"What kind of bastard are you? You took over my Zhou family's restaurant and even tried to chop off the heads of my Zhou family members. If you don't give us the secret recipe, we torture you every day to extract confessions. Let me tell you, my whole family is out of jail, and we even got rid of that prefect who harmed innocent people. If anyone's going to be chopped off, it'll be your heads." Zhou Erfu finished cursing and stomped his foot hard, wishing he could stomp the old bastard to death.
"Heh heh, you..." Old Master Lai wanted to say something, but because his chest was being trampled and he couldn't breathe, he couldn't speak and could only let out broken groans.
Zhou Erfu gave a sinister sneer, "Surprised? Did you think my entire Zhou family was doomed? Let me tell you, it's not that easy. You rotten maggots are still alive, so how can we be? We'll take back this restaurant, and we'll take back this house. How can we let thieves take over our Zhou family's property?"
At this moment, Zhou Wufu squeezed through the crowd and shouted, "Make way, everyone! The government will be here soon to clear Meizhoulou's name. There's nothing wrong with the wine and food at Meizhoulou. The reason someone died that day was because someone deliberately poisoned the wine. It was this Lai and Yi who conspired with that Prefect Zheng to frame the Zhou family."
My eldest and third brothers didn't cheat in the imperial examinations; they passed on their own merits. That prefect had a grudge against my Zhou family and deliberately framed my two brothers. The other day, officials from the imperial court came and investigated the matter thoroughly. Prefect Zheng has been dismissed from his post and imprisoned. All of you villagers can go to the yamen to hear the trial.”
"Is it true? The newly appointed prefect at the beginning of the year is such a villain, deliberately framing others and settling personal scores. His character is so bad. If he is not brought down this time, the people of Nanyang Prefecture will suffer in the future."
"Just wait, didn't they say the government would come to clear Mei Zhou Lou's name soon, and then the truth would come out?"
"It is said that Meizhou Tower must have a powerful backer, otherwise why would the government go to the trouble of speaking up for it? The person behind it must be even more powerful than the prefect, and should not be underestimated."
The crowd began whispering amongst themselves, each offering their own opinion.
Xingxing and Zhulin stood at the back of the crowd for a while. After listening to Zhou Wufu finish speaking, they turned around and looked at Qingyan and Qingluo. The two female guards then gave a wink to the officers who had been waiting in the alley not far away.
The night before, apart from Zheng Wenxin and his confidants being imprisoned, the other officials were not dealt with. After all, these yamen runners were just following orders, and it was impossible to kill all the officials. As long as they had not done anything wrong or killed anyone, they could be spared.
When the new prefect takes office, he will need manpower to help with his work; we can't leave him with an empty government office.
The officials were also quite shrewd. Knowing that the people who had taken down Prefect Zheng were sent by the imperial court, they immediately made it clear that they were not Prefect Zheng's men, but merely officials of the prefectural government. They would obey whoever was the prefect, and now that Zheng Wenxin had been dismissed from his post, they would obey the imperial court.
Upon receiving the order, the officers immediately strode toward Meizhou Tower, squeezing into the crowd and shouting as they went, "Make way, this is official business, all irrelevant people please make way."
The crowd quickly made way for the officials to pass. Then, two constables posted a notice on the wall next to Meizhou Tower. Next, a constable holding a gong struck the gong and read a word from the notice.
Nowadays, most people are illiterate and have never been to school. When the yamen runners read it aloud, everyone immediately knows what it says. There's no need to crowd around to read it or ask someone who can read to help translate it.
The notice stated that Zhou Dafu and Zhou Sanfu had not cheated on their exams, and that the food and wine at Meizhoulou had not poisoned anyone. It was all the work of the prefect and the Lai and Yi families, who were deliberately framing them. The evidence was now conclusive, and the culprits could not deny it. The two young masters of the Zhou family should be reinstated, and the Zhou family's restaurant and house should be returned in full. This was almost exactly what Zhou Wufu had just said.
"Unexpectedly, the matter took a dramatic turn, and the culprit turned out to be the newly appointed prefect."
“I’ve suspected something was amiss for a long time. Meizhoulou has been open for almost four years now, and so many people have eaten its wine and dishes without any problems. If there were to be a problem, it would have happened long ago. Why did someone die from eating it just a few years later? We’ve picked and eaten bayberries and mulberries when they’re in season, and no one has ever died from them.”
"Not necessarily. People in our village have died from eating them. For example, some people ate bayberries with the pits on. They ate too many and their stomachs swelled up and they couldn't digest them, so they died from the bloating. And mulberries, I heard that snakes and insects like to eat them after they ripen, and they will spray venom on the fruit. You have to wash them thoroughly before eating them if you pick them from the mountain, otherwise you'll be unlucky and die from snake venom."
“What you said makes sense. Many snakes and insects like to eat the fruit trees on the mountain. Many people have seen snakes coiled on the branches and flicking their tongues when they go to pick fruit. It’s normal for them to spray venom.”
Xingxing listened with great interest, and even wanted to join in the conversation, but when the official finished reading the notice and banged the gong a few times, he snapped Xingxing back to reality.
Once the officials had completed their task, they announced loudly, "That's how it is. Everyone knows that Mei Zhoulou was framed, and the Zhou family is innocent. The truth has come out. Now that you've seen the show, you can all leave."
After being chased away by the yamen runners, the onlookers had no choice but to disperse, still feeling unsatisfied.
The bailiffs took Master Lai and all his servants to the yamen, and Meizhou Tower finally became quiet.
Xingxing followed several of the brothers into the restaurant. Seeing the completely changed decorations and layout, the three brothers, Zhou Erfu, Zhou Sifu, and Zhou Wufu, gritted their teeth in anger.
"It's only been a month, and look what they've done to our restaurant! They've really seized other people's property without a second thought. These heartless bastards!" Zhou Erfu started cursing again.
Xingxing and Zhu Lin went upstairs together for a quick look around and then came back down.
"It seems that the Lai family spent a lot of money renovating the restaurant. The upstairs private rooms are decorated with great artistic conception, and even the tables and chairs have been replaced with the best ones. Putting aside that old scoundrel Lai, the downstairs area is also quite well decorated." Xingxing sincerely felt that the Lai family had good taste. No wonder their ancestors had been running restaurants for generations; they were truly experts.
Zhou Erfu was taken aback. He scratched his head and said, "Okay, how come I can't see that?"
"It's okay if Second Brother can't tell. As long as the customers like it, that's all that matters. Don't worry about the renovations. Let's close the restaurant and go back." We can't reopen for the next few days; we'll have to wait a while.
"The Lai family is preparing to open for business today. They bought a lot of meat and vegetables, as well as wine. The bayberry wine and mulberry wine are still our family's stock. They don't know anything about wine; it's no wonder they can't brew them. We will never give them the secret recipe." Otherwise, how could the Zhou family have been beaten so badly in prison?
The wine could be left for now, but the meat, vegetables, and grains in the kitchen couldn't be kept for long. The three brothers packed everything up and took it all back.
Looking at the three baskets full of meat, Xingxing exclaimed, "So much meat! We won't need to buy any meat for the next few days!"
A basket of chickens, ducks, and geese; a basket of pork; a basket of wild game—everyone's in for a treat today!
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