Is “Praised Lü Bu excessively, arousing Chen Gong's suspicion” true?
Chapter 18 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms fabricates the plot: 'Whenever there was a banquet for guests, Chen Gui and his son would always praise Lü Bu's virtue. Chen Gong was displeased and took the opportunity to tell Lü Bu: "Chen Gui and his son flatter you to your face, but their intentions are unfathomable."' In the official history, Chen Gui and his son were indeed secret agents of Cao Cao, but there is no specific record of them using this method to lull Lü Bu or being suspected by Chen Gong.
A famous scholar at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, father of Chen Deng. The official history does record the matter of dissuading the marriage alliance between Lü Bu and Yuan Shu, but the praise of Lü Bu arousing suspicion and sending his son to inform Liu Bei are both fictional.
Other claims about Chen Gui
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