Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

To everyone's surprise, Ah Zhe remained unmoved by his wife's desperate pleas and turned to leave. His wife, caught off guard, fell heavily to the ground.

"You said he just got back, what did you do to make him want to divorce you?" Li's second aunt glanced at her son, then turned back to advise her daughter-in-law, whom she didn't particularly like.

"I...I really didn't do anything!" Ah Zhe's wife lowered her head and insisted that she had not done anything wrong.

"You...you...if you keep going like this, I can't control you anymore. You can just wait to be sent back to your parents' home tomorrow." Aunt Li got angry when she saw her like this, and left after saying that.

That night, A-Zhe slept on the same kang (heated brick bed) with his parents. Uncle Li tried to persuade him many times, but he didn't say a word. He didn't say he wouldn't divorce his wife, nor did he explain why he wanted to divorce her as soon as he came back.

The next day, before dawn, A Zhe got dressed and went out, not knowing where he was going. He returned when it was time to eat.

"Daddy, why do you only have one arm?" Ah Zhe's youngest son, who is five years old this year, asked in a childish voice as he looked at his father's empty sleeve.

"He was chopped off during the war," A-Zhe said, patting his son's head, his smile tinged with bitterness.

"You brat, come wash your face and get ready for dinner. Don't bother your father." Aunt Li felt a pang of sadness upon hearing her grandson's words. Her son, who had been healthy when he passed away, was now disabled with one arm. How would he manage the farm work in the future?

"Dad, does it hurt? Are you bleeding?" the boy continued to ask.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, it's all better now."

"Dad, have you taken your medicine?"

"..."

Hearing his son's question, A-Zhe didn't answer, but his wife, who was cooking in the kitchen, felt a chill run down her spine. She pricked up her ears, not daring to miss a single sound outside, afraid he might say something.

Uncle Li's family hadn't finished their breakfast when someone arrived at the front door. Hearing the commotion outside, the whole family came out with their bowls.

"Brother, what brings you here now? Is something wrong?" Uncle Li asked, puzzled, when he saw his elder brother standing at the door with his sons and grandsons.

"You haven't eaten yet? You guys eat first. There are other people coming later. We'll talk after everyone arrives." As he spoke, Uncle Li found a sunny spot in the yard, squatted down, and started smoking his pipe.

When Li's second uncle heard his elder brother say this, he looked at his youngest son with some suspicion, but didn't ask any questions. He quickly urged the family to eat, saying that everyone would be here soon.

Ah Zhe just kept his head down, drinking the cornmeal porridge in his bowl, without saying a word.

After breakfast, there were quite a few people standing in the courtyard. Upon closer inspection, everyone in the courtyard was from the Li family; there wasn't a single outsider.

"Brother, what's the matter? Why did you call everyone over?" Uncle Li Er squatted down next to his elder brother, smoking a pipe.

"Didn't A-Zhe send us? Don't you know?" Uncle Li asked, somewhat puzzled, when he heard him say that again.

"Ah Zhe, your wife has it tough raising the child at home. Why did you divorce her as soon as you got back?" Uncle Li exhaled a puff of smoke and looked at his son. Since returning yesterday, he had noticed that his son was different from before he left.

"..." A Zhe squatted on the ground with his head down, not saying a word. His appearance made Uncle Li even more anxious. What's wrong with the child? Even if his arm is broken, he can just stay with the second brother after the family is separated. He can even help with planting crops.

But it seemed that everyone else in the courtyard knew what had happened, so no one spoke up to persuade A-Zhe.

"Father, Mother, I beg you, please persuade A-Zhe not to divorce me. I've done my part in this family these past few years, even if I haven't done anything particularly meritorious. Please, for the sake of the two children I've given birth to for your Li family, don't divorce me." A-Zhe's wife knelt before her mother-in-law, kowtowing and pleading, when she saw that all the elders of the family had come.

"Hey, I can't control your business anymore. I asked you what happened, and you insisted that nothing happened. How are we supposed to take care of you?"

No one spoke in the entire courtyard except for the pleas and sobs of Ah Zhe's wife. Ah Zhe's wife looked around; not a single person spoke up for her. She then realized that her husband was probably truly determined to divorce her.

After a long while, a voice came from the crowd.

"Let me tell you what happened to Brother Zhe's arm on the battlefield!"

When everyone looked in the direction of the sound, they realized that it was Ah Zhe's best brother among them, the twelfth in line, whom everyone usually called Ah Sheng.

"That day, when we were chasing Prince Ding'an, Brother Zhe was wounded by a poisoned arrow from Prince Ding'an's men. We didn't know what kind of poison it was, but we watched as Brother Zhe's arm gradually turned black from the arrow wound. The black color was obviously abnormal. People who were wounded by poisoned arrows earlier had already died with their bodies completely blackened."

Ah Sheng's description was very plain, but everyone present could imagine the scene: watching oneself die little by little, a thought that sent chills down one's spine.

“I told Brother Zhe to take the medicine that Sister Qi brought back right away. Actually, I didn’t know at the time whether the medicine was effective against poison in addition to treating wounds. But we were too pressed for time and didn’t have time to think about it. So Brother Zhe just poured out the pills and swallowed them all.”

"When the pill was taken, it had no effect at all. The black poison continued to spread upwards along Brother Zhe's arm. We've seen other comrades die after being wounded by that poisoned arrow. Once the black poison reached their faces, even a celestial being couldn't save them."

Ah Sheng's words reminded those who had gone to the military camp with him of the carnage on the battlefield and the feeling of weapons slashing their own bodies. Thankfully, they had the miraculous medicine that Seven Sister had brought back; otherwise, most of them would have perished there. They wouldn't be standing here alive. It was because they had experienced those things that they truly understood Ah Zhe's despair back then and his current determination to divorce his wife.

Ah Sheng's narration continued, and apart from the Li family's second uncle and his family who were unaware of the situation, everyone else seemed to have already heard it.

"Later, I saw that the medicine was ineffective against the poison, so I discussed with Brother Zhe about cutting off the arm from the black spot. Anyway, we had just taken the medicine, so even if it was ineffective against the poison, it should still have the effect of stopping the bleeding."

"Ah..." Aunt Li Er cried out in alarm when she heard that her son's arm had been cut off under such circumstances. Then, looking at her son who was standing silently with his head down, she burst into loud sobs.

"My little one, how much suffering have you endured! Ah... is this breaking your mother's heart?"

"Stop crying, let Ah Sheng continue," Uncle Li scolded his wife, then said to Ah Sheng.

"Ah Sheng, you can continue."

If it weren't for his trembling hands and slightly choked voice, everyone would have thought he was indifferent to the matter.

"As a result, after I cut off Brother Zhe's arm, blood gushed out immediately, flowing a lot and showing no signs of stopping. Seeing that Brother Zhe's face was getting paler and paler, I wondered if he hadn't taken enough medicine, so I poured out one of my own pills. When Brother Zhe took it, he said that my pill was a different color from his. Then he swallowed it, and just a moment later, the bleeding stopped. Seeing that the medicine was indeed effective, I was about to give Brother Zhe another pill, but he refused, telling me to keep it safe for myself in case I needed it later."

Upon hearing Ah Sheng's words, Ah Zhe's wife, who was kneeling on the ground, trembled violently, like a leaf.

“Just then, my fourth brother noticed that we hadn’t followed, so he came back to find us. When he saw the situation, he took out a pill from his own body and gave it to my brother Zhe. Then my brother Zhe’s wound stopped bleeding.”

After saying that, he glared hatefully at Ah Zhe's wife kneeling on the ground.

“My fourth brother’s medicine looks exactly like mine. Later, we asked the other brothers, but my brother Zhe’s medicine was different from everyone else’s. We also heard that someone in Zhangjia Village was also hit by that poisoned arrow, but he only took one pill and his life was saved. If… if… my brother Zhe’s medicine was not the problem, his arm would not have had to be cut off.”

In the end, he buried his head in his hands, squatted on the ground, and broke down in tears.

"If I had known the medicine on me was effective, I would have given it to him first, and I wouldn't have had to cut off his arm..."

After hearing Ah Sheng's words, Aunt Li glared at Ah Zhe's wife with a vicious look, as if her eyes were poisoned.

"Tell me, what exactly happened? That medicine was brought back by Seventh Sister, so why did it work for everyone else but not for A-Zhe? Tell me now, or I'll risk my life to beat you to death, you poisonous woman."