Zhou Wenju said, "So the sooner you leave, Lord Hu, the better. Once you're out of the palace, I'll turn myself in. By the time they discover the truth, it'll already be too late."
Hu Xiaotian's eyes grew moist. He squeezed them shut, his parents' faces rising in his mind. Perhaps this was his only chance to escape with his life. If he did not leave Western Sichuan, the Li Family would hold him hostage to threaten his father, while the imperial court would condemn the Hu Family for its marriage ties to the Li Family. This concerned not just him, but his entire family. Only at this moment of life and death did Hu Xiaotian discover the deep sense of responsibility toward his family that still lay within his heart.
But everyone had a family. Hu Xiaotian collected himself and asked quietly, "Mr. Zhou, what about your family?"
Zhou Wenju smiled calmly. "You needn't worry, my lord. Apart from my medicine boy, Zhou Xing, I have no relatives in Western Sichuan. Before coming here, I already sent Zhou Xing home. I have two sons in this world, but both went back to their mother's family with her long ago. I have no attachments left in this world."
Hu Xiaotian pressed his lips together. He had never been an indecisive man, and at a moment of life and death, he could not afford even a moment's hesitation. He respectfully knelt before Zhou Wenju. Zhou Wenju hurried forward to lift him by the arms. "My lord, you mustn't!"
Hu Xiaotian insisted on kowtowing three times, his forehead striking the floor audibly. Zhou Wenju had given him a new lease on life; three kowtows were hardly excessive. Words of thanks could not express such a great debt, and Hu Xiaotian said no