When the shopkeeper heard this, he straightened his back instantly and said to Chen Chen with a proud look, "So this vinegar was produced by you. It's useless for you to make a scene in our restaurant. Whether it is poisonous or not will be decided by the prefect."
After the shopkeeper finished speaking, the waiter in the restaurant showed a look of great contempt towards Chen Chen and the others.
At this time, the guests in the restaurant also said: "Yes, little brother, it's useless for you to make a fuss here. You should go to the prefectural government and ask the prefect."
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhen said, "No, I'm not here to cause trouble. I just came here to inform you. If your boss can help clarify the matter, then we will let bygones be bygones.
If you refuse to repent, then in the future, if you want to buy anything we produce, I will sell it to you at double the price.
I see you're still using our seasonings in a lot of your restaurant dishes. So, how are they? They should taste pretty good, right? If you still want us to sell them to you at our normal prices, that depends on what your boss does. I'll only give you time to think about it. Once you've made up your mind, please let us know before we go to the government office."
"Oh, by the way," Chen Chen said to the shopkeeper, "you'd better inform that scholar and that doctor as well. No matter what their reasons are for tarnishing the reputation of our village vinegar, I will definitely not forgive them once the matter is thoroughly investigated."
After saying this, Chen Chen didn't care about the shopkeeper's expression. He just stood up with He Sixuan in his arms and said, "Ah Shu, let's go. We might as well not stay in a restaurant where even eating fish can make you sick."
"My husband is right." He Jinshu said lightly, and then he also stood up holding He Siyi.
"Wait a minute." The shopkeeper said coldly, "You two come and go as you please. It's too easy."
"So what? Do you still want to take us in?" Chen Chen raised his eyebrows and asked deliberately.
"You two came here for no reason and made a big fuss, which had a very bad impact on our restaurant's business. If you can compensate our restaurant with 200 taels of silver, then I can let it go. Otherwise, we can only face the government." The shopkeeper said with disdain.
After hearing this, Chen Zhen said innocently, "That's a coincidence. When we first entered the city, the prefect invited us over, but we declined. I don't know how the shopkeeper wants to meet with us at the government office."
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper looked at the two of them again, as if he was considering whether what Chen Zhen said was true or false.
But Chen Chen didn't want to waste time with them here, so he just walked out of the restaurant without paying any attention to them.
Several waiters wanted to step forward to stop them, but were stopped by the shopkeeper. Seeing that the man was so arrogant, they decided to endure it and find out the details of the two men first.
After leaving the restaurant, Chen Chen and He Jinshu bought some food on the street, and then took the two children directly to a large house not far from the government office.
Chen Zhen had asked Wen Xin to rent this house in advance. Since there were many people coming this time, it would be more convenient to rent a large house.
After knocking on the door, Wen Xin inside opened it. Seeing that it was Chen Zhen coming, he quickly let them in.
After the family had a simple meal, they went back to their room to rest.
When he woke up from this sleep, it was already evening. When Chen Zhen opened his eyes, he saw He Jinshu sleeping next to him, but his two sons were nowhere to be seen.
Seeing this, Chen Chen turned over and hugged He Jinshu in his arms, then said to him, "Ah Shu, do you want us to find time to sneak out and get a room?"
He Jinshu was woken up by Chen Zhen in a daze. After hearing what Chen Zhen said, he said vaguely: "Then you might as well find a way to make them sleep separately from us."
Chen Chen stroked He Jinshu's smooth back with his hand, and after thinking for a while, he said to He Jinshu, "I've come up with a solution."
"What method?" He Jinshu asked after opening his eyes.
"Don't worry about this, let's talk about it when we get back." Chen Chen kissed He Jinshu and said.
He Jinshu ignored him upon hearing this and just waited to see what would happen to Chen Chen. He just hoped that his two sons would not hold a grudge against him.
After lying down for a while, the two of them prepared to get up and prepare dinner.
The next day at noon, Village Chief Wu and his men arrived. Seeing this, Chen Chen was surprised and asked, "How come you guys are so fast?"
I thought I would have to wait a few more days.
Village Chief Wu got off the horse with Wen Feng's help, and then said to Chen Zhen cheerfully: "I was afraid of delaying things, so I asked them to bring me here on horseback. I even learned to ride a horse for a while on the way."
"Okay, village chief, you're still strong despite your old age!" Chen Chen teased.
Village Chief Wu felt a little embarrassed by his teasing, so he pretended to be angry and said, "Go, do you know how to use words?"
After a few jokes, Chen Chen said to Village Chief Wu: "Village Chief, after dinner, you should take a rest first. We will go directly to the government office tomorrow."
Several people agreed.
The next morning, after breakfast, everyone went straight to the Luozhou government office.
Under normal circumstances, ordinary people who could not afford a lawyer had to beat drums to appeal for justice in order to get the government to help them hear the case.
However, today He Jinshu directly served as the lawyer for Village Chief Wu, so they only needed to submit the lawsuit to the government office.
However, when I went there today, there were already quite a few people in the government office. The reason was that Chen Zhen had someone spread the news yesterday that He Jinshu would come to the government office to serve as a lawyer today, and sincerely invited students from various colleges and the people to come and watch.
After the court officially opened, He Jinshu brought Village Chief Wu into the hall, while Chen Chen watched outside with two children and several servants.
From time to time, a few voices could be heard from the crowd: "Is this He Jinshu? He's really handsome."
"I didn't expect the child to be this big already. Is that his son in his arms? They look exactly the same."
After everyone arrived, before the court session began, He Jinshu took out a jade pendant and said to the Luozhou prefect, "Prefect, before I came here, Lord Pan specifically instructed me that since the people of Cangzhou had committed the crime, then he, the prefect of Cangzhou, could not escape blame. Lord Pan hopes that the prefect will handle the case impartially, get to the bottom of the matter as soon as possible, and restore the innocence of the people of Cangzhou."
Upon hearing this, the Luozhou prefect said with a somewhat unhappy expression, "I naturally know that I must handle the case impartially. As for whether he is innocent or not, we will know after the trial."
After saying this, he slammed the gavel and asked loudly: "Wu Minxian, do you admit your guilt?"
Village Chief Wu was so frightened by the sound of the gavel that he trembled. He knelt on the ground and asked in a trembling voice, "Sir, I wonder what crime I have committed?"
"You made poisonous substances and harmed the imperial scholars, causing them to be bedridden until now. What crime should you be punished for?" The prefect of Luozhou continued to scold loudly.
"It's unfair, sir. I'm just an ordinary citizen. How could I have the guts to harm a scholar from the imperial court? Even if you give me ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare to do that!" Village chief Wu shouted in injustice.
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