Chapter 19
Yu Wan told everyone to continue eating, and then went to Mr. Chen and the others.
Mr. Chen, with his honest and simple appearance, grinned broadly. "Madam Yu, I was truly blind to your greatness yesterday. If it weren't for Young Master Jin's explanation, I wouldn't have known you were the owner of the restaurant that's been causing such a stir in the whole county lately. I've been wanting to come to your restaurant to taste your delicious food for a long time, and today my wish has finally come true, hahaha..."
To cover her swollen face, Madam Wan wore even heavier makeup today and looked even more uncomfortable. When she saw Yu Wan looking at her, she forced a fawning smile.
"Haha... Madam Yu, I'm so sorry about yesterday."
The other couple didn't seem to be under much pressure; seeing their friend embarrassed, they offered to help them out.
"Madam Yu, what are your restaurant's signature dishes? And your menu wall is so unique! I've never seen anyone turn a menu into a mural before. It's both beautiful and practical. It's really interesting."
Seeing that they really didn't intend to cause trouble, Yu Wan felt a little more at ease.
"Mr. Chen, Mrs. Wan, we're all in business, let's pretend what happened before never happened. Mr. Chen gave me a discount yesterday, so today I'll give you a free grilled fish. As for our signature dishes, you can order a few lamb skewers and grilled gluten, and the rest is up to your own taste."
He Jing walked over and glanced at her, casting an inquiring look in his eyes.
Yu Wan gave him a look as if nothing had happened, and smiled as she spoke to the others.
"If there's anything else you'd like to add, just let my waiter know. I'm going to get back to the kitchen now, excuse me."
Yu Wan secretly breathed a sigh of relief after turning around. The restaurant had just started operating, and she didn't want any negative incidents to occur. It would be best to resolve things peacefully.
Guests came in waves, and left satisfied, carrying their packed bags.
Not long after, an official came to the shop and found Yu Wan, saying that the magistrate's daughter wanted to eat barbecue and ordered her to make it immediately and give it to this person to take back.
Yu Wan frowned slightly, "But this place is dozens of miles away from the county town. Even if we ride at full speed, it will be cold by the time it reaches Miss Zhu's hands. Even if we reheat it, it won't taste as good as freshly baked."
The man was of ordinary appearance, dressed in official attire, and appeared extremely impatient, speaking in a harsh tone as he loudly rebuked:
"Enough with the nonsense! Just do as Miss says and hand it over to me. If you delay Miss from enjoying her meal and upset her, can you take responsibility for that?"
Yu Wan's eyes narrowed, and a sense of wariness arose in her heart. "Excuse me, are you really sent by Miss Zhu to pick up the skewers?"
The man became even angrier, took out his waist token, and then took out a jade hairpin from his pocket. "I am an official of the county government. This is the hairpin that the young lady likes to wear the most. You should have seen it before."
Yu Wan's gaze fell on the two items. It was hard to say whether the waist tag was real or fake, but the hairpin definitely belonged to Zhu Zhifeng.
"Please wait a moment, sir, I'll prepare right away."
A short while later, Yu Wan took out two thickly wrapped packages.
"Sir, this is for Miss Zhu, and the other one is for you. You must be tired from your journey, so please have something to eat along the way."
The officer responded coldly, turned and left, then mounted his horse and disappeared.
Yu Wan stood at the entrance of the restaurant, gazing at the person's gradually disappearing figure, her gaze lingering for a long time.
Suddenly, He Jing appeared beside her and asked in a deep voice:
"what's on your mind?"
Yu Wan looked worried and her thoughts were in disarray. "I have a feeling that something is about to happen."
I can't quite put my finger on where this feeling comes from, but I just feel a sense of unease in my heart.
After being attacked by a pack of wolves, everything went calm. She had no chance to investigate the matter, and the other party did not make any further moves. The whole thing was eerily calm, but she felt that things could not be that simple.
She was certain that on New Year's Eve, the other party had not only warned her, but truly wanted to kill her. If it weren't for He Suzhi's appearance, she would probably have become food for the wolves long ago.
The group was so busy that their feet barely touched the ground, and when they looked up, they realized it was already dark.
After finishing work, Yu Wan returned to her room and tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. She finally managed to doze off briefly as dawn approached.
Suddenly, a series of urgent knocks on the door startled them awake.
"Officers are investigating a case, open the door at once!"
Yu Wan's heart tightened. Had someone discovered that she had taken in He Suzhi?
She hurriedly dressed and went out, only to find He Jing standing at the door with a solemn expression.
"Why aren't you running away? They're here to get you."
He Jing looked at her with a complicated expression. "If they're going to arrest me, they won't send ordinary officials."
Yu Wan's face paled. "You mean... you've come to arrest me?"
The mother and younger brother usually didn't offend anyone, so naturally no one would bother them.
Her heart sank, but then her expression cleared, and a smile naturally appeared on her cherry lips.
"So this is where you were waiting for me."
He Jing was puzzled, but the knocking on the door downstairs became more and more urgent.
What are your plans?
Yu Wan said calmly, "Please take care of my mother and younger brother these next few days, and don't let them worry."
He Jing's pupils contracted. "You're going with them? This could very well be..."
Yu Wan interrupted him, "It seems you guessed it too. I was already being watched on New Year's Eve. It makes sense, considering that my restaurant has become incredibly famous and popular throughout the county in the past two months. I've had quite a bit of an impact. You saw what happened that night; they really didn't want me to live. If you hadn't appeared and disrupted their plans, I'd probably be dead by now. They haven't taken any action lately, probably because they've been secretly observing me and my restaurant to see if we're worth taking any further action."
The people downstairs were still banging on the door frantically, as if they were about to break it down if they didn't open it soon.
"Did you hear that, people inside? If you don't come out and surrender, we'll have to use force!"
Yu's mother, wearing a coat, came out of the room. "A-Wan, what's going on outside? I hear some government officials."
Yu Cheng rubbed his eyes and followed her out. "Sister, what's wrong?"
Yu Wan reassured them, "Mother, Acheng, they must be looking for me. But don't worry, I'll definitely be back in a couple of days."
The mother and son were terrified when they heard this.
With red eyes, Yu's mother asked, "Why did they arrest you? Did someone get sick from eating our food? How could that be!"
Yu Cheng's drowsiness vanished, and he rushed over to hug his sister tightly.
"No! I don't want them to arrest my sister!"
Yu Wan reassured him for a while, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I also want to see what the person who framed me can do to me."
He Jing pursed his lips; the determination on the girl's beautiful face moved him.
Are you really sure?
Yu Wan laughed and said, "If you don't want to get involved in this mess, you don't have to stay. I won't blame you."
She didn't know what awaited her, nor what the outcome would be. She firmly believed that what was meant to come would come, and what wasn't meant to come would not come.
He Jing said in a deep voice, "I will help you secretly and will never let anything happen to you."
Yu's mother fought back tears, her voice choked with sobs, "A-Su, you should leave. Our family has suffered a disaster, so let's not drag you down with us. You saved A-Wan's life before; you are our family's benefactor. How can we let you get involved in this mess again?"
She held Yu Wan's hand, her eyes filled with kindness. "I will save my own daughter. Don't worry, Wan, I will take Cheng to beat the drum and appeal for justice, begging the magistrate to investigate the truth and clear your name!"
Yu Wan felt her mother's gaze, her eyes filled with self-reproach and a sense of guilt.
Yu's mother had always been gentle and mild-mannered, but at this moment she showed a certain strength, which made Yu Wan feel a little gratified.
"Mother, it's alright, our good days are yet to come."
Just as the officials were about to break down the door, Yu Wan and the others went downstairs and opened the door.
The two constables stood imposingly; one of them raised his waist token and shouted loudly.
"Officials are investigating! Arrest the suspect, Yu Shi Awan, and bring her back to the county office for questioning. Step forward yourself!"
Yu Wan stepped forward and said, "My lords, I am Yu Wan."
Without saying much, the two said, "Come with us!"
"Wait!" Yu Wan asked, "Please tell me, sirs, on what grounds were you arresting this young lady?"
The officer put away his badge and glared at her coldly. "Young lady, you're in big trouble. Yesterday, the magistrate's darling daughter ate food from your restaurant and was poisoned. She's been unconscious for several hours now."
"What? Ah..." Upon hearing this, Yu's mother fainted.
Yu Cheng was completely disoriented, torn between his unconscious mother and his sister who had been taken away.
"Mother! Mother! Elder sister! Elder sister!"
Yu Wan told him to take good care of his mother, then looked at He Jing and said, "They're in your care now."
He Jing nodded silently.
On the way to the county government office, Yu Wan thought she would be nervous, scared, and uneasy, but to her surprise, she slept soundly in the carriage.
Perhaps I had severe insomnia in the first half of the night, which made me too tired.
She even had a dream in which she met a girl who looked exactly like her.
The girl didn't speak, but just stayed with her silently.
Are you Awan?
The girl didn't answer, but always smiled shyly.
Yu Wan felt that she must be the original owner of this body. In the dream, she talked to her about many things: the barbecue restaurant she ran in her previous life, her life after coming to this world, and her dreams for the future.
The girl rested her chin on her hand, listening quietly, seemingly never getting tired of it.
Yu Wan felt as if she had become good friends with her.
The beautiful scene was shattered by a reprimand.
"We're here! Get out of the car! You're a pretty carefree young lady. You've gotten yourself into such a big mess, your whole family could lose their heads, and you're still able to sleep."
Yu Wan hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. In her previous life, she was so busy that she didn't have time to rest. Now that she was here, all she could think about was making money. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow at night without having any dreams.
She was taken to the magistrate's residence, where she met the magistrate and his wife with dark faces, and Jin Yifei with a worried expression.
Yu Wan knelt down and kowtowed, "This humble woman, Yu Wan, greets Your Excellency and Madam."
Just as Lord Zhu was about to ask a question, his wife interrupted him.
Madam Zhu was furious and demanded an answer in a stern voice: "Did you poison my son? I never imagined that you, at such a young age, would be so vicious. My daughter, Afeng, always asked to eat barbecue at your restaurant. She considered you a friend, and yet you repaid kindness with enmity and tried to poison her! Hand over the antidote immediately and accept your punishment!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
