Chen Gong

Chen Gong is the magistrate who arrests Cao Cao while he is fleeing after trying to kill Dong Zhuo, but instead of returning his prisoner to the authorities, Chen Gong releases him and joins his escape. Their brief partnership collapses at Lü Boshe’s home: after a fatal misunderstanding leads them to kill eight members of the household, Cao Cao also kills Lü Boshe, their returning host. Horrified by the contrast between an accidental killing and what he judges to be deliberate murder, Chen Gong resolves to kill Cao Cao himself, making this encounter the turning point in their relationship.

Arrest and Alliance

As Cao Cao rides toward his home region of Qiao, he is recognized and arrested by Chen Gong, the local magistrate at Zhongmu County. Chen Gong does not intend to send him back to face punishment. Instead, he asks why Cao Cao is in such haste. Expecting execution, Cao Cao answers candidly that he no longer wishes to serve Dong Zhuo and intends to return home to rally men against him.

The disclosure changes Chen Gong’s role from captor to companion. He frees Cao Cao and offers to go with him. They travel in disguise, a practical response to the danger of pursuit, and after three days reach the area of Chenggao. There Cao Cao proposes seeking shelter with Lü Boshe, a sworn companion of his father whom he describes as being like an uncle. Chen Gong’s choice to join the flight thus brings him into a household where trust and suspicion will soon collide.

The Household at Lü Boshe’s Home

At the house, Cao Cao grows anxious that Lü Boshe, who is not a blood relative, may have gone to betray them. He and Chen Gong creep around to listen. A voice inside speaks of binding and killing someone; taking this as confirmation of their fears, the two rush in with swords drawn and kill the household’s eight people, men and women alike. Only afterward do they discover the explanation for the words they heard: a pig had been trussed up for slaughter.

Chen Gong recognizes the deaths as the result of a terrible mistake. His horror deepens when they encounter Lü Boshe returning from the village with wine. Lü explains that he had ordered a pig killed to feed his guests and urges them to stay, assuring them they could rest safely for the night even though they were being hunted. Cao Cao passes him without answering, then suddenly turns back and kills him. The two killings are therefore sharply distinguished in Chen Gong’s judgment: the household’s deaths arose from a misinterpretation, but Lü Boshe has just offered them hospitality and safety.

Alliance Replaced by Judgment

Chen Gong challenges Cao Cao over Lü Boshe’s death, insisting that killing an innocent man is wrong. Cao Cao answers with the declaration, “I would rather defeat the world than have the world defeat me!” The response makes their difference more than a disagreement over immediate danger: Chen Gong treats the killing as a moral boundary, while Cao Cao presents his own survival and advantage as paramount.

That night, Chen Gong broods over what has happened. He had believed Cao Cao to be a good man, but now regards him as vicious and fears that, if left alive, Cao Cao will bring further misfortune to others. Chen Gong draws his sword with the intention of killing him. The account leaves the outcome suspended, asking whether Cao Cao will survive; its closing uncertainty turns the former magistrate’s decision into a cliffhanger and marks the complete reversal of their short alliance.