As Liang Dazhuang entered the room, the brothers Tang Tiehan and Tang Tiecheng arrived before Hu Xiaotian with their men. Seeing him standing brazenly in the sunlight, half naked in a pair of oversized shorts, the Tang brothers glared with tigerlike eyes, fury burning inside them.
Tang Tiehan pointed his saber at Hu Xiaotian. "Hu Xiaotian, what have you done to my sister?"
Hu Xiaotian smiled. "What would you like me to do to her?"
"Uh..." The question actually stumped Tang Tiehan. Scratching his head, he turned to his younger brother and whispered, "Second Brother, what do we want him to do?"
Tang Tiecheng roared, "Hey! You there! If you dare touch a single hair on my sister's head, we'll burn your Minister's Residence down until not a single roof tile remains!"
Tang Tiehan nudged his brother. "Second Brother, he already did! He already did!" Hu Xiaotian had cut off a lock of their sister's hair right before his eyes. Tang Tiehan was an honest man who told things as they were.
"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Tang Tiecheng snapped. "If you dare touch a single finger on my sister..."
Hu Xiaotian interrupted him. "Save your breath. I've touched your sister from head to toe. What are you going to do about it?"
"You..."
Just then, Liang Dazhuang emerged from the room, holding Tang Qingxuan at saberpoint. He had gone inside hoping to feast his eyes on some bare flesh, only to find her fully dressed, much to his disappointment. The young master really is a sly bastard. He eats all the meat and won't even leave his servants a drop of broth. Why put her clothes back on so quickly once you've finished having your fun? And why wrap her up so tightly? You could at least let me feast my eyes. Liang Dazhuang grumbled inwardly, but his expression remained ferocious. With his saber pressed against Tang Qingxuan's neck, he walked up to Hu Xiaotian. By now, he had regained his composure completely. With confidence bolstering him, even his words carried extra force. "All of you, back off! Get out, every last one of you! Believe me, I'll cut her down with one stroke!"
Tang Tiehan clutched his enormous head in anguish. "Not again..." He had absolutely no answer to this tactic. Tang Tiecheng was dumbfounded too. Their sister was in the enemy's hands; they could not throw stones at the rat without breaking the precious vessel beside it.
Seeing that he had frightened the crowd, Liang Dazhuang grew pleased with himself. He was about to deliver a few more swaggering, badass lines when someone tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
Hu Xiaotian nodded at him. "Excuse me, excuse me. You're blocking my camera, you bastard!"
Liang Dazhuang had no idea what a camera was, but he understood that he was blocking his young master. He believed his intentions were good-he had only wanted to protect him. Like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, he can't recognize a good heart when he sees one. Grumbling inwardly, Liang Dazhuang obediently pulled Tang Qingxuan back a step.
Tang Qingxuan's beautiful eyes glared fiercely at Hu Xiaotian. She could have eaten his heart.
Only then did Hu Xiaotian notice the wad of cloth stuffed into her mouth. Clearly, Liang Dazhuang had done it. No wonder she had remained so obediently silent all this time. That bastard Liang Dazhuang didn't take the opportunity to cop a feel, did he? One look at him tells you he's no good.
Hu Xiaotian stepped forward. "Who was it just now who said he'd burn down the Minister's Residence?"
Tang Tiehan glanced at his brother. Tang Tiecheng slapped his own chest. "I did! If you dare touch a single finger on my sister, I'll burn the Minister's Residence down until not one roof tile remains!"
Hu Xiaotian reached out and stroked Tang Qingxuan's little hand, then lifted her softly curved chin. He chuckled. "There, I touched her. Go on, burn it down!"
"Uh... You think I wouldn't dare... Bring me fire!"
Among the hundred-odd men, there was indeed someone eager to stir up trouble. He handed over a torch. Tang Tiecheng raised it and looked around for somewhere suitable to set alight.
Hu Xiaotian said, "Starting a fire is easy; putting one out is hard. Set it now, and remember that fire and water show no mercy. Never mind whether all of us can escape alive-if the court finds out you burned down the Minister's Residence, your entire Tang Family will be executed."
Tang Tiecheng's heart jolted. The torch froze in his hand. "Trying to scare me?"
Hu Xiaotian said, "You brought over a hundred men here, forced your way into the Minister's Residence, smashed our front gate, injured our servants, and sent the whole place into a frenzy of squawking chickens and leaping dogs, leaving a wreck behind you. Now you want to burn down our home too. How is that any different from banditry?"
"You're the bandit! You abducted my sister..."
Hu Xiaotian gave a cold chuckle. "We're on my property right now. I have witnesses and physical evidence. If I say you brought over a hundred men into my home without permission, intending to rob us, who do you think the authorities will believe-you or me?"
Tang Tiehan said, "You're the one who abducted my sister! You still have her tied up as a hostage. Stop spewing lies!"
Tang Tiecheng said, "Big Brother, ignore him. He has witnesses, but so do we. We have more people..."
"Having more people makes you so special?" Hu Xiaotian found their intelligence seriously concerning. He took another step forward. "Over a hundred men armed with sabers, spears, and clubs, forcing their way into the Minister's Residence-if that isn't robbery, what is it? Rebellion?"
"You..."
"You what? Under great Kang law, once the charge of plotting rebellion is proven, every one of you hundred-odd men will be executed along with your entire families!"
With a rustle, the crowd behind the Tang brothers retreated two steps as one, frightened by Hu Xiaotian's words. Indeed, if he falsely accused them of rebellion, that was a grave crime punishable by the execution of their entire families.
Tang Tiecheng roared, "You think I grew up being scared into submission? Hu Xiaotian, I won't let you off today!"
"Oh, give it a rest. You think having a loud voice makes you impressive? Shit! Still holding that torch, still planning to set a fire-doesn't your arm get tired? All these brothers came to back you up, and they're waiting to watch you burn the place down. You can't disappoint them, can you? If you're going to do it, get on with it!"
Tang Tiecheng bit his lip. Just then, a man dressed in black squeezed forward from behind. Someone ahead of him was shoved off balance and stumbled into Tang Tiecheng's arm. His grip slipped, and the torch flew from his hand with a whoosh!
Everyone's eyes followed the torch as it sailed high into the air and finally landed on the roof of a thatched pavilion in the garden. The roof was covered entirely in straw and had baked in the sun all day. It caught at the slightest spark, bursting into flame with a boom! In moments, a roaring blaze engulfed the pavilion roof.
The men from the Tang Family were dumbstruck. Tang Tiecheng roared, "Which bastard bumped into me?"
Everyone behind him looked at someone else. Not one dared admit to having bumped him.
Someone shouted, "The thatched pavilion's on fire... The thatched pavilion's on fire..."
Hu Xiaotian fixed Tang Tiecheng with a vicious glare. "You actually set it on fire?"
"I didn't!" Tang Tiecheng looked at his elder brother, hoping he would vouch for him. Tang Tiehan misunderstood. "I didn't either! The torch was in your hand. It has nothing to do with me!" Shit, you couldn't even count on your own brother.
Although the thatched pavilion was burning, it stood beside the pond in the garden, so the flames probably would not spread to the residence's other buildings.
Tang Tiehan knew that setting fire to the Minister's Residence was no trifling matter. He hurriedly ordered his men to put out the blaze before it spread. Meanwhile, the Hu Family's servants rushed over at the news. Hu Fo, whose face was bruised and swollen from his beating, shouted, "The Tang Family started a fire! The Tang Family started a fire!"
The scene dissolved into chaos. Just then, someone called, "Big Brother... People from the Capital Prefecture are here..."
Liang Dazhuang was no longer afraid in the slightest. He did not think the young master was particularly badass; instead, he felt that he himself was the most impressive, formidable person present. It was his saber against Tang Qingxuan's neck that had intimidated more than a hundred burly men into staying put. Everyone had a desire for control and sought personal satisfaction. Holding Tang Qingxuan captive, Liang Dazhuang began to feel rather carried away again. Brandishing his saber, he roared, "Surrender at once!"
Without noticing, he once again blocked half of Hu Xiaotian's body. Hu Xiaotian shot him an extremely displeased glare. Fuck, you're blocking my camera again. Can't you tell who's the lead and who's the supporting character? A servant who steals his master's spotlight like this really has no sense at all.
Fortunately, Liang Dazhuang caught on quickly and hurriedly pulled Tang Qingxuan back again. At that very moment, a black shadow shot down from the roof behind them. By the time Liang Dazhuang noticed, a sword sheath had already struck his wrist. He screamed in pain, and his saber fell to the ground with a clang.
A slender figure swooped down from the roof, descending more than thirty feet in a single sweep like a bird. She wore a black gauze warrior's cap, a purple open-front brocade outer robe patterned with clouds, a red warrior's outfit underneath, and black, thin-soled boots. Her skin was fair and delicate, her swordlike eyebrows swept toward her temples, and her bright eyes were as cold as autumn waters. Dashing and spirited, she moved with the grace of a startled dragon. She was Murong Feiyan, the Capital Prefecture's foremost female constable. Her body spun several times in midair.
The spectators cheered in unison.
Although Hu Xiaotian admitted that her flips were genuinely impressive, he could not help wondering whether all the women here had trained in gymnastics. Almost every one of them had to make her entrance with a few forward somersaults and a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree twist. Were they afraid people would not know they could tumble? Flashy-far too flashy.
Flashy though Murong Feiyan's movements were, her speed was no joke. Before Liang Dazhuang could react, she raised a leg and kicked him away from Tang Qingxuan. With her left hand, she drew Tang Qingxuan protectively to her side, while the sword in her right hand pointed straight at Hu Xiaotian. He should have had enough time to escape when she leaped down, but seeing how utterly useless that coward Liang Dazhuang was, his first instinct had been not to run, but to seize Tang Qingxuan. Amid the chaos before him, only by controlling her could he intimidate the crowd and keep the Tang Family's men from acting recklessly, lest they harm the very person they wanted to save.
There had been nothing wrong with Hu Xiaotian's strategy, but its execution went awry. First, he had overestimated Liang Dacheng's abilities. Second, he had assumed that this dashing girl dressed as a man had nothing but flashy moves and little real strength. Third, he had believed he could securely take control of Tang Qingxuan in the time available. Only when he actually moved did he realize how terribly wrong he had been. Ultimately, he had overestimated his own abilities.
Liang Dazhuang had not created the slightest obstacle for Murong Feiyan. Hu Xiaotian's hand had barely touched the hem of Tang Qingxuan's clothes before Murong Feiyan snatched her away. Then her gleaming sword pressed against his throat, its icy radiance making him instinctively close his eyes.
By then, Liang Dazhuang had clambered up from the ground, his face bruised and swollen. Seeing his young master subdued, he charged forward with a shout. Without even looking, Murong Feiyan kicked backward, planting her foot squarely in his chest. Liang Dazhuang let out an even more earth-shaking scream than before and landed sprawled on the ground.
Murong Feiyan regarded Hu Xiaotian coldly. Without a trace of fear on his face, he smiled at this dashing girl dressed as a man. "Who are you, beautiful?"
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