There is a story that Zhou Yu wrote a couplet about Zhuge Liang’s wife, Huang Achou, who was too ugly. Zhuge replied to the couplet and satirized Zhou Yu’s wife, Xiao Qiao, who would be locked up in the Tongque Tower by Cao Cao sooner or later. The two played word games, and Zhou Yu eventually rebelled. Zhuge Liang defeated an entire army and felt very embarrassed.

It is said that on the eve of the Battle of Chibi, Zhuge Liang crossed the river to Soochow and joined Sun Quan to defeat Cao Cao. Zhou Yu, the governor of Soochow, was jealous that Zhuge Liang was more talented than himself and often made things difficult for Zhuge Liang. Once, the two of them drank together. Zhou Yu said to Zhuge Liang, I will come up with a first couplet and you can counter the second couplet. Zhuge Liang readily agreed. Zhou Yu's first couplet is like this: Having eyes is also looking (eyes are ugly), and being without eyes is also ugly. Get rid of the side glances and add a girl, and it’s a girl. The middle-aged girl is born ugly, and it’s hard to pick a girl from a hundred miles.

Because in ancient times, the word "Gu" was also written as "eyes" on the left side and "ugliness" on the right side. Zhou Yu deliberately used this couplet to satirize Zhuge Liang for having no eyesight and marrying a rare ugly wife. Zhuge Liang responded: Yes. Wood is also a bridge, and no wood is also a tree. Remove the wood on the side of the bridge, add a girl and you will be charming. There are only two beauties in Jiangdong, but it is difficult to protect the bronze bird without locking its beauty. Zhuge Liang did it very neatly. In the couplet, he satirized Zhou Yu's wife, even though she was beautiful, she would not be abducted by Cao Cao. This not only angered Zhou Yu and made him determined to fight against Cao Cao, but also cleverly responded to Zhou Yu's sarcasm and ridicule.

In history, there was no head-on conflict between Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang, and Zhou Yu was broad-minded, which was very different from the one in the novel. Both Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang were elegant celebrities at the time, so it was impossible for it to happen. This kind of behavior of joking about each other's wives is a story made up by later generations of literati based on novels, just for fun and entertainment when people are bored.