Huang Kui 黃奎

In Chapter 57 of the Romance, Cao Cao, about to march south, worries that Ma Teng may raid Xudu, and following Xun You's plan he summons Ma Teng to the capital with an edict making him General Who Conquers the South and ordering him to attack Sun Quan. When Ma Teng stations his troops 20 li from Xuchang, Cao Cao makes his Attendant Gentleman of the Gate Huang Kui Adviser to the Army and sends him ahead to Ma Teng's camp to comfort the troops, telling him to say that if Ma Teng enters the city tomorrow and presents himself to the Son of Heaven, he will be supplied with grain and fodder. Romance, Ch. 57 §38–39 · 44–45

When Ma Teng sets out wine to entertain him, Huang Kui, half drunk, says that his father Huang Wan died in the disorder of Li Jue and Guo Si and that he has always harbored a bitter grudge, and that he never expected to meet today another traitor who slights his sovereign. Asked who that traitor is, he answers that it is the traitor Cao Cao, and when Ma Teng, fearing that he has been sent by Cao Cao to sound him out, tells him not to speak rashly, he rebukes him: 'Have you, sir, forgotten the edict in the sash after all!' Romance, Ch. 57 §45–46

When Ma Teng secretly tells him the truth, Huang Kui says that Cao Cao's wish to have him enter the city and present himself to the Son of Heaven can mean nothing good, and that he must not enter lightly. He then says that tomorrow Ma Teng should draw up his troops below the city and kill Cao Cao at the place where Cao Cao comes out of the city to review the troops, and the great enterprise will be accomplished. The two of them settle the plan accordingly. Romance, Ch. 57 §46–47

Even after returning home, Huang Kui's anger does not subside, and though his wife asks him again and again, he will not speak. His concubine Li Chunxiang, however, has been carrying on an affair with Huang Kui's brother-in-law Miao Ze, and Miao Ze, who has had no means of winning Chunxiang for himself, tells her to sound Huang Kui out by asking why everyone says that Imperial Uncle Liu is benevolent and virtuous while Cao Cao is a treacherous hero. That night Huang Kui comes to Chunxiang's room and, emboldened by drink, confides that he wants to kill Cao Cao and that he has already agreed with General Ma to kill him tomorrow when he reviews the troops outside the city. The concubine tells Miao Ze, and Miao Ze informs Cao Cao. Romance, Ch. 57 §47–48

Cao Cao secretly gives orders to Cao Hong, Xu Chu, Xiahou Yuan and Xu Huang, and meanwhile first has Huang Kui's entire household arrested. The next day Ma Teng, approaching the city, is surrounded, loses Ma Tie and is captured together with Ma Xiu, and Cao Cao has Huang Kui and Ma Teng and his son brought in bound together. Huang Kui cries out loudly, 'I am innocent!', but Cao Cao has Miao Ze confront him, and Ma Teng rebukes him: 'This worthless pedant has ruined my great enterprise!' When Cao Cao orders them taken out, Huang Kui is put to death together with Ma Teng, who never stops cursing, and Ma Teng's son Ma Xiu. Romance, Ch. 57 §49–52

When Miao Ze says that he wants no reward but only asks to take Li Chunxiang as his wife, Cao Cao says, 'What use is it to keep a man without loyalty who ruined his brother-in-law's entire household for the sake of one woman?', and has Miao Ze and Li Chunxiang beheaded in the marketplace together with Huang Kui's entire household; of those who watch, there is none who does not sigh. In Chapter 58, Ma Dai, who has fled overnight disguised as a merchant, tells Ma Chao that his uncle plotted with the Attendant Gentleman Huang Kui to kill Cao Cao, but that the plan leaked and both were beheaded in the marketplace. Romance, Ch. 57 §54Romance, Ch. 58 §8–9