Chapter 19

Everyone was stunned, Hu Xiaotian blinked his eyes, could it be that Miss Huo is a dog? Really, strange things happen everywhere, especially here, haha, with so many people gathered here for a poetry gathering, the important guest they were waiting for turns out to be a dog.

At that moment, the originally somewhat noisy hall suddenly fell silent. A lady in a white long dress walked slowly over; her white dress was spotless, her black hair simply tied in a casual bun, an ancient plain hairpin inserted into the bun. A light veil covered her face, so her full appearance could not be seen; her eyebrows were lightly swept, her beautiful eyes clear yet profound. With just a glance, everyone in the hall felt she was looking at them, and their hearts involuntarily thumped.

Hu Xiaotian fixed his eyes on the white‑clad lady, secretly admiring her. Although he didn't know the girl's true appearance, her bearing and grace were beyond compare; from her every move he could tell she had certainly studied male psychology—like holding a pipa half‑hiding her face, this half‑hidden, half‑revealed demeanor was a deadly allure to those self‑styled refined yet not vulgar literati. If a girl in a bikini strutted over chest out and hips swaying, most of this pretentious lot would accuse her of corrupting morals. Hu Xiaotian glanced at Minister of Rites Wu Jingshan and saw the old fogey smiling faintly at the approaching white‑clad girl, much more friendly than before.

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed, old fogey, don't look at your dignified façade—you have no idea what dirty thoughts of male theft and female prostitution are running through your mind. Looking at how heavily this girl is dressed, you'd probably wish your eyes could become X‑rays to see straight through her interior. Hu Xiaotian also doesn't know why he dislikes Wu Jingshan so much; likely because Wu Jingshan and his father are political rivals. Although he isn't fond of his father either, after all they're family, and at critical moments he still sides with his father.

Minister of Rites Wu Jingshan, by virtue of his position, could still keep his seat, but the other literati were visibly agitated; Vice Censor‑in‑Chief Su Qingkun actually rose to greet her, smiling and saying, "Miss Huo has arrived!"

This white‑clad lady is none other than the famed performer Huo Xiaoru of Dakang; she not only excels in song and dance but also possesses extraordinary talent, a celebrated talent of Dakang, versed in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and her usual lyrics and melodies are her own compositions. The nobles and aristocrats of Dakang consider it an honor to invite Huo Xiaoru to perform at festivals. This time she came to Kangdu at the invitation of the Ministry of Rites to compose celebratory song and dance for the Emperor's sixtieth birthday, and she has already been staying in the capital for over four months.

Xu Zhongying had been staring at Huo Xiaoru nonstop since she arrived at the Yan Shui Pavilion; if Hu Xiaotian hadn't nudged him with his elbow, he would hardly have noticed Hu Xiaotian standing beside him. Xu Zhongying quietly introduced Huo Xiaoru's background to Hu Xiaotian, who suddenly realized that Huo Xiaoru is like a past female star—she takes the intellectual route and plays the artsy vibe. Such stars share a common trait: they put on an act. But as long as the act is just right, their allure for men in general is almost deadly, especially for those middle‑aged and older literati who fancy themselves refined; they are most enamored of this style.

Just by showing half her face, Huo Xiaoru had already left those literati hearts racing and minds unsettled.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on Huo Xiaoru; at this moment even Minister of Rites Wu Jingshan's halo of prominence dimmed considerably, and no one paid attention to her retinue. Behind her followed a Lan‑clad maidservant, a girl of about thirteen or fourteen, not yet fully developed, with a round, baby‑fat face and short stature, holding a pure‑white fox dog. Originally no one noticed her, but the little dog in her arms seemed eager to make its presence known, wriggling free of her embrace and jumping down to run beside Huo Xiaoru, barking "Wang! Wang!" twice.

Now everyone's eyes involuntarily turned toward it.

Minister of Rites Wu Jingshan gazed at the white‑furred little dog, lightly twirling the few sparse hairs on his chin, and smiled, saying, "Hey, take a look—is that a wolf or a dog?"

Everyone was stunned, thinking, "This is clearly a little dog—how can Minister Wu not even tell a dog from a wolf?" But after a brief moment of bewilderment, they immediately realized his words carried a hidden meaning; he was essentially pointing at the mulberry tree to curse the locust tree—superficially asking whether it was a wolf or a dog, but in fact using a homophone to say "the vice minister is a dog." The only vice minister present was Xu Zhongying of the Ministry of Revenue, so Wu Jingshan was effectively insulting him to his face. Upon grasping this, the hall burst into laughter; some had tried to hold back, but hearing others laugh triggered them, and the first to laugh was Vice Censor‑in‑Chief Su Qingkun—if he didn't laugh, nobody else dared, and once he laughed, everyone laughed.

Xu Zhongying understood Wu Jingshan's meaning right away; hearing the hall erupt in laughter, his old face flushed red, and he silently cursed Wu Jingshan as an old dog for daring to publicly call him a dog relying on his authority. Although Xu Zhongying was angry, he feared Wu Jingshan's rank and dared not retort to his face.

Wu Jingshan then turned with a smug smile to Xu Zhongying and said, "Sir Xu, you are well‑read and learned; in your opinion, is this thing a wolf or a dog?"

Xu Zhongying cursed Wu Jingshan's ancestors eighteen generations over in his heart, but he lacked the courage to openly confront him; suppressing his anger, he put on a smile and said, "Sir Wu, I am humble and ignorant—I truly cannot tell the difference!"

Hu Xiaotian looked at Xu Zhongying with some contempt, thinking, "This guy has no spine—he can even endure being insulted to his face by Minister Wu." Seeing Wu Jingshan act so arrogantly, and then noticing Huo Xiaoru's beautiful eyes forming a crescent, he could hardly keep from laughing. Since Hu Xiaotian had come together with Xu Zhongying, mocking Xu Zhongying amounted to mocking him as well, and a feeling of common cause against a common enemy arose in him. He said calmly, "Actually, telling a dog from a wolf isn't hard at all."

Because everyone's attention was fixed on Wu Jingshan and Xu Zhongying, nobody dared to interject at that moment, but Hu Xiaotian chose to speak then, instantly drawing everyone's focus.

Xu Zhongying silently groaned, "This kid promised to play dumb, so why is he speaking now? Does he think I haven't embarrassed myself enough?" He furtively gave Hu Xiaotian a look meaning, "Don't get involved."

Hu Xiaotian ignored him and said, "There are two ways to tell a dog from a wolf: one is by looking at the tail—if it hangs down, it's a wolf; if it stands up, it's a dog."

The hall fell silent as a grave; today's literati had gathered in full force, nobody a fool, and everyone could understand Hu Xiaotian's words. He retaliated against Minister Wu using the same logic, clearly saying the minister is a dog. While they secretly praised his clever answer, they also couldn't help feeling a secret shock—just who is this kid? To dare openly humiliate the Minister of Rites.

Xu Zhongying felt delighted inside, shouting, "Damn! He's got guts! Indeed, heroes emerge from youth—my hero father raises a fine son, and Hu Buwei's son is truly extraordinary—Minister Wu is a dog! Great! Great! Great!" After his exhilaration, Xu Zhongying felt a headache coming on, knowing Hu Xiaotian's reply would surely offend Minister Wu, and the blame would ultimately fall on him, since he was the one who brought Hu Xiaotian here. Offending Minister Wu might be a minor matter, but if Hu Buwei learned that he had brought his son out to stir up trouble, he feared the Revenue Ministry would no longer have any good days for him. "I'm really asking for trouble," he thought, "why did I bring this kid to the poetry gathering?"

Huo Xiaoru's beautiful eyes fell on this somewhat arrogant young man, and they brightened involuntarily; this youth is not only exceptionally wise but also extraordinarily bold—in fact, anyone who dares to publicly humiliate Minister of Rites Wu Jingshan is either recklessly courageous or a fool.

The fox dog actually ran toward Hu Xiaotian, and he picked it up from the ground.

Huo Xiaoru walked over to his direction, Hu Xiaotian stood up and returned the fox dog to her hand. Huo Xiaoru's pair of hands were white, tender, delicate, flawless, like orchid petals gently stroking the dog's snowy fur, she said softly: "Sir, you just sounded as if there were two methods?" She obviously had taken an interest in this bold young man.

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said: "Another method is to see what it eats; wolves eat nothing but meat, dogs eat meat when they encounter meat, and eat feces when they encounter feces!"

Huo Xiaoru's beautiful eyes burst with an unusual luster, her heart secretly marveling, this youth truly possessed extraordinary wisdom; his answer seemed crude, yet it shone with wisdom everywhere—this remark clearly scolded the Vice Censor-in-Chief Su Qingkun, saying "eat feces when encountering feces," which was basically saying the censor eats feces.

Xu Zhengying laughed loudly: "Marvelous! Marvelous! Marvelous!" This guy had been holding it in for a while; the Minister of Rites Wu Jingshan outranked him, so he didn't dare offend him, but Vice Censor-in-Chief Su Qingkun was even lower rank than him; just now Wu Jingshan had first challenged him, indirectly calling him a dog, and that bastard Su Qingkun led the mockery, saying "Your ancestors, you also have today." Xu Zhengying said: "What a fine saying: eat meat when encountering meat, eat feces when encountering feces— that's just a dog's nature." Xu Zhengying had now figured it all out; offending people is inevitable, better to go all out.

Huo Xiaoru couldn't help laughing, the skin exposed outside her white gauze blushed slightly, making her especially alluring; she said in a coquettish voice: "My dog hasn't offended you, but today it's been scolded terribly by you." She handed the fox dog to the maid behind her, her beautiful eyes flicked quickly to Hu Xiaotian's face, and she said softly: "Is anyone sitting beside you?"

Hu Xiaotian gallantly pulled out a chair for her, symbolically brushed it with his sleeve, and said: "Miss Huo, please take a seat!"

Minister of Rites Wu Jingshan's face turned livid with anger; he had originally intended to publicly humiliate Xu Zhengying, but he hadn't expected a Cheng Yaojin to appear midway—as the saying goes, "trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to bait it," and in the end he only brought disgrace upon himself. Huo Xiaoru had originally been seated beside him, but she seemed to give no face to the Minister of Rites, instead sitting directly next to Hu Xiaotian.