Chapter 209

Liu Bajü was the first to react, he hurriedly went to draw his waist blade, Murong Feiyan's beautiful eyes narrowed, she took a quick step forward and kicked him in the chest. Liu Bajü's martial arts were mediocre, how could he withstand Murong Feiyan's kick? He was kicked flying backward, his back striking the case table, his waist blade also flew to the side, and when he landed his head heavily hit the ground, actually passing out.

These people usually bully the villagers with ease, but they had never seen such a scene before; each of them turned deathly pale. Clerk Guo Shouguang trembled as he said, 'Rebellion… Are you planning to revolt?'

Hu Xiaotian walked over and slapped him across the face, causing Guo Shouguang's cheek to swell high; he covered his mouth and dared not speak.

At this moment, Clerk Xingshan led more than a dozen constables rushing in from outside upon hearing the news, pointing at Hu Xiaotian and saying, 'Hu Xiaotian, how dare you act above your station…'

Hu Xiaotian laughed loudly, raised the token in his hand, and declared arrogantly, 'Open your eyes and see clearly—this token was bestowed by the Founding Duke, Grand Marshal Li; the token's presence is as if the Grand Marshal himself were here, so all of you kneel before me!'

Although those constables did not recognize the token, hearing the name of the Founding Duke of Xichuan, Li Tianheng, they all scrambled to kneel. Xingshan hesitated whether to kneel when Liu Kuohai had already rushed forward and punched him, leaving his face bloody.

Xu Qinglian trembled as he said, 'Hu Xiaotian, you are lawless; what crime have I, Xu Qinglian, loyal to the state, committed?'

Hu Xiaotian sneered, 'Colluding with the Wuxian Sect and secretly releasing a court criminal!'

'You spout nonsense, tarnishing my purity!'

Hu Xiaotian took out a night pearl the size of a chicken egg: 'You should know what this is, right? Not many characters.'

'Ah…' Xu Qinglian, upon seeing that night pearl, instantly turned ashen-faced, yet he still stubbornly said, 'I have never seen such a thing!'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Your mouth is tough; I don't believe your wife's mouth is as tough as yours. Corruption, colluding with rebels—any one of those charges is enough to exterminate your nine clans!' He swept his gaze over the shocked clerks and roared, 'Who else among you is allied with Xu Qinglian?'

A group of clerks, terrified, all dropped to their knees; Clerk Guo Shouguang led the call, 'Sir, please see clearly—we have no connection with him whatsoever…'

Hu Xiaotian gave a hollow cold laugh and, to the constables still kneeling unable to rise, said, 'Pass my order: lock up these corrupt, lawless wretches in the jail; after I report to the Prince, we will deal with them further!'

Hu Xiaotian, with the speed of thunder before one can cover one's ears, rounded up all the officials of Qingyun and imprisoned them in the jail; only by such means could he sever the link between the government office and Heavenly Wolf Mountain, preventing anyone from leaking news to the bandits. Xu Qinglian, Liu Bajü, Guo Shouguang, and others were captured simultaneously, signifying that Hu Xiaotian had now gained actual control over the Qingyun clerks and the city garrison.

Although the action was swift and decisive, news still reached the Prince; shortly after detaining Xu Qinglian and the others, the Prince received word and ordered Hu Xiaotian to go to the Wan residence to explain.

The Wan residence's guard had been greatly strengthened these past two days; besides their own household retainers, Qingyun County had deployed nearly fifty soldiers to take charge of defending the streets around the Wan residence.

When Hu Xiaotian arrived at the Wan residence's gate, he passed through three checkpoints; Qingyun County rarely sees such an important figure, so tightening security was quite normal.

Since Prince Long Yefang caused the incident of sending troops to besiege and capture Xi Yan, Hu Xiaotian had lumped him among the unreliable; this visit to see Long Yefang was the first after that incident, and Hu Xiaotian wondered whether the Prince would bear a grudge over it. Moreover, today he had arrested and imprisoned all of Qingyun's officials. He feared the Prince might therefore cause trouble.

Prince Long Yefang's mood was better than Hu Xiaotian had anticipated; upon hearing that Hu Xiaotian had come to request an audience, he immediately ordered the guards to let him in.

Although the Wan family cannot match the imperial palace in luxury, being able to have such superior lodging in a small border county of the southwest is already quite good.

Prince Long Yefang had just finished dinner, sitting alone in the room; when Hu Xiaotian entered, he was holding a teacup, silently gazing at a painting on the wall—Hu Xiaotian could see it clearly. That painting was precisely the sketch he had done of Xi Yan; Long Yefang had bought it at a charity auction for two thousand taels of gold. Speaking of this, Hu Xiaotian felt a bit gloomy: although Long Yefang had won the bid on the spot, he had not paid then. In other words, the prince had given a blank check, which remains uncashed to this day; he does not take the initiative to pay, and no one dares to demand payment from him. Hu Xiaotian does not think the seventeenth prince cares about this small sum; most likely he simply forgot.

Prince Long Yefang was engrossed in the painting; Hu Xiaotian did not dare disturb him, so he simply stood respectfully to the side—unexpectedly, this prince was truly a lovesick fool.

After a while, Prince Long Yefang finally let out a long sigh and said, 'Heaven-born beauty, why become a bandit?'

Hu Xiaotian did not reply, thinking to himself, 'Prince Long Yefang, you'd better stay away from Xi Yan—beauty brings disaster. Regardless of whether Ande Quan's claim that she belongs to the Wuxian Sect is true, just from that girl's behavior she is almost certainly a heretical demoness. It's not that I have ulterior motives; I'm doing this for your own good. If you weren't the emperor's son, and if I weren't worried about you getting into trouble in Qingyun, you'd be begging for death and I wouldn't bother to stop you.'

Prince Long Yefang slowly turned his body, his gaze falling on Hu Xiaotian's face.

Hu Xiaotian bowed deeply and said, 'Your humble servant pays respects to the Prince, Thousand Years, Thousand Thousand Years!'

Prince Long Yefang waved his hand and said, 'No need for that; I dislike those cumbersome formalities most. Whether there are outsiders present or not, I have always treated you as a friend—why act like ordinary officials, groveling and fawning?'

'Your grandpa is the one who's all fawning and obsequious? I'm just observing propriety—superior and inferior have their distinctions. If I were to sit on equal footing with you, you'd accuse me of disrespect. These princes and grandsons are really hard to serve,' Hu Xiaotian muttered inwardly, while his face still bore a false, insincere smile. In fact, the Prince wasn't wrong; his current demeanor is exactly that of obsequious fawning.

Prince Long Yefang pointed to the stool opposite him; Hu Xiaotian made another bow, then, feeling apprehensive, sat down carefully, only perching on the edge of the seat, ready to rise at any moment, for heavenly majesty is inscrutable and the emperor's son is prone to sudden anger—one never knows when he might flare up, so one must always be prepared to bow and kneel. Hu Xiaotian looked down on himself, thinking, 'In my past life I don't recall ever being so base.'

Prince Long Yefang said, 'A graceful, virtuous lady—gentlemen seek her; this painting is executed with great care.'

Hu Xiaotian's heart twitched; the Prince's words had hidden meaning—after all these days, this grandson still can't stop talking about that demoness Xi Yan; it seems nine times out of ten he bears a grudge against me. I had thought that after arriving he would ask about Xu Qinglian and those officials, but now it appears he hasn't given them a thought at all.

Prince Long Yefang said, 'Only by pouring feeling into it can one render this painting so vivid in both spirit and form.' He fixed his gaze on Hu Xiaotian's eyes and said, 'It seems you like her!' Naturally, 'her' refers to Xi Yan.

Hu Xiaotian almost wanted to cry but had no tears; he thought, 'I have nothing to do with her.' He quickly rose and bowed deeply, saying, 'Your Highness, I swear before heaven that I harbor not the slightest romantic feeling for Xi Yan; that day at the Hongyan Tower was also the first time I saw her.'

Prince Long Yefang smiled and said, 'You need not panic; such a beauty who could overturn kingdoms would stir any man—unless you are not a man.'

'You're the one who's not a man,' Hu Xiaotian thought, realizing that Prince Long Yefang's mindset was not on the same level as his; after all, he is still the emperor's son—why doesn't he ponder state affairs instead of just romance? Fortunately the old emperor didn't pass the throne to such a person; handing it to him would result in national ruin and familial destruction. Hu Xiaotian said, 'A beauty who could overturn kingdoms might just bring disaster to the state and harm to the people; the more beautiful a woman, the greater the danger.'…

Prince Long Yefang laughed heartily and said, 'Xiaotian, you need not be so afraid; I said those words without intending to blame you. I am not blind, of course I can see that you like Xi Yan. In fact, when you told me that day she was a member of the Wuxian Sect, you were trying to get me to retreat when facing difficulty.'

Hu Xiaotian felt vexed: 'How on earth did Prince Long Yefang's brain develop like this? I'm doing this for your own good, yet you call this cleverness—it's just pretended cleverness.'

Prince Long Yefang said, 'I don't blame you; beauty is like jade, only the virtuous may possess it. Although our backgrounds differ, in this regard there is no need to yield.'

Hu Xiaotian felt a bit unhinged by this fellow: 'Beauty is like jade, only the virtuous may possess it'—damn it! Clearly the mandate of heaven is constant, yet only the virtuous may possess it. This guy is fundamentally someone who loves beauty more than the realm, yet he puts on an air of broad-mindedness, pretending to compete fairly with me—what a screw-up, damn it, the emperor's sons are not all normal.

Hu Xiaotian dared not sit, maintaining a bowed, humble posture: 'Your Highness, I have already given my heart to another.'

Prince Long Yefang, hearing this, felt slightly surprised and let out a soft 'Oh': 'I don't know whose daughter could make you so devoted.' He apparently had no knowledge of Hu Xiaotian's personal affairs.

Hu Xiaotian said, 'It is the daughter of Li, the Governor-General of Xichuan, Li Wuyou.'

Prince Long Yefang stared in astonishment and said, 'Isn't she his paralyzed daughter?' After saying that, he immediately realized he had misspoken, his expression turning awkward. After all, as a member of the imperial family he still had some decorum; speaking of another's shortcomings is like rubbing salt in a wound, which seems rather unkind.

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Although she suffers from illness, in my heart she is the most perfect girl in this world; my affection for her is deep-rooted and unwavering.' Even he felt his molars ache from the sourness; these insincere, lovey-dovey words are hardly believable to anyone.

Yet Prince Long Yefang was taken in by him, feeling moved, he nodded and said, 'Xiaotian, I never expected you to be so devoted and sincere; it seems I have wrongly blamed you.' He rose, patted Hu Xiaotian's shoulder, and added, 'In the past I did not believe that love could transcend age, appearance, and health, but now I finally believe that true love still exists in this world.'

It is already the last day of the month; if anyone still has monthly tickets, please cast them for the Medical Union—tomorrow they will all be cleared and the count will start anew.

In November, Zhangyu will still be battling for the monthly ticket ranking; the anticipated release should be on the first, at midnight Zhangyu will release eight chapters—you definitely didn't misread, eight chapters! Furthermore, two more chapters will be posted tomorrow evening, meaning that tomorrow will still feature a genuine ten-chapter release! Everyone, stay up late to watch the show—Zhangyu won't go to sleep until he finishes those eight chapters!

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