Jiang Shan remained unsettled for a long time after leaving Qingfeng Academy.
She hadn't expected that Mrs. Wu would be so open-minded. She didn't show much sympathy for her plight, nor did she hold a grudge about the unpleasant past that had befallen her. She simply said calmly that she felt very sorry.
But so what? Jiangshan is Jiangshan, and Sanlang is Sanlang. Even if Jiangshan herself is not at fault, what does it have to do with Sanlang?
She liked Sanlang's cleverness and wit, his thoughtfulness despite his young age, and his mature demeanor. She just felt sorry for Sanlang and didn't want to see the child suffer.
Unable to refuse Madam Wu's hospitality, Jiang Shan had no choice but to agree that Sanlang would stay at Madam Wu's house until they moved to town.
Having solved a major problem, Jiang Shan felt grateful and fortunate, and made up his mind to move to the town as soon as possible.
Unlike seafood with a sauce, barbecue doesn't have the word-of-mouth reputation of restaurants, and its geographical limitations make it difficult to spread the fame of skewers.
However, before the trend of barbecue and skewers could spread, Jiang Shan was unaware that she had inexplicably gotten into a lawsuit.
When the county officials came to take her to the yamen for questioning, Jiao's mother was so anxious and scared that she almost had a seizure on the spot.
Fortunately, the constables knew the name of Jiao's second son, and after comforting Jiao's mother with a few words, they took Jiangshan away.
As we left the village, the village chief's wife chased after us, jumping up and down and cursing.
Jiang Shan then learned that the seafood in the dipping sauce sold by the village chief's wife's brother had caused a death. He then implicated Jiang Shan, the unsuspecting victim, saying that there was something wrong with her dipping sauce recipe and that it had killed people.
The county government office was more than 40 li away from Huaigu Village. Although they had specially approved an oxcart for Jiangshan because she was pregnant, she still vomited the whole way due to the bumpy ride.
The baby is already three months old, and the hard flesh and bone inside Jiangshan's belly is causing him great inconvenience.
She took out all the copper coins she had to bribe the runners, asking them to slow down, as she and her child couldn't handle the workload.
The constables didn't make things difficult for her, and she returned to the county office before dark.
There was no way to conduct the trial that night. Jiang Shan was taken by the yamen runners to the prison cell where the prisoners were held. They gave her an extra old mattress that the prisoners didn't have and a cup of hot water.
There was no dinner, because it was past mealtime.
Jiang Shan had little appetite either; she sat on the mattress, trying to come up with a solution.
She can't be locked up here for too long. Even if she can handle it, the baby in her belly can't.
With Uncle Qiao looking after her, there's no need to worry about Mother for now; Sanlang is at Qingfeng Academy, and the teacher has allowed him to come home once every ten days, but he can rest for an extra half day at home. He will be back in three days, and she must go home within three days!
Jiang Shan didn't sleep a wink all night. The next day, when the yamen runners took her out, she asked for a ladle of cold water to wash her face.
She must remain sufficiently clear-headed and calm.
Inside the county government office, Magistrate Cao sat listlessly in the main hall. Below him sat the widowed plaintiff, the village chief's brother-in-law, and several villagers from Huaigu Village—the plaintiff and defendant.
The plaintiff was a woman in her forties surnamed Yin, who was currently covering her face and weeping bitterly.
When Jiang Shan was brought up, a shout of "Majesty!" rang out in the hall and lingered for a long time.
"Who goes there? State your name!" Magistrate Cao slammed his gavel and began to hear the case according to procedure.
Jiang Shan performed the greeting to the officials just like he had seen on TV, without showing the slightest sign of panic.
Magistrate Cao couldn't help but glance at Jiangshan again, and then another sharp sound of the gavel rang out.
“Jiang, Wang San confessed that your seafood dipping sauce recipe was faulty, which led to someone’s death. Do you know your crime?”
Jiang Shan cried out that she was wronged, saying that her seafood hotpot had not been sold separately to the public recently, but only to Xianyun Pavilion and Linfu Restaurant in town. She also said that the seafood had nothing to do with her from the moment it was loaded onto the mule cart and left the Jiao family, and the restaurant manager could testify to that.
Magistrate Cao immediately sent people to find the two restaurant owners.
Manager Qi and Aunt Hong arrived quickly and testified in court that Jiang Shan's words were true.
Wang San kept shouting, "That broth is the recipe she told us, and everyone in the village can testify to it!"
Jiang Shan said sarcastically, "I don't even know what recipe you're using, so how do you know mine? Just because you've eaten my seafood in soy sauce, you think you can make it yourself? Manager Qi and Manager Hong have been selling seafood in soy sauce for so long and they don't know my recipe. Who do you think you are?"
Magistrate Cao was no fool; he could tell at a glance that Wang San was just being unreasonable.
He immediately shouted, "Since you all know the recipe, it's easy. Take them away one by one to verify and see if they can tell us!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Sanli panicked and stammered, "Sir, this soup broth was made by the people of Huaigu Village themselves. I was only responsible for selling it; it has nothing to do with me!"
The villagers immediately realized that Wang San was trying to shift the blame, and they weren't going to take the fall!
"My lord, I only went to buy seafood and haven't touched it since!"
"My lord, my lord, I was responsible for cleaning. It was Xiao Wu and the others who prepared the soup. It has nothing to do with me!"
"Your Honor is wronged! Everyone in the village knows that the seasonings I used to make the soup cost a whole tael of silver! If those seasonings can kill people, then it's Old Li from the general store's fault!"
"Yes, yes, we need to find Old Li!"
"Someone, go to town and fetch Old Li from the general store..."
With a "pfft," Jiang Shan couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Magistrate Cao finally realized what was happening, and in a fit of rage, he grabbed the gavel and slammed it down, pointing at the people below and shouting, "You audacious scoundrels, still daring to argue! If you don't confess the truth, I will not let you off easily!"
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