"Thank you for your concern, elder brother,"

Shang Ruyi quietly gazed at those clear and discerning eyes. Although so much had happened, and she still couldn’t fathom this person completely, she was more clear-headed about what needed to be done than anyone else.

She said, "But I won’t take him away."

Yu Wenqian furrowed his brow and stepped forward to face her, looking down at her: "Do you know what you’re doing?"

Shang Ruyi also furrowed her brow slightly.

Yu Wenqian was too close. The proximity and the gaze looking down at her exuded an invisible pressure. If it were an ordinary person or someone with less resolve, they might have stepped back at this moment.

But Shang Ruyi didn’t.

She just lowered her head and said in a low voice, "I know."

Yu Wenqian gently shook his head and said, "Before you set out with Feng Chen, father personally entrusted him to you. Yet now, you insist on leaving Feng Chen in Fufeng, where there is neither a good doctor nor effective medicine—how will you account for this to father?"

Shang Ruyi said, "But I’ve also said that before I left Daxing City, there was already no good medicine there."

"..."

"Even if I rushed back day and night, I might face the same result as in Fufeng."

"..."

"Moreover,"

Shang Ruyi lifted her head to look at Yu Wenqian and said, "Before Feng Chen set out, father said, ’Fufeng, I entrust to Feng Chen, and Feng Chen, I entrust to you.’"

"..."

"I haven’t forgotten those words, not a single one."

Upon hearing the last few words, a gleam flashed through the depths of Yu Wenqian’s nearly transparent eyes.

He said, "So, you are determined to let Feng Chen stay here?"

"Yes,"

Shang Ruyi took a deep breath and then said, "Elder brother also mentioned before, I’ve protected my husband very well. If I could protect him under those circumstances, then even more so now."

Yu Wenqian said, "Then, in the next three days that Feng Chen has, what do you plan to do?"

"..."

"What can you do?"

"..."

Shang Ruyi glanced at him, didn’t speak, just turned back to look at Yu Wenye, who had finally recovered normal breathing on the bed. By then, the sky had already darkened, and the room hadn’t yet been lit with candles, making it even darker, but Shang Ruyi could still see his ashen face showing a gray tint amidst the pallor, and his bloodless lips displaying the severity of his illness starkly in front of her.

What should I do?

What could I do, probably is——

And just as the two were both silent, a commotion suddenly arose outside, and both looked at each other instinctively and walked towards the outside together.

Once they stepped out, they heard Dai Junliang’s anxious voice——

"No! You can’t go!"

By this time, the sun had set, and it was dim outside, but the courtyard was packed with people, with many holding lanterns, lighting up the place brightly. The sudden exit from the dimly lit room made their eyes squint from the brightness.

Shang Ruyi slightly furrowed her brow to see clearly the courtyard was still as crowded as before, with a new face standing in the center of the yard. Judging from the attire, it seemed to be a scout sent out of the city to gather intelligence, currently standing there panting heavily, while Song Yu and Ma Xu were ready to leave with their men but were stopped by Dai Junliang.

He said anxiously, "Lord Song, General Ma, you can’t go out!"

When he finished speaking, he was roughly pushed aside by Ma Xu, almost falling to the ground.

Ma Xu cursed, "Who do you think you are to tell me, a little Assistant General, what to do? You think you’re something with just a mere feather as a token of authority?"

Dai Junliang frowned at him, momentarily speechless.

Shang Ruyi was about to speak but hesitated; after all, she was merely a general’s wife accompanying the army, and without Yu Wenye, she couldn’t say anything in the military.

Luckily, at this time, a low and gentle voice came from behind her——

"What’s happening?"

It was Yu Wenqian, who also followed them out of the room.

At the sight of him, both Song Yu and Ma Xu showed hesitant expressions, and their previously decisive steps outwards came to a halt, greeting him with a cupped fist, "Greetings, Young Master."

"Young Master, there’s intelligence of enemy forces on the opposite shore; we must prepare to engage."

"Enemy forces?"

Yu Wenqian’s brow arched slightly: "What kind of enemy forces?"

The soldier standing in the center of the courtyard stepped forward, saluted, and said, "I am the scout stationed by the General along Little Forest River, ordered to monitor every move of the Longxi Camp on the opposite bank. At dusk, a dust cloud arose about ten li across the river; upon investigation, we found that the main forces of over a hundred thousand troops from Xue Xian’s Army arrived at the western bank and joined forces with his remnant troops."