The Western Region army was in complete chaos for a while. Rong Jiangyu watched as his soldiers fell one after another, his mind in a complete mess.
"What on earth is going on!"
Rong Jiangyu waved his hand forcefully, and all the teacups on the table were knocked to the ground with a loud crash. The sound made the guard beside him tense up, but he didn't dare to take a step back.
"Your Majesty, we're still investigating the cause. However, in my humble opinion, this illness is extremely suspicious."
Rong Jiangyu looked up at him. "Suspicious?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. The day of capturing Yanshi is just around the corner. It didn't happen earlier or later, but right at this critical moment. Don't you find it strange? It seems that someone did it deliberately."
Rong Jiangyu's eyes were full of suspicion as he asked, "Deliberately? Who would be so bold? Our army is heavily guarded. As soon as there's any sign of trouble, they'll report it to me immediately. How could there be no sign at all?"
The guard then said, "Your Majesty, no matter how strict the guard is, it can't stop someone with ill intentions."
Just as Rong Jiangyu was about to order a thorough investigation into whether there were any suspicious people in the army in the past two days, he heard the guard outside come in.
"Your Majesty, there's news from the doctor."
"Come in."
An old doctor in his forties entered the tent. When he saw the heavy anger on Rong Jiangyu's face, he didn't dare to let out a single breath.
"Speak." At Rong Jiangyu's order, the doctor trembled as he stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, several of us doctors have examined all the fallen soldiers one by one. Without exception, they all died with their hearts turning into stones. This cause of death is extremely strange. I've been practicing medicine for many years, and I've never heard of such a thing. The other colleagues feel the same. As for the cause of the heart turning into stone, please forgive my incompetence, Your Majesty."
Rong Jiangyu frowned. "Heart turning into stone? This is the first time I've heard of such a strange way of dying. Are you sure you didn't make a mistake in your examination?"
Hearing this, the doctor was a bit nervous. His voice trembled as he said, "There can't be a mistake. All five of us doctors got the same result. We even dissected several soldiers. There's no mistake."
Rong Jiangyu sneered. He never thought there would be such a strange way of dying in the world. To say it was a serious illness, only a fool would believe it. It must have been done deliberately by someone.
"Check everyone one by one. See if there were any suspicious people in the army today. If anyone reports, immediately find out and arrest them!"
"Yes, sir!"
The surviving soldiers in the army were all on tenterhooks. Hearing that these people died because their hearts turned into stones, they thought it was the work of demons and ghosts. For a while, such a rumor spread in the army.
"Surely it's because we've killed too many people. This is God's punishment for us."
"Surely it's the ghosts of the dead coming back to take revenge on us." One of them turned pale, looking panicked. "I don't want to die. I don't want to die."
This man stood up and staggered towards the door, mumbling all the way. It seemed that he was not in his right mind.
Coincidentally, at this moment, Rong Jiangyu came out to check on the current situation in the army. This man wasn't looking where he was going and bumped right into him.
Rong Jiangyu's face visibly darkened. His eagle - like eyes stared directly at the man. He tightly grasped the silver sword at his waist, drew it out instantly, and swung it down.
The man fell in a pool of blood, and the fresh blood splashed all over the just - emerged green shoots.
The doctor was so shocked that he fell to the ground. He stared with wide eyes at the head rolling at his feet and let out a terrified scream, but then quickly covered his mouth.
"Dispose of it. Anyone who acts so recklessly again will end up like him."
Rong Jiangyu left with these cold words and then disappeared.
On this side, Tang Youyou also got the news, which was brought by Ye Yue from their informant in the army.
"They've started to suspect that someone has poisoned them, but so far they haven't found any clues."
Tang Youyou was a bit worried. If Rong Jiangyu found out that it was she who did it, she didn't know what crazy things he would do.
She unconsciously bit her fingernails, her eyes fixed on the teacup on the table.
Rong Xun saw her concerns. He put his arm around her slender waist and let her lean against his chest.
"I know what you're worried about. Don't worry. You don't need to worry about these things. Leave them to me."
Tang Youyou glanced at him. "I know you're very capable, but Rong Jiangyu is a man not to be underestimated. This man is vicious and has a deep hidden agenda. He'll bite you if you're not careful. You must always be on your guard."
A villain like Rong Jiangyu was the most difficult to deal with. People like him never cared about morality. As long as it was beneficial to themselves, they could abandon everything.
It was only recently that Tang Youyou saw his true face clearly. Before, she always thought this man wasn't a bad person at heart. But because of the things he had done before, Tang Youyou had long since torn off that filter from the novel.
Hearing Tang Youyou's words, Rong Xun was actually very happy. Didn't this mean that she had no feelings for Rong Jiangyu at all now? He felt a weight lifted off his heart.
"This time, thanks to You'er's method, we've made him suffer such heavy losses. Next, as long as we can make him withdraw from the capital, and I inform the Xia Kingdom to send troops, we won't need to take action ourselves."
Tang Youyou nodded, but the current problem was that she didn't know if Rong Jiangyu would let it go. They would surely have to spend a lot of effort to find out the truth about the poisoning. She didn't know if they would give up after a long search.
You know, Rong Jiangyu and Rong Xun were brothers from the same father. They were even very similar in their stubbornness, as the book had mentioned before.
At present, the reconstruction work of Fengdu City had basically been handed over to Rong Xun's people. She didn't need to worry too much about it. Even those homeless people had been properly settled by Rong Xun.
"Is there any way to get in touch with Xu Songlin? He's the candidate for the emperor of the Great Ming Kingdom. We have to contact him as soon as possible."
She also knew that at this critical moment, if they tried to move towards Yanshi, they would surely be watched by Rong Jiangyu's people.
Since they couldn't get in, it would be better to let Xu Songlin come out to meet them.
Tang Youyou looked at Song Xumo. This man was both literate and martial - minded, although he was more inclined towards the literary side. Maybe he would have a way.
Song Xumo felt his scalp tingle under her gaze. As a smart man, how could he not know what her look meant?
But if they were to meet now, it would still be very dangerous. After all, Rong Jiangyu's army was surrounding the place. If anyone came out, they would surely be beheaded by them.
"Since most of their people have been defeated, I don't think the people in the palace will just sit back and do nothing. They'll surely seize the opportunity to pursue and annihilate them completely. They must be very busy now."