Luo Guanzhong
Luo Guanzhong, who wrote the 14th-century historical novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", distorted the exact words Cao Cao said after he killed Lü Boshe's family. The most significant change is the replacing of "others" (人; literally "people") with "world" (天下人; literally "people under Heaven"). Yi Zhongtian, a Xiamen University history professor, speculated that Cao Cao was probably trying to console himself after mistakenly killing Lü Boshe's family by speaking in a regretful tone ("heartrendingly remarked"). Yi believed that Luo Guanzhong had deliberately changed the words in the quote to reflect that Cao Cao had no sense of remorse because "world" carries greater weight than "others", so as to enhance Cao's image as a villain in his novel.