Chapter 1009 He Du is a premature baby
After a long silence, Shang Ruyi spoke again. Looking at Lei Yu's beautiful, mature face illuminated by the firelight, she smiled and said, "But I'm still very happy to see you here. You—"
As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously shifted to Lei Yu's stomach.
She hadn't forgotten that before she left the Western Turkic camp, Lei Yu was already over two months pregnant, and not long after, she too became pregnant with Yuan Gan. Now Yuan Gan was ten months along—
Looking up and meeting Shang Ruyi's gaze, Lei Yu understood what was going on.
But she didn't speak immediately. Instead, she glanced warily behind her. The Turkic soldiers were still busy setting up tents and searching for water, but Ashina Zhuye was not in the Turkic camp. She didn't know where he had gone. So she leaned forward slightly and whispered cautiously, "I... my son is called Hedu."
"A son? You had a son!"
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi's face immediately lit up with a joyful smile. Although at the same time, a strange and indescribable emotion welled up in her heart, she still happily said, "Call him He Du? Ashina He Du?"
"yes."
Where is he?
“He stayed near Xia Prefecture. He was only one year old, and it was not appropriate for him to come along. It was Ashina Zhuxie who insisted on bringing him along, saying that he wanted him to see the world. But this time, we traveled day and night to Sui Prefecture at breakneck speed, and I was worried that the child was too young to handle it, so I left him in Xia Prefecture.”
"oh……"
Shang Ruyi breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, saying, "I see."
No wonder Princess Qiancheng sent three letters for help, and Yuwen Yuan considered it for so long before setting off, especially after she volunteered. Ashina Zhuxie's main force had not yet captured Xiazhou. It turned out that the Turks had taken the child with them on the road, and they had to consider the health of the mother and child, so they could not travel as fast as they did in wartime, which is why the journey was delayed until now.
Shang Ruyi felt both relieved and regretful, and sighed, "If only I could see him, he must be very cute."
She recalled the appearance of the Western Turkic prince in her memory. Although Iasu was Turkic, he was very handsome, and Lei Yu was a stunning beauty. Their child must be very cute.
Iasu...
The thought of this person suddenly made Shang Ruyi's heart sink again. She suddenly remembered something and lowered her voice, saying, "This child is—"
Lei Yu's expression immediately turned serious.
Before she could finish speaking, Lei Yu interrupted her: "He Du is a premature baby."
"..."
Shang Ruyi's breath hitched.
Lei Yu's dark eyes stared intently at her: "He was born two months premature."
Shang Ruyi felt as if a huge stone was pressing on her chest. After struggling for a long time, she finally said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's murmur, "You, you must have suffered a lot."
Upon hearing this, Lei Yu's eyes immediately turned red.
She spoke, her hoarse voice seemingly filled with untold sorrow and hardship: "I—"
Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly seemed to sense something and immediately shut her mouth. When Shang Ruyi looked up, she saw Ashina Zhuxie slowly walking towards them not far behind her.
Although there was still some distance to go and only very light footsteps could be heard, Lei Yu felt that they were very familiar and could already sense them.
Ashina Zhuxie walked to her side and gently touched her shoulder as before, but his gaze was fixed intently on Shang Ruyi: "What are you talking about? What suffering have you endured?"
Lei Yu's face was slightly pale, but fortunately, the orange-red firelight made it impossible to tell.
She whispered, "I'm saying I'm having a baby."
"oh,"
Ashina Zhuxie slowly squatted down, glanced at her somewhat dazed eyes, then turned to look at Shang Ruyi and said, "We have a son, named Hedu."
Shang Ruyi said, "Lei Yu just told me."
"oh."
"It's a pity you didn't bring him. I would really like to see this child."
“I did want to bring him along, but Ayu said the child was too young and couldn’t withstand the bumpy journey, so we left him there.”
As he spoke, a sharp glint flashed in Ashina Zhuxie's eyes, and he said, "You seem completely unsurprised about us—and the fact that we have a child."
Shang Ruyi said calmly, "There are a few things in this world that can never be hidden: poverty, a sneeze, and the look in someone's eyes when they like them."
"..."
"When the Khan was still the eldest prince, he couldn't hide your eyes."
"oh……"
Hearing her words, Ashina Zhuxie seemed to be deep in thought. After a moment, he turned to look at Lei Yu, who also had a solemn and thoughtful expression, and said, "It's getting late. The tents over there have been set up. You should go and rest early."
Lei Yu didn't look at him, only nodded slightly, then looked up at Shang Ruyi: "Then I—"
Shang Ruyi immediately said, "You just said that you traveled day and night to get here, you must be very tired. You don't look too well either, so you should get some rest. Anyway, we have plenty of time to get together these next few days."
Ashina Zhuxie also said, "That's right."
Not only could the two of them understand the deeper meaning in each other's words, but Lei Yu understood it even better. She simply nodded to Shang Ruyi, stood up, and turned to walk towards the Turkic camp.
Only after they all left did Shang Ruyi breathe a sigh of relief.
But this breath was not a relief. A heavy weight was still pressing on her heart. She didn't know whether the weight was called He Du or Zuo Gong's suspected tomb. Just as she was trying her best to calm herself down, a fragrant breeze wafted over. When she looked up, she saw that Lü Xiao, who had been sitting to the side, had come over and sat down next to her.
Upon seeing her, Shang Ruyi turned her head and glanced at the Turkic camp again.
Wang Shaoqiu was standing in front of a tent in the distance. He lifted the tent flap with one hand, seemingly preparing to go inside, but then stood still, his face turned towards them, looking at something.
When she looked over, Wang Shaoqiu immediately crawled into the tent.
Shang Ruyi frowned, and when she turned back, she met Lüxiao's eyes, which seemed to be filled with frost. She said, "He actually came too."
"..."
"It was my oversight."
It was only then that she remembered that after Wang Shaoqiu's defeat at Shuishen Mountain, he fled to Luoyang and joined Liang Shide. Now, fierce fighting was raging near Luoyang, and Yuwen Ye had captured several passes. If Liang Shide did not want Luoyang to fall, in addition to launching a frontal attack, he also had to ask for reinforcements.
The Turks were clearly his best ally.
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