Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is episode 100.

First of all, I want to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas.

The fact that our last episode of 2016 also happens to be the 100th episode in our narrative seems a fortuitous omen of some sort.

I would like to thank everyone who has been listening to the show, rating the show in iTunes,

supporting the show through donations, and telling everyone else about

the show. You guys are awesome, and I would not have made it this far without your enthusiasm and

support. So thank you. Happy holidays, and here's to better things in 2017. And now, back to our

originally scheduled programming.

So, we had some momentous development in the last episode, didn't we?

Cao Cao, the Darth Vader of Chinese history and literature, had just died.

His eldest son Cao Pi assumed his title as king of Wei and then proceeded to consolidate his

position by marginalizing his brothers. He took away one brother's army, scared another brother into

committing suicide, and had just arrested his third brother, the literary genius Cao Zhi, for being disrespectful.

Horrified at seeing her sons at each other's throat, Cao Pi's mother, Lady Bian,

had begged him to spare Cao Zhi. Cao Pi told her,

Oh, I was never going to harm him, just take him down a peg or two.

After she left in tears, Cao Pi ordered that Cao Zhi be brought in to see him.

Before Cao Zhi entered, however, one of Cao Pi's senior advisors, Hua Xin, spoke up.

Was the queen mother asking your highness to spare your brother?

Indeed, Cao Pi replied.

But given Cao Zhi's talent and knowledge, he will never be a content subject, Hua Xin said.

...