Empress of Fortune: A Farm Girl’s Rise
Chapter 366 - 353: Drive Out

Chapter 366: Chapter 353: Drive Out

The young lad led Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Yutian across to another tea house that seemed to have seen several years, saying on the way, "Originally, the shop manager wanted to invite both managers to have tea in the shop, but since the shop is still undergoing renovation and is a bit chaotic and dusty, he arranged for us to meet here instead."

"This tea house has been here for several years now; there is a quiet partitioned seating area on the second floor, and from the window, one can perfectly view the situation inside the shop."

The young lad helped Zhuang Qingning pull out a chair, "Please sit. Wait a moment; our shop manager will be here shortly."

"I have to keep an eye on the renovations at the shop, so I can’t accompany the two managers any longer, please forgive me."

"Go ahead with your work." Zhuang Qingning smiled, "We’ll wait here for Manager Cheng."

"Yes." The young lad bowed to Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Yutian and then hurriedly clattered downstairs.

Soon, Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Yutian saw the young lad busying himself inside the shop.

Clearly the young lad had already ordered tea and snacks; shortly after, a server brought up a pot of tea and four small, exquisitely arranged plates.

Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Yutian each took a teacup to drink.

The tea was green tea, full of fragrance and even had a slight sweetness.

Zhuang Qingning enjoyed it and poured himself another cup.

"Is the tea to your liking?" Zhuang Yutian asked with a smile.

"Yes, it feels very comforting to drink, and the water is good too," Zhuang Qingning nodded.

"The water is from a well in a village on the eastern side of the county town; only that well yields sweet water, which tastes good even without brewing tea. This tea house uses tea from the Cheng family’s tea shop called ’Yuwu tea.’ It’s only supplied in the county town’s tea houses and not sold outside. Only a few of Cheng family’s shops regularly do business with them, and they send some over during festivals and holidays."

Zhuang Yutian said, "A few days ago, Manager Qian asked if I drank tea and said he would send some Yuwu tea over once the new batch arrives. If you like it, I’ll save some for you."

"If there’s enough, please save some for me," Zhuang Qingning thought the tea indeed tasted very good and did not hesitate to directly accept the offer.

"Alright, I’ll send some over to you when I get it," Zhuang Yutian replied.

"Get out, get out!"

The two were talking when they suddenly heard a commotion downstairs.

"If you keep causing trouble, I’ll have to take you to the authorities!"

The voice was loud and infused with anger, clearly belonging to the server who had brought the tea earlier.

"It’s your shop who cheats the customers, clearly I should have won the wager and the taels of silver, but you gave it to someone else. There must be some trickery involved, thinking of keeping it all to yourselves."

The sound of arguing erupted, and Zhuang Qingning raised her eyebrows.

The voice sounded very familiar...

Was it Zhuang Yuanren?

Zhuang Qingning leaned sideways from the staircase to look down and indeed, she saw Zhuang Yuanren arguing with the shop assistant below.

Dressed in a brocaded robe, his attire was disheveled and his hair somewhat messy, he loudly scolded the shop assistant, "How dare you bully people like this, always bringing up the County Government Office? Do you intend to collude with them to oppress scholars?"

"You know you are a scholar, then you should act like one, instead of stirring up trouble here and muddling right and wrong." The shop assistant was not someone to be easily bullied; he stood with his hands on his hips, sizing Zhuang Yuanren up and down, "I thought you looked familiar just now, and now I remember."

"A few days ago, news about the Kong family spread through the county. You must be the son of that vile man who was willing to push his own daughter to death for silver. I saw you in front of the Government Office, claiming you didn’t know anything, pushing all the blame onto your own father?"

"Tsk tsk, no wonder then, no wonder you are so greedy for money, making a fuss over here for this little bit of silver!"

"Well then, I won’t be polite anymore, I’ll take you to the County Government Office myself. Let’s shout along the way and let everyone see what you look like!"

With that, the shop assistant rolled up his sleeves and reached for the collar of Zhuang Yuanren’s clothing.

Zhuang Yuanren was visibly scared, and due to what the shop assistant had said, his face turned pale, and without further argument, he turned around to leave.

As he hurried out, he stumbled on the doorstep, staggering several steps before stabilizing himself. Fearing that the shop assistant might chase after him, he hurriedly ran off.

The shop assistant spat twice, grumbling in dissatisfaction before returning to calm the guests in the shop.

Seeing that Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Yutian were both peeking their heads out to look, he quickly carried over a kettle to refill their tea, smiling broadly, "Sorry to disturb you both."

"Originally, to attract customers, the shop manager had someone write a couplet downstairs. Anyone who could answer it well and was deemed the best would receive a tael of silver and a free tea and snack. It was valid for a month."

"The person just now, he had left a couplet earlier, but his was not the best, so the silver was given to someone else. Logically, he should have felt ashamed, but instead, he was arrogantly accusing us."

"But then again, a person with such character, it’s no wonder he did what he did. I don’t know if you heard about the Kong family incident a few days ago. The wealthy Kong family in the county was supposed to celebrate the marriage of their only child, which should have been a joyous occasion. However, on the day of the celebration, someone reported them to the authorities, claiming that although ostensibly arranging a wedding for their living heir, they were in fact seeking a ghost bride for their dead son."

"As you may know, our current laws strictly forbid this. Master Ding, the county magistrate, upon hearing this, led an investigation. Indeed, the Kong family had this in mind, and it is infuriating that the girl’s family, involved in such a heartless deed, still dared claim that since she is their daughter, they have the final say over her life."

"Even more infuriating was the girl’s elder brother, who, being a poor adopted son recognized by the Kong family, is now dressed in fine silk. He claims that he had nothing to do with this and did not know anything, saying he was deceived by his family. Essentially, he wanted to climb over his own sister’s life."

"Master Ding was even angrier after hearing this. He had Mr. Kong and his wife from the Kong family, along with the family selling their daughter, beaten and sentenced to a year of labor. As for the elder brother, since he stubbornly denied knowing anything without proof to the contrary, he could only be flogged and expelled from the government school."

"Yes, that was the person just now..."

"I suppose he has nowhere to go and no silver to spend, which is why he thought about coming into the shop to try his luck."

The shop assistant, apparently not having calmed down from before, rambled on for a long time. After finishing, he felt he might have said too much and awkwardly chuckled.