Chapter 817 This is his true "self-inflicted mistake"
It was late at night.
When the Crown Prince, the two princes, and a princess finally left the Liangyi Hall, the lights in the hall were finally extinguished, and the entire palace seemed to fall into a suffocating darkness.
Even after returning to Qianqiu Palace, Shang Ruyi was still unable to catch her breath.
After a quick bath and change, she quietly got into bed. As soon as she lay down next to Yuwen Ye, she heard him let out a deep sigh.
Shang Ruyi immediately raised her head, and by the dim light of the last candle in the hall, she looked at his gloomy face and cold eyes, and said softly, "Does things really have to come to this?"
"..."
Yuwen Ye raised an eyebrow slightly and looked down at her: "What?"
Shang Ruyi said, "The Crown Prince is marrying Yu Mingyue in order to deal with us."
"..."
"Before, there were the assassinations on the way back from Jiangdu, the Battle of Fufeng, and the subsequent plague... Although Yu Mingyue is knowledgeable but not wise, she still knows many important things, which is important to us—"
This was already fatal enough for them.
Furthermore, if Shang Ruyi hadn't wanted to see Empress Dowager Jiang because of Chu Ruoyan's matter, and if Yuwen Yuan hadn't been overjoyed by Jiang Chongen's surrender and allowed her to visit Dayan Temple to worship Buddha, they might not have been able to so quickly uncover Jiang Chongen's plan to feign surrender and actually lure and kill the emperor, and arrive at Longmen Ferry in time. Yu Mingyue might have already made a great contribution because of this incident.
This time, they won by sheer luck, but they also paid a heavy "price".
Yuwen Qian and his group have almost completely broken off relations.
Compared to Shang Ruyi's deep worry, Yuwen Ye was very calm. He looked down at her and said indifferently, "Do you think that just because one of them doesn't marry and the other doesn't marry, they won't come after us?"
"..."
"Then what about everything we went through before?"
Shang Ruyi was taken aback, and after thinking about it again, she had nothing to say.
The assassinations on the way back from Jiangdu, the Battle of Fufeng, and the subsequent plague... it was indeed Yu Mingyue who was behind it. At that time, she had not yet married Yuwen Qian.
Yuwen Ye sighed softly and said, "No woman can completely manipulate or change a man who lives for power."
"..."
"Most men only flatter women when they are using them. King You of Zhou could light the beacon fires and play tricks on the feudal lords, but he would never do so for Bao Si. Men make up stories to coax women, but women should not be complacent and think that they can really bring down a country with their beauty. Beauty has always been used to take the blame."
"..."
"Even without this incident, my brother would have been irreconcilable with us long ago."
"..."
"The death of the Duke of Shenwu was just the perfect excuse for him—although the excuse did cause him pain, the result was something that should have happened long ago."
"Should have happened a long time ago?"
Shang Ruyi had some understanding of what was said before, but these last few words surprised her. She looked at Yuwen Ye: "You mean, the Crown Prince will definitely marry Yu Mingyue, it's just a matter of time?"
Yuwen Ye nodded.
Shang Ruyi slowly frowned.
She knew the brothers' conflict was inevitable, but so was marrying Yu Mingyue...
She thought about what had happened these past few days, and recalled Yuwen Qian's seemingly calm but actually deeply painful words "self-destruction" in the Liangyi Hall. She seemed to understand something, and said softly, "When he said he 'made a mistake' over the years, he didn't mean that he hadn't settled down and started a family. Rather, he meant that he had been traveling around all these years and hadn't cultivated any of his own power."
Yuwen Ye's lips curled up slightly as he said, "You've finally figured it out."
Shang Ruyi couldn't help but take a deep breath.
If he hadn't reminded her, she probably wouldn't have thought of it that way—looking around the court, although many people had stood behind Yuwen Qian after he returned to the mortal world and took Chang'an without bloodshed; after he was made crown prince, his and Yuwen Ye's forces in the court were even more clearly divided. However, the forces behind him were not Yuwen Qian's forces, but the "crown prince's" forces. These people stood by his side because he became crown prince and they had hopes for the "crown prince."
But once the "crown prince" loses power, or loses his status as the "crown prince," those people will immediately leave him.
Unlike him, Yuwen Ye had his own men standing behind him.
These people were his close confidants who had gone through countless hardships and dangers with him over the years, including Mu Xian, Cheng Qiao, Yan Buhuai, Dai Junliang, Pei Xingyuan, Shen Tu Tai... and even Shen Wuzheng, who came to his side with Shang Ruyi.
These people were not only part of the King of Qin's forces, but also part of Yuwen Ye's forces.
In other words, Dong Bizheng's death made Yuwen Qian realize that during the years he had been away cultivating and traveling the world, he had not cultivated any of his own power in the court. The Duke of Shenwu was his maternal family and his greatest supporter. With Dong Bizheng's death, although the Dong family might still help him, their power had been greatly reduced. Not to mention avenging Dong Bizheng, he might even feel that his position as crown prince was in jeopardy.
After all, with the death of the Duke of Shenwu, there were not many forces in the court left that could directly confront Yuwen Ye.
He had no choice but to find another ally, and that ally was only another duke—
Duke of Wushan.
That's why Yuwen Ye said that marrying Yu Mingyue was only a matter of time. Even if Dong Bizheng were still alive, the title of Duke of Shenwu alone would not be enough for the Crown Prince. After the Duke of Shenwu died, Yuwen Qian immediately married Yu Mingyue, which was not only a statement but also a way to appease the forces behind him.
Shang Ruyi took a deep breath: "So, this is what he really did—mistake himself."
Yuwen Ye said calmly, "If you want to understand power better, you must let go of the short-sightedness of being attached to your children; otherwise, you will always be trapped."
Shang Ruyi nodded slightly.
She then asked, "So, what should we do next?"
Yuwen Ye looked at her, a half-smile on his face, and said, "You seem particularly afraid."
Shang Ruyi let out a heavy sigh: "Of course I'm scared. I don't want to get hurt, and I don't want the people around me to get hurt either."
"..."
“My brother said before that if the Crown Prince wanted to take revenge, he would do two things—injure people and seize power.”
Now that she has a general understanding of this power grab, marrying Yu Mingyue is the first step, but when it comes to harming people, they are still a bit unclear about who he will target.
Yuwen Ye remained silent for a while, then suddenly murmured, "These may not necessarily be two separate things."
"..."
"And now, the King of Qi has returned."
"Third brother?"
Mentioning Yuwen Cheng deepened Shang Ruyi's worries. Compared to Yuwen Qian, whom she knew very little about, Yuwen Cheng's cunning, ruthlessness, and unpredictable temper were equally troublesome for her. Moreover, Yuwen Cheng had returned injured because of the Xingluocang incident, and he must have been holding Yuwen Ye accountable. If he and Yuwen Qian joined forces again...
Shang Ruyi said softly, "Do you think our third brother will also attack us?"
"..."
Yuwen Ye was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Can you tell where Third Brother is injured?"
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