Chapter 250 The worst-case scenario, the best-case scenario

Hearing him say that, Shang Ruyi felt a warmth in her heart, a warm feeling that even made her face flush. But she didn't say anything more, only gave a soft "hmm".

Yuwen Ye smiled slightly at her.

But deep within his profound eyes, there seemed to be a faint, almost imperceptible glint of cold light that flashed by in an instant.

At this point, they returned to their room.

Because he had been interrogated for more than half a month, the court, out of "consideration" for this Grand General, granted him a five-day leave to recuperate at home. Moreover, since the interrogation covered all the details of the battle, the report was sent directly to the Ministry of War, so Yuwen Ye did not need to return to the Ministry of War to report. These few days were the days he could comfortably rest.

Shang Ruyi asked him, "What are you going to do today?"

Yuwen Ye said, "The snow has stopped. You can go out for a walk and clear your head. Don't worry about me. I need to look at the map again."

After saying that, he picked up the map from last night, spread it out on the low table, and sat down to look at it.

He had only been watching for a short while when he felt a warmth beside him. Turning his head, he saw that Shang Ruyi had also sat down next to him. Yuwen Ye couldn't help but smile and asked, "What are you doing?"

Shang Ruyi said, "I'll watch it with you."

"Can you understand it?"

"I don't understand, can't you teach me?"

Yuwen Ye said irritably, "I don't even have enough time for myself, let alone the time to teach you. Look for yourself, and ask me if you don't understand."

After saying that, he ignored her and continued reading by himself.

However, even though he was ignoring her, Shang Ruyi remained quiet, but he became distracted and couldn't help but turn his head to look at the little woman beside him. She was looking at the map very seriously, her long eyelashes covering her bright eyes, sometimes silent, sometimes trembling slightly, as if he could guess what she was looking at just from this little movement.

It was quite a "show".

Just as Yuwen Ye was staring blankly at her eyelashes, Shang Ruyi suddenly called out, "Second Brother—"

Yuwen Ye quickly looked away, then pretended to have just turned around again: "Hmm?"

Shang Ruyi said, "You just said that more than forty envoys from various prefectures and counties failed to return to the capital to report on their duties in time, and more than half of the remaining envoys were intercepted and killed by the rebel army."

"Hmm. What's wrong?"

"Last year, the most recent rebel I heard about was the Shu Duan that Father wiped out in Longmen; this year... it's the people of Xiao Yuansui in Xingluocang that you just defeated. It seems the rebels are getting closer and closer to Luoyang."

"..."

"Do you know exactly how many rebels there are across the country right now?"

"Ask this? Aren't you afraid?"

"What's there to be afraid of?"

Yuwen Ye's smiling eyes slowly lost their smile, replaced by a cold and solemn expression befitting a martial artist. He remained silent for a long while, then looked at the map on the table and sighed.

Then he pointed to a place on the map and tapped three dots: "Do you know where this is?"

Shang Ruyi looked down and said, "Wu County, Wuxing, Kuaiji."

Yuwen Ye nodded and then said, "The year before last, Zhu Yuanjin from Yuhang rebelled, and more than 20,000 people joined him; last year, the prefect of Wu Commandery and his subordinate Gao Ke led 50,000 people to rebel against the court. This year, the court sent people to suppress them, and the two were defeated and went their separate ways, but each still led tens of thousands of people to flee to Kuaiji. The number of people who have increased is now incalculable; this year, two more places in Jinling have seen rebels. Although the identities of the leaders have not been reported, I heard that the number of people who have joined them is also quite large."

After saying that, he looked down at Shang Ruyi: "In the Sanwu region alone, the total number of rebels is close to 100,000."

"..."

"Tell me, can you imagine how many rebels there are across the country right now?"

"..."

Shang Ruyi felt her hands and feet were ice cold.

Now, she even regretted asking the question. Being confined to her home, with a domineering father-in-law and husband, why should she worry about this? What was the point of asking these questions?

Now look what's happened! This tiny place has so many rebels. Looking back at the map of the entire Daye Dynasty, and imagining the densely packed rebels, and the thought that one might storm into Luoyang and attack them at any moment, she felt a chill run down her spine.

Seeing her face suddenly turn pale, Yuwen Ye knew she must be terrified.

But instead of comforting her, he simply asked, "Still asking?"

"..."

Shang Ruyi remained silent, her pale face hanging low, her expression still somewhat dazed.

Yuwen Ye didn't consider himself a particularly chivalrous person, but seeing her like this, he felt a sudden softening in his heart. He sighed softly and pulled her into his arms.

He said softly, "Are you scared?"

Leaning against his chest, listening to his firm yet heavy heartbeat, Shang Ruyi gradually seemed to be soothed.

After a while, she slowly raised her head, looked at the handsome face so close to hers, and said softly, "Have you ever thought about what will happen to us in the future?"

Yuwen Ye's expression hardened slightly, and he said, "I've thought about it."

What kind of is it?

"I can't believe it."

"Why?"

"The most unpredictable things in this world, besides worldly affairs, are the human heart. And everyone's future is closely related to these two things. Any change in any aspect of worldly affairs or any turmoil in the human heart will have a profound impact. Therefore, no one can predict what their future will be like."

"..."

"The only thing I can do is prepare for the worst and make the best arrangements."

Worst-case scenario, best-case scenario?

Hearing this, Shang Ruyi seemed relieved. In fact, the future she had chosen for herself seemed to be following this principle. She then smiled and said, "No wonder you look at maps when you're resting."

Yuwen Ye glanced at her: "Then why are you bothering me?"

Shang Ruyi immediately pursed her lips and said, "I won't say anything, you can continue watching."

Seeing her obedient yet stubbornly nestled in his arms, refusing to leave, Yuwen Ye shook his head and smiled, still holding her in his arms, and began to look at the map seriously.

But his gaze gradually fell north of Luoyang...

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Time passed quietly, and in the blink of an eye, the sun began to set.

A winding mountain road stretches along a mountain. The mountain is not barren, and there is even an official road leading to it, but there are far fewer people passing by than usual. The snow on the mountain has not even been trampled down. Under the fiery red sunset, the snow on the mountain reflects a crimson light, like burning flames.

A horse-drawn carriage drove onto this road as bright as fireworks.

It was the carriage that Yuwen Yuan was riding in.

Perhaps because the weather was still cold, the carriage doors and windows were tightly closed, without even a crack, as airtight as a sealed box, so that not only could the wind not get in, but even people's eyes could not penetrate it.

At that moment, many eyes were fixed on the carriage.

Just above the mountain road, halfway up the mountainside, several furtive figures peeked out, then carefully ducked back down, afraid of revealing even the slightest trace. In reality, the people in the carriage hadn't even lifted the curtain, let alone seen them. Yet, these people remained extremely cautious, their eyes fixed on the carriage as it slowly approached, almost right under their noses.

One of them whispered, "Are you sure?"

"It's confirmed, this is Duke Sheng's carriage."

"Why doesn't the Duke of Sheng's carriage have a single guard? That's not right."

"According to news from within the city, he disobeyed the imperial decree and returned to the Eastern Capital this time, so he was all alone. He did have his family change his carriage when he left, but for some reason, he still didn't take anyone with him."

"Probably because they're afraid of being blamed by their superiors."

"Hmph, he's got some nerve."

"No matter what, this is a bargain for us."

After they finished speaking, a strong killing intent gradually appeared in their eyes, especially as the carriage had already traveled to the section of road beneath them, and the monotonous sound of the wheels could already be heard in their ears.

The time has come!

The man who appeared to be the leader suddenly opened his eyes wide, a cold glint flashing in them, and said in a deep voice, "Make your move!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it startled a flock of birds on the quiet mountain road. The driver below immediately sensed something was wrong, looked up, and screamed in fright.

Countless arrows, gleaming with a cold light, flew towards his carriage from above.

One of them hit the middle of the road in front of the carriage!

The remaining arrows rained down, all embedding themselves in the carriage. Countless thuds rang out; although they didn't pierce the carriage walls, they instantly turned the carriage into a pincushion.

The horse was startled and reared up with a loud neigh. The carriage driver hurriedly pulled on the reins, and the carriage came to a stop, swaying slightly.

The next moment, a rumbling sound, like muffled thunder from the sky, rang out overhead. The coachman, his face pale, looked up and saw a huge rock rolling down from the mountainside, crushing countless snowflakes and dead branches along its path. He was so frightened that his eyes widened in terror, and with a scream, he jumped off the carriage and ran away in a panic.

But the carriage was still standing there!

At this moment, there was no time for anyone to react or escape. The boulder crashed down with a loud bang, smashing the entire carriage to pieces!

The horse let out a long neigh and turned into a pool of blood and flesh!

Upon seeing this, the people hiding halfway up the mountain were overjoyed, and several of them exclaimed excitedly, "It's done!"

They immediately stood up from behind the snowdrift where they were hiding. The leader, who was relatively calm, said to the man next to him, "Go and bring that coachman back—no need, just kill him. Don't let anyone know."

Someone nearby took the order and left.

The group walked down the rugged mountain path until they reached the boulder. Debris from the carriage was scattered along the road, and even the horse's blood had stained large patches of snow.

The men's faces were filled with a ferocious yet satisfied smile, and they all celebrated that the operation had gone too smoothly.

But just then, the leader suddenly frowned and said, "This is going too smoothly..."

Those around him looked at him: "What do you mean?"

"It seems a bit—"