She refused to marry.

Zhou Qirui entered the house, and when he looked up from the private room, he saw that Manager Jin was a woman.

His eyes furrowed slightly as he stepped into the private room.

"Are you Manager Jin?"

Su Wanwan stood up and bowed, "Greetings, Secretary."

"You're too kind, too kind. I never imagined that Manager Jin was a woman, and one who is so elegant and refined. I truly admire her." Su Qirui sat down.

A servant came in and laid out a feast of delicacies.

Su Qirui looked at the bear paw on the table and praised it highly, then picked up his chopsticks to taste the dish.

Su Wanwan was quite satisfied; her second brother was still easy to deal with. She then got up, poured him some wine, and ate with him. Once he was finally tipsy, she asked in a low voice...

"Is the manager available recently?"

"Of course, of course. Manager Jin is very hospitable. Everything is fine with me." Zhou Qirui clapped his hands happily.

"Good, good, very good, this is the authentic steamed bear paw, and only Juxianglou can make it like this."

"Sichuan is naturally rich in natural resources and treasures. It is not lacking in all kinds of rare and precious items, and bear paws are among the finest. It is my daughter's honor that you like them, Master."

Su Wanwan showered her second brother with praise, and seeing that he was getting more and more carried away, she took out a thousand taels of silver.

"Sir, could you do me a favor? My daughter is making a living in Shu, and it's really inconvenient. Please lend me a hand. I will definitely repay you handsomely afterward."

Su Qirui's eyes lit up when he saw the thousand taels of silver, and he promptly stuffed the money into his pocket, afraid that the shopkeeper Jin across from him might change his mind at any moment.

"When can we pick up these documents? So my daughter can send someone to make arrangements."

"Sure, sure, wait for my good news." Zhou Qirui got up, walked to the door, and looked up, saying, "Tomorrow at noon."

"Thank you, sir." Su Wanwan stood up and bowed.

Seeing this, Qiu Shi hurriedly stepped forward to see the second young master out of Juxiang Tower, then turned back to the private room and asked, "Madam, what's our next step?"

"Get the documents and report to the authorities!"

"Report to the authorities!" Qiu Shi was taken aback, wondering what the lady was planning.

"Madam, wouldn't you like to reconsider? This is the second young master."

"I won't consider it anymore. Just because he's my cousin, I have to be more decisive."

"Yes." Qiu Shi nodded.

The next day.

Qiu Shi wanted to report the document to the authorities, but was turned away.

Su Wanwan really didn't want to wait.

They had no choice but to find another way, ordering Zhang Huaiyu to impersonate an official from the Censorate and arrest Su Qirui directly.

Zhou Qirui had been drinking somewhere and was halfway home in a drunken stupor.

Suddenly, he was dragged up, tied up, and taken to an unfamiliar room, which made him furious.

"Who dares to arrest an official appointed by the imperial court?"

Zhang Huaiyu took out the token. "Steward Su, do you recognize what characters this is?"

Su Qirui took one look and realized something was amiss.

This is the token of a deputy general in the army.

But he immediately realized that he was just a deputy general who had been arrested, and he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Since we serve in different courts, what is the meaning of your attacking me?"

"Someone has accused you of accepting bribes, and I have come from the Inspection Office to investigate." Zhang Huaiyu said sternly and coldly.

Su Qirui sneered.

"You are merely a deputy general in the army, without the authority of an inspector. What right do you have to detain me?"

"Is this enough?" Zhang Huaiyu took out another token from his pocket.

When Zhou Qirui saw the words on it, he realized it was Feng Chenjun's token, and his legs went cold with fright.

I was eager to clarify the relationship.

"That Manager Jin only wanted a stack of documents, but that's illegal... Sir, General, please let me go. I haven't done anything heinous."

"Master Su, confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be punished severely. I will explain your difficulties to His Majesty. Considering that you are the second cousin of Madam Su, I will certainly treat you leniently."

Su Qirui then confessed everything about his past in Sichuan.

Half a day later, Zhang Huaiyu obtained the evidence signed by Su Qirui. As requested by his wife, he severely tortured him and threatened that if he committed the same offense again, he would be dismissed from his post.

Su Qirui was a completely different person when he came out of the house.

Su Wanwan was very happy.

After dealing with this matter, he inquired everywhere about the location of the miracle doctor.

That day, she had just returned from gathering information in the countryside and was hungry, so she went to the inn across the street for a meal.

Unexpectedly, they encountered two familiar faces.

A weary official.

The official had strong features and exuded an air of integrity and incorruptibility.

Beside him was Su Qirui, who was already in a sorry state.

"Brother, you must stand up for me. I've been set up by someone. If you don't step in, and things get out, you'll be implicated too. Don't blame me for not warning you."

"Are you threatening me?" Su Jiyuan, carrying a box on his back, ignored Su Qirui and continued eating with his head down, as if he hadn't eaten for days.

"How can this be called a threat? We have something on our hands now. Do you really want to let others control us?" Su Qirui clapped his hands and complained.

"It's because someone has something on you," Su Jiyuan corrected.

"Yes, so what if I'm hot? But you brought me here, so my weaknesses are your weaknesses too!"

Su Jiyuan continued eating until he was almost finished, then took a sip of tea and said, "Tell me, what do you want from me today?"

"Brother, I heard that Manager Jin lives right across the street. Brother, please help us find out who is trying to mess with our Su family?" Su Qirui's tone lowered.

"Sigh..." Su Jiyuan sighed, "This is your problem. As your older brother, I've done my best all these years. For the sake of the women in the brothel, you've repeatedly threatened to sever ties with me. Today, you've shamelessly come to beg me again because of this. I can't bear to do that. I'll pay for the meal. Just pretend I don't know anything about it." Su Jiyuan took out his purse. "Waiter, the bill."

"Alright." The waiter walked over. "Gentlemen, that'll be three taels and six mace in total."

"Three taels??" Su Jiyuan frowned, pressing down on his purse. "What did I eat that costs three taels?"

"This is the Deer Antler Eight Treasures Hot Pot, made with top-quality medicinal herbs, so it's naturally more expensive," the waiter explained.

Su Qirui, on the contrary, looked smug and gloating as he watched his elder brother suffer.

"Can I pay on credit?" Su Jiyuan asked, looking embarrassed.

"We do not offer credit." The waiter pursed his lips.

Seeing this, Su Wanwan said, "Brother, this table is on me. Cuizhu, please pay the bill."

"Yes." Cuizhu stepped forward. "Waiter, our mistress said we'll pay for this table. Let's go."

"Alright." The waiter diligently led the little girl to the counter.

"You! You! You!"

When Su Qirui saw the person who had teased him a few days ago, he wanted to curse her out, but he was scared back by Zhang Huaiyu next to her.

Su Jiyuan looked puzzled, then stood up, slowly walked to Su Wanwan, looked her up and down, and then cupped his hands in greeting and asked,

"Is it Madam Jun?"

Su Wanwan was quite surprised. "Brother, how did you recognize me?"

"Big Brother?" Su Qirui stood at a distance, savoring the words "Madam Jun," and was struck dumb.

"When Wanwan was little, she went back a few times and always asked me to make sugar figurines for her, so of course she remembers."

Su Wanwan stood up and stepped forward. "Greetings, elder brother. I apologize for my rudeness."

"No, you mustn't." Su Jiyuan cupped his hands in greeting. "You are now the Lady of the Jun family, you mustn't do this. Since you've come, why didn't you send someone to deliver a letter to me? I'm truly sorry for all the trouble I've been away these past few days."

Su Wanwan gave Su Qirui a meaningful look. "Brother, what are you saying? I wanted to visit you, but I've been too busy with official duties to meet you. So I rented a room across the street and stayed there. Brother, we've just had a meal. Would you like something to drink? Please take a seat..." Su Wanwan gestured.

"Then I shall respectfully comply." Su Jiyuan sat down at the table.