The crowd of onlookers outside the shop automatically parted to make way.

The head of the officials took a quick glance, and his expression instantly changed dramatically. “Wang… Wang Ye?”

The fire brigade members were equally surprised to see Feng Shuo appear, with Chef Li and Zhao feeling a bit constrained.

The younger fire brigade members didn’t dare to make a sound.

Jiang Yanyi looked surprised; she had thought that after what happened last time, Feng Shuo wouldn’t come to support her when she opened the shop.

Feng Shuo was dressed in a black python robe, embroidered with dark red and gold double lines depicting swirling clouds.

His three-foot-wide waist sash was adorned with a double fish pendant, exuding nobility.

With one hand resting behind him, he held a delicate birdcage in the other.

Inside the cage was a green-feathered parrot, its wings folded, chest puffed out, and it appeared quite proud.

When he locked eyes with Jiang Yanyi, his gaze was calm, but Jiang Yanyi’s eyes reflected complexity, and she quickly looked away, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Feng Shuo also averted his gaze, his lips pressed down.

Those who knew him recognized this as a sign of his displeasure.

His cold phoenix eyes scanned the chaos in the shop before finally settling on the head of the officials standing to the side. “Is this how the Xizhou government conducts its business?”

The head of the officials was sweating profusely; he was responsible for maintaining order on Duhufu Street and naturally knew which influential figures stood behind each shop.

He had never made a mistake in his duties before.

This shop originally belonged to Lui Ji’s cosmetics store.

Lui Ji could buy the prime location because he had given gifts to Governor Xie.

When he heard that Jiang Yanyi had taken over Lui Ji’s shop, he mistakenly thought Jiang Yanyi was without support.

Moreover, this time, Jiang Yanyi had provoked the governor’s niece, and the entire Xizhou was under Governor Xie’s jurisdiction.

Therefore, the head of the officials had wisely sided with Madam Hu.

Unexpectedly, the young shopkeeper Jiang had so many noble patrons by her side, including the Wang from Liaonan.

The head of the officials forced a smile, bowing and scraping. “I… I just wanted to ask the shopkeeper to come to the yamen to give a statement. There was a brawl in public and someone was injured; the yamen has to record a statement, right?”

“However, since the Wang Ye knows her, there’s no need for a statement…”

He gestured for his subordinates to escort Madam Hu away, looking embarrassed.

But Feng Shuo called out to stop him. “The yamen has its rules; if a statement is to be taken, it should be recorded here.”

The head of the officials felt cold sweat soaking his back.

He had stated that a statement was to be taken, but now Jiang Yanyi had returned his words exactly.

“This… this…”

He found himself in a tough spot.

Xing Yao noticed the deepening displeasure on Feng Shuo’s face and hurriedly shouted, “What are you hesitating for? The shopkeeper still has to open her shop!”

With Xing Yao’s shout, the head of the officials had no choice but to start taking the statement, bracing himself.

Jiang Yanyi moved a chair to the entrance for Feng Shuo to sit on.

Xing Yao originally intended to help, but then thought that his master might not want to sit on the chair he moved, so he stood aside.

Jiang Yanyi arranged the chair and said to Feng Shuo, “Wang… Wang Ye, please sit.”

During their time in the barracks, everyone in the fire brigade had called Feng Shuo “General,” and Jiang Yanyi had grown accustomed to that title.

Now that they were outside the barracks, she struggled to adjust.

Feng Shuo glanced at her and sat down with an imposing presence, resting his left arm casually on the armrest, occasionally tossing a few job’s tears to the parrot in the cage.

Though he didn’t pay attention to how the head of the officials was taking the statement, his demeanor suggested he wasn’t particularly concerned.

However, the head of the officials felt his scalp prickling, as if a large knife was hanging over his neck, and any misstep could lead to disaster.

When asked about the cause of today’s brawl, Head Zhao insisted that it was the Hu family who started it.

The Hu family’s servants had swaggered down the street with sticks, and many passersby could testify to that.

When asked why the Hu family came to cause trouble, Jiang Yanyi recounted the incident of Hu Baiwan smashing the door a few days earlier, and the entire Duhufu Street could vouch for that.

Indeed, Hu Baiwan had been a nuisance.

The head of the officials was aware of Hu Baiwan getting punished; he originally thought that the Wang Ye wanted to take care of the Xizhou government and just happened to choose Hu Baiwan, who was typically troublesome, to make an example of.

However, upon seeing it today, it was clear that the Wang from Liaonan was protecting this shopkeeper.

The head of the officials regretted his involvement in this mess deeply; how did he end up dealing with such trouble?

Madam Hu, out of jealousy and resentment, had made a habit of hitting people in public without differentiating right from wrong.

Today’s incident was indeed initiated by the Hu family, and evidence was present.

After recording Jiang Yanyi’s statement, the head of the officials asked Madam Hu symbolically whether what she said was true.

Madam Hu was supported by two officials, her feet pressed into a shard of porcelain, with a piece stuck in her backside as well.

She couldn’t stand properly and couldn’t sit comfortably either; maintaining this position was unbearable.

The two officials assisting her gritted their teeth, sweat beads forming on their foreheads, struggling under her weight.

Madam Hu had been pampered since childhood, and she had never endured such humiliation.

The pain from the porcelain shards was excruciating, but she wasn’t completely lacking in sense.

Seeing Feng Shuo protecting Jiang Yanyi, she realized that if she continued to make a scene, she wouldn’t gain any advantage.

Looking at Jiang Yanyi’s beautiful face, she truly wished she could rush up and scratch her face to pieces.

‘Bitch! Always flirting around, this King of Liaonan must be her servant under her skirt!’

Madam Hu ground her silver teeth in anger, barely holding back her fury, and said resentfully, “I misunderstood Manager Jiang and disturbed him in his business…”

Jiang Yanyi, who was nearby, wasn’t afraid; she just worried that she would turn around and demand medical expenses from him, looking for trouble.

She quickly said, “Your injuries are because you smashed the dishes in my store and accidentally stepped on the broken porcelain, cutting yourself. It has nothing to do with my shop. I hope the officials will bear witness. Our shop’s profit is small, and we are not responsible for hiring a doctor for Madam Hu.”

The onlookers laughed because it was the first time they had seen someone come to beat someone up only to end up injuring themselves.

The children, who had been lured over these past few days by Jiang Yanyi’s marketing of candied hawthorn sticks, squeezed to the front.

One daring boy pointed at Madam Hu and laughed, “I saw it! She fell and broke the dish, accidentally cut her foot, and then fell on her butt and hurt herself!”

Madam Hu was extremely embarrassed and made a move to rush at the boy who was speaking, saying, “You filthy-mouthed brat, you uncultured thing!”

The two officials were already struggling to hold her back.

Now, with her struggling harder, the two officials could only let go.

Madam Hu couldn’t keep her balance and fell down again, landing like a dog eating shit.

“That fat woman fell again!”

The children in the front burst out laughing and clapped.

Madam Hu fell with a bloody nose, in pain and humiliated, and no longer had the heart to stay there.

In a fit of rage, she ordered her household servants, “Are you all dead? Take me home!”

Jiang Yanyi frowned; Madam Hu hadn’t yet said she wouldn’t come looking for medical expenses.

Just as she was about to speak, Feng Shuo stepped in first and said, “Causing trouble and maliciously damaging someone else’s property, and still leaving with such indignation. What do you think the laws of Daxuan are?”

Causing trouble and similar acts were minor offenses, but Feng Shuo’s last sentence made the head of the officials’ legs feel weak.

This could be translated to mean “disregarding the law.”

With a bit of exaggeration, it could almost be interpreted as having treasonous intentions.

The head of the officials was no longer afraid of offending Xie Zhizhou.

If this phrase reached Xie Zhizhou’s ears, he might no longer recognize this niece.

He quickly cupped his hands and said, “Your Highness is right. This small official will take them all to the jail at once!”

The officials surged forward, binding all the Hu family’s wicked servants.

When Madam Hu heard she would have to go to jail, with all the incidents piling up today, her not-so-bright head became completely dizzy with anger, and she shouted, “Do you dare make me sit in jail? Do you know my uncle… ugh…”

The head of the officials was afraid she would say something foolish again, so he hurriedly covered her mouth and had someone carry her away.

He then bowed to Jiang Yanyi, saying, “Manager Jiang, please list the damaged items from today’s incident. I will go to the Hu family later and have them compensate you at the original price.”

Jiang Yanyi quickly thanked him.

Only then did the head of the officials perform a deep bow to Feng Shuo: “This small official takes his leave.”

Feng Shuo’s expression was cold, merely nodding slightly.

Once the government officials left, most of the onlookers dispersed.

However, the incident with the Hu family ended up boosting Jiang Yanyi’s shop’s reputation.

With the help of the fire brigade today, there was no need for Jiang Yanyi to clean up the broken porcelain herself.

As she turned around, someone had already tidied it up.

She didn’t dare to approach Feng Shuo and, under the pretense of writing a list of broken dishes, hid behind the counter.

If it were an ordinary customer, Head Zhao would have helped her, but with Feng Shuo sitting prominently in the store, Head Zhao didn’t have the courage to approach him.

He could only urge Jiang Yanyi, “Today, the General helped you out; why don’t you quickly ask what he would like to eat?”

Jiang Yanyi took a secret glance at Feng Shuo, whose expression was unreadable.

The memory of being cornered by him flashed in her mind, and she felt too timid to approach him.

Gripping her pen tightly, she said, “I… I’ll finish writing this compensation list first.”

Head Zhao peered over and saw her writing with oversized, messy characters, feeling his eyes sting.

He snatched the pen from her hand and said, “With your handwriting, it’s a miracle if anyone can read this list. Let me write it for you. Old Li in the kitchen is watching too; go attend to your distinguished guest!”

Thus, Jiang Yanyi was ruthlessly shoved out from behind the counter.

She glanced at Feng Shuo and then at Head Zhao, who was sitting behind the counter, gesturing for her to come forward with a somewhat exasperated expression.

Jiang Yanyi thought that if it weren’t for that day’s incident, she would have been completely unafraid to serve Feng Shuo.

However, with that underlying relationship, she now felt immensely awkward.

In the end, she steeled herself and walked up to Feng Shuo, forcing a smile that was almost stiff, and finally managed to squeeze out a polite sentence, “Thank you, Your Highness, for today’s matter.”

Feng Shuo lifted his clear, cold eyes.

His gaze was always chilling, making it impossible for anyone to guess what lay hidden beneath that icy exterior.

He extended his hand and presented a birdcage to Jiang Yanyi, saying, “You mentioned before that I should come to support you when you opened the shop. I wish you great success.”

The parrot inside the cage seemed to have been trained to respond to this phrase multiple times before; as soon as Feng Shuo finished speaking, it immediately flapped its wings, as if fearing it would be too late to say it and end up in a stew: “Congratulations on your opening!”

Its voice was remarkably loud.