Carefree Farmwife: Training the Husband, Raising the Bun - Chapter 20

Hearing the scholar’s words, Ying Su’s lips curved with an even deeper smile. This man must have been watching her ever since she started selling fish, otherwise how could he know so clearly exactly how much money she had in her arms?

Seeing Ying Su remain silent, the crowd assumed that the young scholar had struck true. Their spirits immediately rose, and they shouted at her.

“Exactly! Just take it out and let us see. If the money really belongs to you, then the scholar couldn’t possibly know the amount! But if it really is two taels and three qian like he said, then it’ll be clear at a glance whether you’re a thief or not!”

The voices egging her on grew louder and louder. Naked, pressing gazes all fell on Ying Su, forcing her to take out the money to see if it truly was two taels and three qian.

If not for noticing two unusual gazes among the crowd, one identical to the covert stare she had felt the night before, Ying Su could have, with the slightest flick of her finger, silently altered the number of coins in her pocket. But in order not to attract the attention of those two unusual observers, she could not make any move at all.

Last night, she had felt it clearly, that hidden person’s martial skill was unfathomable. She had stayed alert through the latter half of the night, yet never sensed that gaze again. Thinking back, it must have been a coincidence that she encountered that person in the dark.

But now, that same gaze appeared again. With her sharp instinct for danger, and her unerring intuition, the moment she felt it she knew it was the same person who had spied on her last night.

She had deliberately glanced back earlier, pretending to be casual, trying to find where that gaze was hidden but found nothing! Which only proved that person’s skills were far above her own. 

The second gaze came from the second floor window of a shop selling brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. What made it feel different was that it carried an amused, interested look, as though enjoying a good show.

A trace of thought flashed across Ying Su’s brows, and for a moment she made no move.

The crowd, seeing her silent again and again, all assumed she felt guilty. Their cries for her to take out the money reached a fever pitch.

The young scholar’s eyes shone with smugness as he looked at Ying Su, speaking earnestly, “With so many voices against you, you’d better take the money out. I’ll take another step back, so long as you return it to me, I won’t pursue the matter further.”

At this, the crowd became even more convinced of his kindness, and they all pointed at Ying Su.

Watching the mounting accusations, the corner of Ying Su’s lips curved in a cold smile. Her dark eyes glittered with icy light as she said to the scholar, “It seems I’ll have no choice but to take the money out.”

With that, she drew the coins from her pocket. The crowd craned their necks to look, sure enough, not a coin more or less, two taels and three qian.

At once, the people cried out that Su was a thief, demanding she quickly return the money to the scholar.

The scholar’s eyes gleamed with triumph as he put on the appearance of magnanimous forbearance and said to her, “Return the money to me, and I won’t hold it against you.”

Ying Su’s cold smile deepened. “And if I don’t give it to you?”

“You thieving woman, don’t know what’s good for you! Send her to the magistrate!” Someone in the crowd shouted angrily, and soon others echoed the cry.

The scholar, feigning reluctance to make a scene, once more tried to persuade her with false concern, “If this reaches the magistrate, you’ll surely suffer the rod! You’d best return the money to me quickly!”

Ying Su gave a soft laugh. “I’ve seen shameless people, but never anyone quite this shameless! Why should my money be given to you?”

“This thieving wench, still so stubborn! Scholar, go report her to the authorities!” The onlookers shouted.

The scholar put on a pained expression, as though deeply unwilling, and said to Ying Su, “If you still won’t return the money, I’ll have no choice but to hand you over to the magistrate!”

“Good! Why don’t we go right now? Let the magistrate decide whose money this is.” Ying Su’s lips quirked upward, her dark eyes dazzlingly bright, their clarity leaving nowhere to hide.

The scholar’s face paled. With a guilty conscience, he naturally dared not face the authorities. He only wanted to wrest the money from her hands, and for a moment, though he blustered, he did not dare to truly insist on going to the magistrate. Instead, he once again wheedled her to hand over the coins.

Among the crowd, some who could no longer bear it slipped away to find Zhou, the patrol officer of this district.

“Make way, the officer is here!” Someone cried, as the people parted.

Ying Su’s lips lifted slightly as she glanced at the young scholar, whose eyes now flickered evasively. ‘Daring to set me up, you’d better be prepared to pay the price.’

Patrol Officer Zhou stepped forward and first asked about the beginning and end of the matter. After hearing the bystanders’ exaggerated retelling, and considering the common regard people held for scholars, he immediately said to Ying Su,

“You woman, return the money at once! Do you want a beating with the boards?”

Ying Su’s expression remained calm. Neither humble nor arrogant, she turned to the officer and said evenly, “Why not let these coins themselves tell you whose they are?”

“Coins can’t talk! Don’t try to fool me!” Officer Zhou barked. Yet as he looked at her, despite her shabby clothes, the way she spoke carried a steady composure. Glancing again at the scholar, he happened to catch a flash of smugness in his eyes and Zhou felt the first stirrings of doubt.

“All things under heaven have a spirit. Though coins are lifeless objects, they can still speak,” Ying Su said softly, her words calm yet filled with conviction.

“Nonsense! How could money talk?” The crowd muttered in confusion.

Ying Su’s lips curved lightly. “If the officer would trouble himself to find me a cat, I can prove right now whose money this is.”

Officer Zhou thought for a moment, glanced once more at the young scholar, then said to the crowd, “Fetch a cat!” He too wanted to see how this woman could make her coins speak with the help of a cat.

Because of the officer’s presence, and Ying Su’s strange claim that she could make the money speak, even more people were drawn in. The entire street soon became so packed it was impassable.

Everyone stared at Su and the young scholar. She, though dressed in rags, remained calm and unruffled, like an orchid blooming quietly in a secluded valley. He, though clad in a clean scholar’s robe, wore a face of unease that spoiled his scholarly bearing.

Still, out of respect for scholars, most people stood on his side, believing that Su had stolen his money.

After all, scholars were considered men of virtue. And by appearances alone, his clothes were neat and unpatched, while hers were threadbare, covered in patches, and gave off a faint musty smell. Looking at her, who would believe she had two taels and three qian?

Yet whatever the gossip, Ying Su simply stood there, serene and composed, like a quiet orchid in an empty valley.

The scholar, on the other hand, could not stay calm. He couldn’t guess what she wanted with a cat, and unease crept into his heart. But when he recalled her claim that money could talk, he sneered inwardly. ‘Ridiculous! If money could talk, pigs would climb trees!’