Chapter 1634 Case Closed

Shu Yu stayed in the prefectural city for two more days, and the case was reopened for trial.

However, the officials who went to Donggu County to investigate did not bring back any useful evidence. They traced the source of the rumors from the bottom up, but found nothing.

The entire Donggu County is so big that some people only heard a little bit of it and didn't even know who was speaking or where it came from.

The investigation yielded no results, and therefore there was no direct evidence to prove that Qian Fangli was the one who spread the rumors.

In the end, Qian Fangli was released after being detained for two months.

However, the evidence against him for instigating others to steal was conclusive, and he was ordered to compensate the Liang family, the aggrieved couple, with twenty taels of silver.

Furthermore, the Qian family was prohibited from continuing to grow sunflowers and produce sunflower oil and melon seeds.

Lu Xiangjun, whose reputation was damaged because of that rumor, also received compensation.

Finally, the prefect ordered notices to be posted in both the prefectural city and the county seat of Donggu County, using this as an example to warn merchants to compete fairly and not to use such despicable means to damage the market environment.

This outcome was exactly what Shu Yu had expected, and she didn't feel disappointed.

Her goal was to make an example of someone, and now she has achieved it.

Many merchants and ordinary people have been following Mr. Qian's case, and many sighed upon learning the outcome.

It's not that no one suspects that Shu Yu did it, but none of them have any evidence. If they spread rumors outside, they would be slandering the village lord, which could land them in jail.

Because of this incident, Shu Yu became famous again, and Lu Ji's business flourished even more.

Gradually, it established a foundation in the hearts of the people, and made people remember that when choosing melon seeds and sunflower oil, Lu Ji was the authentic one.

For a long time after that, no one bothered with the sunflowers.

At least, even those who genuinely wanted to get involved in this business only tentatively asked Shuyu to buy some sunflower seeds.

They originally thought Shu Yu wouldn't agree, but to their surprise, after agreeing on the price and conditions, she actually sold it.

Creating a monopoly was never Shu Yu's goal.

As for Magistrate Peng of Donggu County, who sided with Master Qian, he was reprimanded by the prefect on the spot and ordered to reflect on his mistakes and conduct a deep self-examination after returning to the county.

Although the punishment was minor, it was extremely humiliating, and since Lord Peng was now on the prefect's list, he would likely not be able to get any good opportunities in the future.

Compared to him, Lord Xie was much happier. This first fire was both blazing and successful. From now on, the other county magistrates in the vast Dong'an Prefecture would treat him with great respect, and no one would dare to openly make things difficult for him anymore.

With Master Qian's matter settled, Shu Yu didn't stay in the prefectural city for long and soon set off with the Liang couple back to Jiangyuan County.

When they passed by the village, they saw Lu Sixing and others' stalls, so they simply stopped and treated the Liang couple to a bowl of noodles.

It was the peak blooming season for sunflowers, and the area had become lively again, with many people coming to enjoy the scenery. Lu Sixing, Li Shi, Liang Shi, and Cuihua set up their food stalls again.

However, nowadays there are more and more people selling food in this area. Although Lu Sixing and her group's stall is the largest and most affordable, it still has some impact on their business.

When Liang saw Shuyu, she subconsciously sat down next to her and began to complain, "We should have come to set up our stall a long time ago. It's just that Lanhua got married a while ago, so we were a few days late. Who knew that there would be stalls everywhere here?"

(End of this chapter)