Part 1: A Dream Within A Dream / Rebirth of Ill Fated Concubine

Chapter 008 Gifting Plums

Silver talks? How can silver talk? 

This is interesting. 

The crowd looked at Jiang Ruan one after another. The old man who was so angry that he jumped up and down also turned his head to look at Jiang Ruan in confusion. Zi Su and Lian Qiao looked at each other, not knowing what Jiang Ruan would do.

The woman almost laughed out loud, and said sarcastically: "Little girl, are you talking nonsense? Can you make silver talk? If you really have such a skill, let everyone open their eyes quickly. If you talk nonsense, don't let everyone laugh at you."

"Silver will naturally talk." Jiang Ruan said lightly: "Let me ask again, madam, is the silver really yours?"

"Of course I gave it to Qiao Jie'er." The woman raised her head and said it confidently.

"Okay." Jiang Ruan said, "Zi Su, go find a basin of clean water."

No one around knew what Jiang Ruan was up to. A street vendor said, "I have some clean water here. I can lend it to you."

Zi Su brought the basin of clean water over and placed it neatly at Jiang Ruan's feet.

"Madam, please give me the silver."

The woman looked at Jiang Ruan suspiciously, and the girl held the purse tighter.

"If Madam doesn't give me the silver, how can I ask questions about the silver?" Jiang Ruan said seriously.

As soon as these words came out, there was a low laugh around. There were more and more people watching the fun. At this moment, seeing this seemingly elegant little girl suddenly talking like this, they couldn't help but feel sorry. She looked like a smart girl, but she turned out to be a person with some problems in her brain.

Lian Qiao glared at the crowd around her. Perhaps the laughter of the crowd gave the woman confidence. She took the silver from the girl and handed it to Jiang Ruan: "Yes, you must ask clearly, everyone is listening."

Among the people present, only three people did not laugh except Jiang Ruan. Lian Qiao and Zi Su are not to be mentioned. The old man just frowned tightly and looked at Jiang Ruan's movements carefully.

Jiang Ruan held the silver in her palm, with no expression on her face, but her voice was extremely soft. She said: "Silver, silver, please tell me, who is lying?"

The woman laughed: "Little girl, don't say that silver told you like this, you are just fooling people, don't treat us as fools!"

Jiang Ruan didn't even look at her. As soon as she let go, the silver in her hand fell into the basin at her feet with a thud, and the water rippled out. She said, "The silver has spoken."

"What did it say?" The woman was already a little impatient: "With so many ears, are you the only one who heard it speak?"

"I didn't hear it, I saw it." Jiang Ruan stared at the water.

A curious boy in the crowd stretched his neck and asked, "Did it speak?"

"No?" Jiang Ruan asked back. Her thin body was wrapped in a large cotton jacket. She was weak, but she seemed unusually firm, as if nothing in the world could shake her calmness and composure.

The people around didn't understand why, and they all looked into the basin, but they couldn't see why.

After a while, one of them exclaimed, "Look! There's something on the water!"

A layer of shallow grease floated on the clear water, and the golden grease was unusually conspicuous on the water.

Jiang Ruan said: "After eating the oil cake, the old gentleman went to grab the copper coins, and it was common for the vegetable oil on his hands to rub onto the silver. I just don't know how the lady made the silver rubbed with grease. Could it be that the lady only remembered now that she or Qiaojie also went to buy oil cakes?"

Her voice was plain, but people could hear the ups and downs in it. In one sentence, she explained the whole story clearly, and blocked the possible arguments of the woman. If the woman argued again, it would make people feel that she was trying to cover up the truth.

"So that's it!" Someone sighed: "This silver belongs to the old man, because he bought oil cakes and rubbed the oil on it. Now the oil can only appear when it sees water. Isn't it the silver that speaks?!"

The crowd talked a lot, and when they looked at Jiang Ruan, they were all amazed. Although she was not very old, she had such a delicate mind, which was amazing.

The old man had been watching Jiang Ruan's every move. Seeing that she had easily cleared his name, he was naturally overjoyed. His eyes softened when he looked at Jiang Ruan, and he was no longer as stubborn as before.

The woman holding the girl wanted to argue: "Your one-sided words..."

"Old sir," Jiang Ruan didn't listen to the other party at all. She turned to the old man and said, "The matter is very simple. Since so many people can't make a decision for you, there is no need to waste time here. Why don't you go to the county government office on East Street and ask, maybe there will be someone who can make a decision for you."

The person who can make a decision in the county government office on East Street is naturally the county magistrate. Since ancient times, people have never fought with officials. Although everyone in West Street is xenophobic and it is related to their own personal interests, no one is willing to wade into this muddy water. The crowd that had gathered together immediately dispersed.

Seeing that the situation was not going well, Jiang Ruan changed her previous gentle appearance and became tough. Knowing that it was no good to argue further, the woman immediately picked up the girl and said, "I won't argue with you, Qiaojie, let's go." 

After the woman left, Jiang Ruan took out the silver in the basin and handed it to the old man. The old man took the silver and looked at Jiang Ruan inquiringly: "The little girl is quite interesting. Which family are you from?"

"The old man is also very stubborn. I don't know which family you are from." Jiang Ruan said coldly. The old man was stunned. He didn't expect that the little girl who had been helping him would suddenly be so cold to him. He asked in confusion, "What? Are you dissatisfied with me?"

"Yes." Jiang Ruan said. Seeing that the old man was stunned again, she continued, "When encountering this matter, if the dispute is not clear, the old gentleman should report it to the police immediately. The old gentleman has lived a long life and should know that everything has a limit. If I hadn't come today, the old gentleman would argue here for a day, and there would not be any result. Who knows what crime he would be accused of?"

"You little girl," the old man stiffened his neck, "I saw you helping me, and I thought you were a chivalrous and courageous person, but I didn't expect that you are the same as others. Right and wrong, naturally, we have to argue clearly. I am right, so I am not afraid of confronting them."

Jiang Ruan thought for a while, "That's right. The old gentleman is so old and still argues with people on the street. His character is really admirable. I guess he was not afraid of power when he was young and had to argue when he encountered something."

Her expression remained unchanged, her tone was gentle, and for a moment she didn't know whether this was a compliment or criticism.

"The sharpness of a sword comes from grinding, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold. The old gentleman's character is very similar to this red plum. Zi Su, giving the red plum to the old gentleman can also be regarded as a fulfilment of fate." Jiang Ruan smiled slightly.

(End of this chapter)

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