Yun Chang POV

“Ready!” The leading soldier yelled out and the troops on all 4 towers drew back their bows that were aimed at me.

“Wu!”

“Oi oi oi, what is this?” Wen Yuan recoiled a little but it was a good thing that they were too far away to see Wen Yuan’s actions. I, however, was right beside her and could feel how nervous she was. Needless to say, so was I.

“Stay calm. They might be testing us.” I said as I tried to suppress the fear inside me. At this time, none of us were armed nor did we have any troops with us. If the enemy intended to kill us from the very beginning, then our lives would be forfeit from the very beginning.

“The enemy will not shoot. This is all just an act to intimidate us.” Chen Gong said rather calmly as she made her horse continue advancing. However, even though she said as much, her eyes were still fixed on the towers.

In any case, we will have to make ourselves seem as calm as possible. Obviously, there is no way we can turn our horses around at this juncture.

…

And so, the 3 of us silently advanced. Until we made it to the gates, there was no sound. As soon as we reached the gates, there was some commotion from the towers which should be from them keeping their weapons and withdrawing.

“Is that the first test?” Wen Yuan asked. At this time, she seemed more irritated than afraid. We are used to weapons being pointed at us after all. The only issue here was that we did not have any in our hands this time.

“Probably…”

“How could it be so simple?” Chen Gong said, making me feel that I was too optimistic, “That was the most basic of tests. If we couldn’t even pa.s.s that, we would be failures through and through.”

“I suppose…,

*Giiyaa*~~~~

Just as we were engaging in a bit of a discussion, the gates opened up. In an instant, I could feel Wen Yuan becoming serious once more, as did I. When the gates were fully open, the sight of a convoy with heavy infantry and cavalry greeted us. In the distance, there were other troops engaging in various sorts of training exercises.

There should not be a need for the enemy to be on such high alert at this time. Looks like they got really spooked by our raid from the last battle and has chosen to take extra precautions even in this stalemate situation.

“Lord Guan Yu! Lord Guan Yu~” Just then, someone came over from the side and saluted me with a smile as she did so. When I looked at her, I thought that it was Cao Cao for a moment but when I looked more closely, I saw that her smile did not behold complex emotions which meant that it was not Cao Cao.

… This is Cao Ren huh?

“Ah, Lord Cao Ren.” I greeted her first as the representative of us 3 and saluted her respectfully. I then dismounted and held my reins in 1 hand as I handed the letter to Cao Ren.

“I received the reply this afternoon and felt that I shouldn’t wait too long and came here immediately.” I aid as I pointed the back at Wen Yuan and Cao Cao who had dismounted and were walking over as well, “Do I need to introduce these 2?”

“Lord Cao Ren.”

“Greetings, Lord Cao Ren.”

Wen Yuan and Chen Ging saluted Cao Ren when they saw me pointing back at them.

“Please dispense with the pleasantries.” Cao Ren said as she waved her hands and smiled brightly, “I know of Zhang Liao but this is…”

“This is Chen Gong. She’s been working on the city defences.” I said as I turned to the side, so that I was no

t blocking Chen Gong who bowed once more as I introduced her.

“Un un, I understand.” Cao Ren said and frowned, “I should not be asking for a meeting before accepting your defections but there are some things I discuss with you in person. Apologies for that.”

“No no no,” i said as I waved my hands and reminded myself to be natural and responded in a level tone, “We understand.”

“We chose to come to show our sincerity as well.” Chen Gong added.

“It’s great that you understand then.” Cao Ren said as she rubbed her hands in front of her chest, “Let’s chat as we make our way. The other generals have been waiting for a while now.”

“Sure.”

“Follow me.” Cao Ren said as she turned around and walked off.

The 3 of us looked at each other and followed behind her. When I moved, I could feel that the encampment seemed to be holding its breath. When I looked about, I saw that though the troops were busy with their own stuff, their eyes were following us.

“But you didn’t give me any sort of signal that you were coming. If you had, I would have awaited for you at the gates.”

“Un?” I was surprised to hear what Cao Ren said, “I did yell out my presence a little while ago.”

“Un? You did? I guess the troops at the tower did not communicate this to me fast enough.” Cao Ren replied with a smile, “The troops now are rather tired and are on high alert so it can’t be helped that they made a mistake. I hope you do not take it to heart.”

“Ah, of course not.”

Naturally I did not believe her. It would have been too much of a risk for the troops not to have known that we were coming today. If any of us had turned back by accident, there was no doubt that we would be pierces by hundreds of arrows.

“By the way, what’s with the get-up you all are wearing?” Cao Ren said as she looked us over.

“We couldn’t wear what we usually do when we left the city.” Wen Yuan immediately replied with some dissatisfaction in her tone, “We risked a lot to come out here to meet you only to receive this sort of treatment. How could you aim your arrows at a few unarmed people?”

“Ah, please forgive us. Please forgive us.” Cao Ren chuckled and bowed to all of us respectfully.

“By the way, as I was making my way to the gates, I also heard something from the troops who came to report to me.” Cao Ren continued as she got up and curled her hair with her finger, “I heard that before you came into the encampment, you were bickering over something. Is that true?”

“Eh?”

They saw us huh? I did not know how I ought to explain this and turned to look at Wen Yuan and Chen Gong who seemed stunned. It’s not like I can say that it was because Chen Gong felt that our att.i.tudes did not make us seem like actual defectors right?

“Un? What’s the matter?” Cao Ren said with raised eyebrows when we did not answer right away and hazarded a guess with her smile still on, “Ah~ Could it be that one of you has the intention of backing out now?”

“No, not at all.” I said as I looked down but then realised that this might make me seem suspicious and decided to raise my head.

Wu. When I raised my head, I saw that Cao Ren was looking at me. Did she catch me looking away? This mistake could have just destroyed our credibility in Cao Ren’s hearts.

“Lord Guan Yu, you don’t need to hide it for me at this point.” Just as I was getting tongue-tied over how to respond to Cao Ren, Chen Gong spoke up.

“… Eh?”

“Hide what?” Cao Ren asked as her eyebrows leapt up.

“Yes, it is important to me but I think it’s better to say it instead of being suspected.”

“No, I am not suspecting you…”

This time, it was Cao Ren who had to look away. Of course, it was clear that she was suspicious of us from the very beginning. However, it seemed like having it thrown back at her left her at a loss as to how she should react.

However, as for what Chen Gong said…

“Alright, since Chen Gong doesn’t mind, then I’ll say it.” I said as I relaxed my expression, “Chen Gong and Wen Yuan were actually planning on acting like sisters when leaving the city. But because Chen Gong did not wear her thick-soled shoes, they were taken for mother and daughter instead.”

“Eh? Is that so?” Cao Ren said as her smile widened. Looks like this is the sort of thing that seems hilarious to everyone.

“It’s just a frivolous matter.” I shook my head, “Please don’t mind it that much.”

“Oi oi oi, how can we not min dit?”

“We mind it even if you don’t!”

Wen Yuan and Chen Gong suddenly got serious because of what I said. Looks like recounting the incident struck a sore spot for them. If it were not for a desperate need for a cover story, they probably hope that this incident remains buried in the depth of their hearts.

“Hahaha!” Cao Ren laughed from the bottom of her heart when she heard our exchange.