Hu Xiaotian

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Hu Xiaotian (胡小天)
Former Identity	Hu Tian, a physician from another world 1
Gender	Male 1
Age	Physically sixteen at his awakening and not quite seventeen before his departure from the capital; his former self was twenty-eight 1 49
Affiliation	Hu household; Great Kang 1
Occupation/Role	Hu Buwei’s only son and heir; trained physician in his former life; appointed deputy of Azure Cloud County in Western Sichuan 1 48
Official Rank	Lower Principal Ninth Rank, near the bottom of Great Kang’s thirty-grade official hierarchy 49
Status	Alive; preparing to leave the capital for his county appointment 49 50
First Appearance	Chapter 1, “A Treacherous Minister’s Son (Part One)” 1

Background / History

Childhood and Family

Hu Xiaotian is the only son of Hu Buwei, Great Kang’s Principal Third-Rank Minister of Revenue, and the sole male heir in three successive generations of the Hu family. Born mute and intellectually disabled, he grew up cherished and heavily protected by the household. His parents consulted numerous renowned physicians; Li Yifeng examined him six years before the opening events and declared his condition incurable 1 37.

A marriage alliance with the family of high-ranking statesman Zhou Ruiyuan was arranged before Xiaotian’s birth. The other family canceled the engagement when he was two after learning of his disability 1.

Hu Tian’s Arrival

Hu Tian was a twenty-eight-year-old physician who died from exhaustion after working at an operating table for thirty-two consecutive hours. His consciousness entered the sixteen-year-old Hu Xiaotian’s body, whose appearance closely resembled his younger self 1.

The awakening occurred on the fifteenth day of the tenth month, coinciding with a red moon and the flowering of a century-old sago palm at the Minister’s Residence. Xiaotian spent the following six months adapting to Great Kang while concealing the true cause of his recovery 1 15.

Determined not to repeat his exhausting former life, he chose comfort, leisure, and family happiness over professional ambition. He nevertheless rebuilt his frail body through deliberate exercise, developing an athletic physique within four months 1 2.

Appearance

• Height: 1.78 meters barefoot; his riding boots add approximately three centimeters 2.
• Build: Athletic and muscular, with well-defined contours developed through regular training 2 3.
• Complexion: Glossy chestnut-brown skin 3.
• Resemblance to Hu Tian: His face differs little from his former appearance, apart from looking younger and less mature 1.
• Early clothing: A blue-green robe embroidered with silver-thread cloud patterns, a broad brocade sash, and a black gauze cap ornamented with blue jade 2.
• Preferred practical clothing: Custom-made warrior outfits with fitted sleeves, which he finds less cumbersome than flowing scholarly robes 37.

Personality

Xiaotian values health, comfort, and personal freedom more than fame or official advancement. Having died from overwork, he is deeply weary of medicine as a career and rejects the idea of opening a hospital despite recognizing its potential profitability. His greatest frustration is that wealth and privilege do not give him control over his marriage or movements 2 26 28 36 49.

He is observant, verbally agile, and skilled at reading motives. He sees through Xu Zhengying’s attempts to cultivate the Hu family, exploits opponents’ inconsistencies, and frequently hides his intentions behind jokes, exaggerated courtesy, or performances of filial reluctance. His modern expressions often bewilder those around him 7 11 16 36.

His compassion contrasts sharply with his domineering behavior. He risks discomfort to rescue strangers and condemns class-based indifference, but also humiliates opponents, resorts to excessive violence, and mistreats servants. He pushes Liang Dazhuang into Tang Qingxuan’s path to escape an attack and later strikes him during unrelated outbursts. Xiaotian himself wonders whether his transmigration has intensified his temper 8 14 16 23 24.

He is openly attracted to beautiful women and repeatedly provokes Tang Qingxuan and Murong Feiyan with staring and suggestive remarks. His medical competence and genuine kindness therefore coexist with a growing public reputation as a troublesome official’s son 2 7 25 38.

Abilities & Skills

Medicine and Surgery

Xiaotian retains the medical training and practical experience of his former life. His precise emergency treatment and unfamiliar surgical techniques astonish physicians at Easy Origin Hall 25 33 37.

• Water rescue: Pulls Tang Qingxuan from Emerald Cloud Lake and treats her after she loses consciousness from swallowing water 3 12.
• Fracture care: Assesses an elderly cart driver’s thigh injury, coordinates his safe extraction, and splints the leg with wooden boards and cloth 24 25.
• Arrow-wound surgery: Successfully operates on Murong Feiyan after she is wounded protecting him 33 34.
• Hemostasis and suturing: Clamps and sutures a severed blood vessel, closes Fang Zhitang’s head wound, and applies gauze 44.
• Infection precautions: Repeatedly disinfects his hands and instruments with strong liquor; rejects ordinary wine when its alcohol content is insufficient 33 44.
• Material limitations: His first operation on Murong proceeds without suitable instruments or an effective anesthetic. He also struggles to find acceptable suture material until learning of Mulberry-Bark Suture 33.
• Selective practice: Denies being a physician and refuses Li Yifeng’s request to examine Prince Jin, fearing the consequences of treating a politically important patient 25 37 38.

Psychological Insight and Verbal Strategy

He holds a master’s degree in psychology from his former world and uses close observation to judge hesitation, anger, and self-interest 8.

• Challenges Murong’s lack of a warrant and then relies on her legal duty to prevent Tang Qingxuan from killing him 8.
• Provokes Tang Tiecheng into statements that can be interpreted as treason, frightening away the Tang family’s supporters 10.
• Exposes inconsistent standards for witness credibility by applying the Tang brothers’ objections to their own testimony 11.
• Uses a fabricated account of dissections to discourage Li Yifeng from seeking his medical help 38.
• Recognizes staged diversions and planted leads during the Iron Deed investigation, although some deductions come only after he has been trapped 27 34 35.

Education and Literary Knowledge

Xiaotian’s previous education makes Great Kang’s language and writing readily accessible to him 1.

• Mastered six major languages by the age of twenty in his former life 1.
• Earned a master’s degree in Chinese studies and recognizes parallels between Great Kang’s etiquette and ancient Chinese customs 1 9.
• Practices competent pen calligraphy, though his brush calligraphy is only average 17.
• Studies local history, geography, etiquette, riding, and archery to improve his independence and chances of survival 15.
• Borrows literary material from his former world, including a verse associated with Han Yu 50.

Physical Conditioning and Combat

His strength comes from exercise rather than demonstrated mastery of martial arts 2 12 22.

• Trains with punching bags, swimming, sunbathing, and other fitness routines 2 14.
• Uses punches, kicks, and a backward head strike effectively against the physically frail Qiu brothers 22.
• Reacts quickly to an intruder’s attempt to drug him, driving the attacker’s bamboo smoke tube into his throat 26.
• Lacks sophisticated fighting technique and cannot match trained martial artists’ speed or lightness skills 7 8 22.
• Is immobilized when the Camel Street attacker seals his acupoints, leaving him dependent on rescue 31.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Custom surgical instrument set: Made from diagrams he supplied and presented by Li Yifeng. Its contents include a hemostatic clamp, scissors, and needles and threads of different sizes 37 44.
• Mulberry-Bark Suture: A local material he judges an almost perfect substitute for modern surgical sutures after observing Murong Feiyan’s recovery 33 44.
• Dagger: Used to hold Tang Qingxuan hostage during his escape from her brother’s armed party 4.
• Thousand-year-old wild ginseng: An apparently genuine, valuable root given by Xu Zhengying to cultivate favor with the Hu household 16.
• Training facilities: Sandbags and a rear-courtyard swimming pool constructed according to his design 14.

Relationships

• Hu Buwei — Father and political protector. Their clashes over marriage and independence coexist with affection; after the assassination attempt, Buwei increasingly shares family dangers with him and arranges a distant posting for his safety 14 35 48 49.
• Madam Hu — Mother of his current body. She helped seek treatment for his childhood condition and controls the selection of household maids, fearing attractive servants might distract him 26 37.
• Li Tianheng’s daughter — Unnamed fiancée. Xiaotian resents the political engagement because he believes reports that she is paralyzed and unattractive; the wedding is later postponed by two years 1 14 36.
• Liang Dazhuang — Personal attendant and frequent target of his temper. Liang’s flattery and efforts to claim credit provoke Xiaotian, though he continues serving and assisting him 1 8 14 26 49.
• Hu Tianxiong — His father’s guard and the household’s foremost martial artist. Saves Xiaotian from Tang Qingxuan’s thrown sword 8 9.
• Hu An — Household steward whom Xiaotian initially trusts to report the Iron Deed’s theft. His disappearance and knowledge of the deed’s hiding place expose apparent betrayal 27 34 35.
• Murong Feiyan — Adversarial constable and increasingly familiar acquaintance. She risks her life to save him, he operates on her wound, and their exchanges remain teasing and distrustful. Before leaving the capital, he asks her to share drinks and conversation 31 34 40 50.
• Tang Qingxuan — A rescued drowning victim whom he subsequently takes hostage. Their confrontation becomes a bitter dispute over abduction, propriety, and the interpretation of his first aid 3 4 12 13.
• Huo Xiaoru — Performer whose company he enjoys and whose humiliation prompts him to attack the Qiu brothers. She leaves the scene to protect him from gossip, although he initially interprets her departure as ingratitude 21 22 24.
• Xu Zhengying — His father’s subordinate. Xu seeks influence through gifts but finds himself responsible for Xiaotian’s disruptive outing and its political consequences 16 21 24.
• Li Yifeng — Physician who once declared his condition incurable, later becoming an admirer of his surgery and providing his instrument set 37.
• Yuan Shiqing — Physician who recognizes his fracture treatment, assists during surgery, and continues caring for patients Xiaotian helps 25 33 40 44.
• Zhan Peng — Hunter grateful to Xiaotian for treating his father. Xiaotian admires his archery and invites him to dine 40.
• Fang Zhitang and Fang Fang — Father and blind daughter whom he helps. He treats Zhitang’s head injury and later arranges delivery of five taels of gold promised to them 44 49.
• Shi Xuedong — Hostile sworn brother. Their public reconciliation conceals mutual resentment; Xiaotian accepts brotherhood to avoid offending the politically powerful Shi family 46 47.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Tang Family Dispute

• Tang Qingxuan’s reckless riding and attack on Xiaotian lead to a confrontation in which Hu Fo strikes her horse, throwing her toward the lake. Xiaotian rescues her 2 3.
• When Tang Tiehan mistakes the rescue for molestation, Xiaotian takes Qingxuan hostage and escapes to the Hu residence. He then deliberately welcomes the possibility of scandal, hoping it will destroy his Li-family engagement 4 5.
• The confrontation escalates into a siege, a pavilion fire, Murong Feiyan’s intervention, and Qingxuan’s nearly fatal sword attack 7 8.
• Xiaotian turns the subsequent hearing in his favor through legal threats, witness arguments, and leading questions. The officials settle the affair as a misunderstanding, but his father refuses to cancel the marriage 10 11 12 13 14.

Misty Waters Literary Gathering

• Accompanying Xu Zhengying under a concealed identity, Xiaotian disrupts the gathering and humiliates Wu Jingshan and Su Qingkun, leaving Xu to absorb their resentment 17 18 21.
• He attacks the Qiu brothers after they mock Huo Xiaoru’s low birth. Murong eventually releases him after the brothers withdraw their accusations 22 24.
• On the journey home, he stops in heavy rain to save an elderly cart driver, revealing medical skill that sharply contradicts his emerging reputation 24 25.

Iron Deed Theft and Camel Street Ambush

• After thwarting intruders, Xiaotian connects their attack with a fire at his father’s study and suspects a coordinated diversion. Hu An identifies the missing object as the family’s Iron Deed of Redemption 26 27.
• Leads from the captured burglars bring him and Murong to Camel Street, where Mo Shaolin’s escape distracts them while another attacker abducts Xiaotian 30 31.
• Murong saves him but suffers an arrow wound. His successful operation preserves her life and establishes his surgical ability before Easy Origin Hall’s physicians 33 34.
• His father’s return exposes Hu An’s suspicious conduct. Xiaotian concludes that the investigation itself involved planted traps, while Buwei decides to remove his son from the capital’s political danger 34 35 36.

Swallowcloud Tower and the Shi Family

• Xiaotian treats Fang Zhitang’s severe head wound while Murong, Zhan Peng, and the household servants subdue Shi Xuedong’s party 44.
• Misled about Shi’s standing, he strikes him, then defeats his intimidation attempt by exposing a supposedly imperial jade pendant as counterfeit 44 46.
• Family connections force a public settlement. Shi presses for sworn brotherhood, and Xiaotian reluctantly participates despite privately detesting him 46 47.

Appointment to Azure Cloud County

Development	Chapter	Details
Western Sichuan posting proposed	35 36	Hu Buwei seeks to protect Xiaotian from assassination threats and succession politics while giving him experience.
County appointment confirmed	48	Xiaotian is assigned as deputy of Azure Cloud County, with departure scheduled in three days.
Rank and purpose reviewed	49	His Lower Principal Ninth-Rank appointment offers modest compensation; his identity and posting are kept quiet to reduce political interference.
Final preparations	49 50	He arranges the promised gold for the Fang family and invites Murong Feiyan to spend time with him before departure.

Notable Quotes

“Let me teach you another: everyone is equal before the law!” 44

“I'm not a physician!” 25

“I suddenly realized I don't have a single friend around me. If we're talking about people I know well, I suppose you qualify.” 50

Trivia

• His new name adds “Xiao” to the name Hu Tian 1.
• Household servants interpret his unfamiliar fitness routines as evidence that he has gone from intellectually disabled to mad 2.
• His repeated complaints about Liang Dazhuang “blocking my camera” use a concept the attendant cannot understand 7.
• Despite his wealth, he normally carries no money himself: his servants handle payments, and his clothing does not even have pockets 42.
• His story about dissecting animals and purchased corpses is a deliberate fabrication; he has performed no dissections in Great Kang 38.