"General."

Si Ning heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Chen An call outside the door. "Come in." He seethed, unable to hide his anger, even though there was no means for him to check the time but he could tell it was almost an hour, his Commanders just wasted one hour when he doesn't have time to waste and the worst part was Xiao Pei not showing up neither did Shao Lang come to pay him a visit which means he had nothing to do for the past hour and no means to progress. What irritated him most that he closed his eyes for the past hour, he tried to think and meditate but at the end of the day he came up with nothing.

Since the room was bright made Si Ning blinked and was able to catch a figure with the corner of his eyes which made him turn only to see Ah Dai still kneeling because he had spent almost an hour with his eyes closed thinking made him unaware of his surroundings and he wasn't able to know that Ah Dai was still kneeling.

"..." Ah Dai looked hopefully at Si Ning, his eyes beseeching, looking like a lost pitiful puppy.

"Ah Dai stand up!." Si Ning said and snapped his finger as an indication for Ah Dai to comply fast.

Si Ning knew Ah Dai had been kneeling for long which was his fault because he didn't tell him to stand when he knelt and he couldn't help but feel guilty since it was his fault when he should have opened his eyes to at least check what Ah Dai was doing when he closed his eyes and couldn't detect any movement around him which was unusual.

When Ah Dai tried to stand on his feet and like a magnetic force pulling him, he almost falls back on his knees which was prevented by Si Ning that jumped up and crossed over to rescue him by quickly grabbing his hand to pull him up while he placed his foot forward to prevent Ah Dai from falling.

"Young Master?" Ah Dai was unable to mask how surprised he was. "Forgive me Young Master for stressing you, because of me Young Master have to stand up..."

"Go and lie down at your quarters, Jiang Ye will take over for now ." Si Ning said softly, cutting Ah Dai short in a way to prevent Ah Dai to kneel asking for forgiveness.

"But Young Master, Ah Dai will work hard and try not to make a mistake." Ah Dai replied, reluctant to leave the room.

"General?"

"Come in!" Si Ning yelled when he heard Chen An call him softly which means they might not have heard him when he first permitted them to enter the room.

The door opened and Chen An, Su Heng, and Ji Ran stepped in with light steps which made Si Ning narrowed his eyes as he released his hold on Ah Dai's arm but till holding the arm loosely as an indication to show that Ah Dai can't leave yet even though he had given him orders to go to his quarters but Ah Dai was still unstable that Si Ning had to hold place his hand on his shoulder, his hand almost touching the prosthetic arm but he was careful not to touch it since the arm wasn't completely healed yet.

Si Ning turned, ready to lash out at the Commanders because he was feeling irritated since it was the first time he would close his eyes for long and not able to conclude but immediately he saw their appearance made him pursed his lips, although the Commanders seemed to be dressed neatly and appropriately but anyone could tell they seemed tired. Their eyes were dull, there were dark circles under their eyes even though the dark circles weren't that visible but Si Ning noticed and Chen An looked like he had lost some weight.

After helping Ah Dai regained his balance, Si Ning made sure to turn to Ah Dai, wearing a serious expression which made Ah Dai unable to protest about staying, and Ah Dai had no choice but to move forward and saluted the Commanders before swiftly leaving the room, giving them privacy to discuss.

"General." Chen An, Su Heng, and Ah Dai saluted.

Si Ning gestured for them to sit as he sighed and took a seat opposite them. "It's been long since I have seen you and why do you all look tired?." He asked as he taps the table, while a feeling of time not being enough for them to discuss overwhelmed him.

"General, we are not tired, we dare not be tired of serving our country." Chen An replied sharply.

Si Ning sighed wondering what it would cost for Chen An to go straight to the point instead of dodging by giving him a vague reply. "What is happening?" He asked, ditching asking a series of questions as a hint to make Chen An talk about why he looked tired because Si Ning felt like it was just a little bit before he loses it and turns to a hostile teacher demanding answers from their students.

It was past midday and if Xiu Zhicheng was planning to have lunch with him then it was impossible which was one of the reasons that Si Ning was annoyed. All he asks for and want was, first just to have a brief from Xiu TianZhao, second an opinion of the decision to make about his army from Shao Lang, and third, an opinion from the three Commanders and Si Ning doesn't think he was asking for too much. After all, for some reason he doesn't know, he wants to have lunch with Xiu Zhicheng because he felt like he had not seen him for a long time.

From what Si Ning deduced from the current situation was that he should have asked for his mother's opinion due to Chen An, Su Heng, and Ji Ran showing up late, asking for his mother's opinion than waiting for almost an hour for the Commanders to arrive would have saved time and added more knowledge to him.

"What is happening about the palace or the army?" Si Ning asked. "I mean tell me about everything and when I say everything, I mean everything about the army, what you have all been doing to not show up immediately you received the message I sent Ah Dai." He added as he folded his hands and placed it on the table, his sharp gaze directed at Chen An to show he was expecting an explanation from Chen An.

"There is a rumor going in the palace that General will be giving up half of his army to the Imperial army and we didn't know how the rumor got out but the army heard of it and they were disturbed and unrest." Chen An started. "Some said they will like to join the Imperial army while the others by General's side that want to stay with the Si family started a fight which had been what I and Commander Su Heng and Ji Ran has been dealing with but we have been able to prevent the Lieutenants from barging into the residence and demanding to see you and we have also been able to appease them that when General wakes up then General will address them personally." He explained.