Traveling through various miniature worlds with a small restaurant

Sikong Zhenyue and Su Hezhou picked up the Sprite on the table and smelled it.

It doesn't taste like alcohol, but has a sweet, refreshing aroma.

I tried a sip, and it was sweet and sour, very refreshing.

"This beverage is really delicious!" Sikong Zhenyue exclaimed.

Su Hezhou didn't say anything. He didn't like sweets by nature, but this drink had a sour taste and a unique flavor, which whetted his appetite and made him quite happy.

He took another sip, savoring the sweet and sour taste dancing on his tongue, and squinted his eyes slightly.

Then he picked up a piece of braised pork trotter rice with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. The sour taste opened up his taste buds, allowing him to better appreciate the salty and savory flavor of the braised pork.

Su Hezhou smiled with satisfaction.

Sikong Zhenyue drank it in big gulps, finishing more than half the bottle in no time, and then let out a satisfied burp.

Then, scratching his head, he said apologetically to Su Hezhou, "Lord Su, I'm sorry, I was a bit rude."

Su Hezhou glanced at him. Although he also felt it was inappropriate, he thought that Sikong Zhenyue was a person of the martial arts world and was a bit rough and bold, so he didn't mind. He just smiled and said, "It's alright, enjoy yourself."

Upon hearing this, Sikong Zhenyue grinned and said, "Lord Su is truly magnanimous, then I won't stand on ceremony!" After saying that, he picked up the bottle and took a big gulp of Sprite, then devoured the pork trotter rice in front of him like a whirlwind.

Seeing his appearance, Su Hezhou couldn't help but find it a little funny, and he also sped up his eating.

Before long, both of them were completely satisfied with their meal.

Su Hezhou put down his chopsticks, gently wiped the corner of his mouth, and said, "This meal was very enjoyable."

Sikong Zhenyue also put down his chopsticks and said loudly, "That's right! Lord Su, if you ask me, this is much tastier than any of those delicacies!"

Su Hezhou smiled and nodded: "Indeed, simple food can sometimes bring more satisfaction."

Seeing that the shop was still bustling with people, Su Hezhou and Sikong Zhenyue wisely got up and left, giving up their seats.

Su Hezhou stepped out of the store, put one hand behind his back, and glanced back.

Then he said to Sikong Zhenyue, "I have something to do and need to go back to the Imperial Guard. You stay here and keep watch. Call me when we close up shop."

Thinking of Wan Chou's disturbance yesterday, he instructed, "If anyone dares to cause trouble, arrest them and take them to the Imperial Guard."

Sikong Zhenyue cupped his hands and replied, "Rest assured, Lord Su, I understand!"

Su Hezhou nodded slightly, then turned and hurriedly left.

Sikong Zhenyue stood at the shop entrance, his posture as upright as a pine tree, his sharp gaze sweeping over the surroundings.

Then he went into the teahouse he had visited before, sat by the window, poured himself a cup of tea, and slowly drank it, but his eyes were always fixed on the direction of the shop entrance.

The teahouse was bustling with people and filled with noise, but Sikong Zhenyue remained unaffected, his expression focused and serious.

A short while later, a richly dressed young man passed by the shop with several attendants. The young man glanced at Lin Xiaoqian's shop and muttered something under his breath.

Sikong Zhenyue's ears twitched. He put down his teacup, straightened up, and leaned closer to the window to listen carefully.

All that could be heard was the young master saying, "What's so great about this lousy shop? There are so many people, and we have to take numbers. I've never taken a number in my life."

Sikong Zhenyue frowned, thinking to himself: I hope they don't cause trouble here.

Fortunately, the young master only complained a few times before leaving with his men.

Sikong Zhenyue breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down in his seat.

He knew he was overthinking it; after all, both girls possessed peerless artifacts, so how could they be afraid of trouble?

Fortunately, nothing happened afterward. When Sikong Zhenyue saw that there was no one queuing at the store entrance anymore, he got up and went to the Siwei Office to call Su Hezhou.

The two of them came over together and saw a crowd gathered at the shop entrance from afar. They could also hear people crying in the distance.

Sikong Zhenyue and Su Hezhou exchanged a glance.

Sikong Zhenyue was also shocked. He had only been gone for a short while, how could something have happened at the shop?

The two walked quickly towards the shop.

The crying grew louder.

A middle-aged woman was kneeling on the ground, holding the body of a middle-aged man in her arms. Her voice was shrill: "This is a black market inn! A black market inn! My husband ate a bowl of braised pork trotters here. Damn it, a bowl of braised pork trotters costs fifty coins! My husband usually saves every penny to save more money for the family. Today, he was passing by, smelled the aroma, and came in to eat a bowl. After returning home, he foamed at the mouth and now his life is in danger! You have to give us an explanation!"

Many people in the crowd began to whisper and discuss among themselves.

"This is terrible! How could this happen?"

"I also ate the braised pork knuckle rice at this restaurant. Will I be okay?"

"That's not necessarily true. Maybe the person has a health problem."

Jiang Shuang walked from the store behind Lin Xiaoqian, met her questioning gaze, and shook her head: "Everything is normal in the surveillance footage. That person did eat a bowl of braised pork trotters rice in the store this morning and then left."

Lin Xiaoqian understood immediately; this person must have encountered something outside after eating.

He glanced at the middle-aged woman crying her heart out and the middle-aged man lying on the ground, his face purple and his life hanging in the balance.

"Sister Shuang, I'm afraid someone is deliberately setting a trap for our store," Lin Xiaoqian said with a serious expression.

Sikong Zhenyue pushed through the crowd and shouted, "What's going on?"

Most people in the capital have met Sikong Zhenyue.

Upon seeing him, he quickly bowed and said, "Lord Sikong!"

The middle-aged woman's eyes lit up when she saw him, and she hurriedly knelt down before Sikong Zhenyue, shouting loudly, "Please, Lord Sikong, do justice for this woman!"

Sikong Zhenyue frowned and ignored her, walking over to the middle-aged man and examining him closely.

“It’s arsenic!” Sikong Zhenyue said with a solemn expression.

The crowd was suddenly in an uproar.

"It's actually arsenic, a highly poisonous substance!"

"If you eat arsenic, you might as well wait to die."

The middle-aged woman cried again: "My lord, you must avenge my master!"

Then, with a venomous look on his face, he pointed at Lin Xiaoqian and Jiang Shuang: "It was them! They poisoned my husband."

Jiang Shuang laughed angrily: "Auntie, don't make things up without any evidence! Why would we poison your husband for no reason?"

Ignoring everyone else, the middle-aged woman continued shouting, "It's you! This shop sells such expensive pork trotter rice; you must have ulterior motives!"

As if suddenly remembering something, Lin Xiaoqian turned and walked into the store.

Jiang Shuang was still arguing with the middle-aged woman.

Sikong Zhenyue said loudly, "Stop arguing! We cannot draw conclusions before the matter is thoroughly investigated."

The middle-aged woman looked at Sikong Zhenyue with a fierce gaze: "Does Lord Sikong intend to protect these two women?"

Someone in the crowd said, "I ate it and I was fine. Maybe this woman is deliberately trying to extort money from me."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged woman became even more unruly: "You're all ganging up on me, a widow! I don't want to live anymore!"

Lin Xiaoqian walked out of the shop: "Stop wailing! Your husband might not even be dead yet, why are you in such a hurry to become a widow?"