Chapter 160 Sima Zhao's Intentions (Part 1)

Wang Su led me away from the Sima residence. I glanced at Zhao'er and followed him.

Sitting in the carriage, I was still in a daze.

“Yuanji, now that the Emperor is critically ill, the court may be in turmoil again. You should not leave the palace casually in the future,” Wang Su said, looking at me.

I didn't say anything, I just nodded.

The next day, news came from the palace that Prince Xuan Su had entered the palace.

“Father…” Standing in the courtyard, I saw Wang Su change his robes and prepare to enter the palace. I hurriedly stepped forward and spoke, almost stammering.

I still can't get used to suddenly having a father.

"Hmm?" Wang Su looked at me.

"May I...go with Father to see the Emperor?" I asked, a little nervous, afraid he wouldn't allow it.

I don't know why, but I always want to meet Cao Pi. Maybe I want to see Cao Cao's shadow in him.

Even I don't understand...

“Yuanji, didn’t you always refuse to enter the palace?” Wang Su asked, somewhat surprised.

The original owner of this body was quite eccentric, I thought. I lowered my head slightly, adopting a docile demeanor, "But now the Emperor is seriously ill..."

"Yes, the Emperor has mentioned you before, praising you as a talented woman. It would be good to meet you since we've never met," Wang Su nodded approvingly.

A talented woman? Uh...

I boarded the carriage with Wang Su and stepped into the palace gates once again.

As the palace attendants walked down the long corridor, they finally entered the emperor's bedroom.

On the magnificent and brocaded bed lay a middle-aged man, sickly and pale. I could hardly recognize him as the young man in the blue robe from that day.

"Ziyong, is this your daughter?" Cao Pi glanced at me and asked.

Despite his serious illness, his eyes remained cold and clear.

"Yuan Ji greets Your Majesty," I said, looking into his eyes.

Seeing that I didn't avoid his gaze, he seemed a little puzzled, then narrowed his eyes slightly, "Have I seen you before?"

I did not deny it.

“His Majesty has never seen my daughter,” Wang Su hurriedly replied.

"You may all step back," Cao Pi suddenly said, then looked at me, "You stay."

Wang Su glanced at me in surprise, then withdrew with the rest of the group.

"Who...are you?" Cao Pi looked at me, his voice somewhat cold.

"Do you remember Cao Chong?" I smiled, a slight curve to my lips.

Because of the existence of the order of time and space, I wasn't sure if he still remembered the true identity of Lady Huan, who used to live in the Prime Minister's mansion.

Cao Pi's expression changed. "You are..." he asked, then shook his head. "Impossible!"

Could it be that he remembers me? Or is it because my re-time travel has triggered their memories of me in this time and space?

"Why is it impossible, Zihuan?" I watched him struggle on his sickbed with a touch of cruelty.

"You...you..." He stared at me with wide eyes, then suddenly coughed violently, blood spilling from his mouth. He lay half-reclined on the bed, shaking his head. "You can't be her...she's dead..."

"Is power really that good?" I laughed, a wound in my heart being reopened, bleeding profusely.

"I have no regrets!" Cao Pi suddenly roared.

I stared at him coldly.

He lay on his back on the bed, panting.

“Mi’er…” After a moment of silence, he suddenly murmured softly.

I recall that Zhen Mi was ordered to commit suicide by him in the second year of the Huangchu era. It is said that when she died, her mouth was stuffed with chaff and her face was covered with her hair, which was extremely tragic.

“Mi’er…” he murmured, then suddenly opened his eyes and looked at me, “Mi’er never had me in her heart until her death… her heart was only for Zijian… Zijian…” he gritted his teeth.

In the seventh year of the Huangchu era, Cao Pi passed away, having reigned for a total of six years.

Before his death, he appointed Sima Yi, General Cao Zhen, General Chen Jian, and General Cao Xiu as regents.

When Emperor Cao Rui of Wei ascended the throne, he enfeoffed Sima Yi as the Marquis of Wuyang, and the following year changed the era name to "Taihe".

Cao Rui is Zhen Mi's son.

In this time and space, many of the people I know have been buried in the torrent of history.

Amidst the torrent of history, I suddenly felt an unprecedented insignificance in humanity, as insignificant as a speck of dust…

It took me quite a while to figure out my current identity. My "father" Wang Su was a highly respected Confucian scholar in the current dynasty, and the Wang family was also a large family. The marriage between Sima Yi and my "father" had nothing to do with the feelings between young lovers, but rather it was a marriage alliance between two large families.

As for "I," Wang Yuanji, it is said that I was well-versed in various classics from a young age, and could memorize them after hearing them once and remember them after seeing them once. I was an absolute talented woman.

There's not much else to brag about, but my photographic memory is definitely one of my strengths.

It is said that my "grandfather" Wang Lang once lamented, "It's a pity she wasn't a man," which shows that Wang Yuanji was truly a talented woman.

The original owner of this body, Wang Yuanji, may have already perished when she fell into the well. I am merely using her body to achieve soul transmigration.

I finally remembered who Wang Yuanji was. Historically, Wang Yuanji was the wife of Sima Zhao...

Although my engagement to Sima Zhao made me very uncomfortable, I was always worried that he would harm himself again, so I often went to the Sima residence to keep an eye on him.

From an outsider's perspective, it would seem as if I was determined to marry no one but Sima Zhao...

"What are you doing here again?" Sima Zhao looked at me with disgust.

"Let me apply the medicine for you." I held out my hand to show him the medicine I had brought.

"It's none of your business."

"I'm going to take charge!" I decided to stand up to him.

"Don't think that I'll marry you just because my father says so," Sima Zhao said coldly.

I started to convulse, "She was so cute when she was little... how did she grow up to be like this..."

"What did you say?" Sima Zhao looked at me suspiciously.

I shook my head. Anyway, he wouldn't believe anything I said, so I'd save my breath. Besides, I could just suddenly leave one day and then I wouldn't bother him anymore.

I pulled him to sit down beside me and lifted his sleeve. His right arm was smooth, but his left arm was covered in scars.

Some of the horrifying, crisscrossing scars had scabbed over, while others were fresh wounds. I bent down and carefully applied medicine to them.

Afraid of hurting him, I blew on it again.

Suddenly noticing that he hadn't moved for a while, I looked up suspiciously and saw him staring at me thoughtfully.

"What are you looking at?" I raised an eyebrow.

He turned his head away and ignored me.

"Tch, what's with the cool act... Back in the inn, I saw everything..." I thought to myself with a strong sense of self-deception.

"Why are all the injuries on your left arm?" I asked, looking at his scarred left arm.

Sima Zhao turned to look at me and slowly said, "Because... my left arm is for remembering my sister, while my right arm... I'm keeping it to help my sister avenge her."

I froze, then gasped. "You mean..."

Sima Zhao actually twitched the corner of his mouth and smiled, "I don't know why, but I often feel that I will forget my sister... Because I am afraid of forgetting, whenever I feel that I will forget, I will carve a mark on my arm with a short sword so that I will not forget..." He looked at me and said, as if there was a deeper meaning in his words.

"Girl, how do you know my nickname?" he suddenly asked, looking at me.

I was slightly taken aback. "I just said it offhand."

He snorted, got up, and left.

Watching his retreating figure, a pang of pain began to well up in my heart. That child... was he trying to remember me in such a way?

In the third year of the Taihe era, Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu, launched an attack on Wei and occupied the two commanderies of Wudu and Yinping.

In the fourth year of the Taihe era, Emperor Cao Rui of Wei appointed Sima Yi as Grand General, who, together with Grand Marshal Cao Zhen, led an army to attack Shu.

Liu Bei entrusted his son Liu Shan to Zhuge Liang at Baidi City, and Liu Shan succeeded to the throne. To repay Liu Bei's kindness, Zhuge Liang devoted himself to assisting Liu Shan. The gentle man who once lived in the maple forest of Xiangyang had become the hope of the young emperor and the people of Shu.

Sima Zhao's reputation in the army was no less than that of his elder brother Sima Shi. I have never seen Zhao fight on the battlefield, but every time he returned victorious, he was always covered in wounds.

I forced him to bandage his wounds a few times, and later he got used to my bandaging him whenever he was injured.

So much so that they often came to us on their own initiative.

That once pretty, shy boy has grown into a remarkably handsome young man.

In the fifth year of the Taihe era, the Sima family came to propose marriage.

To my utter astonishment, it was Sima Zhao himself who came to propose marriage.

Heaven have mercy, I'm only fifteen years old in this body... If this were modern times, I'd be a complete underage girl...

Feeling down, I sat alone in the backyard and climbed onto the homemade swing set, swinging back and forth.

My body felt slightly lighter, the swing swayed forward, and I flew up... As my skirt fluttered, I looked at the man standing behind me.

Sima Zhao.

In my memory, he was that dirty little beggar; in my memory, he was that pretty girl in a dress… In my memory, he was an extremely blushing, and exceptionally well-behaved child…

But the man standing in front of her was completely unrelated to the Zhao'er in her memory.

His beautiful face had become slightly more resolute after years of fighting. His long black hair was tied up in a bun. The man was still handsome and otherworldly, but his personality was quite different from that of his childhood.

He reached out and helped me push the swing set.

I closed my eyes and refused to look at him.

"You're not happy marrying me?" His voice rang in my ears.

"Didn't you refuse to marry me?!" I opened my eyes and glared at him angrily.

"I've changed my mind." Sima Zhao looked at me and smiled, seemingly in a good mood.

I was so angry I was practically steaming...

Why am I always being pressured to get married...? What did I ever do to deserve this...?

"Would you run away from the wedding?" Sima Zhao suddenly asked, looking at me.

I was speechless.

Sima Zhao grabbed the swing rope, and I could no longer fly. I could only sit on the swing and watch him very closely.

“I once had an older sister who promised she would never abandon me, but in the end… she still left me alone…” Sima Zhao looked at me, “Will you also leave me alone?”

Looking at him, I realized that he hadn't changed at all; he was still that stubborn child.

A slight pang of sadness welled up in my heart, and I slowly raised my hand to stroke his cheek.

His eyes lit up slightly, and he reached out and took my hand. Only then did I realize that my hand was very small, and it was tightly wrapped in his palm.

"Zhao'er, are you afraid?" I suddenly asked, looking at him.

"I used to be afraid, but I stopped being afraid then, but now I'm afraid again..."

"How so?"

Sima Zhao smiled and pulled me into his arms. I suddenly realized that his shoulders were already very broad. I remembered that he was always very thin when he was young.

That frail child always liked to say to me with a serious expression, "Sister, wait for me to grow up. When I grow up, I will definitely protect you well..."

And then... he did indeed grow up.

“Some people are afraid of death, some are afraid of the dark, some are afraid of being alone… so many terrible things…” Sima Zhao held me and spoke softly, “But fear comes from attachment. People who have no attachments are not afraid of anything. Before, I had an older sister, so… I was very afraid. I was afraid that my sister would abandon me, I was afraid that my sister would be bullied, and I was even afraid that my sister would suddenly disappear… But later… she did disappear… and so, I became fearless…”

A slight pang of pain shot through my heart.

“But now, I have Yuan Ji, so I have new fears. I’m afraid Yuan Ji won’t marry me, I’m afraid Yuan Ji will run away, I’m afraid Yuan Ji will… suddenly disappear…” Sima Zhao said softly, looking at me with his clear black and white eyes.

I laughed helplessly. This child is so smart; I always felt he was implying something.

With the wedding date set, I spent my days idly, worrying about Aman's condition and wondering if Hua Yingxiong had kept his promise to restore Aman's sanity...

But I have no way to go back. Even if I could, Zhao'er would probably be furious with me.