Insufficient balance

  Xue Chongxun put the horizontal knife on the table after pulling it out. The knife was still close to Xiao Heng, and Xue Chongxun seemed to smile as he looked at Xiao Heng's face, seeing his eyes intentionally or unintentionally glance at the knife on the table. Xue Chongxun said: "How about it? Do you have the guts to suddenly grab this knife and stab me to death... It's close to you, if you suddenly grab it, you're prepared, and I need reaction time. Your advantage is very obvious, and your chances of success are great. Want to give it a try?"

  "I... I didn't mean it, there's no need to say such things, no need to say such things." Xiao Heng's face turned very ugly.

  At this moment, just as Xiang Heng's wife, Duan Shi, was about to cry out, San Niang had already walked over to the cradle and pulled out a short sword, pointing it at the basket. "Let out one cry," she said, "and I'll chop off an arm."

  Dong's hands were tightly covering her mouth, and tears began to flow out. After a moment, she cried: "Don't hurt the child, he's so young, he doesn't understand anything. Please, take whatever you want, just don't hurt the child..."

  Xue Chongxun on the other side of the table looked at Xiao Heng with encouraging eyes: "Try it, a man should have the courage to stake everything. As long as you have this courage, I will really look up to you; if you can kill me, I'll leave my words here... San Niang, if I die, don't make things difficult for them, just leave and fend for yourself."

  Xiao Heng's face turned pale as paper and he didn't even dare to look at that knife.

  "Do you like listening to temple tunes?" Xue Chongxun asked again.

  Xiao Heng shook his head, looking at Xue Chongxun with great puzzlement, wondering what was wrong with this guy's brain, asking irrelevant questions at a time like this. Xue Chongxun said very seriously: "Then you really missed out on something good."

  Xiao Heng said: "I was born in a poor family and had no chance to listen to court music."

  "The women of the land of fireworks also sing, for example, Meng Xiaoyu."

  As soon as Xue Chongxun mentioned Meng Xiaoyu, Xiao Heng's body trembled slightly. Xue Chongxun closed his eyes, as if he had fallen into his own imagination, and actually began to sing, "The blue phoenix, the vast ocean, how can we cut off our love for Peach Island? We long for each other in the green willow camp. People drift away, shadows are lonely, letters are broken, and the silk is light. In vain, I add to my bitter dreams. It's hard to end this love, it's hard to end this love..."

  "This is a misunderstanding, it's really a misunderstanding." Xiao Heng said, only to realize that the other party had said this sentence first, and he seemed to be parroting, "If you have something to say, say it clearly, don't let grudges accumulate... I am Liu Gong's person, from now on I will definitely remember your kindness of not killing me, and speak well of you in front of Liu Gong..."

  Xue Chongxun sighed, "Actually, I am Wei Guogong, with the surname Xue. Have you heard of it? Your fingers were manipulated by someone to be like this, and until now, you still don't know who did it. What do you do every day? Just thinking about cheating money from lonely and poor women?"

  Xiao Heng didn't care whether Xue Chongxun was telling the truth or not, and immediately kowtowed to the ground, knocking his head loudly and saying: "I'm blind to the majesty of Mount Tai, I didn't recognize that it was you, sir. You are a magnanimous person who doesn't hold grudges against petty people, please forgive me this once..."

  Xue Chongxun sighed and said, "Do you know how hurt Meng Xiaoyu was? The person she trusted unconditionally not only deceived her but also wanted to poison her? Alas, human relationships are shallow, and it's all in vain. The fallen red leaves scatter across the river of spring water... How tragic!"

  "I was wrong, terribly wrong! I must find a way to return the money to Xiaoyu, I swear to heaven, I will definitely repay it!" Xiao Heng said pitifully, "You come from a noble background, you don't know how hard it is for us to make a name for ourselves... In order to make a name for ourselves and be respected by others, we have paid so much and tried every means... You don't know, I even went into seclusion in the Zhongnan Mountains, hoping to gain some fame and get the recognition and summons of those in power. We are not easy either, Lord Lang, please give me another chance to repent and start anew."

  Xue Chongxun said: "I'll tell you a joke, want to hear it?"

  Xiao Heng was taken aback for a moment, then hastily said, "I want to hear it, I want to hear it. Every word of Lang Jun's is a famous saying."

  "Alright. It's said that a long, long time ago, there was a person who burned incense and worshipped Buddha every day. One day, he fell into the water and shouted for Buddha to save him while struggling. Just then, a boat came by and asked if he wanted to get on board. He replied that Buddha would save him. The boat left. After a while, another boat came by and asked if he wanted to get on board. He still said that Buddha would definitely save him... In the end, he drowned and when he met Buddha, he angrily asked: 'I burn incense for you every day, why didn't you save me when I fell into the water?' Buddha said: 'Didn't I send two boats one after another to rescue you?'"

  Xiao Heng stared at Xue Chongxun in silence, after a while, he burst out laughing loudly and awkwardly.

  "Did you hear that? I gave you a chance, the knife is on the table, if you don't take it now, there won't be another opportunity, really."

  Xiao Heng shook his head vigorously: "Even if I had the audacity of a madman, I wouldn't dare point a knife at you!"

  "Alas!" Xue Chongxun shook his head and sighed, "You say that to succeed one must work hard in this way or that, but I don't believe it. If you were really such a person, at this moment you would certainly have the courage to pick up the knife, because your wife is facing humiliation, which is a great shame! As you said, you once went into seclusion for fame, that was a shortcut, people can't rely on shortcuts, understand?"

  Xiao Heng's face turned red, he turned his head to stare at the horizontal knife on the table, and his knees slowly left the ground, wanting to stand up. At this time, Xue Chongxun's pupils contracted, revealing excited eyes; even San Niang standing next to the basket became somewhat tense.

  "It's pointless to kill someone who doesn't value life; it's equally pointless to humiliate someone who has no shame."

  Just then, Xiao Heng suddenly exhaled a breath and knelt back down...

  "You've had your chance." Xue Chongxun picked up the horizontal knife on the table and said, "Now I'm asking you, did you really give the money you cheated from Meng Xiaoyu to Liu Youqiu?"

  Xiao Heng was silent, his brow furrowed in thought.

  Xue Chongxun said: "Last time I told you, if you have half a lie, I will take action against your family members. My words count, right? If this time you still don't believe me, you can try it out."

  Xiao Heng nodded hastily: "Yes... I wrote several poems and sent them to the Liu family's mansion, hoping to get his appreciation and recommendation, but there was no response at all. I had no choice but to resort to this inferior plan and send a large sum of silver."

  "You've given the poem to the wrong person, if it's really written with true feelings, you should give it to Song Jing or Yao Chong... unfortunately, both of them seem to have been demoted to local positions now."

  Xiao Heng hastily shifted the blame onto Liu Youqiu: "As you said, sir, I have been studying diligently for ten years, and now I am also helpless. If there were wise and capable ministers in office, I would not have resorted to such a plan! It is all because of Liu Youqiu's greed for wealth!"

  "What about Lu Xiangxian? Although he was promoted by my mother, he has been a virtuous official for many years and is not someone who would bend the law for personal gain. And then there's Prime Minister Xiao Zhizhong, who is normally able to put aside personal feelings and be impartial, and is also a member of your own family... You really haven't got a clue about the situation, have you? You're just blindly rushing forward with your eyes closed, thinking that it's easy to get ahead in official circles?"

  "Yes, yes, I'm dull-witted. Your words are like a refreshing drink to me, Lord. If you can use someone like me, I'll devote myself to serving you with all my heart and soul!"

  Xue Chongxun shook his head and said, "What's the use of someone like you? But now I can make use of you once. However, you'll have to sacrifice your wife and suffer a bit by being locked up and disappearing for a while."

  Xue Chongxun stood up and walked to Dou Shi, who was trembling with fear. "Y-you... what are you going to do?" she stuttered.

  He sneered and raised the knife in his hand closer to Du's face. Du was even more frightened, helpless and pitiful. Then Xue Chongxun said: "Don't move, otherwise your child..."

  "Stop! I beg of you, don't harm him!" Dou Shi became brave and spoke quickly. Xue Chong said: "A mother's love is indeed worthy of respect, if that child were a girl, I would spare her for your sake... but he's a boy, how could I be foolish enough to intentionally leave myself with a grudge, leaving behind a seed of revenge?"

  Dong's wife knelt down on the ground, crying: "Please spare him, kill me instead! Send the child to someone else and don't tell his parents who he is, just let him live a good life!"

  "Get up." Xue Chongxun said coldly, "If you don't listen, I'll kill him right now." Du Shi had no choice but to stand up, while Xiao Heng, who was kneeling beside the table, remained silent with his head bowed.

  Xue Chongxun brought the blade close to Du Shi's face, her throat moved slightly as she tensely stared at the sharp knife. Her body instinctively leaned back, but behind her was a large table, and she couldn't retreat further. As she tried to dodge upwards, her upper body also leaned back, and she could only use both hands to prop herself up on the table to maintain her balance.

  The room fell silent, with only the sound of Du's tense breathing remaining. Xue Chongxun slowly lowered the blade, his movements light, leaving a faint scratch on her neck.

  "Ah!" Xue Chongxun suddenly grabbed Dou Shi's collar and pulled it down, tearing off a large piece of her lapel. Two soft, round breasts popped out, heavy and sagging on her chest. She let out a startled cry and quickly covered her chest with her hands, but in doing so, she squeezed out some milk-like liquid, which dripped down her fingers.

  Her waistband was also torn off just now, but because her buttocks were pressed against the large case behind her, her skirt did not fall down directly. However, a small bunch of black grass under her lower abdomen inadvertently exposed a little head.

  "Don't..." Madam Du begged desperately, facing the humiliation in front of her husband, and afterwards she would either be forced to take her own life or be divorced. She was desperate... Xiao Heng didn't have the courage, but the consequences had to be borne by the woman.

  She wanted to resist, but couldn't resist. The only hope was that child, just hoping that the devil who had ruined her would spare her child.

  Xue Chongxun stared at her exposed skin, his eyes filled with excitement and abandon. He ruthlessly ordered: "Take your hands off."

  The woman hesitated for a moment, and then slowly removed her hand from her chest. She closed her eyes, and on her eyelashes were sparkling teardrops that shone like crystals in the sunlight.

  At this time, Xiao Heng, who was kneeling beside him, finally had the courage to speak up. He said: "My wife is a withered flower and a fallen willow, she can't enter your eyes, Lord, so please spare her!"

  Xue Chongxun turned around and said coldly, "She can't let you go, but I can spare your life for now. I don't need to kill you yet, but if you keep talking nonsense, even a dog's life will be hard to preserve." Xiao Heng then shut his mouth.

  Xue Chongxun lightly stroked the back of his knife on Du's chest, the blade was icy cold, and Du was extremely frightened, her skin quickly broke out in goosebumps. Xue Chongxun chuckled and tossed the horizontal knife to San Niang with a "clang", stretching out his hand to hold one of her full breasts. Du's whole body trembled, she didn't dare believe that her own breast was now being grasped by a strange man's hand.

  Dong's eyebrows were tightly locked, and Xue Chongxun stretched out his other hand to press a special acupoint on her chest. Suddenly, the blood vessels in her breasts became blocked, causing temporary anemia in her chest area. Her skin sensitivity immediately increased, and Xue Chongxun used his fingers to lightly rub a large red bean. Dong's face instantly flushed, her nipples swelled greatly, as if they had stretched out some more and stood up.

  A moment later, a white liquid suddenly spurted out from the top of the swollen ball, wetting Xue Chongxun's collar.