The scorching sensation of the heat wave was gradually subdued by the cold winter wind. Li Yinxiang watched as that red horse sped away on all four legs. It was clearly frail, yet seemed faster than her own mount, disappearing like a streak of crimson fire at the edge of her vision. She patted her horse, and the blue horse accelerated again, but still lost track of it. Standing alone on horseback on the street, the young hero in a moon-white robe sighed with regret as he looked at the jade plaque in his hand, and had no choice but to rein in his horse and turn back. The blue horse beneath her had swift hooves and quickly returned. The onlookers and martial soldiers from earlier had dispersed cleanly in such a short time. The comings and goings were only slightly denser than usual with nothing unusual otherwise. After all, Xiong City was the pillar of the Northwest Great Qin, with ample experience in maintaining order. The people knew the rules, and seeing nothing left to spectate, especially after almost jostling with the martial soldiers, they quickly scattered. Li Yinxiang patted her mount's mane, the blue horse slowed its pace, and as she approached the inn, the chill she felt earlier transformed into a warm feeling mixed with a faint fragrance. Although the wood used for the inn wasn't exactly sandalwood, it was still of superior rank. The Qilin Fire had flared up and then instantly retreated, but the wooden structure still showed signs of scorching and looseness under such high temperatures, now emitting a rich wooden aroma. The innkeeper stood at the door, looking much calmer than before. Next to him stood a somewhat portly official from the Ministry of Punishment who had arrived earlier; he seemed to be discussing compensation matters with the innkeeper. In Great Qin's criminal law, there were already quite detailed regulations for such matters. This incident, ultimately, was because the Ministry of Punishment took the initiative, so the compensation share would be slightly larger, including intangible losses during repairs, totaling about two hundred taels of silver. The official from the Ministry of Punishment saw Li Yinxiang riding over, stopped talking, and courteously greeted her. The innkeeper also cupped his hands in apology, repeatedly expressing his regret that he had startled the young hero and was thankful she wasn't hurt, otherwise, he'd truly have been at her mercy to pay the price. Yet, as he spoke, his pair of mung bean-sized eyes uncontrollably kept glancing at the jade color faintly visible inside the purple silk bag in Li Yinxiang's hand, even though the three words were concealed inside the bag. Jiangnan silk was extremely delicate, so the contents couldn't be seen. But he felt that those three words were now swaying back and forth before his eyes, growing larger and larger. He clutched his chest as if his heart pained him, and his vision went black in waves. If not for people being in front, he almost couldn't help but cry out. Why hadn't he grabbed it earlier? If he'd already grabbed the jade plaque at that time, given this person's disposition, she likely wouldn't have asked for it back from him out of pride. A thousand taels, that was a thousand taels of white silver! And it's official silver! The price of silver was already higher than the price of copper. Official silver was top tier; one tael of official silver equaled three to five hundred coins. Even in Xiong City, people's daily expenses were only about thirty coins. His longest-serving employee, who had worked for three years, earned two and a half strings a month, which was already a very generous wage. A thousand taels of official silver, that was fifteen hundred strings. He might not be literate, but he was extremely sensitive to silver. Standing firm in Xiong City, running an inn for over ten years, countless scholars had met friends here, and he had heard and recalled the envy on their faces when reciting poems about how to amass ten thousand coins to give to the Plum Goddess, and so forth. This was not just ten thousand coins... This was fifteen times that amount. The great hero might not care about this bit of money, considering it insignificant, tossing it to him lightly, but he cared! With a thousand taels, with this silver, the debts he had painstakingly paid off to build this inn could construct five more! Thinking about this, the innkeeper almost couldn't breathe from heartache, forcing himself to ignore the jade plaque in the young girl's hand, barely managing to deal with the distinguished guests leaving. It seemed the official from the Ministry of Punishment said something, but he couldn't hear it. When the place was empty, he still stood outside in a daze, like a lost soul as people walked past. Suddenly, he lifted his hand, giving himself a heavy slap, lamenting: Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novｅlfire.net "Slow hands, slow hands!" Then he wailed miserably: "A thousand taels of silver..." If Li Yinxiang were still in front of the inn at this time, she would surely find the innkeeper very pitiful. But even if he were pitiable, she still wouldn't hand over the jade plaque she was toying with in her hand. Beside her remained 'Young Hero Yang', with a demeanor quieter than her friend's, watching Li Yinxiang play with the jade plaque without speaking. After crossing several more streets, they saw a carriage, driven by an older man. His white hair was meticulously tied into a bun, his eyes gentle. Seeing Li Yinxiang and her two companions approach, he slightly straightened his attire and greeted each of them: "Miss, Miss Yang, Mr. Zhao." Young Hero Yang returned the salute, the swordsman was absent-minded, and Li Yinxiang, playing with the jade plaque in one hand, handed the reins of the blue horse to the young attendant beside her, then waved her hand nonchalantly, saying, "Trouble you, we're not going to the music hall next, we're heading home."