“Isn’t this the jade pendant you always carried with you? Once you pawn it, you won’t get it back,” Ye Ningxin said, looking at the pendant.
“After it was stolen, I never expected to get it back,” the Prince replied, making her feel a bit awkward.
“This jade pendant is made of fine material. In the capital, it could easily fetch 500 taels of silver, but here… 50 taels would be a fair price,” the Prince paused briefly as he spoke.
“That’s such a huge loss,” Ye Ningxin clicked her tongue in disbelief.
“There’s a pawnshop at the entrance of Fu Street Alley. The owner is the fairest around. You should go to his shop.”
“You hardly ever go out, yet you know a pawnshop? I doubt it’s reliable,” Ye Ningxin thought to herself skeptically.
When she arrived in town, she didn’t go directly to the pawnshop Gu Haoyuan had recommended. Instead, she decided to visit each shop one by one, hoping to use her persuasive skills to get a better price.
At the first pawnshop, the owner examined the jade pendant and then squinted at Ye Ningxin, as if sizing her up along with the pendant.
Then, he held up five fingers.
“50 taels? No…”
Before she could finish her refusal, the pawnshop owner rudely cut her off.
“What are you thinking? I said five taels. Fifty taels? You’re dreaming.”
Damn! This pawnshop owner is truly ruthless. How am I supposed to repay with such a low price?
“I won’t pawn it!” Ye Ningxin snatched the pendant back and moved on to the next shop.
To her surprise, as she went from shop to shop, no one offered more than ten taels. Some owners even offered just one tael, making her so angry she wanted to hit someone.
“Why don’t they just rob me instead… such a fine jade pendant, and they offer so little,” Ye Ningxin grumbled. She decided to try her luck at the pawnshop the Prince had recommended.
“50 taels!” the owner said decisively after examining the pendant.
“Sir, are you sure you don’t want to take a closer look? This pendant is made of fine material and comes from the capital. It’s no ordinary piece.”
“Precisely because it’s from the capital, I’m offering 50 taels. Otherwise, I’d only give you five.”
“You have a keen eye, sir. I’m impressed you can tell where the pendant comes from,” Ye Ningxin said, ultimately deciding to accept reality and take the 50 taels.
However, as soon as she stepped out the door, the owner muttered to himself, “This woman doesn’t seem as foolish as the Shadow Guards said! I feel like I might have said too much just now.”
While he carefully stored the pendant away, Ye Ningxin, who had just left the shop, was already being watched.
Seeing two dark figures approaching quickly, she immediately assumed a defensive stance. Looking up, she realized they were familiar faces—one was her father, and the other was her cousin, whom she had just seen that morning.
“Uncle, see? I told you she must be hiding something. She came out of the pawnshop looking so happy—she must have gotten a lot of silver,” Li Wencai eagerly claimed credit.
“Cousin, what are you talking about? Didn’t I give you all the valuable things from my home?” Ye Ningxin quickly retorted.
“What?” Hearing this, Ye’s father immediately turned to glare at Li Wencai.
Feeling guilty under the stare, Li Wencai hurriedly defended himself, “Don’t you dare slander me! Why would you give me anything?”
“Cousin, you know perfectly well I’m already married, yet you keep sweet-talking about marrying me someday. Isn’t it just for my Prince’s family fortune?”
Li Wencai truly hadn’t expected a young woman to speak such private matters aloud. Flustered, he stammered, “You… with your looks, how could I possibly fancy you? Do you think I’d fall for a pig? I think you just don’t want to hand over the money!”
This immediately drew Father Ye’s attention back. “Hurry up and give me the silver! I’ve got gambling debts to pay. If you don’t hand it over, I’ll beat you to death today, you unfilial daughter!”
“I have no silver. If Father has any, perhaps you could lend some to your daughter.”
“You unfilial wretch!” Upon hearing this, Father Ye swung his hand to slap Ye Ningxin.
So used to hitting his daughter, are you? Well, this lady isn’t someone you can hit whenever you please—those two years of Taekwondo training weren’t for nothing!
Ye Ningxin raised her uninjured right arm to block, using his momentum to spin him around and send him stumbling toward Li Wencai.
Unable to dodge in time, the two men collided and tumbled to the ground in a heap.
“My… my back, oh…” Father Ye grimaced in pain, wanting to curse but unable to form complete sentences.
Seeing the crowd gathering, Li Wencai quickly put on an act: “Uncle, where does it hurt? Should we take you to see a doctor? This could turn fatal!”
Watching this performance, Ye Ningxin almost laughed in anger. Trying to extort medical fees from her, are they?
“Look at this girl, raised so sturdy she even beats her own father.”
“Exactly, what daughter hits her father? So unfilial.”
The onlookers began chattering and pointing at Ye Ningxin.
Following the principle that the more the early narrative is steered, the more satisfying the later reversal, Ye Ningxin didn’t speak immediately, letting the spectators exercise their imaginations freely.
Once enough people had gathered, she burst into loud sobs.
“Father, you can’t abandon Mother and me. I’ll accept you hitting me, but even if you beat me to death, I must stop you and plead with you.”
While crying, she exposed her injured left arm.
The crowd was momentarily confused: “Who hit whom?”
“Isn’t it obvious? The girl is injured. I think her forehead is bruised too,” a helpful spectator explained.
“Father, no matter how much you like Cousin, you can’t be with him—he’s your own nephew!” Seeing her pitiful act had worked, Ye Ningxin dropped the bombshell.
“Whoa!” The crowd erupted like boiling water.
“This old man is shameless, going after his own nephew.”
“Is that the point? The point is nephew, nephew—a man!” another spectator tried to correct the focus.
“Right, both old and young are indecent. How could they do such immoral things?”
“To elope with his nephew, he even broke his daughter’s arm. How ruthless.”
“A fine young man, why not do something proper? Seducing his own uncle—the world’s morals are declining, truly declining.”
…
The situation was too unexpected and carried a secretive allure that captivated everyone’s attention. As they looked at the two people still lying on the ground, unable to get up, their gossipy curiosity became uncontrollable, and gradually, all sorts of speculations began to spread.
Seeing the chattering crowd around them, the two hurriedly explained, “No, it’s not like that…”
Li Wencai: “It’s fake! She’s talking nonsense!”
“You wretched girl, I’ll beat you to death!” Father Ye finally managed to stand up, struggling to vent his anger by hitting his daughter, but she was nowhere to be found.
After saying those words, Ye Ningxin quietly slipped away from the crowd and went to the market to buy groceries.