Lu Yan ignored her shouting and continued eating.
The owner of the wonton stall nearby walked over and said with a smile, "You two young ladies must be from out of town. Our Lord Lu never shares a table with others when he's out. Why don't you two sit at another table?"
"There are two more tables here, please."
The boss spoke with a cheerful smile, but his attitude carried a hint of dominance.
"you--"
Just as Qiao'er was about to make a move, Chen Qingwan, who had just taken her seat, interrupted her in time: "Qiao'er, you mustn't be rude."
The two women were traveling incognito, without any guards by their side, and they were not going to cause trouble unless absolutely necessary.
Otherwise, they might not be able to return to Beijing smoothly.
Chen Qingwan got up to sit in the next seat, only to find that the previously empty tables were now full of guests, almost every seat was occupied.
"Boss, give us all a bowl of wontons too!"
"Okay!"
The owner smiled and returned to his stall, quickly preparing the wontons.
Unexpectedly, a group of people suddenly appeared and smashed the stall with a stool.
"What are you doing? Stop! Stop it now!" The boss's face changed drastically, and he hurriedly stepped forward to stop them, but was forcefully pushed away by the group.
The boss was pushed so hard that he stumbled and almost fell heavily to the ground, but was suddenly caught by a bench that appeared out of nowhere, and he fell backward onto the bench.
The situation was so chaotic that no one could see what was going on.
The tables that were previously packed are now all empty.
"You old bastard, your son owes us several hundred taels of silver. This stall was a deposit he pledged to us. So what if we smash it up?"
"Go back and bring us the several hundred taels of silver your son owes us, or we'll smash you up too!"
After smashing the stall, the burly man in the lead stepped on a stool and threatened them.
At the same time, he took out an IOU from his pocket and threw it in the boss's face.
"What?!"
"Where would I get so much silver to repay you?"
The boss listened to the burly man's words and said with a look of despair.
He could only earn a few taels of silver a day selling wontons, so where would he get hundreds of taels of silver?
"Old Lin is really pitiful. What a good person he is, how could he have such a son? It's a real tragedy."
“I recognize them. They’re from the gambling den in the next county. They’ve got some nerve coming to our Shannan County to cause trouble. They’ve got a death wish.”
"That's not how it works. Lu Qingtian can't control what's happening in the neighboring county, so of course they've become bolder."
The people were deeply saddened by the story of the wonton shop owner.
Upon hearing the boss's words, the burly man was about to say something when he suddenly noticed someone at the next table leisurely eating wontons. He immediately got up and walked over to that person.
"What are you eating for? Can't you see we've already smashed your stall?"
"Get out of here right now—"
The burly man was halfway through his sentence when he tried to snatch the bowl from the man's hand and throw it on the ground.
He tried to grab the bowl, but couldn't manage to get his hands on it!
"let go."
Lu Yan raised his eyelids expressionlessly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
He grabbed the edge of the bowl with one hand, not letting the wontons he had bought for a few coins go to waste.
"What did you say? You don't actually think I wouldn't dare hit you, do you?" The burly man was instantly enraged and released his grip on the bowl, trying to grab Lu Yan's shoulder.
But just as his hand was halfway out, Lu Yan suddenly used the chopsticks in his hand to quickly and accurately pinch his fingers and forcefully pull them down.
The ten fingers are connected to the heart.
The excruciating pain of broken bones caused a burly man with broad shoulders and a thick waist to let out a shrill, pig-like squeal.
"ah--!"
Lu Yan didn't let go of the chopsticks, and slowly picked up the bowl and ate the rest of the wontons.
Chen Qingwan was filled with admiration for his calm and composed demeanor.
When those people appeared, all the people were terrified like startled birds, but Lu Yan calmly continued eating his wontons, showing a good temperament.
Such a person is completely at odds with the impeachment memorials submitted.
"This is outrageous! We'll beat you to a pulp!"
"Brothers, charge! Beat this man up and take him back to our master for punishment. Let's see who dares to mess with us then!"
Before the shouting man could finish speaking, a bowl suddenly smashed into his forehead.
A stream of blood suddenly slid down his forehead, and the man's eyes rolled back as he fainted.
Seeing this scene, the other brothers were all intimidated and stopped in their tracks, not daring to go any further.
“I am the magistrate of Shannan County. Your attack on me is an attack on an official of the imperial court, a crime punishable by death.” Lu Yan put down his chopsticks and slowly stood up.
As he was speaking, the patrolling soldiers also arrived.
The moment the officers and soldiers saw Lu Yan, they hurriedly stepped forward, cupped their hands, and said, "We are late and have caused you alarm, sir."
"Each of them will be fined ten days' salary."
"As for how to deal with these people, I don't need to tell you, do I?"
Lu Yan punished him without any compassion, then turned and left.
The officers and soldiers had no complaints whatsoever and led the troublemakers away.
“Master, Lu Yan’s skills are not simple.”
Qiao'er watched the departing figure with a solemn expression.
Those two moves just now seemed simple and casual, but you couldn't do that kind of skill without having some martial arts background. No wonder you didn't dodge at all.
"What's going on? How dare you two address Lu Qingtian by his first name? It's incredibly rude."
An older woman standing closest to the two spoke up in dissatisfaction.
As soon as she said this, the people around her all looked over, their expressions of dissatisfaction evident.
"I..." Qiao'er was speechless.
She was a female official serving His Majesty, holding the fourth rank, which was higher than Lu Yan's, so why couldn't she address him by his name?
Unfortunately, the empress was unwilling to reveal her identity, and she was also unable to explain her own identity. Wasn't she in a situation where she couldn't speak out?
"If you don't respect Lu Qingtian, we don't welcome you either. Please leave our Shannan County!" The old woman snorted coldly, her expression full of resentment.
The others echoed the old woman's words, making a move to drive the two of them out.
Qiao'er felt very aggrieved, but in the end she had no choice but to apologize: "I misspoke just now, I will not call Lord Lu by his name again."
Hearing Qiao'er's apology, the old lady and the others finally let it go.
They turned around and helped the wonton vendor tidy up his stall, comforting him that Lu Qingtian would definitely get justice for him and would never let those gambling den people continue to bully others in Shannan County.
Chen Qingwan listened to the words of reassurance from the people and immediately became curious about why they were so certain that Lu Yan would stand up for them.
Those who came to cause trouble just now were from the neighboring county.
No matter how capable Lu Yan is, he can't possibly extend his reach to the neighboring county, can he?
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