Wei Yan’s revolt and execution

Wei Yan’s revolt and execution begin with a conflict over who should direct the Shu army after Kong Ming’s death and whether it should obey the dead strategist’s order to withdraw. Wei Yan argues for continuing the campaign against Sima Yi; Yang Yi insists on carrying out Kong Ming’s instructions. As each side claims loyalty and accuses the other of disloyalty, the dispute becomes an armed confrontation. Kong Ming’s advance preparations ultimately determine its outcome: a silk-bag instruction and a signal entrusted to Ma Dai lead to Wei Yan’s death.

The dispute after Kong Ming’s death

Wei Yan has a troubling dream of two horns growing from his head. Zhao Zhi initially gives him an auspicious interpretation, but later tells Fei Yi that the sign is inauspicious, while explaining that he had wanted to spare Wei Yan alarm. The dream accompanies a more immediate grievance: Wei Yan learns that Yang Yi, rather than he, received prime ministerial responsibilities at Kong Ming’s deathbed. He challenges that choice and urges the army to press on against Sima Yi instead of retreating merely because Kong Ming has died.

Fei Yi answers that retreat was Kong Ming’s final instruction. He promises Wei Yan that he will discuss the matter with Yang Yi, but reports the exchange to Yang Yi, who says Kong Ming had warned that Wei Yan would rebel. The command arrangements change accordingly: Jiang Wei, not Wei Yan, takes the rearguard position as the Shu army withdraws. When Fei Yi does not return, Wei Yan grows suspicious. Discovering Jiang Wei’s new assignment, he turns to Ma Dai and asks for help in killing Yang Yi. Ma Dai pretends to agree and accompanies him and his troops.

The revolt becomes a contest for the army

Wei Yan blocks the road and draws up troops against Yang Yi and the withdrawing army. Yang Yi halts and consults Fei Yi, who anticipates that Wei Yan will present himself to the second ruler as loyal and accuse the others of rebellion. The two men find a back road and send messengers to Chengdu with word of Wei Yan’s revolt.

The reports divide the court. The second ruler has just heard that Kong Ming has died, news confirmed by Li Fu, and receives Wei Yan’s petition claiming that Yang Yi has seized power and that Wei Yan alone resists him. Yang Yi’s petition follows. The conflicting appeals prompt debate and a tentative effort at reconciliation: the ruler sends Dong Yun to try to settle the dispute. Meanwhile, Wei Yan has taken position near Nangu, unaware that Yang Yi has maneuvered behind him by the back roads.

He Ping leads the loyal troops out behind Nangu and challenges Wei Yan, accusing him of rebellion while Wei Yan turns the charge back on Yang Yi and his supporters. He Ping appeals directly to Wei Yan’s soldiers, asking why they are helping a man who has rebelled so soon after Kong Ming’s death and urging them to go home. Many respond by leaving. The revolt thus loses strength not only through combat but through the collapse of Wei Yan’s hold over his own men.

Wei Yan’s defeat and the silk-bag plan

Wei Yan attacks He Ping, who fights him and then appears to retreat. Arrows force Wei Yan back; as his army breaks apart, he pursues some of the fleeing men and kills them. The only troops who remain steadfast are the three hundred gathered around Ma Dai. Ma Dai proposes that they take Hanzhong and attack western Shu, describing Wei Yan as the land’s best soldier and swearing to follow him. Wei Yan is encouraged by the proposal, but the support is temporary: Ma Dai’s loyalty is part of Kong Ming’s plan, not an agreement to join Wei Yan’s rebellion.

Wei Yan and Ma Dai first attack Nanzheng, where Jiang Wei and Yang Yi are already established. Faced with the threat, Jiang Wei asks Yang Yi what to do. Yang Yi reveals that Kong Ming left him a silk bag to be opened if Wei Yan rebelled. The envelope is marked for that precise circumstance. Armed with the instruction, Yang Yi accompanies Jiang Wei to confront Wei Yan and Ma Dai. Wei Yan tells Jiang Wei that his quarrel is not with him but with Yang Yi.

At the gateway, Yang Yi opens Kong Ming’s letter and then rides out beside Jiang Wei. He tells Wei Yan that Kong Ming had foreseen his betrayal, but offers him a test: if Wei Yan can shout three times, “Who will dare kill me?”, Yang Yi will recognize him as a true warrior and surrender Hanzhong to him. Wei Yan laughs at the challenge. He says he had been only partly afraid of Kong Ming while he was alive and now has no one left to fear; he boasts that he could repeat the challenge thirty thousand times.

The signal and its consequences

Holding his sword aloft, Wei Yan cries, “Who will dare kill me?” Before the shout has faded, Ma Dai answers from behind him, “I dare kill you!” Ma Dai’s sword kills Wei Yan. The apparent pledge to follow Wei Yan had concealed a prior instruction from Kong Ming: Ma Dai was to strike when he heard Wei Yan give that signal. The episode resolves the revolt through the very words Wei Yan uses to assert his invulnerability.

The episode makes Kong Ming’s influence persist after his death in a sharply practical form. His prediction of Wei Yan’s rebellion, his sealed instruction, and his arrangement with Ma Dai turn a succession crisis into a trap whose decisive moment depends on Wei Yan’s own boast. At the same time, the army’s cohesion is shown to be vulnerable: Wei Yan’s claim to be the loyal opponent of a usurper fails to hold his soldiers, while He Ping’s appeal to their relationship with Kong Ming persuades many to leave. The revolt ends not with Wei Yan securing a new command, but with his death at the signal anticipated by the strategist whose retreat order he rejected.