Vol 4 Chapter 29 (2/2)
Right now, I’m not seeing things on the side of history, but from the viewpoint of Liu Bei and I have grown to sympathise Ben Chu and her inevitable tragic fate.
Of course, there’s no way I can state this reason out loud.
“Look at it this way Zi Long,” I said after I managed to think of a good reason, “The more intense the war between Meng De and Ben Chu gets, the worse off the 2 are at the end of it, and the weaker they will be. When we finally rise again, our opportunity to carve out our own territory will be much easier, no?”
Though these were just things I thought up on the fly, they sounded so convincing even I was won over by my own words.
Zi Long thought for a bit after she heard what I said and nodded, and did not bring this up again.
“Oh! I can see Mount Jiluo already.”
I went up to take a look when I heard Yan Liang’s shout and saw a mountain peak that wasn’t very tall up ahead. There was yet another mountain peak beside and in between them was a narrow pathway that could only fit 3 people side by side.
Guandu should be just past this pathway.
As I thought about this, I began considering how to deal with the problem of Yun Chang and the rest, as well as the upcoming Battle of Guandu.
Meng De POV
“Our supplies are running low but it has not yet reached the time when we should retreat immediately. My lord has held a standoff with Yuan Shao and stationed all her troops in Guandu for this long. Whoever moves first will likely be at a disadvantage and after this long, Yuan Shao will probably do something soon. My lord should remain patient and seize any opportunity that arises which will lead to a victory over Yuan Shao.”
I smiled as I finished reading the letter.
Xun Yu did not say too much in the letter from Xuchang, nor did she give any concrete tactics, but because of this, my confidence in staying put at Guandu has been revived.
As Cheng Yu said, perhaps all I lacked was a bit of confidence. And what Xun Yu did was just to boost my confidence. What I need are not schemes but some encouragement.
Though I don’t want to admit it, what I really need is someone who understands me and whom I can speak freely with. This was probably the very reason why I felt very relaxed while Xuan De was in Xuchang.
As I thought about this, I saw another pile of letters and uneasiness began to fill my heart.
“Feng Xiao…” I turned and saw her sitting beside a pile of scrolls and coughing up blood profusely, “Oi, you….mAre you alright?”
Even though this was normal for her, I was still worried nonetheless. The weather wasn’t good and temperatures could s.h.i.+ft drastically within the hour. Many soldiers were down with diseases and this young girl with a weak const.i.tution would probably fare worse.
“*Ke* *Ke*… I’m fine,” She scratched her messy, long hair, and wiped her mouth with straw paper using trembling hands before throwing it into a pile of used straw paper at the side. Every sheet of straw paper had blood on it, “What does my lord seek my counsel for?”
“Un… I heard that Sun Ce might launch an attack on Xuchang… Do you think…”
“No, Sun Ce won’t come.” Feng Xiao said as she held her head painfully and used a weak voice to interrupt me, “Sun Ce has only just unified Jiangdong and has enemies everywhere. She is also distant in nature and will find it difficult to resolve this. *Ke* *Ke*!”
(TL: A similar conversation happened in the original as well. Except that Feng Xiao predicted that Sun Ce would be a.s.sa.s.sinated, and Sun Ce was indeed a.s.sa.s.sinated by disgruntled surrendered generals on his way to Xuchang.)
I turned to look outside the tent as I couldn’t bear to see Feng Xiao cough up blood. Various things began swimming in my mind as I looked outside.
“Report! Scouts ahead have found Yuan Shao’s troops advancing toward Mount Jiluo!” Just then, a soldier from far off yelled out as he ran over.
Mount Jiluo! Has Yuan Shao finally moved out?!
“Go, tell Cao Ren to face them!”
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