Ji Yujin glanced at him, and Ji Yulan’s pupils shrank suddenly. She saw rejection in his eyes.
She was a little anxious, and she curled her lips and pretended to smile: “I am even willing to marry an eunuch like you, what else do you still want?”
A trace of disgust flashed across Ji Yujin’s face. “Then I really have to thank you for your charity, Lady Cousin. How can an eunuch like me be worthy of you?”
He even felt like vomiting—a physiological urge. Ji Yujin used the tip of his tongue to press against the upper jaw and forcibly suppress the nausea.
After his mother and uncle passed away one after another, Ji Yujin suddenly discovered that the culprit behind all this was his father, whom he had always admired. It would not be an exaggeration to describe it as “the sky is falling and the earth is cracking” at that time.
And his father, Xie Jingshi, the King of Chennan, was in a high position of power, he was the king of a piece of land, he had a strong army and horses, only one or two people died. Without solid evidence, who would dare to accuse him?
At that time, he was only sixteen years old, and facing Xie Jingshi was like an ant facing an elephant. The little he knew and the people under his command were nothing but a joke to Xie Jingshi. Although he wanted to drink his blood and eat his flesh, but the greatest threat he could make at that time was to sever ties with him. From then on, they were no longer allies, and he was no longer the Crown Prince of Chennan Palace.
That’s all.
On the other hand, his mother’s maternal family and his uncle’s family were unable to vent their grief and anger. They did not dare to look for the King of Chennan, so they could only look for him. The ugly curses never stopped from morning to night, and he had heard all the ugly words.
The young Ji Yulan rushed over, biting his wrist with her teeth, and cried to him, “It’s all your fault. You have to compensate my father.”
It was impossible to resist at all, as all his former classmates and friends stood by Ji Yulan’s side and looked at him with contempt.
“Xie Yujin, you still hide it? It’s all because of your father that Ji Yulan lost her father.”
“Xie Yujin, just let her vent. She’s not feeling well right now.”
“You are alive and well, but your uncle died because of your father. What are you hiding for?”
“That’s right, Xie Yujin, you have to atone for your sins, you have to give in to Yulan and do whatever Yulan asks you to do.”
He just accepted it, and with his flamboyant personality, he curled up in frustration.
Atonement? He didn’t understand whether he was atoning or not.
Even his grandparents, who had always loved him, didn’t want to see him again. He truly became a great sinner.
The world is so big, and he is all alone. There is really no place for him to stay.
After accepting so much, he will also wonder what he did wrong.
However, he soon figured out the problem. The weak were always wrong. He had to be strong enough to defeat Xie Jingshi. So he changed his surname to Ji without authorization, and from then on, he was called Ji Yujin.
At that time, the emperor intended to create another organization similar to the Dongchang, so he made another decision just like he did in the Golden Palace before and transformed himself from the Crown Prince of Chennan into the most humble eunuch.
Drinking blood on the tip of the knife every day, day after day, he also became the Governor of the Xichang.
Those who once despised him no longer dared to say anything against his will, but he still could not face the people from the Ji Residence.
Over the years, Ji Yulan seemed to be obsessed with him. Wherever he appeared, she would be there. It was still the same explanation she gave many years ago. It was a nightmare that he could never escape from.
Seeing that he didn’t say anything, Ji Yulan frowned and asked, “If you don’t marry me, will you pay with your life?”
Ji Yujin pursed his lips and glanced at her, as if he were considering something.
“Uh…” Ji Yulan was irritated, her face turned fierce, and she pulled out a dagger from somewhere and handed it to Ji Yujin: “Fine, if you don’t divorce her and you don’t marry me, then stab yourself. No matter whether you live or die, there will be nothing between us anymore. How about it?”
Ji Yujin took the dagger from her hand and said with a smile, “There is even such a good thing.”
As he spoke, he began to play with the dagger with his fingers and compare it to his body, as if thinking about where the best spot to stab was. If it were someone else, everyone would think that he couldn’t really stab himself, but Ji Yujin was different, he was a madman, and it was not surprising that he would do anything.
Everyone was stunned, especially Ji Yulan. She didn’t expect Ji Yujin to actually take the dagger.
Chu Fengqing pursed his lips, reached out, and grasped the dagger, taking it from Ji Yujin’s hand. It was rare for him to be so angry, and he glanced at Ji Yujin with his clear eyes.
Ji Yujin was slightly stunned when he saw the anger in his eyes.
Chu Fengqing wrapped the dagger with a handkerchief to prevent the sharp blade from hurting anyone and then handed it to Ji Yulan, saying in a cold tone, “Although it is not appropriate to speak rashly without having experienced anything, but this matter is indeed a bit outrageous.”
“The root cause of this matter lies with the King of Chennan. Although I don’t know the details, but it is unfair for Young Lady Ji to blame Ji Yujin for everything.”
Ji Yulan didn’t like Chu Fengqing in the first place, and she didn’t have a good expression towards him. She said in a bad tone, “What does it have to do with you? Why do you need to speak up for justice here?”
Ji Yujin made a “tsk” sound and was about to speak when Chu Fengqing glanced at him. Ji Yujin blinks and doesn’t say anything. Then he suddenly realized, Why was he so obedient?
Chu Fengqing spoke clearly and slowly, which made people feel comfortable listening to him. He said, “Our marriage was granted by His Majesty, with Guifei acting as a matchmaker. I am his legal wife. Is this enough?”
Ji Yulan choked and was unable to speak.
Chu Fengqing’s voice was gentle, but his words were not polite at all, “Ji Yujin had severed ties with the Chennan Palace, did you know that?”
Ji Yulan opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but no sound came out.
Chu Fengqing’s eyes darkened slightly. If the person in front of him was a man, he would definitely go up to him and give him a silver needle. He didn’t understand why some people’s thoughts were so twisted.
“To threaten him with your father’s revenge is truly despicable.”
“Besides, what did Ji Yujin do wrong?”
Ji Yujin was slightly stunned. Chu Fengqing was the first person to say that he was not wrong.
Chu Fengqing turned around and stretched out his hand to Ji Yujin. “Let’s go.”
Ji Yujin stared at the hand and suddenly laughed out loud after a while. Before Chu Fengqing could retract his hand, he reached out and held it tightly.
Chu Fengqing lowered his eyes to look at the two people’s tightly clasped hands but did not struggle.
Ji Yulan: “Ji Yujin, are you really going to leave? If you dare to leave, I will definitely make you regret it.”
This time, Ji Yujin ignored her and walked away with his wife without looking back.
After Ji Yujin left, an old man with a head full of silver hair, leaning on a cane, walked out from behind the door. Time had left deep marks on his face. He stared at the young man’s back. That face looked so much like his young daughter, so much so that he was a little dazed.
When Ji Yulan saw the old man, she immediately ran over. She leaned on his shoulder, tears streaming down her cheeks. She sobbed and cried, “Grandfather, he would rather die than marry me. Why…”
“Why… Grandfather, I feel so bad.”
Master Ji touched her head, a dark light flashed in his cloudy eyes, and he patted her on the back and said, “You can’t force this kind of thing. It’s been so many years already. It’s enough. Let him go, child, let him go, and also let yourself go.”
Ji Yulan shook her head, her eyes were red, and she was crying so hard that she couldn’t speak.
She had admired him since she was a child and always dreamed of marrying him one day. But later, he became an eunuch, and she began to hesitate. How could she marry an eunuch? She witnessed Ji Yujin’s fall from grace and his transformation from a favored son of the emperor to a bad man. She seemed to not love him as much anymore.
In fact, sometimes she thought that maybe she only loved the ambitious and flamboyant Ji Yujin, and he would no longer be himself when he fell into disgrace.
It has been more than ten years. It is not so easy to let go. He has become her entire youth. Ji Yujin, who is deeply engraved in her mind, has become her obsession. She is reluctant to give him up, but she cannot accept this Ji Yujin. She cannot swallow it nor spit it out. It has become a thorn in her heart. If she does not move, it is fine. But if she moves, it hurts her heart.
She also didn’t understand why it became like this. It was obviously not like this before.
The two of them “escaped” from the residence. When they really got out, Chu Fengqing asked again, “What about Grandfather’s birthday if we leave?”
Ji Yujin glanced at him and curled his lips. “Just thought of it?”
Chu Fengqing frowned and said, “Sorry, I can’t stay here any longer.”
Ji Yujin: “Because of me?”
Chu Fengqing did not deny it this time. Instead, he nodded and said, “En”, “They shouldn’t treat you like this.”
Ji Yujin raised his eyes to the sky, the heaviness in his eyes slowly faded away, and he asked nonchalantly, “What? Are you heartbroken?”
Chu Fengqing: “You ah, so dishonest.”
Ji Yujin curled his lips and smiled, answering his previous question: “It’s fine for the birthday. I’ve already sent the gift. Anyway, the old man doesn’t want to see me as well.”
The two walked in the snow, which was flying heavily and soon covered their shoulders, but no one mentioned holding an umbrella.
Ji Yujin’s red clothes stood out in the snow. He looked up, and a piece of snow fell on his lips. He smiled and said, “The snow is sweet.”
Chu Fengqing: “How can snow be sweet? You must have eaten candy just now, and there is still a sweet taste in your mouth.”
Ji Yujin glanced at him sideways and nodded. “Yes, a very sweet candy.”
“Do you want to know the whole story?”
Chu Fengqing: “Do you want to say it?”
Ji Yujin: “En.”
Chu Fengqing nodded. “En, I want to know.”
Ji Yujin’s head was full of youthful ambitions at that time. He wanted to make a career, and every day he thought about how to drive out the Tartars, how to guard an area, how to make the people live in peace, have good weather and harvest, and leave his name in history.
But while he was doing all this, his mother fell seriously ill. When he heard the news and rushed back, it was too late. His mother had already been buried.
That day, it snowed heavily, and the ice covered a thousand miles. The dead trees could not bear the weight of the snow and broke one after another. Ice crystals were everywhere, but nowhere was as cold as the few words on the tombstone.
Ji Yujin kneeled straight in front of the tomb for several hours. He was always flamboyant, but now he looked lifeless in white. He was kneeling in front of the tomb and was actually not thinking about anything. He just stared at the first few words in a daze.
It was not until he had kneeled for who knows how long and his body was so frozen that he could not move that the image of his mother appeared in his mind. He thought that if his mother were still there, she would hug him with heartache and maybe even blame him for neglecting his health, and then he would have to work hard to make her laugh.
He knew how to make his mother happy best. Although she was a lady from a wealthy family, but she loved listening to jokes from the market. She would be happy for a long time after listening to them. Ji Yujin laughed as he thought about it. He had saved up a lot of them, and he collected some more when he went to the north this time and would tell them to her when he returned.
But she’s gone, and after she’s gone… no one asked him about these anymore, the jokes were useless, and no one cared whether he was cold or not either.
Ji Yujin: “That joke book is still in my room. I always hope that one day I can tell it to someone and make them happy.”
Chu Fengqing pursed his lips, his cold voice sounded like it was soaked in snow, very pleasant to hear: “Once there was a rich man whose child was a little mentally retarded, so the rich man invited the most respected teacher in the land, hoping to make the child smarter. The rich man told the child that he had to learn everything from the teacher, and then he left after finishing saying.”
“The child was very obedient, imitating the teacher’s every move meticulously. During dinner, the teacher looked up and saw the child imitating his weird expression, he couldn’t help laughing, accidentally choked on a grain of rice, started crying and coughing, and slapped the table hard. The child was stunned for a moment, burst into tears, and said, Teacher, this is too difficult, I can’t learn it. Can you make it easier?”
Ji Yujin was slightly startled and looked at him.
Chu Fengqing’s eyes were slightly curved, and there was a hint of smile in his clear eyes, as bright as the stars. He asked, “Isn’t it funny?”
He walked in the snow with his back straight, his voice like pearls colliding. He said, “Cheer up, if you don’t mind, I’ll tell you some street jokes later, is that alright?”
The author has something to say:
I don’t know where I heard this joke, so I organized it in my own words. It’s not my own idea, but I also don’t know where the original one is.
