Cunning General Si Ning

"Here is my order, hear me oh my Commanders!" Si Ning said immediately Jiang Ye opened the door for him and he stepped in. "Do not pause the selection process and we will only give the Imperial army those that are truly willing among my army and I hope you can make sure that I won't end up not giving up any of my troops so that means you can't tell them that if they are willing which means you are giving them options whether to stay or not, just tell them if they want to join the Imperial army, they can." He said briskly before lowering his gaze to look at the Commanders at the table.

Si Ning was in a good mood and was about to give his next instructions after a quick evaluation of what he said to know if he gave out a bunch of meaningful orders or just said a bunch of nonsense when he noticed that Ji Ran wasn't in the room. It was only Chen An and Su Heng who was sitting at the table which a shocked expression like they weren't expecting him to be back so soon which made Si Ning raise a questioning brow making Chen An and Su Heng quickly jumped to their feet as they wore a serious expression.

"General." Chen An said as he nervously scratched his cheek. "We do not stop the selection process and we have to ask them if they want to join that they can join on their free will but at the same time we must avoid telling them that they can only join if they are willing." He said one word at a time as a means to fully understand each word he was saying then he raised his gaze hopefully at Si Ning for affirmation that he just interpreted his order correctly.

Si Ning shook his head which earned a gasp from Chen An making the first Commander quickly bring out a note and charcoal from his waist porch to write the orders. "We doesn't include me." He pointed out. "The we you said is you, Su Heng and Ji Ran." He said clearly as his gaze shifted to the table.

"General did I get your orders correctly? that I Su Heng and Ji Ran do not tell them that only if they are willing but they should join if they are willing while making it compulsory that some have to join?." Chen An said in an unsure quiet small voice as he wore a confused look.

"Ah... Yes and also retain the best soldiers among them." Si Ning said after a while, wondering if Chen An just interpreted it right but then it was their work to figure out his vague order and he just hopped at the end he won't lose half of his army.

"Yes General." Chen An said as he started writing down on the note.

"Also complete this task within two days and bring me the report on it so I can prepare the document on my part." Si Ning said and didn't miss their shocked expression, he had thousand of armies and he just gave out a task which was impossible to achieve within two days.

"General, two days is a bit..." Chen An started before biting down on his bottom lip.

"Take all the help you need, I will send Jiang Ye too and when I say take all the help you need I mean even thousands and I am sure you Su Heng and Ji Ran are wise enough to deal with it smoothly within two days." Si Ning said, unsure if he even could do what he just instructed them to do but time wasn't by his side for him to start considering their capability.

"Yes General, we will carry it out." Chen An nodded as he started writing once more in his note.

"Where is Ji Ran?" Si Ning asked as his eyes dart around the room expecting to see Ah Dai asleep or lying somewhere because he assumed Ah Dai should be asleep when he didn't see him quickly come to him immediately Jiang Ye opened the door.

It was odd that Ah Dai wasn't resting in the room as he instructed and no tea was served to the Commanders that Si Ning had to focused his attention on Chen An who was now scratching his chin. His gaze on Chen An was his means to make him start talking and to make Su Heng know that his question wasn't directed to him.

"Ji Ran stepped out." Chen An said after some time before keeping the note and charcoal in his porch while avoiding meeting Si Ning's gaze.

Si Ning noticed Chen An didn't want to meet his gaze which means he was hiding something. "And why didn't Ah Dai serve you tea?" He asked as he gestured towards the empty tea set on the table.

If Chen An says Ji Ran stepped out then Si Ning was going to believe him because he doesn't want to stress himself trying to find out what Chen An was hiding and he was more concerned about Ah Dai because it was impossible for him to give Ah Dai something to do and Ah Dai should abandon it or forget to do and seeing that Ji Ran wasn't in the room made him concluded that Ah Dai was unable to serve them due to a small accident and Ji Ran had to treat his wound and Chen An lied that Ji Ran just stepped out because Ah Dai doesn't want him to know he got injured.

"Because we... are full and we have to get to work which made us refuse tea because for us this is no time to relax." Su Heng replied after Chen An pretended the question wasn't directed to him and refused to reply by turning to Su Heng with a pleading look.

"I also do not have time to relax Su Heng because the 'us' in your statement doesn't include me." Si Ning narrowed his eyes, he didn't even try to act like he wasn't offended by the statement. He might have been doing lesser work than his Commanders doesn't mean he had time to relax because even when he had to eat, still he couldn't bring himself to relax completely and enjoy his food without his mind trying to think of a better solution to solve a problem he had been dealing with.

"Forgive me General for the slip of my tongue and the false implication." Su Heng said quickly as he fell on one knee, his head bowed to show his deep regret and hoping for forgiveness.

This was Su Heng's means to avoid meeting the General's eyes and Si Ning knew and confirmed it when Chen An also knelt on one knee for no reason as he bowed. Before Si Ning could say a word, the door opened and Ah Dai stepped in, his fluster appearance made Si Ning turn his attention fully to him and he didn't miss how Ah Dai's face was flushed and when his eyes met Ah Dai made his servant to quickly look away as he started fidgeting, guilt written all over his eyes as his dart around like he was finding a place to hide.

"Ah Dai this is not....." Ji Ran that came in next in an attempt to stop Ah Dai quickly stopped talking when he laid his eyes on Si Ning because Si Ning was standing close to the door and Ah Dai already stepped aside was the reason that Ji Ran first laid his eyes on him.

Si Ning eyes shifted from Ah Dai to Ji Ran and he didn't miss the desperate expression on the third Commander. "This is interesting." He said softly and took note of how Ah Dai's eyes widen as he bit his lips.