Fan Zeng's Helplessness

Third update's here... but it doesn't count as a bonus release! Heh!

"King Wuhuan isn't as lustful or sentimental as people think. He's had months to make a move on Miss Yu, yet he hasn't touched her. Her visit home is bait—a trap. If we act against her, we'll play right into his hands. Best to leave her alone. Then nothing will happen. The Central Plains lie south of the Yellow River and north of the Yangtze River. If we can't destroy King Wuhuan this time, we should accept that it can't be done, abandon Jiangdong, and focus everything on taking the Central Plains. Do that, and we can secure our rule there!"

After a moment's thought, Fan Zeng delivered his startling answer slowly.

"What?! Abandon Jiangdong?! We can't do that!" Chen Ying cried as everyone recoiled in shock.

Jiangdong was the Xiang Clan Army's base and rear stronghold. Most of its core soldiers had family there. How could they abandon it?

It wasn't just Chen Ying. Even Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu, who trusted and respected Fan Zeng deeply, along with Ying Bu, Zhongli Mei, and Yu Ziqi, looked at him strangely.

"Ah... I know that, of course. But according to my divination, both Miss Yu's visit home and King Wuhuan's campaign in Lingnan are traps. Whether we attack Hidden Dragon Commandery or detain Miss Yu, the omen is dire: rivers of blood and grievous losses."

Fan Zeng shook his head with a helpless, bitter smile.

"Why?" Xiang Liang asked. He trusted Fan Zeng almost blindly, far more than Chen Ying and the others did, but he was still puzzled.

"If I knew why, I wouldn't have sacrificed ten years of my life and suffered a grave backlash! But I'm certain that moving against Miss Yu or Hidden