Food bloggers made fortunes in ancient times

What Song Yan didn't know was that just as he was riding the donkey cart out of the city, the county government office suddenly became lively.

The reason was that Magistrate Lin was opening a court to interrogate Duan Hong and others. Outside the court, a dense crowd of people, holding rotten cabbages in their hands, were eagerly waiting.

When Duan Hong and others were brought up by the yamen runners, the people threw rotten cabbages at them.

"Smash you human traffickers to death."

"Give my daughter back to me, you bastards!"

Another woman cried out, "My Rou Niang was so young, but you were kidnapped by you, worse than beasts. Do you still have any conscience?"

County Magistrate Lin in the hall struck the gavel and shouted sternly: "Silence!"

The people outside the court were instantly silenced.

County Magistrate Lin glanced outside and said, "Today, the court will be in session to try the case of Duan Hong and others suspected of human trafficking. I will handle the case impartially and will not show favoritism or corruption."

"Duan Hong, do you have anything to say?"

Duan Hong knelt down in the hall, looking like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water: "Reporting to the Lord, I don't know what crime I have committed."

County Magistrate Lin snorted coldly: "You kidnapped and sold young girls, and you have committed many crimes. Do you still want to deny it?"

Duan Hong still argued: "Sir, I have always been honest and upright. How could I do such a heinous thing? Someone must have framed me. I hope you can see through it."

"Duan Hong, you really won't cry until you see the coffin." County Magistrate Lin raised his hand, "Come here, bring his men to the hall one by one."

Following Magistrate Lin's order, several yamen runners quickly brought Duan Hong's men to the front of the hall.

These people knelt down beside Duan Hong, their faces pale, and they had obviously realized the seriousness of the situation.

County Magistrate Lin examined them one by one, and then asked in a cold voice: "Duan Hong, do you still dare to say that you are innocent? Your men have confessed everything."

A trace of panic flashed in Duan Hong's eyes. He turned to look at his men, only to see that they all lowered their heads, not daring to look at him.

"Tell me the truth, where did you hide those girls?"

Duan Hong gritted his teeth and said, "I don't know who that girl is. Your Excellency, I am innocent."

Seeing that he was still stubborn, Magistrate Lin pointed at a man beside him and said, "Tell me everything you know. I will give you a chance, but if you dare to hide anything, you will bear the consequences."

The man trembled and said, "On the night of the Lantern Festival, we followed the orders of the gang leader. When we saw beautiful girls on the street, we used children to lure them to a remote place, and then..."

"Then, when they are least prepared, knock them unconscious and smuggle them out of the city."

"Once we get to the city, someone will come to pick us up. As for where we are transporting them to, I have no idea."

There was an uproar inside and outside the court. The people's anger reached its peak, and they threw the rotten vegetable leaves in their hands at Duan Hong and others like raindrops.

"May you, a bunch of human traffickers, be struck by lightning and die miserably!

"You are a heartless beast!"

Duan Hong glared at the angry people viciously.

"He dares to glare at us, hit him!"

As they shouted, more rotten vegetable leaves and debris poured down on Duan Hong and his men like a rainstorm.

Upon seeing this, County Magistrate Lin struck the gavel again, and the sound echoed in the courtroom like thunder: "Silence! I am here to seek justice for the victim!"

Under the majesty of County Magistrate Lin, Duan Hong's men began to confess their crimes one after another.

Duan Hong's face became more and more ugly, and cold sweat began to seep out of his forehead.

County Magistrate Lin asked again: "Duan Hong, you have nowhere to escape. Your only way out now is to confess and receive leniency."

"If you can tell me where those girls are, I might consider giving you a lighter sentence."

Duan Hong almost blurted out the answer, but thinking of the information that person had revealed, he immediately held back. He raised his head and looked directly at County Magistrate Lin: "I really don't know."

"If this really happened, it was done by my men behind my back. I was not aware of it."

County Magistrate Lin frowned. He knew Duan Hong's cunningness very well and knew that Duan Hong would not give in easily unless he used punishment.

He raised the gavel and was about to put someone in the tongs, when suddenly a bailiff came up hurriedly and whispered something in his ear.

After thinking for a moment, County Magistrate Lin slammed the gavel and said, "Take them back to the dungeon and try them another day."

Hearing this, Duan Hong felt that he had escaped danger temporarily and showed a smug look on his face, but he didn't know that returning to the dungeon was just the beginning of his nightmare.

"Ah——" A shrill scream came from the dungeon, penetrating the thick stone walls and echoing in the cold and damp corridor.

The voice was filled with fear and despair, which made people shudder.

As time passed, the screams gradually weakened and finally turned into a faint whimper, leaving only dead silence.

Half a day later, a young man in black walked out of the dungeon. He wiped the blood from between his fingers slowly, with an expression as cold as ice on his face.

"Inform Uncle Lin and have him send someone to Nanyang Prefecture to conduct a secret investigation."

At the same time, Song Yan took a nap on the donkey cart and woke up just in time to arrive at Xijiang Town.

He got off the donkey cart, ordered a bowl of knife-cut noodles at a street food stall, and then went to the vinegar shop to get some soy sauce and vinegar.

When he went out, he didn't bring his backpack with him, so he went to He Fang's shop and borrowed a basket. He saved as much money as possible.

He Fang laughed and said, "Xiao Song, why did you stay in the county town for so many days this time?"

"Something happened to me, so I stayed a few more days." Song Yan asked, "Brother He, do you want to talk to me about something?"

He Fang said: "It's not me, it's Brother Li."

"Brother Li went to Zhangjia Village to look for you two days ago. When he saw that you were not there, he came to ask me when you would be back."

It turned out that it was Li Li who was looking for him.

Song Yan knew why Li Li came to see him, so he said, "Then please pass a message to Brother Li and ask him to come over the day after tomorrow."

"Okay." He Fang nodded in agreement, then winked at him and said in an ambiguous tone, "You went to the county town these days to ask Miss Shu to watch the lanterns together."

Miss Shu...

Song Yan's face froze for a moment, but soon recovered as before, and he said in a casual tone: "I've been out for several days, and it's time to go back. I'll come to your house and treat you to a drink next time when I'm free."

"Okay then, you go back first."

As soon as Song Yan left, He Fang touched his chin and thought: Xiao Song doesn't seem to be in a good state. Could it be that he had a quarrel with Miss Shu?

Around 3 p.m., Song Yan finally saw the front door of his house.

Gousheng heard the sound from afar and started barking.

Song Wanzhou went out to take a look: "Is it Brother who is back?"

As he spoke, a figure was seen falling from the roof, walking to the door and opening it.

When Song Wanzhou saw An Qi's preparations, he knew that it must be his eldest brother who had returned, and he quickly ran to the door to greet him.

Sure enough, after a while, a donkey cart was seen coming.

"Brother!" Song Wanzhou waved excitedly.

"Oh, I'm finally home." Song Yan stretched, and when he looked up he saw An Qi standing next to him. He paused in his stretching motion.

Then, he got out of the car with the basket as if nothing had happened. An Qi came over to help, but Song Yan waved his hand and said, "It's just a few things. I can take it myself."

Until Song Yan entered the room, An Qi looked thoughtful. He felt that the look in Song Ge's eyes when he was looking at him just now was a little strange.