Jiang Yan helped her out of the car and whispered in her ear, "Just now I saw that old man has thick calluses on his thumb joints. They don't look like he's been fortune-telling with a pen all year round. They look more like... he's been holding weapons all year round."
When the two of them arrived at the fortune-telling stall, the fortune-teller was breathing on the silver. He didn't even look up when he heard footsteps. He fanned himself and said slowly, "Woman, please stop being so unreasonable. How can I return the money after fortune-telling? Unless..."
"Unless what?" Su Jinli interrupted him, picking up the yellow paper talisman on the table and running her fingertips over the rough texture. "My son said your talisman is only worth three copper coins, but that's because you wasted some cinnabar."
The gentleman finally raised his eyes, his white beard trembling: "Nonsense! My talisman..."
"The cinnabar on your talisman hasn't even soaked through the paper backing," Jiang Yan held up the talisman paper to the light, "and it's made of ordinary yellow paper. Forget thousand-year-old peach wood ash, I don't think you even have stove ash mixed in."
Si Yan also came over and pointed at the crooked lines on the talisman paper with her little finger: "And this character, the writing is even uglier than the one in my tracing book, it's not a talisman at all!"
The fortune teller's face changed slightly, and he snapped his fan shut: "You..."
"We what?" Su Jinli raised her eyebrows and deliberately raised her voice, "Did you cheat my son out of three taels of silver, or did my son wrongly accuse you?" As soon as she finished speaking, several vendors who were setting up stalls nearby gathered around, pointing and watching the fun.
The gentleman's eyes flickered, and suddenly he put on an aggrieved expression: "Young Master is young and doesn't understand the mystery behind this..."
"Mystery?" Su Jinli sneered, suddenly reaching out to grab the fortune teller's wrist and yanking it upwards. The fortune teller's sleeve slipped down, revealing half of his forearm. The scar on it was three inches long, with a ferocious edge, clearly caused by a sharp blade. "Does the fortune teller need to use a knife?"
The gentleman suddenly pulled his hand back, his face completely gloomy: "What on earth do you want to do?"
"What for?" Su Jinli stood with her hands on her hips. "Give me back the money! Plus compensation for my son's mental damages!"
Siyan immediately responded, his abacus clacking loudly: "Three taels of silver, at a daily interest rate of one cent, it's been three quarters of an hour since then, so the repayment is three taels and one hundred and twenty-seven coins!"
The fortune teller looked at the crowd, then at Su Jinli's sharp eyes. He suddenly made up his mind, pulled out a black iron rod from under the table, and pointed it at Su Jinli: "You bitch! Mind your own business! If you keep nagging, I'll be rude to you!"
Two peddlers who were watching the fun suddenly dropped their loads, pulled out short knives from their sleeves, and surrounded them with a grin.
Nian Li screamed in fear and hid behind Jiang Yan. Si Yan, however, stood in front of her mother, holding an abacus, her face full of anger: "Don't bully my mother! Return my money!"
Jiang Yan protected the children behind him, picked up a bench nearby where people were selling Hu pancakes, and said in a deep voice, "Jinli, take the children back!"
"Why are you retreating?" Su Jinli picked up the abacus that Si Yan had dropped and smashed it on the head of the nearest man with a dagger. "You dare to cheat my son of his money? You're seeking death!"
The crackling abacus beads hit the man's head, making him scream in pain. Si Yan was beside him and shouted anxiously: "Mom! Hit his left cheek! The compensation for the left cheek injury is too little!"
Nian Li also shouted: "Spank him! Grandpa said spanking doesn't hurt!"
For a moment, chaos ensued in front of the fortune-teller's stall, with abacus beads, bench legs, and rolling pins from the Hu Bing stall flying everywhere. Su Jinli, while protecting her child, zeroed in on the jade pendant peeked from the fortune-teller's waist. It was carved with a dragon, its claw missing a corner. It looked exactly like the token she had seen on a wanted poster in her past life, belonging to the "Black Wind Village" thief.
"You are from Black Wind Village!" Su Jinli shouted, smashing the abacus in his hand even harder.
The fortune teller's face turned pale. He hadn't expected the woman to recognize the Black Wind Village's sign. He swung his iron rod even harder: "You bitch! You're courting death!"
Just then, a burst of hurried horse hooves sounded in the distance. A patrol of the Jinwu Guards came rushing over, and the leading captain shouted, "Who is causing trouble here?"
Seeing the soldiers approaching, the fortune teller's eyes turned fierce. He tried to slip away with a feint, but Si Yan, with his quick eyes and hands, grabbed his legs and said, "Give me back my silver! Three ounces and one hundred and twenty-seven coins!"
The gentleman was furious and tried to break free, but Siyan clung to him like a koala, calculating the interest in his little head: "It's already past five-quarters of an hour, and I should pay back three ounces, one hundred and thirty-nine coins!"
Su Jinli and Jiang Yan seized the opportunity and teamed up to subdue the fortune teller and his two accomplices. The Jinwu Guard captain looked at the fortune-telling stall, the scattered abacus beads, and the three men tied up like dumplings. Then he looked at Su Jinli and his family, his face full of questions: "Are you... coming to Chang'an for tourism, or to catch thieves?"
Si Yan finally let go of his hand and squatted on the ground, counting the silver he had found in the fortune teller's arms. His brows were still furrowed. "Captain, he still owes me thirty-nine coins in interest..."
The onlookers burst into laughter, and someone shouted, "Madam Su is amazing! She's even more powerful than the Jinwu Guards in Chang'an!"
Su Jinli dusted herself off and watched her son diligently counting money, feeling both angry and amused. The sunlight from Chang'an City shone on Suzaku Street, illuminating the unexpected thief-catching farce. She suddenly felt that this trip to Chang'an would be even more lively than she had imagined.
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