On the evening after the third line of Xiapi's (下邳) estrangement (離間) had pushed Zhang Liao's (張遼) step inward, an edict (詔書) from Xudu (許都) descended upon every walled city of Xuzhou (徐州).

The edict came in three lines. The first: "From today, every walled city of Xuzhou falls under the direct jurisdiction of the court of Xudu." The second: "Lord Lü, Marquis of Wen (呂溫侯), shall guard only the single walled city of Xiapi, and shall not attack another walled city." The third: "Liu Bei (劉備) shall make the single walled city of Xiaopei (小沛) a forward guard of the main army of Xudu."

The three lines tied three rings upon the land of Xuzhou. The first ring lay inside Xiapi; the second, around another walled city of Xuzhou outside Xiapi; the third, around Xiaopei in the southwest. It was an evening on which three rings had been tied around Xiapi by a single edict.

Inside the tent of Xiapi, Lü Bu (呂布) read the three lines. His mouth moved low. "Cao Cao of Xudu has bound my throat in three rings with a three-line edict. From today, every step around Xiapi will catch grain by grain upon a ring." Chen Gong (陳宮) continued low. "My Lord. Break the outermost of the three rings first. Strike Liu Bei at Xiaopei first. If Xiaopei falls out of one ring, the second ring loosens as well."

Lü Bu nodded. Gao Shun (高順) began to move toward Xiaopei with thirty thousand cavalry. Zhang Liao stood behind him. It was an evening on which the outermost ring would be torn first.

From the tower of Xiaopei, Liu Bei looked upon Gao Shun's thirty thousand cavalry. His eyes sank deep. "The third ring of Xudu begins to loosen first. Younger brother Guan Yu. The gate of Xiaopei is hard to hold long. Let us send a single letter to General Cao of Xudu and withdraw, step by step."

Guan Yu (關羽) bowed his head deeply. "Elder brother. May today's single step connect a grain deeper in days to come." Zhang Fei (張飛) swallowed a low sigh. "Elder brother. This grain of Lü Bu pushes us outside Xiaopei today. This debt must be repaid a grain deeper in later days." Liu Bei nodded.

That night, Liu Bei wrote a letter to Cao Cao. "General Cao. A single cavalry of Lü Bu moves toward Xiaopei. The body of Liu Bei lies upon the outermost of Xiapi's three rings. Open, briefly, a gate of Xiaopei; let a single step enter inside the gates of Xudu." An envoy placed the writing inside his bosom and set out toward Xudu.

Inside the tent at Xudu, Xun Yu (荀彧) continued low. "My Lord. The first line of the three rings is drawing Liu Bei's step toward Xudu on its own. The grain of the design (設計) of the rings is unfolding of itself today." Cao Cao (曹操) laughed low. "Wenruo. Let us bring Liu Bei into the main camp of Xudu. From today, the body of Liu Bei will be laid beneath my eye."

Inside the tent of Xiapi, Lü Bu lifted another cup of wine. A fragment of jade seal lay upon the desk. Diaochan (貂蟬) continued low. "My Lord. Tonight's ring of grain has laid a grain more upon Your Lordship's shoulder." Lü Bu nodded. His mouth let slip a low murmur. "Guard only the single walled city of Xiapi. Only Xiapi."

At Xiaopei, the three brothers began to pack. Guan Yu folded a cotton cloak into a small chest. Zhang Fei bound the haft of his Serpent Spear with a new binding of hemp. Liu Bei walked through the small courtyard of the residence where he had slept for many seasons. He laid a palm upon the lintel of the door and did not press it; some departures ask only a palm that has rested without pressing. Some nights later, a magistrate's clerk from Xudu would arrive at the same door to inventory the residence for its next inhabitant, and would find, upon the lintel, no mark at all. That was the correct mark.

Meanwhile, at the south gate of Xudu, a courier was opening his pack. Beside the edict to Xuzhou lay two more folded documents: one to Jingzhou, one to Jizhou. Neither would go out tonight. A counselor who has just tied three rings upon one city does not loosen the thread of two more rings in the same night. The courier laid the two extra folds back into his pack, tied the flap, and stood outside the gate, waiting for the sun to decide which ring to tighten first in the morning.

The seventieth night of Book 3 deepened, quietly, beneath the three rings of Xiapi. The three characters Samhwanseong (三環城, the walled city of three rings) were planted as a seed: the breath on which the three lines of one edict, the outermost of one ring, one letter, and one fragment of jade seal rested at a single seat. The single step of Day 69's Ryo-ilbo (遼一步) had, this night, been tied inside the three rings of a single city.

—