Detective Ghost Empress

If Zhai Tianyu knew what the man was thinking about him, he would have smacked him hard on his face, did he look like someone who would snatch kids and sell them off?

However, Zhai Tianyu did not know what Lin Jinxiao was thinking which gave the other man a chance to survive another sufferable beating after the beating that he received from Su Tai, if Zhai Tianyu had targeted him it would have topped the list.

Though Lin Jinxiao did not know that he just survived another tragedy, he seemed to have sensed that there was no point in denying the man just as Cheng Zhihao said if they were going to die then they might as well die with a belly full of food.

He nodded and asked the children to order. Though he told them to choose the cheapest dishes, lest they got in trouble later on. The children were raised by Lin Jinxiao and they were no fools, they understood what Lin Jinxiao was telling them and they all chose the dish that only amounted to a few coins.

When Zhai Tianyu heard their orders, he was speechless. He asked them to order whatever they wanted and they chose vegetarian dishes and too the ones that had the smallest servings.

On his side, Liu Hui Ying rolled her eyes. She looked at the children who stiffened under her gaze. They could not help it, she had beaten them too harshly just now and they had developed a fear for her.

Anyone who was in their place would be scared of Liu Hui Ying after getting the beating of the century.

"Are you looking down on my lord?" Liu Hui Ying knew that the kids wouldn't feel comfortable ordering the pricy meal, thus she decided to use another tactic. She glared at them and then said in a gruff voice, " What are you doing ordering something so cheap? Do you think that my lord wouldn't be able to pay for the expensive dishes? Who are you looking down on?"

The children stiffened. They did not know what to do anymore, if they ordered something expensive and then these people asked Brother Lin Jinxiao to sell them, what would they do?

"Are you trying to buy us?" Cheng Zhihao who was bolder than the rest questioned with a stiff expression. He looked at Liu Hui Ying and then put his theory out, "You are trying to feed us expensive things and then buy us after our brother fails to pay right?"

"We know all about your scheme——" Cheng Zhihao shouted with his finger pointing at Liu Hui Ying.

Bang!

The edge of the table broke causing a loud bang to echo in the restaurant even the owner was startled as he looked at the source of the sound.

His face was pale as he stared at the piece of wood in Liu Hui Ying's hand, he wanted to tell her that she would have to pay for the piece that she had broken but he dared not to say anything as he was too scared to approach someone who could break a wooden table with bare hands.

Even Cheng Zhihao was stunned. He did not think that Liu Hui Ying would break the table and that too so easily at that, this…if she could break the table so easily doesn't it mean that she can break his hand as well?

He immediately pulled back his hand and looked at Liu Hui Ying warily.

"It's rude to point at your elders," Liu Hui Ying said with a gleam in her eyes which caused Cheng Zhihao to shudder as he bowed his head and then said, "I …I understand."

He didn't know why he was listening to this servant but his instincts took over him before he could say anything else.

"Haha, don't worry I will pay for it," Zhai Tianyu said to the man who was looking at their table with saddened eyes as if he watched Liu Hui Ying break the bones of his mother rather than an old table.

He then turned to look at the children before saying politely, "You don't have to worry about being sold. I am an official at the Imperial City and I only came to this village to do a survey, I assure you that I have no ill will towards you or anyone else," Zhai Tianyu promised.

Only then did the children heave a sigh of relief, if this man was an official in the imperial city he must be earning well. There was no need for him to sell them off.

However, Lin Jinxiao was not at ease. If this man was an official and he invited them to a dinner then surely nothing good was going to come out of it.

But even if Lin Jinxiao wanted to refuse the dinner it was too late!

The server arrived at their table before the children and Lin Jinxiao placed their orders. Once the server was done, he turned on his feet and then left to bring their orders back, only then did Zhai Tianyu turn to look at Lin Jinxiao who stiffened a little when he saw Zhai Tianyu look at him.

He wanted to say something but before he could Zhai Tianyu asked him, "What do you think of County Magistrate Su?"

'I knew it,' Lin Jinxiao closed his eyes and sobbed silently inwardly. He knew that there was no way Zhai Tianyu invited them to this dinner out of goodwill. Surely his intentions were never good from the beginning!

" He is good," Lin Jinxiao revealed with an anxious smile. He tried to pretend that everything was fine but with Cheng Zhihao already revealing a part of what was going on, of course, Zhai Tianyu and Liu Hui Ying did not believe him.

Zhai Tianyu smiled at him and said, "There is no need for you to lie, you can tell me anything you want, all right?"

On the other hand, Liu Hui Ying took another route. She tilted her head to the side and then said, "Really? You are guying to tell lies to our face after I let these little sh*ts escape a beating that they very much deserved?"

Lin Jinxiao: "…" Today is not my lucky day.

Lin Jinxiao felt like he was pushed into a corner with no way out for him, he looked at Liu Hui Ying who was glaring down at him and then turned to look at Zhai Tianyu who was smiling at him as if he was an angelic man who descended from the heavens.

But Lin Jinxiao was not fooled. They were playing the good cop and bad cop with him! He knew it all right!

With his lips pursed, Lin Jinxiao said to Zhai Tianyu and Liu Hui Ying, "If I tell the truth, who will protect me and the kids?" He knew that once the Su family found out about this matter they would surely come to cause trouble for him. He was not afraid of them but he feared the safety of the children.

They were too young and they did not deserve to live in fear.

"You do not have to worry about it," Zhai Tianyu said with a solemn expression. There was nothing more shameful for an Emperor who was sitting on the throne hoping that the people of his country were living a happy and peaceful life, to see his countrymen living in fear like this.

Lin Jinxiao did not know why but for some reason he couldn't help but trust Zhai Tianyu. He pursed his lips and then said in a low voice, "Magistrate Su, he is selling the crops to the neighbouring country at a high price."

It was a known fact that their neighbouring country Xing was suffering because of a drought. As the farmers of the Xing country couldn't grow crops, they did not have enough grains to be stored in the winter. Because of this, the Emperor of the Xing country asked everyone for help.

However, Zhai Tianyu refused to send the grains to the Country Xing because their country's people were suffering from cold as well. They had stored the grains for their own family, how could he ask the farmers to send the grains that they stored for their own use to another country?

What was more the Emperor of Xing had tried to attack their country many times. There was no need for them to be polite with the country of Xing. But what Zhai Tianyu did not expect was that for the sake of monetary gain, Su Tai was actually selling the grains to the Emperor of Xing.

"Are you sure about this?" If this was the truth then Su Tai had betrayed the country and deserved execution! This was no longer a matter of simple corruption!

"I assure you, my lord, that I speak the truth," Lin Jinxiao swore with a serious look. "I cannot lie about this matter either, if my lord doesn't believe me then you can ask any beggar in the village they will tell the truth to you. The villagers however will be too scared to say anything to you."

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