"Quickly make the arrangements, don’t delay, the lives of our brothers are crucial. Utilize the cavalry and laborers, transport them to nearby cities, if all else fails, send them to Southern County. In short, treat them quickly, no mistakes allowed; if anyone dares to deliberately delay, they’ll be severely punished by military law." Ye Shikai commanded.

"Yes, I’ll arrange it right away." Shangguan Jian nodded and said.

"So many of our brothers are wounded, all to protect this city. They’ve been injured for this cause, if we, as the Main General, ignore them, it would surely discourage them. If that’s the case, who would be willing to risk their lives for us in the future? Unity is not just talk."

"Indeed, Old Ye is right. The reason we’ve come this far is because we don’t abandon our brothers. If morale scatters, even with an army of a hundred thousand, it would be futile. More soldiers would just be a pile of loose sand." Shangguan Jian nodded. In fact, it was for this reason that Shangguan Jian was utterly devoted to following him.

"Shangguan, go notify Huo Ziqing, gather an army of thirty thousand and prepare to depart."

"What? Old Ye, where are we heading?"

"Back to Linxiang City, the battle is over, and we should be on our way." Ye Shikai said softly.

"Did I hear you correctly? Old Ye, a few days ago you were worried about Wang Li launching a counterattack, and now you’re deciding to go back?"

"Wang Li is no longer in the camp, the spies have been monitoring his decoy while he’s already arrived in Xianyang." Ye Shikai explained.

"Really?"

"The lord told me yesterday, besides... today, I just received intelligence from Sun Cai, Wang Li has already reached Xianyang."

"Bastard, this guy actually fooled us all." Shangguan Jian pursued the question, "Is this why the Qin Army retreated?"

"It should be. Originally, I thought he was using a strategy of feigned retreat to catch us off guard, but turns out he was just worried about our counterattack." Ye Shikai chuckled bitterly, perhaps he was truly overthinking it. A commander should have his own judgment, yet he mustn’t let his cunning lead to self-deception.

"Alright, I’ll go notify Huo Ziqing immediately."

"No need to rush, get the wounded transported to the rear, then the army departs for Changsha."

"Yes."

One week later.

The plan proceeded smoothly, the Qin army did not counterattack them, nor was there any news about Wang Li. Just yesterday, the Chu army dismantled several front camps and retreated to Wan City. Huo Ziqing led an army of thirty thousand to set out first. If everything goes as expected, they should reach Changsha in no more than twenty days.

Wan City.

"Old Ye, finally the war is over, haha, the air even feels fresher." Shangguan Jian stretched comfortably.

"Indeed, continuous battles have left the air with a bloody stench."

"General Huo has already departed, shouldn’t we... return as well?"

"Yes, according to the plan, 20,000 elite troops will be stationed in Wan City to defend against the Qin army, the rest will retreat to Changsha." Ye Shikai continued, "I think we can depart the day after tomorrow. Nanyang is the heartland connecting Central Plains and Chu Territory, a vital place for military strategy, and Wan City is the governing seat of Nanyang County. I still have some matters to instruct the commander."

....................................

"Report to General Ye, someone has delivered a letter outside the governor’s mansion, it’s... to be handed to you."

"Who gave you the letter?"

"Well... I don’t know, it was a masked man. He said the letter is extremely important and must be shown to the General himself, but he refused to disclose his identity. I was unsure how to handle it, so I presented the letter to the General first."

Shangguan Jian seized the letter directly, opening it while Ye Shikai came over to check it.

"Old Ye, this letter... is from Wang Li."

"What?" Ye Shikai never expected it would be from Wang Li, turned around and asked, "Where is that person?"

"I suspected his identity, so I had the brothers detain him, he’s outside the mansion now."

"Bring him here." Ye Shikai said.

"Old Ye, could it be dangerous? This man might be an assassin." Shangguan Jian worried.

"Don’t worry, there are so many guards in the mansion, no need to fear."

A dozen soldiers escorted the man up, he did not resist, simply walked up "obediently."

"Who are you, sir, since you’ve come, why not show your true face?" Ye Shikai was still courteous, not intimidating him, and even had the guards offer him a seat.

"Serve some hot tea."

"Yes."

"General Ye is indeed not an ordinary man." The man slowly removed the black mask, Ye Shikai looked closely; indeed, he was a "stranger."

"I am a guest in the prince’s house, I came to deliver General Wang Li’s personal letter to General Ye." The man said calmly.

"Haha, since the last battle ended, I haven’t had a good chat with General Wang. It’s been days since I’ve seen him, I actually miss him a bit. Didn’t expect he’d write to me, you’ve worked hard, please have some tea." Ye Shikai gestured with the letter, smiling as he spoke.

"Thank you, General Ye." The man received the cup and sipped lightly. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"General Ye, have you read the contents inside?"

"Of course, since General Wang sincerely invites me for a drink, how could I refuse?" Ye Shikai readily agreed.

"Old Ye, this..."

"Please convey this to him: tell General Wang that I’ll definitely keep the appointment." Before Shangguan Jian could finish, Ye Shikai interrupted him.

"General Ye is truly a straightforward person, with that, my mission is completed. Farewell." The man slowly stood up, bowed and saluted, then turned to leave. Ye Shikai gestured to the soldiers to make way.

"Old Ye, why did you agree to it?" After the man left, Shangguan Jian couldn’t hold back any longer and directly questioned.

"Why not agree?" Ye Shikai sipped his hot tea, wearing a "calm" expression.

"Nonsense, Wang Li clearly has ill intentions, why jump into the fire pit?"

"It’s not a fire pit, and I’m not foolish enough to jump in. It’s just a meeting, besides, didn’t he invite me for tea before the war started? And he didn’t harm me then, did he?"

"Not the same as before, how can it be generalized? Now that Wang Li was defeated and retreated, he can’t be willing to accept this. Obviously, he wants to trick you into going over and then take you down. Old Ye, don’t go, moreover, what would you gain by going?" Shangguan Jian strongly objected, several deputy generals also echoed him. Given the Chu Army’s victory and the Qin Army’s defeat, there’s no need to get involved in this.

"Rest assured, if Wang Li truly wanted to act, he wouldn’t do it so openly. Otherwise, even if he ambushed me, the people would speak ill of him. Wang Li definitely doesn’t want such a ’villain’ reputation."