The next day, Mother Li brought a bowl of chicken soup, looking at her with pity in her eyes. "I quite liked you as my daughter-in-law. I never expected our fate to be so shallow. You’ve suffered so much over the years. This bowl of chicken soup is my apology. From now on, we’ll go our separate ways, settle all past grievances, and live our own lives well."
As she spoke, she pushed the chicken soup towards Wu Caiwei.
Wu Caiwei watched her dramatically perform her one-woman show and couldn't help but sigh. Some people were born actors. If she were in modern times, she'd probably be a renowned film star. Even from a distance, she could smell that something had been added to the soup. She felt fortunate to have learned a lifetime of good medical skills from her master, which now proved useful.
"It's very simple for me to forgive you. I have one condition..." Wu Caiwei said with a smile.
"What condition?" Mother Li curiously stretched her neck closer.
With the speed of lightning and thunder, Wu Caiwei grabbed her by the neck and swiftly poured half the chicken soup into her mouth with her right hand.
Mother Li desperately tried to prevent the soup from going down her throat, knowing better than anyone what had been added.
Wu Caiwei gently pressed a few points on her neck, forcing her to swallow involuntarily. As Mother Li watched with terrified eyes, she let go.
"My condition is that Mother drinks half the chicken soup. Mother has drunk it now, so I forgive you." Seeing Mother Li about to leave, she grabbed her and said.
Mother Li was so scared that tears almost came to her eyes. Forgetting everything else, she shoved her fingers into her mouth, trying to induce vomiting.
Wu Caiwei sat there, watching her futile efforts with amusement.
"How dare you, how dare you?" Mother Li pointed at Wu Caiwei, speaking incoherently.
Mother Li had sent Li Zhutao away when she entered. At this moment, Li Zhutao and Li Youcai were chatting in the yard. Hearing the commotion, they rushed into the house.
Li Youcai saw the scene and knew things had deviated from their plan. He quickly ran to the neighbor's to borrow an ox cart and took his mother to town.
As dusk approached, the two returned dejectedly. After settling Mother Li, Li Youcai kicked open Wu Caiwei's room door, which was already rickety and collapsed completely this time.
"Wu Caiwei, how dare you? Do you know? Mother will spend the rest of her life in bed because of you, because of you, a heartless woman, actually poisoning your mother-in-law." Li Youcai pointed at Wu Caiwei's nose, gritting his teeth. As he spoke, he couldn't help but break into tears.
"If you dare, report me to the authorities! Let the magistrate judge." Wu Caiwei was also angry. Every time they came, they kicked the door. Now the door had collapsed, and she'd have to move tomorrow.
"You, you think I dare not? You are a murderer!" Li Youcai was a bit hesitant. In the end, she was fine, while his mother was the one suffering.
"I'll wait at home for the magistrate to arrest me. Let's see who bought the medicine and who brewed the soup. I'll insist it was accidental ingestion. Let's see what you do then. If you had given me the money earlier, it would have been settled. You wanted to kill someone for a bit of silver." This family was truly audacious, disregarding the law. It wasn't surprising that the original owner didn't live to leave this household.
Li Youcai truly regretted it. Although giving her two taels of silver would deplete their savings, at least his mother would be well. They couldn't sue and couldn't even speak of it, which was incredibly frustrating.
When he returned to the room and mentioned the money to his mother, she refused. She felt that Sun Yuanyue had harmed her like this and should stay to take care of her, not be allowed to leave. Li Youcai still had some sense. He knew Sun Yuanyue's current temper; if she were made to care for someone, it would be a miracle if that person wasn't killed. It was better to quickly give her the money and let her leave.
Seeing the two taels of silver in her hand, Sun Yuanyue readily agreed to go to the patriarch's house with him to have the clan elders witness and sign the divorce agreement. She also had the patriarch write a deed of severance, which Li Youcai signed.
This was the first time in many years that someone in the clan had divorced. Before the divorce, the clan had spent a great deal of effort trying to persuade the couple to change their minds, but to their disappointment, the two were resolute in their decision to divorce.
The next morning, Wu Caiwei took Li Zhutao to the county town.
They first rented a courtyard, bought basic necessities, and then purchased ingredients for making steamed buns. Their money was almost gone.
Wu Caiwei looked at the remaining few dozen copper coins in her hand and sighed. It seemed she needed to earn money quickly.
With no money on hand, Wu Caiwei paid a few copper coins each day and set up a small stall to sell steamed buns.
Her skill in making steamed buns was thanks to Lin Shuisheng's fondness for them in her previous life. She had specifically paid a large sum to learn from someone.
At first, people paid little attention to this small stall. However, the steamed buns were incredibly delicious and not expensive. Word spread quickly, and business became exceptionally brisk. Once she had earned enough money, she immediately rented a small shop.
Li Zhutao had been a bit apprehensive about leaving the Li family with her mother. She subconsciously felt that her mother would remarry, and she would be a burden, wondering if the new husband would dislike her. Only now did she completely relax. If others couldn't tolerate her, she would sell steamed buns. Anyway, her mother hadn't kept her learning process a secret, and while she might not have mastered it completely, she had learned about ninety-nine percent.
Later, to free up her energy for other ventures, Wu Caiwei hired a few people and handed over the shop to Li Zhutao to manage.
She herself returned to her old profession from her previous life, opening a cosmetics shop. Business, like in her past life, was incredibly profitable.
It was a pity, however, that in her previous life, she had the Crown Prince and the Prefect to support her. In this life, she was just an ordinary merchant. Several stewards had already approached her to buy her formulas. Wu Caiwei dismissed them by saying she needed to discuss it with her family, knowing she couldn't delay them for long.
These wealthy families in the county all treated her like an ordinary village girl, offering increasingly low prices and increasingly blatant threats.
To protect her business from being encroached upon, she directly approached the magistrate's wife, stating her willingness to donate one thousand taels of silver to the county each month in exchange for the magistrate's protection of her business.
The magistrate readily agreed. This county was not very prosperous, and over ten thousand taels a year, while not a huge sum, was significant and could be used to build many roads and bridges.
In the magistrate's eyes, her shops, though profitable, probably earned around two thousand taels a month. Donating half of her profits was a generous gesture. He decided to remove all obstacles to her business.
As for merchants with powerful backers, the magistrate was not afraid. He himself came from a prominent family and had been placed in this county to achieve something and get promoted. Therefore, he strongly supported anything that benefited the county's development, especially direct monetary donations.
Paying to resolve the issue was indeed effective. Her business finally got on the right track. However, the peaceful days were shattered by Sun Yuanyue's family – the Sun family.