Miao Chu

Chapter 185 Support
Parts of this chapter are not suitable for watching while eating, so we suggest you avoid reading them during mealtimes.

***
Song Miao followed her into the warehouse.

The room was filled with hemp sacks, and three people stood by the side, who had come to collect the materials. There was also a warehouse manager standing to the side, holding paper and pen in his hand—he was borrowed from the Zhang family of Weizhou to be in charge of the warehouse's inflows and outflows.

Everyone perked up when they saw Song Miao enter.

Zhang Si Niang dared not delay and immediately walked to a large bag on the side, pointing and saying, "Madam, there's something wrong here—these are the bags we've been collecting materials for the past few days. All the other bags are tied in the same way, but this bag is tied differently. The other two sides are locked tight and tied with rope in a straight knot, leaving no tail. This one, however, is tied with rope in a slipknot, leaving a tail."

“We just felt something was wrong and were thinking of moving it out, but we accidentally pulled on the slipknot and it opened by itself.”

"My wife instructed me to keep a close eye on this rice and flour, and to report immediately if anything is amiss, so I came to report right away!"

Upon hearing this, Song Miao stepped forward to examine it carefully. Sure enough, just as Zhang Si Niang had said, the bag of flour looked no different from the others on the outside, but the sealing method was completely different. Looking through the opening, the flour inside was yellowish and looked exactly like coarsely ground old flour, so there was nothing wrong with it.

But Song Miao, being a cook, had a more acute sense of smell. After getting close and trying to discern the odor for a while, she finally noticed something was wrong.

The flour should have lost much of its aroma by now, and should only have a faint musty smell. But this bag contained not only the musty smell, but also a subtle off-flavor.

Slightly spicy, with a touch of oiliness.

The smell was very faint, and Song Miao was not familiar with it, but she immediately became alert and had the others open the remaining bags to smell them carefully, but none of them had the same smell.

The warehouse manager was standing nearby. Song Miao first asked when this bag of flour had arrived and what else had arrived in the same batch.

Without even checking the register, the other party pointed to a corner and said, "Madam, as you said, each batch of goods is tied with a different colored rope. The ones tied with red rope are from the same batch as this bag of flour."

Looking around, Song Miao saw that a large area of ​​bags were indeed tied with red ropes.

The warehouse was not small, and there were even more things, but the kitchen was empty with empty pots and stoves lit, so there was no way to wait here to check everything one by one.

After a moment's thought, she changed the menu for the morning, replacing the original Sichuan peppercorn pancakes with scorched rice soup and mixed bean millet pancakes. She took out the corresponding ingredients and instructed the cooks to start preparing them.

Unlike flour, rice, millet, and various beans are all ingredients that can be clearly seen at a glance. No matter what is mixed in or what tricks are used, you can immediately tell by looking at or smelling them when washing rice or beans.

They are all simple dishes. Now, after seven or eight days of training and practice, as long as Song Miao decides on the dishes and they have been made before, and they follow the recipe and seasoning ratios, they only need to pay attention to the key steps to make the dishes look almost identical.

With the most important matters arranged, Song Miao felt slightly relieved and then led everyone to explore the warehouse.

The doors and windows are all in good condition, not to mention there's a warehouse manager.

Seeing that something had happened, the steward became very nervous. He pointed to a corner room outside and hurriedly explained, "So that my wife may know, I have been sleeping here for the past few nights without even leaving the room. I have been using a chamber pot to relieve myself. I am a light sleeper, and even if a mouse climbs up the beam and makes a squeak at night, or if a cricket chirps outside, I will be woken up. But I really haven't heard any loud noises."

Song Miao didn't say much, but asked him a few questions: when he went to sleep, when he woke up, who the last few people he saw before he went to sleep were, and who the first few people he saw after he woke up were.

They then asked if I had noticed anything amiss with the delivery people or the timing of the deliveries these past few days.

After careful consideration, the warehouse manager shook his head and said, "They are all people who used to come regularly, and they arrive on the appointed days. I don't see anything wrong with it."

Simply smelling something amiss is not enough to constitute any evidence, and it may not even be true that something is actually wrong.

Song Miao thought for a moment, then called someone over and said, "I remember Young Master Han mentioned last time that the Zhang family of Weizhou sent a doctor to oversee things. He usually stays in that shed by the river. If you know how to drive, hitch up a mule cart and ask him to come over."

The man accepted the order and left.

Song Miao then took out a purse from her sleeve and handed it to Zhang Si Niang, saying, "Let's see if anyone in the village has chickens they're willing to sell. Let's buy a couple and see."

Zhang Si Niang responded and left. A short while later, she came in carrying two large roosters in their prime breeding year. She said happily, "It's quite a coincidence. The family at the edge of the village said they raised breeding chickens, but they went to the market in the city twice and no one wanted them. Right now, they're at home pecking and fighting at each other all day long, and they even peck at people randomly. Perfect timing to sell them!"

Just then, they heard the sounds of cars and people outside—it turned out the doctor had been invited.

The doctor, also surnamed Zhang, heard what Song Miao had said, stepped forward, smelled it, frowned deeply, and said, "It doesn't smell good. The smell is too faint, and I can't tell what it is right away."

Song Miao then said, "Let's try feeding the chickens. We'd appreciate it if the doctor could take a look."

He then had someone scoop out half a spoonful of flour from the bag, mix it with some chopped old vegetable stalks, put it in a bowl, and place it on the ground.

The two chickens were indeed very noisy. As soon as they were let go, they started to fight. They were tied up and their claws were tied, so they couldn't peck at each other for a while. They just stared at each other like angry chickens.

Perhaps it was just before sunrise, but the two chickens glared at each other for a few moments, and then one of them started clucking loudly. As they clucked, they took a few moments to peck at the bits of vegetables mixed with flour when the clucking subsided.

Although the two chickens were tied up, it didn't stop them from clucking and eating, while also striding around the yard with their heads held high and chests puffed out their droppings, looking extremely pleased with themselves.

However, in the short time it took to speak, it was incredibly fast, and everyone present noticed that something was wrong.

When the two chickens crowed again, their voices were softer and slower. They stopped flapping their wings, and even their combs stopped shaking. They stopped glaring at each other and just squatted there listlessly, constantly defecating.

They already poop anywhere, and the contrast between the chicken droppings from last time and this time is stark.

Seeing the chickens' reaction and looking at the chicken droppings, Doctor Zhang even went up to compare them and smelled them. In an instant, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he said, "I'm afraid it's croton!"

Upon hearing this, Song Miao's heart tightened.

Although she had never seen what croton looked like, she had read a few medical books and knew that croton was hot in nature, pungent in taste, and highly poisonous. If it was not prepared properly and used according to the doctor's instructions, it could cause vomiting and diarrhea, and even death if ingested by mistake.

Thinking of this, she didn't dare to delay and immediately arranged for someone to notify the total duty officer on the river today.

The doctor continued, "But croton has an extremely strong, pungent, and spicy flavor, and it's also very oily. Although the flavor becomes less pronounced after processing, its medicinal power is also reduced by more than half. I see that the pungent and spicy flavor in this bag is so mild that there must be very little croton powder."

Song Miao received no comfort and quickly said, "I remember there's an antidote for accidentally ingesting croton oil? Could we try it with this chicken?"

The doctor quickly replied, "Young lady is right."

He took out a small packet of medicine from his medicine box and said, "Quickly boil some Coptis chinensis tablets into a decoction and try giving it to the chicken later. The chicken didn't eat much, so I'm afraid it can still be saved."

Soon someone took the Coptis chinensis and boiled it into a decoction.

If one bag of flour contains croton powder, then naturally one wouldn't dare use the rest of the flour.

Song Miao told everyone not to touch anything and to carefully exit the door. Not long after, the person in charge of the river channel for the day arrived, but it turned out to be a clerk from the yamen.

When the registrar heard Song Miao and the others recount the matter, his eyelids twitched in fright. He hurriedly ordered someone to summon the person on duty from the Ministry of Justice. He himself stepped forward and carefully sniffed and examined the flour for a long time. He even compared it with other genuine flour. Finally, he said, "It seems a little off, yet it also seems not to be. Alas, my sense of smell is a bit too sharp; I can't tell the difference!"

He then asked, "Are all the bags mixed with croton powder?"

The two judges arrived shortly afterward and searched the house thoroughly, but found no clues. They then had all the bags from the same batch opened and carefully compared them themselves. Knowing that Song Miao had the best sense of smell, they asked her and several other women with good sense of smell to help them distinguish the bags.

After looking at just two bags, Song Miao felt that this method was too laborious. After thinking for a moment, she said, "It might not be easy to detect by smell. A bag of flour is so big. What if there is croton powder mixed in? If it is pressed down too low, it will definitely not be able to be smelled. But it is not easy to pour it all out and take up such a large space."

He added, “Dr. Zhang just said that croton has a strong smell. If not enough croton powder is mixed in, it will be less effective. If there is enough, people will definitely be able to smell it. If I were a bad person, I would probably not mix it into the flour if I smelled something wrong.”

Then he asked the warehouse manager, "Did this batch only include rice and flour? Is there anything else? Mustard seed powder, star anise, oysters, fermented black beans, Sichuan peppercorns, or anything like that?"

This was easy to understand. The two judges, who had been handling cases for many years, immediately grasped the meaning and asked the treasury manager, "Can you find it?"

With the accounts at hand, the warehouse manager checked them for a while and immediately said, "There are quite a few star anise, cinnamon, fermented black beans, and Sichuan peppercorns, all stored in the warehouse next door."

Song Miao immediately understood.

The group went to the small warehouse next door and quickly found the burlap sacks tied with red ropes.

The sun had already risen, and the sky was bright.

The warehouse door was wide open, letting in bright light from outside.

The group carried several bags from inside the house to the doorway for easy comparison.

While the others were still rummaging through the items, Song Miao took the lead and asked, "Where are the Sichuan peppercorns?"

They found a large bag in the warehouse.

As soon as Song Miao opened it, a spicy aroma hit her nose, stronger and more pungent than usual. But upon closer inspection, there was also an indescribable greasy smell, quite different from the usual Sichuan peppercorn powder.

At this point, other spices no longer have this aroma.

She pointed to the Sichuan peppercorn powder and said, "This isn't right. Let's try this one first."

Two roosters, having been given bitter medicine, were still trembling and crowing when two more chickens of good age were brought in.

This time, Song Miao didn't dare to add too much, only a tiny bit mixed into the old vegetable shavings, less than one-tenth or one-twelfth of the amount the two chickens ate last time. But this time, the chickens suddenly rolled over and pooped all over the ground, almost making it impossible to even get the bitter melon juice down their throats.

Song Miao disregarded everything else and immediately called over Zhang Si Niang, leaning close to her to instruct, "Go tell the kitchen that this morning's mixed bean cakes and scorched rice soup, as well as all the meals to come, should not only be kept in small portions, but also cooked in one pot and served to the chickens and ducks. Once they've tried it and there are no problems, then send the food to them."

Zhang Si Niang hurried off.

Song Miaofu then turned to the two officials and said, "I was just about to tell you two that I was going to make pepper cakes this morning."

Both men paled and almost simultaneously asked the warehouse manager, "Who delivered this batch of goods?"

The warehouse manager wiped his sweat, flipping through the familiar warehouse pages again and again, but he couldn't find the page he wanted.

As everyone waited, the registrar was so eager to grab the job and help them search.

Just as they were getting anxious, Kong Fuyang, having been informed, rushed over.

Whether it was the judge or the registrar, when they saw him, they both asked, "Does Brother Han know about this?" One of them said, "This matter is very important, and I'm afraid Han Li should be informed."

Kong Fuyang hastily wiped the sweat from his face and said, "Something happened in the riverbed. Zheng Yan is handling it properly and can't get away right away, so he asked me to come and take a look."

He then asked Song Miao, "Does the stall owner have anything to say? Tell me. If you're in a hurry, I'll go to Zhong to question Zheng Yan immediately."

Just then, the warehouse manager shouted urgently, "Found him! The deliveryman that day was Fang Quan! Fang Quan from the Fang family's horse trading company!"

***
Meanwhile, on one side, the two legal officials immediately made a decision to go back and issue a document to bring Fang Quan back to the yamen for questioning. On the other side, only three or four miles away, a great commotion was taking place in a section of the river.

Wang Sanlang, standing at the back, heard not only arguing in the center of the crowd, but also clanging and banging, as if metal weapons had been used. He quickly grabbed the person in front and said, "What's going on? They were arguing just now, how did they suddenly start fighting!"

The man in front turned around and said, "Wang San, your older brother is trying to break up the fight, and it looks like he got hit by a hoe. Why don't you hurry up and help him?"

Wang Sanlang was startled and was about to ask for details when he heard someone shout from behind, "Don't block the way! Make way, move aside!"

He turned around and saw that they were two patrol teams.

The man in front, seeing that there were only two people, hurriedly said, "Why are there only two? Quickly call two patrol teams. The two of you going in won't even be enough to fill the gaps between those shovels' teeth!"

Before he could speak, he glanced around and saw more people coming from behind. He quickly pushed aside the people next to him and hurriedly moved to the side, calling out, "Young Scholar Han is here! Make way! Make way!"

The crowd parted, and Han Li strode inside.

Standing at the front, facing Han Li, was a middle-aged man whose face was frighteningly red, with veins bulging on his forehead. He stammered, "I...I've already said it wasn't me! You! How can you still frame me, frame me like this!"

The man standing behind Han Li was much more eloquent, shouting, "Who else could it be but you? I saw it with my own eyes! You squatted in our riverbed for ages, and when you came out, you even gave me a quick glance. As soon as you left, I went back in to get to work and almost stepped on it—you Weizhou people, it's one thing to take advantage of us Huazhou, but how can you be so shameless as to come and defecate in someone else's dredged riverbed! You Weizhou bastard!"

This person wasn't just cursing one person, but an entire state.

Many people from Weizhou who were initially watching stood up to support him after hearing this.

"What's wrong with you? You just say so."

"Old Ba just went to check how much they've dug over there, he was just a quick look around and came right back. There wasn't even enough time to take his pants off, what nonsense are you spouting!"

Another person couldn't help but step forward and shout, "Who are you calling a bastard?"

"Whoever is from Weizhou is a bastard!"

(End of this chapter)