Chapter 1277: Chapter 1277: Beyond Cure

"Cough, cough."

Inside a small village three hundred miles from the capital city, a coughing sound echoed from the main courtyard.

Meiniang, carrying a warming box, walked to the door. Hearing the coughing, a painful feeling rose in her heart. She knocked on the door: "Sir, it’s time to take your medicine."

There was silence inside. After thinking for a moment, she pushed the door open and went in. Shang Pu, also known as Chu Ze, was reclining on the bed, reading a book in the candlelight by the bedside.

"No need to brew any medicine. It’s useless even if I take it." Shang Pu didn’t look up, nor did he glance at her.

Shang Meiniang walked to the table, took out the steaming bowl of medicine from the warming box, and approached, speaking softly: "It’s better than not taking it."

Shang Pu frowned slightly.

He followed the medicine bowl with his gaze and saw her stubbornly holding the bowl, determined not to give up until he drank it. Sighing, he took the bowl and drank it all in one go.

Only then did Shang Meiniang smile. She took a handkerchief to wipe the medicine from the corner of his mouth, but he took it from her, pressing it himself, a hint of sorrow then filled his eyes.

"You should leave soon. It’s only a matter of time before Emperor Chu’s men find me here. There’s no need to lose your life with this sickly soul." Shang Pu picked up the book again and said: "The things I’ve saved for you are enough for a stable life. Find a good person and marry."

Shang Meiniang’s heart ached, and she said: "You’ve said this countless times. After today, don’t say it again. If I wanted to leave, I would have left long ago." She paused, then added: "Unless you leave with me, otherwise, I will go nowhere."

Shang Pu replied: "Where would I go?"

In a world so vast, where could he find a place?

"Sir, the Great Qing cannot contain us. In a world so big, I refuse to believe there’s no place to go. At worst, we’ll go overseas..."

"In this condition, where could I possibly go overseas?" Shang Pu sarcastically tugged at the corner of his mouth: "I don’t have long to live."

Rumor has it that the second son of the Shang family was born weak. That’s just a talk for outsiders. Later, he became Shang Pu, changing his appearance with secret medicine, living on medicine, battling poisonous insects, persisting day by day, until he truly became a weak and sickly soul.

It’s not that doctors can’t save him, but he’s beyond saving. From a weak constitution since childhood, worn out fundamentally, how could he be saved?

Shang Meiniang’s eyes grew warm, and she turned her head away.

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"I don’t want to go anywhere. The Great Qing is ultimately where I was born; my bones should be buried in this land."

Shang Meiniang sniffled and said: "If that’s so, sir, why not return to the capital and clarify your identity. Royal...blood is thicker than water; surely, they wouldn’t kill you."

Why not?

Shang Pu chuckled coldly: "Perhaps it’s for those two words: unwillingness."

He was also a child of his father, one ascended the throne and became emperor, while he faced misfortune, simply because his brother ascended the throne he left the capital at a young age, even had his identity snatched away; he was unwilling.

"Sir, no matter how unwilling, it’s not more important than your life."

"Meiniang, you don’t understand. With this long-term illness, this has also become ill." Shang Pu patted his heart: "Here, it’s already beyond hope, riddled with holes. But it is this unwillingness that keeps me hanging on, once I let go, I won’t survive."

Some people are sustained by a mere belief. When that belief is gone, life loses its meaning.

"Meiniang indeed doesn’t understand. This has no meaning at all. It’d be better to meet blades in a quick and decisive battle than this current state." She couldn’t fathom why Shang Pu didn’t fight directly, only yielding to Xia Houzhe, for what purpose?

Was it merely to see Emperor Chu vexed, watch him lose peace day and night?

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