Liu Bei POV

“Wu…”

“Un? … Feng Xian?” I asked when I saw Feng Xian standing there in a daze with her eyes bulging from what Zi Long said.

“Ah… We were heard…” Feng Xian began to regain her senses and started muttering while her face reddened. But soon after, Feng Xian did not react shyly or ashamedly like I imagined and merely held her chin as she began giggling.

“Feng Xian?”

*w.a.n.g*!

“Uwaa!”

I was wondering why something seemed missing. So Red Hare had been hiding in Feng Xian’s plate all this while and had not made a single sound until now that surprised me.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Don’t mind it.” Feng Xian seemed to have detected that her expression was different from normal and said this as she reached up to touch her face. When her hands fell to her sides, her expression had returned to how it normally was.

She then caressed Red Hare’s little head before stuffing it back into her breastplate. After that, she picked up her halberd that was lying nearby and swung it about, giving off a majestic feeling from her smooth and swift movements.

“Well then, we can start preparing our troops now.” Feng Xian said as she turned around, “Umm, Wen Yuan– Ah….” She only realised that Wen Yuan was not around halfway through and a lonely look flashed across her face before she turned to look at me, “Ahem, well then, Xuan De.”

“I’m here.” I said, smiling stiffly inside but did not reveal it.

“Let’s go to the general’s office.”

“Alright.” I answered as I followed Feng Xian into the main tent where Yi De had been for a while now, “Ah yes, Feng Xian, who are the main officers under you apart from Wen Yuan?”

“There are another 6-7 officers apart from Wen Yuan. I’ll introduce them to you later when we return, Xuan De.”

“Why not now?”

“They’ve already been deployed to their individual units… By the way, where are we attacking?”

“Attacking where?” I did not know whether to laugh or cry at Feng Xian’s question, “We aren’t attacking anywhere. We’re staying right here.”

“Just staying here?”

Yes, right here. We will be waiting for them right here.

Li Dian POV

As our horses began taking our first steps out, the orders given by officers of various levels could be heard from behind us, and the entire army soon moved together.

Today, the attacking force numbered 15,000 in total. Apart from the 1,000 or so troops remaining in the city, we have deployed all other available troops. Shen Pei had chosen not to cooperate and had many doubts about it but after we decided to attack, she has shown full support and even offered to come along with us.

We rejected her offer however, as a battle was the job of a warrior general. An administrative official should only take the field if there are possible changes to our strategy or if we are cornered. Otherwise, it’s better if she stays in Fan city.

And so at this time, the sound of many boots. .h.i.tting the ground together was beyond thunderous. This is not the first time I am leading a force numbering in excess of 10,000. I had led a 10,000 strong force in the first battle after all and this time, there are just 5,000 more men.

But the feelings one has during a battle cannot be determined with numbers. It is impossible for me to be completely relaxed or calm in such a large-scale battle, especially in a battle like this where

circ.u.mstances are not yet clear.

I turned back slightly and looked at the encampment behind us where we stayed at for about 20 days or so. It’s been difficult getting to this point where we were able to advance again. By the way, Shen Pei is currently in the encampment now and not in Fan city. She said something along the lines of ‘strategists can at least follow behind close enough to watch the battle’. Well, she is free to do as she wants as long as she does not partic.i.p.ate.

I looked up ahead and saw Xinye city, a place which aroused complicated emotions in me. I have thought about it a lot but I still have yet to figure out if the defections were genuine. But now that we have chosen to deploy our troops, our decision to attack is set in stone and we cannot turn back.

“Lord Li Dian?”

“Ah, is there anything, Lord Cao Ren?” I saluted as I replied Cao Ren who had called out to me as I was engaging in my melancholic thoughts.

“There’s no need to be so formal. You’re so stiff.” Cao Ren said as she frowned and patted my shoulders, “There’s still a while before the battle begins. What are you going to do if you’re this nervous now?”

“Hai…” I could not help but to sigh at Cao Ren’s words, “Perhaps I won’t be nervous when the battle starts.”

“Un? How does that work?” Cao Ren asked but soon understood what it was that I was worried about, “Could it be that you still feel that the defections might be fake?”

“Un…” I could not deny what Cao Ren said but I could not deny her with surety either.

“Logically speaking, each of their defections and their reasons for doing so make sense.” I said as I took a deep breath, “But I still feel like there is something off about it.”

I cannot quite describe how I am feeling but the uneasiness inside me has grown as the days went by.

“I can understand how Lord Li Dian feels.” Cao Ren said as she gave me a kind smile, “It’s not surprising to have this sort of jittery feeling when our plan hinges on their defection. I too have felt rather nervous these 2 days.”

“… Un.”

… Nervous huh? But is it really just nervousness that I am feeling?

“Lord Li Dian, don’t think too much. Any issues that crop up in battle will be dealt with then.” Cao Ren continued but when she saw that I did not react, she added, “Or, how about we do it this way?”

“Un?” I hurriedly looked over when it seemed like there were new ideas.

“If a battle were to take place in the city, there would definitely be a lot of noise, smoke and explosions. And the troops that came out of the city to engage us would definitely seem surprised and shocked by all that.” Cao Ren said while she thought about it, “If that happens, then it must be true. If all that happened was that the gates opened, then it must be fake.”

Even though what she said was obvious, it is indeed something we should look put for.

“I think that works.” I said and thought about it before tugging my hat upwards, “If we sense that something is amiss in the city, we will stay put and defeat the troops outside the city before pulling back.”

“That works as well.” Cao Ren nodded immediately, “But I don’t think that will come to pa.s.s.”

“Compared to me, it seems like Lord Cao Ren doesn’t have much suspicions huh?”

“Maybe.” Cao Ren smiled and softly kicked her horse in the side to make it go faster, “Now that Liu Bei is dead, I really have no reason to think that they would execute such a scheme.”

Yes, that is also the main reason why I have leaned towards believing them as well.

But even so, we have to be careful and take note of what we discussed earlier just in case. If what should happen does not, then we must react immediately and retreat as soon as possible. I, Li Dian, have only mediocre capabilities in the aspects of martial arts and strategy. The only thing I have more than most other people is prudence.

I looked down at the spear in my right hand as I thought so. Now that Guan Yu has defected, there is no reason for me to compete with her any longer. Even though I am relatively adept in all long weapons, at the end of the day, I am most used to a spear.

I looked at Xinye and saw that there was no movement from Xinye even now. If everything went according to plan, Lu Bu should now be getting drunk thanks to Zhang Liao’s efforts. And soon, Zhao Yun would be leading her troops out of the city. We will see what happens after that.

“My lords, is there any task for me to accomplish later on?”

Un? Just then, another general came up to us. She looked rather thin but I could still feel the aura of a warrior coming off of her. I looked over at her and felt surprised, “Why are you here?”

“Un? … Lu Xiang?” Cao Ren seemed surprised as well when she heard my question and called out to her.

“My lords, apologies for my lateness.” Lu Xiang apologised as she saluted us respectfully.

I looked closely at her and saw that she was still covered in bandages. It was clear that she had not yet fully recovered from her wounds yet she had caught upto us.

“Who let you come here?” Cao Ren asked, half in anger and half in lament, as she went around and rode beside Lu Xiang.

“I spoke with Lord Shen Pei this morning.” Lu Xiang replied as she smiled bitterly.

“And she agreed?”

“She didn’t but I still came anyway. Hahaha.”

Ever since Lu Kuang died, there has not been cheer on Lu Xiang’s face. All emotions that could be seen were helplessness and despair. Her bitter laughter now is the same as well.

“…” Cao Ren wordlessly touched Lu Xiang’s waist and applied strength–

“Wu!” Lu Xiang cried out and fell onto her horse with a painful expression.

“You haven’t recovered at all.” Cao Ren said with a worried look.