All things in the world inevitably follow the principle of mutual generation and restraint—where there is yin, there must be yang; where there is bitterness, there is also sweetness; where there are golden mansions, there will naturally also be Pingyang Alley. The eastern street was bustling and lively, while the western street was accordingly dilapidated and desolate.

It seemed completely unaffected by the New Year atmosphere. The common people on West Street wore thin outer garments, hurrying past with urgent expressions toward other places, lacking the leisurely mood of the holiday season. Their faces mostly bore expressions of cold indifference and numbness. Compared to the pressing problems of food, clothing, and daily necessities, the New Year seemed less important. Only a few households along the street had simple red paper spring couplets pasted on their doors and old lanterns hanging, giving a faint sense of the New Year.

A few children sat in front of a cosmetics shop playing with buttons they had just picked up. Occasionally they would lift their dirty faces to curiously observe the three people—Jiang Ruan and her companions—before turning back to play enthusiastically with their own things.

There was a small vendor selling plum blossoms, with several large earthenware vases with chipped rims on his stall, holding a few red plum branches that were nearly wilted. Seeing Jiang Ruan’s group, his eyes lit up and he immediately called out: “Beautiful red plums! Would the young lady like a branch? They look lovely in a room and are fragrant too!”

“How much are these red plums?” Lian Qiao asked.

The vendor spread his palm: “Not expensive—five copper coins.”

“So expensive,” Lian Qiao exclaimed. “Never mind then.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” seeing this, the vendor quickly said, “Fine, just give me three copper coins then. I can’t go any lower—there are children at home waiting for a hot meal.”

Lian Qiao wanted to bargain further, but Jiang Ruan had already spoken: “I’ll take all the remaining ones.”

Bai Zhi was startled and somewhat disapprovingly said: “Miss, money is tight right now…”

Jiang Ruan shook her head: “Do as I say. These flowers will be useful.”

Bai Zhi said nothing more and poured out most of the copper coins from her close-fitting cloth pouch to give to the vendor. The vendor hadn’t expected to suddenly make this sale—usually only poor people came and went on West Street, and they certainly wouldn’t spend money on flowers and plants. Today was an unexpected windfall. He simply placed the ceramic vase holding the red plums into Lian Qiao’s hands: “It’s New Year, Miss, take this as good luck. I’ll throw in this ceramic vase for free.” After speaking, he packed up his stall and left.

Lian Qiao held the ceramic vase filled with red plums and finally couldn’t help asking: “Miss, what do you want these plum blossoms for? Although they’re pretty, buying so many is unnecessary, and the flowers will wilt in a few days anyway. It would be more practical to eat a few spring pancakes.”

“These flowers aren’t for looking at,” Jiang Ruan said while walking forward, “they’re for giving away.”

“Giving away?” Lian Qiao looked at her curiously. “To whom?”

But Jiang Ruan fell silent again. As they walked, they eventually arrived at West Street’s marketplace.

The West Street marketplace was the liveliest place on West Street, and comparatively speaking, also the most chaotic place where all sorts of people gathered. Precisely because of this, nothing that happened here was strange, and the most common occurrence was pickpockets stealing things from people.

Right now there was such an incident. The three had just reached the marketplace entrance when they saw a large circle of people three layers deep surrounding something, with noisy chatter coming from within. Seeing Jiang Ruan stop, Lian Qiao thought for a moment, then whispered a few words to Bai Zhi. The two squeezed through the crowd, carving out a small path for Jiang Ruan.

As soon as the three reached the inner circle, they could clearly see the scene inside. Two people stood in confrontation—one was an elderly man with completely white beard and hair, his face now flushed red with bulging veins, furious beyond measure. The other was a seven or eight-year-old girl with her head lowered and tears filling her eyes.

Lian Qiao patted someone beside her on the shoulder and quietly spoke a few words, then turned to tell Jiang Ruan: “It turns out this old gentleman says the little girl stole his silver, but the little girl says she didn’t steal it and started crying in distress.”

The little girl was surrounded by a crowd of people in the center, her face extremely pale. She only clutched a silver ingot tightly in her hand, eyes wide open, looking utterly helpless and frail. Looking at the furious old man, he wore a brown hemp-padded cotton robe, his beard trembling with anger, but his voice was extremely loud as he practically roared at the little girl: “You little girl, learning such thievish tricks at such a young age—how ill-mannered!”

Someone couldn’t stand it and spoke up to stop him: “Old man, why must you speak so harshly? Being so aggressive toward a little girl—did you live all these years just to bully the small with your age? Shameless!”

“You…” The old man was so angry he couldn’t speak.

“Besides, how do you prove she stole your silver?” That person pressed on relentlessly: “Just a seven or eight-year-old little girl could steal your silver? Are you too careless, or does this girl have supernatural powers? Tsk, maybe you’re deliberately trying to swindle the little girl’s silver!”

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately gained support from the surrounding people: “Yes, yes, how could such a little girl have the ability to steal things?”

“Lying without thinking it through first.”

“Must be trying to swindle the little girl’s silver!”

The surrounding people began discussing among themselves, unanimously criticizing the old man as if he were the culprit. The old man was so angry his beard trembled, his face so red it seemed blood could drip from it, yet he couldn’t say a word—only trembling his lips and gasping.

“So pitiful,” Lian Qiao sighed.

Jiang Ruan glanced at her: “You also think he’s trying to swindle someone else’s silver?”

“Of course not,” Lian Qiao said. “She might fool others, but she can’t fool this servant. Back in the countryside, I saw plenty of these cunning little girls—clearly she’s the one lying. Right, Bai Zhi?”

Bai Zhi nodded slightly.

Lian Qiao continued: “This old gentleman is just unlucky today. So pitiful.”

A strange glint flashed in Jiang Ruan’s eyes.

In fact, just as Lian Qiao had said, the little girl’s deception wasn’t very sophisticated, and there weren’t no people in the crowd who could see through her tricks. It was just that West Street, as a place concentrated with poor people, inherently had strong exclusivity and instinctively rejected outsiders. This old man was nothing more than a stranger to the people here, and strangers were meant to be suppressed. So today, this little girl was destined to win, and the old man was destined to be branded with the crime of swindling people’s silver.

So, what could she do?

Jiang Ruan paused, then gently pushed aside Bai Zhi, who had been half-shielding her.

Bai Zhi was startled and, seeing Jiang Ruan’s movement, quickly spoke to stop her: “Miss, you mustn’t—it’s best we don’t get involved in this matter.”

What mattered wasn’t the truth, but the attitude of the surrounding people. Even if their own miss came forward to mediate, she would only be attacked as another ignorant outsider along with the old man. The old man didn’t matter much—at most he’d lose some face—but their own miss was a young lady from a great family. Even though she was currently confined to this estate, her status couldn’t be changed.

Jiang Ruan gently shook her head: “Bai Zhi, step aside.”

Bai Zhi was stunned. Jiang Ruan had already stepped forward several paces, exposing herself to everyone’s view.

She spoke gently: “Old sir, there’s no need to be so agitated. The world has right and wrong, black and white. Even if things can’t be explained clearly for the moment, the truth will eventually come to light. Why harm your own body over a moment of foul air? Wouldn’t that be more loss than gain?”