Li Shimin tugged at his lips, saying: “But you being here to accompany me won’t help. It would be better if you went to keep watch on Luoyang instead.” He caught his breath and said: “Since this plague was caused by Li Jiancheng, he will definitely send troops to attack when we’re at our weakest, to lift the siege of Luoyang, or even counterattack Chang’an!”

Liu Hongji had also thought of this point. Seeing him say so, he immediately nodded: “Your Majesty, rest assured. Before reinforcements arrive, this minister will definitely hold the army together and not let Li Jiancheng succeed.”

Yuchi Jingde glared from the side: “If he dares to come, this minister will chop off his head and feed it to the dogs!”

Du Ruhui smiled: “If we could really kill Li Jiancheng, General Yuchi would be the greatest hero of this battle.”

After saluting Li Shimin, the three men successively withdrew from the tent. Du Ruhui walked last, and when one foot had already stepped out of the tent, Li Shimin’s weak voice came from behind: “Ruhui, I have something to tell you.”

Hearing this, Du Ruhui withdrew his foot, turned around and said: “What other instructions does Your Majesty have?”

Li Shimin looked at Jiang and Qi without speaking. The two had been imperial physicians for several years and had this much perception, so they immediately found an excuse to withdraw and stand guard outside the tent.

After signaling Du Ruhui to come closer, Li Shimin drew a breath and said hoarsely: “If… I truly cannot endure this trial, you must immediately return to Chang’an, take Yunyi and the Empress and leave, and absolutely must not let Li Jiancheng find them!”

“That won’t happen, Your Majesty…” Before Du Ruhui could continue, Li Shimin was already shaking his head: “I will strive to hold on, but one must prepare for the worst. Li Jiancheng has already gone mad. Once he controls the Great Tang, he absolutely will not spare the mother and son. Ruhui, promise me—if the situation truly gets out of control, you must ensure their safety!”

Under Li Shimin’s worried gaze, Du Ruhui nodded forcefully: “Your Majesty, rest assured. If it truly comes to that, unless this minister dies, I will definitely protect the Empress and the Noble Consort!”

“Good!” Li Shimin breathed a long sigh of relief. “With your words, I can rest easy!” As soon as he finished speaking, his face suddenly contorted abnormally, and strange “coughing” sounds came from his throat, quite frightening. Du Ruhui knew this was the medicine he had taken earlier beginning to take effect, and hastily called in Jiang and Qi.

The two were already prepared and didn’t panic, methodically administering acupuncture to Li Shimin and pricking his fingertips to squeeze out purple-black blood. After a round of emergency treatment, Li Shimin’s condition stabilized and he fell into deep unconsciousness.

“Two imperial physicians, is His Majesty now all right?” Faced with Du Ruhui’s inquiry, Imperial Physician Jiang smiled bitterly: “How could it be so fast? What just happened can only be considered barely passing the first trial. Whether he’s all right can only be known after at least two days.”

Du Ruhui glanced at the unconscious Li Shimin and said in a heavy voice: “For these two days, His Majesty is entrusted to you two. Please be sure to preserve His Majesty’s life!”

Imperial Physician Jiang sighed: “We subordinates have only studied mortal medical arts. We can only guarantee our utmost effort. Whether he’ll be all right ultimately depends on His Majesty’s fate!”

Du Ruhui also understood their difficulties, nodded and left. Upon exiting the tent, he discovered that the sky had already brightened. Although he was a martial artist with better stamina than ordinary people, staying up consecutively still made him extremely weary. Just as he was about to return to his own tent to rest, a personal guard rushed over, shouting urgently before even approaching: “General, trouble! Trouble!”

Du Ruhui frowned: “What matter is so urgent?”

The guard, not bothering to catch his breath, said urgently: “The soldiers have learned that they’ve contracted plague and that there’s no medicine to cure it. They keep trying to break out, and those who aren’t sick are also restless with plans to leave. In short, the situation is very bad. General, please go take a look!”

Upon hearing this, Du Ruhui was also alarmed: “How would they know? Did you leak it?”

The guard shook his head repeatedly: “It’s not our fault. It was said by civilians passing through here.”

“Civilians?” Du Ruhui tightly furrowed his brows: “What’s this about? Explain more clearly.”

The guard swallowed and carefully recounted the entire matter. It turned out that just as dawn broke today, soldiers had gone to fetch water from the river and encountered several women washing clothes there, discussing affairs in the neighboring village. They said that in recent days, people in that village had been falling ill one after another—first fever, then blisters, causing great panic. What’s worse, more and more people were getting sick.

Those soldiers, seeing that what the women described matched the situation in the military camp, paid attention and asked further. One of the women mysteriously told them that among her relatives was a doctor who had gone to see the sick people in the neighboring village, and nine times out of ten it was plague. This disease was very contagious—even talking could transmit it. Most critically, there was no medicine to cure it; once infected, one could only wait to die. Her family was discussing moving away—if it spread to their village, they might not have time to escape.

Upon hearing it was plague, those soldiers panicked. They didn’t even fetch water and ran back to camp to tell the other soldiers. This kind of life-threatening news, once it starts spreading, is like a bird with wings—it quickly becomes known to everyone, including the sick soldiers isolated in tents. Just at this time, two more deaths occurred, making the situation even more chaotic!

After hearing his account, Du Ruhui immediately said: “This is impossible. The plague absolutely couldn’t have spread to nearby villages!”

Although the guard didn’t know why he was so certain, he still said: “But that’s what they said. This subordinate hasn’t spoken a single false word!”

“Li Jiancheng, it must be him!” After gritting his teeth and saying this, he said: “Go immediately and invite Master Liu. I’ll first find a way to stabilize the situation!”

After the guard left as instructed, Du Ruhui hurried to where the incident occurred. As soon as he arrived, he saw a crowd of soldiers gathered together, their emotions clearly unstable.

“General Du is here!” Someone said, and all those soldiers immediately looked over. Du Ruhui strode forward, pretending not to know and saying: “Why are you all gathered here? Don’t you have work to do?”

Everyone looked at each other, and one person stepped forward: “General Du, please tell us—what’s been spreading through the army these days, is it a cold or plague?”

Du Ruhui scolded: “What plague? Where did you hear such nonsense?”

That soldier was scolded back half a step, but quickly said: “If it’s truly just a cold, why would it infect so many people, and why would brothers even die from it? Moreover, from when the illness first began until now, we haven’t seen even a bowl of medicine. Every time we ask, it’s one delay after another. You never intended to save us, did you?!”

This statement resonated with everyone, and they all clamored for Du Ruhui to explain. He hurriedly said: “Everyone quiet down, listen to this general!”