Chapter 233

Everyone remained silent, the leading commander threatened, saying, "Put down your weapons, or I'll have you die beneath a hail of arrows."

Two guards protected Prince Long Yefang front and rear; as for Hu Xiaotian, right now no one cared whether he lived or died. Hu Xiaotian silently cursed his bad luck, thinking his misfortune had passed, coming to Xiezhou would be an end, but he never expected to run into such bad luck the moment he arrived. Hu Xiaotian quickly analyzed the situation in a short time. Everything before him was definitely not a misunderstanding; Prince Long Yefang's status is what it is, daring to surround the prince with swords drawn—this is rebellion, and according to Dakang law it warrants execution. These people wouldn't dare do this even if they had the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard; behind them there must be a meticulous plan.

After they arrived in Xiezhou, everything proceeded under Yang Daoquan's arrangements; the situation before us is inevitably connected to Yang Daoquan.

Hu Xiaotian silently reminded himself to stay calm; he coughed once, instantly drawing everyone's attention to himself. Hu Xiaotian smiled and said, "Gentlemen, you're not joking, are we? We were invited by Sir Yang; since you're not welcoming us, we'll have to leave." He winked at Prince Long Yefang, pretending to want to leave, but immediately two long swords blocked his path, and the leader shouted, "Seize them all!"

Outside, a calm and steady voice suddenly said, "Wait!"

A young, handsome man strode over accompanied by four warriors, his steps like a dragon and tiger. He was in his twenties, tall and broad-shouldered, with a tiger back and wolf waist; long-term outdoor training gave his skin a healthy bronze hue, his nose bridge high, his eyebrows like swords and eyes bright. His gaze was like a sword, extremely sharp.

Hu Xiaotian had never seen this person before, only feeling that the young man was extremely handsome. He was a strikingly beautiful man.

Prince Long Yefang saw the man and exclaimed in surprise, "General Li! How can it be you?" The young man was indeed the Jiannan Xichuan Military Commissioner, the eldest son of the founding duke of Xichuan, Li Honghan. Prince Long Yefang had met him before in Xizhou, and they had gotten along well.

Li Honghan smiled and said, "Why not me?"

Hu Xiaotian always felt that the smile at the corner of his mouth carried mockery and also a hint of killing intent.

Prince Long Yefang said, "Li Honghan, what do you mean? My father has treated your Li family well, yet you dare to lead troops to surround me—are you planning rebellion?"

Hearing Prince Long Yefang call out Li Honghan's name, Hu Xiaotian was utterly shocked—damn it! This man is my future brother-in-law; when did he arrive in Xiezhou? He actually led troops to surround the prince. Doesn't he fear extermination of his clan? Seeing the icy killing intent in Li Honghan's eyes, Hu Xiaotian's mind instantly cleared—done! Rebellion! Li Honghan really is going to rebel today. The guard on Prince Long Yefang's left shouted and swung his blade at Li Honghan: "I'll kill you, traitor!"

The guard beside Li Honghan was about to step forward to block him, but he heard Li Honghan coldly shout, "Move!" He flashed a sword from his waist, a bolt of lightning like a startled swoop from beyond the heavens—no one saw his movement clearly, and Li Honghan had already sheathed his blade.

The guard's chest was pierced through; he kept his forward motion for a moment, then blood spurted from his chest, his face filled with astonishment, and he collapsed with a thud. Blood instantly pooled on the ground.

Prince Long Yefang was so frightened he nearly fainted; the guard beside him threw his sword aside, dropped to his knees, and trembled, "I surrender to General Li..."

Hu Xiaotian saw these men who usually boasted of fearless bravery, willing to go through fire and water for their master, regarding death as nothing, now truly faced with life and death they acted so cowardly that he couldn't help but secretly despise them. Recalling the household servants around him, most were the same. Human nature is like that—no one fears death. The situation had become clear: Li Honghan's rebellion was a foregone conclusion. This should not be seen as Li Honghan's personal act; his future father-in-law, the Jiannan Xichuan Military Commissioner Li Tianheng, would surely know of it, and without his approval Li Honghan would never dare do such a thing. Thinking back to Yang Daoquan's behavior since entering Xiezhou, Hu Xiaotian felt even more alarmed, fearing that it wasn't just the Li family rebelling, but the entire Xichuan under Li Tianheng's rule.

Various signs show that Yang Daoquan also played a supporting role—in other words, he had known about all this beforehand. Rebellion! It seems a major event is indeed unfolding; my future father-in-law has actually turned against the court—does he intend to carve out Xichuan and proclaim himself king?

Li Honghan narrowed his eyes at the kneeling guard, nodded, then flashed his sword out and stabbed it into the guard's heart—his action greatly exceeded Hu Xiaotian's expectations; he hadn't expected Li Honghan to be so ruthless toward someone who had surrendered. The guard clutched his chest and fell, his eyes filled with disbelief.

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His gaze shifted again to Prince Long Yefang's face; the prince could no longer suppress his fear and slumped to the ground with a thud, pointing at Hu Xiaotian and saying, "It turns out… it turns out you two conspired against me…"

Hearing his accusation, Hu Xiaotian felt like crying but had no tears—damn it, does he have no brain? Me teaming up with him to harm you? This has nothing to do with me, okay? If I knew the Li family intended to rebel, I wouldn't have followed you here for anything; I wouldn't even dare stay in Xichuan—I'd have slipped away long ago.

Li Honghan said, "Your Highness Prince Long Yefang, if you want to live, you need to cooperate more with me." He waved his hand: "Take His Highness Prince Long Yefang back to his quarters to rest."

Immediately two people came over, dragged the terrified Prince Long Yefang, whose soul had left his body, up from the ground, carried him out of the Jingyi Pavilion, and someone else cleaned up the two corpses.

Hu Xiaotian stood there silently, quietly contemplating his Yingdui de ce.

After everyone had dispersed, only Li Honghan and Hu Xiaotian remained in the Jingyi Pavilion. Li Honghan sized up Hu Xiaotian across from him, a faint smile touching his lips: "You are Hu Xiaotian!"

Hu Xiaotian nodded; although he had personally witnessed such a shocking, bloody scene, he still appeared calm and composed, clasping his fists and saying, "I have met you, Elder Brother Li." By sentiment and reason he should call him elder brother—Li Honghan is his future brother-in-law, but that was in the past; now that the Li family has rebelled, even if his father were foolish he could not ally by marriage with a rebel. Thinking of his father, Hu Xiaotian's heart sank; he did not know how much impact this Li family rebellion would have on his father.

His father was far away in the capital; even if worried, he could be of no help, so if he must worry, he should first worry about himself.

Li Honghan smiled and said, "You must have had a rough time escorting Prince Long Yefang all the way from Qingyun."

"I did run into some trouble, but it was nothing serious." Hu Xiaotian silently sighed; he had thought that arriving in Xiezhou would mean his sufferings were over and the dangers of the journey were finally behind him, but he never expected the real peril to begin only after he reached Xiezhou. The Li family's rebellion—its chief strategist, Zhang Ziqian, surely must have heard some whisper; this old fox is truly scheming, back in Qingyun he never gave me even a hint, always keeping me in the dark—damn it, you old fox have screwed me over.

Li Honghan said, "My father often praises you in front of us; ever since he learned you had come to Xichuan, I've been eager to meet you, but unfortunately there's been too much going on and no chance."

Hu Xiaotian laughed and said, "Since I arrived in Qingyun there's been no end to things; I should have long gone to Xizhou to pay respects to Uncle Li, but because matters kept piling up, I still haven't managed to go—speaking of it, as a junior I've been quite rude."

Li Honghan secretly praised this kid's cleverness, not mentioning a word about what had just happened under his eyes, only talking about trivial matters. Li Honghan said, "My father very much wants to see you; before coming to Xiezhou, he specifically instructed me that if I met you, I must invite you to go to Xichuan."

Hu Xiaotian nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, I should go visit Uncle Li." The circumstances left him no choice, and how could he be allowed to object?

Li Honghan said, "Xiaotian, I've already had people set up a banquet at the Lan Yue Lou; let's go together."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Sure, sure, but this outfit of mine doesn't seem formal enough; I'll go back and change first."

Li Honghan didn't stop him, smiling: "Just go."

Hu Xiaotian walked toward his own room; Li Honghan, although not accompanying him, had sent two trusted aides to follow behind Hu Xiaotian. Hu Xiaotian silently cursed this sly fellow, returned to his room, closed the door, took out his luggage, quickly changed clothes, gathered all important items, kept them close, which included the Hu family's Dan Shu Iron Voucher and the ebony token given by Senior Eunuch Ande Quan; the rest of the unimportant items he discarded. He quickly skimmed the instructions for the human-skin mask given by Qin Yutong, hid the mask close to his body, then burned that instruction sheet to ashes.

Upon going outside, he discovered that Li Honghan's two trusted aides were still standing guard outside; it seemed Li Honghan was also very wary of him, fearing he might flee, so he had sent people to closely monitor him.

Hu Xiaotian couldn't help but have a headache; given the situation, escaping was truly as difficult as climbing to heaven; he could only take things step by step, waiting for a suitable opportunity to attempt escape.

As he passed the garden, Hu Xiaotian instinctively glanced toward the room where the Prince of Zhou resided, but he did not know how Long Ye Fang was faring now; before the Li family's rebellion, there had been no omens, yet he did not know why they would commit such a grave treason. The only thing Hu Xiaotian could be certain of was that something major had definitely happened within the Dakang court; he just didn't know whether it had implicated his own parents, and thinking of this made him even more anxious.

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