Romance, Chapter 72

Chapter 72. Zhuge Liang Takes Hanzhong by Wit; Cao Aman Withdraws His Army to the Xie Valley

Now Xu Huang led his army across the Han River. Wang Ping earnestly remonstrated with him, but he would not listen; he crossed the Han River and pitched camp. Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun said to Xuande, “Let each of us lead the men of his own command to meet Cao’s troops.” Xuande agreed, and the two set off with their men. Huang Zhong said to Zhao Yun, “Xu Huang is relying on his courage in coming here. Let us not engage him yet. When the day wears late and his men are tired, you and I can divide our troops and attack him from two sides.”

卻說徐晃引軍渡漢水，王平苦諫不聽，渡過漢水紮營。黃忠、趙雲告玄德曰：“某等各引本部兵去迎曹兵。”玄德應允。二人引兵而行。忠謂雲曰：“今徐晃恃勇而來，且休與敵；待日暮兵疲，你我分兵兩路擊之可也。”

Zhao Yun agreed, and each of them led a force to hold the stockades. Xu Huang offered battle from the early morning hour of chen right through to the afternoon hour of shen, but the Shu troops did not stir. Then Xu Huang sent all his archers and crossbowmen forward to shoot at the Shu camp. Huang Zhong said to Zhao Yun, “When Xu Huang has his archers shoot like this, it means his army is about to retreat. Now is the time to strike.” Before he had finished speaking, word came that the rear of Cao’s army was indeed beginning to pull back. At that the drums thundered in the Shu camp; Huang Zhong led his troops out on the left and Zhao Yun on the right.

云然之，各引一軍據住寨柵。徐晃引兵從辰時搦戰，直至申時，蜀兵不動。晃儘教弓弩手向前，望蜀營射去。黃忠謂趙雲曰：“徐晃令弓弩射者，其軍必將退也：可乘時擊之。”言未已，忽報曹兵後隊果然退動。於是蜀營鼓聲大震：黃忠領兵左出，趙雲領兵右出。

Caught between the two attacks, Xu Huang was utterly defeated. His soldiers were driven into the Han River, and countless numbers died. Xu Huang fought desperately and got away, and back in camp he rounded on Wang Ping. “You saw that my army was in danger. Why did you not come to the rescue?” “Had I come to your rescue,” said Wang Ping, “this camp could not have been held either. I urged you not to go, but you would not listen, and so this defeat came about.” Xu Huang was furious and meant to kill Wang Ping. That night Wang Ping led the men of his own command to set fire to the camp. Cao’s troops fell into great confusion, and Xu Huang abandoned the camp and fled.

兩下夾攻，徐晃大敗，軍士逼入漢水，死者無數。晃死戰得脫，回營責王平曰：“汝見吾軍勢將危，如何不救？”平曰：“我若來救，此寨亦不能保。我曾諫公休去，公不肯聽，以致此敗。”晃大怒，欲殺王平。平當夜引本部軍就營中放起火來，曹兵大亂，徐晃棄營而走。

Wang Ping crossed the Han River and came over to Zhao Yun, who took him to see Xuande. Wang Ping told them all about the lie of the land along the Han River. Xuande was delighted. “Now that I have Wang Zijun,” he said, “there can be no doubt that I shall take Hanzhong.” So he made Wang Ping a Lieutenant General and put him in charge of the guides. Meanwhile Xu Huang fled back to Cao Cao and said, “Wang Ping has turned traitor and gone over to Liu Bei!” Cao Cao was furious and came in person at the head of a great army to seize the stockades on the Han River.

王平渡漢水來投趙雲，雲引見玄德。王平盡言漢水地理。玄德大喜曰：“孤得王子均，取漢中無疑矣。”遂命王平爲偏將軍，領嚮導使。卻說徐晃逃回見操，說：“王平反去降劉備矣！”操大怒，親統大軍來奪漢水寨柵。

Fearing that his lone force could not hold out, Zhao Yun fell back to the west bank of the Han River. The two armies faced each other across the water, and Xuande and Kongming came to survey the position. Kongming saw that upstream on the Han River there was a stretch of earthen hills where more than a thousand men could lie hidden. So he went back to camp, summoned Zhao Yun and gave him his orders: “Take five hundred men, all carrying drums and horns, and lie in ambush at the foot of those hills. Whether at midnight or at dusk, just listen for the bombs in my camp; each time a bomb goes off, beat your drums once.

趙雲恐孤軍難立，遂退於漢水之西。兩軍隔水相拒，玄德與孔明來觀形勢。孔明見漢水上流頭，有一帶土山，可伏千餘人；乃回到營中，喚趙雲分付：“汝可引五百人，皆帶鼓角，伏於土山之下；或半夜，或黃昏，只聽我營中炮響：炮響一番，擂鼓一番。

Only do not go out to fight.” Zilong received his orders and went. Kongming, meanwhile, kept secret watch from a high hill. Next day Cao’s troops came and offered battle, but not a man came out of the Shu camp, nor was a single arrow or bolt loosed. Cao’s troops went back of their own accord. Late that night, when Kongming saw that the lights in Cao’s camp had just gone out and the soldiers had settled down to rest, he had the signal bomb fired. Zilong heard it and had his drums and horns sound all together. Cao’s troops were thrown into alarm, sure that their camp was being raided.

只不要出戰。”子龍受計去了。孔明卻在高山上暗窺。次日，曹兵到來搦戰，蜀營中一人不出，弓弩亦都不發。曹兵自回。當夜更深，孔明見曹營燈火方息，軍士歇定，遂放號炮。子龍聽得，令鼓角齊鳴。曹兵驚慌，只疑劫寨。

But when they came out of camp, there was not a soldier to be seen. No sooner had they gone back in to rest than the signal bomb went off again, the drums and horns sounded again, and the shouting shook the earth and echoed through the hills and valleys. Cao’s troops got no peace all night. After three nights in a row of such alarms, Cao Cao lost his nerve; he broke camp, fell back thirty li and camped on open ground. Kongming laughed. “Cao Cao knows the art of war,” he said, “but he does not know trickery.” He then asked Xuande to cross the Han River himself and pitch camp with his back to the water. When Xuande asked what the plan was, Kongming said, “Do thus and thus.”

及至出營，不見一軍。方纔回營欲歇，號炮又響，鼓角又鳴，吶喊震地，山谷應聲。曹兵徹夜不安。一連三夜，如此驚疑，操心怯，拔寨退三十里，就空闊處紮營。孔明笑曰：“曹操雖知兵法，不知詭計。”遂請玄德親渡漢水，背水結營。玄德問計，孔明曰：“可如此如此。”

Seeing Xuande camped with his back to the river, Cao Cao was puzzled, and he sent a man with a written challenge. Kongming wrote on it that the decisive battle would be the next day. Next day the two armies met in front of Mount Wujie on the middle road and drew up in battle array. Cao Cao rode out and took his stand beneath the standard at the gate of his lines, with banners of dragon and phoenix ranged in two rows on either side. The drums rolled three times, and he called on Xuande to come out and parley. Xuande came out with Liu Feng, Meng Da and the Xichuan commanders.

曹操見玄德背水下寨，心中疑惑，使人來下戰書。孔明批來日決戰。次日，兩軍會於中路五界山前，列成陣勢。操出馬立於門旗下，兩行佈列龍鳳旌旗，擂鼓三通，喚玄德答話。玄德引劉封、孟達並川中諸將而出。

Cao Cao raised his whip and cursed him roundly: “Liu Bei, you ungrateful, faithless rebel against the court!” Xuande replied, “I am a kinsman of the great House of Han, and I have received an edict to destroy the traitor. You murdered the Empress, the mother of the realm, made yourself a king and usurp the use of the Son of Heaven’s own carriage. If that is not rebellion, what is?” Cao Cao angrily ordered Xu Huang to ride out and fight, and Liu Feng came out to meet him. While they fought, Xuande went back into his lines first. Liu Feng could not hold out against Xu Huang, and he turned his horse and fled.

操揚鞭大罵曰：“劉備忘恩失義，反叛朝廷之賊！”玄德曰：“吾乃大漢宗親，奉詔討賊。汝上弒母后，自立爲王，僭用天子鑾輿，非反而何？”操怒，命徐晃出馬來戰，劉封出迎。交戰之時，玄德先走入陣。封敵晃不住，撥馬便走。

Cao Cao gave the order: “Whoever captures Liu Bei shall be lord of Xichuan.” With a great shout his whole army surged forward across the field. The Shu troops fled toward the Han River, abandoning all their camps, and the roads were strewn with horses and weapons. Cao’s soldiers all scrambled to grab them. Cao Cao hastily sounded the gongs to call his men back. His commanders said, “We were just about to capture Liu Bei. Why does Your Highness recall the army?” Cao Cao said, “I saw that the Shu troops made camp with their backs to the Han River; that is the first suspicious thing. They have abandoned a great many horses and weapons; that is the second.

操下令：“捉得劉備，便爲西川之主。”大軍齊吶喊殺過陣來。蜀兵望漢水而逃，盡棄營寨；馬匹軍器，丟滿道上。曹軍皆爭取。操急鳴金收軍。衆將曰：“某等正待捉劉備，大王何故收軍？”操曰：“吾見蜀兵背漢水安營，其可疑一也；多棄馬匹軍器，其可疑二也。

We must retreat at once and not pick up any of their things.” So he gave orders: “Anyone who takes so much as one thing will be beheaded on the spot. Fall back at full speed.” Just as Cao’s troops were turning back, Kongming’s signal flag went up. Xuande came out at once with the troops of the centre, Huang Zhong came charging in on the left and Zhao Yun on the right. Cao’s troops broke and fled in utter rout, and Kongming pursued them through the night.

可急退軍，休取衣物。”遂下令曰：“妄取一物者立斬。火速退兵。”曹兵方回頭時，孔明號旗舉起：玄德中軍領兵便出，黃忠左邊殺來，趙雲右邊殺來。曹兵大潰而逃，孔明連夜追趕。

Cao Cao sent orders for the army to return to Nanzheng, but fires could be seen rising on five roads. Wei Yan and Zhang Fei, it turned out, had got Yan Yan to take over the defence of Langzhong, and had divided their forces and come fighting their way in; they had already taken Nanzheng. In alarm Cao Cao fled toward Yangping Pass. Xuande’s great army pursued as far as Baozhou in Nanzheng. When the people had been set at ease, Xuande asked Kongming, “Why was Cao Cao beaten so quickly this time?” “All his life Cao Cao has been a suspicious man,” said Kongming. “Able as he is in war, when he is suspicious he usually loses.

操傳令軍回南鄭，只見五路火起，原來魏延、張飛得嚴顏代守閬中，分兵殺來，先得了南鄭。操心驚，望陽平關而走。玄德大兵追至南鄭褒州。安民已畢，玄德問孔明曰：“曹操此來，何敗之速也？”孔明曰：“操平生爲人多疑，雖能用兵，疑則多敗。

I beat him by making him doubt with decoy troops.” Xuande said, “Now Cao Cao has fallen back to hold Yangping Pass, and he is already isolated. By what plan will you drive him away, sir?” “I, Liang, have already worked it out,” said Kongming. He then sent Zhang Fei and Wei Yan by two roads to cut Cao Cao’s supply lines, and ordered Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun to go by two roads and set fire to the hills. The commanders of the four columns each set off, taking guides with them.

吾以疑兵勝之。”玄德曰：“今操退守陽平關，其勢已孤，先生將何策以退之？”孔明曰：“亮已算定了。”便差張飛、魏延分兵兩路去截曹操糧道，令黃忠、趙雲分兵兩路去放火燒山。四路軍將，各引向導官軍去了。

Meanwhile Cao Cao, falling back to hold Yangping Pass, sent men out to scout. They came back and reported, “The Shu troops have blocked every byway far and near, and they have burned out all the places where we cut firewood. We do not know where their troops are.” While Cao Cao was puzzling over this, word came that Zhang Fei and Wei Yan had divided their forces and were raiding the grain convoys. “Who dares face Zhang Fei?” asked Cao Cao. “I will go!” said Xu Chu. Cao Cao ordered Xu Chu to take a thousand picked troops along the road to Yangping Pass to meet and guard the grain and fodder.

卻說曹操退守陽平關，令軍哨探。回報曰：“今蜀兵將遠近小路，盡皆塞斷；砍柴去處，盡放火燒絕。不知兵在何處。”操正疑惑間，又報張飛、魏延分兵劫糧。操問曰：“誰敢敵張飛？”許褚曰：“某願往！”操令許褚引一千精兵，去陽平關路上護接糧草。

The officer in charge of the convoy met him and said joyfully, “If you had not come, General, the grain would never have reached Yangping.” And he offered Xu Chu the wine and meat from the carts. Xu Chu drank deep and before he knew it was very drunk. In high spirits from the wine, he urged the grain carts on. The convoy officer said, “The day is already over, and the country ahead around Baozhou is wild and dangerous. We should not try to go through.” “I have the courage of ten thousand men,” said Xu Chu. “Why should I fear anyone?

解糧官接着，喜曰：“若非將軍到此，糧不得到陽平矣。”遂將車上的酒肉，獻與許褚。褚痛飲，不覺大醉，便乘酒興，催糧車行。解糧官曰：“日已暮矣，前褒州之地，山勢險惡，未可過去。”褚曰：“吾有萬夫之勇，豈懼他人哉！

Tonight we can make use of the moonlight; it is just right for moving the grain carts.” Xu Chu took the lead, sword held crosswise, and spurred on at the head of his men. After the second watch they were on the road to Baozhou. When they were halfway along, drums and horns suddenly shook the sky from a hollow in the hills, and a body of troops barred the way. At their head was Zhang Fei, who levelled his spear, spurred his horse and made straight for Xu Chu. Xu Chu whirled his sword and met him, but he was drunk and could not hold his own against Zhang Fei. Within a few bouts Zhang Fei’s spear pierced his shoulder, and he tumbled from his horse. His soldiers hurriedly picked him up and fell back in flight.

今夜乘着月色，正好使糧車行走。”許褚當先，橫刀縱馬，引軍前進。二更已後，往褒州路上而來。行至半路，忽山凹裏鼓角震天，一枝軍當住。爲首大將，乃張飛也，挺矛縱馬，直取許褚。褚舞刀來迎，卻因酒醉，敵不住張飛；戰不數合，被飛一矛刺中肩膀，翻身落馬；軍士急忙救起，退後便走。

Zhang Fei seized all the grain and fodder carts and went back. The commanders brought Xu Chu safely back to Cao Cao, who had a physician treat his wound, while he himself led out his troops to fight a decisive battle with the Shu army. Xuande led his army out to meet him. When the two sides were drawn up facing each other, Xuande ordered Liu Feng to ride out. Cao Cao cursed him: “You sandal-selling brat, always sending your adopted son out to fight your battles! If I call my yellow-bearded boy here, your adopted son will be minced to a pulp!”

張飛盡奪糧草車輛而回。卻說衆將保着許褚，回見曹操。操令醫士療治金瘡，一面親自提兵來與蜀兵決戰。玄德引軍出迎。兩陣對圓，玄德令劉封出馬。操罵曰：“賣履小兒，常使假子拒敵！吾若喚黃鬚兒來，汝假子爲肉泥矣！”

Liu Feng, furious, levelled his spear, spurred his horse and made straight for Cao Cao. Cao Cao sent Xu Huang to meet him, and Liu Feng pretended to be beaten and fled. Cao Cao pursued with his troops. Then from the Shu camp bombs went off on every side, and drums and horns sounded together. Fearing an ambush, Cao Cao hastily ordered a retreat. His troops trampled one another, and a great many died; not until they had fled back to Yangping Pass did they manage to catch their breath. The Shu troops chased them right to the walls, setting fires at the east gate and shouting at the west gate, setting fires at the south gate and beating drums at the north gate.

劉封大怒，挺槍驟馬，徑取曹操。操令徐晃來迎，封詐敗而走。操引兵追趕。蜀兵營中，四下炮響，鼓角齊鳴。操恐有伏兵，急教退軍。曹兵自相踐踏，死者極多，奔回陽平關，方纔歇定。蜀兵趕到城下：東門放火，西門吶喊；南門放火，北門擂鼓。

Terrified, Cao Cao abandoned the pass and fled, with the Shu troops pursuing and harrying him from behind. As he fled, Zhang Fei with a body of troops cut him off in front, Zhao Yun with another came at him from behind, and Huang Zhong came charging in from Baozhou. Cao Cao was utterly defeated. His commanders protected him and cut their way out. They had only just reached the mouth of the Xie Valley when a cloud of dust suddenly rose ahead and a body of troops came up. “If this is an ambush,” said Cao Cao, “I am finished!”

操大懼，棄關而走。蜀兵從後追襲。操正走之間，前面張飛引一枝兵截住，趙雲引一枝兵從背後殺來，黃忠又引兵從褒州殺來。操大敗。諸將保護曹操，奪路而走。方逃至斜谷界口，前面塵頭忽起，一枝兵到。操曰：“此軍若是伏兵，吾休矣！”

As the troops drew near, they turned out to be led by Cao Cao’s second son, Cao Zhang. Cao Zhang, styled Ziwen, had been a fine horseman and archer from his youth; he was stronger than other men and could fight wild beasts with his bare hands. Cao Cao once admonished him, “You do not read books but love only the bow and the horse. That is the courage of a mere common fellow; what is there to value in it?” Cao Zhang replied, “A true man should model himself on Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, win glory in the deserts, drive far ahead at the head of hundreds of thousands and range across the whole world. How could I become a scholar of the classics?”

及兵將近，乃操次子曹彰也。彰字子文，少善騎射；膂力過人，能手格猛獸。操嘗戒之曰：“汝不讀書而好弓馬，此匹夫之勇，何足貴乎？”彰曰：“大丈夫當學衛青、霍去病，立功沙漠，長驅數十萬衆，縱橫天下；何能作博士耶？”

Cao Cao once asked his sons what they wanted to be. “I would like to be a general,” said Cao Zhang. “And what would you do as a general?” asked Cao Cao. “Wear stout armour and wield sharp weapons,” said Cao Zhang, “never think of myself in the face of danger, and go ahead of my soldiers; see that rewards are always given and punishments always carried out.” Cao Cao laughed heartily. In the twenty-third year of Jian’an, when the Wuhuan of Dai Commandery rebelled, Cao Cao ordered Cao Zhang to lead fifty thousand troops against them. As he set off, Cao Cao warned him, “At home we are father and son; once you take up a charge, we are lord and subject. The law does not bend to personal feeling. Take good heed of this.”

操嘗問諸子之志。彰曰：“好爲將。”操問：“爲將何如？”彰曰：“披堅執銳，臨難不顧，身先士卒；賞必行，罰必信。”操大笑。建安二十三年，代郡烏桓反，操令彰引兵五萬討之；臨行戒之曰：“居家爲父子，受事爲君臣。法不徇情，爾宜深戒。”

Cao Zhang had reached the country north of Dai, led the fighting in person and fought his way right through to Sanggan, so that the whole north was pacified. Then, hearing that Cao Cao had been defeated at Yangping, he had come to help. Cao Cao was overjoyed to see him. “My yellow-bearded boy has come,” he said. “Now Liu Bei is sure to be beaten!” So he regrouped his army, turned back and made camp at the mouth of the Xie Valley. Someone reported to Xuande that Cao Zhang had arrived. “Who dares go and fight Cao Zhang?” asked Xuande. “I will go,” said Liu Feng.

彰到代北，身先戰陣，直殺至桑乾，北方皆平；因聞操在陽平敗陣，故來助戰。操見彰至，大喜曰：“我黃鬚兒來，破劉備必矣！”遂勒兵復回，於斜谷界口安營。有人報玄德，言曹彰到。玄德問曰：“誰敢去戰曹彰？”劉封曰：“某願往。”

Meng Da said he wanted to go too. “Go together, both of you,” said Xuande, “and we shall see who wins the honours.” Each led five thousand troops out to meet the enemy, Liu Feng in front and Meng Da behind. Cao Zhang rode out and fought Liu Feng, and after only three bouts Liu Feng was badly beaten and came back. Meng Da led his men forward, but just as he was about to engage, he saw Cao’s troops thrown into great confusion. Ma Chao and Wu Lan, it turned out, had come charging in with their two armies, and Cao’s troops were shaken. Meng Da led his men to attack them from the other side.

孟達又說要去。玄德曰：“汝二人同去，看誰成功。”各引兵五千來迎：“劉封在先，孟達在後，曹彰出馬與封交戰，只三合，封大敗而回。孟達引兵前進，方欲交鋒，只見曹兵大亂。原來馬超、吳蘭兩軍殺來，曹兵驚動。孟達引兵夾攻。

Ma Chao’s men had long been storing up their strength, and now that they were here they made a great show of their might, sweeping all before them. Cao’s troops were routed. Cao Zhang happened to meet Wu Lan, and the two engaged; within a few bouts Cao Zhang thrust Wu Lan from his horse with his halberd. The armies fought in a confused melee. Cao Cao drew back his troops and camped at the mouth of the Xie Valley. There he stayed a long time. If he tried to advance, Ma Chao held him off; if he withdrew and went home, he feared the Shu troops would laugh at him. He wavered and could not make up his mind.

馬超士卒，蓄銳日久，到此耀武揚威，勢不可當。曹兵敗走。曹彰正遇吳蘭，兩個交鋒，不數合，曹彰一戟刺吳蘭於馬下。三軍混戰。操收兵於斜谷界口扎住。操屯兵日久，欲要進兵，又被馬超拒守；欲收兵回，又恐被蜀兵恥笑，心中猶豫不決。

Just then the cook brought in some chicken soup. Seeing chicken ribs in the bowl, Cao Cao was moved by a thought. As he sat brooding, Xiahou Dun came into his tent and asked for the watchword for the night. Without thinking, Cao Cao said, “Chicken ribs! Chicken ribs!” Xiahou Dun passed the order to all the officers, and everyone gave the word “Chicken ribs.” When the Army Recorder Yang Xiu saw that the word “chicken ribs” had been passed around, he at once told the soldiers of his own following to pack their baggage and get ready for the journey home. Someone reported this to Xiahou Dun.

適庖官進雞湯。操見碗中有雞肋，因而有感於懷。正沉吟間，夏侯惇入帳，稟請夜間口號。操隨口曰：“雞肋！雞肋！”惇傳令衆官，都稱“雞肋”。行軍主簿楊脩，見傳“雞肋”二字，便教隨行軍士，各收拾行裝，準備歸程。有人報知夏侯惇。

Xiahou Dun was astonished. He invited Yang Xiu to his tent and asked, “Why are you packing your baggage?” “From tonight’s watchword,” said Yang Xiu, “I know that the King of Wei will soon withdraw the army and go home. Chicken ribs have no meat on them worth eating, yet they have too much flavour to throw away. Now he cannot win by advancing and fears being laughed at if he retreats. There is nothing to be gained by staying here, and he would do better to go home soon. Tomorrow the King of Wei is sure to lead the army back. So I am packing in advance, to avoid a scramble when it is time to go.”

惇大驚，遂請楊脩至帳中問曰：“公何收拾行裝？”修曰：“以今夜號令，便知魏王不日將退兵歸也：雞肋者，食之無肉，棄之有味。今進不能勝，退恐人笑，在此無益，不如早歸：來日魏王必班師矣。故先收拾行裝，免得臨行慌亂。”

“You truly know the King of Wei’s innermost mind!” said Xiahou Dun, and he packed his own baggage too. So there was not a commander in the camp who was not getting ready to go home. That night Cao Cao was so troubled that he could not sleep. Taking a steel axe in his hand, he went round the camp alone and unannounced. He saw that the soldiers in Xiahou Dun’s camp were all packing their baggage. Greatly alarmed, he hurried back to his tent, summoned Xiahou Dun and asked what it meant. “Recorder Yang Dezu guessed ahead of time that Your Highness intends to go home,” said Xiahou Dun.

夏侯惇曰：“公真知魏王肺腑也！”遂亦收拾行裝。於是寨中諸將，無不準備歸計。當夜曹操心亂，不能穩睡，遂手提鋼斧，繞寨私行。只見夏侯惇寨內軍士，各準備行裝。操大驚，急回帳召惇問其故。惇曰：“主簿楊德祖先知大王欲歸之意。”

Cao Cao summoned Yang Xiu and questioned him, and Yang Xiu explained the meaning of “chicken ribs.” Cao Cao was furious. “How dare you invent tales to unsettle my army!” he roared, and he ordered the executioners to take him out and behead him, and to hang up his head outside the camp gate as a warning. Now Yang Xiu was a man who relied on his talent and knew no restraint, and he had offended Cao Cao many times. Cao Cao once had a garden made. When it was finished, he went to look at it, and without a word of praise or blame he just took a brush, wrote the single character huo, “alive” (活), on the gate and went away.

操喚楊脩問之，修以雞肋之意對。操大怒曰：“汝怎敢造言亂我軍心！”喝刀斧手推出斬之，將首級號令於轅門外。原來楊脩爲人恃才放曠，數犯曹操之忌：操嘗造花園一所；造成，操往觀之，不置褒貶，只取筆於門上書一“活”字而去。

No one could understand what he meant. Yang Xiu said, “Put the character huo, ‘alive’ (活), inside the character men, ‘gate’ (门), and you get kuo, ‘wide’ (阔). The Prime Minister thinks the garden gate is too wide.” So the wall was rebuilt and the gate altered as it should be, and Cao Cao was invited to see it again. He was very pleased. “Who understood what I meant?” he asked. “Yang Xiu,” said those around him. Cao Cao praised him, but in his heart he greatly resented it. Another day a box of curd arrived from beyond the northern frontier. Cao Cao himself wrote three characters on the box, yi he su, “one box of curd” (一合酥), and set it on his desk.

人皆不曉其意。修曰：“門內添活字，乃闊字也。丞相嫌園門闊耳。”於是再築牆圍，改造停當，又請操觀之。操大喜，問曰：“誰知吾意？”左右曰：“楊脩也。”操雖稱美，心甚忌之。又一日，塞北送酥一盒至。操自寫“一合酥”三字於盒上，置之案頭。

Yang Xiu came in, saw it, and without further ado took a spoon and shared it out among everyone until it was all eaten. When Cao Cao asked why, Yang Xiu replied, “On the box it is plainly written, yi ren yi kou su, ‘one mouthful of curd for each person’ (一人一口酥). How could we dare disobey the Prime Minister’s order?” Cao Cao laughed as if pleased, but in his heart he loathed him. Fearing that someone might secretly try to murder him, Cao Cao often told those around him, “I am given to killing people in my dreams. Whenever I am asleep, you must on no account come near me.” One day, when he was taking a nap in his tent, his quilt slipped to the ground, and one of his personal attendants hastily picked it up and covered him.

修入見之，竟取匙與衆分食訖。操問其故，修答曰：“盒上明書一人一口酥，豈敢違丞相之命乎？”操雖喜笑，而心惡之。操恐人暗中謀害己身，常分付左右：“吾夢中好殺人；凡吾睡着，汝等切勿近前。”一日，晝寢帳中，落被於地，一近侍慌取覆蓋。

Cao Cao leapt up, drew his sword and cut him down, then got back on the bed and went to sleep. After a good while he rose and, feigning surprise, asked, “Who has killed my attendant?” They told him the truth. Cao Cao wept bitterly and ordered that the man be given a lavish burial. Everyone believed that Cao Cao really did kill people in his dreams; only Yang Xiu saw what he was about. At the burial he pointed at the dead man and sighed, “It was not the Prime Minister who was dreaming. It was you who were in a dream!” When Cao Cao heard of this he loathed him all the more. Cao Cao’s third son, Cao Zhi, admired Yang Xiu’s talent and often invited him to talk, and they would go on all night without stopping.

操躍起拔劍斬之，覆上牀睡；半晌而起，佯驚問：“何人殺吾近侍？”衆以實對。操痛哭，命厚葬之。人皆以爲操果夢中殺人；惟修知其意，臨葬時指而嘆曰：“丞相非在夢中，君乃在夢中耳！”操聞而愈惡之。操第三子曹植，愛修之才，常邀修談論，終夜不息。

Cao Cao consulted with others about making Cao Zhi his heir. When Cao Pi learned of this, he secretly invited Wu Zhi, Chief of Zhaoge, to his private residence to talk it over. For fear that someone would find out, he hid Wu Zhi inside a big bamboo hamper, said only that it held rolls of silk, and had it carried into his residence. Yang Xiu found out about it and went straight to tell Cao Cao. Cao Cao had men watch the gate of Cao Pi’s residence. In a panic Cao Pi told Wu Zhi, who said, “Do not worry. Tomorrow fill the big hamper with silk and have it carried in again to confuse them.”

操與衆商議，欲立植爲世子，曹丕知之，密請朝歌長吳質入內府商議；因恐有人知覺，乃用大簏藏吳質於中，只說是絹匹在內，載入府中。修知其事，徑來告操。操令人於丕府門伺察之。丕慌告吳質，質曰：“無憂也：明日用大簏裝絹再入以惑之。”

Cao Pi did as he said and had the big hamper carried in full of silk. The messenger searched the hamper and, finding that it did indeed hold silk, went back and reported to Cao Cao. Cao Cao therefore suspected Yang Xiu of slandering Cao Pi, and loathed him all the more. Wishing to test the abilities of Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, Cao Cao one day ordered each of them to go out through the gate of Ye, but secretly sent word to the gatekeepers not to let them out. Cao Pi arrived first, the gatekeepers stopped him, and he had to go back. When Cao Zhi heard of this, he consulted Yang Xiu.

丕如其言，以大簏載絹入。使者搜看簏中，果絹也，回報曹操。操因疑修譖害曹丕，愈惡之。操欲試曹丕、曹植之才幹。一日，令各出鄴城門；卻密使人分付門吏，令勿放出。曹丕先至，門吏阻之，丕只得退回。植聞之，問於修。

“You are going out on the King’s orders,” said Yang Xiu. “If anyone stops you, just cut him down.” Cao Zhi agreed. When he reached the gate, the gatekeepers stopped him. “I am under the King’s orders,” Cao Zhi shouted. “Who dares stop me?” And he cut the man down on the spot. So Cao Cao thought Cao Zhi capable. But later someone told Cao Cao, “It was Yang Xiu who told him to do that.” Cao Cao was furious, and from then on he was displeased with Cao Zhi as well. Yang Xiu had also once written out for Cao Zhi a set of more than ten model answers, and whenever Cao Cao asked him anything, Cao Zhi would answer according to them.

修曰：“君奉王命而出，如有阻當者，竟斬之可也。”植然其言。及至門，門吏阻住。植叱曰：“吾奉王命，誰敢阻當！”立斬之。於是曹操以植爲能。後有人告操曰：“此乃楊脩之所教也。”操大怒，因此亦不喜植。修又嘗爲曹植作答教十餘條，但操有問，植即依條答之。

Whenever Cao Cao asked Cao Zhi about affairs of the army or the state, Cao Zhi answered fluently. Cao Cao grew deeply suspicious. Later Cao Pi secretly bribed Cao Zhi’s attendants, stole the model answers and brought them to Cao Cao. When Cao Cao saw them he was furious. “How dare that wretch deceive me!” he said. Already then he had made up his mind to kill Yang Xiu, and now he used the charge of spreading confusion in the army as a pretext to do it. Yang Xiu was thirty-four when he died.

操每以軍國之事問植，植對答如流。操心中甚疑。後曹丕暗買植左右，偷答教來告操。操見了大怒曰：“匹夫安敢欺我耶！”此時已有殺修之心；今乃借惑亂軍心之罪殺之。修死年三十四歲。

A later poet wrote:
Clever indeed was Yang Dezu,
Heir to a line of officers of state.
Under his brush ran dragons and serpents;
Within his breast rich brocades were woven.
When he spoke, the whole company marvelled;
In quick replies he outshone every talent.
It was his gifts that led him to his death,
Not any wish of his to pull the army back.
Having killed Yang Xiu, Cao Cao feigned anger at Xiahou Dun too and meant to behead him. The officials all pleaded for him, so Cao Cao merely drove Xiahou Dun from his presence with a rebuke, and gave orders to advance the next day.

後人有詩曰：“聰明楊德祖，世代繼簪纓。
筆下龍蛇走，胸中錦繡成。
開談驚四座，捷對冠羣英。
身死因才誤，非關欲退兵。
”曹操既殺楊脩，佯怒夏侯惇，亦欲斬之。
衆官告免。
操乃叱退夏侯惇，下令來日進兵。

Next day the army marched out of the mouth of the Xie Valley. A force came out ahead to meet them, and at its head was Wei Yan. Cao Cao called on Wei Yan to surrender, but Wei Yan only cursed him roundly. Cao Cao sent Pang De out to fight. While the two were in the thick of it, fire broke out in Cao Cao’s camp, and word came that Ma Chao had raided the central and rear camps. Cao Cao drew his sword and said, “Any commander who falls back will be beheaded!”

次日，兵出斜谷界口，前面一軍相迎，爲首大將乃魏延也。操招魏延歸降，延大罵。操令龐德出戰。二將正鬥間，曹寨內火起。人報馬超劫了中後二寨。操拔劍在手曰：“諸將退後者斬！”

The commanders pressed forward with all their might, and Wei Yan pretended to be beaten and fled. Cao Cao then waved his army round to fight Ma Chao, and took his stand on a high mound to watch the two armies in battle. Suddenly a band of troops dashed right up in front of him, and a voice cried, “Wei Yan is here!” Wei Yan fitted an arrow to his bow and shot Cao Cao, who tumbled from his horse. Throwing aside his bow and seizing his sword, Wei Yan galloped up the slope to kill Cao Cao. Then from the side a general burst out, shouting, “Do not harm my lord!”

衆將努力向前，魏延詐敗而走。操方麾軍回戰馬超，自立馬於高阜處，看兩軍爭戰。忽一彪軍撞至面前，大叫：“魏延在此！”拈弓搭箭，射中曹操。操翻身落馬。延棄弓綽刀，驟馬上山坡來殺曹操。刺斜裏閃出一將，大叫：“休傷吾主！”

They looked and saw that it was Pang De. Pang De threw himself forward and fought Wei Yan off, then escorted Cao Cao onward. By then Ma Chao had withdrawn. Cao Cao went back to camp wounded; Wei Yan’s arrow had struck him in the groove above his lip and broken two of his front teeth. He hastily had a physician treat him. Only then did he recall what Yang Xiu had said. He had Yang Xiu’s body recovered and given a lavish burial, and at once ordered the army to withdraw, with Pang De to guard the rear. Cao Cao lay in a felt-covered carriage, guarded on either side by the Tiger Guards as they marched.

視之，乃龐德也。德奮力向前，戰退魏延，保操前行。馬超已退。操帶傷歸寨：原來被魏延射中人中，折卻門牙兩個，急令醫士調治。方憶楊脩之言，隨將修屍收回厚葬，就令班師；卻教龐德斷後。操臥於氈車之中，左右虎賁軍護衛而行。

Suddenly word came that fires had broken out on the hills on both sides of the Xie Valley and that an ambush was bearing down on them. Every man in Cao Cao’s army was seized with fear.

忽報斜谷山上兩邊火起，伏兵趕來。曹兵人人驚恐。

Indeed:
Much like the peril at Tong Pass in days gone by,
Much like the danger at the Red Cliffs in years past.
Whether Cao Cao lived or died will be told in the next chapter.

正是：依稀昔日潼關厄，彷彿當年赤壁危。
未知曹操性命如何，且看下文分解。