“Boss!!!” A grief-stricken cry rang out like a drop of water falling into a pan of boiling oil.
The entire First Tower, which had been plunged into shocked silence after Manager Chi suddenly vomited blood and collapsed, erupted into chaos.
“Someone’s dead—”
The onlookers were thrown into a panic, at a loss for what to do.
A tear-streaked woman rushed out of the crowd and made as if to throw herself onto Manager Chi.
But Pei Liang stopped her with one swift motion.
The woman glared at Pei Liang with unconcealed hatred. “Get out of my way! Why are you stopping me? My husband is dead—poisoned by your Pei family. Your family has taken a life, and now you won’t even let his own family get near him?”
“Heavens above! Is there any justice left in this world?”
The woman was more than a head broader than Pei Liang. Beside her stood a middle-aged man of roughly the same age. Together, they raised their hands as if to slap Pei Liang away.
But the staff of the First Tower reacted quickly. Almost the instant Manager Chi spat blood and fell, they sprang into action. By now, they had already reached Pei Liang.
Two of them stepped forward—one blocking the woman and the other pinning her down—while the remaining three formed a human wall around Manager Chi’s body, preventing anyone from approaching.
Their movements were swift, their skills nimble, and their actions orderly. Even with someone dead in their own restaurant, they showed not the slightest sign of panic.
This made someone concealed within the crowd narrow their eyes.
The two members of the Chi family, held firmly on the ground, continued to wail and howl. Cries of “The Pei family killed him!” rang out without end.
Pei Liang paid them no attention. Instead, she gave a brief instruction to two of the staff.
They immediately tore down the lengths of silk decorating the stage, quickly tied them together, and within moments had fashioned a rope.
First, they used the rope to cordon off a radius of two meters around Manager Chi, creating a makeshift crime-scene barrier.
Then, using the tables that had already been arranged to form a perimeter, they separated the stage from the audience, allowing no one to enter.
At the same time, the main doors slammed shut.
The smooth, practiced efficiency of the entire operation only heightened everyone’s unease.
“Owner Pei, what are you doing?”
“What else could she be doing?” the woman pinned to the floor shouted. “She killed someone, so naturally she wants to silence everyone!”
“Look at how practiced they are. I’m afraid no one here will be allowed to leave today.”
Pei Liang merely smiled. “What a joke. A death has occurred in my First Tower, so naturally everyone present is a suspect.”
“Locking the doors is to prevent suspects from escaping. Keeping the two of you away from Manager Chi is to ensure that the evidence at the crime scene isn’t disturbed.”
“Considering how far each person here was from Manager Chi, those of us standing within the stage enclosure are far more suspicious than those outside it. That is why we are dividing the area into two sections, so the boundaries do not become blurred.”
“From this moment on, no one is to make a move without permission. Anyone who runs about for any reason will be considered suspicious of tampering with the crime scene and attempting to flee out of guilt.”
She then turned to Gu Xiu and asked, “Marquis Gu, would you agree?”
Gu Xiu raised an eyebrow. Born into nobility, he had witnessed no shortage of covert struggles and intrigues.
It was obvious that someone had prepared for this well in advance, coming at the Pei family with overwhelming force. They had chosen an angle that could never be dismissed as a minor matter: the whereabouts of the late emperor were involved. Now that the dead man could no longer speak, the Pei family—who would normally be innocent unless someone produced evidence proving their guilt—was suddenly left unable to defend itself.
The situation had arisen so abruptly, yet Owner Pei remained unexpectedly calm. That only made one all the more eager to see how the confrontation would unfold.
Gu Xiu nodded. “Indeed. Since someone has died, we should preserve the scene as much as possible until the constables and coroner arrive.”
“You two—stop pretending to cause a commotion and using it as an excuse to destroy evidence.”
“What else is there to investigate? Isn’t it obvious that the Pei family poisoned him?” the woman shouted.
Gu Xiu’s expression darkened. “Human life is at stake. How dare an ignorant shrew like you make a baseless judgment?”
He was a marquis, after all. When his face grew cold and impatient, the attendants and guards behind him fixed their murderous gazes on the woman. She no longer dared to make a scene.
The staff of the First Tower naturally took the opportunity to release the pair and withdraw. As they passed Pei Liang, they received a whispered instruction before leaving the area and disappearing into the building.
At this point, the members of the Chi family wore expressions of utter grief, while Pei Liang asked, “May I ask, Master Chef Chi, who are these two?”
Master Chef Chi had yet to speak when the woman answered viciously, “I am Chi Dagang’s wife. In recent days, you clawed your way into the top spot through underhanded schemes, and now the Pei family dares to make a comeback. My husband remembered the resentment the old master had expressed before his death, and the more he thought about it, the more indignant he became.”
“So he persuaded the family to come here and challenge you. Unfortunately, ever since the old master passed away, the descendants of the Chi family have lacked the skill to defeat you outright. With no other choice, we exposed the shamelessness of the Pei family.”
“Who would have thought that your family had prepared for this in advance? While he was verifying the authenticity of that secret signature technique, you poisoned and murdered him first!”
Pei Liang laughed. “I poisoned and murdered someone in full view of everyone? In the main hall of my own First Tower, no less? Madam Chi, don’t you find your accusation rather problematic?”
Madam Chi sneered. “That’s true. For anyone in the restaurant business, food safety and cleanliness are more important than anything else. Someone has died here in the middle of your First Tower under highly suspicious circumstances. Your business is bound to plummet from this day forward—an act tantamount to destroying your own future.”
“But compared to the capital crime of having your entire family executed and your property confiscated, a mere First Tower is nothing. It’s only a business, after all. As long as you retain your signature culinary skills, you can make a living anywhere under the heavens.”
Unlike Master Chef Chi—Manager Chi’s father—and his son, Madam Chi had a sharp tongue. Though her husband’s sudden death had left her appearing utterly grief-stricken, her words remained clear and orderly, striking directly at the heart of the matter.
She was indeed better suited than the grandfather and grandson, Master Chef Chi and his son, to step forward at a time like this.
Yet before Pei Liang could respond to Madam Chi’s words, voices had already risen from within the crowd.
Someone shouted, “You can’t put it that way! You’ve condemned Owner Pei with nothing but empty words. If everyone judged cases the way you do, what need would there be for the government office?”
“There are hundreds of people in this hall, including respectable men like Marquis Gu. Are you saying we’re all fools? You started by hurling baseless accusations, Madam, and even twisted Owner Pei’s actions in sealing off the restaurant and preserving the scene into an attempt to kill everyone and silence the witnesses.”
“You’re consumed by resentment now. In your eyes, everything the Pei family does is malicious—but do you really take all of us for fools?”
“Exactly. If the Pei family truly had that kind of power, would they still need to work themselves to the bone running a mere restaurant every day?”
“That’s right, that’s right!”
Some of the regular patrons flushed with embarrassment. They had indeed panicked when the commotion first broke out, but now that they thought about it, the others’ words did make sense.
Their initial shock at seeing a dead man in the restaurant had passed. Now, eager to prove they were not the sort to blindly follow the crowd, they even temporarily suppressed the instinctive taboo diners felt toward a death in a restaurant.
One of them spoke up to clear the Pei family’s name:
“We all watched that fish noodle dish being prepared. Owner Pei handled everything herself—with only two hands, one knife, and one chopping board. The fish paste and broth came from the same pot. How is it that the three judges who ate it are perfectly fine, while you, Chi Dagang, dropped dead right after eating it?”
“There’s clearly something suspicious here. We should wait for the coroner to determine the cause of death. This concerns a human life, after all. Even if the murderer really was someone else, wouldn’t you be letting the true culprit escape justice by hounding Owner Pei without evidence?”
For the moment, public opinion seemed to be firmly on Pei Liang’s side. Yet Pei Liang did not show the slightest gratitude for their goodwill.
Had Madam Chi been an ordinary woman, she would have long since lost her head after being contradicted and condemned by everyone.
But Madam Chi seemed to have anticipated this. She remained unwavering in her insistence that the Pei family was to blame.
Looking at Pei Liang, she said calmly, “Well, well. The Pei family certainly knows how to win people over. You’ve deceived all these diners with your family’s dull-looking faces and treacherous hearts, and the moment something happens, they blindly take your side. Wasn’t that exactly how the Wei family was ruined and disgraced by you several years ago?”
Someone was about to retort that the Wei family had brought its own disgrace upon itself through one unjust deed after another.
But Madam Chi merely mentioned it in passing and gave no one a chance to speak before continuing:
“When you heard our manager say that only he knew the identifying mark of that technique—not even the old master or the eldest young master knew of it—you immediately struck him down, thinking that the truth would be buried with him forever, didn’t you?”
“Let me tell you, Pei. Heaven may not always favor human calculations, but thankfully it has eyes. My husband’s eyelids had been twitching constantly these past few days, and he sensed that something was wrong. By some strange twist of fate, he told me about that identifying mark. Truly, the net of Heaven is vast, and nothing escapes it!”
“Oh?” Pei Liang said. “So the crucial detail that Manager Chi failed to reveal after all that talk before his death will now be demonstrated to us by Madam Chi herself?”
“Only, this time, Madam Chi, be sure not to eat anything. First Pavilion is already under suspicion as it is. We can’t afford another incident.”
Madam Chi sneered. “I’ll tell them. The words the manager spoke before his death prove that he had already determined the matter was genuine.”
“Then I’ll tell you all. In the technique of breaking down a whole fish intact, before making the first cut, the Pei family removes the fish’s pectoral fins. That is the mark my grandfather left behind.”
“In truth, the motion serves no real purpose. The pectoral fin is small to begin with, and it grows beneath the gill cover. It has no sharp bones to prick anyone, nor does it interfere with the procedure.”
“Everyone present just saw her dismantle several live fish on the spot. With every single one, she removed the pectoral fin first and only then put it aside. She could clearly have dismantled the fish alive without doing that, and it would have preserved their appearance better. Why go to such lengths?”
“Nothing more than an imitation passed down through the generations. When her grandfather stole the technique, he copied the motion without understanding its purpose. By the time he passed it on to his descendants, they were still doing the same thing.”
As soon as these words were spoken, whispers broke out among the crowd. Some were incredulous, while others were only half-convinced.
Indeed, everyone had watched closely earlier, wanting to witness Chef Pei’s peerless knife skills. Though ordinary onlookers could not understand the finer points of some of her movements, they still remembered the conspicuous motion at the beginning perfectly clearly.
Someone now asked, “Owner Pei, could you explain why you remove the pectoral fin?”
“It’s true that the fin doesn’t get in the way. With Owner Pei’s technique, there’s absolutely no need to remove it deliberately and ruin the fish’s appearance.”
“Could it really be—”
“What a joke. Is that enough to prove that Chef Pei’s unparalleled technique originated with your family?” Before the accusation could even be voiced, someone spoke up in rebuttal.
“Your Chi family wants to claim the source of someone else’s technique based on nothing but a few words. How could it be that simple? If you want to prove it, have one of your descendants master the skill first.”
“Marquis Gu already said it himself: your Chi family’s live-fish dismantling technique only barely takes shape. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have to use a frying method to disguise the flaws before making the fish into soup. And you still want to claim that your family invented this technique? You’re a laughingstock.”
“But I saw it myself. When the Chi family dismantled the live fish just now, they also removed the pectoral fin first. This technique has never been demonstrated publicly since Grandpa Pei’s time, and Chef Pei was showing it in public for the first time today. Such an unnecessary detail—there’s no way both families just happened to think of it independently.” Someone voiced his doubts.
“Exactly. Even if someone wanted to frame the Chi family, they couldn’t have come up with such a devious reason on the spot. What’s more, that woman from the Chi family doesn’t know the first thing about cooking. Ever since Manager Chi died, she hasn’t exchanged a single word with the Chi family. There’s even less chance that she could have fabricated this out of thin air.”
“Then why not say that the Chi family stole the Pei family’s technique, painstakingly trained until they found a flaw in it, and then turned around and accused them instead?” someone else suggested.
“Everyone has seen the Pei family’s skill with their own eyes. They were the ones who made even the late emperor applaud in admiration. The late emperor wanted to recruit him into the imperial kitchen, but he refused. In my opinion, back then, he deserved to be called not merely the finest chef in the world, but the finest person in the culinary arts, period.”
“Though Old Master Chi was once considered Chef Pei’s equal, that was only because Chef Pei graciously yielded ground to him. Otherwise, why would Chi have been the one to make a name for himself?”
“Grandpa Pei spent his entire life developing countless dishes and creating several culinary techniques. Who else has ever possessed such ability? Those mediocre, second-rate cooks—even the imperial chefs in the palace kitchen—couldn’t surpass him while he was alive. Yet after his death, their descendants want to sully his reputation. What kind of reasoning is that?”
These words were meant to defend the Pei family, but they were completely unfounded and delivered with such arrogance that they convinced no one. Just like Manager Chi before him, he had managed to offend countless people with a single sweeping remark.
Everyone knew that the circle of renowned food connoisseurs in the capital was a small one, with countless connections running between them.
Many of the diners present came from families that dealt in ingredients and maintained partnerships with the major restaurants. They were on friendly terms with the owners and chefs there. As for the imperial chefs in the palace, quite a few were close friends—or even relatives—of people in the room.
Chef Pei’s skill was indeed worthy of respect, but to show such disdain for all the other chefs was still a little too overbearing.
For a time, voices defending the Pei family clearly held the upper hand. Yet most of the diners had already begun to feel displeased.
They could not help but wonder whether the other side’s eagerness to use its influence to force everyone to accept the questionable aspects of the cooking process, without offering any convincing reason, meant that there truly was something wrong with it.
Moreover, the doubts raised earlier were not without merit. The Pei family had never demonstrated this technique publicly. When Chef Pei left the capital back then, she had not yet mastered it. It was said that she had gone south these past few years to study under her martial uncle. That meant the flaw in the technique must have been passed on to her disciple by Grandpa Pei, and then from the disciple back to Chef Pei.
Chef Pei had only recently returned. Even if the Chi family had intended to frame her, they could not possibly have figured out the key to this technique in such a short time.
After all, the kitchen staff at First Tower had worked under the Pei family for years. Given Drunken Sun Pavilion’s current state of decline, they would be very difficult to bribe.
Thus, although no final conclusion had been reached, the diners’ sympathies had already begun to tilt toward suspicion.
Madam Chi felt that this was still not enough. Seeing everyone whispering among themselves without reaching any conclusion, she turned to Gu Xiu and said, “Marquis Gu, my shopkeeper anticipated that the Pei family would deny everything, so he made preparations in advance.”
“Unfortunately, he considered everything except the fact that the Pei family would be so ruthless as to take his life directly.” As she spoke, Madam Chi shed another round of tears.
She continued, “My lord, although I cannot directly prove that Chef Pei stole my family’s technique, we have found witnesses who can testify that he had anticipated the Emperor’s arrival, bribed eunuchs, and ingratiated himself with His Majesty in advance.”
“The main entrance has now been sealed by Owner Pei. I ask that Your Lordship permit me to summon the witnesses inside. They are waiting outside.”
Gu Xiu nodded. “Granted.”
Two people went to open the doors. At a glance, everyone could see two plainly dressed elderly men standing outside.
No one had much of an impression of one of them. The other, however, was a laborer who had worked alongside Grandpa Pei in the Pei family’s kitchen for his entire life.
Anyone who had spent a little time at Heavenly Fragrance Tower recognized him.
Someone cried out in surprise, “Old Xu?”
The old man looked ashamed. He did not meet the eyes of anyone from First Tower and even deliberately avoided Pei Liang’s gaze.
At the same time, the constables and coroner from Shuntian Prefecture arrived. With them came the prefect’s son, Young Master Wang.
At first, he had wanted to vent his anger on behalf of the beauty and had even targeted First Tower. However, Shi Feiyu had suppressed him the first time he tried.
When Shi Feiyu instructed the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture to handle Madam Shi’s family impartially, he had also taken the opportunity to warn him about the matter of the prefect’s son unlawfully mobilizing yamen runners without official authority.
The prefect had given his own son a vicious beating. Later, when the affair between the Young Marquis and Pei Liang spread through their small circle, they naturally became even less willing to act rashly.
Besides, this time the First Tower itself had become the scene of a murder dispute. Surely it was not excessive for him to come along and see what was happening, was it? So he came running over, delighted.
When he saw Wei Yingshu, he naturally went over to greet him enthusiastically.
The scene had been preserved perfectly. The bailiffs quickly finished making their records. Since Marquis Gu had given his instructions and the witnesses were already present, they could conveniently question them on the spot before taking them back to the prefectural yamen. The officers handling the case naturally followed orders.
The coroner soon determined the cause of death. “The victim died from severe poisoning. The poison is extremely potent, takes effect in a very short time, and is exceedingly rare.”
“There is still poison residue beneath the thumbnail. It is a fine white powder, and even a tiny amount dissolved in water would kill a grown man instantly. Although its smell has temporarily been concealed by the pickled-vegetable soup, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it is most likely the expensive and exceptionally rare Impermanence Hook.”
Wasn’t it indeed a hook from the realm of impermanence? One touch, and a person was dead.
Pei Liang interjected, “Old sir, aside from the underside of Manager Chi’s left thumbnail, was there poison hidden anywhere else on his body?”
“What exactly are you implying?” Madam Chi demanded furiously. “Are you saying that our manager took his own life just to frame you?”
Pei Liang did not even bother responding to her. The coroner, however, readily answered, “No.”
“Then someone must have poisoned him,” the people around them said.
But Pei Liang said, “The poison on Manager Chi’s hand could not have been there from the beginning. When the Chi family was preparing the dishes, Manager Chi may not have been useful for cooking, but he still helped wash vegetables, pass bowls, and handle odd jobs.”
“If the poison had been hidden beneath his nail from the start, then the three judges would have been the first to vomit blood and die—not him.”
“Moreover, Manager Chi personally lifted the lids whenever the dishes were served, making it difficult to prevent the powder from falling out.”
“So the poison could only have gotten beneath his nail sometime after all the dishes had been tasted and before his death. That entire interval lasted less than the time it takes to burn a single incense stick, and Manager Chi never left the contest area.”
“After he died from the poison, everyone in the contest area remained under the watchful eyes of the crowd. As long as we examine the place carefully, we will certainly find where the poison was administered.”
The bailiffs found her reasoning sound. They ordered everyone to remain where they stood and carefully searched the entire contest platform.
Sure enough, they discovered white powder beneath the edge of the table on the Pei family’s side. After the coroner examined it, they caught a chicken from the kitchen and fed it water mixed with the powder. The chicken promptly died from poisoning, proving that it was the same poison that had killed Manager Chi.
Gu Xiu had not expected Pei Liang, for all her cleverness, to end up shooting herself in the foot. Seeing this, he asked, “Owner Pei, what else do you have to say for yourself?”
Pei Liang replied, “Marquis, please hear me out. The Chi family’s sudden arrival to issue a challenge was something I could never have anticipated.”
“Besides, I’m a chef. The moment I saw the Chi family’s culinary skills, I knew I had the upper hand. How could I have anticipated that their true intention was not to compete and poisoned them in advance?”
“If I truly meant to silence him, it would have been after Manager Chi revealed that the origins of my Pei family’s culinary techniques were questionable. Even then, I would have had only that brief span of time—less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn. How could I have smeared such a deadly poison along the edge of the table without leaving the stage, while also knowing that Manager Chi would touch it and that it would end up in the soup?”
Gu Xiu nodded. “That does make sense.”
Madam Chi immediately objected. “Stop pretending you know nothing. You must have known all along where your family’s techniques came from. The moment you saw my family demonstrate that very dish—the one that once won His Majesty’s favor—you must have guessed our purpose and struck first.”
“Otherwise, why would you choose to prepare an entire pig using such a complicated cooking method? And during the competition, you were the only person who left the stage. You must have decided to kill him then. Now you’re merely trying to confuse everyone and mislead us about when the poison was administered.”
The surrounding spectators felt that Madam Chi’s argument made sense. Gu Xiu nodded as well. “Indeed. Although Owner Pei’s explanation is logically sound, you are still the prime suspect.”
“However, you are right about one thing: the Chi family’s arrival was entirely unexpected. If you truly poisoned Manager Chi, then it could only have been a spur-of-the-moment decision. The poison could not have appeared out of thin air. And a restaurant would never keep something so dangerous smeared beneath the edge of a table, where a customer might accidentally ingest it.”
“There was very little of it—less than the size of a fingernail. So the poison is most likely still hidden somewhere in the restaurant.”
With that, he ordered the constables and his guards, “Search the place!”
Once everyone had received their orders, Gu Xiu’s gaze returned to those present.
Madam Chi wore a triumphant expression, while Owner Pei remained as calm as ever. Gu Xiu found himself increasingly curious to see how this little drama would unfold.
While the constables searched the restaurant, Gu Xiu asked Madam Chi, “And these two are…?”
Madam Chi replied, “This is Old Xu. He used to be a sous-chef at the Fragrant Heavens Restaurant and followed Chef Pei for his entire life. There’s nothing about what happened back then that he doesn’t know.”
She then turned to him. “Old Xu, tell everyone this: before the late emperor made his secret visit to the Fragrant Heavens Restaurant, did Chef Pei do anything unusual?”
Old Xu, now an elderly man, answered in a trembling voice, “A month before the late emperor’s visit, Master replaced the restaurant’s furnishings and decorations. The tablecloths and curtains were changed as well, and the new style was completely different from the old one.”
Pei Liang said, “My Pei family’s restaurant has been in business for a hundred years. It’s only natural that we regularly replace outdated furnishings.”
“Oh? What a remarkable coincidence,” Madam Chi sneered.
From outside the stage, Chef Lin called out, “What coincidence? There was a set schedule for replacing them, and every expense was clearly recorded in the accounts. You can’t claim that we were spying on the emperor’s whereabouts and waiting for his arrival based on that alone.”
Old Xu continued, “But from that time onward, Chef Pei instructed me to keep one private room available every day and never accept reservations for it.”
“While Chef Pei was in charge, the Fragrant Pavilion was so popular that it was impossible to find a seat, let alone a private room available every day. Yet Chef Pei told me to do just that. I didn’t understand why at the time. It wasn’t until the day His Majesty arrived and went to that private room that I finally realized the reason.”
A collective gasp went through the crowd.
But the old hands from the First Pavilion were furious.
“Old Xu, the old master treated you well when he was alive. How could you join forces with outsiders and make such baseless accusations?”
“Exactly! It was precisely because the Fragrant Pavilion was always fully booked that the old master deliberately set aside a few seats each day, in case of emergencies.”
“You’ve forgotten about those high-ranking officials and nobles who throw their weight around. When they couldn’t get a seat, they would simply drive ordinary customers away. To keep ordinary guests from suffering because of such incidents, the old master made that arrangement. How did you twist it into an act of scheming for personal gain?”
“Old Xu, you’re already advanced in years. When you meet the old master in the afterlife, you’d better think about how you’ll have the face to face him.”
Old Xu trembled, but he still stubbornly insisted, “This rule was passed down from the days when the Fragrant Pavilion was first established. Is that really what the old master told you? In my view, it was merely continued as a way to conceal the truth. I was the only one present who experienced what happened back then. There was no such thing as nobles bullying ordinary customers.”
“You—”
No one could refute him with any certainty. After all, the old hands who had accompanied Grandpa Pei when he received the Emperor had either passed away or returned to their hometowns many years ago. In these troubled times, no one even knew whether they were still alive.
Old Xu claimed to have witnessed it with his own eyes. These younger men truly had no way to argue with him.
Madam Chi said smugly, “Owner Pei, I know you’re a skilled speaker. With nothing more than Old Xu’s testimony, you could easily distort right and wrong with a few words.”
“But there is one person whose testimony you can never refute.”
As she spoke, she looked toward the old man who had come with Old Xu.
“Do you know who this gentleman is?”
“This is Old Quan, the eunuch who accompanied His Majesty on that covert inspection tour. It was he who told the Emperor that the Drunken Sun Pavilion was not fit to hold a candle to your Fragrant Pavilion, and that your Grandpa Pei’s fish-cooking skills were unparalleled. Only then did His Majesty decide to change course and come to the Fragrant Pavilion.”
As soon as the man’s identity was revealed, many in the surrounding crowd cried out in shock.
“Even a witness like that has appeared?”
“Then doesn’t that mean the Pei family really—”
Madam Chi said, “Whether Old Quan’s identity is genuine can be verified easily.”
Before she had even finished speaking, Gu Xiu said, “There’s no need. Although this gentleman was not the chief eunuch serving the late Emperor, I saw him often when I was young. It is indeed him.”
“Old Quan, how have you been?”
“I’m honored that the Marquis still remembers me,” Old Quan replied.
Gu Xiu, however, gave him a faintly mocking smile. “Old Quan, do you know that once you give this testimony, not only will the Pei family be doomed, but your own crime of colluding with outsiders, betraying the Emperor’s whereabouts, and deceiving the sovereign will also be punishable by the execution of your entire family?”
Old Quan gave a bitter laugh. “Allow me to tell you, Marquis: I am now an old man nearing the end of my life, with no family and no one to rely on. Every day, I am tormented by what happened back then and can scarcely sleep at night.”
“If I could die and atone before the late Emperor, that would be my wish.”
Most eunuchs suffered miserable lives in their later years. Of course, not every eunuch had entered the palace as a child; quite a few had married and fathered children before becoming eunuchs.
People like him would usually have children to support them in their old age. Those without children would either take a godson to care for them or keep donating money to a temple, then leave the palace and become monks there—in effect, letting the temple provide for them in their later years.
Old Quan was clearly not a eunuch who had risen to the highest ranks. Now he looked destitute and helpless, yet unafraid of death. If he truly corroborated that Chef Pei had bribed him into leaking news of the emperor’s movements and manipulating His Majesty’s decisions, then the Pei family would be utterly finished.
Even ten Young Marquises would not be able to save them.
The eunuch said, “When I was young, I received kindness from Chef Pei. From time to time, whenever I left the palace on business, I would take the opportunity to exchange a few words with him. Later, I was transferred to serve before the emperor. Once Chef Pei learned of this, he became even more eager to cultivate our relationship.”
“On one occasion, I had some time to spare and drank a little at Fragrant Haven Restaurant. I was slightly tipsy and inadvertently let slip that His Majesty had recently been considering leaving the palace to see how the common people lived.”
“Chef Pei then used my leaking of the emperor’s whereabouts as leverage, threatening and enticing me until he forced me to manipulate the imperial carriage in front of the late emperor.”
“Now that I am old and miserable, having had to bury my own child, this is the retribution for my disloyalty and unfilial conduct back then~”
“Ah, this…” After hearing this, the surrounding people could no longer remain seated. “So the Chi family really wasn’t lying?”
“So Chef Pei was actually this sort of shameless fraud.”
“Then it seems the technique of deboning an entire fish must indeed have been stolen from Old Master Chi.”
“We actually believed for all these years that the Pei family was noble and benevolent.”
“If that’s the case, then what about the matter between the Pei and Wei families—”
Wei Yingshu was listening from within the crowd, and she reveled in every word. A triumphant smile spread across her face. When she saw Pei Liang standing in the center of the crowd, condemned by everyone and on the verge of total ruin, she could barely stop herself from laughing aloud.
Just then, the people sent to search for the poison returned.
One of the constables carefully held out a paper packet. “My lord, we found this in a corner outside the back kitchen. It hadn’t been disposed of yet.”
When the packet was opened, it indeed contained a white powder.
Gasps rang out one after another.
“Was Manager Chi really killed by her?”
“What a poisonous woman!”
“Hey, just because it was found in the back kitchen doesn’t necessarily mean the Pei family used it to poison someone. What shop doesn’t keep a couple of packets of rat poison?”
Those who had already been loudly condemning the Pei family became even more furious upon hearing this. Quite a few people present ran businesses themselves; how could they allow the Pei family to drag them down with it?
They immediately shouted, “You’re still clinging to the feelings of an old customer? The evidence is conclusive. No amount of arguing will help now. We can only blame ourselves for being blind all these years.”
“Just thinking that I’ve eaten food from the Pei family for decades makes my whole body go cold.”
“That’s nothing. If no one had noticed earlier, Marquis Gu and the other two could have been poisoned as well.”
“We’ve even eaten their barbecue. To conceal the truth, that Pei woman was willing to disregard the lives of so many people.”
Everything seemed to have been decided already. Fortunately, Pei Liang had established order from the very beginning. Otherwise, given the crowd’s current outrage, someone would already have thrown something at her.
Even Gu Xiu wore a regretful expression. With such irrefutable evidence, the Pei family would probably be unable to defend themselves.
It was a rare and exquisite culinary talent. What a pity.
At that moment, the eunuch suddenly shrieked in a high-pitched voice, “Your Majesty, I’m coming before you to atone for my sins!”
As he spoke, he drew a sharp knife and raised it toward his neck.
Then a woman’s voice rang out clearly: “If you die, the women of your household won’t survive either.”
The eunuch’s hand froze. He turned to look at Pei Liang, his face filled with terrifying panic.
Pei Liang walked over to a decorative vase and lightly nudged it with one finger. The vase toppled to the floor with a crisp crash.
Together with the eunuch’s sudden movement, the sound brought the entire hall to a brief silence.
After saying those words, Pei Liang paid the eunuch no further attention. Instead, she walked over to Gu Xiu. On the table before him lay the packet of poison that had been found during the search.
Pei Liang dipped her little finger into it and then touched it to the tip of her tongue.
Everyone cried out in alarm, their first thought being that she was attempting to commit suicide because she was guilty.
Yet after a moment, Pei Liang did not drop dead as Manager Chi had.
Everyone was stunned. One person concealed among the crowd, in particular, felt his pupils contract sharply.
Gu Xiu summoned the coroner. “Is this the poison?”
The coroner rubbed some of the powder between his fingers, then smelled it and shook his head. “This is merely ordinary flour.”
Pei Liang said to Gu Xiu, “Marquis, this matter is of grave importance. Everything just now was based solely on Madam Chi’s account. Although the evidence may appear conclusive, I have grounds to raise objections as well. I humbly ask that Your Lordship allow me to defend myself.”
Gu Xiu had not expected Owner Pei to remain so calm even after things had reached this point. He became all the more curious about how she intended to escape this predicament.
He nodded. “Granted.”
Pei Liang continued, “Then may I ask Your Lordship to have a few people detained first?”
“Oh? Why is that?” Marquis Gu asked.
“These people are hiding among the crowd, seemingly inconspicuous. Yet whenever a crucial moment arises, they are always eager to offer their opinions. They also move around the hall constantly. After saying a few words in one place, they immediately shift to another, even changing their voices so that no one realizes the opposing views are actually coming from the same few people.”
“They are unfamiliar faces at the First Tower, yet from the very beginning they have gone out of their way to defend us—even more firmly than longtime patrons would—as though they know the First Tower inside and out.”
“When Madam Chi mentioned the coded techniques and sparked an uproar, they were equally insistent on defending us, even arguing with the guests around them. This time, however, they had nothing of substance to say and simply acted like shameless troublemakers. They became even more brazen in their speech, as though my grandfather had proclaimed himself the greatest master under heaven.”
“Finally, when the poison appeared, they still claimed to trust the Pei family despite such irrefutable evidence. For that, I am deeply grateful. Yet while they seemed to urge everyone to remain calm and think carefully, they were actually insulting the taboos of numerous shopkeepers, trying to drag others down with them. They fanned the already volatile crowd into an even greater fury, making everyone wish to sever ties with the Pei family and prove their own innocence.”
Pretending to be loyal, praising someone to death, and dragging others down alongside them—their every move appeared to defend the Pei family, yet each step pushed the guests who had once trusted the Pei family wholeheartedly to the opposite side. By now, they even felt disgusted, wishing for the Pei family’s First Tower to close its doors at once.
Gu Xiu had not expected Owner Pei, while facing accusations of such grave crimes, to have the leisure to keep track of the crowd’s shifting sentiments throughout the entire affair. But he was well traveled and experienced, and naturally knew that such tactics did exist.
Take cults, for instance, or rebel factions and insurgent armies. They often resorted to stirring up trouble in this way.
Thinking back, it seemed that Owner Pei had indeed been right. Leaving aside what had happened before, some of the remarks made after the poison appeared still rang in his ears.
Back then, even he had been deeply suspicious of Owner Pei, and had been amazed that anyone could still stand firmly by her side at a time like that.
Gu Xiu nodded.
There was no need for his own men to intervene. Several figures immediately leaped down from the second floor and pinned the few plants they had been watching closely.
When everyone took a closer look, they were indeed unfamiliar faces. No one nearby had ever seen them before.
But that alone proved nothing. They might simply be troublemakers who enjoyed stirring up chaos. There was no shortage of spectators who loved making a scene.
Gu Xiu said as much. “Owner Pei, I’m afraid this alone cannot prove your innocence.”
Pei Liang merely smiled. “Marquis, please don’t be impatient. My opponents have tied several knots, and I intend to untie them one by one.”
She then turned toward the old eunuch and Old Xu, who had retired from Tianxiang Tower. “The two of you—one has a deep bond with the Pei family, while the other’s very life is at stake. Neither of you would falsely accuse someone without reason.”
Everyone grew even more confused. Why was she acknowledging the other side’s claims while defending herself?
“So, if you were to betray your conscience, or even give up your lives, then there must be an unimaginable weight on the other side of the scales.”
“Money, threats, a future for your descendants—there are only so many possibilities. I have been back in the capital for too short a time, and the people behind this only made their move recently. They could not have planned too far ahead. So it will not be difficult to investigate whether either of your families has suffered some major change in recent days, whether your children have suddenly received large sums of money, or whether someone has been granted an astonishingly promising future.”
“I imagine you both know that the Pei family is not without influence in the capital. If I were the mastermind behind all this, then to eliminate any future trouble, I would not only refuse to honor the benefits promised to you—I would also wipe out everyone connected to them.”
As she spoke, Pei Liang glanced at the sachet hanging from the old eunuch’s waist and smiled. “What a thoughtful gift. Old Quan, you said that you had lost your only child and were left entirely alone, but it seems that is not quite the case.”
“You are already in the twilight of your life. Wanting to leave some money for the person you treasure, so that she may have enough to live on in the future, is perfectly understandable. But if you think that something others can uncover in a short time would escape my people’s notice, what do you imagine will happen to her after you sacrifice yourself?”
Old Quan’s face turned deathly pale. His lips trembled, and his entire body swayed as though he might collapse at any moment.
But Pei Liang’s voice suddenly rose, as though she were speaking both to him and to someone hidden among the crowd.
“Still, there is no need to worry. From the moment you appeared, my people have already begun tracing the matter to its source. And Old Xu, the same goes for your family.”
“We will know the exact circumstances of both households shortly. If anyone wishes to silence you by killing you, Tianxiang Tower has been sealed and no one has been allowed in or out since the beginning of this affair. I’m afraid they will already be too late.”
“But even if they do succeed, that will only prove that everything I have said is true.”
Hidden among the crowd, Li’s eyes nearly split with fury. He could never have imagined that in the space of a few moments, he would be the one plunged into an impossible dilemma, trapped no matter which way he turned.
Pei Liang then looked toward the Chi family and smiled. “Master Chef Chi, what decisiveness. You actually chose to cut off the damaged limb to save the rest.”
“Still, I have to commend your choice. Compared with keeping a wastrel who would bleed the family fortune dry, choosing to raise up the next generation’s heir is indeed the way to preserve the family line.”
“It’s just a pity for Manager Chi. I’m afraid he’ll believe until the day he dies that this is nothing more than a minor offense. He kept dangling that tantalizing hint, which probably means the mastermind never told him where the supposed identifying mark in the technique was. Otherwise, given Manager Chi’s loose tongue, he would have let the cat out of the bag long ago.”
Once she said this, everyone who was meant to understand knew exactly what she was implying.
Yet Pei Liang deliberately refused to expose them outright. Instead, she said, “Your Chi family is in the same situation as Old Quan and Old Xu. You wouldn’t risk framing someone with such a serious crime for no reason, especially when your business was thriving and your lives were perfectly comfortable.”
“For families like ours, with businesses that have been passed down for a hundred years, there are only two things that can truly be called our lifelines. One is the lives of the entire family. The other is your Zuiyang Restaurant.”
“What leverage does someone have over you? Or is it both? Don’t worry. That won’t be difficult to investigate.”
The members of the Chi family all went deathly pale. Even Madam Chi, whose tongue was usually the sharpest, began to stammer.
“You—you’re twisting right and wrong! From beginning to end, all my family wanted was to prove that your Pei family stole our techniques. As for the others, we merely suspected them. When we confronted them, they said those things themselves. What does that have to do with us?”
Seeing this, Pei Liang knew that the training had not been thorough enough. Li Shen still had not thought through every possible outcome.
But that was understandable. A few years ago, she had been nothing more than the proprietor of a small restaurant. After disappearing to hone her skills, even Li Shen—let alone Shi Feiyu, who had kept in regular correspondence with Pei Liang and had known of her abilities for some time—had vastly underestimated both her capabilities and her resources.
And Li Shen’s impression of her had remained stuck in the past.
Still, his move had been ruthless. If she had been an ordinary person, she would already have been thrown into prison by now, unable to defend herself no matter how much she protested.
Pei Liang smiled. “Your Chi family claims that my method of removing the fish’s pectoral fins came from stealing your technique, and that I only learned it incompletely and failed to understand its purpose. What a joke.”
“Everyone here can see that whether the pectoral fin is removed or not has no effect whatsoever on filleting a live fish. Do you really think my grandfather wouldn’t have noticed that?”
“Let me tell you this: my grandfather never had that habit. When I was young, I once injured my palm on the sharp spine at the very front of a fish’s pectoral fin while preparing it. Ever since then, I’ve had an aversion to it, so I always remove it first. It’s nothing more than a superfluous step.”
“You claim this was the first time my Pei family ever demonstrated the technique? Ridiculous. Customers have been ordering this dish every day lately, and we’ve prepared it every single day. Although most of my kitchen staff are old hands, running a restaurant this large naturally means hiring new assistants as well.”
“The restaurant has been so busy that all the employees and their families have been living in the quarters behind it. They haven’t even had time to spend money recently. Search the place later, and you may well discover who has been bribed.”
“Even if you can’t find evidence right away, don’t think your Chi family is the only one capable of leaving a mark in its own techniques.”
“What?”
Everyone present cried out in shock.
The members of the Chi family—especially Master Chef Chi, who was responsible for preparing the dish—began frantically thinking back, trying to recall whether there had been any unnecessary movements in the process of filleting the live fish.
By then, Pei Liang had already reached their tofu fish noodles. Pointing at the fish’s head, she said, “There’s really no need to examine it too closely. I noticed it the moment you took the fish apart.”
“Before removing the fish’s skull, did you make a cut around the base of it? You thought the purpose was to loosen the skin tightly adhered to the bone, so that it would come off more easily afterward.”
“But that isn’t the case. When dismantling a fish, you naturally begin with the gills, so that step is completely unnecessary. Whether you make that cut or not makes no difference. If this knife technique truly belonged to your family, then even if you lacked talent and had spent years practicing, you should still have understood the purpose behind every step.”
“Unfortunately, it does not. You merely spent the short time after I returned to the capital painstakingly imitating its form. You never had time to consider the purpose of each step, so you copied it exactly as you saw it.”
“So it isn’t that the Pei family stole the Chi family’s technique. On the contrary, it was the Chi family that stole the Pei family’s.”
A moment ago, these had been irrefutable proofs of the Pei family’s crimes. How had she now turned every one of them around and used them to prove the Pei family’s innocence?
The people connected to the two witnesses had yet to arrive, but judging from their frightened expressions, the truth was already more or less clear.
Without the men who had been detained and used to sway public opinion fanning the flames, the guests present suddenly realized, as if waking from a dream, that they had been used as pawns all along.
And they had remained completely unaware, convinced that they were merely acting out of righteous indignation.
Quite a few people covered their faces in shame and whispered among themselves.
In the crowd, Wei Yingshu’s expression changed from satisfaction to unwillingness and disbelief. She could not accept that Pei Liang had managed to turn things around under such circumstances.
She had clearly been on the verge of beating Pei Liang to death.
But she and Li Shen had both underestimated Pei Liang’s nature.
She had never been the sort to wait passively before striking back. By now, the two of them were trapped here, while a vast net had already begun closing around them.
That was why Pei Liang said, “As for why the Chi family, Old Quan, and Master Xu launched this inexplicable attack, I imagine the answer will reveal itself shortly.”
“And then there is the matter of the poison—”
Pei Liang deliberately drew out her voice, and Li Shen immediately sensed that something was wrong.
He tried to move, but suddenly heard Pei Liang address him directly.
“I haven’t finished speaking. Why are you in such a hurry to move, Young Master Li?”
A young man in the crowd turned around. He had made a slight effort to disguise himself and was dressed inconspicuously. His features were handsome, but a trace of ferocity remained in his eyes and brows.
The two of them had never actually met, but at a moment like this, his identity was not difficult to guess.
A scheme this intricate could easily implicate his family and even cost Wei Yingshu her life. There was no way Li Shen would not be present.
However, the moment he entered First Pavilion, he was held up there. Then, after the death occurred, Pei Liang had been given legitimate grounds to seal the place off, cutting off all contact between him and the outside world. By then, his defeat had already been decided.
Li Shen stared at her with a face as cold and dark as still water.
Pei Liang continued, “There is still the matter of the poison. Since what was found in First Pavilion was not poison but ordinary flour, as the Marquis said, the poison may still be somewhere in this building.”
“Then I suddenly remembered something. When the Chi family unexpectedly came to issue their challenge, a crowd of guests rushed in to watch. With so many people moving about, the staff first arranged the surrounding area, then built the stage for the contest out of tables.”
“In other words, during that time, anyone present could have touched the edge of the table that had been smeared with the poisonous powder.”
“Everyone here is a guest of distinction, and most of you came prepared to dine at the First Pavilion. Naturally, you’re carrying a fair amount of money, which means you’ve been paying extra attention to your belongings. That makes things much more difficult for us.”
“Therefore, there’s a good chance the poison is still on the culprit.”
Someone immediately said, “It wasn’t me. I’m carrying quite a bit of silver, and I’ve been especially careful with the money pouch in my sleeve. You may search me to prove my innocence.”
“Nor was it me. I’ve had no past grievances or present quarrels with the Pei family. Why would I—”
Those words reminded everyone of something. Speaking of people who had a grudge against the Pei family, then the person present under the greatest suspicion was none other than—
At that moment, everyone’s gaze turned toward Wei Yingshu, who had been watching coldly from within the crowd.
While Wei Yingshu remained utterly oblivious, Li Shen’s eyes widened in horror.
This was over—
