Liu Jili remained silent for a long time, not because he found the answer embarrassing, but because he genuinely did not know what was going on, and he had vaguely sensed the other man's basic attitude.
"So, even if there is anything to this, it probably wasn't the emperor or the Prince of Kuaiji personally arranging or pressing for it. At most, Xun Rui said something to his younger brother for the sake of their family." After a long while, Liu Cheng spoke again with a smile. "Perhaps there was never any such thing at all. Perhaps Xun Lingze himself is simply determined to help a sage sovereign sweep the realm clean, risking his blood and acting on his own, supposedly for His Majesty, for the state, and for all under heaven?
"But if that's the case, no one can very well deny it, and my question instead looks like an attack on his motives?"
"There's no need for us to worry about whether we're attacking each other's motives." Liu Jili nodded slowly, then asked in return, "Then, Acheng, what you mean is... the people downstream, myself included, have wonderful ideas, but given the overall situation between North and South, we may not withstand even the most basic military hammering, just like this crushing defeat in Yan Province? We might suddenly wreck the situation, as Yin Hao and Xie Shang did before? Whereas Grand Marshal Huan upstream can keep winning?"
"Those downstream won't necessarily lose, but their chances of winning aren't great. Those upstream won't necessarily keep winning, either; they're simply somewhat less likely to lose." Liu Cheng likewise nodded slowly, as though that were indeed his reasoning.
But that was not how it was. At the very least, that was not what Liu Acheng thought.
In fact, just moments