Chapter 13: [Proud and Exultant] (Part 1)

Tang Qingxuan never expected he would actually ask such a reserved and shameful question; she blushed and said: "At that time you were naturally wearing pants!" After saying that, she immediately realized she might have fallen into his trap.

Hu Xiaotian laughed and said: "I was wearing pants, what could I do by stuffing her head between my legs? Tang Tiehan, what do you think I was doing?"

"This…… you……"

Hu Xiaotian said: "You must think I forced your sister to use her mouth to do that kind of thing for me..."

"I didn't, I never thought of having my sister use her mouth to do that for you..." The two exchanged questions and answers; although they never explicitly said what exactly was done, everyone present understood perfectly, all the women there heard it and felt their faces flush and hearts race; Tang Qingxuan was so embarrassed she wished she could bash her head against a wall, my foolish brother, you're really stupid, how could you be so easily taken in by this villain!

"You're lying, dare you swear to heaven? If you really thought that, may your entire Tang family meet a bad end!"

Tang Tiehan opened his mouth wide, he didn't dare utter such a vicious oath, and froze there for a moment.

Tang Wen Zheng saw his son being forced to the point he couldn't speak, secretly scolded his son as useless, and grew angry at Hu Xiaotian's insolence; he let out a cold snort and said: "Sir Hu!" reminding Hu Buwei that speaking for his son like this was really over the top.

At this moment Hu Buwei's mood was as refreshing as drinking chilled mung bean soup in the dog days of summer, he exclaimed "refreshing" over and over; although he clearly saw Tang Wen Zheng's face turn livid with anger and heard him calling him, he pretended not to see or hear anything.

Hu Xiaotian pressed step by step, giving Tang Tiehan no chance to catch his breath: "Did you or didn't you think that?"

Tang Tiehan, pressed to the edge by him, blurted out: "Yes, I did think that!" A gasp rose from the crowd, several elders slowly shook their heads, clearly extremely disappointed in Tang Tiehan. Tang Qingxuan's mind went completely blank at that moment, feeling numb from the roots of her hair to her toenails, she had no idea what she was thinking or doing.

Hu Xiaotian opened his mouth wide, looking astonished as if he could fit a duck egg inside, and loudly said: "Do you have any humanity? Thinking that about me would be bad enough, but to think that about your own sister—truly measuring a gentleman's heart with a petty mind!" Then he bowed to Prefect Hong Baiqi and said: "Sir Hong, the matter is already clear; it's simply that Tang Tiehan's mind is dirty and sordid, all the lies are his fabrications."

Tang Tiehan, scolded into speechlessness, after holding back for a while finally said: "Is it true that you abducted my sister?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "You brought so many people here, constantly calling me a rapist/thief, wanting to kill me quickly; if I didn't leave, would I just stand there waiting for you to chop me?"

"But you kidnapped my sister..."

"I can't beat you, explaining to you does no good; only this method can make you obediently listen."

"But why did you abduct my sister and bring her here? If not for ill intent, what is it?"

Hu Xiaotian burst out laughing: "Good question!" He took a step toward Tang Tiehan, his eyes gleaming as he fixed his gaze on Tang Tiehan and said: "If I say I have a pure and innocent relationship with your sister, would you believe me?"

Tang Tiehan angrily said: "Only a ghost would believe you!" As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately realized he had been tricked again by him, his face turning from black to purple with rage.

Hu Xiaotian laughed: "It seems you can't wait for me to do something improper to your sister!"

"You're full of shit! You're just a rapist/thief!" Tang Tiehan, enraged, raised a fist the size of a wine vat, wishing he could smash Hu Xiaotian's hateful face with a heavy blow. As the saying goes, fear not a godlike opponent, but a piglike teammate; Tang Tiehan would be better off silent, but the more he speaks the more confused he gets, and the more he speaks the worse the situation becomes for his side.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Accusing me of being a rapist/thief, Tang Qingxuan, since you brought me to the Minister's residence, have I ever done even the slightest improper thing to you?"

Tang Qingxuan was left speechless; this guy's eloquence is truly formidable—clearly she had the upper hand in reason, yet somehow she now finds herself at a loss for words.

Murong Feiyan said: "Sir, Miss Tang is still an unmarried young lady; some things are truly too shameful to speak of."

Hu Xiaotian said: "She's unmarried, and I'm not married either; she cares about her reputation, and I care about mine just as much. You Tang family keep calling me a rapist/thief, saying I've done improper things to Tang Qingxuan; to put it bluntly, I brought her here and had plenty of opportunity to do improper things—did I? Tang Qingxuan, tell them, have I done anything improper to you?"

Tang Qingxuan was left mute by his questioning, feeling utterly wronged, and she let out a cry: "Ah!" and burst into tears.

Tang Wen Zheng saw his daughter reduced to this state by him, could no longer suppress his inner fire, and angrily said: "Sir Hu, please ask your son to show some mercy in his words!"

Hu Buwei said: "I will discipline my own son; Xiaotian, in front of everyone, speak clearly—did you or didn't you do anything improper to the Tang family's young lady?" Hu Buwei felt delighted at this moment; a bunch of clueless fools actually dared to provoke our Hu family— I am a crafty hero, my son is no saint; having fallen into our hands, you've had eight lifetimes of bad luck.

Hu Xiaotian said: "I don't know what improper conduct is; people differ, their views of the world differ, their standards of good and evil differ; I only know what is good and what is bad, I truly don't understand what improper conduct is; Miss Tang, why don't you teach me how to commit improper conduct?"

Thud! Tang Qingxuan collapsed flat on the ground; this time she truly fainted from anger, because everyone's attention was focused on Hu Xiaotian and no one could react in time.

Tang Wen Zheng rushed forward and embraced his daughter, tears streaming down his face as he cried: "Daughter…… wake up, wake up……"

The three Tang brothers, furious, charged forward to fight Hu Xiaotian to the death.

Hu Xiaotian felt fearless, with Prefect Hong present here, he reckoned those three idiots couldn't stir up much trouble; Murong Feiyan hurriedly stepped in to block them.

Tang Wen Zheng pinched her philtrum and shook her shoulders, finally rousing Tang Qingxuan, who sobbed: "Injustice…… Father…… I want to go home……" At this moment Tang Qingxuan felt as if she had been stripped bare, losing all dignity and self-respect; her only thought was to return home, the sooner she escaped this place the better— earlier she had sought justice, now she only hopes this villain will stop bothering her.

Hong Baiqi sighed and said: "Both sirs, please hear me out!"

Hu Buwei, having the upper hand, naturally adopted a lofty attitude, smiled and said: "Sir Hong, please speak!"

Tang Wen Zheng also did not object, tightly holding his daughter, feeling grim, outmatched, further words useless; that his daughter's chastity remained unharmed by this scoundrel was already a great fortune amidst misfortune, and other matters were less important.

Hong Baiqi said: "I think this incident is merely a misunderstanding; young people are hot-blooded, and a disagreement can lead to a brawl. Having served as an official for many years, I've seen such things often; fortunately we arrived in time and nothing went wrong. Since nobody suffered any harm, I think we should just drop the matter."

Tang Wen Zheng's eyes burned with anger, but facing the two senior officials he dared not openly erupt.

Hu Buwei, having gained the advantage, merely listened with a smug smile, saying nothing.

Hong Baiqi asked: "I don't know what the two sirs think?"

Hu Buwei softly sighed and said: "We all serve in the same court, as ministers in the same hall; we must not let this small matter harm our harmony. Regardless of what caused today's incident, my son bringing Miss Tang to our home was originally his fault; this matter originally is our Hu family's blame to bear." Although he made a concession, these words carried no admission of fault—first he said the cause of the incident was unclear, then he said his son brought Tang Qingxuan to their home. Tang Wen Zheng heard it clearly, inwardly cursing: "Old thief! Clearly it was your wicked son who abducted my daughter and brought her here, yet you now say he brought her here, turning black and white upside down, confusing right and wrong, a villain! I, Tang Wen Zheng, am ashamed to be associated with you."

Hu Buwei said: "Today's losses are all on my account." He then turned to Hu Xiaotian and said: "Xiaotian, hurry up and apologize to your Uncle Tang!" By saying this he effectively declared the matter over.

The three Tang sons naturally disagreed with this handling, wanting to speak but stopped by their father's gaze.

Hu Xiaotian slowly approached Tang Wen Zheng, bowed deeply, and said: "Uncle Tang, I am young; if I have offended in any way, please forgive me."

Tang Wen Zheng reluctantly nodded, not wanting to stay another moment in the Hu residence; he rose and said: "Sir Hu, Sir Hong, I have other matters, farewell!" He clasped his hands, said hardly a word, turned and left. Seeing their father depart, the Tang siblings naturally followed. Tang Tiehan and Tang Tiecheng, the two brothers, had been holding a bellyful of resentment toward Hu Xiaotian; as they were about to leave they pointed at him resentfully.

Hu Xiaotian grinned and said: "How about the matter of the thatched pavilion?"

The two brothers, hearing him bring up the burning of the thatched pavilion again, were frightened and turned to flee.

Hong Baiqi saw that today's affair had been blown up then reduced to a trifle, felt secretly relieved, did not linger further, gathered his troops, exchanged a few pleasantries with Hu Buwei, and also took his leave.

Hu Buwei saw Hong Baiqi off, looked at the messy, disordered backyard, and couldn't help shaking his head.

Hu Xiaotian, not knowing when he had come to his father's side, gazed at the grass pavilion reduced to ashes and said with a cheeky grin: "Father, is the matter of the grass pavilion really just going to be let go like that?"

Hu Buwei suddenly reached out, fiercely grabbed his ear, and said: "You wretched creature, look at the fine deed you've done!"

Hu Xiaotian screamed in pain: "Ouch, ouch! Let go, let go!"

Hu Buwei loosened his grip, then lightly patted the back of his head with his palm—not a real blow; although he scolded his son, his eyes were full of affection. Today his son's performance truly delighted him beyond expectation; he had never imagined that his son, who had been feeble-minded for sixteen years, upon waking could unleash such tremendous power—his earlier showing truly deserved the praise "radiant brilliance, startling all." Gazing at the grass pavilion now reduced to ashes, Hu Buwei said: "Grass pavilion, court! Your mind is actually quite sharp."