Mental Breakdown

The manager took a couple of deep breaths, formulating his response.

Seeing that the Crown Prince appeared very satisfied with the sanitation team's work, he still hesitated to complain.

However, since the Crown Prince's attitude was so positive and Minister Fang was present, he might as well vent all his dissatisfaction today.

Those bastards from the sanitation team had been flaunting the Crown Prince's authority to swindle people everywhere. He had wanted to speak out for a long time!

The manager first bowed respectfully, then said with a grievance, "Your Highness! You can see that the kitchen renovation is indeed good, right?"

"But we have paid too high a price for this kitchen."

"Not to mention the ingredients. To keep them looking fresh and meeting the sanitation team's requirements, excluding what they take away, we discard nearly twenty percent daily! Those discarded items may not look good, but they're still perfectly edible!"

"The discarded vegetables are collected by the sanitation team at night. Whether they truly throw them away or take them home, I don't know!"

The manager was quite clever. Fang Zheng secretly gave him a thumbs-up.

Li Yuanzhao's expression turned thoughtful.

The manager continued, "Also, the kitchen used to be one large room, which was very convenient. Now it's been divided into so many separate spaces that making one dish requires opening and closing several doors, wasting a lot of time."

Fang Zheng asked, "Why not just leave the doors open?"

The manager immediately lamented, "That's not allowed, sir! We can't leave them open. The sanitation team says these doors must remain closed to prevent cross-contamination. We must close the door each time we enter or exit, or we'll be fined on the spot! They claim these are the Crown Prince's orders, so we dare not disobey!"

Li Yuanzhao's face gradually reddened.

Seeing this, Fang Zheng pressed further, "Continue. Are there other issues? Tell us everything!"

The manager observed their expressions, gathered his thoughts, and after a moment said, "Yes!"

"Sir, you must understand that no matter how well we do, they always find problems. No matter what we do, we can never meet the sanitation team's standards, or rather, there's never been a clear standard! So initially, we were fined every few days."

"Later, the sanitation team members proposed they could help us organize things and identify problems to avoid fines, but they wouldn't work for free. They demanded payment! For my small shop, it's five taels of silver per month!"

"If we don't want their help, the sanitation team visits more frequently for inspections."

"Your Highness! They're nothing like the original sanitation team! They're just a bunch of damn thugs!!! At least the Inferno Gang helped take out our trash! These people only know how to extort money! Now there's hardly any business left! You must teach them a lesson!"

As he spoke, the manager's emotions suddenly flared up.

By now, Li Yuanzhao's face was completely flushed.

Seeing the manager crying and wailing on the floor, he didn't know what to say.

After a long silence, he squeezed out, "I understand this matter. Old Fang, let's go!"

Fang Zheng nodded, paid the manager for their meal, and accompanied Li Yuanzhao out of the restaurant.

The manager, hearing they were leaving, dared not say more and could only see them off, wiping tears as he watched their departing figures...

Once on the street, Li Yuanzhao took a deep breath and said dejectedly, "Impossible?! How could it have become like this!"

"Didn't Your Highness say you attended to everything personally? How could you not know?" Fang Zheng asked.

Li Yuanzhao stammered, "Yes... initially I only asked them to check if restaurants were using rotten ingredients."

"Later, suggestions came up from below, and I approved them because they seemed reasonable."

"But the sanitation team didn't tell me this!"

"What did they tell you?" Fang Zheng asked.

"They said the renovations were going well, with minimal impact on the people. They even found many restaurants and stalls selling dishes made with rotten meat and vegetables, which they stopped. Wasn't I doing the right thing?"

"Perhaps... maybe that manager has a grudge against the sanitation team? I can't just listen to one person's complaints. Didn't the kitchen look well-organized? Everything was clean!"

"Perhaps," Fang Zheng smiled. "Why doesn't Your Highness consider that the sanitation team might be the problem?"

"I know the sanitation team! I eat and drink with them. How could they repay my kindness with betrayal? Impossible!"

Seeing Li Yuanzhao's confident expression, Fang Zheng fell silent.

"Your Highness, since you think so, let's ask a few more places to see what's happening."

"As they say, 'listen to both sides for clarity.' If everyone says the same thing, we can confirm it's the sanitation team's problem."

Li Yuanzhao reluctantly agreed, "Yes... you're right, let's look around. How could my sanitation team possibly extort the people?!"

They visited several more restaurants, all telling similar stories.

With each establishment they visited, Li Yuanzhao's face grew darker.

At the entrance of Laoliu Restaurant, Zhang Laoliu saw Fang Zheng approach and immediately came out to welcome him warmly.

Fang Zheng got straight to the point, "Where are the things I asked you to collect? Have you gathered them all?"

Zhang Laoliu quickly caught on, ran back into the restaurant, and returned with two sheets of paper. "Master, here's everything you wanted!"

"This contains information I collected from nearby restaurants, plus a list of the sanitation team members who've committed offenses."

Fang Zheng handed the papers to Li Yuanzhao, then asked, "Why did you ask other restaurants? Haven't you had any problems?"

Li Yuanzhao lowered his head to examine the documents while Zhang Laoliu glanced at him before whispering, "Master, nobody dares cause me trouble! Since your last visit, I've been using your name! Those bastards wouldn't dare mess with me!"

"I've heard several restaurants in the district have closed. I bought them at low prices, all thanks to you... hehe..."

They're all such shrewd characters from the county!

Fang Zheng couldn't help but laugh, "Well done, Laoliu! Go back to your business."

Zhang Laoliu bowed and left.

By now, Li Yuanzhao was looking at the papers with a miserable expression.

He muttered, "This... it's all true. How is this possible? Why would they lie to me..."

"Your Highness, let's go back to the newspaper office and talk about this," Fang Zheng suggested.

Li Yuanzhao felt a mixture of emotions. His mood had been excellent that morning, but by noon it had plummeted.

Failed policies, complaints from the people, and deception by the sanitation team all weighed on him.

He barely heard Fang Zheng speaking beside him and replied absently, "Yes... back to the newspaper office..."