Lady Sun's attempted departure with Liu Shan

Lady Sun’s attempted departure with Liu Shan is a failed political maneuver that turns the struggle over Jingzhou into a contest over Xuande’s seven-year-old son. Sun Quan’s men exploit Lady Sun’s concern for her mother to draw her south with Liu Shan, hoping Xuande will surrender Jingzhou to recover his heir. Zhao Zilong and Zhang Fei intercept the party: Lady Sun goes on to the south, but Liu Shan is taken back. The episode makes family ties both the instrument of political leverage and the limit that prevents an attack from proceeding as planned.

Political Background

While Xuande is away in the Riverlands, spies report his movements to Sun Quan. Gu Yong sees an opportunity to attack Jingzhou, but Sun Quan’s mother objects: Xuande is her son-in-law, and an assault could put her daughter at risk. She insists that Sun Quan already possesses extensive territory and should not endanger his own family by seeking more. Sun Quan apologizes, and the immediate plan to attack is set aside.

The pause does not end the rivalry. Zhang Zhao proposes another way to exploit Xuande’s absence: send a forged letter claiming that Sun Quan’s mother is dying, and persuade Lady Sun to return with Liu Shan. He expects Xuande to give up Jingzhou in exchange for his only heir. Sun Quan approves the scheme and entrusts its execution to Zhao Shan, a man trusted by Lady Sun. The proposed seizure of territory thus becomes an attempted seizure of the child whose return is expected to compel a territorial concession.

The Forged Message and Departure

Zhao Shan and his men enter Jingzhou disguised as traders. He gives Lady Sun the fabricated letter and stresses the urgency of the supposed summons. Though Lady Sun initially says that she should ask Kong Ming, who is acting for her absent husband, Zhao Shan presses her to leave before anyone can stop her. Distressed by the news, she decides not to wait for permission. She takes Liu Shan, then seven years old, and heads by carriage for the river, where boats are ready to carry them south.

Zhao Zilong, returning from patrol, discovers the departure just as the party is preparing to embark. He calls out to Lady Sun, but Zhao Shan orders the boats away. Zhao Zilong spots a fishing boat, boards it with his spear, and pursues them. When Zhao Shan’s men shoot at him and try to stop him, Zhao Zilong wards them off and reaches Lady Sun’s vessel. He enters her cabin and demands to know why she is taking Liu Shan. Lady Sun says the boy is her child and that she will not leave him in the care of others; Zhao Zilong counters that Liu Shan belongs to his master and recalls having saved him from the battlefield. Lady Sun rebukes him for challenging her family’s authority, but Zhao Zilong insists that the child must stay.

Interception on the River

Lady Sun calls for her attendants. Zhao Zilong takes Liu Shan out of the cabin and onto the deck, but by then the shore is distant and Zhao Shan’s boats are heading south. Ten boats then emerge from a creek. Zhao Zilong first fears that they mean his death, then recognizes Zhang Fei in the leading boat. Zhang Fei calls on Lady Sun to leave the boy behind, and the vessels converge.

Zhang Fei joins Zhao Zilong aboard Lady Sun’s boat and kills Zhao Shan. When Lady Sun protests, Zhang Fei challenges her for leaving without regard for his elder brother. She answers that her mother is dying and that waiting for her husband’s permission would make her too late; she also threatens to drown herself if the brothers prevent her from going. Zhang Fei recognizes that forcing her to remain would be dishonorable. He proposes instead that they take Liu Shan and let Lady Sun go. Zhao Zilong and Zhang Fei leave with the child, while Lady Sun’s boat continues south.

Aftermath and Significance

Lady Sun eventually reaches her brother’s capital and tells Sun Quan what happened. Sun Quan begins planning an attack on Jingzhou again, but news that Cao Cao is approaching with four hundred thousand men changes the immediate stakes. Sun Quan orders a wall built at the mouth of the Ruxu as a defensive measure. The attempt to use Liu Shan as leverage therefore fails to recover territory, and the threat from Cao Cao redirects Sun Quan’s attention to defense.

The episode sets political calculation against the claims of kinship without making either side simple. Sun Quan’s mother opposes an assault because it endangers her daughter; Zhang Zhao turns the same family bond into a scheme to pressure Xuande; Lady Sun treats Liu Shan as her child, while Zhao Zilong insists that the heir must be returned to his master. Zhang Fei’s final compromise preserves Lady Sun’s freedom to continue south while preventing her from taking Liu Shan. The attempted departure ends not in a territorial exchange but in separation: mother and child part, and the rivalry over Jingzhou remains unresolved.