During the severe torture of Jin Dahu, he kept crying and begging. In order to avoid physical pain, he promised that he had a beautiful younger sister who could be given to Hai Shengping as a concubine.
Upon inquiry, it was discovered that Jin Dahu's sister worked at Zhao's snack shop. This presented him with an opportunity to redeem himself.
If Jin Dahu's sister can steal Zhao's recipe or the main ingredients, she can spare Jin Dahu from physical suffering and also give him 20 taels of silver as a reward.
With carrots hanging in front and a big whip urging him on from behind, Jin Dahu quickly went to tell his sister about it.
At first, Jin Ping'er disagreed. Firstly, the wages offered by the Zhao family were high, and secondly, if she were caught, she would be beaten at best, and Jin Ping'er dared not think about anything worse.
Jin Dahu slapped him across the face.
"Let me tell you, Jin Ping'er, don't you dare refuse a polite offer and end up in trouble. Your brother is in real trouble now."
You have to get this done for me, or I'll sell you to a brothel.
If you can handle this matter well, I'll put in a good word with Master Hai, and maybe he'll take you as his 21st concubine.
Look at you, cowering like a coward, you spineless coward. What are you crying about?
Do you think I'm wronging you? Look how hard our mother is suffering.
I'm exhausted from morning till night, and I'm always hungry and cold.
Have you ever thought about living that kind of life?
Don't think I don't know about Cheng Linzi's situation. His family is like that, with a wicked mother-in-law and dozens of people living together.
If you marry into that family, they'll eat every last bone and scrap of you.
She suffered all kinds of hardships, and her life might not even be as comfortable as her mother's. At least her mother didn't have a wicked mother-in-law to oppress her.
Have you ever thought about the days when you can't buy a nice piece of clothing for a year, two years, or even ten years, or have you ever thought about eating coarse food and wild vegetables for every meal?
Marrying Master Hai meant not only living a life of luxury, but also having a maidservant to serve you. That would truly be a life of ease, with everything done for you.
Why would you choose to be so lowly and serve others when you have a good life to live?
Thus, after being coerced, bribed, and brainwashed by her own brother, Jin Ping'er began to harbor wicked thoughts.
Jin Ping'er observed Chunru and Lamei's habits for a few days.
These two never parted with their keys; they were always hanging from their waists. When they were working, the keys would dangle from their waists.
Jin Ping'er took the inkpad given to her by Jin Dahu and, taking advantage of Chunru's inattention while she was working, quickly grabbed the key and pressed it onto the inkpad.
He then secretly gave the inkpad to Jin Dahu.
Jin Dahu made a copy of the key outside and then handed it over to Jin Ping'er.
In this way, Jin Ping'er was able to open the kitchen door smoothly and successfully carry out her first theft plan.
After interrogating Jin Ping'er, Lord Qiu really wanted to pry open the girl's head to see if it was filled with excrement.
Jin Dahu and Hai Shengping were quickly arrested.
Jin Dahu confessed everything very quickly.
Hai Shengping, however, vehemently denied the allegations, arguing that conviction requires evidence.
Lord Qiu then arrested all of Jin Dahu's so-called "brothers" overnight.
One of them, Wu San, revealed a flaw.
It turned out that after Hai Shengping had his eye on the Zhao family, he sent the shopkeeper to investigate the workers at the Zhao family's snack shop. After investigating, they found that Jin Ping'er was the best person to target.
After investigating Jin Dahu's cronies, Xu Wusan, tempted by greed, staged a scene where he openly harassed Hai Shengping's 20th concubine in the street.
Even with key witnesses testifying against him, Hai Shengping still denied the charge of instigation.
When they sent people to search the kitchen of Haiyanlou, the manager was just about to put a packet of chili powder into the stove.
Well, it's like catching him red-handed. Hai Shengping's denial doesn't mean the manager or the chefs in the kitchen are all tough nuts to crack.
Although this case poses a significant potential danger, it can only be prosecuted as theft.
Hai Shengping, as the mastermind, was sentenced to three years of hard labor and fined 50 taels of silver to compensate Zhao's snack shop.
The shopkeeper, Jin Ping'er, Jin Dahu, and others were all sentenced to two years.
When Jin Ping'er heard the final verdict, she fainted immediately.
When he woke up, he was already in prison.
When Jin Ping'er's mother heard that her son and daughter had both been imprisoned, she cried her heart out.
He kept cursing Jin Ping'er.
"A jinx, a troublemaker, she shouldn't have been born. If she had been born, she should have been drowned in a chamber pot."
Or if they had sold her to a brothel sooner, they could have at least recouped their investment. But now, this money-losing woman has dragged my son down with her…”
Finally, Jin Ping'er's mother took some of her son's clothes and went to see him.
"Son, stay safe in there, be smart, talk less, don't cause trouble, and make sure you protect yourself."
When that brat comes out, we'll sell her and then find you a wife.
For the next two years, your mother will often come to bring you food. My poor child…
Then came another barrage of curses and insults directed at Jin Ping'er.
Even though the jailers were experienced and knowledgeable, they had never seen anyone scold their own daughter like that. Fortunately, the time allowed for visiting was limited, and when the time came, they kicked Jin Ping'er's mother out.
The Zhao family received a letter from Liu Qing, which Zhao Qingyi read aloud.
When I got to the end, I couldn't help but twitch my lips.
"This Liu Qing is quite bold. He took it upon himself to decide that as long as Magistrate Qiu is in our Qingyang County, he has to pay for his meals for free. Magistrate Qiu doesn't come to the shop to eat meat skewers every day, does he?"
Huang laughed heartily upon hearing this.
“If Magistrate Qiu were to eat at our shop every day, I would be happy. He would be a free door god.”
Imagine a shop that the county magistrate patronizes every day—who would dare to mess with it? Anyone who cares about the magistrate's connections would protect us.
Besides, how much can he eat? As long as he doesn't host banquets for relatives and friends every day, we won't lose out.
Zhao Qingyi thought about it for a moment,
"Alright, we've got to say you can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. Eat up, eat as much as you want. You'll get tired of it after a few days."
This Wang Wen got to eat for free for two months, 50 skewers each time he went online. That's a bit too little, but at least he wore women's clothes for several days. Hahaha…”
Zhao Qingyi couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter.
Everyone also imagined what it would look like for a grown man to wear women's clothing.
"Liu Qing's ability to handle things is quite good. He did a great job this time, resolving the issue quickly and even finding a backer for our shop in the county. He'll get an extra two taels of silver as a bonus this month."
The Huang family made the final decision.
Liu Qing and Wang Wen, who were far away in the county town, sneezed simultaneously. Wang Wen was placing an order with Liu Qing at that moment.
"Hey bro, I'm coming over for meat skewers tonight, save some for me, I want all meat."
Liu Qing smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, don't worry, the skewers tonight will be carefully prepared with plenty of ingredients, I guarantee you'll enjoy your meal."
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