Under normal circumstances, romance itself has the simple feelings of folklore, that is, to promote good and suppress evil. Cao Cao relied on the emperor to command his ministers, which is definitely a typical example of "evil" in the era of loyalty to the monarch and cannot be praised or criticized. In The Romance of Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei's generosity, Zhuge Liang's wisdom and loyalty, and Guan Yunchang and Zhang Fei's Once upon a Time in America are highlighted. These feelings are the most simple and kind feelings among the people, and kind human nature.
With the change of social values and the improvement of cognitive ability, people no longer blindly follow the book, but have more independent thinking and value reference. After careful consideration, it is discovered that Liu Bei's kindness or Cao Cao's adulteress is actually just a stereotype of the inherent model. After respecting Liu and belittling Cao Cao for so many years, readers began to face up to Cao Cao and refused to follow suit. The author said what he said, so he gave Cao Cao a more objective and true evaluation, which looked a bit like respecting Cao Cao. Similarly, they began to think rationally about Liu Bei Group, and removed some aura imposed on him, which somewhat belittled his meaning compared with before. In fact, readers should be more objective. I think it may take some time for readers to give you a more rational and objective evaluation, and there is no question of who respects and belittles.
Besides, many people between Cao and Liu prefer Cao Cao. Cao Cao is indeed brilliant and excellent in literary talent, and Liu Bei is far behind. Moreover, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he has always been a timid monarch image supported by Zhuge Liang, and the only benefit is probably the gift of a corporal. Don't talk to me about official history. I know all the official history. I just want to talk about my general impression of the romance of the Three Kingdoms. If you really want to talk about official history, Shu is not as strong as in the romance, but probably the weakest among the three countries and Cao Cao is the strongest. It is more correct to respect Cao and demote Liu.