Editing Romance of the Three Kingdoms (section)

===Battle of Yiling===
As Liu Bei led a large army to avenge Guan Yu and retake Jing Province, Sun Quan attempted to appease him by offering to return him the territories in southern Jing Province. Liu Bei's subjects urged him to accept Sun Quan's offer but Liu Bei insisted on avenging his oath brother. After initial victories against Sun Quan's forces, a series of strategic mistakes resulted in Sun Quan's general [[Lu Xun (Three Kingdoms)|Lu Xun]] inflicting a calamitous defeat on Liu Bei at the [[Battle of Xiaoting|Battle of Yiling]]. Lu Xun initially pursued Liu Bei during his retreat, but gave up after getting trapped inside and barely escaping from Zhuge Liang's [[Stone Sentinel Maze]].

[[File:Zhuge Liang by Zhang Feng.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An artist's impression of [[Zhuge Liang]].]]

Liu Bei died in [[Baidicheng]] from illness a few months later. On his deathbed, Liu Bei granted Zhuge Liang permission to take the throne if his son and successor, [[Liu Shan]], proved to be an inept ruler. Zhuge Liang firmly refused and swore to remain faithful to the trust Liu Bei had placed in him.