Chapter 28: The Heartless Scholar Who Abandoned His Wife and Child (6)

With the use of many expensive medicinal herbs, the old lady continued to lie half-dead in bed.

If it weren’t for Xie Fu’s “meticulous care,” she might have already recovered and been up and about.

Compared to the grand wedding ceremony Xie Hui arranged for Xie Mo, Xie Fu’s wedding was incredibly simple. His bride, Qi Niang, only had a red cloth draped over her head, and even her clothes were old and tattered.

Xie Hui was too lazy to arrange anything for them, but he still fulfilled his duty as the eldest brother by spending silver to hire a group of musicians to play. The joyful music ensured that the old lady could hear it clearly.

Perhaps because it was the wedding of her beloved youngest son, the old lady, despite her frail condition, stubbornly insisted on being present in the wedding hall.

Her stench was so unbearable that even Qi Niang, a slave, couldn’t help but frown.

After confirming that Xie Fu and Qi Niang were officially married, Xie Hui moved into the house he had previously bought.

Not long after settling in, he began to plan to buy another house in the county for the newlyweds.

Xie Mo would have to travel to the capital for the imperial exams in the future, and his wife following him would be inconvenient. If only Xie Hui and his daughter-in-law remained at home, he would feel uncomfortable and didn’t want to invite gossip.

He thought it best to buy a house near Li Fuzi’s (Teacher Li’s) residence so that his daughter-in-law could stay close to her parents and visit them often.

Li Fuzi and his wife were childhood sweethearts and deeply in love. When she gave birth to Li Shu, the doctor warned that her health was too frail for another pregnancy, so they only had one daughter.

Once Xie Hui made up his mind, he quickly bought a house in the county and registered the deed under Xie Mo’s name—it belonged to the young couple.

When Xie Mo first heard about his father’s arrangement, he woke up early one morning, knelt in front of his father’s door, and waited.

As soon as Xie Hui stepped out to feed the chickens, he saw his son kneeling upright at the entrance.

“What’s this about?”

Seeing his father, Xie Mo respectfully kowtowed with red-rimmed eyes and asked, “If I have done anything wrong, please tell me, Father. Why are you driving me out of the house?”

Xie Hui hadn’t expected that merely wanting his son and daughter-in-law to live on their own would be interpreted this way.

Not knowing how to explain, he simply kept a cold face and issued the decision as an order.

To him, this arrangement had many benefits: Li Shu wouldn’t feel homesick, her parents wouldn’t worry too much, and even Xie Mo would have easier access to his teacher if he needed help with his studies.

When sending them to the county, Xie Hui handed over a portion of the silver he had earned from selling the luminous pearls.

He liked Li Shu’s temperament—gentle yet assertive, poised and easy to get along with. Naturally, he hoped this life would be a peaceful and harmonious one for them.

After settling them into the house, Xie Hui personally went to the slave market and bought a few servants.

Compared to slaves from corrupt officials’ families, those who sold themselves due to poverty were far more trustworthy.

After securing things in the county, he returned to the village and bought two more servants, planning to study the medical book left by the original Xie Mo’s deceased wife.

In the original storyline, this medical book had propelled the female lead into becoming a legendary physician. It undoubtedly contained priceless knowledge.

Xie Hui didn’t want the book to become the female lead’s golden finger, but he also didn’t want medical advancements to stagnate.

In the original plot, after memorizing the book, the female lead burned it and only taught its contents to her son, claiming that most physicians wouldn’t share their knowledge with outsiders anyway.

Xie Hui found such hypocrisy disgusting—she claimed to be a modern woman who rejected the sins of past generations, yet she guarded medical knowledge as selfishly as any old-world doctor.

If her son had talent, that would be one thing, but in the original story, he was merely average.

Holding double standards while pretending to be righteous—how repulsive.

Xie Hui was different. Though he believed his talent rivaled the female lead’s, he had no intention of keeping the book’s knowledge to himself.

His first goal? Train an entire courtyard full of apprentices.

Among the servants he bought was a family of three who had sold themselves to save their mother, but unfortunately, she still passed away.

What interested Xie Hui most was the little girl in the family.

Despite her young age, she was tougher than most boys. Even at night, she studied medicine under the moonlight.

Xie Hui preferred diligent and persistent students over naturally gifted ones.

In poor families, people often said it was better to marry a wife with a hard life because she would be easier to support. On the day he formally accepted the little girl as his disciple, he changed her name.

She kept her father’s surname, Xu, and was renamed Xu Fenghe.

Xie Hui planted medicinal herbs all over his property, and with the couple managing the household, his days were fulfilling—teaching his student, studying medicine, and living a content life.

After Xie Fu’s wedding, the clan elder officially split their household.

According to village tradition, parents lived with the eldest son, but the Xie family’s situation was unique.

Since Xie Hui willingly gave up the old house and land, and the old lady had always favored Xie Fu over him, it was only natural that everything went to the younger son.

Xie Hui had no intention of exacting a harsher revenge on them. He knew very well that once the female protagonist of this world transmigrated, the real spectacle would be watching the dogs tear each other apart.

For people like Xie Fu and the old lady, simply watching Xie Mo become successful and capable would be enough to make them seethe to death.

Rather than taking action himself, Xie Hui preferred to remain on the sidelines as an observer. Let them rot in the mud while he and his son stood apart, untouched by the filth.

A few days later, news arrived.

At the time, Xie Hui was out treating patients with his young disciple. Just as the sun was setting and he had returned home, someone from the village came rushing over.

In this world, Xie Hui was more determined than ever to thoroughly master that medical book. Since he was not short on money, he took little Xu Fenghe, the tiny radish-headed girl, with him every day to treat people free of charge.

No matter how many times one read about medicine, it could never compare to firsthand experience with actual patients.

“Xie Hui, you’re finally back! Hurry, go take a look—your brother… he was killed by that slave!”

Even though Xie Hui had mentally prepared himself for this, he was still momentarily taken aback upon hearing the news so suddenly.

Xu Fenghe, who had just turned five, had her hair tied up in two buns. She obediently took the medical kit from Xie Hui’s hands and spoke sensibly,

“Master, you should go. I’ll take these things back.”

Xie Hui lowered his head, pinched one of her buns, nodded lightly, and instructed,

“No need to rush. Be careful on the way.”

Following the villager who brought the news, Xie Hui arrived at the scene to find blood splattered across the front door. The slave, Qi Niang, was now pinned down by the villagers, her head pressed to the ground.

Xie Fu and the old lady were both dead.

A murder of this scale, especially one committed by a slave, was not something the clan leader could handle. The villagers had already sent for the county magistrate.

As the father of a scholar, Xie Hui held a special status. When he arrived, someone immediately brought him a stool, and the villagers tried to comfort him, telling him not to be too heartbroken.

Those who lived nearby knew that Xie Fu had treated the slave terribly—forcing her to kneel while serving his meals, caring for the old lady, cooking, fetching water, chopping wood, and sleeping outside on the ground.

But no one had expected that the usually silent and obedient Qi Niang would, on this very afternoon, pick up a hatchet and…

The county magistrate arrived quickly, bringing a coroner with him. After confirming that the fatal wounds were caused by the hatchet, he took Qi Niang away.

The village men despised the slave who had killed someone. While restraining her earlier, her head had struck a protruding stone on the ground, and she had already fainted.

Xie Hui entrusted the clan leader with handling the funerals of his brother and mother, and sent someone to the county to summon Xie Mo and the others back for the mourning rites.

No matter how excessive the old lady’s actions had been in life, people still believed that death extinguished all grudges and that the past was buried along with the deceased.

Xie Hui did not agree. The person may be dead, but the harm they left behind would take a long time to heal.

He didn’t want Xie Mo to genuinely grieve for the old lady—just go through the formalities and ensure that everything was done impeccably according to custom.

A slave killing a farmer caused a major uproar, even reaching the emperor. After some deliberation, the emperor decided to revoke the previous decree.

An imperial edict was issued, reclaiming all the slaves originally bought by farming households. They were reassigned to build dams and repair city walls, under strict military supervision. Given only minimal food each day, they were forced to atone through labor.

Qi Niang was not immediately executed but was instead sent to work on dam construction, assigned to the most exhausting tasks.

Even when the guards watching her grew tired, she had to keep working. If she stopped, a whip would lash across her body.

“That was my father’s doing—what does it have to do with me? Do you people even understand reason? This is outrageous!”

Unlike Qi Niang, who had been a slave since birth, the woman who transmigrated into this world could not accept being treated like livestock by Xie Fu. After enduring it for a few days, she finally snapped and acted on impulse.

Now, being forced to perform such grueling labor, she broke down when she couldn’t carry the heavy stones and couldn’t help but voice her frustration.

In response, a whip lashed across her face.

“Reason? Ha! Go talk about reason with the fifty thousand people who died because of your father’s embezzlement!”