Chapter 679 Arrival in Yangzhou
That night, Cheng Wanwan barely slept.
As dawn broke, all the crayfish were finally loaded into the ship's hold, requiring four Cao family merchant ships.
She originally only planned to bring her servants with her, but Zhao Ergou insisted on going along. Cheng Wanwan thought it was time for him to experience something, so she nodded in agreement.
Before dawn, the merchant ships set off from the Dahe Town dock and headed towards Yangzhou along the riverbank.
Cheng Wanwan didn't sleep all night. She tried to catch up on sleep in the private room during the day, but the ship was tossed about and turned, so she didn't sleep very well. She simply took out her medical books and continued to read them. When she got tired of reading, she went outside to look at the scenery on the riverbank.
There was no river here originally; it was carved out between two mountains, making this the narrowest part of the entire canal.
The boat slowed down and glided slowly across the narrow river.
Standing on the deck, she could clearly see some wooden houses on the mountaintop, realizing that people actually lived deep in the mountains and forests.
Some elderly people set up stalls on the riverbank selling dried biscuits and snacks to passing boats. When a large boat passed by, they would shout out their wares.
The boat was moving very slowly here, so some of the lower-ranking boatmen would take out their money to buy a few flatbreads to fill their stomachs. These flatbreads were quite large and not expensive, costing only three or five coins. There were also people selling boiled eggs, fresh wild fruits and mushrooms, and the like...
Cheng Wanwan truly never expected that the opening of a canal could bring benefits to the impoverished people living deep in the mountains. Although the benefits were very small, they were still a considerable income for poor families.
As the boat slowly sailed away, she could still see the smiles on the faces of those elderly people.
The waterway to Yangzhou was smooth, but it still took two and a half days to finally arrive at the Yangzhou dock on the afternoon of the third day.
Standing on the deck, you can see the prosperity and bustle of Yangzhou. There are people coming and going, and you can tell from their clothes that the living standards of ordinary people in Yangzhou are at least two or three levels higher than those in Huzhou and Nanyang.
It's perfectly normal that crayfish became an overnight sensation in Yangzhou.
The large ship slowly approached the dock and came to a stop. After that, Grandpa He led Cheng Wanwan and her group off the ship.
They had barely landed when a group of people rushed over.
"Look, Old Master He has returned to Yangzhou!"
"He almost killed so many people, and he still dares to come back!"
"Merchants will do anything for money. Such people don't deserve to be called Yangzhou people. They're a disgrace to our city!"
A group of ordinary people started yelling and cursing at Old Master He.
"The woman next to Old Master He looks like Lady Sui!"
"What 'Sui Gongren'? She should be called 'Sui Shuren' now. She was promoted to the third rank a few days ago and held a grand banquet in Dahe Town!"
"Those poisonous crayfish were bred by Lady Sui, weren't they? To make money and gain merit, she's playing with the lives of ordinary people like us. What right does she have to be a third-rank Lady Sui!"
"The poisoned person is on the verge of death in Yangzhou, yet Lady Sui is holding a grand banquet for guests. Is this how officials treat human life so lightly!"
"Sui Shuren, get out of Yangzhou! We Yangzhou people don't welcome you!"
"..."
It's unclear who started it, but suddenly someone began throwing rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs at Cheng Wanwan and Grandpa He's faces.
Cheng Jia and Cheng Yi immediately stepped forward and shielded Cheng Wanwan behind them, as the rotten vegetable leaves fell on their heads.
Cheng Wanwan narrowed her eyes.
She was, after all, a lady of the imperial court. Even if she had committed heinous crimes, these common people would never dare to treat her like this in public.
Moreover, she had never been to Yangzhou City before, and these ordinary people probably had no chance to go to Dahe Town. In other words, no one present should have been able to recognize her identity.
Someone deliberately gave her a hard time.
She looked at the crowd in front of her. At the front stood a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties, dressed in coarse cloth. He was from the bottom of Yangzhou and would never have the spare money to go to a restaurant to eat the limited-edition mantis shrimp. Since he hadn't eaten the mantis shrimp, why was he so angry?
Moreover, this person kept creating momentum and inciting the crowd to become even more agitated.
She said coldly, "Cheng Jia, arrest him, just arrest him."
To make an example of someone, one chicken is enough.
Cheng Jia accepted the order, leaped up, jumped to the front of the crowd, grabbed the middle-aged man by the collar, threw him to the ground, and then stepped on the man's back.
"To attack a court lady in public is a grave offense of disrespect!" Cheng Jia roared. "Anyone who dares to lay a hand on her will be guilty of the same crime!"
He raised his foot sharply and stomped on the man's hand, causing the man to let out a shrill scream.
The onlookers were so frightened that they all took a step back.
The man shouted, "Murder! Sui Shu-ren has murdered someone! The officials are treating human life like dirt..."
Cheng Jia bent down, about to make another move, when Cheng Wanwan walked over.
She said coldly, "You're so angry, it seems someone in your family had an accident after eating crayfish. Tell me, when did it happen?"
"My mother ate a crayfish seven or eight days ago and started vomiting and having diarrhea. She's still unconscious in bed now," the man shouted. "You, Sui Shuren, are only interested in making money and gaining merit, disregarding the lives of ordinary people. I don't even know if my mother will survive..."
Cheng Wanwan coldly took out the booklet: "Seven or eight days ago, a total of twenty-seven people at the Yangzhou Aoxia Restaurant showed symptoms of poisoning, of whom only three were women. The oldest woman was not even forty years old. Is this your mother?"
The man suddenly paused, and that brief pause was enough for anyone to conclude that he had just been lying.
Some people around recognized the man.
"Isn't he that scoundrel who hangs out at casinos all the time? His mother was driven to her death by him more than ten years ago, okay?"
"Has he lost his mind, daring to take advantage of the chaos to extort money from Sui Shuren?"
"This time they've really bitten off more than they can chew!"
Hearing the surrounding whispers, Cheng Wanwan became even more certain of her guess. Her voice grew colder: "You pretended to be a victim and publicly attacked a noblewoman of the imperial court. If you're sent to the authorities, you'll first get thirty lashes, and then you'll be severely punished—either imprisoned for more than ten years or exiled..."
The man turned pale with fright and immediately knelt on the ground, begging for mercy: "Sui Shuren, I know I was wrong, please forgive me... I'm a little short on cash, I just wanted to take this opportunity to make some money to spend. Anyway, Sui Shuren didn't lose anything, please forgive me..."
As he spoke, he secretly backed away, trying to slip into the crowd.
Seeing his little actions, Cheng Wanwan did not stop him, but gave Cheng Jia a look.
There must be someone behind this hoodlum. Letting him go is the only way to find out who he's been in contact with. She needs to find out as soon as possible who's behind this mess.
I initially thought it was just some minor squabble among the villagers, but after arriving here, I realized it might actually be a powerful force...
She let the thugs run away before looking up at the crowd of onlookers.
When they saw her gaze sweep over them, the crowd that had been shouting just moments before began to retreat in fear.
"I came to Yangzhou this time to give everyone an explanation," she said. "Anyone who has health problems because of crayfish, even if it's just a slight cough or discomfort, can register at the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce, and I will handle it for them one by one."
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