Meng Zhao comforted Huang Cui, telling her not to panic. After the two returned, Meng Zhao first asked her to inquire about the Zhongyong Marquis's residence. Then, she took out the contents of the box herself, not daring to show them on her face, but only testing them on her hand.
The counterfeit loose powder has a rough texture, a pale color, and is difficult to apply, resulting in a patchy appearance. The eyebrow pencil also has a dull color and a loose texture, which is far less delicate and even than the genuine product.
After examining them one by one, Meng Zhao discovered that although these things were made in imitation of hers, they were only similar in appearance, and completely different in other aspects. It seemed that the recipe had not been leaked, but was simply copied from her work.
She breathed a slight sigh of relief, but her heart tightened again. The quality of the counterfeit was so poor that selling just one set would ruin her reputation, which was infuriating.
Just as Meng Zhao was thinking about how to resolve the situation, Huang Cui returned from outside. From her, Meng Zhao roughly learned what had happened.
It turned out that a few days ago, people went to the Jingzhao Prefecture to report cases. First, several families cried and said that their men had gone to work at the Marquis's mansion, but when the agreed time was up, they did not see them return. The Marquis's mansion insisted that they had left. Others said that their daughters had been sold into servitude to work at the Marquis's mansion. Now they had saved enough money to redeem their daughters, but the Marquis's mansion refused.
The Prefect of the Capital was reluctant to take on such a thorny case involving powerful figures, but there were so many people reporting it that he had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept it.
Just two days after taking on the case, another report came in that a body had been found in the back mountain of Qingxi Villa. The Prefect of the Capital sent people to investigate and indeed found a body. It was dressed in the clothes of a servant of the Marquis's mansion and had been dead for about ten days. It was speculated that the body was buried too shallow and was dug up by wild animals in the mountains, which is why it was discovered.
During the search for the bodies, they discovered that the hunting dogs they had brought were extremely agitated. Guided by the dogs, they dug in several more places, and as soon as they started digging, they unearthed several more bodies, some of which were already skeletons and their clothes had rotted away, indicating that they had been dead for more than two or three years.
When faced with such a case, the Jingzhao Prefecture did not dare to act on its own and immediately reported it to the Dali Temple. The Dali Temple sent people to investigate and found several corpses, including men and women. The youngest was only a teenager and the oldest was just over twenty. Moreover, judging from the remaining fabric of their clothes, they were all wearing the clothes of servants of the Marquis's mansion.
Once the case was exposed, within a few days, the Imperial Censorate's memorials nearly filled the emperor's desk, all impeaching the Marquis of Zhongyong for abusing his servants.
Although servants could be bought and sold at this time, the law was strict, and masters were not allowed to abuse or kill their servants at will. Even if a servant had made a mistake, it had to be reported to the government for handling. If a master killed a servant, he would be punished according to the severity of the circumstances and could be sentenced to caning, imprisonment or exile.
Because the case involved the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion, the news had been kept from her. If a princess hadn't mentioned it, she probably wouldn't have known.
With so many people dead and so many censors watching, it's unlikely to end well. However, she was curious about how it was such a coincidence that the case was brought up right after the princess and she fell into the water. She didn't have enough power to get involved in the case, so she could only ask Huang Cui to keep an eye on the outside news.
That day, Meng Zhao was discussing the tea menu after the opening of Mingxianglou with several tea masters. People in the capital have seen all kinds of fine things, especially tea, which can show status, so it cannot be taken lightly. Just then, Huang Cui rushed in and said, "Manager, manager!"
Meng Zhao quickly put down his teacup and helped her up, "What's wrong? Why are you so anxious?"
Huang Cui, panting heavily, said, "Master and Madam, they're back! They're on their way home! I ran to tell you!"
Upon hearing this, Meng Zhao quickly put down his teacup. "This Jade Leaf Everlasting Spring tea is indeed excellent. Add it to the tea menu first, and I'll try the rest tomorrow." Before he finished speaking, he had already pulled Huang Cui out of the private room.
The two rode at breakneck speed and finally arrived home before Meng Dashan and Xu Yunrong. Meng Zhao had just straightened his clothes when he heard the sound of horses' hooves in the distance. He saw his parents riding tall horses at the front of the procession and was immediately overjoyed. He waved his arms and shouted, "Father! Mother! I'm here!"
Xu Yunrong spotted her daughter at a glance and excitedly straightened up on her horse, waving vigorously: "Zhaozhao!!!" However, this action accidentally pinched the horse's belly, and the horse neighed in pain, raising its front hooves high.
"Ah!" Xu Yunrong exclaimed, her body jerking backward as if she was about to slip off the horse. Fortunately, Meng Dashan spurred his horse forward in time, grabbed the reins in Xu Yunrong's hand, and steadied her from behind, preventing her from falling.
Meng Zhao's heart skipped a beat at the unexpected turn of events. She rushed forward and grabbed the horse's bit: "Mother! Are you alright?"
Xu Yunrong, still shaken, patted her chest, then smiled brightly: "It's alright, it's alright! I just wanted to show you my heroic figure on horseback, but I almost embarrassed myself."
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