“Stubborn and unrepentant!” After saying this, Li Shimin turned and left. This battle… would ultimately be unavoidable.

Watching the retreating figure below the city, Li Jiancheng’s eye twitched. This Li Shimin was still the same as before, not taking him seriously at all. However… this was also good. The more Li Shimin underestimated him, the more effective the thing he had arranged would be.

Li Shimin, the one who laughs last will definitely be me, and can only be me!

In the darkening sky, not far from Luoyang’s city tower, a high platform was gradually being erected. Although the soldiers on the city wall didn’t know what this platform was for, they still reported it to Li Jiancheng at the fastest speed.

Li Yuanji frowned tightly: “They’re not rushing to attack the city, but instead building a platform. What are they doing, putting on a show?”

Li Jiancheng took the tea cup handed to him by a palace servant, caressing the smooth cup wall, and said slowly: “Have you forgotten what we did outside Chang’an City?”

“Outside Chang’an City?” Li Yuanji didn’t react at first, thought for a while, then suddenly understood: “Big brother means he wants to copy the method we used?”

Li Jiancheng took a sip of the scalding tea and said: “What else could it be?”

“That despicable villain!” Li Yuanji cursed, then said: “So he’s planning to make an issue of the Qi River incident?”

“That’s about the only handle they have on us. If I’m not mistaken, he should have also brought some civilians who lived on both sides of the Qi River and were lucky enough to survive, to shake the morale of our troops!”

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanji could no longer contain himself. He immediately slapped the armrest and stood up, gritting his teeth: “Hmph, I’ll go destroy that platform of his right now!”

“Stop!” Li Jiancheng put down his tea cup and stood up, walking before him: “Outside the city are thousands of troops, with swords, spears, and battle formations. No matter how brave you are, you can’t fight tens of thousands of people with your strength alone. There’s only one result from going there – throwing your life away for nothing!”

“I…” Li Yuanji was momentarily speechless, his face flushing red: “Then we just let him shake our military morale? Big brother said before that this battle absolutely cannot be lost.”

Li Jiancheng smiled faintly, looking at the clear weather outside the hall: “Unless he brings all the dead bodies here, no matter how much he talks, it’s still just empty words without proof. Moreover, if he can say such things, can’t we?”

“We?” Li Yuanji asked puzzledly: “What does big brother mean?”

“The poison in the Qi River can be said to be our doing, but why can’t it also be said to be theirs?”

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanji finally understood, saying repeatedly: “Right, right, right! We can push all responsibility onto them. The Qi River can’t talk anyway.” Speaking to this point, he smiled: “Big brother’s mind works so fast, immediately thinking of a countermeasure. I just can’t do that.”

Li Jiancheng lightly scolded: “I’ve told you countless times – think things through when you encounter problems. Don’t always rely on momentary courage. You just won’t listen.”

Li Yuanji scratched his head embarrassedly: “I’m trying to change, but it’s been decades. How can I change overnight?”

“You…” Li Jiancheng shook his head: “Forget it. Have someone call Jiang Yuan here. I have instructions for him.”

The night passed without incident. The next morning, just as Li Jiancheng had predicted, civilians who had lived on both sides of the Qi River stood on the platform, painfully recounting how their families were poisoned. When speaking of their relatives’ deaths, they all wept bitterly, unable to control themselves.

The soldiers on the city wall were all horrified upon hearing this. If this was true, then Li Jiancheng was truly mad and heartless.

Soon, Jiang Yuan appeared on the city wall. What he said was exactly opposite to Li Shimin’s side. The Qi River poison also became something Li Shimin had administered to deal with them, making it difficult for the soldiers in the city to distinguish truth from falsehood, not knowing whom to believe.

Outside the city, Yin Kaishan listened to Jiang Yuan’s words that turned black into white, becoming furious: “This Jiang Yuan really has no shame at all! It was clearly his doing, yet he’s blaming us. How detestable!”

Du Ruhui patted his shoulder: “Forget it. Did you really expect them to admit to the poisoning?”

Yin Kaishan gritted his teeth, looking at Li Shimin who was discussing matters with Liu Hongji in the rear: “No, we can’t let them continue to distort the truth!”

Seeing him about to go over, Du Ruhui quickly grabbed him: “What are you going to do?”

Yin Kaishan replied without hesitation: “Attack the city immediately and cut Li Jiancheng and his men into pieces!”

“Attacking a city is no trivial matter. There must be detailed deployment. You can’t rely on momentary courage, unless you want these soldiers to die for nothing.”

Although Yin Kaishan was full of anger, he also understood that Du Ruhui was telling the truth. He could only forcefully suppress his anger and glare deadly at Jiang Yuan and Li Yuanji still standing on the city wall, as if he wanted to devour them both.

Despite the distance, Jiang Yuan still sensed Yin Kaishan’s man-eating gaze, feeling nervous and unconsciously stepping back. Li Jiancheng noticed this movement and said coldly: “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Yuan smiled apologetically: “Your Highness, we’ve said everything we needed to say. We should go down now.” As he spoke, he hunched his shoulders, laughing awkwardly: “These past days have been getting colder each day. Looks like I need to put on a few more layers.” He knew Li Jiancheng’s sinister nature and dared not tell him the truth.

Li Jiancheng looked him up and down, his thin lips curving into a cold smile: “Are you cold, or are you afraid?”

Jiang Yuan laughed dryly: “Your Highness, where does this come from?”

Li Jiancheng stared at Yin Kaishan glaring angrily below and said coldly: “Don’t worry. Even if he glares his eyes bloody, he can’t kill you. But if you leave like this…” He glanced at the soldiers who were concentrating on watching the movements below, lowering his voice: “The soldiers will think you’re feeling guilty. It’s counterproductive.”

Seeing his thoughts exposed, Jiang Yuan was extremely embarrassed. After a while, he bowed: “I know my mistake. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”

“Enough. I’m not saying this to lecture you, but to make you understand that in our current situation, we can’t retreat even one step!”

“Yes, thank you for the reminder, Your Highness.” Jiang Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, surveying the Tang army camp below: “It’s past noon with no movement. It seems they don’t plan to attack the city today.”

Li Jiancheng looked distantly at Li Shimin’s figure and said coldly: “Don’t relax your guard. My second brother’s specialty is giving people surprises.”

As Jiang Yuan was responding, Li Yuanji’s voice came from behind: “Big brother! Big brother!”

Looking back, they saw Li Yuanji leading several soldiers carrying catapults up to the city wall, arranging them in a row. Counting them, there were actually eight.

Jiang Yuan said in amazement: “Where did Prince Qi find so many catapults?”

Li Yuanji chuckled: “Unexpected, right? These things were all stored in the military warehouse.”

“Military warehouse?” Jiang Yuan was startled, then shook his head: “Impossible. I’ve been to those military warehouses in the city. There were indeed some catapults, but they were all severely damaged. Yet each one here is in good condition, with at most minor damage. The quantity is also wrong. This… what’s really going on?”