In Romance of the Three Kingdoms the one reason for Lü Bu's betrayal was a beautiful maid named Diao Chan, who happened to be Wang Yun's adopted daughter. Wang Yun was against Dong Zhuo and wanted him dead, to achieve this, he used his adopted daughter Diao Chan.
One day, Wang Yun invited Lü Bu to his palace where he introduced him to Diao Chan and offered her hand in marriage to Lü Bu. Lü Bu was enthralled by Diao Chan's beauty and couldn't take his eyes off her. He accepted Wang Yun's offer without a thought.
However, few days later Wang Yun invited Dong Zhuo to his palace for a banquet. Diao Chan sang and danced for him. Dong Zhuo was captivized by her beauty. When Wang Yun offered her to him as his concubine, Dong Zhuo accepted without hesitation. Dong Zhuo took Diao Chan with him and is was not long before Lü Bu found out and confronted Wang Yun. Wang Yun lied and said Dong Zhuo had taken Diao Chan to his palace and kept her there to surprise Lü Bu. Lü Bu returned to the palace and asked the servants about Diao Chan. He was not happy to found out Diao Chan had slept with Dong Zhuo. Lü Bu sneaked around the palace. Diao Chan noticed his shadows and started to pretend she was not at all happy with her current situation.This started the jealousy and hatred between Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu that would eventually lead to Lü Bu killing his adoptive father.
What happened historically?[]
- Historically, Diao Chan, as portrayed in this scenario, did not exist. She was based on a maid Lü Bu had an affair with.
- Historically, the maid was just one of the many reasons why Lü Bu killed Dong Zhuo, not the only reason.
- Historically, the maid was not adopted by Wang Yun.
- Historically, Wang Yun did not plan the event, he took advantage of it.
- Historically, the event where Dong Zhuo throws a halberd at Lü Bu was not related to his affair with the maid. Historically he threw an axe instead of a halberd.