Lu Meng POV

The night scenery by the riverside was really splendid. Back when Jiangdong was still chaotic, my heart was stolen by this night scene as well. Just like back then, I was now lying in the choppy waters, my feet hooked onto a rope tied to a paddle on the s.h.i.+p, drifting about. It was now the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Nature is beginning to return to warmth again, and the waters which slapped against my body were not as bone-chillingly cold as they were 1-2 months ago.

At the very least, there are no ice fragments.

I looked up at the skies which was alit by stars. Looking to the side, the city not too far away was completely lit up by fires that stretched all the way to the riverside. That was where Jiangxia was and outside the city was the Jiangxia port.

They should currently be bolstering their defences now. But it will all be for naught. In this battle, our side will definitely win.

I was still rather worried about attacking the large s.h.i.+ps with my small boats as I don’t have too many sailors after all and Dong Xi is like that. But without expending any effort at all, Gan Ning has joined us, and she filled in the role of naval commander which we sorely lacked.

If it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t be so carefree like this right now.

If this keeps up, it will be easy to hand things over later–

“Lord Major! Lord Major!” Just then, someone yelled out to me from the s.h.i.+p.

I raised me head and saw Pan Zhang standing at the bow with a very rare anxious expression. Her braids were flying about in the air, as though they were controlled by her.

“What is it!?” I yelled out loudly as I began to get slightly nervous even though Pan Zhang always comes to me with urgent and important matters that aren’t actually urgent or important. Some examples were water or food being wasted or things related to money, like how her troops needs a bigger budget.

In any case, this matter can’t be too big.

“Lord Major! Lord Ling Tong and Lord Gan Ning who just joined have begun fighting!”

What!

“They’ve shattered so many plates and bowls! If we don’t stop them, we will have difficulty when we claim expenses when we get back.”

That’s not important!

“What’s happening?!” By now, I had worn all my clothes and was following Pan Zhang to the room where they were fighting in and saw Ma Zhong and sister Dong Xi standing outside.

Both of them had conflicting expressions on. Ma Zhong was all smiles while sister Dong Xi was quite worried and kept stealing glances at the room. Sister Dong Xi’s expression should be the normal one. Un.

“What’s the status with those 2? Are they still at it?” I softly asked as I walked up to the 2 of them.

“Yes, that fellow named Gan Ning is really strong.”

This isn’t the time to be praising her martial prowess.

“Eh… Shouldn’t we be trying to stop them at this time?” Sister Dong Xi said what one would normally say under such circ.u.mstances as she took out her hands from her black sleeves and tightly held them before her chest. I have to say, sister Dong Xi is really beautiful, and her beauty is further enhanced by a mole below her eyes which make her look even more kindly.

If only uncle Sun Jing didn’t die…

“If Sun Jing was around, he would definitely charge in at first notice and stop them both. He isn’t a violent person so he will definitely convince them with reason. Of course, it’s not like Sun Jing’s martial arts isn’t good. If he were to face off against these 2, he would probably be able to match them. Sun Jing–”

“Sister Dong Xi, that’s enough.” I hurriedly stopped her as I patted her shoulders as I was afraid that if she kept it up, she might talk herself into tears again, “I’ll handle it.”

“Do you need my help!”

“How can I let Ma Zhong help me when you look so excited? If you were to go in, you would lose yourself in the fight.” I said as I stopped Ma Zhong who was about to charge in and quietly walked toward the room.

“Yaaaaa!”

Just as I was about to open the doors, a delicate yell for blood came from inside and I instinctively backed away from the door. In the next instant, a sharp shortsword pierced through the door. If I were a bit slower, my head would have been sliced through.

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Return me my mother!”

“I didn’t kill anyone.”

Both of them were still arguing while they were fighting. The delicate voice should be Ling Tong’s while the voice that sounded like it was being m.u.f.fled should be Gan Ning’s.

Ha! Ya! Yaa!

Shouts and yells continued to come from inside.

We only just joined up and they’re at it already. Ling Tong is really…

“Where is Zhu Zhi and Zhu Ran? We should let them stop Ling Tong.” I asked the others outside.

“Lord Lu Meng, they went by the land route and didn’t embark with us.”

Eh! If I knew this would happen, I would have swapped those 2 with Ling Tong. I regretted my deployment decisions but it was too late to be saying this. No other way about it, I just have to rely on brute force, I thought as I drew my hookswords and kicked open the doors and the scene in the room greeted my eyes.

Gan Ning was dodging while Ling Tong was attacking incessantly with the shortswords in her hands. Everything in the room seemed to have deep cuts or were cut into pieces.

Oi oi… This really is going to cost a lot of money.

“You both, please stop fighting.”

I carefully entered the room and avoided clas.h.i.+ng with either of them. When I finished, Gan Ning raised her hands to show that she was stopping.

“Yaaaa!” On the other side though, Ling Tong continued to charge furiously at Gan Ning.

“Ling Tong! Calm down!” I did my best to suppress my rage and when I saw an opportunity, I swung out with my hookswords and was able to precisely stop and catch both of her swords. I then flicked away her swords with my strength that was greater than hers and was able to disarm her successfully, sending the swords flying away.

“Lord Lu Meng! What arr you doing?! Are you trying to shelter my mother’s murderer?!” Ling Tong howled at me with bloodshot eyes that had long tear streaks below. She has probably been having a rough time these few days.

“Ling Tong, I understand how you feel. I too am very sorry about what happened to Lord Ling Cao–”

“You don’t understand! You’re only 3 years older than me!”

Wu…

(TL: In the original, Lu Meng was also belittled by others for his tender age.)

“Ling Tong! Stop being unnecessarily difficult! She’s now joined us, so can you think of the big picture! Has Lord Ling Cao not taught you that!” I lost control of my anger after getting rebuked by her and delivered a round of severe scolding.

If this was half a year ago, I would have just cut Ling Tong down immediately.

“Lord Lu Meng!”

“Don’t say any further.” I stopped Ling Tong’s pleas, “If you have anything to say, say it after the decisive battle tomorrow. If you have any disagreements, then direct your energy to killing enemies for me!”

Ling Tong looked extremely dissatisfied and unhappy but she didn’t argue any further and flew out of the room with clenched fists.

Inside the destroyed room, only Gan Ning and I were left.

“Gan Ning, be honest with me. Did you or did you not kill Lord Ling Cao?”

“I haven’t killed anyone, not for the past year.” She was as resolute as before when I first asked her.

Never mind… Right now isn’t the time to be thinking of such things.

I did my best to put this away. It’s going to be difficult to calm down after getting so heated up like that.

Liu Bei POV

What will come, will always come.

Chen Gong and I were sitting beside each other before the brazier in the encampment. Both of us were silent and were stirring the brazier with long sticks, sending sparks flying.

I felt a little awkward about this and looked about. It was very quiet, and though the torch was lit, there was no one on guard duty. This made me feel a little jittery and I did not feel safe at all. Looks like there are only 2 of us here.

“Chen Dao and Zhou Cang should be really busy at the riverside now.” Unexpectedly, Chen Gong was the one to break the silence first.

I looked at her from the side and saw that she was squinting. as though she’d come to a realisation about something.

Of course, I know what she is implying, as this is too obvious.

“Jiangxia’s naval defences are very lacking at the moment. Even if they finish what they plan to do all night, it probably wouldn’t be of much help.” I said what Chen Gong wanted to say to which Chen Gong only shrugged and didn’t add anything.

It’s a little late, but there should be enough time to rush something out

But who could have known? That Jiangdong’s naval fleet managed to rush here and were presently docked at a location less than 40km away from here.

Who was the one leading the combined army? Was it Zhou Yu? Or Lu Meng?

But no matter who it is, troops morale is dismally low especially with Gan Ning’s betrayal. Being able to put up a good show in the upcoming battle will be immensely difficult.

Presently, Huang Zu and Su Fei were stationed outside the city. Apart from us, Yi Ji and Wen Ping have also brough their troops out. Yi Ji had come back earlier and I heard from her that the riverside defences had been destroyed in the last attack and it will be difficult to restore them.

And so, we can only try and win the naval battle with our large s.h.i.+ps, and support from the sh.o.r.e with fire arrows.

Because of this, I didn’t hear any suggestions from Chen Gong. I didn’t ask, but I can feel that she probably thinks that nothing will help at this point.

I’ve felt that from her before but it’s stronger now.

“But Chen Gong, tomorrow–”

“Tomorrow, we will be following Huang Zu into battle right?”

I was about to timidly deliver what I’d been pondering about these few days but was cut off by Chen Gong who guessed what I was thinking about.

“Indeed.”

“Does Imperial Uncle feel pity for Huang Zu? Or perhaps something else?” Chen Gong said as she shot me a side glance filled with suspicion.

“No way!” I stood up and spoke louder to bolster my confidence, “I just feel that it’s not right to retreat now and we can always leave when our side’s loss is set in stone.”

The image of Huang Zu on the city tower from before flashed in my head. She seemed extremely lonely, and this sort of emotion was something that resonated with me the most.

Back then, I felt that it would be good if Huang Zu could win. At the very least, she should be able to live.

And so, I feel that I should help out where possible, why I sent troops to help with bolstering the defences, and why I decided to speak about this with Chen Gong.

“Uncle is still the same huh.” Before Chen Gong could reply, a more steady voice came from behind me.

I turned, no before I even turned, I already knew that it was Liu Qi.