"Why are you so late?" Liu Cheng, reeking of sweat and blood, stormed into the hall with a dark expression and immediately berated the man before him in front of everyone. "What do you take our lives for?!"
Startled, the man hurried to explain. "I didn't waste any time. I spent only half a day in Fangtou before bringing these three thousand fresh troops here! It was only when I arrived and heard we'd already won up ahead that I turned toward Xuchang."
"Do you know how many fewer men would have died if you'd arrived half a day sooner?" His face contorted, Liu Cheng gripped his saber hilt and advanced, spraying the other man's face with spit. "Do you know the Qiang were routed twice by Fu Xiong's main force, suffered countless casualties, and nearly reached the end of the road, with mountains blocking their way and rivers running dry? That Yao Xiang himself nearly died? Do you know how much effort I spent getting Hu Bin to march yesterday? That I was so desperate I nearly jumped into the river? Do you know Yang Qun, the commander of Xuchang's garrison, suddenly appeared to intercept us and nearly got me killed? If you, Staff Officer Yuan, had reached the battlefield then, why would any of that have been necessary? And now you're here, instead of supporting the front, you actually occupied Xuchang first? What fucking use is occupying Xuchang now?!"
The man was Yuan Hong, who had returned from Fangtou only to enter the empty city of Xuchang directly. Frightened by Liu Acheng's sudden change of manner and torrent of abuse, he retreated step after step. An officer behind him, smelling only of sweat and not blood, promptly gripped his saber and moved forward warily. This triggered an even