Chapter 136 (Part 2): The Culinary Tycoon

Facing a difficult situation, Lord Lu knew it wouldn’t work. He left with Lord Zhang and Old Man Jia.

After leaving the county office and going some distance away, Old Man Jia asked Lord Lu, “What should we do now, Hongsheng?”

Lord Lu looked back in the direction of the county office and said, “This is not Qingzhou after all, and he is the son of Minister Luo. We can’t be too forceful. We have detained the witnesses over there, so we can delay for a day or two. If there isn’t enough evidence, as long as Xiaoren and Niu San refuse to confess, he won’t be convicted. I will request to attend the trial as an observer, and Lord Zhang should also attend. We’ll figure out another solution. Find a way to contact that person named Cao Yuan and see if we can get him to change his testimony.”

Old Man Jia nodded upon hearing this, and Lord Zhang also nodded in agreement.

When they returned to Jia Xiaoren’s house, Lord Lu approached Old Man Jia and said, “Just to be safe, we need someone to act as a substitute. Please find someone suitable.”

Old Man Jia looked up at Lord Lu and nodded heavily, agreeing to help.

On the other side, Luo Mingda and the deputy county magistrate waited for a day but didn’t see the return of the bailiffs. They became worried.

“Perhaps the situation is complicated,” the clerk said.

The deputy county magistrate replied, “That area belongs to Qingzhou, not our territory. They will definitely do everything possible to prevent them from bringing back the witnesses. Your Excellency, what do you think? Should we send more people there?”

Luo Mingda paced back and forth inside the room, shaking his head, and said, “What if the people we send don’t come back either? Let’s wait one more day.”

In the evening, Luo Mingda returned home, wearing a troubled expression.

His wife massaged his temples and asked, “My husband, what troubles you?”

Luo Mingda released his wife’s hand and held it in his own, saying, “The bailiffs sent to Qingzhou haven’t returned yet. I’m afraid they have been stopped by that man surnamed Lu.”

Madam Luo withdrew his hand and patted Luo Mingda’s back of the hand, saying, “I received a message from the steward this morning. He said they will be back tomorrow. Let’s wait a little longer.”

“Really?” Luo Mingda’s eyes immediately lit up, and he nodded, saying, “Alright, let’s wait one more day.”

The next day, by the dock in Qingzhou City, Ding Lai and the other three bailiffs arrived with the old man and the villagers.

Surprisingly, the soldiers were still there.

“Boss, what should we do?” one of the bailiffs asked.

They had waited here for a whole day yesterday, but the county officer never returned after taking their documents. When they went to the county office to inquire, the gatekeepers informed them that the county officer was not inside at all. Furthermore, the county magistrate and the governor had gone to another county for official business and were not at the county office.

Ding Lai and his companions were furious; this was clearly deliberate delay. The soldiers on the dock were guarding them with spears, and they would even change shifts in the middle. They continued guarding until it got dark and the ships at the dock ceased operation, at which point they finally went back.

Helpless, the group had no choice but to spend another night in Qingzhou City.

“Brother, we have already handed our documents to your county officer. There’s no reason for you to obstruct us. We are all officials, so please show some leniency,” Ding Lai said to the soldier leading the group.

The man replied bluntly, “Without the county officer’s orders, we cannot let you pass. Give up.”

“If you continue like this, don’t blame us for forcing our way through!” Ding Lai said, his face turning grim.

The man looked at them and laughed, “You few? I advise you to wait obediently.”

Ding Lai and his companions were furious, rolling up their sleeves and preparing to confront them.

Suddenly, an elderly man rushed over and held onto Ding Lai, shouting, “Oh, sorry, sorry! Officer, my son suddenly has a stomachache. I can’t carry him. Can you please help me carry him to find a doctor?”

Ding Lai was still seething with anger. Who is this random old man? Can’t you find someone else to carry your son?

He turned his head and glared angrily at the old man. But as he looked closer at the person, his eyes widened, and he exclaimed, “Luo…”

The old man quickly gestured at him to keep quiet and said, “Officer, I beg you, please help me?!”

Ding Lai quickly realized the situation and said, “Fine, where is he?”

The old man pointed in a direction, and indeed, not far away, there was a young man squatting under a tree, clutching his stomach.

Ding Lai waved his hand to the group behind him and said, “Follow me.”

With that, the group followed the old man to the designated location.

Ding Lai carried the young man on his back and followed the uncle as they moved forward. When they reached a corner where the soldiers couldn’t see them, the uncle tapped the back of the young man, signaling him to get down. They quickly made their way towards the grove of trees.

It wasn’t until they had walked a mile that they finally stopped.

“Steward Luo, what are you doing here?” Ding Lai looked at the uncle, who was the steward of the Luo Mansion, and asked.

Steward Luo replied, “Our madam sent me to take care of some matters, and I’ve just finished. I saw you being stopped yesterday afternoon.”

Ding Lai exclaimed in frustration, “The county officer took our documents and never came back. It’s clear that he’s intentionally delaying us.”

Steward Luo said, “The governor on this side has definitely arrived in Tongshan. They’re trying to stop us from bringing the witness back.”

“What should we do then? They’re guarding the dock, and we can’t get past them.”

“Follow me.” Steward Luo led them another mile and arrived at a riverbank in Qinghe. There, several other people were already waiting, and to their surprise, there was a wooden boat by the riverbank!

“Steward Luo! You managed to get a boat?” Ding Lai exclaimed with delight.

Steward Luo nodded and said, “Let’s hurry back. The lord must be getting anxious.”

“Great!” Ding Lai responded happily.

The group boarded the wooden boat and successfully crossed the river upstream from the dock, returning to Tongshan City. Instead of disembarking at the dock in Tongshan, they quietly landed at a gentle spot along the riverbank and discreetly made their way back to the county yamen.

Once Steward Luo and his group returned, Luo Mingda immediately notified Yu Qingze to hold the court session in the afternoon.

Old Man Jia and his party had someone keeping an eye on the county yamen’s situation. Upon learning that the court session was scheduled for the afternoon, they hurried to the county yamen and arrived just as the bailiff finished announcing, and Niu San and Jia Xiaoren were brought into the courtroom.

“Luo Lord, this case involves the people of my jurisdiction in Qingzhou. I request to oversee the trial,” Lord Lu stated as soon as he entered the courtroom.

Upon seeing Lord Lu and his father, Jia Xiaoren’s spirits, which had been low, suddenly lifted, and he became confident.

Luo Mingda smiled and said, “Lord Lu, you want to oversee the trial?”

Lord Lu nodded.

Luo Mingda scratched his ear in confusion and asked, “Lord Lu, I think you might be mistaken out of haste. This suspect is your cousin. According to our Dasheng laws, you should recuse yourself. Where does the oversight come from?”

Lord Lu was momentarily speechless. He didn’t expect Luo Mingda to be quite knowledgeable about the laws.

Luo Mingda continued, “If you wish to observe, please do so outside the courtroom.”

Lord Lu looked at Luo Mingda, turned around, exchanged a glance with Lord Zhang, and then, with a grim face, stepped back outside the courtroom, standing with the other commoners to listen.

Afterward, Lord Zhang said, “Lord Luo, I request permission to observe inside the courtroom. Do you have any objections?”

Luo Mingda chuckled and said, “Sure. Someone, bring a chair for Lord Zhang.”

The bailiff took out a small stool from behind and placed it next to the other bailiff near the entrance.

“I’m really sorry, Lord Zhang. As you know, the previous county magistrate embezzled a lot of silver and filled the national treasury. All that was left for me was a mess. Our Tongshan County Office is really poor; we couldn’t even find chairs, so we only have these small stools. I apologize for the inconvenience,” Luo Mingda said with a guilty expression.

“You…” Lord Zhang’s face turned red from holding back, but in the end, he had no choice but to sit on the small stool, tucking his legs in.

He knew that this was intentional trouble-making, but he couldn’t do anything about it. The other party’s identity was not as simple as a county magistrate. Even if he was being provoked, as a small county magistrate, he couldn’t afford to offend them.

Forced by the governor to come here, and now facing ridicule from his peers, Lord Zhang felt extremely frustrated but couldn’t voice his grievances.

Yu Qingze and the others couldn’t help but want to laugh when they saw this, but they all desperately held it in, their shoulders trembling.

They didn’t know whether the county office was poor or not, but they knew that the Luo family ate their three meals a day at the Yu’s Snack Shop and House of Prosperity.

Lord Lu and Lord Zhang’s faces turned as black as they could be upon witnessing this scene.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

Both reputation and dignity have been completely lost!

When Jia Xiaoren saw his cousin and the others being humiliated, he felt a sinking feeling in his heart. Luo Mingda really didn’t give any face.

Clap!

Luo Mingda, seeing Lord Zhang sit down, slammed the wooden table and said, “Yu Qingze accuses Jia Xiaoren of instructing Niu San to drug the food at House of Prosperity, plotting intentional harm. We will now hold a court hearing! Bring forth the witnesses: Mister Li from the Jia residence and the villagers from Wulipo!”

Lord Lu, Lord Zhang, and Old Man Jia were all shocked. Didn’t they set up an interception? How did they manage to come back?!

What a bunch of idiots! What are they even good for?!

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Thandar: Luo Mingda, now you have my respect and I shall address you as Lord Luo. Way to go.