After three rounds of drinking, Manager Luo began to complain to the county magistrate and county lieutenant, saying that the public security in Sanqing County was not good now, and even the people in Tangyuan were threatened. If things really went wrong, he would hide back in Dingzhou Prefecture or the capital...

Manager Luo's words shocked County Lieutenant Ding, who was in charge of public security. If this was reported to the higher authorities, his career would be in jeopardy. He slammed the table and shouted, "Who is the fearless person who dares to threaten Tangyuan? Master Luo, tell me, and I will punish him severely."

Manager Luo pointed at the Li Zheng Zhao who was sitting at the same table with him and said, "It's Li Zheng Zhao, Mr. Zhao..."

Li Zheng Zhao was stunned at first, and then his face flushed with anger. If it were the old days, he would know that he could not afford to offend Tangyuan. Even if Chen Shiying was an official, he was thousands of miles away, and could not compare to the master of Tangyuan who was in the prefectural city. But now, Chen Shiying was the big boss of this area, and he was his uncle, so how could he be afraid of a village head. What's wrong with his master being a lieutenant general? He would not offend the prefect for a village head, right?

He put down his wine bowl and said angrily, "Master Luo, I call you Master, do you really think you are the Master? You are just a village head, who has opened a dyeing house. I made a kind suggestion, you should listen to it, but if you don't listen, forget it, you come to complain to the county magistrate and the county lieutenant. They are very busy, so they don't have time to listen to your nonsense."

Manager Luo said with a smile on his face, "Master Ding, did you see that? Master Zhao can be so arrogant to me in front of you!" He looked at Zhao Lizheng with a teasing look and said, "Village head? You ignorant bumpkin! Let me tell you, I am not only the village head of Tangyuan, but also the second steward of Yongning Marquis Mansion in the capital. Not only does the county magistrate treat me with courtesy, he also invites me to his house for a drink every year. Even the former Dingzhou prefect is very polite to me..." He pointed at Li Xiancheng and Ding Xianwei and said, "Do you think I was talking nonsense to them?"

County Magistrate Li and County Lieutenant Ding hurriedly smiled and said, "We dare not, we dare not. He is a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister, let alone Luo, the chief steward of the Yongning Marquis's mansion. You talk, you talk, we are listening." He also winked at Zhao Lizheng, "Zhao Lizheng must not know Mr. Luo's other identity, so he said such nonsense."

They thought to themselves that this Li Zheng Zhao was really courting death, daring to hit an egg against a stone. But they came today to congratulate Old Madam Chen, and for the sake of Mr. Chen's face, they couldn't let Li Zheng Zhao lose face.

Zhao Lizheng panicked when he saw that County Magistrate Li and County Lieutenant Ding not only did not help him but also played soft to Manager Luo.

Manager Luo continued, "This old man Zhao first came to tell me how to employ people in Luo's Tangyuan. I warned him not to interfere in the affairs of Tangyuan and not to touch the people in Tangyuan. Not only did he not listen, he also threatened the people working in Tangyuan. Then, guess what he did?" Seeing that everyone shook their heads to indicate that they didn't know, he continued, "He actually took the silver to find someone's relative's house and asked the relative to trick the people working in Tangyuan back home, tie them up, and sell them. Tell me, this is not only immoral, but also disrespectful to Tangyuan. How dare we live in this area when they bully Tangyuan so blatantly? Lord Ding, don't you think so?"

When Lieutenant Ding heard that he was named by Steward Luo, he quickly said, "Zhao Lizheng, what you did is wrong. Not to mention that Tangyuan is the manor of the Chu family, you can't do this to ordinary villagers." He smiled at Steward Luo and said, "Master Luo, calm down. Zhao Lizheng promises that he won't dare to do this again. If he does it again, we will not let him go."

County Lieutenant Ding was very helpless. They couldn't afford to offend Lord Chen and his men, but they couldn't afford to offend the Chu family and Lord Chu even more.

Manager Luo knew that County Magistrate Ding was trying to smooth things over, so he didn't want to push him too hard. He wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, threw it on the ground, stood up and said, "Old Zhao, I warn you again in front of Lord Li and Lord Ding, you are not allowed to touch anyone from Tangyuan, or anyone under my protection. Whether anything happens to someone from Tangyuan or her relatives, I will blame you. At that time, it won't be just a few words. I will break your legs, pull out all your teeth, and leave you dead without a burial place. If you don't believe me, try it." He then bowed to County Magistrate Li and County Magistrate Ding and said, "Lord Li, Lord Ding, please be a witness."

County Magistrate Li and County Lieutenant Ding nodded in agreement.

Steward Luo and his son left the table and said to the two of them, "For the sake of Old Madam Chen, I will not invite you to my Tang Garden for a drink today. I will invite you another day."

The two men laughed and said, "Okay, we'll invite Mr. Luo to our house for a drink some other day."

Manager Luo then called out to Gao Lizheng and Hu Laowu, as well as the Lizheng and Xiangkun of Shangshui Village and Guqiao Village, who were sitting at another table, "Have you had enough to drink? If you have, then leave."

When those people heard this, regardless of whether they had drunk enough or not, they quickly stood up and followed Steward Luo and his son. Those who hadn't left all stared at these people as they swaggered out of the table with their mouths wide open.

Watching their receding backs, County Magistrate Li and County Lieutenant Ding whispered to the terrified Li Zheng Zhao, "Li Zheng Zhao, by doing this, you are bringing disaster to Lord Chen. Those wealthy families have the ability to stir up trouble in the officialdom, and their servants are not something that people like us can afford to offend..."

Manager Luo took his men away. Not knowing that Li Zheng Zhao was so scared that he wet his pants, he had no appetite and hurried to the Chen family's old house to discuss things with Old Madam Chen.

Chu Lingxuan listened to Manager Luo's report, nodded, and said with satisfaction, "Well, Uncle Luo did a good job this time." He frowned and asked, "What do you think happened when Old Man Zhao asked his relatives to sell people?"

Manager Luo said, "Master, you don't know yet, but on the 18th, something happened to Ah Fu's family..."

He then told her about the day when Li Zheng Zhao went to Lu Garden to find Wang and forbade Chen Afu from working in Tang Garden, as well as what he saw about Chen Afu's appearance. "... Logically, Li Zheng Zhao should have guessed Afu's background, and he would definitely explain it to the old lady when he returned. But they actually went to the Chen family's main room at night, wanting the main room to force Afu to marry..."

Chu Lingxuan was furious when he heard this. If the eldest branch of the Chen family was really as greedy as the Ding family, Chen Ahfu might have really gotten into trouble. Even if he was rescued later, he might have suffered a great loss.

He couldn't even imagine how furious he would be and how sad his daughter would be if such a smart and beautiful girl was bullied.

The Zhao family knew that Chen Afu was from Tangyuan, but they still dared to act so recklessly. The old woman knew that Chen Afu was her granddaughter, but she ignored family ties and harmed people, even resorting to such despicable means.

Chu Lingxuan slammed the table and said angrily, "They have come to your door, why don't you take action? They have even done such a bad thing, why don't you immediately take the guards to the Zhao family and break the old man's legs? I told you a long time ago that if something goes wrong, I will cover it for you. Why are you waiting for today to argue with them?"