Meanwhile, in the residence of the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.
When Gu Tao learned that Chen An had only brought the couple back for trial, he was so angry that he smashed an inkstone on the table.
"Lord Gu's moods are beyond my comprehension; I truly never imagined that Lady Liu would be so shrewd and cunning!"
"Our trap was so meticulously designed, yet she still saw right through it..."
Chen An knelt on the ground, trembling with fear, and even his words were somewhat incoherent.
He knew exactly what kind of person his boss was, so he could only grit his teeth and repeatedly explain himself to exonerate himself.
A flash of malice crossed Gu Tao's eyes. After a moment, he slowly spoke: "Enough. If it were an ordinary person, they would have no chance of escaping today's events. But that Lady Liu was able to transform from a peasant woman into the Lady of Ning'an County, a title bestowed by the imperial court. She is no ordinary woman. It is understandable that she could see through your tricks!"
Hearing this, Chen An finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked;
"Then, sir... what do you plan to do next?"
What else can we do?
All he wanted was the list that woman had! But all the men he sent out came up empty-handed.
He had no choice but to come up with this method: first, arrest the person and bring him under his control.
He didn't believe that the woman wouldn't obediently hand over the roster, but he didn't expect that her prey wouldn't take the bait!
"After this incident, I'm afraid Lady Liu has become suspicious. You should not act rashly for the time being!"
"Yes, sir!"
In fact, Gu Tao wasn't in such a hurry; whether or not he had that list wouldn't affect his status.
He just wanted to get his hands on that list to curry favor with the powerful figures above him…
"Chen An, go and ask where my classmate is now?"
"Yes, sir!" Chen An naturally understood his meaning, accepted the order, and withdrew.
In the following days, Sister Liu's skewers stall was also bustling with activity.
On the third night after being falsely accused of causing deaths from food poisoning, a fire suddenly broke out in the shop.
Fortunately, Zhang Xiaohu and two other brothers from the Qingyun Gang were staying in a room in the backyard of the shop that day. They discovered the fire just as it was about to start and put it out.
Otherwise, if the landlord's shop were burned down, Liu Yingying would probably have to pay a lot of money in compensation!
On the morning of the second day after the fire, when Zhang Hui, Wan Niangzi, and others arrived to start work, they found that someone had splashed excrement on the shop door.
The stench was unbearable, and this was a place where food was prepared; who would want to eat here?
So it's no surprise that the shops' business has been greatly affected these days.
Having no other choice, Liu Yingying had to gather Zhang Hui and the others for a meeting.
"Everyone has seen what's happened recently, and things can't go on like this, so I have an idea..."
"Let's close the shops for a while and reopen them once this storm has passed."
“No problem, I agree with Sister Liu’s opinion!” Zhang Hui was the first to stand up to show her support.
Then, Madam Wan, Madam Jiang, and others also expressed their approval.
Liu Yingying was generous and paid high wages. In just the past two weeks of business, they had already saved enough money to cover their living expenses for a while...
The shop was forced to suspend operations.
Upon hearing the news, Pei Lanyi happily drank a few more cups of Western Region wine in the garden.
Actually, she originally wanted to imitate Gu Tao's methods to frame Liu Yingying, but she didn't expect that someone else would use this trick first.
She couldn't very well repeat the same trick over and over again.
But she couldn't swallow the humiliation she felt when Liu Yingying publicly insulted her.
In addition, her third grandfather later warned her not to take any action against Liu Yingying.
So after thinking it over, Pei Lanyi decided to really disgust Liu Yingying.
They sent people to secretly throw excrement at the shop entrances at night, to see who would dare to eat there!
Now that the shops are forced to close, Pei Lanyi has achieved her goal.
She was naturally in a good mood!
The false accusation that the food killed people was instigated by Gu Tao, and the act of throwing excrement was ordered by Pei Lanyi.
As for who set the fire?
The answer is obvious.
The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
Huo Xizhi was leaning casually on the soft couch, with a beautiful maid feeding him grapes mouth-to-mouth.
Fu En, standing to the side, spoke up obsequiously, "Young Master, the Liu family's shop is closed today."
Huo Xizhi gave him an approving look, "You did a good job on this matter, and I will reward you handsomely!"
As he spoke, he tore off a fine jade pendant from his person and threw it to him.
Having grown up in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion since childhood and serving the most favored second young master, Fu En naturally knew how to recognize good quality goods.
After receiving the jade pendant, he quickly knelt down and kowtowed to express his gratitude.
"Thank you very much, Second Young Master. I will definitely do my best to serve you in the future!"
"Alright, alright!" Huo Xizhi waved his hand impatiently, signaling him to get up, then paused and said casually.
"That vile woman dared to slap me in the face in public, she'll have to pay the price!"
"I want her to become a stray dog, kneeling before me and begging to become a slave in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion!"
Fu En immediately understood and put on a fawning smile, "I understand what you mean, young master. I'll go and make the arrangements right away..."
Meanwhile, on the other side is Qinghui Hall.
Grey Falcon had just reported all the information he had found to Huo Huaizhi in detail.
Of course, all this news is about Liu Yingying.
"Young Master, that Lady Ning'an is really unlucky. She has offended so many powerful people in just a few days since she arrived in the capital..." He then changed the subject.
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