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

The thugs who were rushing into the Hundred Herbs Garden stopped when they heard that the county magistrate was coming.

The other shopkeepers looked at each other, and then at Chairman Sun.

A smug look appeared on Chairman Sun's face. He hadn't expected his subordinates to be so perceptive as to invite the county magistrate over to oversee things for him.

Seeing Chairman Sun's expression, everyone else immediately knew who had invited this county magistrate.

They all looked at Shen Cao, their expressions naturally showing anticipation for a good show.

Once the county magistrate personally orders her to hand over the hot pot recipe sold at Baicaoyuan, let's see if she still dares to resist.

Clearly, Chairman Sun had also considered this. He straightened his clothes and waited for the county magistrate to come and greet him.

It should be noted that his daughter's rank was a whole level higher than that of the county magistrate.

He immediately stepped to the front, just in time to see the county magistrate walking towards him.

He raised his head and chest, like a proud rooster.

But after a moment, he froze in shock.

The county magistrate didn't even see him, walking straight past him in his new boots.

The swung sleeve nearly tripped him.

He was saved from falling thanks to the quick thinking and agility of the people standing next to him.

The two people who supported him breathed heavily as he regained his balance.

This little old man is almost as big as a piglet raised in his hometown in the countryside.

Chairman Sun also took a few deep breaths, huffing and puffing. He was such a big man, and he'd been completely ignored!

He led his men toward the county magistrate.

He wanted to see what kind of person this county magistrate was.

The county magistrate walked all the way to the entrance of the Hundred Herbs Garden before stopping.

He walked up to Shen Cao, took out a token in his hand, and said, "Miss Shen, where is Princess Wanyue? This humble official has come to pay his respects to Her Highness."

Shen Cao bowed respectfully to the county magistrate. "Your Honor, Princess Wanyue has already left Xin'an County. This is the token she left for me." She pointed to the token in the county magistrate's hand.

This token was left to her by Ji Lingfeng when he left.

It was in that bundle, meant for her to take out and go to the county magistrate when she encountered problems she couldn't solve.

After listening to Zhang Jie's words today, she knew that she couldn't solve this problem on her own, so she sent someone with the token to the government office to find the county magistrate.

Fortunately, the county magistrate arrived just in time.

The magistrate was taken aback. He looked at the token in his hand, then at Shen Cao, and reluctantly returned the token to Shen Cao.

The Shen family must have had incredible luck! The eldest brother is a good student and was taken in as a student by Grand Tutor Zhou. His future career is sure to be smooth sailing.

This Shen Cao actually knew Princess Wanyue. Not only did she know her, but she also had such a good relationship with the princess that the princess was willing to give her her token.

Why don't I have such a good son or daughter?

Heartache!

Now that the princess has left, he has no intention of staying any longer.

He glanced at the crowd surrounding him, thought about the token, and then about the words Shen Chen had entrusted to him when he left.

"Miss Shen, what's wrong? Are you in trouble?"

Before Shen Cao could answer, Chairman Sun stepped out from the crowd.

"Magistrate, how have you been?"

His tone made it sound as if he had a close relationship with the county magistrate.

The county magistrate frowned; it had been a long time since he had heard anyone speak to him in such a tone.

Even Shen Yu'an always treated him with the utmost respect whenever they interacted.

He looked at the newcomer, an old man who looked older than himself. Did he know this person?

The person next to him clearly recognized Chairman Sun and quickly whispered a reminder in the county magistrate's ear.

"Your Honor, this is Chairman Sun." Fearing the magistrate might not know who Chairman Sun was, he added, "He's the Sun family whose daughter became a concubine."

The county magistrate finally remembered; it was him.

He immediately put on a smiling face, "Chairman Sun, hello."

“Your Honor, you must stand up for us today. The owner of the Hundred Herbs Garden has violated our guild’s rules and infringed upon the interests of us guild managers.”

"We urge you to take charge and get the owner of Baicao Garden to give us an explanation."

The county magistrate frowned again. He had heard of the Hundred Herbs Garden, but he had never heard of this guild before.

However, out of consideration for his daughter, the county magistrate still asked a few questions as a matter of routine.

"Who owns this Hundred Herbs Garden? Come before me now, I have questions to ask."

Upon hearing the magistrate's words, everyone felt a pang of worry for Shen Cao.

Shen Cao walked up to the county magistrate. "Your Excellency, what do you wish to ask?"

The county magistrate looked at Shen Cao, his brows furrowing even deeper. "Are you the owner of this Hundred Herbs Garden?"

Shen Cao nodded.

County Magistrate, [What's going on here? This Chairman Sun is just asking for trouble.]

"Actually, I can only be considered one of the owners of Baicaoyuan. There is another owner of Baicaoyuan, whom you also know."

"Oh?" The county magistrate asked with some doubt, "Is it Young Master Shen Yu'an?"

Shen Cao shook her head and pointed to the token at her waist.

The county magistrate almost knelt down. This... this Hundred Herbs Garden was actually opened by Princess Wanyue.

He turned around angrily to look at Chairman Sun and his group.

"How do you expect him to explain himself to you?"

Chairman Sun and his group thought that the county magistrate was going to help them, so they immediately told the county magistrate the solution they had previously told Shen Cao.

They didn't notice that with each word they spoke, the magistrate's face became more and more sweaty.

This group of people is so hateful; they've gone so far as to cause trouble for the King of Hell.

"Shut up!" he angrily stopped them. "How dare you! Do you know where you are?"

"How dare they be so insolent! Do they have several lives to spare?!"

He didn't say the last sentence.

Upon hearing the county magistrate's words, Chairman Sun knew that the county magistrate was actually in cahoots with Shen Cao.

However, he wasn't afraid; he didn't take a mere county magistrate seriously.

After saying that, he took out a jade pendant from his pocket.

"This is a jade tablet personally bestowed upon me by the esteemed Consort Sun. Seeing this jade tablet is like seeing Consort Sun herself. You all should kneel down immediately."

Upon hearing his words, the other onlookers, who were unaware of what was going on, all knelt down.

Chairman Sun looked smug when he saw the kneeling crowd.

Hmph! He's just a lowly ninth-rank official, yet he dares to act so arrogantly in front of him.

"Magistrate, I order you to make this guy, Shen Cao, do as I say today, or he'll be thrown in jail!!"

He turned to the county magistrate and gave him instructions.

In that one glance, he was surprised to find that not only the county magistrate, but even Shen Cao and the others had not knelt down.

"How dare you! You've seen the token that promised Her Majesty, yet you still don't kneel down."

Shen Cao nonchalantly raised the token in her hand, "I never knew that a mere concubine would dare to call herself Your Majesty."

"President Sun, do you even realize the consequences of your actions, as if you were the one who promised the young mistress?"

When the county magistrate saw Shen Cao take out the princess's token, he quickly knelt down.

"This humble official greets Princess Wanyue! Long live the princess!"