Kong Xiuzhi's expression was cold and stern:
"Your Highness, do you still not understand? Yingzhou is the strategic crossing between east and west-"
"Stop telling me how important Yingzhou is!!!
Knowing that won't help me! Knowing that won't help you! If we can't beat him, we can't beat him!
Old Kong, this isn't how you earn merit! First you have to be able to win, then you can earn merit!
Haven't you figured it out yet? Why didn't Xiao Zixiang attack when Shen Wenji was stationed in Yingzhou? Why did he wait until I came? Because he saw that we had nobody here-
Sorry, I'm not saying you're useless.
But with things as they are, even if Shen Wenji hadn't been reassigned... Get a boat ready for me already! Aaaaaah!"
Little Ninth started shrieking hysterically like a groundhog.
Kong Xiuzhi had no choice but to let a little information slip:
"I will tell you something in confidence, Prince. The reason I dare fight is that an extraordinary man gave me a defensive strategy. From what I have seen, his strategic planning may well rival that of the Duke of Liu and Shen Pingdong. And... there is also... in short, this battle is not without a chance of victory-"
"Hey, wait, wait, wait!"
Suspecting that his excitement had dulled his hearing, Little Ninth freed one hand and dug at his ear, then asked:
"Who did you just say gave you a defensive strategy?"
"An extraordinary man."
"Who? Qi Ren? His surname is Qi?"
"An extraordinary man is someone beyond the ordinary. He harbors extraordinary stratagems, possesses extraordinary insight, acts extraordinarily, and plans extraordinarily. Thus, an extraordinary man."
Little Ninth's curiosity surged, and he urged:
"Just tell me his name!"
"I do not know it."
"Oh, for crying-"
"But the approximate date