“Since you’re hungry, then hurry up and eat.” With Li Shimin’s words, Yuchi Jingde quickly served a bowl to Li Shimin, then began wolfing down his own food. He was a military general who didn’t care about eating manners—filling his stomach was most important.

Yin Kaishan teased from the side: “If someone who didn’t know saw the General like this, they’d think His Majesty had been starving you all along!”

Yuchi Jingde shoveled rice while speaking unclearly, not knowing what he was saying. Li Shimin smiled and picked up his bowl and chopsticks: “Alright, everyone eat quickly. We still have a hard battle to fight tonight!”

Just as everyone had served themselves rice and was about to begin eating, Liu Hongji suddenly said: “Wait!”

Li Shimin put down the rice he had brought to his mouth, asking in confusion: “Does Sir have something else?”

“This subject thought of something, so I boldly request Your Majesty and the generals not to eat yet.” Saying this, he addressed Yuchi Jingde, who had already finished one bowl and was about to serve a second: “Please trouble the General to go out and see if the number of soldiers with stomach pain has increased?”

Yuchi Jingde swallowed the rice in his mouth, asking in confusion: “What’s the point of checking this for no reason?”

Liu Hongji didn’t answer, only saying: “Please trouble the General.”

Seeing him insist on this, Yuchi Jingde could only set down his bowl and go out with his still-hungry stomach. After a while, he lifted the tent flap and entered, his expression somewhat strange: “There really are quite a few more people with stomach troubles. How strange.”

Zhangsun Wuji said: “Are the soldiers’ clothes too thin? We don’t know how long this campaign to Luoyang will take, and the weather will certainly get colder. Why not send someone to Chang’an with a message to have them send some thick cotton clothes for warmth?”

“Though the weather has turned somewhat cooler, for this expedition we selected soldiers who are strong and robust. They shouldn’t be unable to withstand such minor weather changes. This matter… is rather strange.”

Li Shimin had the same thought. He looked at Liu Hongji, who was deep in thought with lowered eyes: “What is Sir thinking about?”

Liu Hongji came back to his senses and said gravely: “This subject is thinking that perhaps this incident has nothing to do with the weather.” As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Yuchi Jingde, who had sat back down: “May I ask the General, did those soldiers have anything different from others?”

“Different?” Yuchi Jingde shoveled some rice, looking blank: “Aren’t all soldiers the same? What difference could there be?”

Yes, a hundred thousand soldiers, marching together, resting together, making fires and cooking together, together… wait, he remembered that before the soldier left, he said he had drunk some cold water. Could it be because of this?

Thinking of this, Liu Hongji hurriedly said: “Did all those soldiers with stomach pain drink cold water?”

Yuchi Jingde thought for a while: “I really don’t know about that, but when I went out just now, I did see soldiers scooping water to drink. After walking so long, it’s normal to drink water when thirsty. Haven’t we been doing this all along?”

Du Ruhui was the first to understand, saying tentatively: “Sir suspects there’s a problem with the water?”

“It’s possible.” Hearing this, Yin Kaishan said in a buzzing voice: “We’re right next to the Qi River, and all the water we use comes from there. Could it be that the water is too dirty, causing the soldiers to have diarrhea?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhangsun Wuji said: “No, I went to look at the Qi River earlier. The water flows clear without any filth. It should be unrelated to that.”

Just then, Yuchi Jingde suddenly stopped eating, his brow furrowing tightly. Seeing his appearance, Du Ruhui said: “Why aren’t you eating? Don’t tell me the General also has stomach pain?”

He meant it as a joke, but Yuchi Jingde actually clutched his stomach: “I really do have some stomach pain. Strange thing—my stomach has always been excellent. In over ten years, I’ve never felt uncomfortable, even eating raw meat is fine.” After struggling to endure for a while, Yuchi Jingde couldn’t bear it anymore and stood up: “No, no, I need to go out.” He didn’t even have time to bow to Li Shimin, showing he was truly in severe pain.

Seeing this scene, everyone stared silently at the food on the table. By now, how could they not guess where the problem lay? Li Shimin produced a small silver knife from somewhere and inserted it into the rice. When he pulled it out, the originally bright blade had been stained with a faint blue color. The same was true for all the dishes without exception.

Li Shimin’s pupils contracted slightly as he said to Du Ruhui: “Immediately pass my order: all soldiers are forbidden from drinking water from the Qi River, and all food and drink made with Qi River water must be thrown away. Then send a team of soldiers to find clean water sources. Also, have the army physicians immediately treat the soldiers with stomach pain!”

Du Ruhui knew the matter was urgent, agreed, and quickly left. Zhangsun Wuji said gravely: “Li Jiancheng must have ordered someone to poison the Qi River to weaken our forces. We guarded against everything but didn’t guard against him using such a sinister trick.”

Yin Kaishan said incredulously: “There are quite a few common people living on both banks of the Qi River. Doesn’t he care about their lives at all?”

Liu Hongji said coldly: “For Li Jiancheng, as long as he can beat us, never mind these few common people—even if there were ten or a hundred times more, he wouldn’t care. Besides, by my guess, this poison should only cause stomach pain and won’t take lives.”

Yin Kaishan clenched his bowl-sized fists, gritting his teeth: “This despicable villain—I must personally twist his head off!”

Zhangsun Wuji said worriedly: “Let’s hope not too many soldiers are poisoned, or things will be troublesome.”

Often, the things you least hope will happen are exactly what occur. Although Du Ruhui had transmitted Li Shimin’s orders at the fastest speed, it was still too late. Many soldiers had already consumed water or food cooked with Qi River water, and soon large numbers broke out in symptoms.

Though Li Shimin had brought two traveling imperial physicians for this expedition, facing thousands upon thousands of soldiers, even if the physicians had three heads and six arms it wouldn’t be enough. Fortunately, the symptoms were all the same, so all soldiers could use the same prescription. But soon a new problem arose—they didn’t have enough medicinal herbs. Even if they used everything, it was only enough for less than a thousand people to take. The rest could only endure the torment of stomach pain.

Seeing soldiers groaning everywhere, Li Shimin’s brow furrowed tightly as he asked Du Ruhui beside him: “How many people in total are poisoned?”

“A total of nine thousand and eighty-three people, including three deputy generals, seven centurions, and… General Yuchi. Including them, fewer than a thousand received medicine. Fortunately, the imperial physician says this poison isn’t serious and will naturally get better in a few days. However, until they recover, they cannot fight, and even tomorrow’s march will be problematic.”

“Send someone to race back to Chang’an and have them send more medicinal herbs. Li Jiancheng has gone mad—we don’t know what else he’ll do. It’s better to be prepared.”