Chapter 958: Chapter 697: The Crown Prince’s Position—What Should We Do?

The scorching flames flared constantly before his eyes, but they did not disturb Yu Wenye’s thoughts until a gentle breath approached, pulling him from the dark abyss.

Turning his head, he saw Shang Ruyi walking towards him.

The firelight washed away the blood stains previously caught on the banks of the Cangtou River, making her cheeks extraordinarily white and clean, though slimmer than when she left, which seemed to provoke more sympathy.

Yu Wenye couldn’t help but feel his heart soften.

However, before he could speak, Shang Ruyi had already come over and sat down. After a moment’s thought, she leaned closer to him, and after a while of silence, she rested her head upon his shoulder, letting her soft, fragrant breath immediately envelop him.

Yu Wenye was slightly dazed.

Although, for a husband and wife, this was not considered an overly affectionate gesture—after all, just a moment ago they were on horseback and had shared an even closer moment, but there was no one around then; now, they were in the center of the camp, surrounded by busy figures coming and going, and he even saw Shen Tu Tai walking over, jokingly scolding as he dragged Shantong’er away, who was struggling to get closer.

Normally, Shang Ruyi would not be willing to show such girlish behavior in public, especially in the military.

What had happened?

Thinking of this, he slightly turned his face so that his cheek touched Shang Ruyi’s forehead, lowering his gaze to see her long lashes trembling constantly, like her urgent breaths and anxious heartbeat.

Yu Wenye said, "What’s wrong?"

Shang Ruyi said, "What about the Crown Prince position?"

"..."

"When you went to battle, Father said whoever conquers Taiyuan can become Crown Prince."

"..."

"But, you didn’t enter Taiyuan City..."

Just now, Shantong’er had told him that alongside Yu Wenye attacking Taiyuan was Yu Wenqian; they were two forces combined to siege the city. But only now did she comprehend why General Pasha offered almost no resistance, yet reported to Ashina Shali upon returning that Yu Wenye had attacked Taiyuan.

Because Yu Wenye remained outside the city.

Even at the final stage of the war, Yu Wenqian entered the city, and Yu Wenye, in order to capture the surrendered soldiers for exchange, never entered, so General Pasha, escaping, saw him; and after acquiring nearly ten thousand surrendering soldiers, he immediately went north to the Turkic Yatai under the pretext of "pursuing fleeing enemies," leaving half of his forces.

So the one who captured Taiyuan City was only Yu Wenqian!

This arduous journey, rescuing Yu Wencheng at the foot of Cangbai Mountain, daring into Qi County to recruit Lei Guo, along with Nie Chong and others lurking within Taiyuan City, coordinating inside and out... all of it resulted in this. So had this battle been fought in vain?

Thinking of this, Shang Ruyi’s heart felt even more conflicted and troubled.

"It’s all my fault."

She was never one for taking everything upon herself, nor was she someone who wallowed in self-pity, but this time, it was indeed her impulsiveness—running alone from Qi County, getting caught by Ashina Zhuxie—that had caused Yu Wenye not to enter Taiyuan City, immediately taking surrendered soldiers north to rescue her instead.

The hardships of this journey were all in vain.

Yet Yu Wenye did not immediately pick up her words, only furrowing his brows, his eyes slightly flickering as he stared into the flames, as if genuinely contemplating whose fault it was.

After a while, he sighed and said, "Let it be, I share some responsibility."

"..."

"I shouldn’t have listened to Yu Mingyue’s nonsense and doubted you; nor should I have merely doubted without asking you, leading you to truly believe Shen Wuzheng’s death and act so rashly."

"...!"

Upon hearing the name Yu Mingyue, Shang Ruyi couldn’t help but grit her teeth.

Earlier, Yu Wenye had told her that upon the complete eradication of the plague, when they witnessed the last batch of patients leaving Anle Square cured, Yu Mingyue had seized the moment of her absence to say those words to him privately.

Even though some memories had been snatched away by her, Yu Mingyue evidently knew more and was capable of more.

Hence, she quickly deduced her "scheming" from her refusal of marriage and remarrying actions, and used it to provoke Yu Wenye.

The methods weren’t actually sophisticated, yet sometimes simpler methods are more effective.

Furthermore, Shang Ruyi recalled when they discussed Pei Xingyuan’s feelings for Lei Yu, Yu Wenye had remarked that men also have a pride in emotions—not being loved is nothing, but being chosen secondarily, more importantly for profit, is a great wound for a man. Now thinking back, when he made such a lament, it was clear he thought so too.

And her actions, plus Yu Mingyue’s instigation, had precisely placed him in such a predicament.

Thus causing both of them to be trapped in this conundrum.

Now, after open and honest communication, the conundrum was resolved, but the significant error had been solidified.

Only then did Shang Ruyi finally come to her senses, no wonder from the beginning she had such a strong sense of unease about the Taiyuan campaign—she had snatched something from Yu Mingyue, some became a kind of "instinctive" knowledge, like Yu Wenquan ascending to be Emperor and founding Dasheng Dynasty as Emperor Gaozu; some became nightmares during her illness, haunting her dreams repeatedly, such as the Crown Prince’s rebellion and murder, along with the tragic end of that entire mansion.

There were also some, which became her premonitions.

Yet this time, even a premonition hadn’t provided her any benefit.

Indeed, she was somewhat useless...

Thinking of this, Shang Ruyi sighed deeply again. Just as she began to sink into self-pity, she suddenly felt the bun at the back of her head relax.

"Huh?"

She looked up in surprise, only to see Yu Wenye raise his hand and pull out a hairpin from her hair, then casually toss it into the fire in front of them!

Shang Ruyi was instantly anxious: "What are you doing!?"

But as soon as she finished speaking, she saw Yu Wenye suddenly stretch out his long arm and swiftly retrieve the hairpin from the flames.

Such quick action!

Shang Ruyi was momentarily unable to react, but instinctively frightened, she hurriedly grabbed Yu Wenye’s hand: "What are you doing! You’ll get burned!"

Yu Wenye chuckled lightly and presented the hairpin to her: "No, I’m fine."

Upon closer inspection, he was indeed not burned, just a bit of charcoal residue on his fingertips from touching the firewood. But Shang Ruyi still felt a lingering fear and was about to scold him, when Yu Wenye said, "I’m just telling you, it’s okay if it gets lost."

"..."

"Whatever is mine, I will always retrieve it."

"..."

"This time, both of us made mistakes, and it was deservedly that this battle was fought in vain."

"..."

"So from now on, I won’t doubt you, and you must trust me."

As he spoke, he placed the hairpin, miraculously unharmed by the fire, back into Shang Ruyi’s hand, and then used his large hand to envelop her cold hand, tightening it into a fist: "We still have plenty of chances!"

In almost an instant, the chill and unease were dispelled by his resolute words and warm presence.

Shang Ruyi nodded heavily.

Yet, there was a peculiar silence.

Noticing this oddity, Yu Wenye lowered his head to look at her, and sure enough, saw Shang Ruyi frown, her eyes full of complex emotions, so he asked, "What’s wrong?"

At this moment, the cook brought over cooked meat soup and some dry bread.

They had been running on the grassland all day, their energy greatly depleted, and only now could they get away from the Turkic Yatai and set up camp to prepare food. Though there was still uneasiness, Yu Wenye immediately accepted the steaming bowl of soup and handed it to Shang Ruyi first.

Shang Ruyi was indeed starving, said nothing, and immediately took a big gulp.

Although it was just simple meat soup, the simpler the food, the more it carried a rustic flavor, especially when everyone was famished. Shang Ruyi drank a mouthful of hot soup and only felt the aroma spread all over, a warm current flooding into her heart, warming her limbs.

Even with lingering thoughts, she couldn’t help but let out a satisfied sigh.

"So fragrant!"

Yu Wenye just smiled slightly, saying nothing, picked up the dry bread and broke it, dropping two pieces into her bowl, saying, "Don’t eat too hastily after starving for so long, wait for it to soften before eating."

"Okay."

Shang Ruyi obediently nodded, sipping the soup slowly.

Soon, the bread softened and swelled up, filling the bowl, which she finished with slurps, warming her entire being. Beside her, Yu Wenye also finished eating, handing the bowl and utensils back to the cook who came to collect them.

By now, except for this campsite, the surrounding area was already pitch-black.

Having been running around all day, accompanied by the howling cold wind, even beside the fire there was a bone-chilling sensation. Yu Wenye was about to have her return to the tent to rest, but as he lowered his head, he met Shang Ruyi’s somewhat heavy-eyed gaze.

He asked, "What’s wrong?"

Shang Ruyi looked at him: "Do you still plan to fight for the Crown Prince?"

"..."

Yu Wenye didn’t respond, his brow furrowing.

This was not an expression of him being unsure how to answer but rather one of puzzlement as to why Shang Ruyi would bring up this question. Shang Ruyi was clearly aware of this, so she pondered briefly before slowly voicing her unease.

"At first, I was just in a blur, dreaming of all this during the nightmare of that severe illness, knowing that the Crown Prince of Emperor Gaozu would stage a coup, would die. The people of the Crown Prince Mansion, along with his confidants, concubines, everyone, would be implicated and killed."

"..."

"But I only now realize, I never knew who the Crown Prince actually is."

"..."

"If it’s not my elder brother, but you?"

Saying this, she looked at Yu Wenye, trembling: "If it’s you, if you really seize the Crown Prince position, then everything I saw in that nightmare, wouldn’t it befall upon you?"

Wouldn’t choosing him mean choosing a path of doom?