Chapter 147 Secret Recipe
Lu Yao flipped the copper coin in her hand and calculated that the cloth bag in the girl's hand contained a secret recipe for a sauce.
"This is what Father left us!" The girl's voice was hoarse, but her words were firm and resolute. "Father made the sauce himself, and his name is clearly written on the land deed of the house!"
The leading old woman sneered, "You little slut, you dare to talk back! Your father, a mere illegitimate son, dares to monopolize the Jiang family's secret recipe?"
Lu Yao heard the girl's angry rebuke, her voice trembling with tears: "This secret recipe was perfected by my father after more than three hundred trials! When he left the Jiang family at the age of seventeen, he didn't even have a decent winter coat!"
The leading old woman's eyes flashed with malice. "You little slut, how dare you talk nonsense! Your father didn't take any other gold or silver treasures because he took the most precious secret formula!"
“When my father first started this business, everyone in the Jiang family looked down on him and cursed him for degrading himself to be a cook. How could the secret recipe possibly be from the Jiang family? They were just jealous when they saw my father’s business prosper and he bought a new house!”
A man grinned menacingly and said, "You say your father came up with the recipe? What proof do you have? Our Jiang family has proof. Look, this is the original recipe for the sauce."
He pulled a roll of yellowed parchment from his pocket: "The recipe is written in black and white on this paper, and there's even the old master's private seal as proof!"
Lu Yao stared intently at the paper; the ink was barely visible on the surface, and the inkpad was so fresh it was almost blinding.
Just as she was about to expose him, the girl spat in the man's face: "Pah! You dare to try and extort money with a fake!"
"You've gone too far! How dare you treat your uncle like this!"
The man flew into a rage and raised his hand, the slap sending a sharp whistling sound through the air.
Lu Yao was young and impetuous, how could she tolerate such bullying behavior?
She waved her sleeve, and the man felt as if his wrist had been struck by lightning. He screamed and pulled his hand back.
Even more terrifying, the parchment in his hand suddenly burst into a ghostly blue flame and burned to ashes in the blink of an eye.
"Demon, sorcery!"
The man retreated in fear, then suddenly lunged to snatch the cloth bag from Jiang Peiling's arms, shouting, "You little bitch, it must have been you who did this!"
Jiang Peiling was tackled to the ground, but she managed to pin the cloth bag down under her body.
Lu Yao's heart tightened.
She had intended to discourage the other party, but instead, she provoked the villain to become even more ruthless.
"stop!"
The clear, cold voice, carrying with it spiritual energy, reverberated, causing everyone present to tremble.
Lu Yao stepped forward slowly, her blue Taoist robe fluttering even without wind.
"Where did this quack Taoist come from?" Granny Jiang shrieked. "It's none of the outsiders' business how we discipline our own family!"
Lu Yao lightly stroked the peach wood sword at her waist and sneered, "Occupying private homes, forging documents, bullying the elderly and widowed—is this how you treat your own people?"
More and more neighbors gathered to watch.
They whispered among themselves and pointed at each other, but no one dared to step forward to help.
Some shook their heads and sighed, while others looked reluctant, but they all just stood silently to the side.
Jiang Peiling kept her back straight the whole time, but when Lu Yao spoke up for her, the girl's strong will finally cracked.
Her eyes reddened, and her voice trembled slightly: "Sister... thank you for speaking up for us. But the Jiang family has always been arrogant and vicious, I'm afraid..."
Lu Yao's lips curled into a dangerous smile: "Fierce?"
She slowly drew the peach wood sword from her waist. "That'll be a good opportunity for them to see what true ferocity is."
The peach wood sword was drawn.
With a slight turn of her wrist, Lu Yao's sword flashed like a dragon as it weaved among the Jiang family members.
The wooden sword appeared blunt and light, but when it struck, it seemed to carry immense force, causing the old women and men to roll on the ground, wailing in agony.
"Ouch! My back!"
"What kind of sorcery is this witch using?!"
"Jiang Peiling, you little bitch, how dare you hire such a wicked person to deal with your elders!"
Uncle Jiang was the most disheveled; he rolled around in the mud, clutching his head, his long robe covered in mud.
As he dodged the sword flashes, he angrily shouted, "This is outrageous! I'm going to the authorities to report you!"
"Alright! Let's go to the yamen and get to the bottom of this!"
Lu Yao's clear voice echoed through the street. She made a hand seal with her fingertips, and several golden lights wrapped around the wrists of the Jiang family members like serpents.
Those golden lights, though seemingly delicate, rendered the several strong men unable to move no matter how much they struggled, and they could only stagger along as they were led away.
Pedestrians on the street stopped to watch as a girl in a blue Taoist robe hummed an unknown tune, holding several glittering golden "ropes" in her hands, followed by a string of pale-faced men and women.
Some children curiously tried to reach out and touch the golden light, but were hurriedly pulled back by their parents.
Upon arriving at the county government office, Jiang Peiling took a deep breath, picked up the drumsticks, and struck the grievance drum heavily.
The dull drumbeat startled a flock of sparrows under the eaves and drew out a yawning yamen runner.
"Your Excellency is wise!"
Upon entering the courtroom, Uncle Jiang collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, “This witch not only beat up our elders, but also burned our family’s secret sauce recipe!”
The magistrate squinted his sleepy eyes, his gaze lingering for a moment on Lu Yao's Taoist robe, then sweeping over the simple clothes of Jiang Peiling and her daughter.
He stroked his beard and said slowly, "Family matters are the hardest to settle..."
Lu Yao's heart tightened as she realized she had acted too impulsively.
Although she burned the fake recipe, she also lost the evidence.
The Jiang family insists that the recipe is a family heirloom, and now there is no way to prove it.
Lu Yao then realized her mistake. She hadn't considered the consequences carefully; she only thought about burning the fake one to vent her anger on Jiang Peiling's behalf.
She learned her lesson.
The magistrate stroked his goatee, his cloudy eyes darting between the Jiang family and Jiang Peiling and her daughter, before choosing to play both sides.
"In my opinion, since the sauce recipe is made by the Jiang family, why don't you two families share it? Jiang Peiling is still young, so it's only right that the elders of the clan help manage the business."
A glint flashed in Uncle Jiang's eyes, and he immediately cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency is wise! We only wanted to help our niece run the business; we had absolutely no intention of taking it over!"
As he spoke, he stole glances at the oil paper package in Jiang Peiling's arms, and his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.
Lu Yao coldly observed the greedy faces of this group of people.
The Jiang family did indeed have a member who passed the imperial examination, but by this generation, they had squandered most of their ancestral property.
The annual income from those few estates was barely enough for them to maintain a decent standard of living, but to buy a new house like Jiang Zhiming was just wishful thinking.
"My lord!" Jiang Peiling's voice trembled with anxiety. "My father was kicked out of the house when he was seventeen. This sauce is his..."
"Shut up!" Uncle Jiang suddenly shouted, "Your father's life was given to him by the Jiang family!"
When he turned to the magistrate, he put on a fawning smile. “Your Excellency does not know, but my niece has been unruly since she was a child. If we let her run wild, I’m afraid she will squander her father’s hard work.”
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