Hu Xiaotian and his companions hurried out of the Huan Cai Pavilion. They had barely left the entrance when someone called from behind, "Brother Hu, please wait!"
All three turned around to see Xiangqin hurrying after them again. Thinking she had changed her mind, Murong Feiyan warily gripped her sword hilt and braced herself.
Hu Xiaotian was a born smiling tiger. With a cheerful grin, he said, "Sister Xiangqin, is there anything else you need from me?"
Xiangqin giggled. "Since you called me sister, naturally I ought to give you something. Azure Cloud lies beyond high mountains and long rivers. I just checked your luggage, and there wasn't so much as half a copper coin inside. None of you seems to have anything of value on you, either. Since you're going to take up your post in Azure Cloud, you can't very well beg your way there. Here are fifty taels of fine silver. Take them for your traveling expenses." She held out a small bundle.
Hu Xiaotian truly could not make heads or tails of this. A moment ago, she had insisted on forcing him to write an IOU for a thousand taels, yet now she was opening her purse in generous charity. Could this plump sister really have taken a fancy to him?
Murong Feiyan looked at Hu Xiaotian. Had it been her, she would certainly have refused. Even a ninth-rank official was still an official and ought to understand dignity and integrity. How could he accept charity from a woman of the pleasure quarters?
Hu Xiaotian clearly lacked the integrity Murong Feiyan expected of him. The fellow actually accepted it without a trace of embarrassment, grinning all the while. He had his own philosophy of life: in any age, no one picked a fight with money. A