Pei Xu

Biography & Historical Record

Pei Xu (裴绪, Bùi Hứa) is a name, not a walking officer, in Chapter 92. Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Gia Cát Lượng) tells his staff that the man who fooled Anding’s grand administrator was “a trusted soldier of ours pretending to be the Wei general Pei Xu,” a supposed confidant of Xiahou Mao (夏侯楙, Hạ Hầu Mậu). The real Pei Xu never enters a hall, never speaks in his own person, and has no Sanguozhi life. He is a false identity used twice: successfully at Anding against Cui Liang (崔谅, Thôi Lượng), then unsuccessfully at Tianshui against Ma Zun (马遵, Mã Tuân), where Jiang Wei (姜维, Khương Duy) sees through the ruse.

The military problem is Xiahou Mao boxed in Nan’an after Zhao Yun (赵云, Triệu Vân) has killed Han De (韩德, Hàn Đức) and his four sons. Zhuge Liang wants Anding and Tianshui to empty themselves as “relief.” A trusted man, carrying forged papers, rides into Anding as Pei Xu and orders Cui Liang to Nan’an by night. Cui Liang marches; Zhuge Liang takes the emptied city and later uses Cui Liang himself in a further trick against Nan’an. The same “Pei Xu” then appears at Tianshui with documents asking both commanderies to save the imperial son-in-law. Ma Zun is about to move when Jiang Wei walks in: Nan’an is sealed — no one could have ridden out; Pei Xu is an unknown junior general no one at Tianshui has met; the Anding “messenger” of the next day carries no papers. Ma Zun stays. Jiang Wei sets a counter-ambush. Zhuge Liang, still inside Nan’an, remarks that the man who fooled Cui Liang was the fake Pei Xu and that the Tianshui attempt has not reported back — so he will try the city another way with Wei Yan (魏延, Ngụy Diên).

History of the 228 Longyou campaign knows Jiang Wei’s defection and the Nan’an–Tianshui–Anding operations in outline; it does not know a Wei general Pei Xu. The name is novel machinery for Jiang Wei’s first appearance as the man who will not be fooled.

Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 92 (Zhao Zilong Cuts Down Five Generals; Zhuge Liang Takes Three Cities by Cunning): Zhuge Liang’s agent, wearing the name Pei Xu (裴绪, Bùi Hứa), delivers forged orders from Xiahou Mao at Anding and at Tianshui. Cui Liang of Anding believes and loses his city. Jiang Wei of Tianshui does not: he tells Ma Zun that a nobody called Pei Xu walking out of a sealed siege is a Shu captain in costume. The fake Pei Xu rides off “in haste” and never returns as himself. Zhuge Liang later says aloud that the Anding bait was that impersonation.

Pei Xu (裴绪, Bùi Hứa) — Historical & Literary Timeline

Key Relationships

Family

• None. The name is a cover identity. Do not attach him to the Hedong Pei clan or to Pei Jing of Chapter 106.

Friends

• Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Gia Cát Lượng): The commander who invents and explains the Pei Xu disguise.
• The unnamed Shu “trusted soldier” who wears the name — the only person who ever acts as Pei Xu.

Enemies

• Jiang Wei (姜维, Khương Duy): The officer who exposes the fake at Tianshui and so blocks the second emptying.
• Ma Zun (马遵, Mã Tuân): The Tianshui administrator who almost marches on the forged paper.

Other

• Cui Liang (崔谅, Thôi Lượng): Anding administrator who believes “Pei Xu” and loses the commandery.
• Xiahou Mao (夏侯楙, Hạ Hầu Mậu): The besieged Wei commander in whose name the forged orders are written.
• Wei Yan (魏延, Ngụy Diên): Sent against Tianshui after the Pei Xu bait fails.