Li Jiancheng’s repeated actions crossing Li Shimin’s bottom line made him unable to endure it any longer. Combined with the unease that had been lingering in his heart, he swore that this time, no matter how many troops he had to mobilize, he would definitely capture Luoyang City.

Li Jiancheng had completely lost his mind. This time it was poisoning the river water. Next time, who knew what other insane acts he would commit. This person absolutely could not be allowed to remain!

Du Ruhui nodded: “Then I’ll go give the orders now and have the soldiers prepare.” Before leaving, he stopped and said with concern: “I know Your Majesty has many things to plan, which is precisely why you must take care of your health.”

Li Shimin knew he was worried about him. Although he still had no appetite, he said: “Have them bring some food in.”

Over the next several hours, soldiers continued to die sporadically, but all in single digits. After the Hai hour, the death trend completely stopped. From then until the next morning, for three to four full hours, no more deaths occurred. This crisis was finally resolved, but the cost was over six thousand lives, not including the innocent civilians who were implicated. Combined, it was probably nearly ten thousand lives!

All the soldiers harbored anger in their hearts. Those who died were all comrades who had fought alongside them, and some were even blood relatives. If they had died on the battlefield, they would have nothing to say, but now they were killed by someone using poison and other despicable means. How could they swallow this anger? Having killed so many people, even cutting Li Jiancheng into a thousand pieces wouldn’t be excessive!

Throughout the journey, for some reason, Li Shimin had people bring along several surviving civilians from along the river. After more than half a day of forced marching, they arrived outside Luoyang City at evening. Although Li Shimin had decided that no matter what price he had to pay, he would capture Luoyang, he hadn’t lost his reason. He knew that after the army’s day of forced marching, attacking a well-prepared city with exhausted bodies would be extremely unwise, so he ordered them to make camp and rest outside the range of arrows!

While giving instructions to Yin Kaishan, Li Shimin suddenly felt something and looked up toward the city wall. He saw a distant figure standing on the city tower, looking down at him from above. It was clearly Li Jiancheng.

“He still has the face to show himself!” Upon seeing Li Jiancheng, Yin Kaishan’s anger flared up. He wielded his battle axe and was about to charge forward when Du Ruhui, standing nearby, quickly grabbed him: “General Yin, calm down!”

Yin Kaishan’s eyes were red as he said: “He killed so many of our brothers. How can you tell me to calm down?”

Li Shimin turned around and glared at him: “Even if you bite your teeth to pieces, you must calm down, unless you want to go die for nothing!”

Li Shimin was usually gentle and rarely spoke harshly. Yin Kaishan was scolded into silence and after a while said hesitantly: “I only wanted to avenge our fallen brothers, so I thought…”

“Revenge?” Li Shimin shook his head: “Do you see those archers around him? You’d probably be shot full of arrows like a hedgehog as soon as you entered their range. What would you use to kill them then?”

Upon his words, Yin Kaishan also noticed the row of archers beside Li Jiancheng and immediately broke out in cold sweat. Although his martial skills were decent, he might not be able to block hundreds of arrows simultaneously, and those qualified to stand beside Li Jiancheng must be exceptional marksmen chosen from thousands. If Du Ruhui hadn’t stopped him in time, he might already be a corpse by now.

Thinking of this, all his anger dissipated as he lowered his head: “I was reckless. Please punish me, Your Majesty!” Revenge was certainly right, but if he died before killing anyone, that would be too frustrating.

“Now that both Jingde and Wuji are not here, you must be even more calm and steady. Don’t be careless and fall into their trap.”

After signaling for Yin Kaishan to leave, Li Shimin turned his gaze to Du Ruhui: “Do you remember when the Turks attacked the city and Li Jiancheng shouted from outside the city to shake military morale?”

“I certainly remember. Why does Your Majesty…” Halfway through his words, Du Ruhui thought of the civilians they had brought and seemed to understand something: “Does Your Majesty intend to use his own methods against him?”

Li Shimin stared at that figure on the city wall radiating cold malice and said coldly: “Courtesy demands reciprocity. Since he did such things, he should have expected this. Go make arrangements.”

After Du Ruhui left, Li Jiancheng’s voice carried from afar, breaking the standoff between them: “Second brother, we meet again.”

Li Shimin stepped forward several paces. Seeing his movement, the archers perked up and drew their bowstrings tighter. If Li Shimin took just a few more steps forward, they were confident they could pierce his skull.

His Highness had said that whoever killed Li Shimin, regardless of birth or rank, would be granted the title of First-Rank Prince with a different surname. This was an unprecedented generous reward, and all the soldiers in the city were determined to take Li Shimin’s life!

Unfortunately, to their disappointment, Li Shimin stopped three steps away from arrow range and didn’t take another step forward.

Li Shimin said coldly: “Li Jiancheng, do you think you can defeat me with just one Luoyang City and some sinister, despicable methods?”

“Of course!” Li Jiancheng replied without hesitation: “Because I am the true Son of Heaven. Reclaiming the imperial throne is destiny’s will.”

Hearing this, Li Shimin laughed coldly repeatedly: “What fine words about destiny’s will! Li Jiancheng, your face is thicker than Luoyang’s city walls. First, you aided the Turks in besieging Chang’an, causing countless Chang’an soldiers to die under Turkish blades. Then you colluded with Jiang Yuan, killed Wang Zhengfeng, and used improper means to seize Luoyang. Knowing that I was leading troops to suppress you, you sent people to poison the Qi River, using vicious methods to harm Great Tang soldiers and innocent civilians. Of everything you’ve done, what part makes you worthy of being a ruler?!”

Facing his accusations and the suspicious gazes nearby, Li Jiancheng calmly replied: “I went to Chang’an because you usurped my imperial throne, and the Turks promised to help me reclaim it. I never wanted to harm any Great Tang soldier, though I did indirectly cause their deaths, which I never deny. But… Li Shimin, if you hadn’t developed greed for the emperor’s position, stolen everything from me, and forced me into a desperate situation, none of this would have happened. The same goes for Wang Zhengfeng. In the end, you are the real murderer who killed them all. Everyone died by your hand. As for poisoning the Qi River, that’s completely groundless. Don’t you dare slander me!”

Li Jiancheng’s vehement denial was within Li Shimin’s expectations. He said coldly: “If you’re willing to surrender and leave the city, I can guarantee I won’t kill you!” Though he no longer had brotherly feelings for Li Jiancheng, for the sake of casualties on both sides, this was the best choice and his final effort.

Li Jiancheng said ominously: “Those words should be coming from me. Li Shimin, as long as you’re willing to return what doesn’t belong to you, I can let bygones be bygones.”