Don't Tell Me This Is the True History of the Three Kingdoms! Vol 9 Chapter 78

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.

“Zi Long, let me propose a toast for you. Thanks for your hard work today!” I toasted Zi Long as I thought so.

Zi Long was presently eating relaxedly. When she saw me toast her, she calmly set her chopsticks down and raised her cup, “It’s not too bad today. But I have to say, my lord’s martial prowess seems to have deteriorated. You will have to have a tighter training schedule from now on.”

“Ah… Un, alright.” I said as my hand trembled, feeling helpless at how merciless Zi Long was even at a time like this.

Wu… I cannot believe she actually saw that. I do have to admit however, that my martial prowess has deteriorated. I felt that keenly myself during the battle.

“Ah, yes.” I decided to ask her as I was asleep all this while, “Zi Long, what was the conclusion after the count?”

“Ah, that huh?” Zi Long had picked up her chopsticks and set down her cup but she put down her chopsticks once more when she heard me speak to her, “The result was very good. The enemy has lost in excess of 6,000 troops. As for our side, though we were lightly geared, the enemy’s commanders were drawn away which messed up their chain of command so we did not suffer heavy losses. During their final push to break through the surround, we did suffer quite a number of casualties though. In total, we have suffered less than 2,000 casualties.”

2,000 huh?

“Achieving such a resounding victory cannot have been easy. To think you actually scored a 3:1 kill/death ratio.” Wen Yuan gasped.

“I should also add that Lord Hua Tuo saved a tremendous number of lives today.” Zi Long added with a tinge of respect in her eyes, “If it weren’t for her and her team’s efforts, our casualties would have been in excess of 2,000.”

Looks like Hua Tuo and her team really worked hard after she met up with them huh? As I thought so, I looked around for her as I wanted to toast her but she was nowhere to be found.

“Lord Hua Tuo was really exhausted by the end of the day.” Zi Long said when she saw my sweeping gaze, “She just came back a short while ago and should be fast asleep now.”

“Ah, I see.”

She really worked hard huh?

“My lord, I have more good news.” Just then, Chen Dao spoke up. I looked over and saw that she was smiling as she continued, “While we were cleaning up, we acquired many sets of heavy plate from the enemy, the bulk of which are usable. In total, there are about 3,000 complete sets.”

“Ohhh~” I gasped when I heard this as we could now have a unit of heavy infantry of our own.

“There’s more,” Chen Dao said excitedly, “Our scouts found that they took the long route around when they escaped and did not send anyone to collect their camp stuff, which means that we have also gained a week’s worth of supplies for 9-10,000 troops.”

“Ohhh~~~” Everyone gasped and smiled widely when they heard this. The outcome of this battle has been perfect. We slew a renowned enemy general, we suffered minimal losses and we even gained equipment and supplies.

However, I personally cannot feel happy from the bottom of my heart. I am not someone from this era after all so my sense of values and how I perceive the value of life is different from everyone else.

Rationally speaking, suffering less than 2,000 casualties is cause for celebration but to me, it’s still 2,000 too many casualties. While we celebrate our victory, should we not mourn for all the lives lost as well?

This is not the first time a question of this sort has popped up in my head. From my experiences in this era, the answer is a resounding no, especially at a celebratory banquet like this. The reason, as I have gradually realised, is that death means something different in this era.

Everyone seems to be numb to death, which is ever-present in this era. Being able to live is a good thing of course but death is seen as something inevitable and unavoidable.

“Liao Hua, go and tally how many of those who died still have family members serving in our armies later on with Zi Zhong.”

Of course, that’s just the way things are here. As for myself, I have my own way of doing things.

“My lord, what are you thinking of doing?”

“Hmhm.”

Liao Hua asked while Zi Zhong merely hummed as she took out her abacus. I know though, that they both know where I am going with this.

Chapter end