Lu Jingyi raised his eyes and met his gaze calmly, without the slightest fear, but rather with a sense of confidence.

The prefect's face grew even uglier.

A moment later, he slammed the gavel down hard.

"Since you have pleaded guilty, how can you prove it?"

Lu Jingyi asked, "May I ask, sir, who filed this report and how they have so falsely accused my Weimanlou restaurant?"

The prefect glared at the man standing to the side and said, "Zhang Ju, repeat your complaint."

The man named Zhang Ju hurriedly and dryly repeated the complaint.

The gist of it is that he heard that the food at Wei Man Zhai was so delicious that he couldn't eat anything else after eating it, so he went there out of curiosity to have a meal there himself.

But after eating, they were surprised to find that the food tasted like Yunzhongxiang.

Because he used to smoke Yunzhongxiang, he was quite sensitive to it.

He had suffered from Yunzhongxiang before and finally managed to quit, but now the addiction has been reignited by a meal.

Out of hatred, and not wanting more people to suffer the same undeserved misfortune as him, he reported the case to the police.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jingyi only asked, "When will you be dining at Weimanzhai?"

Zhang Ju immediately replied, "Three days ago."

Lu Jingyi said, “Every table that comes to Weimanzhai will receive a number. The wooden number is made of the finest sandalwood. The scent can linger for many days after touching it. I wonder if I could smell it to confirm that the guest is indeed a guest of the restaurant?”

Zhang Ju hadn't expected this, and his expression changed slightly upon hearing it.

The onlookers were also surprised.

Wei Man Zhai is really rich and powerful; agarwood is an extremely precious wood.

Those that retain their fragrance for several days after being touched are the finest of the finest.

They actually used them to make number plates.

Zhang Ju panicked for a moment and hurriedly said, "I went there with a friend, and he took the token. I didn't touch it. If you conclude that I haven't been to Weimanzhai just because of this, you are really being unreasonable!"

Lu Jingyi was not angry, but asked again, "Then I wonder where your friend is now?"

"He, he is a traveling merchant, and has already left the city."

"Oh? Since you knew the food was unusual, why did you only report it today? And why didn't you remind your friend what would have happened if he had an attack on his way out?"

"I... I heard that Wei Man Zhai has powerful connections, and I dare not offend them. I hesitated for a long time, but I couldn't go against my conscience, so I decided to report it to the police today. As for my roommate, he only ate there once, so he only needs to abstain for a few days."

"Since you said you were harmed by Yunzhongxiang and could recognize it just by its smell, you must know it very well. You should also know that there is a medicine in Yunzhongxiang called coca. After taking it, it can remain in the body for three days, and its blood will turn purplish-black when it falls into water."

After saying that, he looked at the prefect and said, "Sir, since he ate three days ago, there must still be coca in his body. We can find out if he is lying by taking a blood sample and putting it in water."

Zhang Ju froze, his expression slightly flustered.

He did indeed use Yunzhongxiang, but that was half a month ago.

He took the risk of agreeing to this job because he was addicted, unable to quit, and had no money to buy more.

I originally thought it was just a routine errand, but I didn't expect the other party to be so difficult to deal with.

The prefect looked displeased, but still agreed and ordered someone to fetch water.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ju's legs went weak, and he hurriedly said, "My lord, I smelled this aroma in the food that day and dared not eat it, so there is nothing in my body that he mentioned."

Lu Jingyi chuckled, "One coincidence, two coincidences, but a third time? Isn't that too much of a coincidence?"

Those around them were also somewhat skeptical upon hearing this.

At this moment, a coroner came out from the back room and bowed.

"My lord, I have examined everything brought back from Weimanzhai and found no cloud incense or other addictive substances."

Upon hearing this, the people around were all surprised and began to discuss it amongst themselves.

Wei Man Zhai has been doing very well every day lately.

Even with time and table limits, the amount of food to be cooked each day is still enormous.

If you add Yunzhongxiang to every dish, even just a little bit, the total amount will be quite substantial.

If a restaurant truly relies on Yunzhongxiang to retain customers, it certainly wouldn't dare to cut off supplies arbitrarily.

In other words, there must be a lot of Yunzhongxiang stored in the building.

Now they say no.

Either this thing is well hidden, or Weimanzhai simply doesn't have it.

Zhang Ju was thrown into a panic and immediately shouted, "My lord, Yun Zhongxiang must have been hidden by them!"

Lu Jingyi didn't bring up the topic again.

Instead, he said, “Sir, since everyone suspects that the delicious taste of Wei Man Zhai’s food is due to Yun Zhong Xiang, why don’t we have our chefs prepare a dish with the same color and taste in front of everyone? Fortunately, the young master has brought some ingredients that have been confirmed to be free of Yun Zhong Xiang. If the dish prepared is still no different from what the guests usually eat, then it can be said that there is no Yun Zhong Xiang in the food at all.”

Upon hearing this, the prefect shouted, "Absurd! How can a kitchen be allowed in the courtroom? What do you take this place for!"

Just then, a voice came from outside the fence.

"I think Manager Lu's method is quite good. I've eaten at Wei Man Zhai a few times, so why don't we old folks give it a try?"

The prefect looked up and was slightly startled when he saw who was speaking.

He quickly stood up. "Mr. Sun, what brings you here?"

The old man stroked his beard. “I heard that someone falsely accused Weimanzhai of using Yunzhongxiang. We are all regular customers of the restaurant and go there every day, so we must also investigate.”

They claimed it was to confirm the facts, yet they kept accusing it of being a false accusation; their attitude was quite clear.

The prefect's brow twitched; he had no idea that this man was also a regular at Wei Man Zhai.

It seems that Wei Man Zhai is quite capable; with just a few meals, it has managed to get Old Master Sun to back it up.

He originally didn't care much about Weimanzhai.

They knew there was something fishy about what was happening today. It was either that Weimanzhai had acted improperly, or that there was competition among their peers, or that they had offended someone and were seeking revenge.

He didn't want to deal with these things.

The reason Lu Jingyi was given so many opportunities was simply because the other party might know some things he couldn't reveal.

But now, he is re-evaluating Weimanzhai.

You should know that Old Master Sun has always been intolerant of any wrongdoing, and he is an upright man who despises all underhanded tricks. He even dared to impeach the Emperor.

The situation is still unclear, yet he has openly sided with Wei Man Zhai, which suggests there is only one possibility.

They have confirmed that there is nothing unusual about the food at Weimanzhai.

The elderly men were indeed as he had imagined.

They not only confirmed that the food was harmless, but also received an unexpected surprise.

These people were Master Zhao and his companions.

The elderly man surnamed Sun also joined them later, and was similarly tempted by the delicious food.

They were in the private room when the incident happened.

At first, when they learned that Yunzhongxiang was in Weimanzhai's food, they were all furious and suspicious.

However, they were worldly-wise and wouldn't be easily fooled.

He then sent someone to the yamen to keep an eye on things, and returned home to find a doctor to check on his health.

To everyone's surprise, even the doctor was astonished by what he saw.

Their bodies not only did not suffer from any yin-yang imbalance caused by consuming addictive substances, but their pulses were also strong and healthy, and some of the problems they had in their bodies in the past were resolved.

Conditions such as blood stasis, high cholesterol, stomach fatigue, and liver dryness will not only disappear without a trace, but will also restore one to their original state.

However, it also provided very good relief.