The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 65

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 65:

Ma Chao Battles At Jiameng Pass;;

Liu Bei Takes Over Yizhou. 

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WARNING: IT'S THANKSGIVING DAY, IF YOU HAPPEN TO LIVE IN AMERICA. THAT MEANS A LOT OF LEFTOVER TURKEY. BETTER MAKE SOME COLD TURKEY SANDWICHES OUT OF THAT, BEFORE YOU END UP WITH A WHOLE LOT OF THE SAME THING AS YOU'LL FIND IN THIS CHAPTER'S COMMENTARY...YOU KNOW...SPOILERS. 

HAHA. I SLAY MYSELF.  

In the last chapter, of course, Ma Chao was driven from the West Valley Land (eastern Xi province, pretty much), after unwisely giving in to the urge to be a Tyrant, slaying a few people in the process, and then later on having most of his family wiped out by their next-of-kin in revenge. 

It is here that we see the recurring theme of Heaven's invisible hand turning the course of events once again. Ma Chao, you will recall, was the son and heir of Ma Teng, the unfortunate governor of Xi Liang who had been assassinated by Cao Cao a few chapters back. As such, Ma Chao had been one of the Feudal Lords in his own right...a person on equal standing with Liu Bei, Sun Quan, and even Cao Cao himself as far as his essential status in soiety was concerned. 

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 63

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 63:

Zhuge Liang Mourns For Pang Tong;

Zhang Fei Releases Yan Yan. 

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WARNING: YUP. YOU GUESSED IT. SPOILERS. 

Chapter 63: Pang Tong is assassinated.  1963: John F. Kennedy is assassinated. Coincidence?  Or Conspiracy? (If it's a conspiracy, that's one hell of a long-lived conspiracy. About 1800 years or so.)

Anyways, yeah, Pang Tong is skraight up assassinated in this chapter. Of course, the assassin, Zhang Ren, totally meant it to be Liu Bei that fell at Fallen Phoenix slope, but...well, I guess you can't be too picky in such a situation, right? Amiright? SureIam. :p

So it just got real over in Shu. Liu Bei had been told once that if he had both Sleeping Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix to support him, he need have no anxiety about being able to accomplish his great goal of reunifying the Han Empire.  Well, now, he's just lost one of those two. I'm sort of curious what "Heaven's" take on all of this was. After all, supposedly, it was "Heaven" that drove Liu Bei to mount this expedition into Shu in the first place. And now it is "Heaven" which appears to be punishing him for doing so? Make up your mind, "Heaven". 

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 57

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 57:

Sleeping Dragon Mourns In Chaisang;

Young Phoenix Intervenes At Leiyang.

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WARNING: D.J. RASPE IS PRONE TO BOUTS OF BLEAK DEPRESSION AND HE DISAPPEARS SOMETIMES, AND WHEN HE DOES, HIS CONTENT SLOWS TO A STANDSTILL. BUT HE USUALLY COMES BACK EVENTUALLY...LET THE SHOW GO ON. OH YEAH, AND SOMETHING ABOUT SPOILERS TOO...

So, it's been about a year since the last episode, and you're probably good and ready for a new episode, huh? Well, all right then. Let's get down to it. It is to be recalled that, at a previous point in the story, I mentioned how those who read this story tend to take sides. Some people are Cao Cao fans. Some are Liu Bei fans. Some are Zhuge Liang Fans, and some like Zhou Yu...this chapter, Chapter 57, is for the Cao Cao fans, it would seem.

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 56

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 56:

Cao Cao Feasts in the Bronze Bird Tower;

Zhuge Liang Provokes Zhou Yu a Third Time.

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WARNING: THE SANGUO YANYI ITSELF CONTAINS SPOILERS...ABOUT OUR OWN FUTURE. LEARN IT. BE PREPARED. UGLINESS IS COMING...

Chapter 56 of the Sanguo Yanyi sees a continuance of the almost tragically comical striving of Zhou Yu against Zhuge Liang, two of the great minds of the late Han. Seriously, these two are almost like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.  Zhou Yu, obviously, is Daffy, since, as you might have noticed in previous chapters, things just don't seem to go well for him when he tries to scheme against Zhuge Liang. This is like "Duck season! Rabbit season! Duck season! Rabbit season! Rabbit season! Duck season! Fire!" 

BANG!!!! 

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 55

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 55:

Liu Bei Rouses The Spirit Of Lady Sun;

Zhuge Liang A Second Time Angers Zhou Yu.

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WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YA. :p

Chapter 55 is the second chapter in a two part subplot involving Liu Bei and his sojourn in the Southland.  You may recall that in the previous chapter, the Southland, in the person of Lu Fan, went to Liu Bei to propose that Liu Bei marry Lady Sun Shang Xiang, or Sun Ren, as she's called in the novel.  Shang Xiang, you might also remember, is daughter to Sun Jian, and sister to both Sun Ce and the current ruler of the Southland, Sun Quan.  On the surface, this was put forth by the Southland as a method of cementing a strong alliance between the Houses of Sun and Liu, but the real plot, and one that Zhuge Liang saw through completely, was to attempt to lure Liu Bei to the Southland and alienate Liu Bei from his ministers.  Because Zhuge Liang saw through all of this, his tactics led to the bogus marriage becoming a real one, and Liu Bei did indeed get his wife, and whether they had wanted it or not, the Southland was indeed stuck with a bit of an unpleasant situation on their hands...an further strengthened alliance with an ally they didn't really want.  What Zhou Yu and Sun Quan wanted was the Jing Province, and now they were allied by marriage with the man who had "stolen" it from them...

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 54

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 54:

The Dowager Marchioness Sees Her Son-In-Law;

The Imperial Uncle Takes A Worthy Consort.

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WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. THAT'S ALL RIGHT...RIGHT?

Chapter 54 is the beginning of a bit of a side-story, as Zhou Yu, obsessed with gaining possession of Jingzhou for Sun Quan, attempts yet once again to develop a scheme for accomplishing his goal. You might recall the stalling tactics employed by Zhuge Liang in previous chapters to delay over and over the transfer of Jingzhou to Sun Quan. I think it's pretty reasonable to assume that the average reader/listener has probably figured out by now that Zhuge Liang has no real intention of relinquishing Jingzhou. I think Zhou Yu knew this also, and I also believe that it's indeed a possibility that Lu Su, deep down, also knew it. But Lu Su, as portrayed in the novel, was an honest man, and maybe a little bit on the credible side, by reason of extreme politeness. Lu Su was a brilliant man, and it's very hard to believe that he had no clue what Zhuge Liang was doing. But, ever attentive to the observation of etiquette, Lu Su found himself time and time again in the uncomfortable position of middleman between Liu Bei and the Southland. Thus, it's difficult not to feel more than a little sorry for Lu Su at this part of the story, where he is caught between Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu...probably the last place I would want to be is in between two intellectual juggernauts. I've been there before, time and time again, and it's really not fun.

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