"Ahaha, the contract is here!"
White mist hooked a claw around Li Shoufu. Little Mirage Dragon smashed through the window and flew into the study.
Li Shoufu landed on the ground. Once he felt solid footing beneath him, the tension in his heart eased. He straightened his appearance, then bowed in turn to Liang Qu and Old Toad. "Greetings, Xingyi Marquis. Greetings, Frog Chief Scribe."
"A small private matter, yet I troubled Deputy County Magistrate Li to come in the middle of the night." Liang Qu cupped his hands.
"You are too courteous, my lord. As Third Prince said, it is only a contract. How could putting brush to paper count as trouble?" Li Shoufu chuckled, took up a wolf-hair brush, sat before the long table, and bent over the desk. He asked about the contract's particulars, then, once he broadly understood them, began writing.
Before long.
"Rustle."
The pages trembled. Li Shoufu blew the ink dry, held it up against the candlelight, and read it aloud to the two of them.
"Five Top-Grade Treasure Fish shall lease the pond on Immortal Island Above the Clouds for one year, covering an area of... Each Treasure Fish must be weighed out of water and weigh no less than three jin six liang. Its vital breath must not yet be extinguished; it must not be a dead fish. Other than the tail fin, it must have no missing parts...
"On this day of the Da Shun calendar... the Jianghuai calendar... Frog Clan Elder, River Conservancy Office Chief Scribe, Frog Grand Duke, shall pay Third Prince of the Mirage Clan thirty-eight Top-Grade Treasure Fish in a single payment, leasing the pond on the Immortal Island until the next Bing Fire Day when all three days emerge together...
"All Treasure Fish must be settled