Meng De POV

“How old is she?”

“16, why?”

“She’s already 16.” I said as I pointed at Yuan Rang, “You’re just 2 years older, is it appropriate for you to be calling her la.s.s?”

“Meng De, you will know if you see her. There’s no way someone who is 16 is as unstable as her.” Yuan Rang seemed to realise that what she said seemed to be inappropriate and corrected herself, “Apologies, I mean as brave.”

“Hmhm.” I chuckled. Even someone who was recommended by Yuan Rang can stand on her own 2 feet huh? It’s a wonder what 1 year can do to a person.

“But no matter what, the first batch of troops must link up with Li Dian and the rest as soon as possible. The southern campaign can only be considered to have formally commenced once that happens.”

“Li Dian and… Cao Ren right…” Yuan Rang recited the names of those who commanded the vanguard, “There are also a couple of generals from Yuan Shao right?”

“Lu Xiang, Lu Kuang and Shen Pei.” I immediately replied, “The situation now is that Lu Kuang is dead and Lu Xiang is gravely injured, to the point where her continued partic.i.p.ation is doubtful.”

“I haven’t really heard of their names. They can’t be very strong either.”

“Yes, but from Li Dian’s reports, they seemed to have fought very bravely. Lu Kuang in particular died a heroic death.” I said as I looked at Yuan Rang and smiled, “And did you know? Ben Chu’s Shen Pei contributed greatly during the battle.”

“Eh~ How?”

“She saw through the enemy’s strategy and her counter-ambush succeeded. Ren said that in her letter.” I said as I tucked my hands into my sleeves to try to see if I had that letter. I could not find it and gave up but kept that pose anyway as I continued, “Since Ren said so, then it must be true.”

The personalities of people in my family tend to be similar. Even if we are cunning and calculating individuals, we are fairly forthright about things and do not resort to lame tricks. This is why Ren has explicitly and honestly explained her and Li Dian’s mistakes.

“Perhaps~” Yuan Rang said with disinterest as she tucked her hands behind her back and yawned, “Ah…”

“Un? What’s the matter?”

Just then, she seemed to remember something and stopped as she stared ahead in a daze. When I saw her stop, I did so as well. I thought she was going to ask me what she originally wanted to but then realised that this was something completely different when I looked into her eyes.

“We were talking about Li Dian right? It just so happens that a major in the encampment outside the city handed me a letter from her when I was there earlier today.” Yuan Rang said as she began to search her sleeves for it, “Ah, I found it. It’s this one.”

“Another one so soon?” I said in surprise as I received it from Yuan Rang and opened it slowly, “They just sent one to me 2 days ago.”

“Perhaps there has been some new developments.” Yuan Rang guessed as she slowed down her pace to match mine. Even though today’s work has been finished, this seems ro be important so I will have to deal with this now.

“Let ,e see.” I said as I opened the letter and swept my eyes through each line.

Un… There was not too much content, only about 1-200 words, but that was because it was well-summarised and everything was important and so I sank into thought aft

er reading it.

“What’s up? Is it good or bad news?”

“Un…” I really could not conclude this with certainty but decided to give my initial a.s.sessment anyway, “Based on what Li Dian and Cao Ren has written here, it’s definitely good news… But I cannot agree with this view with certainty.”

“So what is it?” Yuan Rang asked with her eyebrows raised. This expression of hers is truly comical but I do not have the leisure to laugh right now.

“Take a look.” I said as I pa.s.sed it to Yuan Rang and gave her a summary, “From what they write, it seems like there is a rift in Xinye city and Guan Yu, Zhang Liao and another person called Chen Gong is going to defect to–”

“And Li Dian and Cao Ren think that this is a good chance to take down the city right?”

I nodded. I did not think that Yuan Rang would be this quick.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Yuan Rang asked, seeming happy for Li Dian, “In that case, our troops will vastly outnumber the enemy’s which will make it possible to take down Xinye city right?”

“Yes, that won’t be a problem.” I nodded but my frown stayed, “But that is also something that worries me.”

“About?” Yuan Rang asked and her eyebrows leapt up again, “Ah, I understand now. You’re worried that their defection is fake right?”

“Yes– Wu.” Just as I was agreeing with her, a heavy blow came from behind by Yuan Rang as she chuckled loudly.

“What’s there to be worried about? Now that there is internal strife within Xinye. It’s not surprising that Guan Yu and the rest would think about defecting. Besides…” Yuan Rang thought for a moment as she said so and continued in a softer voice, “Besides, their lord is dead now. It’s amazing enough that they were able to stay united for so long.”

“Un, you’re right. Their lord is still missing after all.” I said, agreeing with Yuan Rang’s a.s.sessment. Of course, there was this tiny detail where I disagreed with her but that’s not the point.

“Then what are you still worried about?”

“Un… I’m just thinking that even if what we all said was true, would they still defect?”

In my mind, the image of Guan Yu floated up. As Xuan De’s little sister, her pain is undoubtedly greater than all the rest and perhaps this might play into her desire to inherit his will. In that case, there might indeed be clashes that might ensue. But even so, would she be willing to serve under someone else and surrender Xuan De’s will to someone else, to me?

… That is impossible. Even if there was a clash, she could serve someone else, perhaps in Jiangdong or somewhere else, or perhaps strike out on her own.

“… No, Yuan Rang, dinner will have to wait.” I said as I stopped moving.

“Eh?” Yuan Rang seemed surprised and only stopped after a few steps and turned back to look at me in bewilderment, “What’s the matter?”

“Yuan Rang, we must head to the encampment at once.” I said as I turned back and prepared to make for the encampment outside the city, “We must stop them before they begin deploying their troops.”

“Eh?!” Yuan Rang exclaimed in surprise as she hurried up to me.

The troops in the vanguard are the best troops Ben Chu and I have. Even though only 10,000 of them are mine, losing this 10,000 is a significant loss. What’s more, I could nd up losing both Li Dian and Cao Ren as well.

“Meng De, Meng De.” Yuan Rang called out continuously as she chased after me and tried to grab my arm.

“Don’t try to stop me, Yuan Rang.” I said as I flung her arm off, “There are too many uncertainties in this battle. They cannot afford to risk it.”

“But… Meng De.” Yuan Rang protested as she ran in front of me and pointed at several words in the letter, “Based on what they said, the siege would happen in 3 days’ time. That would mean that the attack is to take place–”

— Today.

Liu Bei POV

After a few days of peace, today has finally come.

As I looked out into the empty skies, I raised my hand but could not feel any chilly winds. All I could feel was my own heartbeat.

At this time, I was currently sitting in the main tent of Feng Xian’s encampment. The place where we were situated was where the market where I persuaded Yuan Zhi used to be. In just a few days, it became Zi Long and Feng Xian’s encampment.

All the commoners had been evacuated out of the city and were currently in the south of the city where the old encampment was. The reason why this was done was because the entire city could become a battlefield very soon.

In this empty s.p.a.ce, there were only grim-faced soldiers and their blades. Of course, there is also a weirdo wearing a strange hat. I have been wearing since this morning and frankly, it’s really unbearable. However, I cannot expose my ident.i.ty, not today of all days, even to our own troops.

“Xuan De, why are you sitting out here?” A voice came from behind and when I turned back, I saw that it was Feng Xian.

“No, I just felt that it was a little stuffy inside the tent.” I said as I squinted at the skies with my hands on my knees, “The battle’s going to start soon and I’m getting rather nervous.”

“Don’t be.” Feng Xian said calmly, “Think about the battle when it comes. Now is the time for rest.”

“Un…”

That’s easy to say, and maybe Feng Xian can indeed do it, but it’s not something I can do at least.

“Do we have news if the enemy has left their city yet?” Feng Xian asked as she looked northward as I did to the city tower where Chen Gong would relay instructions to us.

“Doesn’t look like it.” I said as I shook my head and looked at the sun again. It’s almost noon yet the enemy has not made any move yet.