Chapter 435 Prepare the horses and leave the city!
Inside the government office, the first ray of sunlight quietly shone on the pillow.
Lying in bed, her still somewhat pale face seemed to sense something; her long eyelashes, covering her thin eyelids, trembled slightly before she finally opened them.
A pair of bloodshot, red eyes gradually regained their clarity.
It is Yuwen Ye.
Before he even woke up, he felt waves of aches and pains all over his body. Upon closer reflection, he realized that his low-grade fever had kept him awake all night, and he had barely managed to fall asleep by dawn. Even after sleeping for a while, he still didn't feel much better.
In particular, his hands were being pressed down by something heavy, making it impossible for him to move.
He slowly lowered his head and realized that his hand was being held tightly by another fair and slender hand, which seemed to have been holding it all night.
It is Shang Ruyi.
She held her own hand, knelt down by the bed and fell asleep, her pale face, tired from exhaustion, resting against the back of her hand.
Upon seeing her, Yuwen Ye's aura immediately darkened.
She must have stayed by his bedside all night. After Dai Junliang brought in an elderly doctor who looked like he had white hair, and learned that he was sick, everyone busied themselves with taking care of him. Shang Ruyi fed him medicine and wiped his body with a handkerchief soaked in cold water until he fell into a deep sleep. It seemed that he could still see her busy figure in front of him.
At this moment, things finally quieted down.
Seeing her sleeping soundly, just like last night, Yuwen Ye couldn't help but smile despite his aches and pains.
He reached out his other hand, which she wasn't holding, and gently stroked her cheek.
In an instant, Shang Ruyi was startled and immediately raised her head.
"Feng Chen!"
Her voice was hoarse and trembling, as if she had just woken up from a nightmare.
Indeed, it was a nightmare. Shang Ruyi opened her eyes wide, still somewhat dazed, as if her mind was still trapped in the dream—especially the terrifying Jingguan and the blood-stained river that she couldn't shake off in her dreams last night. She couldn't come to her senses for a long time.
Until Yuwen Ye chuckled and said, "What's wrong? Having a nightmare?"
The word "nightmare," which originally carried a hint of mockery, somehow made Shang Ruyi's heart tremble upon hearing it.
It seems she really did have a nightmare.
The terrifying scene outside the city yesterday not only appeared in her dream, but she also saw Yuwen Ye seemingly swallowed by the churning, blood-red waves of the river, and even when she stretched out her hand, she couldn't hold him back.
This feeling terrified her.
Fortunately, when I woke up, he was still there, alright. Although his face was still pale and his lips were bloodless, at least—
Shang Ruyi breathed a sigh of relief, finally regaining her senses: "You're awake. Are you alright?"
As she spoke, she reached out to touch his forehead.
Yuwen Ye said helplessly, "It wasn't a big deal to begin with, but you insisted on having Dai Junliang find a doctor, causing all this chaos."
"..."
"Fortunately, the good news didn't get out, but you didn't get enough rest either."
"..."
As he said this, Shang Ruyi's hand, which was touching his forehead, never left his forehead.
Gradually, his brows furrowed even more.
Yuwen Ye asked, "What's wrong?"
Shang Ruyi looked into his eyes and said softly, "Why hasn't your fever gone down yet?"
Yuwen Ye frowned. In fact, without even reaching out to check, he could feel that his body was still as hot as it had been the night before. Moreover, the feeling of soreness and weakness in his muscles and bones was a sign of a low-grade fever after a night of sleep. But after sleeping for a while, he felt more energetic and thought there should be nothing seriously wrong.
He just muttered strangely, "In the past, even if I had a fever, I wouldn't stay up overnight."
Just as Shang Ruyi was about to say something, an aged voice came from outside the door, cautiously asking, "General, General's wife, have you gotten up yet? May this old man come in?"
Upon hearing the sound, Shang Ruyi hurriedly stood up from the bedside.
She straightened her clothes and tidied Yuwen Ye's appearance before saying, "Come in."
The door was pushed open, and two people walked in from outside. One of them was Vice General Dai Junliang. He had discovered that Yuwen Ye was ill yesterday when he brought the doctor to examine the general's wife. However, under Yuwen Ye's strict orders, he dared not reveal it and could only stay in the government office all night. At this moment, he also cautiously looked at the bed, hoping to see the vigorous and fearless general.
The other one was a highly respected old doctor in the city whom he had asked to come last night.
This man, named He Wenzhu, had white hair and a thin frame, resembling a tall bamboo stalk. Yet, he was in high spirits. After examining Yuwen Ye last night, he immediately brewed fever-reducing medicine for him and stayed in the room for most of the night. Hearing the commotion here early this morning, he came over immediately.
At this moment, He Wenzhu walked to the bedside and asked earnestly, "General, are you in good health?"
Before Yuwen Ye could speak, Shang Ruyi said, "His fever hasn't gone down yet."
"What?!"
Upon hearing this, Dai Junliang, who was standing to the side, became anxious and immediately stepped forward: "Why is the General still not well?"
Upon hearing this, He Wenzhu's gray eyebrows furrowed: "This...this shouldn't be the case."
Yuwen Ye sat for a while longer, gradually regaining some strength, and prepared to get out of bed, saying, "I'm not usually sick, and I don't know why I caught a cold and have a fever this time, which hasn't subsided all night. But we'll talk about that later. Dai Junliang, what's the situation in the city now?"
Dai Junliang was stunned. He didn't expect that the general, who had just woken up, would be so eager to ask about the city's affairs that he didn't even care about his own health.
He hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the General, this humble general was in the office all night and did not leave even for a moment."
"oh?"
"However, the general's orders were issued last night, and all the city gates were reinforced overnight; defenses were also deployed along the banks of the Xiaolin River; and the city's water supply—"
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a sudden series of heavy footsteps coming from outside.
The footsteps were not only heavy but also rapid, like war drums on a battlefield, making people feel inexplicably uneasy just by hearing them. Shang Ruyi felt a sense of unease rising in her heart.
Everyone turned around and saw Mu Xian, who hurriedly walked in from outside.
"General—"
Before she could finish speaking, she saw Yuwen Ye still sitting on the bed, his face pale and his eyes red, clearly having not slept well all night, and even looking somewhat sick. She was immediately stunned: "Second Young Master, what's wrong with you?"
Yuwen Ye frowned slightly, but did not speak.
Shang Ruyi immediately stepped forward: "He, the General has a slight fever?"
"fever?!"
Mu Xian looked astonished, as if he had heard something unbelievable. Seeing him like this, Shang Ruyi believed even more that Yuwen Ye's words from last night were not just empty talk. He probably really rarely got sick, which was why Mu Xian had such an expression.
Upon hearing that Yuwen Ye was ill, his expression became hesitant.
Yuwen Ye, however, frowned slightly, immediately noticing his odd expression, and said in a deep voice, "You suddenly came back, is there something wrong?"
"this……"
Mu Xian showed a hesitant expression.
Yuwen Ye frowned even more deeply, looked at him, and said coldly, "I won't ask about other things, but if it's a war, regardless of the impact of your delay, I will deal with you according to military law!"
Upon hearing this, everyone around instinctively tensed up.
Mu Xian dared not hesitate any longer and hurriedly said, "General, the scouts I sent to defend the upper reaches of the Xiaolin River have returned to report that Xue Xian has led tens of thousands of troops and started building a pontoon bridge early this morning in preparation for crossing the river."
"What?"
"Moreover, the river should not be wide, and they moved very quickly. The person who came back to report said that they should have already crossed the river by now."
"..."
Upon hearing this, Yuwen Ye's face immediately darkened.
Dai Junliang said, "They just suffered a defeat yesterday, so why are they here again so early this morning? That doesn't seem to be in accordance with the rules."
Yuwen Ye glanced at him indifferently and said, "What rules are there in military campaigns?"
"..."
“If you follow the rules, other people’s misbehavior can not only ruin the rules, but also ruin you.”
These simple and concise words made Dai Junliang's heart sink.
He immediately replied, "This subordinate understands."
But after thinking for a moment, he added, "However, no matter what, Xue Xian shouldn't have come back so quickly after his defeat last night. It wouldn't do them any good either."
Yuwen Ye thought for a moment and said, "He just doesn't want to give us any benefits."
Upon hearing this, Dai Junliang and Mu Xian were both startled and asked in unison, "What do you mean?"
Yuwen Ye said, "His battle yesterday was aimed at me, in order to defeat me, the newly appointed general. In that case, the morale of the Fufeng army would collapse, and they would have no power to fight back against him. But yesterday, I won, and as a result, the morale of Fufeng was boosted."
"..."
"So today, when he comes again, his target will no longer be me."
Shang Ruyi had been listening quietly when a thought suddenly struck her, and she immediately said, "He's going to launch a full-scale attack on the city! Because the number of Fufeng's defenders is small, they still have a chance of winning if they fight head-on. As long as they take Fufeng today, then yesterday's defeat will be nothing to them."
"good,"
Yuwen Ye nodded. Perhaps because of what he had just said, he felt a tightness in his chest again, but looking at the people in front of him, he suppressed the hidden pain in his heart, let out a long breath, and said, "Now, just like I said last night, we should avoid their sharp edge. As long as we hold our ground and drag it out, we can win."
After saying that, he raised his head: "Immediately issue the order—"
Before he could finish speaking, Mu Xian stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "General, Lord Song... he has already left the city to meet the enemy."
"What?!"
Yuwen Ye was shocked and suddenly sat up in bed.
Dai Junliang was also startled and hurriedly turned to look at him: "How could this be? The General wasn't—"
Mu Xian frowned and said, "He mobilized troops at the city gate. As soon as he heard that Xue Xian had crossed the river, he ignored our attempts to stop him and opened the city gate to go out. He also said that we gave up halfway last night and did not come out of the city to fight the enemy today. He said that we were spies from Longxi."
"this--"
Dai Junliang stamped his feet in frustration: "How could he do this?!"
Just then, a tall figure suddenly stood up from the bedside. His eyes were bloodshot, and his aura was like fire. He said in a deep voice, "Bring me my armor and sword, prepare the horses, and let's leave the city!"
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