Insufficient balance

  It is said that Emperor Yang of Sui wrapped silk around trees to show off his wealth, but a foreign envoy told him: If you have so much silk that you can wrap it around trees, why not give some to those beggars on the street?

  History is written by the victors, and the Tang Dynasty overthrew the Sui, so it's unlikely to say anything good about it. The truth and falsehood are hard to distinguish. However, it's true that there were beggars in the Sui Dynasty, and not only the Sui Dynasty had many people suffering.

  The capital of the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an, was no exception. Behind the Chenghuang Temple, which worshipped Ji Xin, there was an abandoned courtyard that originally belonged to a noble family. Because it had not been put to use for some time, it was left there and became a place where many beggars and refugees took shelter from the wind and rain.

  "This old woman's family was struck by heavenly fire, and her whole family was burned to death. It's really pitiful. The villagers not only didn't lend a helping hand but also said she must have done something wrong to be punished by the heavens... Alas." Yuwen Ji still wore a neat and tidy men's outfit, carrying a large bundle on his back, and spoke without looking back.

  Xue Chongxun stood behind her without saying a word, silently watching.

  "Old lady, it's cold at night, I've sent you an old quilt. Are the burns on your body better? Remember to apply and change the medicine I prescribed for you on time."

  After a while, she stood up and said to Xue Chongxun: "There's another one over there. Both kids have caught a cold. Do you want to go with me to take a look?"

  "You go ahead and don't mind me." Xue Chongxun said expressionlessly.

  Yuwen Ji and he brushed past each other, a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth: "I said there's no such coincidence in this world? To meet you at Qianfu Temple, and then again at Chenghuang Temple... Don't have any bad ideas, there's a saying that a friend's wife is off-limits, I already have a husband."

  Xue Chongxun said: "Qianfu Temple is really a coincidence, I met you here, it's where my people tracked you to."

  "What's wrong?" Yuwen Ji asked casually.

  Xue Chongxun said coldly: "These people are pitiful, aren't the innocent people killed by your father and the widows and orphans at home also pitiful?"

  Yuwen Ji shivered with cold, her face turned pale, and her eyes showed an expression as if she had seen a ghost: "You... what did you say? I don't understand."

  "Third Sister, have you seen her? And what about the others who were with her, where are they now?"

  The name "Sān Niáng" may be simple and common, with many people sharing the same name, but at this moment and in this context, it was particularly relevant to Yuwen Jie. Yuwen Jie took two steps back before regaining her footing, looking at Xue Chongxun in shock, stuttering: "I don't know about my father's affairs, he didn't let us get involved... He promised us that he would do a good job as an official and bring benefits to the people... What has he done? What do you want to do?"

  Thinking about what he wanted to do, a faint sorrow flashed in Xue Chongxun's eyes. The sorrow was so faint that it was hard to detect, but it was secretly painful. Why? He could no longer understand himself. He raised his head and saw a leaf falling from above, slowly and gently...

  "It is the law of the country and morality, good and evil will be rewarded. I am an official of the Tang Dynasty, punishing evil and promoting good, eliminating violence and bringing peace to the people is my duty. What do you think I should do?" Xue Chongxun said expressionlessly.

  Yuwen Ji stared blankly for a moment, then came back to her senses and said coldly: "You're really such an iron-faced and impartial person. What's the point of having someone follow me? Why come to me and say these things? Just go investigate and find evidence, and do what you need to do!"

  "You said it." Xue Chongxun turned around and left, "San Niang is in my hands, she is the evidence, the Imperial Censorate will handle this matter."

  "Wait!" Yuwen Ji's expression was flustered, and she glanced at the medicine package in her hand. "You wait for a moment, I'll give these packages of typhoid medicine to those two children...I won't believe it unless I see San Niang with my own eyes."

  When Yuwen Ji returned, Xue Chongxun said with a sarcastic tone: "You're putting on airs, your family is doing evil and unjust things on one hand, and on the other hand, you're pretending to be good people here?"

  When he said this sentence, Xue Chongxun felt a sense of relief in his heart.

  Yuwen Ji's face turned pale as she said, "You don't believe me, there's no way I really didn't know what my father was doing in the past. But San Niang and them, I also knew they weren't good people by the looks of it. I asked my father too, he said if one doesn't work hard to let their wives and children live a good life, then what's the point of talking about good or evil? No matter what bad things he did, but towards his loved ones, he never had any fake intentions, so what can we do as daughters? Fortunately, my father has changed now, our family will definitely forgive him."

  Loved ones…… What is the taste of being calculated by loved ones and put to death? Xue Chongxun thought for a moment, it seemed like he didn't have any feelings, but what if it were his loved ones from his past life? In his memories, his past self was a completely different person with a completely different family.

  Xue Chongxun gritted his teeth, but unexpectedly made a slight noise with his teeth, and immediately pretended that it was due to the cold weather. He reminded himself: The Tang Dynasty is the Tang Dynasty, modern times are modern times! Here, if the father commits a crime, the sons and daughters will also be guilty, it's only natural. Hasn't Yuwen Rou enjoyed the bloody benefits of her father? She deserves to be punished!

  At this time, Yuwen Ji said: "If I want to atone for my sins, I would rather replace my father to atone for his sins. My father is already old and can't bear to see him suffer again."

  Xue Chongxun sneered at her and thought to himself: Alright, you can take his punishment instead. I really have no interest in punishing your father's crime.

  Xue Chongxun got on a thick and sturdy felt car, and said to Yuwen Ji: "Get on." She hesitated for a moment, but finally got on.

  The sky was gray and overcast, the felt carriage was dense and airtight, the light inside was dim, making Xue Chongxun's face look even more gloomy. Yuwen Ji couldn't help but say: "Last time at Qianfu Temple you were right, I didn't understand you, I didn't expect you to have such a side."

  Xue Chongxun said: "I don't even understand myself, let alone others?"

  He recalled that once upon a time, in a brothel, he had met a courtesan who said he smelled of sunshine... How ridiculous! Probably because he was a bit dark-skinned himself.

  The coachman knocked on the carriage and asked: "Lang Jun, where are you going?"

  "Cloudy Studio."

  The two people in the car were silent, facing each other for a long time, only hearing the sound of the wheels and the occasional noise outside, as if in a dream.

  The carriage drove straight into the Yunwu Pavilion, and Yuwen Ji got out of the car to take a look at the surroundings. This unfamiliar place was obviously not the Weiguo Gongfu, and she said with some fear: "Why did you bring me here?"

  "Aren't you going to see San Niang?"

  Yuwen Ji frowned and said, "What kind of place is this? I have people from Feng Erlang's household among my attendants. If it's a place I shouldn't be, how can I explain it to them... San Niang!"

  Although separated by the window, the person standing at the edge of the window just stood for a moment and then disappeared, but Yuwen Ji immediately recognized that San Niang had arrived. Because this woman, who was as cold and gloomy as a female ghost, left a deep impression with just one glance.

  Xue Chongxun's mouth curled up in a smile: "Believe it? Alright, let's go inside and discuss the terms. You're right, if I just wanted to punish evil and promote good, why would I need you?"

  Before entering the house, Xue Chongxun found that the apricot blossoms in the yard were particularly radiant and couldn't help but pluck a branch to hold in his hand.

  It was still that small wooden hut, it was the same as before. The servant girl brought a large pot of tea and said that the fire had been lit; what was different was: there was only one teacup.

  Xue Chongxun poured hot tea with this only teacup, and drank it leisurely. Yuwen Ji looked at him and snorted in her nose, probably because he didn't even have the most basic etiquette.

  "Imagine that several strangers suddenly rush into your home, without saying a word, and cut your father's throat, letting you and your mother watch as his blood flows from the wound... just because someone asked your father to hand over 500 yuan for no reason, and he didn't comply. How would you feel?"

  Yuwen Ji's face, once delicate and charming, had lost all its charm. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she said in a daze: "You're saying that what Father did was..."

  Xue Chongxun was silent.

  "Impossible! You're lying! At most, Father was evading taxes..."

  "Is your ignorance pretended or real?" Xue Chongxun said with a cold smile, "Does tax evasion require someone like San Niang? Why would I cheat you?"

  He held a warm teacup, took two steps in front of the palm wood table, and said slowly: "The cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked; the flying bird is exhausted, the good bow is hidden... ruthless! What a great man does! Yuwen Xiao sent red gold, and also sent 'thousand gold', well, his family's reputation is cleared. Now what should those people who risked their lives for him do? Yuwen Ji, have you seen anyone else these days except for San Niang just now?"

  "No! You're deceiving me... you must be deceiving me!" Yuwen Ji only said this sentence, her tears falling silently. "Father is not that kind of person! Mother said that before I was born, when Father was at his most destitute, he had already gone to the docks to work as a laborer, but the foreman withheld his wages and didn't pay him. Father would rather starve and do hard labor, just to save half of his rations to bring back to Mother, deceiving her by saying it was stolen..."

  She was sobbing uncontrollably: "Father is kind and righteous and responsible, he's the person I respect the most, he's the best man in this world..."

  Xue Chongxun didn't say a word and didn't argue with her. In fact, she understood, the tears explained everything.

  Yuwen's expression changed dramatically, and a cold, crazy look appeared on her face: "Fine, even if Father is that kind of person, what does it matter? His position in my heart will never change! What do you want from me? Do you want money? You, Wei Guogong, have a real fief of 3,000 households, are you short of money? Or do you want sex? How ridiculous, Xue Chongxun, haven't you played with enough women?"

  Xue Chongxun brought the apricot flowers he had just picked to his nose and smelled them, then suddenly pinched them into pieces in his palm, rubbing them fiercely several times until all the fragrance was squeezed out before stopping, then smelled again saying "Only like this is it most fragrant."

  He thought: Maybe there's a better way, but it takes time to think of it. A big man doesn't have to be bothered with trivial matters, as long as the same purpose can be achieved, isn't that enough?