"Has My Lord already determined that the Imperial Court will allow Lord Jingnan to retake the field?" asked A Ming.
"Previously, the Yan Emperor ordered the Eldest Prince to take command. In my view, there was no issue with that, nor with the Eldest Prince's performance. Replacing him with another general wouldn't necessarily have yielded a better outcome. Who could have predicted the Chu people would suddenly interfere, right?"
Of course, there was another layer of meaning to this statement: if Lord Jingnan had been commanding the expedition, even with Chu interference, would the situation truly have deteriorated to this extent?
Firstly, events that haven't occurred always present endless hypothetical possibilities, and people tend to be more optimistic about the alternatives.
Secondly, Lord Jingnan's military record was simply too brilliant; it seemed nothing was impossible for him, no opponent undefeatable.
