Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is episode 78.

Hey, guess what?

We just passed the midway point of the novel.

And guess what?

We still don't have three kingdoms in this romance

of the three kingdoms, but stay with me because we're about to take a big step toward that this week.

So last time, we left Liu Bei in a bit of a dicey situation, his plot with Zhang Song to take over

the riverlands leaked out, and Zhang Song lost his head

because of it. Not only that, but Liu Zhang, the ruler of the Riverlands, was, at long last,

on to his dear kinsman's true intentions, and ordered his men to strengthen defenses at all the

key points. While this was going on,

Liu Bei was putting into action his own plan, which called for pretending that he was leaving

the riverlands. His first stop was going to be Fu Cheng, and he sent word on ahead to the two generals

defending Fu River Pass that he would like to bid them goodbye before he left.

The two officers, Yang Huai and Gao Pei, had long been suspicious of Liu Bei,

and they decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to assassinate him,

so they each stashed the dagger under their clothes and took 200 men with them

to go see Liu Bei. Meanwhile, as Liu Bei was approaching the Fu River, his military strategist Pang Tong

advised him. If Yang Huai and Gao Pei come to meet us without hesitation, we must be on guard. If they do not come, then we should

lay siege to the past without delay. Just then, a strong gust of wind kicked up and blew over

the command flag in front of them. What does this omen portend? Liu Bei asked. This is a warning, Pang Tong answered.

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