Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1702 There is no right or wrong, only success or failure!
To be fair, Wang Yingjie, the owner of Jinxianglou, was quite resilient. He endured eleven days in the prison of Yijing Prefecture. Of course, this was also because Bai Changjiu was careful about the impact and did not want to make things too big at first, so he did not take drastic measures against Wang Yingjie initially!
Bai Changjiu originally thought that scaring Wang Yingjie would make him back down, but he did not expect that Wang Yingjie had two tough bones. So he ordered his subordinate, the head constable Lü Heng, to use some tricks on Wang Yingjie!

After a series of tactics were employed, Wang Yingjie, who had been so resolute and unwilling to give up the restaurant even at the cost of his life, finally gave in and signed a transfer contract in prison before being released by Bai Changjiu.

After being released from prison, Wang Yingjie was very unwilling and angry that his ancestral restaurant had been handed over to the Bai siblings. He even considered impeaching and exposing Bai Changjiu through the censor!

However, Bai Changjiu did things very well and managed to catch him in a compromising situation. During the operation of the restaurant, some of the raw materials had spoiled and developed an off-odor due to improper storage. In order to save costs, he instructed his chefs to add more seasonings to mask the off-odor and then serve the dishes to the diners as if they were normal food.

Because Sichuan cuisine is inherently quite strong in flavor, some diners didn't notice any problems. Wang Yingjie was quite pleased with himself, even thinking that he could do the same in the future, saving a significant amount of money...

However, while the diners didn't realize there was something wrong with the food, what Wang Yingjie didn't expect was that the Bai family had long been eyeing his Jinxiang Restaurant, seeing it as a lucrative business. Even after failing to purchase it, they didn't give up; instead, they arranged for people to work as waiters at Jinxiang Restaurant.

The Bai family didn't actually have any good intentions in sending people into Jinxiang Tower. In fact, the Bai family just wanted people to cause some trouble inside Jinxiang Tower so that Bai Changjiu, the prefect of Yijing, would have an opportunity to intervene!

However, before the Bai family could take any action, they discovered that Wang Yingjie had used spoiled ingredients to pass off inferior goods as superior ones. The Bai family was naturally overjoyed, and Bai Changjiu quickly intervened and had Wang Yingjie arrested and imprisoned.

Besides the very legitimate reason for throwing Wang Yingjie into jail, the Bai family's acquisition of Jinxianglou was also very clean!

The person who signed the transfer contract with Wang Yingjie was not Bai Changjiu, nor anyone from the Bai family, but a man named Li Xiude. On the surface, Li Xiude did not seem to have much to do with the Bai family, and the amount on the contract was based on the market price.

However, in reality, this Li Xiude was one of the gloves belonging to the Bai family. Although the amount signed in the contract was the market price, the Bai family only paid half of it and even forced Wang Yingjie to write a receipt. So on the surface, everything was in accordance with the rules and had nothing to do with the Bai family.

In addition, Bai Changjiu of the Bai family is now the prefect of Yijing, and the Bai family also has a concubine.

Therefore, the thought of the Bai family's connections filled Wang Yingjie with despair. After much agonizing thought, he realized that he had only lost his restaurant for now; if he continued to fight the Bai family, he might lose much more than just the restaurant and money…
So Wang Yingjie finally chose to accept his fate. Every time he saw the restaurant he had worked so hard to build up over his entire life now belonged to the Bai family instead of the Wang family, he felt heartbroken. So he eventually took his family and left Yijing. The Bai family then successfully acquired Jinxianglou, a restaurant that earned nearly a thousand taels of silver a year!
The Bai family handled this matter very well and cleanly, so few people knew about it. Now that Jinxianglou belongs to the Bai family, Murong Qingwu discovered this secret of the Bai family because she had previously arranged people in the Yijing government office!

Although she discovered the Bai family's secret, Murong Qingwu did not make a fuss. After all, the Bai family had done a good job, and she had no evidence to prove it. In addition, Murong Qingwu felt that although the Bai family seemed very close to An Miaoyi on the surface, it was hard to say whether the Bai family had their own ideas after Bai Yuanyuan had Ye Jingheng as their son.

Therefore, Murong Qingwu felt that the Bai family was a potential target, and since she and Wang Yingjie were not related, she did not want to seek justice for Wang Yingjie.

The matter should have ended there, but Murong Qingwu did not expect that her daughter would find out about it and tell others. She was very surprised when she first heard about it.

Now that An Miaoyi knows about this matter and is relentlessly pursuing it, Murong Qingwu is finding herself in a real bind...
Facing her mother's gaze, Ye Kexin felt extremely wronged, not thinking that she had done anything wrong.

It was clearly the third sister, Ye Xingtong, who was in the wrong. Not only did she have the comic book she lent to confiscated, but she also hit her younger brother, Ye Jingyan.

Although that's what she thought, facing her mother's gaze, Ye Kexin could only lower her head and whisper:
"I happened to be looking for Mother when you were talking to Aunt that day, so I overheard all of this at the door!"

Despite having prepared somewhat, Murong Qingwu still closed her eyes and looked extremely helpless upon hearing the answer.

Seeing her mother like this, Kexin still felt wronged, thinking she hadn't done anything wrong, but in order not to upset her mother, she reluctantly said:
"Mom, I was wrong! Please don't be angry!"

As soon as Ke Xin finished speaking, Murong Qingwu couldn't help but rebuke her:

"Kexin, you're almost ten years old now, you should be more sensible. You heard about this, so why did you go outside and shout it? Do you know how much trouble this has caused your mother?"

Hearing her mother say this, Kexin lowered her head and began to sob sadly:

"It was clearly the Bai family who were in the wrong, I didn't say anything wrong!"

Seeing that Kexin had not yet realized her mistake, Murong Qingwu became even more furious and said:

"You tell me what's right and what's wrong!"

Ye Kexin opened her mouth as if to say something, but the little girl, who was not yet ten years old, was completely overwhelmed by sadness and grievances and could not answer such a profound question.

Seeing this, Murong Qingwu said with a serious expression:
"Kexin, you remember this: if you were an ordinary girl, you could be innocent and kind your whole life, but you are not an ordinary girl!"

"You are Ye Mingsheng's daughter, a princess of the Great Qian Dynasty. Your identity dictates that you will be inextricably linked to the ZZ for the rest of your life. And within the ZZ, there is only success and failure, not right or wrong..."

"If you win, everything you say and do is right; similarly, if you lose, everything you do and say is wrong!"

"You must always remember this! Don't be naive, and definitely don't go around shouting about this kind of thing!"

"Kexin, if you continue like this, you will not only kill yourself, but also everyone around you, leaving them all with nowhere to bury their bodies."

Although she still didn't quite understand what her mother was saying, seeing her mother's serious expression, Ye Kexin was somewhat frightened and quickly nodded, saying:
"Mother! I understand! I've remembered everything!"

At that moment, Ye Jingyan, who was standing to the side, was also frightened by his mother's appearance, so he immediately burst into tears.

However, his cries did not awaken Murong Qingwu's maternal love. On the contrary, they made Murong Qingwu feel more and more irritable. Just as Murong Qingwu was about to have an emotional outburst, Ying'er, who heard the child crying, also entered the room.

Seeing Murong Qingwu's expression, the personal maid immediately understood that her mistress needed to calm down. So, without Murong Qingwu's permission, she took the two children, Kexin and Jingyan, out so that Murong Qingwu could calm down on her own.

With her son's cries gone and her daughter's aggrieved expression no longer visible, Murong Qingwu's emotions slowly receded like a tide, and calm and rationality regained their dominance. Looking at herself in the mirror, Murong Qingwu felt a pang of regret for her outburst...

··········
··········
Rao'an Lüqiao Town

Jingren sat on a stone bench in the Lin family's courtyard, looking curiously at the dozen or so chickens in front of him. Although he ate chicken quite often, he rarely had the opportunity to observe live chickens up close like this.

As Jingren observed the chicken's every move, a little girl of about seven or eight years old was also curiously watching him. Jingren quickly noticed her gaze, and after a few seconds of eye contact, he took the initiative to greet her:

"Hello, little sister!"

The little girl wasn't shy at all at Ye Jingren's invitation. After carefully looking him over, she suddenly asked:
"Is your name Ye Jingren?"

Although somewhat curious that the little girl knew his name, Jingren nodded truthfully and then began to speak as described in martial arts novels:
"My name is Ye Jingren. May I ask your name, little sister?"

"My name is Lin Meng'er!"

"Sister Meng'er! Jingren greets you."

"Why are you speaking so formally? Is this how Yi Jing always talks?"

Ye Jingren was unsure how to answer Lin Meng'er's question. He scratched his head and said:
"That's how they talk in martial arts novels!"

"Aren't you a member of the Ye royal family? Why are you writing lines from martial arts novels?"

Upon hearing this, Jingren was immediately startled and asked incredulously:
How did you know I was a member of the Ye royal family?

Upon hearing this, Lin Meng'er looked at Jing Ren with an expression as if he were an idiot and said:

"Aren't you surnamed Ye? I heard that the current emperor is named Ye Mingsheng, so all those with the surname Ye are royalty!"

As soon as Lin Meng'er finished speaking, her grandfather Lin Yongkang's voice came through.

"Meng'er, how could you speak the emperor's name so directly!"

"It's alright! A name is meant to be spoken, isn't it?"

The two children looked over upon hearing this and saw Ye Mingsheng and Lin Yongkang walking over. Lin Yongkang, upon hearing Ye Mingsheng's words, looked at Ye Mingsheng with some surprise. Feeling the other's gaze, Ye Mingsheng realized that he had misspoke, since he was referring to himself as Ye Kui in front of Lin Yongkang.

However, Lin Yongkang didn't dwell on the issue. Instead, he waved to his granddaughter and said:

"Go back to your room and do your homework!"

Hearing her grandfather say this, Lin Meng'er was immediately disappointed. Ever since she was old enough to understand, all the young people in the town had considered it an honor to go to Yijing, so Lin Meng'er was also full of curiosity about Yijing. She had finally met someone from Yijing, and she wanted to ask about the situation in Yijing. However, since her grandfather had said so, she could only obediently listen to him.

After Lin Meng'er returned to the house, Lin Yongkang introduced her to Ye Mingsheng:
"Lord Ye! The snake venom in your son's body has been mostly cleared. He only has external injuries left, and he will be fully healed in a few days without any impact. However, just to be on the safe side, it's best to continue taking his medication for the next few days!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly upon hearing this, then looked at Jing Ren and asked:
How are you feeling now?

"I feel great right now, there's nothing wrong with me!"

"Get up and move around a bit!"

Upon hearing this, Jingren immediately paced back and forth under his father's gaze. Seeing that Jingren was still limping, Ye Mingsheng frowned and asked:
Does your right foot still hurt?

"Hmm! It still hurts a little, but I'm not dizzy anymore..."

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng nodded silently. Although the snake venom in Jingren's body had been cleared, the snake bite wound was still there, so it seemed that he would need to rest for a few more days before he could continue to move around.

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng also looked at Lin Yongkang beside him and said:

"Thank you so much, Dr. Lin, for treating Jingren! Is there anything you would like to ask for?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng ask this, Lin Yongkang paused for a moment, then looked at Ye Mingsheng and tentatively asked:

"May I ask if you are a member of the Ye royal family, sir?"

Ye Mingsheng was slightly surprised by Lin Yongkang's question, but after thinking about it for a moment, it was not surprising that he knew that Lin Yongkang was a member of the Ye royal family. After all, although he might not know who Ye Kui was, he was surnamed Ye and came from Yijing. The prefect Zhang Dafu was very respectful to him, so it was perfectly reasonable for him to guess that he was a member of the Ye royal family.

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng didn't deny it, but just smiled and said:
"As long as it's within my power, I will try my best to meet Dr. Lin's requests!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Lin Yongkang remained silent for a while before mustering his courage to speak:

"I would like to write a letter to His Majesty. Lord Ye, could you please help me deliver it to him?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng was taken aback at first, then asked in a somewhat puzzled tone:

"You're going to write a letter to the emperor?"

"Yes, I have something to say to the Emperor!"

Seeing Lin Yongkang's resolute expression, Ye Mingsheng asked with some curiosity:

"What do you want to write to the emperor?"