14 The vanished father!

My father will not go to the capital with you!

After chasing away the persistent dog, Qi Gu, as usual, carried her hoe home.

She glanced at the sun in the sky and quickened her pace, determined to get home before her father went to the kitchen, otherwise she would have to hold her nose and eat her father's "creative" dishes again today!

"Father! I'm back!"

There was no one in the courtyard. Was her father still in the house? Qi Gu went straight to the kitchen on the right. She had to take over the kitchen first!

As Qi Gu put the millet into the pot, she started a fire.

She planned to use the wild rabbit that Gouwa had hunted that day to stir-fry with wild vegetables, which Uncle Wu had just given her to pick.

That day, when they went to Fanyue Mountain, Uncle Mu sent them half of the marinated rabbit. Aunt Qi gladly accepted it, after all, she had almost lost her life for this rabbit.

But even after the wheat rice was steamed and the rabbit meat was stewed, her father still hadn't come out. Qi Gu felt that the courtyard was quieter today. Could it be that her father wasn't home?

Qi Gu walked to her father's room and knocked on the door. "Father!" There was no answer. "Father, I'm coming in."

She pushed open the door, revealing a completely empty room with no one on the bed.

Qi Gu wondered where her father had gone without telling her. Had he gone to Gouwa's house for roasted meat?

As dusk approached and the cicadas' chirping grew increasingly noisy, Qi Gu decided to head over to Gouwa's house. She could also get a free meal of roasted meat while she was there.

Gouwa lived at the east end of the village, not far from her home. Qi Gu took advantage of the last bit of light on the horizon and rushed to Gouwa's house before dark.

She stood in Gouwa's yard, "Uncle Mu!"

Gouwa was the first to hear Qi Gu's voice. Like a little yellow dog, he wagged his tail and came to the door, his tone cheerful, "Qi Gu, what brings you here? Come in quickly, the roasted meat that Mother made today is delicious."

Has my father come to your house?

When Gouwa's father, Li Mu, saw Qi Gu, his long beard trembled with laughter. "It's Qi Gu! Gouwa has been asking you to come to our house for roasted meat for so long."

When Qi Gu saw that her father was not in the courtyard, she wondered if he had left.

She asked, "Uncle Mu, I didn't come here to eat roasted meat. I came to see my father. Has he been here?"

“Your father has never come.”

Where could Father have gone if he wasn't at Gouwa's house? It's so late. Qi Gu's brows furrowed tightly.

"What, Ash isn't home? Don't worry, I'll go with you to the village head's house to check."

Li Mu took the lantern and prepared to go out. In the courtyard, Aunt Qi heard Aunt Qiu whisper, "You're so enthusiastic. This lantern is free? Our Gouwa follows Aunt Qi around all day. Now you're busy running around too. Do we owe them anything?"

"Oh dear, don't say that. What if something happens to Ash? Ash has helped the villagers a lot. Besides, it's so late. The children are so anxious and it's so dangerous. We can't just stand by and do nothing."

"Get out of here! You're all so kind-hearted. I'm the bad guy!"

Gouwa followed behind his father, wanting to go too, but his father twisted his ear and said, "Don't go and cause trouble."

He then took two more wheat cakes from the table and handed them to Qi Gu with a sidelong glance, saying, "Take these and eat them on the way."

Aunt Qi accepted the gift, thanked him softly, and followed behind Uncle Mu. Behind them, Aunt Qiu and Gouwa stood in the courtyard, watching them leave.

Because they were in a hurry, they walked very fast. Seeing her worry, Uncle Mu comforted her, "Don't worry, your father has always been kind to others, and he hasn't made any enemies. He'll be fine."

They soon arrived at the village head's house, but the village head also said he had never seen her father.

"What happened?" the village head asked.

Li Mu said, "Ashi usually takes the best care of Qi Gu and will tell her in advance if anything happens. This time he hasn't said a word. I don't know if he's preoccupied with something or if something really has happened."

Qi Gu felt increasingly uneasy. Uncle Mu was right; her father had no conflicts with anyone in Li Family Village, nor did he have any enemies.

That leaves Li Qiao's family, but Li Qiao has already taken her identity and gone to the capital, so she has no reason to go through the trouble of killing her father.

If it wasn't Li Qiao, then who could it be? A name popped into Qi Gu's mind—Sima Hong.

Could it be him who said those words to her yesterday as she was about to leave?

Suddenly, Qi Gu ran away like a startled rabbit. Li Mu and the village head behind her were puzzled, wondering what was going on and where she was going.

"Aunt Qi, what's wrong?" Li Mu asked, worried that something had happened, and followed behind Aunt Qi.

Qi Gu ran home in one breath. The lights were on. She pushed open the courtyard gate, and her father was standing in the yard. Seeing her father's back, Qi Gu held back her tears and called out, "Father!"

Hearing Qi Gu's voice, Li Shi turned around and said, "Qi Gu, oh dear, where have you been? I was worried about you."

Qi Gu was furious. She should have been the one saying that, "Father, where have you been? Do you know how worried I was..."

Before she could finish speaking, she saw Sima Hong sitting at the stone table behind her father. It was the one who had taken her father away. What was he planning to do?

Qi Gu stepped forward and shielded her father behind her, asking, "What are you going to do?"

Li Shi felt a little embarrassed. He was being protected by his own daughter. The old father was both comforted and indignant. How could he, a dignified old father, be protected? It was so shameful.

"Aunt Qi, this is a misunderstanding..."

"Father, please don't speak yet."

Sima Hong chuckled softly, "Lady Qi seems to have a deep-seated prejudice against me."

Qi Gu said with a stern face, "I have no prejudice against someone who wants to kill me, I just want to save my life! People will do anything to save their lives, right, Master Sima!"

"Sima Hong, you want to kill my Qi Gu!" Li Shi looked at Sima Hong. Something was wrong. If he wanted to kill Qi Gu, why did he say those things to him just now?

“I think this is a misunderstanding, Mr. Li. I have no ill intentions towards either of you.” Sima Hong explained to Qi Gu, “On Mount Fanyue, Lady Qi Gu was mistaken for a remnant of the Prince of Chen, but now I am certain that you are not, so I apologize for what happened that day.”

"So that's how it is," Li Shi instantly believed the reason. After all, if Sima Hong wanted to kill Qi Gu, he wouldn't have needed to say all that to him.

Besides, given his abilities, he wouldn't have waited until now to kill someone, and he has no reason to kill Qi Gu, especially now that he's escorting them to the capital.

"Since it was a misunderstanding, it's good that it's been cleared up. How could our Aunt Qi be a remnant of Prince Chen?"

Qi Gu looked at her father suspiciously. He believed it so easily? When had her father ever trusted Sima Hong so much? They had clearly only met twice today.

Before she could ask, her father gave her another big surprise, "By the way, Aunt Qi, you don't know yet, but I just promised Sima Langjun that I would go to the capital with him."

"What!" Qi Gu had no idea what had happened during the afternoon she was away, or why her father had gone to the capital.

Qi Gu looked at Sima Hong, and she saw in his eyes a calmness as if everything was under his control. "It was you? What did you say to my father? Why did he go to the capital? You forced him, didn't you!"

Instead of answering, Sima Hong asked, "Qi Gu, I heard you can't remember things before you were seven years old?"

"Don't call me Aunt Qi, you're not worthy!" After returning to the palace in her previous life, she was very reluctant to be called Aunt Qi, because when these people called her Aunt Qi, it was always with a contemptuous smile.

They mocked her, calling her a country bumpkin, an illiterate farmer who only knew how to wield a hoe. The second princess always kept a distance of ten paces from her. She gently traced her nose with her finger. "Big sister, your name in the countryside was Qi Gu, isn't it? It really suits you, hehehe... Big sister, actually, if you were to die, you would have left behind a more dignified life. What a pity..."

The Ninth Princess scorned him without restraint, "What Qi Gu? She's just a weed in the field, hahaha..."

People in the palace still often gossiped about it in private. She punished several palace servants for this, and after that, the palace servants gradually stopped mentioning it. Only her younger brothers and sisters dared to make some sarcastic remarks. As the Empress Dowager gradually gained control of the court, her younger brothers and sisters quieted down a bit.

However, the name "Qi Gu" became a taboo for her; she forbade others to mention it, and never mentioned it in front of Sima Hong.

Looking back now, she was so foolish. She thought she was being dignified and well-mannered, pretending to be literate, but Sima Hong knew everything. He just quietly watched the performance.

She made a complete fool of herself like a clown, and he despised her immensely!

His occasional kindness towards her was merely due to an alliance with the Empress Dowager. Sima Hong was a man whose eyes were only on the country, power, and status; he was heartless and emotionless.

Now, he wants to bring his father and him back to the capital, and he naturally has his own reasons.

Sima Hong looked at the woman in front of him with a wary gaze, as if he were about to take her father's life at any moment.

Her eyes revealed undisguised disgust for him. Sima Hong was puzzled. They had only met four times, so why did her eyes seem to suggest that he owed her so much?

However, Li Shi said that this princess could not remember anything before she was seven years old. He was skeptical before, but now, judging from her reaction, he thought he was sure that the woman in front of him remembered everything.

She remembered everything, yet she chose not to return to the capital, the palace, or her biological parents.

Sima Hong didn't know why she lied or why she gave her jade pendant to the child named Li Qiao.

The palace is a place of treacherous intrigues; she can't simply relinquish her position as princess. She's too naive.

"You may leave. My father will not go to the capital with you!" Qi Gu issued the order to leave, her expression cold.

Sima Hong stood up and said to Li Shi, "Mr. Li, how about we set off in three days?"

Li Shi nodded and said, "Ah, okay, okay."

"Aunt Qi, we'll meet again in three days."

Dressed in white, Sima Hong disappeared into the night like a celestial being under the hazy moonlight, as if nothing had happened.

When Li Mu arrived, panting, he saw the father and daughter standing silently in the yard. "Ah Shi, you're home? Aunt Qi was so worried about you. I'm so glad you're alright."

Qi Gu turned to the kind-hearted Uncle Mu and said, "Thank you very much, Uncle Mu, for today."

"It's nothing, as long as your father is alright." Then he said to Li Shi, "Where did you go just now? We've been looking for you everywhere."

Li Shi scratched his head, looking guilty like Gouwa when he did something wrong. "It's nothing, I went to see Afang in the back mountain."

"I see. Next time, I should still tell you. You scared Aunt Qi half to death."

After seeing Li Mu off, Li Shi looked at his daughter, who was sitting on a stone bench, staring at him intently, waiting for an explanation.

His daughter's demeanor was truly that of a princess, making him want to beg for mercy immediately.

[Author's Note]

The next chapter will change locations and we'll embark on a new journey! Niohuru Qigu has returned to the palace! Please add this to your favorites and leave comments to help a small author with a broken Dao heart rebuild it [laughing and crying emoji]