They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 170 Don’t shed tears until you see the coffin

The tall man found it amusing. Since Madam Xu was so thoughtful, he might as well ask, "Oh, right, may I ask, Madam Xu, who is Madam Lu?"

Xu Zhichun smiled: "The magistrate's wife, Madam Lu."

"what?"

"."

The two men were stunned for a moment, completely disbelieving.

Zeng Xiaoyan and Liang Mingliang were also stunned.

Zeng Xiaoyan was overjoyed, "So Sister-in-law Zhichun visited Madam Lu's residence yesterday? Haha, that's wonderful!"

The tall man sneered, "Does Madam Xu know what she's saying?"

"Do you think I would dare to joke about the magistrate's wife?"

The tall man, seemingly unfathomable, said, "Who knows? There are plenty of people in this world who exaggerate and boast. Perhaps Madam Xu is certain that we have no way to verify this, and she's just saying it on purpose?"

The short man sneered, "That's right, Madam Xu doesn't think she can scare us off with just a few words, does she?"

Zeng Xiaoyan: "Then you should go and verify it."

The tall man spread his hands: "We have no way of verifying it. Madam Xu, you should think about this prescription again before selling it to us."

Xu Zhichun was surprised that they didn't believe her at all. She thought that this would scare them away and that would be the end of it. It seemed that she would have to trouble Granny Ji again.

"How about we go to the county government office now? It's alright if you can't verify it, I'll do it. Please, gentlemen."

The two men visibly paused for a moment, but the taller one remained convinced of his judgment, believing that Xu Zhichun was faking it. He gave a cold smile and said, "Alright, then please lead the way, Madam Xu."

Xu Zhichun turned and left, saying, "You two, follow me."

Zeng Xiaoyan and Liang Mingliang looked at the two men as if they were idiots, and quickly followed Xu Zhichun.

These two are so crazy! Sister-in-law Zhichun wouldn't lie about something like this, and there's no need for her to lie, right? The little prodigy is very much liked by Lord Lu, and Sister-in-law Zhichun really did go to the county government office.

Upon arriving at the back gate of the county government office, the two men in blue, who had initially been completely disbelieving, became somewhat skeptical. However, they gritted their teeth and insisted on continuing.

Since they've come all this way, how can they be satisfied without seeing it for themselves?

They took such a large sum of money from Manager Fang, how could they not get things done?
"Is Madam Xu just going to lead us to this back door and leave us here, that's it?"

"They really won't shed a tear until they see the coffin!"

Xu Zhichun smiled to himself, thinking that Young Master Zeng and Manager Fang must have gone all out this time. He wondered how much silver they had given to make these two so attentive.

Xu Zhichun whispered to Zeng Xiaoyan, "You two help me stop these two—you absolutely must stop one of them, don't let them get away."

Zeng Xiaoyan perked up: "Don't worry, Sister-in-law Zhichun."

Xu Zhichun stepped forward and knocked on the door.

The door opened quickly, and it was the same maid from yesterday. She was taken aback when she saw Xu Zhichun, but quickly greeted her with a smile, "It's Madam Xu! Please come in!"

"I won't be going in today. I wonder if you could ask Granny Ji to come over for me?"

“This—you wait here, I’ll go see if Granny Ji is free right now.”

"Thank you, sister-in-law." The maidservant closed the door and hurriedly went to call for someone.

Xu Zhichun stood on the steps, turned around and glanced at the two men: "Granny Ji is Madam Lu's trusted nanny."

The two men in blue were already somewhat suspicious and uncertain. They exchanged a quick glance, becoming even more conflicted.

Leaving is not an option, nor is staying.

If she doesn't leave, it's very likely that Madam Xu really knows Madam Lu.

Let's go. We've already come all this way, and it's still not finalized. What if it's fake? What if Xu Zhichun only knows a servant from Magistrate Lu's household?
Zeng Xiaoyan pulled Liang Mingliang along, subtly blocking their path: "It's too late to leave now. Even if you can't stop both of them, you can at least stop one."

Soon after, Granny Ji arrived. "Madam Xu, has something happened?"

"Granny," Xu Zhichun said, sounding aggrieved, as if she were complaining to Granny Ji for help, "In just one day, the fame of my ice jelly recipe spread throughout the city. This morning, many customers asked about the ice jelly when they were buying gray tofu and gray bean shreds. It's fine if people ask, and since everyone knows, I don't need to hide it. I'll just admit it openly. But these two people said they wanted to buy my ice jelly recipe for fifty taels of silver. They said fifty taels is already a big favor to me. If I don't appreciate it, they will keep harassing and causing trouble, making it impossible for me to set up my stall properly."

“I told them that I had already given the recipe for ice jelly to Madam Lu, but they didn’t believe me. They said I was lying and mocked me, saying they wouldn’t forgive me unless they saw it with their own eyes.”

"I have no choice but to trouble Granny Ji again."

The two men in blue clothes exchanged a slightly different expression, both surprised and angry.

That woman is lying!
Who would have thought that the seemingly honest Madam Xu was actually a liar!

She's just exaggerating.

Granny Ji was furious. She glared at them coldly and sneered, "You won't learn until you see the coffin. You think you can sell off someone else's livelihood recipe for fifty taels of silver? You pretend you don't know how much a bowl of ice jelly costs at Biyue Tea House? Madam Xu can earn that much in less than half a year. You have quite the nerve."

The two men in blue were still not entirely convinced and unwilling to give up.

"Is this old nanny really Madam Lu's trusted nanny? Did Madam Xu really present the ice jelly recipe to Madam Lu? Could it be that Madam Xu bribed the nannies in the county office to deliberately deceive us brothers? We don't have any other intentions, we just want to get to the bottom of things, is that too much to ask? If we have offended you, please don't be angry, old nanny."

"Yes, even if Madam Xu is going to lie, can't she at least make it believable? There's no way to fool people like this, right?"

Xu Zhichun felt even more aggrieved.

Granny Ji was even angrier. She knew that there were some particularly cunning and difficult servants in wealthy and powerful families. Masters of slightly lower social standing and without much support could not defeat them and had suffered a lot of humiliation at their hands.

I didn't expect it to be the same outside; there are people who specifically seek to die.

"Even if Madam Xu didn't give the prescription to our lady, does that give you the right to forcibly take it? Is there no law anymore?!"

The two men in blue were secretly delighted, thinking to themselves, "We guessed right! We bet right!"

Just say it.

How noble is the wife of a county magistrate? Many wealthy wives in the county town want to befriend her but can't. For example, Madam Zeng doesn't have that honor. No matter how capable Madam Xu is, can she compare to the Zeng family or Madam Zeng?

Since we've determined that the other party is just using a big name to intimidate us, we're no longer afraid.

They are the ones who should be afraid.

No master wants to be betrayed by his servants.

If the magistrate's wife found out that this old woman was abusing her power behind her back, the old woman's good days would be over. She would either be sold off or suffer a terrible fate.

(End of this chapter)