Liu Bei POV

Seeing that Yuan Zhi was rendered speechless, I felt pleased with myself and smiled, “So at the end of the day, Yuan Zhi is still willing to try to do something.”

“This and that are different things.” She immediately continued after me, still unwilling to give in, “I am indeed willing to try to do some things but these are just small matters dealing with individuals. I have absolutely no experience with leading whole armies. This is a fact. I can only count on what little I know. This is also a fact.”

Her voice grew louder as she went on. I remained calm as the situation was clearly now in my favour compared to before and finished my bowl of sugar water, set it down and poured another bowl before I continued, “When you ran off, Huang Zu and I went to the encampment together and we discussed many things on the way there.” I said as I pa.s.sed her the newly poured bowl, “We also discussed you.”

“… Me?” Yuan Zhi said with surprise as she looked at me. I gestured with my chin for her to take the bowl but she looked at me and then at the bowl before picking up her gourd and pouring another bowl instead.

“You had just ran off back then and I was unclear about a lot of things. But can you guess what Huang Zu said?”

— Since the very beginning, I’ve always felt that being able to live on is a very fortunate thing. And so, the grat.i.tude I have towards Lord Xu Shu Xu Yuan Zhi is not something words can easily express.

“Eh?” Yuan Zhi reacted with surprise and wide open eyes just as I predicted. As I looked at her, I felt delighted that what I said worked.

“So your efforts were not for naught after all. You got rewarded for it in the end.”

“Is that so…” Yuan Zhi replied lightly as she slowly closed her eyes and lowered her head. She placed a hand on her chest and sighed. It’s difficult to see from where I am but I can feel that Yuan Zhi is gratified by this.

“That’s not all Huang Zu said.”

— I hope that you can continue to place your faith in benefactor after this battle. If it’s her, I’m sure she can do something.

I repeated what Huang Zu said along with her shaking action and continued, “Did you know? i feel the exact same way as her.”

Yuan Zhi did not look up but I saw it, she was smiling and she continued to do so as she shook her head, “I really don’t understand.”

“What do you not understand?” I asked softly.

“I really don’t understand why you both believe me so easily with no basis at all.”

“I don’t know how Huang Zu thinks, but from my perspective, I have a basis for saying this.” i said as I calmly picked up my bowl of sugar water and took a small sip, “If not, I wouldn’t have come to look for you.”

“Basis?” Yuan Zhi looked up at me as she repeated, her expression having recovered by now, “What basis do you have?”

You have none at all. This is what I can see in her eyes.

Indeed, we are truly desperate now and will grab onto any thread of hope. Even though Yuan Zhi made a mistake, all we can do is bet on her again. Even if we lose, it will be her fault. At the end of the day, it’s all because we have no ideas.

I berated myself inside and began to feel like a hypocrite, that all my words up till now were just empty lies.

In reality though, I did have a reason. I believe strongly that this battle can only be left to Yuan Zhi. And this reason is simple and sufficient. As I thought so, I smiled a

nd took a big gulp of sugar water before sighing and returning the bowl to the table.

“Of course I do,” I smiled and took a deep breath before I delivered the words from my heart, “The reason is because you are Xu Shu.”

“… What?” Yuan Zhi was stunned and tilted her head in puzzlement.

“I mean what I said.” I explained, “You are Xu Shu and Xu Shu is you. I don’t think that this reason is overly complicated.”

“What kind of… Reasoning is this…” Yuan Zhi’s eyebrows jumped as she had a bewildered expression on. It does indeed sound ridiculous but it’s a reason that cannot be overturned.

At the end of the day, it’s Xu Shu we are talking about!

I am not too familiar with history and all I know about Xu Shu is that Xu Shu is supposed to be a capable retainer who is also a good strategist. If this really is history, and this is Xu Shu, then I refuse to believe that Yuan Zhi is as incapable as she says she is. Nor will I believe that the Xu Shu in history relied on a copy of a history book to win battles.

And so, Yuan Zhi definitely has the ability to bring us to victory. Especially the battle before us.

“Wu…” Yuan Zhi winced and sank into thought.

“I am myself… Myself huh…” Yuan Zhi muttered under her breath to herself, her expression clear one moment and dark the next.

“Is that really okay?” Yuan Zhi asked after a long while, “Can I really try again?”

When I heard Yuan Zhi ask me this question, I felt like all the blood was rus.h.i.+ng to my head. I was feeling very motivated and very hot-blooded right now but even so, I did my best to control myself.

“Of course,” I nodded vigorously, “At the very least, we would like to listen to your suggestions.”

“… Even if they are of no use whatsoever?”

“Even if they are of no use whatsoever.” I replied immediately with no hesitation. We cannot do without Yuan Zhi now, be it me or the battle.

“Alright, even though everything you said is completely unreasonable, I’m convinced.” Yuan Zhi still had some gloom in her expression but she nodded and poured some sugar water for herself but found that her gourd was now empty, “Ah, it’s finished.”

“That’s fine.” I said and picked up my bowl before pouring half of the contents in mine into hers, “We both have some now right?”

“… Hmph.” Yuan Zhi snorted as her expression lightened up and took the bowl before offering me a toast, “I, Xu Shu Xu Yuan Zhi, made a judgemental error in the second battle and am willing to accept punishment for it. In the next battle, your retainer will work hard manifold to overturn the previous loss and make up for it. I know my abilities are limited but I am willing to listen to Xuan De and try once more using my own strength.”

“Un, I await Yuan Zhi’s perormance.” I said as I put out my bowl as well.

*Dang*

As we clinked our bowls, I could feel Yuan Zhi’s firm will transmitted to me, resulting in much sugar water being spilled.

“Please go ahead.”

“Please.”

Even so, we very formally toasted each other and drank. I do not know if this is a psychological effect or if it’s because of the dregs of sugar bits at the bottom of the gourd but this last drink was the sweetest today.

“I will be keeping these 4 copper coins.” Yuan Zhi said as she finally took the copper coins on the table which I had placed and showed them to me, “Can I?”

“Ah, of course you can.” I hurriedly nodded, “It’s just 4 copper coins after all.”

I have to remind everyone once again that I still have no solid concept of the value of money in this era. However, even a stingy money grubber like Zi Zhong gives me a few dozen copper coins without hesitation so they should not be too valuable.

“Even so, it’s my first income from selling sugar water,” She said as she took out a handkerchief from her bag and placed the coins inside before wrapping them up, “In any case, thank you for your purchase.”

“I see,” I finally understood the significance of those coins and nodded, “But if you don’t simg, then I’m sure that there will be a lot more people coming to buy your sugar water.”

“Probably. But I’ve been practicing a lot so I have some confidence there.”

Where does that confidence come from, really?

“But I guess I’ll be shutting down my stall for now.” Yuan Zhi said as she got up and took out a well-folded cloth from her bag, “There are more important things for me to attend to now after all.”

Looks like Yuan Zhi is getting motivated again huh?

“Let me help.”

“No,no need.” Yuan Zhi immediately raised both hands and stopped me when I spoke up. I soon realised that I was indeed a little too excited and took a few steps back, “Ah… I-I’m sorry, I’m just n-n-not too used to having other people touch my stuff.”

I almost forgot that Yuan Zhi is a clean freak. Just from my offering to help, she had begun to stammer again even though she had been replying normally for almost the entire time so far. I wonder if her obsession with cleanliness has to do with her murder? Some people end up seeing visions of themselves being covered in blood after killing someone after all but I do not think that is it…

I sighed and decided to shelve these thoughts as I returned to my stool and sat down. But at the same time, another problem that I was not able to ask before came to mind, “Umm, Yuan Zhi, I’d like to ask you another question while you’re cleaning up.”