The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

“Alright,” Lian Rong agreed, and followed Zhang Yongchang out.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Qingning had arrived at the tofu stall and indeed saw a man leading two government officials standing in front of the stall, their faces looking rather displeased.

Zhuang Qingsui, in her frantic state, upon seeing Zhuang Qingning approach, hurriedly grabbed her hand. “Sister, government officials have come and asked whether I was the girl who encountered the kidnappers. I’m unsure of what exactly transpired and suggested they might have identified the wrong person. However, they said that ours is the only tofu stall in town, and there was no chance of error.”

“Sister, what’s going on, and what’s this about kidnappers? When did we meet any kidnappers?”

“It’s okay, Qingsui. I know about it, and I will talk to them. Don’t be scared.” Zhuang Qingning gently patted Zhuang Qingsui’s hand to comfort her.

Only when Zhuang Qingsui had stopped sobbing did Zhuang Qingning turn and address the three men. “You must be here because of the kidnappers detained a few days ago. It was indeed me who encountered those people, not my sister, she knows nothing about this.”

“Please accept our apologies.”

The man leading the group, Ding Gaochang, gave Zhuang Qingning a cupped-hand salute and said, “At first, we only knew that a lady selling tofu in town had an encounter with them. When we arrived here and saw your sister, we thought it was her. Despite our questioning, she didn’t say anything, only professed ignorance. We assumed she was too scared of the kidnappers to speak, so we tried to persuade her.”

“We didn’t anticipate that the young lady was timid and we ended up frightening her instead. We should have obtained more information beforehand, I sincerely apologize.”

Ding Gaochang saluted once again.

“It matters not. You simply did not know the situation,” Zhuang Qingning responded politely to the amiable and courteous man in front of her. “May I know your name, sir, and what would you like to ask?”

“I am the county magistrate’s assistant in charge of all the cases in the county. A few days ago, the three kidnappers were sent to the County Government Office, and this case has been assigned to me. After questioning, I learned that Miss Zhuang was the one who nearly fell victim and came over to understand the situation.”

Ding Gaochang continued, “Can Miss Zhuang describe in detail what happened that day?”

“Certainly.”

Zhuang Qingning then detailed how she had come across the kidnappers, discovered them, and finally how she had escaped.

“That’s about everything. When I encountered such an incident, I was terrified. I also saw that others were chasing them and thought they would be brought to justice, so I didn’t linger.”

“Hmm.” Ding Gaochang nodded slightly, “It’s roughly the same as what those people confessed. The circumstances align.”

“In addition…”

“Do you have any grudge or conflict with Li Fang, the former employee of Fushun Tower, or Chang Yuanda, the manager of Changji Tofu Store?”

Caught off guard with this question, Zhuang Qingning was momentarily stunned, “Why does your honor ask?”

“Can you just tell me whether you had any conflicts?” Ding Gaochang responded without giving an answer.

“If you are asking about conflicts, I indeed do have some disagreements with Li Fang…” Zhuang Qingning recounted the matter of wanting to deliver tofu to Fushun Tower and the subsequent dismissal of Li Fang.

“When Li Fang left Fushun Tower that day, I happened to be at the back door of the backyard. He was furious and had a few words with me before he left.”

“I guess he probably harbors resentment towards me.”

“Hmm, that is what I thought.” Ding Gaochang nodded slightly, “What about Chang Yuanda?”

“I’ve never had any contact with Manager Chang, we never even ran into each other. I wouldn’t know if we had any provision for disagreement…” Zhuang Qingning answered truthfully.

“Sir, why are you asking about Chang Yuanda? Is there something going on?”

The conversation was overheard by Zhang Yongchang who had just arrived, causing him to ask with a respectful bow.

“Who are you?” Ding Gaochang raised an eyebrow.

“I, a common citizen, am the chief cook at Fushun Tower and also Chang Yuanda’s brother-in-law.” Zhang Yongchang said.

“So you are the Chef Zhang that Li Fang mentioned.”

Ding Gaochang said, “I was planning to find you after speaking with Miss Zhuang. Since it turned out this way, let me ask you. Has Chang Yuanda ever complained to you about Miss Zhuang’s tofu stall doing great business that it adversely affected his?”

“He did come to me once, complaining that since Miss Zhuang’s tofu stall opened, Ruyi Pavilion stopped using the tofu from Changji Tofu Store, and his business suffered greatly. After learning that Ruyi Pavilion was successful because they adopted better-tasting tofu, I decided to try Miss Zhuang’s tofu. Indeed, it was delicious, so I decided to only use her tofu from then on.”

Zhang Yongchang confessed.

Ding Gaochang frowned momentarily, “So, this Miss Zhuang’s tofu stall does indeed thrive and has significantly impacted Changji Tofu Store.”

“There has certainly been some impact.” Zhang Yongchang nodded.

After all, Chang Yuanda had lamented many times to the point where he was indignant that Fushun Tower no longer used tofu from the Changji tofu shop, often visiting him and even accusing him of disregarding family ties.

Zhang Yongchang, annoyed by him, simply retorted fiercely, causing Chang Yuanda to finally stop visiting him.

“Sir, what is the matter?”

Even though he was frustrated, Chang Yuanda was his brother-in-law and also his deceased wife’s brother-in-law, for the sake of his late wife, he had to care for him to some extent.

“There’s no need to hide anything from you.” Ding Gaochang said, “The three kidnappers caught in town and brought to the County Government Office confessed that someone had instructed them to kidnap Miss Zhuang and sell her elsewhere, causing her to disappear from here.”

“The one who gave the orders, according to their identification, was Li Fang, who previously worked as a runner at Fushun Tower. However, Li Fang claimed that he was hired by Chang Yuanda, the shopkeeper of Changji Tofu Store. He took his money and looked for those men.”

“On the contrary, Chang Yuanda insisted that he knew nothing. He said that after Li Fang was driven out from Fushun Tower and was homeless, he specifically found him, hoping he could provide Li Fang with a job. Seeing him pitiful and remembering their previous acquaintance, he temporarily took him in.”

“A few days ago, Li Fang suddenly asked to borrow money, saying he needed it urgently due to a change of circumstances at home. Considering the urgency of the situation, he loaned him the money without giving it a second thought. He didn’t imagine that Li Fang committed such a serious crime, and to make matters worse, tried to pin it on him, putting him into a bad situation.”

“Now the two are arguing incessantly. The County magistrate therefore ordered me to investigate and find out the connection. Now it seems that I pretty much got the idea..”