Yang Xiu was a talented person, an elite among ancient intellectuals, and his position and occupation were similar to those of Chen Bulei around Chiang Kai-shek. His talents are wit, intelligence and eloquence, and he relies on his own talents. He was deeply appreciated by Cao Cao and was entrusted with the post of "knowing what is common and what is outside". He has become a spin doctor counselor around Prime Minister Cao Cao and should be regarded as an important official. After Guangmen incident, a box of cakes incident, Cao Cao's dream murder incident and Wu Zhi incident, Cao Cao hid his ill feelings in Yang Xiu's heart and secretly avoided them. Until later, Yang Xiu secretly stepped in to abolish the prince, which caused Cao Cao's extreme dissatisfaction and jealousy.

To really understand the reason why Yang Xiu was killed, the key is to understand Luo Guanzhong's words: "It turns out that Yang Xiu was arrogant because of his talents and made several taboos against Cao Cao." What does Cao Cao "avoid"? Cao Cao's "taboo" is that Yang Xiu doesn't give him face. With regard to face, this is the most important thing in China tradition. As the saying goes, "People have faces, but trees have skins". Yang Xiu repeatedly humiliated Cao Cao, making Cao Cao jealous of him. This is the taboo of being a slave. Slaves are "dogs" that help their masters bite people. How can he bite his master in turn and lose face?