wei Yan confronted a detachment of the Shu army, most of his own men quickly deserted, since they were in no mood to fight their own countrymen. They all just wanted to go home. Wei Yan tried yelling at them, and he tried chasing them, and then he tried killing a few of them. But nothing worked, and his army dissipated.

But there was one unit that did not budge. It was the 300 men under the command of the general Ma Dai, who had been serving in Wei Yan’s unit when Wei Yan decided to rebel.

“Sir,” Wei Yan said to Ma Dai, “if you are sincere about helping me, then when I succeed, I will not forget you.”

Ma Dai said yeah ok, that sounds good. By this time, the Shu forces that confronted them had retreated, so the two of them regrouped what was left of their army and tried to figure out their next move.

“How about we go serve the kingdom of Wei?” Wei Yan suggested.

“General, that is not a good idea,” Ma Dai said. “Why should a true man subjugate himself to the service of another instead of seeking his own empire? In my view, you possess valor and cunning. Who in the Riverlands would dare to oppose you? I swear that I shall join you. Let’s first take Hanzhong, and then invade the Riverlands.”

Wei Yan was delighted with this idea, so they led their forces toward Nanzheng (2,4), the key city in the region of Hanzhong. Now Nanzheng was where the main Shu army was garrisoned, led by the senior adviser Yang Yi and the general Jiang Wei. When they saw Wei Yan’s forces approaching with a head of steam, Jiang Wei quickly ordered the drawbridge be pulled up.

Wei Yan and Ma Dai now shouted from the foot of the city, demanding that the troops inside surrender. Jiang Wei asked Yang Yi, “Wei Yan is ferocious, and now he has Ma Dai helping him. Even though they don’t have a lot of men, how should we fend them off?”

Yang Yi replied, “Before his excellency died, he left me a silk pouch and said that if Wei Yan rebels, I am to open the pouch when we are facing him on the field of battle, and a scheme to kill Wei Yan will present itself. We should look at it now.”

So he took out the pouch. On the outside, it said, “Do not open until you are on your horse, across from Wei Yan on the field of battle.”

That was good enough for Jiang Wei.

“Since his excellency had left specific instructions, you should hold on to the pouch for now,” he told Yang Yi. “I will lead our troops outside and line up for battle. Then you can come out.”

So Jiang Wei donned his armor, grabbed his spear, and led 3,000 men outside. Backed by rolling drums, they lined up in battle formation. Jiang Wei sat atop his horse under the main banner and shouted, “Wei Yan you traitor! The prime minister treated you well. Why are you rebelling?”

Gripping his saber and his reins, Wei Yan shouted back, “This has nothing to do with you! Tell Yang Yi to come out!”

During this exchange,