Morning after the inheritance. Yu prepares to leave his attic with copied statutes while the six debt lanterns hover near the rafters.

Yu leaves the noodle-stall attic and reviews why the Han debt can be negotiated.

Yu arrives at the Han textile district, where white silk and dyed threads fill the street.

At the hall entrance, Yu announces himself and asks for a formal claimant rather than a family scolding.

Yu enters the Han textile hall, overwhelmed by cloth, looms, and family wealth.

Yu is seated before the Han contract table under the watching eyes of unnamed heirs.

Han Yulian is brought into view as the true claimant and center of the room.

Han Yulian formally identifies herself as the proper claimant, causing the Han lantern to flare.

Yu confirms the rule aloud and Han Yulian clarifies the danger in plain terms.

Han Yulian states the old wrong: poisoning over a textile contract.

Yu admits the ancestral crime and his inability to pay money or body parts.

The Han household expects blood or money, but Han Yulian asks what Yu can offer.

Yu opens his copied statute and begins his legal argument.

Yu explains apprenticeship-years as a substitute payment if accepted before extinction.

Yu offers ten years of labor, payable after the settlement period in seasonal blocks.

Yu explains why he needs seasonal blocks: five other debts can still kill him, making a dead apprentice useless.

Han Yulian accepts the structure but cuts the price to half, revealing she values the correct legal citation.

The Han contract is drafted, spelling out the negotiated debt and the consequences of breaking it.

Yu signs the Han settlement, sealing the first negotiated debt.

The Han lantern dims to steady gold, and Yu realizes one debt is negotiated but not erased.

Han Yulian asks why Yu chose the Han claim first and brings forward a patterned cloth.

Han Yulian speaks in loom language about six threads and the third that was never spun.

Yu asks if Han Yulian means one of his lanterns, but she refuses to say it plainly.

Yu leaves the Han hall with one debt negotiated and a new fear about the third lantern.