Chapter 440 A Fortified City Must Be Held Firmly; Battle Is Not an Option

It was as if a thunderclap suddenly exploded overhead.

Shang Ruyi felt as if her body had been shattered into pieces, and her soul was about to leave her body, until a cry of alarm pulled her back to her senses.

It was Mu Xian and Shan Tong'er who exclaimed in surprise.

"General!?"

"Second Brother!"

As their exclamations rang out, along with the heavy, disordered footsteps, Shang Ruyi, though her mind seemed not yet fully at ease, almost instinctively turned her head and shouted sharply, "Stay outside!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks, stunned by her shout.

Shang Ruyi, pale-faced and with red eyes, turned to He Wenzhu and asked in a trembling voice, "Doctor, is he really—"

He Wenzhu stood up shakily and bowed repeatedly to her, admitting his guilt, saying, "Please forgive me, Madam. I am foolish and failed to diagnose the illness last night because I did not see him fall ill beforehand. Only the general fell ill, so I thought it was just ordinary typhoid fever. However, he had the symptoms of typhoid fever but not the pulse."

"..."

"Today's fierce battle has aggravated the general's illness. Just now, when I took his pulse, I found that his left pulse was stronger than his right, floating and slow but weak when pressed. This, this is precisely—"

In the end, He Wenzhu was unable to speak.

Even though he didn't say those two words, Shang Ruyi already understood everything.

plague!

Yuwen Ye contracted not ordinary typhoid fever, but a plague!

But why did he contract the plague?

This question not only entangled her like a venomous snake, but also shocked everyone outside, who were stunned as if struck by lightning. Song Yu's face changed drastically. He had hurriedly covered his mouth and nose upon hearing the words "plague," and now he was sweating profusely as he retreated towards the door.

Mu Xian, his face deathly pale, asked, "Why would the General contract such an illness?"

"..."

"No one in the city is sick."

Although Dai Junliang, who was standing to the side, also subconsciously covered his mouth and nose, he remained calm and thought for a moment before saying, "Could it be because of—that mound of Jing outside the city?"

"A mound of Jingguan?!"

Upon hearing those two words, everyone in the room was startled.

He Wenzhu's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, "That's right. The weather is hot, and there are mountains of corpses outside the city. In this situation, it is indeed easy for a plague to spread."

"..."

"Moreover, the winds have been blowing from the southwest recently."

Dai Junliang said, "That's why the general asked how many wells there were in the city last night, and ordered that the city's water must be fetched from upstream. It seems that the general had taken precautions in advance."

"But this isn't right either,"

He Wenzhu frowned, his white eyebrows furrowing, and said in a deep voice, "Those corpses have been piling up for several days, yet the general has only just arrived. Why is it that there is no epidemic in the city, but the general has fallen ill first?"

"Yes, why is that?"

"The general..."

These people were talking all at once, but Shang Ruyi couldn't hear a single word. She held the trembling, burning body in her arms tightly and used all her strength to help him sit up against the headboard. Yuwen Ye's face was ashen, his breath was like fire, and his chest heaved violently, giving the impression that he was on the verge of breaking.

After catching his breath, he looked up at Shang Ruyi.

He said nothing, and turned to look around—but at that moment, everyone in his sight was just a blurry outline.

He took a few deep breaths and finally mustered up some strength.

He said, "Dai Junliang."

Dai Junliang immediately stepped forward, but before he could take more than a few steps, Shang Ruyi's gaze immediately glared at him, causing him to stop in his tracks beside the screen. He could only lower his head and ask, "What are your orders, General?"

Yuwen Ye took a breath and then said, "Keep the city gates tightly closed, dig deep moats, fortify the city and hold firm. Do not go out to fight..."

Because of his weak breath, he spoke these sixteen words intermittently, yet each word was spoken with deep conviction, especially the last eight words, which seemed to be carved as if he wanted to engrave each word into the hearts of everyone present, so that they would remember them.

Fortify the city and hold your position; do not engage in battle!

Dai Junliang immediately replied, "This subordinate understands."

Song Yu, who had already retreated to the doorway, changed his expression upon hearing Yuwen Ye's words and immediately said, "General, please forgive us for not being able to obey your cowardly and fearful military orders!"

Yuwen Ye's chest heaved violently a few times.

But after saying those sixteen words, he no longer had the strength to say anything more.

He simply looked up and glanced at Shang Ruyi.

His face was ashen, and his usually cold and composed eyes, which carried a reassuring power, now only flickered with a faint light, as if he wanted to say something to her but could no longer utter a single word.

Ke Shangruyi understood.

She was initially terrified, frightened, sad, and upset. All her emotions surged up after hearing He Wenzhu's diagnosis, and she almost burst into tears. But strangely, at this moment, not a single tear came out. Not only did she not shed tears, but the emotions that had accumulated in her chest actually suppressed her heavy heartbeat.

She gradually became calmer and more clear-headed.

She suddenly looked up and gave a wink to Wo Xue, who had been standing silently in the corner of the room.

Upon seeing this, Wo Xue nodded, turned around, and walked out.

Meanwhile, Mu Xian and Shan Tong'er were already red with anger, glaring back at Song Yu who had been spouting nonsense, wishing they could rush up and tear him to pieces. Dai Junliang turned to Song Yu, and although he was also somewhat indignant, he still said respectfully, "Lord Song, why are you disobeying the General's orders?"

Song Yu dared not step into the inner room any further, and pointed at the figure behind the screen, saying, "Look at him, he can't even speak clearly, how can he command an army in battle?"

"..."

"If we continue to follow his orders at this point, we'll suffer a great loss!"

Dai Junliang took a deep breath and said, "But this morning, when Lord Song went out of the city to fight, didn't he suffer a loss at the hands of Xue Xian?"

Upon mentioning his defeat, Song Yu's expression darkened further.

However, compared to Mu Xian, who was merely Yuwen Ye's deputy general, and Shan Tong'er, who was only Yuwen Ye's personal guard, and Dai Junliang, who was Fufeng's adjutant, he could not be treated the same as those two. So he sneered and said, "In the battle this morning, if you had all worked together with me, how could we not have defeated Xue Xian?"

"..."

"In the end, it was because the General's military orders last night were wrong!"

Upon hearing these words, Cheng Qiao, who had been silent all along, could no longer contain his anger and turned to him, shouting, "You're talking nonsense!"

Shan Tong'er was so angry that her eyes turned red: "If you keep talking nonsense, I won't let you get away with this!"

Seeing the crowd's fury, Song Yu suddenly sneered and said, "I forgot about you two. Why aren't you doing anything? Tie them up!"