After the Battle of Red Cliffs.
The seven commanderies of Jingzhou were divided among Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Quan. Cao Cao occupied Nanyang Commandery, the largest commandery in northern Jingzhou, as well as the part of Jiangxia Commandery north of the Yangtze River. Sun Quan obtained the part of Jiangxia Commandery south of the Yangtze River and most of Nan Commandery. Liu Bei obtained a small part of Nan Commandery.
However, Liu Bei actually occupied five counties in Jingzhou for a long time: Nan County, Changsha, Lingling, Guiyang, and Wuling. Among them, Guiyang and Changsha were borrowed by Liu Bei from Eastern Wu with shamelessness.
Liu Bei promised Sun Quan that once he obtained Xichuan, he would return the entire Nan Commandery, as well as Changsha, Guiyang, and other places to Sun Quan.
Liu Bei did indeed return this territory under Lu Su's urging and under the guise of the Sun-Liu alliance.
Sun Quan then sent Zhuge Jin to Sichuan, demanding that Liu Bei fulfill all his promises and return the other counties of Jingzhou.
Liu Bei tricked Zhuge Jin, saying, "I will return Jingzhou to you after I take Liangzhou one day."
Liu Bei thus managed to fob off Zhuge Jin.
Despite Lady Sun's repeated efforts, she could not sway Liu Bei's decision.
Zhuge Jin returned to Eastern Wu dejectedly and reported the whole story to Sun Quan.
Sun Quan then personally dispatched officials from the three commanderies to take up their posts in various parts of Jingzhou, in order to demonstrate his sovereignty and determination to reclaim Jingzhou.
Guan Yu was assigned by Zhuge Liang to guard Jingzhou. He had already completely offended Sun Quan by refusing his marriage proposal. This time, he went even further, expelling all the officials sent by Sun Quan.
Sun Quan was furious.
We must reclaim the entire Jingzhou from Guan Yu.
Although Sun Quan was furious, he did not act impulsively.
Before resorting to violence against Guan Yu, Sun Quan not only used the marriage alliance as a scheme to subtly undermine Guan Yu and put him to a test of character, but also wrote a letter to Cao Cao:
The so-called three-legged stand refers to a triangular relationship.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Liu Bei and Cao Cao were definitely enemies, because Liu Bei had occupied Yizhou and become a major threat to Cao Cao. Sun Quan wanted to take back Jingzhou from Liu Bei, so why couldn't he make use of Cao Cao?
Make good use of Cao Cao's hatred towards Liu Bei at this time.
Sun Quan wrote only one letter to Cao Cao, proposing that they should go together to seize Jingzhou and then split the spoils.
At this time, Cao Cao was getting older and older.
Cao Cao's dream of marrying Da Qiao had been shattered for many years.
For many years, Cao Cao both longed for and hated Da Qiao, but in the end, nothing came of it.
Cao Cao mainly understood that Sun Quan wouldn't let anyone marry Da Qiao.
Cao Cao could only settle for second best; unable to marry Da Qiao, he could at least acquire some territory to console himself.
Cao Cao dispatched General Yu Jin with an army of 70,000 to attack Fancheng.
Unfortunately, Yu Jin was born at the wrong time; a massive rainstorm caused the river to overflow, flooding the seven armies. Guan Yu seized the opportunity to attack with large ships, inflicting a major blow on Cao Wei.
Guan Yu's fame spread so widely that he completely forgot about the danger behind him.
Later generations commented that this episode was caused by Guan Yu's arrogance and overconfidence, which led to the loss of his ally, Eastern Wu.
From Guan Yu's perspective, this was actually a difficult situation for him.
At this time, Guan Yu was besieged on both sides. His superior, Liu Bei, was creating chaos for Cao Cao in Hanzhong and other places, while the self-proclaimed brilliant strategist Zhuge Liang had left Guan Yu in Jingzhou to fight against Cao Wei and Eastern Wu.
Guan Yu was just an ordinary person, not an octopus that could do everything.
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang should actually bear the responsibility for management and decision-making.
But that wasn't the case at the time.
When Guan Yu fought against Cao Cao's army, he was already quite old and no longer had the strong physique he had in his youth, but he still possessed great courage.
This was the kind of opportunity that Lü Meng and Lu Xun had been waiting for.
In order to make things seem legitimate, Lü Meng wrote a letter to Sun Quan requesting his cooperation.
Lü Meng claimed to be ill.
Like Zhou Yu and Lu Su, he fell ill and was too ill to get out of bed.
Sun Quan also publicly issued an order summoning Lü Meng back to Jingkou, but in reality, he was secretly plotting with Lü Meng.
Meanwhile, Lu Xun wrote another letter to Guan Yu, overflowing with flattery, praising Guan Yu's merit in defeating Yu Jin and breaking Cao Wei's power. Lu Xun was deeply humble, expressing his willingness to be loyal, and even entrusting his own future to Guan Yu.
Guan Yu felt greatly reassured as a result.
Among the group of sick people in Jiangdong, Lu Xun, the only pillar of support, was a fence-sitter.
Guan Yu no longer had any doubts and even gradually withdrew his defensive troops to head to Fancheng.
Lu Meng seized the opportunity to have his men disguise themselves as merchants and cross the river to launch a surprise attack on Guan Yu's base camp, succeeding on the first attempt.
This event is historically known as "Crossing the River in White Robes".
Even though Lü Meng had handled things so brilliantly, he was still worried about the safety of his wife, Sun Yerong, who had gone to Chengdu.
Lu Meng sent a secret letter to Sun Yerong, in which he warned her to be careful.
Yet they dared not reveal even a trace of the operation's secrets.
Sun Yerong received a secret letter from Lü Meng, telling her to be careful in everything. The letter seemed to say something, but in reality, it said nothing at all.
Sun Yerong firmly kept A Dou under her control.
Liu Bei, after all, preferred young and beautiful women.
Forced by circumstances, he married the local widow Wu, bestowing upon her many honors and even making her a respected figure, with Sun Yerong addressing her as "elder sister."
Comparing the two, it's clear which side's interests are more important.
Sun Yerong simply didn't get angry about this, meaning she didn't reveal any flaws.
He also avoided conflict with that Mrs. Wu.
Sun Yerong lay low and patiently waited for her opportunity.
She probably knew that Lü Meng would make a move, and she was prepared that if she were ever unable to protect herself again, she would definitely drag Liu Bei down with her and go to the Yellow Springs together.
She had no idea that Qiao Jingjing would come to pick her up with A Luo and Ling Tong at this time.
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