Yun Chang POV

“Lord Guan Yu! The enemy is retreating! Will we be chasing them?!” The 3,000-man general yelled as he ran over, looking haggard and having wounds all over.

“No, if the enemy were to go all out, we would suffer even graver losses than we already have.” I sighed, “What we need to do now is do a quick count and check what the situation is like on the other side of the forest. If my guess is correct, there should be another commanding officer leading an enemy unit on the other side and it should not have retreated yet. Go, quick! We need to reinforce them!”

“Yes!” She said as she hurried to the troops. I looked at them and began to pity them. They had just been through a difficult ordeal but now they still had to fight on.

But we are basically safe now. At the very least, half of the enemy has begun retreating so it should be simple to deal with the remainder, I thought as I looked at Guan Ping lying on the ground.

“Guan Ping, are you alright?” I asked as I slowly walked over but Guan Ping remained motionless on the ground as if she were dead.

“Oi, it’s about time you got up.” I said as I squatted down and lightly patted her before reaching out and flipping her over. After flipping her over, what greeted me was a smiling face that was covered in dirt.

As expected huh?

“Ah~” Guan Ping groaned as she stretched her arms and looked a little awkward, “I got seen through by mother in the end huh?”

“But of course…”

Back when Lu Xiang charged over, based on my understanding of Guan Ping’s abilities, she should have been able to avoid part of the attack at least just relying on her pure reflexes. And when I looked at Guan Ping’s body afterwards, there was no sign of blood pooling out even though she was supposedly stabbed through.

Therefore, it meant that she did manage to avoid the attack and merely acted as though she did not. Her trick may have been effective, but if Guan Ping would have been in danger if Lu Xiang were to stab her again just to be sure.

“As expected of mother, to have found me out…”

“That’s just a mediocre trick,” I said helplessly and reached out to help Guan Ping up, “Come on, we have to get to the other side as soon as possible.”

As I said so, I made my way to my horse. Luckily, it did not get hurt during the battle just now. When I looked at its wound, I saw that it did not worsen. It really is a good horse, I thought as I rubbed its mane before mounting it.

“Let’s go then, mother.” Guan Ping said as she too mounted her horse.

“Yes– Jia!” I yelled as I swung reins and galloped away with Guan Ping in tow. I looked at Guan Ping and saw that her clothes were tinged with red by her waist. Looks like she was not able to completely avoid the attack.

“Guan Ping, is your wound on your waist alright?”

“Un?” Guan Ping grunted in surprise and looked down. It seems like she only just realised that she got hit and touched it before looking up and smiling, “It shouldn’t be too serious as I haven’t bled much.”

So it’s a scratch huh?

“Even if it’s just a scratch, remember to have Lord Hua Tuo have a look at it when we return and get some medicinal cream.” I continued and thought back to what happened before, “But since Guan Ping was fine, why did you have to act like that and crumple to the ground?”

“That huh? I did have my own considerations for doing so.” Guan Ping began to explain as though

she was waiting for me to ask this and extended a finger as she continued, “I was going to get up but then an idea flashed in my mind.”

Guan Ping waved her hand as she said so. She might think she looks cool doing so but it just looks kind of silly to me.

“I wanted Lu Xiang to be sure that I was down for the count and continue walking ahead. Then, I would attack her when she least expected it.” Guan Ping said as she swung her glaive.

“Oh~” I gasped in amazement and nodded. I did not think that the usually empty-headed Guan Ping would be able to come up with such a thing on the fly.

“But why didn’t you get up in the end?” I asked. She did not move or try to get up at all after all for the entirety of the rest of the duel.

“Ah,” Guan Ping’s expression became serious and her smile diminished when she heard me say this, “That’s because of what mother said.”

“What I said?”

“The stuff that mother told Lu Xiang about honour and dishonour. Your child did not understand all of it but I feel that honour means being open and fair and dishonour means being sneaky and unfair.” Guan Ping said and looked at me, “From my point of view, attacking Lu Xiang from behind was dishonourable so I decided against it.”

“I see.” I nodded, feeling that she had done nothing wrong at all. However, if I were to praise her over a small thing such as this, I would be spoiling her too much.

“But since that person owes me one, would it be considered even if I got back at her too?”

“That’s not entirely right,” I lightly shook my head, “Doing dishonourable deeds fills one’s heart with guilty. Even if one does dishonourable deeds in retaliation, one will still feel guilty about it.”

“Un…” Guan Ping grunted as she pouted, “I don’t really understand what mother just said.”

“Hahaha, that’s fine. You will understand in time.”

But now that I think about it, she’s been with me for some time now. And as the days go by, it seems like she’s taking after me huh? This child will probably continue to advance down an honourable path. I am sure of it.

“Ah yes, mother was really heroic then!”

“Un? What’s that about?” I asked, unable to adapt quickly enough to how fast Guan Ping changed her expression and the topic of conversation.

“Back then, mother just slashed across and slew Lu Xiang just like that! And the surrounding trees fell over too! I really got a shock!”

She looks even more excited than myself. Naturally, I knew that she got a shock. When the trees fell, I saw her tremble.

“It’s alright, I guess.” Naturally, I would not engage in self-praise. It’s best to be a bit modest after all, “But I didn’t kill her.”

“Eh?” Guan Ping seemed puzzled, “But mother sliced through her and blood spewed out?”

“Yes but bleeding doesn’t necessarily mean death.” I said as I shrugged and looked at Guan Ping’s waist, “It’s the same logic as your scratch at your waist.”

Of course, the wound I inflicted on Lu Xiang was much more serious than the scratch on Guan Ping but I did show mercy and swing from a little further. Though I did slash through her, I made sure not to harm any internal organs.

“Ohhh~ As expected of mother. You really know how to control your attacks huh?”

“Guan Ping, it’s time we rode faster.”

If we do not get there faster, we will not be able to know what is happening on the other side. That said, no matter what the status is like on the other side, I have no intention of attacking Fan city after this.

Firstly, we have wasted far too much time; secondly, the city defences should be up and running; and thirdly, our troop morale is far too low. At this time, it’s best if we return to the city and explore other options available to us.

Even if… I were to be punished for this, I must minimise our losses now.

“Mother…”

“Un? What…” I turned back to look at Guan Ping as I replied and saw that her cheeks were red as she fidgeted about uncharacteristically, “Guan Ping? What’s wrong?”

“Umm, mother. Are you still going to call me by my name?” She asked but I did not understand what she said. She looked up and continued in a very girly voice, “Mother, can’t you call me ‘my daughter’ during normal times as well?”

Wu… So she did hear everything that I said back then!

“Wu, what are you saying? I can’t really hear you.” I said as I did my best to hide my panic and ignored Guan Ping’s complaints. Only when we finally met up with Zhou Cang did Guan Ping stop pestering me about it. Hopefully, she has forgotten about it.

Li Dian POV

The thunderous sound of horse hooves was unending as our armoured cavalry units formed up behind us.

As Cao Ren and I sat on our horses at the head of our troops, neither of us spoke as we looked out at the small city before us.

It’s the second time now. It’s the second time that I am here outside Xinye city.

As I looked out at the familiar scenery before me, I could not help but to think back to the nightmare that was the last battle. Lu Kuang died, we suffered an ambush and a pincer, and we finally barely made it out alive.

Guan Ping’s glaive, and my broken spear.

Even now when I think about it, my body trembles. I gripped my new glaive tightly as I swung my reins and galloped ahead. There were still things that I was worried about.

“Lord Cao Ren, will Shen Pei’s strategy really work?” I asked as I looked at Cao Ren who was concentrated on riding. There was no longer kindness in her expression and the unsmiling her felt ice-cold to me. There was neither anger nor hostility, merely sternness.

“Since we’ve already decided to use it then let’s believe in her.” I thought she would not reply but she actually did so rather quickly, “Or do you, or I, have any other strategy?”