Chapter 672 Rival and Friend
"You didn't originally want this child, did you?"
"..."
Hearing Shang Ruyi's low, gentle question, which was like a knife piercing her heart, Lei Yu's face turned even paler than before, even losing all color. She did not answer, nor could she answer, and lowered her head again.
Shang Ruyi felt as if her heart was being torn apart.
When she spoke again, her voice was tinged with moisture and bitterness, trembling as she said, "So, you're willing to keep this child now because of—me, is that right?"
She spoke the word "I" in an extremely low and weak voice, almost as soft as a mosquito's murmur, as if it were something she couldn't bear to utter.
In fact, even if she didn't ask and Lei Yu didn't answer, she already knew the answer.
Although Lei Yu came from a military family, she was very perceptive. She was more than two months pregnant and should have some sense of it. Moreover, after learning about her pregnancy from that woman, she was too calm, showing neither surprise nor joy.
So, she knew all along.
She knew, but didn't tell anyone, not even her husband, the little prince Iasu. Clearly, she didn't want anyone to know, which meant she was hesitant about whether to keep the child.
But just now, she herself fell off the horse, and then protected her stomach in a self-defense posture, for only one reason—
She saved Shang Ruyi's life by revealing that she was pregnant!
And she had to keep this child!
Looking at Lei Yu's lowered eyes, she indeed did not answer, but at this moment there was no need for her to answer. Shang Ruyi's eyes were burning, and some things were almost about to spill out, but she still gritted her teeth and suppressed them. After a long while, she said in a hoarse voice, "Why did you do this?"
"..."
"Why would you do so much for me?"
"..."
"I, I even—"
I even "stole" your beloved, causing your love to end without fruition. My marriage with Yuwen Ye also caused you so much pain and made you hate me so much.
Why are you helping me like this now?
Seeing Shang Ruyi's distressed expression, Lei Yu pursed his pale lips, a faint smile appearing on his face, and said softly, "I said, I did this for you, not to protect you and make Feng Chen happy. Do you believe me?"
Shang Ruyi looked at her, trembling.
Lei Yu smiled and said, "I treat you as a friend, but you can't keep treating me as a rival in love."
Shang Ruyi hurriedly shook her head.
She knew that Lei Yu admired Yuwen Ye, but she never used that as the basis for their relationship. The fact that the two women were rivals in love did not prevent them from appreciating each other.
Being rivals in love doesn't necessarily mean fighting and framing each other.
The friendship between women can be open and honest, intimate and inseparable, even to the point of life and death!
Lei Yu smiled, but there was tenderness in her smile, as well as an unspeakable bitterness. She said, "I consider you a friend because I like you very much—even with Feng Chen around, I liked him, and I also like you very much."
"..."
"So, I want to protect you."
"..."
"After all, there's not much left that I can protect, and that I can protect."
"..."
Shang Ruyi could no longer hold back her tears.
The more she cried, the more Lei Yu laughed, but her laughter was no happier than her crying, and her voice gradually became choked with sobs.
"Don't do this."
"..."
"Actually, I just made this decision myself. It was when I saw that you were leaving."
"...!"
Shang Ruyi was startled and looked up at her in astonishment through her tearful eyes. Lei Yu smiled again, reached out and wiped the tears off her face with her thumb, and said, "I just realized that you wanted to take that opportunity to escape, so you didn't fire the last arrow. But you should know how stupid that idea was."
"..."
"How can you be so stupid?"
Hearing her say that, though it was clearly a taunt, the tenderness in it brought tears to Shang Ruyi's eyes once again.
Lei Yu smiled and said, "Don't cry."
"..."
"Now that you are the Princess Consort of Qin in the Great Sheng Dynasty, are you trying to disgrace the Great Sheng Dynasty by crying like this in front of me, a mere Turkic princess?"
"..."
Shang Ruyi knew that Lei Yu was deliberately trying to cheer her up, but she couldn't suppress the bitterness in her heart. She could only lower her head, shed a few tears, and then bite her lower lip hard, swallowing the remaining heartache. When she looked up at Lei Yu again, she said in a hoarse voice, "Then you—"
Lei Yu looked at her and smiled, "I wanted to curse you out loud for being so stupid. I almost shouted it out loud."
"..."
"Then I realized that I was actually quite stupid myself."
"..."
“I never told anyone, not even Iasu, that I was pregnant because I always thought that I wasn’t a Turk and that one day I would leave this place and return to the Central Plains.”
Shang Ruyi looked at her.
As she spoke, Lei Yu's smile grew increasingly bitter, and she whispered, "But how could this be?"
"..."
"I can't go back."
"..."
“I am already the little queen of the Western Turks, and I have also participated in this exchange of interests. How could I possibly go back?”
"..."
"so--"
So, that decision was made in that instant.
In that instant, she decided to use the fall from her horse to interrupt the life-or-death competition, and then use her pregnancy to save Shang Ruyi's life.
In this way, Shang Ruyi could live, and live with dignity; and she completely gave up the idea of returning to the Central Plains, and stayed on this boundless grassland to be her Turkic little queen.
Seeing Shang Ruyi's teary eyes, Lei Yu smiled and said, "Anyway, I'm happy that you survived."
"..."
"My future is settled, so you can rest assured now."
As she spoke, she turned to look outside again. Although the tent flap was tightly closed, she murmured, "I wonder when Iasu will return. When he comes back, I will ask him to find a way to let you go back."
Shang Ruyi was stunned, looking at her in surprise: "How is that possible? Shali Khan, he—"
Lei Yu said, "Shali Khan dotes on Iasu very much."
"..."
"Besides, even if he doesn't agree, I will have Iasu find a way to let you leave."
"..."
“I don’t have much power here, but Iasu is the most beloved son of Shali Khan, and with Lady Jiayuan’s help, we can always find a way.”
Shang Ruyi asked, "Is that Prince Iasu really that good to you?"
Lei Yu glanced at her.
This wasn't the first time they had talked about her husband, but it was only now that she seemed willing to seriously confront some things. After lowering her head and pondering for a while, she said again, "I've said it before, he's very good to me, it's true."
"..."
"He will give me whatever I want."
"..."
"Therefore, I will protect you, and he will definitely help me!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com