Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is episode 124.

Last time, while the borders between the kingdoms of Shu and Wei were temporarily quiet,

the kingdom of Wu was up to some shenanigans.

One of Wu's governors, a man named Zhou Fang,

tricked the Wei commander Cao Xiu into thinking that he was going to surrender.

Convinced by Zhou Fang's dramatic act of cutting off his own hair as an oath of loyalty, Cao Xiu decided to march deep

into Wu territory, but the way General Jia Kui tried to get him to see the painfully obvious,

that this smelled like a trap. Alas, all this loyal advice just made Cao Xiu angry at

Jia Kui.

I am about to march my army forward. How dare you say such things to demoralize my troops?

He scolded Jia Kui and ordered the guards to take him outside for execution.

The other officers quickly intervened, telling Cao Xiu that it would hurt the army's morale even more if he executed a top general before marching out.

Cao Xiu relented, but he stripped Jia Kui of his command and took away his troops.

Cao Xiu then left Jia Kui back at camp while he personally led an army to go take the city of Dong Guan.

Word of this development soon reached the ears of Zhou Fang, and he was delighted.

If Cao Xiu had listened to Jia Kui, then it would have been heaven's will that Dong Wu should fall, he said.

But now it is heaven's will that Dongwu should fall, he said. But now it is heaven's will

that I shall succeed. Zhou Fang then sent word of this to the top Dongwu commander, Lu Xun.

Lu Xun decided to send the general Xu Sheng as his vanguard to go set up an ambush along a mountain

road at a place called Shi Ting.

Meanwhile, Cao Xiu had ordered Zhou Fang to guide his army forward. As they were traveling,

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