Novel scene
Chen Gong arrests and releases Cao Cao 捉放曹
About this event
Chen Gong arrests and releases Cao Cao is the closing passage of Chapter 4 of the Romance, "Plotting against Dong Zhuo, Mengde Presents a Sword," in which Cao Cao, fleeing after his attempt to stab Dong Zhuo, is caught at Zhongmou County and then released by the county magistrate Chen Gong. The two flee together and at Chenggao kill Lü Boshe's household and Lü Boshe himself, and that night Chen Gong abandons Cao Cao and leaves (Chapters 4–5). Romance, Ch. 4 §34–37 · 40–44Romance, Ch. 5 §1
The Annals of Emperor Wu in Chen Shou's text say only that at Zhongmou Cao Cao was suspected by the pavilion head and taken to the county, and was released at the request of a local man; they do not mention the affair of Lü Boshe. Records, Wei 1 §6
In the Romance
In Chapter 4 of the Romance, Cao Cao, fleeing after his attempt to stab Dong Zhuo, is caught by the soldiers guarding the pass at Zhongmou County on his way to Qiao Commandery. He claims to be a traveling merchant named Huangfu, but the magistrate says he once saw him in Luoyang, locks him up and plans to send him to the capital the next day. When the magistrate calls him out in the middle of the night, Cao Cao tells him that he had humbled himself to serve Dong Zhuo in order to rid the state of a menace, and that he will return home, summon the lords with a forged edict and attack Dong Zhuo. Romance, Ch. 4 §33–36
The magistrate unties his bonds, bows twice, reveals that he is Chen Gong (courtesy name Gongtai), whose aged mother, wife and children are in Dong Commandery, and abandons his office to set out by night with Cao Cao. Three days later they stay at Chenggao at the house of Lü Boshe, sworn brother of Cao Cao's father. While Lü Boshe is out buying wine, Cao Cao hears the sound of a knife being sharpened and the words "How about tying it up and killing it?", kills eight men and women together with Chen Gong, and realizes his mistake only when he sees a pig tied up in the kitchen to be slaughtered. Romance, Ch. 4 §37–41
When, as they flee, they meet Lü Boshe coming back with wine and fruit, Cao Cao cuts him down too. To Chen Gong, who says that killing knowingly and deliberately is a great injustice, Cao Cao replies, "I would rather wrong all the people of the realm than let the people of the realm wrong me." That night at an inn Chen Gong draws his sword but sheathes it again, judging it unrighteous, and at the start of Chapter 5 he leaves alone for Dong Commandery before daybreak. Romance, Ch. 4 §41–44Romance, Ch. 5 §1
Where the Romance differs
Who released Cao Cao: In Chapter 4 of the Romance, Chen Gong, the magistrate of Zhongmou, is moved by Cao Cao's purpose, unties his bonds, abandons his office and follows him. In the Annals of Emperor Wu in the Records, Cao Cao, traveling by back roads under a changed name, was suspected by the pavilion head of Zhongmou and taken to the county, and was released when someone in the town who secretly recognized him interceded on his behalf. In Chen Shou's text, Chen Gong appears later as a general of Cao Cao stationed in Dong Commandery who, in the 1st year of Xingping (194), persuaded Zhang Miao to welcome Lü Bu. Romance, Ch. 4 §34–37Records, Wei 1 §6Records, Wei 7 §12–13
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.