Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided — Cao Pi and Zhen Ji marriage

As you’re playing Cao Cao’s campaign, one question will emerge: can Cao Pi marry Lady Zhen (Zhen Ji) in Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided? Let’s find out in our mini-guide.

Note: For more information, check out our Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided guides and features hub. Likewise, please be reminded that this guide is based on Romance Mode playthroughs with VH/VH difficulty selected.

Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided – Can Cao Pi and Zhen Ji get married?

For those who aren’t huge Romance of the Three Kingdoms (RTK) fans, Lady Zhen (or Zhen Ji) was the wife of Yuan Xi, the second son of Yuan Shao. After Shao’s death, Cao Cao’s son, Cao Pi, went to the vanquished’s residence. There, he encountered a woman who was so terrified of him that she buried her face in her mother-in-law’s lap. That woman was Lady Zhen.

When she was made to turn around, it was said that Cao Pi was so enthralled by her beauty that he decided to marry her. Lady Zhen, at the time, was still married to Yuan Xi, but nobody cared, I guess. Anyway, Cao Pi’s and Zhen Ji’s marriage was both fruitful and tragic. She did bear him a son, Cao Rui, who would later become an Emperor of Cao-Wei after his father passed.

As you can see, an RTK nerd such as myself would love to see how the first meeting between the two would pan out in-game. Unfortunately, even after I’ve replayed Cao Cao’s campaign in Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided, I genuinely haven’t encountered anything related to Cao Pi and Zhen Ji getting married. The only event that seems to be related is Cao Pi coming of age (turn 17), and that’s that.

Knowing this, I avoided destroying Yuan Xi’s faction completely, as doing so would make Yuan Xi and Zhen Ji “teleport” to some other corner of China. In one case, they ended up in Shi Xie’s court all the way to the south.

Instead, I eliminated Yuan Shao’s faction (if he’s already dead, it’ll be led by Yuan Shang). Doing so broke apart the Yuan clan’s grand alliance against Cao Cao. It also allowed me to enforce peace demands on Yuan Xi with vassalization as icing on the cake. If he won’t accept, you can try adding various diplomatic factors such as Credibility, Imperial Decrees, territories, or ancillaries.

After vassalizing Yuan Xi, go ahead and annex him. Then, have him divorce Zhen Ji so she could get married to Cao Pi.

Note: If Yuan Tan, Liu Bei, and Gao Gan are still around, demand peace and vassalize them before you annex Yuan Xi. Annexing a vassal would prevent you from offering vassalage in a peace deal for several turns.

Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.