The burly man being questioned took a few steps back, stammering and unable to say anything.
The people around pointed at the group of people who had already chickened out and started cursing: "They are heartless, they are all liars. They just saw that other people's business was too good and deliberately retaliated against them."
"That's right, such delicious braised meat was spilled, and I've been eating it for so long without even getting diarrhea, how could it possibly cause poisoning and death?"
Just then, a young girl emerged from the crowd.
When the big man saw the girl squeeze in front of him, he raised his hand to hit her.
What he was thinking about was that slightly wicked girl, whom he dared not provoke for the time being, and this little brat who appeared out of nowhere dared to provoke him.
The outstretched hand was kicked away by the man following behind the young lady.
"My young lady is not someone you can afford to mess with, you're asking for death!"
The burly man glanced at the newcomer and then at the young woman's attire, immediately falling silent while offering apologetic.
Today has been a really bad day; nothing has gone smoothly since I came out. It seems this little bit of money won't be easy to earn.
Although one of the burly men didn't dare to use force, he didn't stop talking.
“Even if my father wasn’t poisoned, he was still vomiting and having diarrhea at home. He started vomiting and having diarrhea after eating your family’s braised meat.”
"No matter what, you have to pay compensation. Not a penny less than two hundred taels. This is a living person."
Su Muyao took two steps forward.
"This matter is easy to resolve. If the government orders our family to pay compensation, we will give you every penny. But if it's a false accusation, what crime should we be charged with?"
Su Muyao acted like a little adult, taking charge of everything herself.
Old Man Su quickly chimed in, "My granddaughter is right. If it's a frame-up, you have to compensate us for our losses."
Seeing this, the burly men wanted to run away. Their original plan was to beat the man up and smash up his stall.
Once the family signs the debt agreement, the head of the household will naturally have a way to force them to hand over the prescription.
Now, how dare they face the officials? But now, they can't just run away as they please.
"Send them to the authorities," Su Muyao said decisively. Then, she turned to the onlookers and said gently, "Uncles and elders, our family has hired about ten people to help escort these bad guys to the authorities. Each person will receive 30 coins."
Everyone was eager to participate. They could get the 30 coins simply by helping each other deliver these people to the government, which was like getting something for free, so they were naturally willing to do so.
"I can count myself in."
“I’m willing too. People like this should be handed over to the authorities, otherwise who knows how many more people will be harmed in the future.”
Seeing so many people suddenly appear, the group of burly men became frightened.
"No, no, please don't send us to the authorities. We are thugs hired by Laifu Restaurant."
The shopkeeper said he would give them the recipe for braised dishes if they owed him two hundred taels of silver. Apparently, he intended to present the recipe to his master so he could try to become the manager of a restaurant in the capital.
Although these burly men were thugs, they didn't want to actually go to jail.
"I don't care who you are, let's talk at the yamen."
The burly man was looking at this little dumpling and he was directing his family members. It was strange, but he could only place his hopes on the child.
He quickly said to Su Muyao, "We were really wrong, and if this gets sent to the yamen, it won't be a simple matter. Your family members will be punished first! How can we continue doing business like that? We'll compensate you double for all the things we damaged, is that alright?"
When Old Man Su heard what they said, he hesitated. If they were punished, how could they work?
These country folk had never been to a government office in their lives, and their family stalls were the most important thing. If they didn't make money for a few days, wouldn't the losses be even greater?
The main problem is that household expenses are quite high now. All the boys are going to school, and the cost of ink and paper is a huge expense.
"Nonsense! How could the magistrate punish us for no reason?"
The storytellers all said that only bad people get beaten; we are the aggrieved ones, and the magistrate will naturally stand up for us.
The little girl standing nearby, upon hearing the burly man falsely accuse her father, would never agree to it.
Although she was young, she understood that her father's reputation might be damaged by being falsely accused for no reason.
"Sixth Uncle, these people are annoying. They actually framed Father and had them arrested."
The burly man's heart skipped a beat; he had a bad feeling.
"May I ask who you are, miss?"
Upon seeing the other man's attire and the servant beside him, the burly leader inwardly cried out in alarm.
This matter is getting bigger and bigger today. A younger maidservant next to him started cursing at the big man.
"What a bunch of scoundrels! They cheated people out of their prescriptions, beat them up, and smashed up their stalls. This is no small crime."
"And now you dare to falsely accuse our magistrate! Do you know who's standing in front of you? This is the magistrate's daughter! Today, none of you will escape!"
After saying that, he nodded to the thugs behind him. The thugs stepped forward and each grabbed two big men, and they marched in a grand procession toward the county government office.
These people were specially invited by the county magistrate's wife to stay by the young girl's side and protect her.
Among the crowd was a waiter from Laifu Restaurant who had come to inquire. Upon hearing that the woman was the daughter of the county magistrate, he panicked, realizing that his manager had offended someone he shouldn't have. He quickly ran back to report the news.
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper hurriedly ran out of his restaurant, trying to stop the group of people before they reached the county government office.
The shopkeeper managed to stop the group before they reached the county government office.
"Miss, it's all a misunderstanding,"
Su Muyao took a look and recognized an old acquaintance.
Having already learned his lesson once, the fact that he dares to cause trouble again is truly admirable.
"Brother, this is all my fault. I was blinded by greed and thought about the ten taels of silver you swindled from me before. Oh, no, it was the ten taels of silver I was going to compensate you for."
I felt uneasy about it, so I sent someone over to smash up your stall. How much silver do you want? I'll compensate you for everything.
The shopkeeper then knelt down before the magistrate's daughter with a thud: "Miss, it was my subordinates who were ignorant. Please forgive us, Your Excellency. How dare they slander Your Excellency? They were just talking nonsense. I will definitely teach them a lesson when I get back. Please don't disturb Your Excellency's rest any longer."
"From what you're saying, you've caused trouble for the people running the stalls more than once."
Su Laosan quickly spoke up from the side, "Miss, you're so smart. Last time, it was he who ordered a group of thugs to smash up our stall."
Later, we went to their door intending to report them to the authorities, but they paid us some money, and the matter was dropped.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com