Summary: This week, overflowing brotherly affection is expressed through deception in the East and sword dances in the West.<br> <br> * <a href="http://www.3kingdomspodcast.com/2016/05/09/episode-076-thanks-bro/#transcript">Transcript</a><br> * <a href="http://www.3kingdomspodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ep_076.png">Map of Key Locations</a><br> * <a href="https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=1CmiUPDeMGEbJbPCwIsvjgshls56EgsL4X48uIGTS">Graph of Key Characters and Relationships</a><br> <br> <br> <a id="transcript"></a>Transcript<br> <a href="http://www.3kingdomspodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/3kingdoms076.pdf">PDF version</a><br> Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 76.<br> Last time, the ruler of the Riverlands, Liu Zhang, was persuaded to invite Liu Bei and company into his territory to help him fend off external threats from Cao Cao and Zhang Lu (3). Of course, anyone with any sense in the Riverlands could see that this was a bad idea because Liu Bei was not likely to subjugate himself to a weakling like Liu Zhang, especially when there’s a fat piece of land at stake. <br> Still, Liu Zhang persisted, and a couple of his officials resorted to extreme measures to try to change his mind. One of them, Huang (2) Quan (2), used his teeth to grip Liu Zhang’s robes like a dog trying to pull its master back from danger, but Liu Zhang just gave his shirt a tug and freed himself, taking out a couple of Huang Quan’s front teeth in the process. <br> Then, as Liu Zhang was about to set out to go welcome Liu Bei, one of his aides, Wang (2) Lei (4), had himself suspended in the air high above the city gate and threatened to cut the rope and plunge to his death if Liu Zhang did not heed his advice and turn back. But Liu Zhang’s mind was made up, and he was not about to be deterred by such theatrics. So he called Wang Lei’s bluff, rejected his advice, and scolded him.<br> Alas, Wang Lei was not bluffing. When he saw that Liu Zhang remained obstinate, he waved the sword in his hand and cut the rope from which he dangled. In the blink of an eye, Wang Lei laid dead on the ground below. <br> But Liu Zhang was undaunted and pressed on. He led 30,000 troops and headed to the city of Fucheng (2,2) with more than 1,000 carts of provisions and gifts to welcome Liu Bei. <br> <br> Speaking of Liu Bei, he and his army were advancing toward their rendezvous with Liu Zhang. The cities along the way provided him with provisions just as Liu Zhang had instructed, and Liu Bei’s soldiers remained on their best behavior, as one is wont to do when you’re told that you would lose your head if you dared to take a single thing from the civilians. So Liu Bei’s journey into the Riverlands was smooth, and everywhere he went, civilians young and old lined the streets to get a glimpse of him and to welcome him by kneeling and burning incense. Liu Bei, in turn, did the usual rounds of handshaking and baby-kissing to get in good with the locals. And yet, Liu Zhang’s spidey sense was still not tingling.<br> <br> While Liu Bei was busy making nice with the civilians, his military strategist Pang Tong was busy plotting with Fa (3) Zheng (4), the envoy that Liu Zhang had sent to invite Liu Bei and one of the collaborators of the inside plot to betray the Riverlands into Liu Bei’s hands. They had gotten word from their fellow collaborator Zhang Song (1) that Liu Zhang was going to meet Liu Bei at the city of Fucheng (2,2), and they decided to use that opportunity to make their move, but they also agreed that this plan should be kept hidden from Liu Bei for now.<br> When they arrived at Fucheng, which was about 120 miles away from Chengdu (2,1), the capital of Yi Province, Liu Zhang was already there and waiting. He immediately sent a welcome party. The two sides’ armies set up camp on the River Fu (2), and Liu Bei entered the city to say hi to Liu Zhang.
