Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Yang Xiu (175 - 219) was an official in the Three Kingdoms era. Yang Xiu was the son of the esteemed Han dynasty officer Yang Biao, and nephew of the powerful warlord Yuan Shao. Yang Xiu served as an officer in Cao Cao''s army. Cao Cao executed him in 219 because he mistook the warlord''s night signal for an order to retreat. Yang Xiu is described by Mi Heng as one of the two sole "talented" officers under Cao Cao; the other was Kong Rong, a descendant of Confucius. According to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao killed Yang Xiu because he was too clever and boastful, as described in the following passages: "Once, a garden door was built by some servants of Cao Cao. When he arrived, he did not talk to his servants about their work but instead wrote a character, meaning "alive", on the door.