The Su siblings paused in their tracks.
The diners in front of the stall couldn't stand still any longer and all went forward to take a look.
There, a young woman dressed in coarse cloth was sitting on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably while holding a man. The man lay stiffly on the ground, his face pale and white foam dripping from the corner of his mouth.
"What, what happened?"
"Why is it foaming at the mouth now?"
"Judging from this, it looks like he's having an epileptic seizure. Epilepsy can be fatal; we need to get a doctor here right away..."
Upon hearing this, the woman's crying abruptly stopped. "What epilepsy? My husband has never had that disease. He just ate one bite of spicy hot pot skewers and collapsed on the ground. It's clear that the hot pot was poisoned and killed my husband!"
Upon hearing this, the diners were all shocked.
The person who was stuffing the skewers into their mouth suddenly jerked their hand, and the skewers and the container fell to the ground.
Those who were almost finished eating even more subconsciously reached down to lick their throats.
"There's absolutely no way my Su Family Mala Tang could be poisonous!" Su Erhu threw down his ladle and strode towards the woman. "We've been selling Mala Tang for several days now, and we've never seen anyone get sick from eating it!"
Upon hearing this, the diners stopped gagging.
That makes sense. They just ate a dozen or so skewers, and they didn't feel uncomfortable at all. On the contrary, they felt warm all over.
"What do you mean by that?" Upon hearing this, the woman burst into tears.
"Are you saying I'm wronging you? My husband is usually a strong and healthy man, able to eat, drink, and sleep well. Hearing that your spicy hot pot tasted good, he thought he'd try a few skewers. Little did he know, it would kill him. I'm afraid that all that good taste is made with wild and dangerous ingredients!"
After saying that, she threw herself onto the man's chest and cried and wailed, tears streaming down her face.
"My dear father, why is your life so miserable? You worked hard all your life, finally saving up a few copper coins, hoping to treat me to some good food, but you died so tragically, and they won't even acknowledge it! Waaah, I have an eighty-year-old mother to support and a baby crying for milk. How am I supposed to live now..."
The mournful and sorrowful voice instantly made the somewhat skeptical diners feel sorry for the person who was listening.
Su Erhu and Su Sanhu were about to speak up when they saw such a large basin of dirty water being poured on them.
But then a girl's clear, melodious voice rang out.
"If you keep delaying like this, he'll really die!"
The woman stopped wailing, looked up at Su Hua, and her face was even more indignant. "What do you mean I delayed you? It was clearly your Su Ji Spicy Hot Pot that killed my husband. Every one of you siblings is a murderer! I'm going to sue you to the magistrate and get justice for my husband!"
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, a series of complex footsteps sounded from afar.
Three bailiffs, armed with knives, strode confidently from the alley entrance. They wore dark blue clothes, tilted corrugated hats, and had sharp knives at their waists, the tips of which gleamed coldly.
The lead constable squinted and scanned the crowd, his gaze lightly sweeping over the Su siblings.
"Someone just reported to the authorities that someone here has been poisoned to death. What happened?"
"My lord!" Upon hearing the head constable's question, the young woman immediately pointed at Su Hua and her three companions. "My lord, it's the Su siblings! It was the Su siblings' spicy hot pot that killed my husband! Please, my lord, help me get justice and arrest these wicked people to seek justice for my husband!"
Su Erhu's face darkened instantly. He quickly stuffed several skewers of spicy hot pot into his mouth, spitting out foam as he ate. "Sir, this woman is clearly talking nonsense. Our family eats it every day, and our guests eat it too. There has never been any problem. It's definitely not the fault of our spicy hot pot!"
“Yes, that’s right,” Su Sanhu chimed in. “Our hot pot soup is freshly made every day, and all the ingredients are fresh. No one gets an upset stomach, let alone dies from eating it.”
Su Dahu's eyes were deep as he clasped his hands in a fist salute to the leading constable, "Please, Your Excellency, investigate this matter thoroughly!"
The head constable didn't even look at them, and arrogantly gave the order with a wave of his hand.
"Guards, lock the Su siblings back in!"
"Yes." Upon hearing this, the two constables behind him immediately took out wooden leg irons from their bodies and rushed towards the Su siblings.
Upon seeing this, Su Dahu and the other two's expressions changed.
Seeing this scene, the diners remained as quiet as chickens, and their eyes were filled with pity as they looked at the Su siblings.
The owners of the wonton stall, sesame seed cake stall, noodle stall, and mutton soup stall opened and closed their mouths for a long time, but couldn't utter a single word. Even a seventh-rank official could be easily taken by the prime minister, and these county yamen runners could easily take their heads. They simply couldn't afford to offend them.
Just as everyone was holding their breath, a crisp, light laugh rang out.
"Hahahaha..."
Following the sound of laughter, they saw Su Hua slowly sit up from the ground, take a few steps closer to the wailing couple, and put on a cold smile on her porcelain-white face.
The head constable glanced at the smile on the girl's face, and his eye twitched almost imperceptibly for a moment.
"why are you laughing?"
The man's voice was rough, like fingernails scraping against shards of porcelain, sending a chill down the spines of everyone present.
Su Hua's smile remained unchanged as she spread her small hands, "I've never seen the world before, but now I've really opened my eyes. Wives at home wish their husbands would die quickly, and the officials in the yamen can arrest people whenever they want. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were county magistrates instead of lowly yamen runners!"
His unvarnished words sent a collective gasp through the crowd.
This young girl is truly fearless, daring to say anything.
Su Dahu and the other two quickly shook their heads at her.
“Hua’er…”
The head constable, Iron Pot, was furious. His rough voice seemed to come out from between his teeth, "If you're tired of living, just say so. I can grant your wish right now."
"Why wouldn't I want to live? The sky is so blue, the sunlight is so beautiful, and the air is so fresh. Only a fool wouldn't want to live!" Su Hua curled her lips.
She lifted her foot and stomped hard on the man's abdomen.
The sounds of vomiting, accompanied by pig-like screams, echoed through the sky.
"Ugh... Ahh ...
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