周泰

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Sun Quan’s shield, whose loyalty was written in scars. When bandits ambushed the young lord, Zhou Tai threw his own body over him and took more than a dozen wounds; at Ruxukou he cut into the encirclement again and again to pull Sun Quan out. Years later, at a banquet, Sun Quan bared the general’s torso and poured a cup of wine for the story behind each scar — and the well-born officers who had sneered at his origins bowed their heads for good.

Key events

1. 213

   Battle of Ruxukou

   Sun Quan blocks Cao Cao at Ruxukou — Gan Ning’s hundred-rider night raid, Zhou Tai’s valor, and Cao Cao’s sigh: "If one must have a son, let him be like Sun Quan."

   Sun QuanCao CaoGan Ning

History vs. the novelHistoryvsNovel

The banquet of scars is rooted in the historical record. The novel merely amplifies the rescue scenes — the essence, a man who shielded his lord with his own flesh, is unchanged.