Liu Bei POV

After she received it, she saluted Gong You. I am surprised she still remembers all this despite the euphoria from her victory.

“Hai~ Really~” Zhou Cang gave a long sigh and tossed her wooden stick as she tucked her hands behind her head, “A loss is a loss. I accept it.”

As she said so, Zhou Cang suddenly pointed at Guan Ping, “But Guan Ping, though you’ve won this time, it doesn’t mean that your martial prowess is better than mine.” Zhou Cang said in a very soothing voice that had no agitating power at all, “So when the time comes for a rematch, you absolutely must accept.”

“But of course, I’ll accept a duel with you anytime~” Compared to Zhou Cang, Guan Ping did not seem to be too hung up on another round. When she finished, she ran over to where Zhou Cang was with a bright smile and bent down, giving Zhou Cang a shock, “Do you still remember out bet? You must abide by it, okay~”

“That thing about being Lord Guan Yu’s lieutenant right! No problem, leave it to me!” Zhou Cang said as she smiled and gave a dependable look. Compared to winning and losing, it seems like Zhou Cang wants to be relied upon, “When the time comes, if Lord Guan Yu wants me to be her lieutenant, I’ll definitely reject it and recommend you. How’s that?”

“It’s a promise then!” Guan Ping said as she vigorously nodded while Zhou Cang held her hips and chuckled, seeming very pleased that she was asked for this.

But in the end, it’s still up to Yun Chang. If she does not want to let Guan Ping take the field, then no one can change her mind. She can very well go to battle without a lieutenant after all. And besides, Yuan Zhi has not yet indicated if Yun Chang wull be partic.i.p.ating in the next battle. If she does not, then there is no way Guan Ping can be her lieutenant.

But I must say that Guan Ping is really persistent with this. That said, apart from Yun Chang herself, the help that others can render to her is limited.

“Xuan De.”

“Un?” I looked to the side and saw that it was Yuan Zhi calling me and it seems that she has made her way over to where I was since sometime ago.

“Ah, Yuan Zhi. Why were you standing there before? It was so dangerous.” I asked as I looked at her. However, Yuan Zhi seemed puzzled at my question and stared at me for a long while before she understood what I was asking and murmured a ‘I’ll be more careful from now on’ and nothing else.

Un… But I really did not sense Yuan Zhi until she spoke to me.

“Yuan Zhi, since you came over, is there anything you wish to tell me?”

Even though Yuan Zhi has more or less formally joined my faction, she and I have not had much chances to talk like this ever since the night of the celebratory banquet. It’s not like she’s avoiding me. Rather, she has hardly left her room. Even if we do get to talk, the topics revolve around any latest intelligence on our enemy.

So now that she has come to look for me on her own accord, she must have something serious to discuss.

By the way, we have not been able to get any spies into Fan city. It is also the same for our enemy. Huang Zu, who is in charge of the city defences, has been fortifying the walls and has also taught counterespionage tactics to our officers. As such, spies and informants have been deterred from entry thus far. From what Liao Hua said, it seems like there should be someone else on the other side who specialises in defending cities like Huang Zu.

“I believe the Cao army will be attacking

again soon.” Yuan Zhi said with anxiety in her eyes. Her voice was not loud and probably only Gong You and I could hear her. I looked and Gong You and saw that she was listening in but her expression was blank and dazed as always so I could not tell what she was thinking about.

“I see.” I replied calmly as I too felt that it was about time, “Yuan Zhi, have you given thought to our strategies for the next battle yet?”

“I was bout to get into that.” Yuan Zhi nodded as her gaze wavered about before settling on my face, “It’s best we set a time, Xuan De, over the next 2 days. I’ll share the battle plans for the next battle then to everyone. For now… We still don’t have enough information.”

“Un un.”

Yes, we still need to wait and monitor the enemy’s troop movements first.

“Shall we increase the number of spies deployed?” Gong You asked.

“There’s no need for that…” Yuan Zhi said and trailed off halfway before nodding with a weak gleam in her eyes, “Un un un, I think it’s better to send out some more.”

“… Un, I got it. I’ll notify Lord Liao Hua and Lord Huang Zu about this later on.”

Yuan Zhi’s pause just now… Never mind, forget it. She must have had some other considerations in mind.

“Ah, I understand.” I decided to leave that aside and nodded, “I’ll let everyone know about this. What about tomorrow night?”

“That works.” Yuan Zhi said and then turned to where her room was and made to leave.

Hai… Why is she always staying in her room?

“Yuan Zhi.” I called out to her when I thought of this.

“… Un?” Yuan Zhi turned back and tilted her head.

“Umm, are you going to return just like that? How about hanging around outside for a little while longer?” I said as I pointed at the courtyard.

“… My lord, you still have your lessons.” Gong You said weakly but clearly as she got up. Her expression was still blank but I could feel a certain pressure from her to stop what I was trying to do.

“Ah… No, I still have other business to attend to.” Yuan Zhi said as she casted her eyes to the side as though she had something to hide and began stammering in a clear sign of her nervousness, “I-in any case, I’ll have f-finalised the battle plans by tomorrow night so Xuan De need not w–worry.”

“I see… Alright, I got it.” If it were before, I would have continued questioning her until I got to the bottom of things but I had other business to attend to myself so I cannot keep on interrogating her. Besides, if she really has stuff to do, then I am just being a worrywart.

“Well then…” Yuan Zhi saluted and then turned to leave.

“… We will once again be fighting again huh?” Gong You muttered. Because her expression was blank, I could not accurately pinpoint what she felt and it could have been worry, nervousness or melancholy. With respect to what she said, all I can say is what will come will come.

“Guan Ping, Zhou Cang, we’ll be leaving first then.” I said to Guan Ping and Zhou Cang before Gong You did but those 2 were engrossed in their own conversation and did not hear me at all.

Gong You sighed and wordlessly turned before making her way back to the main hall which served as my study room with me in tow.

As I followed behind Gong You, I looked at Guan Ping and Zhou Cang and saw that Zhou Cang did not seem angry at all and remarks, “Zhou Cang is really unlucky huh? No matter what, her loss is attributable to that small interference by Yuan Zhi.”

That said, interferences are plenty in the battlefield. If a small interference like that was enough to cause a problem then that meant that one had much to improve in various aspects.

“… A small interference huh…” Gong You muttered.

Un? The words I said were not meant to start a conversation and I was surprised that Gong You replied me, “Eh? What about that?”

“…” But Gong You did not immediately reply me and sank into silence.

“What’s the matter? Didn’t Yuan Zhi block Zhou Cang’s field of vision?” I pressed Gong You, knowing that she was the sort to clam up unless you followed up.

“… I actually saw it just now.” Gong You finally answered after much coaxing, “Of course, there is always the possibility that I saw wrongly… But just now, I caught sight of Lord Xu Shu pus.h.i.+ng against Lord Zhou Cang’s waist.”

Eh? What does that mean?

Ah…

“C-could it be that Zhou Cang’s failure to brake and resulting forward tumble caused by a blow from Yuan Zhi?”

Does Yuan Zhi have that much strength? Or is this some technique of hers?

“… Possibly. But it might not be the case as well.” Gong You continued.

Of course, it could very well be that we are overthinking things.

— Lord Xu Shu, where did you learn your swordsmans.h.i.+p from? It was a truly formidable display.

Just then, I remembered what Zi Long said about Yuan Zhi’s swordsmans.h.i.+p after they fought, as well as her swift and skillful movements with the tree branch a few days ago. It seems like Yuan Zhi’s martial prowess is no less than her intelligence.

Martial hero.

In that instant, these words came up again in my mind.