The next day, Fan Changyu rose early to slaughter pigs as usual. In the days following the New Year, most people in town were visiting relatives. With meat-rich meals at nearly every sitting, their appetites for fresh pork had waned. As a result, sales of fresh pork at the shop were sluggish. However, the braised meat business was booming. Every household was eager to buy ready-made braised meat to serve guests, as it made for an impressive main dish at gatherings.
Previously, Fan Changyu’s shop could sell two pigs’ worth of fresh meat, but these days she only slaughtered one pig for fresh meat sales. As for the braised meat supplied to Yixiang Restaurant, she purchased meat from other sources. Fan Changyu had practically cornered the market for pigs’ heads and trotters on the entire street of pork vendors.
She was no longer just a competitor to the other butchers; she had become their biggest customer. To secure this long-term business with her, every butcher on the street now greeted her with warm smiles, their greetings noticeably more enthusiastic than before. Whenever she encountered any difficulties in her shop, she only had to mention them, and a group of people would eagerly come to her aid.
Fan Changyu suddenly began to understand why some people in town had gone out of their way to step on her after Song Yan passed the provincial examinations, all to curry favor with the Song family. Indeed, as Yan Zheng had said, when she had nothing, even with a good nature, others could find fault with her. But now that she had even the slightest connection to wealth and power, the goodwill she received was several times what it had been before.
Everything was developing in a positive direction, but Fan Changyu now found herself stretched thin between delivering meat to Yixiang Restaurant and Manager Pang’s establishment, while also overseeing her pork shop. Finding help on short notice wasn’t easy.
During breakfast, she kept glancing at Xie Zheng, seemingly wanting to say something.
Xie Zheng, who hadn’t slept well the night before and had darker circles under his eyes, noticed Fan Changyu’s frequent glances and put down his porridge bowl to ask, “What is it?”
Only then did Fan Changyu see his eye circles, which had darkened a shade compared to before. She was taken aback and asked, “Did you not sleep all night?”
Xie Zheng lowered his eyes and said, “No, there were rat noises in the room last night. It took some time to find them.”
There had indeed been a rat, but he had killed it with a single throw of a bamboo skewer and fed it to the gyrfalcon.
Upon hearing about rats, Fan Changyu immediately thought of the cured meat hanging above their hearth. Worried, she quickly got up to check but found no signs of rats nibbling on it, which put her mind at ease.
She said, “We didn’t used to keep so much braised and cured meat at home before. We’d sell fresh meat directly, so there weren’t many rats. It’s my oversight. I should get a cat to keep around the house.”
Changnian, who had finished eating, went to check on the gyrfalcon in the chicken coop and suddenly cried out, “Xun Xun is gone again!”
Fan Changyu was also puzzled. “Did it fly away again?”
The two sisters turned to look at Xie Zheng in unison.
Xie Zheng, who had sent the gyrfalcon with a message to someone in the middle of the night, remained silent for a moment before saying, “That creature is wild and difficult to tame. Perhaps it still isn’t fully trained.”
Tears immediately began to roll down Changnian’s cheeks.
Fan Changyu said helplessly, “Darling, don’t cry. How about we raise a brood of chicks for you in spring?”
Changnian continued to cry, “I don’t want chicks, I want Xun Xun!”
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and said, “Xun Xun will come back!”
She then looked at Xie Zheng with hopeful eyes.
This time, Xie Zheng didn’t give her a definite answer, only saying, “Perhaps it will return.”
Changnian’s lips quivered, and she cried even more heartbrokenly.
Fan Changyu tried to comfort her, “Shall we go catch another one in the wild?”
Changnian shook her head, “I don’t want any other, only Xun Xun.”
Fan Changyu knew that a child’s stubbornness could truly test one’s patience. She said, “The gyrfalcon has flown away. It’s meant to live in the wild, and Sister can’t find it. What I can do is catch another one from the wild if you still want one, but you don’t want that and just keep crying. Ning’er, tell Sister, what can I do?”
Changnian sniffled, feeling wronged, and raised her chubby hands to hug Fan Changyu. “I’m sorry, Sister. Ning’er isn’t being willful, I just miss Xun Xun so much.”
Fan Changyu patted the child’s back.
Changnian buried her head in Fan Changyu’s shoulder and said in a muffled voice, “We’ll raise chicks in spring.”
Fan Changyu agreed.
Changnian stood up straight, her eyes still red, and said, “When the chicks grow up, Xun Xun might fly by and come down to eat them.”
Fan Changyu, thinking she had successfully comforted the child, replied, “…Alright.”
At least the child had stopped crying.
Fan Changyu returned to the table and finished her remaining half bowl of porridge with mixed feelings. Thinking about the shortage of help in her meat shop, she scratched her head and asked Xie Zheng, “Are you going to take a nap later?”
Xie Zheng had noticed her hesitation earlier and knew she wanted to ask for his help. He said, “If there’s anything, just tell me.”
Fan Changyu then brazenly asked, “My pork shop opens today, but I still need to deliver braised meat to Manager Yu’s restaurant. If you’re free, could you help watch the shop for half a day? I’ll be back after delivering the goods.”
Although he had just mentioned leaving yesterday, it didn’t seem right to ask for help now. However, Fan Changyu really couldn’t manage everything alone, so she had to impose on him for now.
Xie Zheng nodded, and Fan Changyu let out a sigh of relief.
If he had refused, no matter how thick-skinned she was, she would have felt awkward.
She had improved a bit in social graces and didn’t mention payment this time. After all, his willingness to help was a favor, and if she were to mention payment, it would undoubtedly trample on this goodwill. To truly thank him, it would be better to prepare more things for him before he left. This kind of unspoken gratitude shown afterward was the true way to repay kindness, rather than promising various benefits upfront as if it were a transaction.
Since both she and Xie Zheng had to go out, Fan Changyu didn’t feel comfortable leaving Changnian alone at home. As before, she sent Changnian to stay with Madam Zhao next door.
Afterward, she hailed an ox cart outside the alley to first deliver the fresh meat to the Fan family’s meat shop.
The meat alone was heavy enough, so Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng didn’t ride in the cart but walked alongside it to the shop.
Although Xie Zheng had been in this town for quite some time, it was his first time seeing the early market here. While it couldn’t compare to the prosperity of the capital, it was unexpectedly lively. In front of the shops selling breakfast, the stoves were all steaming. The calls of vendors and hawkers mingled with the hustle and bustle of the crowd. People came and went in a hurry, embodying the spirit of human life and the vitality of this small town.
Upon reaching the shop, Fan Changyu had just set down a basin of braised meat when Xie Zheng carried in all the fresh pork.
Fan Changyu glanced at him, inwardly marveling at how much easier things were with someone to help.
After putting down the basin of braised meat, she began arranging the fresh meat on the chopping board while explaining to Xie Zheng which parts of the pig they were and their selling prices.
The butcher’s wife from the shop diagonally across, noticing Xie Zheng’s handsome appearance, teased, “Changyu, you’ve finally decided to bring your husband out for everyone to see! Such a handsome young man! No wonder you’ve been hiding him at home all this time!”
Fan Changyu, having grown accustomed to such teasing from Yu Qianqian, now had thicker skin when others joked about her and Xie Zheng. She replied, “Aunt, you jest. He was recovering from injuries at home before. Now that he’s better, he’s come to help me at the shop since I’m so busy.”
The butcher’s wife knew that Xie Zheng was a son-in-law who had married into Fan Changyu’s family, which was why she dared to joke like this. Being a generation older than Fan Changyu, she knew that many men who married into their wives’ families were sensitive about their status. Her joke might have caused the young couple to argue when they got home.
Hearing Fan Changyu’s matter-of-fact explanation, she immediately changed her tone, “Aunt was just joking, young man. Please don’t take offense.”
Xie Zheng replied, “I won’t.”
The butcher’s wife continued, “Before, Changyu used to handle everything in this shop by herself, inside and out. Now that she’s married, she finally has someone to help her a bit.”
Xie Zheng helped arrange the pork on the counter and glanced at Fan Changyu, who was hanging a pork ham on an iron hook, but said nothing.
Despite the harsh winter and her thick winter clothes, fine beads of sweat had already formed on her forehead.
In the past, when she came to the meat shop alone, she must have done all these tasks by herself.
“The pork ham should be sold at thirty-five when per jin. If someone tries to bargain, don’t go lower than thirty when…” Fan Changyu was explaining the prices to him when she turned around and saw Xie Zheng looking at her. She frowned and asked, “Didn’t you remember?”
Xie Zheng averted his gaze and said, “I remembered.”
Fan Changyu was a bit doubtful and asked cautiously, “What did I just say?”
Xie Zheng smiled slightly and said, “Pork ham is thirty-five wen per jin, and don’t go below thirty wen if someone bargains.”
Fan Changyu nodded and said, “That’s right.”
Just then, an older woman passing by the shop noticed Xie Zheng standing in the pork shop. His appearance was indeed eye-catching, and she asked, “Young man, how much are you selling this hind leg for?”
Fan Changyu remained silent, curious to see how Xie Zheng would handle selling meat.
Xie Zheng looked at the woman and answered confidently, “Thirty-three wen per jin.”
The woman muttered, “That’s so expensive…”
Xie Zheng then half-raised his eyebrows and didn’t respond, giving the impression that he didn’t care whether she bought it or not, and wouldn’t try to persuade her further.
Fan Changyu’s eyelid twitched at the sight, and she quickly said, “You can look around at other shops first. If you still think our meat is the best, come back and buy it.”
The older woman had only mentioned the price to haggle. Seeing that she couldn’t bargain it down and noticing the meat’s superior quality, she said, “I can see that you two young people are honest and wouldn’t cheat an old woman like me. Cut me two jin, please.”
As Fan Changyu was about to take the knife, she saw Xie Zheng had already picked it up. He estimated and cut a piece that was exactly two jin, neither more nor less.
Fan Changyu wrapped the meat and handed it to the older woman. As the woman counted out her copper coins, her gaze kept drifting to Xie Zheng’s face. She asked, “Young man, are you married? If not, I have a granddaughter who’s only seventeen this year, with a good appearance and temperament…”
Xie Zheng replied coolly, “This meat shop belongs to my wife. I’m here to help her.”
The older woman immediately felt a bit embarrassed. “Oh, I see…”
She looked at Fan Changyu, and being someone who had lived for several decades, she knew how to smooth things over. She smiled and said, “You two make such a handsome couple. At first glance, I thought you were siblings. So this is what they call a match made in heaven? You’re truly blessed!”
Fan Changyu could only manage a slight curl of her lips in response.
As soon as the woman left, she couldn’t help but scold Xie Zheng, “No matter what, you should greet customers with a smile when doing business. With that stern face of yours, as if someone owes you money, who would want to buy meat from you?”
Just as she was speaking, a young girl who had come out to buy groceries looked at Xie Zheng, blushed, and asked, “How much are these ribs?”
Xie Zheng’s face remained expressionless as he replied, “Thirty-nine wen per jin.”
Ribs were the most expensive among the fresh meat.
The young girl didn’t dare look at Xie Zheng, lowering her head and blushing as she mumbled, “I’ll take three jin, please chop them into small pieces.”
Xie Zheng picked up the bone cleaver, chopped the ribs into small pieces in a few swift motions, wrapped them up, and handed them over.
Fan Changyu watched in amazement from the side.
In the countryside, for ease of counting, a hundred coins could be strung together with a thin rope, making transactions convenient for both parties.
Xie Zheng took the one hundred and seventeen wen and handed it to Fan Changyu, who was still a bit dumbfounded.
Gradually accepting this reality, she realized that while others sold pork with their silver tongues, this fellow sold pork with his face.
She held her forehead with one hand and half-jokingly said, “I should have asked you to help in the shop earlier. Maybe my business before the New Year would have been even better.”
Xie Zheng glanced at her but didn’t respond.
It was still early, and there weren’t many people buying groceries in the market. The other pork shops were empty, but Fan’s shop had already made two sales.
Although the other butchers were envious, Fan Changyu still bought pigs’ heads, trotters, and occasionally offal from their shops for her braised meat business, which was considered looking after their interests. So no one expressed any resentment.
Butcher Guo had a long-standing grudge against Fan Changyu’s family. Fan Changyu would never buy meat from his shop, and the two families were increasingly at odds.
As he swept the accumulated snow in front of his shop, he forcefully threw the shoveled snow onto the street, saying sarcastically, “This meat selling has truly become ‘meat selling.’ Why come here? Wouldn’t it sell better in a brothel?”
He was essentially mocking Xie Zheng for attracting customers to Fan’s shop with his looks.
Fan Changyu’s face immediately darkened.
She was fiercely protective of her own. Xie Zheng had pretended to marry into her family to help her keep her property. It was one thing for others to mock his status as a son-in-law behind their backs, but to openly insult him right in front of her, and with such vulgar words! How could she tolerate that?
Moreover, his uncle had recently helped Fan Da in an attempt to divide her family property. With both old and new grudges combined, it was time to settle accounts!
Fan Changyu walked out of her meat shop and stood in the middle of the street with her hands on her hips, staring at Butcher Guo. “Say that again to my face.”
Her voice drew the attention of everyone running shops on the street and the few shoppers scattered about.
Butcher Guo had suffered at Fan Changyu’s hands before, so he didn’t dare confront her directly. He just quipped, “What did I say? Oh, a prostitute and a male prostitute just walked by arm in arm. I was talking about them. Why is Miss Fan so eager to claim the insult?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he was struck hard under the jaw with a stick. The force was so great that Butcher Guo staggered back several steps, only steadying himself when he bumped into the counter inside his shop.
He covered his jaw with one hand, feeling as if his upper and lower teeth had been jammed together. A taste of blood filled his mouth, and he couldn’t speak for a long while. He pointed at Fan Changyu with his other hand but couldn’t make a sound. When he looked up, he met Fan Changyu’s ice-cold gaze.
She coldly uttered two words: “Apologize.”
Butcher Guo endured the intense pain in his jaw, spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, and his anger flared up. He retorted, “I didn’t say anything about you and your pretty-boy husband. You’re the one who rushed to claim it. Why should I apologize?”
Fan Changyu didn’t bother to argue with him. She thrust her long stick forward again. Butcher Guo quickly ducked, frightened. The stick had no spearhead, but with her tremendous strength, it pierced right through the wooden board of the counter door.
It made one wonder if it had been aimed at his forehead, whether it might have pierced a bloody hole right through.
Butcher Guo was trembling with fear but tried to put on a brave face, saying, “You dare to hit me? My uncle is the advisor to the county magistrate. If we go to court, you’ll rot in jail!”
Fan Changyu said, “Do you believe that before your advisor uncle can get here, I could twist your head off and use it as a dog’s food bowl?”
When it came to being tough, Butcher Guo was no match for her. His face immediately turned sheepish.
Fan Changyu shouted again: “Apologize!”
Butcher Guo was extremely reluctant, but looking at the long stick pointed at his face, he finally gritted his teeth and said in front of everyone, “I’m sorry.”
Fan Changyu withdrew her stick and snorted coldly, “People say that only eunuchs like to gossip and spread rumors. Your talent for gossip surpasses even a eunuch’s! What’s the point of being jealous of the little business in my meat shop? With your skills, not going to the palace to be a chief eunuch is truly a waste of that black-and-white tongue of yours!”
The onlookers burst into laughter.
The butchers from other meat shops were also holding back their laughter.
“A eunuch? Come to think of it, with that all-talk-no-action look of Guo’s, he might be impotent!”
“I heard his son looks exactly like his cousin. Maybe the child isn’t even his!”
“Didn’t everyone say privately that his wife was unfaithful? Poor woman, she’s been accused behind her back for so long. Turns out it’s not that she’s loose, but that he’s useless!”
“He’s tall and strong-looking, how could he be impotent?”
“I heard that when he was slaughtering a pig before, he couldn’t hold it down properly. He fell, and the pig stepped on his manhood!”
Hearing the bystanders chattering, Butcher Guo’s face turned red with anger, the veins on his neck bulging. “What nonsense are you talking about? Do you want me to chop you all to death?”
The onlookers kept their distance, but the discussions didn’t stop.
“Look at his reaction, it seems we’ve hit a sore spot. Could it be true?”
“I always thought it was strange for a grown man to be such a gossip, always calling handsome young men ‘male prostitutes.’ Turns out he might be one himself!”
As the rumors spread and became more outrageous, the more Butcher Guo raged at the onlookers, the more convincing their fabrications became.
Finally, Butcher Guo could only glare resentfully at Fan Changyu and say, “You just wait!”
Fan Changyu didn’t even bother to look at him, saying, “When your mouth spreads rumors about others, it’s as filthy as can be. Now that you’re the one being gossiped about, you know how it feels?”
With that, she took her stick and returned to her meat shop.
Hearing the chatter of the crowd, Butcher Guo no longer had the heart to continue business for the day. He simply closed his door and hid at home.
After entering the shop, Fan Changyu said to Xie Zheng with some apology, “I’m sorry, you’re about to leave, and you still had to endure Guo’s slander.”
He had witnessed her defense of him outside, and Xie Zheng simply said, “It’s alright.”
But his eyes held a complex expression.
Fan Changyu said, “He just relies on having an uncle who’s an advisor. Once the county magistrate’s term is over and he’s transferred, his uncle will be nothing!”
After the scuffle, the cloth band tied at her sleeve had loosened.
Fan Changyu frowned, untied it, and began to retie it. To make it tighter, she bit one end of the cloth band with her teeth, using her other hand to somewhat clumsily wrap it around her sleeve.
Although winter clothes had narrower sleeves than summer ones, it was still inconvenient for work. Since she often used knives to chop bones, she tied cloth bands at her wrists to protect them.
Seeing this, Xie Zheng took the cloth band from her hand with his long fingers and said, “I’ll help you.”
He seemed to be informing her rather than asking for permission. Before Fan Changyu could respond, his other hand had already pinched the end of the cloth band she was biting, saying, “Let go.”
Fan Changyu was momentarily stunned and foolishly relaxed her teeth.
By the time she came to her senses, Xie Zheng had already neatly folded her sleeve, holding it at the wrist with just the right pressure, and was slowly winding the cloth band tightly around it. The sensation from her wrist was particularly clear.
Fan Changyu’s fingertips unconsciously curled slightly.
The cloth band was cyan-colored. His slender fingers, wrapped around the dark fabric, were pale yet sinewy, indescribably beautiful.
His expression seemed quite focused, yet he could still spare attention to ask her a question: “When does your county magistrate’s term end?”
Fan Changyu initially felt the atmosphere was a bit strange, but as he spoke, it became less awkward. He said, “By my calculation, after the New Year, it’ll be the end of the three-year term.”
Xie Zheng replied, “Then the good days for the Advisor are coming to an end.”
According to the official regulations of the Great Yin Dynasty, county magistrates serving outside their home regions were rotated every three years. Usually, they were transferred, with promotions only for those with great achievements. If local citizens jointly petitioned for the magistrate to stay, they could remain in their current position.
When Fan Changyu asked for the reason, Xie Zheng explained using the official regulations. Fan Changyu suddenly understood and laughed, “Then I’m even less afraid of that Guo fellow!”
The Advisor was merely a consultant hired by the county magistrate and didn’t receive an official salary. As the strategist for the magistrate, he inevitably knew many of the magistrate’s secrets. Typically, when a county magistrate was transferred or promoted, they either took their Advisor to the new post or gave the Advisor a sum of money, forbidding them from advising others in the future.
Given the county magistrate’s actions in Qingping County over the past few years, the citizens couldn’t write a petition asking him to stay. So, whether the magistrate was promoted or demoted, he wouldn’t remain in Qingping County. Even if Butcher Guo’s uncle continued to serve as his Advisor, their jurisdiction would no longer be Qingping County, so naturally, he couldn’t continue to throw his weight around here.
After Xie Zheng finished tying the cloth band around her sleeve, he looked up and saw the unrestrained smile on her face.
He slightly narrowed his eyes and looked away, saying, “It’s done.”
Fan Changyu flexed her wrist, her smile undiminished: “It’s indeed tighter than when I tie it myself. Thanks!”
The lingering sensation of tightness around her wrist felt as if his hand was still pressing on it. Only after she rubbed it did that strange feeling subside a bit.
Xie Zheng said, “It’s nothing.”
Fan Changyu glanced at the sky outside and said, “I need to hurry and deliver goods to Yixiang Restaurant. I’ll leave the shop matters to you.”
Xie Zheng replied, “Don’t worry.”
As Fan Changyu reached the door, she turned back and added, “If anyone comes to buy meat and we’ve sold out, help me take their order if they want to pre-order.”
Xie Zheng nodded in agreement.
Only then did Fan Changyu leave with peace of mind. As she sat on the ox cart, she couldn’t help but gently rub that wrist again, yet she couldn’t pinpoint what felt off.
Due to the snowy weather making the roads slippery, it took Fan Changyu half an hour to reach Yixiang Restaurant in the county town. From afar, she saw a crowd gathered in front of the restaurant’s main entrance. There seemed to be crying as if someone was wailing in mourning. People could barely squeeze through, let alone an ox cart.
Fan Changyu had to get off the cart and ask a bystander watching the commotion, “What’s happening at Yixiang Restaurant?”
An older woman watching the scene glanced back at her and said, “Someone died from eating Yixiang Restaurant’s food. The deceased’s children have brought the coffin to the restaurant’s doorstep, demanding an explanation!”
Fan Changyu was shocked. Having worked at Yixiang Restaurant before, she knew that the ingredients used were always of the highest quality. Yu Qianqian had never been careless about food quality. How could someone suddenly die from eating there?
She gripped the woman’s arm and asked, “When did this happen?”
Seeing her agitation, the woman explained, “I heard it was during lunch yesterday at Yixiang Restaurant. The person suddenly started foaming at the mouth while eating. They quickly called for a physician, but still couldn’t save the person. Early this morning, they came to settle accounts with Yixiang Restaurant.”
Two men nearby glanced at Fan Changyu and shook their heads, clicking their tongues. “Charging such high prices and serving food that kills people, this restaurant owner is truly despicable!”
“If the authorities don’t investigate thoroughly, who will dare to eat at restaurants in the future?”
“I’ve long heard that the female owner of Yixiang Restaurant knows some crooked methods. They say she adds something to the food that makes people addicted. How else could she open two restaurants in just a few years and have such a booming business? Maybe this time they added too much of that stuff and ended up killing someone!”
“In my opinion, it should be a life for a life! They should arrest that female owner and execute her! Just look at her face, she’s not a decent woman who stays at home! She’s not a good person!”
Fan Changyu listened to these two men with ratty faces and felt cap hats criticizing Yu Qianqian with disdain. She was so angry that her lips pressed into a thin line.
After retreating from the crowd, she asked the ox cart driver to wait in a less congested area while she went to the alley behind Yixiang Restaurant.
Entering through the back door, Fan Changyu found the kitchen almost empty. The manager and the usual waiters who served VIP customers were all at the front door, arguing with the deceased’s children who were causing trouble.
Fan Changyu finally spotted a waiter and hurriedly asked, “Where’s Manager Yu?”
The waiter, thinking she was there to deliver braised meat, waved his hands repeatedly, saying, “You’ve seen the situation at the restaurant, Mrs. Fan. We can’t accept your braised meat today.”
Fan Changyu said, “I’m not here for that at this time. I’m looking for Manager Yu. What exactly happened to the person who died in the restaurant yesterday?”
The waiter replied with a troubled expression, “Who knows? Yesterday, a customer suddenly fell ill. The manager saw it and said it might be epilepsy, so she quickly sent for a physician. At first, the family was grateful. After taking the person home, they passed away in the night. Early this morning, they brought the coffin to the restaurant’s doorstep, demanding that the restaurant compensate them for their elder’s life! Isn’t this extortion?”
“No matter how the manager tries to persuade them, they won’t budge. She’s willing to pay to settle the matter, but they refuse. It looks like they came specifically to cause trouble. The manager is worried that some other restaurant is trying to sabotage us. She reported it to the authorities, but no officials have shown up yet. The manager went to the government office herself to pull some strings, but she’s been gone for a while and hasn’t returned.”
Although Fan Changyu hadn’t read much, she understood the principle that tall trees catch the wind.
Yu Qianqian had recently hosted a successful banquet, and Yixiang Restaurant had made a name for itself in the county town, taking business away from many large restaurants. It was bound to make people jealous. But for someone to use such despicable means against Yu Qianqian was truly abominable.
The crowd gathered outside Yixiang Restaurant was partly due to the family bringing the coffin to make a scene, but everyone was verbally attacking Yu Qianqian. Not a single person stood up to speak for her. They even said that Yixiang Restaurant’s food contained addictive drugs. Fan Changyu instinctively thought of those two men with ratty faces.
Those two were working together, deliberately speaking for the uninformed crowd to hear, stirring up trouble, and inciting anger.
If they couldn’t persuade the group with the coffin to leave, they should first eliminate those guiding public opinion.
Fan Changyu thought for a moment and said to the waiter, “Find a few more people, change out of the restaurant uniforms, and come with me.”
With Yixiang Restaurant in such a predicament, the waiter was at his wit’s end and said, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Fan, but we really can’t spare any manpower today…”
Fan Changyu said, “There are people outside deliberately slandering Yixiang Restaurant. Bring some people with me to pick out those troublemakers.”
Hearing this, the waiter quickly went to gather people.
Half a quarter of an hour later, Fan Changyu led seven or eight Yixiang Restaurant staff members in plain clothes out through the back door and squeezed back into the crowd of onlookers.
She observed for a while and noticed that most of the spectators would watch for a bit, and upon seeing that the matter wasn’t being resolved, they would leave to attend to their own business.
Only a group of people similar to those two men in felt hats remained steadfast at Yixiang Restaurant’s entrance. They cursed louder than anyone else, and whenever an uninformed passerby came to ask what was happening, they immediately brought up the story about Yixiang Restaurant adding addictive drugs to their food.
Fan Changyu was almost certain that these were the troublemakers. She gave a signal to the Yixiang Restaurant staff.
These staff members considered Yixiang Restaurant their home and couldn’t tolerate such slander. Following Fan Changyu’s instructions, they pretended to squeeze toward the center of the crowd, pushing those troublemakers to the outer edge. Then the staff members behind grabbed their shoulders and pulled them out.
These people, already guilty, were about to shout when suddenly restrained. Fan Changyu, quick as lightning, delivered several muffled punches to their stomachs, successfully making them swallow their cries.
Some nearby citizens looked their way, and Fan Changyu fiercely said, “What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen debt collectors from a gambling den before?”
As she spoke, she kicked one of the felt hat men again: “You turtle’s egg! Run! You might escape the first, but you can’t escape the fifteenth!”
The Yixiang Restaurant staff, seeing the usually kind and gentle Mrs. Fan suddenly turn into a thug kicking people on the street, were stunned for a moment. They quickly joined in, grabbing the two men by their collars and dragging them into a corner. Taking this opportunity for revenge, they beat and kicked them while cursing, “Paying debts is heaven’s law and earth’s principle! Run again and we’ll break your legs!”
The citizens who noticed this, hearing it was about gambling debt collection and seeing that these men looked shifty, quickly stepped aside, not daring to interfere.
Those men still wanted to shout, but their mouths were soon stuffed with dirty rags. They could only make muffled sounds as they were dragged into the courtyard behind Yixiang Restaurant’s alley, tied up like animals, and left staring in terror at Fan Changyu and the Yixiang Restaurant staff disguised as thugs standing before them with arms crossed.
Fan Changyu sat on a chair brought by the Yixiang Restaurant staff like a mountain bandit, playing with a boning knife in her hand. In an instant, she threw the sharp boning knife, which pierced the felt hat of one of the men, pinning it to the tree trunk behind him with undiminished force.
This man was the one who had cursed Yu Qianqian the most viciously earlier.
Fan Changyu looked up, about to say something harsh, but was stunned for a moment. Under the felt hat was a bald head!
No wonder he wore a hat!
Without the felt hat for cover, the bald man’s scalp felt chilly, the wind cutting like a knife against his skin. Realizing that a knife had indeed flown past his scalp just a second ago, his face turned pale.
Fan Changyu quickly composed herself, resuming her fierce expression, and asked, “Who sent you to cause trouble in front of Yixiang Restaurant?”
A shifty-eyed man next to the bald one sneered, “Nobody sent us. Yixiang Restaurant’s food killed someone. Are we not allowed to seek justice? You’ve tied us up here. Do you plan to kill us to silence everyone? This Yixiang Restaurant isn’t a restaurant at all, it’s a den of murderers and thieves!”
Fan Changyu was irritated by the incessant chatter of this shifty-eyed fellow, thinking he was just as disgusting as Butcher Guo!
She picked up a wooden mallet from the wall and struck his forehead three times with force. The crisp “bang bang” sound was indeed more pleasing to the ear.
The man was dazed by the blows.
Fan Changyu snarled, “Did I say you could speak?”
The other bound ruffians swallowed hard, awkwardly shifting their bodies to distance themselves from that man, trying to shrink and minimize their presence.
The man still wanted to continue his verbal manipulations, but seeing the mallet in Fan Changyu’s hand and feeling the dull pain in his forehead as if it had been split open, he reluctantly shut his mouth.
Fan Changyu coldly snorted, “Your tongue is useless anyway. Someone, take him away and chop up his tongue to feed the dogs!”
The Yixiang Restaurant staff first looked at each other in bewilderment, then immediately two of them stepped forward and dragged the bound ruffian to the back courtyard.
Soon after came the sound of a knife being sharpened, followed by the heavy thud of a knife hitting a chopping board, and then the man’s screams. After a moment, even the screams stopped, leaving only muffled sounds.
The ruffians tied up in the courtyard were terrified, their faces ashen.
Fan Changyu almost couldn’t keep her seat. She had only intended to intimidate these people, acting tough like in the storybooks. Surely the Yixiang Restaurant staff hadn’t misunderstood her intentions and cut out the man’s tongue?
In no time, a staff member came over with a basin containing a small, bloody piece of tongue. He said to Fan Changyu, “The fellow struggled fiercely. We couldn’t pull out his entire tongue, only managed to cut off this bit.”
The ruffians, seeing that bloody mess, were so frightened they nearly wet themselves. They didn’t dare look any further. Fan Changyu, who often slaughtered pigs, recognized at a glance that it was a small piece of pig’s tongue, not even fresh, smeared with what might be chicken or duck blood, placed in the basin to scare people.
She breathed a sigh of relief, thinking these Yixiang Restaurant staff were quite clever. Maintaining her fierce expression, she said, “Bring a dog here to feed it!”
Immediately, a staff member brought a wolfhound. They tossed the pig’s tongue from the basin, and the wolfhound devoured it ravenously.
The ruffians watched this, unable to stop retching. Some were so scared they lost control of their bladders.
Fan Changyu figured that since they were this frightened, she might be able to get the truth out of them now. She continued to glare at the bald man and asked, “Tell me, who sent you to cause trouble at Yixiang Restaurant? If there’s one lie, your tongues will also be cut out and fed to the dogs!”
The bald man was retching so hard that tears came to his eyes. He repeatedly said, “I’ll talk! I’ll talk! It was the servant of Advisor He who found us to come here.”
Hearing this answer, Fan Changyu was momentarily stunned.
How was that troublemaker Advisor He involved again?
She shouted, “You’re lying!”
The bound bald man kept kowtowing to her, “Miss, I’m not lying. It truly was the servant of the Advisor who found us!”
Fan Changyu said, “Advisor He has no grudge against Yixiang Restaurant. Why would he instruct you to do this?”
The bald man wept bitterly, “We don’t know that either!”
The other ruffians also cried miserably, all pointing to Advisor He.
“Let them go,” a woman’s voice came from the moon gate.
Fan Changyu looked up and saw it was Yu Qianqian. She stood up from her chair, “Manager Yu, you’re back?”
Yu Qianqian nodded, looking at Fan Changyu with a smile in her eyes, showing some gratitude, “I just got back, and happened to hear you helping me interrogate these people. Thank you, Sister Changyu.”
Fan Changyu said, “I wasn’t able to help Manager Yu much.”
Yu Qianqian said, “This is enough. Let them go.”
She gestured to the staff nearby to untie the ruffians.
The ruffian who had been taken away earlier on Fan Changyu’s orders was also brought out. His tongue hadn’t been cut; he had only been gagged. The earlier screams were just produced by some method Yu Qianqian had used to help him make the sound.
Fan Changyu was very puzzled and asked Yu Qianqian, “Aren’t you going to take them to court for a confrontation?”
Yu Qianqian just shook her head, her expression showing fatigue. After the ruffians were taken away by the restaurant staff, she said, “You’ve already found out that it was Advisor He who instructed these people.”
Fan Changyu frowned and asked, “Did a rival restaurant find a way to Advisor He, trying to use this to strike at Yixiang Restaurant?”
Yu Qianqian smiled bitterly, “It’s even worse than that.”
Fan Changyu had thought that was already the worst scenario, but Yu Qianqian said it was even worse. She really couldn’t imagine what it could be and asked, “What exactly is going on?”
Yu Qianqian’s usually neatly combed bangs were now a mess from her rubbing. She closed her eyes and said, “Yixiang Restaurant can’t be saved. It’s my fault for being too aggressive. If only I hadn’t rushed to open a restaurant in the county town last year…”
Fan Changyu remembered Yu Qianqian as always being confident and in control, rarely showing such helplessness. She said, “Although my friendship with you, Manager, might not be considered deep yet, you have repeatedly helped me, and I remember that. I may not know exactly what difficulties Yixiang Restaurant is facing, but if you need anything, my family has some connections with Captain Wang at the county yamen. I could ask him for a favor and see if he can help Yixiang Restaurant.”
Yu Qianqian shook her head, “It’s useless.”
She squeezed Fan Changyu’s hand and forced a smile, “I appreciate your intention. I’ve been out all day, trying every connection I could. If there was a way, I wouldn’t be sitting here waiting for doom. Don’t go ask Captain Wang for help either; it would only bring him trouble.”
Fan Changyu could feel Yu Qianqian’s exhaustion. Even she hadn’t expected Yixiang Restaurant to face such a crisis overnight. She said, “I still can’t imagine what kind of trouble Yixiang Restaurant has gotten into. I heard from the restaurant staff that the old man who ate here yesterday had an epileptic fit and foamed at the mouth. How can that be blamed on the restaurant’s food? Couldn’t a doctor testify to this in court?”
Yu Qianqian said, “Do you know who the Advisor He works for?”
Fan Changyu uttered two words: “The Magistrate?”
Yu Qianqian nodded wearily, “The highest official in all of Qingping County wants to seize my family’s property. In court, right and wrong are determined by his word. What ordinary citizen would dare to go against an official?”
Fan Changyu said, “Then appeal to Ji Prefecture. The County Magistrate may be the highest official in Qingping County, but outside of it, what power does he have?”
Yu Qianqian still shook her head, showing a pained expression, “I heard rumors from some noble households that this was the Magistrate’s doing, so I sent a guard to drive to Ji Prefecture. Just as I entered, someone delivered something to me…”
Yu Qianqian’s voice trembled, “It was a severed finger of my guard. They’re in cahoots with bandits. All roads to Ji Prefecture have been blocked by mountain bandits.”
Fan Changyu realized what it meant to have absolute power. What Yu Qianqian was experiencing now was even more hopeless than when Fan Da had tried to seize her family property.
The authorities had already spread rumors that Yu Qianqian’s restaurant food contained additives, and coincidentally, an old man had died after eating at Yixiang Restaurant. The authorities could easily claim that Yu Qianqian’s food was problematic, confiscate all her assets, and even arrest her.
In a flash of inspiration, Fan Changyu remembered what Xie Zheng had said earlier about Ji Prefecture collecting military grain. She said, “You alone might be powerless, but if all the citizens of Qingping County oppose the Magistrate, then whether the authorities block the prefecture roads or use yamen runners to suppress us, it won’t matter!”
Yu Qianqian asked, “What do you mean?”
Fan Changyu said, “Ji Prefecture is collecting military grain. Our county is collecting one stone of grain per person, or silver if they can’t provide grain. Qingping County has over 100,000 people, so from just one county, they’re forcibly collecting 100,000 stones of grain. Ji Prefecture wouldn’t push the people to such extremes. The County Magistrate is using this opportunity to extort money!”
As Yu Qianqian heard this, her face changed dramatically.
She murmured, “The County Magistrate isn’t just extorting money. At this crucial time of his transfer, he’s suddenly scraping so much silver from the people’s hands and targeting my Yixiang Restaurant. Even if he can hide it for a while, it can’t be hidden forever. It will eventually be exposed, and he won’t escape punishment even after his transfer. Perhaps… Yixiang Restaurant is just the chicken being killed to scare the monkeys! The wealthy merchants of the entire Qingping County are his real target!”
She looked at Fan Changyu, her face extremely grim: “Chong Prefecture is right next to Ji Prefecture. The County Magistrate intends to defect to the rebel king!”