Insufficient balance

  New book rankings, this is when I need you the most, every red vote, every collection, is a timely help. Asking for votes, won't force everyone in the future.

  ……

  ……

  "Do you still have the face to come here?" Feng Yuanchun's expression was extremely rich when he saw Yuwen Ji, with anger, humiliation, and a hint of complacency.

  Yuwen Ji said coldly, "I didn't come to beg you, but to remind you. Quickly release the maidservant of the Xue family, otherwise you will fall into Xue Chongxun's sinister plot."

  "Remind me? Why remind me?" Feng Yuanjun said with a cold smile.

  Yuwen Ji said: "This morning, my father and I happened to pass by the West Market. We saw you ordering someone to catch that little girl. My father immediately blurted out that you had fallen into Xue Chongxun's trap, and he has been waiting for today. I hate Xue Chongxun to death, but I also remember your past kindness to our family, so I'm kindly warning you."

  Feng Yuanjun's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, his face contorted as if he was about to cry, staring at Yuwen Ji's delicate and charming face: "Do you still know that I, Feng Yuanjun, have been good to you? What status does the Yuwen family have? They're just small tea merchants! Have I, Feng Yuanjun, ever looked down on you? My elder brother has repeatedly said that our Feng family is not well-established and should form alliances with larger clans through marriage. But for your sake, I didn't even listen to my elder brother's words. And what did my sincerity bring me in return? Betrayal!"

  He took a step forward, laughing loudly and almost crying with laughter: "The tricks of the Teaching Department, used on my wife-to-be, Feng Yuanchun..."

  Yuwen Ji's face turned red, and she took a step back: "This is not the time to discuss right or wrong, Xue Chongxun must already be sharpening his knife. Quickly let that girl go, don't give him an opportunity, otherwise disaster will be imminent."

  Feng Yuanjun smiled and said: "It's just catching him off guard, what can he do? I caught him, that's all!"

  Yuwen Ji hastily said: "Believe me, don't act on a moment's anger. All things should be carefully considered from a long-term perspective. The matter of my humiliation was also something I couldn't control, and I was forced to do so..."

  "Trash!" Feng Yuanchun slapped her with one palm, his build was not tall, but the force of one palm was not small, and immediately knocked Yuwen Ji to the ground, half of her face swollen.

  "Your father didn't say that you're both a good doctor and a skilled martial artist, with a beautiful appearance and a clever mind? If you weren't willing, could Xue Chongxun, that drunkard and womanizer, have laid a finger on you? Do you think I'm a pig-headed idiot, the hatred in my heart is so great that I'd like to chop you two adulterers into ten thousand pieces!"

  Yuwen Ji covered her red and swollen face, with tears welling up in her eyes. She suddenly walked to the large case, took down the precious sword that was placed on top of it as a decoration. Feng Yuanjun was startled: "What do you want to do? Do you want to kill me?"

  "Clang!" Yuwen Ji lightly pressed the mechanism on the hilt of her sword, and the blade popped out a short distance. She turned the precious sword over, with the hilt facing Feng Yuanjun, and handed it to him, saying: "You kill me."

  Feng Yuanjun was stunned, but coldly laughed: "Kill you? I'd get in trouble with the law if I killed you! Get out of here, I still have to go and taste what Xue Chongxun's woman is like." After saying that, he snatched the treasure sword and casually threw it aside, grabbed her arm and pushed her towards the door.

  Yuwen Ji said: "You're so afraid of trouble, why did you go provoke Xue Chongxun? The more you fear trouble, the more it will come to your door!"

  "You think you can intimidate me? You underestimate me!"

  ……

  A group of people holding weapons guarded a carriage, arriving at the entrance of the Feng family's mansion. The slaves at the gate took one look and knew they were up to no good, hastily gathering together to block the entrance.

  At this time, Fang Yuzhong walked to the side of the felt car with a bow, and respectfully lifted the curtain for the person inside. Xue Chongxun, wearing a hemp robe, calmly got out of the felt car, and the surrounding slaves all bowed their heads in salute.

  Xue Chongxun walked out of the carriage with a leisurely expression, and raised his head to take a look at the plaque above the gate, which read: Feng Fu.

  The servant of the Feng family knew Xue Chongxun. As soon as he saw him, one of the servants hurried forward and said: "It's Master Xue who has arrived. Please wait a moment, I'll go and inform Master Feng..."

  The word "郎" had not yet fallen to the ground when Xue Chongxun suddenly flew up with one foot, his right leg drawing a beautiful arc in the air, and kicked the servant's chest with a loud "bang". His right foot landed perfectly on the servant's chest, and the servant let out a pained cry as he stumbled backward. With a loud crash, the servant collided with the black lacquered gate, bounced back, and fell to the ground with a thud.

  Fang Yu Zhong immediately shouted: "Brothers, up!"

  The other slaves at the gate immediately surrounded him, one of whom pulled out a lamp post and threw away the lamp, leaving only the long handle as a weapon, rushing towards Fang Yuzhong, and sweeping his head with a stick.

  Fang Yuzhong saw the momentum coming, lowered his stance to stabilize himself, and with a slight tilt of his body, the stick struck empty air; at the same time, he gently supported the stick with both hands, using the inertia to gradually dissipate the force of the stick as it fell, then pushed forward, causing the slave holding the stick to retreat a step, steady his horse's pace, and instinctively use force to prop up Fang Yuzhong's push.

  But unexpectedly, Fang Yu Zhong grabbed the other end of the stick and suddenly pulled it towards his chest. The servant's force was also in this direction, so when the two forces combined, he stumbled forward. The servant was caught off guard, and immediately faced a powerful iron fist that came with a gust of wind, causing him to be punched until his teeth and blood flew out, and the world spun around him.

  The wooden stick was snatched away by Fang Yu Zhong, who said it didn't matter whether he was slow or fast. His body suddenly flipped to the side and jumped into mid-air, his hand drawing a large semicircle with the stick before striking down towards the shoulder of the servant rushing over from the left. With a loud "thud", the stick broke in two, and the servant fell to the ground, wailing in pain.

  A dozen or so of the Xue family's servants, armed with wooden sticks and other objects, rushed forward, instantly creating a flurry of blows, with cries of pain ringing out amidst the cracking sounds, as dust flew everywhere. In the blink of an eye, many people had fallen to the ground, wailing and crying out for their parents.

  Only two people did not move again, one was Xue Chongxun, standing behind and watching, and also San Niang beside him, coldly motionless.

  At this moment, a slave at the gate suddenly opened the door and ran in to report. The people on Xue Chongxun's side did not hesitate and rushed in immediately.

  The slave ran hastily along the corridor, going straight inside. Occasionally there were maids holding things on the road, and the cups and plates immediately made a "ding-dong" sound, smashing into a mess. The pursuers behind also closely followed, staring at the slave and chasing after him.

  Through the corridor, the servant rushed into a tunnel and ran to the door of a house, immediately knocking on the door with a "bang bang" sound, shouting: "A Lang, A Lang, Xue Jia Lang Jun has arrived at the door!"

  Just as Xue Chongxun had just caught up with him, the slave's legs went soft and he squatted down, covering his head with his hands. At this moment, the door opened and Feng Yuanjun appeared at the entrance. He didn't avoid Xue Chongxun's angry gaze either, their eyes met, and the surrounding air seemed to be filled with gunpowder smell instantly. The slave who reported the news quickly rolled and crawled away in a hurry.

  "Feng Yuanjun, where is Pei Niang?" Xue Chongxun asked with a smile. While Fang Yuzhong beside him was clenching his fists, cracking his knuckles "pa pa" and shaking his head left and right, making a crackling sound.

  At this time, Xue Chongxun looked around, but didn't see San Niang anywhere. He didn't know where she had hidden herself. However, Xue Chongxun believed that she was still nearby, waiting for a certain moment to suddenly attack.

  It was probably Xue Chongxun's smile that enraged Feng Yuanjun, who also forced out a very ugly laugh and said with his head raised: "I've already stripped her bare." Of course, this was just angry talk, and soon after returning, Feng Yuanjun got into an argument with Yuwen Ji and didn't even have time to glance at Pei Niang.

  Xue Chongxun was furious, he immediately took a step forward, grabbed Feng Yuanjun's collar with one hand, and his right fist instantly hit Feng Yuanjun's face.

  "Bang, bang, bang……” In less than ten seconds, Xue Chongxun had thrown out twenty punches, with each fist hitting Feng Yuanchun's head like a raindrop. Feng Yuanchun's teeth were knocked loose, his nose bled profusely, his face turned purple and swollen, and his eyes could only open into a slit. This appearance would be unrecognizable even to his own mother.

  Xue Chongxun grabbed his collar and pushed him forward, and Feng Yuanjun immediately backed away, knocking open the door and falling to the ground. Xue Chongxun jumped in, stepping on his hand with one foot, grinding it hard, causing Feng Yuanjun to scream like a slaughtered pig.

  Xue Chongxun was still not satisfied, and with one hand he grabbed Feng Yuanjun's already disheveled hair, pulling it hard. However, there was too little hair to grab, and all that could be heard was a pained "ah" as a lock of hair was torn out by Xue Chongxun, almost taking the scalp with it.

  He threw away the hair in his hand, opened his palm, and grabbed a handful of hair again, lifting it up. Feng Yuanchun stood in front of him, trembling slightly, almost as if he could be knocked down with just one little finger.

  Xue Chongxun leaned in close, his face almost touching Feng Yuanchun's, his teeth clenched with a "click" that made people's teeth ache. He stared at Feng Yuanchun's eyes, which had narrowed to two slits, and said coldly: "Is it fun?"

  Just then, San Niang suddenly appeared at the door. This ghostly woman walked silently, without making a sound. She turned her head to look back, and slowly walked over, her icy pale fingers also touching the hilt of the short sword at her waist.

  The temperature in the room seemed to drop suddenly in an instant.

  Just then, a soft cry of "Stop!" rang out - it was Yuwen's voice.

  San Niang hesitated for a moment, but her figure still moved suddenly and swiftly, like a rabbit darting out of its burrow, her feet moving as fast as arrows, like lightning and thunder, she rushed towards Feng Yuanjun!

  Was that moment of hesitation a reluctance to leave life?

  "Clang! Clang! Clang!" Suddenly, three silver needles appeared in the air, flying towards San Niang from three directions. Those needles were acupuncture needles made of silver.

  "Ding!" A silver needle and a short sword collided and flew apart, while two more "popped" into the front beam, penetrating three inches into the wood.

  In an instant, Yuwen Ji had flashed to the front of Feng Yuanjun, using her body to block him. The rapid movement stirred up a gust of wind that blew the pearl curtain into a "ding-dang" response.

  "Third daughter, the person you're sacrificing yourself for is a devil, doing all sorts of evil deeds without any moral principles. He's just using you, and once he's used up your last bit of value, he'll kick you aside like a worn-out shoe. You're just a scapegoat, is it worth it?" Yuwen Ji said.

  The third daughter said expressionlessly: "I'm used to it."

  Yuwen Ji's eyes widened slightly as she said, "Very well, your martial arts skills were taught by my father, I presume? Today, let me experience them for myself."

  Xue Chongxun heard this and said gloomily, "Yuwen Ji, what does it have to do with you? Is the Feng family still your in-laws? Don't dream on, get out of the way quickly, otherwise I can make the Yuwen family die without a place to bury at any time!"

  "You don't remember that day when we were intimate? Can you bear to give it up? Don't you want to have that kind of tender love again in the future?"

  She grabbed Feng Yuanjun's clothes and pushed him hard towards the back, so that he would be far away from the battlefield.

  She had just made a move, but saw San Niang looking at her back with an unusual gaze, without even glancing at herself. Yuwen Ji thought to herself: Humph! Still playing tricks, don't think about luring me to turn my head and distract myself!

  But Xue Chongxun's expression was also the same, it was impossible for them to coordinate so well. Yuwen Ji took a step back and quickly turned her head to look. She didn't look at first, but when she did, her face suddenly changed: a precious sword had already pierced through Feng Yuanjun's left chest, fresh blood covered the ground, he hung his head down, without even making a sound, probably dying on the spot!

  At this point, Yuwen Ji suddenly remembered that earlier when she was arguing with Feng Yuanjun, he had casually thrown his sword away. At the time, she hadn't noticed that it had landed upright on the couch, its tip pointing upwards; just now, when Yuwen Ji pushed Feng Yuanjun, he unfortunately fell onto the sword.

  "Did I kill him?" Yuwen Ji murmured.

  Everyone was shocked, and San Niang's eyes showed a hint of relaxation, as if she had let out a sigh. Xue Chongxun hesitated for a moment, then said to San Niang: "Feng Yuanjun is not quite dead yet, go finish him off with two more swords."

  San Niang looked at Xue Chongxun for a moment, but didn't say anything. She very obediently walked over and stabbed two swords into Feng Yuanjun's chest. Xue Chongxun said: "It was San Niang who killed the person, did you all hear clearly? Feng Yuanjun seized my concubine, I brought people to take her back in a fit of rage, during which a conflict broke out and my subordinate San Niang accidentally stabbed Feng Yuanjun to death. That's what happened. San Niang, is that right?"

  "It's like that." said San Niang with an expressionless face.

  But after a moment, she suddenly said something that had nothing to do with the matter: "The master has always said that he treats us as his own children, but of course, he was just speaking casually; in fact, in anyone's eyes, Yuwen Ji has always been more precious than me."

  Xue Chongxun said, "It's not like that. If Yuwen Ji is implicated, during the interrogation they might think it was me and Yuwen Ji who colluded to murder; besides, Yuwen Xiao understands the grain transportation aspect very well, I still have use for him."

  ……

  When Xue Chongxun swaggered out of the Feng family gate, he saw rows of guards and soldiers surrounding the mansion. An official wearing a purple robe jumped off his horse and bowed to Xue Chongxun, saying: "I am Li Shouyi, the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. I heard that a fight resulting in injury or death has occurred at the Feng residence, and I wonder if this case is related to the Duke of Wei. Please come with me to the yamen to give a statement, so we can get to the bottom of things and report it to our superiors for judgment."

  Xue Chongxun smiled and said: "Do you want me, the dignified Duke of Wei, to be humiliated by a mere clerk? I must ask if His Majesty agrees with this."

  "The prince breaks the law, and is punished like a commoner!" Li Shouyi's expression suddenly turned stern, his official robes fluttering without wind, as he proudly raised his head and said, "As officials, we eat the king's salary and are loyal to the king. From Dongguan in the east to Wugong in the west, from Huxian in the south to Tongchuan in the north, all matters of public security within Guannei Road and Jingqidao are under the jurisdiction of our capital prefecture. The country's rewards and punishments have rules, merits and demerits are clear, and absolutely do not allow anyone to challenge the dignity of national law, including you, Duke Weiguo! Duke Weiguo, it's better for you to follow me, lest I enforce the law with my sword!"

  Xue Chongxun's expression didn't change as he said, "So you're saying that you've made up your minds to oppose us?"

  It was probably the "men" in Xue Chongxun's words that made other officials feel pressured. At this time, an old man wearing a crimson robe next to Li Shou whispered to Li Shou, "Sir, what does it have to do with us regarding the residence of Princess Taiping? We just need to investigate the scene clearly and report back."

  Li Shouyi's face turned iron-green as he said, "As long as it's within my jurisdiction, it's my business! Come on, take him down! Am I, Li Shouyi, a man who fears threats? If you want me to stop, just say one word, and this old man will return the black hat on his head to Your Majesty."

  "Take down? Take who?" Xue Chongxun looked around, and in the midst of the clashing blades and armor, he said calmly, "Who among you will take me down?"

  The red-clad official who had just spoken hastily shouted: "Nobody move!"

  Li Shouyi flew into a rage, pointing at the surrounding officers and soldiers: "The country has fed you for nothing! Don't you dare take action?"

  "Hahaha……" Xue Chongxun threw his head back and laughed loudly, striding confidently towards his carriage. The guard beside him, Hao Nu, respectfully lifted the curtain of the carriage and said in a worshipful tone: "Young Master, please get in, slowly."

  Li Shouyi glared at Xue Chongxun with wide eyes, his whiskers standing on end, and cursed loudly: "The country's pestilence, the scourge of the Great Tang! The heavenly net is vast and will not let you escape, I, Li Shouyi, will definitely bring you to justice and subject you to the punishment of the law!"

  Xue Chongxun ignored him and left in a hurry. On the way, a guard commented to someone outside, "This Li Shouyi is really a man who doesn't know how to live or die."

  Xue Chongxun sighed and said, "It's rare. Since the great emperor Tianhuang, the imperial court has been in chaos for many years. This Li Shouyi is a man of iron bones, unafraid of power and wealth. What does he want?"