TTTQF Chapter 117

Exposing Evil Deeds

"Shopkeeper Wu, are today's supplies all here?"

Before dawn, the market street on the southern side of the inner city is already bustling with people. Amidst the crowd of pedestrians carrying vegetable baskets, a few men dressed in matching uniforms, looking like laborers, stand out. They make their way through the crowd and stop in front of a shop.

Shopkeeper Wu, busy with his business, immediately puts on a flattering smile upon seeing them. "Gentlemen, it’s all here, still being packed. Once it’s ready, I’ll have the workers load it onto your cart."

"Alright, but make sure they handle it gently. Last time the vegetables were all smashed, and we got quite an earful because of it," the leader of the group grumbles.

Shopkeeper Wu quickly responds, "I’ve already reprimanded them for last time. They won’t be careless like that again. By the way, you guys haven’t eaten yet, have you? There’s a noodle shop just ahead. Go grab something to eat and tell them to put it on my tab."

Satisfied, the group gives a few more instructions before heading to the noodle shop.

"Brother Niu, who are those guys? Why is the shopkeeper so polite to them?" a new assistant, curious about seeing the normally tough shopkeeper act so deferential, asks in a low voice.

The man addressed as Brother Niu is skillfully tying the vegetables into bundles. Hearing the question, he explains, "Those guys are regular customers of ours. They buy supplies for the Imperial Academy dining hall. They place orders every day and in large quantities, so of course we have to treat them well."

The shop makes a good profit from handling these bulk orders, much more convenient than selling in small amounts.

"For the Imperial Academy?" The assistant looks surprised. "But why is the quality of the produce so different?"

The vegetables and meat Brother Niu and the others are handling are fresh and vibrant, clearly high-quality products bought for a high price. But the ones they are packing? The meat looks old, with a distinct smell that hints it hasn’t been sold the day before. The vegetables are wilted and yellowing, some even rotting. No respectable household would buy such produce, let alone the Imperial Academy.

"You are still young!" Brother Niu chuckles smugly. "The good stuff goes to the higher-ups, and the bad stuff to the lower-ranked workers. That way, they can save a lot of money."

"Huh?" The assistant is shocked. "But what if they get sick from eating it?"

"These foods just don’t look good. They won’t make anyone seriously ill—at most, they’ll just cause a bit of an upset stomach," Brother Niu says indifferently. At first, they are worried, but after seeing no one come to complain, they relax. After all, they can only sell this kind of food at the price the other party offers.

The assistant wants to say more but is cut off by Shopkeeper Wu shouting at them to hurry up. Startled, he falls silent and hastily shoves the vegetables into the sacks, not bothering to sort the good from the bad.

After a while, they finish packing, and each of them hefts a bag and walks toward the carriage parked on the street. They carefully pile them on top.

Before long, they finish packing. Each of them hefts a sack and carries it to the cart at the end of the street, carefully stacking the bags on top. The men who have been eating noodles return, count the bags to ensure there are enough, and then drive off, disappearing down the street. The cart weaves through the alleyways, and after half an hour, finally arrives at the foot of a mountain.

They carry the sacks up the mountain, never noticing that someone has been following them the entire way.

…

"Ow, my stomach... I don’t know what’s wrong today. It’s been hurting several times," a scholar says, clutching his stomach with a pale face.

The scholar beside him looks equally ill, and the two have no choice but to head to the latrine again.

The pale faces of the two attract the attention of their teacher, who asks with concern if they have eaten something bad and whether they have gone to see physician Yang.

The two scholars think back and realize they haven’t eaten anything other than what they had at the dining hall.

As soon as this is said, someone refutes it, pointing out that they eat at the dining hall every day and have never felt unwell. Other students who ate at the hall that day also speak up, saying they are fine too.

The two scholars find this odd as well, but they haven’t eaten anything else. Surely, they couldn’t have been poisoned, right?

This thought frightens them, so they quickly ask for leave from their teacher and support each other as they hurry to the medical clinic at the Imperial Academy, asking physician Yang to examine them.

After a thorough pulse check and questioning, physician Yang concludes that they have eaten something unclean, which has caused their stomach upset—not that they have been poisoned.

"But aside from us, other classmates ate the same food, yet they don’t have any symptoms," the two scholars express their doubts openly.

physician Yang strokes his beard and carefully observes the two. He notices that, based on their attire and appearance, they resemble young men from aristocratic families.

The students at the Imperial Academy are often clearly divided. Those from wealthy families rarely eat at the public dining hall, while those from poorer backgrounds almost never dine at Jingcui Garden, where the meals are more expensive. These two don’t seem like the type to eat at the dining hall, so it’s understandable if they feel uncomfortable after eating there just once.

Hearing this, the two scholars put their doubts to rest. They had only gone to the dining hall because they lost a bet with someone. Everyone knows that the food in the canteen has no other benefits except that it is free. That afternoon, after hesitating and picking through the options, they finally ate a little. Unexpectedly, they end up feeling ill.

Carrying the medicine prescribed by physician Yang, they return to their quarters dispiritedly and call the staff to help them boil the medicine.

After classes end in the afternoon, many people come to visit them. The student who made the bet with them feels especially remorseful, saying, "If I had known this bet would cause you two so much trouble, I would never have joked around like that."

"Actually, it's not entirely Brother Ye's fault. Who would have thought the dining hall food would make us feel this unwell? If you ask me, the blame lies with the dining hall cooks," remarks Ye Qi’s friend.

"But no one else gets sick. physician Yang says it might be because we aren’t used to the food," one of the scholars who has fallen ill replies.

Ye Qi’s friend counters, "Not used to the food? Does that mean you’ll always get sick if you’re not used to something? Then what about all the inns and restaurants outside? We only eat at those places once or twice, and no one gets sick after that."

Hearing this, the two scholars begin to doubt the dining hall food again. But without any concrete evidence, they have no choice but to drop the matter and admit that they are just unlucky.

The next day, they avoid the dining hall altogether and return to Jingcui Garden to eat. Although the food there costs money, it is better than risking their health at the dining hall.

After finishing their meal and feeling satisfied, they leisurely stroll outside. As they pass by a rock garden, they suddenly overhear voices. At first, adhering to the principle of not eavesdropping on private conversations, they intend to leave. However, what they hear next makes them stop in their tracks.

"...That guy surnamed Hu is truly despicable! He’s been giving the students spoiled vegetables. I hear someone got sick from it yesterday. Isn’t this harming people?" The speaker sounds furious.

Another voice responds, "What can be done? The poorer students are used to it. Just make the food taste worse on purpose so that the aristocratic students won’t bother eating there."

“Sigh, this way, he can pocket the extra money for himself while also slandering the aristocrats for being unable to endure hardship. Truly despicable!”

“Stop talking, be careful someone might hear. Don’t you know that Hu is related to the Chief Scholar? Do you want to lose your job?” This person's voice becomes much quieter.

“But the Chief Scholar has always been fair and impartial. If someone complains, surely he won’t play favorites…”

“Unless the person complaining has evidence, how would the Chief Scholar believe them?”

The voices gradually fade, leaving the two scholars standing there, furious. It turns out that the suffering they endured yesterday and the embarrassment they face in front of their classmates and teacher aren’t a coincidence—it is all intentional!

Not only is the food in the dining hall terrible, but the ingredients are also of poor quality, which is why they get sick after eating there. But even if one gets used to it, how could that be acceptable? The imperial court has promised free meals to students from poor families to support their education, but it has become a tool for these people to line their pockets. At worst, it is petty corruption; at best, it is an act of murdering the nation’s future talents.

They must expose the true face of the surname Hu and ensure the Chief Scholar is no longer deceived!

The next day, before the laborers carrying the vegetables can enter the mountain gate, they are stopped by a group of people who demand that they put down their sacks for inspection. The laborers are alarmed and naturally refuse.

However, faced with a large group of people, they stand their ground for a while but eventually have the sacks taken from them.

When the first few bags are opened, everyone’s expressions are still neutral. But as the later bags are uncovered, their faces darken, their expressions so heavy it seems ink might drip from them.

The contents are a mess of rotten fish, spoiled shrimp, wilted vegetable leaves, and fruit riddled with bug holes—completely different from the fresh, vibrant produce seen from the earlier sacks.

Among the students who come that day, many are regular diners at the dining hall. Initially, they come with skepticism. If it weren’t for the two scholars insisting it involves them and that they should bear witness, vowing to take full responsibility, they wouldn’t have bothered.

But now, the ugly truth is laid bare before their eyes. As they realize that they have been eating such disgusting food, some can’t hold back and start to vomit.

This matter quickly reaches the Chief Scholar. Faced with overwhelming evidence and testimony, Chef Hu even tries to argue that the rotten vegetables are collected to feed pigs. However, the account book obtained from Shopkeeper Wu, along with signed and sealed witness statements, forces Chef Hu to confess.

Since taking charge of the dining hall, Chef Hu has been embezzling funds, misusing public resources, and not only cutting corners on the students’ meals but also passing off inferior goods as quality food. Left unchecked, this behavior would lead to disaster. Such a serious crime cannot be pardoned, even by the Chief Scholar, who orders Chef Hu to be taken into custody at the local magistrate’s office, along with a full record of his confessions documented in the Imperial Academy.

Those closely associated with Chef Hu and complicit in his schemes are also sent to the magistrate. Others, who merely keep their heads down out of fear, escape punishment but are no longer permitted to work in the dining hall, as they are guilty of not reporting what they know. Fortunately, no major disaster occurred. If many students in the Imperial Academy eat food from the dining hall and get sick, it would cause a major scandal, and both the Chief Scholar and the teachers below him would face reprimands for not governing their subordinates strictly.

The news spreads quickly, and the aunts in the neighborhood make a point to find Jiang Miao and tell him about it. Jiang Miao is naturally pleased. A chef who dares to tamper with ingredients should have been arrested long ago.

At lunch, he shares the story with Pei Che, who only smiles meaningfully without saying much. After thinking it over, Jiang Miao suddenly asks, "You didn’t plan this, did you?"

Pei Che nods and then shakes his head. "I only send people to follow them and gather evidence. After hearing about what happens, I also pass on some information to help stir things up. But as for them getting sick, that isn’t my doing. Let’s just say the heavens are watching and use this incident to expose Chef Hu."

He had originally planned to investigate and gather enough evidence to report Chef Hu. If he had intentionally framed others just to cause trouble, how would he be any different from those despicable people?

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