Liu Bei POV

“If you want to ask me who told me how the battle will go, I won’t tell you.”

“No, I’ve already promised that I won’t ask about that.” Though I am really curious about that, I still held back and waved at her as I denied it. I then placed my elbows on my thighs as I leaned forward and asked carefully, “Umm… I would like to ask… Why did you come to join my faction?”

“Eh?” She looked at me with surprise when I finished.

“Did you choose me because that person said that you should serve that man called Liu Bei or something like that…”

I was actually rather concerned about this issue. Especially when I learnt that she knew a bit about what would happen in history. At this time, I believe that Yuan Zhi chose to follow me because I am Liu Bei. If that were not the case, she would not have given such a vague answer. And if that is the case, then I will probably distance myself from Yuan Zhi involuntarily.

Of course, I know full well that this is just me being too sensitive and egoistic with respect to my personal charisma.

“No, I didn’t know.” Yuan Zhi replied very naturally and smoothly just as I was getting b.u.t.terflies in my stomach after I finished.

Eh?

“I really didn’t know.” Yuan Zhi repeated when she saw a doubtful look on my face and replaced her gourd back in her bag before returning to the table, “To be honest, I didn’t even know much about you before I met you.”

“Not much huh?”

“Maybe just a little. I lived in the mountains after all.” She patted her chest as she said so, “Don’t look at me like that, I’m still a hermit alright.”

No, I do believe a recluse like you are a hermit. I retorted inside.

“I just wanted to be a petty official in the beginning and then I… Spoke with that person.” She continued, intentionally leaving out the name of ‘that person’, “That person told me some things about meeting with you and the battles but I did not know who I was going to meet with specifically, only that I ought to practice my singing.”

Not that your practicing was any good.

“I see… So it’s like that huh…”

If he or she did not tell her my name… Then does that mean that he or she does not know or intentionally withheld it?

“In any case, that’s what it’s about.” She said and got up as she folded the stool she was sitting on, “So even though the specifics and location were a little different, you did come before me due to my singing so I felt that the feudal lord I ought to serve must be you.”

As she said so, she extended her hand to me. I was stunned at first but soon understood what she wanted and got up and folded the stool I was sitting on before handing it to her.

“But in the end, it’s still effectively the same thing as what I said.”

Even though it’s a little better than her joining me simply because I am Liu Bei, I was still bothered by it. If it were not me who was drawn to her by her singing and someone else instead, Yuan Zhi would have joined that person after all.

“That is only partially true. It’s not like I didn’t think about it at all. If I was that sure from the start, I would have asked to join you immediately.”

Ah, that is true… Only after Zi Long came and they fought did she say that she wanted to join me. Before that, she only said that she was headed to Xinye.

“I too have my own considerations.&

rdquo; Yuan Zhi continued as she tied the 2 stools together and placed them in her bag, “To be honest, I did have a hunch that you might be that person but I really could not tell what made you exceptional at all.”

After she placed the stools in the bag, she came over and checked if she had missed anything out before grabbing the table which was the only thing left.

“However, during my fight with Zhao Yun, I felt that there was something precious inside you when you tried not to get Huang Zu and I involved.” She said as she picked up the table, “And so, I felt that you would definitely be the one.”

When she finished, she did not wait for any reply before folding the table and keeping it in her bad. When that was done, she placed the bag onto her horse and strapped it on before turning to leave. Looks like she does not plan on wasting too much saliva on this. Well, for my part, I do not really have much left to ask after hearing everything she has said.

Yuan Zhi joined me of her own volition. There is no need to suspect her motivations anymore after this. Of course, I must say that is also a decent boost to my self-esteem.

“Wait for me. I came here to look for you but you left without even waiting for me.” I yelled as I hurried up to her.

The city was really bustling earlier, and even after we chatted for quite a while, the crowds showed no signs that they had dwindled in the least. In fact, because it was approaching noon, it seemed like there was even more people around. This made the streets really squeezy and it seemed as though every commoner in the city came to the market.

“By the way, what if someone had overheard what we just said before?” I asked as I caught up to her side.

“Not possible. There are too many people around and it’s too noisy for anyone to hear what was said clearly enough.” She replied while she held her chin and sank into thought after she finished,

“Yuan Zhi, you might not know some things because you were in the meeting.” I said softly beside her, “If there is any question you might have, just ask me now and I’ll do my best to answer them.”

“Un…” Yuan Zhi nodded and turned to look at me, “I’ll just ask 2 questions for now then. First, how many troops do both sides have left?”

“Rounding both sides gets a 3:2 ratio in favour of the enemy.”

“So we have… 10,000?”

“More or less.” I nodded, “Apart from the forces needed to man the city defences, Zi Long, Feng Xian, Yun Chang and Wen Yuan each lead 2,000 strong battalions.”

“Un…” Yuan Zhi nodded when I finished. Compared to the 2 battles before, it seems like Yuan Zhi is thinking a lot more, probably because she is actually relying on her own a.n.a.lysis this time.

“Alright, I got it.” Yuan Zhi seemed to have memorised what I just told her and continued asking further, “The second question now then, is about the raid on Fan city. How did the enemy see through our strategy and ambushed us?”

“About that huh… I don’t think Yun Chang made a grave mistake…” I said and thought for a moment before I remembered what Zi Long said to me, “Ah yes, you know of a general called Shen Pei?”

“Shen Pei?” She repeated and shook her head.

“She is Ben Chu’s, that is Yuan Shao’s, strategist who is also partic.i.p.ating in this battle.”

“Un? Shen Pei…” She frowned and sank into thought, “From what I know, there should not be a Shen Pei…”

“Is that so?”

“I see, so the enemy has an intellectual leader as well huh?” Yuan Zhi said as she felt her bandana and sighed, “In that case, ordinary strategies will not be of use. And so is more than half of the content of books I’ve read thus far.”

“This makes sense. There is no wonder why the entirety of the second battle has proceeded very differently from what I know. After what happened in the first battle, it’s normal that this would happen.” She explained to herself as she rubbed her eyebrows, “Compared to them, we just followed our script to the letter and it seems like there is nothing we can use…”

“What do you mean by that?” I did not understand what she meant by that and asked. Because the hat I wore obscured my vision, it was difficult for me to walk through the crowds as I had to be careful that it did not fall off when someone b.u.mped into me.

“I mean what I said. The strategies that I used were only usable if the enemy only consisted of Cao Ren, Lu Kuang, Lu Xiang and maybe Li Dian. But now that there is Shen Pei, it will be difficult to deal with the enemy.”

“Then how about doing something that’s not in the script?”

“Un… Do something based entirely on my own a.n.a.lysis huh?” Yuan Zhi said as she walked ahead and turned back to look at me, “But I really have nothing…”

Just then, Yuan Zhi’s expressions changed as she looked at me and her eyes bulged.

“Umm… What’s the matter?” I asked but Yuan Zhi stayed where she was and continued to stare at me so I had no choice but to stop walking as well. Having the both of us stop in the middle of the market resulted in great inconvenience for everyone else as they had to go around us. The eyes on us were especially painful thanks to my gra.s.s circlet and I was feeling very uncomfortable.

Could it be that Yuan Zhi wants to give her opinion on my gra.s.s circlet as well?

“…”

“Eh? Yuan Zhi?”

All of a sudden, Yuan Zhi began walking towards me with big strides, leaving her horse where it stood and ignoring the crowds, as she came straight for me. It was just a few steps by a single person but it seemed like the entire flow of people stopped and from where I stood, I could see the commoners all around looking ith irritationat Yuan Zhi which made me feel nervous.