Chapter 637 Don't blame me, kill the enemy!
"you--"
He seemed unable to believe his eyes, but the next moment, his expression changed immediately. Before Yuwen Ye could speak, he suddenly reached out from the door and grabbed Yuwen Ye!
Then, she forcefully pulled Yuwen Ye into the room.
The moment he pulled her into the room, Yuwen Ye reached back and grabbed Shang Ruyi's wrist, dragging her into the room as well.
All three were still somewhat shaken, especially Shang Ruyi, whose heart almost skipped a beat.
She took a couple of deep breaths before looking up. She saw Lei Guo looking terrified. He pulled the two of them into the room and immediately reached out to close the door. Then he went to the window, carefully pushed open a crack, and looked outside.
Outside, everything was just as it had been before; there wasn't a soul in sight, not even a whisper of wind.
Meanwhile, Yuwen Ye, who had been pulled to the middle of the room, remained calm and composed, as if he were in his own territory and meeting his own subordinates. He even casually dusted off his sleeves and looked around.
Shang Ruyi followed his gaze and briefly looked around—the room was indeed as they had imagined, simply furnished, without even a distinction between inner and outer rooms. There was only a bed against the wall, a low table in front of it, a few felt rugs, and a cabinet against the other wall with a few cups on it.
And a sword.
Lei Guo had obviously finished his official duties for the day and returned here without any guard up. He was only wearing a padded jacket. There wasn't even a brazier in the room, but when I saw him through the crack in the door, his forehead was covered in fine sweat. Either he was naturally hot-tempered and not afraid of the cold, or he had a fire burning in his heart, making him extremely anxious.
Judging from the somber atmosphere in the room, the latter was more likely.
At that moment, he leaned against the window and looked outside for a long time. After confirming that there was nothing amiss, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and his shoulders slumped down a bit. But when he turned his head to the side and saw Yuwen Ye standing in the center of the room, his expression became complicated.
Moreover, all the muscles in my body were somewhat tense.
He said, "Second Young Master, what brings you here?"
Yuwen Ye glanced at him and said, "The news from Chang'an should have arrived by now."
"Chang'an?"
Lei Guo was taken aback by the unfamiliar name, but the next moment he understood. When he looked at Yuwen Ye again, his eyes became more serious. He said, "Yes, Daxing has now been changed to Chang'an; and Daye has also been changed to Dasheng."
"..."
So you are—
"The Great Sheng Dynasty, Prince Qin, Yuwen Ye."
"King Qin, King Qin..."
Lei Guo repeated the title, as if he was savoring the meaning, or perhaps he was sighing. After a long while, he smiled slightly and said, "Yes, we all understand that the Duke—no, he should now be called the Emperor of Dasheng—will achieve great things sooner or later."
"..."
"Now it seems that it was indeed true."
"..."
"I, I once, also met a wise ruler."
After saying that, he slowly turned around, but instead of walking to Yuwen Ye, he walked towards the cabinet on the other side, seemingly preparing to get some tea from the cups there to serve the guest.
Watching his retreating figure, Yuwen Ye's face darkened, and he said, "Since you have found a wise ruler, why did you choose to defect to the enemy!"
Hearing his deep voice ask those words, though the voice wasn't loud, it felt like a thunderclap in the narrow yet spacious room, deafeningly loud. Shang Ruyi's breath caught in her throat as she stared intently at Lei Guo.
Upon hearing this, Lei Guo's shoulders twitched immediately.
Even before he turned around, just looking at his back, one could feel his entire body tense up, and when he spoke, his voice was so low and hoarse it was almost inaudible: "Since you know I have surrendered to the enemy, yet you still come to my door, then don't blame me—"
At this point, he suddenly turned around.
With a resounding "Cang," a longsword was drawn, its sharp, lightning-like gleam flashing before their eyes.
Shang Ruyi's eyes widened in shock as she saw Lei Guo holding the long sword he had placed on the cabinet. It turned out that he hadn't gone over to pour tea at all, but had picked up the sword to prepare to attack!
Lei Guo's eyes were bloodshot, hidden behind the cold glint of the sword tip, as if stained with blood.
He said, word by word, "Don't blame me, kill the enemy!"
"...!"
Shang Ruyi tensed up, but instead of backing down, she instinctively took a step forward. However, the moment she took that step, a tall figure suddenly appeared and blocked her way.
It is Yuwen Ye.
His expression was solemn, but his cold eyes, apart from flashing a cold light as they reflected the sword pointing at him, showed no murderous intent. Even his hands hung calmly at his sides, without any force or weapon in hand.
Lei frowned and said, "You...aren't you going to make a move?"
Yuwen Ye looked at him coldly and said, "You should be able to tell that I have no intention of fighting you."
"..."
"Because if I were going to make a move, it would have been at the door just now, and by now, you should be dead."
"...!"
Lei Guo's face stiffened, and the tip of his sword trembled slightly, but he did not refute it.
Clearly, he was well aware of Yuwen Ye's strength and knew that the other party's words were not exaggerated at all. The fact that he could still stand here, with his sword raised against Yuwen Ye, meant that Yuwen Ye was giving him a chance.
He took a deep breath and said, "Then, what are you doing here?"
Yuwen Ye looked at him calmly and said, "I've come to ask you to do one more thing."
"Do one more thing?"
Lei frowned: "What is it?"
Yuwen Ye said, "To defect to the enemy."
"...!"
Lei's eyes flashed, and the sword in his hand trembled violently. The tip of the sword reflected the only candlelight in the room, flickering even more intensely than his gaze. After a long while, he said in a trembling voice, "What did you say?"
Yuwen Ye said, "I want you to come back."
"..."
"I also need your help to take Taiyuan!"
As Yuwen Ye spoke, Lei Guo's breathing became increasingly disordered. In the end, he could no longer even hold the sword in his hand, and his long arm slowly drooped down, completely losing any chance to fight back.
But he still shook his head and said, "You know, that's impossible."
"..."
"I did indeed defect to the enemy, but the one I defected to wasn't the 'enemy,' but rather—"
At this point, he himself seemed unable to continue, or rather, he couldn't explain it clearly—he had accepted this fact and continued to garrison Qixian after surrendering to the enemy because Lei Yu had married the young prince of the Western Turks, and the Western Turks had already joined forces with Wang Shaoqiu to take Taiyuan. With no way to retreat, he was in a desperate situation. However, Taiyuan did not belong to Lei Yi, nor to Lei Yu, and even the people who gave him orders to Qixian were not from the Lei family.
Now, enemies are no longer enemies, and friends are no longer friends.
He not only felt ashamed of the court he had once served and the Duke of Sheng who had taken good care of him, but he also completely lost his goal for the rest of his life.
Seeing his bewildered expression, Yuwen Ye's eyes deepened. He stepped forward and said to Lei Guo, "Lei Guo, you just said that you also once encountered a wise ruler."
"..."
"So, is the ruler you are serving now a wise and benevolent one?"
"..."
"Or perhaps I should ask you, which of them do you think is capable of becoming a wise ruler?"
"..."
"Is it the ruthless, greedy, and licentious Wang Shaoji, or the cunning, treacherous, and vicious Wang Shaoqiu, or—" At this point, a clear hint of sarcasm flashed in Yuwen Ye's eyes: "Is it a Western Turk?"
Mentioning this, Lei's brows furrowed even more.
He was born with high brow bones, and once in a dimly lit environment, his eyes were almost completely obscured by the shadows cast by his brow bones. At this moment, his eyes seemed to be swallowed by the gloom, with only a faint light still flickering.
It's like a person who is about to drown but is still struggling.
After a long while, he looked up at Yuwen Ye: "You—"
"No need to ask me."
Yuwen Ye said coldly and even more bluntly, "My answer is only one."
"..."
“Lei Guo, it was understandable that your uncles sided with Liang Shide back then. Emperor Yang was suspicious by nature. He not only hated the rebels, but also distrusted the generals in the court who led the troops. That’s why he sent General Lei with only 50,000 troops to Hebei to quell Liang Shide’s 100,000-strong rebel army. He wanted them to be weakened so that he could feel at ease.”
"..."
"Therefore, his demise, the fall of his country, and his own death were inevitable!"
Although at this moment, it was a matter of whether or not she could persuade the people in front of her, and even more so, their lives, Shang Ruyi's breath still caught in her throat when Chu Yang was mentioned.
She couldn't deny Yuwen Ye's words; his evaluation of Chu Yang might have been sharp, but it was also profound, even incisive.
Some things are just destined.
No matter how favored he is by God, or how exceptionally intelligent he may be.
Just as Shang Ruyi's thoughts were in turmoil, Yuwen Ye, who was standing in front of her, seemed to sense the erratic aura of the person behind him. He turned around and glanced back. Shang Ruyi hurriedly perked up. Yuwen Ye's eyes flickered, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he turned back to Lei Guo, but his tone was lower and colder. He said, "But your defection to the enemy is extremely unwise."
"..."
"Because, without me having to assert it, even you yourself know that neither Wang Shaoji, Wang Shaoqiu, nor the Western Turks who have been plotting in the north to wreak havoc on the Central Plains, are wise rulers."
"..."
"Your childhood dream was for the world to be free from war, so that people could live in peace and prosperity. But can't you see that by following them, you will not only fail to achieve your dream, but you will also destroy the Central Plains that you hope to have peace!"
"...!"
His words struck Lei Guo's heart like a heavy hammer blow.
At that moment, not only did his pupils shatter, but his breathing and heartbeat almost stopped.
Yuwen Ye remained calm, his eyes and tone unwavering, and said calmly, "I have said all I have to say."
"..."
“Today, I didn’t bring a single weapon into the city, and as I just said, I don’t intend to fight you here. So, if you want to fight, or if you want to call your men over—even if it’s not easy, they can still take me down.”
"..."
"It's up to you what you plan to do."
After saying that, he slowly put his hands behind his back.
Upon seeing him like this, countless complex emotions flashed across Lei Guo's face in an instant, and his eyes seemed to be filled with a thousand thoughts colliding and struggling.
His hand slowly tightened its grip on the sword hilt.
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