Chapter 27

Hu Xiaotian hehe laughed and said: "Speak, what is your purpose for breaking into my house at night?"

The flying thief said: "Sir, I'm hard up, so I wanted to rob you for some spending cash."

Hu Xiaotian gave a cold snort; the flying thief's arrogance had already aroused his anger. He lifted his foot and kicked the thief in the face, kicking him until his face was bloody, then said: "Hang them up and beat them until they tell the truth!"

At that moment, suddenly they saw flames shooting into the sky to the northeast; everyone was startled, and Liang Da Zhuang exclaimed in alarm: "Fire!"

At that time, the cries of the fire rose and fell; Hu Xiaotian left four servants to guard the two flying thieves, and led the others rushing over to put out the fire.

The fire occurred at the Study of the Minister's Residence, which was Hu Buwei's study. While Hu Xiaotian led the firefighting, he already vaguely suspected they had fallen for a "lure the tiger away from the mountain" ploy; just as they were capturing those two flying thieves, almost the entire strength of the Minister's Residence had been gathered, and while everyone was busy catching the thieves, someone else took the opportunity to sneak into the Study and set that fire.

Fortunately the fire was not large, and with the Minister's Residence having many servants, they extinguished the blaze in the Study in less than half an hour.

Not long after the fire was put out, the Jingzhao Prefecture also sent people to inspect the situation, led by Murong Feiyan; as it happens, this female constable has had a few encounters with Hu Xiaotian before. Gazing at the broken walls and ruins of the Study, Murong Feiyan furrowed her brows slightly. Recently, public order in the capital has been poor, with several thefts occurring in succession, yet no one dares to steal from officials' homes, for thieves also know that civilians do not contend with officials; if caught stealing from an official's residence, they fear the punishment would be even harsher.

At that moment, a man covered in soot walked over to her, from afar flashing a smile that revealed a mouthful of snow-white, even teeth. Seeing this carefree grin, Murong Feiyan finally recognized that the person before her was actually the Minister's son, Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian had just been busy fighting the fire and hadn't had a chance to wash the soot off his face; at this point he looked like someone who had just escaped from an inferno, an African brother. He came before Murong Feiyan, clasped his fists, and said: "Constable Murong, we meet again!"

Murong Feiyan had no fondness for this fellow at all, but she also clearly understood her main purpose for coming today, and realized that Hu Xiaotian appeared as a victim; she spoke softly: "What happened?"

Hu Xiaotian briefly recounted the night's encounter with the flying thieves; after listening, Murong Feiyan asked again: "Was anything lost?"

This question really left Hu Xiaotian stumped; the Minister's Residence is huge, with far too many belongings—let alone the Study being burned and the scene severely damaged; even if the Study hadn't been burned, he wouldn't know what exactly was missing.

Murong Feiyan said: "Hand over those two flying thieves to me; I'll take them to the Jingzhao Prefecture for thorough interrogation."

Hu Xiaotian had no objection to this, after all Murong Feiyan is the expert in this matter; he smiled and said: "Constable Murong, if you make any progress, please inform me right away."

Murong Feiyan nodded.

After a night of turmoil, by the time Murong Feiyan led a group of constables escorting the thieves away, it was already dawn. Hu Xiaotian had been busy catching thieves and fighting fires nonstop, and naturally he was a bit weary; he yawned, just about to return to his room to rest, when he saw steward Hu An approach anxiously; from Hu An's expression Hu Xiaotian knew he had something to say, and he said softly: "Come to my room."

Hu An followed Hu Xiaotian into his room, closed the door, and said anxiously: "Young master, tonight's affairs seem somewhat amiss."

In Hu Xiaotian's view, they likely lost some valuables tonight, but as long as no one was hurt or killed, everything else was just trivial; he smiled indifferently: "Wealth is external; as long as everyone is safe and sound, that's enough."

Hu An lowered his voice: "Young master, do you know that the old master has placed the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll inside the Study?"

Hu Xiaotian's heart jolted; the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll—wasn't that the legendary "death‑waiver gold medal"? In the past he had read about it in novels: supposedly an award‑bearing certificate granted by the Son of Heaven to meritorious officials, which could be produced to avoid execution if the official later committed a crime. Hu Xiaotian had no idea his own Hu family possessed such a scroll; he had only regained consciousness half a year ago, and his father had never mentioned it in his presence. Hu Xiaotian silently thought: this Vermilion Script Iron Scroll is certainly no ordinary object; even if his family truly had one, his father would surely keep it carefully hidden, so how could a mere steward casually know its whereabouts? Thinking this, Hu Xiaotian said: "I have never heard of any Vermilion Script Iron Scroll."

Hu An wrung his hands anxiously: "Young master, this Vermilion Script Iron Scroll was bestowed by Emperor Mingzong upon the Marquis of Pacifying the State, your great‑grandfather Hu; although the Hu family later declined, the scroll has been passed down through generations, kept in the Hu household. Only in this generation did your father earn his official rank and revive the family's prestige, allowing the Hu clan to flourish; I have enjoyed the favor of your father and mother, who entrusted me with important duties, so your father never hides anything from me. This Vermilion Script Iron Scroll was placed in the Study in my presence by your father, who also instructed me never to let anyone enter the Study. Yet last night, because the flying thieves broke in, I was worried about your safety and neglected the Study… Young master… I truly deserve death by a thousand cuts!" Hu An then fell to his knees before Hu Xiaotian with a thud.

Hu Xiaotian found Hu An's tale pitiable, yet after hearing it he understood what he meant—"I said, what the hell do you mean? You were worried about my safety, so you neglected the Study, and now you're saying the loss of the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll is all my fault? It seems Hu An knows this crime is too grave for him to bear, so he's trying to win sympathy in front of me; but sympathy aside, you can't blame this on me!" Hu Xiaotian instantly felt a twinge of annoyance, did not let Hu An rise, sat down in his chair, thought a moment, then said: "Who else knows about this?"

Hu An knelt before Hu Xiaotian and said: "Young master, aside from the old master and myself, no one knows the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll is hidden in the Study—not even the mistress; I had assumed you knew."

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed, "Hu An, you old bastard, you're no good—this is clearly a move to drag me down; seeing how big this is, you felt you couldn't shoulder it alone, so you dragged me in to share the blame." Although Hu Xiaotian complained, he also understood that he himself bore some responsibility for last night's events; if his side hadn't caused such a commotion, the whole Minister's Residence wouldn't have been alerted. After all, it was only two flying thieves; even without other servants intervening, just he and Liang Da Zhuang's six attendants had enough strength to subdue them. Yet last night he had only been excited about catching thieves and failed to notice that this gang had used a feint‑east‑strike‑west tactic; their real target was the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll.

Hu Xiaotian said: "That Vermilion Script Iron Scroll was granted by Emperor Mingzong to my ancestors; now so many years have passed, the emperor has changed, and I don't know how many generations my Hu family has passed it down—whether it still has any effect is hard to say." He spoke well; in fact such a scroll is essentially like a medal. According to Dakang law, princes who break the law are punished like commoners—even a prince cannot escape punishment, let alone ordinary officials. Moreover, this is an age where the ruler can order a minister's death and the minister cannot refuse; if the emperor truly wanted to kill you, not even a single Vermilion Script Iron Scroll, let alone a thousand or ten thousand, would help—those who deserve beheading will be beheaded, those who deserve extermination will be exterminated.

Hu An said: "Young master, although the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll may not actually exempt one from death, losing it is a capital offense punishable by beheading!"

Those words jolted him awake; hearing this, Hu Xiaotian broke out in a cold sweat on his back. Indeed! Losing the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll would be a grave crime! If the scroll really had been stolen by the flying thieves, and this unfortunately came to light, it would surely bring great trouble to the Hu family. The real problem is that his father accompanied the emperor to the eastern capital, while his mother happened to have gone to her natal home in Jinling; thus the affairs of the Hu household can only be managed by him, and he has no one nearby to consult.

Hu Xiaotian thought it over, and the more he considered it, the more this affair resembled a conspiracy: the two flying thieves had infiltrated his own residence, their true purpose likely being to draw everyone's attention; when all focused on the thieves and gathered to seize them, another party sneaked into the Study, stole the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll, then set the fire to destroy the scene's evidence.

Hu Xiaotian paced back and forth in the room, thinking as he walked.

Hu An dared not interrupt him; since Hu Xiaotian would not let him rise, he could only remain kneeling there honestly.

Hu Xiaotian finally stopped pacing and said: "Are you certain the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll has been stolen?"

Hu An nodded and said: "After the fire was just put out, I went to check the cabinet where the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll was kept; the lock on the cabinet had been twisted off, and inside there was nothing."

Hu Xiaotian nodded; according to Hu An's account, the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll must have been stolen. He said softly: "Hu An, this matter is known only to you and me; we must not tell a third party. As long as we keep this secret, outsiders will naturally not know the scroll has been lost, right?"

Hu An pressed his lips together: "But..."

Hu Xiaotian said: "There's no 'but'; no matter what happened, not a whisper may leak out. You must personally go to the eastern capital, find my father, and tell him this in person. Remember, besides my father, you may not disclose this to anyone!"

Hu An's face grew solemn as he nodded repeatedly: "Young master, rest assured, this servant will keep his mouth shut like a sealed bottle, absolutely not leaking a hint."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Get up!"

Only then did Hu An dare to rise from the ground; he said softly: "Young master, if those flying thieves came for the Vermilion Script Iron Scroll, then this secret cannot be kept." He was obviously terrified to the extreme, his voice trembling.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Therefore time is of utmost importance for us; we must report this to my father as quickly as possible. As for the flying thieves, I will handle them."