Which regret from the Three Kingdoms era is the most heartbreaking? Is it the Prime Minister’s unsuccessful northern campaigns and death at Wuzhang Plains? Jiang Wei’s failure to restore the kingdom and his death after defeat? The Cao family’s three generations of outstanding rulers losing their empire to the Sima family, ultimately leading to the chaos of the Five Barbarians? Or the loyal officials and descendants of Shu Han who gave their lives when the kingdom fell: Zhuge Liang’s son Zhuge Zhan and grandson Zhuge Shang, Zhang Fei’s grandson Zhang Zun, Huang Quan’s son Huang Chong, Li Hui’s nephew Li Qiu, Liu Bei’s grandson Liu Chen, Zhao Yun’s son Zhao Guang, and Fu Tong’s son Fu Qian? Every one of these losses is cause for sorrow.
This book is mainly about Jiang Wei. After being defeated and killed, his soul lingers, drifting back to his hometown in Jixian. Before his mother’s memorial tablet, which he had never seen since returning to Shu, he is reborn with more than thirty years of historical knowledge, vowing to make up for every regret. He helps the Prime Minister launch another northern campaign, kills Zhang He at Jieting, defeats Cao Zhen at Chencang, pacifies Longyou, secures Liangzhou, surrounds Chang’an, takes Tong Pass with a clever stratagem, breaks through Wu Pass with an ingenious plan, captures Hulao Pass, and takes Luoyang, forcing Cao Rui to move the capital to Ye and causing the collapse of the Cao regime in the Central Plains. He denounces Sun Quan’s claim to the throne, competes with Eastern Wu for territory, and fights repeated campaigns against Sima Yi and Lu Xun. In the end, he destroys Wei, leads a great army against Wu, and decides the war in a single battle, helping the Prime Minister restore the Han dynasty for a third time. Finally, he leads the descendants of the kingdom’s heroes in sweeping the frontier and completely eradicating the foundations of the Five Barbarians’ devastation.
He wins against larger armies time and again, using Zhuge repeating crossbows to defeat the enemy, withstanding Wei’s Tiger and Leopard Cavalry with Xiliang horsemen, and bringing Gao Shun’s Trapped Camp troops back to the battlefield. Sun Xiaomei is made Empress Dowager. How did he reach Shu Han, and why can the Prime Minister trust him? Will he ultimately succeed?
