Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is episode 50.

Before we pick up where we left off,

I would be remiss to not note the milestone of our 50th episode.

It's taken us more than a year to get here, and we've got plenty more of the story to go.

We are really just getting warmed up here, and I have enjoyed the experience of producing

this podcast immensely, and I want to thank all of you listeners out there for giving the show a chance,

sticking with it, sending in comments, and telling other people about it. I've said this before,

but it's worth repeating. You guys make the effort it takes to produce the show worthwhile,

so thank you. So, where were we? Ah yes, Liu Biao had just died,

and before his body was cold, his wife, Lady Cai, and her brother, Cai Mao, had conspired

to forge his will and make her son Liu Cong, the new ruler of Jing province.

They kept word of all this, including Liu Biao's death, hidden from his elder son Liu Qi,

and from Liu Bei.

Then, when they heard that Cao Cao's army was on its way, they quickly decided to surrender.

So they sent an official named Song Zhong to deliver the message to Cao Cao.

On his way back, Song Zhong was captured by Liu Bei's soldiers.

They took him to Xinye County to see Liu Bei, and Song Zhong ended up telling Liu Bei everything.

Zhang Fei then told Liu Bei that he should kill Song Zhong, then march on Xiangyang,

where they would sack the city, kill Lady Cai and Liu Cong,

and use the city as their base to fight Cao Cao.

But Liu Bei would hear none of this.

...