Zhuge Liang
Before leaving for Xuchang, Xu Shu recommends Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei and tells him that he needs to recruit Zhuge Liang personally. Accompanied by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Liu Bei travels to Longzhong (in present-day Xiangyang, Hubei) to find Zhuge Liang. They arrive at Zhuge Liang's house (described to be a "thatched cottage"), where a servant tells them that his master is not at home. Liu Bei then asks the servant to pass a message to Zhuge Liang that Liu Bei came to visit him. Several days later, in winter, Liu Bei brings his sworn brothers along with him to visit Zhuge Liang again. This time, the servant leads Liu Bei to his "master", who turns out to be Zhuge Liang's younger brother, Zhuge Jun. Just as he is about to leave, Liu Bei sees a man approaching and thinks he must be Zhuge Liang, but he turns out to be Zhuge Liang's father-in-law, Huang Chengyan. When winter is over and spring comes, Liu Bei decides to visit Zhuge Liang again, much to the annoyance of his sworn brothers. This time, Zhuge Liang is at home but is asleep. Liu Bei waits patiently until Zhuge Liang wakes up. Zhuge Liang drafts the Longzhong Plan for Liu Bei and agrees to leave home and serve Liu Bei as his strategist.