Insufficient balance

  (Today is a double update, this is the second one……I hope to get everyone's red tickets, each red ticket for Xifeng is every move of emotion; it is also every encouragement, the motivation to code words is because of your encouragement, thank you all for your encouragement.)

  "The blue sleeves are fluttering, the vast ocean is pouring, how can I cut off my feelings for Peach Island? The green willows are thinking of each other. People drift away, shadows are lonely, letters are broken, and the ink is light. In vain, I add to my bitter dreams. Wanting to end our love, but it's hard to end... This 'Longing' song from the Da Ming Palace Music Bureau has always been my favorite tune."

  The small wooden hut was oppressive, the lovely maiden was bound, but Xue Chongxun, however, with a somewhat emotional expression, raised his head and began to recite a poem amidst the swirling white fog.

  At a critical moment, he stopped and left Yuwen Ji. Yuwen Ji was in agony, as if she had been bitten by thousands of ants. Her face red, she said with shame: "Come over quickly!"

  Xue Chongxun was gone, but he didn't continue the series of comforting words that had almost scared Yuwen Ji out of her wits. A low voice whispered in her ear, "Changxiangsi, did you feel it?"

  Yuwen Ji looked at him with pleading eyes and shook her head: "Like just now, don't stop, okay?"

  "How?"

  "Touch... me." Yuwen Ji's face suddenly turned red as a peach blossom in February. It made Xue Chongxun imagine petals flying all over the sky, falling in waves.

  He stretched out his hand, and the back of his hand slowly stroked along the curve of her skin, and couldn't help but praise: "Exquisite beauty, elegant and radiant... slender figure revealed, delicate bones and plump muscles. When the time comes to get close to her, soft and smooth as jade..."

  ……

  Steam dispersed, hot air rose, even sweat was scorching, but when Xue Chongxun broke through her natural barrier that had been preserved for many years, her tears fell on his hand and felt distinctly cool as water.

  "Will you marry me?" Yuwen Ji said blankly.

  Xue Chongxun knew that her initial passion was just physical desire, and now she said this because since her chastity had been taken away, it's better to follow the chicken, besides marrying him Xue Chongxun could still fulfill his father's official position, which is the same as marrying Feng Yuanjun.

  And things aren't over yet, Xue Chongxun's coercion of her was certainly not just for lust, she was just a pawn.

  "Don't be silly, you and I are just pretending."

  ……

  Nothing is more cruel than two people's mistake, but one person has to bear it. When Yuwen Ji walked out of the small wooden house, the petals on the apricot tree in the yard danced with the wind, as if they began to wither away in an instant.

  When going to the Cheng Huang Temple, there was a slave in the entourage carriage who was Feng Yuanjun's person, so that he could better grasp his fiancée's general whereabouts. This matter will definitely be known by the Feng family, how should she face her family and husband's family?

  The sky gradually darkened, and Yuwen Ji, wandering in the streets and alleys of Chang'an, suddenly felt that home, which was originally a warm place, had become a lair of dragons and tigers, making her dare not return. Just like the sun's western slope, where the light sank, Yuwen Ji felt that her entire world had darkened. Although the Tang Dynasty was relatively free and open, a woman losing her virginity before marriage was still a serious matter.

  She remembered what her father had said before: sunlight can't reach every place, and some dark nights are just because people haven't seen them.

  Anyway, she still had to go back. Since people have to exist in the world, escaping is not a solution. When she returned to the Yuwen family's mansion, she saw that there were many more unfamiliar slaves and guards in the courtyard. Did Feng Yuanjun find out so soon?

  "Where did you go?" a young man in purple robes, shorter than Yuwen Ji, stared at her and asked.

  The young man in purple was none other than Feng Yuanjun, the junior minister of Taichang Temple. He and his cousin Gao Lishi came from the same family, but Gao Lishi was stout and short, while Feng was tall and slender.

  Feng Yuanchun was not tall, but he still had an air of authority. In front of his father, he spoke in a tone of reprimand, as if his position demanded it. He had already sensed that something would happen when Yuwen Ji went alone to the Xue family's separate courtyard. His severe eyes revealed humiliation and pain, accompanied by anger.

  Yuwen Ji said expressionlessly: "Youyin Zhai, your superior has invited me to go."

  "What have you done?" Feng Yuanjun's feet involuntarily moved half a step forward.

  "It doesn't matter."

  Next to Yuwen Xiao, who didn't say a word, was a tall and thin old man with wrinkles on his face like ravines, and a weathered complexion. Typically, civil officials don't do physical labor, aren't exposed to wind or sun, and are mostly pale and clean, with only some fine lines and age spots, but Yuwen Xiao was completely different, because he was originally a wandering martial artist.

  "What's wrong? It just so happens that I brought a midwife with me today, let her examine you. Don't worry, she won't wrongly accuse you, the midwife used to be from the palace and absolutely won't make a mistake."

  Feng Yuanjun said, "You, the esteemed daughter of the Yuwen family, how can I, a proud Junior Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, hold my head high in front of my colleagues? Won't I become a laughing stock for others?"

  The old man sighed and shook his head: "Jie'er, really nothing happened? You and Wenpo go in and let them check."

  He sighed, sighing that this future son-in-law was not a man who could achieve great things, and he cared about too many things... Like Taiping Princess's subordinate, there was a prime minister named Dou Huaizhen. The dignified prime minister had married back Wei Empress's wet nurse, an old hag who was both ugly and old with missing teeth, in order to curry favor with Wei Empress. Isn't this kind of thing being ridiculed by the whole world? But now isn't Dou Huaizhen's position as prime minister still stable?

  After the midwife came out, she whispered to Feng Yuanjun: "Not only was her body broken, but there were also marks of ropes on her body. In my experience, it's the kind of rope technique used by the brothel..."

  "What?!" Feng Yuanjun was suddenly enraged, his fingers trembling with anger as he pointed at Yuwen Xiao's hand. He was so furious that he couldn't utter a complete sentence, "You... take off the black silk on your head and go back to being a peddler!"

  Feng Yuanjun gritted his teeth and let out a cold hum, then waved his hand and said, "Let's go!"

  After Feng Yuanjun left, Yuwen Ji came out from the inner room and knelt down in front of her father, crying: "I have lost all face for the Yuwen family, Father punish me..."

  The old man's expression was calm, and he didn't show a hint of blame. He hurriedly helped her up and said with a tinge of sadness: "Get up quickly, no need to say more, I've already guessed what happened. It's all my fault for not being able to protect my wife and child well, making you suffer for me... Alas, everything is my doing, Jie'er, why did you have to do this..."

  Yuwen Ji's heart warmed, and she sobbed: "Father has been busy for our family all his life. As long as I can do it, I am willing to atone for Father's sins... Father, we will not be officials in Chang'an anymore, and you don't have to do things that harm the heavens and reason. Let's just sell tea leaves again and live a simple life."

  Upon hearing his daughter's words, the old man was taken aback for a moment. A hint of discontent flashed in his eyes, and his expression suddenly turned cold. After a brief pause, he spoke warmly, "The livelihood of our family is your father's responsibility; you don't need to worry about it... Does Xue Chongxun like you?"

  "Father, don't mention this person again!" Yuwen Ji said with a mix of hatred and entanglement.

  The old man said, "It's not as simple as you think. Feng Yuanjun is a narrow-minded person and won't let us transport the tea leaves smoothly. And Xue Chongxun knows about my past deeds, he's like a sharp sword hanging over our heads, not only a hidden danger but also someone who can blackmail us once and will do it again... If we, the Yuwen family, can take advantage of this opportunity to surrender to the Xue family, after Xue Chongxun's death, there is the powerful Princess Taiping... Disaster and fortune are intertwined, and it's hard to predict good or bad luck."

  Yuwen Ji suddenly felt that her father had become somewhat unfamiliar, and she said in a daze: "Xue Chongxun is a ruthless and unfeeling person who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Father must not become like them, it's best if we keep our distance from them."

  The old man said, "For your father's sake, this is also for your own good. Although his methods are not glorious, he is the eldest son of the Duke of Wei and the Princess Taiping, and he has gone to great lengths to get you, doesn't that show that he likes you?"

  "No! He's heartless and shameless, he said with his own mouth that he won't marry me."