You expect me to serve your mistress? The mistress is driving this scumbag and his entire family cra

Chapter 41 The cook isn't from Zuixianglou at all.
The prefect said sternly, "Rest assured, the crown prince is subject to the same laws as commoners. Even if the city lord is involved in today's matter, I will still make a fair judgment and will not show favoritism."

Then, in a deep voice, he said to Lu Xingzhan, "Young Master Lu, I am the magistrate of Fucheng. I am very pleased that you have so readily taken on the responsibility of providing medical treatment."

However, this case is indeed related to you, and I must judge it based on the facts and thoroughly investigate the reasons behind it.

Lu Xingzhan nodded: "Absolutely. Even if you don't care, I will see this through to the end. Tell me, what gives the Fang family the right to make such baseless accusations? Do they have any evidence?"

"Young Master Fang said that the two chefs hired for the banquet at your residence both came from Zuixianglou. Is that true?"

Lu Xingzhan looked at Liang Jiang.

Liang Jiang herself was completely unaware of this, so she shook her head.

Lu Xingzhan said, "I am not aware of this matter. Whether it is true or not, we can find out by calling the cook over and asking him."

"The cook has already fled to avoid punishment," Tong Zhao'er said smugly.

"Just arrest him if he escapes. Once he's caught, you'll know the truth after an interrogation."

Tong Zhao'er scoffed, "The world is so vast, yet the city lord speaks of it so lightly, as if it were nothing. Or is it that you know their whereabouts, which is why you're so fearless?"

"They're just two cooks. Do they think they can sprout wings and fly away? Call the court painter over and have him draw up wanted posters. I'll have people look for them."

"Tch, they were acting under your orders. Even if you brought those two here, conspired beforehand, and paid them money to become scapegoats, do you think they would still confess to identifying you?"

Seeing Tong Zhao'er's smug look, Lu Xingzhan was furious and felt an urge to slap her.

"Like a dog entering a cesspool, it starts spreading rumors right away. You're so good at spreading lies, aren't you?"

"It's not even certain whether it's the two cooks' fault yet, and you're already framing me. Once this is investigated, I'll sue your Fang family for defamation."

Tong Zhao'er insisted, "This matter is as obvious as a bald man's head."

"Not necessarily," Liang Jiang said calmly after carefully examining the leftovers on the table. "I have already examined your banquet. The reason why the guests are vomiting and having diarrhea is simply because they ate rotten and spoiled meat."

She showed everyone the fish head on the plate: "Look at this, the fish meat is all gone, but luckily the fish head hasn't been touched. It's already black and smelly inside, which shows that the fish is extremely stale. The remaining meat in this dish is the same."

Everyone craned their necks to look, indicating their agreement.

Tong Zhao'er snorted coldly: "So what? Anyway, this dish was made by the chef of Zuixianglou, so it's the chef's responsibility."

Liang Jiang chuckled: "Now that you mention it, I'm even more puzzled. I can't speak for others, but Zuixianglou has been open for so many years, with guests flocking in every day, has such a thing ever happened?"
The chefs at Zui Xiang Lou are extremely strict about the quality of ingredients; they would never use anything that isn't fresh, let alone engage in such a reputation-damaging act.

Tong Zhao'er frowned: "What do you mean by all this?"

"What I mean is, I highly doubt whether these two chefs are from Zui Xiang Lou."

Fang Chengxu chuckled: "Li Sheng knows the chef at Zuixianglou, and he's the one who brought this person here. How could that be fake?"

One theory is that it was Li Sheng, but Liang Jiang didn't bother arguing with him and said to Lu Xingzhan, "Send someone to call the manager over and ask him."

"They won't shed tears until they see the coffin." Tong Zhao'er said to the prefect, "To prevent them from colluding on their testimonies in advance, sir, it would be better if you sent someone over."

The prefect found the argument reasonable and immediately dispatched his yamen runners to Zuixianglou.

Just then, a servant returned from getting medicine from Renhetang, and they immediately found a large pot, boiled it all together, and gave it to everyone.

No one wanted to leave; they all wanted to stay and wait for the outcome.

Before long, the manager of Zuixianglou arrived, sweating profusely from running.

Fang Chengxu pointed at Lu Xingzhan and asked the shopkeeper, "Do you recognize this person?" The shopkeeper shook his head in puzzlement, "I've never seen him before."

Fang Chengxu's words were loaded with meaning: "You don't even recognize your own boss? This is none other than the famous Lord of Fucheng."

The shopkeeper was a little surprised. He glanced at Lu Xingzhan and said uncertainly, "The person in charge of the restaurant's business is Miss Feng Ge. I only recognize her."

Liang Jiang felt that Fang Chengxu was talking too much nonsense, so she went straight to the point and asked, "The Fang family said that they hired two chefs from Zuixianlou for their wedding banquet today. Is that true?"

The shopkeeper was taken aback: "How come I didn't know about this?"

Everyone was taken aback and looked at Fang Chengxu.

Fang Chengxu was also stunned: "The person was hired from your Zuixianglou. Did someone collude with you beforehand?"

The shopkeeper said unhappily, "I don't deny that Zuixianglou has a strong reputation, and perhaps some chefs will take on private jobs. But to prepare these banquets, it would take at least two days for two chefs and their household cooks to work."

With Zuixianglou doing so well, and the six chefs in charge of cooking still extremely busy, how could I possibly allow two chefs to take a break at the same time!

The cooks are all here today, no one has taken a break, they've been busy for most of the day. If you don't believe me, you can go to Zui Xiang Lou and ask anyone."

The shopkeeper spoke with absolute certainty, leaving no room for doubt. Everyone listened attentively, and another round of discussion ensued.

"Could the Fang family be deliberately framing the city lord? They say the city lord is benevolent and upright, how could he do such a thing?"

"This cook was making money by impersonating Zuixianlou. Now that he's been exposed, he's probably just running away."

……

Tong Zhao'er immediately felt humiliated, but still stubbornly argued: "Even if the cook is not from your Zuixianlou, Liang Jiang definitely has the motive to poison him."

These words made Liang Jiang laugh in anger.

She grabbed the manager of Zuixianglou and said, "Manager, don't you think this bride is beautiful today?"

The shopkeeper was inexplicably dragged into this dispute by the Fang family today, and he was annoyed. He snorted, "It looks good, but it's a bit unreasonable."

Liang Jiang smiled and continued, "Then tell me, wouldn't an ordinary man feel the urge to kiss this beautiful bride?"

The shopkeeper glared at Liang Jiang with displeasure: "You young lady, why are you making fun of an old man like me?"

The crowd burst into laughter, and someone chimed in, "Who doesn't like a beautiful woman? But you have to have the guts to do it."

Liang Jiang chuckled and said, "Then can I understand that if every man who sees Miss Tong has a motive and the means to do so, then there must be a crime? Oh dear, wouldn't Miss Tong's innocence have been ruined long ago?"

Fang Chengxu, standing to the side, angrily retorted, "What kind of nonsense is this?"

Seeing that he dared to get angry with Liang Jiang, Lu Xingzhan immediately said sarcastically, "The words may be rough, but the reasoning is sound. You're allowed to use your own words to argue and blame us, but we're not allowed to give you a taste of your own medicine?"

"It's entirely possible that Liang Jiang is jealous of me on my wedding day!"

"What a joke! I've been discussing business with Liang Jiang all day. Who has the time or inclination to care about a promiscuous dog like you? Stop trying to make yourself look good."

"Instead of wasting time on this, you'd be better off calling over that Li Sheng from your household, finding out what happened, and giving everyone an explanation."

Lu Xingzhan's words were very vulgar, which drew laughter from everyone.

I heard that Fang Chengxu got involved with the daughter of a general's family in just two months after arriving in the capital, and became pregnant out of wedlock. Isn't he just a promiscuous dog?
(End of this chapter)