Chapter 116 - The Second Face of Ai Hua (1/2)

Ai Hua and Xiao Dong both tensed sensing the fear of Jing Yi and his mother. Xiao Dong got up and exchanged a glance with her. They had never seen this man but he was obviously on bad terms with their king's beloved and his family. There was only one conclusion to this thought: They should teach him a lesson! Preferably one he'd never forget.

Xiao Dong cracked his knuckles and lifted a brow at his mother. Ai Hua considered their possibilities for a moment. Being beaten up by a child would definitely humiliate him but … That wasn't something a human child could do, was it? If the story spread and people saw him with his head of blond hair, they'd certainly react like that boy His Majesty's beloved had brought along and say he was a demon. That might bring even more trouble. Finally, she shook her head. No, it was better she did this herself.

While Ai Hua was still caught up in her thoughts a fourth man approached the teahouse. He looked at Li Bo and his servants grimly and wanted to go over but suddenly his eyes bulged. He jumped to the side and hid next to the entrance with his back to the building. He clutched his chest and breathed deeply.

”What happened?” Another man came over and worriedly peered into his face.

The first man peeked into the teahouse again but retracted his head at once. When the other man wanted to take a look he pulled him back. ”It's Yi Zan's sister”, he told him in a lowered voice.

”Ai Hua?” The second man lifted his brows.

Of course, these two were dragons. In fact, the first one was Qiang Wei while the second one was Fu Min. Fu Min and Fu Heng had fetched the demon hunter some mortal weeks ago and brought him back to the dragon realm. After some … questioning, they had finally found out that everything had been a misunderstanding. Fu Heng returned the demon hunter to the mortal realm while Fu Min came over to the teahouse to inform Qiang Wei. None of them had been able to contact their king so … up in the nine heavens the gods still weren't aware of the fact that nobody was trying to kill their crown prince.

Qiang Wei sighed. ”You know she doesn't like me. I don't want her to see me.”

”But His Highness is inside.”

”Right. But he has His Majesty's mark, hasn't he? You can say whatever you want about Ai Hua but she would definitely protect him.”

”She might tell on you, though. She doesn't like you.”

Qiang Wei smirked. ”Oh? You don't say?”

Fu Min leaned against the wall next to him and threw him a sideways glance. ”Having a sister-in-law can be even tougher than having a mother-in-law, it seems.”

Qiang Wei frowned. ”What are you talking about? We're just friends.”

”Sure …”

Qiang Wei smirked. ”Well, it's true. We're not like a certain someone and Fu Heng, after all.”

”What are you —” Fu Min had turned around and narrowed his eyes. ”We don't even like each other!”

”Oh?” Qiang Wei only grinned wider.

”Tch. I'm not talking to you anymore.” Fu Min crossed his arms and faced the other side.

Qiang Wei didn't retort. One couldn't really fault Fu Min for not understanding how crazy Fu Heng actually was about him. That guy just didn't understand how to show his feelings and even though he was normally blunt he just couldn't bring himself to tell Fu Min.

Qiang Wei had no interest in helping him, though. If they couldn't even start a relationship without help then they'd never make it work. And he wouldn't want to see two of his friends dying because of something this dumb.

Qiang Wei similarly faced the other side and tried to find out what was going on inside.

Li Bo had reached the middle of the room by now and looked around as if everything he saw was his. Finally, his gaze came to rest upon Madam Zhong. ”Aiya! How nice to see you again!” He smiled smugly and his two servants followed suit.

”You had quite a bit of time to deal with your loss”, opened Xiao Nuo. ”I hope you took some of it to think about the offer our master made.”

Madam Zhong frowned. They had really come again. And they were still so unreasonable.

Ai Hua, too, frowned. She didn't know what had happened but neither did she like the tone of that servant nor the smile of his master. Something smelled fishy.

”I don't know what you are talking about.” Madam Zhong pulled Jing Yi to her side.

Xiao Guo snorted. ”Your husband stole our horses! Obviously, we want you to compensate us.”

”My husband has never stolen anything.”

”So you still dare to deny it. It seems we'll have to get the justice court involved.” Xiao Nuo nodded at Xiao Guo.

With another smirk at Madam Zhong, the second servant ran outside and waved at two men on the other side of the street. Despite what they said they had already gone and called someone they knew from the justice court over before they even went to confront Madam Zhong.

Seeing this Madam Zhong was sure she wouldn't be able to persuade the people from the justice court. Whatever ruling was made she wouldn't be able to contest it. She patted Jing Yi's head. Partly so that he wouldn't worry and partly to calm herself down. Let them come! What was there to lose for them? In the worst case, she'd just return to the village with Jing Yi.

The two men stepped into the teahouse and glanced around. ”What happened?”, the first one asked, though he already knew.

Xiao Nuo smirked and pointed at Madam Zhong. ”Her husband stole six of our horses and now she refuses to compensate us.”

The man turned around to her and smiled just like Li Bo and his servants. ”How can you do that? Theft is a serious crime especially if we're talking about something with such a high value like six horses.”

”My husband didn't steal anything.”