Chapter 981: Chapter 715: The Exemplary Integrity of the Jixian Official

"...!"

Yu Mingyue’s tongue stiffened for a moment.

Indeed, she had the ability of "foreknowledge" in the eyes of these people, which allowed her to set up life-and-death checkpoints on the road when Yu Wenye took Shang Ruyi back to Chang An, nearly taking their lives; she also preemptively bought out all the medicine in the Guanzhong Region before the Battle of Fufeng where Yu Wenye would fall ill, intending to use it to kill him. However, she didn’t expect that her adversary would have already scaled the wall by the time she had her stratagem. On the way back to Chang An, they avoided the gunpowder trap she set up, and during the Battle of Fufeng, Shang Ruyi actually managed to anticipate and save Yu Wenye by buying medicine from her men in advance.

Later, she used her knowledge of Shang Ruyi exploiting marriage and Yu Wenye to escape fate, sowing discord between the two, which indeed worked, as Yu Wenye never entered Taiyuan City and surrendered the position of Crown Prince.

But all of this was based on her "knowledge".

However, pursuing Wang Shaoqiu—

This was beyond her knowledge and capabilities!

Moreover, it wasn’t something Yu Wenqian should have done, and it was extremely dangerous. If they took this task but failed, wouldn’t even the Crown Prince position slip from their hands?

At this moment, the once lofty attitude of looking down on the heroes, surveying the world, was gradually replaced by a sense of "unknown" and "incapability", almost swallowing Yu Mingyue whole with the powerlessness and mediocrity she was familiar with even before arriving here.

She said, "I..."

Seeing her at a loss for words, Yu Wenqian, who had been silent, finally spoke up.

He said in a deep voice, "Liang Shide is entrenched in Luoyang, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and capable men like Xiao Yuansui under his command; although Wang Shaoqiu has been defeated, he wasn’t something Liang Shide could afford to lose. Therefore, attacking Luoyang must be planned carefully."

"..."

"Let’s first clear the matters in Taiyuan and then return to Chang An to let the Emperor arrange everything."

Saying this, he looked at Yu Wenye, "Second brother, what do you think?"

Yu Wenye looked coldly at Yu Mingyue, whose complexion turned pale with just a few words, and after a long pause, he turned to Yu Wenqian and said, "Alright."

Yu Wenqian said, "Then—"

Before he could finish, Yu Wenye added, "Tonight we were supposed to have a small celebration banquet, but I see everyone is a bit tired, so let’s skip the celebration and just return to our rooms. We can celebrate when we return to Chang An with the Emperor’s rewards."

At this point, that was exactly how everyone felt.

Yu Wenqian glanced at Shang Ruyi and Lu Xiao, whose faces still carried anger, and then at Yu Mingyue, whose face was still somewhat panicked, and sighed in his heart, "Very well."

"..."

"I will have food and wine delivered to each of your rooms."

Yu Wenye said, "Thank you, Imperial Brother."

"No need for such formality."

Thus, everyone nodded and said goodbye.

Just as Shang Ruyi was about to leave with Lu Xiao and had reached the garden gate, she seemed to feel the angry gaze behind her, so she stopped, turned back to meet Yu Mingyue’s sharp eyes, and smiled, "Lord Yu, I heard you grew up at the foot of the Ban Yan Temple mountain outside Luoyang City. Before that, where is your hometown?"

Yu Mingyue’s face changed slightly, and she squinted her eyes, "Where I come from, is there a problem?"

"No problem,"

Shang Ruyi chuckled, "I just hope that people from Lord Yu’s hometown are not as harsh on women as you just were."

"..."

"A woman raised among wolves might not be impure, but she is certainly unfortunate."

"..."

"Using this misfortune as a spear against a woman’s broken shield might lead to invincibility. However, if a man uses this as a spear, it is shameless; if a woman uses it as a spear—it is not only shameless but also the woman’s great misfortune."

"..."

"As a Jixian Zhengzi, Lord Yu, I hope you truly have a ’righteous’ character within your heart!"

Saying this, she turned away and left.

Under the desolate moonlight, Yu Mingyue’s face turned frighteningly pale.

She gritted her teeth, her once beautiful face filled with anger that had no place to be unleashed at this moment, almost crushing her teeth, yet she had to swallow it all down.

Turning back, she met Yu Wenqian’s clear eyes.

Her heart sank a little: "What’s the matter?"

Yu Wenqian didn’t speak immediately, just kept looking at her calmly, and after a long while, he slowly said, "You lost your composure a bit today."

"..."

"Is it because I didn’t consult you for advice when Lu Xiao made a plan, and you’re upset?"

"...!"

Yu Mingyue’s eyes suddenly trembled, and when she looked up at Yu Wenqian again, there was a hint of fragility about to shatter in her gaze.

When they left Tongguan and took the eastern route, she once asked Yu Wenqian why he hadn’t consulted her, and at that time, Yu Wenqian told her to stop calling him by his courtesy name, He Xin, because it was presumptuous.

In fact, she understood in her heart, and he did too.

But afterward, the military uniform sent by Lu Xiao reminded Yu Wenqian, and he indeed didn’t ask her for advice, directly setting the subsequent strategy, blocking Ashina Zhuxie’s reinforcements at Shouyang, and causing him to fight Wang Shaoji. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Then, they took Taiyuan in one battle.

What she originally wanted, because of Lu Xiao’s uniform, disappeared like flowing water.

How could she not be angry?

But just now, her aggressiveness stopped because of Shang Ruyi’s sudden appearance and rebuke, and with Yu Wenye coming to support Shang Ruyi, she had no ability to fight back, especially Shang Ruyi’s parting words, which were clearly accusing her, making her face flush with embarrassment as if she had been slapped hard.

As a ——, how could she be taunted by these people?

Thinking of this, she became even more unwilling, raising her head to glare at Yu Wenqian, but because of her feeling of deep grievance, her eyes also filled with a bit of moisture, and when she spoke, her voice carried a trace of bitterness.

"Do you think they are right?"

"..."

Yu Wenqian didn’t answer immediately, his breathing gradually deepened, his gaze flickered as he looked at her eyes, which were about to overflow with tears, and after a long while, he finally said, "In these chaotic times, human hearts are like knives, how could a young woman bear it?"

"..."

"Lu Xiao is like this, and so are you."

"..."

"Some words should not be said anymore."

His words were also following Shang Ruyi’s words!

However, there was also a hint of gentle comfort, soothing Yu Mingyue’s indignation and unfairness. She bit her lower lip, reminiscent of all the grievances and hardships over the years, and chuckled softly, "Yes, in these chaotic times, human hearts are like knives; what’s truly disquieting is not just such turbulent times, but also human nature."

"..."

"I came alone, and after so long, I am still alone."

With that, she gave Yu Wenqian another look and turned away.

Yu Wenqian stood there, watching her lonely yet stubborn back, and after a long time, let out a long sigh.