Liu Bei POV

Even though I was actually rather happy about it, I can’t show it on the surface. If I do that then she will say that I’m getting carried away. I can’t possibly let her take back her praise for me when she’s finally acknowledged me for once.

“Don’t feign ignorance, Imperial Uncle. You know you did it brilliantly this time yet you still want me to praise you on every detail?”

“Un.”

“You even dare to un? Stop kidding around.” She seemed to have been genuinely surprised by my honestly and chuckled, “Fine. In any case, Imperial Uncle is indeed a fair bit better than when we first met, be it on capability or will. I must admit that Imperial Uncle isn’t just a useless wimp who only rides on the coattails of his subordinates.”

So that’s how she saw me from before…

“But really, thanks.” I had to thank, and accept, her praise anyway even if I wasn’t happy about her initial a.s.sessment of me.

“Hmhm.” She happily smiled when she saw me looking conflicted. But she retracted her rare bright smile shortly after and continued, “We may have done well in this battle, but we may have spoiled Huang Zu’s plans.”

“Eh?”

Spoiled Huang Zu’s plans? I didn’t understand what Chen Gong meant, but then I recalled what Chen Gong said before during the banquet and my curiosity was ignited once more.

“Could it be that you think what Huang Zu said was the truth?”

Chen Gong shook her head and looked a little down as she replied, “In reality, if we hadn’t partic.i.p.ated in the battle, Huang Zu’s words may have come true.”

“Why? If we hadn’t reinforced her, Huang Zu’s troops would have been decimated, no?”

“Of course not. Do you not understand, Imperial Uncle?” Chen Gong shook her head and looked at me as she began explaining herself, “Huang Zu brought 1,000 troops out of the city to meet Jiangdong in battle but this was only just outside the city. Even if things got bad, she could immediately withdraw back to the city. The garrison could easily cover for the troops in the with arrows and catapults so Zhu Ran and Zhu Zhi wouldn’t be able to rout them as they retreat. And if things went that way, they would have underestimated the capabilities of Jiangxia’s garrison.”

“So our reinforcement caused needless losses?”

“Not just needless losses. We could have also thrown Huang Zu’s plans into disarray. If I’m not wrong, I believe that Huang Zu wants to throw away the first battle to get Jiangdong to underestimate the Jiangxia garrison and lower their guard, and finally wipe them out when the Jiangxia navy arrives.”

“That does make sense…” I thought about how that would work and felt that it was possible.

Continuing on this thread, our reinforcement resulted in a setback for Jiangdong’s vanguard which could lead to a stronger reinforcement by the main body, and greater prudence and caution when they lay siege on the city. If that happens, then defending the city will be more complicated.

But who could have thought that things would be like that? Huang Zu never explained this to us beforehand with letters.

But if that really is the case, then she really gave us face. Not only did she not blame us for spoiling her plans, she even thanked us and threw us a banquet.

“Of course, this is just a guess. It could be that Huang Zu’s head is empty and she wasn’t thinking when she decided to leave the city.” Chen Ging squinted as she said so, mimicking Huang Zu’s eyes, “She seems like that sort after all.”

I can understand where Chen Gong is coming from.

I myself only half-believed Chen Gong’s guess after all as I didn’t know what Huang Zu was like, nor could I go and ask her either.

“Haa– Why are there some night owls about huh?” Just then, a voice came from behind me. It was soft, and very gentle, probably because the speaker mistook Chen Gong and I for ordinary soldiers.

I turned back and saw Chen Dao standing there. Her hair was untied, her clothing was a little unkempt and she wasn’t wearing the only plate armour she had– Her chest guard.

“Ah, it’s Chen Dao–”

“Eek!!”

I wasn’t very surprised, but she let out a loud cry when she saw me, and flailed her arms about for a long while before she remembered her untidy state and hurriedly tidied her clothing and then stood there stock still.

“My lord! Please make sure you rest sufficiently! Sleep earlier!”

It’s a little too late for that.

“Hahaha, I will.” I smiled stiffly and waved at her to sit down as well. This sort of time wasn’t one where you ought to place so much importance on etiquette after all.

“What about you, why aren’t you asleep at this time?”

Could she be troubled over something as well? That’s surprising.

“No, I was just awoken by Zhou Cang’s snoring and couldn’t go back to sleep.” Chen Dao shook her head as she said so.

Ah, so that’s why.

“So Zhou Cang is sleeping very well then.”

“Yes she is.”

Chen Dao looked ragged and was probably still very sleepy.

“Then why not go to my tent and sleep? You’ll probably be able to get a more peaceful sleep there.”

“Wh-what!!” But at these words, Chen Dao immediately leapt up and kept bouncing about as she shook her head, “No no no no, that can’t do. How could I have the right to sleep where my lord sleeps at? No, I’m not sleeping anymore!”

Will it really be alright…

Chen Dao is extremely stubborn in these minor things.

“Un? Since everyone is awake, how about taking a walk in the city?” I suggested.

I don’t know if it’s become a habit from my previous visits in other cities, but every time I get to a new place, I get the urge to explore the city. From what I remember, Jiangxia city should be a relatively prosperous area so even if martial law has been imposed, the architecture of the city should be a sight to behold.

Perhaps I have a genuine interest in ancient architecture. When I return to the future, I’ll study architecture in university then.

“Alright. I can’t sleep anyway so I’ll accompany my lord.” Chen Dao was the first to reply in the affirmative.

“I’m not going.” Chen Gong said as she yawned, “I got sleepy after chatting with Imperial Uncle from before. It’s not too late yet so I’ll go and catch some more sleep.”

I doubt that’s the case though. She probably got sleepy after she was able to be at ease after sharing with me everything she’d been thinking about today.

As I looked at Chen Gong’s back, I still felt that nagging feeling that something was different about her. Only after staring for a long while did I realise that she wasn’t wearing her platform shoes, and so she was quite a bit shorter than she usually was.

Of course, I won’t say this out loud. If I do, I’ll have to suffer some jibes again.

“Alright, we’ll just do it with the 2 of us then.” I left aside the topic of Chen Gong’s height and spoke to Chen Dao.

“Honoured to accompany you.” Chen Dao was the same as usual; and as usual, it made me feel weird.

Though I expected the streets to be spa.r.s.e, I didn’t expect them to be this empty. Maa, if you think about it, it does make sense. It’s still dark out and martial law is in place so it would be difficult to find a shop, stall or restaurant that would be open late in the night.

The only thing we could do was swagger down the streets, since the only pedestrians are slightly earlier farmers and horse or ox drawn carriages which transported water.

“My lord, do you think that Jiangxia city has any local specialties?”

“Local specialties?”

“Yes, General Zhao Yun specially instructed me to remember to bring back any local specialties when we left.”

I see…

“Jiangxia’s local specialties huh, we can ask Huang– Un, we can ask Gan Ning when we see her again.”

Since Jiangxia is near the river, its local specialties ought to be seafood fished from the river. But given the era, there might be other things such as white jade pendants.

But… I didn’t think that Chen Dao would be really beautiful when she lets down her hair.

I intentionally slowed down my pace and shot glances at Chen Dao as naturally as I could.

Chen Dao’s usual ponytail made her seem a little neurotic, and gave an impression that she was a very rigid person. When she let her hair down, she was just a beautiful girl.

On the other hand, Zhou Cang ought to tie her hair back into a ponytail. She can’t go into battle and lose her hair to stray movements of her own blade after all.

“Un? My lord.”

“Un un? What’s the matter, Chen Dao?” When I heard Chen Dao call out to me, I immediately s.h.i.+fted my gaze away from her and to the moon.

“My lord, look at that person up ahead. Could she be Administrator Huang Zu?”

Eh?

I s.h.i.+fted my gaze to where Chen Dao was pointing at and saw a girl with a long fringe and a plate skirt knocking on the doors of someone’s house.

That girl wasn’t someone else, she was definitely Huang Zu. It’s way too easy to recognise her.

But what is Huang Zu doing here at this time?

When she knocked, everyone from the surrounding houses came out and about 30-40 ordinary citizens crowded around Huang Zu.

“Let’s go.”

“Ah, my lord?”

I was a little curious and sped up and blended into the crowd before listening in closely on what Huang Zu had to say.

“Everyone, I seek your understanding on emergency imposition of martial law due to recent incursions by enemy troops. If you have any issues or difficulties, you can raise it with me and I will note it down.” Huang Zu yelled out amongst the crowd in her usual thuggish, unruly tone.

“Lord Administrator, may I ask if the enemy will breach the city? I heard their troops are many, will we be able to hold out?”

“Of course we can. I, Huang Zu, have defended this city since I was 12. I’m now 20, and have defended this city for 8 years now, and the city has become one with me. As long as I don’t die, the city will never fall. But there are a lot of things we need when preparing our defences so I humbly seek everyone’s help for supplies when the time comes.”

When Huang Zu finished, she bent down and bowed deeply in a sincere show of appreciation and apology. As I looked at this scene before me, I even suspected for moment that this girl might be Huang Zu’s sister and not Huang Zu herself.

“Looks like Huang Zu is a good person huh.”

“Un, she would be even better if she can be a little friendlier to us.”

Chen Dao smiled and raised her eyebrows when she heard my reply, “It’s not actually all that weird. Some generals are better at interacting eith ordinary citizens than other generals. There aren’t that many like my lord who can interact well with both.”

“You don’t need to be so sensitive about me.”

I felt a little embarra.s.sed at receiving such praise.

“No, I was just speaking the truth.” She said very seriously, to the point where I couldn’t figure out where the joke began and where the truth ended. Perhaps she is serious about everything.

As I looked at Huang Zu in the crowd, I felt that Chen Dao’s words make sense, and felt that Huang Zu might be a benevolent and compa.s.sionate Administrator.

Except that she’s a little weird most times, and isn’t too good at social interactions.