Chapter 734 Lamenting and Cherishing Reputation
That voice belonged to Yu Mingyue.
When Shang Ruyi turned her head, she saw that her sharp gaze had returned to normal. She had obviously accepted the disappointment of the third glass of wine, but she quickly rallied and was determined not to miss any of the things she needed to do.
Shang Ruyi took a deep breath.
It's finally here.
In fact, she was not unprepared for this. After all, as the Princess of Qin, she was going to perform a dance for the Western Turkic envoy, and Yuwen Ye could not possibly silence everyone present. Therefore, this matter would definitely become known to others. Moreover, during that period, many wealthy families and merchants in Qi County moved their entire families to Guanzhong to escape the war, so some rumors were bound to spread.
Afterwards, she was kidnapped by Ashina Zhuxie. Even if the people in Taiyuan didn't know, Yuwen Ye led 20,000 troops to the Western Turkic camp to bring her back. It was impossible for Yu Mingyue and the others to be so stupid as to not guess what had happened after such a big commotion.
Most importantly—
From the very first night they stayed at Yuwen's old residence in Taiyuan, when Yu Mingyue left Lüxiao speechless and even ashamed, Shang Ruyi had already made such preparations.
Having given them such a huge handle against her, Yu Mingyue couldn't possibly not use it.
In her eyes, women are not only the possessions of men, but their bodies and minds are also shackled and imprisoned by men. Therefore, she will inevitably hone this knowledge to an extreme degree, using it as a weapon to attack herself.
Unexpectedly, it was Yuwen Cheng who spoke.
He probably just disliked himself and Yuwen Ye and wanted to humiliate them, but what Yu Mingyue wanted to do went much deeper.
This was the question they had been considering both when they were in Taiyuan and on their way back: if Yuwen Ye wanted to establish himself in the court, he could only rely on his military achievements. At present, the biggest enemy of the Dasheng Dynasty in its eastward expansion was Liang Shide in Luoyang. If he could achieve this, Yuwen Ye would be valued again.
However, if they want to take it, even if the other party doesn't try to steal it, they certainly won't let them get it smoothly.
So, at this banquet where all the ministers gathered, he suddenly attacked him. Although he spoke of the chastity of the Princess of Qin, he was actually attacking Yuwen Ye's military leadership ability behind the scenes. If he couldn't even protect his wife's reputation and safety, then no matter how much Yuwen Yuan trusted Yuwen Ye's military leadership ability, he couldn't give him the opportunity to attack Luoyang under these circumstances!
On a deeper level, their words will cause Yuwen Ye's prestige in the army to plummet!
How vicious!
Thinking of this, Shang Ruyi couldn't help but grit her teeth.
But gritting her teeth wasn't enough. Even though she had mentally dissected Yu Mingyue, she still couldn't escape her predicament. She couldn't just use her teeth; she had to use her words!
Shang Ruyi cleared her throat, but before she could speak, she heard Yuwen Ye beside her say calmly, "What kind of sacrifice is this?"
"...!?"
Upon hearing this, a murmur of surprise rippled through the hall.
Not only was Shang Ruyi surprised to open her eyes wide and look at him, but the ministers beside her were also stunned, Yuwen Yuan above the hall was also stunned, and even Yu Mingyue and Yuwen Cheng, who were speaking coldly to them, were momentarily speechless.
After a long silence, they seemed unable to believe their ears: "What?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yuwen Ye's cold and sharp gaze suddenly fell on Yuwen Cheng opposite him. This was like a cold arrow piercing through his chest. The fear that instinctively rose in his heart and the dull pain in his chest as if he had really been hit made Yuwen Cheng feel cold all over and he couldn't speak.
Yuwen Ye then coldly looked at Yu Mingyue again.
He said, "In this battle, the Taiyuan campaign alone resulted in the annihilation of over 70,000 enemy troops, with countless prisoners and wounded. Ruyi, on the other hand, only killed one Western Turkic envoy and escaped unscathed. What kind of sacrifice is that?"
Although meeting his gaze made Yu Mingyue tremble, she had already come this far and could not take back her words. Therefore, ignoring Yuwen Qian's solemn gaze directed at her through the crowd, she sighed softly, revealing a regretful and even heartbroken expression, and said sadly, "As the Princess Consort of Qin, a dignified Princess Consort of Qin, to perform a dance for the Turks, is that not a sacrifice?"
What did she sacrifice?
"Reputation! Isn't a woman's reputation important?"
Yuwen Ye's gaze immediately turned cold.
Shang Ruyi's face also turned cold—Yu Mingyue's words sounded grand and dignified, as if she was still feeling sorry for herself, but in fact, every word she said was telling everyone present that it was a shameful thing for the Princess of Qin to perform a dance for the Western Turkic envoy, and then she nailed herself to the pillar of shame with that pained expression and tone.
This method is something I've never seen before.
I don't know where she learned it, but she clearly uses it quite skillfully.
Just as Shang Ruyi was pondering how to respond, another calm voice, but one that contained a clear hint of anger, rang out, saying, "You keep talking about reputation, then may I ask Lord Yu, what exactly is 'reputation'?"
The eyes of everyone in the hall immediately turned to the source of the sound.
It is Shen Wuzheng.
He had been suppressing his anger and remained silent, which worried Shang Ruyi. However, she hadn't paid attention to him since the banquet started, but she didn't expect him to suddenly speak up at this moment. When he spoke, no one was surprised, after all, everyone knew about his relationship with the Princess of Qin. Only Yu Mingyue herself was stunned for a moment, as if she hadn't expected him to ask such a question.
For a moment, his mind went blank, and he stammered, "Reputation? Reputation is just reputation, what's the point?"
Shen Wuzheng sneered, "Sighing for reputation, cherishing reputation, yet not knowing what reputation is for. It seems that Lord Yu, as a compiler of the Imperial Academy, still needs to improve his knowledge and learning."
"..."
"Reputation refers to honor and integrity."
Yu Mingyue's eyes lit up, and she immediately said, "Then she—"
But before he could finish speaking, he froze, as if he had suddenly realized that the road ahead had come to an end, and that he had been on the wrong path from the very beginning.
Seeing her stunned expression, Shen Wuzheng seemed to know that she had nothing to say, and coldly said, "Let me ask you, Princess Qin took the life of the Western Turkic envoy with a single sword and captured Qi County without firing a single shot. In what way has this damaged her reputation?"
"..."
"As a princess, she went to war with the army, but instead of relying on protection and seeking peace, she took up arms and went into battle, personally killing the enemy envoy. How does her integrity and conduct compare to those of Fu Hao and Zhao Ping?"
"..."
"Or does Lord Yu believe that accompanying the army on a campaign is simply a matter of going and returning together?"
These words made Yu Mingyue's face darken.
If Shen Wuzheng's previous words were all in defense of Shang Ruyi, then this last sentence clearly turned defense into offense, putting her "incompetence" in this battle on the table in one sentence.
You should know that tonight's banquet is a victory celebration!
The two women who accompanied the army, Shang Ruyi, who was the Princess Consort of Qin, had already clearly stated their merits, but she herself did not utter a single word about her own contributions.
In fact, Yu Mingyue did intend to offer a plan, but before she could, Lüxiao had already delivered the military uniform, which led Yuwen Qian to devise a scheme to lure the Western Turkic reinforcements and Wang Shaoji's troops into fighting each other. This matter was thus out of her control, and everything that followed was of little use to her. As for herself, although she had been in this world for quite some time, she had already spent more than a year adapting to it, deciding to follow Yuwen Qian to change her fate, and learning some basic court etiquette and horseback riding. She simply did not have the ability to participate in the men's battlefield.
Unexpectedly, Shen Wuzheng seized on this point and retorted sharply!
Yu Mingyue's face flushed red and then turned pale.
Sure enough, upon hearing Shen Wuzheng's last words, the way the surrounding ministers looked at her changed.
Even Yuwen Yuan, who had originally looked solemn and even showed a hint of anger, began to have a flicker in his eyes when he heard these words and looked at Yu Mingyue again, as if he was rethinking some issues.
Yu Mingyue panicked slightly: "I—"
But this time, it was Shang Ruyi who interrupted her.
She stood up, looked at the other person who was already somewhat speechless, then at Yuwen Cheng who was shrinking back, clearly lacking the courage and the brains to participate in the argument. Finally, she turned to Yuwen Yuan, cupped her hands, and said, "Father, I have something to say!"
Her loud shout startled even Yuwen Yuan.
Although Yuwen Yuan was shocked by what they had just said, he was not as angry, furious, or disdainful of his daughter-in-law as Yu Mingyue had expected. When he looked at Shang Ruyi, his eyes lit up, and then he gently raised his hand and said, "Go on."
"Thank you, Father Emperor."
Sensing a certain implication from his tone, Shang Ruyi straightened her back even more, turned to Yu Mingyue, and said with a faint smile, "Lord Yu, Third Brother, I don't know why you would bring this up in front of His Majesty and the court officials at this moment. Perhaps you think that it is shameful for a princess to engage in the activities of a dancer."
Yu Mingyue looked at her, but at this moment, she dared not speak easily.
Just now, she was refuted by Yuwen Ye and Shen Wuzheng in turn, and her thoughts were completely in disarray. Even if what Shang Ruyi said was exactly what she wanted to hear, she did not dare to respond easily, because it was obvious that Shang Ruyi had more to say.
As expected, seeing that she was speechless, Shang Ru continued, "But I never considered it a disgrace for me, as the Princess of Qin, to go and dance for the Turks, because my purpose was not to flatter or please them, but to assassinate their envoy and to give them a chance to win the war in Taiyuan!"
"..."
“I believe that if the Crown Prince, the Prince of Qin, or even the Prince of Qi can do this, Father will not hesitate to let them assassinate the Turkic envoy in order to reclaim the land of the dragon’s origin.”
As she spoke, she turned to look at Yuwen Yuan.
Yuwen Yuan nodded in agreement. He had sent two sons to the Battle of Taiyuan, and his younger son was originally stationed there. He was not stingy with his sons and believed that as his sons, they should face the danger head-on.
So he said, "Of course."
Shang Ruyi said, "As the Princess Consort of Qin, I also feel this responsibility."
Yuwen Yuan said, "Good!"
Shang Ruyi continued, "If victory in the Battle of Taiyuan can be achieved with minimal cost, Father Emperor would certainly be even less reluctant to employ stratagems. For example, in this Battle of Taiyuan, from the moment they left Tongguan Pass, the Prince of Qin and His Highness the Crown Prince each used tactics such as deceiving the heavens, substituting one thing for another, observing from the sidelines, waiting in comfort for the enemy to tire themselves out, and luring the tiger away from the mountain..."
She rattled off several stratagem names in a row, and Yuwen Yuan nodded repeatedly, saying, "These are the Thirty-Six Stratagems; all generals and commanders in the army must be familiar with them. Good, very good!"
Shang Ruyi raised her voice: "And another one, the honey trap!"
These three words startled everyone present once again.
Before anyone could react, Shang Ruyi turned to look at Yu Mingyue and said, "Lord Yu, His Highness the Crown Prince used those schemes before, as did the Prince of Qin, and the generals and soldiers of both armies used them. Why didn't you say they lost their reputation, but you insist that the honey trap is a loss of reputation?"
"..."
"If fighting for one's country and dying for the enemy is considered a breach of integrity, then who in the world would dare to fight against the enemy?"
"..."
"If that's really the case, when the country faces disaster in the future, wouldn't all women in the world abandon their families and country and let the nation fall into chaos in order to uphold this 'honor'?"
Several muffled voices rang out in the main hall: "Well said!"
Although Shang Ruyi's words were relentless, they did not truly intimidate Yu Mingyue. Instead, a few low shouts, seemingly from nowhere and from whoever they came from, exploded above her head like a bolt from the blue. She seemed to suddenly lose her senses and became unresponsive, staring blankly at everything around her.
He muttered to himself, "How could this be... How could this be? Isn't this a feudal place...?"
However, no one heard her mutterings.
Shang Ruyi raised her chin and said proudly, "Lord Yu, I don't know what you did after leaving Tongguan this time, but besides observing the battle and offering advice, you can also kill the enemy when you go on an expedition!"
"..."
"Let me tell you, I not only killed the enemy in this battle, but if there is another war in the future, and if I am fortunate enough to follow the King of Qin to the battlefield again, I will still take up my sword and fight, killing one if one comes, and killing two if two come!"
"no!"
Just as she finished speaking frankly and generously, drawing admiring glances from countless people, Yuwen Yuan, who had been smiling and looking at her gently, suddenly spoke up.
Everyone present was startled. Shang Ruyi was also taken aback, looking at him in surprise. But after Yuwen Yuan finished speaking those two words, he looked at her again, his gaze suddenly softening, and said, "Let it go this time. Swords have no eyes. What if you encounter danger if you go to the battlefield again? I can't lose such a good daughter-in-law."
After saying that, he chuckled and said, "I have three sons, and my only regret in this life is that I have no daughters."
"..."
“If I had a daughter, I would have taught her to be a heroine, a woman of great courage and skill. But now it seems—” he said, then looked at Shang Ruyi with a smile, his eyes full of admiration, and said, “My old friend and in-law has made up for this regret of mine.”
After speaking, he looked at Yu Mingyue, whose face was pale, and swept his gaze over her, seemingly unwilling to linger on her any longer.
He coldly replied, "You don't need to say these things anymore."
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