Lu Bu and Liu Bei fall out again. When Lu Bu’s officers Gao Shun and Zhang Liao attack Xiaopei, Liu Bei has no time even to stop at his house, abandons his wife and children and slips out of the city alone. When Lu Bu reaches Liu Bei’s house, Mi Zhu comes out and says, I have heard that a real man does not harm another’s wife and children. Xuande always remembers the kindness of the halberd you shot at the camp gate. Lu Bu says he will not harm them for the sake of their old friendship, and has Mi Zhu take the family away and look after them.
Travelling alone, Liu Bei meets Sun Qian and goes to Xuchang to shelter with Cao Cao. Cao Cao sets out with Liu Bei against Lu Bu. In Xu Province, Chen Deng and his father trick Lu Bu, who loses Xu and Xiaopei one after the other and goes into the city of Xiapi. On the road, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei meet Liu Bei again and fall to the ground weeping.
When Cao Cao surrounds Xiapi, Chen Gong says, general, take troops and camp outside the city, and I will hold the walls. Whichever of us Cao Cao attacks, the other will strike him from behind, and within ten days his grain will run out. Lu Bu means to follow this advice, but his wife, Lady Yan, weeps and holds him back, and Diaochan too begs him not to go out lightly. After three days of hesitation he does not go. Chen Gong comes out and sighs. We will die with no ground to be buried in.