Wan Suizhou stood to one side, his gaze fixed on Magistrate Cao, then on Zhang Xiu and He Yong beside him.
Zhang Xiu frowned slightly, feeling Wan Suizhou's gaze, and couldn't help but step forward, saying politely, "Magistrate, I have made a discovery today, but I don't know if I should speak of it."
Magistrate Cao paused for a moment, then waved his hand, "I'm here today to investigate the fishing matter. If you have any clues, please speak freely."
These words gave Zhang Xiu a lot of confidence. She pursed her lips and said, "I just went to the beach and happened to find that the fish were all gathering in one place. When I went to chase after them, I found..."
"Someone deliberately scattered bait to lure these fish over."
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Cao's expression changed drastically, and he slammed his fist on the table in anger, exclaiming, "How could this be!"
"How could there be such a wicked person in our Hailan Village? What kind of thoughts could drive someone to do something like this?"
The magistrate of Cao County was furious. In this small fishing village, most people made their living by fishing and shrimp catching.
Wouldn't that cut off someone else's livelihood?
“Magistrate Cao, don’t listen to just one woman’s story. If she did something wrong, it was probably intentional, and she’s trying to escape and get compensation from our restaurant.”
The man in brocade robes stepped forward and began to speak as well.
If what she said is true, and that group of people bumped into her, they probably would have left long ago.
Even if we chase after them now, Magistrate Cao probably won't find anything.
Judging from the man in the brocade robe, his voice was full of energy.
As Baili Wanwan listened, seeing the magistrate's hesitant expression, she rolled her big eyes around a few times and said, "If you don't believe me, Uncle Magistrate, you can go and check it out. Then the truth will come out, won't it?"
She intentionally used water to entangle those people, which conveniently left behind evidence.
Upon hearing Baili Wanwan's innocent words, Magistrate Cao couldn't help but relax. "Yes, then I'll listen to you and go take a look!"
The man in brocade robes frowned and stared intently at Baili Wanwan.
He really hadn't expected that this little girl was so clever, knowing how to lead Magistrate Cao in that direction.
However, his subordinates weren't stupid; they should have left long ago.
The man in brocade took a breath and said in a deep voice, "Since the young lady has said so, Magistrate Cao may go and investigate. I do not wish to be slandered like this. Please, Magistrate, clear our name."
Magistrate Cao nodded and walked out, followed by the two groups of people inside the room.
As soon as they stepped out the door, Magistrate Cao sent several constables with men to surround them in the nearby sea before quickly heading to the beach to investigate.
A group of people who had fallen into the sea at the beach finally managed to break free from the seawater and climb ashore. They saw the county magistrate walking towards them from afar, and they were all terrified.
"W-why would the magistrate come?"
They had just climbed ashore, looking like drowned rats, and were terrified.
The man in brocade robes who followed him changed his expression.
"Run! Get out to sea!" someone shouted, as if giving everyone a way out. The group exchanged glances and then jumped into the sea one by one.
Baili Wanwan, who was following closely behind, frowned slightly. These big bad guys!
She secretly exerted her power and summoned two whales, which leaped up and blocked the path of those people.
"whale!"
The group was terrified and stood on the shore, unsure of what to do, looking at each other in a panic.
"Guards, seize them!"
Magistrate Cao stood with his hands behind his back, beckoning to the constables behind him, and soon they had the men under control.
They were all bound and knelt before Magistrate Cao, crying, "Magistrate, spare our lives! Magistrate, spare our lives!"
"Do you all know your crimes? The witnesses and evidence are right before your eyes. How can you deny them?"
Magistrate Cao shouted sternly, which frightened the kneeling people so much that they begged for mercy repeatedly.
"If you want leniency, tell me who ordered this!" Magistrate Cao's voice boomed as he glared at the men on the ground. "If you don't want to, take them away and throw them in jail!"
"Magistrate, spare my life! I'll talk, I'll talk!"
After just a few threats, some people backed down and confessed that the restaurant owner had done it intentionally. "The restaurant owner told us to do it. We were just doing our job for money. We didn't have any bad intentions at all!"
"Yes, yes, please investigate thoroughly, magistrate."
The kneeling people hurriedly kowtowed, terrified like startled birds.
"Why did the restaurant owner order you to do this?" Magistrate Cao was confused upon hearing this.
If the restaurant and Wanjia have a cooperative relationship, there's no need to resort to such methods.
"Magistrate, you are unaware of this. The restaurant owner is jealous of the Wan family's booming business and doesn't want to keep buying from them, thus allowing them to profit. So, he plans to control the fish population..."
The magistrate was taken aback by what he said.
Upon hearing this, the Wan family members who had followed behind clenched their fists, their anger rising. "You paid us, and you do such a heartless thing? Aren't you afraid of retribution?"
The group of people heard the reprimand but dared not utter a word in response. They knelt there, stunned, awaiting the magistrate's judgment.
"How did you attract the fish?" Magistrate Cao continued to ask.
"That bait is special; it has a deadly attraction for fish and shrimp, so fish and shrimp from the nearby waters are lured here."
The man confessed everything and looked at Magistrate Cao in fear. "That's all. Please, Magistrate Cao, spare us. We really only took the money; the idea was entirely from the restaurant!"
Zhang Xiu, who was behind him, became even angrier after hearing everything.
She never imagined that the restaurant would behave this way, willing to put thousands of families to death for a little personal gain.
For fishermen, fish are their lifeline.
This not only cut off the livelihood of Wanjia, but also had a great impact on the villagers of Hailan Village!
“The restaurant was unethical and unjust first, so I think there’s no need to continue this contract!” Zhang Xiu took out the contract he had signed with the hotel from his pocket and tore it in half with force.
That wasn't all. She tore the contract to pieces bit by bit, finally letting out a sigh of relief. "I hereby declare that, from this moment on, the contract between our Wan Family Seafood Restaurant and the restaurant is null and void."
"You unilaterally broke the contract, so you should compensate our restaurant. Otherwise, the loss of supplies will affect our business significantly!"
The man in brocade shouted, but at this moment he couldn't care less about anything else and could only start by talking about the Wan family breaking the contract.
After all, most of their men had been arrested, so explaining the bait incident would definitely be impossible.
"Whether Wanjia Seafood Restaurant should pay compensation or not, I think the magistrate has already made up his mind."
Zhang Xiu ignored the man who had caused trouble for no reason and walked up to Magistrate Cao. "I beg you, Magistrate, to do justice for everyone. The Wan family is just one of many fishermen. This time, it is not only the Wan family that has been wronged, but also many other fishermen."
Magistrate Cao nodded. "Of course. I declare that the restaurant breached the contract first, therefore the Wan family is not required to compensate the restaurant in any way!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com