Chapter 10 A Sleep

As after every tiring event, after exchanging pleasantries with the people he had to deal with, Ye Tao would lock eyes with Tan Weixin, and with a tacit understanding, hurry home and get a good night’s sleep in his room.

Perhaps ten or so hours later, he was awakened by a rustling sound. Sophie Marceau, curled up beside him, rested her chin affectionately on his arm, drowsily looking at the bedroom door, listening to the suppressed, yet still obvious, childish voices. Then, Sophie Marceau shook Ye Tao awake. Whether it was a habit from a past or present life, upon waking and seeing a face of stunning beauty, smelling the soft, brown hair falling on her face, Ye Tao subconsciously embraced Sophie Marceau and placed a kiss on her warm lips—an action that, though not overly intimate, still made Sophie Marceau shyly retreat into the covers.

The sounds from the doorway were highly suspicious, sounding like Dai Qiuyan and Tan Weishi were together.

"Ye Tao isn't up yet, is he? Is he really that tired?"

"Yeah, he often sleeps for a long time when he's tired. But he should be awake by now."

"Great! Then help me wake him up."

"Aren't you going in?" The voice sounded curious and questioning.

"Hey," the little princess seemed a bit shy and frustrated, "He's your man, you can go into his bedroom whenever you want. What would it look like if I went in?"

"Oh." Dai Qiuyan's voice was still as innocent as ever. But she still pushed open the door and tiptoed towards the familiar, warm, and soft bed.

When Dai Qiuyan lifted the silk curtain of the four-poster bed, which was hard to say whether it was Chinese or Western in style, she was startled by Ye Tao’s gaze, which was awake but held some confusion. Immediately, she skillfully kicked off her shoes, jumped onto the bed, grabbed a large pillow filled with soft goose down, hugged it, snuggled into Ye Tao's arms, and asked affectionately, "Brother Ye, are you awake? Little Princess has been waiting for you for a long time. Brother Lu couldn't handle it, so he asked me to bring Her Highness to find you. Are you getting up now?"

"What does that girl want from me again?" Ye Tao asked.

Dai Qiuyan shook her head and said, "I don't know. She came this morning, and when she heard you were sleeping, she went to the Yi Zhan Lou to watch a game of chess for a while, then came back. It seems like she has something to say to you, not like there's something wrong."

Dai Qiuyan was a very well-behaved girl. Although she was always quiet and gentle, didn't talk much, and rarely offered ideas on anything, even if she had any thoughts, she would only timidly tell Ye Tao when others weren't around. However, her gentle heart seemed to give her a certain talent, a talent for discerning other people's intentions. She could always intuitively perceive other people's moods and thoughts. And she always seemed to be someone people could confide their feelings to without worry.

Ye Tao nodded and said, "Alright, I'll get up now. Have you had lunch?"

Ye Tao jumped out of bed and started getting dressed. Sophie Marceau, blushing, emerged from the covers and helped Ye Tao change. Dai Qiuyan sat on the edge of the bed, swinging her legs, and said, "No, not yet. Her Highness said someone was treating us to lunch, and told me not to eat yet. It's already afternoon, I don't know if there will even be any lunch."

When the bedroom door reopened, Tan Weishi was anxiously pacing as if she was about to start jumping, but the moment she saw Ye Tao, she calmed down and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "You're finally awake! My uncle is looking for you, hurry, hurry, I'm starving."

Tan Weishi's uncle was naturally the Grand General Zhuo Mang. Although he didn't know what Zhuo Mang wanted from him, Ye Tao understood that making Zhuo Mang wait for him to eat seemed… a bit out of line. And did inviting him to dinner require sending an emissary of Tan Weishi's caliber? Ye Tao didn't think he was that important.

While walking side by side with Ye Tao through the garden corridor of the Grand General's mansion, Tan Weishi asked hesitantly, "Those words you used during the commentary yesterday, did you come up with them?"

"You know the content of the commentary?" Ye Tao asked with a smile.

Tan Weishi nodded and said, "Yes, I lost the chess game, so I went back to Xiu Yuan to cry. Later, my sister came to find me and told me about your commentary. This morning, someone from my sister's mansion brought over the complete transcript of yesterday's commentary… You made me sound so good… I really wish I was that princess in the story… Too bad, I'm so useless."

"Only when you really have the opportunity to face such things will you be able to see if you are useful. You are our little princess." Ye Tao didn't want to coax Tan Weishi. Although Her Highness the Embroidered Princess was a bit willful, she was a very well-bred child, and genuine kindness was easier for her to accept than false flattery.

Tan Weishi nodded, then said somewhat dejectedly, "Too bad I'm so useless. Thinking about it later, I could have won yesterday. That was Chi Yun, after all. But he let me win. And when I play Cuju with those Imperial Guards and bodyguards, they always let me win. Winning doesn't make me happy…"

Being born into an imperial family sometimes means the loss of a lot of fun. If it weren't for Tan Weixin, a sister who came from the same era as Ye Tao and was still trying to influence the people around her with her abilities, and if it weren't for Ye Tao, a person with a democratic mindset of equality for all in his bones, Tan Weishi's life might have lacked a lot of joy.

If it weren't for the watchful eyes of the many guards in the Grand General's mansion, Ye Tao might have stroked Tan Weishi's head, as if treating a cherished younger sister. But he didn't dare to do so at the moment. He smiled slightly and said, "You will be a good princess. When you grow up, prove it to us."

That unquestionable tone was already a great encouragement to Tan Weishi. Tan Weishi nodded vigorously, then took a step back, grabbed the hand of Dai Qiuyan, whom she had called over and who was not within the scope of Grand General Zhuo Mang's invitation but would never be refused, and walked alongside this friend, who was very compatible with her, whispering softly, side by side, following behind Ye Tao. She naturally understood how shocking such actions would be to others. Ye Tao's transgression at this moment, even if it was passive, was enough to warrant capital punishment. But now, in Dongping, in Danyang, absolutely no one would risk universal condemnation in the eyes of so many people who favored Ye Tao.

Ye Tao, Dai Qiuyan, and Tan Weishi, who were late, ultimately missed lunch at the Grand General's mansion. But with a command from the Grand General, exquisite snacks and sweet hot tangerine tea were enough to comfort their hungry stomachs. Zhuo Mang had invited not only Ye Tao; in that room with the huge sand table, Chi Yun and other core members of the Imperial Guard were prominently present.

Zhuo Mang gently raised his hand, supporting Ye Tao, and Ye Tao's greeting froze, unable to even kneel. "Don't be so polite. When you come to my mansion, it's either for official business or as a friend. Don't you understand the rules? Chi Yun and his group are subordinates, it's not good for them to break military rules. Don't be so formal."

Zhuo Mang generously pulled Ye Tao to the sand table, pointing to the layout of yesterday's game on the sand table, and said to Ye Tao, "I asked you here because I want to see how this situation should have changed."

Chi Yun and the others were respectful towards Ye Tao. Especially Chi Yun; Ye Tao's commentary yesterday had simply shaped him into a hero filled with compassion but also capable of decisive combat. Regardless of whether such an image matched reality, in an occasion with so many high-ranking officials and generals, even if it only left such an impression, it would be of considerable benefit to Chi Yun's future career development.

"Then I'll make a fool of myself," seeing that he couldn't refuse, Ye Tao simply didn't hide anything, pointing to some of the chess pieces on the board. From his perspective, from the perspective of the game, he began to explain some places where Chi Yun and the others might have handled things improperly, and also pointed out many loopholes on Tan Weishi's side. The game was just a game. No matter how close the game was to reality, any way of thinking that considered the problem from a realistic perspective could lead to undesirable results. In Ye Tao's narration, Tan Weishi's side had done slightly better than Chi Yun's side. But no matter who it was, everyone could hear that Ye Tao was holding back.

"If your resume wasn't so simple and everything was documented, I would almost think you were an old scoundrel who had been in the military for many years." Zhuo Mang chuckled and said, "We were discussing a question just now. How exactly did you know the abilities of those troop types? And how were you able to perceive the mindset of the lower-level soldiers so keenly? This is really too interesting. I gathered many veteran generals and old soldiers to inquire, and when they looked at those troop types you listed, and the values and calculations you set… uh… formulas, they could only pick out a few places where there were discrepancies."

Ye Tao naturally wouldn't say that his understanding of the mindset of lower-level soldiers was because countless movies, TV series, novels, and comics in his era had shifted their focus away from those tall and complete heroic figures, trying to depict the lives of ordinary soldiers, and trying to describe the struggles of those ordinary people on the battlefield of life and death in a more detailed way. Anyone, after watching so many works, if they couldn't come up with a general conclusion, then their IQ must be questionable. And the numerical settings between those different troop types were determined and constantly modified by countless game planners and even mathematicians over a long period of time to achieve a relatively perfect balance.

After thinking for a moment, Ye Tao said somewhat awkwardly, "I wouldn't dare to say that I understand the feelings of the soldiers in the army. It's just putting myself in their shoes. Many of the troop types in the Grand Strategy are based on imagination, but they have also been scrutinized by many players before their official release, and have undergone many adjustments before they have these detailed designs. There must still be many loopholes in them, please correct me, Grand General."

Zhuo Mang waved his hand and said, "…Correct? That doesn't seem to be something this old man can do. Even if you let me fill the numbers into the formula, I can't calculate the result. I asked you to come here today because there's something else. Chi Yun said that some of the troop types in your Grand Strategy seem… very interesting. He suggested that I try to establish some in the army, and see what the effect is. Heavy infantry will definitely be tried out in Danyang. As for the others, do you have any suggestions?"

Ye Tao was stunned. Indeed, there were many troop types in the Grand Strategy gameplay that had not yet appeared in the military establishments of any country. Or, they had never been specifically subdivided. For example, in the Grand Strategy gameplay, scout cavalry was listed as a separate troop type, which had a lot of overlap with the function of light cavalry but was not exactly the same. This expensive troop type was not often used, but obviously, in yesterday's battle, Chi Lei's extravagant use of scout cavalry and the great role that scout cavalry played had made Chi Yun and the others re-read the troop type introduction and various settings in the rulebook, and they had gained some insights. As for sword-and-shield infantry, which was very advantageous in street fighting, and lancer cavalry, which emphasized battlefield impact… these were all things that Ye Tao couldn't explain clearly. What was even more unexplainable was why Ye Tao was able to carve each subdivided troop type so vividly when designing the chess pieces, not only the general image, but even the weapons, equipment, and some accessories that each troop type needed to be equipped with were presented on those chess pieces. Sometimes, Ye Tao would hate his perfectionism and realism in this regard.

"Uncle," Tan Weishi, who was sitting on the side and had eaten her fill, began to interrupt their conversation, "Are you saying that you want to turn those beautiful chess pieces into real soldiers? That would be a lot of fun."

Zhuo Mang smiled and said, "If we're really going to do it, we'll start with the Imperial Guard. This kind of thing that costs a lot of money is not up to me to decide. You should go and pester your sister."

Tan Weishi pouted and said dissatisfiedly, "I'll go talk to my sister. The guys I have on hand all say they want to serve in the military."

Tan Weishi, who would do whatever she thought of, really went to talk to Tan Weixin about this matter that night. But to her surprise, Tan Weixin didn't object to it. She just said that she didn't have any money right now. Under the pressure of several super projects in a row, the Inner Treasury was now relatively empty. Apart from the money to cover daily expenses and a portion used for emergency reserves, almost everything had been invested in operations. In particular, the reconstruction of Danyang City, the consumption of funds had already made Tan Weixin somewhat overwhelmed. If it weren't for the active participation of the merchants and officials in Danyang, the Inner Treasury would probably be empty by now.