A few weeks passed since Ying-tai was stripped from his nobility and left the palace to rejoin his men in the battlefield. When he arrived at the front by Chu, he immediately went to meet his officials at the camp. Inside the tent, he saw his commanders and generals already waiting for him. They bowed and saluted to him.

“You received my letter?” Li Xin asked.

“Yes,” Ying-tai responded.

Li Xin lowered his head, “After a few victories, my pride got the better of me and I turned to underestimate them. We were outnumbered by almost triple.”

Ying-tai thought for a moment and sighed, “They let you take those victories in intent to trick you. You relaxed your judgment toward them after a few consistent victories and when they sensed the right time, they launched you in swarming numbers you were not prepared for. It was all a game of deceit.” Ying-tai explained. He paused then leaned over the map. “We will play their game with them. I see you have conquered Pingyu. We will use this to our advantage. We will send men to dwell there and defend the site while we ready ourselves for another battle.”

“I don’t have enough men to do that,” Li Xin was concerned of the plan. Then he looked at Ying-tai with wide eyes, “Unless…you called more—“

“I have requested for more men. Around Six hundred thousand. It would suffice,” Ying-tai informed. “They will go to Pingyu with me. Meanwhile, you stay here and defend this camp.”

“When do we attack?” Li Xin asked.

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“We don’t. At least not yet,” Ying-tai replied.

Huian, Xia, and everyone else looked at him.

“We will remain idle for a while and use that time to train quietly in their own soil. We need to change our tactics and plan up new strategies against them. We will ONLY fight when defending.” He looked at his men, “They want to play a game, we will play one with them.”

“A waiting game? Are you sure that’s the wise thing to do now?” One of the generals asked.

“No, I think this is the right way to play against Chu,” Xia agreed with Ying-tai.

“This waiting game will obscure their plans toward our next move. They will be expecting another attack from us but there won’t be any. Thinking we have given up, they will put us out of focus and that will make them vulnerable to us,” Huian explained.

They all nodded but were still uncertain of the plan.

Li Xin smiled, “I trust you, Lord Ying-tai.”

Ying-tai paused. “It’s now just simply Ying-tai,” Ying-tai said.

Everyone stood quiet inside the tent.

“I am no longer of nobility,” he informed his men. “Just a commander.”

“What do you mean?” One of the lower ranked commanders asked.

“The new Emperor stripped him from his name,” Xia announced spitefully.

“Why?” They asked, unhappy.

Huian and Xia looked at Ying-tai. He straightened his posture and looked unto his men and smiled, “Nobility means nothing to me. As long as I’m still fighting alongside you men, as long as I am still your Unit Commander, I am happy.”

His elite men looked at one another, hearts angry at the amount of disrespect the new Emperor had toward Ying-tai. Then they turned their eyes toward Ying-tai. They fell onto their knees and saluted him, “Unit Commander Ying-tai of Qin, you are far more valued than a man with a title. Your title was not what got us to fight with you! Therefore, don’t think yourself as less of a leader. You are not just a man of Qin, you are a hero!” They declared. “We fight to die with you for your vision, not to be praised.”

Ying-tai smiled and nodded. “Some of you will stay here with Li Xin. The rest of you will leave with me to Pingyu at dawn,” he announced. “Meeting dismissed!”