Leave a comment

It’s normal for Fang Thirteen to be unable to see through the other party’s thoughts.

She’s a strategist, not a mind-reader. All she needs to do is maintain a clear-headed mind at every moment possible so that she can issue the most correct choice. For example, when faced with a situation where the enemy’s purpose is unknown, Fang Thirteen would choose to stand firm in her decision to not act blindly without thinking rather than rashly go on the offensive. This is the most correct way of handling such a situation.

Everyone’s heard of the story of Zhao Kuo leading an army of 400,000 to annihilation at the battle of Changping. At the time, the King of Zhao made Zhao Kuo take the place of Lian Po. The outcome was Zhao Kuo losing the 400,000 army of Zhao and sacrificing his own achievements to the enemy general Bai Qi of Qin, so he could be considered quite a miserable person. Later on, whenever people chatted about Zhao Kuo, their conversations would be full of disdain. Your other general Lian Po, your most famous general who triumphed many times over the enemy Qin, had carefully set up defensive tactics, so why did you insist on taking the initiative to attack? Playing some delaying tactics wouldn’t have hurt, right? In addition, King of Zhao, how blind were your eyes to make Zhao Kuo replace your best general, Lian Po?

But if we look at it in retrospect, King Huiwen of Qin captured Sichuan, winning the internal affairs and farmer rewarding battle, thus increasing his reserve forces and making them even more ample. On the other hand, in the State of Zhao, during the time King Zhao Wuling ruled, the reform “wearing Hu-styled attire and shooting from horseback in battle” increased the country’s strength, but in terms of hard power, such as military and economic power, it still fell far behind the Qin army. The State of Qin might have been able to use delaying tactics, but the State of Zhao wasn’t able to do the same, so it wasn’t much of a mistake for the Zhao to choose to rapidly rush Qin. The main reason why the situation is considered a mistake is because they lost.

Therefore, a publicly known idiot might not necessarily be an idiot while the not publicly known idiot might be the hidden ultimate idiot.

For instance, Fang Lita.

But if we think about it from another point of view, it’s because I knew that Fang Lita would be unable to remain calm that I deliberately made Abyss City and West-Resisting City hold back their troops without moving. Fang Thirteen is prudent and good at stratagems, so naturally she could see that this was just her enemy’s deliberate show of weakness, so it was impossible for her to bite the bait. But it wasn’t necessarily the same for Fang Lita.

During the daytime today, Fang Thirteen called me into her bedroom and asked me for my opinion for the first time:

“West-Resisting City and Abyss City has clearly decreased their attacking strength recently, should we take the initiative to attack?”

I knew that she already had an answer in her heart, but was unable to endure Fang Lita’s constant pestering and was about to cave in and give him the answer he wanted. It was absolutely impossible for Fang Thirteen to give him the positive response he so wished for, so I hurriedly advised:

“I think that it’s out of question. Since that West-Resisting City and Abyss City have temporarily joined hands, them simultaneously retreating indicates that there is clearly a problem. If we go to battle now, we will definitely be caught in their trap. There’s absolutely no problem if we continue defending our cities right now, but that won’t necessarily be the case if we start attacking. For the purpose of being safe, it would be best if we don’t take the initiative to attack.”

Fang Thirteen nodded in response, then spoke depressedly:

“But A’ta, he’s recently been appearing to be a little depressed……”

I comforted:

“I know young lady Thirteen is doing this with sir City Lord in mind. But I feel that I still need to say it; if you comply with sir City Lord’s intention to go and take the initiative to attack, it’s not hard since young lady Thirteen can definitely achieve this point. But, if by any chance, the battle is lost, then the situation will crumble and the resulting situation might be something nobody was able to anticipate. In the worst case scenario, sir City Lord might even be reduced to becoming a prisoner and never again live such a cozy life like now. I heard that compared to short-term happiness, long-term happiness should be prioritized since it will guarantee a beautiful future, so I believe young lady Thirteen will choose the latter, right?”

Fang Thirteen’s brows gradually smoothed out and exposed a smile that she hadn’t for a long time now, then said:

“Jade, you really are quite good at comforting others.”

She sat on her wheelchair with both hands squeezed together and continued while smiling:

“Thank you……I know what I should do.”

I merely chuckled in response.

It was right at this time that a “thump thump thump” abruptly sounded from the door. Fang Lita then opened the door and rushed in full of joy and expectation, resembling that of a primary schooler who’d received a 100-point test back. The instant he stepped foot into the room, he impatiently yelled:

“Sister! Sister! I investigated it clearly! The reason why Fang Yuan, that fatty, retreated is because the rations and fodder in his rear granary was burned clean, we need to quickly go on the offensive! We’ll surely be able to beat him until he flees like a rat!”

Fang Thirteen wrinkled her brows as she asked:

“Where does this information come from?”

Fang Lita answered matter-of-factly:

“It’s been circulating in the army! It’s said that inside Fang Yuan’s army, there are many people who haven’t eaten for days and wish to seek asylum with us! Sister, we must teach this damned fatty a few lessons this time! Since he dares to threaten me so, let’s see if my hammer will burst his brain this time!”

Probably because she had just had a chat with me, Fang Thirteen didn’t agree immediately and instead mildly advised:

“Calm down a little, A’ta. It’s very possible that it’s our enemy’s……”

Fang Lita suddenly raised his voice and retorted:

“Very possible that it’s our enemy’s plan? But it’s also very possible that it isn’t, right? If we don’t give it a try, then how will we know? If we’re going to continue being so terrified, then I think we might as well not fight and directly surrender! Our enemies are basically sitting on my neck and ******** and pissing on me, yet I still have to bow down my head and call them father? Sister, what’s going on in your mind?! Is he, Fang Yuan, your little brother or am I your little brother?”

Fang Thirteen explained with a voice ladened with sadness:

“Most definitely you, but……”

Heh, it definitely is you since you’re the only little brother in your family.

Seeing Fang Lita take big strides walking over, I directly stepped in front of Fang Thirteen to block his path and didn’t say anything. Instead, I used a calm face to gaze at him and threw a provocative gaze at him. When Fang Lita saw him, he became even more furious and roared at me:

“I’m talking with my sister, what’s it have to do with you? Get out!”

I serenely responded:

“I have no intention of disobeying sir City Lord’s command, but I feel that sir City Lord needs to calm down a little at this moment.”

In return, Fang Lita chuckled with a hint of anger, lowered his head, then vented his fury on me:

“Calm down? How dare an outsider like you speak to me like this? If it were not for you inciting my sister, would she turn into her current appearance? Get the hell out of my way, step aside!”

As he spoke, he constantly shoved at me.

Theoretically, he shouldn’t be able to push me away, but after he pushed me several times and did his best to shove me away, I deliberately pretended to stumble to the side and suddenly overturned the bookshelf by Fang Thirteen’s bedside. All kinds of books tumbled onto the ground and that brand-new sealed letter floated down gently like a dead leave amongst fresh leaves, making it stand out from the rest.

I held my stomach and cried out ‘ough’.

Fang Thirteen nervously extended her hand over in my direction and asked:

“Jade, are you okay?”

I spoke with a forced laugh:

“He merely bumped into an old wound……maybe I haven’t healed completely.”

Fang Thirteen hesitated for a moment before instructing:

“You first go out. A’ta and I will discuss this alone.”

I glimpsed at Fang Lita, then walked out “reluctantly”. When the door was right in front of me, I casted a brief glance into the room. I found that Fang Lita had already taken note of that unsigned letter, but didn’t immediately go to pick it up.

I smirked, then walked out.

It was now almost a month since I had come to Sky Star City. Autumn’s aura was becoming increasingly stronger, to the point that even the more southern parts of Eternal Heaven State were already feeling autumn’s valiant winds. The weather outside was just right, but fog was gathering on the mountain tops in the distance.

It won’t be long before it starts pouring.