Insufficient balance

  Sleeping for a whole night is the same as being in a coma for two or ten days, it's like an instant. I don't know when I fell asleep and before waking up, whether it was one night or two or ten days, there was no difference at all.

  Similarly, before a person is born, the world has existed for billions of years and countless things have happened, but these billions of years are like sleep to that person, equivalent to an instant, with no difference; after being born into the world, it's like waking up... What about death? The billions of years afterwards are also just an instant, but you can't wake up again.

  What is it like to never wake up again? In itself, there should be no feeling, but thinking about it gives rise to a feeling: fear.

  Xue Chongxun was carrying this fear before he fell into a coma.

  ……

  He came to, just like he did every time he woke up from a dream, with a blank slate, not knowing who he was or where he was. Then memories and consciousness would gradually fill his mind.

  At this moment he suddenly remembered what had happened before, his previous feelings and thoughts, then he was overjoyed: I'm not dead!

  "Chirp, chirp..." The clear sound of birdsong entered his ears. A cat meowed and its tail knocked against something, making a light noise. His nose picked up the faint scent of dust, as well as floral and earthy smells. Ah, yes, there was also the familiar smell of pork liver, which he often smelled when washing his hair every few days. He hadn't noticed it before, but now that he did, he realized that's what pork liver smelled like.

  At this moment, Xue Chongxun really felt extremely happy, even if he suddenly found himself poor and penniless, having to beg for a living, he would still be ecstatic.

  It's great to be alive.

  There was a dull ache in his chest and an inexplicable discomfort, but what did it matter? He opened his eyes, then hastily narrowed them again as a strand of beautiful, warm sunlight streamed through the window.

  He slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a simple wooden hut, with no floorboards on the ground and a tamped earth surface. He still had no idea where he was, and this environment was very strange.

  He soon felt as if someone was beside him, and when he turned his head, he saw a woman lying there as if asleep, with her beautiful hair scattered about. Ah, the smell of pig's gall that he had detected earlier came from her hair, for people from wealthy families usually washed their hair with it mixed with some fragrance.

  Is she Yuwen Ji, Xiao Yu, or some other girl?

  "This... is..." Xue Chongxun opened his mouth to speak, but found that his throat was a bit hoarse and speaking was a bit difficult. Then he stretched out his hand to touch the beautiful hair beside him.

  The woman immediately lifted her head, staring blankly at Xue Chongxun, and it was Yuwen Ji. After a moment, the expression on her face suddenly became rich, and she exclaimed in surprise: "Xue Lang, you're awake!" She almost jumped up directly, with joy written all over her face.

  "Oh no, I fell asleep and it's already daylight... Do you want to drink some water?" Yuwen Ji's flustered appearance was really adorable.

  Life is full of love. This woman seemed to hate herself just yesterday, didn't she change quickly? Hatred is so easily forgotten by people.

  Xue Chongxun smiled and nodded, his smile was very melancholic, as if he had been through a lot after walking out of the Ghost Gate.

  Yuwen Ji hastily ran to the stove, ladled out a bowl of rice porridge and brought it over. She used a spoon to scoop up the porridge, blew on it gently to cool it down, took a small sip herself, then fed it to Xue Chongxun. As he drank, he slowly said: "It's delicious, with the flavor of your lips."

  Yuwen Ji smiled and said softly: "Wait until you're better, I'll let you try."

  Xue Chongxun suddenly thought of something and didn't care where he was, first asking: "How many days have I been unconscious?"

  "Ten days, geez, you're really killing me."

  "Ten days?" Xue Chongxun's face sank, "Has something big happened in Chang'an City?"

  Yuwen Ji shook her head in confusion: "No, everything is calm and peaceful, just like before. Don't worry." As she spoke, she handed a spoonful of rice porridge to Xue Chongxun's mouth. Xue Chongxun shook his head, with an urgent look on his face, saying: "Where am I? Quickly help me out, go to my mansion and call over Fang Yuzhong, I have something to instruct him to do immediately... it can't be delayed, never mind calling Fang Yuzhong, I'll write a personal letter right now, you help me deliver it to the Zhen Guo Taiping Princess's residence."

  "Is there something urgent? Don't worry, I'll go find paper and pen right away... don't move." Yuwen Ji hastily said.

  That fear of death once again shrouded Xue Chongxun's mind, if he died, he would never wake up again, for tens of millions of years or even longer... Unnamed fear, unnamed doubts.

  Last time he poisoned Xiao Heng's family, it was a trick to frame Liu You, intending to use the momentum to let the Crown Prince plot a coup. These things were his plan, of course, he could anticipate what the Crown Prince might do; then at the right moment, he would leak out the Crown Prince's conspiracy, first to destroy the Crown Prince's plan, and secondly to sound an alarm for his mother, letting her fully recognize the danger of the Crown Prince.

  It would be too underestimating Li Longji to think that this matter could easily get rid of him; firming up his mother's determination was Xue Chongxun's greatest goal.

  But he actually fainted for ten days! How much can be done in ten days! Don't fall into the trap, but instead, cleverly turn it around, and let Li Longji's coup succeed with a sure victory... If Li Longji really wanted to stage a coup and did it without anyone knowing, who could determine whether he would really succeed?

  Xue Chongxun is now more and more horrified, with a feeling of dancing on the tip of a knife.

  Just then, an old man's voice said: "You've been unconscious for ten whole days and nights, and now you're just starting to come around. Time is a bit tight, isn't it? Writing a letter to your mother? If you still go about it the original way, I'm afraid it'll be too late... I do have a simple method, want to hear it?"

  "Who are you? I don't know what you're talking about!" Xue Chongxun said hastily.

  "Master..." Yuwen Ji shouted.

  Xue Chongxun quickly said: "Li Gui Shou? Then I have saved you..."

  Li Xuanyi hastily interrupted Xue Chongxun's words, waving his hand and saying: "You don't need to thank me, nor should you think I'm your benefactor. I treated you to help the Yuwen family get through their difficulties. In the past, Yuwen Xiao saved my life, so I'm repaying him."

  Xue Chongxun was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said: "Alright, let's do it your way... Just now, the old man said there's a simple method, why don't you tell me about it?"

  Li Xuan Yi walked over with his hands behind his back, looking thoughtful. After a while, he said calmly: "The one from the East" is not yet mature enough to take action now, and he can wait for two more years; however, Liu was framed by someone, and suddenly the case of the assassination of the Duke of Wei emerged, which made Gao's life difficult, making everyone in the East feel precarious. This will put pressure on "the one from the East", and the outcome is hard to predict. I don't know if what I said is right or not?

  Xue Chongxun's face turned very ugly, he didn't want anyone to touch the most core thing in his heart, and now it was suddenly exposed, making him feel like being stripped naked and paraded. He thought: This Li Gui is indeed not a person with an empty reputation, but how did he know that I had asked Liu You to set up a trap?

  Li Xuanyi watched Xue Chongxun's expression with interest and said, "The method is really simple, just three words: Wei Zhigu... does the Duke of Wei understand?"

  Xue Chongxun thought to himself: Wei Zhiguo is a prime minister, a former official of the Wangfu government office. He has been by the side of Emperor Li Dan for a long time. As he is a person of the current emperor and also has a good relationship with the crown prince, after all, the crown prince is the son of the current emperor and may become the emperor sooner or later.

  If the news of the crown prince's rebellion is reported to Wei Zhi Gu, not only will he tell the emperor, but also inform the crown prince in advance, because this is the most stable way for him, leaving room on both sides. As long as the emperor gets the news from Wei Zhi Gu, the possibility of the crown prince's coup succeeding may drop to its lowest point immediately; as long as the crown prince gets the news from Wei Zhi Gu, he will find that their plan has been leaked and is likely to be panicked and disorganized.

  This method is indeed wonderful. It's like seeing a needle in a seam, just right on the spot, and like Pao Ding cutting up an ox, effortless yet achieving twice the result with half the effort.

  Xue Chongxun nodded and said: "I understand, old sir indeed has a wonderful plan."

  "It's not tiring talking to you."

  Xue Chongxun hesitated for a moment before finally asking: "Old master is not in the main hall, how do you know so much?"

  Li Xuan-yi said calmly, "I don't hold office, but my friends do. I can't control them. Yao Cong and Song Jing, who were demoted by Emperor Ruizong, get along well with me. Many years ago, we even served in the government together, but my temperament is indeed not suitable for holding office."

  Xue Chongxun glanced at Yuwen Ji beside him and thought to himself: Li Xuanyi is a formidable person, if I can persuade Li Xuanyi to come out of retirement and assist me, it would be like having a strategist worth a hundred men! Moreover, he still has many acquaintances in the imperial court, the benefits are too numerous!

  He thought for a moment and then said with utmost sincerity: "Listening to your words is better than reading books for ten years."

  Li Xuanyi's expression was somewhat complex: "The Duke of Wei is overpraising. This matter is quite coincidental, if it wasn't for the fact that my disciple had an incident at your place last time, I wouldn't have recognized you; and on the day you entered Xiao Heng's house, I happened to be walking to the alley entrance, so I recognized you, but you might not have noticed me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have guessed the Duke of Wei's intention... Alas, can you really do such things? I treated your injury for the sake of the Yuwen family, and gave you an idea, it was because you blocked the silver nail for Yuwen Ji, so we're even."

  Xue Chongxun's heart suddenly turned cold, and he blurted out: "If I hadn't blocked Bai Wuchang's one move, Master would still have to find me to settle the account for the Yunxin Studio?"

  Li Xuan-yi listened and felt somewhat disappointed, sighed and said: "I have no power to bind a chicken, and I've ended up in such a sorry state. How can I settle accounts with you, Duke Wei? The accounts are unclear, but the heart of gratitude must always be present... I've guessed eight or nine out of ten of your strategies, but I don't understand why you wanted to take that one hit for Yuwen Rou. Very curious, Duke Wei, can you tell me?"

  "At this critical moment, what other reason is there?" Xue Chongxun furrowed his brow and said.

  "You're just not willing to make sacrifices for others!"

  Just now, an old and a young man said a few words of ordinary fantasy, Yuwen Ji really didn't understand, but when they mentioned the matter of the City God Temple that day, Yuwen Ji couldn't help but look at Xue Chongxun's face.

  Xue Chongxun didn't know how to explain it either. In his eyes, some things were unbearable shame. He would rather die in battle than let anyone touch his woman... But if the City God Temple incident happened again, would he still be like this? The fear of death was an unsolvable puzzle for Xue Chongxun, and he wasn't sure what he would do.

  He thought for a moment and smiled at Yuwen Ji: "This kind of thing, Yuwen Ji understands it better than you."

  Yuwen Ji's face turned red, and a contradictory expression appeared. Yuwen Ji was indeed conflicted, in her heart, the two people who were best to her were both big villains... but those two big villains also moved her the most. But the moral teachings of her master were completely opposite. Was her heart conflicted or not?

  Li Xuanyi should not have known about Yuwen Xiao's affairs, he turned his head to Yuwen Ji and said: "In the past, your father had great kindness towards me, so I accepted you as a disciple. Now that I've saved your family once again, it can be considered as having fulfilled my benevolence... Let our master-disciple relationship end here..."

  "Master..." Yuwen Ji hastily knelt down on the ground, "The knowledge you taught me has benefited me for life. One day as a teacher, forever as a father."

  Li Xuan-yi shook his head: "You must remember the first thing your master told you, three words."

  "De, Dao, Shu. I remember." Yuwen Ji hastily said.

  Li Xuanyi nodded and turned around to leave.