"What are you doing?" Su Ruanruan asked unhappily.
Huo Yan stood in front, his eyes dark as he looked at Su Ruanruan. "That little beggar was acting on your orders to deliberately knock off Su He's veil. Am I wrong?"
Su Ruanruan walked around him and said, "What are you saying? I don't understand."
"Considering the many times you've helped me, I won't hold it against you. But if you falsely accuse me again, I'll go to the yamen to seek justice."
Huo Yan followed up, "What exactly are you doing? First, there was Butcher Zhou's death, then Su He and Zeng Yuan's affairs. Are all of these related to you?"
Su Ruanruan sneered, "Isn't Officer Huo overthinking things? How could a woman like me, living in seclusion, have such great abilities?"
"You've wronged me about Butcher Zhou, but what does Su He and the others have to do with me?"
"Did I ask her to accept the jade? Did I ask her to invite Zeng Yuan to my home for a chat? I know her and I sympathize with her situation, that's all."
Su Ruanruan stopped in her tracks. "Why are you always following me?"
"Never mind, let's not talk about this. You take care of them..."
"Let me correct you. I have severed ties with them. They are not my relatives. Whether they live or die, whether they are rich or poor or missing limbs, has nothing to do with me."
Huo Yan added, "Your employer is elusive, but he's treated you fairly well; he didn't hand you over."
Su Ruanruan blinked. "What, you've taken a liking to her?"
Huo Yan: "She is extremely beautiful, but I'm not interested."
"If there really is one, it would probably be you. It's really hard to guess."
Su Ruanruan's expression froze. What kind of joke was he making?
Huo Yan glanced at her again, "Keep your tail between your legs. I can't control what you do, but if someone else catches you, you're dead."
Su Ruanruan watched his departing figure and fell into deep thought.
Inside the tofu shop, Ziwu handed the house deed and other documents to Su Ruanruan.
"Master, everything has been taken care of."
Su Ruanruan put them away carefully. "Let's go, take me to see them."
She had only looked at the two shops from the outside and thought they were in excellent locations. She hadn't looked closely at the interior layout, but had peeked through the crack in the door a few times.
Zi Wu walked ahead, with Su Ruanruan following behind. No one would suspect that the one in front was the servant, while the one following behind was the mistress.
Zi Wu opened the door, and Su Ruanruan was choked a few times by the dry ash in the air.
It hasn't been cleaned in a long time since the last tenant moved out.
Su Ruanruan looked at the first floor and then went up the stairs to the second floor. After coming down from the second floor, she went to the backyard, where there were several side rooms that were just right for people to live in.
Su Ruanruan raised her chin, already figuring out what this place would be used for, and the layout and arrangement of the tables and chairs were forming a mental image.
She patiently explained her plan to Ziwu, who listened attentively and took careful notes.
After leaving the shop, the two went to another shop diagonally opposite. This shop was about half the size of the previous one and also had a backyard, which could be used as a place to live.
Su Ruanruan and Ziwu stayed there for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before leaving the shop.
Back at the tofu shop, Su Ruanruan picked up her pen and began to sketch, drawing out the styles of tables and chairs she needed.
She then drew up the blueprints for a double-compartment hot pot and sent Ziwu to find a blacksmith to make it.
The two shops should be tidied up as soon as possible.
By the time we officially open for business, the weather should have completely cooled down.
As Su Ruanruan left the shop and passed by the teahouse, she heard discussions coming from inside.
They finally learned the outcome of Su He and Zeng Yuan's case. Zeng Yuan's attempted rape failed, so he was first detained and later exiled 500 li after his health improved.
As for Su He, she was imprisoned for two years. Ironically, Su Ruanruan had actually read the "Laws of the Great Shun" carefully. The laws there were extremely unfair to women; regardless of the reason, seriously harming a man's body was a serious crime, especially for someone like Zeng Yuan who was no longer able to have sex, which was unforgivable.
Su Ruanruan told Ziwu to go back, while she went to her usual wonton stall and bought a serving of wontons.
In the cell, Su He stared at the door in despair, unable to understand why she had suddenly been imprisoned.
She couldn't remember anything, yet so many people claimed to have seen her in the past few days.
She didn't come to her senses until a familiar figure appeared in the dimly lit corridor.
She seemed to see a flash of hatred in Su Ruanruan's eyes, but when she looked again, all that remained in those almond-shaped eyes was reluctance and regret.
Su Ruanruan opened the borrowed food box and took out a bowl of fragrant wontons.
He inserted it into the gap between the pieces of wood, saying, "Try it, it tastes good."
Su He was in no mood to eat. "I can't eat."
"Eat some, please. This wonton stall is a place Mu Bai and I often go to. Mu Bai always says it's delicious. Don't you want to try some?"
When Mu Bai was mentioned, Su He's eyes lit up, but then, as if remembering something, her gaze dimmed instantly.
But she still reached out and picked up the bowl of wontons.
"Why did you decide to look for that jade pendant with its green flowers and butterfly leaves? Is it because I mentioned it at the Fengshui Bridge a few days ago? Will you help me find it?"
Su He paused, "Yes."
Su Ruanruan looked at Su He with complicated eyes for a few moments, and said in a muffled voice, "If I hadn't mentioned that jade pendant with green flowers and butterfly leaves, you wouldn't have gone looking for it, and you wouldn't have met Zeng Yuan."
"I didn't expect you to care so much about the friendship between us."
Su He tightened her grip on the spoon, glanced up at Su Ruanruan, then lowered her head again, blinking her curled eyelashes. "Yes, I consider you a friend."
She didn't remember what happened after that, but after parting ways at Fengshui Bridge that day, she did search several shops before finally finding the jade pendant.
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