"Medicine? What medicine?"
Zhao Dazhuang, who was standing to the side, looked bewildered and quickly looked at his mother to ask.
"You'll have to ask your mother then. But your wife wants to see you now, so do you want to go in?" Jiang Hua glanced at Zhao Dazhuang.
"Okay." Zhao Dazhuang nodded hurriedly, and Zhao Lishi followed behind in a fluster.
"Wife!" Zhao Dazhuang rushed over, trying to grab Fang Peiyun's hand tightly, but she dodged him.
"Dazhuang, let's get a divorce!" Fang Peiyun's bloodless lips were covered with bite marks.
Zhao Dazhuang was stunned by Fang Peiyun's words. Before he could even ask a question, Zhao Lishi spoke first:
"Peiyun, focus on getting better first, we can talk about everything later."
“She will never be able to have children in her life because of the medication you’ve been giving her,” Jiang Hua said at the opportune moment.
Lying in bed, Fang Peiyun noticed the hint of disappointment on Zhao Li's face, as well as her husband's inaction.
His heart was even more heavy than when he first heard the news. His daughter was already grown up and had hands and feet, but she was gone just like that because of a fabricated charge of being a jinx.
It's her fault too. She wasn't careful, and how could Zhao Lishi let it go so easily? She was too naive and too trusting. She not only harmed herself, but also her daughter.
Suddenly, Zhao Li noticed the fetal corpse in the copper basin beside her. She leaned closer to take a look, and the stench emanating from it made her cover her nose.
He lifted the white cloth covering the baby and took several steps back: "Daughter? How come it's still a daughter? Didn't the Bamboo Sage say that drinking that medicine would turn her into a boy?"
"Zhao Dazhuang, you see this? This is the mother you always talked about who did it all for my own good." Fang Peiyun forced a smile, enduring the pain from her wound.
“Peiyun, it’s not like that. There must be some misunderstanding. Don’t you remember how worried my mother was about you after you got pregnant?” Zhao Dazhuang was still trying to persuade Fang Peiyun.
Upon hearing Zhao Dazhuang's words, Fang Peiyun immediately turned her head away, closed her eyes, and refused to look at him again.
"You can go back now. I'll have someone send you the divorce papers later," Jiang Hua said, directly dismissing them.
Zhao Lishi's eyes darted around, and she immediately took Zhao Dazhuang home.
Fang Peiyun only opened her eyes after Zhao Dazhuang and his mother left, tears silently streaming down her face.
"Peiyun, are you really sure you want a divorce? How are you going to live your life from now on?" Huaihua comforted Fang Peiyun while angrily scolding Zhao Dazhuang.
"Huaihua, don't worry about me. It doesn't matter where I go. No matter how difficult things get in the future, I don't want to be with Dazhuang anymore," Fang Peiyun said, revealing her true intentions.
"Why don't you come to my house first?" Huaihua asked bluntly.
"You don't need to go anywhere. Just stay here and take good care of yourself. We'll talk about it later once you're fully recovered."
"Dr. Jiang, thank you so much!" Fang Peiyun was about to get up to express her gratitude when Jiang Hua stopped her. Huaihua was also a daughter-in-law, and she couldn't let her make things difficult for her.
After resting for half a month, Fang Peiyun got out of bed. A small tombstone was erected in a small open space on the hilltop for the child in her womb.
Fang Peiyun touched the words on the wooden sign, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. She put the finished clothes into the fire one by one to burn.
Jiang Hua watched her from the side. Less than three days after Zhao Lishi left that day, she brought a letter of divorce and threw it on Fang Peiyun's bed.
She said that no more children should be born into the Zhao family, so Zhao Li forced Zhao Dazhuang to divorce Fang Peiyun.
Fang Peiyun accepted the letter of divorce without crying or making a fuss, and ignored Zhao Lishi completely.
I heard that Zhao Li went to the Bamboo Goddess's place and smashed her stall, crying and shouting that the Bamboo Goddess had cheated her out of her money and even caused her grandson's death, demanding that the Bamboo Goddess return the money she had given her.
How could they bear to take out the money they had already received? The old woman was naturally unwilling, and the two started fighting, scratching each other's faces until they were covered in scratches, making the whole village of Shili aware of the situation.
She stayed at home for several days without daring to go out. Now, her face injury has just healed, and she's already going out to arrange for Zhao Dazhuang to remarry.
However, everyone in Shili Village knew that Zhao Lishi was such a person, so how could she bear to push her own daughter into a pit of fire?
The news spread like wildfire, reaching even several nearby villages, and even local matchmakers turned away from Zhao Lishi.
Why are you here?
Jiang Hua had just brought Fang Peiyun down the mountain when she saw Madam Xu standing at the door.
"I want you to take a look at my case." Xu looked timid and submissive, as if Jiang Hua would devour her.
"What are you looking at?"
Seeing that Jiang Hua couldn't get in for the time being, Fang Peiyun told her and went in first.
“I also drank the medicine that the Bamboo Goddess gave me,” Xu explained.
"A child? If it's a child, then we can't keep it."
You can tell without taking a pulse; I've already warned you about it before.
Xu opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but after hearing what Jiang Hua said, her face turned ashen, and she silently turned and left.
Watching Xu's distraught figure disappear into the distance, Jiang Hua felt a pang of pity. Good words are useless when someone is contemplating suicide.
The next time I heard news about the Xu family was from Village Chief Lu.
Xu died from taking rat poison. Her body was already cold when it was discovered, so it was estimated that she had been dead for three or four days.
"Village chief, you can do whatever you want." Jiang Hua handed him twenty taels of silver.
“Alright.” Village Chief Lu already knew about their relationship and didn’t have much of an objection. He then thought of Xu Daya, who was already married.
"Should we inform Xu Daya about this?"
"If it's convenient, then I'd like to trouble you, village chief, to let them know."
Thinking of Xu Daya, who was constantly urging her to follow the traditional Confucian virtues of obedience and submission, Jiang Hua had no desire to have anything to do with her anymore.
Village Chief Lu responded and left with the silver.
...
"Dr. Jiang, you mentioned last time that your shop is short-handed. Can I help out? I just need something to eat."
Having recovered, Fang Peiyun felt embarrassed to stay any longer, so she quickly went up to Jiang Hua while she was drinking tea in the courtyard and asked her what was wrong.
“The people who help me in my shop are all enslaved to me.” Jiang Hua glanced at Fang Peiyun.
Selling oneself?
Fang Peiyun hesitated for a moment, struggling with her decision, when Jiang Hua's voice came from beside her again.
"However, I need someone to shave bamboo skewers. You can shave bamboo skewers for me. My barbecue shop needs them, and I'll pay you every month."
"Really?" Fang Peiyun was somewhat incredulous until she saw Jiang Hua nod, at which point she felt relieved.
“There are bamboo trees on Bamboo Mountain. If you can’t bring them down by yourself, ask Granny Luo for help.”
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