Chapter 508

At this moment, Tang Tiehan and Tang Tiexin brothers also heard the news and rushed over; seeing her two brothers coming, Tang Qingxuan, as if seeing a savior, ran toward them.

Wen Boyuan angrily shouted: "Stand still!" In his view, Hu Xiaotian likely teamed up with Tang Qingxuan to kill Zhao Zhihé; upon his shout, Tang Qingxuan instead ran even faster, Tang Tiehan and Tang Tiexin stepped forward to protect their sister, the two, unaware of the situation, arrived at the scene only to see their sister fleeing, while Wen Boyuan sternly ordered her to stop. Tang Tiexin said: "General Wen, I don't know what offense my brothers have committed against you?" Wen Boyuan's background is naturally beyond their comparison; among the Tang brothers, the third is the most sensible, so he speaks cautiously. But Tang Tiexin did not know that Hu Xiaotian had already made his sister's identity public.

Wen Boyuan didn't even regard Tang Tiexin as a person, coldly snorting: "Get lost!" He had been completely enraged; his own subordinate was killed right under his nose by Hu Xiaotian, which is intolerable.

Tang Qingxuan hid behind her elder brother; hearing Wen Boyuan so harshly scold her third brother, she felt a surge of anger. Though she was usually spoiled at home and knew the other's status was not small, she could not tolerate his words toward her brother.

Wen Boyuan pointed at Tang Qingxuan and angrily shouted: "Slut, come out!" This remark offended all three Tang siblings; the Tang brothers glared at him angrily.

Hu Xiaotian calmly said from the side: "General Wen, why take your anger out on others? Zhao Zhihé was killed by me; debts have their source, so if you're angry, direct it at me!"

Wen Boyuan gritted his teeth, glaring at Hu Xiaotian like an enraged lion: "Hu Xiaotian, you dare kill my man!"

Hu Xiaotian laughed: "Shameless lecher, everyone deserves to punish him."

The Tang brothers certainly did not want to get involved in this dispute between the two, but now the situation was beyond their control. Their sister clearly could not stay out of it. Tang Tiexin whispered: "Little brother, what exactly happened?"

Tang Qingxuan's heart was in turmoil; although Hu Xiaotian was no good person, Wen Boyuan also seemed not a good sort—what did Hu Xiaotian's killing have to do with her? She blamed her own misfortune, merely seeking a secluded spot to relieve herself, yet unexpectedly provoked such great trouble; the more she thought, the more aggrieved she felt, she lay on Tang Tiehan's shoulder and burst into tears. Tang Tiehan doted on this sister; seeing her like that, he believed she was almost certainly bullied, and angrily said: "Qingxuan, don't be afraid. Whoever dares to bully you, I, your elder brother, will not spare them."

Wen Boyuan obviously lacked patience to argue with them, loudly shouting: "Seize this girl!" In his eyes, the Tang siblings were merely insignificant figures; their fate lay entirely in his grasp, and he had never thought to give them any respect.

Hu Xiaotian now seemed like a bystander. Hearing Wen Boyuan speak thus, he secretly laughed; Wen Boyuan still dared to claim wisdom and courage, but he was simply pig‑brained. Overly arrogant and self‑important, he was clearly making enemies everywhere. Given the Tang brothers' temperament, they might not be able to swallow this insult.

As expected, Tang Tiehan saw a few martial officers approaching to seize his sister; with a clang he drew his waist sword and roared: "Let's see who dares to move my sister!" This amounted to admitting that Tang Qingxuan was disguised as a man.

Wen Boyuan angrily shouted: "You bold rascal! Actually deceiving superiors and inferiors, bringing female relatives into the ranks—what crime do you deserve, and what is your purpose? Come, seize the three siblings together!"

Had Wen Boyuan initially adopted a better attitude and gently comforted Tang Qingxuan, she might have honestly confessed everything Hu Xiaotian had done; but his innate arrogance and rudeness, compounded by the rage over Zhao Zhihé's death clouding his judgment, led him to adopt overly forceful measures, evidently provoking the Tang siblings' resentment.

Hu Xiaotian said: "General Wen, you have great might and killing aura, but Zhao Zhihé deserved death; by protecting your subordinate like this, are you trying to cover up your failure to discipline him?"

"You!" Wen Boyuan gripped the sword hilt so tightly it seemed he would wring water from it.

Hu Xiaotian showed no sign of retreat, stepped forward a pace, and stared at Wen Boyuan without fear.

"Calm down! Both sirs, please calm down a bit..." Wu Jingshan, accompanied by two retainers, arrived panting at the scene; at the same time, the mule‑horse team's laborers and many martial officers also rushed to the scene—most of the officers were Wen Boyuan's subordinates, but these laborers were precisely the retinue brought by the Tang brothers, and they naturally leaned toward the Tang brothers.

Wu Jingshan, breathless, came before Hu Xiaotian and Wen Boyuan, sighed, and said: "Why? Why are our own people fighting…?"

Wen Boyuan pointed at Zhao Zhihé's corpse on the ground, filled with grief and indignation: "He killed Zhao Zhihé."

Only now did Wu Jingshan notice the corpse on the ground, and he jumped in fright: "Lord Hu, why is this?"

Hu Xiaotian glanced at the corpse on the ground and smiled: "He deserved to die!"

Wen Boyuan roared: "Hu Xiaotian, you are bullying too much!"

At this moment a clear voice said: "It… it was he who killed that person…" It was Tang Qingxuan speaking, pointing at Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed: "Heartless little trollop, not having silenced you in time is a real hassle; I regret saving you at Biyun Lake back then—if I had known you would betray me today, I should have drowned you then."

Wu Jingshan's face hardened: "Lord Hu, what is your explanation?"

Tang Qingxuan walked over: "Just now I came to the riverbank to wash up…" She paused here; in fact it was not washing up but relieving herself, though saying so would be too embarrassing. Tang Qingxuan composed her emotions, steadied herself, then pointed at Zhao Zhihé's corpse on the ground: "This person suddenly sprang out, he covered my mouth, intending to… intending to outrage me…" At this point she pursed her lips, tears streaming down like a breached river, unstoppable.

Tang Tiehan gritted his teeth: "Beast, dare to humiliate my sister—I will surely tear your corpse into myriad pieces!"

Tang Qingxuan choked: "At the critical moment, this… this benefactor rushed out, he came to stop that person, but unexpectedly he drew his blade intending to kill us; in the struggle, the benefactor accidentally killed him…" Overcome with grief, she flung herself into her elder brother's arms and burst into loud sobs.

Hu Xiaotian secretly praised: "Excellent performance—women are indeed born actors; lying comes so naturally it seems truer than truth. Tang family girl, I certainly didn't save you in vain. For the sake of your beautifully told lie, I won't hold past grudges against you."

Tang Tiehan and Tang Tiexin naturally believed their sister's words without doubt; both were filled with righteous indignation, wishing they could rush forward and tear Zhao Zhihé's corpse to shreds. Tang Tiexin bowed to Wu Jingshan and said, full of grief and indignation: "Please, Sir Wu, uphold justice for us siblings."

Wu Jingshan stroked his beard and said: "Well…" He naturally leaned more toward Wen Boyuan in his heart, but the facts lay before him—human and material evidence both present, Zhao Zhihé had been killed by Hu Xiaotian, with no one to contradict him; thus there really was no place to reason about this matter.

Wen Boyuan snorted coldly: "Zhao Zhihé has always been loyal and devoted to me; how could you tarnish his purity? Who knows if you aren't colluding like wolves, scheming to murder him?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Wen Boyuan, what the hell do you mean?" With Tang Qingxuan testifying for him, Hu Xiaotian now felt confident enough to utter profanity.

Wen Boyuan's face turned livid with anger; this fellow was basically a market ruffian. Although Wen Boyuan harbored ulterior motives, being from an aristocratic family he usually maintained his dignity and rarely uttered coarse language; in a shouting match he would hardly be a match for Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Zhao Zhihé's loyalty to you does not necessarily mean he is loyal to the emperor; such a base, shameless scoundrel's death is hardly worth pity, yet you still have the nerve to speak of purity—by your logic, Tang Miss's purity would be unimportant, allowing you to slander her at will."

Wen Boyuan snorted coldly: "Don't think I can't see through your relationship."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Wen Boyuan, don't go too far; the Zajia is merely a eunuch—insulting me means nothing, but Tang Miss is still an unmarried young lady; please show some restraint in your speech."

Tang Tiehan's patience had reached its limit; he was violent-tempered, and when his anger flared he disregarded consequences—hence he once led a mob to besiege the Ministry of Personnel. Unable to endure this any longer, he roared: "Whoever dares to insult my sister is my enemy; I would sacrifice my life to fight him to the bitter end!"

Wen Boyuan glared at Tang Tiehan: "Bold! Are you plotting rebellion?" The warriors behind him simultaneously drew their swords.

Tang Tiexin hurried forward to block his elder brother, knowing his brother's temperament; yet Wen Boyuan's arrogance and rudeness also infuriated him to the extreme. Tang Tiexin said: "We are merely minor officials in charge of horse and carriage dispatch, but we Tang family members are not to be bullied." The groom and laborers behind them also could not hold back, shouting one after another: "Boss, we won't tolerate their nonsense; if worse comes to worst, we'll quit!"

"Right, we won't put up with this resentment; we're quitting!"

For a moment the crowd's passions flared, showing signs that the situation might spiral out of control.

Wen Boyuan coldly said: "Archers, ready; anyone deserting their post will be shot on the spot!" The archers drew their bows, and in an instant swords were drawn and bows tensed, the atmosphere stretched to its limit.

Wu Jingshan lamented repeatedly, "How did things suddenly turn like this?" He hurriedly said: "Everyone, calm down, please calm down!"

Tang Tiehan bellowed: "I'm not afraid of you; if you've got the guts, shoot me dead!"

Wen Boyuan's eyes narrowed, he said solemnly: "Prepare!" In an instant the archers pulled their bows, nocked arrows, and stood ready.

A new week has come again; please vote for recommendation, the request is modest—one ticket per person is enough! (To be continued~^~)