Chancellor of Han: Zhuge Kongming

At the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, the young Zhuge Liang of Langya loses his family and home. He flees the chaos to Jingzhou with his younger brother, spending ten years farming and studying in Longzhong while keeping his talents hidden. When Liu Xuande visits his thatched cottage three times, Zhuge Liang lays out a plan to divide the realm into three in his Longzhong Plan, stepping into the torrent of a chaotic age.

At the Battle of Red Cliffs, he defeats a stronger foe and secures the tripartite balance of power. After entering Shu and pacifying the region, he governs with such brilliance that the Land of Abundance flourishes once more. On his southern campaign against Meng Huo, he captures and releases him seven times, winning him over through virtue. During six campaigns against Mount Qi, he gives everything he has, engaging Sima Yi in a deadly contest along the banks of the Wei River.

He is the pillar holding up Shu Han, yet in the end, he cannot defy the course of fate. The autumn wind at Wuzhang Plains extinguishes the Seven-Star Lamps and snuffs out the last hope of restoring the Han dynasty. From a lone child in the countryside to the great chancellor of Han, this novel recounts Zhuge Liang’s lifetime of strategy, struggle, and sorrow. There are no supernatural powers, only the lonely courage of an idealist fighting fate with his own flesh and blood in a world at war.