Sure enough, not long after, several servants escorted Ruyi back, looking disheveled and dejected.
The rabbit - fur trim sewn on the cuffs of Ruyi's outer robe had been torn off. Several strands of her neatly coiffed hair had fallen out, making her look rather disheveled. There were also a few red scratches on her hands, as if someone had grabbed her.
"Sister Ying, it's Ruyi's incompetence. Please punish me as you see fit!"
As soon as Ruyi entered the door, she "thumped" and knelt down abruptly in front of Li Ying.
Li Ying wasn't particularly surprised. Instead, she gently took Ruyi's hand with a pained look and quickly ordered A Man to fetch some good wound medicine.
"Didn't I tell you that if you meet troublemakers, you mustn't fight with them? How did you end up in such a state?"
Ruyi whispered reluctantly in defense, "Sister Ying, the Lion - Awaking Pastries are very complicated to make. If we send them to the Court of State Ceremonial, our pastry shop will surely gain great popularity in the capital. How could I just watch your hard work go to waste?"
Li Ying smiled and said, "They're just inanimate objects. If they're snatched away, we can make them again. Ruyi, you're a young lady. If you get scars on your body, it won't look good!"
Ruyi was deeply touched. Only then did she come to her senses and asked in surprise, "Sister Ying, it seems that you already knew there would be problems on this trip to the Court of State Ceremonial?"
Li Ying nodded.
In recent days, she and Lu Xunguang had been making a big splash in the capital. People on the streets and alleys were all talking about them.
With such a commotion, the Tea - Tax Censor must have heard the news long ago. The news that several tea houses had contacted her and Lu Xunguang about joining their business might have also leaked out.
That's why she was certain that when they saw Ruyi going to deliver the pastries today, these "secret sentries" waiting for an opportunity would surely take action.
After she explained the whole story, A Man and Ruyi looked at each other, both showing confused expressions on their faces.
"Sister, since you knew we would be ambushed, why didn't you arrange more people? Even though the Tea - Tax Censor is very powerful, if we really fight with all our might, we may not necessarily be at a disadvantage!"
Seeing A Man's indignant look, Li Ying smiled and said, "The common people shouldn't fight against the officials. A Man, you should have understood this principle long ago."
"Even if we protected this box of Lion - Awaking Pastries today, there are still many levels of checks before it reaches the imperial selection. At every level, the Tea - Tax Censor has plenty of opportunities to interfere. Even if we tried our best and guarded it strictly today, we still wouldn't be able to defeat him. It's better to save our strength."
If her prediction was correct, today, after the men of the Tea - Tax Censor snatched the Lion - Awaking Pastries, they would surely copy them and claim them as their own. Then they would expel her from the capital just like they did to the old shopkeeper.
Since they liked to copy, she would just wait calmly for them to copy thoroughly!
Seeing her calm look, although A Man and Ruyi didn't know what she was up to, they guessed that Li Ying must have prepared a counter - plan. So they stopped asking questions, still a bit skeptical.
Just then, Granny Sun had finished cooking lunch and called them over to eat.
Li Ying washed her hands, but suddenly heard a panicked voice of a clerk outside the door.
"Boss Li, Boss Li, something terrible has happened!"
Li Ying recognized that this was the voice of the servant beside the leader of the tea merchants who came to discuss "joining the cooperation" the other day. She quickly tidied her clothes and went out to greet them.
"Boss Li, please, you must save us!"
When Li Ying walked out of the courtyard gate, she was surprised to see that the servant was just the one who came to knock on the door. Several tea merchants were standing dejectedly not far away, looking as if they had lost their parents.
"Gentlemen, what's going on?"
When they saw Li Ying, they knelt down immediately. Li Ying exclaimed "You're making me feel unworthy" and helped them up.
The leading tea merchant took a deep breath and finally managed to calm down. There was also a bit of apology on his face.
"Boss Li, in principle, there should be a distinction between men and women. We really shouldn't have come to your door so rashly. But the incident happened suddenly. We failed to meet the head of the Lu family, so we had no choice but to come and ask for your help."
Without waiting for Li Ying to reply, he continued.
"After we left the restaurant that day, we thought it over and finally made up our minds to follow you and the head of the Lu family whole - heartedly. We were just about to come to your place to show our sincerity when, unexpectedly, we encountered such a disaster!"
The other tea merchants nodded in agreement, looking even more dejected.
"Early this morning, all of our families received urgent reports that our tea plantations, the tea plantations caught fire!"
According to the servant who delivered the message, many tea trees in several tea plantations had been brutally chopped down by bandits, and then a fire was set. Both the new and old branches were almost burned to black char.
"Fortunately, we discovered it early enough and put out the fire in time. But this tea plantation..."
One of the tea merchants thought of the miserable situation of the tea plantation he had managed for most of his life. He felt as if his heart was bleeding.
Li Ying raised her eyebrows.
The tea houses had just gotten together and showed the intention of joining the Lu family, and then their tea plantations were attacked by "bandits".
The mystery behind this was self - evident.
This Tea - Tax Censor was really a ruthless and heartless person.
She showed a thoughtful look on her face and put on a regretful expression, but still calmly said, "Gentlemen, I'm really sorry about your misfortune. But natural disasters and man - made disasters are really beyond the control of a mere woman like me..."
She hesitated to speak. Seeing that she seemed to be about to stand by and do nothing, the tea merchants quickly said, "Boss Li, we had an agreement before. We said that we would join the cooperation in the future. We've been framed. We just ask you to show us a way out!"
Since things had come to this point, Li Ying didn't hide her thoughts anymore. She asked in a deep voice, "So, gentlemen, you've already made up your minds to stand on the same side as my Lu family, even if it means taking a desperate gamble?"
Understanding her intention, they rushed to show their loyalty, "Boss Li, as long as you and the head of the Lu family can help us through this difficulty, we'll be at your disposal for the rest of our lives!"
Li Ying nodded, but sneered disdainfully in her heart.
The Tea - Tax Censor, having heard the news, immediately sent his men quickly to destroy the tea plantations. He thought he could put pressure on the tea merchants and give them a small punishment as a warning to others. But he didn't expect that these people, who were still hesitating before, instead made up their minds and chose their stance after this heavy blow.
It actually helped her instead.
She let out a sigh of relief, but still looked calm on the surface. She just calmly replied, "Since that's the case, then don't worry, gentlemen. We definitely won't stand by and do nothing about this matter!"