Seeing that Liu Sheng was so nervous he was almost crying, Jiang Yuwei quickly stepped forward, stopped the woman's hand, and smiled:

"Please don't worry. I've said before that if it really is a matter concerning our shop, I will definitely take full responsibility."

As she spoke, Jiang Yuwei looked at Liu Sheng and urged him:

"How about it? Do you remember this customer? Did he buy fried cakes from you before?"

Liu Sheng steadied himself and carefully examined the woman before him. There were many guests today, most of whom he couldn't remember, but this woman stood out because of a large mole on the corner of her mouth.

"I remember this lady brought her son to buy twenty fried cakes when the store had just opened this morning."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwei stared wide-eyed at the woman.

"Madam, you didn't give all twenty of these fried cakes to your son at once, did you?"

When Jiang Yuwei asked this question, the woman's eyes darted away, but she still stubbornly replied:

"So what if it is? Your fried cake shop doesn't have a rule about how many customers have to eat."

"I think this mother is a tiger; how could she let a child eat twenty fried cakes at once?"

"Exactly, even adults can't stand this way of eating!"

"Who says otherwise? They only know to come to the boss after something goes wrong. Where were they before?"

"Oh, I thought something was wrong. I wasted so much time here, living in fear!"

"That's right, I'm not saying anything more, let's hurry up and pay, buy what we need and leave. I've been queuing all morning, and I almost didn't get out."

"Oh dear, I almost threw away the fried cake I was holding."

"They didn't even take good care of their own child, and they make a big fuss over the smallest things, causing everyone to panic!"

The crowd glared at the woman with annoyance, then lost interest in watching any longer and went back to queuing up to buy food.

Hearing what the crowd said, the woman naturally felt she was in the wrong, so she looked at Jiang Yuwei hesitantly and said:

“I don’t care, my child got sick because he ate your fried cakes, so you have to take responsibility.”

Jiang Yuwei hadn't said anything until now because she felt something was wrong. The woman had said as soon as she entered that her child had come to her because of diarrhea.

Eating twenty fried cakes at once should have caused indigestion, so why did she get diarrhea?

Jiang Yuwei felt increasingly uneasy, so she whispered an instruction to Xia Yue:

"Go up and put away all the fried cakes. Tell Liu that we are not selling fried cakes today. No one is allowed to touch these fried cakes. I will check them carefully."

Then Jiang Yuwei said to Liu Sheng:

"You should go to the backyard first. You don't look well, and it's not a good time for you to take care of the guests, so that nothing goes wrong."

Upon hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Liu Sheng felt relieved and quickly nodded and bowed to her before going to the backyard.

Seeing that Wang Fugui was still standing behind her, Jiang Yuwei impatiently spoke up:

"What, you want to rest in the backyard too?"

Seeing this, Wang Fugui quickly waved his hand and said:

"No, no need, I'll go up and get to work right away."

After saying that, he went upstairs without looking back.

Jiang Yuwei then turned to the embarrassed woman and said:

"How should I address you?"

"My surname is Chai."

Jiang Yuwei nodded in agreement:

“Madam Chai, my surname is Jiang. I am currently working at the Prince Jing’s residence to treat and care for the Princess Jing. If you don’t mind, I can accompany you to your residence to give your son a proper diagnosis.”

When Madam Chai heard that Jiang Yuwei was there specifically to treat the Princess, her eyes lit up and she quickly put on a smiling face, saying:

"If that's the case, then I'd be very happy to hear it, but your shop is so busy, are you able to leave right now?"

Jiang Yuwei waved her hand and smiled:

"It's alright, my shop can operate normally even without me."

Jiang Yuwei's words were correct. Nowadays, Aunt Zhou and the others were no longer the peasants who had just arrived in Beijing from Ningjia Village. With their experience of setting up a stall at the vegetable market some time ago, they had seen all kinds of customers.

Nowadays, the business model of this shop is actually very similar to that of a street stall, except that it has been moved to a place where it can be sheltered from the wind and rain. Therefore, running a shop has long been a natural fit for them.

Jiang Yuwei was very pleased to see Aunt Zhou and the others' behavior today, and was even more glad that she had managed to extricate herself from the stall business so early.

Having stayed in the capital for so long, Jiang Yuwei has come to realize that the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital care the most about their reputation. If Jiang Yuwei, with her current status, were to go out and set up a stall in public, she would inevitably be ridiculed by them.

Their mindset is that they'd rather go hungry at home than not look glamorous outside.

Jiang Yuwei wasn't afraid of their ridicule, but she now understood that one should act according to one's position. Clearly, given her current status as the general's wife and the future first wife of the royal family, it was inappropriate for her to be hawking her wares outside.

Jiang Yuwei was lost in thought when Madam Chai smiled and nudged her arm.

“Madam Jiang, if you don’t need to keep an eye on this shop, then let’s go.”

Jiang Yuwei nodded.

"Wait a moment, I'll go get the first-aid kit."

As she spoke, Jiang Yuwei went upstairs to call Yun Qing and Xia Yue, and then instructed Aunt Zhou:

“Aunt Zhou, I have to go out for a bit right now. Once you’ve sold everything in this shop, just close it and clean up. Take today’s earnings and the ledger to the General’s Mansion. I’ll go there to take stock once I’m done with this.”

Seeing that Aunt Zhou nodded in agreement, Jiang Yuwei took Xia Yue and Yun Qing to Madam Chai's house. Jiang Yuwei deliberately invited Yun Qing to come along.

Since she didn't know anything about Madam Chai, Jiang Yuwei was naturally uneasy about going to her house so rashly.

But the thought of the child's strange illness made her feel compelled to investigate, otherwise she feared even greater trouble might await her later.

Madam Chai's family lived in Shangqiao Lane, which was several lanes away from Jin Street. Her courtyard was not large, and she only had one servant. It was only when Jiang Yuwei chatted with Madam Chai on the way that she learned that Madam Chai's husband was a scholar.

She is currently preparing for the next imperial examination, and she spends all her time running around Jin Street hoping to meet some benefactor who can help her husband.

Now her family is barely surviving on the little money left by their ancestors. Madam Chai is just waiting for her husband to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, after which the whole family will be able to turn their fortunes around.

Jiang Yuwei was already used to the lifestyle in Beijing where people who had enough to eat were just trying to make wishes.

After listening to Madam Chai's story, he simply smiled at her and didn't say much. After all, it was a family matter, and as an outsider, he shouldn't say too much.