As the news was confirmed, Hu Xiaotian felt a chill settle in his heart. This was no trifling matter. If the Iron Deed of Redemption had been stolen, and Hu An was involved, then once word got out, the reigning emperor would certainly investigate. If the Hu Family was charged with deceiving the sovereign, the entire household would inevitably be executed. Holy shit! I've only been alive again for six months, and I haven't even had time to get married. Surely things aren't going to turn out that badly? If I lose my head without even knowing what hit me, wouldn't that be the cruelest injustice?
"That beast Hu An!" Hu Buwei said. "I treated him well. Who would have thought he'd betray the hand that fed him and do something so vile and dishonorable?"
"Father," Hu Xiaotian said, "wasn't the Iron Deed of Redemption handed down from Mingzong's time? After all these years, it's practically an antique. Even losing it shouldn't count as a serious crime. Why not simply explain everything to His Majesty? Perhaps he'll understand."
Hu Buwei slowly shook his head. "In the past, perhaps nothing would have come of it. But these are extraordinary times. His Majesty has been in poor health these past two years, and his moods have grown unpredictable. Even a trifling matter might provoke his wrath." Hu Buwei sighed inwardly. Serving a sovereign was like keeping company with a tiger. The emperor's mind was like the weather in June, changing without warning and leaving his subjects unable to fathom it.
"Father, you've worked tirelessly and rendered great service to Great Kang," Hu Xiaotian said. "His Majesty trusts you deeply, too. Surely he wouldn't punish us over such a minor matter? Besides, we didn't deliberately lose it. Someone plotted to frame us."
"Recently, quite a few people have been slandering me before His Majesty," Hu Buwei said. "He's grown considerably more distant toward me. If news suddenly broke at a time like this that our Hu Family had lost the Iron Deed of Redemption, what do you think the consequences would be?" This was the first time he had spoken of court affairs before his son.
Hu Xiaotian's heart tightened. If his father said so, he was probably right. It seemed he had gradually been losing the emperor's favor lately. Hu Xiaotian had read history extensively and understood something of emperors' fickle tempers. Even a favored minister was no more than an ant in an emperor's eyes. Whenever he was displeased, he could snuff out that ant's life.
"Only a handful of people know about this!" Hu Xiaotian said.
"Hu An has been in our household for decades," Hu Buwei said. "I've always treated him well. I don't know why he betrayed me, but I know he must have had some purpose in stealing the Iron Deed of Redemption."
Hu Xiaotian nodded. "If he wanted to use this to harm our Hu Family, he might have spread the news long ago. There'd be no need to wait until now. I think he intends to use the Iron Deed of Redemption to blackmail us. Hu An must have someone else directing him."
Hu Buwei wholeheartedly agreed with his son's analysis. To his delighted surprise, his son's mind had indeed returned to normal; he could even be called a meticulous thinker. This brought Hu Buwei some comfort. As his son had said, someone must be directing Hu An. Hu Buwei firmly believed that someone had coerced or bribed Hu An into betraying him and the Hu Family.
"It seems the Iron Deed of Redemption is a card they're holding," Hu Xiaotian said. "They won't play it unless they have absolutely no other choice, so we're safe for the moment."
Hu Buwei slowly nodded. Although his son's analysis made excellent sense, the missing Iron Deed of Redemption would remain a hidden danger until it was recovered. Before the other side made its move, he still had time to respond. In a low voice, he said, "Tell me everything that happened last night, in detail."
Hu Xiaotian then recounted the events of the previous night from beginning to end, describing how the two burglars had feinted east and struck west, drawing the Hu Residence's servants' attention before the Elegant Gathering Pavilion was set ablaze. In light of Hu An's betrayal, looking back on the incident today had led Hu Xiaotian to a new conclusion. He pushed open the lattice window and gazed at the pavilion's nearby ruins. "I've only just remembered that Hu An wasn't there when we were catching the burglars. He must have taken advantage of the confusion to steal the Iron Deed of Redemption, then secretly started the fire. Everyone's attention was fixed on those two burglars, so he was able to get away with it at his leisure."
"After succeeding, he deliberately revealed the secret to you," Hu Buwei said. "Then he escaped under the pretext of going to the Eastern Capital to inform me. That old wretch hid by my side for all these years, and even I failed to notice his wolfish ambitions. He actually dared collude with outsiders to frame me!" Hu Buwei ground his teeth in fury. If Hu An appeared before him now, only slicing the man into a thousand pieces would quell the hatred in his heart.
Suddenly, Hu Xiaotian said, "No, that's not right!"
"What isn't right?" Hu Buwei asked in surprise.
"If those two burglars were in league with him, why did they know nothing about him?" Hu Xiaotian said. "The man they named was Zhao Zhenghao. When I went to Camel Street with a constable from the Capital Prefecture to track Zhao Zhenghao down, it turned out to be a trap. They wanted to kill me!" Recalling the scene still left Hu Xiaotian shaken. Had Murong Feiyan not risked her life to save him, he would probably have died beneath Mo Shaolin's arrows.
Although Hu Buwei had not witnessed the attempt on Hu Xiaotian's life, hearing about it now filled him with lingering dread. He had only one son. If his son had died so inexplicably, where could he possibly buy a remedy for regret?
Hu Buwei patted his son's shoulder and asked with deep concern, "Were you hurt?"
Hu Xiaotian shook his head. "I'm all right. I was pretty lucky."
"No one can be lucky forever," Hu Buwei said. Almost instantly, he made an important decision. "Tian, I have an idea. I'd like to know what you think."
Hu Xiaotian smiled. "You'll have to tell me what it is first."
Hu Buwei closed the lattice window and lowered his voice. "His Majesty's health worsens by the day. I believe the day when he passes on the throne isn't far away. A transfer of the throne is never peaceful. Lately, undercurrents have been surging through the Capital City, with every sign of rain gathering over the mountains." Hu Buwei paused, then continued, "As a member of the court, I can hardly ensure that this storm won't sweep me up. I'm already old. Even if calamity does befall me, even if it costs me my fortune and my life, I won't so much as furrow my brow. But there is still one great concern in my heart, and that is you..." His words were earnest, his affection laid bare.
Although Hu Xiaotian was deeply displeased with his father's decision to arrange his marriage, seeing such concern for him inevitably moved him. Father and son were joined at the heart, and blood was thicker than water. Hu Buwei's concern for his own son was surely heartfelt.
"In fact," Hu Buwei said, "a couple of days ago, I already began thinking about having you leave the capital to take an official post elsewhere."
Hearing this, Hu Xiaotian secretly rejoiced. Taking an official post elsewhere would mean leaving the Capital City, wouldn't it? Then he could live like a fish leaping freely through a boundless sea, a bird soaring at will through an endless sky. Delighted as he was inwardly, he put on a thoroughly reluctant expression. "I can't bear to leave you, Father."
"I can't look after you all your life," Hu Buwei said. "One day, you'll have to stand on your own." He had long considered sending his son far from the Capital City to serve as a local official. Hu Buwei had already foreseen that the transition between emperors would unleash a storm of unprecedented ferocity in the Capital City. Although the sixth prince, Long Yeqing, had long since been named crown prince, a group of veteran ministers was deeply dissatisfied with the decision. Quite a few were secretly plotting to bring the eldest prince, Long Yelin, back into contention. While accompanying the emperor to the Eastern Capital this time, Hu Buwei had discreetly sounded him out. The old emperor seemed to reveal some regret over his earlier decision to strip his eldest son, Long Yelin, of the position of crown prince.
Having spent so many years at the emperor's side, he understood something of his temper. The older he grew, the more unpredictable his moods became; he turned hostile faster than one could turn a page. Long Yeqing might still be crown prince now, but one day, on a whim, the old emperor might replace him with another son. The old fellow certainly had no shortage of sons. He had sown countless seeds throughout his life and had twenty-seven princes alone-just one short of a full set of the twenty-eight lunar mansions.
Hu Buwei's ability to serve two sovereigns while maintaining a position at court as firm as Mount Tai was directly tied to his seasoned approach to official life. Though he had made all manner of preparations, the closer the transition between the old emperor and the new drew, the more uneasy he became. If upheaval broke out in the palace, the Capital City's officials would be the first to bear its brunt. As the saying went, each new sovereign brought his own ministers. No one could guarantee that they would still be entrusted with important duties after the new emperor ascended the throne.
At this troubled juncture, the theft of the Iron Deed of Redemption forced Hu Buwei to think all the more deeply. The marriage alliance with the Li Family was only one of his moves. Whether that move would succeed, whether it was clever at all, depended entirely on Crown Prince Long Yeqing's smooth succession to the throne. Before departing for the Eastern Capital, Hu Buwei had always believed there would be no change in the succession. Yet the words the old emperor had let slip robbed him of his former certainty. Hu Buwei even began to wonder whether he should stake everything on Long Yeqing alone.
A seasoned statesman needed to prepare before the rain fell. Hu Buwei had always been arranging his pieces without showing the mountains or revealing the waters, but the sudden loss of the Iron Deed of Redemption disrupted the rhythm of his plans. Even a man of his shrewdness and depth could not help feeling caught off guard.
It was this very incident that prompted Hu Buwei to make up his mind: he would send his son away from the Capital City, that breeding ground of trouble, far from the approaching political storm.
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