Liu Bei POV

Amongst them, Zi Long seemed to be rather combative and stared at Yuan Zhi the whole time while the rest merely gave a look or 2.

“Ah… Come on in and have a seat, you lot.”

“Ah, yes.”

Only when I spoke did they nod and head to their seats. Zi Long shot me a glance and s.h.i.+fted her gaze to Yuan Zhi as she made her way to her seat.

Ah… She did almost the exact same thing as Chen Gong huh… I smiled stiffly and did the same pressing action as I returned her gaze.

“In any case, now that everyone is seated.” I said as I pointed to Yuan Zhi, “Yuan Zhi has some words for everyone.”

Yuan Zhi looked at me and I nodded at her. Say what you want to and do not hold back, I said in my heart. I do not know if she got the message, but she blinked and then deftly and quietly got up. She then took 1 step out to the left and another 3 steps out. She was now standing near the doorway and bowed 3 times while facing to the left, and another 3 times while facing the right.

I looked at Yuan Zhi and smiled when I realised that she was about to apologise. From the side, I could see that everyone was looking at her but n.o.body spoke up. The room was quiet and Yuan Zhi only spoke up after she finished bowing 3 times to each side.

“Yesterday’s mishap was caused by my mistake. Because of this, I acted out but now that I have recovered, I hope that everyone can forgive me.” Yuan Zhi said and bowed once more.

She did not say too much but she said all that she needed to in her apology. In such a venue, giving a short apology would in fact be the right choice. However, her face looks too airheaded that one cannot help but feel like things are not that serious.

“Of course, I believe that everyone has certain views about me after this loss.” Yuan Zhi said as she looked around, “If you don’t mind, you may voice them and I will respond to every one of them.”

Eh? My eyes bulged in surprise when I heard what Yuan Zhi said. It’s difficult to answer some things that relate to her knowledge about history after all.

Yuan Zhi, is that really alright? I tried to send this message to her with my eyes but she was a bit far and no matter how I tried to catch her eye, she would not look at me.

“Well then, I’ll go right ahead then.” Chen Gong was the first to speak up and did so with the sort of doubtful expression she had when Yuan Zhi first joined us, “May I ask Lord Xu Shu, did you know at the beginning of the second battle that the enemy did not send all of their forces?”

“Eh? She did?” Yun Chang asked as she frowned.

Everyone else’s gazes on Yuan Zhi sharpened. I began to break out in cold sweat and looked at Yuan Zhi as I wondered what she could possibly say in response. If she admitted it and did not explain herself well enough, n.o.body would be convinced. But on the other hand, I doubt that anyone would be able to accept the truth either, that Yuan Zhi knew about history.

“I did.”

Wu! I winced in shock when I heard Yuan Zhi’s reply.

“I knew it!” Chen Gong exclaimed and got up. But she stopped halfway when she realised that her thick-soled shoes were outside and sat back down. I really wonder how hung up over her height she is.

“Yes, I did indeed know about it. But I was not sure and thought that the other half were garrisoned in the city.” Yuan Zhi explained as she swept her gaze across everyone, “Naturally, I did not know that they had set an ambush for us. I did not expect that at all.”

“Really?” Zi Long a

sked, “If you didn’t know then how were they able to prepare an ambush pincer attack ahead of time? The location where they did that was a little too accurate, no?”

Zi Long did not openly accuse Yuan Zhi but the implication that Yuan Zhi colluded with the enemy was clear.

“I don’t think that’s quite right.” Yuan Zhi said as she looked over, “No one can predict with 100% accuracy how the battle will go beforehand.”

“Then how were they able to prepare an ambush pincer attack on our raiding force?” Zi Long asked more forcefully than before, probably because she suspects that Yuan Zhi is trying to bamboozle her, “The ambush pincer attack was too perfectly located and it was obvious that they knew what route we would take.”

“I was actually very curious about that, about how they could so accurately pinpoint what route we would take, that Lord Guan Yu would pa.s.s through there.” She said calmly as she reached out to touch her bandana and then rubbed her temple, “I thought about it for the entire afternoon and only understood how after speaking with the garrison colonel here. The enemy did not actually plan on a pincer.”

“Eh?”

“What’s going on? They didn’t plan on a pincer but they did a pincer anyway… Ah… It feels confusing.” Zhou Cang frowned as she asked irritatedly.

However, I cannot blame her at all as even I have no idea what she is talking about. Yuan Zhi did not say anything to me before this as well and she must have been brooding about it the whole afternoon while waiting for the rest to come here.

“I apologise. I was not clear.” Yuan Zhi continued and extended her hands which she brought together as she spoke, “What I meant is that the enemy did not prepare to pincer only the route we took.”

“Eh?”

“That means that the enemy laid an ambush at the other routes as well?” Yun Chang immediately responded but she still seemed troubled as she continued, “But that would be difficult to do given their numbers.”

“Yes which is why they did not have any other ambush. Just the east and west forests.” Yuan Zhi said as she nodded at Yun Chang before s.h.i.+fting her gaze to me and then back to Yun Chang, “Lord Guan Yu, do you remember how many routes were there when you advanced towards Fan city?”

“Just 1 slightly wide road.” Yun Chang replied and paused for a moment before she continued, “But there were 2 other dirt roads on either side as well that were narrower. I wondered if I should split the troops and proceed but then decided against it.”

“Un, that’s it right there.” Yuan Zhi nodded rather casually and continued in a louder tone, “Whether Lord Guan Yu chose the middle, left or right road, or split hour troops, you would have been ambushed anyway.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Un?”

“Ah… So that’s what it’s about…” Liao Hua uttered. Seems like she understood while Yun Chang and I were still in the dark. When I looked over, I saw that Liao Hua had a piece of silk in her hands which should be a map of the surrounding area.

“Ah, could it be…”

“Ah~”

Just then, Yun Chang, Wen Yuan and even Chen Ging seemed to understand what Yuan Zhi meant. Zi Long too was no longer frowning and her eyes were wide open.

“Yes.” Almost everyone understood with the exception of me but Yuan Zhi continued to explain anyway, “The reason why that is so is because the beginning and end of the 3 roads is the same. No matter which road you take, you will get ambushed by at least 1 side.”

Ah! I see… No matter which route they take, the enemy just needs to wait for them at the end and set an ambush on 2 sides to ensure that they will be able to ambush us.

“Un… From the map, the roads go through the forest and lead into a small and spa.r.s.e patch of shrubbery.” Liao Hua explained as she looked at the map, “That should be the end of the forest.”

“Which means that after they get there, they will reach the barren area just outside Fan city.”

“It should be easy for them to deploy the rest of their troops to wherever we were before springing the ambush.”

Yun Chang and Zi Long said respectively.

“And besides, based on Lord Guan Yu observed, they had cleared the branches and leaves on your side. Which means that they likely did it for the other side as well so they would have been able to ambush you even if you took the other routes.” Yuan Zhi continued to explain, “If Lord Guan Yu had taken the outer route, the troops on that side would spring the ambush before retreating to the middle. If Lord Guan Yu gave chase, the troops stationed on the other side would spring the ambush again.”

When Yuan Zhi finished, she looked around as did I. Everyone was brooding about it. Zi Long in particular looked up at Yuan Zhi and blinked but did not say anything. I too looked at Yuan Zhi and felt impressed. Yuan Zhi is clesrly capable enough on her own without relying on knowledge of history.

“There should be no other questions right? If there are none, then I will conclude what we just discussed.” Yuan Zhi said as she looked around at everyone before resting her eyes on me, “The fault for this loss lies with me for not being able to accurately predict the enemy’s movements. Because our losses were grave, we are now in a dire predicament. The greatest enemy we now face is not Li Dian or Cao Ren but the one who proposed the ambush.”

“You mean… Shen Pei?”

“Yes, if that is indeed her name. We must be wary of Shen Pei.” Yuan Zhi continued, “She is clearly devious and parlour tricks like what we used in the second battle will not be able to deceive her. If we attack, she will likely see through any weird movements. Especially after our failed raid.”