Chapter 1082 I will definitely wait for him to come
Would they die for love, but not for their country?
Hearing this, Shang Ruyi raised an eyebrow: "You mean, in my eyes, my country is not as important as my lover?"
Green Silk said, "That's not what I meant."
"So what do you mean?"
"What I mean is, even if the country is destroyed and the family is destroyed, you will not lose hope. You will definitely try your best to save the country, turn the tide, and prevent the building from collapsing. People in all dynasties have done these things."
Shang Ruyi raised her eyebrows again. Although she tried her best to keep her emotions in check, the movement of her eyebrows still betrayed the joy in her heart at that moment.
Green Silk continued, "But there is one thing that no one has ever done from ancient times to the present."
Shang Ruyi said, "What?"
Green Silk said, "Bringing the dead back to life."
"..."
"That's why I say you're the kind of person who would die for love, but not for your country."
"..."
Shang Ruyi didn't say anything more, and the joy and smugness between her brows gradually faded. Wo Xue, who was standing to the side, looked at her calm yet slightly gloomy expression and held her breath, not daring to speak.
Just as a silent silence fell between them, footsteps sounded from the side.
Shang Ruyi turned her head and saw that it was Jiang Kesheng and Gao Feng who had come up the mountain.
The two men were dressed in armor, but it was covered in blood and mud, and they were both covered in dust and dirt. They were originally handsome and upright young men, but now their hair was disheveled and their faces were covered in soot, making them look like wild men who had crawled out of a cave. The two men stepped forward, bowed to Shang Ruyi, and then reported the figures that Shang Ruyi had sent them to collect to her.
As Shang Ruyi listened, her brows furrowed: "So, there are less than... a hundred people left now."
"yes."
Gao Feng said in a deep voice, "Moreover, all the trees around here have been cut down, there's no cover left on the mountaintop, and the soldiers are at their limit. Your Highness—"
At this point, he seemed hesitant to continue.
Jiang Kesheng said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, there will be at most one more battle. If we do not retreat now, not only will we not be able to defend Huyang Valley, but we will also be unable to leave any of our people behind."
Shang Ruyi's brow furrowed into a knot.
This force of over three hundred heavily armored cavalrymen was handpicked by her, and she paid for it herself—the most important dowry for a woman. From martial arts to weapons, from armor to warhorses, she had trained them bit by bit. In fact, she had spent more on them than on Yuanzi, and they were more reliable than her son. Every single member of this force was like a knife to her heart. And now, on their first expedition, they had less than a hundred men left…
She felt a sharp pain in her heart, so intense that she could hardly breathe.
Seeing her ashen face, Wo Xue hurriedly came forward to gently rub her back to help her catch her breath. This time, Shang Ruyi did not refuse. After a while, she managed to suppress the excruciating pain, sighed, and then looked up at Gao Jiang and the other person: "Remember these people. When you go back, make sure to properly compensate their families."
Jiang Kesheng said, "Your Highness, rest assured, I will."
Shang Ruyi nodded.
Gao Feng then asked, "Your Highness, shall we retreat now?"
Shang Ruyi didn't speak immediately, but turned to look into the distance. Jiang Kesheng and Gao Feng followed her gaze. Countless plumes of smoke were rising from the enemy camp in the distance, obviously indicating that they were cooking. However, in the past few days, especially when they were not preparing to attack and were just resting, the cooking times in the camp were staggered, so there were rarely so many plumes of smoke rising at the same time.
Seeing this, Jiang Kesheng murmured, "We can't retreat for now."
Gao Feng nodded slightly, then looked up at the sky and said, "They will definitely launch another attack at dusk. Your Highness—"
Shang Ruyi said to the two of them, "Pass down the order: after everyone finishes eating, everyone except those on patrol should rest immediately."
"yes."
After saying that, the two men left.
Sitting to the side, Green Silk listened to their conversation, somewhat confused. She glanced at the gradually dissipating wisps of smoke in the distance and said, "You still want to fight? You have less than a hundred men left. Can you hold out until tonight? Why don't you retreat?"
Shang Ruyi said with a somber expression, "There's an art to evacuation."
"What?"
“We are already at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, and we are in a terrain like Huyang Valley. Moreover, the enemy is already preparing to launch an attack. If we retreat now, we will completely give up the advantage of Huyang Valley. The enemy’s tens of thousands of troops will immediately catch up. At that time, we will not only not be able to hold out tonight, but we may not even know where we will die.”
Green Silk's eyes widened slightly, her gaze filled with a mixture of fear and astonishment, along with a hint of admiration.
She said, "You... are truly a daughter of a military family."
Although she knew that Shang Ruyi often accompanied Yuwen Ye on military campaigns and had played an important role in the Battle of Xingluocang, this time, she almost led the troops alone. Three hundred men resisted the attack of eighty thousand enemy soldiers. She was able to judge the enemy's intention and timing of the attack just from the smoke from cooking, and she also had to grasp the method of retreat. Such ability was something that even an ordinary general could not do, let alone a delicate princess.
Shang Ruyi gave a bitter smile: "Actually, my father didn't teach me much, but I've spent a lot of time on the battlefield these past few years. If I hadn't seen, learned, and thought more, I wouldn't be alive today."
Green Silk glanced at her with a complicated expression, said nothing, and after a moment of silence, said again, "By the way, didn't you send a message to Tongguan asking them to send reinforcements? Why haven't they arrived yet?"
Mentioning this, Shang Ruyi's expression grew even more somber.
Wo Xue, who had been silent all along, said softly, "Chu Zhengfei, the garrison commander of Tongguan, is a subordinate of the Duke of Wushan."
Green Silk immediately frowned.
Previously, she was taken back to Chang'an by Shang Ruyi and the others and lived in the Shen family. Although she lived a secluded life, she was not oblivious to the storms outside and knew about some of the struggles in the court. For example, the Duke of Wushan was an ally of the Crown Prince's faction and was at odds with the people on the Prince of Qin's side. Since the Tongguan garrison commander was his subordinate, at this time, the other side would probably try to delay the arrival of reinforcements.
Seeing that Lüxiao's expression was solemn and even Woxue's face showed disappointment, Shang Ruyi calmed down instead. She looked back at the green smoke rising straight into the sky in the distance and slowly said, "Now, there is also Hulao Pass."
Wo Xue immediately said, "Does Your Highness mean that His Highness Prince Qin will come to rescue us?"
"..."
"But Hulao Pass is hundreds of miles away from here. Even if His Highness the Prince of Qin really comes, can we wait for him?"
"..."
Shang Ruyi was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "I will definitely wait for him to come."
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