Everyone couldn't help but show disdain and point fingers at Bai Zheng and Qing Shao.
Anyway, the old woman who came alone to seek justice was always the weaker one and thus arousing people's sympathy.
However, Bai Zheng, the profit - driven merchant, looked completely calm. Facing the successive accusations, she showed no sign of guilt. She didn't even show the slightest sympathy for the dying girl.
It was really chilling.
Everyone was indignant and pointed at Bai Zheng, scolding even louder.
Bai Zheng remained very calm. She seemed to turn a deaf ear to the pointing and whispering. She just stepped forward, glanced at the girl, and then waved to Qing Zhi who had just squeezed to the front of the crowd.
Qing Zhi understood and stepped forward, intending to feel the girl's pulse.
But before she could touch the dying girl lying on the ground, the old woman jumped up. She rushed up to Qing Zhi in a few steps and pushed her away. "What are you doing? My daughter is in such a state, and you still want to do something to kill her?"
Qing Zhi staggered from the push but still patiently explained, "I'm a doctor. I can take a look at your daughter. Maybe she can still be saved. She's so young. It's really a pity for her to just wait to die like this."
The old woman put her hands on her hips and stood in front of the girl like an enraged hen. "So you know she's young and it's a pity that she's going to lose her life because of you? You've finally found your conscience!
It's a pity it's too late!
If you had found your conscience earlier, how could you have followed your shopkeeper to do such dirty things? Your hands are stained with blood. You're an accomplice.
My daughter and I don't need the sympathy of you murderers!"
As she spoke, the old woman turned her head and spat fiercely in Bai Zheng's direction.
Qing Zhi frowned tightly. She looked at the girl protected by the old woman from afar and fell into deep thought.
Zhu Ling was annoyed by the woman's actions. She couldn't help but shout, "Why are you so unreasonable, old lady? We're kind - heartedly trying to treat your daughter, but you not only push people away but also speak rudely!"
"Who knows if you're here to save my daughter or if you see she's still alive and want to finish her off so that this witness will be completely gone?
Be reasonable? My daughter has become like this after eating your stuff. What else is there for me to reason with you about?
If you were reasonable people, how could you have done such heartless things!"
The old woman was very eloquent. Her words aroused great sympathy from the on - lookers.
"One really can't judge a book by its cover. I originally thought that since the shop was opened by the wife of such a good marquis, it wouldn't be like other unscrupulous merchants. But I never thought..."
"Exactly. Don't be fooled by this marchioness. She may look decent, but her mind is really twisted. Although the things in the shop are novel, the prices are too high. I thought a salted egg yolk pastry that cost thirty wen should be made of the best ingredients. I never thought it would be bitten by poisonous insects!"
"You don't know. My distant cousin - in - law from the neighboring village works as a helper in the back kitchen of this dessert shop. She secretly told us that anyone who has been in the back kitchen would feel nauseous and couldn't eat a single bite of those delicate - looking desserts when they came to the front of the shop.
The back kitchen is so dirty. The flour is all on the ground and has gone moldy. There are crawling insects and rats all over the corners of the back kitchen!"
"Eww—"
Everyone was horrified. Some even wanted to stick their fingers down their throats to vomit out what they had just eaten.
A surge of heat rushed to Zhu Ling's eyes, making them turn red. She was trembling violently with anger and pointed at those people who were talking vividly.
"You... you... Who on earth sent you here to spread rumors! Aren't you afraid that the wind will blow your tongue out when you say such baseless things!"
Among the crowd, a woman in a blue cloth robe who looked about thirty - something was the loudest. She was excitedly telling the inside story of the back kitchen that her "distant cousin - in - law" had revealed to them.
Hearing Zhu Ling's words, she immediately crossed her arms defiantly and said, "What? Are you afraid to admit what you've done? Now that the witness and evidence are right in front of us, you still have the nerve to say that we're spreading rumors!"
After saying that, she sighed to the people next to her, "When my cousin - in - law first told me that the back kitchen of the dessert shop was dirty and messy, I didn't believe it. I thought that since it was the shop of the Marchioness of Dingyuan, how could it be like that? Now it seems that the world is really going downhill!"
"You..." Zhu Ling was so angry that she clenched her fists tightly. She stared at the woman in the cloth robe with blood - red eyes as the woman kept talking.
"My cousin - in - law also said that the back kitchen never recruits people from outside. They only hire servants born into the Marquis's mansion or the most trusted and capable servants around the masters.
They protect it so tightly that not even a fly can get in.
People who don't know might think they're keeping it so secret to prevent others from stealing their recipes and competing with them. But those who know understand that it's because their back kitchen is really unsightly!"
"My back kitchen is unsightly?"
Bai Zheng finally spoke up in a loud voice.
The woman in the cloth robe immediately stopped talking and looked at Bai Zheng with a meaningful look.
Bai Zheng wasn't angry at all. She looked at the woman in the cloth robe and slightly curled her lips. She replied, "In my shop, thousands of salted egg yolk pastries are sold every day. Not only in Yongding City, but almost no one among the people here hasn't eaten them.
If my back kitchen was really as bad as your distant cousin - in - law said, with moldy food and food bitten by insects and rats, the food would have killed many people by now.
But so far, except for the girl lying here, nothing has happened.
Could it be that it's all because you all have strong stomachs and good health?
Humph! It's really easy to spread rumors. You can just make up all the dirty things."
Before the standing woman in the cloth robe could answer, the old woman protecting the girl got angry first. She pointed at Bai Zheng and asked, "What do you mean? Everyone else who ate your stuff was fine, but only my daughter had an accident. So it's not your problem but just that my daughter is unlucky?"
"Of course not. I'm just very confused." Bai Zheng turned her head. A cold glint flashed in her eyes as she looked at the old woman.
"Confused about what?" the old woman looked at her warily.
"You keep saying that your daughter had an accident after eating the salted egg yolk pastries from my shop. Then I'd like to ask, when did your daughter come to my shop to buy the pastries? When did she take that half - bite? Did she find the egg yolk was rancid as soon as she took a bite and spit it out, or did she eat a few bites before realizing something was wrong and it was too late to spit?"
Bai Zheng smiled faintly and threw one question after another at her.
The old woman was bombarded with a series of questions. Obviously, she hadn't expected Bai Zheng to ask in such detail. She was caught off guard.
She was slightly stunned and subconsciously turned to look at the girl lying on the ground.