I Crossed Over with My Enemy, Only to Find Him Running the Empire - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Driven Mad

Mrs. Wei was too lazy to pay him any mind and was about to turn back to her own room, but she saw Wu Tiesheng head straight toward the fourth branch’s room.

At this moment, Wu Tiesheng’s mind was in utter chaos; he didn’t care which room belonged to which branch he only knew where his mother was.

He lifted the door curtain and fell to his knees before Zhang Jinhua with a heavy thud, crying out with a sob in his voice: “Mother, something is wrong! The silver… the silver is gone!”

The smile on Zhang Jinhua’s face froze, and the rag in her hand dropped to the floor: “What? What did you say? What silver is gone?!”

Wu Ya also stood up abruptly: “Second Brother! Speak clearly! The silver from selling the mountain goods is gone? Did you encounter bandits?”

That was his first reaction.

Zhang Jinhua’s face turned deathly pale, and she suddenly thought of something, shrieked: “Is it Old Third! Is it that god-forsaken Tiegen! Are his hands itching for gambling again? Did he steal your money?”

She knew Old Third had this problem and instantly assumed it was him.

Outside the door, the moment Mrs. Wei heard “the silver is gone,” she was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on; she let out a howl and rushed inside: “What? The silver is gone? That was thirty tales! Mother! You promised that this money was to be saved for Canghai’s academy tuition for next year! Without silver, how will our Canghai study? How will he take the imperial examinations for official rank?!”

She jumped up and down in anxiety as if the sky were collapsing.

That sum of money the father-in-law had privately promised would be used for her son’s education. It was her hope!

And now they were saying it was just gone?

Driven to a corner by the barrage of questioning, Wu Tiesheng couldn’t lift his head; cold sweat poured down, and his lips trembled: “It wasn’t bandits… and it wasn’t Third Brother… it was me…”

But he stammered on “me” for a long time. Looking at his mother’s instantly darkened face and his eldest sister-in-law’s predatory gaze, the words “bought medicine to have a son” felt like a fishbone stuck in his throat, impossible to spit out.

Suddenly, a commotion came from outside, mixed with Wu Tiegen’s voice: “What’s going on? Why is everyone crowded in Tieniu’s room?”

Wu Ya and Li Qiaoqiao exchanged a look and both stood up to go outside.

In the courtyard, Wu Tiegen stood there in a wretched state. His face was bruised purple and blue, his clothes were torn to shreds, and he had even lost a shoe, his foot covered in muddy water.

He was panting heavily, looking exactly as if he had just been in a fight.

Mrs. Wei was the first to rush over, her eyes wide as saucers: “Third Brother, did you run into bandits? Where is the silver? That was the tuition saved for Canghai’s studies!”

Zhang Jinhua pushed her aside, grabbing Wu Tiegen’s arm to look him up and down: “Are you hurt anywhere? Oh, look at this face! Which god-forsaken person beat my son into this state!”

Wu Tiegen wiped the mud from his face and exhaled a long breath: “No… I didn’t run into bandits.”

The whole family gathered around.

“Then what exactly happened…” Zhang Jinhua’s brow was knit tight.

Wu Tiegen’s eyes suddenly turned red, and he pointed at Wu Tiesheng standing in the corner: “It’s Second Brother! He wouldn’t let me buy a meat bun! Twenty-eight taels of silver! He couldn’t even bear to buy me a meat bun, insisting on taking it all for himself to keep safe.”

These words were like cold water dropped into a pot of hot oil, making the whole family jump.

“Twenty-eight tales?” Mrs. Wei’s voice cracked. “It really sold for that much? Where is the money?”

Zhang Jinhua grabbed Wu Tiesheng’s arm: “Tiesheng! Where is the money? Is what your brother said true?”

Wu Tiesheng’s face flushed deep red, his lips trembling, unable to speak.

His eyes dodged, and a layer of fine sweat broke out on his forehead.

Wu Tiegen was still shouting: “I didn’t gamble the money! Second Brother was watching me the whole way; he even followed me when I went to take a leak! The money is definitely with him! It’s only because I had no money that I tried to get credit at the gambling den and was beaten to a pulp.”

Li Qiaoqiao quietly tugged at Wu Ya’s sleeve and whispered: “This is bad, could it be…”

Before she could finish, Wu Tiesheng suddenly clutched his head and wailed: “Mother! Father! I’ve failed you! The money… I spent it all…”

“Spend it!” Zhang Jinhua’s voice was piercingly sharp. “Twenty-eight tales! Where did you spend it?”

Wu Tiesheng shook all over as he cried, pulling an empty cloth bag from his bosom with a crookedly embroidered character “Gong” on it.

“I… I bought Divine Physician Gong’s Golden Pill.” His voice grew smaller and smaller.

The courtyard instantly became terrifyingly quiet; even the chickens stopped clucking.

Wu Ya and Li Qiaoqiao looked at each other, seeing the same thought in each other’s eyes: Just the other day they had put on a play to warn the whole village not to be fooled, and in the end, their own family member had fallen right into the trap!

“You…” Zhang Jinhua was shaking with rage. “You spendthrift! You god-forsaken wretch! Twenty-eight tales! You bought that worthless pill?”

Wu Tiegen first opened his mouth in shock, then slapped his thigh: “Oh, Second Brother! Why didn’t you say so earlier! If you’d given it to me to gamble, maybe I could have doubled it…”

His wife, Mrs. Liu, quickly yanked him and whispered: “Shut your mouth!”

Mrs. Wei was stunned for a long while, then her eyes suddenly darted around, and she pointed toward the fourth branch’s room, shouting: “No! It must have been the fourth branch’s instigation! They wanted Tiesheng to buy medicine for Tieniu to eat, right?”

In an instant, all eyes turned toward Wu Ya and Li Qiaoqiao.

Li Qiaoqiao immediately stepped forward: “Eldest Sister-in-law, don’t talk nonsense! When did we ever tell the Second Brother to buy medicine?”

Wu Ya also nodded: “Exactly, don’t frame us.”

Zhang Jinhua stopped her hand and looked suspiciously at the fourth branch.

But Wu Tiesheng suddenly broke down, kowtowing repeatedly until blood appeared on his forehead: “It wasn’t the fourth branch! It was my own idea! I… I just want a son!”

He lifted his head, his face covered in a mixture of tears and blood, his eyes terrifyingly desperate: “Everyone in the village laughs at me for having no heir! They say our second branch’s incense will be cut off, and there won’t even be anyone to shatter the mourning pot at my funeral! I… I can’t take it anymore…”

Hearing this at the door, Mrs. Yuan covered her mouth and began to cry.

“Divine Physician Gong said this medicine is miraculous; you can have as many sons as you want.” Wu Tiesheng’s gaze was vacant, as if he were driven mad. “Twenty-eight taels was worth it! It was worth it!”

Wu Ya couldn’t help but advise: “Second Brother, even if you eat Divine Physician Gong’s medicine, it won’t produce a son.”

“What do you know!” Wu Tiesheng glared at him fiercely, his eyes vicious. “You’re just a fool who just got better; do you know the bitterness of having no son? Huh? Do you know the feeling of being pointed at by everyone when walking through the village?”

He beat his own chest, his voice hoarse: “Every Qingming Festival, other families have sons to offer incense. In our second branch, there’s only me and Mrs. Yuan; Peilan and Caixia will both marry out. When we’re old, who will care for us? When we die, who will see us off?”

The question left the entire scene in silence.

Even Mrs. Wei shut her mouth and lowered her head awkwardly.

Wu Tiesheng collapsed on the ground, sobbing: “Is it wrong for me to want a son? Besides, I only bought one Golden Pill, and Mrs. Yuan and I have already swallowed it into our stomachs. Even if we wanted to return it, it’s impossible!”

When Zhang Jinhua heard that the Golden Pill bought for thirty taels of silver had been split and eaten by the son and daughter-in-law, her last shred of hope was completely extinguished. Her two eyes suddenly bulged.

A “he-he” sound came from her throat, as if she were being choked by something.

The next instant!

“I… I’ll beat you to death, you spendthrift! I’ll beat you to death, you debt-collector!” She howled with a hoarse voice, grabbing the large bamboo broom by the door.

That broom had been used for years, the bamboo sticks worn shiny. She swung it blindly at Wu Tiesheng, who was kneeling on the ground!

The broom whistled through the air and cracked and landed squarely on Wu Tiesheng’s arm, immediately leaving a red welt.