After I got into the drama, I led the plot astray

Wearing so many clothes seriously affected my speed of movement, and I was sweating all over, sticky and uncomfortable. But Gongsun Wen refused to let me take off any of my clothes, no matter what I said. If Zheng Xian hadn't told me to obey him before I left, I really wanted to kick him away and then take off the clothes that made me look like a bear.

The four of us arrived at the inn, which was already full of people who came to drink.

The men of Fengyu City make a living by hunting snow bears. The fur and four paws of snow bears are very valuable. If they can hunt a snow bear, then their family will not have to worry about their livelihood for the whole year.

But snow bears are limited in number and not often encountered, so people here go fishing or hunting other small animals, like snow foxes and snow ferrets, to supplement their household income.

Gongsun Wen disguised himself as a merchant and came here to buy various animal furs and bear paws.

The people of Snow Wind City are very simple and honest, and they are very welcoming to merchants who come to buy goods. As soon as we walked into the inn, many hunters came forward and asked if we were here to buy furs.

Although Gongsun Wen usually seems like a taciturn person, he can answer the hunters' questions very clearly and logically, and explains the prices of various furs and the requirements of leather clearly. As Gongsun Wen's prices were relatively generous, he quickly gained the trust of many hunters. Some of them even stopped drinking and ran home to sell their stock.

Before the four of us sat down, customers started coming in. Gongsun Wen was very busy, and I saw there was nothing for me to do, so I slipped to an empty table and sat down. Soon a waiter came up to me and asked me what I wanted to eat.

The thing that is most in demand here is meat of various animals, because the fur is valuable. After cutting off the fur, the meat is sold to the inn at a low price. After the inn purchases the meat, there is no need for any cooking skills, just stew it in a pot. The taste must be very average, because the meat of these animals is very smelly and tough, and the locals basically won't eat it. It is sold to merchants from other places who come to purchase goods, such as us.

There was almost no choice of dishes, but fortunately there were quite a few staple foods, including noodles, steamed buns, dumplings, and meat patties. I was so hungry that I ordered one portion of each staple food, and also the largest portion of stewed meat. The climate here is very cold, so everyone likes to drink to keep the cold away. Although I don't drink, I thought Gongsun Wen and the others would like to drink, so I thoughtfully ordered a few pots of wine for them.

The food was served very quickly. A large pot of meat gave off a strange aroma. I looked at the strange big piece of meat in front of me, sizzling with oil, and was a little afraid to pick up my chopsticks.

The waiter urged, "Sir, this is the best meat in our restaurant. Come and try it."

Gongsun Wen and the two guards also got rid of those who wanted to sell goods, and walked over and sat down.

After Gongsun Wen took off his scarf, his face was revealed, which was sallow, bearded, and sickly.

My face also changed, and I became a rustic young man with a dark complexion and a dark red birthmark on the right side of my cheek.

Gongsun Wen looked at me without picking up my chopsticks and asked curiously, "You are usually the most enthusiastic about eating, why aren't you eating now?"

I bit my chopsticks and said in a tangled manner: "There is something wrong with this meat. I dare not eat it."

The waiter standing nearby was unhappy when he heard this and said, "Sir, it's not right for you to say that. Our inn has been open for decades and no one has ever said that there is something wrong with our meat. If you don't believe me, I'll eat it and show you."

After the waiter finished speaking, he took out a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick holder, picked up a piece of meat and threw it into his mouth. The half-fat and half-lean meat made a crackling sound when it was thrown into the waiter's mouth, and a stream of oil spurted out of the waiter's mouth. The waiter chewed it vigorously before swallowing it and said, "This is snow bear meat that weighs several hundred kilograms. It is very oily, fragrant and chewy. I don't know how many people have eaten it and come back to eat it. How dare you say there is something wrong with our meat."

I looked at the oil foam dripping from the corners of the waiter's mouth and counted quietly: "Three, two, one."

As soon as he counted to one, the waiter fell to the ground with a thud, foaming at the mouth.

I jumped up and shouted, "I told you there's something wrong with the meat, but he didn't believe me. Did he poison himself to death?"

The lobby was in chaos, and someone shouted, "Someone's dead! Someone's dead! Report to the police!"

"I just ate a lot of stew, will I be okay?"

"Where's the shopkeeper? Hurry up and call him out. How dare you sell poisonous meat? I'll beat you to death!"

The store was noisy, and soon a middle-aged man in a long robe and a snow-white fox shawl draped over his body hurried out from the back hall.

The shopkeeper walked to the lobby and was shocked to see the waiter lying on the ground. What happened? Someone died in the store, and it was his own waiter!

At this time, someone went up and grabbed the shopkeeper's clothes and asked loudly: "Shopkeeper, you sell poisonous meat in your store. Are you trying to kill us all?"

"That's right. Shopkeeper Long has been here for so many years, and I've never heard of anyone dying from eating in this store. Now that a new shopkeeper has been hired, he's selling poisonous meat. Get out of Snow Wind City and bring Shopkeeper Long back to us."

Gongsun Wen looked at the angry crowd thoughtfully, then looked at me. I seemed to be more excited than those hunters, and kept shouting, "Yes, let him bring Shopkeeper Long back."

Soon the officials arrived.

The county government of Fengyu City was jointly established by Dayu Kingdom and Beixiang Kingdom. Although there was only one county magistrate, the yamen runners were half from Dayu Kingdom and half from Beixiang Kingdom. There were also two legal advisors to avoid accusations of favoritism when trying cases.

This time there were four yamen runners, two from each country, which was fair.

The yamen runners came forward to check the innkeeper's death. It did look like poisoning, but they didn't dare to draw a conclusion, so they called the coroner.

After the coroner examined the body, he concluded that he died of poisoning. The plate of meat became a piece of evidence and was taken away by the yamen runners.

After the waiter's body was carried away by the yamen runners, the shopkeeper was taken away as well.

There was a waiter in the store, a cook in the kitchen, and a dishwasher, a total of three people. When these three people saw the shopkeeper being arrested, they drove all the customers away, saying that they had something to do today and would close the store and wait for the shopkeeper to come back before making any plans.

Everyone left, and the waiter saw the four of us still standing there, so he came up to us and said, "My four guests, we are closed today, please go back."

I shook my head and said, "We are merchants from other places. We came here specifically to stay in an inn. There is only one inn in Snow Wind City. We have nowhere to go if we leave, so we can't leave."

The waiter looked at us awkwardly, then looked at the chef. The chef nodded, and the waiter had to agree to let us stay.