Huang Kui

Historical Record

According to the available historical and biographical materials, the record concerning Huang Kui is blank. In the official histories such as the Records of the Three Kingdoms, no direct record or related deeds of Huang Kui are found. This means that the figure of Huang Kui and his activities in history have left no trace in the verifiable historical sources.

In the Novel

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Huang Kui is portrayed as a man of loyalty and righteousness, his main deeds revolving around participation in Ma Teng's plot to assassinate Cao Cao. Huang Kui was the son of Huang Wan and bitterly hated Cao Cao's act of holding the emperor hostage to command the lords. In Chapter 57, he met with Ma Teng, and at the height of their drinking he frankly expressed his hatred of Cao Cao, calling him "a traitor who deceives his sovereign" ^c:4406. He reminded Ma Teng of the matter of the Girdle Edict, ultimately prompting Ma Teng to open his heart to him and jointly devise a plan to assassinate Cao Cao. Huang Kui suggested that Ma Teng cut down Cao Cao when Cao Cao came out of the city to review the troops, holding that "the great undertaking will then be accomplished" ^c:4406.

However, Huang Kui's plan was exposed because of his family affairs. After he returned home, his resentment still unspent, his wife's brother Miao Ze was having an illicit affair with Huang Kui's concubine Li Chunxiang. In order to obtain Li Chunxiang, Miao Ze used her to extract the details of the conspiracy from Huang Kui. Li Chunxiang, while Huang Kui was drunk, provoked him with words, and Huang Kui, taking advantage of his intoxication, blurted out that he had already agreed with Ma Teng to kill Cao Cao the next day when the troops were reviewed outside the city ^c:2468. Li Chunxiang then told Miao Ze, and Miao Ze informed on them to Cao Cao. Upon learning the news, Cao Cao immediately took action and seized Huang Kui's entire household, young and old ^c:2468.

In the end, Huang Kui was captured together with Ma Teng and his son. Before Cao Cao, Huang Kui cried out that he was "innocent," but Miao Ze's confrontational testimony left him unable to defend himself. Ma Teng bitterly cursed Huang Kui as a "pedantic fool who ruined my great undertaking," lamenting that he had failed to slay the traitor for his country. Cao Cao ordered Ma Teng, Ma Xiu, and Huang Kui all executed ^c:15832. News of Huang Kui's death soon reached Xiliang; Ma Chao learned from Ma Dai that his uncle Ma Teng had "conspired with the Attendant Gentleman Huang Kui to kill Cao, but unfortunately the matter leaked out, and they were all beheaded in the marketplace" ^c:4408, which directly prompted Ma Chao to raise troops against Cao.

Key Relationships

* Ma Teng: Huang Kui's most important relationship in Romance of the Three Kingdoms; the two allied out of a shared sense of loyalty and righteousness and shared hatred of Cao Cao, jointly plotting to assassinate Cao Cao (novel only) ^c:4406.
* Huang Wan: Huang Kui's father, mentioned in the novel as having died in the chaos of Li Jue and Guo Si, which became one of the reasons for Huang Kui's hatred of the "sovereign-deceiving traitor" Cao Cao (novel only) ^c:4406.
* Miao Ze: Huang Kui's wife's brother, who, because of his illicit affair with Huang Kui's concubine Li Chunxiang, betrayed Huang Kui out of personal desire, causing the conspiracy to be exposed (novel only) ^c:2468.
* Li Chunxiang: Huang Kui's concubine, who had an illicit affair with Miao Ze; at Miao Ze's instigation, she extracted the details of the conspiracy from Huang Kui, and was the key figure in causing Huang Kui's downfall (novel only) ^c:2468.

Iconic Scenes

* Plotting to assassinate Cao at the height of drinking: At a banquet with Ma Teng, Huang Kui, emboldened by the wine, expressed his resentment of Cao Cao and reminded Ma Teng of the matter of the Girdle Edict, ultimately bringing the two to conspire to assassinate Cao Cao. Huang Kui proposed cutting down Cao Cao when he reviewed the troops, displaying his loyalty, righteousness, and decisiveness (novel only) ^c:4406.
* Exposed through family affairs: After Huang Kui returned home, the illicit affair between his concubine Li Chunxiang and his wife's brother Miao Ze caused the conspiracy to leak. At Miao Ze's behest, Li Chunxiang extracted the details of the assassination plot from Huang Kui, becoming the direct cause of Huang Kui's downfall (novel only) ^c:2468.
* Going to the execution ground together with Ma Teng and his son: Huang Kui was captured by Cao Cao together with Ma Teng and his son. At the execution ground, Huang Kui cried out that he was innocent, while Ma Teng bitterly cursed Huang Kui as a "pedantic fool who ruined my great undertaking," and in the end all three were put to death, marking the complete failure of this attempt to assassinate Cao (novel only) ^c:15832.
* News of his death prompting Ma Chao to raise troops: News of the deaths of Huang Kui and Ma Teng reached Xiliang and was conveyed by Ma Dai to Ma Chao, directly prompting Ma Chao to raise troops against Cao to avenge his father, having a far-reaching impact on the subsequent storyline (novel only) ^c:4408.