Novel scene
Sun Ce Slays Yu Ji in Anger 小霸王怒斬于吉
About this event
Sun Ce Slays Yu Ji in Anger is the first scene of Chapter 29 of the Romance, titled "The Little Conqueror slays Yu Ji in anger; the green-eyed boy takes command of Jiangdong": the story of how Sun Ce, wounded by Xu Gong's retainers, beheaded Yu Ji, a Taoist called an immortal, and, tormented by his ghost, died when his wounds burst open. The Romance places this scene at the time when Sun Ce was about to attack Xuchang. Romance, Ch. 29 §2–12 · 22 · 31–35
Yu Ji does not appear in Chen Shou's text. The Biographies of Sun Jian and Sun Ce (Records of Wu 1) records that in the 5th year of Jian'an (200) Sun Ce, who was about to make a surprise attack on Xu, was attacked and wounded by retainers of Xu Gong, the former Administrator of Wu Commandery, and died that night. Records, Wu 1 §36–38
In the Romance
In Chapter 29, when Xu Gong, Administrator of Wu Commandery, was caught sending a letter to Cao Cao urging that Sun Ce be summoned to court, Sun Ce had him strangled, and later, when Sun Ce went out hunting, he was badly wounded by the spears and arrows of three of Xu Gong's retainers who had come to avenge their master. The physician told him to avoid anger and rest for a hundred days, but Sun Ce, angered at hearing that Guo Jia had belittled him, sought to attack Xuchang. Romance, Ch. 29 §2–10
At a banquet held for Yuan Shao's envoy Chen Zhen, the generals went down from the tower to bow to the Immortal Yu, and Sun Ce, calling Yu Ji, who was said to cure illness with charmed water, one of the Yellow Turban kind, threw him into prison. Sun Ce, who would not listen even when his mother Lady Wu, Zhang Zhao and others tried to stop him, took up Lü Fan's suggestion that since there was a drought Yu Ji should be made to pray for rain, and when Yu Ji, on top of a pyre, brought down the rain, Sun Ce, angered all the more that officials and people followed Yu Ji, cut off his head. Romance, Ch. 29 §11–22
After that Sun Ce was tormented day and night by Yu Ji's ghost, which appeared in place of the corpse that had vanished, and at the Yuqing Temple a sword he flung at Yu Ji struck and killed the soldier who had beheaded Yu Ji. Shouting when he saw Yu Ji standing in a mirror, Sun Ce burst his wounds open; he summoned Zhang Zhao and others and his younger brother Sun Quan, entrusted the future to them, and died at the age of twenty-six. Romance, Ch. 29 §23–35
Where the Romance differs
Sun Ce's wounding: In Chapter 29 of the Romance, Sun Ce killed Xu Gong, who had tried to send a letter to Cao Cao, and was attacked by three of Xu Gong's retainers when he went out hunting. In the Biography of Sun Ce in the Records, in the 5th year of Jian'an (200), while Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were facing each other at Guandu, Sun Ce was secretly planning a surprise attack on Xu; riding out alone, he encountered the retainers who had been hiding together with the young son of Xu Gong, whom he had earlier killed, and was wounded. Romance, Ch. 29 §2–5Records, Wu 1 §36–37
Sun Ce's death: In Chapter 29 of the Romance, after beheading Yu Ji, Sun Ce was tormented by his ghost and died when his wounds burst open at the sight of Yu Ji in a mirror. In the Biography of Sun Ce in the Records, when his wounds grew grave he summoned Zhang Zhao and others and entrusted his younger brother to them, had Sun Quan put on the seal and ribbon, and died that night at the age of twenty-six; there is nothing about Yu Ji. Romance, Ch. 29 §31–35Records, Wu 1 §37–38
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.