Liu Bei POV

As I said so, I shook Yuan Zhi’s shoulders.

“Ah…” After a while, Yuan Zhi seemed to have regained her senses and her eyes began to be focused again, “I… I am…” She said as she looked at her surroundings and then at me.

“Yuan Zhi, are you alright?” I asked as I held her hand.

Yuan Zhi opened her mouth slightly but remained silent as she frowned and after a moment, her frown tightened as she said, “I knew it, I knew that their vanguard was 30,000 strong!”

“Eh?”

“Excuse me.”

“Ah, Yuan Zhi!” I tried to grab her again when she flung my arms off but was not able to.

Ah… All I could grab was Yuan Zhi’s bandana. It seemed like Yuan Zhi had realised this and reached up to her forehead but her bandana was by now in my hands and she did not slow down. When she reached the courtyard, she tripped over a rock and fell over but continued to run out of the mansion.

“Yuan Zhi!”

“Xuan De, don’t bother.” Chen Gong stopped me just as I was thinking of going after her.

“But–”

“There’s no use chasing her now. I know saying this now is not very nice but she screwed up and because of her mistake, we could very well lose this battle.” Chen Gong said and frowned as she continued to look at the report, “If Xuan De wants Lord Xu Shu to get over it, you need to give her some time.”

“…” I stayed silent as I thought back to how Yuan Zhi reacted before and concluded, “I should not have pressed her like that so soon, I guess.”

“Yes,” Chen Gong nodded, “Lord Xu Shu might try to act cold and aloof but that’s just the image she is trying to project. And though the genders may be equal, she is still a girl after all.”

Wu… I do not know why but it felt like her last words seemed to be pointed at me…

But leaving that aside, what did Yuan Zhi mean before? Ever since she joined us, she always says things that I cannot quite understand now and then. Not to mention that the reason why she joined us is still a mystery. As I looked at the red bandana in my hands, my emotions became a mess.

Soon, we received a report that the battle outside the city ended. I did not look at it but it seems like our losses are slightly more than the enemy’s due to their initial surround and their superior unit types. At best, we suffered a small loss in that battle. I initially thought that Feng Xian and Wen Yuan would return soon but they did not show up even after a long while. Later on, I asked Chen Gong and learnt that they had gone to the encampment after they cleaned up the battlefield.

It has also now also been 2-4 hours since Zi Long and Chen Dao have left but they, and Yun Chang and the rest, have yet to return. I was not particularly worried about their safety but still felt uneasy nonetheless after waiting for this long.

“Construction work in the northern side is about 50% complete. Structural integrity is not sufficient however so we need to think of a way to further strengthen the foundations.”

The generals of the 2 main units were not back yet, nor was Yuan Zhi. As of now, there was only Huang Zu, Liao Hua and Chen Gong in the room discussing the city defences. At this point, with losses on both fronts of the battle just now, city defences have now become much more important than before.

“Un… We have only just laid down the foundation for construction works so we can’t expect to build much higher than this. I think that we ought to f

ocus on strengthening the planned structure before building further.”

As Huang Zu sank into thought, she would spin the gourd with her hand. It was really strange behaviour but this was probably an idle action that she would do whenever she was thinking. And now that Huang Zu had her hair down, she looked even more beautiful than usual, making this behaviour look even stranger.

“Chen Gong, how are things on your end?” I asked Chen Gong who was sitting behind them. I could tell from their discussions that Chen Gong, unlike Liao Hua, was not fully focusing on bolstering the city defences as she was helping out in the encampment a while back. Chen Gong’s role with respect to the city defences, is a little more specialised after all.

“Is Xuan De asking about the traps?” Chen Gong asked as she looked at me while continuing to write on her piece of silk. This is undoubtedly a necessary skill for all strategists.

“Yes, how many have you made now?” I asked. But before I finished, Chen Gong had begun shaking her head.

“We don’t have enough materials, or enough manpower for that matter. Judging by the current situation, the enemy will definitely attack within 2 weeks and the traps I can get ready by then will not have a significant effect…”

“– But this can’t be helped. Our manpower available to us is now even lesser after all. Ah, please forgive me.” Huang Zu frowned when she realised that she had interrupted someone else again without thinking. Chen Gong did not say anything and merely took a sip of water.

“Let’s leave all that aside for now. The most urgent task at hand is to send men to the mountains in the south to get some rocks.” Liao Hua, who had been silent for a long while, finally spoke up, “The defences to the north are the ones we need to fortify most urgently as it is where the enemy will attack.”

“Un, I know.” Huang Zu frowned. Looks like she’s taking this battle very seriously. Of course, she’s always been a serious person, be it in Jiangxia or here. I do not know if this is a misconception of mine, but it seems like she’s far more suited to being in charge of a city’s defences than the management and administration of an entire city.

“Un, alright, I understand. I’ll think of something.” Huang Zu said as she smiled, seeming more energetic than before. Her smile now reminded me a little of the Huang Zu I knew when I was at Jiangxia.

“Ah, Lord Huang Zu, where are you going?” I asked when I saw her get up and leave and no one else asked.

“To the encampment. I’ll need to borrow some troops for the city defence works.” Huang Zu replied without turning back and continued outside, her hair flying up as she did so.

To the encampment huh…

“Wait for me, Lord Huang Zu,” I said after a moment and got up, “I’ll go too.”

As I said so, I ran over to where Huang Zu was. Chen Gong and Liao Hua did not pay too much attention to what I did and merely sent me off with their gazes.

Ah yes, my hat. When I realised this, I hurriedly turned back to grab my hat.

“Wait for me, Lord Huang Zu.” I said as I hurried over to where she was. Huang Zu, on the other hand, continued to walk ahead wordlessly and exited the mansion before rounding the corner. Since she had no intention of waiting for me, I had no choice but to quicken my pace and catch up to her.

Just as I caught up to her, I began to get the feeling that it was not a very good decision to go with her as the atmosphere began to get awkward really quickly. If I had known this would happen, I would have taken my time and went to the encampment later on. But if I did so, it would also be awkward if I were to run into Huang Zu later on. Of course, I have to admit that I am thinking too much about these things.

“Hu~”

After running for several dozen paces, I finally caught up and slowed down my pace to match her. While catching my breath, I hurriedly put on the gra.s.s hat and adjusted the leaves. This sort of helped to alleviate the awkward atmosphere, albeit not by much.

And now that we were walking together, I had no clue what I ought to say and merely followed behind her and looked ahead and at Huang Zu from time to time. I was standing in Huang Zu’s blind spot so she should not be able to notice my gaze. When I realised this, I felt bolder and continued to stare at her out of the corner of my eye. But after some time, the awkward silence was too much and I felt compelled to speak up.

“How is it? Have you gotten used to things?”

“I have but there’s nothing that is difficult to get used to.” Huang Zu said as she folded her arms across her chest, “I am very familiar with Xinye to begin with anyway.”

“Hahaha… I suppose so…” I laughed stiffly as I wondered how I ought to continue the conversation but Huang Zu actually did so before me.

“By the way, Lord Liu Bei– Lord Shamoke, what are you headed to the encampment for?” She asked, changing her way of addressing me halfway when she saw the hat.

“Ah, I’m going to the encampment to check on Feng Xian and Wen Yuan.” I hurriedly replied, “The battle just ended and I thought I ought to check on how they’re doing.”

“Checking on them huh?” Huang Zu nodded but because of her fringe, I could not see what her expression was like, “My lord did the same for us a long time ago as well.”

Eh? Liu Biao? That’s really surprising.

“Very surprising, isn’t it?” Huang Zu said as she turned slightly to see me.

“Ah, no.”

Did she see through me? That’s really rude of me to think like that.

“That’s fine.” Huang Zu said as she turned back, “My lord eventually gave up such practices with time. I wonder how long Lord Shamoke will keep it up though?”