I Crossed Over with My Enemy, Only to Find Him Running the Empire - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: The Divine Physician

Wu Canghai’s speech was masterfully crafted. He expressed subtle dissatisfaction with the past scandal, offered constructive advice, and showed genuine concern for his aunt’s future.

It made him appear both high-minded and deeply devoted to his family.

Old Man Wu Duofu nodded repeatedly, the knot in his chest loosening significantly. “Well said, well said indeed!”

In the corner, Li Qiaoqiao and the silently eating Wu Ya exchanged a glance, both seeing shock in each other’s eyes.

Wu Canghai’s sophistication in speech and action was miles ahead of everyone else in the Wu family! His emotional and intellectual intelligence were on a completely different plane.

The original protagonist is truly no joke.

Due to Wu Canghai’s presence, the atmosphere at the dinner table took on a rare harmony. After three rounds of wine and five courses of food, Wu Canghai casually brought up a new topic.

“While I was away, I heard of a ‘Divine Physician’ who recently arrived in the county seat. His surname is Gong. Legend says his medical skills are supernatural, capable of curing a hundred ailments. Many difficult and complicated cases have seen miraculous recoveries under his hand. They say he has white hair but the face of a child, possessing the air of a true immortal.”

“A Divine Physician?” Grandmother Zhang Jinhua’s ears perked up instantly, her eyes sparkling. “Can he really cure anything?”

Wu Canghai smiled slightly, his tone calm. “That is the rumor; he must have some genuine skill. I’ve only heard of him and haven’t seen him myself. It’s said he travels the four corners of the earth and won’t stay in the county seat for long.”

Hearing this, Zhang Jinhua’s face immediately showed an urgent, regretful expression.

Then, Wu Canghai’s tone shifted slightly. His gaze swept—seemingly by accident—over Wu Ya, who was currently working hard to play the fool. “If fate allows and this Physician Gong travels to our Lechuan Town, perhaps we could invite him to examine Fourth Uncle? Fourth Uncle has suffered for years; if there is truly a master of medicine out there, perhaps there is a glimmer of hope.”

Clatter! Zhang Jinhua’s chopsticks hit the table. She slapped her thigh, her voice trembling with excitement: “That’s right! How did I forget that! Tie Niu, my son! Canghai-ge, you’re right! You’re absolutely right! If that physician can come, we must have him look at your Fourth Uncle, no matter what!”

However, sitting below them, Li Qiaoqiao felt her heart sink the moment she heard the name “Physician Gong.”

As she listened to Wu Canghai’s following words, a chill raced up her spine!

If she remembered correctly from the original book, this so-called Divine Physician Gong was a total fraud! A charlatan whose potent, dangerous “tiger and wolf” medicines almost sent the originally frail, real Wu Tie Niu to an early grave!

Wu Canghai didn’t mention this earlier or later; he chose this specific moment to bring it up in such a “casual” way?

Under the table, Li Qiaoqiao’s hands clenched, her nails digging into her palms.

She understood completely now.

This wasn’t a concern.

This was the signal of Wu Canghai making his move against the Fourth House!

He was exploiting Zhang Jinhua’s doting love for her fourth son to precisely cast a lure. Once Zhang Jinhua took the bait and desperately sought the “Divine Physician,” what awaited the Fourth House was a fatal trap!

Li Qiaoqiao looked up, catching Wu Canghai’s seemingly accidental glance.

His gaze was calm, even carrying a hint of a warm smile, yet it made Li Qiaoqiao shiver. She immediately lowered her head and, under the table, quickly gave her “foolish” husband Wu Ya a sharp kick.

Wu Ya, still playing the idiot, was busy smearing porridge all over his face. Feeling the kick, he paused and looked up at Li Qiaoqiao blankly, muttering with a mouthful of food, “Wife… why… why kick Niu Niu?”

But beneath the table, his foot silently nudged Li Qiaoqiao back, signaling that he had received the message.

Li Qiaoqiao ignored his act and looked at Wu Canghai with wide-eyed, pleasant surprise. “Canghai-ge, is that true? Is there really such a powerful physician? Can he cure anything?”

Wu Canghai glanced at her, his face expressionless as he nodded, then shook his head. “It’s only what I’ve heard; people make it sound miraculous. Whether it’s true remains to be seen. Besides, even if he exists, he might not specialize in all conditions.”

His words were measured, but the implication was clear: they had to find out if he could treat “idiocy.”

The head of the family, Wu Duofu, had been listening with a dark face. He tapped his chopsticks against the rim of his bowl with a sharp clack.

He spoke in a muffled, gruff voice: “Hmph, divine physician or ghost physician! Foolishness is either something from the womb or a brain fried by fever. Even a Great Immortal couldn’t fix it! It’s all just money-cheating tricks. If we have spare cash to throw away, it’s better to save it to support Canghai’s studies. Our family’s foundation is thin; we can’t afford to squander it!”

The old man’s words were blunt. The meaning was clear: he didn’t want to waste money on his foolish son; the money was for his precious grandson’s official career.

Grandmother Zhang Jinhua was not pleased.

This son was her favorite. Though he was a fool, he was her own flesh and blood. Recently, she felt Tie Niu seemed a bit more “lucid” than before—at least he looked sturdier and didn’t spend the whole day staring blankly and drooling. Hearing about a divine physician, her mind immediately became active.

She pushed her bowl aside, her voice rising an octave: “Old man, what are you talking about? How is it ‘squandering’? What’s wrong with our Tie Niu? He’s young, and his mind is just temporarily clouded, but he’s strong! What if he can be cured? Are you just going to watch him stay like this forever? Canghai’s studies are important, but his Fourth Uncle’s health doesn’t matter? There’s no sense in that!”

She grew more agitated as she spoke, her finger nearly poking the old man’s face.

Seeing this, Wu Canghai stepped in to smooth things over with a sensible air: “Grandpa, don’t be hasty. Grandma has a point. Fourth Uncle is still young; if there truly is a way, it’s always good to try. My studies are important, but if Fourth Uncle recovers, it would be a great blessing for the Wu family. However, since we don’t know the truth about this physician, we must investigate thoroughly first to avoid wasting silver and ending up with nothing but disappointment.”

His words were beautiful—he appeased his grandfather while honoring his grandmother’s wishes, portraying himself as a man who considered the big picture and cared for the family.

Hearing this, Zhang Jinhua felt her grandson was truly sensible. She looked at him with even more affection.

However, the wife of the First House, Mrs. Wei (Wu Canghai’s mother), was fuming. She kept her head down, chewing her coarse bun as she cursed her son a thousand times in her head: This stupid boy! Why play the good guy? Treating that fool will cost money! Where will that money come from? The family pot!

All that money was supposed to be reserved for her son’s path to becoming an official! Now, because of one sentence from this boy, a large chunk of it might be bled away!

He’s helping outsiders! She was so angry her liver hurt, but she didn’t dare contradict her mother-in-law or her son to their faces.

Soothed by her grandson, Zhang Jinhua made the final call: “Canghai is right! We must investigate! Someone must find out!” Her eyes swept the table, landing on the third son, Wu Tiegen. “Third Son, you travel often and know many people. You have more connections than us villagers. This task is yours! Go find out exactly who this Physician Gong is, if he’s really that miraculous, and especially ask if he’s good at curing foolishness. Report back once you know!”

Wu Tiegen, who had been eating quietly, was surprised to have the task land on him but quickly nodded. “Yes, Mother, I understand. I’ll go ask around tomorrow.”

With the matter settled, Li Qiaoqiao, as the wife of Wu Tie Niu, had to play her part. She stood up immediately, her face full of gratitude, first toward Zhang Jinhua: “Thank you, Mother! Thank you for worrying about Tie Niu!”

Then she turned to Wu Canghai and gave a respectful bow: “And thank you, Canghai-ge, for bringing us this news. You’ve got a lot of trouble!”

She performed with such sincerity that no one could find a flaw. Old Man Wu snorted, clearly still unhappy, but he didn’t argue further and continued eating with a dark expression.

…

After dinner, as the dishes were cleared, Zhang Jinhua’s eyes darted toward Mrs. Wei like sharp blades. Just as Mrs. Wei tried to slip away, the old lady’s voice pitched high: “First House Wife, who are these dishes waiting for? Can’t you see the stove is covered in oil? Have the pigs been fed? Day after day, you have no work in your eyes, just waiting to be fed like a lady?”

Mrs. Wei’s face turned pale and then flushed red with embarrassment. She was dying of resentment but didn’t dare talk back. She stood rooted to the spot, muttering under her breath, “Going now, I’m going…”

Seeing this, Wu Canghai immediately put on the act of a filial son. He stepped forward and said, “Grandma, you rest. Let me help Mother with these chores. A scholar should know filial piety and care for his parents.” He reached for the oily bowls as if to start.

This terrified Mrs. Wei! Her son was a scholar, a future official! He was precious; how could he do such menial, dirty work? She grabbed him quickly, saying urgently, “Oh, my son! You can’t! This rough work isn’t for a scholar like you! Go back to your room and study! Mother will do it, Mother will do it!”

She glared fiercely at her mother-in-law, cursed “old bag” in her heart, and resignedly gathered the dishes, clattering them into the kitchen to wash them with vented frustration.

Pushed away by his mother, Wu Canghai showed a hint of helplessness and bowed apologetically to Zhang Jinhua. “Grandma, then I shall go study.”

As he turned to his room, the corner of his mouth twitched upward. Wu Tiezhu, smoking his pipe, nodded in satisfaction at his son’s sensibility. The two younger sons, Wu Qinglin and Wu Zhexun, looked at their big brother with even more worship, thinking he was both powerful and filial.

…

In the Fourth House, the door was shut, cutting off the noise outside.

The expression on Li Qiaoqiao’s face vanished instantly. She whispered to Wu Ya, who was still tilting his head and grinning foolishly, “Stop it, he’s gone.”

Wu Tie Niu immediately dropped the idiot act. His eyes became clear. Though there were still grains of rice on his face making him look a bit comical, his aura had completely changed. He wiped his face. “Yeah. I heard.”

“Wu Canghai bringing up the Divine Physician… he definitely has no good intentions,” Li Qiaoqiao sneered. “There was a segment in the book: this Physician Gong has a strange temper. He has skills, but he’s also accidentally killed people with his treatments. Later on, the real Wu Tie Niu was ‘accidentally’ treated to death. Bringing it up now? He’s clearly trying to kill with a borrowed knife—to get rid of you, the ‘burden,’ so all family resources can go to the First House. What a perfect calculation!”

Wu Ya didn’t look panicked; instead, he let out a mocking laugh. “Expected. His type acts righteous on the surface but is full of schemes underneath. However, this scheme is actually giving us an opportunity.”

“Fighting fire with fire?” Li Qiaoqiao’s eyes lit up.

“Exactly,” Wu Ya nodded. “Don’t they want to hire a Divine Physician to treat me? Perfect! Once he’s brought here, regardless of whether he has real skill, I’ll use that opportunity to ‘cure’ my foolishness!”

Li Qiaoqiao clapped her hands. “Brilliant! That way, your recovery will seem perfectly natural! No one will suspect anything! Otherwise, we’d have to rack our brains for a reason, and people might even think you were possessed.”

“Exactly.” Wu Ya’s expression turned serious. “In this era, it’s much easier to get things done as a man with a sound mind. Once I’m ‘better,’ the first priority is making money. We must achieve economic independence as soon as possible and escape this situation where we have to watch everyone’s faces. Otherwise, everything is just talk.”

The two reached a consensus, and their hearts felt steadier. Though the road ahead was still difficult, they finally had a direction to break the deadlock.

Late at night, the oil lamp flickered like a bean. The two lay side-by-side on the hard bed, the invisible “38th parallel” line still between them. The two halves of the “Concentric Lock” were beside them, holding the mysterious energy that allowed them brief returns to the modern world.

“Tonight… shall we try again?” Li Qiaoqiao asked softly, her voice filled with longing but also hesitation. She missed modern air conditioning, soft beds, ice cream, and takeout so much.

Wu Ya was silent for a moment before shaking his head. “Energy is precious; let’s save it. Based on the last experience, if we wait longer, the next stay might last longer. The situation is complicated now; we need to save our best moves for the right moment.”

Li Qiaoqiao knew he was right, but she couldn’t help swallowing hard. She murmured, “Alright… I just really miss hotpot, BBQ, and spicy soup. This daily routine of coarse buns and pickles… my mouth is so bland I’m going crazy…”

Wu Ya didn’t say anything, but in the darkness, his Adam’s apple moved slightly. Clearly, the former heir to a massive fortune could not resist the temptation of modern delicacies either.

With infinite nostalgia for their modern lives, the two slowly drifted into sleep.