Vol 10 Chapter 10 (2/2)

“…” Shen Pei, who had a weak aura and presence to begin with, naturally shrank under Ben Chu’s gaze.

If Xuan De were here, he would have definitely pulled Ben Chu aside and interfered. I, however, would not barge into other peoples’ affairs. And besides, this is Ben Chu’s will as well.

“My lord, your retainer has failed as a commander of the vanguard of the southern campaign and many lives were lost. For this, your retainer deserves to die many times over. I-if it would appease my lord, please punish me as my lord sees fit.” Shen Pei said and bowed once more when she finished.

“With regards to the southern campaign, leaving aside the Imperial Chancellor’s grave mistakes, the responsibility of the loss of close to 20,000 of our troops falls on you, Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang of course.” Ben Chu said as she walked around Shen Pei, further intimidating her, “Now that Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang are dead, I will not pursue it with them. But you, Shen Pei, are still alive and will have to bear this responsibility.”

“Y-yes!” Shen Pei squealed, not daring to raise her head, “Your retainer has come here for this purpose.”

“Hmph. *Pa*” Ben Chu snorted as she laid her fan on Shen Pei’s shoulders, making her tremble as she looked up at Ben Chu slightly. But Ben Chu had turned her face towards me so Shen Pei was not able to see Ben Chu’s expression clearly.

“You will be punished of course, but not now. We have many more battles to fight and I need you.” Ben Chu said as she raised her fan, “Your punishment will be on hold for now. See if you can make up for this failure in future battles.”

“Of course, I am not expecting anything spectacular from you to begin with.” Ben Chu said as she turned to Shen Pei with a sarcastic smile.

Shen Pei would never know that Ben Chu had a warm smile on the entire time.

“Yes!” Shen Pei replied loudly in a tearful voice. I wonder how much guilt and fear is mixed inside.

“Alright, don’t think about it any further.” Ben Chu said as she continued ahead and entered her sedan before drawing down the curtain.

“Thanks for your hard work in this expedition. It’s really good that you were able to come back.”

“Eh?” I uttered in surprise as I heard what Ben Chu added at the very end.

Shen Pei was even more surprised and was speechless for a while before she finally replied with a loud, “Yes!”

As her sedan prepared to leave, Ben Chu pulled the curtain aside with her fan and looked at me, “Meng De.”

“What is it?”

“Let me know when the plans for the next operation are out. As I said before, I will support the southern campaign with every available resource. It doesn’t matter even if we fail a few more times.”

I smiled as I looked at Ben Chu’s sedan leave. She really is not straightforward at all huh? But she’s definitely a lot better than before. If this were the Ben Chu of before, she would definitely not have said those words at the end.

This is… Also thanks to Xuan De huh…

Forget it. I have not right to say anything about Ben Chu over this.

“My lord.” A voice came from behind. I did not need to turn around to know that it was Xun Yu, “Li Dian and Cao Ren have returned.”

So quickly? And I just recited a status report about them this morning too.

Never mind, I have a lot of questions to ask them, especially the thing about Xuan De which Li Dian had raised in her letter. It just so happens that things end up being rushed. It’s not a bad thing but I really am busy now, to the point where my head is hurting.

“Hai,” I spat out a sigh and rubbed my temple as I frowned.

“Is my lord alright?” Cheng Yu asked as she pa.s.sed me a handkerchief.

“I’m fine.” I said as I refused her and boarded my sedan with her following beside me. To be honest, I would rather go on horseback as sedans are uncomfortable and expensive.

“How are they being settled in? The remaining troops and all.”

“The generals in the city have gone to help them so there doesn’t seem to be any problems. Lord Man Chong has also returned.”

Man Chong huh? There should be no problems there then. She was someone recommended by Feng Xiao and has been very effective.

“Anything else? What about Li Dian and Cao Ren’s injuries?”

“The last I heard was that they were seeing some physicians but they should be able to come to the mansion at once.” Cheng Yu said and paused, “They do seem to want to do so as well.”

“Good.” I nodded and looked about before asking Cheng Yu, “By the way, where is Xun Yu who just called out to me before?”

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