Chapter 1188 An Even Tougher Round
It wasn't until dusk that Shang Ruyi returned to the official residence.
She distributed food for a whole day. Although she only used a wooden shovel to pour rice for people and someone would come up to take her place every now and then, the physical labor still made her so tired that her hands and feet were weak. As soon as she entered her own small house, her legs went weak and she almost fell down.
Just then, a hand reached out and steadily supported her.
Before she even looked up, Shang Ruyi already felt that familiar presence, as if an invisible shield had enveloped her. She instinctively breathed a sigh of relief. When she looked up again, she indeed met those familiar, deep eyes.
Wo Xue hurriedly bowed: "Your Highness."
Yuwen Ye looked down at Shang Ruyi: "Where have you been? I haven't been able to find you all day."
As he spoke, he gently pulled her up. Shang Ruyi stood up straight, followed him into the room and sat down, saying weakly, "I went out and shoveled rice for someone all day."
Hearing this, Yuwen Ye's lips curled into a smile. Seeing that Wo Xue was about to pour tea, he simply waved his hand, and Wo Xue tactfully withdrew, closing the door behind her as she left. Yuwen Ye personally went over and poured her a cup of tea, handing it to her. However, he noticed that her hands were red, and there was a patch on her palm that was chafed, revealing tender, bright red flesh. He couldn't help but frown: "How did you get like this?"
Shang Ruyi glanced down at herself.
Actually, compared to the injuries she sustained while crawling and fighting at Hulao Pass a few days ago, this was nothing at all. She didn't even feel any pain, but when Yuwen Ye looked at her, the burning sensation immediately came over her. So she held his hand and said, "We went through so much trouble to bring back the grain from Huiluo Granary. Now that the rice is being distributed, people should know who gave it to them."
Yuwen Ye shook his head: "You just need to show your face, and you actually did a good job for a whole day."
Shang Ruyi said, "Ordinary people... may not be smart, but they are not easy to fool."
As they spoke, the two looked at each other and smiled.
In truth, what was there not to know? From Yuwen Ye's risky act of burning down the treasury to seize the household registration records, Shang Ruyi understood that he intended to make Luoyang his own. Once the household registrations were secured, how could he not win over the hearts and minds of the people?
Ultimately, the couple has offended the Crown Prince, the Prince of Qi, and even the Emperor. They haven't left themselves any way out, so what will be the result?
Yuwen Ye's words make a lot of sense—loyalty without strength is the easiest thing to be sacrificed and abandoned.
Yuwen Ye originally wanted to find medicine and gauze to bandage her wounds, but Shang Ruyi refused. She hadn't cared about previous injuries, and would apply medicine and bandage even the smallest scrapes with great care. Not only did the people around them find it funny, but she herself felt ashamed. Yuwen Ye had no choice but to let go, but he held her hand tightly in his palm for a long time.
He asked, "I heard something happened in Taipei?"
"It's nothing serious."
Shang Ruyi recounted the old woman's story, then sighed, "Ordinary people are actually the most honest and resilient. They've been starving for so long, eating scraps of dirt until their bodies are swollen, yet they can't voice their grievances. If we hadn't captured Liang Shide and Luoyang, these people probably wouldn't have uttered a single complaint, and that would have been it..."
Or, she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat.
Yuwen Ye didn't speak, but his breathing became heavy.
Shang Ruyi swallowed the bitterness in her heart and looked up at him: "If Luoyang really belongs to you in the future, you must not let the people here suffer again."
"..."
Yuwen Ye did not respond immediately, but remained silent, his deep eyes seemingly sparkling with countless lights.
After a long while, he said, "I will make sure that all the people in the world will no longer suffer."
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The distribution of grain in the city took three whole days to complete, and the people were overjoyed, as if it were a festival.
But the good things aren't over yet.
Five days later, Yuwen Ye announced the opening of the city gates. The dozen or so city gates inside and outside Luoyang were no longer under martial law, and everyone could enter and leave Luoyang on their own without any obstruction.
This order definitively declared that Luoyang had been incorporated into the territory of the Great Sheng Dynasty.
On the day the notice was posted, the people of the city finally stepped out of their homes for the second time after receiving the life-saving food. However, they did not do it to survive, but simply to go out, see the free world they had not seen for so long, and breathe some fresh air. Restaurants and inns reopened, and although there were few customers, the shouts of the waiters were still enthusiastic, even more full of hope than before. At the same time, after receiving temporary travel permits issued by the government, traveling merchants also boldly carried their bags and walked out of the city gates. Looking at the clear blue sky outside, they could not help but let out loud shouts.
Yuwen Ye and Shang Ruyi, standing on the city wall, watched all of this quietly.
"It's over..."
Hearing Shang Ruyi's murmurs, Yuwen Ye turned to look at her. He saw her looking down at the crowds flowing below the city wall, her expression somewhat dazed. Upon hearing this, Yuwen Ye couldn't help but laugh and said, "What, don't you want all of this to end?"
Shang Ruyi shook her head and remained silent for a long time before looking up at him and saying softly, "You might not believe it, but sometimes I feel like this is all a dream."
"..."
“I always felt that Luoyang wouldn’t be easy to take…we might have to fight for a lifetime.”
"..."
"I never even thought we could win."
As she spoke, she smiled again: "But at least we got it!"
Yuwen Ye also laughed.
He understood the root of this idea—life is made up of one steep peak after another. Only by climbing the one in front of you can you conquer the one that is even steeper and more dangerous. Before conquering the one in front of you, everyone thinks that this is the most difficult obstacle in the world.
For example, the Xingluocang, the Jiangdu Palace, the dismantling of Wanggangzhai, the conquest of Fufeng City, and the Battle of Taiyuan—every step they took was incredibly arduous, and there were many times when they felt they might not be able to hold on any longer, but in the end, they still won the victory.
The same is true right now.
Yuwen Ye said, "I've already sent word back to Hulao Pass. Once your brother and Shentu Tai have settled things there, they can come to Luoyang to join us. After we've dealt with things here—"
Shang Ruyi's eyes immediately lit up: "Are we going back to Chang'an?"
"Um,"
Yuwen Ye nodded. This was something they had both been thinking about, especially after he heard about the injustice Yuan Gan had suffered. He wanted to go back as soon as possible to comfort his child.
But he also understood that going back would mean facing more than just "family bliss".
He looked down into Shang Ruyi's eyes and said seriously, "Going back will be an even more difficult battle than conquering Luoyang."
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