Much dramatisation shrouds the death of Ma Su. According to his biography in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms" along with Pei Songzhi "Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms" and Xi Zuochi's comment, Ma Su was executed on Zhuge Liang's order. Most of the cultural's depictions follow this version such as the historical novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as well as the Peking opera "Loss of Jieting" However, in the biography of Ma Su's close friend Xiang Lang, Ma Su was said to actually attempt to escape after his defeat at Jieting, but was captured, and he may have eventually died of illness in prison before the ordered execution could be carried out.