Wu Caiwei had always felt guilty about implicating Madam Liu and wanted to see if there was anything she could do to help now that she had the time.
As soon as she reached the alley, she saw several children throwing stones at their house. Surprised, she stopped one of them, gave him a few pieces of candy, and asked why they hated this family so much.
"The former steward of a wealthy family, they used their master's influence to bully people around. Our good friend, Gou Dan'er, was pushed into a pond and drowned by their son. We all saw it, but if Gou Dan's father dared to report it, he would be beaten. In the end, his father was seriously injured and died, and his mother went mad. We are avenging him."
In the past, this child would never have dared to say so much to an outsider. Recently, Madam Liu had been arrested, and she was brought back stiff and unresponsive, according to her parents, though they hadn't seen it themselves.
Hearing this, Wu Caiwei's guilt vanished. Of course, she wouldn't believe this was the truth based on a child's words. She made sure to inquire further and found that it was no different from what he said. She even heard about other matters. While those incidents were indeed infuriating, no lives were lost, so she wouldn't elaborate.
With one concern settled, Wu Caiwei took Yan'er to the grandest restaurant in the capital to celebrate. She spent money rather lavishly. As for where the money came from, her mother had brought a substantial dowry when she married into the Mu family, much of which was stored away. Wu Caiwei knew that even if she got married later, neither Master Mu nor Madam Mu would allow her to take so much dowry. She felt a secret thrill at taking a little beforehand to spend.
As expected of the grandest restaurant in the capital, they had initially thought they would request a private room for two ladies to savor the delicacies. However, it was already packed, and they had no choice but to sit in a corner of the main hall.
She ordered the restaurant's signature dishes, and a table full of food was brought out. Wu Caiwei slowly savored the meal, silently marveling at the saying "there are always people better than you, and skies beyond the skies." No wonder the business was so booming; the culinary skills were truly excellent. Fortunately, she had no intention of dabbling in the food industry in this lifetime.
As they were enjoying their meal, they suddenly heard a commotion, and then people surrounded the kitchen.
"This servant will go and find out what happened," Yan'er said, unable to sit still. She was not like this before. Since following her young lady, she had to gather information for her and became very curious about such matters.
Before Wu Caiwei could react, Yan'er had already vanished. Wu Caiwei shook her head helplessly at her hurried departure.
Soon, the crowd dispersed slightly, and the kitchen staff along with the manager were escorted to a private room on the second floor, clearly for interrogation.
After a while, Yan'er returned with a strange expression. Seeing Wu Caiwei still quietly eating, she snatched her bowl away and exclaimed in alarm, "Miss, this food cannot be eaten."
"Oh? Why do you say that?" Without a bowl, Wu Caiwei simply used her chopsticks to pick food from the plates.
"This food truly cannot be eaten. I just heard someone suspecting that they had poisoned the food, which is why they were all taken to the second floor for interrogation," Yan'er said. Seeing that her young lady was not taking this matter seriously at all, she grew anxious and tried to snatch her chopsticks again.
"That's all? Have you forgotten what happened last time when they tried to poison my food? I'm telling you, there's no poison in here." Wu Caiwei took the bowl and chopsticks from the little girl's hand, pushed her back into her seat, and gestured for her to continue eating.
"But what if the poison they used has no smell, and Miss can't detect it?" Yan'er, who had not forgotten how she had answered Madam last time, asked with some worry.
"Do you think what I told Madam was the truth? Let me tell you, your young lady is a hidden divine physician." Wu Caiwei looked at her mysteriously. After observing her for a while, she felt that this girl could be trusted. She decided to reveal a little of her secret. Since they were together day and night, she would eventually slip up, so it was better to tell her sooner. It might even be more convenient for future tasks.
Yan'er looked at her, half-believing, half-doubting. In her impression, divine physicians were always old men with white beards, not young ladies like her. However, after interacting with her young lady, she realized she was truly profound and hidden. She wasn't sure if what she said was true or not.
Throughout this entire time, not a sound had come from that room. This was entirely within Wu Caiwei's expectations. Judging by the setup, the people in that room must have held a high status. Even if they were to be tortured, they would first cover their mouths.
After an unknown amount of time, the door to the room finally opened. Three noble young gentlemen walked out first, followed by people carrying a severely injured man. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, one would easily mistake him for a corpse.
Upon seeing this scene, everyone gasped. There was no need to imagine that the manager and the other kitchen staff were not faring any better.
Yan'er had seen such a scene before, but that was when they had poisoned her young lady, and they deserved it. Moreover, that was Madam's doing to silence them, and it had little to do with them. Seeing such a scene again outside this time, she suddenly felt very insignificant. People like them could take her life with a mere gesture. She had to follow her young lady closely. Only when her young lady was well would her own destiny be in her hands.
The next moment, something happened that made her jaw drop. Her young lady, who had been sitting quietly watching the show just moments ago, suddenly sprang up. Before she could react, her young lady had already reached the noble young gentleman at the very back.
Seeing her approach, the guards immediately drew their swords and glared at her fiercely. The Fifth Prince saw her and quickly waved his hand. The guards hesitated for a moment before lowering their swords, but they still watched her warily. If anything were to happen to their masters, their lives would be forfeit.
"Whose young master are you? This young lady has taken a fancy to you. I am Mu Yan, the eldest daughter of the Mu family. I await your proposal." Mu Yan looked at him with sparkling eyes. It was truly a case of looking high and low for something, only to find it effortlessly. She had not expected that by impulsively coming for a meal, she would encounter the person she had been longing for.
Originally, everyone had looked at her with pity. This group of people clearly meant business, and she had dared to approach them. They thought she was ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. However, after hearing her bold words and her self-introduction, they were stunned for a moment before realizing that she was the eldest daughter of the Mu family, who had been the subject of much gossip with Young Master Xu some time ago.
Their pity was replaced by expressions of disdain. They thought this eldest daughter of the Mu family was even more disgraceful than rumored, saying such things in front of a stranger and not caring about her reputation.