Pingting bit her lip and thought hard. After Prince Su took the throne, he had indeed changed a lot. She swallowed her worry and tried to say comfortingly, "I understand why Master feels so upset but the number of casualties of our army is not Master's fault. It has been a difficult two years. The King finally letting Master taking charge must've been because he wanted to embarrass you."

"That's exactly why I'm anxious. If we don't win this battle and return to the capital, a lot of people will protest and even Father will be affected. The House of Jing-An holds far too much influence and power. Even if I were the King, I'd try to get rid of them as well."

Remembering the new king's cold behaviour after taking the throne was extremely unpleasant. The two immediately felt a chilling sensation running down their spines.

Seeing his own little maid frowning over the royal heritage problems, He Xia smiled. He reached out and using his thumb, gently smoothed out the wrinkles on her forehead. "Stop thinking about it. Let's say some happy things. It's thanks to you to think of the extremely clever plan of changing the course of the river to threaten flooding enemy troops when we led them to the mountains. Chu Beijie totally lost to that and had to retreat. Now everyone in the army knows that we have a female advisor. When we get back to the capital, I'll make sure Father gives you a huge reward. Say, what would you like?"

"More rewards? The Duke has already given me enough rewards to last me more than ten lifetimes." Pingting looked at the sky; the sun was slightly to one side, beside the high-raised Duke of Jing-An's flag. She carefully looked back at He Xia then turned away again. It a quiet voice she murmured, "Master, there's something I don't know whether I should say or not."

"What can't you say to me?"

Pingting looked uncomfortable then suddenly cracked a smile. "Actually I won't say it. If I did, you'd feel annoyed again."

He Xia seemed to have guessed what Pingting had wanted to say and gave a small smile in return.

Neither of them talked and the horse just plodded.

The horse's thumped against the sun-baked mud, leaving puffs of dust flying.

Pingting calmly gazed ahead, thinking deeply about something. He Xia knew that his clever little maid was thinking deeply about something, so he let the horse slow down even more and settled comfortably in the saddle.

After a while Pingting said, "I guess I'll try and say it anyway".

"I'm listening." When He Xia saw that Pingting had a serious look on her face, he immediately began to listen intently.

"Master, if my predictions were right, things will get worse even more. I'm not joking." Pingting turned her head and stared at He Xia in the eyes. In a nervous voice she said, "It's likely that Chu Beijie knows how weak our army is and can no longer fight well. If he comes again within two months, Gui Le's army will definitely perish. I'm sure he deliberately retreated when we were at our most vulnerable point so that...Master could go back to the Capital."

"You're right but why did he do that?"

Pingting's energetic black pupils rolled twice, it seemed that she already had the answer but she sighed, "If Master lost the battle, the King could, hypothetically, take advantage to cut away the House of Jing-An's enormous military power. Say, Master, he probably won't do that after just one defeat, right?"

He Xia shook his head, "Of course not. The House of Jing-An has been an important part of Gui Le in the past. If the King really decides to kill me, unnecessary blood will be shed and it will cause a riot."

"Then if Master wins and goes back, will the King reward Master?"

"If we win, of course the King has to reward us." He Xia then put in, "Though it's not like I want the rewards, but the King must reward and punish freely, to earn everyone's respect."

"If Master wins and returns to the Capital, the peasants will love Master even more. I believe the King will give Master rewards but deep down, he'll resent the House of Jing-An even more. The House of Jing-An will be in danger then."

"In other words, the King will feel threatened and try to get rid of the House of Jing-An. As soon as the Duke of Jing-An falls, Gui Le will be unstable and Dong Lin will take this as an opportunity to attack. Haha, Chu Beijie sure is crazy. What he wants isn't just a few cities, but the entire land our Gui Le occupies."

"You said that right!" Pingting clapped her hands, pleasure lit up in her eyes. She immediately changed from the serious army advisor to an energetic, cute maid. On her round face, two dimples appeared. Glancing back at He Xia, she smiled, "Master is so clever. Whatever Chu Beijie is plotting, Master will find the answer easily."

He Xia couldn't help laughing, "The cleverest person I know is our army advisor, Bai. If you were a boy, I wouldn't be the main advisor anymore would I?"

Both people laughed. Though this cheerful sound did not stop, in their hearts, both of them felt uneasy.

The mud path ahead seemed very difficult to travel on.

Though their hearts were prepared, not even in their wildest dreams did they guess that in a blink of an eye, everything would change. Forever.