After the marriage, the cousin was spoiled by the whole family of the Marquis's Mansion

Chapter 15 Rice Case 1
"Your Xiangxiangyuan is just a fraudulent grain store!"

As Rong Peilan and Qingtan got off the carriage, they saw someone making trouble in front of the grain shop.

Manager Zhou, the owner of the grain shop, is the eldest son of Mother Zhou. Naturally, he is no pushover as he is able to become the manager of a grain shop in West City.

I have always dealt with managers of grain merchants and have seen all kinds of tricks.

But he didn't expect that the troublemakers today would be so stubborn.

"The Xiang Fang Yuan store is a big fraud. They actually sell old rice as new rice!"

"Such expensive rice is actually stale rice! This is a shady shop!"

More and more people gathered around and pointed fingers.

The regular customers of Xiangxiangyuan are almost all royal families, high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen. Ordinary people hardly buy the fragrant rice.

If it hadn’t lived in West City, Xiangfangyuan’s reputation would not be as well-known as the two grain shops in North City.

It's just that a rice shop with such luxurious decoration was called a shady shop by some people, which inevitably attracted the attention of the people.

Manager Zhou's face darkened. "This gentleman, please think about the consequences of your words."

The young man was carrying a heavy white cloth bag in one hand and a jar of wine in the other.

He picked up the rice bag and shook it, shouting, "What are the consequences? Are you threatening me for selling old rice?!"

"There are six people in total, including the steward and waiter of Xiangxiangyuan. According to the regulations of our dynasty, anyone who falsely accuses three or four people will be punished with 100 strokes of the cane and three years' imprisonment; anyone who falsely accuses five or six people will be punished with 100 strokes of the cane and exiled three thousand miles. If you are ready for exile, you can shout it out now."

A clear female voice.

"Who?" The young man looked around. "Exile? Are you trying to scare me? Who is your boss? How can you be so arrogant? Do you think you are more powerful than the laws of our dynasty?"

"I don't care, I want to meet the boss! I want to see who is the powerful god behind this black shop!"

"Of course, no one is above the law." Rong Peilan stepped forward from the crowd, "Can you show me your rice, sir?"

The young man frowned when he saw a young woman stepping forward. "Who are you? How can you make the decision?"

Rong Peilan, "If it is fragrant rice, I can take the initiative to compensate. If it is not fragrant rice, I can take the initiative to report it to the police."

The young man was also impatient and became unhappy after hearing what Rong Peilan said.

"What do you mean by rice that is not aromatic? I bought this rice yesterday and took it to my father-in-law's house early this morning. But it turned out to be stale rice. My father-in-law scolded me and said I was not sincere!"

"This bag of rice has never been opened since it left Xiangxiangyuan's door yesterday and arrived at my father-in-law's house!"

The young man threw the white cloth bag at her feet and said, "Since you are in charge, take a look at the rice in your house."

Qingtan picked up the rice bag, opened the bag and handed it to Rong Peilan.

She reached into the rice bag and felt around, then looked him in the eye. "It's never been opened? How would anyone know?"

The young man jumped up and said, "What do you mean? Are you trying to cheat?!"

Rong Peilan was a little amused, "Who is cheating?"

Then she turned to look at the onlookers and said, "We both have our own opinions. Since no one can explain clearly, how can we clear our name?"

"Go to the government office!"

There were many people in the crowd who were just there to watch the show, as the saying goes, "watching the excitement is no big deal."

The young man snorted, "If you want to go to the government office, then go to the government office!"

"Young lady..."

Manager Zhou was a little hesitant. He thought that when doing business, harmony brings wealth, and the worst thing to do is to avoid making a big fuss.

Rong Peilan gave him a calming look and said, "Go to his house and check."

Manager Zhou glanced at the calm young lady and saw that she was not panicking at all. His originally agitated heart also calmed down. He nodded gently, "Okay."

When Ji Yunzhang arrived, the crowd in front of Xiangfangyuan had all left and gone to the government office to watch the show.

The waiter in the shop came up to greet him, "Master, the young mistress has gone to the government office."

"yamen?"

The waiter briefly recounted what happened in the morning, and Ji Yunzhang's face darkened. "I just realized that the manager of Xiangxiangyuan couldn't even handle such a small matter."

The waiter quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "That person is really difficult to deal with..."

Ji Yunzhang climbed onto the horse, pulled the reins and turned back to the dock, and chuckled at the waiter, "Ha."

The waiter felt something was wrong when he heard the light sigh. When he looked up again, the prince was already riding his horse towards the yamen.

There were always many people watching the excitement at the gate of the yamen, with three layers of people inside and outside. In addition to gossip among neighbors, the people of Yanjing City also talked about the yamen, which was a gathering place for gossip, after dinner.

In addition to handling cases and deciding life and death, officials also have to deal with trivial matters among the common people.

The Jingzhao Yin with a goatee narrowed his eyes and slammed the gavel, saying in a deep voice, "You two have different opinions. Who should I believe?"

The young man looked like he wanted to cry but couldn't. "Sir, I'm a small businessman. I had an argument with my wife at home. My wife was pregnant and got a little mad. I ran back to her parents' home and was gone for more than ten days."

"I bought some good rice and wine to honor my father-in-law so that I can bring my wife back. How could I possibly exchange it for stale rice?"

"Because of this old rice, my father-in-law scolded me and my wife ignored me!"

"If it weren't for this shady shop, I would have taken my wife back by now, and our family would be reunited in harmony!"

Jingzhao Yin pinched his beard and nodded, with an expression that said "You make sense."

Seeing the look on Jingzhao Yin's face, the young man thought he was going to win the case, and immediately pointed at Rong Peilan and said, "Sir, this shady shop sells high prices and sells cheap goods. I don't know how many people it has cheated before. I hope you can see clearly."

Although Rong Peilan was the young lady of the Xinling Marquis's mansion, she had no rank and might have kneeled like the common people in the hall.

"Sir, Xiang Fang Yuan has been open for more than 20 years, and most of its regular customers are from various mansions in West City. If Xiang Fang Yuan replaced old rice with new rice and cheated customers to make money, I'm afraid that Xiang Fang Yuan would have been destroyed long ago without your intervention."

The young man snorted disdainfully, "This only shows that you are bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and you treat your guests differently."

Manager Zhou, who was kneeling beside him, was about to speak when Rong Peilan stopped him and said, "The managers and owners of each shop are all registered in the official documents."

"Fragrant Rice is only one of the shops run by the boss. The two rice shops in the north city are also run by the boss. The rice price is the cheapest in Yanjing. There is no refined grain or noodles, only food to fill the stomach."

"Open Source Rice and Grain even opens porridge stalls every year in both the hottest and coldest weather, just to help the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled who have no means of livelihood to survive."

The same few porridge stalls are opened every year without fail, and it is nothing new in Yanjing City.

There were whispers among the crowd.

"It turns out that Kaiyuan and Xiangfangyuan have the same owner."

"Kaiyuan has done more than just setting up porridge stalls. The charity hall in the north city has taken in dozens of children, and the rice they receive every day is donated by Kaiyuan."

"How do you know that?"

"I have delivered goods several times, and I have talked to the maids at the charity hall several times. She knows that the money I paid for carrying the bags was settled by the shopkeeper of Kaiyuan."

"Wow, dozens of mouths to feed, and they deliver food every day. This Kaiyuan owner is really a kind person."

Jingzhao Yin still pinched his beard and nodded, still looking like "what you say makes sense."

But he added one more sentence at the end.

"This testimony is not enough to prove that Xiang Fang Yuan did not sell old rice, but there are other testimonies or physical evidence."

(End of this chapter)