mtl008 Chapter 687 Catching the Thugs
Chapter 687 Catching the Thugs
"Who did you hire to keep an eye on him?"
"Some beggars on the street."
Du Mingxian pondered for a moment and said, "Let them keep an eye on it. You go to the county government office again and ask about the progress. The county magistrate has taken the money; he can't just leave us with nothing."
"Yes."
Ling Dalang's wine was very popular in the restaurant, and Ling Erlang was now managing the restaurant quite well. In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed, and it was time to pick up Ling Sanlang.
Ling Silang got up early to prepare, and after breakfast, he took Chen Ming and drove the carriage to the county. Du Mingxian did not go and stayed at home.
Liu's actions, however, were unexpected.
After breakfast, Ling Silang asked Liu if she wanted to go with him to pick up Ling Sanlang. Liu's answer was straightforward: "You can go pick him up. I'm busy here. I can finish the 10,000 bar soap today and then deliver it. There are still people waiting in line. I don't have that much time to pick him up."
When Ling Silang returned and told Du Mingxian this, Du Mingxian laughed. Now her third sister-in-law was obsessed with making soap.
However, soap is indeed very popular and is now widely loved.
We sold two to agents, and the rest were individual sellers, as well as some sold in restaurants. There were quite a few of them; the workshop staff were working non-stop every day.
Ling Silang hadn't returned yet, but Xia Yu rode back first. Judging from his expression, something must have happened.
"Madam, the owner across the street has been looking for our kitchen staff several times. He's in servitude with us and doesn't dare to sell himself. He's hired some thugs and hooligans to cause trouble in the shop today."
"After waiting for so many days, I thought he wasn't going to make a move, and I was quite relieved."
The two went to the county together. Du Mingxian asked Xia Yu to go to the Xu family first and tell Ling Silang to come to the restaurant. She was not afraid of people causing trouble, but she was afraid of them being drugged.
It's still better to have someone who understands pharmacology around.
Du Mingxian waited quietly in the restaurant. At noon, when the restaurant was crowded, several men walked in with strange expressions. Their clothes were brand new, but their demeanor... it was obvious that the clothes did not belong to them.
Ling Erlang had also been instructed to personally greet the group upon their arrival.
In the middle of the main hall table, several men sat down and began to order food in an imperious manner. They ordered more than twenty liang of wine and dishes in total, and Ling Erlang was not in a hurry to leave.
"Please settle your bill first."
"What? Go ask around and see if anyone pays the bill before eating at a restaurant?"
"We will adjust the dining style according to different guests, so please settle the bill first so that the kitchen can prepare the food."
One of the waiters slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "What do you mean by this restaurant? Are you looking down on us? Why do other people not need to pay first, but we have to?"
"Since some of our guests have ordered a large amount, please settle your bill first."
"What? Is this how you treat your guests? Everyone come and see, they actually..." Before the other person could finish speaking, a handkerchief suddenly appeared in their wide-open mouth.
This move surprised everyone. The men turned around in shock, only to see Du Mingxian calmly staring at them, saying, "If you gentlemen are here to cause trouble, you should think it over first."
Du Mingxian's move just now had already stunned the group of thugs. They looked at each other, and one of them said, "It's not like we can't afford it. You're just looking down on us."
"Then please settle your bill first. If you order more food later, we will not require you to settle the bill first."
This is equivalent to a promise.
Upon hearing this, the group realized there was still room for trouble, so they immediately canceled several dishes. They pooled their money together and managed to scrape together ten taels of silver, which they then ordered ten taels worth of food.
After paying the silver, Ling Erlang went down to arrange for someone to cook.
Du Mingxian remained seated there, occasionally noting down the bill when someone paid.
The group quickly started eating, and they were overjoyed.
The food was so delicious, and the alcohol was so strong.
The group of people who originally intended to cause trouble started talking nonsense after a few bites of food and a few sips of wine. They weren't completely drunk yet, and they ordered several large dishes and a jar of wine for each person.
Ling Erlang didn't want the kitchen to make it, but Du Mingxian said, "Let the apprentices in the kitchen do it. Consider it a chance for them to practice. It doesn't matter what it turns out like."
"it is good."
Soon the dishes were served, but the group was already quite drunk and didn't care whether the food was good or not.
By the time they finished eating, they were completely drunk and had no recollection of coming over to cause trouble.
Ling Erlang looked at these people with disdain, but he didn't forget the important matter at hand. "What are we going to do now, Fourth Sister-in-law? They're already this drunk."
"Just lock them up in the backyard."
"Lock him up? Is...is that alright?"
"no problem."
Ling Erlang and several other waiters carried the people to the backyard, locked them in the woodshed, and tied their hands and feet.
As soon as she finished, Du Mingxian instructed Ling Erlang, "Second Brother, go and buy some cheap bowls and plates. Don't buy any of the cheap ones that our restaurant has."
"Okay." Ling Erlang didn't ask any questions now; he just did whatever his fourth sister-in-law said and went to buy it immediately.
When Ling Erlang returned with the goods, Du Mingxian glanced around the shop and, seeing that there were hardly any people there, pointed to a spot and said, "Second Brother, smash it."
"what?"
"The bowls and chopsticks we bought were all smashed."
"This……"
"Go ahead and smash it. Maybe you'll get a few more servants after you've done it."
Upon hearing this, Ling Erlang perked up. He thought having more servants was good; he liked that.
So Ling Erlang quickly followed Du Mingxian's instructions and smashed all the bowls and plates he had bought. Soon, a lot of pieces were broken, and Du Mingxian had people clean them up and move them to the backyard.
After finishing all this, Xia Yu returned from the yamen with five hundred taels of silver notes.
Du Mingxian was quite surprised to see these banknotes. "Did you use connections?"
Xia Yu nodded slightly. "The Crown Prince said that if the Madam encounters any trouble, she can directly utilize the connections of the Prefect of the Capital."
"The Prefect of the Capital?" This gift from Guaiguai is quite important. It might not seem like much in the capital, but in a place like this, it's incredibly powerful.
"Yes." Xia Yu breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Du Mingxian was not angry because she listened to the Crown Prince. What servants fear most is that the new master will mind that they still have contact with the old master.
They were all from the Crown Prince's residence. Although the Crown Prince gave them to his wife, they would still convey certain information that the Crown Prince needed to know.
Du Mingxian didn't know what Xia Yu was thinking, and even if she did, she wouldn't care. Anyway... she really didn't mind.
Firstly, the Crown Prince and Old Madam Xu had some connection, and in a sense, the Crown Prince was on their side.
Secondly, she and Ling Silang were already on the same side as the Crown Prince, and they would not do anything to betray him, so they were not afraid of having the Crown Prince's people around them.
On the contrary, having the Crown Prince's men around makes things much easier for them and saves them a lot of trouble.