On her wedding night, she went into exile with her pharmacy arsenal

Chapter 2236 Retrial

Manager Qi stood aside, barely daring to breathe, simply keeping his head down and pretending not to see what was happening before him.

He secretly rejoiced that Miaoqin hadn't taken her anger out on him earlier; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Miaoqin glanced coldly at Zhou Zhenghang: "The punishment will be noted for now. From now on, the medicinal cuisine shop and the teahouse should behave themselves and avoid causing any unnecessary trouble."

"I'll have someone handle the fresh produce shop. You just need to manage Baixing Teahouse and proceed according to the original plan. Don't make any more decisions on your own."

"Yes, Your subordinate obeys." Zhou Zhenghang replied hastily, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.

Miaoqin stopped looking at him and turned to Manager Qi: "Your medicinal cuisine shop should keep a low profile in the near future. If you are questioned by people from the Zhennan Prince's Mansion, do not hide anything or reveal any flaws, as instructed before."

Manager Qi quickly bowed and replied, "Yes, I understand, I will do as you say."

Miaoqin nodded slightly, said no more, and turned to leave with light steps.

The gentle tinkling of her jade pendants and the lingering fragrance faded into the distance. Only when her figure disappeared outside the moon gate did Zhou Zhenghang and Manager Qi breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhou Zhenghang rubbed his swollen cheeks, his eyes filled with resentment and helplessness.

Manager Qi looked at him, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately did not dare to say anything more. He simply picked up the teacup on the table and drank it in large gulps to hide his unease.

Meanwhile, inside the governor's mansion prison, it was dark and damp, with a strong musty smell and a faint smell of blood permeating the air.

The prison walls were mottled and peeling, and the cold iron bars gleamed with a bluish-black luster, exuding a chilling aura.

The imprisoned fellow huddled in a haystack in the corner of the cell. The haystack was dirty and messy, covered with dust and stains. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes to rest.

Yan Ruyu, dressed in a plain-colored dress, slowly walked into the prison under the guidance of the jailer.

Her expression was calm, but her eyes were sharp as knives as she scanned her surroundings, finally settling on the waiter.

The waiter noticed someone coming in and felt a very oppressive gaze on him. Startled, he quickly opened his eyes.

When he first opened his eyes, a barely perceptible sharpness flashed in them, but when he saw that the person who came was Yan Ruyu, that sharpness vanished instantly, replaced by a deep sense of panic.

He hurriedly scrambled up from the haystack, staggered forward a few steps, and bowed to Yan Ruyu through the iron bars, his voice trembling slightly: "Your Highness... Your Highness... I know I was wrong!"

The scoundrel truly knows he was wrong!

"Please, Your Highness, have mercy and spare me! I will never dare to do it again!"

Yan Ruyu stood still, not saying a word, just quietly watching him.

Her gaze, almost tangible, swept over his face, over his tattered clothes, and over his hands, which trembled slightly with fear.

The prison was eerily quiet, with only the heavy breathing of the guards and the occasional cough from a distant cell.

Yan Ruyu's silence was like an invisible pressure, making the panic in the waiter's heart even stronger.

He lowered his head, not daring to meet Yan Ruyu's gaze, his hands clenched tightly together, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

Yan Ruyu stared at him for a long time before slowly speaking, her voice calm yet carrying an undeniable authority: "You know you're wrong? Where did you go wrong?"

Upon hearing this, the waiter quickly raised his head, his face full of remorse: "I shouldn't have been misled by Manager Zhou and shouldn't have poisoned him. I was confused and bewitched, which is why I did such a stupid thing."

"Please, Your Highness, grant me a chance to repent and forgive my sins! Spare my life!"

A hint of mockery flashed in Yan Ruyu's eyes.

"Even now, you're still putting on an act." Her voice carried a chilling edge. "It's a real shame that your acting skills aren't being used to perform in an opera troupe."

The waiter's face still showed fear, but a trace of panic flashed quickly in the depths of his eyes.

He shrugged, lowered his head even further, and said in a bewildered voice, as if about to cry, "I really don't understand what Your Highness is saying."

I'm just a dutiful servant, and I've admitted my mistakes, but I really don't understand why the Princess would say such a thing.

“Of course you understand.” Yan Ruyu took half a step forward, the iron bars clinking softly against her. “What should I call you? Waiter, or the real manager?”

These words struck the waiter like a thunderbolt, leaving him trembling.

He suddenly raised his head, his blank expression replaced by genuine astonishment, and a hint of panic flickered in his eyes: "What does Your Highness mean by this?"

He swallowed hard, forcing himself to calm down. "The shopkeeper has always been Manager Zhou. I'm just a handyman, and I usually just follow orders from the manager. I have no choice in many things, so I really don't dare to call myself 'manager'."

Yan Ruyu looked at his feigned innocence, her eyes filled with even more mockery.

With a flick of her wrist, a folded piece of cloth was precisely tossed onto the muddy ground in front of the waiter.

A few specks of mud splashed up as the fabric hit the ground, and the piece of fabric stained with dark red marks stood out conspicuously in the dim light.

The shop assistant instinctively looked down, and the moment his eyes fell on the fabric, his pupils contracted slightly, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice trembled almost imperceptibly: "This is..."

"Don't you recognize it?" Yan Ruyu scoffed, her tone full of sarcasm. "This is what you swore you'd found in the cave outside the city, left behind by the man in black."

The waiter seemed to suddenly realize something, his eyes lit up, and he quickly looked up at Yan Ruyu, asking urgently, "Your Highness, have you caught that man in black?"

"It must be him! He's definitely the mastermind. It was he who conspired with Manager Zhou to cause all this trouble. What I'm saying is true!"

"Really?" Yan Ruyu raised an eyebrow, her tone suddenly turning cold. "Manager Zhou is dead, didn't you know?"

The waiter's anxious expression froze instantly, as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water, and he stood there stunned: "Manager Zhou... Manager Zhou is dead? How could this be..."

"What are you pretending for? Wasn't his death something you expected?" Yan Ruyu said calmly. "You poisoned him long ago and have control over the antidote. Once he's captured, he'll die very soon."

As for that cave you mentioned, it's completely empty, except for this useless thing.

She paused, looking at the waiter's suddenly pale face, and added, word by word, "Also, the blood on it isn't human blood."

A hint of impatience flashed in Yan Ruyu's eyes, her patience was almost exhausted: "When I arranged for someone to disguise himself as Manager Zhou, I wanted to investigate in secret, but before he could even show his face, Zhou Zhenghang saw through the disguise."

She sneered, "If he hadn't drawn an X on the corpse's forehead, openly provoking us, I really wouldn't have understood why our plan was leaked so quickly."

The waiter shuddered, his hands unconsciously tightening at his sides, his fingertips digging into his palms.

He cursed inwardly, "That idiot Zhou Zhenghang!"

A perfectly good plan, but he had to add unnecessary details. Now, things have turned out differently, and Yan Ruyu has followed the clues and traced it back to him.