Chapter 472 Continue to defend, or switch to offense?
Shang Ruyi's expression changed, and she immediately stuffed the packet of medicine back into Tu She'er's hand, waved her hand to let her step aside, and then reached into Yuwen Ye's arms and gently took something out.
It was the sachet that Yuwen Qian had given him.
Shang Ruyi took a deep breath, then untied the knot and looked inside—
It was completely empty inside!
Shang Ruyi was startled and, somewhat incredulous, reached out and touched it a couple more times. Indeed, there was nothing there.
For a moment, she was completely bewildered. The sachet Yuwen Qian gave her contained medicinal herbs that could prevent the plague, but the sachet she gave to Yuwen Ye contained nothing.
What does this mean?
Could it be that he—
Just as her mind was in turmoil, and she didn't even know where to begin to sort out these doubts, she heard Tushe'er's voice in her ear. She heard her say cautiously, "Miss, there seems to be a hole in the bottom of this sachet."
"Um?"
Shang Ruyi was taken aback and quickly turned the sachet over to take a look.
Sure enough, the seam at the bottom of the sachet had cracked, and the hole was quite large.
She was momentarily taken aback, but upon reflection, she understood—Yuwen Ye always carried this sachet close to his body, even when he went to the battlefield. Since arriving in Fufeng, he had been involved in numerous battles, almost all of which were life-or-death struggles. It was not surprising that the sachet would be worn out and broken.
only--
She frowned, looking at the empty sachet, her doubts growing even stronger.
Did you put any medicine in this sachet?
If he didn't put any medicine in his sachet, doesn't that mean Yuwen Qian knew in advance that they might encounter this terrible disease in Fufeng, but only put plague prevention medicine in his own sachet?
Could it be that Yuwen Qian had feelings for her—
Just thinking about it, Shang Ruyi immediately shook her head, shaking that absurd idea out of her head.
impossible!
You should know that her breaking off the engagement and remarrying not only put her in an awkward position in the Yuwen family, but also really damaged the reputation of the Duke of Sheng's heir. Yuwen Qian himself said that in the eyes of the world, it was she, Shang Ruyi, who had betrayed him, Yuwen Qian.
Given this, how could he possibly have any extra feelings to be kind to himself?
That's absolutely impossible!
Therefore, he must have known what Yuwen Ye would experience in Fufeng, so he prepared these two medicine pouches in advance, and the one for himself was just a side effect.
But--
Shang Ruyi couldn't help but wonder, if the medicine that could prevent the plague was really placed there, how could Yuwen Ye have contracted the plague so easily and become so seriously ill?
Just as her mind was in complete turmoil, there was another soft knock on the door, and a somewhat old and weak voice called out: "Madam."
Upon hearing this voice, Shang Ruyi hurriedly got up and went to greet it personally.
Standing at the door was none other than the old doctor He Wenzhu, who had been treating Yuwen Ye before, but was injured and fell into a coma after the fire and had not regained consciousness for several days. He stood shakily at the door, leaning on his cane, and immediately said upon seeing Shang Ruyi, "Greetings, General's wife."
Upon seeing him, Shang Ruyi was secretly delighted.
Since they were rescued from the fire that day, He Wenzhu was the most seriously injured due to his advanced age and remained unconscious. Shang Ruyi was busy dealing with the battle against Xue Xian, so she could only let Yin Changyue and the others keep him in the government office to recuperate. She also sent people to take care of him. She originally planned to find an opportunity to visit him after things were settled here, but she did not expect that he was already able to get up.
Shang Ruyi hurriedly welcomed him in and asked, "Sir, are you feeling better?"
He Wenzhu coughed lightly twice, his voice still a little hoarse, but his spirits were quite good. He smiled and said, "These past few days, I've been bedridden and recuperating, but I've improved quite a bit. Today I was able to get out of bed, so I came here specifically to thank you for saving my life, Madam."
Shang Ruyi's face flushed, and she quickly said, "You flatter me."
In fact, if it weren't for them, He Wenzhu wouldn't have suffered such a misfortune, enduring such torment at such an advanced age and nearly losing her life.
He Wenzhu then asked, "How is the general's health now? This old man would like to take another look."
Shang Ruyi said, "Alright, please."
After saying that, she led He Wenzhu into the inner room. He Wenzhu walked to the bedside, first looked at Yuwen Ye's face, listened to his breathing, and then took his pulse. Then she smiled and turned to Shang Ruyi, saying, "General's pulse has become much calmer. He is indeed getting better."
Shang Ruyi smiled and said, "That's good."
He Wenzhu stood up again, looked at Shang Ruyi with a hint of admiration on his face, and said, "I have heard about your heroic deeds in resisting Xue Xian's army these past two days; I also heard that you sent people to prepare the medicine the general needed in advance. You are truly an extraordinary person."
An extraordinary person...
These four words made Shang Ruyi's mood even heavier.
She was no extraordinary person, nor did she possess any extraordinary abilities. Otherwise, she wouldn't have allowed others to calculate their every move, setting up life-or-death traps that nearly killed Yuwen Ye.
And she could only deal with it and make amends afterward.
However, at this moment, she thought of something and said to He Wenzhu, "Old sir, I have something I would like to ask you."
"I dare not ask for your advice, Madam. Please speak."
"If one wears a sachet to prevent the plague—the kind of sachet containing herbs such as agastache, patchouli, and asarum—can it completely prevent a person from contracting the plague?"
He Wenzhu thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No."
Shang Ruyi opened her eyes wide: "Why?"
He Wenzhu smiled faintly and said, "There are generally two ways for ordinary people to contract serious diseases: through the mouth and the nose."
As he spoke, he pointed to his mouth and nose and said, "In other words, what we eat and drink, and what we breathe, can all be sources of serious illnesses."
"..."
"A medicine pouch made of ingredients such as agastache, patchouli, and asarum may prevent a person from inhaling air containing diseases during breathing exercises. However, if the water a person drinks or the food they eat contains diseases, then the medicine pouch will be completely ineffective."
"...!"
Shang Ruyi remained silent for a long time before murmuring, "So that's how it is."
She had already guessed that Yuwen Ye's illness was caused by drinking the water from the Xiaolin River, which was polluted by the Jingguan (a mound of stones), and that he had contracted the plague. Since it was water for drinking, the sachet would not be effective.
In other words, the sachet that Yuwen Qian gave to Yuwen Ye may have contained those medicinal herbs, and he did not treat him specially.
Thinking about it that way, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing her expression shift between seriousness and ease, He Wenzhu, unsure of the reason, cautiously asked, "Why does Madam ask this?"
Shang Ruyi shook her head: "It's nothing."
He Wenzhu was knowledgeable and experienced, and he could sense that there were many undercurrents hidden in the general's wife's deep gaze. But since she was unwilling to talk about it, he, as an ordinary citizen, could not ask any more questions and simply nodded.
The two chatted for a while longer. He Wenzhu was old and had just recovered, so he inevitably became weak after talking for a while. Seeing this, Shang Ruyi asked Tu She'er to take him back to rest.
Not long after they left, Wo Xue prepared the medicine and brought it over.
Shang Ruyi carefully fed Yuwen Ye the medicine and was wiping the remaining medicine from his mouth when Dai Junliang and Yin Changyue came to see him.
Shang Ruyi welcomed them in.
After the two entered the house, they first cautiously went to the inner room to check on Yuwen Ye. After learning that He Wenzhu had just come to check his pulse and said that he was out of danger, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief. Yin Changyue was overjoyed and said, "The general's condition is improving, and with this great victory, Fufeng is truly blessed with double happiness."
Shang Ruyi looked at him: "Was this a great victory?"
Seeing her somewhat surprised expression, Yin Changyue immediately smiled and said, "Madam, it is indeed a great victory. We would never dare to deceive you."
Shang Ruyi hurriedly shook her head and said, "I don't think you're deceiving me. I only know that we managed to hold the city gates yesterday, but—I dare not hope for a great victory."
At this, even Dai Junliang's eyes crinkled with laughter. He said, "Madam ordered us to clean up the battlefield yesterday, but because the battlefield was so large, it took us a whole day to get the results."
Shang Ruyi looked at him: "How is it?"
Dai Junliang said, "In yesterday's battle, we annihilated more than 80,000 enemy soldiers!"
"...!"
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi's eyes widened in surprise: "Really?"
Dai Junliang smiled and said, "Madam, this is the battle report we just received. We verified it several times before daring to report it to you. In a little while, we will send it to Daxing with these figures as fast as possible to report to the court."
Shang Ruyi smiled and said, "This is wonderful!"
Just now, when Yuwen Qian came to say goodbye, he told her that yesterday's battle had annihilated at least 80,000 troops of the Longxi Army. She was still a little hesitant to believe it. Moreover, the number of troops cleared from the battlefield had not been reported, so she thought Yuwen Qian was just saying it casually.
Unexpectedly, there were actually 80,000 people!
Yesterday's battle was enough to avenge Xue Xian's killing of 80,000 soldiers in Fufeng!
Dai Junliang continued, "This only accounts for the number of enemy troops killed. In addition, we captured more than 4,000 people from Longxi, and some soldiers who fell into the river could not be found. In total, Xue Xian's troops suffered losses of about 100,000 men in yesterday's battle!"
"..."
"This is absolutely a fatal blow to him!"
"..."
"Now, we only have one problem facing us—"
At this point, Dai Junliang's joy faded slightly, and he asked seriously, "What should we do next?"
The enemy has suffered heavy losses and their morale is inevitably low. So what should they do now? Should they continue to hold their ground or launch a preemptive strike?
Upon thinking about this, all three of them fell silent.
It should be noted that yesterday's victory was achieved based on the sixteen-character military order given by Yuwen Ye before he fell ill. But now, the situation has changed, and they seem to have suddenly lost their backbone.
Should we continue to defend, or switch from defense to offense?
Just as the three of them remained silent, and a heavy atmosphere filled the room, a very soft, weak voice, yet imbued with an indomitable spirit, suddenly rang out—
"Of course, we should take the initiative."
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