Liu Bei had wandered the land as a minor warlord, his army small, his territory nonexistent. Despite the valor of his sworn brothers, he seemed destined to remain a footnote in history. What he lacked was not courage, but wisdom—specifically, the wisdom of a strategist.

"Beyond the hills," a hermit told him, "dwells a man of unparalleled brilliance. His name is Zhuge Liang, styled Kongming. He calls himself the Sleeping Dragon. If you can win his service, you shall hold the empire in the palm of your hand."

Liu Bei immediately set out with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

The first visit found only a servant, who informed them the master was traveling. "When will he return?" "Who knows? The clouds drift where they will."

Zhang Fei grumbled all the way home. "We wasted a day on a hermit!"

The second visit was made in the dead of winter, through snow so thick they could barely see. At the hut, they found a young man reading. But he was only Zhuge Liang's younger brother. The Sleeping Dragon was out with friends.

This time, even Guan Yu was annoyed. "His reputation exceeds his worth. Let us not trouble ourselves further."

But Liu Bei insisted on a third journey. As they approached the hut, a servant informed them the master was napping.

"Then we wait," Liu Bei said.

And wait they did. An hour passed. Two. Zhang Fei's face grew darker than a thundercloud. "I'll burn this damned hut down! Let us see if that wakes him!"

"Brother!" Liu Bei seized his arm. "Do not dishonor us."

At last, the Sleeping Dragon stirred. And the man who emerged from that humble thatched hut with his white crane-feather fan and his robes of simplicity would reshape the fate of an entire continent.

Zhuge Liang, at twenty-seven years old, sat down with Liu Bei and laid out the Longzhong Plan—a strategy so brilliant that it would divide China into three kingdoms and echo through the ages.

"If you follow my counsel," the young strategist said, his fan stirring the summer air, "the empire shall be yours."

Liu Bei bowed his head, and wept. "Master Kongming, I am but a man of no talent. Will you truly help me?