Chapter 847

The atmosphere inside the conference hall instantly became somewhat subtle.

The guards Li Yu summoned didn't take Liu Yan away; instead, Liu Yan waved them off.

Although Li Yu is the Controller, overseeing the entire army, it's already clear who really calls the shots here.

When even ordinary guards ignore rank and openly defect, some things need no further explanation; anyone can see it.

But contrary to everyone's expectations, Li Yu was not furious like thunder; instead, he was very calm, as if he had already known this outcome.

He braced his hands on the table, sank into the chair, and calmly looked at Liu Yan: "Supervisor Liu, if you insist on your concealed troops plan, go ahead, but I won't issue this military order."

"Targeting me on purpose?" Liu Yan sneered, "You think just because you hold the Yin Shu in your hand it's really yours? If you won't give the order, I'll do it myself! If anything happens, I'll take the blame—but if we win this battle, your head on your neck, Sir Li, probably won't last long."

"Are you trying to seize power by force?" Li Yu asked calmly.

Liu Yan sneered, "This position goes to the capable. Since you lack the guts, don't just sit on the toilet and not defecate. I see no difference between overseeing the entire army and supervising the army—just stay aside and watch, don't get in the way."

"Then you might as well just consider killing me!" Li Yu said slowly.

What do you want to do? Since I won't budge from my order, I won't get in your way; you can go ahead and do it. But you can't take the Yin Shu, unless you kill me.

Li Yu's words had the feel of smashing the pot and smashing the crock—he was throwing away power outright, you could mess around however you liked, but the Yin Shu was off‑limits; that was his bottom line.

A flash of gloom crossed Liu Yan's eyes. 'You think I don't dare?'

'Kill him, I don't care.' Li Yu crossed his arms and sat down in the chair, adopting an attitude of 'do whatever you want, I'm completely indifferent.'

Liu Yan stared at Li Yu with a gloomy, cold gaze, his hand suddenly gripping the Knife hilt.

At this meeting, everyone's weapons were put away.

Only he was an accident.

Seeing his action, everyone except Li Yu's faces changed abruptly.

The Lìng Strategist Gao Yu, seeing this, felt a headache; he saw that no one else intended to stand up and mediate, so he gritted his teeth and stood up again.

'Manager Liu, this really can't be done—think it over, think it over!' Gao Yu groaned inwardly, but he had to continue persuading.

He stepped forward, embraced Liu Yan, pressed his hand onto Liu Yan's hand, stopping him from drawing the Knife.

'We haven't even started the war, and our main commander looks like this— isn't this just making Chen Wuji laugh at us?' Gao Yu groaned inwardly, but he had to continue persuading.

'What's the matter? Let's sit down and talk slowly—we've been colleagues for so many years, what can't we say? Calm down, calm down!'

If possible, he really doesn't want to get involved in this.

But there's no choice—the others' statuses are lower, and some aren't even qualified to mediate.

The only remaining qualified person was Cao Lin—that dog‑thing—he was fundamentally not a mediator.

Who knows—later he might still have to go persuade that bastard.

For now, since it's not about him, he stays cold and silent; but when it's his turn, he's harder to speak to than anyone.

Gao Yu listed every reason he could think of, painstakingly, and only then did Liu Yan finally loosen his grip.

'I'm giving Strategist Gao some face; otherwise I'll definitely take your dog's life!' Liu Yan snorted coldly, flung his hand and left the meeting hall: 'My troops I'll lead myself; no need for you to interfere!'

Li Yu snorted coldly, a smirk on his lips, shook his head: 'Some idiots think that the skills they rely on power to bully others at home will work just as well outside—tsk tsk, simply unbelievable.'

Having said that, he looked at Gao Yu and Cao Lin: 'What do you two think? If you want to lead troops independently like that Liu, you can arrange it yourselves; no need to consider my attitude as the Commissioner.'

Gao Yu sighed: 'Lord Li, you also know that Manager Liu has always been very face‑conscious; today you really… somewhat overstepped in refusing to give him face—why don't you… lower your head a bit? Apologize?'

'Three routes of Bīngmǎ, setting aside your position as Commissioner and each fighting on our own, that's not a thing—it's somewhat undisciplined—what do you think?'

Li Yu laughed in anger.

He could barely tell whether this was war or playing house.

Even playing house isn't usually this casual, right?

'What do you mean by saying that, Strategist Gao? Could it be you also support Liu's plan to hide troops?' Li Yu retorted, then impatiently waved his hand: 'Forget it, don't say more—if you support him, just act with Liu; no need to ask my opinion, and don't rush to convince me.'

'I'd rather die than get involved in such a stupid matter; as for making me apologize to him, I advise you not to waste your breath—Laborers demand face!'

He knows nothing about strategy, yet he stubbornly insists on his own view, relying on his authority to try to forcefully convince him.

Is this war?

Such a person is nothing but disgusting inside—still disgusting.

But once outside, someone will surely teach him how to be a person, how to wage war.

Waging war means people will die.

This is not playing house.

Gao Yu sighed wistfully: 'You two… ah, forget it, I won't say more. Manager Liu's tactics indeed have serious problems, but they're not completely unworkable; since he insists, let's follow him—Lord Li, you should still explain the upcoming tactical arrangements.'

Li Yu glanced at Cao Lin, sitting motionless to the side, even after entering the door his gaze hardly changed, and asked: 'Lord Cao, what's your opinion?'

'I have no opinion; I'm a commander, I just follow orders.' Cao Lin said indifferently.

He is very cold‑hearted, giving the feeling of not recognizing even his own kin.

But those who know him well know he's a typical double‑dealer, his stance never fixed; he sides with whoever gives him the most benefit.

However, as a commander, he's skilled at leading troops in war and very good at securing benefits for his subordinates. Probably precisely because of this, his Bīngmǎ under his command are extremely loyal; even if Cao Lin changes his mountain base, his troops basically won't complain and will follow.

Li Yu stared at Cao Lin for a moment, then said: 'Then let's hold the troops!'

Gao Yu was startled: 'Lord Li, this… holding the troops isn't good, is it?'

While he was still tangled up trying to persuade Li Yu, Cao Lin had already stood up.

'Received the order!'

After simply receiving the order, Cao Lin didn't waste words and left straight away.

Gao Yu opened his mouth, suddenly wanting to die.

His smooth way of handling things, facing these people, gave him a feeling like a toad trying to eat the sky—nowhere to bite; really, damn it, how did he end up working with these people!