Marrying a treacherous official

Yunji sat stiffly on the folding wooden bed, letting tears fill her eyes and fall wetly.

She hadn't been able to protect her mother before, and that regret remained hidden in her heart, never fading away.

Now, even Aunt Du, who bears some resemblance to her mother, cannot protect her. Her defenses have crumbled into ruins, never to recover.

The endless pain overwhelmed her; she felt a bitter taste in her mouth, her throat was choked, and she couldn't swallow it down no matter what she did.

Hua Chao stood guard to the side, pleading with her earnestly:

"Madam, please don't grieve. If you keep crying, you'll only hurt yourself. I'm afraid even if Aunt Du knew in the afterlife, she wouldn't want to see you so heartbroken."

Yunji met Huachao's pleading, tearful eyes and, with a softened heart, asked:

"How is the second young lady?"

"Xi Kui is serving the second young lady her bath."

Seeing that she was finally willing to speak, Hua Chao quickly responded, "Madam, please don't worry about the Second Miss. Chunxuan has already taken the medicine to apply to the Second Miss. With them by her side, the Second Miss will definitely be fine."

Yunji suddenly said to her, "You should go and keep the Second Miss company too."

Hua Chao stared at her in astonishment and shook her head vigorously.

"This servant will not let Madam grieve alone in secret, nor will she leave Madam alone in the tent."

"Flower Festival—"

Yunji didn't give her a cold look or forcefully order her around. Instead, she softened her voice and begged her, and Yunji gave in, tears streaming down her face.

"I really want to be alone."

"I understand... I... I'll go out now."

Hua Chao hurriedly got up and quickly walked out of the tent.

She leaned against the tent behind her and heard soft sobbing coming from inside. Tears streamed down her face, and her heart ached as if it were being torn apart.

After severely interrogating the assassin in black, Cui Zemin washed his hands three times and took a cold shower before going back to see Yun Ji.

It was already past midnight outside.

The crimson glow on the horizon cooled down, and Lingshan Temple was reduced to ashes. Only the cold wind blowing in our faces carried a faint smell of burning.

Cui Zemin dismissed Hua Chao, who was guarding outside the tent, lifted the heavy felt curtain, and entered the tent.

Yunji was still sitting on the folding wooden bed, staring blankly into the empty space in front of her.

Her face, like a lotus blossom, was glistening with moisture, and occasionally tears rolled down her cheeks, wetting her plain white dress.

The last time Cui Zemin saw her cry like this was in the carriage outside the palace gate. Watching her tears fall in torrents, he felt no pity whatsoever and even forced her to stop crying.

He had killed countless people, and the corpses he had seen were piled up into a forest of white bones. He was completely unmoved by the death of Aunt Du.

But when he saw her in the pine forest, carrying a wooden stick, fighting desperately against the assassin in black, and realized that she really didn't want to live anymore, he suddenly felt fear.

He feared that the longbow he had drawn was not fully drawn, and that it would not be enough to shoot the two arrows more than three hundred paces away.

He feared that if they rode at full speed, the arrows would lose their aim and he wouldn't be able to kill the assassin in black on the spot.

After the two arrows were fired simultaneously, he was nearly strangled and died. Only after the black-clad assassin fell to the ground, he was able to catch his breath and come back to life.

Cui Zemin walked to the wooden bed, lifted Yunji's chin, and forced her tears to stop flowing.

"Why are you crying?"

Yunji looked up at him blankly, only to see him lean down and kiss her eyes tenderly and affectionately, sucking away her tears, and then pecking at her face repeatedly.

Her cool, damp cheeks were covered with a dense, warm sensation, incredibly soft.

"What are you thinking about? Why are you crying like this?"

He watched as she tightly closed her eyes, tears welling up again from the corners of her eyes. He grabbed her chin and commanded:

"Miss me."

Yunji looked at him through her tears, then he pushed her down onto the wooden bed behind him and kissed her deeply.

For a moment, Cui Zemin felt that heaven had once favored him.

He arrived just in time and his aim was perfect; before the long sword could fall, he had already killed the man in black with both arrows.

It was this stroke of luck that made him kiss her with the same tenderness she had used to moan aloud, and after her eyes filled with misty moisture, he stubbornly commanded:

"You are only allowed to think of me."

Yunji seemed to be bewitched by these words.

As he kissed away her tears once more, she tried to imagine his warm breath and those deep, unfathomable, heartless eyes.

She was in so much pain that she kept kissing his lips back, trying to use the tingling pleasure to offset the endless suffering that was engulfing her.

Exhausted, she lay on top of him, buried her head against his chest, and closed her eyes to rest.

When he held her firmly in his arms, the comforting embrace made her completely relax and stop thinking about anything, and she stopped crying.

Cui Zemin's rough hands roamed over her back, caressing her gently until she breathed softly and drifted off to sleep on him. Only then did he softly chuckle:

"Delicate."

He had never served such a difficult person before. He had to kiss and stroke him to stop his tears and get him to sleep peacefully.

But how could he close his eyes and fall asleep during the long night? No one cared; she was completely indifferent to his life or death.

At dawn, the soldiers of the Tiger Wing Army began their morning exercises on time.

The sentry sounded a stirring horn, and a flurry of footsteps echoed outside the tent, overlapping each other near and far, even making the sand inside the tent tremble.

Yunji had already been awakened by the sound of the horn.

She nestled in his arms, quietly watching his Adam's apple so close to hers. Seeing that he hadn't moved for a while, she tried to gently remove the large hand that was around her waist.

With a quick roll, Cui Zemin pinned her against the wooden bed and pulled her into his arms once more.

"The horns outside are already loud enough; don't disturb me any further."

No matter how heartbroken Yunji was, she still remembered what happened last night.

"Where are your clothes, my husband? Why are you shirtless?"

What do you think?

Cui Zemin asked her a flippant question, which made her turn her face away.

"I'll bring my husband some clothes."

Before he could respond, Yunji pushed his hand away and squeezed off the wooden bed. She stood barefoot on the carpet, dressed herself neatly, tied her long hair up high with a hairpin, and then lifted the curtain and walked out without looking back.

Cui Zemin lay on the wooden bed, his face dark and gloomy.

After she slept with him for one night, offering some solace to his grief, she promptly pushed him away. How could he possibly forgive her?