The silver speaks? How could silver speak? This was an amusing thing to say. The crowd all looked toward Jiang Ruan, and even the old man who had been stamping his feet in anger turned his head to look at Jiang Ruan in confusion. Bai Zhi and Lian Qiao exchanged glances, neither knowing what Jiang Ruan intended to do.

The woman nearly laughed out loud, saying quite sarcastically: “Little girl, are you talking nonsense? Can you really make silver speak? If you truly have such ability, hurry up and show everyone. But if you’re just talking rubbish, don’t let everyone see you make a fool of yourself.”

“Silver will naturally speak,” Jiang Ruan said lightly. “Let me ask once more—Madam, is this silver really yours?”

“Of course it’s what I gave to Qiao’er.” The woman tilted her head back, speaking with righteous confidence.

“Good.” Jiang Ruan said: “Bai Zhi, go find a basin of clear water.”

The surrounding people didn’t know what Jiang Ruan was planning. A roadside vendor said: “I have ready-made clear water here—the young lady can borrow it.”

Bai Zhi brought the basin of clear water over, placing it properly at Jiang Ruan’s feet.

“Madam, please give me the silver.”

The woman looked at Jiang Ruan suspiciously, and the girl clutched her purse even tighter.

“If Madam doesn’t give me the silver, how can I question it?” Jiang Ruan said seriously.

As soon as these words were spoken, low chuckling arose from the surroundings. There were already more and more onlookers, and seeing this little girl who appeared to have an extraordinary bearing suddenly speak this way, they couldn’t help but feel regret—she looked like a clever girl, but turned out to have some mental problems.

Lian Qiao glared at the surrounding crowd. Perhaps the crowd’s laughter gave the woman confidence, so she took the silver from the girl’s hands and placed it in Jiang Ruan’s: “Here, you’d better ask clearly—everyone’s listening.”

Among those present, only three people besides Jiang Ruan weren’t laughing. Needless to say about Lian Qiao and Bai Zhi, but the old man was also just frowning tightly, carefully observing Jiang Ruan’s movements.

Jiang Ruan held the silver in her palm. Her face showed no expression, but her voice was extremely gentle as she said: “Silver, oh silver, please tell me—who exactly is lying?”

The woman burst out laughing: “Little girl, don’t tell me the silver just told you like that! You’re just fooling people—don’t treat us like fools!”

Jiang Ruan didn’t even glance at her. Relaxing her hand, the silver dropped into the water basin at her feet with a thump, causing shallow ripples to spread across the surface. She said: “The silver has already spoken.”

“What speaking?” The woman was getting impatient: “So many ears here—did only you hear it speak?”

“Not heard—seen,” Jiang Ruan said, staring into the water.

A curious young man in the crowd stretched his neck: “Did it speak?”

“Didn’t it?” Jiang Ruan asked back. Her thin body wrapped in an oversized cotton jacket should have appeared frail and helpless, yet she seemed unusually resolute, as if nothing in the world could shake her composure and calmness even a bit.

The surrounding people didn’t understand and all looked toward the water basin, but couldn’t make heads or tails of anything.

After a moment, someone was the first to cry out in surprise: “Look! There’s something on the water surface!”

Indeed, a thin layer of oil had risen to the surface of the clear water—this golden oil was extremely conspicuous against the water.

Jiang Ruan said: “After the old gentleman ate his oil cake and grabbed copper coins, getting cooking oil on the silver is normal. I just don’t know how Madam managed to get oil on her silver. Could it be that Madam is just now remembering that she or Qiao’er also went to buy oil cakes?”

Her voice was flat and light, yet strangely allowed people to hear the rise and fall of intonation within it. One sentence clearly explained the whole sequence of events while simultaneously blocking any possible excuses the woman might have. If the woman argued further, it would only make people think she was trying to cover up the truth.

“So that’s how it was!” Someone exclaimed: “This silver belongs to the old man—because he bought an oil cake, it got oil on it. Now when the silver meets water, it can show this—isn’t this the silver speaking!”

The crowd discussed among themselves. When they looked at Jiang Ruan again, they all clicked their tongues in amazement. Such exquisite and clear thinking at such a young age was truly admirable.

The old man had been watching Jiang Ruan’s every move. Seeing her easily clear his name, he was naturally overjoyed in his surprise. His gaze toward Jiang Ruan softened somewhat, no longer showing the stubborn rejection he had before.

The woman holding the girl still wanted to argue: “Your one-sided words…”

“Old gentleman,” Jiang Ruan didn’t listen to her at all, turning to the old man instead: “The matter is simple. Since so many people here cannot stand up for you, there’s no need to waste time here. Why not go to the county prefect’s office on East Street and ask—perhaps there are people there who can stand up for you.”

The people who could stand up for someone at the county prefect’s office on East Street would naturally be county officials. Since ancient times, common people didn’t fight with officials. Although everyone on West Street was exclusionary, when it came to their own livelihood and interests, no one was willing to wade into these muddy waters. The crowd that had been gathered in a circle immediately dispersed.

Seeing the situation turning bad and Jiang Ruan’s attitude becoming firm, abandoning her previous gentle manner, the woman knew continuing to argue would bring no benefit. She immediately picked up the girl: “I won’t argue with you people. Qiao’er, let’s go.”

After the woman left, Jiang Ruan retrieved the silver from the basin and handed it to the old man. The old man took the silver and looked at Jiang Ruan searchingly: “The little girl is quite interesting. Which household’s young miss are you?”

“The old gentleman is also quite stubborn—I wonder which household’s master you are,” Jiang Ruan said coolly.

The old man was stunned, not expecting the little girl who had been helping him to suddenly treat him so coldly. He asked in confusion: “Do you have some dissatisfaction with this old man?”

“Yes,” Jiang Ruan said. Seeing the old man stunned again, she said lightly: “When encountering such matters with unclear disputes, you should have immediately reported to the authorities. You’ve lived a long life and should understand the principle that everything has its proper limits. If I hadn’t arrived today, even if you argued here all day, you might not have gotten results—who knows what other accusations might have been made against you.”

“You little girl,” the old man stiffened his neck: “Seeing you help me, I thought you had some heroic spirit and courage, but you’re no different from the others. Right and wrong, black and white—naturally one must argue them clearly. Since I’m in the right, I’m not afraid to confront them.”

Jiang Ruan thought for a moment: “That’s also true. For someone of your advanced age to argue with people in the street, your character is truly admirable. You must have been the same in your youth—unafraid of authority, insisting on arguing every matter through to reason.”

Her expression remained unchanged and her tone gentle, making it momentarily unclear whether these words were praise or criticism.

“The sharp edge of a sword comes from grinding, the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from bitter cold. Your character, old gentleman, is quite similar to these red plums. Bai Zhi, give the red plums to the old gentleman—it can be considered fulfilling a destined connection.” Jiang Ruan smiled slightly.