Chen Gong

Chen Gong was an adviser to the warlord Lu Bu during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China. He, however, started his career under Cao Cao before he later defected to Lü Bu and was executed when the latter was defeated by Cao Cao.

In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, Chen Gong was given a positive makeover. He was said to have given up his official post to follow Cao Cao, who was then on the run after an attempted assassination on Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord holding the emperor hostage in the imperial court. However, he left Cao Cao when he thought the latter was not an upright man either.