Huangfu Li 皇甫酈

In Chapter 13 of the Romance, while Li Jue and Guo Si fight day after day for more than fifty days, Emperor Xian tearfully begs Jia Xu, Li Jue's trusted adviser, to save his life. After Li Jue comes in wearing his sword, reports that Guo Si has imprisoned the high ministers and meant to seize His Majesty, and goes out again, Huangfu Li comes in for an audience with the emperor. Knowing that Huangfu Li is a skilled speaker and also from the same home region as Li Jue, the emperor issues an edict sending him to both sides to reconcile them. Romance, Ch. 13 §24–26

Huangfu Li, bearing the edict, first goes to Guo Si's camp and persuades him, and Guo Si says that if Li Jue sends out the Son of Heaven he will release the high ministers at once. When Huangfu Li goes to see Li Jue and tells him that the Son of Heaven, since he himself is a man of Xiliang from the same region as Li Jue, has specially ordered him to reconcile the two lords, and that Guo Si has already accepted the edict, Li Jue boasts of his great merit in defeating Lü Bu and his achievements in assisting the government for four years, swears that he will surely kill Guo Aduo, who is nothing but a horse thief, and asks whether his own strategy and troops are not more than enough to defeat Guo Aduo. Romance, Ch. 13 §27–28

Huangfu Li answers that this is not so, and, citing Houyi of Youqiong, who relied on his skill at archery without thinking of danger and was destroyed, and Dong Zhuo, who was struck down by Lü Bu, a man he had favored, so that in a moment his head hung on the gate of the capital, he replies that strength alone cannot be relied on. He then asks: Guo Aduo has seized the high ministers, but the general has seized the Supreme One, so who in truth is the lighter and who the graver offender? When Li Jue, in a great rage, draws his sword and says he will cut off his head first, the Cavalry Commandant Yang Feng (楊奉) remonstrates that if he kills the Son of Heaven's envoy while Guo Si has not yet been eliminated, Guo Si will have a just cause for raising troops, and when Jia Xu also strongly dissuades him, Li Jue's anger subsides a little. Jia Xu then quickly pushes Huangfu Li out. Romance, Ch. 13 §28–30

Once outside, Huangfu Li shouts loudly that Li Jue will not accept the edict and means to murder the emperor and set himself up. When the Palace Attendant Hu Miao stops him, warning that this may bring him harm, Huangfu Li calls out 'Hu Jingcai!' and rebukes him, asking how a minister of the court can side with a rebel; he says that when the sovereign is humiliated the minister dies, so being killed by Li Jue would only be his duty, and he does not stop cursing. The emperor learns of this and hastily sends Huangfu Li back to Xiliang. Romance, Ch. 13 §30

Most of Li Jue's troops are men of Xiliang, and he also relies on the help of Qiang troops. When Huangfu Li spreads word among the men of Xiliang that Li Jue is plotting rebellion, and that those who follow him will be counted among the rebel's faction and face no small trouble later, many heed his words and the army's morale gradually falls apart. Li Jue, in a great rage, sends the Tiger Guard Wang Chang (王昌) to pursue him, but Wang Chang, knowing Huangfu Li to be a loyal and righteous gentleman, does not pursue him after all, and only reports that he does not know where Huangfu Li has gone. Romance, Ch. 13 §31