Service under Ding Yuan and defection to Dong Zhuo of the
Summer Palace,
Beijing. Lü Bu was from Jiuyuan County (),
Wuyuan Commandery along the northern Han frontiers, which is near present-day
Baotou,
Inner Mongolia. He was known for his martial valour in
Bing Province. In early 188, his home province fell into disorder after the local
Xiuchuge and
Southern Xiongnu vassal tribes rebelled and murdered the Chinese regional Inspector (). The official,
Ding Yuan was appointed the new Inspector of Bing to quell the uprising by the Han central government. He was later promoted to Cavalry Commandant () and ordered to garrison at
Henei Commandery. It was around this time when Ding Yuan met and recruited Lü Bu as a Registrar (), treating him with exceptional kindness. After the death of
Emperor Ling in May 189, Ding Yuan led his troops to the capital
Luoyang to assist the general
He Jin in eliminating the
eunuch faction. He Jin ended up being assassinated by the eunuchs instead, after which the warlord
Dong Zhuo led his forces into Luoyang and occupied the capital. Dong Zhuo wanted to kill Ding Yuan and take control of Ding's troops, so he induced Lü Bu into betraying Ding and defecting to his side. Lü Bu killed Ding Yuan, cut off his head, and presented it to Dong Zhuo, who had by then seized control of the Han central government. Dong Zhuo appointed Lü Bu as a Cavalry Commandant and placed much faith and trust in him. He also accepted Lü Bu as a foster son. Lü Bu was later promoted from the position of a Cavalry Commandant to a General of the Household (). He was also made a Marquis of a Chief Village ().
Service under Dong Zhuo In 190, a coalition of warlords led by
Yuan Shao initiated a
punitive campaign against
Dong Zhuo in response to Dong's tyranny and monopoly of the central government. Dong Zhuo had deposed Emperor Ling's successor,
Emperor Shao, earlier that year and replaced him with
Emperor Xian, who was actually a puppet ruler under his control. Lü Bu defended Dong Zhuo and fought in battles against the coalition. In one battle at Yangren (; believed to be near present-day
Wenquan, Ruzhou,
Henan), Dong Zhuo ordered Lü Bu and
Hu Zhen to attack
Sun Jian (one of the coalition members), but Lü Bu and Hu Zhen could not get along with each other, resulting in disorder in their army. Sun Jian used the opportunity to attack them and forced them to retreat. Within months, the coalition forces had reached the capital
Luoyang. Dong Zhuo personally led an army to engage the coalition vanguard, led by Sun Jian, in the area where the tombs of the Han emperors were located, but was defeated and forced to retreat. Sun Jian then passed through Luoyang's Xuanyang Gate (), where he attacked Lü Bu and drove him back. Dong Zhuo was alarmed, so he decided to evacuate Luoyang and move the capital to
Chang'an in the west. He sent his troops to pillage Luoyang and force its residents to move to Chang'an as well, and then had Luoyang destroyed by fire. The coalition did not pursue Dong Zhuo to Chang'an and eventually dissolved by itself in the following year. As Dong Zhuo usually behaved rudely in front of other people, he was afraid of being assassinated, hence he often kept Lü Bu by his side as a bodyguard. Dong Zhuo also had a bad temper and was easily agitated. During his outbursts, he threw short
jis at Lü Bu, but Lü Bu reacted fast and dodged the weapons. Dong Zhuo's anger subsided after that. Lü Bu was very unhappy and he bore a grudge against his foster father. At the same time, Lü Bu was tasked with guarding Dong Zhuo's central living quarters, and he had a secret affair with one of Dong's maids. He feared that Dong Zhuo would find out and felt very uneasy about it. Earlier on, Lü Bu had been warmly received by
Wang Yun, the
Minister over the Masses, so he went to see Wang and complained about how Dong Zhuo almost killed him. At the time, Wang Yun and another official, Shisun Rui (), were plotting to get rid of Dong Zhuo so they told Lü Bu about their plan and sought his help. Lü Bu said, "But we are father and son!" Wang Yun replied, "Your family name is
Lü so you have no blood relations with him. He was not concerned about you at all when you almost died, so where was the father-son bond?" Lü Bu agreed to join them and personally killed Dong Zhuo later. After Dong Zhuo's death, Wang Yun and Lü Bu took charge of the central government. Lü Bu was appointed General of Vehement Might () and received the honours equivalent to those received by the
Three Ducal Ministers – three high-ranking officials in the Han administration. Emperor Xian also enfeoffed him as the Marquis of
Wen ().
Expulsion from Chang'an After
Dong Zhuo's death, his followers in
Liang Province, led by
Li Jue,
Guo Si and others, formed an army to attack
Chang'an when Wang Yun refused to grant them amnesty for their past activities under Dong Zhuo. Guo Si led his men to attack the city's north gate, where he met Lü Bu, who told him, "Let's not send our soldiers into battle. Instead, let's have a man-on-man fight." Lü Bu then engaged Guo Si in a duel and injured him. Guo Si's men saved their superior. Both sides withdrew their forces. Lü Bu was unable to resist the enemy so he eventually abandoned Chang'an and fled. His defeat and subsequent flight took place 60 days after Dong Zhuo's death.
Pei Songzhi commented that the "60 days" claim in the original text of the
Sanguozhi was erroneous. According to other sources, Lü Bu killed Dong Zhuo on the 23rd day of the fourth month in the third year of the Chuping era (190–193) in
Emperor Xian's reign, and he fled from Chang'an on the first day of the sixth month. There were no interpolated dates in between, so Lü Bu could not have spent 60 days in Chang'an after Dong Zhuo's death.
Seeking shelter under Yuan Shu After leaving
Chang'an, Lü Bu, accompanied by a few hundred horsemen and with
Dong Zhuo's head tied to his saddle, passed through
Wu Pass and went to join
Yuan Shu in
Nanyang Commandery. The
Sanguozhi and the
Houhanshu give differing accounts of how Yuan Shu treated Lü Bu. The former claimed that Lü Bu expected to be received warmly because he felt that he had helped Yuan Shu take revenge by slaying Dong Zhuo. However, Yuan Shu detested Lü Bu because of his duplicity so he refused to accept him. The latter stated that Yuan Shu treated Lü Bu generously, but Lü behaved arrogantly as he felt that he deserved better treatment because he had done Yuan a favour by killing Dong Zhuo. Lü Bu also allowed his men to plunder the area. Yuan Shu became worried that Lü Bu would pose a threat to him, and Lü also felt uneasy after he heard that Yuan was suspicious of him, so he left.
Joining Yuan Shao and Zhang Yang After leaving
Yuan Shu, Lü Bu then headed to northern China to join Yuan Shu's relative,
Yuan Shao. He assisted Yuan Shao in attacking
Zhang Yan at
Changshan. Zhang Yan had thousands of elite soldiers and cavalry. Lü Bu led his subordinates Cheng Lian () and Wei Yue () and dozens of riders to raid Zhang Yan's camp, killing several enemies and then fighting their way out. They did this three to four times every day continuously for a period of over ten days and eventually defeated Zhang Yan's forces. Lü Bu behaved arrogantly in front of Yuan Shao because he perceived that he had done the Yuans a favour by slaying
Dong Zhuo. He belittled Yuan's followers and treated them with contempt. He once asked for more soldiers from Yuan Shao but was refused, after which he sent his men to plunder Yuan's territories. Yuan Shao was greatly displeased and felt that Lü Bu posed a threat to him. Lü Bu sensed that Yuan Shao was suspicious of him so he wanted to leave northern China and return to
Luoyang. Yuan Shao pretended to agree and recommended Lü Bu to take up the appointment of Colonel-Director of Retainers () while secretly plotting to kill him. On the day of Lü Bu's departure, Yuan Shao sent 30 armoured soldiers to escort him and personally saw him off. Along the journey, Lü Bu stopped and rested inside his tent. That night, Yuan Shao's soldiers crept into the tent and killed the person inside, who had covered himself with a blanket, after which they reported that Lü Bu was dead. The following day, Yuan Shao received news that Lü Bu was still alive so he immediately had the gates in his city closed. In fact, Lü Bu had secretly left his tent the previous night without Yuan Shao's soldiers knowing, and had ordered one of his men to remain inside as a decoy. Lü Bu fled to Henei Commandery to join
Zhang Yang after his escape. Yuan Shao sent his men to pursue Lü Bu but they were afraid of Lü and did not dare to approach him. Zhang Yang and his subordinates were bribed by
Li Jue and
Guo Si to kill Lü Bu. When Lü Bu heard about it, he told Zhang Yang, "I'm from the same province as you. If you kill me, you'll become weaker. If you offer me, you can obtain honours and titles from Li Jue and Guo Si." Zhang Yang pretended to agree to help Li Jue and Guo Si kill Lü Bu but he secretly offered refuge to Lü instead. When Li Jue and Guo Si learnt that Zhang Yang had accepted Lü Bu, they became worried so they sent an imperial decree to Henei in
Emperor Xian's name, appointing Lü Bu as the Administrator () of
Yingchuan Commandery. The account of Lü Bu's association with Zhang Yang in the
Sanguozhi differed slightly from that recorded in the
Houhanshu. The former mentioned that Lü Bu joined Yuan Shao after he was rejected by Yuan Shu, and then he sought shelter under Zhang Yang after Yuan Shao sent assassins to kill him. In the
Houhanshu, however, it was stated that Lü Bu went to join Zhang Yang after leaving Yuan Shu, and he managed to persuade Zhang to ignore Li Jue and Guo Si's urgings to kill him and instead provide him refuge. He left Zhang Yang later and went to join Yuan Shao, but returned to Zhang again after surviving the assassination attempt. On his way to Henei, Lü Bu passed by Chenliu (; around present-day
Kaifeng, Henan), where its Administrator,
Zhang Miao, received him warmly. Zhang Miao made a pledge of friendship with Lü Bu when he saw him off from Chenliu.
Battle of Yan Province Yuan Shao was furious when he heard that
Zhang Miao – whom he had a feud with – had become Lü Bu's friend. Around the time, Yuan Shao was still an ally of
Cao Cao, so Zhang Miao feared that Cao would combine forces with Yuan to attack him. Besides, Zhang Miao's jurisdiction, Chenliu, was in
Yan Province, which was under Cao Cao's control. In 194, when Cao Cao left Yan Province to
attack Xu Province, Zhang Miao's younger brother Zhang Chao (), along with Cao's subordinates
Chen Gong, Xu Si () and Wang Kai (), started a rebellion. Chen Gong persuaded Zhang Miao to join them in welcoming Lü Bu into Yan Province. With help from the defectors, Lü Bu seized control of
Puyang and declared himself the Governor () of Yan Province. The various commanderies and counties in Yan Province responded to Lü Bu's call and defected to his side, except for
Juancheng,
Dong'e and
Fan counties, which still remained under Cao Cao's control. Upon receiving news of the rebellion and Lü Bu's intrusion, Cao Cao aborted the Xu Province campaign and led his forces back to Yan Province. The armies of Lü Bu and Cao Cao clashed at Puyang, where Cao was unable to overcome Lü, so both sides were locked in a stalemate for over 100 days. At the time, Yan Province was plagued by locusts and droughts so the people suffered from famine and many had resorted to cannibalism to survive. Lü Bu moved his base from Puyang further east to
Shanyang. Within two years, Cao Cao managed to retake all his territories in Yan Province and he later defeated Lü Bu in a battle at
Juye County. Lü Bu fled east to Xu Province and took shelter under
Liu Bei.
Warlord of Xu Province Seizing Xu Province from Liu Bei Lü Bu treated
Liu Bei very respectfully when he first met him, and he said, "You and I are both from the northern borders. When I saw the
Guandong Coalition rising up against
Dong Zhuo, I already wanted to help them eliminate him. However, after I slew Dong Zhuo and left
Chang'an, none of the former coalition members were willing to accept me. They even tried to kill me." He then brought Liu Bei to his camp, asked Liu to sit on his wife's bed, and instructed his wife to pay respect to Liu. He then threw a feast for Liu Bei and called Liu his "younger brother". Liu Bei knew that Lü Bu was unpredictable and untrustworthy, but he kept quiet and pretended to be friendly towards Lü Bu. When Liu Bei was governing
Xu Province, he was stationed in the provincial capital
Xiapi and he drew boundaries with
Yuan Shu in the areas around the
Huai River. When Yuan Shu learnt that Lü Bu was in Xu Province, he wanted to instigate Lü Bu to help him deal with Liu Bei, so he wrote to Lü Bu: "In the past,
Dong Zhuo monopolised state power, harmed the imperial family, and murdered my family. I participated in the
campaign against Dong Zhuo but did not manage to kill him. You slew Dong Zhuo and sent me his head. In doing so, you helped me take revenge and salvage my reputation. This was the first favour you did me. When Jin Yuanxiu () was heading to
Yan Province to assume office,
Cao Cao defeated and nearly drove him to the point of destruction. Later, you attacked Cao Cao in Yan Province and helped me regain my reputation. This was the second favour you did me. Throughout my life, I have never heard of the existence of Liu Bei, but he started a war with me. With your mighty spirit, you are capable of defeating Liu Bei, and this will be the third favour you do me. With these three favours you did me, I am willing to entrust matters of life and death to you even though I may not be worthy. You have been fighting battles for a long time and you lack food supplies. I hereby send you 200,000
hu () of grain and open my doors to you. If they are insufficient, I will continue to provide you a steady flow of supplies. If you need weapons and military equipment, just ask." Lü Bu was delighted and he agreed to help Yuan Shu attack Xiapi. The contents of Yuan Shu's letter, as recorded in the
Houhanshu, were slightly different and briefer as compared to that recorded in the
Sanguozhi. Lü Bu led his forces to some 40
li west of Xiapi. Xu Dan (許耽), who was from
Danyang () and was serving as a General of the Household () under Liu Bei, sent Zhang Kuang () to meet Lü Bu at night. Zhang Kuang told Lü Bu, "
Zhang Yide quarrelled with
Cao Bao and killed him. The city is now in a state of chaos. There are 1,000 soldiers from Danyang stationed at the west white gate. When they heard of your arrival, they jumped for joy as if they have been revitalised. The Danyang soldiers will open the west gate for you when you reach there." Lü Bu mobilised his troops that night and reached Xiapi at dawn, where the Danyang soldiers opened the west gate for him. Lü Bu sat on the viewing platform above the gate and instructed his troops to set fire in the city. They defeated Zhang Fei and his men in battle and captured Liu Bei's family, the families of Liu's subordinates, and Liu's supplies. of the
Summer Palace,
Beijing. Upon receiving news of Lü Bu's intrusion, Liu Bei immediately headed back to Xiapi Commandery but most of his troops scattered along the way. With his remaining men, Liu Bei moved eastward to take
Guangling Commandery where Yuan Shu's forces defeated him. Liu Bei then retreated to Haixi County (海西縣; southeast of present-day
Guannan County, Jiangsu). Where, in hunger and desperation, he surrendered to Lü Bu. This took place in around early 196. Lü Bu was displeased that Yuan Shu's supplies had not reached him yet, so he led his men to welcome Liu Bei. He appointed Liu Bei as the Inspector (刺史) of
Yu Province and ordered him to garrison at
Xiaopei, while he declared himself the Governor of Xu Province and remained in Xiapi.
Hao Meng's Rebellion In July or August 196, Lü Bu's subordinate
Hao Meng rebelled against him and attacked his office in Xiapi. Lü Bu's general
Gao Shun suppressed the rebellion with help from
Cao Xing – Hao Meng's subordinate, who refused to betray Lü Bu – and killed Hao Meng. Later that year, Lü Bu used his archery skill to prevent a battle between Liu Bei and Yuan Shu's general
Ji Ling from taking place. He had a
ji erected at the gate of the camp, and proposed, "Gentlemen, watch me fire an arrow at the lower part of the curved blade on the
ji. If I hit it in one shot, all of you must withdraw your forces and leave. If I don't, you can remain here and prepare for battle." He then raised his bow and fired an arrow at the
ji, hitting exactly the lower part of the curved blade. Everyone present at the scene was shocked. They said, "General, you possess Heaven's might!" The following day, they threw another party and then withdrew their forces.
Allying with Cao Cao against Yuan Shu Cancellation of engagement In early 197,
Yuan Shu declared himself "Son of Heaven" in
Shouchun, the administrative centre of his territories, and founded a Zhong () dynasty. However, his declaration garnered little to no support, and this was deemed an act of treason against the reigning
Emperor Xian of the
Han dynasty, so Yuan Shu soon found himself the target of attacks by
Cao Cao and other warlords who had received orders from the Han imperial court to eliminate the
pretender. Earlier on, Yuan Shu wanted to form an alliance with Lü Bu so he proposed a marriage between his son and Lü Bu's daughter. Lü Bu initially agreed. After proclaiming himself emperor, Yuan Shu sent his subordinate Han Yin () to meet Lü Bu and escort Lü Bu's daughter back to his territory for the marriage. However, Lü Bu changed his mind after
Chen Gui convinced him to do so, and after he recalled how Yuan Shu rejected him when he first sought shelter under him. He then sent his men to chase Han Yin's convoy, which was on its way back to Shouchun, and retrieve his daughter. He also captured Han Yin and sent him as a prisoner to
Xu, where Han Yin was executed.
Peace with Cao Cao The
Yingxiong Ji recorded: The main text of the
Sanguozhi, however, mentioned that the Han imperial court appointed Lü Bu as General of the Left () instead of General Who Pacifies the East (as stated in the
Yingxiong Ji). Nevertheless, Lü Bu did allow Chen Deng to go to Xu as his representative to thank the imperial court. In Xu, Chen Deng urged Cao Cao to get rid of Lü Bu and agreed to serve as a
mole in Xu Province to help Cao Cao eliminate Lü Bu. Chen Deng also received a promotion while his father Chen Gui got a salary increase. When Chen Deng returned to Xu Province, an angry Lü Bu confronted him, brandished his
ji at him and said, "Your father advised me to side with Cao Cao and reject Yuan Shu's offer. Now, (after following his advice,) I have gained nothing, while you and your father got promoted and rewarded. You must have tricked me! What do you have to say?" Chen Deng maintained his composure and calmly replied, "When I met Cao Cao, I told him, 'You should treat the General (Lü Bu) in the same way you raise a tiger. Feed it well with meat. If it is not well-fed, it will attack people.' Cao Cao replied, 'You're wrong. He's like a hawk. If it is hungry, it will hunt for you. If it is well-fed, it will fly away.' That was what we talked about." Lü Bu's anger subsided.
War against Yuan Shu actor in 2015.
Yuan Shu was furious that Lü Bu reneged on his word, so he allied with
Han Xian and
Yang Feng, and sent his general Zhang Xun () to attack Lü Bu. Lü Bu asked
Chen Gui, "Yuan Shu sends his forces to attack me because I followed your suggestion. What should I do now?" Chen Gui replied, "The alliance between Han Xian, Yang Feng and Yuan Shu is formed by a loose assembly of their forces. They have not decided on a common plan so they will not last long. They are like chickens tied up together and they cannot move in tandem. My son,
Deng, has a plan to separate them." Lü Bu heeded Chen Gui's advice and sent a letter to Han Xian and Yang Feng, "You two generals escorted the
Emperor in
Luoyang, while I personally killed
Dong Zhuo. We have all accomplished deeds worthy of praise. Yuan Shu has committed treason, so everyone should attack him. Why do you side with the traitor instead and join him in attacking me? We should combine forces to defeat Yuan Shu, help the Emperor eliminate this traitor, and achieve glory. We should not lose this opportunity now." He also promised to share the spoils of war with them. Han Xian and Yang Feng were pleased and they agreed to help Lü Bu. They defeated Zhang Xun at Xiapi and captured Qiao Rui (), one of Yuan Shu's officers. Yuan Shu's forces suffered heavy casualties and many of his soldiers fell into the river and drowned. Lü Bu, Han Xian and Yang Feng later led their forces to attack Shouchun, the capital of Yuan Shu's territories, travelling on both land and water. They plundered the lands along their journey. By the time they reached Zhongli (; around present-day
Chuzhou, Anhui), they had made much gains so they retreated. Before crossing the
Huai River back to the north, Lü Bu left Yuan Shu a letter: "You think that your army is powerful and you always boast of having mighty warriors under your command. You wanted to destroy me, but why did you change your decision every time? I may not be courageous, but I have dominated the Huainan region. Within a short period of time, you have become like a rat scurrying for shelter in Shouchun and you cannot emerge again. Where are your mighty warriors? You enjoy telling lies to everyone, but you cannot make everyone believe you. Since ancient times, people have employed the technique of sowing discontent between their enemies to overcome them. I am not the first person to use this strategy. I am still nearby so I can wait for your response." After Lü Bu crossed the Huai River, Yuan Shu personally led 5,000 soldiers to the riverbank. Lü Bu's forces, which were on the opposite end, laughed at their enemy and retreated.
Conflict with Zang Ba Around the time, Xiao Jian () served as the Chancellor () of
Langya State and was stationed in
Ju County. Xiao Jian, a conservative man, did not have any contact with Lü Bu. Lü Bu wrote to Xiao Jian: "Initially, everyone throughout the Empire took up arms for the purpose of eliminating
Dong Zhuo. I killed Dong Zhuo and headed east, where I hoped to be able to borrow troops and return west to defend the
Emperor and restore the capital
Luoyang. However, the warlords were fighting among themselves and none of them were concerned about the state. I am from Wuyuan (), which is located more than 5,000
li away from Xu Province and is somewhere in the northwestern border. As of now, I came here not to fight for the southeastern lands. Ju and Xiapi are not far from each other so it is easy to maintain communication between them. You behave like you are an emperor in a commandery and a king in a county! In the past, when
Yue Yi attacked the
Qi state, he conquered over 70 cities in Qi, except for Ju and Jimo because of
Tian Dan. I am not Yue Yi, and neither are you Tian Dan. You can seek the counsel of wise men on this letter." After receiving Lü Bu's letter, Xiao Jian ordered Ji Jian () to present five fine steeds as gifts to Lü Bu.
Zang Ba defeated Xiao Jian later and seized possession of his resources. When Lü Bu heard that, he wanted to lead his forces to attack Zang Ba in Ju County, but
Gao Shun advised him against it, "General, you've earned yourself widespread fame for killing Dong Zhuo. Even if you remain in your current position, those near and far will still be afraid of you. You shouldn't be so reckless as to personally lead your men into battle. If you lose, the damage to your reputation won't be minimal." Lü Bu ignored him. Zang Ba heard of Lü Bu's violent and plundering ways, so he remained inside Ju County and put up a firm defence against Lü Bu. Lü Bu was unable to conquer Ju County so he withdrew his forces and returned to Xiapi. After that, the generals of Taishan bandits include Zang Ba, Sun Guan, Wu Dun, Yin Li and Chang Xi all submitted to Lü Bu, the power of Lü Bu was significantly stronger.
Battle of Xiapi actor in 1961.
Conflict in Xiaopei During the year 197,
Yang Feng and
Han Xian were brigands who raided the area between Yang and Xu provinces and were ordered by Lü Bu to lead their troops to raid Liu Bei's supplies. However, Liu Bei successfully lured them into a trap. Yang Feng was killed while Han Xian managed to escape. Around late 197 or early 198, Lü Bu sided with Yuan Shu. Lu Bu also ordered his soldiers to gather gold and money to buy some military horses however along the way Liu Bei led his troops and managed to capture the gold and money. In response, Lu Bu sent
Gao Shun and
Zhang Liao to attack Liu Bei at Peicheng. Cao Cao sent
Xiahou Dun to support Liu Bei but Gao Shun defeated Liu Bei, as well as the reinforcements Cao Cao had sent to assist him.
Cao Cao's army attack Xu Province In the winter of 198, Cao Cao personally led a campaign against Lü Bu and besieged
Xiapi. He wrote a letter to Lü Bu, explaining the benefits of submitting and the consequences of putting up resistance. Lü Bu wanted to surrender, but
Chen Gong and the others knew that they had already offended Cao Cao (when they betrayed him earlier), so they urged Lü Bu to change his decision. When Cao Cao's army reached
Pengcheng, Chen Gong told Lü Bu, "We should attack the enemy now, since our troops have rested well while the enemy is weary. We're sure to win." Lü Bu replied, "Why don't we wait for them to attack first? After that we'll destroy them in the
Si River." When Cao Cao's attacks increased in intensity, Lü Bu went up the White Gate Tower (; the viewing platform above the main gate in the south of Xiapi) and told his men, "Cao Cao has no intention of finding trouble with you. I should surrender to the wise lord." Chen Gong said, "The treacherous Cao Cao is no wise lord! Surrendering to him is like hitting a rock with an egg! How can you expect to live (after you surrender)?" Lü Bu sent Xu Si () and Wang Kai () to request urgent aid from Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu said, "Lü Bu refused to send his daughter here, so it's expected that he'll meet his doom. Why does he seek help from me again?" Xu Si and Wang Kai replied, "If Your Highness doesn't save Lü Bu, you'll be courting your own doom. If Lü Bu is destroyed, Your Highness will be next." Yuan Shu then prepared his troops and claimed that he would be sending reinforcements to Lü Bu. In the meantime, Lü Bu thought that Yuan Shu was reluctant to help him because he did not send his daughter to Yuan Shu, so, one night, he tied his daughter to himself and attempted to break out of the siege. However, they encountered Cao Cao's soldiers, who fired arrows at them, so they had no choice but to return to Xiapi. Lü Bu led some 1,000 riders out of the city to engage the enemy, but lost the battle so he retreated back to Xiapi and did not dare to venture out. Lü Bu ordered Chen Gong and
Gao Shun to defend Xiapi, while he personally led some horsemen to attack Cao Cao's supply routes. However, before he left, his wife told him, "General, I know you want to attack Cao Cao's supply lines, but Chen Gong and Gao Shun can't get along with each other. If you leave, they may not work well together in defending the city. If a mishap occurs, what will become of you, General? I hope you'll consider this carefully and not be misled by Chen Gong and the others. When I was in
Chang'an, you already abandoned me, but I managed to return to you because Pang Shu () secretly protected me and kept me with him. You don't need to worry about me now." Lü Bu felt gloomy after listening to his wife and could not decide on what to do. Chen Gong told Lü Bu, "Cao Cao has come a long way and he won't be able to last long. General, you can bring some troops with you and set up a camp outside the city, while the others and I will remain behind to defend the city. If the enemy attacks you, I'll lead the city's soldiers to attack them from behind. If they attack the city, you can reinforce the city from outside. Within ten days, the enemy's supplies will be depleted and we can defeat them easily." Lü Bu agreed with Chen Gong's idea. However, Lü Bu's wife said, "In the past, the Caos treated Gongtai (Chen Gong) like a newborn child, but he still turned against them and joined you. Now, the way you treat Gongtai is no lesser than how Cao Cao treated him, and you intend to entrust the entire city to him, along with your family, while you venture out alone? If something happens, I won't be your wife anymore!" Lü Bu then changed his mind.
The betrayal of Hou Cheng Yuan Shu was unable to come to Lü Bu's aid. Cao Cao could not conquer Xiapi despite pressing attacks on the city and his men were growing weary. He wanted to abort the campaign and return to
Xuchang, but his advisors
Guo Jia and
Xun You urged him to press on. He then ordered his troops to direct the waters of the Yi () and
Si () rivers to flood Xiapi. After a siege lasting three months, the morale of Lü Bu's forces fell drastically and his men gradually alienated him. On 7 February 199, Lü Bu's subordinates
Hou Cheng, Song Xian () and Wei Xu () captured Chen Gong and Gao Shun, and then led their troops to surrender to Cao Cao. Lü Bu and his remaining subordinates went up the White Gate Tower and surrendered when they saw they had been surrounded. The
Houhanshu recorded that Lü Bu asked his men to kill him and bring his head to Cao Cao but they refused. Lü Bu surrendered to Cao Cao immediately after.
Downfall and death actor in 2015. Lü Bu was tied up and brought before Cao Cao. He said, "I'm being tied up too tightly. Can you loosen the bonds?" Cao Cao replied, "A tiger must be tightly restrained." Lü Bu then said, "My lord, you dread only me, but now, since I've already submitted to you, you shouldn't have any more worries. My lord, why don't you spare me and let me help you lead your troops? In this way, you won't need to worry about not being able to pacify the Empire." When Cao Cao showed signs of reconsideration, Liu Bei interjected, "My lord, haven't you seen what Lü Bu did to
Ding Jianyang and
Grand Preceptor Dong?" Cao Cao rubbed his chin. Lü Bu shouted at Liu Bei, "You're the most untrustworthy person!" Additional details about the conversation between Lü Bu and Cao Cao were recorded in other texts and they were later added by
Pei Songzhi as annotations to the
Sanguozhi. The
Yingxiong Ji recorded: The
Xiandi Chunqiu recorded: Cao Cao had Lü Bu executed by hanging, along with
Chen Gong,
Gao Shun and others. Their dead bodies were later decapitated and their heads sent to the capital Xu and then buried. Lü Bu's final moments recorded in the
Houhanshu are slightly different from that recorded in the
Sanguozhi, as the
Houhanshu combined parts of the main text in the
Sanguozhi with the
Xiandi Chunqiu annotation, but the two accounts are generally similar. ==Appraisal==