Liu Bei returned to Xu Province, which was now under Lü Bu's control, and reluctantly accepted Lü Bu's offer to move to Xiaopei while Lü Bu remained in Xiapi. Zhang Fei fled after losing Xiapi to Lü Bu. Lü Bu led his forces to attack Xiapi and succeeded in seizing control of Xiapi. Cao Bao fled back to his own camp and set up defences while sending a messenger to request aid from Lü Bu, another warlord who was taking shelter under Liu Bei at the time. Zhang Fei wanted to kill Cao Bao, a former officer under Tao Qian, for reasons unknown. During this time, he left Zhang Fei behind to guard Xiapi, the capital of Xu Province. The following year, he led his forces to Huaiyin County, to counter an invasion by Yuan Shu. In 194, Liu Bei succeeded Tao Qian as the Governor of Xu Province. They followed him on his exploits and were always ready to face any danger and hardship. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu acted as bodyguards for Liu Bei. Liu Bei cherished them as if they were his own brothers and the three of them shared a brotherly relationship to the point of sharing the same room, sleeping on the same mat and eating from the same pot. When Liu Bei was later appointed as the Chancellor of Pingyuan State ( 平原國) by the Han central government, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu served as Majors of Separate Command ( 別部司馬) under him. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were known as stalwart and strong men which made them talented fighters. As Guan Yu was several years older than Zhang Fei, Zhang regarded him as an elder brother. In the 180s, towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, he and Guan Yu became Liu Bei's followers. In the novel, Zhang Fei became sworn brothers with Liu Bei and Guan Yu in the fictional Oath of the Peach Garden at the start of the novel and remained faithful to their oath until his death. Zhang Fei is one of the major characters in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which dramatises and romanticises the events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. He was assassinated by his subordinates in 221 after serving for only a few months in the state of Shu Han, which was founded by Liu Bei earlier that year. Zhang Fei fought in various battles on Liu Bei's side, including the Red Cliffs campaign (208–209), takeover of Yi Province (212–214), and Hanzhong Campaign (217–218). Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, who were among the earliest to join Liu Bei, shared a brotherly relationship with their lord and accompanied him on most of his early exploits.

Zhang Fei ( pronunciation i) (died July or August 221 AD), courtesy name Yide, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhang.

Guan yu statue right or left side