Chapter 113: 113. Chapter 113: County Lieutenant Shen Que

113. Chapter 113: County Lieutenant Shen Que

"... Everyone can see it now. The shopkeeper of Yuelai Restaurant is colluding with this black-hearted, poisonous woman to persecute us common folk who have no power or influence..." The man continued to incite the surrounding crowd.

Seeing that the people around were gradually believing his words and pointing at Shopkeeper Zhou and Jiang Wei while whispering, Jiang Xiaoxiao couldn't help but furrow her brows.

It seemed the mastermind behind all this was someone with influence.

Not only did they hire someone to slander her family's ice cream business, but they were also able to make Dr. Zou from Ciji Hall "out on a call" at such a critical moment, leaving the old man's stomach pain without a witness to verify it.

Moreover, this mastermind knew that Yuelai Restaurant was an enterprise under Jiang Yu's banner, yet they still dared to find someone to slander and cause trouble. It seemed they were not afraid of Jiang Yu...

While Jiang Xiaoxiao was pondering, she suddenly caught a glimpse of her mother walking forward. A pitch-black snake slowly slid out from the sleeve hidden behind her back...

She was startled, but in an instant, she realized what was happening, and the look she gave the man beside her turned sympathetic.

The man was still righteously accusing Shopkeeper Zhou and Jiang Wei of colluding to cheat everyone out of their money when he suddenly felt a chill on his ankle.

He subconsciously looked down and saw a black snake wrapped around his thigh, flicking its scarlet tongue at him. He immediately screamed in terror and began shaking his leg frantically.

"Snake! Help! Help—"

The people nearby were also startled and retreated one after another.

The man kicked his leg hard, and the black snake was flung away, landing right on the face of the old man on the ground.

The cold, slippery sensation stimulated his nerves. The old man, who had been wailing in pain on the ground, was so scared he jumped three feet high: "Snake!!!"

"Yo, old uncle, you weren't having a stomach ache? How do you still have the strength to jump so high?" Jiang Xiaoxiao stepped out in time to say.

Her soft, slightly childish voice rang out clearly in everyone's ears.

In an instant, everyone looked in unison at the old man who was grabbing the black snake and about to fling it away.

The old man froze, seemingly realizing something. The next second, he clutched his stomach and collapsed to the ground, wailing: "Ouch, my stomach hurts so much..."

But his clumsy acting had clearly been exposed. The crowd became furious and said: "Good! So it was you who were deceiving everyone!"

"Too hateful! We kindly helped you seek justice, but we didn't expect you to lie and cheat us!"

"I said so! How could Little Lady Jiang's ice cream have problems? My grandson eats it every day and is fine. How could someone suddenly have a stomach ache?"

A regular customer who had been buying ice cream stood up and said, "I think they just came to cause trouble for Little Lady Jiang on purpose!"

In an instant, the situation took a sharp turn, and the crowd turned their focus toward the man.

"No, it's not like that. My, my father really has a stomach ache, he was just scared by the snake..." The man panicked and opened his mouth to explain, but now the crowd wouldn't believe a single word he said.

"Heh, I didn't know an old man with a stomach ache so bad he was rolling on the ground still had the strength to jump so high!"

"Your father looks even healthier than my father! He doesn't look sick at all! It's clear you intentionally slandered Little Lady Jiang's business!"

Seeing the two men's lies exposed, Jiang Xiaoxiao finally let out a sigh of relief, then turned to look at the black snake cast aside.

It was a long, thin strip, coiling its pitch-black body, quietly flicking its tongue to the side.

For the first time, Jiang Xiaoxiao felt that a snake could be so cute.

However, when did her mother raise such a little black snake?

She looked at Jiang Wei with a questioning gaze.

But she saw her mother just curl her lips slightly, beckon to the snake, and call the black snake back.

The man being accused by the crowd saw this scene as he turned his head and immediately rushed toward Jiang Wei in a rage: "You stinking woman, how dare you plot against me!"

Shopkeeper Zhou, who was nearby, was startled. If this burly man hit Little Lady Jiang, that would be terrible!

He hurriedly stepped forward to block, but Jiang Wei just lifted her foot slightly and kicked the rushing man away.

"Ah—"

With a scream, the man's body fell heavily to the ground, kicking up dust.

But Jiang Xiaoxiao was still frightened. She hurriedly stepped forward to Jiang Wei's side, grabbed her hand to check, and only after confirming her mother wasn't hurt did she turn to look at the man on the ground. Her soft voice turned angry: "You slandered my mother for no reason, and now you dare to lay a hand on her! Aren't you afraid of being caught by the government and getting a beating with the staff!"

"The one who should be beaten is that black-hearted, poisonous woman!" The man clutched his chest, which hurt from the kick, and still roared unyieldingly, "My father's stomach only hurt because he ate your ice cream. Even if we go to the county yamen, the official will be on my side!"

"Is that so!"

Just then, a clear voice came from the front, accompanied by the sound of horse hooves.

The crowd turned to look.

Jiang Xiaoxiao also raised her little head to look, and at a glance, she saw the man's county yamen official uniform, the large saber hanging at his waist, and the team of men following behind him, all wearing yamen uniforms.

The man leaped off his horse and landed nimbly in front of the crowd.

"I am Shen Que, the County Lieutenant of Yong'an County!" The man revealed his token, his cold, sharp gaze slowly sweeping over the crowd before landing on the man and the old man. "It has been reported to the yamen that you were slandering and deceiving people just now. Do you know your crime!"

The man looked at the gilded token, then at Shen Que's straight, upright official uniform and the large saber at his waist. His face turned deathly pale, and he fell to his knees with a thud in terror.

The old man was even more terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat, his body trembling like chaff as he knelt on the ground and said: "Lord, please spare us..."

They had never had contact with anyone from the county yamen in their lives. Now that the dignified County Lieutenant was standing right in front of them, the man who hadn't been very afraid even when his lies were exposed was now trembling, not daring to say anything about a stomach ache anymore, and stammered: "L-Lord, please spare us, we confess our crime..."

Shen Que put away his token and loudly ordered the yamen runners behind him: "Men, take them to the county yamen and lock them in the dungeon!"

Upon hearing "lock them in the dungeon," the old man on the side was so scared he almost fainted.

The man was even more terrified and couldn't stop kowtowing: "Lord, please spare us! This, this wasn't done by us, it was, it was someone else who forced us to do this..."

Shen Que narrowed his long, narrow eyes: "Who forced you to do this?"

"It, it was Madam Zheng of the Sun family..." the man said tremblingly, "My, my daughter is a maid in her residence. If we didn't do this, she would take my daughter's life... Lord, I know I was wrong, please spare us..."

Jiang Xiaoxiao, who was listening on the side, couldn't help but be surprised. She didn't expect it to be someone sent by Zheng Yaocai's sister! ===== CHAPTER 114 =====