Chapter Seventeen: The Sage Resolves the Case

At this moment, Li Zisheng looked speechlessly at the two people before him. If no one intervened to break the deadlock, these two would surely continue to quarrel endlessly. Of course, Li Zisheng had no intention of getting involved, but his position was truly awkward—he stood at the very front, and if anyone gave him a push, he would be thrust right into the center of the dispute. In his heart, he kept praying for the crowd to disperse quickly, or at least for an opening so he could slip away.

But as fate would have it, the very thing he feared came to pass. Someone from behind, whose identity he couldn't make out, shoved him forward so that he found himself standing directly between the two. Upon seeing this, the already heated argument between the pair grew only more intense, their words flying back and forth, voices overlapping in a cacophony.

One pulled at his sleeve, the other tugged at his arm, making Li Zisheng extremely irritated. He had unwittingly been dragged into this mess, and now the two were fighting over him. Without hesitation, he decided to resolve the matter quickly so everyone could leave; otherwise, if his father couldn't find him, he would surely be worried.

"Enough, both of you!" Li Zisheng spoke up. "Quarreling in the street is already an offense in our country—inciting unrest among the townsfolk. If you insist on bringing this to the magistrate, you might not even get a chance to defend yourselves before receiving twenty strokes each as punishment."

He knew that simply slinking away wouldn't work, despite being just a child. Though he wore the long robe of a scholar and looked every bit the bookish student, he was still young and his words might carry little weight. But with the authority of the magistrate behind him, his position would be immediately elevated, and his words would suddenly matter.

Sure enough, hearing this, the two who had originally given him no heed now took him seriously.

"Then, young scholar, what do you suggest?" asked the woman, tears welling in her eyes as she spoke pitifully. "It's this little rascal who took my earring, making a scene and refusing to return it. Now he wants to pawn it, bullying a poor widow like me."

"Hey, isn't this young man from Lingwu County?" someone in the crowd suddenly chimed in. "I remember passing through Lingwu on business and hearing about an unfilial son who drove his own mother to death. I believe it’s him."

"Is that so? How heartless! If he drove his own mother to her grave and is now pawning her keepsake, I doubt it even belonged to his mother. Otherwise, he’d have pawned it long ago," another onlooker remarked.

The young man's identity was instantly exposed, and Li Zisheng heard it all.

"And what about you?" Li Zisheng turned to the swaggering youth after hearing the woman’s account.

"You're lying! This is my mother's keepsake. I have urgent matters and just wanted to pawn it," the young man replied, agitated by the crowd's accusations. The woman, on the other hand, looked visibly pleased.

"You little scoundrel, so you’re the unfilial son! Still claiming it’s your mother’s keepsake? Now we have proof—clearly, you stole my earring! Return it at once, or the townsfolk will see justice done. Isn’t that right, everyone?" The woman appealed to the onlookers.

"That’s right! You rascal, you drove your mother to death and now you’re stealing. Go back to Lingwu County—don’t bring shame to Huiyue County’s good name, unfilial wretch!" With the woman’s incitement, the crowd began berating the young man loudly.

The youth was clearly flustered but still refused to yield, firmly insisting the earring was his mother’s keepsake.

"Enough, everyone. Why don’t we just go to the magistrate? The county lord will surely give you both a fair answer. What do you all think?" Li Zisheng gauged the crowd’s mood.

"Young scholar, didn’t you say that if they go to the magistrate, both will get twenty strokes? That’s a harsh punishment. The young man could take it, but the woman probably wouldn’t recover for weeks. If you ask me, the rascal stole her earring and now wants to play innocent," someone in the crowd mused.

"True, but there’s no good solution at present. The young man refuses to give up the earring, and the woman insists it was stolen from her dowry. However, if neither wishes to go to the magistrate, I do have an alternative—one that avoids the punishment, though I’m not sure if either will agree," Li Zisheng said, scratching his head and feigning deep distress.

"Go ahead, young scholar, let’s hear it," both parties replied in unison, and the surrounding crowd leaned in expectantly.

"How about this," Li Zisheng suggested, "the earring, though valuable, is still just an object. Since it’s a pair, why not split it—each of you takes one. That way, there’s no need to continue bickering here and risk summoning the constables. If that happens, neither of you will escape a beating."

"That’s reasonable, sister. If you keep this up, the constables might really show up. The young scholar’s idea isn’t a bad one, though it does let that rascal off easy," the crowd agreed, urging the woman to accept. Many lamented the sad state of affairs, with ruffians running rampant and terrorizing the honest folk.

In the midst of it all, Li Zisheng remained silent, simply watching the two.

"Fine, I suppose I, a poor widow, must bear this loss today. What a pity to encounter such a scoundrel," the woman said at last, dabbing at her eyes as the crowd offered words of comfort.

"No, I refuse!" the young man retorted angrily. "This is my mother’s keepsake. I won’t share it with her. If she keeps pestering me, I won’t let her off so easily." He glared menacingly at the woman, even attempting to threaten her.

The crowd erupted in outrage, condemning the young man for his ingratitude. They pointed out that the woman had already conceded, yet he remained greedy—truly despicable.

"Everyone, please quiet down. I already know whose earring it is," Li Zisheng announced, seeing that the mood was turning volatile.