Li Dian POV

Battles are always endlessly coming one after another, be it for me or anyone else. However, in between each battle, people need to rest and recover. Right now, apart from those who are still in emotional and physical pain, everyone seems to have returned to long forgotten peaceful times. It was as if time had turned back to the reign of Emperor Wen of Han or Emperor Jing of Han.

Hu… Hu… I was now sitting at the steps at the entrance of main hall where I was wiping the glaive I had just gotten. Inside was Cao Ren who was sleeping atop of 3-4 cus.h.i.+ons.

This behaviour is a little unbecoming of the commanding officer of an army. If an a.s.sa.s.sin were to make their way in, a defenceless Cao Ren would be easy prey.

I turned around to look at her and turned back after I saw that she was still sleeping peacefully. She has been working endlessly the past few days with military administrative work so slipping up like this is forgivable.

It was clear that she was indeed exhausted so its fine to let her sleep for a bit, I thought as I returned my gaze to my blade. I then picked it up and took a swig of liquor from the bowl at the side.

*Pu*!

I spat out the liquor at the blade, making a rainbow under the rays of the sun. When I tilted the blade, I could see that it was gleaming and wiped it with a piece of silk cloth. I looked at it again and saw that it was thin but not brittle and flicked it.

It’s a good blade. I never imagined that there would be such a talented blacksmith in a place like Fan city. It cannot be compared to Xuchang of course but it’s more than good enough.

As I thought so, I casted my gaze to the side where my new hat was and put it on. Unlike with my new blade, the hats here are a lot nicer than the ones made in Xuchang. The craftsmans.h.i.+p is simply superb

“Ah.” Just as I was swinging my weapon about, a frightened and familiar voice could be heard.

I looked to the side and saw that it was Shen Pei. She was wearing her voluminous and loose clothing as usual. There were many layers and they were baggy. Her sleeves were basically long enough to touch the ground but she usually used them to cover her mouth. Beneath her curly hair were a pair of gleaming eyes with long eyelashes.

“Lord Shen Pei.” I put down my sword and saluted her. We are not in an encampment after all so there is no need to be too formal and bow.

“Lord Li Dian is here huh…” She muttered, seeming rather afraid, and looked at me but turned away quickly. Even though she’s a rather high ranking official, she’s still acting so timidly and childishly huh?

I really do not understand what Yuan Shao’s standards are with respect to promoting and employing retainers. If it were me, I would never have allowed a strategist like Shen Pei to command my army.

“Where is Lord Lu Xiang?” I asked after looking about and not finding any sign of her. I could guess where she was but I still asked anyway.

When she heard my question, Shen Pei looked troubled and nodded, “Un… She’s still outside the city.”

As expected huh? I thought as I s.h.i.+fted my gaze upwards and looked toward the north of the city. About a kilometer or so north of the city was a small forest. The scenery was fantastic and there were no signs of human activity nearby. And so, we buried Lu Kuang there a few days ago.

We originally planned on sending the body back to his hometown in Ji state but the journey was too long and there was no way we could subject his body to travel for the entirety of the first 7 days after his death so we buried him here with his head f

acing northward.

On the day of the burial, all of us were present. Lu Xiang did not cry on the day and merely sat beside the gravestone with a melancholic smile that soon faded away. We left that night but Lu Xiang continued to stay with the gravestone for 3 days and 3 nights. Thereafter, she continued to make daily visits even though it took almost half a day just to get there and back.

We of course understand this and so Cao Ren and I have been in charge of training of the troops so that Lu Xiang has enough time for herself. But now that the first 7 days of Lu Xiang’s death are almost over, I wonder if she has any intention of joining the discussions for our next steps. It’s not like she will contribute much to be frank but it’s necessary for everybody to be present after all.

To be honest, biding our time has its benefits but we should at least meet to discuss what we should do next.

“Ah yes, have you written the letter, Lord Shen Pei?”

“Eh?!” Shen Pei got a shock and trembled when she heard my voice. She stared at me with wide open eyes and only understood what I was talking about after a moment.

“Ah, I’ve already sent out the letter to Xuchang.” Shen Pei nodded as she took anstep back, “Everything has been… Reported as it happened.”

I see… So that means that Lu Kuang’s posthumous promotions will only be sent in a few days’ time. I wonder if my lord and Yuan Shao have already learnt of what happened here and I wonder how they feel when they heard that we lost. In particular, I wonder if Yuan Shao would feel sorrow for her general’s pa.s.sing.

I do not know her very well but probably… Not.

“Hai…”

Un? A sigh came from the side and I saw that it came from Shen Pei who looked terrible.

“Lord Shen Pei? What’s the matter?”

“Ah, no no no, it’s nothing.” Shen Pei vigorously shook her head and returned her expression to how it was and lowered her gaze as she continued, “I was just thinking that my lord should be sorrowful to hear of Lord Lu Kuang’s pa.s.sing.”

“Eh? … Ah.” I instinctively expressed my doubt and realised that this was rude and hurriedly said, “Will Lord Yuan Shao feel sorrowful?”

Shen Pei nodded and took a deep breath before she sighed again. But then she seemed to think of something that made her feel better. When she calmed down, she was still withdrawn but much better than before.

“Even though my lord never tells anyone about it, she will always memorise the names and faces of all her retainers. She has a book with their names and portraits too.”

She does that? In my mind, I pictured Yuan Shao holding a book and looking vexed as she tried to memorise the contents of the book. No matter how I looked at it, it did not conform to the Yuan Shao I knew.

“I see.” I said calmly and nodded. I do not have much to say about this nor do I have much basis behind how I feel anyway. Since Shen Pei has said as much, then I have no reason not to believe her. And when I looked at how Shen Pei had a relieved look when she spoke about Yuan Shao which gave me the impression that Yuan Shao might not be as bad as what I think.

“Wu…” A weak groan came from behind and when I turned around, I saw that Cao Ren had woken up. She was now sitting up and rubbing her eyes with her hair standing in every direction because she slept on the sitting cus.h.i.+ons.

“Lord Cao Ren is awake huh?” I said and returned my gaze to my blade when I saw Cao Ren looking at me.

“Lord Cao Ren.” Shen Pei greeted her as she saluted and bowed.

“No need to be so formal.” Cao Ren said and paused for a while before asking, “How long was I asleep for?”

“Just 4 hours.” I replied, “You were up all night yesterday and only stopped working when I came to see you this morning. I tried to call out to you but you didn’t reply and just lay dead asleep on the cus.h.i.+ons.”

Cao Ren was not usually such a heavy sleeper but she did not respond to any stimuli whatsoever. And because of that, I decided that I ought to stand guard here in case any interlopers were to chance upon her in such a vulnerable state.

“I see, Haa~~” She yawned, “I was busy with the casualty name list you and Lord Shen Pei gave to me last night and I didn’t think it would take me all night to be done with it.”

I turned around slightly and looked at Cao Ren. She looked completely exhausted and there were dark circles below her eyes. She’s probably been staying up late the past few days as well. Compared to us, the commanding officer has a lot more work to do.

“Work is important but Lord Cao Ren should take care of your body.” I was concerned about her and decided to say something, “If you were to fall sick before we go to battle, that would be a terrible handicap.”

“Yes, working hard is good but you also have to consider other things as well.” Shen Pei added. Ever since she took a deep breath from before, her nervousness seems to have been alleviated significantly.

“Ah.” She recoiled again when she noticed that I was looking at her.

“I know. I’m not as good as my elder sister in this regard so I limit myself from working too hard.” Cao Ren said in a nonchalant tone.

“Un…” Cao Ren groaned for a long while, for almost 30 seconds, before asking, “Did Lord Lu Xiang go there again today?”

She asked about Lu Xiang as expected huh?”

“Yes, she went to the north of the city.” Shen Pei replied.

“Did you tell her that we were going to have a meeting today?”

“Ah, I told her earlier today and she said that she will return earlier.” Shen Pei said. I looked up and saw that the sun was about to reach its zenith.

Return back earlier huh? To Lu Xiang, would the afternoon be considered earlier?

“You said earlier… But specifically–”

“*Pa* I’m back~” Just as Cao Ren was about to ask Shen Pei another question, the door was pushed open and an energetic voice came from outside the door.