Vol 9 Chapter 96 (2/2)

“Ah… By the way, is there any reason why Lord Shen Pei came back?” Cao Ren asked when she saw that Shen Pei did not speak even after a long while.

“Eh? Ah! Yes!” Shen Pei took a while to react and then nodded vigorously before sitting upright and lowering her head as she continued timidly, “U, umm, while we were having discussions before, I, umm… Didn’t speak at all right?”

Eh?

“Ah,” Cao Ren blinked and took a moment before she understood what Shen Pei meant before answering firmly, “Yes, I don’t recall Lord Shen Pei saying anything earlier.”

(Yes, I thought so.) Shen Pei whispered and then nodded to herself.

“So…”

Is there something else?

“U-Umm!” Just as I was about to ask her, Shen Pei frantically interrupted me and then looked at Cao Ren and I with a very frantic look, “Umm, please give me a bit of time.”

Un? A bit of time? I really did not understand what she meant by this and looked at Cao Ren who gave me a stiff smile in response before gesturing to Shen Pei to go ahead.

“Un un.” Shen Pei nodded and gave a silly smile.

Haa~ Huu~ Next, Shen Pei closed her eyes and placed her hands on her chest as she began taking in deep breaths.

Haa~ Hu~~ Ha~~ Huu~~~

I was completely befuddled and Cao Ren seemed to be the same.

Haa~~~ Huu~~~~

However, it seemed like her nervousness diminished significantly every time she took a deep breath and expelled it. When I looked closely at her, I found that her tight frown had eased up and her countenance was different than before.

Is she… Trying to alleviate her nervousness?

Haa~~ Hu~~~~~

Just as I guessed what she was doing, she spat out her breath 1 last time and she slowly opened her eyes. Surprisingly, her eyes were now filled with resolve and the Shen Pei I knew seemed to be completely different from the Shen Pei now.

It felt like Shen Pei was now an actual strategist. It was as if her breathing exercises had helped her to shed a layer of nervousness and fear and she transformed from a county clerk into a sage.

Frankly, I could not believe what I was seeing. Cao Ren, on the other hand, had a ‘I see’ expression on as she nodded.

Shen Pei then saluted us, “Lord Cao Ren, Lord Li Dian. I seek your understanding for my rudeness from before.”

Be it her actions or her speech, there was no hint of nervousness. In fact, she seemed respectable even.

“No no no, not at all.” Cao Ren seemed accept this very easily, “So maybe you can tell us your reason for returning now?”

“Yes.” She said as she bowed before beginning to slowly explain why she had returned.

“Right now, we have no clarity on the enemy. And so, as the vanguard, it is an imperative for us to launch further attacks.” As she said so, she let her sleeves fall back, revealing 2 slim arms that she placed on her lap, “But we only have slightly more than 20,000 troops so we need to use them efficiently. When we engage with the enemy, we must attack and attack again, and seize the advantage in our follow-up.”

Shen Pei clearly had a lot more to say about this and she seemed very confident too. Be it me or Cao Ren, we both knew now why she returned.

“Are you here to offer a strategy?”

“That is so.”

“Why did you not do so earlier?” I asked.

“Because I was nervous. But this battle is critical and I cannot remain silent. Which is why I came here once more and did breathing exercises to relax.”

So that’s why.

“Well then, what strategies do you have?” Cao Ren asked expectantly.

When Cao Ren finished, Shen Pei saluted us once more, “Combat strategies are not my specialty but I am still a strategist after all.” As Shen Pei said so, looked up and use the words that strategists always use, “I’ve been pondering for a long while now and I have come up with a plan which I hope you will listen to.”

“Before I start feeling nervous again.” She weakly added at the end.

“I will be more than happy to.” Cao Ren said as she sat upright and so did I.

In the next moment, Shen Pei began explaining her strategy.

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