Chapter 684 The Khan wants to take her with him to this battle.
Although she had stood at the tent entrance for a long time in the cold wind, even though the wind was freezing her blood, she refused to go inside. But after seeing the soldier who delivered the message rush into the royal tent, Shang Ruyi slowly walked back into the tent.
The warmth emanating from the braziers immediately dispelled the chill around me.
The sudden warmth made her blood rush, as if it were expanding and about to burst. Shang Ruyi felt a tingling sensation all over her body, her heart was racing, and something seemed to be surging within her as well.
But she could only grip her arms tightly to calm herself down.
After thinking for a moment, I sat down on the edge of the bed again.
But as soon as he sat down, he heard a series of hurried and heavy footsteps outside, and then the tent flap was lifted.
Lei Yu rushed in, her face pale, but then flushed red. As soon as she saw Shang Ruyi sitting by the bed, she walked up to her and said in a deep voice, "Feng Chen is here!"
"...!"
Hearing this sentence and this name suddenly left Shang Ruyi somewhat bewildered.
She stared blankly at Lei Yu, her thoughts still reeling from the chilling silence, even letting out a stunned "Ah." Seeing her lack of reaction, Lei Yu sat down opposite her, staring into her eyes, and said clearly, word by word, "Feng Chen has arrived!"
"..."
"He's brought his troops!"
"..."
"He's here to save you!"
"..."
As Lei Yu spoke, she became more and more excited, nervous, and happy. Shang Ruyi subconsciously tried to think about it, but Lei Yu's words were resounding like thunder in her mind, leaving her no room to think.
She blurted out instinctively, "He's here to attack the Turks, isn't he?"
"...?"
Lei Yu was taken aback, but when she saw Shang Ruyi's still somewhat blank expression, a hint of reproach appeared in her eyes. She couldn't help but laugh and said, "What are you thinking about?"
"..."
"Not to mention that he only brought 10,000 or 20,000 men, which is far from enough to attack the Turks, they only captured Taiyuan a few days ago and went through a fierce battle. Considering the time, he must have mobilized his troops immediately and come here without stopping, and traveled a long distance to get here."
"..."
"His soldiers must be exhausted, and now they're coming in such a grand manner that the people here have already discovered his whereabouts."
"..."
"Under these circumstances, can he still attack the Turks?!"
Lei Yuyue's urgent words actually suppressed the few words that had been echoing in Shang Ruyi's mind, and made her calmer. After careful consideration, Lei Yuyue was right. According to the time, Yuwen Ye was able to lead tens of thousands of troops to the vicinity of the Turkic camp in such a short time. The long-distance raiding ability of the Central Plains cavalry was far inferior to that of the Turks, especially Ashina Zhuxie's troops. Therefore, he must have set off immediately after taking Taiyuan.
Indeed, it must have been very tiring.
Moreover, Shang Ruyi was well aware that after Yuwen Ye's troops crossed Tongguan, they fought a battle near Cangbai Mountain, rescuing Yuwen Cheng. Afterwards, they traveled day and night to Qixian, and fortunately, they peacefully recaptured the city.
Moreover, it is difficult for tens of thousands of troops to hide their whereabouts. It seems that he did not make any deliberate attempt to hide his whereabouts, which is why he was discovered by the Turkic scouts so quickly. In other words, he was at least not planning to launch a surprise attack on the Turkic camp.
But with only ten or twenty thousand men, large-scale warfare is impossible.
What is he going to do?
Really, they've come to save me?
How could ten or twenty thousand men possibly rescue themselves from the Turks? Moreover—
Shang Ruyi couldn't help but recall the day she received the news of Shen Wuzheng's death, her almost irrational anger, the words she said to him afterward, and his equally angry yet wounded gaze.
Putting aside his pride, I doubt any man could tolerate his wife saying such things to him.
Will he come to save me?
Just as Shang Ruyi's thoughts were becoming somewhat disordered again, an even more chaotic commotion came from outside. She subconsciously glanced outside, but the tent flap was closed, so she couldn't see what was going on. However, she could guess what was happening. Lei Yu said, "Shali Khan has long hated Feng Chen to the bone. Hearing that he has arrived, he immediately wants to lead his army to fight him personally."
Therefore, the sounds coming from outside are likely the army preparing to assemble.
It was only then that Shang Ruyi came to her senses—although the news was sudden and could be considered good news in any case, what she had truly been waiting for was something else.
So he asked, "What happened just now? Is there any result? Is Prince Zhu Xie willing to hand over the heavy cavalry?"
Upon hearing this, Lei Yu's expression tightened slightly.
She nodded and said, "He... agreed."
"What!?"
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi immediately showed a surprised expression, but Lei Yu was not surprised at all by her surprise. In fact, when the two looked at each other, the worry in their eyes was exactly the same.
In fact, Shang Ruyi's worries stemmed from something Lei Yu had told her in the past—
In such chaotic times, the few soldiers we have are what we rely on for survival.
If even she knew, Ashina Zhuxie couldn't possibly not know.
But did he really abandon his most powerful heavy cavalry force? If so, on the grasslands, he would not only lose the favor of the Khan, but also his last remaining support.
Thus, they completely lost their eligibility to compete for the Turkic successor.
Has he really given up?
Lei Yu added, "However, he also asked Shali Khan for a whistling arrow."
"A whistling arrow?"
"By the way, after the troops have all gathered, Shali Khan will personally go to fight. Yiasu and Ashina Zhuxie will also go on the expedition. Of course, the heavy cavalry will also be among those to fight. He will take this opportunity to give the whistling arrow to Ashina Zhuxie."
At this point, she couldn't help but chuckle softly, but her smile was full of bitterness.
She said, "We were worried that the plan that Shali Khan had devised to attack Chang'an would bring war to the people of Guanzhong, but we did not expect that Feng Chen would arrive here first."
As she spoke, she smiled and looked at Shang Ruyi: "I told you, when he comes, it will be something you can't imagine. I wasn't wrong, was I?"
"..."
At this point, Shang Ruyi was speechless.
Yuwen Ye was a skilled military strategist. In the few years I had followed him, I had witnessed countless instances of his masterful battle tactics and victories. Therefore, his willingness to lead only ten or twenty thousand men on a long-distance raid to the Turkic camp must have its own agenda.
But no matter what his plans are, a battle is inevitable.
As for myself, I only need to worry about whether Yuwen Ye can win, or whether I can remain unthreatened.
But for Lei Yu, there were far too many things to worry about.
Because the side fighting was Yuwen Ye, even if they no longer talked about romantic love, they were still good friends who grew up together. Of course, she didn't want Yuwen Ye to fail or suffer any damage. However, the side fighting against Yuwen Ye was the Turks.
Regardless of Shali Khan or Ashina Zhuxie, even Iasu will be involved this time.
How could she not worry about her husband?
Moreover, she was already carrying Iasu's child...
The unease in her heart was gradually growing, but Shang Ruyi didn't have time to think about what that unease was. Looking at Lei Yu's helpless yet somewhat sorrowful expression, she suddenly said, "Lei Yu, Lei Yu—"
This was the first time she had mentioned this name since arriving in Turkic territory.
Lei Yu trembled slightly.
She looked up at Shang Ruyi, as if she knew everything, and said, "He has already surrendered to the Great Sheng Dynasty. No, he should be saying he has surrendered to Feng Chen, right? He betrayed the Turks."
Shang Ruyi's eyes widened: "You knew?"
Lei Yu smiled faintly and said, "You were abducted from Qi County, which means that your troops were stationed there, so Qi County was naturally taken back. Considering the time, the fact that Qi County changed hands in such a short time can only mean that it was peacefully recovered, not that Feng Chen conquered it."
"..."
"After thinking about Lei Guo's personality again, I understood what was going on."
"..."
"But why are you suddenly telling me this at this time?"
"I……"
Shang Ruyi was momentarily stunned.
After they arrived in the Turkic territory, they only talked about the war in Taiyuan. She only mentioned her kidnapping in Qixian briefly. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell Lei Yu, but she was afraid that if any news reached the ears of the Shali Khan, he would investigate the matter in Qixian and whether he would implicate Lei Yu if Lei Yu surrendered.
Therefore, Shang Ruyi never mentioned this matter.
However, there was another person who never mentioned this matter—his purpose seemed to be the same as his own.
Just as Shang Ruyi was stunned and speechless, footsteps suddenly sounded outside again, and a deep voice said, "Shang Ruyi!"
It was Ashina Zhuxie!
Upon hearing his voice, Shang Ruyi and Lei Yu were both startled.
Lei Yu, in particular, changed her expression and immediately got up and walked to the door. She reached out and lifted the curtain, immediately meeting a pair of sinister and deep eyes outside the door.
Ashina Zhuxie, standing at the door, was caught off guard by her unexpected presence: "You—"
Seeing him, Lei Yu's expression became somewhat complicated.
She asked, "What are you doing here?"
As they spoke, Shang Ruyi walked to her side and saw that Ashina Zhuxie had already changed into a suit of armor. Although the armor of the Turks was different from that of the generals of the Central Plains and was not as exquisite and complicated, Ashina Zhuxie himself was tall and strong and had a heroic air about him. He still looked extraordinary.
Behind him, in what was once a relatively peaceful military camp, countless soldiers emerged from their tents, each holding a horse in one hand and a sword in the other, gathering towards the wide meadow outside the camp, where a dense army had already assembled.
Upon seeing Shang Ruyi, Ashina Zhuxie regained his usual cold and stern gaze.
He said, "The Khan must take her with him to this battle."
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