Chapter One: The Prodigy of the Shen Family

If I were an ordinary farmer, living a simple life amidst the chaos of the Three Kingdoms, I would be out in the fields, swinging a plain hoe, cultivating the earth, struggling against the harshness of nature, ever wary of the warlords who threatened from all directions. In the distance, the sound of hooves would grow louder as an army approached, and everyone would crouch down in fear, hoping with all their hearts that the soldiers belonged to Governor Liu’s troops.

— From a Bilibili user: Cat Who Eats Ice Cream.

In the autumn of the fourth year of Chuping, 193 AD, Cao Cao raised an army to avenge his father’s death and set out to punish Tao Qian. Yuan Shao sent his general Zhu Ling with three battalions to support him. After entering Xuzhou, Cao Cao’s forces captured over ten cities in succession. General Yu Jin seized Guangwei and advanced along the Si River all the way to Pengcheng. The vanguard, under Cao Ren, attacked Tao Qian’s general Lü You, and after their victory, joined forces with Cao Cao.

Tao Qian, Inspector of Xuzhou, led his troops to confront Cao Cao at Pengcheng, but suffered a devastating defeat and had to flee, seeking refuge in Tan City in Donghai. Seizing the opportunity, Cao Cao’s army ravaged Pengcheng, Fuyang, Wuyuan, and other places. At that time, many refugees had sought shelter under Tao Qian’s rule, most of whom were gathered in Pengcheng. Confronted by Cao Cao’s army, they were slaughtered. People were driven into the Si River and drowned; corpses clogged the river so thoroughly that the water could no longer flow.

The following spring, Cao Cao attacked again, stationed his forces at Pengcheng, casting a covetous eye on Xuzhou, vowing to kill Tao Qian to avenge his father. At the same time, the Zhuge family of Langya began their migration southward.

Zhuge Xuan, once an official under Liu Biao, was sent to Chang’an to report on the situation in Jingzhou. Before he departed, he learned that his cousin Zhuge Gui had passed away, and so requested permission from Liu Biao to tend to Zhuge Gui’s affairs at Mount Tai after his mission was complete. Liu Biao agreed, and after fulfilling his duties in Chang’an, Zhuge Xuan hurried to Xuzhou to care for Zhuge Gui’s widow and children.

Communication was difficult in those days. Zhuge Gui’s death occurred at the end of the sixth year of Zhongping, 189 AD, but Zhuge Xuan did not receive the news until the third year after, having returned to Jingzhou to report, then journeyed to Langya in Xuzhou—a trek of thousands of kilometers—finally arriving in Xuzhou in the fourth year of Chuping.

Upon his arrival, however, Zhuge Xuan found himself in the midst of Cao Cao’s campaign against Tao Qian. To escape the war, he took Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jun, and two nieces, parting ways with Zhuge Jin who fled to Jiangdong, and began a long journey south toward Lujiang.

Thus, in the spring of the first year of Xingping, 194 AD, thirteen-year-old Zhuge Liang accompanied his uncle Zhuge Xuan as their household migrated south.

Xiangben County lay about fifty li northwest of Shan County, separated by the Yi River. The desolate early spring still carried a chilly bite. The earth, yellowed and dry, was slowly awakening. The mountain forests grew lush and dense, and across the endless fields, last year’s wheat had already been harvested. The villagers were busy in the fields, sowing this year’s new millet.

Northeast of Xiangben, near the Yi River at Huangmen Pavilion, at the northern foot of Mount Huang—an offshoot of Mount Zeng—nestled a village. In Han times, villages were not called “villages” but “settlements”; this place was called Zengyang Settlement, named for its location south of Mount Zeng (later known as Mount Ceng), already quite close to Shan County.

Zengyang Settlement was home to two main families: the Dengs from Xinye and the Shens from Gushi. The Deng clan, highly favored in the early Eastern Han, flourished with Deng Yu, Deng Chen, and Deng Han as notable figures, their lineage yielding a remarkable number of marquises and generals: two dukes, thirteen grand generals, and twenty-nine marquises—unmatched in the Eastern Han.

Everything changed after Empress Dowager Deng’s death. When Emperor An took power, the eunuch Jiang Jing and others fabricated charges against the Dengs, accusing them of obstructing the emperor. Emperor An demoted Deng Hong and others to commoners. To preserve the family, Deng clansmen scattered across the land, leaving the capital and their ancestral home.

The Shen clan traced its roots to the royal Ji lineage. In the Western Zhou, King Wen’s son Ji Zai was enfeoffed at Shen, its ancient city in what is now northern Pingyu, Henan. After the fall of the State of Shen, several centuries later, the Shen descendants established the State of Shenzi southeast of Gushi, northwest of Ruyin—modern Fuyang and Linquan in Anhui.

Due to wars in the Warring States, the end of the Qin, and the late Western Han, the Shens of Gushi migrated southeast for safety, many settling in Yangzhou and Xuzhou. One branch settled in Xiangben of Donghai, numbering several hundred, living peacefully for generations.

The Shen clan settled here earlier than the Dengs, but the Dengs’ accumulated prestige and influence gradually made them local leaders. The elders of Huangmen Pavilion were all Dengs, and the vast surrounding lands increasingly became Deng estates.

In Zengyang Settlement, the Dengs and Shens intermarried, and the people from neighboring villages also accepted their leadership. Though not considered true aristocracy in Xuzhou, the Dengs and Shens held considerable local influence in Xiangben. Perhaps in a few years, with more land, the Dengs might be counted among Xiangben’s powerful clans.

Yet this spring, the Shen family’s prodigy inexplicably began behaving erratically, repeatedly urging the Deng and Shen elders to abandon their land and migrate south to Jingzhou, insisting that only Jingzhou would be a haven amidst the coming chaos.

The clansmen murmured in disapproval. Though Shen Chen was indeed clever—only eight years old, yet speaking and acting well beyond his years—how could such a momentous decision as relocating the entire clan be entrusted to a child’s words?

So the matter was dismissed as the wild talk of a prodigy, with no one taking it seriously. Some even said the boy’s former brilliance had turned to madness.

Only Shen Chen himself grew more and more agitated as the villagers ignored his warnings.

On the sixteenth day of the third month, late spring, when news arrived from passing merchants that Cao Cao had stationed his troops in Pengcheng, Shen Chen’s anxiety became unbearable.

Cao Cao was coming to slaughter Xuzhou this very year, sparing neither man nor beast—how could anyone remain calm?

After breakfast, Shen Chen left his house, pacing outside with a troubled expression. The neighbor’s son, already a laborer at twelve, shouldered his hoe and, seeing Shen Chen pacing, laughed, “A-Chen, you’re still not out cutting pigweed, just idling about. Be careful, or your grandfather will give you a beating.”

“Foolishness!” Shen Chen retorted. “You villagers know nothing. Disaster is at our doorstep, and you still don’t sense the coming doom. When Cao Cao arrives, the entire county will be wiped out!”

“There he goes again, raving,” the neighbor’s son said, shaking his head as he walked away. Shen Chen had once been the pride of the village children, his words heeded by all. But in the past two months, he had become an object of ridicule.

Shen Chen grew only more anxious and hurried toward a large, imposing courtyard in the village.

Learning that Shen Chen had come again, Deng Hong hesitated but agreed to let him in. After all, they were relatives: Shen Chen’s mother, Lady Deng, was Deng Hong’s cousin, making Shen Chen his grand-nephew. To turn him away would be improper.

After passing through the front yard and the main hall, Shen Chen found Deng Hong waiting in the inner courtyard. Seeing him, Deng Hong beckoned, “A-Chen, come and sit.”

“Sixth Uncle-Grandfather!” Shen Chen greeted respectfully, bowing formally.

Deng Hong was only twenty-six, but as the youngest direct descendant in his branch of the Deng family, he was the local leader for more than forty Deng clansmen in Zengyang Settlement. In the Deng clan, it was said that the youngest branch often produced elders; thus, despite his youth, his rank was high.

After Shen Chen finished his salute, Deng Hong motioned him to sit, gently patting his head. “A-Chen, what brings you here today?”

“I request a joint clan council of the Dengs and Shens,” Shen Chen answered earnestly.

Deng Hong’s face darkened. “A clan council is no trivial matter. How can an eight-year-old call for one?”

“That is why I ask you to convene it, Sixth Uncle-Grandfather!” Shen Chen’s eyes shone with determination. “This concerns the lives of over three hundred households and thousands of people in our clans and the surrounding villages. Please, listen to me with utmost seriousness.”