In [[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]], Cao Pi is a cold, unfeeling man, both as an officer as a ruler. [[Luo Guanzhong]] seemed to respect him more than [[Cao Cao]]; Cao Pi is shown as fair, if sometimes cruel. He is shown as a skilled tactician; most notably, he developed a plan to turn [[Liu Bei]] against [[Sun Quan]] by defeating [[Guan Yu]].