Chapter 45

At this moment, the boss of Yanyun Lou, Song, came rushing back in a fluster; he had just gone out on an errand, heard that something had happened at the inn, and so hurried back, only to find he was still a step too late; seeing the scene before him, he couldn't help but inwardly groan. When Song went to ask Yuan Shiqing what had happened, the constables of Jingzhao Prefecture and Shi Xuedong's uncle, Shi Jingde, arrived together. Shi Jingde was a vice magistrate of Jingzhao Prefecture, a fourth‑grade lower‑rank official. Although Murong Feiyan had subdued Shi Xuedong, she also knew that even if the matter were taken to Jingzhao Prefecture it would still end in nothing; she had only sealed the acupoints of Shi Xuedong's followers and had not further troubled them. On one hand she sent someone to Jingzhao Prefecture to report the news, and on the other she urged Zhan Peng to leave, for after all Zhan Peng was merely an ordinary hunter; today he had intervened out of a sense of justice, provoked this wicked youth Shi Xuedong, and if he stayed he would surely invite trouble, so Murong Feiyan let him go while the other side had not yet figured out his identity. Although Zhan Peng was somewhat reluctant, he also knew that with Hu Xiaotian's standing the matter could likely be settled, and that his staying would only add chaos; better to leave early.

Murong Feiyan knew she would surely be reprimanded for this incident, possibly even demoted and punished, but she suddenly had a brainwave and dragged Hu Xiaotian into the mess. It was a move to pull a scapegoat down with her at the last minute—after all, she had never liked Hu Xiaotian, so stirring up the wicked youths to fight each other, even if they ended up both losing, would still be doing the people a service. Her plan was clever, yet when she actually saw Hu Xiaotian violently beating Shi Xuedong, she felt little satisfaction; instead, she felt a twinge of guilt, truly sensing that she had gone a bit too far in scheming against Hu Xiaotian today.

Shi Jingde, wearing official robes and panting, arrived at the second floor of Yan Yun Tower, shouting loudly: "Stop, everyone stop!" The reason Shi Jingde rushed over so quickly was fear that his nephew would cause some big trouble. Others might not know what kind of person Shi Xuedong is, but his own family certainly could; over the years Shi Jingde has had to clean up after this precious nephew more than once. He truly wasn't worried about his nephew suffering a loss—all along only Shi Xuedong has been bullying others, and Shi Jingde's greatest fear is causing a death. With Laohuangdi's health deteriorating day by day and the throne about to change hands, in this critical period all officials are told to keep a low profile. His younger brother, the Minister of Revenue Shi Buchui, had specifically instructed him to restrain himself recently, yet this reckless nephew still managed to stir up trouble.

As soon as Shi Jingde arrived, the situation on the spot changed instantly. Originally Shi Xuedong had been beaten badly by Hu Xiaotian, his arrogant spirit just somewhat subdued, but upon seeing his Second Uncle come, he immediately regained confidence and shouted, "Second Uncle, arrest them! They are colluding and plotting rebellion!"

Upon hearing that, Hu Xiaotian's expression turned cold. I thought, "How arrogant and overbearing—after all this fuss, there's actually someone in the Capital Prefecture backing him up. This brat even has a knack for turning black into white, daring to frame us for rebellion!" Knowing that rebellion is a capital offense punishable by beheading, and possibly even the extermination of nine clans, Hu Xiaotian muttered, "He's ruthless alright. Today I want to see just who's tougher—him or me."

While Hu Xiaotian was gathering his resolve to match Shi Xuedong's ruthlessness, the bystanders all stepped aside—even Yuan Shiqing understood that it was best to stay out of it; a dispute among official families was not something an ordinary doctor like him could intervene in.

From his official robes Hu Xiaotian could tell that Shi Jingde held a junior fourth-rank position. Just now Murong Feiyan had said that the green-clad ruffian's father was a fifth-rank official, yet he hadn't expected there to also be a junior fourth-rank Second Uncle. But Hu Xiaotian didn't see much difference—what's a junior fourth rank? His own father is a senior third-rank official in the current dynasty; what can you do to me?

Shi Jingde didn't know Hu Xiaotian either; he furrowed his brows and asked, "What's going on?" As he spoke, he walked up to Shi Xuedong and gave him a light pat on the back.

Shi Xuedong felt his body suddenly loosen; the acupoint that had been restrained was already unlocked by his Second Uncle.

Although Hu Xiaotian didn't understand martial arts, seeing that Shi Xuedong, who had been unable to move, immediately gained freedom after a pat from Shi Jingde, he could infer that Shi Jingde's martial ability was not bad.

After gaining freedom, Shi Xuedong immediately charged at Hu Xiaotian, intending to retaliate, but Shi Jingde grabbed him firmly and snapped, "Just what is going on?" While directing the question at Shi Xuedong, his gaze was fixed on Murong Feiyan.

Murong Feiyan was his subordinate, and Shi Jingde didn't hold much affection for this female constable captain who had repeatedly solved major cases and upheld justice fiercely. Were it not for his superior, the Prefect of the Capital Prefecture Hong Baiqi, shielding her, Shi Jingde would have long expelled this disobedient girl from the Capital Prefecture's forces. In Shi Jingde's view, this wasn't the first time Murong Feiyan had opposed his Shi family; even if his nephew had done something wrong, it shouldn't have caused such a commotion—this was simply meant to embarrass him.

Murong Feiyan stepped forward, clasped her fists, and briefly recounted what had happened. In her account she did not mention Hu Xiaotian, only saying that Shi Xuedong had injured someone; to avoid escalating the matter, she had first moved to restrain this group.

Shi Xuedong snapped, "You're talking nonsense! Clearly that blind girl wanted to steal my jade pendant. After I discovered her, she panicked, dropped the pendant on the floor and it shattered. When I confronted her, her accomplices rushed forward to attack me, I lost my balance and fell down the stairs—those around me can testify!"

Shi Xuedong's gang of fair-weather friends also gained freedom at that moment; seeing Shi Jingde approach, they all instantly became arrogant again and unanimously helped Shi Xuedong protest his innocence.

Murong Feiyan said, "It's not like that……"

Shi Jingde stopped her with a look, saying, "When they clashed, did you even arrive?"

Murong Feiyan bit her lip; at the very start of the conflict she indeed wasn't on the scene, so she could only shake her head. The only witness then was Zhan Peng, but Murong Feiyan considered him merely a hunter with no background, and unwilling to drag him into this trouble, she had him leave first.

Shi Jingde snorted coldly and ordered that the blind girl Fang Fang be brought over.

Fang Fang had never seen such a scene before; although she couldn't see what was happening, just hearing the constables' shouts made her legs go weak and she knelt on the ground, trembling as she said, "Commoner girl Fang Fang, pays respects to Sir……"

In front of everyone Shi Jingde actually showed a kind expression; he spoke gently, "Miss, don't be afraid—tell me what happened, and I will see to it for you."

Fang Fang nodded and whispered a rundown of what had just occurred. When she reached the point of meeting Shi Xuedong at the stairwell and being bumped by him, Shi Xuedong interjected, "Clearly you wanted to steal my jade pendant, and now you dare to spout nonsense—this sort of lowly person won't tell the truth unless you give her a good beating."

Fang Fang burst into tears, crying, "Sir, I'm innocent…… As a blind girl, how could I possibly steal his things? Honored guests, elders and villagers, please do justice for me, speak a fair word for me!"

Although many onlookers gathered and felt sympathy for the poor blind girl Fang Fang, everyone knew that someone like Shi Xuedong was not to be provoked.

Hu Xiaotian couldn't hold back: "Just now who said this jade pendant was an imperial gift?" He didn't know when he had picked up the fragments from the ground; having some knowledge of jade ware, he could tell at a glance that it was ordinary stone, not a treasure, and the carving was quite crude—finding such rough jade in the imperial palace would be harder than finding a needle in a haystack, which is why he asked that.

Shi Xuedong said, "Of course it's an imperial gift, granted by the Emperor to our family. Smashing the jade pendant is disrespect to the Emperor, it's disloyalty, it's rebellion!" Thinking he had the upper hand, he immediately became arrogant again.

Hu Xiaotian chuckled, "This kind of jade pendant, you can buy dozens for a single copper coin at a roadside stall—you really can't tell, you're quite the extortion artist!"

Shi Xuedong didn't know what extortion meant; he glared at Hu Xiaotian, pointing at his nose and said, "He and that blind girl are accomplices—arrest them both!"

Hu Xiaotian said, "You say what you say—who do you think you are? An imperial gift? With your lazy good-for-nothing self, does the Emperor even have time to see you?"

"You……"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Whether this jade pendant is worth money I won't discuss now, but you dare claim it's an imperial gift from the Emperor—proving that is no trouble; at worst we'll go to the Emperor and argue it out. If it truly was granted by the Emperor, I'll eat it."

Shi Xuedong hated this brat to the core, gritting his teeth and said, "Eating it wouldn't that just let you off easy? Damaging an imperial gift from the Emperor is a capital offense punishable by extermination of the whole clan."

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