Wan Yu 萬彧

In the 7th month of the 7th year of Yong'an (264) Sun Xiu died. It was a time when Shu had just fallen and Jiaozhi had broken away in rebellion, and the realm, gripped by fear, wanted a sovereign of mature years. Wan Yu, Left Army Director (zuo dianjun), who had once served as Prefect of Wucheng and was on good terms with Sun Hao, Marquis of Wucheng, praised Sun Hao's talent and judgment as clear and decisive, of the same kind as Prince Huan of Changsha (Sun Ce), and said that he also loved learning and respectfully followed the laws, and he spoke of this several times to the Chancellor Puyang Xing and the General of the Left Zhang Bu. Records, Wu 19 §106Records, Wu 3 §48

Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu persuaded Sun Xiu's consort, the Empress Dowager Lady Zhu, deposed Sun Xiu's legitimate son and welcomed and set up Sun Hao. The Biography of Ding Feng also records that Ding Feng, together with the Chancellor Puyang Xing and others, followed Wan Yu's advice and welcomed and set up Sun Hao. Sun Hao was then twenty-three, and that year was the 1st year of Xianxi of Wei. Records, Wu 3 §49Records, Wu 19 §106Records, Wu 10 §106

Once he had attained his ambition, Sun Hao became coarse, violent and arrogant, so that high and low alike were disappointed, and Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu secretly regretted what they had done. According to the Biography of Puyang Xing, soon afterwards Wan Yu slandered the two, saying that they repented of the earlier affair, and on the first day of the 11th month, when the two came to court, Sun Hao arrested them and sent them into exile in Guang Province, then had them pursued and killed on the way and their three sets of kin exterminated. The Biographies of the Three Successor Rulers record the slanderer only as 'someone'. Records, Wu 3 §51Records, Wu 19 §106

According to the Biography of Lou Xuan, when Sun Hao took the throne, Wan Yu, together with Wang Fan, Guo Chuo and Lou Xuan, became Palace Cavalier Regular Attendant. Formerly the ruler had himself chosen those in charge of the palace from among his intimates, but when Wan Yu submitted that close and confidential posts should be filled with good men, Sun Hao had the responsible office seek loyal and incorruptible gentlemen and made Lou Xuan Guard Commander of the Inner Palace (gongxia zhen jinzhong hou). According to the Biography of Wang Fan, Wan Yu had an old friendship with Sun Hao, and vulgar men used this to slander Wang Fan, saying that he slighted Wan Yu. Records, Wu 20 §8 · 3

After the era name was changed in the 8th month of the 1st year of Baoding (266), Lu Kai was made Left Chancellor and the Regular Attendant Wan Yu Right Chancellor. In the spring of the following year the Right Chancellor Wan Yu went upriver to guard Baqiu, and in the spring of the 2nd year of Jianheng (270) he returned to Jianye. Records, Wu 3 §57 · 59 · 61–62

After the Biography of Lu Kai are recorded twenty remonstrances of Lu Kai, which Chen Shou said he had obtained from people who came from Jing and Yang Provinces. Chen Shou explained that most people of Wu had never heard of such a memorial, and that since its truth was hard to establish he did not include it in the main text but copied it after the biography. The third item said that Wan Yu, a man of petty talent and ordinary quality, had leapt from the status of a household servant into the palace, and that because Sun Hao cherished his small merits he had honoured him with a high post as a chief minister and placed him above the old ministers, so that worthy and good men were indignant and resentful. Records, Wu 16 §34 · 38

In the autumn of the 1st year of Fenghuang (272), Bu Chan, Area Commander of Xiling, surrendered to Jin and was then captured by Lu Kang. That year the Right Chancellor Wan Yu was reprimanded and died of anxiety, and his sons and younger brothers were moved to Luling. Chen Shou's main text does not record why he was reprimanded. Records, Wu 3 §63–64

In his assessment of Puyang Xing, Chen Shou said that although Puyang Xing held the post of chief minister, his thoughts did not extend to governing the state; he joined in Zhang Bu's wickedness and accepted Wan Yu's counsel, so it was fitting that he was executed and his family exterminated. Records, Wu 19 §109