Chapter 108 (1/2)

”My little brother and I brought a total of one hundred and seventy copper coins to our older brother. If there is an extra copper coin, then it'll be yours!” Xiaocao was confident about the number of coins on the string. Her older brother was very frugal. If there wasn't anything important, then he wouldn't touch his money.

Shopkeeper Zhang spread the string of coins on the palm of his hand. He silently counted the number of coins in his mind. Sure enough, there were one hundred and seventy copper coins in total, not one coin more or less. Originally, he got drunk and didn't hold back his strength when beating Yu Hang. Yu Hang had fallen unconscious after spitting out blood from the beating. After Yu Hang had fallen unconscious, he had found this money after searching through Yu Hang's room. Today, Yu Hang's family came here to get an explanation from him, so he hurriedly took out the money as an excuse.

The crowd surrounding them saw that Shopkeeper Zhang's expression had slightly changed. The people who were closer to him could clearly see the thread that was used to keep the copper coins together were just as Xiaocao had said, a multicolored embroidery thread. The crowd's heart once again tilted towards Xiaocao's favor.

But Shopkeeper Zhang rudely and unreasonably replied, ”Humph! You are just a group of poor country b.u.mpkins. If you could, you would've split a copper coin in two. How would you be willing to give Yu Hang over a hundred copper coins as an allowance? Little girl, your tongue will be pulled out in h.e.l.l for lying!”

”Shopkeeper Zhang, if you falsely accuse other people, you will be tortured after you die!” Xiaocao's jet-black eyes looked just like night sky as a cold ray of light flashed by her eyes, making people can't help but shudder, ”Moreover, we pay one tael of silver each month for Rongxuan Academy's tuition for my younger brother. Since we're able to afford that, why wouldn't we be willing to give Yu Hang a trifling one hundred copper coins?”

The crowd had just noticed the short little boy who was wearing Rongxuan Academy's primary cla.s.s uniform. They couldn't help but feel admiration and respect towards the little boy. After all, Rongxuan Academy wasn't just open to anyone. They had all heard that inside Rongxuan Academy's doors, there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers [1]. It was said that people from the big government officials', dukes', and marquises' residences were all trying to get into the school!

When the grandson of the prefectural magistrate of the Jinwei Prefecture pa.s.sed the exam and entered the primary cla.s.s, the prefectural magistrate had invited many people to dinner! Then wasn't this little boy a cla.s.smate of the magistrate's grandson? If he reported this to the prefectural magistrate, then it wouldn't be good for Shopkeeper Zhang!

Is Rong...Rongxuan Academy that great? Even if...the crown prince breaks the law, he will bear the same crime and punishment as commoners. Does it mean that just because you're the family of a student from Rongxuan Academy, you can steal things?” The shopkeeper tried to appear fierce ashe was a coward at heart. He was trying to bluff his way out by making unreasonable excuses.

”Shopkeeper Zhang, how can you prove that it was this little brother who had stolen the copper coins?” Within the crowd, a handsome young man wearing a white scholarly robe, couldn't bear the injustice any longer so he spoke out for them. If Xiaocao was in the mood to check the young man out, she would've recognized him as the grandson of the foodie headmaster, Yuan Yunxi.

Shopkeeper Zhang's rat-like eyes looked around for a few moments before he looked at them and said, ”But there is no one who can prove that it wasn't Yu Hang who had stolen these copper coins!”

Yu Xiaocao raised an eyebrow and sneered at him, ”Shopkeeper Zhang if I can prove that he didn't steal these copper coins, what would you do?”

”That…” Shopkeeper Zhang frowned and hesitated.

”I have earned these copper coins by selling braised food, so there should be a small amount of oil on each of the copper coins. Can anyone bring me a basin of warm water?” Yu Xiaocao didn't look at Shopkeeper Zhang; her gaze was directed at the crowd.

The crowd around them suddenly became silent. They all had some misgivings regarding Shopkeeper Zhang, so they all avoided Xiaocao's gaze.

Xiaocao felt an ice-cold burst of wind attack her heart. No matter what time period it was, there were always not enough people who had the courage to stand up and confront evil forces!

Yuan Yunxi squeezed his way out of the crowd to a literary store not far from here. He pushed up his sleeves and filled a large basin with hot water. Yuan Yunxi squeezed through the crowd again with the basin of hot water and said, ”Miss Xiaocao, the hot water is here!”

Yu Xiaocao gratefully looked at the handsome young man who had a warm heart. She sincerely thanked the young man and grabbed the string of copper coins from Shopkeeper Zhang's hand, ”I will throw these copper coins into the water. If grease appears, then it'll prove that I wasn't lying. It'll also prove that I have indeed, given these copper coins to my brother.”

After she finished speaking, she broke the string that was holding the coins together and threw all the copper coins into the basin of warm water. Sure enough, rainbow-like grease appeared in the warm water. The crowd looked at Shopkeeper Zhang with condemnation and disgust.

Shopkeeper Zhang continued to retort, ”Just because there's grease on the coins, it doesn't prove that those coins belong to you. Maybe these copper coins were given to me by a butcher! Every day, I would go buy meat and oil, so it's natural for those copper coins to be stained with grease. My a.s.sistant had seen Yu Hang wandering around the account room before. Am I right, Xiaoxing?”

The person that Shopkeeper Zhang addressed as 'Xiaoxing' was the shop a.s.sistant that would help Xiaocao call Yu Hang out every time she visited. Originally, he was standing on the side, watching the scene. But when he was suddenly called out by the shopkeeper, he began to panic. After a burst of panic, under the shopkeeper's warning gaze, he said, ”Yes, yes…in the past, I've seen Yu Hang sneaking and wandering around the account room...he must be harboring some evil intentions!”

Yu Xiaocao's gaze was as sharp as a knife, her voice was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with fierceness when she interrogated the shop a.s.sistant, ”This big brother, you will have to take responsibility for what you say! Have you seen my brother enter the account room with your own eyes? Have you seen my brother steal money from the account room with your own eyes? Since you haven't, why are you so sure that my brother harbors evil intentions?”

The shop a.s.sistant was young, he had only said those groundless accusations under Shopkeeper Zhang's pressure. But he began to stutter and insist that he was right after Xiaocao's questioning.

Shopkeeper Zhang glared at his a.s.sistant while secretly scolding his a.s.sistant for being useless. He countered, ”If he didn't have any evil intentions, why would he be secretly wandering around the account room? It's clear that he's doing that because he wants to steal money!”