Volume 1, Chapter 43: Boycotting Me Together?

Li Siyuan replied, "Reporting to you, sir, it has been investigated. They were three vagrants who usually engaged in petty theft and pickpocketing."

Liu Zhengjun let out a sigh of relief and asked, "Are you certain the wounds on these three are similar to those of Scarface Zhang?"

"Yes, sir. It is highly likely they were the work of the same person," Li Siyuan answered.

Just then, Magistrate Wang walked in and whispered, "Sir, Young Master Xie has arrived."

"Understood."

Liu Zhengjun nodded, then said to Li Siyuan, "The deaths of these three were not caused by the same killer as Scarface Zhang; they simply offended someone due to their wicked ways. You may leave."

Li Siyuan was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "Understood! This subordinate will take his leave."

Having worked at the bottom rung of the yamen for many years, Li Siyuan had long since cultivated a sharp, intuitive mind. It was clear that the magistrate did not want the two cases linked. Otherwise, it would cause panic, and secondly, it would lead his superiors to blame him for incompetence, jeopardizing his career. As a lowly runner, Li Siyuan would naturally not expose such a thing.

Liu Zhengjun left the room and returned to the main hall. Inside the hall, Xie Tangfeng, dressed in white and holding a folding fan, sat quietly.

"Young Master Xie," Liu Zhengjun said with a bow.

Xie Tangfeng rose and asked, "Magistrate Liu, how goes the investigation?"

"Old Xing just reported back; nothing has been found yet," Liu Zhengjun sighed.

Xie Tangfeng frowned.

Liu Zhengjun quickly added, "Please rest assured, Young Master Xie. I have dispatched all my men. As soon as there is any news, I will report it to you immediately."

"Very well. I will give you three more days. If you still haven't found them by then, I will have no choice but to take matters into my own hands!" Xie Tangfeng said with a salute.

Time was running out. The Empress had been missing for several days. Although she had been poisoned and injured, she should be recovering by now. Once she healed, she would certainly find a way back to the capital. If the Empress returned safely to the capital, they would face nothing but death.

If he couldn't find her in three days, he would have to lead his men in a forced search. Even if it meant turning Zhiyuan County upside down, or even slaughtering its entire population, he had to find the Empress! She must not be allowed to leave alive.

Liu Zhengjun wiped the cold sweat from his face and said, "Understood."

"And one more thing," Xie Tangfeng said with a gloomy expression. "Seal off all exits from Zhiyuan County. Do not let even a pigeon fly out!"

"Understood."

Elsewhere, Chang Chunsheng of the Baixiao Restaurant was pacing back and forth in his room, restless. He had promised thirty taels of silver to three thugs to steal Fan Xiu’s cold noodle recipe.

As it turned out, those three had vanished without a trace since they left. If word leaked out, his business at Baixiao Restaurant would be ruined.

Just then, his butler hurried in and whispered, "Master, I went to their residence, but they were nowhere to be found. I have no idea where they went."

Chang Chunsheng said in a deep voice, "Three grown men—how could they just disappear into thin air?"

"Master, do you think they might have taken the goods and fled?" the butler asked.

Chang Chunsheng frowned. "Unlikely. I only gave them ten of the thirty taels promised. They haven't been paid in full, and the noodle recipe is useless to them. They shouldn't have run off."

The butler thought for a moment and suggested, "Master, won't we know tomorrow when we see Fan Xiu? If Fan Xiu is perfectly fine, then it means something happened to those three!"

"That makes sense." Chang Chunsheng nodded.

At the Fan household, Ying told Xiao Ruoqing about what had happened in Zhiyuan County, including the fact that she had killed the three men and been spotted by Li Chuntao.

"How could you be so careless?" Xiao Ruoqing said with dissatisfaction.

"I apologize. I didn't expect Sister-in-law to be there," Ying replied, full of regret.

"Forget it," Xiao Ruoqing said helplessly. "Since it's already happened, it cannot be changed. Fortunately, Sister-in-law cares deeply for Fan Xiu. Since you did it to protect him, she shouldn't make too much of a fuss, but you must be more careful in the future!"

"Understood. How is your body recovering?" Ying asked.

"I can still only manage to move about with difficulty," Xiao Ruoqing replied. Her body had suffered severe trauma and would not recover easily.

After finishing her conversation with Ying, Xiao Ruoqing had wanted to go talk to Fan Xiu, but since Fan Xiu had injured his waist and Fan Shoucheng had been tending to him all night, she hadn't been able to visit.

The next day, Fan Xiu rose early. While making the cold noodles, he didn't forget his training, enduring the pain in his waist to practice his horse stance, much to Ying’s astonishment. It seemed Fan Xiu truly wanted to learn martial arts.

However, when he delivered the noodles to Zhiweixuan, Fan Xiu discovered that there were even fewer customers than the day before.

"Sir Zhao, what is going on? Where are the customers?" Fan Xiu asked Zhao Defu, puzzled. Logically, business at Zhiweixuan should have been even better than before.

Ying also looked curiously into the hall of Zhiweixuan. Today’s business was indeed unusual.

Just then, Guo Xiulan sauntered over, waving a handkerchief. "It’s all because of Liu Wenyuan and his crowd. They’ve joined forces with a group of scholars to boycott our cold noodles. Many people are afraid of the bad reputation and have stopped coming."

"Damn it!" Fan Xiu cursed in anger. With business like this, he would never be able to earn two hundred taels. Liu Wenyuan—he hadn't wanted to provoke him, but this bastard was determined to ruin him! With this fellow stirring up trouble, even if he came up with new dishes, they would surely be sabotaged!

"What did you say?"

Guo Xiulan looked at Fan Xiu with delight. "Say that again, let me hear it?"

Fan Xiu: "???" What was this? What did she mean by that?

"Go away, go away!" Zhao Defu glared fiercely at Guo Xiulan. "This is none of your business. Aren't you supposed to be delivering food? Get going!" With that, he pushed Guo Xiulan away.

Ying watched them in silence. Guo Xiulan was clearly not someone to be trifled with. How could Zhao Defu, at his age, tolerate such a woman?

After Guo Xiulan left, Zhao Defu said to Fan Xiu, "Fan Xiu, you have a sharp mind. Think about how to handle this. I'm not in a hurry, but if things continue this way, you likely won't earn enough silver." He crossed his arms, looking completely unbothered.

Fan Xiu gritted his teeth. Zhao Defu was truly good at offering empty words.

"I'm going to see the Instructor," Fan Xiu said.

Instructor Sun Xianliang was the teacher who taught them. He wasn't a teacher at a private academy, but at the school under the jurisdiction of the county government, accessible only to the sons and daughters of prominent families or those who had passed the preliminary exams.

Fan Xiu and Ying headed straight for Sun Xianliang's house.

Meanwhile, Chang Chunsheng received word from his butler. "Master, Fan Xiu is fine and continues to run his noodle business, though business has dropped significantly."

Chang Chunsheng frowned. "It seems those three bastards really failed. Damn it, to think they couldn't even handle a small task like this!"

The butler mused for a moment. "Master, I also received news from the yamen that three thugs were killed yesterday. I don't know the specifics, but it is highly likely that it was them."