Is “Surrendered to Cao Cao, received title, and was killed on the way” true?
The Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wei, Biography of Liu Biao records that after Liu Cong surrendered to Cao Cao, he was appointed as a General of the Vanguard and Governor of Qing Province, enfeoffed as a Marquis of a Chief Village, and lived out his life in peace; The Romance of the Three Kingdoms fictionalizes a tragic ending where Cao Cao sent Yu Jin to intercept and kill him and his mother on the way. The original text says, “太祖军到襄阳，琮举州降。备走奔夏口。” It also says, “太祖以琮为青州刺史、封列侯。”（《三国志·魏书·董二袁刘传》）
In official history, after surrendering to Cao Cao, he was appointed Governor of Qingzhou and lived out his life; the novel fictionalizes that he was hunted down and killed by Yu Jin on the way to his post, sent by Cao Cao.
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