While Guan Yu attacked Fan he left beacons along the river. Lü Meng pleaded illness and handed the post to the junior Lu Xun. Lu Xun wrote in praise of Guan Yu, who then guarded even less. Lü Meng reached Xunyang, hid elite troops in the boats, and had the rowers wear the white clothes of merchants. They passed the river posts until they were under Jiangling.
Lü Meng’s biography says the rowers wore merchants’ white. The color is not an empty novel addition. The beacons failed. Shi Ren and Mi Fang surrendered. The result is that the victory at Fan became the flight to Maicheng.