My reborn husband and son are thinking about how to kill me every day.

Rumors that King Xuan had contracted the plague circulated among the servants in his palace. All the servants were filled with panic.

Some people began to sneak away with their belongings, and the palace was thrown into chaos.

To make matters worse, news of King Xuan's infection with the plague reached the outside world. The people of Jingyang City were already gripped by fear due to the plague, and now, hearing that even King Xuan had contracted it, they were even more terrified.

Almost everyone who could walk fled with their property.

Many of King Xuan's generals, upon hearing that he too had contracted the plague, led a group of soldiers who were not infected to defect.

Besides the generals under King Xuan, King Xuan's concubine and her son also secretly left Jingzhou with their entourage.

When Lin Chu heard the news from his servant, he was utterly bewildered. He dared not tell Prince Xuan what had happened, but only instructed the physician in the palace to treat Prince Xuan as soon as possible.

But strokes are inherently difficult to treat, let alone for an apprentice like him. He could manage simple ailments, but for complex diseases like strokes, he was practically helpless.

After several days of treatment, King Xuan's condition still showed no improvement.

Princess Consort Xuan wanted to find a new doctor for Prince Xuan, but all the doctors in Jingyang City had been forcibly sent to the military camp by Prince Xuan, so they couldn't find one now.

Although King Xuan had suffered a stroke, his mind remained clear. These days of lying in bed, unable to speak, and even unable to use the toilet independently, requiring constant care, were agonizing for him.

His temper became increasingly irritable.

He mumbled curses at the servants who came to serve him, spitting at them. This caused even the most loyal servants who stayed to serve him to become resentful, and they no longer served him as attentively as before.

The bed that King Xuan soiled would no longer be cleaned as promptly as before. The room where King Xuan lived had a strong smell of excrement and urine.

Prince Xuan, born into royalty, was a local tyrant in his fiefdom, dreaming of becoming the ruler of the world. How could he tolerate such a change in status?

His heart was filled with resentment; he blamed his advisors, confidants, and secret guards alike. His anger was no longer just directed at the servants who attended to him; he also spat at his confidants and advisors who came to report to him.

Given the current situation in Jingzhou, it's clear to everyone that Prince Xuan is finished, and there's no future in following him.

Some of these people chose to stay because of his kindness and generosity, while others did so to follow the teachings of their ancestors...

Even the deepest gratitude cannot withstand his erosion.

Gradually, some of those who had originally stayed behind, intending to help King Xuan through the crisis, began to waver.

When King Xuan spat on Lin Chu's face again, and scolded him in unclear words for his incompetence in not hiring a good doctor to treat his illness.

Lin Chu could no longer bear it.

He raised his hand, wiped the spittle off his face, flicked his sleeves, and looked down at me, saying, "Your Highness, do you really think the responsibility for your stroke not being cured lies with me?"

"I advised you against sending all the doctors to the military camp. But you insisted on your own way and wouldn't listen to my advice, and now you're blaming me."

King Xuan's face flushed red, and his eyes widened like gongs. He clearly hadn't expected Lin Chu to speak to him in such a condescending manner.

He mumbled curses at Lin Chu.

Although the stroke victim's speech was slurred, Lin Chu could still roughly understand what he was saying.

King Xuan, tormented by illness, has not only lost his dignity but also his former wisdom and composure.

He mumbled curses at Lin Chu, calling him a lowly commoner. He said that if he hadn't had the foresight to invite him to be a strategist in the Prince Duan's mansion, Lin Chu might have starved to death by now.

As Lin Chu listened, he suddenly laughed and said, "To tell you the truth, nowadays only a lowly commoner like me doesn't despise you and is running around for you."

Your sons and daughters, those noblewomen who carry your royal blood, have long since fled with your concubine, taking all the money with them.

King Xuan's lips trembled uncontrollably, his eyes were bloodshot, and his hands were clenched into fists as he weakly and angrily pounded on the bed.

“It’s not just your son and daughter who ran away with the concubine. Let me tell you, the palace is now mostly empty. Most of the servants have secretly run away. Even the soldiers in the army have led their troops away.”

Lin Chu said, "The people in the city who were supposed to run away have all run away! Most of those who are still in the city are infected with the plague and can't escape."

Now everyone thinks you've contracted the disease, and Jingzhou is doomed. The only ones left to stay and protect you are the few of us.

In order not to provoke King Xuan, they concealed some information when they came to see him.

King Xuan was unaware that his concubine and several sons had left with their entourage, and even less aware that his trusted subordinates had betrayed him.

At this moment, hearing that his son and subordinates had betrayed him, King Xuan was filled with intense anger and resentment.

But besides anger and resentment, he felt mostly powerless and desperate.

He suffered a stroke and lay in bed, unable to speak a complete sentence. His trusted subordinates betrayed him, his son ran away, and the townspeople fled.

All that remained were soldiers and civilians infected with the disease.

What else could he do?

He's done.

"For...the sake of...our past...relationship..." King Xuan looked at Lin Chu and said with difficulty, "Help...me...get rid of this..."

Lin Chu looked at the man who spoke indistinctly and whose saliva kept dripping down his face. Now, where was even a trace of the dignity of a prince?

He felt a pang of sympathy for her.

However, he did not kill King Xuan himself. Instead, he tied a white silk ribbon to the bedpost. If he really did not want to live, he could spend a little more time putting his head in and hanging himself.

"Your Highness, this is the last thing I can do for you. The choice is yours."

After finishing his speech, Lin Chu left the palace.

King Xuan looked at the white silk ribbon on the bedpost, thinking about his initial ambitions, and couldn't understand how he had come to this point.

He couldn't understand why he had suffered such a humiliating defeat.

After thinking it over, he didn't think he had done anything wrong.

In the end, he could only attribute it to the injustice of fate.

It was Heaven's injustice that brought the plague to his fiefdom. It was simply bad luck! Otherwise, why hadn't the plague struck Jiangzhou...?

In fact, he had considered the possibility that he might have sent people to Ningxing Prefecture to cause trouble for the Ji family time and time again, but in the end, he failed to find any trouble for the Ji family and instead brought the plague to Jing Prefecture.

He only thought about it briefly before dismissing the idea. This was a consequence he couldn't bear, and he refused to believe that the cause of the problem was himself…

He blamed everything on God.

Finally, filled with grief and despair, he slowly buried his head in the white silk, and then, with all his might, rolled off the bed.

He hanged himself by the bedside.