19. Qi Gu, will you marry me?

◎I've always thought of you as my older sister◎

When Qi Gu woke up, she found herself leaning against a big tree.

Ahead was a river, and "Sister Cheng," who had been imprisoned in the prison van, had regained his freedom. He stood by the lake with his back to her, and someone behind him was saying something to him.

Qi Gu recognized the person speaking as the one who had drugged her! The man was tall and had strong, long limbs; she couldn't be mistaken.

Heaven knows how much sleeping potion that person put on the handkerchief. Qi Gu's eyes were blazing with anger. She was still dizzy and weak all over.

Noticing that she was awake, Chen Zhan asked gently, "Aunt Qi, you're awake?"

Qi Gu didn't know how to face the person in front of her. She thought "he" was a friend, but his hidden background made it impossible for her to be friends with him anymore.

Even if they weren't friends, they weren't enemies either. She had no intention of going back to be a princess, so why did he capture her?

Seeing that she didn't speak, Chen Zhan patiently squatted down in front of her and gently brushed the hair off her face. His fingers had a thin layer of calluses, and they felt a little rough when he touched her face.

With her hands bound, Qi Gu turned her head away to avoid the person in front of her. The person in front of her was no longer "Sister Cheng" who had eaten plain noodles with her. To her, he was the one who had brought her here.

Chen Zhan looked helpless. He lowered his hand and said, "Aunt Qi, don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."

Qi Gu turned to look at him: "Then let me leave."

Chen Zhan gently shook his head, "I'm sorry, Aunt Qi, I can't let you leave."

Qi Gu couldn't believe it. "Why!" She stood up. "Sister Cheng, we have no grudge against each other, do we?"

Chen Zhan looked at Qi Gu, whose hands were tied behind her back, and said to the people behind him, "Song Shi, untie her."

"My lord, this..."

Chen Zhan said coldly, "Untie it."

Qi Gu's hands were untied, and she rubbed them, which had been bound all night. "Sister Cheng, I don't know anything. Please let me go for the sake of our past relationship. I promise I won't say anything. I'm very worried about my father."

“Aunt Qi, my name is Chen Zhan. You can call me Brother Zhan from now on.”

Qi Gu noticed that the person standing behind Chen Zhan was quite skilled in martial arts; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to abduct her from the courtyard so secretly last night.

She thought that Sima Hong must already know about her kidnapping. She couldn't act rashly. Her father would definitely send Sima Hong to rescue her. She needed to appease the person in front of her first. He probably didn't want to kill her.

"Brother Zhan, can you let me leave?"

"No, Aunt Qi, marry me. I'll treat you well after we're married." Chen Zhan, dressed in a black robe, with a delicate face and burning eyes, stepped forward and took Aunt Qi's hand.

Qi Gu felt that either he had gone mad or he was plotting something. Did he know her identity and want to use her to threaten the Empress Dowager and the others?

But what kind of scheme is this, to marry her off to him? A honey trap? Qi Gu really couldn't see it clearly. Why had Cheng A-jie, who had become Zhan A-xiong's sister, gone so crazy?

Even if he wasn't insane, the only thing between them was pure sisterly affection. Three days ago, she didn't even know he was a man, and she felt nothing but sympathy and pity for him.

"Brother Zhan, I cannot marry you."

"You've fallen for that Sima Hong?" In the past few days, his eyes seemed to be covered, but that was just to confuse Sima Hong. He could see and hear everything.

Seeing Chen Zhan's face darken, Qi Gu said, "What I mean is, I've always considered you my elder sister, no, I've always considered you my elder brother. Besides, Brother Zhan, your current identity is..." a fugitive.

Qi Gu was testing him. If Chen Zhan wanted to use her identity for something, then he should have reacted when she mentioned his identity.

"So you know about my background. But so what? I couldn't choose my birth. I've been hiding my identity for over a decade because of it. Now, the only thing I want to do is marry you, Aunt Qi. No matter what my background is, it won't affect my feelings for you."

Feelings? The feelings between sisters... Qi Gu felt a sense of helplessness that she couldn't explain to the person in front of her. She had just learned that her former best friend had become a younger brother, so how could there be any romantic relationship between them?

Qi Gu felt a headache coming on. "No, Brother Zhan, calm down. You are a descendant of the King of Chen, while I am just an ordinary commoner. Moreover, I really only regard you as a sister and a brother."

Qi Gu probed again, "Now that things are clear, Brother Zhan, you have important matters to attend to, so I won't disturb you any longer. I'll take my leave now."

Judging from Chen Zhan's reaction, he didn't know her true identity. If that's the case, perhaps his subordinates made a mistake in kidnapping her, and it was all just a misunderstanding.

Qi Gu turned to leave, but two pairs of eyes were still following her. Ignoring them, she took off running.

But after running only a few steps, Song Shi descended from the sky and stood in front of her, his sword blocking her path.

Chen Zhan walked up from behind. "Aunt Qi, I know things are a bit sudden, and you may not be able to accept it right away. I thought we would never see each other again, but God gave me a chance." Chen Zhan stood in front of Aunt Qi, his eyes filled with a stubbornness that Aunt Qi couldn't understand. "This time, I will not let you leave again."

Qi Gu couldn't understand no matter how hard she racked her brains, where Chen Zhan's so-called feelings for her came from. "Brother Zhan, look, it's Sima Hong!"

Song Shi and Chen Zhan turned around, and Qi Gu took advantage of the moment to run in the opposite direction, shouting as she ran, "Help! Help!"

Such tricks would be useless with a master like Song Shi around. Qi Gu only ran a few steps before Song Shi caught her and brought her back.

Seeing her panting from running, Chen Zhan wasn't angry. Instead, he spoke to her in a coaxing tone, like a child, "Qi Gu, don't be naughty. We're already quite far from Peng County. You'll see later that I truly want to marry you and will genuinely treat you well."

“Since you are truly willing to marry me, what about my father? You should also bring my father here. I should get his consent for my marriage, and I should also pay my respects to him.” Qi Gu looked at the person in front of her, who was completely different from the taciturn Sister Cheng she had been before.

"When things get better, don't worry, I will have someone bring your father here."

Qi Gu sneered, "Then I can refuse to marry you before my father arrives."

Before Chen Zhan could say anything more, a group of people excitedly ran up behind him. Qi Gu glanced at them and saw that there were about a dozen or twenty of them.

When these people saw Chen Zhan, they all knelt down in front of him.

The leader, an old man with a white beard, choked up and said, "Young lord, we have finally lived up to the king's expectations. Now that you have grown up, it is time to avenge the king and reclaim the kingdom that was stolen by that despicable man, Chu Pei."

"Please rise, Lord Qi. You were a meritorious official who followed my father in conquering the world. You have worked hard and made great contributions in hiding all these years." Chen Zhan helped the leader up.

Qi Le, dressed in a gray-blue cloth robe, had a slightly hunched back and his old eyes were filled with tears. "If it weren't for the treacherous people who framed you back then, how could Your Majesty have been defeated? And that despicable and shameless Chu Pei, who now dares to call himself a king. He is nothing but a lowly commoner who is not even worthy to carry Your Majesty's shoes. I have endured humiliation and hardship until today, just to see you, my young lord, rise again."

Those behind him, upon hearing his words, all declared, "We swear to follow our young lord to the death!"

The crowd was in a frenzy. After they finished recounting the glorious days they spent with Prince Chen, they finally noticed Qi Gu, who had been listening for a long time.

"Who is this young lady?" the old man with the white beard asked.

Song Shi glanced at Chen Zhan and replied, "She is the lord's maid."

Qi Gu squinted. According to her father, she must have eaten a lot of melons just now.

Chen Zhan's face was androgynous, and now his words were even more deceptive than his face. After hearing these people's words, Qi Gu became even more suspicious.

But in any case, Qi Gu understood that what she had to do now was remain silent. Judging from what they had just said, these people were former subordinates of Prince Chen, and they hated her own father, who had eventually seized power.

Once they find out that Chen Zhan captured her from Sima Hong, given their recent hatred for the Great Jin, they might very well order Chen Zhan to execute her immediately.

A maidservant is fine, it's better than losing my life.

Chen Zhan and his group went off to discuss something, and then a man named Song Shi handed her two wheat cakes and a pot of water.

Qi Gu lowered her eyes and did not take it; she had no idea whether there were other things inside.

"Eat it, it won't poison you, and the master will not allow you to be poisoned to death. I will not do what the master forbids." He was clearly a supporter of Chen Zhan.

Qi Gu thought for a moment, realizing that she wouldn't have the strength to run away if she didn't eat her fill, so she accepted the wheat cake and water offered by the man.

She took big bites of the pancake, as if it weren't a pancake at all, but rather the flesh and blood of the person who had grabbed her.

"Where are we going next?" Qi Gu asked tentatively.

Song Shi watched as Qi Gu wiped the water from her chin with her sleeve. "I really don't know why the master would want to marry a woman like you, risking being targeted by someone like Sima Hong."

The person in front of her had her hair tied in a ponytail, with heroic eyebrows and eyes, and somewhat thick lips. She wondered to herself, how come everyone around Sister Cheng is so androgynous? The person in front of her also looks like a woman. Could it be that this is the real woman?

Qi Gu glanced at Song Shi and noticed that he had no Adam's apple, so he was definitely a woman.

"Since you're so worried, why don't you release me? That way, your master won't be in danger, and I'll benefit too." Qi Gu knew it was impossible, but how could she give up without trying?

Sure enough, Song Shi stood up. "Don't even think about it. Since the master wants you, I will fulfill his wish, no matter how difficult it is."

What an unexpected disaster! Absolutely an unexpected disaster! If she had known that Chen Zhan's affections came about so irrationally, she would never have stepped into that blacksmith shop out of curiosity back then.

Now, she could only watch helplessly as Chen Zhan was surrounded by a large group of people. He was too far away to know what they were saying.

Qi Gu leaned against the tree she had been leaning against when she woke up. Sima Hong shouldn't be so useless as to not be able to find her after so long, right? Wouldn't her father be very worried about her?

[Author's Note]

Qi Gu: Chen Zhan, my feelings for you are purely sisterly.

Chen Zhan: I won't listen, I won't listen!