In the night, the carriage wheels rolled round and round, heading toward the Purple Forbidden Palace. The moonlight cast a long shadow behind…

On the second and third days, Li Shimin did not engage in battle. On one hand, he hadn’t yet thought of a way to counter those stone-throwing machines; on the other hand, he was waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

But by the afternoon of the third day, things began to change. Some soldiers in the army developed symptoms of fever and chills. At first, they thought it was just catching cold, especially since the weather had grown much colder these past few days. But as more and more soldiers fell ill, Li Shimin realized things weren’t as simple as they had thought. He immediately had Imperial Physicians Jiang and Qi treat the afflicted soldiers.

After examining several soldiers consecutively, the faces of Physicians Jiang and Qi became extremely grim. Seeing this, Li Shimin quickly asked: “What illness do they have, and why are so many people getting sick together?” In just half a day, the number of sick soldiers had reached several hundred.

Imperial Physician Jiang bowed and said: “Your Majesty, please rest assured, it’s just a minor illness. However, the air here is foul and not good for the dragon’s body. I boldly request Your Majesty to leave first. After we prescribe medicine, we’ll immediately report to Your Majesty.” Imperial Physician Qi felt the same way.

A strange look flashed in Li Shimin’s eyes. If the soldiers’ illness was truly just a minor ailment as they claimed, why would their faces look so grim? However, he didn’t expose them directly, nodding: “Very well, I’ll return to camp first. Come see me after you’ve prepared the prescriptions.”

After sending Li Shimin away, Physicians Jiang and Qi didn’t remain in the tent to write prescriptions. Instead, they immediately left the tent, ordered hot water to wash their hands, and solemnly said to a nearby soldier: “Have people guard outside the tent and don’t let anyone enter. The same goes for sick soldiers elsewhere. Remember, only guard outside—absolutely do not go in.”

The soldier found this strange and asked: “Why is this?”

The two physicians exchanged glances, and Imperial Physician Jiang said: “This bout of cold is somewhat severe and highly contagious. Though it’s not a serious illness, we should still try to avoid it. Once Physician Qi and I have discussed the prescription, taking medicine according to the formula will quickly cure it.”

After the soldier acknowledged and withdrew, Imperial Physician Jiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then went with Imperial Physician Qi to the medicinal storage area. Since they had previously treated poisoned soldiers, not many medicines remained. After much selection and discussion, they managed to prepare a few doses of medicine and personally lit the stove to brew the medicine.

Looking at the red-hot flames, Imperial Physician Jiang said gravely: “Brother Qi, why do you think this epidemic appeared out of nowhere?”

“I’m also puzzled about this, but their pulse patterns are indeed very similar to plague records in medical books—this can’t be wrong. Moreover, tell me, if it’s not plague, how could so many people suddenly get the same illness? It can’t be a water source problem again, can it?”

Imperial Physician Jiang sighed: “I can’t figure this out either.” Since suffering a great loss at the Qi River last time, to prevent Li Jiancheng from using such underhanded tactics again, every time they fetched water, they would first test it with silver needles for poison. Only after confirming there were no problems would they give it to the soldiers to drink, so the water source couldn’t be the issue.

“Any epidemic must have a source, but almost everyone fell ill at the same time—there’s no visible source. This situation is extremely strange.”

Imperial Physician Jiang thought for a while, then suddenly said: “Brother Qi, do you think this could be another of Li Jiancheng’s schemes?”

“No.” Imperial Physician Qi shook his head repeatedly. “No matter what, Li Jiancheng is just a mortal. How could he possibly command wind and rain and control epidemics? You’re treating him like a deity. If that were true, what would be the point of fighting?”

Imperial Physician Jiang thought this made sense, then said: “If we can’t find the source, there’s no way to control the epidemic. You know how terrifying epidemics can be. Now it’s several hundred people—tomorrow it might be several thousand or even tens of thousands. It’s entirely possible that all our eighty to ninety thousand men could be infected.”

“I know. I’m trying to think of a solution.” Imperial Physician Qi’s brows were nearly knotted. “If only we had enough medicinal materials, we could brew a bowl of epidemic-prevention medicine for each soldier according to the formula. It would provide some preventive effect, but now… we can only leave it to fate!”

Imperial Physician Jiang could only sigh, not knowing what else to say. A skilled cook can’t make a meal without rice—this was exactly their situation now. It was truly maddening.

After brewing the medicinal soup, they each drank a bowl, then carried some to Li Shimin’s tent. Liu Hongji and Du Ruhui were also there. Seeing them enter with medicine, they asked puzzledly: “What’s this for?”

Imperial Physician Jiang handed a bowl to him, saying with a grave expression: “I dare not conceal from Your Majesty—this time the soldiers’ illness is not ordinary cold, but… epidemic disease!”

Hearing this, all three men’s faces changed color, and they said in unison: “What did you say?”

“Epidemic disease!” When these two words came from Imperial Physician Jiang’s mouth again, they finally confirmed they hadn’t misheard. It really was… epidemic disease.

Du Ruhui was first to speak: “How could epidemic disease arise out of nowhere? Could you have misdiagnosed?”

Imperial Physician Qi smiled bitterly: “I also hope we misdiagnosed, but judging from the pulse patterns and current situation, it’s almost certainly correct!” Saying this, he took two bowls of medicine and handed them to Du Ruhui and Liu Hongji respectively. “This medicine can prevent epidemic disease. Please drink it first, gentlemen.”

After drinking the medicine, Li Shimin said gravely: “Why did epidemic disease suddenly appear?” Although he had previously guessed from Physicians Jiang and Qi’s expressions that the soldiers’ illness wasn’t simple, he never imagined it would be something as serious as epidemic disease.

Imperial Physician Jiang shook his head: “I thought long and hard with Imperial Physician Qi, but we couldn’t determine the source of this epidemic. All we can do now is prevent others from contacting those infected soldiers, hoping to avoid the epidemic’s spread, but… forgive my frankness, the situation is very grim.”

Liu Hongji stared at the empty bowl in his hand, saying slowly: “The previous Qi River poisoning caused massive consumption of medicinal materials in the army, and new materials haven’t arrived yet, so… there isn’t much of this medicine, is there?”

Imperial Physician Jiang nodded: “Yes, we’ve tried every means possible, but at most we can only brew about a hundred bowls of medicine. For the entire army, it’s truly a drop in the bucket. All we can do now is wait for medicinal materials to be transported from Chang’an.”

Li Shimin bit his teeth tightly. This expedition had truly been plagued by misfortune. First was the Qi River poisoning, causing casualties before battle; then the siege encountered those stone-throwing machines and crossbow carts, causing heavy soldier casualties; now this sudden epidemic—it was as if heaven deliberately didn’t want him to capture Luoyang.

Could it be… that heaven truly wanted him to retreat?

As soon as this thought emerged, he forcefully suppressed it. Li Jiancheng was heinously guilty with blood on his hands—heaven would absolutely not protect him.