“Yes, Master!”

After saying this, the two yamen runners prepared to head towards the door.

Seeing this, Jian Xiu quickly reminded them: “Master, why not also invite my former father-in-law, Zhang Dashan, as well as my former eldest brother and sister-in-law, and my second sister-in-law? That would be best.”

At the end of her sentence, Jian Xiu felt a little embarrassed, because she noticed the strange look in Mo Shanrui’s eyes as he looked at her.

“Why just your eldest brother and sister-in-law, and second sister-in-law? From what you said earlier, aren’t you from the fourth branch? Isn’t there still the third branch?” Mo Shanrui knocked on the desk with a bang and asked again.

“Master, you are sharp. There is indeed a third branch, but the third branch was also severed from relations with Zhang Dashan, and has no connection to him anymore,” Jian Xiu replied, standing upright.

She said this to make it clear to Mo Shanrui that the people from the old house were not trustworthy, and were of bad character.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Mo Shanrui immediately ordered the two yamen runners, “Do as she said!”

“Yes, Master!”

While waiting, Mo Shanrui did not sit idly by. He kept asking Jian Xiu various questions about the case.

Jian Xiu, confident that she was in the right, didn’t mind the questions from Mo Shanrui.

“You’re saying they beat your husband, Zhang Zixuan, so badly that his head was split open, and when you returned, he almost died?” Mo Shanrui asked, incredulously.

To him, no matter how bad Zhang Zixuan was, he was still Zhang Zihua’s fourth younger brother. Why would anyone go so far to harm him?

And about Jian Xiu’s former mother-in-law—wasn’t Zhang Zixuan her son? Any mother, he thought, would hesitate before inflicting such harm on her own child.

After thinking about this, Mo Shanrui asked again: “If what you’re saying is true, can you confirm that your husband, Zhang Zixuan, is indeed your former mother-in-law, Zhang Liu’s biological son?”

Upon hearing this, Jian Xiu suddenly became more alert.

This was one of the main reasons she had come to accuse her former mother-in-law.

However, although she thought this to herself, she still acted confused and replied: “Master, to be honest, I’ve thought about this question before. But with my relationship with Zhang Liu, even if I asked, I’m afraid I wouldn’t get a clear answer.”

Jian Xiu had a good first impression of Mo Shanrui.

Moreover, after hearing what Feixuan and Feiyi said in the ox cart, she was even more convinced that he could be someone who could help her in this matter.

Looking at the county magistrate, she didn’t think he was the kind of stubborn person who would act unfairly.

If he were, he wouldn’t have been so friendly toward her when she mentioned suing her former mother-in-law.

In fact, suing her former mother-in-law in Qu Yong County was unprecedented, so this news quickly spread through the streets.

Everyone was gossiping about it.

Some more gossiping people were already standing outside the yamen, pointing and whispering about Jian Xiu.

Of course, large establishments like Yuexiang Tower also had people discussing the matter.

Wu Mingtang had already overheard Jian Xiu mention some things earlier.

When he thought about what had happened when he visited Zhangjia Village, he put down his ledger and hurried toward the yamen.

Meanwhile, in Caifang Zhai, Rong Zhihe had also heard about the yamen’s actions, although he didn’t know that the young lady in question was Jian Xiu.

At that moment, seeing the long line outside the yamen, he was thrilled.

His cakes weren’t cheap—each small piece cost two hundred wen.

One layer of cakes in a steamer could produce dozens of pieces.

The best part was that his steamers weren’t just single-layer; most of the time, they had four or five layers.

So, with each batch, he could earn several taels of silver.

After doing this for many years, he had never made so much money in one go.

Looking at the people lined up outside, it was obvious they were mostly servants from wealthy families.

It seemed that Jian Xiu was right—these cakes could indeed be developed into a high-end product.

Qu Yong County was fine, but if he could sell these cakes in the capital, wouldn’t the silver flow in even more?

Thinking of this, he immediately told his servant: “Go to Zhangjia Village and ask Miss Jian Xiu to come. Tell her I want to get a few more recipes from her, and ask her to come demonstrate.”

Rong Zhihe was the kind of person who acted on his thoughts immediately. Right now, he couldn’t wait for Jian Xiu to give him all her cake recipes.

He rarely got a chance to go to the capital, so he planned to develop several new varieties while he was there.

This time, he was determined to earn more so that his family would look at him differently.

“Yes, young master!” The servant said, then immediately went to Zhangjia Village.

At the same time, in the Xuewen Academy, Mo Shanhuai, upon seeing Zhang Feixuan and Zhang Feiyi, immediately thought of the sketching technique that Jian Xiu had taught him earlier.

That’s right! She had called it sketching, and he remembered that it was called “sketching.”

He didn’t know how useful that kind of drawing would be elsewhere, but in the yamen, it was certainly the most useful.

Not many people knew that the county magistrate, Mo Shanrui, was his cousin. For those not close to them, it was almost impossible to know.

As for Mo Shanhuai, he didn’t need Mo Shanrui to support him to run the Xuewen Academy.

He could run it himself and make it better and better. In fact, he had already achieved that.

Now, their academy was slowly standing side by side with the prestigious Hua Heng Academy.

Hua Heng Academy had been around for hundreds of years, while their Xuewen Academy was not yet even a hundred years old.

Despite this, Xuewen Academy had been steadily rising.

Looking at the sketch in his hand, Mo Shanhuai knew that it would be very useful to his cousin, Mo Shanrui.

The most important thing was, he had already sent someone to Caifang Zhai to buy cakes.

But the servant had just returned and told him that there were too many people in line, and they might not get any cakes today.

With this in mind, Mo Shanhuai thought, “I can’t just sit here. I’ll go myself.”

He didn’t believe that if he personally went to find Rong Zhihe, he wouldn’t be able to get a piece of cake.

Ever since eating Jian Xiu’s cakes that day, he had been craving them nonstop.