The following is a chronologically arranged list of apocryphal stories in the 14th century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi), one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Although the novel is a romanticised and highly fictionalised retelling of the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty and subsequent Three Kingdoms period, due to its immense esteem and popularity, many people mistake it for an accurate historical account of the era. The primary historical sources for the Three Kingdoms period are found in the Twenty-Four Histories, namely Fan Ye's Book of the Later Han, Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms (including annotations by Pei Songzhi from other historical texts such as Yu Huan's Weilüe and the Jiang Biao Zhuan), and Fang Xuanling's Book of Jin. Since Romance is a historical novel, many stories in it are dramatised or imaginative, or based on folk tales and historical incidents that happened in other periods of Chinese history. What follows is an incomplete list of the better known of such stories in the novel, each with accompanying text that explains the differences between the story and historical accounts.

With the onset of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Bei meets Zhang Fei and shares with him his aspirations of saving the country and the people. Zhang suggests they should together recruit a voluntary militia to fight the rebellion. They are later joined by Guan Yu, who was on his way to join the army. The three men perform a sacrificial ceremony to heaven and earth and take the oath as brothers under blossoming peach trees in Zhang's garden, assembling the dynamics between them for the remainder of the novel.

There is no historical evidence to suggest that an oath was taken between the three men. However, Guan Yu's biography in Records describes their relationship "as close as brothers," to the point of "sharing the same bed." Zhang Fei's biography suggests that as Guan was older than Zhang, Zhang regarded Guan as an elder brother.

A commandery-level inspector is sent to survey Liu Bei's county after Liu Bei is appointed as a county prefect as a reward for helping to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The inspector hints to Liu Bei that he wants a bribe, but Liu Bei does not understand the inspector's point. Later, even after his assistant explains to him, Liu Bei still refuses to bribe the inspector. When the inspector is unable to find any fault with Liu Bei's administration, he attempts to intimidate the locals into making false accusations against Liu Bei. Zhang Fei is furious when he hears about this and he barges into the county office, drags the inspector out, ties him to a post and gives him a severe thrashing. Liu Bei shows up and stops Zhang Fei. When Guan Yu suggests they kill the inspector and seek their fortune elsewhere, Liu Bei refuses, resigns and returns his official seal to the inspector before leaving.

Records and Yu Huan's lost history Dianlue recorded that Liu Bei was the one who beat up the inspector. The Han central government had issued an imperial edict to dismiss all officials who received their appointments as rewards for their contributions in battle. Liu Bei knew that he was one such official. When a commandery-level inspector was sent to the county to formally dismiss him, Liu Bei sought a private meeting with the inspector. However, the inspector claimed that he was ill and refused to meet Liu Bei. An angry Liu Bei then gathered his men, barged into the inspector's quarters, and falsely announced that he had received a secret order from the commandery administrator to arrest the inspector. He tied the inspector to a tree, took out his official seal and hung it on the inspector's neck, and flogged the inspector over 100 times. He wanted to kill the inspector but eventually released him when the latter pleaded for mercy. He went on the run after that.

Wang Yun lends Cao Cao his Seven Gems Sword after the latter pledges to assassinate Dong Zhuo. Cao Cao meets Dong Zhuo in his bedroom the following day and attempts to kill him with the sword when he faces away. However, Dong Zhuo sees Cao Cao drawing his sword through a reflection in a mirror and immediately turns back. Cao Cao senses trouble so he quickly kneels down and pretends to present the sword to Dong Zhuo as a gift. At the same time, Lü Bu has returned after Dong Zhuo sent him to choose a new horse for Cao Cao. Cao Cao then lies that he wants to test-ride the new horse and uses the opportunity to escape from Luoyang.

Cao Cao's biography in Records states that Dong Zhuo wanted to appoint Cao Cao as a cavalry colonel (驍騎校尉) in his army. Cao Cao refused because he felt that Dong Zhuo was doomed to failure, so he disguised himself and escaped back to his hometown. There is no mention of Cao Cao attempting to assassinate Dong Zhuo before his escape.

Cao Cao flees from the capital, Luoyang, after failing to assassinate Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo orders notices for Cao Cao's arrest to be put around the areas surrounding Luoyang. During his escape, Cao Cao is spotted in Zhongmu County by the county prefect, Chen Gong, who arrests him. Chen Gong has a private conversation with Cao Cao and decides to release him after feeling inspired by his sense of righteousness. Chen Gong even gives up his official post and becomes Cao Cao's companion.