Editing Romance of the Three Kingdoms (section)

===Liu Bei's ambition===
[[File:Dai Jin-Looking Three Times at the Thatched Hut.jpg|thumb|200px|Liu Bei recruiting Zhuge Liang, from ''Visiting the Thatched Hut Three Times'', a [[Ming dynasty]] painting by [[Dai Jin]] (1388–1462).]]

[[Liu Bei]] and his [[Blood brother|oath brother]]s [[Guan Yu]] and [[Zhang Fei]] swore allegiance to the Han Empire in the [[Oath of the Peach Garden]] and pledged to do their best for the people. However, their ambitions were not realised as they did not receive due recognition for helping to suppress the [[Yellow Turban Rebellion]] and participating in the [[campaign against Dong Zhuo]]. After Liu Bei succeeded [[Tao Qian (Han dynasty)|Tao Qian]] as the governor of [[Xu Province]], he offered shelter to [[Lü Bu]], who had just been defeated by Cao Cao. However, Lü Bu betrayed his host, seized control of the province and attacked Liu Bei. After combining forces with Cao Cao to defeat Lü Bu at the [[Battle of Xiapi]], Liu Bei followed Cao Cao back to the imperial capital, Xu, where Emperor Xian honoured him as his "Imperial Uncle" upon learning that he was also a descendant of the imperial clan. When Cao Cao showed signs that he wanted to usurp the throne, Emperor Xian wrote a secret decree in blood to his father-in-law, [[Dong Cheng (Han dynasty)|Dong Cheng]], and ordered him to get rid of Cao Cao. Dong Cheng secretly contacted Liu Bei, [[Ma Teng]] and others, and they planned to assassinate Cao Cao. However, their plans were leaked, and Cao Cao had Dong Cheng and the others arrested and [[Nine familial exterminations|executed along with their families]].

Liu Bei had already left the imperial capital when the plot was exposed, and he moved on to seize control of Xu Province from [[Che Zhou]], the new governor appointed by Cao Cao. In retaliation, Cao Cao attacked Xu Province and defeated Liu Bei, causing him to be separated from his oath brothers. While Liu Bei briefly joined Yuan Shao after his defeat, Zhang Fei took control of a small city, and Guan Yu temporarily served under Cao Cao and helped him slay two of Yuan Shao's generals in battle. The three oath brothers were eventually reunited and managed to establish a new base in [[Runan Commandery|Runan]], but they were defeated by Cao Cao's forces again so they retreated south to [[Jing Province]], where they took shelter under the governor [[Liu Biao]].