Yun Chang POV
“No, that’s fine.” I shook my head and looked away as I saluted back, not having the face to look at her in the eye, as I continued, “What Lord Zhao Yun said is right. I was too careless in this battle and later on I underestimated the enemy. After making all these mistakes, I was not able to redeem myself ultimately and that is my fault.”
“No… There’s no need to say that…” Zhao Yun hurriedly held my hand with an apologetic expression, “I sometimes speak harshly to motivate people to improve themselves but that is directed only to my subordinates. What happened just now was just me losing control of my emotions and saying hurtful things needlessly. Besides, this is not entirely your fault.”
…
I did not say anything in response. I do not know how the others think but I do not think there is no responsibility on my part for this grave loss. I am fully aware of this and have no intention of shirking it.
“Let’s not talk about such things anymore and go into the specifics.” Zhao Yun said and changed the topic, “How many troops have we lost in this battle?”
The topic may have changed but it still struck a sore spot.
“… Our losses were truly grave this time. Not only did we take 2 volleys of arrows, we were also met with a charge on our flanks.” I gave a quick summary but knew I could not avoid giving a number in the end and gritted my teeth as I continued, “In total, the survivors number about… 3,000.”
When the last few words left my mouth, my mind went blank. I do not know if this is because I have never had to experience what it’s like to suffer a loss in battle but this is truly terrible. I tried my best to rid myself of all these thoughts but after shaking my head, it returned quickly.
“In the first place, our troops were at a great disadvantage just looking at our equipment alone. I wonder how the frontal battle went.” Zhao Yun nodded and changed the topic, “Ah yes, was there a Lu Xiang amongst the warrior generals who fought this time?”
“I fought with Lu Xiang.” I replied as the image of Lu Xiang’s murderous visage filled my mind, “Because of what Lord Zhao Yun did to her elder brother, she seems to be consumed by vengeance.”
“Hai… What happened to her elder brother was merely a coincidence. If it were not for Li Dian who shot an arrow, I would not have been able to land a fatal blow in my frantic defence against her.” Zhao Yun said relaxedly, “Lu Kuang was already at his limits then. If he had chosen to retreat, I would have spared him.”
“Lu Kuang would not have retreated after fighting that hard and desperate.”
“You saw our duel back then huh?”
“No way,” I shrugged, “I saw what his little sister was like so I can guess what Lu Kuang must have been like.”
When I finished, Zhao Yun smiled and looked at me, “So? How is Lu Xiang now?” She then paused before continuing, “Did you finish her off?”
“I did deal her a fatal blow but it’s unlikely that she will die. At the very least, it will be difficult for her to move.” I said as I patted my blade, “It’s all thanks to this blade. I will have to repair it when I get back.”
“Ah yes, speaking of generals, I heard from Zhou Cang when I met up with them, that there was someone leading the enemy on her side that looked like a strategist.”
“Un?” Zhao Yun frowned, “A strategist? What did he or she look like?”
“She couldn’t really get a good glimpse of her as she hid behind the troops to the back timidly,” I said as I recalled how unsatisfied Zhou Cang looked, “Zhou Cang tried to break through the blockade many times but failed every time.”
— What’s the point of coming onto the battlefield but refusing to engage fair and square!
Zhou Cang was furious and kept complaining for a long while after we met. Come on, she’s a strategist, it’s natural that she would not come up and engage you in a duel.
“But we can be sure of 1 thing,” I continued, “Since that strategist came to oversee the battle, she should be the architect behind the ambush.”
“That is very possible.” Zhao Yun nodded and bit her lip as she thought hard, “Un… Timid huh…”
“What’s the matter? Did Lord Zhao Yun think of something?”
“Un,” She frowned and looked over as she held her chin, “When you said that she was timid, the first person that came to mind was Shen Pei, a strategist of Yuan Shao’s.”
“Shen Pei…?” I asked as I never heard of this name before.
“Back when Lord Sun Qian, Xuan De and I were seeking refuge with Yuan Shao, we got to know a strategist of hers called Shen Pei. In my mind, I remember her clearly as a very timid person.”
“Un un,” I nodded, “That’s not impossible since there are already a mixture of Cao and Yuan generals taking the field together. Even the troops were mixed together in the same battalions this time so it’s very possible that Yuan Shao’s strategist was directing the battle. … But are you sure it’s her?”
It’s a little too much of a stretch to confirm who that person is just based on 1 trait after all.
“What you said is true but that’s the only person I can think of right now. Does anyone else come to mind?”
Un… I came to know of many strategists in the Cao faction. All of them had very unique personalities but none of them seemed to be timid. As for Yuan Shao’s strategists, I gave no clue at all.
“But… Shen Pei huh…” Zhao Yun continued as she held her chin, “Honestly, I don’t know Shen Pei that well but since she set an ambush there, she must have known that we were going to be there.”
“Un,” I nodded, “They had done some clearing work to create an empty space in the ambush spot so that the archers could shoot from within the forest. It’s clear that they were expecting us to go by that route.”
When I finished, Zhao Yun remained silent and continued ruminating with a frown. I did not know what she was thinking about but did not dare ask for fear of interrupting her thought process.
“Lord Guan Yu, did you know?” After we had rode of a bit, Zhao Yun finally spoke up, “The enemy’s forces sent to the frontal battle only consisted of cavalry and heavy infantry.”
“Ah, I knew that.” I nodded, “They would not have enough archers to ambush us like that otherwise.”
“Yes, it’s as if,” Zhao Yun looked down and then looked up again, “As if the enemy knew about our raid beforehand.”
“Eh?” I uttered in surprise. I did not fully understand what she meant but her implied meaning seemed to be rather strong and I could sense what was going to come, “What does Lord Zhao Yun mean by this?”
“What I mean is that, Cao Ren and Li Dian placed a very concentrated bet with their strategy.” Zi Long frowned and continued, “The forces sent to the frontal battle had no long range capabilities at all and if we hadn’t raided them, they would have half of their forces doing nothing here.”
“Un…” I grunted and waited for Zhao Yun to continue as I stroked my hair. What she said does indeed make sense.
“On the other hand, Lord Xu Shu guessed that the enemy forces that would come to the frontal battle would number 20,000 yet only 10,000 showed up. A key assumption for the strategy’s success had been overturned. Normally, one would have halted the operation.” Zi Long paused for a moment before continuing, “Yet why did she insist on Lord Guan Yu continuing the raid?”
When Zhao Yun finished, I finally understood what she was trying to say and took a deep breath as I frowned alongside her.
“What you mean is…” I gulped, “Lord Xu Shu could be someone from the enemy?”
“I don’t know but from what I’ve seen, it looks very suspicious.” Zhao Yun nodded with a heavy and troubled expression, “I’m also not saying all this just because we lost this battle. There’s a lot of other things that have happened which have aroused my suspicion and this is just 1 of them.”
“Perhaps… It was just a strategic mistake.” I said though I felt that this was not a likely possibility, “We did win the first battle after all and that was just 1 idea she proposed back then.”
“Maybe, maybe not. That is why I have not spoken about my suspicions to anyone yet.” Zhao Yun said, her face looking unconvinced by my explanation, “If everything was just a mistake, then that’s fine. But in the end, neither you nor I know much about Lord Xu Shu. We don’t know about her origins nor do we know why she came to join us.”
I was not there when Zhao Yun went to look for big brother and when they returned, they returned along with Xu Shu. Though we have spent a fair amount of time together, Xu Shu is still like a stranger to me.
Now that I think about it, it is reasonable to suspect why Xu Shu chose to join us. I was really unwilling to think about it like that however, as it was difficult for big brother to finally get a good strategist after all. When I thought of this, my heart began to ache again.
While thinking about such things, I looked to the side…
Eh?!
“Lord Zhao Yun! Tell the troops to halt! Immediately!” The moment I gave the order, Zhao Yun panicked as she hurriedly raised her arm. In the next moment, gasps of surprise could be heard from the troops at the back.
“Lord Zhao Yun, tell them to be quiet!” I shot to Zhao Yun in a soft voice. They must be tired by now and it’s understandable that they were absentminded but we need to be careful now.
“What’s the matter? Doing all this all of a sudden.” Zhao Yun asked after giving the order.
I did not speak and merely pointed ahead wordlessly. When Zhao Yun looked in the direction where I pointed, she got a shock as well.
This is…