"Wife, look, how about this? Yours is still yours, and mine is yours. How about that?" Mo Lingxi didn't want to be so clear with his wife.
Sheng Lengshuang wouldn't fall into such a trap. "No! If I really accepted your suggestion, I'm afraid it won't be long before you let the entire Eastern Capital know about this."
Mo Lingxi: "...How dare I do such a thing, right?"
Sheng Lengshuang couldn't be bothered to deal with him any further and went directly to the lobby of the restaurant to watch the excitement. When she arrived, she saw that several constables from the Jingzhao Prefecture yamen had just arrived. She stood aside and watched the show. She had indeed come at the right time. She glanced at Mo Chen who was approaching and continued to watch the excitement.
As soon as the constables arrived, the discussions among the onlookers quieted down. Some people no longer dared to speak, for fear of angering the constables.
"Constables..." the shopkeeper began to speak, but the deceased's family member was already shouting.
"Please, constables, uphold justice for us. Not only did Qingfeng Restaurant kill someone, but they also want to renege on the debt. Is there any justice in this?"
The constables had handled many similar cases, so they didn't just believe one side of the story. "We will investigate whether Qingfeng Restaurant killed someone. Why are you crying? Does crying make you right?"
One woman wearing mourning clothes cried even louder, "Collusion between officials and merchants! Collusion between officials and merchants! This humble woman knows that Qingfeng Restaurant has a deep background. You constables dare not provoke them, so you want to downplay this matter."
"My child's father, you are too pitiful. Please, God, open your eyes."
The people around were pointing fingers.
"Qingfeng Restaurant's backing is so strong that not only constables, but even the Prefect of Jingzhao dare not provoke them. I think this matter will likely be downplayed."
"What a pity for this family. Their husband is dead, how will they live in the future?"
The constables had seen too many rascals and scoundrels, how could they be afraid of this woman's tricks? "Enough, stop shouting injustice here. Without even investigating, you claim Qingfeng Restaurant killed someone. Qingfeng Restaurant has been open for so many years, and nothing unclean has ever happened, let alone killing someone. Now that someone is dead, I find it very suspicious."
Many onlookers agreed. "What you said makes sense. Qingfeng Restaurant has been open for so many years, let alone killing someone, nothing unclean has ever happened. Now that someone is dead, I find it very suspicious."
The woman cried even louder and more sorrowfully, "Heaven, please open your eyes..."
"Open your eyes and strike you dead?" a constable said impatiently. "If heaven really opens its eyes, you know better who it will strike, so why pretend to be wronged and pitiful here?"
"If there is a grievance, the Prefect will investigate it clearly. There is no need to cry and howl here, and also prevent us from understanding the truth of the matter."
The woman wanted to cry louder, but a man with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks tugged at her collar, and she immediately stopped crying.
Before the coroner arrived, the constables understood the cause and effect of the matter, and thoroughly inspected Qingfeng Restaurant's kitchen, ingredients, and so on. They found nothing unusual.
When the coroner arrived, he first examined the body, then inspected the kitchen, ingredients, and dishes used by the customers, and came to a conclusion: "The deceased was poisoned. There was nothing wrong with the food he ate. The deceased was not poisoned all at once, but was slowly given a small amount of poison over a long period. Today, the dose was increased, and he would die when the time came..."
"You're talking nonsense, you're covering up for Qingfeng Restaurant!" The woman pointed at the coroner and cursed angrily, "You collude with officials and merchants, you collude with officials and merchants! I will sue you!"
The coroner put the items back into the box. "You are welcome to make a big deal out of this. When this matter is blown up, the Dali Temple will take over, and the murderer will be identified. Oh, by the way, the person who can poison the deceased for a long time must be someone close to him."
'Swish, swish, swish', instantly, countless eyes fell on the woman.
"Could it be that this woman poisoned her husband to frame Qingfeng Restaurant?"
"Unlikely, right? For no reason, what's the point of her doing this? Her husband is dead, and her life in her in-laws' home will definitely not be easy."
"Hey? Old Deng's daughter-in-law? You're with that scoundrel again? If your husband knew, he'd beat you. Be a virtuous wife." At this moment, a slightly plump middle-aged woman who squeezed in to watch the excitement recognized the crying woman.
Now, everyone looked at the woman and the man beside her with suspicion.
The constables walked over, asked the plump woman what was going on, and asked her to identify if the deceased was Old Deng's son.
The middle-aged woman slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "I've reminded Old Deng's family many times to be careful of their daughter-in-law. This woman is clearly restless and malicious. See, I was right!"
"Constables, I'm telling you, this woman has been married to Old Deng's family for several years and hasn't given birth. She has been tormented by Old Deng's family. But two years ago, she suddenly got pregnant and gave birth to a big healthy boy..."
The woman and the man beside her looked flustered and wanted to stop her, but two constables stood in front of them, holding knives and staring at them. With many onlookers around, they couldn't escape.
The middle-aged woman gushed, "At that time, the neighbors were happy for Old Deng's family. However, someone had seen this woman acting intimately with that scoundrel, joking that the big healthy boy might not be Old Deng's child."
"At first, Old Deng's family didn't take it seriously, but as the child grew older, his appearance didn't resemble the Deng family at all, but rather that scoundrel. Moreover, more and more neighbors saw that her relationship with that scoundrel was unclear. If outsiders saw them, they would definitely think they were husband and wife, so she was ostracized by Old Deng's family, but insisted that the child was Deng's. I've always said this woman is no good. Now, it's caused a death."
The onlookers spat in disgust.
"At first, I thought this man was her brother-in-law or from her family. Seeing them standing so close, I didn't think much of it. So, these two are adulterous!"
"I think that child is definitely not Deng's. This woman couldn't have children, so she found this man to have a child. After being discovered by Deng's family, she decided to go all the way, kill her husband, and then get some money from Qingfeng Restaurant to escape with the child."
"Truly extremely malicious. Such a beast should be drowned in a pigsty."
The woman and the man beside her repeatedly denied, "No, it's not like that. She's talking nonsense and framing us. It's not like that."
"Whether it is or not, we will know when we return to the Jingzhao Prefecture yamen." The constables grabbed the two and forcibly dragged them back to the Jingzhao Prefecture yamen.
After watching a good show, Sheng Lengshuang and Mo Lingxi returned to the backyard.
"As for who instigated these two to frame Qingfeng Restaurant, we'll wait for the Prefect of Jingzhao to investigate," Sheng Lengshuang said.
Mo Lingxi also understood this point and knew that this matter was not over. "My restaurant is really attracting attention. Someone always wants to get my restaurant."