Chapter 359: Intimate (Part 1)

The days passed peacefully.

Three days later, Sun Wei was having dinner when Yin Wen came to report that Sima Jun had entered Xunyang Palace that afternoon. All the officials in Xunyang came to the palace to pay their respects.

"Word came over that His Highness will be here later."

Sun Wei stopped using his chopsticks.

"Your Highness, can you tell me why you came?"

Yin Wen showed a look of surprise and said, "Aju asked me several times before, asking when His Highness would come. I thought the lady was anxious to see His Highness, so..."

Sun Wei looked at Aju.

Aju quickly looked towards the beams of the house.

Sun Wei suppressed his temper, retracted his gaze, and said to Yin Wen, "Captain Yin, please send someone to find Yang Gong to explain the situation. I have nothing to do here, Your Highness, there is no need to come."

Yin Wen hesitated and agreed.

The sky gradually darkened, and Yin Wen left and never appeared again.

Sun Wei ate as usual, showered, and read for a while before going to bed. But today, she had a hard time falling asleep. She tossed and turned in bed, eyes open or closed, unable to fall asleep.

She finally fell asleep, and in a daze, she seemed to hear Aju say, "The prince is here."

Her heart skipped a beat and Sun Wei suddenly opened her eyes.

The night was still dark and the room was pitch black, with no sign of Aju.

It turned out to be a dream.

Sun Wei gathered the quilt around her and continued to close her eyes.

Perhaps because she had a restless sleep at night, when Sun Wei woke up the next day, she felt dizzy and groggy.

Just as she stood up, Aju walked in and said with a smile, "Your Highness is here."

Sun Wei was stunned and looked at her for a long time before she was sure that she was not dreaming.

She looked up at the sky and saw that it was already bright, so she asked, "When did Your Highness arrive?"

"It was at midnight," A'ru said. "I heard it from Yin Wen. His Highness said it was too late and there was no need to disturb you."

Sun Wei recalled that when she woke up last night, it turned out that it was not a dream.

Midnight is also yesterday, which is true.

"Have you seen His Highness?"

"Not yet. But I just went out to serve breakfast, and I saw General Chu coming too. He said he wanted to go to the Pencheng Guard together."

Sun Wei said nothing, got up, washed and dressed, and then went to the front hall.

Sima Jun was not in the hall, but there was a young man sitting upright, reading a book.

It’s Sun Qiao.

Sun Qiao seemed to have not expected it to be Sun Wei. When he looked up and saw her, he was stunned for a moment.

"Why do you look like that?" Sun Wei walked forward and asked, "Why are you here?"

Sun Qiao's eyes immediately turned red. He called out "Sister", threw away the book, ran forward and threw himself into her arms.

"Why are you crying?" Sun Wei patted his head. "Why are you here?"

Sun Qiao wiped away her tears and said, "My master came back yesterday and said my birthday was coming up soon and he had a gift for me, so he brought me here. I then realized that his birthday gift was to let me meet my sister."

After he said that, he burst into laughter.

Sun Wei couldn't help but smile, but said, "Is this considered a gift?"

"Of course I did!" Sun Qiao said righteously, "Sister, you don't know that my father and mother have seen the bounty on your head and are worried all day long. They can't eat or sleep."

Sun Wei's smile froze at the corner of her mouth.

"Is there a bounty posted in Xunyang City as well?" she asked.

"No, there wasn't one in Xunyang City to begin with. I asked Steward Yu, and he said it was Master's order not to post one," Sun Qiao said. "But the reward on that poster was so high, even if the government hadn't posted it, word would have spread. My parents saw it in a merchant's hand while they were walking around the market. I couldn't hide it anymore, so I had to tell them the truth so they wouldn't faint in the street."

Sun Wei felt a little guilty. She touched his shoulder and said, "I was careless. You did a good job. What did you say to your parents at that time?"

"Tell the truth," Sun Qiao said. "Say that my sister was tricked by that Taoist woman into becoming the Princess of Yuzhang, but her story was later discovered. But my sister has already escaped, and the court can't catch her. My sister doesn't know, but my mother cried for days. I've never seen her so angry. She cursed my father for being blind and trusting that Taoist woman, who ruined my sister. Although my father spoke tough, I knew he blamed himself deeply."

"Mother scolds father?"

Sun Qiao nodded. "Are you surprised, sister? I was shocked too. Mother never dared to criticize father, but that day she scolded him like crazy. She also said that sister was being hunted somewhere and she was determined to go out and find her."

Sun Wei hurriedly asked, "Didn't you persuade your mother?"

"It's no use trying to persuade them," Sun Qiao said sheepishly. "I hid my sister's handwriting from my parents, and Mother blamed me too. She kept crying. I had no choice but to ask Sister Lu for advice. Sister Lu said the Master had a subordinate who could imitate my sister's handwriting. So I wrote to the Master for help, and he had that person write a letter to me to say I was safe. Mother read it and believed it, so she finally stopped. I told her that my sister would write to her every first and fifteenth day of the month. Now that she knows, she must not forget it."

Sun Wei should naturally accept it.

"Has anyone caused you any trouble these days?" she asked again.

"Master has sent guards to guard our home and a steward to take care of our food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Even if there is one, I'm afraid I wouldn't know about it." Sun Qiao thought for a moment and continued, "However, mother did tell me that people from the Seventh Lieutenant's Department came earlier and wanted to bring them to the capital in the name of the Ministry of Personnel. Fortunately, the steward stopped them. I don't know what they said, but they left. Sister, are they going to use my parents to threaten you?"

Sun Wei knew that there was no need to ask the answer.

"After all, my case involves a lot of things. It's normal for people from the court to come and ask about it," she comforted him.

Sun Qiao said, "I told Mother the same thing. But I know in my heart that with Master here, those bad guys won't be able to touch us."

When he said this, his tone was full of pride.

After that, he pulled Sun Wei aside and asked, "Sister, what should we do in the future?"

"You are now his highness's disciple, and he will naturally take care of you. As long as you stay in Xunyang City, you will be safe." Sun Wei said.

Sun Qiao, however, could hear the perfunctory tone in the question and asked, "Where's Sister? Where are you going?"

Sun Wei had no answer in her heart.

"You're already grown up, and I don't want to lie to you," she said to Sun Qiao sternly, "I'm a criminal now, and I can't be with you. Otherwise, I'll be hurting you, understand?"

Sun Qiao frowned and said, "Sister, are you going to hide here and there forever? If so, why don't we go back to Lingnan together? Even if we don't live in Anning anymore, there are still many deep mountains and old forests where we can hide. No one can find us, and we will be safe from danger."

Sun Wei looked at his innocent and stubborn face and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

In her previous life, she had always wanted to find a safe place to escape from the world with them. But once war broke out, even if she returned to her hometown in Lingnan, she would still not be able to escape the fate of a violent death.

In this life, she had learned many things. One of them was that if the calamity of her past life could not be resolved in this life, it would still be unavoidable. Therefore, escaping with her family as she had done in her past life was not a good idea.

"Your Highness and I have discussed this. There is no place in the world safer than Xunyang City. If you don't trust me, do you also not trust Your Highness?"

"I certainly trust Your Highness. I just don't want my sister to wander around alone."

Sun Wei looked at Sun Qiao and smiled with satisfaction.

She whispered, "Sister is not afraid of being alone, she is just afraid of living alone."

This was her true feelings. She was afraid that, like in her previous life, her family would die far away while her husband died right next to her.

Even if she is alive, what difference is there between her and being dead?

Sun Qiao was confused: "What do you mean, sister?"

"It's nothing," Sun Wei said gently, holding his hand. "Remember, as long as we're still alive, our family will be reunited one day. I promise you that I will take good care of myself. You also promise me that you will listen to His Highness and take good care of yourself, your father, and your mother, okay?"