Meng De POV
“My lord, about Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang…” Li Dian said weakly.
“Ah, I’ve already mentioned them in Court as well and the Son of Heaven has given his approval for recognition of their achievements. I haven’t decided on the exact awards yet but rest assured they will be good.”
“Ah, un.” Li Dian nodded, seeming relieved to hear this.
“But to think Li Dian would be this concerned about other generals. I’m really surprised.”
“Because they do deserve to be awarded.” Li Dian replied seriously, “And besides, Lu Xiang even saved my life. It is a duty of mine to ask this for them.”
“Oh, I see.”
So there was another layer behind it huh? I do not know of the details but it seems like the 5 generals who took part in this battle got along pretty well.
“How are the remaining troops?”
“Half of them were Lord Yuan Shao’s and we left them to Yuan Shao’s generals. Our troops were handed over to Man Chong and several others.”
“Alright, I’ll speak with them about this later.”
If possible, I would prefer not to merge their armies and keep them separate. This will give me a reason to ask for a bigger military budget to replenish my troops. This way, I can also close the numerical gap between Ben Chu and I.
“Alright, we should be done with all the not-so-important details by now.” I said and sighed as I got ready to move into the main topic at hand, “Now then, I have 2 questions for you both with regards to things you mentioned in the letter. Firstly, the enemy has 2 new generals, am I correct?”
“Yes.” Li Dian immediately replied, “1 is an administrative official called Xu Shu and the other is a warrior general called Shamoke.”
Shamoke? What a weird name.
“Is that Shamoke fellow a barbarian?”
“That is what he claims to be. And he does wear a hat which is reminiscent of the Nanman style.” Cao Ren described as she gestured about her head, “It was a hat with many leaves that made it difficult to see his face.”
I see. I have heard of the Nanman using face paint and the like but I have never heard that they use helmets to cover their faces.
“As for Xu Shu, it is as I have written to elder sister. Practically every aspect of their strategies were planned by her.” Cao Ren continued and paused, “My 8 Doors Golden Lock formation was broken by her as well.”
“Oh, Xu Shu huh?” Cheng Yu suddenly repeated.
“Cheng Yu, have you heard of this person?”
“I have but I need some time to recall who she is.”
“Un un, you do that then.” I nodded and turned to Li Dian, “About that Shamoke…”
“Ah, yes.” Li Dian knew what I was asking about and turned to me and nodded as she continued, “I should start from the very beginning. During the second battle, in the frontal battle, we mentioned Liu Bei’s disappearance during the pre-battle yelling. At that time, Lu Bu seemed pretty agitated and yelled something about Liu Bei not being dead but was stopped by her lieutenant.”
“Un un un.” I nodded. I have to admit here that my heart was still shaken when Xuan De was mentioned, “But that’s not enough for your hypothesis to stand on.”
“If it was only that,” Li Dian nodded and continued, “Thereafter Guan Yu and another 2 generals came to fake their defections. I later mentioned to Guan Yu that we would be willing to search for Liu Bei but she did not seem particularly moved.”
“In fact, she did not even react.” Cao Ren added.
Un… If that’s the case, then it really is suspicious. But what happened then? Is Xuan De really alive? Did he make it to Xinye on his own?
“But…” I began to speak as I thought about this but Li Dian was not done and continued.
“My lord, dare I ask you, with 2 new characters appearing in a leaderless faction and said faction is united enough to pull off a strategy that involves fake defections, of which 1 is a talented strategist; who could be the other one?”
“A new leader. Or–” I frowned and was very reluctant to admit it but had to spit out that name nonetheless, “Xuan De huh.”
“Yes.” Li Dian nodded.
Yes, there is no way that bunch of generals can swear fealty to a random nobody in such a short span of time. I would very much like for them to defect to my side but it’s clear that there is only 1 lord in their hearts. And the only reason for their unity is Xuan De, but…
“No, I don’t think so.”
“My lord!” Li Dian yelled but I shook my head as I really did not want to admit this fact.
“At the end of the day, it’s just a hypothesis based on circumstantial evidence.” I continued. At this time, my smile had completely faded away and all that remained was a cold and stormy expression.
“No, that’s not all.” Li Dian continued, “The last battle was very suspicious as well. When I attacked Shamoke with the intent of prying away his helmet, I was stopped by all other generals present. Would they really go to such lengths for an ordinary general?”
“That’s…” I really did not know how to refute this and trailed off.
“But at the end of the day, it’s still just circumstantial evidence right?”
Un? Just as I found myself at a loss as to how to reply Li Dian, Cheng Yu spoke up.
“But we can be virtually certain of this by now.”
“Then did you see his face?”
“… Ah,” Li Dian was silenced and sank into thought for a moment before exchanging glances with Cao Ren and shook her head.
“Then we cannot conclude with certainty that Shamoke is Liu Bei.” Cheng Yu said as she turned to look at me, “Even if this possibility is high.”
“Ah, un. Yes.” I nodded.
“But…”
“There’s no need to say any further. I have my own considerations.” I immediately cut off Li Dian, “Of course, I cannot deny that what you said might be true and we must be even more careful in the battles from here on out.”
“Yes, of course.” Li Dian agreed and backed off after I too compromised with her. I had no choice, I was very exhausted by this discussion.
“I understand everything now then. Man Cheng, Ren, you have fought very hard in this battle so please have a good rest and recover before the next one. begins.” I said and looked at them, “You will have to remake your hat and weapons. I’ll arrange for a good blacksmith to make them for you.”
“Many thanks, my lord.” Li Dian thanks me and saluted.
Un, I wonder if Ma Jun is free now. If she is, I will consider handing this to her.
“Well then, we’ll be taking our leave.” Cao Ren said and got up along with Li Dian. Seems like she understands what I mean.
“Well then, my lord.”
“Un?”
“When will the next battle take place?”
Looks like she cannot put aside losing that easily huh? I have to admit that I am the same as well.
“I understand how you feel. It will be soon. The southern campaign is something that will proceed no matter what.”
Yes, nothing will stop it now.
“Understood.” Li Dian said and saluted me with Cao Ren before leaving.
“Ah yes.” Li Dian seemed to have remembered something and turned back to look at me, “Something seems to be up with Zhang Fei so my lord should keep this in mind.”
“You mean Zhang Fei Zhang Yi De?”
“Un, her martial prowess greatly deteriorated in the first battle but she seemed to have regained her former strength in the last battle and even slew Lord Lu Xiang.”
Un… Her strength is unstable huh? Or is there some other reason…
“Alright, I’ll keep this in mind.” I nodded. It seems like Li Dian has finally finished saying everything she has to and left without saying anything else. Even though they lost, they gained a fair bit of valuable information, even if it is information that I may not like.
“My lord, you–”
“Cheng Yu, umm–”
Just then, we both spoke up at the same time and we could not quite hear each other’s words and stopped.
“Cheng Yu, go ahead.”
“No, my lord should go first. My matter is not important anyway.”
“Alright, I’ll go ahead then. Have you remembered what you know about that Xu Shu yet?”
Meng De POV
“My lord, about Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang…” Li Dian said weakly.
“Ah, I’ve already mentioned them in Court as well and the Son of Heaven has given his approval for recognition of their achievements. I haven’t decided on the exact awards yet but rest assured they will be good.”
“Ah, un.” Li Dian nodded, seeming relieved to hear this.
“But to think Li Dian would be this concerned about other generals. I’m really surprised.”
“Because they do deserve to be awarded.” Li Dian replied seriously, “And besides, Lu Xiang even saved my life. It is a duty of mine to ask this for them.”
“Oh, I see.”
So there was another layer behind it huh? I do not know of the details but it seems like the 5 generals who took part in this battle got along pretty well.
“How are the remaining troops?”
“Half of them were Lord Yuan Shao’s and we left them to Yuan Shao’s generals. Our troops were handed over to Man Chong and several others.”
“Alright, I’ll speak with them about this later.”
If possible, I would prefer not to merge their armies and keep them separate. This will give me a reason to ask for a bigger military budget to replenish my troops. This way, I can also close the numerical gap between Ben Chu and I.
“Alright, we should be done with all the not-so-important details by now.” I said and sighed as I got ready to move into the main topic at hand, “Now then, I have 2 questions for you both with regards to things you mentioned in the letter. Firstly, the enemy has 2 new generals, am I correct?”
“Yes.” Li Dian immediately replied, “1 is an administrative official called Xu Shu and the other is a warrior general called Shamoke.”
Shamoke? What a weird name.
“Is that Shamoke fellow a barbarian?”
“That is what he claims to be. And he does wear a hat which is reminiscent of the Nanman style.” Cao Ren described as she gestured about her head, “It was a hat with many leaves that made it difficult to see his face.”
I see. I have heard of the Nanman using face paint and the like but I have never heard that they use helmets to cover their faces.
“As for Xu Shu, it is as I have written to elder sister. Practically every aspect of their strategies were planned by her.” Cao Ren continued and paused, “My 8 Doors Golden Lock formation was broken by her as well.”
“Oh, Xu Shu huh?” Cheng Yu suddenly repeated.
“Cheng Yu, have you heard of this person?”
“I have but I need some time to recall who she is.”
“Un un, you do that then.” I nodded and turned to Li Dian, “About that Shamoke…”
“Ah, yes.” Li Dian knew what I was asking about and turned to me and nodded as she continued, “I should start from the very beginning. During the second battle, in the frontal battle, we mentioned Liu Bei’s disappearance during the pre-battle yelling. At that time, Lu Bu seemed pretty agitated and yelled something about Liu Bei not being dead but was stopped by her lieutenant.”
“Un un un.” I nodded. I have to admit here that my heart was still shaken when Xuan De was mentioned, “But that’s not enough for your hypothesis to stand on.”
“If it was only that,” Li Dian nodded and continued, “Thereafter Guan Yu and another 2 generals came to fake their defections. I later mentioned to Guan Yu that we would be willing to search for Liu Bei but she did not seem particularly moved.”
“In fact, she did not even react.” Cao Ren added.
Un… If that’s the case, then it really is suspicious. But what happened then? Is Xuan De really alive? Did he make it to Xinye on his own?
“But…” I began to speak as I thought about this but Li Dian was not done and continued.
“My lord, dare I ask you, with 2 new characters appearing in a leaderless faction and said faction is united enough to pull off a strategy that involves fake defections, of which 1 is a talented strategist; who could be the other one?”
“A new leader. Or–” I frowned and was very reluctant to admit it but had to spit out that name nonetheless, “Xuan De huh.”
“Yes.” Li Dian nodded.
Yes, there is no way that bunch of generals can swear fealty to a random nobody in such a short span of time. I would very much like for them to defect to my side but it’s clear that there is only 1 lord in their hearts. And the only reason for their unity is Xuan De, but…
“No, I don’t think so.”
“My lord!” Li Dian yelled but I shook my head as I really did not want to admit this fact.
“At the end of the day, it’s just a hypothesis based on circumstantial evidence.” I continued. At this time, my smile had completely faded away and all that remained was a cold and stormy expression.
“No, that’s not all.” Li Dian continued, “The last battle was very suspicious as well. When I attacked Shamoke with the intent of prying away his helmet, I was stopped by all other generals present. Would they really go to such lengths for an ordinary general?”
“That’s…” I really did not know how to refute this and trailed off.
“But at the end of the day, it’s still just circumstantial evidence right?”
Un? Just as I found myself at a loss as to how to reply Li Dian, Cheng Yu spoke up.
“But we can be virtually certain of this by now.”
“Then did you see his face?”
“… Ah,” Li Dian was silenced and sank into thought for a moment before exchanging glances with Cao Ren and shook her head.
“Then we cannot conclude with certainty that Shamoke is Liu Bei.” Cheng Yu said as she turned to look at me, “Even if this possibility is high.”
“Ah, un. Yes.” I nodded.
“But…”
“There’s no need to say any further. I have my own considerations.” I immediately cut off Li Dian, “Of course, I cannot deny that what you said might be true and we must be even more careful in the battles from here on out.”
“Yes, of course.” Li Dian agreed and backed off after I too compromised with her. I had no choice, I was very exhausted by this discussion.
“I understand everything now then. Man Cheng, Ren, you have fought very hard in this battle so please have a good rest and recover before the next one. begins.” I said and looked at them, “You will have to remake your hat and weapons. I’ll arrange for a good blacksmith to make them for you.”
“Many thanks, my lord.” Li Dian thanks me and saluted.
Un, I wonder if Ma Jun is free now. If she is, I will consider handing this to her.
“Well then, we’ll be taking our leave.” Cao Ren said and got up along with Li Dian. Seems like she understands what I mean.
“Well then, my lord.”
“Un?”
“When will the next battle take place?”
Looks like she cannot put aside losing that easily huh? I have to admit that I am the same as well.
“I understand how you feel. It will be soon. The southern campaign is something that will proceed no matter what.”
Yes, nothing will stop it now.
“Understood.” Li Dian said and saluted me with Cao Ren before leaving.
“Ah yes.” Li Dian seemed to have remembered something and turned back to look at me, “Something seems to be up with Zhang Fei so my lord should keep this in mind.”
“You mean Zhang Fei Zhang Yi De?”
“Un, her martial prowess greatly deteriorated in the first battle but she seemed to have regained her former strength in the last battle and even slew Lord Lu Xiang.”
Un… Her strength is unstable huh? Or is there some other reason…
“Alright, I’ll keep this in mind.” I nodded. It seems like Li Dian has finally finished saying everything she has to and left without saying anything else. Even though they lost, they gained a fair bit of valuable information, even if it is information that I may not like.
“My lord, you–”
“Cheng Yu, umm–”
Just then, we both spoke up at the same time and we could not quite hear each other’s words and stopped.
“Cheng Yu, go ahead.”
“No, my lord should go first. My matter is not important anyway.”
“Alright, I’ll go ahead then. Have you remembered what you know about that Xu Shu yet?”
