Chapter 138 (Part 2): The Culinary Tycoon

Shi Sheng placed one hand on his abdomen and let out a cold snort from his nose, thinking to himself, “Child, look, this is the kind of person your father and grandfather are!”

Seeing his silence, Luo Mingda asked again, “Shi Sheng, answer my question promptly.”

Shi Sheng lifted his head, his gaze turning cold in an instant, and he replied, “Sir, I did not instruct Niu San to administer the drugs. I didn’t do it.”

Luo Mingda said, “But the note passed to Niu San was written by you. Your handwriting matches exactly with the handwriting on the carrier pigeon message received by Niu San.”

Shi Sheng paused for a moment and then said, “What note? I have no idea.”

Luo Mingda then had someone show Shi Sheng the note.

Sheng furrowed his brows and responded, “This note is indeed written by me. It only contains the words ‘Come quickly to Tongshan—Jia.’ It doesn’t say anything about administering drugs. This alone doesn’t prove that I am the mastermind.”

Luo Mingda raised an eyebrow, impressed by Shi Sheng’s quick thinking.

He turned to Niu San and asked, “Niu San, tell me, who ordered you to administer the drugs?”

Niu San glanced back and said, “It was Shi Sheng, Concubine Sheng.” Since the Jia family had decided to pin it on Shi Sheng, he went along with it.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

Shi Sheng let out a cold laugh and said, “Niu San, you can’t even recognize who your master is? Do you think I can order you around?”

Niu San remained silent.

Luo Mingda watched them tearing into each other and felt excited. He wished they would reveal more and expose more secrets. It would make his job easier.

Shi Sheng then said to Luo Mingda, “Sir, Niu San is the servant of my husband, Jia Xiaoren. He was raised specifically to handle certain matters that cannot be dealt with openly. There are over a dozen people like him, who only take orders from Jia Xiaoren. Others cannot command them. The reason that note could summon Niu San is because it contained a specially crafted crow feather, which is their ‘code.’ Without that crow feather, the handwriting on the note would match Jia Xiaoren’s own handwriting, and Niu San wouldn’t have come to Tongshan. The only person who can instruct Niu San and that group of people is Jia Xiaoren.”

“Sheng’er! You…” Jia Xiaoren turned and glared at Shi Sheng, astonished that he would reveal even that.

“I am carrying your child in my belly, and yet you want to pin everything on me? Hmph, you showed no mercy first, so don’t blame me for being unjust.” Shi Sheng gave him a cold glance and then turned away.

Upon hearing this, Jia Xiaoren seemed as though he had been choked, unable to utter a word.

Seeing their silence, Luo Mingda spoke again, “Shi Sheng, the specially crafted crow feather cannot be found, and Niu San has admitted that you are the mastermind. What evidence do you have to prove that it’s not you but Jia Xiaoren?”

Shi Sheng replied, “That group of people has been under his command for several years. Weren’t they the ones who caused the downfall of many restaurants in Qingzhou on Jia Xiaoren’s orders? They’ve done everything from drugging, threatening, to kidnapping. Didn’t they even force two people to their deaths? Just investigate it, and you’ll find out. Moreover, I only met Jia Xiaoren this year. Does that mean I was also the one ordering Niu San to do things in the past?”

Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted in an uproar.

Coming from Shi Sheng’s mouth, these words were even more convincing and impactful than what Cao Yuan had said earlier. After all, she was Jia Xiaoren’s intimate partner and naturally knew more about things.

Amidst the discussions of the onlookers, suddenly, someone shouted loudly.

“Lies! Shi Sheng, you’re lying! My husband came to Tongshan to start a new life, it was you, Shi Sheng, who had a personal grudge with Yu Qingze and instigated my husband to seek revenge for you!”

“Oh, here comes another person!”

Luo Mingda frowned and shouted loudly, “Who goes there? Step forward and speak!”

Among the crowd, Madam Jia stepped forward.

Jia Mingzhi and Jia Xiaoren looked at Madam Jia and gestured to him, signaling him to go back. But Madam Jia gritted his teeth and still stepped into the courtroom.

He entered the courtroom, knelt down and paid his respects, saying, “I am Madam Jia, wife of Jia Xiaoren. I have something to report to Your Honor.”

Luo Mingda asked, “What is it? Speak.”

Madam Jia said, “Your Honor, my husband and I came to Tongshan last November to conduct our business peacefully. However, after my husband married Shi Sheng as his concubine, he took advantage of his youth and beauty to constantly seduce my husband. He also instigated him to confront the Yu family, all with the aim of seeking revenge for himself.”

Curious, Luo Mingda asked, “Revenge for what?”

“Madam Jia replied, ‘He had a personal grudge with Yu Qingze.'”

“Lin Lian, you’re talking nonsense!” Upon hearing Madam Jia’s words, Shi Sheng hurriedly exclaimed, “Your Honor, don’t listen to him. He’s just jealous that I, being young, have taken away my husband’s love and is seeking revenge on me!”

However, Luo Mingda was clearly intrigued, and he asked, “What kind of personal grudge?”

Madam Jia gritted his teeth, glanced at Shi Sheng, and then said, “Shi Sheng, he was originally the illegitimate son of the Shi family in Tongshan City. A year ago, his family arranged a marriage for him with the second young master of the Zeng family in the same city. But it is said that the second young master of the Zeng family has had poor health since childhood, and also… “

Luo Mingda raised an eyebrow and asked, “And what?”

Madam Jia closed his eyes, his face turning red, and said, “And he has a hidden ailment.”

“Hidden ailment?”

Seeing Madam Jia’s expression, the people in the courtroom roughly guessed what kind of hidden ailment it was, and their facial expressions were quite fascinating, displaying various emotions.

Luo Mingda also felt a surge of excitement, as if he had just drunk chicken blood. He asked again, “And then, what does this have to do with Yu Qingze?” As he spoke, he glanced at Yu Qingze.

Yu Qingze: …It has nothing to do with me!

Madam Jia continued, “Shi Sheng didn’t want to marry the second young master of the Zeng family. He wanted to find a better match than the second young master and make his family give up on the marriage. So he set his sights on Yu Qingze, the owner of Yu’s Snack Shop. However, Yu Qingze was already engaged and rejected him. He even openly expressed his love for Yu Qingze on Beida Street in front of the snack shop, but Yu Qingze rejected him every time.”

“Later, when the Shi family found out about this, they confined him. Once, he managed to escape and sought help at the snack shop, but Yu Qingze’s wife and an employee ignored him and called the people sent by the Shi family, who took him back. As a result, he held a grudge.”

This was something Jia Xiaoren didn’t know, and he looked at Shi Sheng in shock.

Having their past dirty laundry exposed in this manner, Shi Sheng shouted, “Lin Lian, if you dare to talk nonsense like this again, believe me, I’ll rip your mouth apart!”

As he spoke, he got up and walked towards Madam Jia.

“Stop him!” Luo Mingda shouted, and immediately, bailiffs came forward and subdued Shi Sheng, also tying a cloth strip around his mouth to silence him.

Luo Mingda said, “Madam Jia, continue.”

Madam Jia pursed his lips and continued, “Later, Shi Sheng married into the Zeng family. According to him, the second young master of the Zeng family was wheelchair-bound, not only physically unhealthy but also psychologically twisted. Despite being unable to… uh, you know, he demanded that Shi Sheng use his hands and mouth to serve him. When Shi Sheng refused, the second young master of the Zeng family would beat him until he complied.”

As Madam Jia reached this point, his entire face and neck turned red.

Upon hearing this, everyone realized that the second young master of the Zeng family was truly inhumane?

This news was shocking! Such a scandalous revelation!

They perked up their ears and listened with great interest.

“How did you come to know about this?” Luo Mingda asked, puzzled. Such private and embarrassing matters shouldn’t be something one would disclose to others, right?

Madam Jia replied, “In April of this year, Shi Sheng was divorced by the second young master of the Zeng family and sent back to the Shi family. The Shi family, feeling ashamed of him, kept him confined at home. Unwilling to accept it, he escaped again and happened to be encountered by me. It was raining that day, and I saw him drenched and his family’s people were searching for him. He lied to me, saying that his family wanted to sell him to a brothel. Feeling sorry for him, I brought him back to my home.”

At this point, Madam Jia’s mood suddenly became low, and his voice softened considerably as he continued, “To gain my trust, he began pretending to be pitiful and seeking sympathy, telling me all about his situation. Little did I know, I had invited a vixen into my home. He saw that my family had a good financial situation and went to great lengths to seduce my husband. Eventually, my husband was seduced by him and they had a relationship, leading to Shi Sheng becoming my husband’s concubine.”

“And then?” Luo Mingda asked.

Madam Jia continued, “After marrying him, my husband became infatuated with him. He would often whisper in my husband’s ear, saying that Yu’s Snack Shop was affecting the business of Xiang Man Yuan, inciting my husband to take action against Yu Qingze. I’ve heard it many times. A few days ago, as I passed by the study, I overheard him telling Niu San, ‘If we’re going to do it, let’s do more. What’s the use of such a small amount of croton powder?’ So, Your Honor, the person who directed Niu San is Shi Sheng!”

Luo Mingda asked, “Are you certain that the statement you just mentioned was said by Shi Sheng?”

Madam Jia nodded and said, “I’m certain.”

“Very well,” Luo Mingda said to the bailiffs holding Shi Sheng, “Release him.”

The bailiffs obeyed and let go of Shi Sheng.

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