Is “Unresolved father's revenge and sworn brotherhood by breaking arrows” true?
The Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wu, Biography of Ling Tong records that his father Ling Cao was killed by Gan Ning, and Ling Tong often harbored resentment; Sun Quan specifically ordered the two to be stationed separately. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms fictionalizes a scene where Gan Ning saves Ling Tong on the battlefield, leading to their sworn brotherhood. The official history text writes that when Gan Ning was covering Huang Zu's retreat, he "shot and killed Colonel Ling Cao" (Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wu, Biographies of Cheng, Huang, Han, Jiang, Zhou, Chen, Dong, Gan, Ling, Xu, Pan, and Ding).
In official history, Gan Ning killed Ling Tong's father, and Ling Tong harbored a grudge; in the novel, Gan Ning saves Ling Tong's life and they become sworn brothers by breaking arrows.
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