Chapter 272 The Night Before the Expedition

Yuwen Ye did not answer the question immediately. A cold light seemed to flash in his half-closed eyes. After a long while, he said indifferently, "Who knows what he is thinking?"

"..."

Shang Ruyi frowned slightly.

She understood, of course, that the "he" he was referring to was Chu Yang.

Ultimately, the court's plans are the emperor's plans. Although court officials may argue with the emperor on certain matters, the final outcome—just look at the fate of her uncle and the Pei family father and son—shows that he can ultimately do whatever he wants.

Therefore, how to deal with this crisis depends on the emperor's mind.

However, a question arose in her mind—if even this wasn't explained clearly, then what exactly did Empress Jiang say when she summoned Yuwen Ye to the palace?

Is the only thing to tell him is that there has been unrest in the government and among the people recently?

Just as she looked at Yuwen Ye with some confusion, he looked down at her and said softly, "Would you like something to eat? You've been sleeping until now and haven't even had dinner yet."

"Ah... um."

Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi felt ashamed.

No matter how tired or unwell she was last night, as the daughter-in-law of the Duke's mansion, it was still inappropriate for her to sleep in for most of the day. She asked softly, "Have you eaten?"

Yuwen Ye shook his head: "I was planning to eat together when you wake up."

"Okay, sure."

"Then I'll have them send it over."

So he put Shang Ruyi down, went out and gave her a few instructions. Shang Ruyi blushed and got up, silently put on her clothes, and washed up a little. Dinner was immediately brought from the kitchen, but it was only two bowls of soup noodles. It turned out that it was too late and they were afraid that they would eat too much and then have trouble eating. The two of them ate the hot soup and felt much warmer.

After they finished eating, Wo Xue and the others immediately started cleaning up the room.

Shang Ruyi rinsed her mouth, watched them tidy up, and then looked at her own bed. She felt a little lost. She should be resting at this time of day, but she had just gotten out of bed. After eating and sleeping, she felt somewhat useless.

So she silently walked to Yuwen Ye's bedside and picked up the book he had placed there.

Upon taking a look, I was immediately dumbfounded.

She had assumed that Yuwen Ye was reading at least Legalist classics, if not military texts. But what she held in her hands seemed to be a sutra, and on the page he was turned to were written: "Men are pure, women are impure; men are active, women are still; from the root to the branches, all things are born. Purity is the source of impurity, stillness is the foundation of movement. When people can be pure and still, the world will value them..."

Yuwen Ye, who was on the other side, drank his tea and turned around to see her standing there holding the book, looking completely dumbfounded. So he walked over as well.

He glanced at it only once, then silently snatched the book from her hands.

Shang Ruyi looked up at him, somewhat dumbfounded, and asked, "What is this?"

Yuwen Ye calmly replied, "The Pure Heart Sutra of Laozi is a Taoist scripture."

"Look at this?"

"What? Can't I watch?"

"You, you don't believe in gods or Buddhas, do you?"

Yuwen Ye chuckled and said, "I don't believe in gods and Buddhas because I don't believe they are useful to me. But reading books is useful."

"..."

That's true.

Shang Ruyi still found it somewhat unbelievable. She stared at him for a while, then recalled the few lines of text she had just seen, and felt that something was off—the Heart Sutra? Would this be useful to him?

What is it in his heart that needs peace and quiet?

Or rather—

Thinking of this, she turned to look at him and said softly, "Is there something unsettling in your heart?"

Yuwen Ye looked at her, his gaze suddenly becoming very deep.

He asked, "Have you finished cleaning up?"

These words were not spoken to Shang Ruyi, but to Wo Xue and the others who were still tidying up the table on the other side of the room. Upon hearing this, Wo Xue hurriedly said, "It will be ready soon."

After saying that, he hurriedly wiped the table clean, gathered up the used bowls, plates and chopsticks, and left the room.

He also closed the door behind him.

The moment the door closed, Shang Ruyi suddenly felt a lightness in her body. Yuwen Ye had reached out and picked her up in his arms. As soon as they were close, she could feel his rapid heartbeat and hot breath. His urgency, even through the layers of clothing, quickly permeated her.

Instantly, her heart began to pound.

Yuwen Ye didn't even wait to carry her to the big bed; he turned around and placed her on the couch by the window, leaned down, and kissed her forcefully.

"You—uh!"

Before Shang Ruyi could speak, her lips had already fallen.

She seemed to want to struggle—after all, the room was still brightly lit, and the people outside hadn't even gone far, but his eager desire was palpable in his breath, and she couldn't resist it.

She, too, wanted him.

They are setting off tomorrow, so tonight is their last night before departure.

Thinking of this, her body gradually softened, and she obediently let him do as he pleased. She was almost lost in the moment, but the footsteps outside, which had not gone far, seemed to be reminding her again.

She forced herself to stay awake and turned her head away, avoiding his kiss, and whispered in his ear, "There are... people..."

At this moment, Yuwen Ye's breathing was also erratic.

He was somewhat out of his mind, especially feeling the gentleness and obedience of this young woman, which made him feel that nothing was enough, and even a frenzied feeling of wanting to completely integrate her into his body—it turned out that not only did the gods and Buddhas not perform miracles, but even those scriptures were of no use to him.

But the people outside—

He chuckled softly and whispered in her ear, "If even gods and Buddhas can't control me, who else can?"

After saying that, he hugged her tightly.

"ah!"

Caught off guard, Shang Ruyi let out a short, low gasp, but immediately bit her lip, swallowing all the sound back. Her cheeks flushed, her breathing became rapid, and everything was in a mess under his control. Yet, even in this chaotic state of mind, she still stretched out her arms and hugged him tightly.

The world is in chaos, and the heavens and earth are in turmoil.

All she could have was this person in front of her...

Night deepened.

But the alluring view from inside the room only made the deep night even more enchanting.