Chapter 891 I "If"
Back at Qianqiu Palace, after handing Yuanzi over to the wet nurse to take away, Shang Ruyi sat down to rest. She had just dozed off on the couch when she heard a familiar sound of footsteps approaching, growing softer and softer as if afraid of disturbing her sweet dream.
As I approached her, amidst the rustling of her clothes, a familiar presence drew near.
Warm breaths blew onto my face.
Shang Ruyi tried her best to control her breathing and heartbeat, but the next moment, she felt her eyelashes being gently touched by fingertips, as if brushing against the strings of a zither. The ticklish sensation made her unable to bear it any longer, and she opened her eyes and met Yuwen Ye's deep eyes, which were filled with a hint of a smile.
Shang Ruyi laughed in exasperation, saying, "Why are you disturbing my peaceful sleep!"
Yuwen Ye said, "How can you have a peaceful dream if you're pretending to be asleep?"
"snort!"
Shang Ru was still indignant, but she sat up and took a sip of tea to clear her head. Yuwen Ye had already taken off his outer robe and changed into casual clothes. He sat down next to her, drinking tea and looking around. He asked, "Where's Yuanzi?"
"I just went to play with Father for a while and I'm a little sleepy, so I asked the wet nurse to carry me down to sleep."
"Oh? You went to see the Emperor."
Upon hearing this, Yuwen Ye looked at her with a half-smile: "What did you say to Father Emperor this time?"
"What did I say—"
Before she could finish speaking, Shang Ruyi immediately snapped out of her daze, staring wide-eyed at Yuwen Ye: "What did you see?"
Yuwen Ye said, "When I came back just now, I saw my brother, the Crown Princess, and Consort Lou coming out of Suzhang Gate. The Crown Princess didn't look too good."
"oh?"
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi's eyes lit up.
In fact, Yuwen Ye spoke very slowly, after all, he was not very interested in the relationship between Yu Mingyue and Lou Chanyue. He and Shang Ruyi had always clearly distinguished between the scheming between women and the fighting between men. However, even if he didn't care, he couldn't ignore Yu Mingyue's livid face and the sharper-than-a-knife look in her eyes when she glared at Lou Chanyue, as if she wanted to stab the other one through.
It's rare to see such a sharp gaze, even outside of a battlefield.
As for Lou Chanyue, although Yuwen Ye saw from afar that she did not confront the Crown Princess and was instead very humble, seemingly being careful along the way, his keen senses from years of living as a young master of a noble family made him clearly feel that this Lou Liangdi was far less humble than she appeared on the surface.
Shang Ruyi was not slow to react. She told Yuwen Ye what she had heard in the Liangyi Hall. Yuwen Ye did not speak immediately, but remained silent for a long time before looking up at her with a flickering gaze and saying, "I see."
Shang Ruyi looked at him, her eyes flickering slightly.
Neither of them said anything more, yet it was as if they had already said everything in that moment of silence.
After a while, Shang Ruyi said softly, "By the way, I also told Father that I wanted to go back to my uncle's house to visit, but Father did not allow it. It seems that he still doesn't quite trust us."
Yuwen Ye said calmly, "Pei Xingyuan has remained silent in the Ministry of Justice prison, and neither Physician Su nor that Jiang Yu could get any important information out of him. The truth is still unclear, so how can Father's suspicions be dispelled?"
Shang Ruyi sighed and said, "Yes, we still need to dispel Father's suspicions first."
Yuwen Ye said, "Don't rush this matter."
"Um."
Shang Ruyi nodded and then asked, "By the way, didn't you say this morning that you were just going to take a look at the military camp and would be right back? Why did you take so long?"
Upon hearing this, Yuwen Ye's expression darkened slightly, and he said, "I went to the Ministry of War."
"Ministry of War?" Upon hearing these two words, Shang Ruyi perked up: "Is there any news from my third brother's side?"
"Um."
Yuwen Ye took a deep breath and looked at her with a complicated expression: "The Ministry of War has just received a military report from the front that Yan Jie has captured Cijian."
Shang Ruyi's eyes widened in surprise. She remembered that Yuwen Ye had mentioned the troop deployment near Luoyang last time, and he had specifically mentioned Cijian. It was a military town established on the Jian River when Chu Yang moved the capital. Although it was not a major military town, it was of great importance to the defense of Luoyang.
This was also very important for Yuwen Cheng's eastern expedition to Luoyang.
His words were still ringing in my ears, but I never expected that he would take over Cijian so quickly.
Yuwen Ye sighed softly and said, "I originally thought it would be at least past the New Year before he could take Cijian, but I didn't expect it to be so fast. This time, he has really impressed me."
Shang Ruyi nodded silently. In fact, whether it was due to his family's academic background or his need to find his place as the Prince of Qi, Yuwen Cheng had to make military achievements to demonstrate his value and status after losing his birthplace and only regaining Taiyuan City with the help of his two elder brothers.
She dipped her finger into the teacup and lightly drew a few lines on the table, just as Yuwen Ye had mentioned before: the Yellow River, Beiman Mountain, Jian River, Cijian River... After looking at them for a while, she said softly, "Now my third brother is not far from Luoyang. If the garrison of Dongdu does not intend to retake Cijian River, he can reach Luoyang in just two or three days by advancing eastward along the Jian River."
Yuwen Ye asked, "Then what do you think the garrison of the Eastern Capital will do?"
Shang Ruyi sighed: "Liang Shide isn't stupid."
As Yuwen Ye had told him before, Luoyang's garrison was so small that even if the city was fortified, it would be difficult to withstand a frontal attack by Yuwen Cheng's large army. Therefore, he would definitely try to find a solution from the outside.
Yuwen Ye asked, "Then, if you were the third brother, what would you do next?"
Shang Ru looked at the lines drawn by the water on the table for a while, then gently shook her head and said, "I 'can't' do it."
"What's the meaning?"
"Given my third brother's personality, he won't care about the garrison around Luoyang. He's eager to make a name for himself, and now that he's captured Cijian, he'll definitely attack Luoyang directly without hesitation in order to achieve a quick victory. But I—you've already told me about the garrison and troop distribution at the eight passes of Luoyang, so no matter what, I can't march according to my third brother's plan."
"So what would you do?"
Shang Ruyi looked up at him: "Just like you."
Upon hearing this, a smile appeared in Yuwen Ye's eyes, but he glared at Shang Ruyi and said, "You slippery little thing!"
Shang Ruyi smiled and slowly wiped away the water stains on the table. Although the water stains disappeared, a serious look slowly appeared on her face. She said, "Since Third Brother has already—then we should hurry up. After all, it's almost New Year's Eve."
Yuwen Ye nodded: "Mm."
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