After going back and forth a few times, He Xingniang was left hoarse and unable to speak.

Only then did Jiang Yanyi say, “Sister He, you really are something. Since I opened my shop, I haven’t offended you in any way. If there’s anything you find displeasing, we could have discussed it privately.

Just look at you; you’ve been scolding me all morning, and not a single person passing by this street has the desire to enter and buy anything.

I’m not too concerned; after all, I only started selling hot pots at noon, but you’ve made it so that all the neighboring shops haven’t made a single sale all morning. Was this really necessary?”

He Xingniang’s eyes widened, wanting to continue scolding, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the pain in her throat prevented her from making any sound.

The neighbors, who had listened to He Xingniang’s yelling all morning, also had many grievances against her.

Moreover, what Jiang Yanyi said was true; because of He Xingniang’s ruckus, they hadn’t made any business all morning.

Human nature can sometimes be strange; people can be bystanders to others’ affairs, but when it involves their own interests, that’s when they react.

“Xingniang, what you did today was really unreasonable.”

“Exactly, this is Duhu Mansion Street, not your home. You’ve made such a fuss all morning; is this any way to do business?”

“How childish! Still acting like this at such an age. When faced with even the slightest issue, it’s as if everyone owes her something…”

The most frightening thing about an argument isn’t a one-on-one confrontation, but rather a crowd of people all pointing fingers at you.

Under normal circumstances, He Xingniang could have shouted a few times and silenced everyone.

But today, her voice was hoarse, and she couldn’t say anything.

In the end, she was so furious that she simply closed her shop and decided not to do business today.

After this incident, those with discerning eyes could see that while Jiang Yanyi appeared amicable, anyone who provoked her would truly find themselves in a difficult situation.

After all, He Xingniang had been operating on Duhu Mansion Street for over ten years.

Aside from today, when had she ever lost the upper hand in a shouting match?

---

Jiang Yanyi indeed believed in the principle of “harmony brings wealth” and typically lived by the motto “if people don’t offend me, I won’t offend them.”

However, if someone offended her, she would not be a pushover.

He Xingniang had openly and subtly provoked her multiple times.

Jiang Yanyi had brushed it off the first few times, but this time, since He Xingniang had pushed too far, she no longer felt the need to show mercy.

Qiu Kui looked at Jiang Yanyi with envy. “Hua hua, you’re amazing!”

She had always been bullied throughout her life, and even when scolded, she couldn’t think of a way to retort.

Today, when He Xingniang was spitting and shouting, Qiu Kui was frightened just watching, while Jiang Yanyi seemed unfazed and managed to turn He Xingniang’s words against her.

Jiang Yanyi replied, “That’s how you must handle things. There are many who fear the strong and bully the weak. If you don’t stand your ground, there won’t be many kind-hearted people willing to help you.”

Qiu Kui nodded vigorously, then asked, “Was that cat something He Xingniang did?”

Jiang Yanyi thought for a moment and shook her head. “It shouldn’t be her.”

No one would be that foolish, setting a trap for themselves and then jumping into it.

Jiang Yanyi had considered the possibility of someone else being behind it all.

The only restaurant on the entire street was Laifu Restaurant, but as He Xingniang had mentioned, Laifu Restaurant was a large establishment, mainly catering to the feasts of nobles, which didn’t conflict with her hot pot business at all.

Since arriving in Xizhou City, the only people she had offended were the Hu family.

Could this all be the Hu family’s doing?

As Jiang Yanyi pondered this, she prepared the medicinal dish and sent it to Duhu Mansion.

The gatekeeper, looking rather apologetic, said, “I forgot to inform you, Master Jiang. This morning, Commander Chi came by, and the prince left early with him to the military camp.”

Jiang Yanyi frowned. “Didn’t the doctor say he needed to rest at home for a few days?”

The gatekeeper looked troubled. “Well… I don’t dare to pry into the prince’s matters. It must be that there’s something urgent in the military.”

Jiang Yanyi understood that a mere gatekeeper couldn’t possibly know the reason for Feng Shuo’s sudden trip to the military camp.

After handing the medicinal dish over to the gatekeeper, she returned to the shop.

When Aunt Guo arrived for work, she came in scolding, “What a terrible thing to do! Putting a dead cat at someone’s doorstep so early in the morning; it’s utterly heartless!”

Jiang Yanyi was somewhat puzzled. “Aunt, how did you find out?”

Aunt Guo replied, “On my way here, I heard many people discussing it. They said a wild cat that ate the mice in our shop was poisoned and died. The doctor from the Xilin Hall has been called by several families this morning, all nobles who had eaten our antique soup yesterday. Upon hearing about the dead cat, they feared that the things in our restaurant were unclean and felt unwell.”

Jiang Yanyi’s brows furrowed tightly.

A cat had died outside her restaurant only this morning, and there hadn’t been many people on the street yet.

She and Qiu Kui had already cleaned up the bodies of the wild cat and the mice.

He Xingniang had only mentioned the mouse incident at the beginning, and afterwards, her scolding was about other things.

It was impossible for rumors about the wild cat to spread that quickly; someone must be stoking the fire from behind the scenes.

However, before Jiang Yanyi could think much further, two bearded men barged into the shop, cursing as they came in.

One was an eyepatch-wearing man, and the other had a scarred face.

The eyepatch man kicked over a set of chairs and shouted, “Master, get out here!”

As soon as Qiu Kui saw the two men, her expression turned fearful.

She turned to Jiang Yanyi and said, “Huahua, it’s the people who came to eat yesterday.”

Jiang Yanyi pressed her hand gently on Qiu Kui’s arm to signal her not to be afraid.

She stood up and said, “I’m the owner of the shop. If you gentlemen have something to say, let’s discuss it calmly. If you break anything in my shop, you’ll have to compensate for it.”

The scarred man looked Jiang Yanyi up and down, his gaze lecherous. “I’ve heard this shop’s owner does flesh business with the nobles, and even the prince has been enchanted by her. With a face as beautiful as yours, it seems the rumors are true.”

Jiang Yanyi’s gaze instantly turned cold. “Under the laws of Da Xuan, slandering others and speaking ill of the royal family is punishable by having one’s tongue cut out.”

Feng Shuo is a member of the royal family.

The large man speaking had a stiff expression, and the one-eyed man glared at his companion.

He then turned fiercely to Jiang Yanyi and said, “Yesterday, the three of us had a hot pot at your shop. Today, my third brother is suffering from severe stomach pain and vomiting. He’s currently at the Rejuvenation Hall. What do you have to say about this?”

Jiang Yanyi’s first reaction was that they were trying to extort money from her, and that the dead cat at the shop entrance was also their doing.

After all, their clothing didn’t seem like that of wealthy people.

Yet yesterday, they had eaten and drunk to their heart’s content at her shop and had paid the bill.

Now, with the incident of the dead cat just coming to light, they were causing trouble at her store.

But upon reflection, it didn’t hold up to scrutiny—if they were just after some silver, there was no need to concoct a rumor about her shop’s food being unsanitary.

Besides, these few ruffians didn’t have the capability to spread rumors so quickly.

Jiang Yanyi calmly spoke up, “I checked the accounts from yesterday. You came to the shop for lunch. The dinner last night and breakfast this morning could also be the reason for your brother’s stomach pain and vomiting.”

“Bah! The rats in your shop have eaten the dead cat, and you still want to fool your grandfather?” the one-eyed man challenged aggressively.

It seemed that seeing real trouble arise from the hot pot, more people began to gather outside the shop.

Jiang Yanyi straightened her back.

No matter how unreasonable these two were, she showed no signs of weakness, matching their momentum. She shouted, “Did you see that wild cat eat the dead mouse?”

The one-eyed man was stunned by Jiang Yanyi’s shout. “No, I didn’t.”

“Then did you see that the mouse ran out of my shop?”

“I didn’t see that either.”

Jiang Yanyi sneered, “How can you be certain that the mouse is from my shop? As for your brother’s condition, report it to the officials. They will give you an explanation.”

The scar-faced man chimed in, “The officials—how can the officials of Xizhou be more powerful than the prince next door? Shopkeeper, just serve the prince well in bed, and the officials will definitely rule you innocent.”

He put on a heartbroken expression and spoke to the onlookers, “It’s us powerless common folks who suffer!”

Jiang Yanyi’s face darkened, but she also realized from this statement that they had a connection to the Hu family and directly cursed, “You’re talking nonsense!”

After offending the Hu family, she understood their status in Xizhou.

The Hu family had a big business, monopolizing the entire flower market in Xizhou, and they also dealt in spices, making rouge and powder, and operated a silver shop and a cloth shop.

The governor of Xizhou, Lord Xie, was the uncle of the young mistress of the Hu family.

Once, when Feng Shuo intervened, Lord Xie didn’t recognize his relatives and punished the young mistress of the Hu family as well.

After a steward from the Hu family personally came to her shop to deliver gifts and apologize, she had no further dealings with the Hu family.

Who would have thought that the Hu family would be waiting here to scheme against her?

However, these two ruffians were not only slandering her with their words but were also deliberately discrediting Feng Shuo.

Did the Hu family truly have no sense of danger, or had they climbed even higher?

Considering this, Jiang Yanyi couldn’t help but feel strange.

Today, with such chaos on Protectorate Street, the patrolling officials in this area had yet to appear.

Aunt Guo, having heard the words of the two rascals, seemed even angrier than Jiang Yanyi and spat fiercely, “A bunch of dog bastards! Did your mouths dig through a cesspool? You can live like a local thug in Xizhou, yet you don’t reflect on whose favor you’re benefiting from! If it weren’t for the King of Liaonan in Xizhou, the Turks would have long invaded the city and cut off your heads to use as night pots!”

“You filthy old hag!” The scar-faced man’s eyes glinted with anger as he raised his hand to hit Aunt Guo.

“Aunt!” Jiang Yanyi, worried about Aunt Guo getting hurt, shouted, “Stop! Do you have any respect for the law?”

The scar-faced man ignored her, advancing aggressively.

However, Aunt Guo cleverly hooked a stool with her foot, causing the scar-faced man to trip and fall face-first onto the ground.

Aunt Guo then sat down on the ground, making it look as if she had fallen in fright.

She raised her foot and kicked the scar-faced man several times, shouting, “Help! Someone is being beaten!”

Jiang Yanyi couldn’t tell how strong her kicks were, but she saw the scar-faced man covering the kicked area, curling up like a shrimp.

Jiang Yanyi was dumbfounded; so Aunt Guo… was actually a hidden martial arts master?

The onlookers couldn’t see what was happening inside, but hearing Aunt Guo’s cries, they assumed the two big men were bullying people, which naturally elicited some sympathy for Jiang Yanyi and her companions.

However, since the officials had not come, they did not dare to rush in to help when they saw how fierce the two men were.

“Stop!” A loud voice came from outside, and a handsome young man squeezed in— it was Lu Lingyuan.

“Poor scholar, don’t meddle in other people’s business!” The one-eyed man was preparing to help the scar-faced man and had no intention of acknowledging Lu Lingyuan.

But he saw Lu Lingyuan pull out a token from his chest: “I am a person from the Xizhou government!”

Jiang Yanyi had heard of Lu Lingyuan’s reputation; his colleagues joked that he should come here for a meal.

He had tried every means to refuse, unwilling to step into this place, fearing that past entanglements would resurface.

Yet today, passing by and hearing the cries from inside, he couldn’t sit idly by.

Having studied Confucian classics his entire life, he couldn’t abandon the principles ingrained in him because of some old grudges.

Even if it was just an unfamiliar woman being bullied today, Lu Lingyuan would still stand up for her.

When Jiang Yanyi saw Lu Lingyuan, she was momentarily taken aback; she hadn’t expected to see him again under such circumstances.

Seeing the token in Lu Lingyuan’s hand, the one-eyed man and the scar-faced man, who was wincing in pain, exchanged puzzled glances.

Didn’t the people over there say that the Xizhou government wouldn’t intervene on Protectorate Street today?

“Why are you causing trouble?” Lu Lingyuan questioned the two men.

“My brothers and I had hot pot here yesterday, and today my third brother has diarrhea and vomiting. It must be because the food at this shop is unclean!”

“Since you all ate here, why is it only your third brother who is experiencing diarrhea and vomiting while you two look so healthy?” Lu Lingyuan pressed.

The two ruffians were stumped; they were originally thugs, not reasoning people, and stammered, “My third brother… has been weak since childhood; he isn’t as strong as us.”

“Since he is weak, perhaps it’s just poor digestion. This isn’t a reason to slander the cleanliness of the shop!” Lu Lingyuan said sternly.

The scar-faced man hurriedly added, “This morning, a wild cat died at their shop. It must have eaten the mice from their shop!”

Jiang Yanyi immediately retorted, “The mouse isn’t from my shop!”