"Besides, you two, one says the other stole the silver, and the other says he didn't steal it. You haven't had any contact with anyone else in between, and the silver won't just disappear into thin air. So, isn't that even easier to handle? Just go to the yamen and ask the Prefect of the Capital to send someone to examine you."
Seeing the shopkeeper's shifty eyes, her smile widened, but she said nothing more. Turning to the woman beside her, she advised, "Why force yourself to risk your life for something so simple? Sister, would you be willing to go to the yamen?"
The woman nodded, her voice low but firm: "If it can prove my innocence, why wouldn't I agree?"
She had lost her mind just now and almost did something drastic. If she really left like this, Xiao Bao would be a motherless child. How could she... how could she face him? How could she face his father?
Thinking of this, she cast a grateful glance at Zhu Jiayu, but Zhu Jiayu had already turned her head away and continued looking at the shopkeeper:
"Going to the yamen is nothing. At worst, I'll buy your time for a day, whatever your daily revenue is. I can't help it, I love watching the show. I'm also curious, if this money isn't with this lady, where is it? Could it be with you?"
"What nonsense are you spouting!" The shopkeeper's gaze sharpened as if stung by something, his pupils contracting sharply before he shouted, "Just because you have money doesn't mean you're all that! Does that give you the right to twist the truth?"
Zhu Jiayu nodded, ignoring his words, and asked indifferently, "Fine, if you don't want to go to the yamen, that's fine too. How about you hold out your hand?"
"Why...why should I ask for it!" the shopkeeper asked her, his neck stiff with arrogance.
Seeing that he was unmoved by reason, Zhu Jiayu was too lazy to waste words with him. She waved her hand, and a fierce guard came out from behind her, stepped forward to restrain the shopkeeper, and forcibly pulled his hand out of his sleeve.
His hands were still clenched into fists.
With no other option, the guard pried his hand open again, and there in his hand was a money pouch.
Zhu Jiayu stepped forward and glanced at the money pouch, speaking before he could: "Perhaps you'll say that this is your own money pouch, but the material used for this money pouch is plain brocade with floral patterns, which costs three hundred taels a bolt. Forgive me for speaking frankly, but I'm afraid you probably can't earn three hundred taels of silver in a year, can you?"
The shopkeeper's face grew increasingly ashen as she spoke. Zhu Jiayu smiled and asked him, "What, do you want me to continue?"
"No...no need." He drooped his head like a wilted eggplant, not daring to look at anyone.
"Then you should send him to the yamen (government office) so he can learn his lesson with a beating," Zhu Jiayu said to the guards.
Another passerby asked her, "How do you know that the lost purse is in his hands, miss?"
Zhu Jiayu glanced at the oil pan in front of him and said calmly, "He is making pastries. He is wearing a cloth to protect himself from the oil, and his cuffs are clean without any oil stains. You can tell that he is a clean person. But this person has his hands tucked into his sleeves. It is not yet the dead of winter, so his hands should not be cold. Therefore, his action is very suspicious."
"Furthermore, he refused to go to the yamen twice, and he became even more nervous when it came to the physical examination. Therefore, it can be almost concluded that the money bag is on him."
Everyone praised her intelligence. After the excitement subsided, the crowd dispersed, and Zhu Jiayu turned to leave, but the woman stopped her: "Thank you so much for helping me out, Miss. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have been bleeding on the spot..."
She smiled shyly, "If Miss doesn't mind, why don't you come to my house for a bowl of tea?" As if afraid that Zhu Jiayu would refuse, she quickly added, "My house is nearby, very close."
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