Oops! My Inner Thoughts Are Ruining The Plot

Chapter 175: Chapter

Inside the study, the air felt so heavy it was hard to breathe.

Duchess Lin Meiyun stood near the Grand Duke’s large desk, her hands shaking so badly she could barely hold her handkerchief. Tears ran down her face as she walked back and forth, completely losing her usual calm attitude.

"How could this happen?!" the Duchess cried, her voice shaking with terror. "He is the General! He took three thousand men with him! How could his unit get trapped without anyone noticing?!"

Aunt Ronghua held her sister-in-law firmly by the arms. Her own face was pale, but she forced her voice to stay steady. "Meiyun, sit down first! You are going to pass out if you keep breathing like that. Jianyu is already sending search teams!"

"How can I sit down, Ronghua?!" Meiyun sobbed, holding onto her sister-in-law’s sleeves. "Commander Guo said his horse was killed! He said Wenzhe couldn’t even stand properly! If those enemy soldiers captured him, they will—"

"Mother, please!" Lanyin stepped forward, gently rubbing her mother’s back. She tried hard to keep her own tears from falling. "Eldest Brother is strong. He has survived dangerous battles before. We need to stay calm until the scouts come back!"

Qianqian stood next to Gu Yue near the window, biting her lip nervously. Gu Xing stood quietly behind his father, Gu Zhen, both of them looking very serious and worried.

The moment Yueqing pushed the doors open and walked into the room, everyone turned to look at her.

Grand Duke Xi Jianyu sat behind his heavy desk, his face looking much older than usual. His hands were squeezed into tight fists on top of his papers.

As Yueqing came in, her frantic inner thoughts filled everyone’s minds like a sudden cold wind.

[Missing?! Captured?! No, no, no, this makes no sense at all!] Yueqing’s voice echoed wildly inside their heads, full of pure panic. [Wenzhe is so strong! He isn’t supposed to get captured in some random mountain trap! What was wrong with his body?! Why couldn’t he fight back?! Did he faint from his old injuries?! Is he even still alive right now?!]

The Duchess froze, her crying suddenly stopping as she stared at Yueqing with wide, wet eyes. Hearing Yueqing’s genuine terror for Wenzhe helped pull the Duchess out of her own wild panic.

Grand Duke Xi Jianyu slowly stood up from his chair, looking directly at his daughter-in-law.

"Yueqing," the Grand Duke said, his deep voice quiet but steadying the room. "You were at the camp before the troops rode out. Did Wenzhe say anything to you before he left?"

Yueqing swallowed hard, her throat feeling dry as paper. She took a step closer to the desk, shaking her head.

"He said nothing to me, Father," Yueqing answered, her voice trembling slightly. "He rode out with the advance guard early in the morning while I was still asleep. He didn’t come to my tent, and he didn’t leave a single message."

[I thought he was just angry at me,] her inner thoughts cried out to the entire room, heavy with regret and guilt. [I thought he was just being a stubborn block of wood like always! If I knew his body was weak, if I knew he was sick or injured, I would have dragged him back to bed myself! Why did he march into a mountain pass alone when he couldn’t even stand properly?!]

Duchess Lin Meiyun let out a soft, pained gasp, covering her mouth as more tears spilled over her cheeks. Hearing Yueqing’s deep regret and genuine care for her son melted whatever lingering doubts the Duchess had left about her daughter-in-law.

Aunt Ronghua patted the Duchess’s hand gently, her own eyes narrowing in deep thought. "Jianyu, if Wenzhe was truly sick or weak before the fight, someone must have known. A general doesn’t just lose his strength overnight without reason."

"I am aware," Grand Duke Xi Jianyu said, his voice cold and hard as iron. He looked around the room at his anxious family. "Commander Guo is already gathering the remaining troops at the Northern Pass. My personal shadow guards have been sent out to track the drag marks leading toward the northern border."

He turned his gaze back to Yueqing, his sharp eyes softening just a tiny fraction.

"Yueqing, you are still recovering from your own injuries," the Grand Duke instructed firmly. "Go back to your courtyard and rest. The family will handle the search."

[Rest?! How can I rest right now?!] Yueqing’s mind screamed back instantly, practically vibrating with frantic energy. [My husband has been dragged off by enemy soldiers, his body is useless for some unknown reason, and he’s probably being tortured in some freezing cave right now! If anything happens to him, this entire family collapses!]

Lanyin stepped forward, taking Yueqing’s cold hand into her own and squeezing it tight. "Sister-in-law, come with me. Father is right. You need to stay safe while the guards do their work."

Yueqing looked at Lanyin, then at the pale, tearful Duchess, and finally at the stern Grand Duke. She knew she couldn’t fight trained military scouts on her own without a horse or weapons, especially with her sore ribs.

"Yes, Father," Yueqing whispered aloud, forcing her body to turn around.

She walked out of the study with Lanyin and Lu Yue right behind her, her head spinning with a hundred terrifying scenarios, completely helpless as the hours ticked away.

As the hours dragged on, the heavy atmosphere inside the estate only grew thicker. By late afternoon, the news of General Wenzhe’s disappearance had officially reached the imperial palace.

The Emperor immediately issued a public edict, ordering additional troops to be dispatched to the front lines. But as the imperial decree was read aloud inside the Grand Duke’s hall, his true priorities became painfully clear to everyone present.

The Emperor cared far more about securing the Northern Pass than he did about finding a missing general.

Fearing that the northern shadow forces would push further south through the vulnerable valley, the Emperor appointed Grand Duke Xi Jianyu to take immediate command of the border defenses. The royal order was absolute: the Grand Duke was to ride out at once and finish securing the territory, the very task his eldest son had failed to complete.

Inside the study, a suffocating silence fell over the room as the imperial messenger bowed and departed.

By placing the entire weight of the border defense directly on the Grand Duke’s shoulders, the Emperor had effectively tied his hands. Jianyu was now forced to focus all military resources on holding the pass against an enemy invasion, leaving him completely unable to lead or direct a private search team for his own son.

[The Emperor is basically telling him to fix Wenzhe’s ’failure’ while leaving Wenzhe to rot in enemy hands!] Yueqing’s internal thoughts raged wildly in everyone’s minds, thick with disbelief and anger. [What a calculated, cold move! He’s using Father-in-law’s loyalty to protect the empire while making sure no official imperial army troops are wasted searching for one captured general!]

Duchess Lin Meiyun collapsed back into her chair, her face draining of all color.

Grand Duke Xi Jianyu stood motionless behind his desk, his expression carved out of stone. His jaw was clenched so hard the muscles in his cheek twitched, but as a loyal servant of the empire, he had no choice. He could not refuse a direct command from the throne during a time of war.

"Prepare my armor," the Grand Duke ordered in a low, gravelly voice, staring down at the imperial scroll on his desk. "I ride for the Northern Pass at sunset."

Before the Grand Duke could step away from his desk, the study doors burst open once more.

Yunhao and Yunchen ran into the room, their faces flushed and breath coming in short gasps. Dirt from the archery range still dusted their sleeves, but neither of them cared about their appearance. They had rushed over the moment they heard about the imperial decree.

"Father!" Yunhao shouted, stepping straight into his father’s path with wide, pleading eyes. "You cannot leave for the pass like this! Eldest Brother is out there in the freezing mountains! If we focus only on holding the borders, who is going to search for him?!"

Yunchen stood right beside his twin, his usual sarcastic, easygoing attitude completely gone. His face was deadly serious, his hands clenched tightly into fists at his sides.

"Brother is injured and captured!" Yunchen urged, his voice tight with desperation. "Every hour we waste sitting here, the enemy gets further away! Let us take a unit of personal guards and ride north to track him down ourselves! You can’t just leave him to die!"

"Enough!"

The Grand Duke’s voice roared through the room like sudden thunder, rattling the delicate teacups on the side tables.

Yunhao and Yunchen froze in their tracks, flinching at the sudden explosion.

Grand Duke Xi Jianyu stood tall, his tall frame trembling slightly as he glared down at his two younger sons. His breathing was heavy, and for a brief second, the tight, stern mask on his face cracked—revealing a deep, suffocating agony in his dark eyes.

"Do you think I do not know that?!" the Grand Duke barked, his voice raw with suppressed pain. "Do you think I want to leave my eldest son in enemy hands?!"

He slammed his heavy fist onto the wooden desk, making the scrolls jump.

"I am a General of this empire!" Jianyu shouted, his eyes red as he forced the bitter words out of his throat. "The border is vulnerable! If the Northern Pass falls, thousands of innocent people will bleed, and this entire family will be executed for treason! The country comes first! My personal feelings as a father come second!"

Silence fell over the room like a heavy stone.

Yunhao bit his lip, tears finally spilling over his eyelashes as he looked at his father’s pained, furious expression. Yunchen opened his mouth to argue further, but the sheer grief hidden beneath their father’s anger stopped the words in his throat.

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