Vol 10 Chapter 51 (2/2)

“Hahaha, the truth of course.” I said as I chuckled calmly.

“Is that so?” Xu Shu nodded and lowered her head as though she were steeling herself before looking up and giving her answer, “I think you’re a despicable individual.”

“Xu Shu! That’s too–”

“Alright.” I quickly stopped Man Cheng who blew her top in time as I had already predicted that an answer of this sort was incoming.

A despicable person huh? As I looked at Xu Shu, I realised that I could not bring myself to hate her despite that answer.

“Alright, many thanks.” I smiled and nodded, “Teacher Xu Shu, you can take your leave now.”

“…” Xu Shu did not say anything else and merely swung her sleeve as she left the room and disappeared.

“Xu Shu was far too rude.” Man Cheng said angrily the moment Xu Shu left. Looks like she really held back just now huh?

“Hermits and sages are all like that. It’s understandable behaviour.” I said as I poured some liquor into my cup, “You were far too hasty just now in fielding questions to her. Instead of asking her directly, it would have been simpler to wait for her to stumble.”

“I am indeed a little too unskilled in such things.” Man Cheng honestly admitted her shortcoming, “But why did my lord believe Xu Shu’s words so easily?”

“What do you mean?”

“There was no basis behind what Xu Shu said just now and the explanation she gave sounds frankly nonsensical.”

“Why? Why do you think it’s all nonsense? I think she made sense.”

“But that’s–”

“You think it’s far too coincidental? Or perhaps ludicrous?” I interrupted her, to which she merely nodded in response, “We have no reason or evidence to deny her allegations. At the very least, there is no choice at present, aside from believing what she said. If you do still suspect the veracity of what she said, then we will just have to wait until we do battle with Xinye once more.”

When I finished, I shrugged and brought my cup to my lips and drank it all.

“Un… Your subordinate understands.”

She seems to have gotten what I meant, or perhaps she was merely satiated by the latter half.

“That’s good then.” I nodded with satisfaction, “How goes the organisation of the punitive force? How are the preparations for the continuation of our southern campaign?”

“They are going well.” Man Cheng nodded, “I touched base with Lord Xiahou Dun and Lord Xu Huang earlier and we are proceeding with combining our forces for our next operation.”

“Un, that was a decision I made.” I nodded, “I was originally thinking of having you be the vanguard for the campaign and setting up a forward base but since you were repelled at Xinye, we shouldn’t take anymore risk. We will simply overwhelm them with numbers.”

When I finished, I could see that her expression changed meaningfully. Looks like she’s still troubled over her loss.

“Alright, don’t mope around anymore. It’s already over. I’ve told you this many times over.” I said as I poured liquor into another cup and handed it to Man Cheng, “You’ve done a lot for me for the longest time ever and I will be continuing to count on you for the battles to come.”

“Many thanks, my lord.” Man Cheng replied. Her expression was still sour but it was closer to how she usually was as she nodded and drank the cup of liquor I offered her.

“The most urgent task for our southern campaign now is training our navy. I’ll have to head over ina  few days to oversee things so you lot go ahead and discuss whatever you need to for the land forces and let me know what you lot decide. I’ll definitely support your decision.” I said as I poured another round of liquor for the both of us.

“My lord seems to be rather concerned about Xinye?”

…

When I heard this, my arm involuntarily shuddered. I looked at Man Cheng but she did not seem to have noticed this action. Afraid that she would notice this eventually, I hurriedly poured half cups for the both of us and stopped.

“Xinye is just a small provincial city but it’s the gateway into the south. Only by taking Xinye can one take Jing state. You should know this better than I do.” I said as I returned to my seat without looking at Man Cheng, “After the naval training has reached a satisfactory level, I will personally come to find you all.”

Man Cheng raised her cup, “Don’t worry, my lord. We will definitely achieve victory.”

“Un.” I nodded and we then saluted each other before drinking our liquor. Various things continued to swirl in my head but by the time I finished drinking, I was able to put a smile back on my face.

“Ah, it’s already this late huh?” Man Cheng said as she looked outside and gasped, “There are some troops coming over soon and I’ll need to be there to supervise some work with Yue Jin.”

“Un, alright.” I was still rather fl.u.s.tered inside but I still nodded, “We’ll discuss the things to do in future another time then.”

“Yes.” Man Cheng nodded and bowed before getting up and leaving. She turned back every now and then, as though she still had something to say to me but she never did.

“… Man Cheng.” In the end, I called out to her as I stared at her back.

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