Li Dian POV

*Tatatata*

“Ah, everyone is here already huh?” Just as we noticed the newcomer and looked up, she had already made her way into the room, not forgetting to take off her shoes before entering.

“Lord Lu Xiang, you’re here huh?” Cao Ren said as she got up and went over to where Lu Xiang was.

“I’m here.” Lu Xiang said as she saluted and bowed. She then did the same for me, and then Shen Pei with a bland smile before timidly asking,”Umm, I’m not late, am I?”

“No, no, not at all.” Shen Pei shook her head, seeming rather relaxed. She seems a lot more at ease and informal when dealing with people from her own faction.

“I would say that the timing was perfect. I’d just woken up too and was about to send people to look for you.” Cao Ren said as she looked Lu Xiang over and paused before resting her eyes on Lu Xiang’s face and asked, “How are you feeling right now? Will you be alright?”

“Ah, un. Many thanks to Lord Cao Ren for your concern.” Lu Xiang said as she respectfully nodded, “I’ve talked to big brother about a lot lately and I will set aside for now whatever I need to set aside.”

Cao Ren nodded in response, “I see, that’s good then.” She then looked at me and Shen Pei, “You both should come on in now. We’ll begin our meeting.”

When she finished, she replaced the cus.h.i.+ons which she was sleeping on before to where they were and got ready. I nodded and left my hat and weapon at the door before getting up and entering the room.

By the way, when Shen Pei entered the room, she seemed to not bob up and down at all, and her motion was smooth and level as though she floated in like a legless ghost. With her slouched back and hands tucked away in sleeves, she really did seem like one. Of course, this is impossible.

Cao Ren sat down on the main seat while Shen Pei and I sat at the head of either column with Lu Xiang sitting beside Shen Pei. That should have been Lu Kuang’s seat but now, it is Lu Xiang’s. Barring any abnormalities, she should be inheriting more than half of her brother’s fief.

“Let us begin then.” Cao Ren said as she lightly coughed. It was obvious that she was straining herself despite being exhausted and she sighed before continuing, “I won’t be summarising what happened in the last battle again. Honestly, we were completely thrashed and lost almost 10,000 troops and a great and valuable general.”

No matter how much Cao Ren does not wish to speak about it, she cannot avoid speaking about the losses we suffered. And when she mentioned this, none of us turned to look at Lu Xiang. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Lu Xiang did not seem to react outwardly.

“But on the other hand, we gained a good deal of information through the battle.” Cao Ren raised her hand and extended a finger as she said so, “Firstly, we learnt that the enemy’s troop strength is far greater than we expected. Under present circ.u.mstances, it is very likely that their troop numbers are not far off from or are even equal to ours.”

She paused and extended a second finger, “Next, Lord Li Dian has informed me that the enemy seems to have a barbarian general. He could have been the mastermind behind the strategy for the last battle which means that he is a newcomer and is likely difficult to deal with.”

Cao Ren then swept her eyes over all of us, “These 2 points are undoubtedly bad news for us no matter how we try to spin it.” She then chuckled when she said this, &ldqu

o;But it’s not like we have no good news at all.”

Cao Ren paused and extended a third finger, “For us, the good news is simple. Liu Bei’s death should be confirmed by now. Or at least, he has not yet returned to Xinye, am I right?”

Cao Ren looked at me. I got the signal and nodded, “Yes, neither Lu Xiang nor I saw any trace of Liu Bei in this battle from start to finish. And when I duelled Guan Yu, she openly admitted that her elder brother is not around.” I then looked at Lu Xiang, “Similarly, the enemy’s ace general, Zhang Fei, seems to be facing some issues as her status and showing was poor. This may or may not have something to do with Liu Bei.”

“Un un.” Cao Ren nodded in agreement while the other 2 s.h.i.+fted their gaze between Cao Ren and I.

“So, this third point is definitely good news for us. If Liu Bei is not around, that means we can still use non-battle tactics against them. Additionally, it means that recruiting his generals to our side should still be possible.”

“Un…”

Un? When I looked up, I saw that Shen Pei had sank into thought.

“Lord Shen Pei, is there any problem?”

“Eh? Me?!” She panicked and looked up before focusing on a tile on the floor as she slowly said, “I’m just beginning to suspect if Liu Bei really isn’t in Xinye… After all, we have not been able to get eyes in the city. The ones who were inside earlier have not been able to make it out since so we have no clue on what is going on inside right now.”

“Hai, that thing that you just mentioned about not knowing anything that is going on in Xinye is a real headache~” Cao Ren whined as she frowned.

“May I ask what is the matter?” I asked as I was with the troops the past 2 days and did not know what they were talking about.

“The one in charge of Xinye’s city defences is a subordinate of Liu Biao’s.”

“Liu Biao’s… Subordinate?” I asked, feeling suspicious.

Why is there a subordinate of Liu Biao’s appearing in Xinye city after what happened to Liu Bei? Logically speaking, Liu Bei’s subordinates should have severed all relations with Liu Biao after what happened to Liu Bei. A strong sense of unease pierced my heart and I felt like there was something very wrong and something we were overlooking here.

“There’s nothing to be surprised about.” Just then, Shen Pei smiled as though there was nothing amiss, “If it’s Liu Bei, it should be a very easy thing to recruit a couple of Jing state retainers with his personal charisma after all.”

“Eh? Really?” Cao Ren, who had not interacted much with Liu Bei, seemed very surprised. I do not want to agree with what Shen Pei said but it sounds about right. More than a few of the Jing state generals are more capable than Liu Biao after all and there was this Gan Ning fellow who even deserted and joined Jiangdong.

… But is that explanation really good enough… I keep getting the feeling that we are missing something here.

“Well then, we’ve discussed a fair bit now but how should we be fighting our next battle?” Just then, Lu Xiang spoke up irritatedly as she raised her hand and frowned.

It was clear that Lu Xiang was impatient. This cannot be helped. Under present circ.u.mstances, her desire for battle will undoubtedly be stronger than all of us, with me being a close second.

“Un, we’ve covered everything we needed to.” I added on after Lu Xiang, “We should be thinking about the deployment for the next battle.”

“Un un.” Cao Ren nodded and looked ahead as she folded her arms across her chest, looking very serious.

I do not know if Cao Ren already has something in mind. Normally, other generals should wait for the commanding officer to speak up first but I am the sort who speaks her mind. And so I did.

“Presently, our strength is roughly equal to the enemy’s. Therefore, I believe we should refrain from attacking for now.” I said as I swept my gaze about everyone, “Given our numbers, I’m afraid it will be nigh impossible to take the city. If we try to force it, we will find it difficult to prevail given that we lack manpower and familiarity with the terrain and battlefield.”

“Eh?” Lu Xiang let out a surprised gasp just as I finished, “So we’re not attacking?”

It was clear that Lu Xiang had been suppressing her hatred the past few days and it is likely that she was hoping to vent it out on the battlefield so when she heard what I said, she became downcast.

But I cannot disregard the big picture just because of Lu Xiang’s feelings.

“I know Lord Lu Xiang wants to do battle but adopting a wait-and-see approach for now is the best course of action.” I said softly and looked at Lu Xiang. She was frowning but did not have any intention of flaring it up it seems.

Sensing that i could push my recommendation further, I continued, “Now that the other side’s feudal lord is still missing, their mental and emotional states could turn for the worse in the matter of days. They might split up or they might even lose it and come to attack us instead. In a 1-to-1 siege battle, the defending side will have an absolute advantage.”

“But the probability of them attacking us is very low.” Shen Pei said as she frowned.

“It’s just a hypothesis.” I shrugged, “And just as we are in the dark about their strength, so are they about ours. Therefore, it is not that unlikely that they won’t attack.”

“Un…” Shen Pei nodded and began to fidget the sleeve she placed in front of her mouth a bit as she sank into thought. After a while, she nodded, “Un, yes. I believe that what you said makes sense.”

“Wu…”

Well, that’s all I had to say. I wondered if I ought to end things off by re-emphasising my point but when I looked at Lu Xiang’s troubled expression, I decided against it.

After all, the one deciding what course of action to take is not me.