Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast. This is episode 109. Before I go on, I just want to do one of those occasional spots where I say thank you to everyone for listening to the show

and for supporting the show. I have noticed an uptaken downloads lately, and that's all thanks

to everybody who has helped spread the word, and everyone who heard the word and decided to

check out the podcast for themselves. Also, we are closing in on 100 ratings on iTunes,

so if you haven't done so already,

take a minute and give the show a rating there.

It really does help increase the show's visibility

and make it easier for others to discover it.

And thanks again for all that you guys do.

So last time, we left off with the kingdoms of Shu and Wu, ready to hug it out and call themselves

allies again, putting aside old animosities for the sake of mutual survival.

Wu sent an envoy named Zhang Wen to Shu to formalize the alliance,

and while he was being whined and dined, Zhang Wen was getting a little too full of himself.

That is, until he decided to pick a fight with one of the Shu officials, a man named Qin Mi,

over some pointless pedantry.

Qin Mi showed that he was indeed the Uber nerd,

and Zhang Wen, having swallowed a huge slice of humble pie,

left his seat, bowed to the alpha nerd and said,

I had no idea there were so many talented men in Shu.

Your arguments have been positively illuminating.

Zhuge Liang now intervened to spare Zhang Wen any further embarrassment.

The riddles posed during the banquet were in jest, he said to the envoy,

...