Chapter 425 Xue Xian has arrived!

They can't win!

They can't win...

This sense of defeat and despondency spread rapidly throughout Fufeng like an invisible plague. Even after leaving the city and settling down in the government office, Shang Ruyi could still feel this sense of failure in the quiet air.

Even the servants and maids passing by had the same bewildered expression on their faces.

But she didn't say much, and just kept checking her luggage.

After putting away the clothes, she took out a small bundle that smelled faintly of medicine. When she opened it, she found the medicine she had bought from Changsheng Pharmacy. Before leaving, she had packed it into several paper packets according to the dosage. Picking one up and opening it, the strong smell of medicine immediately wafted out.

At this moment, Wo Xue walked in from outside carrying a medicine pot.

"Young Madam, as you instructed, this jar contains three bowls of water."

Shang Ruyi looked down and put all the medicine from the opened paper packet into the pot. She then took a chopstick that hadn't been touched by oil or salt, stirred it, and said, "Go and decoct it. Remember to boil it down from three bowls of water to one bowl and then turn off the heat."

"yes."

Wo Xue carried the medicine pot out, but stopped at the door, turning back to look at her as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Shang Ruyi looked up: "What's wrong?"

After thinking for a moment, Wo Xue finally said softly, "Why did you bring me to Fufeng, young mistress?"

"..."

"Isn't the young mistress afraid—"

She seemed hesitant to say what came next, but Shang Ruyi smiled faintly and said, "If I were really afraid you'd pull some more tricks, I wouldn't have brought you out."

"But,"

Wo Xue continued, "After all, I betrayed the young mistress's trust in the past. How can you still believe me and not blame me?"

Looking at this face that was still very young, yet had lost its childishness prematurely due to too much experience, Shang Ruyi thought for a moment, sighed softly, and said, "Your 'betrayal' of me is also a kind of loyalty, or rather, you had no choice, so I don't blame you."

"..."

"As for bringing you to Fufeng, it's because of your loyalty, so I want to give you another chance."

"..."

“Wo Xue, listen carefully. If you try to manipulate things again and affect the overall situation in this battle of Fufeng, even if Fufeng is not lost, I will kill you with my own hands; and once Fufeng is defeated, everyone here will only face death. Even if you have the ability to scheme against me, you will not be able to escape with your life under such circumstances. You should understand this yourself.”

"..."

"On the contrary, as long as you do your job well, even if you just do your duty, if you win this battle in Fufeng, you will also have made a contribution. At that time, your merits will offset your mistakes, and all the things you did before can be wiped clean."

"..."

"So, you know how to choose."

Wo Xue didn't speak, only looked down at the medicine pot in her hand. After a long silence, she looked up at her again and said softly, "Isn't Madam afraid that I might—go all out? Or, just give up entirely?"

Shang Ruyi also glanced at the medicine jar in her hand.

She slowly stood up, walked to Wo Xue's side, and said in a deep voice, "People can't just casually accept death unless they're truly at their wits' end—even when they're at their wits' end, they still have the will to live; it's human instinct."

"..."

"As long as you're alive, everyone wants to live."

"..."

"Even if there is only a sliver of hope or a chance of survival, no one is willing to give up their life."

After hearing her words, Wo Xue remained silent for a while, then said nothing more, only softly "hmm," before carrying the medicine pot to a corner of the outer courtyard. There, Shang Ruyi had specially arranged for a small stove to be brought over, as she did not want to disturb too many people. Therefore, she planned to brew the medicine herself in the courtyard to help Yuwen Ye recuperate.

After lighting the fire with practiced ease, Wo Xue placed the medicine pot on it.

Soon, the water inside boiled, steam billowed out, making the small courtyard even hotter.

But Wo Xue stared at the flames licking the bottom of the jar, seemingly unable to feel the heat. After thinking for a while, she turned to Shang Ruyi and said softly, "Does the young mistress think that Fu Feng still has a chance?"

"..."

"Can the people here really survive, just like you say—by not giving up?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi's eyes narrowed slightly.

In Fufeng County today, from generals to soldiers, from the military to the civilians, everyone seems to be immersed in a decadent and doomed mentality. Under such circumstances, even if these people want to live, without the will to fight, what else can keep them alive?

How can we motivate them?

Just as her mood was getting heavier, she heard heavy footsteps ahead. Looking up, she saw Yuwen Ye walking in from outside.

After arriving at the government office, he left only Shang Ruyi behind and went with Yin Changyue, Song Yu and others to the military camp to take stock of the remaining troops. They also tied up and locked up Ma Xu. After working for half a day, it was almost dusk.

Upon seeing him, Wo Xue immediately lowered her head.

Yuwen Ye smelled the medicine, glanced at it briefly, and strode into the room without saying anything. Shang Ruyi saw that he was covered in sweat, so she quickly poured him a glass of water and brought it to him, and then personally took a fan to cool him down.

Yuwen Ye drank the water in the cup in one gulp, then sighed softly.

Shang Ruyi sat down beside him, fanning him as she softly asked, "How is it?"

Yuwen Ye held the cup in his hand and said, "After taking stock, there are 14,751 people left in the city. Adding the more than 50,000 people I brought from Daxing City, and my own men, the total is less than 80,000."

"...!"

Shang Ruyi frowned slightly.

She then asked, "Do you have figures on the enemy's casualties?"

Yuwen Ye shook his head: "Ma Xu fled back in a panic, abandoning even his own men, so how could he possibly calculate the enemy's casualties? However, I estimate that the enemy's losses will not exceed 20,000 at most."

"Twenty thousand...?"

Shang Ruyi frowned and said, "In other words, even if Xue Xian's troops haven't all arrived yet, we are still facing a force of 100,000."

Yuwen Ye nodded.

The force of less than 80,000 men consisted partly of those who had just suffered a major defeat and whose morale had collapsed, and partly of those whose morale was low and who had almost completely lost the will to fight. Meanwhile, the enemy, Xue Xian's forces, had just won a great victory and had even built a mound of skulls to intimidate the enemy. Moreover, he had more than 100,000 men on their way.

This is almost certainly a losing proposition.

Shang Ruyi's heart pounded heavily, but she still slowly fanned Yuwen Ye with a fan.

The cool breeze eased Yuwen Ye's heat considerably. He looked up at his wife's downcast eyes and suddenly asked, "What did you want to say?"

"Um?"

Shang Ruyi looked up at him—she hadn't said anything.

Yuwen Ye said, "Ever since we were on the city wall, you've been looking at me with a hesitant expression. Now you can say what you want to say."

"..."

It turns out he had been watching all along.

Shang Ruyi paused for a moment, looked at him again, and then said softly, "I wanted to tell you that in the future—if you ever face a similar situation, try not to do such a thing, okay?"

"Such a thing?"

Yuwen Ye frowned slightly, but quickly came to his senses and looked at her: "You mean, build a mound of corpses?"

Shang Ruyi nodded.

Yuwen Ye remained silent for a while before asking, "Why?"

Shang Ruyi said, "I know that a mound of skulls can intimidate the enemy to the greatest extent, crush their morale, and break their will. But it's too cruel. If word gets out, no matter what kind of enemy you face in the future, they will definitely fight you to the death. At that time, you will face even greater pressure and it will be even harder to win. Moreover—"

"And what?"

"Moreover, whether the dead are enemies or comrades, they are still human beings."

"..."

“Perhaps one day, if Father and you can achieve—a great cause,” Shang Ruyi’s voice trembled slightly as she said those two words, and a glint of light flashed in Yuwen Ye’s deep eyes, but he said nothing. Shang Ruyi also concealed her momentary unease and continued, “Then these people are ultimately your subjects. Subjects who can receive an acre of land and pay a tax.”

"..."

"The indiscriminate killing of innocent people is not only depleting public support, but also jeopardizing your future."

"..."

"Perhaps I'm going too far ahead. But I still—"

"I see,"

Before she could finish speaking, Yuwen Ye interrupted her with a deep voice. Shang Ruyi looked at him in surprise, only to see Yuwen Ye put down the cup he was holding, which was burning hot, and say with a serious expression, "I understand what you mean."

"..."

“I originally didn’t like this stuff either. But people from Dingchuan Military Town all experienced the most brutal period of war at the beginning of the Daye Dynasty. For them, survival was more important than anything else. So their tactics were all aimed at defeating the enemy and killing them as many enemies as possible. They liked to do this kind of thing.”

"..."

“When I get back, I will also advise my father.”

Shang Ruyi was somewhat surprised that her careful persuasion had won his approval so easily, but she immediately smiled happily.

Looking down, she saw that his cup was empty and immediately said, "I'll get you another cup of water."

After saying that, he picked up the cup and walked to the side.

Seeing her so attentive manner, Yuwen Ye smiled slightly. When Shang Ruyi returned with the glass of water and handed it to him, he said in a deep voice, "However, I thought you would try to persuade me to boost morale again."

"Um?"

Shang Ruyi was taken aback and looked up at him.

Yuwen Ye said, "Since last night, you have been trying to persuade me to boost morale. Just now on the city wall, you seemed to want me to say something as well—Mu Xian and the others seem to think the same way."

"..."

"Why do you advise me on that, but not on this?"

Shang Ruyi slowly sat back down beside him, still gently fanning him with her fan, and said, "I've thought about it, and I still don't know as much about military matters as you do."

"Um?"

"This time, you took the initiative to lead the troops into battle; you couldn't possibly not want to win."

"..."

“Even I know that we need to boost morale, so you can’t possibly not know that. However, I only know that we should boost morale, but you have led troops before, so you should know better than me when and how to boost morale.”

"..."

"I think I've only seen a few military campaigns, so I'm still an outsider."

"..."

"If I, an amateur, were to instruct you, a true expert in commanding troops, it would not only be an insult to you, but also irresponsible to the soldiers under your command. Therefore, I think it's best for me to keep quiet."

"...!"

Yuwen Ye stared at her with slightly shocked eyes.

The most profound truth in this world is that you shouldn't let laymen instruct experts. However, this is also the hardest thing for people to uphold, because the more knowledgeable or even ignorant a person is, the more arrogant they become and the more they like to point fingers at others.

Conversely, the more knowledgeable a person is, the more they understand the implications, and the more afraid they are of their own shortcomings, leading them to think twice before speaking.

It's always harder to shut up than to open your mouth.

Yuwen Ye stared at her in silence for a while, then suddenly a smile appeared on his lips, and the frost in his cold eyes seemed to soften, revealing a faint smile.

Shang Ruyi was taken aback: "What are you laughing at?"

Yuwen Ye smiled and said, "I hope you will always be this sensible."

What do you mean?

"Back in Wanggang Village, who was it that burned down someone's granary without even saying hello to me?"

"..."

Mentioning this made Shang Ruyi's scalp tingle, but she still stubbornly said, "That was a life-or-death situation."

"..."

"No matter what, I absolutely cannot look at you—"

She paused abruptly at this point.

Yuwen Ye's eyes lit up as he stared at her: "What can't you look at me for?"

The heat of the day had not yet dissipated, and everyone was feeling unbearably hot. When he stared at her like that, Shang Ruyi felt her face burning even more. She subconsciously turned her head away to avoid his gaze, and raised the fan in her hand, as if trying to separate the two of them.

But just then, a muffled sound suddenly rang in my ears.

The sound seemed to come from a very far place. Shang Ruyi initially thought it was thunder, or perhaps the sound of something being pushed over. But as soon as Yuwen Ye heard the sound, the smile in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a cold and stern expression.

He suddenly stood up and looked outside.

Even Wo Xue, who had been tending the stove in a corner of the courtyard, was stunned for a moment and looked up outside.

Shang Ruyi immediately realized something and got up to walk to Yuwen Ye's side: "What's wrong? That voice is—"

"It's the sound of drums,"

Yuwen Ye's face completely changed to a stern and cold expression. He let out a deep breath and then said, "Xue Xian has arrived!"