Cai Mao 蔡瑁

In Chapter 6 of the Romance, Cai Mao appears as 'a man of Xiangyang' who, together with Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue, assists Liu Biao. On the orders of Liu Biao, who has received Yuan Shao's letter, he and Kuai Yue lead ten thousand troops to block Sun Jian, but he is struck on his breastplate mirror by Huang Gai's whip and flees. In Chapter 7 he rejects Kuai Liang's plan to hold firm as 'a clumsy plan' and encamps on Mount Xian, but this man, whom Sun Jian calls 'the elder brother of Liu Biao's second wife', is beaten by Cheng Pu within a few bouts and flees to Xiangyang. Kuai Liang says he should be beheaded under military law, but Liu Biao, who has newly married his sister, does not punish him. Romance, Ch. 6 §36–37Romance, Ch. 7 §36–38

In Chapter 31, when Sun Qian says that Liu Bei wishes to take refuge with Liu Biao, Cai Mao slanderously proposes cutting off Sun Qian's head and presenting it to Cao Cao, and is rebuked by Liu Biao. In Chapter 34 he plots with his sister Lady Cai to kill Liu Bei at his lodging, but when Yi Ji warns Liu Bei in advance and he leaves, Cai Mao writes a poem on the wall and tells Liu Biao that Liu Bei has left behind a rebellious poem. Romance, Ch. 31 §40–42Romance, Ch. 34 §9 · 23–26

In the same chapter Cai Mao has a gathering of officials held at Xiangyang; he has his younger brother Cai He guard the main road to Mount Xian at the east gate, Cai Zhong the area outside the south gate and Cai Xun the area outside the north gate, and lays an ambush of five hundred troops inside the city. When Liu Bei, tipped off by Yi Ji, slips out through the west gate, Cai Mao pursues him with five hundred troops as far as the Tan Stream, but Liu Bei leaps across the stream on his horse Dilu. In Chapter 35, when Liu Biao, having heard what happened from Sun Qian, orders him beheaded, Lady Cai weeps and pleads for him and Sun Qian says, 'If you kill Cai Mao, the Imperial Uncle will not be able to stay here in peace,' so he is let off with a rebuke. Romance, Ch. 34 §30–31 · 36–37 · 39–42 · 44Romance, Ch. 35 §20–21

In Chapter 40, on Lady Cai's orders, Cai Mao guards the outer gate with Zhang Yun and turns away Liu Qi, who has come to visit his sick father. When Liu Biao dies, he forges a will with Lady Cai and Zhang Yun to set up Liu Cong as lord of Jing Province, and has the staff officer Li Gui, who denounces them for deposing the eldest and setting up the young son, dragged out and beheaded. In Chapter 41 he has arrows shot at Liu Bei, who has reached the walls of Xiangyang, and is reviled by Wei Yan as a 'traitor who sold out the state'. Romance, Ch. 40 §13–14 · 16–18Romance, Ch. 41 §10–11

In the same chapter Cai Mao goes with Zhang Yun to Fancheng and reports to Cao Cao that the troops of Jing Province number 280,000 in all and its warships, large and small, more than 7,000, and he is made Marquis Who Guards the South and Grand Commander of the Navy. When Xun You calls them a band of flatterers, Cao Cao replies that he is using them for the time being because the northern troops are not used to fighting on water. Romance, Ch. 41 §22–24

In Chapter 45, at Sanjiangkou, Cai Mao sends out his younger brother Cai Xun and loses him to Gan Ning's arrow, and with Zhang Yun he builds a water camp along the river with twenty-four water gates. Zhou Yu, who spies on it, judges that he can defeat Cao Cao only after first getting rid of the two men. When Jiang Gan steals from Zhou Yu's tent a letter inscribed 'Respectfully sealed by Cai Mao and Zhang Yun', Cao Cao beheads Cai Mao, who answers that the troops are not yet well trained, together with Zhang Yun, and only then realizes that he has fallen for a ruse. Romance, Ch. 45 §27–28 · 31 · 33 · 47–48 · 53–54