I am the stepmother of my son, and the little villain has changed into a little cotton-padded jacket

The man sitting on the high seat was Liang Yan, the head of the entire town. He frowned and looked at the plainly dressed woman.

His frown deepened when he heard what she said.

"How do you know that it was the people from Xianyun Manor who smashed your stall?"

"My Lord, that day Xianyun Manor's chief storekeeper He Song wanted to buy out my tofu recipe for twenty taels of silver. After I refused, storekeeper He cursed at me, and the next day the tofu stand was smashed and destroyed."

Wen Shutang bowed deeply to him and spoke passionately and earnestly.

"If you don't believe me, I am willing to confront Ye Xingyi in court!"

Seeing her determination, Liang Yan felt relieved and waved his hand, saying, "Go call He Song and Ye Xingyi."

The yamen runner nearby immediately went to do his job after receiving the order.

Wen Shutang took advantage of the free time to look back at Xiao Yizhuo, and seeing that he was still calm, he felt a lot more relieved for some reason.

In fact, she was not very sure about coming here today, after all, she didn't know what kind of person Ye Xingyi was.

Xiao Yizhuo felt Wen Shutang's gaze and looked up, blinking at her.

He had already asked Mu Zhu to make arrangements in advance and send that group of people to Song Zhoubai.

Ye Xingyi was originally flipping through the account books at Xianyun Manor happily, and while flipping through them, he was also thinking about how to make Xianyun Manor earn a fortune after getting Wen Shutang's tofu recipe.

He waited and waited but Wen Shutang's tofu recipe did not come, but instead the yamen runners from the government office arrived.

"Master, please summon Ye Xingyi and He Song. Please come with us."

Ye Xingyi fell off the chair and almost twisted his waist. He was stunned. He glanced at He Song, who was also a little confused.

When the people who were having dinner at Xianyun Manor saw people from the government office coming, they all looked over curiously.

Facing everyone's curious gazes, Ye Xingyi walked up to the yamen runner with a flattering smile on his face and stuffed a bulging cloth bag into his waist with a flattering tone.

"Thank you for the trip, little brother. I wonder why the captain summoned me?"

The yamen runners who received the bribe were naturally not as tough as before and their attitude softened.

"Someone sued you for oppressing the people, threatening them in the street and hiring people to smash up the stalls."

Hearing this, Ye Xingyi was stunned, and immediately thought of Wen Shutang in his mind. He never thought that this woman would have the courage to report directly to the police. He couldn't help but hold his breath, and a bit of viciousness flashed in his eyes.

"Don't delay any longer and come with us quickly, otherwise we can't afford to make the captain wait anxiously." The bailiff was running out of patience and his tone gradually became impatient.

Ye Xingyi nodded immediately: "Of course, please lead the way quickly, little brother."

The yamen runner took the two men back to the yamen: "Sir, here come Ye Xingyi and He Song."

Liang Yan waved his hand and looked at the two men's faces. Before he could open his mouth to ask questions, the two men fell to their knees on the ground, shouting loudly that they were innocent.

"My lord, please be wise! I am an honest and upright person, but now I have been framed like this. Please look into this matter!" Ye Xingyi was full of anger.

"Quiet." Liang Yan frowned and slapped the table. He hated noisy people the most.

"Do you know this woman?"

Ye Xingyi turned his head to look at Wen Shutang, squinted his eyes and then shook his head: "My Lord, I don't know him."

Although he said this, he had a rough idea in his mind. He estimated that this woman was the tofu seller.

It was indeed the first time that Wen Shutang met Ye Xingyi. This man had a pointed face and looked like a treacherous person.

Liang Yan looked at He Song who was also kneeling: "Do you know him?"

He Song replied timidly: "Your Excellency, I know him."

"Did you ever offer this woman twenty taels for her tofu?"

"Have."

"After she refused, did you yell at her?"

He Song was so scared when he heard this that he fell to the ground. "My Lord, I am innocent. I just said something unpleasant in a fit of anger. I didn't mean to abuse you! If my unintentional mistake that day caused some sensitive people to have other thoughts, I am willing to apologize here."

He cleared himself of all charges in his words and even implied that Wen Shutang was sensitive and petty.

Liang Yan didn't say anything but turned to look at Wen Shutang.

Wen Shutang bowed to Liang Yan, turned his head to look at He Song, and said in a cold voice: "Manager He, what you said is not right. If I scold you today and then say it was just a joke, and say that you are stingy and don't like to joke with others, what do you think?"

He Song was suddenly speechless. He only dared to hint at it, but he didn't dare to admit his little thoughts in court.

Liang Yan coughed and said, "This lady wants to sue you for hiring someone to commit murder after the business negotiation failed and for threatening the people. Do you have anything to say?"

Ye Xingyi immediately knelt on the ground and cried out loudly: "My Lord, please see clearly! I have always been strict with myself and would never do such a shameless thing!"

He Song also echoed, "Yes, sir! Our Xianyun Manor has always been known for its honest business practices. How could we possibly do such a thing? Sir, please don't be fooled by these villains!"

"Manager He has repeatedly implied that I am a petty and narrow-minded person. Is he saying that the captain cannot judge for himself?" Wen Shutang snorted coldly.

Sure enough, when Liang Yan heard this, he frowned unhappily and looked at He Song with a bit of displeasure.

He Song was so frightened that his face turned pale and he immediately shook his head: "That's not what I meant!"

"No matter what you mean, now that I have heard about this matter, I will investigate it thoroughly and will never let any criminal off the hook." Liang Yan had a serious face and a loud voice.

Ye Xingyi frowned and glared at He Song. He Song knew that he had said something wrong and could only lower his head and say nothing.

"Since you said they hired someone to commit the crime, do you have any evidence?"

Wen Shutang nodded: "Yes, I still have the threatening note, and someone also saw a group of people dressed as servants of Xianyun Manor smashing things, and warned that person not to buy tofu again."

Liang Yan turned his head and looked at the bailiff, who immediately understood.

"Present physical evidence and bring witnesses!"

Another government official brought a crumpled piece of paper and placed it on the table in front of Liang Yan. A woman followed the official and walked up.

"Your Excellency, I saw with my own eyes those people smashing Madam Wen's tofu stall. They were all ferocious and scary."

Liang Yan picked up the note and looked at its contents carefully.

Before he could even open his mouth, Ye Xingyi was the first to jump out and express his dissatisfaction.

"Your Excellency! I think these two pieces of evidence cannot prove that I hired someone to commit the crime. The handwriting on the note can be imitated, and this witness can be found at random. I hope your Excellency will understand!"

Liang Yan put down what he was holding and looked at Wen Shutang with a calm voice.

"The physical evidence has yet to be verified, and the testimony of the witnesses is insufficient. Neither of these two pieces of evidence can prove that Ye Xingyi hired someone to commit the crime. Do you have anything else to say?"

Wen Shutang frowned, thinking that Ye Xingyi was indeed cunning, as he overturned the evidence with just a few words.

Just when the situation was at a stalemate, Xiao Yizhuo, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

"There are witnesses."

Wen Shutang was stunned for a moment, then turned around and saw the soothing expression in Xiao Yizhuo's eyes, and the anxiety in his heart gradually calmed down.

Ye Xingyi was somewhat disdainful: "What other evidence do you have?"

"These people are the evidence!" a male voice came from outside.