After the scene quieted down somewhat, Du Ruhui said: “Previously, Li Jiancheng poisoned the Qi River. To treat the poisoned brothers, we consumed almost all our medicinal supplies—you all know this. No matter how skilled the imperial physicians are, they need medicinal ingredients to work with. But don’t worry—Chang’an has already sent medicinal supplies, which will arrive within the next few days. Then you can take medicine to cure the illness!”

After a brief silence, a voice came from the crowd: “Plague is an incurable disease that simply cannot be cured. You’re lying to us!”

These words were like water splashed into hot oil, instantly causing an uproar. Everyone clamored that Du Ruhui was lying. No matter what Du Ruhui said, he couldn’t calm them down. Instead, more and more soldiers gathered, and the situation had reached the edge of losing control.

At this moment, Liu Hongji hurried over. Upon seeing Du Ruhui, he immediately asked: “Why would people in the villages also contract plague?”

Du Ruhui gritted his teeth: “The source of the epidemic was those stones and crossbow bolts, so people in nearby villages couldn’t possibly get sick. This is clearly someone deliberately trying to unsettle us, using those women’s mouths to spread such words!”

Liu Hongji was extremely intelligent and immediately understood his meaning: “You mean Li Jiancheng?”

“Besides him, I can’t think of anyone else!” While they were speaking, the soldiers’ emotions became even more agitated, continuously pressing closer to them!

Like Du Ruhui, Liu Hongji’s voice was immediately drowned out by the cacophony and couldn’t take effect. Fortunately, Yuchi Jingde also rushed over at this moment. Seeing this scene, he forcefully struck his guan dao on the ground, filled his lungs with air, and roared: “Silence! All of you be quiet!”

His voice was already extremely loud, and this shout was like a thunderclap, causing the soldiers’ voices to diminish considerably. Liu Hongji seized this opportunity and quickly said: “Please, all brave soldiers, calm down. I guarantee you’ll all be fine!”

As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the crowd immediately said: “What do you guarantee with?”

Du Ruhui secretly frowned. It was that voice again—this person seemed to be deliberately targeting them. Thinking of this, he inconspicuously looked toward where the voice came from, trying to identify the person.

Liu Hongji slightly gritted his teeth and said: “I guarantee with my life that as long as we work together, we can definitely get through this trial!”

“Life?” That person sneered: “Using your one life to offset our tens of thousands of lives—Master Liu is making quite a profitable deal. Since Master Liu has come, please answer us honestly: what exactly is this disease spreading through the army? This humble person has lived over twenty years and has never seen a cold cause people to be covered in blisters all over their bodies, nor seen a cold require such strict isolation.”

Upon hearing this, the soldiers echoed in agreement: “Right, we have the right to know exactly what disease we have.”

Although Du Ruhui kept looking toward where the voice came from, he couldn’t see the speaker. That person must be deliberately hiding to avoid being seen.

Liu Hongji knew that continued concealment absolutely couldn’t calm this matter, so he could only grit his teeth and say: “That’s right. What they have is not a cold, but plague!”

Upon hearing this, there was immediately an uproar. Although the soldiers had long suspected, when they personally heard Liu Hongji say the word “plague,” they were still startled!

“Good! Finally admitting it! You knew it was plague but deliberately concealed it, clearly wanting us to die. We have eighty to ninety thousand people, and you actually wanted to watch us die with your own eyes—how vicious!” This time the voice changed and came from another location.

Du Ruhui pondered for a moment, then whispered a few words to Yuchi Jingde. The latter looked at Du Ruhui with surprise, then nodded: “I understand.”

Faced with the soldiers whose anger had been stirred up, Liu Hongji tried hard to explain, but the effect wasn’t good. Those soldiers were convinced that Liu Hongji and others had deceived them and didn’t regard their lives as important, making them extremely agitated.

No one noticed that Du Ruhui and Yuchi Jingde had left their original positions and were quietly heading in two different directions.

“The brothers have been sick for so many days, yet His Majesty hasn’t come to see them even once. This shows that in His Majesty’s eyes, our lives don’t matter at all. Since that’s the case, we don’t need to risk our lives for him, fighting some damn Luoyang City. Perhaps this plague is Heaven’s punishment for His Majesty—otherwise, how could plague arise for no reason!”

“Exactly!” Someone echoed: “This is a matter between their brothers. Why should we fill in with our lives, making us part from our families in life and death? I won’t fight anymore—I want to return to Chang’an!”

The soldiers were already dissatisfied with Li Shimin due to the epidemic and previous casualties. Under this back-and-forth verbal provocation, their feelings were completely ignited. The voices calling to return to Chang’an grew louder and louder, and no matter how Liu Hongji scolded, he couldn’t suppress them.

A nearby personal guard said in a low voice: “Master Liu, why not tell them about His Majesty’s situation?”

“No!” Liu Hongji rejected his suggestion without thinking: “Remember, this matter absolutely cannot be spoken of!”

Revealing Li Shimin’s illness might ease the soldiers’ dissatisfaction, but what would follow would be despair about this siege battle. Just think—if even the commander had contracted plague, what would they use to win Luoyang, what would they use to preserve their lives in this plague and disadvantageous battle situation?

When this kind of fear occupied everything, they would become deserters one after another, which would suit Li Jiancheng’s intentions perfectly.

“Return to Chang’an! Return to Chang’an!” Amidst the continuous shouts, Yuchi Jingde reached out his large hand and suddenly grabbed someone from the crowd, gritting his teeth: “Hmph, you bastard, let’s see where you can hide now!”

Almost at the same moment, Du Ruhui also caught someone. The two simultaneously dragged out those two soldiers. A flash of panic passed through their eyes as they said: “Why are you arresting us?!”

“Why?” Yuchi Jingde sneered: “You were the ones inciting in the crowd just now, weren’t you?”

“We were telling the truth. You don’t regard us as human beings at all. From Qishui until now, how many brothers have died? And the result? You still insist on attacking Luoyang. Have you ever thought that each of us has parents and brothers, each of us has family waiting for us to return home!” This tall, thin soldier was very skilled at stirring people’s hearts. In just a few words, he aroused the soldiers’ desire to return home and demanded that they release the men!

Du Ruhui said coldly: “If they were truly soldiers from our army, I would definitely release them. But unfortunately, they’re not!”

The tall, thin soldier said with slightly panicked expression: “How are we not?!”

Du Ruhui sneered and said to the soldiers surrounding them: “Look—does anyone recognize these two?”