While the Shu and Wei continue to slug it out in the West, the kingdom of Wu deals with internal unrest at the highest level. * Transcript * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships Transcript PDF version Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 144. Last time, Jiang Wei had launched yet another Northern campaign, trying to catch his enemies off guard while they were dealing with an internal rebellion by Zhuge Dan. This time, Jiang Wei was focusing his attention on the town of Changcheng (2,2), a key grain store for the Wei forces. He put the town under siege and it looked like the town was about to fall. But just then, a Wei relief force showed up. Sigh, I guess we’ll have to take care of these guys first. So Jiang Wei turned his army around to face the oncoming foe. From the opposing lines, a young general rode out with spear in hand. He looked to be about 20-some years old, with a face so fair that he looked as if he were wearing powder, and his lips were daubs of red. This young man shouted across the field, “Do you recognize General Deng?!” Jiang Wei thought to himself, “That must be Deng Ai.” So he rode forth to meet his foe, and the two traded blows for 40 bouts without either gaining an edge. Seeing that the young warrior showed no signs of faltering, Jiang Wei figured he needed to pull some shenanigans to win this fight. So he turned and fled down a mountain path on the left. The young general gave chase, and as he approached, Jiang Wei pulled out his bow and fired an arrow at the man. But his foe had sharp eyes and quickly dodged the arrow. When Jiang Wei turned around, the young man was already upon him and thrusting his spear at him. Jiang Wei dodged the thrust, letting the spear go under his arm, and then he wrapped his arm around the spear. His foe now ditched the spear and rode back toward his own lines. Jiang Wei lamented this missed opportunity to slay this Deng Ai that he had heard so much about, and now it was his turn to give chase. But when he approached the enemy’s lines, he was suddenly greeted by another, older general who wielded a saber. “Jiang Wei you scoundrel!” this general shouted. “Stop chasing my son! Come meet Deng Ai!” Oh ok. So only now did Jiang Wei realize that the young man who had fought him to a standstill was Deng Ai’s son. He was secretly astonished at the young man’s skills. He wanted to go take on Deng Ai, but was worried that his horse was too tired, so he pointed at Deng Ai and said, “Today was my introduction to you and your son. Let’s call it a day and settle this tomorrow.” For his part, Deng Ai recognized that the field of battle was not to his advantage, so he agreed, saying, “In that case, let’s both bring our armies back to camp. A real man would not ambush his foe.” So the two armies both fell back. Deng Ai set up camp by the Wei (4) River, while Jiang Wei set up camp across two mountains. After studying the Shu army’s deployment, Deng Ai wrote to Sima Wang (4), the commander inside the town of Changcheng, and told him, “We must not fight, only defend. When our reinforcements arrive, the enemy will be out of provisions and under attack on three sides. Then, victory will be guaranteed. I am sending my eldest son Deng Zhong (1) to help you defend the town.” And while that message was on its way to Sima Wang, Deng Ai also sent an urgent dispatch to Sima Zhao, requesting aid. Soon,