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Anyway, since everything was taken care of today, there was no need for her to worry. Lin Yuan leisurely packed her belongings, had breakfast with her two younger sisters, and waited for the good news.

Xia Zheng also came over and chatted while eating together.

Lin Yi had traveled through the night and finally entered Yecheng as soon as the city gates opened, delivering to Shopkeeper Wu the item Lin Yuan had asked him to retrieve. With this in hand, Shopkeeper Wu felt much more at ease.

After waiting for nearly four hours, Shopkeeper Wu came back beaming with joy. Seeing his demeanor, Lin Yuan knew that today’s affair had been successful.

Indeed, Shopkeeper Wu excitedly began to share the day’s events as soon as he walked in.

It turned out that the item Lin Yi retrieved for Lin Yuan was the confidentiality agreement she had signed with the tofu shop for hiring the Loudspeaker.

The agreement clearly stated that within six months of leaving the tofu shop, one must absolutely not engage in any work related to the tofu shop or disclose even the slightest detail about it.

Otherwise, they would have to pay a large sum of silver as compensation, calculated according to the tofu shop’s losses.

Now that the tofu shop and the Fuman Building had the same owner, the tofu shop’s losses were those of Fuman Building, including those of Fragrant Full Building.

And, if calculated in further detail, the losses of the other four branches could probably be added as well.

In short, the Loudspeaker was going to have to pay a substantial amount of silver.

Shopkeeper Wu excitedly said, "The two bosses are truly ingenious.

When I went with the government officers to capture her at the Drunken Immortal Residence, that woman known as the Loudspeaker really tried to escape through the back door.

Luckily, we had people lying in wait and caught her red-handed, otherwise she would have actually gotten away! "

Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng exchanged glances, feeling that the capture seemed a bit too easy.

Shopkeeper Wu, still on a high from his excitement, failed to notice their concerns and continued, "When we took the Loudspeaker to the Yamen, she refused to admit anything, until the Shopkeeper and chefs of Drunken Immortal Residence came forward one after another.

Only then did she have no choice but to confess to having leaked secrets.

Once she confessed, I presented the agreement she had signed to Master Prefect, and the case was settled! "

"That easy?" Lin Yuan couldn’t help but inquire, "So the Shopkeeper and chefs of Drunken Immortal Residence all came forward to testify against the Loudspeaker?"

Shopkeeper Wu nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, they probably felt they had been deceived as well.

After I explained the situation to them, they immediately accompanied me to the Yamen.

The Shopkeeper even brought out the employment agreement he had signed with the Loudspeaker.

Not just him, even the young servant guarding the back gate of the Drunken Immortal Residence testified that this woman was indeed the one who had been making tofu for them. No mistake!"

Now, Lin Yuan was even more puzzled. She glanced at Xia Zheng. Could it be that the people at Drunken Immortal Residence knew of Xia Zheng’s identity and deliberately let them off easy?

Xia Zheng shook his head. He didn’t believe the Second Prince’s people would be on the same side as him, and he would be content as long as they didn’t complicate matters further.

Moreover, when asking Prefect Tang to dispatch officers, he had specifically assured that he would not take any action against Drunken Immortal Residence but would only target the Loudspeaker. He didn’t want to become entangled with the Second Prince’s side at this time.

Seeing the confusion in their eyes, Shopkeeper Wu was baffled, scratching his head, unable to understand. Wasn’t the matter already resolved perfectly? Why did both bosses seem troubled? Could it be that his handling of the situation wasn’t perfect?

"Shopkeeper Wu, you handled the situation very well," Lin Yuan said, deciding not to dwell on what she couldn’t figure out. She looked at Shopkeeper Wu with a smile and praised him, "Clean and efficient!"

Shopkeeper Wu grinned from ear to ear, his former shrewdness replaced by the appearance of a child that had been praised for doing something good.

"What happened to the Loudspeaker in the end?"

The mention of this made Shopkeeper Wu both angry and anxious, "What happened? She has to pay, of course! Boss, didn’t you instruct me to list all the losses of our tofu shop and Fragrant Full Building?

I submitted that inventory to Master Prefect, and he agreed that she should pay compensation.

But that woman, it turns out, doesn’t have any silver at all.

She then said she would find her family to pay the ransom.

Who knew that at this point, the Loudspeaker would tell the truth—she had been sold into a brothel by her parents when she was young, and when she became a worn-out Madam Xu, she was kicked out by the madam.

When she tried to find her family home following the memories of her youth, she found that the place had already changed owners, and she could no longer find any relatives. "