CHAPTER 139: CHAPTER 139: WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EMPEROR?

The back, the shoulder, feel a bit numb.

This was the first sensation Shang Ruyi felt as she gradually awoke from an endless darkness, regaining her consciousness.

The next moment, that numbness turned into an itch. She instinctively tried to reach out to scratch, but her limbs felt detached from her body, as if she couldn’t even feel her hands. Yet, the numbness and itch on her shoulder became more distinct, more vivid, eventually morphing into a burning pain.

So painful...

Shang Ruyi was suddenly jolted awake by the pain, letting out a low cry of agony.

"Miss!"

Immediately, Tushere’s voice rang in her ears. Shang Ruyi slowly opened her eyes to see Tushere in front of her, his red and swollen eyes like peaches, with scratches on his face, especially on his nose, making him look adorably disheveled yet anxious and concerned for her.

"Miss, are you okay?"

"..."

Shang Ruyi didn’t speak, moved her head slightly, only to realize she was lying face down on a bed, covered by a thick brocade blanket. Looking around, she saw a spacious but somewhat aged room that was rather luxuriously furnished, nothing like the camp they had been staying at earlier.

She spoke, her voice a bit hoarse: "Where is this place? Ah, it hurts..."

The pain in her shoulder made her gasp, and she remembered that was where she was hit by the Turkic people’s arrow.

Tushere’s eyes reddened even more, a hint of tears in his voice as he said: "We, we returned to Yanmen City, this is the government office—Miss, how could you confront the Turkic people, and get such a serious injury? It’s fortunate the Medical Officer said it didn’t hurt any vital spots; if anything happened to you, I, I—"

Seeing that he was about to cry, Shang Ruyi, despite the cold sweat from her pain, forced a smile to comfort him: "I wasn’t fighting them, I was escaping!"

"..."

"If I didn’t resist, don’t know which pile of blood and flesh in the chaos outside the city would be me now."

"Don’t say such things!"

Tushere was so frightened that his face turned pale, and hurriedly reached out to cover her mouth.

As he moved his hand, Shang Ruyi saw that his arm was also wrapped in thick bandages, a hint of blood seeping through. She immediately frowned: "How did you get hurt?"

Tushere’s gaze shifted evasively.

Shang Ruyi immediately understood: "You, did you come back to find me?"

Tushere had no choice but to say: "I’m serving Miss; if you’re not there, who else would I go looking for?"

Shang Ruyi was almost about to leap out of bed in anger, but her shoulder injury restrained her, causing her to grumble: "Foolish! I’m not defenseless, besides, I was handling business, and after that, I would escape by myself. You went back to find me—look, now you’re injured!"

"..."

"How did you escape back?"

"Amidst the chaos, it was the Imperial Guards who brought me back."

Only then did Shang Ruyi breathe a sigh of relief, casting him another stern glare: "From now on, no more foolish acts!"

Tushere obediently nodded.

After talking for a while and getting accustomed to the shoulder pain, Shang Ruyi glanced around again, then suddenly remembered: "By the way, how did I end up here, I have no memory of it. Where are Mu Xian and the others?"

"..."

Tushere remained silent, his expression complicated, looking like he had something to say but hesitated.

Shang Ruyi asked: "What’s wrong?"

Before the words were out, the door was pushed open.

Shang Ruyi quickly looked up to see Lei Yu entering from outside, and upon seeing her awake, he immediately stepped forward: "You’re awake, does your wound still hurt?"

"Much better. Thank you, Miss Lei."

Shang Ruyi recalled her narrow escape at the city gate, thankfully Lei Yu came to her rescue without any grudges, it truly was a life-saving grace.

Lei Yu stood by the bed, looking down at her, seemingly gratified, yet there was a touch of complexity in his eyes, akin to Tushere’s earlier hesitation. He simply said: "Alright, don’t dwell on unnecessary talk, just focus on healing, your arrow wound—it’s serious."

Shang Ruyi instinctively turned to look but couldn’t see anything, only feeling her chest and shoulders wrapped tightly in bandages, the wound was painful, numb, with a slight cool sensation.

So she asked: "You applied medicine for me?"

Lei Yu and Tushere exchanged a glance, both nodded with a complex expression.

Shang Ruyi nodded, recalling last night’s events, quickly asked: "How are our people now? What’s happening outside?"

Upon mentioning this, Lei Yu’s expression turned somber, softly saying: "Ashina Shali led an army of 100,000 in a surprise attack on our camp, the entire camp has been burned down, although we escaped back to Yanmen City, but—"

"What happened?"

"Over half of our forces are lost."

"Ah?"

Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi’s face instantly turned pale.

In every battle, casualties were inevitable, it wasn’t something impossible to accept, but this time the Emperor’s entourage consisted mostly of officials and their families, even some ladies more pampered than Shang Ruyi. These individuals were least capable of self-defense, and amid the chaos last night, they were likely the first to fall under the Turks’ hooves.

Thinking of this, Shang Ruyi’s heart ached.

She said in a hoarse voice: "How could this... happen..."

Lei Yu continued: "Now, Yanmen City gates are tightly shut, the Turks’ 100,000 troops are camped outside, they’ve been attacking for two days already."

"Two days?"

Shang Ruyi was taken aback, looking at them in surprise: "I—"

Tushere replied: "Miss, you were gravely injured and comatose for two whole days."

"..."

Only then did Shang Ruyi recover her senses, no wonder she felt so weak at first, having been unconscious for two whole days, even a healthy person would be enfeebled.

She chuckled bitterly, then gratefully looked at Lei Yu: "These past two days, it’s been you, you’ve been taking care of me, right? Miss Lei, thank you."

"..."

Lei Yu and Tushere exchanged another glance, their gaze toward her carrying more awkwardness.

At this moment, Shang Ruyi seemed to sense something from their expressions, softly asked: "What’s wrong? Was it not you who brought me here and cared for me?"

"..."

The room fell into a prolonged silence.

Shang Ruyi vaguely sensed something amiss: "What’s going on?"

Lei Yu hesitated for a long time before looking at her, softly asked: "Shang Ruyi, what is your relationship with His Majesty the Emperor?"

"The Emperor?"

Shang Ruyi’s heart suddenly sank, instinctively replied: "No relationship, what do you mean?"

Lei Yu looked at her for a while with a complex expression, finally said: "At the city gate, His Majesty the Emperor carried you here in front of everyone."

"...?!"