“I hope Heaven will quickly take Li Shimin away!” Li Jiancheng, who had never believed in the Way of Heaven, now prayed to the heavens—truly ironic.

In contrast to Luoyang City, the Tang army had won this battle, greatly boosting morale. All hoped to break into Luoyang City soon to avenge their fallen comrades who had died unjustly or contracted the plague!

However, this soaring morale did not include Liu Hongji and the others. Gathered in Li Shimin’s tent, they each wore deeply furrowed brows and faces full of worry.

“Physician Jiang, is His Majesty all right now?” Wei Chi Jingde asked anxiously—he was the most unable to remain calm.

Physician Jiang let out a heavy sigh and spoke the words the assembled crowd least wanted to hear: “His Majesty’s condition is very poor!”

Upon hearing this, Wei Chi Jingde urgently said, “Didn’t you say you were confident in treating His Majesty? How can you suddenly say it’s not good? If anything happens to His Majesty, I won’t spare you!”

Physician Jiang smiled bitterly, “Does Your Excellency think this humble official doesn’t want to cure His Majesty? But from the beginning, I said there was only a twenty percent chance. If cardiac arrest occurs again, I fear it will be beyond saving.”

Physician Qi nodded beside him, “The blood we just squeezed from His Majesty’s ten fingers—the General and Sir both saw it—it’s still purplish-black with no improvement whatsoever. The situation is truly not optimistic!”

Wei Chi Jingde scratched his head in frustration. Leading troops in battle was his expertise, but medical treatment was completely beyond his understanding. He looked helplessly at the silent Liu Hongji, “Sir, what can we do?”

Liu Hongji looked at Physicians Jiang and Qi, “Weren’t many medicinal materials transported here? Can they help His Majesty’s condition?”

“The medicinal materials His Majesty needs were already available in the army. Whether they’re transported or not makes no difference.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Chi Jingde immediately said, “According to your words, wasn’t it all for nothing?”

“Not entirely. Those medicinal materials can at least be used to prepare plague prevention medicine, so the soldiers won’t worry about contracting the plague.”

Wei Chi Jingde said helplessly, “But what about His Majesty?”

Physician Jiang glanced at Li Shimin on the bed, whose complexion was abnormally gray, “This humble official can only answer the General with one phrase—do one’s utmost and leave the rest to fate!”

“We understand. Thank you both, Imperial Physicians.” Saying this, Liu Hongji pulled Wei Chi Jingde outside. The latter said dissatisfiedly, “Sir, why did you pull me out? I still had things to say!”

“What would you say? Physicians Jiang and the others are no less anxious about His Majesty than you or I, but…” Liu Hongji sighed deeply, “As they said—do one’s utmost and leave the rest to fate!”

“But…” Seeing patrolling soldiers passing by, Wei Chi Jingde quickly stopped speaking. After they had gone far, he said, “If His Majesty truly cannot be saved, not just here, but the entire Great Tang will be in chaos. With just you and me, we absolutely cannot maintain control!”

Liu Hongji gritted his teeth, “If it truly comes to that, we must maintain control even if we can’t! His Majesty has a legitimate son in Chang’an. We can support him to ascend the throne to stabilize people’s hearts!”

“The Great Tang was just established. How can a young child stabilize people’s hearts, not to mention Li Jiancheng watching covetously from Luoyang!” Wei Chi Jingde’s face was filled with worry. Although they had severely damaged Li Jiancheng last night, they hadn’t severed his foundation. Once he holed up in Luoyang City, unless Luoyang’s grain ran out, they could do nothing to him!

“Li Jiancheng!” Liu Hongji gazed at Luoyang’s towering city walls and said through gritted teeth, “It’s a pity A’Si and the others couldn’t destroy the catapults and crossbow carts, allowing them to linger on.” After a pause, he added, “Give me more time, and I’ll definitely think of a way to attack Luoyang!”

That afternoon, Du Ruhui returned ahead of schedule. As soon as he dismounted, his fine steed collapsed to the ground, twitching continuously from exhaustion. A soldier had returned with him.

Du Ruhui grabbed a passing soldier, “Where is Sir Liu?”

The soldier saluted and answered truthfully, “In response to the General, Sir Liu just went to His Majesty’s tent and should still be there.”

After the soldier left, the soldier following Du Ruhui asked nervously, “Sir Liu going over now—has something happened to His Majesty?” His voice sounded thin and soft, very much like a woman’s.

“His Majesty is deeply blessed and will be fine. Come, let’s go over.” Saying this, the two arrived at the tent. Inside, there wasn’t the chaos and tension they had imagined—Liu Hongji was simply standing quietly to one side.

Du Ruhui secretly breathed a sigh of relief, “Sir Liu, is His Majesty well?”

Liu Hongji turned around, and upon seeing clearly who it was, said gravely, “Not very well. This morning, His Majesty’s heart stopped beating. Fortunately, the two Imperial Physicians rescued him in time and restored his heartbeat. The situation is relatively stable now.” Having said this, he changed the subject, “And you? Is everything arranged?”

“Sir, rest assured. I’ve already conveyed your meaning to General Zhangsun. After arriving tonight, he’ll first hide in the shadows and await your orders.”

Liu Hongji nodded, “Last night Li Jiancheng already sent troops for a night attack. Fortunately, we were prepared and made them suffer a crushing defeat. But having eaten such a big loss, Li Jiancheng won’t send troops out of the city again in the short term. So we’re left with only one path—attacking the city.”

“What about those catapults and crossbow carts? No one knows whether the next stones thrown or arrows shot will carry plague.”

“It’s precisely because of this concern that we didn’t pursue our victory last night, allowing Li Yuanji to escape back to Luoyang.”

“Regarding the plague matter, General Du mentioned it to this palace on the way here. Compared to Li Jiancheng, they occupy the geographic advantage. Even with General Zhangsun’s seventy thousand troops joining us, we’re still at a disadvantage. Once the plague spreads or casualties become too severe, the morale we’ve worked so hard to build will suffer another devastating blow!”

The speaker was none other than the soldier who had entered with Du Ruhui. But such words could never be spoken by an ordinary soldier, especially with that self-reference representing the ultimate noble status—”this palace.”

“Noble Consort?!” Liu Hongji looked at Yunyi, dressed as a soldier, with complete astonishment, unable to imagine how she had appeared here in such attire. “This… what is this about?”

Du Ruhui said helplessly from the side, “Noble Consort accompanied General Zhangsun all the way from Chang’an. After meeting me, she insisted on coming along. I had no choice!”

Liu Hongji finally came to his senses, cupped his hands and bowed to Yunyi, then said, “This place is chaotic with war—it’s truly not where Your Ladyship should come.”

Yunyi walked to the bedside and looked at the unconscious Li Shimin, saying softly, “His Majesty is in mortal danger. How could this palace not come!”

Ever since Li Shimin had personally led the expedition, she had been waiting anxiously in the palace, hoping for Li Shimin’s early victorious return. What she had waited for instead was news of Zhangsun Wuji mobilizing troops.