As everyone turned to look, a path cleared. A group of people approached, led by a tall, handsome man. Behind him, three young men carried sacks of grain, followed by several dejected-looking individuals, all bruised and battered.
"Husband!" Bai Sheng rushed forward upon seeing Lu Ye.
Lu Ye smiled at Bai Sheng and gently stroked her head.
A murmur swept through the crowd. Could this handsome young man be the husband of that dark-faced girl?
Strange things happen every year, but today there were so many!
Lu Ye turned to face the crowd and announced loudly, "These three families did indeed buy grain from our shop yesterday, but they did not eat the new grain at all last night! These three sacks of grain," Lu Ye pointed to the grain carried by the three young men, "have not been touched. Their families can testify!"
The brought-along individuals, who were "bruised and battered," glanced at their families and then at Lu Ye, whose gaze was as cold as a Asura. They then dejectedly nodded, "We indeed didn't eat the newly bought grain yesterday. We wanted to finish the old grain before we could bear to eat the new."
Bai Sheng's eyes sparkled as she looked adoringly at her man. Ah, so wild! He had subdued these people with his fists!
The onlookers felt a sense of sudden enlightenment. It turned out they had misunderstood Mo Sheng Grain Shop and were almost tricked by these ill-intentioned people.
"These families were indeed lying and slandering Mo Sheng Grain Shop!"
"I knew it. My son-in-law bought a sack of grain here yesterday and said it was excellent. We came to queue early today and didn't expect this."
"Fortunately, none of us left. Look at the long queue behind us. If we were any later, we wouldn't get any today."
"It's probably because this grain shop sells grain at a lower price, and their competitors are trying to frame them."
"It must be. Who knows who has such a black heart!"
As the crowd discussed, the troublemaking families became increasingly fearful.
Lu Ye sneered, "You are all correct! These people are here today to slander our grain shop. We have two more witnesses! Bring them out!"
As soon as he finished speaking, some young beggars pushed two swollen men forward.
Lu Ye pointed to the two swollen men and said, "These two men sneaked into our grain shop in the middle of the night yesterday and put a sack of moldy grain in the warehouse. They were bitten by the large snake we keep. Fortunately, we discovered it early and replaced the moldy grain in time, otherwise, these people's scheme would have succeeded today.
"Everyone, look! The sack of grain the man in gray took out just now, the rope used to tie the mouth of the sack is black, completely different from the uniform hemp rope from our shop. And the knot is tied differently from ours as well."
"It's true. No wonder this man insisted on going in to get it himself. He had a premeditated plan."
"Yes, we almost misunderstood 'Mo Sheng Grain Shop'."
All the evidence pointed to these families deliberately framing Mo Sheng Grain Shop. However, the man in gray still wanted to struggle. He pointed at Bai Sheng and Lu Ye and said, "It's you! You're crying wolf! You're framing us!"
Lu Ye gave a cold smile, glanced at the two swollen men, and said sternly, "If you want to live, confess the truth."
One of the swollen men trembled and said, "It was... it was Golden Shopkeeper of Bai Gu Cang who instructed us to do this. These few families were also instructed to frame your grain shop. Golden Shopkeeper said that if we did this, each family would be rewarded with five sacks of grain."
The man in gray cried out hysterically, "You poisoned them! Forced confession! They are just making false accusations!"
At this point, no one believed the man in gray.
"You foul man, worse than a dog," Bai Sheng rolled her eyes at the man in gray and then gestured to a shop assistant standing not far away. This shop assistant was the one Bai Sheng had sent out earlier.
He walked over with more than a dozen people, each carrying half a sack of grain on their shoulders.
Bai Sheng spread out a ledger for everyone to see, "Everyone, these customers all bought grain from our shop yesterday. The ledger records their names, addresses, and is verifiable. I want to ask them in front of all the neighbors if the grain our shop sold was moldy!"
"Absolutely not moldy! The grain sold by Mo Sheng Grain Shop is all high-quality new grain. Look if you don't believe me," a middle-aged man opened the sack in his hand.
"Shopkeeper Wen and Shopkeeper Bai are not lying. Their grain is not moldy at all. Look if you don't believe us!" a young man also opened his grain sack.
The more than a dozen people who followed suit opened their grain sacks for everyone to see.
There was no need for further explanation. Those three families were indeed instigated by Golden Shopkeeper of Bai Gu Cang to deliberately frame Mo Sheng Grain Shop!
The man in gray and the woman in colorful clothing looked panicked. Seeing that their plan was exposed, they were about to flee when they were suddenly seized by the three young men brought by Lu Ye.
The customers who bought grain quickly surrounded these families.
Bai Sheng had already sent someone to report to the county yamen. The county magistrate, out of respect for Bai Gu Cang, was initially reluctant to get involved. However, when the person reported to the yamen, Prince Yu was at his residence, forcing him to "impartially and incorruptibly" accept the case.
In the end, all of them were taken to prison.
However, because Bai Gu Cang was backed by the Duke of Rong's Mansion, the county magistrate found a scapegoat as the mastermind, allowing Golden Shopkeeper to escape.
Mo Sheng Grain Shop resumed its normal operations. Bai Sheng rewarded each of the customers who bravely came forward to testify with a sack of grain.
They were all shocked by the generous gesture of Shopkeeper Bai. They said that the grain they bought was both cheap and good, and they came forward to testify purely out of conscience and did not need any reward from Shopkeeper Bai.
But Bai Sheng insisted on giving them the grain.
Only then did they happily accept it.
Learning from experience, to prevent being extorted again, Mo Sheng Grain Shop prepared several large winnowing baskets at the entrance. Every customer who bought grain would pour their grain into the winnowing baskets for on-the-spot inspection.
The backyard of the shop was isolated from the hustle and bustle of the grain shop.
Lu Ye introduced the three young men he brought to Bai Sheng, saying they were his friends of many years.
The one with the high nose bridge was named Qing Yu.
The one with the dragon-whisker bangs was named Qian Ye.
The honest and taciturn one was named Wei Han.
Upon seeing Bai Sheng, although the three young men were somewhat surprised, they showed no reaction and respectfully greeted her, "Sister-in-law."
After Lu Ye introduced the three to Bai Sheng, he said he had something to discuss with them and went to a large tree outside the backyard to talk.
"How many people have you recruited so far?" Lu Ye asked in a low voice.
Qing Yu replied in a low voice, "Fifteen people, all street beggars."
Lu Ye nodded, "Qing Yu, screen them carefully. Do not recruit those with poor character or wicked intentions."
"Yes!" Qing Yu replied respectfully.
"Qian Ye, you are responsible for training them. The training must be very strict. No one is allowed to make any mistakes at any time!"
"As you command!" Qian Ye smiled faintly, smoothed a strand of his dragon whiskers, and replied respectfully.
Lu Ye then looked at Wei Han, "Wei Han, you will accompany me on a mission tonight. If it is successful, our Sheng Men will have the funds to establish our own base."
"Really?" Qian Ye asked joyfully.
The other two were also overjoyed. Their Sheng Men would finally have their own base!
Lu Ye smiled faintly, "It is absolutely true."
Wei Han cupped his hands and said, "Master, Wei Han will do his best."
Lu Ye nodded and patted his shoulder.