I Crossed Over with My Enemy, Only to Find Him Running the Empire - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Local Ruffians

After Wu Tiesheng finished speaking, his head was nearly buried in his chest, and the tips of his ears were beet red.

Divine Physician Gong and his young apprentice exchanged another look, and their hearts suddenly cleared with understanding.

So, he wasn’t here to treat an illness; he was here to beg for a son!

“Mmm… seeking a son… this is a major matter concerning the family’s ancestral incense and lineage; it is indeed tricky, however…”

Gong stroked his sparse goatee, his small eyes sparkling with sharp light as he sized Wu Tiesheng up from top to bottom. He intentionally left him hanging, and only after seeing Wu Tiesheng’s Adam’s apple bob with nervousness did he slowly fish a porcelain bottle out of his sleeve pocket.

Pulling out the stopper, he poured out a pill the size of a longan fruit.

“This is this old man’s exclusive, secretly prepared ‘Golden Pill for Delivering Sons’!” He held the pill in his palm. “It contains eighty-one rare and precious herbs, refined over forty-nine days. It holds the Yang energy of heaven and earth, specializing in tonifying a man’s essence and harmonizing a woman’s womb. After taking it, I guarantee a son in one shot!”

The young apprentice played the hype man from the side, his tone exaggerated: “Master! This is a bottom-of-the-chest treasure! Didn’t you say last time that when the County Magistrate’s brother-in-law begged for three months, you still couldn’t bear to give it to him?”

Gong waved his hand with feigned depth: “Sigh, it is all a matter of fate. This old man sees that this brother’s sincerity is commendable. To preserve the family lineage, he is willing to give his all. Such sincerity moves heaven and earth, and it moves this old man as well. Forget it, forget it, I shall fulfill this destiny for you.”

Wu Tiesheng was made dizzy by their back-and-forth performance. His eyes were glued to that dark, murky pill, and his lips trembled with excitement: “Real… really can produce a son?”

“How could it be false?” Gong’s eyes widened. “Not to mention those far away, just look at Zhang the Butcher at the east end of town. He had five girls in a row, but after taking this old man’s Golden Pill, he got a big fat boy last year! And then there’s the third concubine of Landlord Li in the neighboring village; she also took this medicine, and now her belly is pointed. The doctors all say it must be a male fetus!”

He fabricated the story with vivid detail.

Wu Tiesheng was already desperate enough to turn to any doctor in a crisis; at this moment, he believed it without a shadow of doubt. Rubbing his hands, he was both overjoyed and conflicted: “Thank you, Divine Physician! Thank you! Then this Golden Pill… how much is one?”

Gong extended three fingers and said slowly: “Such a miraculous medicine is extremely difficult to refine; it is normally hard to find even for a thousand pieces of gold. But seeing as you are sincere, I will only charge you the cost price: thirty taels of silver per pill.”

“Thirty tales?!” Wu Tiesheng sucked in a breath of cold air, his face falling instantly. He subconsciously clutched the spot where he hid his money against his chest, muttering, “Divine Physician, can it be a bit cheaper? This trip selling mountain goods, plus what I saved myself, adds up to exactly thirty taels… this isn’t enough to buy two…”

He was still thinking of one for each husband and wife.

“Two?” Gong’s brow furrowed, then smoothed out again, wearing an expression of concern for him.

“Brother, those words are incorrect. This medicine’s nature is extremely Yang; it is enough for one person to take it. Besides, all medicine is one-third poison; if two people take it together, the medicinal properties will clash and ruin the matter. How about this: you buy one, go back and divide it into two halves, eat it with your wife, and the effect is the same! This old man guarantees that by this time next year, you will certainly be holding a big fat boy!”

Wu Tiesheng was still hesitating. Thirty taels was an astronomical figure to him, nearly his entire net worth.

Seeing this, Gong’s expression darkened slightly: “Brother, opportunity is fleeting. If not for your sincerity, this old man would never easily give this divine pill to anyone. If you don’t believe, you may leave, just don’t regret it later.”

As he spoke, he made a move to take back the pill.

“Don’t! I’ll buy it! I’ll buy it!” Wu Tiesheng grew anxious, terrified that this lone hope would slip away. No longer caring for anything else, he hurriedly pulled a tattered cloth bundle from his bosom and opened it layer by layer.

Inside were indeed some scattered silver pieces and a string of copper coins. Shaking, he counted out thirty taels and handed them over with a face full of pain: “Divine Physician, please count it, this is thirty taels…”

Gong snatched the silver, stuffed it into his bosom without even looking, and put a smile back on his face as he handed the pill to Wu Tiesheng.

At the same time, he lowered his voice and urged with a serious expression: “Remember, this medicine must be taken immediately to lock in the medicinal properties for the best effect. Remember this well!”

“Aye! I remember! Thank you, Divine Physician!” Wu Tiesheng carefully wrapped the “Golden Pill for Delivering Sons” in cloth, gripped it tightly in his palm, and thanked him repeatedly.

He left the room, turning his head back every three steps.

Carrying the hope of having a son, his footsteps were a bit floaty; he nearly stepped into thin air while going downstairs.

Walking out of the inn’s main gate, the cold wind blew on him, and his mind cleared slightly.

Looking at his empty money bag and the expensive pill in his hand, his heart was filled with both anticipation and unease.

In a daze, he seemed to catch a glimpse of a tall, thin young figure in a semi-worn blue cloth shirt flashing past the alleyway diagonally opposite the inn.

That back view looked… a bit like his eldest nephew, Wu Canghai, who was studying at the town school?

Wu Tiesheng rubbed his eyes and looked closer, but the alley was empty—there was no one there.

“I must be seeing things; Canghai should be at the school right now…” He muttered to himself, shook his head, and thought no more of it.

Clutching the pill, he hurried off in the direction of Wanfu Village, wishing he could fly home immediately.

…

He did not know that it was no illusion.

Deep in the small alley opposite the inn, Wu Canghai was indeed standing there, watching expressionless as his second uncle walked away from the inn clutching that black mud ball, filled with hope, and disappeared at the end of the street.

The corner of Wu Canghai’s mouth curled into a cold sneer that did not match his age.

He turned around and beckoned to several local ruffians who were squatting on the ground basking in the sun, people who clearly had nothing to do in town.

The ruffians recognized him as a scholar from the school; normally they didn’t pay him much mind, but seeing him beckon, they still walked over lazily.

Wu Canghai fished a few copper coins from his bosom and stuffed them into the hand of the leading ruffian chief, lowering his voice: “Big brothers, I need a small favor. Did you see that peasant who just went in and came out? He went to buy medicine from some Divine Physician Gong in that room upstairs.”

The ruffian chief weighed the copper coins and curled his lip: “So? That old swindler is open for business again? What’s that got to do with us?”

“Normally, it would have nothing to do with you,” Wu Canghai’s tone was calm, yet his eyes carried incitement, “however, our school’s master was cheated out of a full sixty taels of silver by this swindler named Gong using similar methods a few years ago! The master was so angry he fell seriously ill and still grinds his teeth when mentioning it today.”

Upon hearing “sixty tales,” the ruffians’ eyes lit up instantly!

Wu Canghai continued: “The master is old and it isn’t convenient for him to come find trouble with this swindler himself. If you brothers can help the master recover that sixty taels loss, the master said he only wants fifty; the rest of the money can be used to treat you brothers to wine!”

The ruffian chief widened his eyes upon hearing this, but was still a bit hesitant: “That old swindler looks pretty shifty, will he admit it?”

“He naturally won’t admit it,” Wu Canghai sneered, “but he just closed a big deal, so he definitely has money on him. You brothers only need to use some intimidation to make him cough up the money obediently. Not only are you doing justice for heaven, but you’ll also get some hard-earned cash. Why not?”

The ruffians looked at each other, all tempted by this massive profit.

Sixty tales! Even if they only got a portion, it would be enough for them to live high for quite a while!