Chapter 51 – Did I Hurt You? (1/2)

The light in the shopkeeper’s eyes dimmed a bit before regaining their enraged glint. “What nonsense are you spouting? I’m not lying. This brat was the one who broke my pendant.” Saying so, he tightened his grip on Wei Yi.

The pain caused Wei Yi to furrow his brow as he darted a pitiful look to Ji Yunshu.

Ji Yunshu’s gaze displayed calmness. She slightly raised the two broken halves of jade before stating, “You said that this pendant was broken just now, but it was clearly lying through one’s teeth. Regardless of whether it is jade or any other type of precious stone, if it was broken recently, the edges should be uneven and sharp which would be painful when stroking the broken edges. However the edges on this jade are very smooth and glossy. It is clear that time had blunt the sharpness of it.”

The moment these words were spoken, the shopkeeper was clearly at a loss for words and the panic on his face was hard to miss! However he didn’t give up and put up a final struggle.“This is high quality jade. Even if it was broken, the edge would be very smooth, which is quite normal.”

‘Normal? Sophistry! Fine, I want to see how you’ll continue making up your story.’

Ji Yunshu’s gaze landed on the arrogant shopkeeper’s hand as she continued to speak, “Shopkeeper, if I guessed correctly, you ate steamed buns earlier! There are still traces of grease on your hand.”

Uh! The shopkeeper’s face was filled with surprise as he looked at his hand. After which he started fiercely wiping them, embarrassment showing on his face.

“Is eating steamed buns a crime?”

“Of course not.” Ji Yunshu advanced a step. “However, because there was grease on your hand, it had stained the pendant, which in turn rubbed off on my hand.”

As she spoke so, Ji Yunshu suddenly lifted Wei Yi’s hand and spread out his fingers so his whole hand was displayed for everyone to see.

She explained, “If this pendant was broken by this fool, then his hand would be greasy from touching it. However it just so happens that there is not a single trace of grease on his hand. This proves that he never touched the pendant. The pendant was clearly broken by you. Seeing that he was a fool, you decided to take advantage of this fact and cheat him.”

“I… You…”

“If you still do not admit it, then we can report it to the authorities and let the magistrate judge for himself, how about it?”

With a guilty conscience, the shopkeeper released Wei Yi and wiped his hands before shoving them inside his sleeves!

Meanwhile, the onlookers started pointing at him and were discussing amongst themselves!

The shopkeeper swallowed his saliva as his gaze wandered. His voice trembled as he declared, “Forget it! Just forget about it! N-nothing happened at all!”

‘Forget about it? That won’t do!’

Ji Yunshu turned to face Wei Yi. He was holding his arm with a pained face. It was probably from when the shopkeeper hit him just now, and the man had used such strong force too!

Her good-looking eyebrows lifted as she asked, “Wei Yi, when he said you broke his pendant, did you feel angry?”

Wei Yi pouted as he looked at the shopkeeper before nodding his head.

“Then when he hit you, was it painful?”

Wei Yi nodded once again!

“Okay. Stretch out your hand.”

He obediently reached out his hand!

“Clench your fist.”

He clenched his fist.

“Punch his arm.” Ji Yunshu ordered.

Like a turtle, Wei Yi withdrew his hand at once and retreated behind Ji Yunshu while shaking his head. Seeing him like this made Ji Yunshu want to laugh, but she maintained her serious expression.

“Why don’t you hit him? He scolded and even hit you.”

Despite him being taller than Ji Yunshu by a head, he still hid behind her. He tentatively placed his hands on her shoulders like a cat would do. He stuttered, “But that’s not right. Mother said that I can’t hit people. Even though he scolded and hit me, I can’t scold or hit him back otherwise mother will be unhappy and when mother is unhappy, I will be unhappy too. Big brother, I won’t hit him. I can’t hit him…”

“Really?” She cast a sideways glance at him.

He furiously nodded while keeping his eyes lowered. It made him look very pitiful.

Ji Yunshu didn’t force him, instead turning back to face the dishonest shopkeeper. “Listen up, if you dare to cheat people again I’m going to have to ‘invite’ you over to the yamen. The paddles haven’t been used for a long time.”