Vol 9 Chapter 78 (1/2)

VOLUME 9 CHAPTER 78: DON’T TELL ME THIS IS THE AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE (5)

Liu Bei POV

“Lord Zhou Cang, I set aside enough for you already.” Gan Qing said as she got up and pointed at Zhou Cang’s seat which had visibly more food than everyone else, “Don’t worry, there’s as much as you want~”

Zhou Cang nodded at Gan Qing who was smiling and seemed to be satisfied as she made her way to her seat.

“How was it today?” Chen Go asked casually when we went past her seat.

“Un? Don’t you all know already?” Zhou Cang said without any of the usual provocations and picked up a gourd of wine from the side before continuing on her way, “The overall result was good. I am personally pleased with the outcome.”

“Un, un.” Chen Gong nodded and looked at Yuan Zhi, who was sitting roughly opposite her, but did not say anything as she sipped her liquor.

Does Chen Gong still have doubts about Yuan Zhi’s capabilities? But if she did not say anything then that should mean that she acknowledges her as a strategist.

“Ah, Xuan De is here!~” Zi Long exclaimed with a bright smile and waved when she saw us. It’s not as rare as Gong You for example, but Zi Long does not smile often so I got a shock when I saw her smile at me.

“Well then, since our lord is here, shall we begin?” Wen Yuan said as she got up and saluted me.

“Ah, un.” I returned the salute before turning to Gan Qing, “Gan Qing, don’t mind it too much. Today is just a normal gathering.”

“Ah… Un un.” Gan Qing replied and smiled shyly as she nodded. She had seemed a little uneasy, probably because she was concerned that we would be discussing battle plans so I decided to speak to her first.

Along the way, I exchanged greetings with the Xu state 3 and Liao Hua as well. What was noteworthy was that Huang Zu did as we agreed and let her hair down. Honestly speaking, her beauty has a healing effect on the psyche. If only her expression was more soothing.

When Yun Chang and I finally sat down, Wen Yuan yelled to Yun Chang, “How was it? How was today’s battle?”

“Un? I’m alright, not too tired. After a few tries, I got back into the swing of things.” Yun Chang smiled as she replied. It seemed like her smile did not extend to her eyes however.

“That’s nice for you but the rest of us had to sit in our camps today again.” Wen Yuan whined like a little brat to which Yun Chang merely smiled in response. If she had asked Zhou Cang instead, Zhou Cang would have been really pleased to continue the conversation.

“Ah alright~” I raised my cup and took a sip as I said so after she finished, “Even though everyone already knows it by now, I think that I should still make an announcement about it.”

As I said so, I raised my cup above my head and got up. When everyone saw this, they knew what was going to happen and raised their cups above their heads as well.

“Today’s battle was a resounding victory for our side! This is a great start for us but we still have many more battles from here on out. At this juncture though, we need only enjoy the pleasure of victory.” As I said so, I pointed my cup in Yuan Zhi’s direction, “Yuan Zhi, I am grateful to you for today’s victory.”

“Ah…” Yuan Zhi had been in a blank daze the whole time and snapped back to reality when she heard me call to her, “Y-you’re overexaggerating it.”

I smiled and did my best to seem as casual and jovial as I raised my cup and declared, “To today’s victory– Cheers!”

“Cheers!” Everyone yelled out in unison as they raised their cups even higher.

Apart from people like Gong You who are usually very well-mannered, almost everyone else spilled at least some liquor. It might be just me but I think that having liquor spill around helps make the party more cheerful.

“Haa!~” I sighed as I sat down after taking a long draught of liquor.

“Thanks for your hard work today, my lord.” Wen Yuan said as she raised her cup to me just as I sat down.

“Ah… Yes.” I said as I hurriedly raised my cup.

“Well I didn’t really work very hard.” I smiled stiffly as I set my cup on the table after I took a drink, “The ones who really worked hard were Zi Long and Chen Dao.”

Zi Long had to handle a duel and they had to defend against a charge from the front. It’s not a stretch to say that the success of the strategy hinged on Zi Long’s performance.