Falling into the mortal world

Manager Zhang whispered in Ah Er's ear: "Why are you here? Did you get the prescription?" The man anxiously rubbed his hands together.

"Manager Zhang, I injured someone, and they're demanding one hundred taels in compensation. Otherwise, they'll send us to jail," Ah Er said anxiously.

Manager Zhang repeated: "We've finally got the prescription."

"No, but Steward Zhang, I went there for your sake. You can't just abandon me!" Ah Er pleaded.

Manager Zhang said, "No, what are you doing here? Why don't you just rob someone if you're offering a hundred taels? Get out of here!" He then tried to shoo him away. Only then did Manager Zhang notice Lan Qingqing standing by the door.

Manager Zhang hurriedly explained: "Miss Lan, please don't misunderstand! This has nothing to do with me."

Lan Qingqing looked at Manager Zhang and said: I will ask Manager Zhang about this matter myself.

Manager Zhang panicked upon hearing this. He had kept it a secret from his older cousin, and if the cousin found out, he would definitely be fired from the restaurant.

He had originally planned that since the tofu business was so good, if he could get the recipe, he could sell it at a high price to restaurants in the prefectural city. Tofu doesn't keep well, so restaurants in other places couldn't sell it, which is why he had come up with this way to make money. Who would have thought these people would be so useless, unable to even handle a simple recipe? Now they're even dragging him down with them.

Miss, you've really misunderstood. Our restaurant has absolutely nothing to do with this matter. And how can you just make baseless accusations?

If you hurt someone, what does it have to do with me? Whether you pay compensation or go to jail, it has nothing to do with me.

Ah Er said with a wronged look: "You can't just abandon us like this, manager!"

I have an elderly mother to support, I can't go to jail. Please help me, considering how hard I tried to get things done! I beg you, and then I knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing.

I can't afford this compensation! I can't help you with this! I didn't instruct you to get this prescription. Now that you've injured someone, it has nothing to do with me. You shouldn't have come to me. You should leave now! Even if you break your head, I can't help you! Then he turned to Lan Qingqing and said: Miss, this matter really has nothing to do with our restaurant.

Seeing that Steward Zhang had no intention of helping him, Ah Er stood up and said, "Zhang Daming, if I go to jail today, I'll drag you down with me even if I die."

Do you think I didn't leave any evidence of what you asked me to do? If we're going to die, we'll all die together.

Upon hearing this, Manager Zhang began to feel uneasy, wondering when he had left a handle on Ah Er.

Manager Zhang said guiltily, "Don't talk nonsense. What evidence could I possibly have against you?"

At this moment, Manager Zhang was afraid that Manager Zhang would see this when he returned, so he quickly urged Ah Er to leave. "Ah Er, hurry up and leave. Don't let this affect our restaurant's business."

Ah Er pleaded with Lan Qingqing: "Miss, please spare me! I really can't go to jail. My mother has poor eyesight, and if I go to jail, there will be no one to take care of her."

Lan Qingqing said: If you really cared about your mother, you wouldn't do such a shameful thing.

Just then, some constables walked by, and Lan Qingqing stepped forward to stop them. "Gentlemen, you've come at the perfect time. I have something I need your help with," she said, taking out a tael of silver and handing it to one of the constables as a gift for tea.

The official weighed the silver in his hand and readily agreed.

Manager Zhang was dumbfounded; she hadn't expected Lan Qingqing to report it to the authorities so directly.

At this moment, Lan Qingqing and several burly men knelt in the main hall of the county government office. Lan Qingqing told her parents to take Lan Xiaotian and the others home to rest, while she stayed behind to handle the remaining matters.

If this matter isn't handled properly, similar incidents will only continue to occur.

At this moment, the county magistrate was sitting in the main hall. He was not tall and was slightly overweight, and did not look like the kind of honest and incorruptible official.

Who is standing below? State your name.

The magistrate picked up the gavel and slammed it down heavily. The sound made the burly men tremble.

"Replying to your question, sir, I am Lan Qingqing, a resident of Lihua Village. I wish to sue these men for assaulting me in my shop. They came to my shop demanding the recipe for a snack. When they refused, they attacked and injured my younger siblings." Lan Qingqing replied calmly and respectfully.

The magistrate was aware of the tofu that was popular throughout the town, but in his eyes, the profit margin was too low. Even with large quantities, the profit wouldn't be much. If the price was too high, few people would buy it; they'd rather use that money to buy meat. Therefore, the magistrate had no intention of even considering taking over the recipe.

The magistrate looked at the man kneeling below him, who showed no sign of humility. Even with a veil and coarse linen clothes, his extraordinary elegance was undeniable.

He had never misjudged a woman; this was definitely a rare beauty. The magistrate narrowed his eyes, looking at Lan Qingqing as if he were appraising a fine piece of merchandise.

The moment Lan Qingqing looked up, she happened to meet the magistrate's gaze. Lan Qingqing inwardly cursed. That gaze was filled with possessiveness.

The magistrate said: Do you have any objections to what the aggrieved party has said?

The burly man said, "Please, Your Honor, have mercy! It was Manager Zhang from the Kaiyuan Restaurant who sent us to ask for the recipe. He said he would give us fifty taels of silver if we got the recipe. We have told you everything truthfully, and we hope Your Honor will understand."

The magistrate asked, "Do you have any evidence to prove that what you're saying is true?" Manager Zhang had used the restaurant's money to gamble. Now he'd lost money and didn't know how to cover his losses, so he thought of the tofu shop. If he had the tofu recipe, he could go to restaurants in other counties and sell the recipe. That way, he could quickly plug the restaurant's hole.

The magistrate ordered his yamen runners to summon Manager Zhang and Manager Zhang of the Kaiyuan Restaurant to the court. While everyone waited in the hall, Lan Qingqing took the opportunity to open a bottle in her pocket. The bottle contained a medicine that caused skin allergies. Lan Qingqing applied it to her face when no one was looking. Soon, she felt an itching sensation on her face.

Lan Qingqing knew that the medicine was taking effect, and soon her cheeks were swollen.

The yamen runners approached Manager Zhang, who was quite curious. He hadn't done anything wrong, so why was he being summoned to the county yamen's main hall?

Manager Zhang had been living in fear ever since Lan Qingqing reported the incident to the authorities. Now, upon arriving at the courtroom, he was so frightened that he immediately knelt down. At this time, a crowd of onlookers had gathered outside the hall.

"Is the visitor Zhang Daming?" the magistrate asked.

Wang Daming replied tremblingly: "Little man, truly."

The magistrate slammed his gavel and shouted: "Does anyone in the court know their crime?"

"I am just a little kid, no, I don't know. Please, sir, enlighten me," Wang Daming replied tremblingly.

"You are the culprit," said Chen Er. "You lost the public funds gambling and then tried to sell someone else's prescription to cover the deficit in your accounts. Do you plead guilty?" the magistrate asked.

"Your Honor, I have been wronged! I beg you to investigate thoroughly and give me justice!" Steward Zhang cried out repeatedly.

The magistrate said, "Whether it's a miscarriage of justice or not will be known after an investigation." He then asked Manager Zhang to bring out the account books for verification, and soon discovered a deficit of 500 taels.

Manager Zhang was now in a panic. He trusted his cousin completely and never expected him to gamble with the restaurant's money.

Seeing that the truth could no longer be concealed, Manager Zhang had no choice but to confess.

The magistrate ordered Steward Zhang to pay Lan Qingqing one hundred taels of silver in compensation, and the other thugs to each pay ten taels of silver for injuring people, totaling sixty taels of silver for the six men.

At this moment, Manager Zhang was somewhat disappointed in his cousin. Even though he was disappointed, his good cousin couldn't come up with the money now, and he couldn't let his cousin really go to jail.

He then agreed to compensate Lan Qingqing with 100 taels of silver.