"Don't worry, if it really is her, I will definitely not be lenient this time." Aunt Guan's eyes were filled with hatred. "Hua Yuhe has gone too far, actually forcing me to this point. Back then, I handed over Hua Manlou to her, hoping to stay away from trouble and have a few days of peace. I never expected that I would only be met with such aggressive and ruthless tactics."
“It should be her, but let’s wait and see if the authorities can handle this fairly,” suggested Grandpa Ouyang.
"If the government is corrupt, then I will fight back in my own way," Aunt Guan said, clenching her fists, looking ready to fight to the death.
"Me too!" Grandpa Ouyang firmly supported.
"However, Hua Manlou is far too strong for us now; we are no match for him. The government has already conspired with Hua Yuhe to frame me, and they probably can't be relied on now either. We should make plans as soon as possible." Aunt Guan understood that if they couldn't deliver a fatal blow, they would become mortal enemies. Not only in Longyang Town, but even in Lin'an, there would be no peace.
After listening for a while, Lan Yamei regretted that reporting to the authorities was too impulsive. She suggested, "As long as we find Wang Fengyang, we will have sufficient witnesses to prove our innocence. If we can't find this child, we're afraid we'll have to go through a lot of trouble."
"I hope Tie Tou and the others can find the child as soon as possible. Everyone, please stay calm and don't lose your composure." Just as Grandpa Ouyang finished speaking, footsteps sounded in the courtyard, and two men dressed as constables entered, delivering a message: "Please bring Mei Lin Guan to the yamen for questioning. Which one of you is Mei Lin Guan? Come with us!"
"Yes, that's me!" Aunt Guan said, standing up, but her hands gripped her dress tightly, clearly nervous. Lan Yamei stepped forward to support her, saying, "I'm the owner of the barbecue restaurant; I'll go with Aunt Guan."
"Alright, saves us the trouble of making another trip. Let's go, you two." The two constables spoke casually and with a disdainful tone, as if they were certain that the two men were criminals.
This alerted the three men, who exchanged glances. Old Man Ouyang stepped forward and asked kindly, "Gentlemen, what is the magistrate's attitude?" As he spoke, he took out two taels of silver from his sleeve and stuffed it into the other man's hand.
The two men weighed the silver in their hands and said, "Good luck to you two! The victim's child went to the county government to accuse Boss Mei of premeditated murder. One of them is the principal offender, and the other is an accomplice. I'm afraid... tsk tsk tsk."
"You mean that child is at the county government office?" Lan Yamei asked in surprise.
"Yes, what's wrong?" the constable asked impatiently, urging him to hurry up.
The two hurriedly followed the constables to the county government office, as seeing the child was the key to their exoneration.
Grandpa Ouyang reminded him from behind, "Be careful in everything."
After the constables took the two away, Old Master Ouyang quickly took off his mourning clothes, rode out on horseback. He was going to a place where someone could stand up to Hua Manlou and the county government.
Upon arriving at the county government office, the county magistrate, a thin, short old man nearing sixty, was squinting as he read a book in the hall, while a small figure knelt below. Only when the bailiffs led his men in did he put down his book and look up to examine the newcomers.
"Wang Fengyang?" Lan Yamei called softly to the small figure.
The little girl turned around, saw the two of them, and said happily, "Sister Lan, what brings you and Grandma here?"
Before Lan Yamei could speak, the county magistrate sneered and said, "Why are they here? Didn't you want to accuse them of killing your family?"
"No! No! You've got it wrong! I'm suing Mei Linguan of Hua Man Lou, Manager Mei! Not this sister and grandmother! They're good people, they saved our family's lives," Wang Fengyang argued anxiously.
"Hmph!" The county magistrate lazily picked up the already signed petition and said sarcastically, "It's all clearly recorded here that you're accusing Meilin Pass of murder! Now that the person has been arrested, you're saying it's not true? Are you trying to make fun of this old man?"
Although she hated the old man to the core, Aunt Guan still stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Please calm down, Your Honor. I did save this child and his family, but the child doesn't know my name yet. Please allow me to explain to the child."
The magistrate didn't speak, which was taken as tacit agreement. Having been bored lately, who would have thought that a crying child would burst in early one morning, wanting to seek justice for his family, claiming that someone had been murdered at Meilin Pass.
I had almost forgotten the name Meilin Pass, but after thinking about it carefully, I couldn't help but chuckle. I never expected it to fall into my hands again; it's like a money-spraying child.
With tacit approval, Granny Guan explained to the anxious child, "Child, I am Meilin Guan. Why are you suing me?"
"No, no, no, I don't want to sue you. I want to sue Meilin Guan from Huamanlou! She's the one who tried to kill us!" the child hurriedly explained. The beautiful woman from Huamanlou clearly said her name was Meilin Guan, so why wasn't she the one the authorities arrested?
Lan Yamei suddenly remembered what the child had said earlier, but she hadn't taken it to heart at the time. "Are you referring to Hua Yuhe? She's the manager of Hua Manlou. Mei Linguan used to be the manager of Hua Manlou, but she retired many years ago."
"You said her name is Hua Yuhe?" The child plopped down on the ground. Oh no, he had just confessed everything to the county magistrate!
Upon seeing this, Mei Linguan said to the county magistrate, "Your Honor must have heard that someone has impersonated me and done some shady things. I implore Your Honor to investigate thoroughly and give me justice!"
The magistrate stroked his beard, his eyes darting around, and said, "I will make a fair judgment on this matter. Men, go and invite Manager Hua of Hua Man Lou to come and question him."
The bailiff obeyed and left. Not long after, a sedan chair carrying Hua Yuhe, who was wearing a veil, entered the hall in a glamorous manner, accompanied by a fragrant breeze. She did not kneel before the magistrate, but merely curtsied and said in a coquettish voice, "I wonder what business the magistrate has with me?" From beginning to end, she did not pay any attention to the other three people.
The constables, seeing the rarely seen Manager Hua, all wore lewd expressions, making the solemn courtroom look like a joke. The magistrate chuckled and said, "Do you recognize this child in the courtroom?"
Hua Yuhe glanced at Wang Fengyang and said, "Replying to the county magistrate, I do not know this child."
Even though the other person had half her face covered, Wang Fengyang recognized her at a glance and shouted, "It's her! She's the one who asked me to poison the well at the barbecue restaurant. I didn't do it, so she kicked me and my grandfather out. I know her, it's her, there's no mistake." Wang Fengyang was so excited he almost screamed. This beautiful woman was too ruthless; she almost made him kill so many kind people.
"Shut up!" The magistrate slammed his gavel and roared, "I didn't even ask you a question, yet you're shouting and disrupting the court order. Guards, slap ten of them across the face."
A constable with his sleeves rolled up walked towards Wang Fengyang. Lan Yamei and Aunt Guan immediately shielded the child behind them, saying, "He's just a child, the magistrate doesn't need to punish him so severely."
"I'm in charge here. If you stop me again, I'll slap you too. Beat him!" At the magistrate's command, the executioner rolled up his sleeves.
At this moment, Hua Manhe chuckled foolishly and added fuel to the fire, saying, "The county magistrate is mighty!"
Seeing that the two men couldn't stop the slapping and the child was about to suffer, a constable suddenly ran in from outside and whispered a few words to the magistrate. The magistrate hurriedly shouted, "Stop! Stop!" He then stood up, tidied his appearance, and went out to greet him with a smile.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
