I Crossed Over with My Enemy, Only to Find Him Running the Empire - Chapter 51

Chapter 51: The Plot Has Changed

Wu Tiezhu’s face remained grim as he continued to keep his voice low: “Look at yourself just now! Mother is bedridden, and instead of offering to serve her, you’re here complaining that the money wasn’t spent on your son! Qinglin and Zhexun are watching this ugly display of yours!”

He pointed toward his two younger sons playing in the courtyard.

“They are small now and don’t understand much, but they will learn! They’ll learn selfishness from you, their mother, and they’ll learn to be unfilial! When we are old and can no longer move, they will follow your example. Who will bring you tea or water then? Who will care for you until the end? Hmm?”

This hit Mrs. Wei’s weak spot. Her bravado deflated slightly, though she remained stubborn: “I was just talking to you…”

“Just talking? Are these the kind of things you can say?” Wu Tiezhu’s eyes were sharp. “To put it bluntly, if you actually provoke Mother into a health crisis right now and she dies from anger, do you believe it? You’d be branded as unfilial, and the village’s gossip alone would drown you!

When that happens, forget about Canghai’s study tour; he won’t even be allowed into the examination hall! When the officials check a candidate’s family background and conduct, he’ll be the first one cut! Your son’s path to an official career would be ruined directly by your hands, his own mother! Think about whether that makes sense!”

The words “affecting the son’s career” struck Mrs. Wei like a lightning bolt to the skull.

She might not care about her mother-in-law’s suffering or what her brothers and sisters-in-law thought of her, but she absolutely could not destroy her son’s bright future!

He was her only hope!

Her face turned deathly pale. Her lips trembled as she looked at her husband in terror.

Seeing that she was finally shaken, Wu Tiezhu let out a sigh of relief. He sat back down on the stool and waved her off: “Just stay quiet! Watch your mouth! The family is already a big enough mess.”

Mrs. Wei didn’t dare utter another word. She sat to the side sheepishly, but her heart felt stifled, as if clogged with wet cotton.

…

The sun dipped low in the west. The Wu family courtyard was quiet, save for a few chickens pecking at the ground.

Yesterday, the second branch faced the family discipline; today, the third branch was beaten. The entire household was shrouded in an indescribable air of oppression.

Wu Tiesheng hobbled out of his room supporting his waist, his wounds from yesterday still throbbing with pain.

He glanced at the tightly shut door of the third branch’s room. Faint sounds of Mrs. Liu’s low sobbing drifted out, causing him to curl his lip.

“What are you looking at? Get back inside and lie down!” Mrs. Yuan brought out a bowl of water, though the misery of the past few days had vanished from her face. “The third branch deserves it. Father and Mother still favor us; at least they didn’t beat you nearly to death like they did to him.”

Wu Tiesheng grunted twice. The imbalance in his heart had dissipated quite a bit.

His parents had punished him, but they had ultimately shown mercy. Compared to the bloody scene of the third branch, his own situation was indeed much lighter.

“Father and Mother have a scale in their hearts,” he muttered as his wife helped him back into the room.

In the third branch’s room, Mrs. Liu was using a wet cloth to wipe the wounds of her unconscious husband.

The skin on Wu Tiegen’s back was shredded, his injuries far worse than those of the second brother yesterday.

She moved gently, terrified of hurting him, but her tears wouldn’t stop falling.

“Useless thing, what are you crying for…” Wu Tiegen suddenly woke. The searing pain on his back made him grimace, but his first instinct was to scold his wife.

Mrs. Liu hurriedly wiped her tears: “You’re awake? Does it hurt? I’ll go fetch the medicine right away…”

“Get back here!” Wu Tiegen roared, then hissed as the movement pulled at his wounds. “You can’t wait for me to die, can you? You didn’t even say a single word to plead for me while I was being beaten yesterday!”

Mrs. Liu froze, tears welling up again: “I did plead… but Father and Mother were in such a rage they wouldn’t listen…”

“Bullshit!” Wu Tiegen suddenly raised his hand and delivered a harsh slap to Mrs. Liu’s face. “You did it on purpose! You want me dead so you can remarry, don’t you? Let me tell you, no way!”

Mrs. Liu clutched her face, sobbing uncontrollably: “How can you say that? In all the years I’ve been married to you, when have I ever been unfaithful? If you would just give up that gambling habit, we could live a good life…”

“Give it up? Why should I! I only lost money because you’re a jinx!” Wu Tiegen grew more enraged and slapped her again. “Crying and wailing all day just looking at you brings bad luck!”

Mrs. Liu stopped speaking. She simply wept silently as she continued to clean his wounds.

Tired of shouting, Wu Tiegen flopped back down, moaning and groaning while muttering foul curses.

In the courtyard, Li Qiaoqiao played with Mrs. Liu’s two children for a while. Seeing that it was getting late, she led them back to their room.

After leaving the third branch, she went straight back to her own room.

“Do you see it now?” Li Qiaoqiao whispered. “None of this happened in the original book.”

Wu Ya didn’t look up from his task: “The part about the second brother buying medicine wasn’t there, and the third brother stealing money wasn’t either? That means the plot has changed.”

“It’s a good thing,” Li Qiaoqiao said, sitting beside him. “It proves we can change our destiny.”

Wu Ya finally looked up, his eyes shining intensely: “We can’t just protect ourselves; we have to take the initiative.”

“What do you mean?”

“The silver the third branch stole needs to be replaced.” Wu Ya dropped the twig he was holding. “Tonight, I’m going to the gambling house in town.”

Li Qiaoqiao’s eyes widened: “Are you crazy? The old man just finished exploding, and you want to go gamble?”

“It’s not real gambling,” Wu Ya smiled slightly. “I learned how to count cards back there; I’ll win nine times out of ten. I need to make up the deficit first to prevent another storm when the loss is inevitably discovered later.”

Li Qiaoqiao hesitated.

“How much silver do you have?” Wu Ya asked directly.

Li Qiaoqiao instinctively touched her bodice.

“Lend it all to me. I’ll pay you back double tomorrow morning,” Wu Ya said with a steady gaze. “I need to not only win back the capital but also have extra funds to handle what’s coming next.”

Li Qiaoqiao was startled.

After a moment of hesitation, she sighed: “I have the silver, but you must promise me two things.”

“Name them!”

“First, you must win. Second, you must go in disguise. No one can recognize you; you cannot bring any more shame to the Wu family.”

Wu Ya (Tie Niu) nodded repeatedly: “Fine, I’ll do as you say.”

Li Qiaoqiao then pulled out half of the Concentric Lock from her bodice, and Wu Ya took out his half. As the two pieces clicked together, they were standing in their bright modern living room in the blink of an eye.

“We have to be fast.” Li Qiaoqiao walked into the bedroom with practiced ease, pulled a small iron box from under the bed, and opened it. Inside were several neatly arranged silver ingots and some loose change.

Wu Ya’s eyes went wide: “When did you hide all this silver?”

“I saved it bit by bit at the Wu house,” Li Qiaoqiao glanced at him. “Unlike you, who spends whatever you have.”

After packing the silver, Li Qiaoqiao remembered something and turned into the storage room.

A moment later, she emerged carrying several sealed bags containing dried ginseng and lingzhi mushrooms.

“These are…” Wu Ya leaned in to look.

“Artificially cultivated stock I bought a few years ago. I planned to give them as gifts but never got around to it,” Li Qiaoqiao explained. “They aren’t worth much in the modern world, but in ancient times? Well, that’s a different story…”

Wu Ya’s eyes lit up: “This is the good stuff! We can get a lot of money for these!”

Li Qiaoqiao didn’t respond, she just carefully wrapped the herbs: “Let’s go back. It’s almost dark; Mother will be looking for us.”

The Concentric Lock clicked together again. The two returned to the Wu family courtyard. The chickens were still pecking at the ground; it seemed as if only a second had passed.

Li Qiaoqiao handed the silver to Wu Ya: “This is our entire net worth.”