The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

Shen Qing, along with Xiao Qi, Xiao Qiao, and the staff from Baicaoyuan, blocked the entrance, preventing those people from entering.

Fortunately, they usually practiced kung fu with He Yu and the others, and in a short time they blocked all the thugs brought by Chairman Sun at the door.

Chairman Sun never expected that this group of people would not only dare to talk back, but also dare to fight.

He gestured to the person next to him, telling him to quickly find more people.

He lowered his head and said a few more words to his assistant, who left immediately after receiving the instructions.

"stop!"

Suddenly a voice startled both sides, causing them to stop fighting.

"Brother Zhou." Shen Cao saw that the person who came was Zhou Qingzhu.

Zhou Qingzhu walked up to her and said, "Sister Cao'er, I rushed here as soon as I heard that something had happened here."

Zhou Qingzhu patted Shen Cao's hand, then walked up to Chairman Sun and greeted him.

He had heard of the guild that Chairman Sun was running, but since his family wasn't involved in the restaurant business, they had never seen it before.

Seeing them openly causing trouble in the Hundred Herbs Garden today, he was worried for Shen Cao.

It's common knowledge that Chairman Sun's daughter agreed to this matter, so everyone is angry but dare not speak out about it.

They were just a family of merchants who did some business.

He was, after all, related to the imperial family in some way, and besides, I heard that his family had a grandson who was given guards as a reward.

Back then, she was afraid that her father would be bullied in Xin'an County, so she specially asked a powerful person for help, and the powerful person bestowed it upon her.

"President Sun, what's going on? Why are they fighting?"

"The owner of this Hundred Herbs Garden is my youngest brother..." He glanced at Shen Cao's attire and changed his words, "I beg Chairman Sun to give my Zhou family some face and show some leniency."

Chairman Sun never expected that this young upstart would actually invite the Zhou family; he was actually related to the Zhou family.

He raised his hand, signaling the thugs to step back.

"I'm letting it slide for now, out of respect for Old Mrs. Zhou."

"However, he must agree to what we discussed before, or I will make his Hundred Herbs Garden disappear from Xin'an County forever."

"Don't even think about it!"

Zhou Qingzhu pulled Shen Cao back and shook her head at her.

Chairman Sun said angrily, "Look at you, it's not that I'm not giving you face, it's that he's shameless."

Zhou Qingzhu smiled and said to Chairman Sun, "Chairman Sun, don't be angry. My little brother is just being immature. Let me talk to him."

Chairman Sun snorted and turned away, tacitly agreeing to Zhou Qingzhu's suggestion.

Zhou Qingzhu pulled Shen Cao to a corner and said, "Sister Cao, Chairman Sun has always been like this in Xin'an County. If you don't agree with him today, this business will not be able to continue."

Shen Cao frowned. "Even the Zhou family can't do anything about him?"

Zhou Qingzhu nodded. "Although the Zhou family is considered the richest in Xin'an County, my family is still well-regarded in Xin'an County because of my grandmother's prestige. So, no one dares to trip us up in business."

"The reason my family doesn't get involved in the restaurant business is partly because we really don't know anything about it, and partly because of this restaurant guild in Xin'an County."

"Ever since this Manager Sun sent his daughter to the palace, his daughter has become a concubine."

"Originally, this Manager Sun only ran a restaurant business and was often harassed by people. Perhaps his daughter knew about her father's situation, and it is said that she caught the eye of a noble person in the palace, who sent a guard from the palace to take care of her family for a few years."

"This Manager Sun took advantage of the guard's influence to establish some kind of restaurant guild."

"They started to use their power to their advantage and make various profits."

Shen Cao frowned. "So nobody's going to do anything about it?"

Zhou Qingzhu shook her head. "The county magistrate is only a ninth-rank official, while the concubine is an eighth-rank official."

"A higher-ranking official can crush a lower-ranking one. The county magistrate usually doesn't care about his family's affairs, and he doesn't dare to."

"Besides, Xin'an County is a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the capital, so it has no jurisdiction over this place at all."

"So the other restaurants are just going to accept this?"

Zhou Qingzhu nodded, "We have no choice but to accept it. If we accept it, we can still make some money. If we don't accept it, we won't make any money at all."

Shen Cao frowned, then suddenly thought of something, "Why doesn't he go looking for trouble at the stalls on the dock?"

"He must have inquired about it and found out that the business at the docks was done by you, Wei Siyu, and Shen Yu'an. Given Shen Yu'an's background, he wouldn't dare to mess with him."

So that's how it is. No wonder these people arrived not long after Shen Yu'an and the others left.

It turns out that all her backers have left.

"Then is there no one who can control him?"

Zhou Qingzhu thought for a moment, "Yes, as long as someone with a higher official rank than his daughter comes. But the emperor is far away, and the highest-ranking official in our small place is only a ninth-rank official."

Shen Cao fell silent.

"Are you done yet? How long are we going to discuss something so small!"

"My patience is very limited."

Chairman Sun was getting impatient.

Suddenly, the crowd began to make a commotion, and a guard dressed in palace attire stepped out from the crowd and walked over.

Chairman Sun immediately put on a smile and walked over, "Guard Li, you've arrived."

That cautious manner was completely different from before.

Guard Li was getting impatient. "What did you call me here for?"

He was sent to Xin'an County last year to take care of this old man, but his master had forgotten about him.

It was only after he wrote a letter back to the capital some time ago that the master remembered him. Originally, he was supposed to be asked to escort the princess back to the capital.

However, he waited for several days, and the princess's return to the capital had already passed, but he still hadn't received a reply from her.

He sent another letter to the palace ten days ago and just received a reply today.

He was happy that he was about to leave, but then something else happened.

He could tell that this old man was no good; he had amassed a lot of wealth over the years by taking advantage of others' power.

He would report back to his master that like father, like daughter, and that Consort Sun was certainly not a good person either.

His young master must have been scammed.

However, he would have to go to the Shen family restaurant later to ask about the kind older sister the young master mentioned in his letter.

"These are the people; they wanted to hit me," Chairman Sun said, pointing at Shen Cao and his group.

Li, the bodyguard, never expected it to be this.

He ignored him and turned to leave.

"You handle your own business. This kid doesn't seem like he can beat you."

He had no intention of getting involved in this mess again.

He has important matters to attend to.

Chairman Sun was surprised that the guard had actually left.

He watched his departing figure, angry but unable to utter a word.

"What are you all standing there for? Get up and smash it!"

Fortunately, the thugs he had just hired had arrived. Upon hearing the order, the thugs marched menacingly toward the entrance of the Hundred Herbs Garden.

"Stop it all."

"The county magistrate has arrived! Why don't you stop right now?"

The county magistrate, dressed in his official robes, straightened his clothes with his arm.

"Princess Wanyue has arrived! Why didn't you inform me sooner? I'll deal with you when we get back!" The county magistrate berated the yamen runner beside him.

He walked nervously toward the entrance of the Herb Garden.

In the crowd, Guard Li heard the county magistrate's voice, stopped in his tracks, and looked over there.

Young master?