Happy Chinese New Year!

I had wanted to wait 'till Blazing a Trail was complete, but I figured that this critical day needed a DW related update. So, here goes, the first chapter of a fic I've been itching to write. I hope you enjoy it.

Author's Note: If you're looking for violence, unfortunately the only battle that will be underway will be the Battle of Yiling. Otherwise, well, this is meant to take aspects of a historical life and mix it with elements from Boston Legal and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. If you came for political posturing, arguments, and the hilarity of debates gone totally wrong, then you've come to the right place.

Snowy Eyebrows

"Ma Shi Wu Chang, Bai Mei Zui Liang", or "Among the five sons of Ma, the smartest is 'White Eyebrows.'" - Ancient Chinese Saying.

Four rivers flow through the gorge at Xiang Yang, fusing into one. Alone, this resulting Xiang River brings a massive stream of water into the Great River. Without it the river would surely be much more narrow.

In the Ma clan, four sons were very talented, but a fifth showed signs of genuine genius. Only that single son succeeded in serving his country to his finest, and though his brothers tried to express their own talents, they proved to not have abilities anywhere close to their wise sibling: The young strategist with eyebrows white as snow. (1.)

Yet one of those four other sons often overestimated his own badassery.

"I am Ma Su, last son of the Ma house, smart enough to outwit any scholar alive!" A young boy yelled, running about the gardens of their estate.

The young man watching him facepalmed.

Ma Liang sighed. Ma Su was at it again. Would that kid ever learn?

The pair were the youngest among the Ma brothers. But Ma Su was the smallest, and tended to use that to his advantage. Because he was so little, the other four brothers tended to cut him some slack. True, he was small, and weak, and a whiney little devil, but he was young. He was stupid. They should not blame him for the folly of youth. That wasn't what wise, awesome older brothers did, after all.

But among the four older sons of the Ma clan, Ma Liang wasn't willing to cut Ma Su that much slack.

A war was brewing, and though most of the older brothers could sense it, Ma Su, for the most part, was still oblivious. He constantly bragged about his abilities while his older siblings grabbed whatever scroll on war and political tactics they could find.

And Ma Liang was among those 'older siblings.' These were hard times, and he would enter them prepared.

Thousands of people gathered before the mayor's compound.

It was time to reveal the results of the latest examination.

Several people, Ma Liang's older brother Ma Cheng being one of them, scurried and hopped over people in the crowd to find their scores or rankings on the posted list. (2.)

Ma Liang twiddled his thumbs. Sure, he was worried about his score, but he knew better than to compete with that stampede of people. He wasn't going to get himself crushed by their sheer, combined mass, no sir. As he tapped his foot, he heard the faint noise of a lute (yueqin, also known as moon guitar).

The strings twanged and the music flowed, and Ma Liang was impressed.

His eyes darted among the people who were smart enough to wait outside the mob. Who was playing that catchy tune?

And finally, those eyes rested on a man dressed in a white robe.

The musician sat there, with the yueqin on his lap. He wore a pair of old, shaggy sandals, and Ma Liang could swear that he was holding a feather fan with the toes of his left foot. Understandably, Ma Liang stared at the yueqin player with a confused look on his face.

The musician kept his eyes closed, and continued to play. His observer saw the musician move his head and upper body with the rhythm of the tune.

Ma Liang smiled. He knew how to play the flute, and thus it was great to find someone else that was also passionate about music.

Besides, the tune sounded familiar.

With some distant memory stuck in his mind, Ma Liang began to sing along:

"On and on the great river rolls;
The fragrance of flowers fades
As the memories of heroes are smashed.
Those dreams we had in our youth,
Fade away with a turn of the head.

Green Mountains stand high under bright sunsets.
Fishermen and woodcutters find calm water on the docks,
Watching the great autumn moon or feeling the calm spring breeze.

We take our raw wine and drink to those heroes.
Who knows how many lost lives,
Were celebrated with simple laughter?

We take our raw wine and drink to those heroes!
Who knows how many lost lives,
Were celebrated with simple laughter?" (3.)

The musician immediately stopped playing, and looked up at Ma Liang.

"So you appreciate the song as well." He smiled.

Ma Liang nodded. "It brings out a lot of old memories."

"Hah!" The musician laughed.

Ma Liang exchanged his hand. "Ma Liang." He spoke his name with a smile.

The musician returned the smile, and grasped that hand. "Zhuge Liang." (4.)

1. Historical records state that only the centers of his eyebrows were white, but where's the awesomeness in that?

2. Countless people have no names anymore, and no one seems to care. The three older brothers of Ma Liang and Ma Su are among those people. I hereby plop the given name 'Cheng' upon the second son of the Ma clan, which kinda shows how much he sucks compared to his younger peers, but meh.

3. Guen Guen Chang Jiang Dong Shi Shui;
Lang Hua Tao Jin Yin Xiong.
Shi Fei Cheng Bai Zhuan Tou Cong.

Qin Shan Yi Jiou Zai,
Ji Du Xi Yang Hong.
Bai Fa Yu Qiao Jiang Zhu Shang,
Guan Kan Qiu Yue Chuen Feng.

Yi Hu Zuo Jiou Xi Xiang Feng.
Gu Jin Duo Shao Shi,
Dou Fu Xiao Tan Zhong?

Yi Hu Zuo Jiou Xi Xiang Feng!
Gu Jin Duo Shao Shi,
Dou Fu Xiao Tan Zhong?

Forgive my somewhat butchered Pinyin (can't check Pinyin like I used to due to some technological difficulties), but this is the famous poem that is associated with the Three Kingdoms. It discusses the Chang Jiang (Great River, or the river that made most of Wu's northern border and served as Shu's main lifeline), as well as the state of the peasants in those days. For the Television Series, it was converted to a song. Zhuge Liang plays the background music for the song while Ma Liang hums it.

4. Officially, the examination system began in Sui (AD 600s), but in the case of this fic I wanted them to have met through this type of situation (both waiting to see how they did), and have them later hang around with Sima Hui. Besides, at that time you needed to prove yourself as a scholar, and what better way to do so than use a test if you can't prove yourself through deeds? Who's to say that they didn't use some form of exam or so to screen out potential, popular idiots?

With all this said, thanks for reading, peeps. Stay tuned for the next chap, as I still need to complete Blazing a Trail first.