Chapter 1087 Seeking benevolence, one obtains benevolence; one's wishes are fulfilled.
"What's wrong? Are you only starting to worry now?"
Hearing Shi Yuxin's calm voice behind her, Shang Ruyi turned around and saw her holding a soup bowl and sipping the soup slowly, but her amber eyes were fixed on Shang Ruyi, as if trying to see something out of her.
Shang Ruyi thought for a moment and said, "If you're going to worry, you should have worried when you caught me. You don't need to worry now."
After taking a sip of soup, Shi Yuxin put the bowl aside and said slowly, "At that time, you were only worried about whether we would continue to advance towards Chang'an. Later, when you saw that we were heading south and Chang'an was no longer a threat, you naturally stopped worrying."
"..."
"And now, we're almost at Luoyang, and Hulao Pass will be under threat—aren't you worried?"
Upon hearing these words, Shang Ruyi felt as if she had been pricked by a needle. Looking at this seemingly rough and unruly but actually meticulous female general, she finally let out a long sigh.
Shi Yu thought to herself, "Am I right?"
Shang Ruyi did not answer the question, but stared intently into her eyes: "However, why didn't you continue your advance on Chang'an?"
Shi Yuxin said calmly, "You guarded Huyang Valley for three days, making full use of the terrain. A smart person like you couldn't possibly not realize that three hundred heavily armored cavalrymen would be absolutely unable to defend Huyang Valley. You would definitely ask for reinforcements, and given your position and status, the best place you could ask for reinforcements is Tongguan."
"..."
"But in the past few days, not a single soldier has arrived from Tongguan."
"..."
“I don’t know what you’re doing internally, but since the Tongguan garrison commander hasn’t sent troops here, it’s difficult for him to take on such a heavy responsibility as the life and death of Princess Qin without a good reason. The best way is to immediately send troops to notify the garrison in Chang’an. When they are held accountable, he can say that he abandoned you, Princess Qin, in order to protect Chang’an.”
"...!"
"However, since Chang'an may have already received the news, we have already lost the opportunity to strike first."
Shang Ruyi's heart skipped a beat.
In fact, by the last day, she knew that Chu Zhengfei would not send troops to rescue her, and even if he did, he would drag his feet until she was captured or killed. However, she did not expect that Shi Yuxin, who was completely unaware of the power struggles within Chang'an and the Dasheng Dynasty, could guess the mind of the Tongguan garrison commander simply because Huyang Valley had not received any reinforcements in three days. This shows that she was a very meticulous person.
When she looked at her again, Shang Ruyi was full of wariness, but there was also a hint of admiration that she couldn't quite put her finger on.
She asked Shi Yuxin, "Then, how will you treat us?"
Shi Yuxin took another bite of meat and then said, "I gave up on Chang'an, not only because I lost the opportunity to strike first, but also because I captured you. Compared to Chang'an, it seems that using you in Luoyang and Hulao Pass would be more useful."
Shang Ruyi frowned: "You want to use me to exchange for Hulao Pass? Then I advise you to give up that idea."
"Oh? Why?"
"No one would give up a war for one person."
“But you are not an ordinary person, you are the Princess Consort of Qin.”
Shi Yuxin smiled at her again, and Shang Ruyi then noticed that this valiant female general had two dimples when she smiled, which unexpectedly made her, who was full of fierceness, look a little sweet. She said, "And the one guarding Hulao Pass is your husband."
Shang Ruyi's face darkened.
She naturally understood Shi Yuxin's unspoken meaning: she wanted to use her, the Princess Consort of Qin, to threaten the Prince of Qin guarding Hulao Pass. If it were anyone else or any other matter, Shang Ruyi could still argue back and forth, but on this matter, she simply couldn't be stubborn. After all, when she was captured by Ashina Zhuxie, Yuwen Ye was just one step away from entering Taiyuan and obtaining the throne of the Crown Prince, yet he still led his troops all the way north to the Turkic camp to rescue her.
If this time, it's because of myself again...
Thinking of this, she felt a pang of annoyance, and several deep lines appeared between her furrowed brows. Seeing her dejected look, Shi Yuxin smiled faintly and said, "You don't need to be sad. If you hadn't been guarding Huyang Valley, what would the current situation be like? I'm afraid even His Highness the Prince of Qin wouldn't have been able to hold on."
"..."
"You should be thankful that you got what you wanted."
"..."
Shang Ruyi frowned as she looked at Shi Yuxin. Speaking of which, since she married into the Yuwen family, she had experienced many things and met many friends and rivals, such as the highly skilled Lei Yu, the wise and insightful Empress Dowager Jiang, the seemingly clever but actually foolish Yu Mingyue, and the clever but self-inflicted traps Chu Ruoyan and Lü Xiao, etc. However, none of them were like Shi Yuxin, who was highly skilled in martial arts, clever and alert, and could completely control her with just a few words.
For the first time, she felt a little powerless when facing an "enemy." After struggling for a long time, she decided that she could not lose face, so she said calmly, "I have gotten what I wanted, but you may not get what you want. Don't be too happy."
Shi Yuxin smiled and said, "I know."
"oh?"
"Before I came here, Xiao Yuansui had warned me many times that the Second Young Master Yuwen was not an easy person to deal with."
Shang Ruyi looked at her and said calmly, "It's good that you know."
Shi Yuxin smiled and said, "I also really want to meet him. I should be able to see him tomorrow."
After saying that, she looked up to the west. The sun was about to set, with only a last bit of golden light struggling to cling to the western mountain peaks before finally being completely swallowed up.
Meanwhile, the men sent by Shi Yuxin continued their advance under the cover of night, and finally, in the early hours of the next day, a group of riders entered Xiao Yuansui's camp.
The tranquility of the night was immediately shattered.
At the same time, Shi Yutao, who was sleeping in his tent, also opened his eyes.
He was a light sleeper to begin with, and these past few days, because of his near-capture experience, he had been unable to sleep day and night. He tossed and turned until the early hours of the morning before finally feeling a little sleepy. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he heard the sound of horses' hooves. He immediately woke up and listened for a moment. He heard footsteps outside, as if someone had entered the camp and entered the central command tent.
Shi Yutao immediately got up, put on a simple set of clothes, and went out.
At this time, it was pitch black outside, with only a few campfires illuminating the patrols coming and going. When these people saw him, they simply nodded and saluted. Shi Yutao didn't say much and went straight to Xiao Yuansui's tent, which was brightly lit, as if he hadn't slept all night either.
As soon as they approached, Xiao Yuansui's excited voice rang out: "What? Shi Yuxin has captured Princess Qin, and she has captured Shang Ruyi?!"
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