16 Cheng Ah-jie

◎Ensure the safety of my father and me◎

The carriage traveled to a deserted, dilapidated temple, where a group of twenty or thirty people were already waiting at the temple entrance.

Upon seeing Sima Hong, Atai stepped forward respectfully and said, "Young Master."

Qi Gu got off the carriage and saw Atai and Axiang beside him. The two of them were Sima Hong's retainers, and their loyalty to Sima Hong was greater than their loyalty to the emperor.

In her past life, she naturally knew them too. After all, she had followed him for three years and married him for three months, so she could be considered their queen for three months. However, she couldn't command them as queen; they only listened to Sima Hong.

She looked away and saw the conspicuous prison van behind Atai and Axiang, and inside the van was Sister Cheng, wearing shackles!

She was wearing the same clothes she had worn during their last meeting, now stained with blood. Her eyes were blindfolded, and her thin lips were pale. Leaning against the wooden bars of the prison cart, she showed no sign of the fear of being a prisoner.

Qi Gu looked at her, and even knowing her true identity, she still couldn't connect the taciturn woman who buried herself in blacksmithing in the dimly lit shop with the powerful warlord Chen Wang, who was known as a ruthless and cunning ruler.

Qi Gu walked towards Sima Hong and heard Atai say to him, "My lord, everything is arranged."

Sima Hong nodded slightly, "We'll depart in half an hour."

With a sullen face, Qi Gu walked towards Sima Hong. "Lord Sima, I have something to ask you. Please speak to me in private."

Atai glanced up at the woman who showed no respect to her master, admiring her courage. At his master's signal, he withdrew.

Sima Hong followed behind Qi Gu, away from the crowd. Qi Gu pointed in the direction of the prison cart and asked, "Lord Sima, what's going on here?"

In her previous life, she met Sima Hong during the latter part of her journey back to the capital; before that, she had no idea what he had done.

Moreover, in her previous life, she did not see Sima Hong escorting Sister Cheng and them all the way back to the capital.

She remembered that in her previous life, the remnants of Prince Chen's faction were completely wiped out by Sima Hong! There was no such person as Sister Cheng at all; at least, she had never heard her mother mention her, nor had she ever seen Sister Cheng.

She guessed that either her sister Cheng was killed before she met him, or her existence had been concealed by her father, mother, and the person in front of her for some unknown reason.

This time, she encountered Sima Hong ahead of schedule, and their journey back to the capital is sure to be anything but peaceful!

"Sima Hong, I need you to ensure the safety of my father and me," Qi Gu made her request.

"Li Qigu, have we known each other before?"

Qi Gu's face stiffened; of course, they had never met in this lifetime.

She was so foolish to think she could influence Sima Hong's decision.

She couldn't let Sima Hong see through her disguise again; arousing his suspicion was not a good thing. Besides, they shouldn't have had much contact in this life.

"Ridiculous! Shouldn't Lord Sima ask himself this question first? Have we even met?"

The woman before him gave Sima Hong an indescribable feeling of unease. He had never felt so unable to see through anyone before. It was a really terrible feeling, Sima Hong thought.

He was certain, of course, that he had never met Li Qigu before, but where did her dislike and...familiarity towards her come from?

Sima Hong glanced at Qi Gu with his deep eyes. He thought that besides being a princess, she must be hiding some secrets that he didn't know.

"Do you know where the last person who spoke to me like that is now?" Sima Hong said bluntly, but a slight smile played on his lips. His face maintained a perfectly composed demeanor, as if he were merely greeting Qi Gu. He gave off a gentle facade, but this was actually the most dangerous moment.

Qi Gu secretly blamed herself for treating Sima Hong with such an attitude when she was nobody. For someone like him, the slightest abnormality was enough to arouse his suspicion.

Although the idea of ​​rebirth is unbelievable, even if she told him herself, he might not believe it. But if he thought she was hostile towards him, it would definitely not be a good thing for his father and her.

She shouldn't hold onto the resentment from her past life towards him anymore. She should stay away from him, distance herself from him, as if they had always been strangers.

Qi Gu's tone softened, "Lord Sima, I was rude. I am just a country girl and I don't know any etiquette. But please understand a daughter's worry for her father. My father is very important to me, and I don't want anything to happen to him."

Her sudden pragmatism did not dispel Sima Hong's suspicions; on the contrary, it made him even more interested in the secret she was hiding.

A princess who pretends to be stupid and doesn't want to return to the capital will find a substitute for herself. She is worried about her adoptive father's safety and can immediately be kind and gentle to him in an attempt to soften his heart.

"Don't worry, Aunt Qi. Since Mr. Li has agreed to return to the capital with me, I will naturally protect his safety." Sima Hong recalled that day when she said he was not qualified to call her Aunt Qi, her eyes filled with hatred, but he still quite liked the name "Aunt Qi".

He enjoyed seeing her react like a startled weasel, her eyes becoming wary and her body stiffening every time he called her name. Qi Gu? So what if he called her? Sima Hong thought with a slightly bored malice that he himself didn't even realize.

Qi Gu slumped her shoulders. Her father was useful to Sima Hong, so he would naturally protect him. She had been too impulsive just now and had already aroused his suspicion!

As for Sister Cheng, she knew she had no right to help her, but she still couldn't help but say, "If possible, could you make Sister Cheng a little more comfortable? You didn't kill her immediately, does that mean she's still of some use?"

"Sister Cheng?" Sima Hong looked at her, her expression downcast, no longer showing the disgust she had shown him before, but instead becoming respectful, which made Sima Hong frown slightly.

Sima Hong's tone was slightly cold, "He is not some Cheng A-Zhi, he is the son of the Prince of Chen."

The person in the prison van certainly didn't look like a woman. Sister Cheng usually dressed in androgynous ways, and if it weren't for her face, she would definitely look like a man in terms of build.

Qi Gu chuckled self-deprecatingly, "What do you mean 'looks like'? He's a man."

"Even if he is the son of the Prince of Chen, surely we can give him some water to drink?"

Sima Hong glanced at her. "Once you've rested, get back into the carriage. We should set off."

Qi Gu walked back to the carriage dejectedly. When Li Shi saw her return, he asked, "What were you talking about with Sima Hong?" They were not far apart. He saw that Qi Gu had started speaking confidently to Sima Hong, but after Sima Hong said something, Qi Gu wilted, like a sunflower that his student had over-fertilized, its head drooping to the ground.

"It's nothing. The person in that prison cart is Sister Cheng, who used to make hoes for me. I'm just curious what crime she committed." Father, it's better not to know about anything related to Prince Chen.

Li Shi said smugly, "Qi Gu, what blacksmith? That's Chen Wang's child. You know Chen Wang, right? That Chen Wang. He and Zhao Ji are practically a domineering hero falling in love with Cinderella. It's a tragic love story. Even if the story is made up like this, people will still like to listen. I didn't expect that the two of them would have a child alive. But..." He shook his head and said regretfully, "I'm afraid this child won't live much longer."

Qi Gu felt that she was starting to misunderstand her father's words again. "Father, how do you know about 'Sister Cheng'? And what you're saying are just rumors from the streets and can't be taken seriously. Zhao Ji is actually King Chen's strategist." Qi Gu had overheard her mother mentioning Zhao Ji in her previous life, and she admired her greatly.

The Queen Mother's original words were: "Zhao Ji is very clever. Unfortunately, King Chen valued her talent but trapped her with his love. Zhao Ji's talent was overshadowed by King Chen's self-righteous love. Everyone praises King Chen's favor towards Zhao Ji, but they do not know that Zhao Ji is good at scheming."

When the Queen Mother said this, her face was filled with disdain and mockery. She disliked the King of Chen because she had been captured by him. The Queen Mother should have met Zhao Ji.

"Oh? I see." Li Shi looked at his daughter inquisitively. "Qi Gu, how did you find out about this?"

"Huh?" Qi Gu paused. "I... I heard it from Lord Sima. How did Father know who was in the prison cart?"

Li Shi chuckled twice. "Atai and Axiang, who are by Sima Langjun's side, told me that these two seem much easier to approach than Sima Langjun. Sima Langjun is good in every way, but he's a bit unapproachable to strangers."

"Really?" Qi Gu remembered that these two were very tight-lipped in her past life. When she asked them about Sima Hong's whereabouts, they wouldn't say anything. How could they have been so easily tricked into talking by her father now? Qi Gu expressed her doubts.

"However, you are quite familiar with Sima Langjun?" Li Shi asked.

"No, no, we just chatted for a bit." Qi Gu turned and boarded the carriage. "Father, we should go now."

Li Shi rubbed his shoulders and back. Ancient carriages and horses were really slow, not only slow but also crazy. With his few pounds of bones, he would probably be a few pounds lighter by the time he got to the capital, Chang'an.

The long procession started again. Qi Gu lifted the curtain and looked at the slow procession. She was quite puzzled. Even if they weren't in a hurry to return to the capital, the speed was really slow. Moreover, the prison carts following behind seemed to be guarded too laxly.

As darkness fell, Sima Hong told Atai to stop. "Let's rest here for now, and go into the city to rest when the gates of Peng County open tomorrow."

Atai immediately relayed his message, and the convoy stopped. The soldiers started fires and fetched water.

Qi Gu and Li Shi got off the carriage. It was pitch black all around. It wasn't until the soldiers lit a fire that the darkness was dispelled.

Ah Xiang said to Qi Gu and Li Shi, "Gentlemen, we have prepared hot water. The young master said that you two should make do with this for today and rest properly after we enter the city tomorrow."

Li Shi understood. "I understand. Young man, your name is A Xiang, right? How many more days will it take us to reach the capital?"

Ah Xiang's eyes flickered. "This... I'm afraid it will take another twelve or thirteen days."

Li Shi secretly groaned; it would take twelve or thirteen days to arrive—this was truly going to kill him.

Qi Gu stared at A Xiang's face for a moment. A Xiang was lying. The trip to the capital would only take seven or eight days. Why would he lie and say it would take twelve or thirteen days?

Could it be that Sima Hong ordered it? Qi Gu looked at Sima Hong, who was talking to Atai, and her doubts grew.

Behind them was Sister Cheng's prison van. Sister Cheng, who should now be called Brother Cheng, remained quiet the whole way, without moving an inch, not even changing her posture.

Was it because of him that A Xiang lied? Qi Gu sat in front of the fire, holding hot water and lost in thought.

No one paid any attention to Zhao Cheng. He just sat quietly in the prison cart, as if he hadn't been arrested, but was just a boy sitting in the wilderness thinking about his own things.

Qi Gu held hot water in both hands. She finally stood up and went to the prison cart. "Would you like some hot water?"

Inside the prison cart, Zhao Cheng heard a woman's voice, which sounded like Qi Gu's. How could Qi Gu be here? He had been blindfolded for so long that he was hallucinating. He gave a self-deprecating laugh and remained silent.

But then the voice rang out again, "Would you like some water?"

"Qi, Aunt Qi! What are you doing here!" Chen Zhan thought, it wasn't a hallucination, it was Aunt Qi's voice!

Qi Gu did not answer, but instead handed the bowl of water diagonally into the prison cart and brought it to "Sister Cheng's" mouth. Chen Zhan hesitated for a moment, then finally opened his mouth and drank the water that Qi Gu fed him.

"Thank you." His voice was a little hoarse from prolonged dehydration, but it was still noticeably different from his previous voice; it sounded more like that of a young man.

It turned out that Sister Cheng had been faking it all along. Qi Gu took back the bowl, said nothing, and silently walked back to Li Shi's side.

Li Shi looked at the dejected Qi Gu, but didn't ask why. He just patted her on the shoulder.

He didn't know if his decision to return to the capital was truly for Qi Gu's good; he only knew that he wanted Qi Gu to live a peaceful, healthy, and disease-free life.

He couldn't let his aunt become like that child in the prison cart.

[Author's Note]

It's been revised again, and bugs have been fixed.