Seeing Xi Yan about to leave with her entourage, Hu Xiaotian called after her, "Miss, please stay!"
Xi Yan turned around, her peerlessly beautiful face so innocent and guileless that no one could bear to reproach her.
Hu Xiaotian said, "The IOU belongs to you, so whether you transfer it is your business. But scattering scraps of paper is wrong. Under the laws of Azure Cloud County, littering is punishable by a fine."
Xi Yan's delicate brows drew together slightly, and a faint mist seemed to veil her lovely eyes. "You want to fine me?" She thought she had misheard.
Hu Xiaotian nodded and said in all seriousness, "It isn't that I want to fine you. The law requires it. Fifty copper coins."
Xi Yan burst into laughter, trembling like a flowering branch in the breeze and dazzling every guest in the hall. No one had expected that while Long Yefang's two thousand taels of silver had failed to coax even a trace of a smile from her, Hu Xiaotian's fifty-copper fine could delight her so thoroughly. A few discerning observers, however, noticed something unnatural about her laughter.
Xi Yan nodded. "And how much is the fine for killing someone?"
The atmosphere abruptly turned eerie.
Guards immediately moved to shield Long Yefang, the Prince of Zhou, for everyone sensed an invisible, chilling murderous aura quietly spreading through the hall. Astonishingly, it came from Xi Yan.
Unruffled, Hu Xiaotian said, "A life for a life, a debt repaid in full. That has been the rule since ancient times."
The murderous aura around Xi Yan vanished as quickly as it had appeared. An enchanting smile that could turn the whole world upside down suddenly returned to her face, the change too swift for anyone to follow. In a sweet voice, she said,