The commander at Jiangyou was Ma Miao. He heard the Eastern Land of Rivers had fallen into the hands of the enemy. Though some thing prepared for defense, yet his post had a wide area to cover and guard, and he trusted Jiang Wei would defend the Saber Pass. So he did not take his military duties very seriously, just maintaining the daily drills and then going home to his wife to cuddle up to the stove and drink.
His wife was of the Li family. When she heard of the state of things on the frontier, she said to her husband, “If there is so great danger on the borders, how is it you are so unaffected?”
“The affair is in Jiang Wei's hands and is not my concern,” replied he.
“Nevertheless, you finally have to guard the capital, and that is a heavy responsibility.”
“O, well! The Emperor trusts his favorite Huang Hao entirely and is sunk in vice and pleasure. Disaster is very near; and if the Wei armies get here, I shall yield. It is no good taking it seriously.”
“You call yourself a man! Have you such a disloyal and treacherous heart? Is it nothing to have held office and taken pay for years? How can I bear to look upon your face?”
Ma Miao was too ashamed to attempt to reply. Just then his house servants came to tell him that Deng Ai, with his two thousand troops, had found their way along some road and had already broken into the city.
Ma Miao was now frightened and hastily went out to find the leader and offer his formal submission. He went to the Town Hall and bowed on the steps, crying, “I have long desired to come over to Wei. Now I yield myself and my army and all the town.”
Deng Ai accepted his surrender and incorporated his army with his own force. He took Ma Miao into his service as guide.
Then came a servant with the news: “Lady Li has hanged herself!”
Deng Ai why she had done it, and Ma Miao told him. Deng Ai, admiring her rectitude, gave orders for an honorable burial. He also went in person to sacrifice. Everyone extolled her conduct.
As soon as Jiangyou was taken, the posts along the road by which the army had come were withdrawn, and there was a general rendezvous at this point. This done, they marched toward Fucheng.
General Tian Xu remonstrated, saying, “We have just finished a long and perilous march and are weary and worn out. We ought to repose for a few days to recover.”
Deng Ai angrily replied, “Speed is the one important matter in war: do not encourage any discontent. I will not have it.”
Tian Xu was sentenced to death; but as many officers interceded for him, he was pardoned.
The army pressed on toward Fucheng. As soon as they arrived, the officers yielded as if they thought Deng Ai had fallen from the heavens. Some took the news to the capital, and the Latter Ruler began to feel alarmed. He hastily called for Huang Hao, who at once denied the report.
“That is just false rumor. The spirits would not deceive Your Majesty,” said Huang Hao.
The Latter Ruler summoned the wise woman to the Palace, but the messengers said she had gone no one knew whither. And now urgent memorials and letters fell in from every side like a snow storm, and messengers went to and fro in constant streams. The Latter Ruler called a court to discuss the danger, but no one had any plan or suggestion to offer. The courtiers just looked blankly into each other's faces.
Finally Xi Zheng spoke out, “In this extremity Your Majesty should call in the help of the son of the Martial Lord.”
This son of Zhuge Liang was named Zhuge Zhan. His mother was born of the Huang family and a daughter of Huang Chenyan. She was singularly plain and extraordinarily talented. She had studied everything, even books of strategy and magic. Zhuge Liang in Nanyang had married her because of her goodness, and she had shared his studies. She had survived her husband but a short time, and her last words to her son had been: be loyal and filial.
Zhuge Zhan had been known as a clever lad and had married a daughter of the Latter Ruler, so that he was an Imperial Son-in-Law. His father's rank, Lord of Wuxiang, had descended to him. In the fourth year of
Wonderful Sight (AD 262) Zhuge Zhan received the General rank in the guards as well. But he had retired when Huang Hao, the eunuch, as first favorite, began to direct state affairs.
As suggested, the Latter Ruler summoned Zhuge Zhan to court, and he said, weeping, “Deng Ai has defeated Fucheng, and the capital is seriously threatened. You must think of your father and rescue me.”
