98 Don't even think about it.

◎Without you, this bond would not exist.◎

Qi Gu stood up from the ground, and as soon as she turned around, she was met with Sima Hong's intense gaze, which was like a huge net that surrounded her.

It was filled with things she couldn't understand, or things she understood but didn't want to admit.

This gave Qi Gu the illusion that he was presenting her with everything.

She quickly shook her head, trying to shake off such delusions and clear her mind. How could someone as cold-hearted as Sima Hong understand love?

He sees her now only because they both have memories of a past life, and he feels guilt and responsibility towards her, but not love.

Besides, even if it were truly love, she couldn't afford it, nor dared to accept it.

"Qi Gu, let's get married after the Fengshan ceremony," Sima Hong said, though his tone was questioning, it was actually a statement.

Qi Gu sighed. She was really tired of saying these things. "I remember saying more than once that I wouldn't marry you."

“Zhang Jun is not suitable for you. The best choice for the Zhang family, the Empress, and the Crown Prince is to find a civil official in the court to form a marriage alliance. As for Xu Jin, he is not good enough for you, Aunt Qi. You and I are destined to be together.”

Qi Gu stretched out a look of absurdity, "So you're saying only you are worthy of me?"

Qi Gu found it utterly ridiculous, so ridiculous that she laughed until tears streamed down her face. "You, Sima Hong, you proud son of heaven, have you forgotten how you treated me in my past life, and how Sima Taigong looked down on me? Now you say that only you are worthy of me, don't you find that laughable!"

Qi Gu didn't believe that Sima Hong had really fallen for her. She was very clear-headed. "If it's Sima Hong's family that wants to ally with the Empress Dowager, I can agree to stand by your side for the time being. However, once the matter between Prince Yi and the Guo family is over, we will dissolve our relationship. Don't talk about anything else."

She believed that her suggestion was reasonable and achieved four goals at once: it could unite the Sima family and her mother, silence Sima Taigong, and allow Sima Hong to operate without any constraints. After the event, she could retire gracefully with her father back to her fiefdom, which wouldn't be unreasonable.

Sima Hong approached Qi Gu, "Qi Gu, why don't you want me to marry you? I... I've fallen in love with you..."

"Haha," Qi Gu laughed out loud, but for some reason, tears welled up in her eyes along with the laughter.

"Sima Hong, I thought that after you ordered me to be shot, you would feel sorry for me at least. After we were reborn, I thought that at least... you would treat me better for the sake of our past life."

Qi Gu tried to tilt her head back to force back the tears welling up in her eyes, but it was to no avail.

She was always smiling, and occasionally her eyes would reveal a cunning and mischievous glint, but now she carried a profound sorrow.

Sima Hong's heart was pierced by such overwhelming sorrow, and Qi Gu's tears made him even more helpless. He raised his hand to wipe away the unsightly tears from Qi Gu's face. Such things should not appear on her face.

"Don't cry." Sima Hong's voice was a little hoarse.

Qi Gu tilted her head, refusing Sima Hong's advances.

"Sima Hong, if we hadn't been reborn and hadn't died in that palace coup, would you still say you've fallen in love with me?" Qi Gu asked.

"Why wouldn't I? You are my wife, and for all eternity!"

"Then let me ask you again, if I were still that ignorant, clueless, and foolish person from my past life, the one who only had eyes for you, would you still say these things!"

“I will,” Sima Hong said, staring into Qi Gu’s eyes.

"You're lying!" Qi Gu said excitedly, she didn't believe Sima Hong's words at all.

“Every day since arriving in the capital, I have been terrified. I dislike the intrigue and backstabbing in the palace. My mother has treated me differently in this life because I am useful to her. I can help her and even use me to arrange a marriage with the Sima family. My father is indifferent to me. As for you... the reason you haven't ignored me like in the previous life is not because you really like me, but simply because you have memories from the previous life.”

Qi Gu turned her back. "The one you like isn't the real me, it's the one you're pretending to be. I don't like this version of myself. I can pretend for a while, but I can't. The real me was killed by you in my past life!"

Pain washed over Qi Gu's heart like a tidal wave. "I don't like, and I'm not used to, life in the capital." Qi Gu wiped away her tears and choked out, "I know that as the Queen Mother's daughter, I have things I should do. I will cooperate with whatever you want to do, but there should be a time limit for this cooperation. When the time is up, I will leave the capital with my father and return to my fiefdom to live the life I truly want and that suits me."

The immense pain brought forth Sima Hong's long-suppressed fear of losing Qi Gu. He pulled Qi Gu close, making her face to face with him.

"Qi Gu, do you think you can still escape all of this now?"

He had never been so out of control, especially when he heard Qi Gu say that she would leave the capital and leave him. He thought of the loneliness he felt in his previous life after Qi Gu died, when he was alive but felt like he was dead.

His eyes flashed with a cold light. "Look at me, Aunt Qi." He gripped Aunt Qi's shoulders. "You won't leave me. You won't let me live without you after I've fallen in love with you!"

“Listen to me, whether it’s in this life or the last, you will always be my wife. Whether you love me or not, like me or not, you can’t leave, and you can’t escape from my side.” Sima Hong’s voice sounded calm, but the more he restrained himself, the more he knew that he couldn’t control the unspeakable darkness in his heart towards Qi Gu.

His face was as gloomy as the sky before a storm.

The crimson light in his eyes was like a terrifying lightning bolt in the sky, chilling to the bone.

Qi Gu, filled with fear, tried to break free from Sima Hong's grasp, crying out, "Let me go!"

However, Sima Hong gripped Qi Gu's shoulder even tighter.

“Qi Gu, you will be the matriarch of the Sima family, the eldest princess of the Great Jin, and the link between the royal family and the Sima family. Without you, this link would not exist.”

Qi Gu was so angry she almost laughed. Without thinking, she raised her hand and slapped Sima Hong across the face.

A red mark appeared on that sacred and inviolable face.

Qi Gu guiltily withdrew her hand. "Qi Gu, you've really made a name for yourself." She looked at her hand; this hand, since returning to the capital, had not only struck the princess but had now even hit Sima Hong.

Qi Gu stiffened her neck, forcing herself to remain calm, "This, this is your own fault. I didn't hold it against you the last few times, but listen to what you're saying! Whoever wants to be the matriarch of your Sima family can be, but I won't! I'm just reminding you that although I'm not favored, I'm still a princess..."

Unbeknownst to Qi Gu, Sima Hong was not listening to her at all. He looked at Qi Gu's reddened palms, lowered his eyes, grasped her hand, and pulled her into his arms.

Qi Gu looked up, and Sima Hong put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his embrace.

She was forced to look up, and her eyes were unexpectedly swept away and engulfed by Sima Hong's dark eyes.

Qi Gu blinked, then skillfully covered her mouth with her other hand. Sima Hong's gaze was all too familiar; the first two times he kissed her, he looked at her just like that!

The previous two times, his gaze was not as frightening as this time.

What nonsense about the bright moon hanging high, and the pretense of being virtuous and noble. When it comes to doing reckless things, they are no different from beasts in human clothing!

If she were Sima Taigong, and knew he had done this to her, she would slap him too!

Sima Hong stared intently at Qi Gu. In both his lives, the only two times he had felt fear were because of Qi Gu.

Qi Gu retreated with a pounding heart. The person in front of her was closing in step by step, exuding a dangerous aura. She couldn't afford to offend him.

Until she crashed into a thick tree trunk from behind, Qi Gu had nowhere left to retreat.

Sima Hong pressed down on the back of Qi Gu's head with one hand to prevent her from hitting the tree trunk. After making sure she wouldn't hit the tree trunk, he pulled up Qi Gu's hand covering her mouth and her other hand, and held them to the tree trunk nailed to her head. He also rubbed her reddened palm with his thumb.

While pressing her hand, he said softly, "Didn't I tell you? If you want to hit someone, don't do it yourself. But if it's me, as long as you don't mind the pain in your hand, it's fine." Sima Hong whispered in Qi Gu's ear.

He was like a different person. The bright moon that used to shine so brightly seemed to have been carried away by a celestial dog, and now the moon was black.

"What do you want to do? Let me go!" Qi Gu's hands were pinned to the tree by Sima Hong. "You don't want to kill me, do you?" She struggled violently, trying to break free from Sima Hong's control.

Sima Hong could no longer bear it. When his lips touched Qi Gu's lips again, he felt that the huge hole in his heart, which could never be filled, was slightly patched up.

Qi Gu cried out, "Ouch~ It hurts, it hurts!"

Sima Hong, in his frenzy, stopped what he was doing, gently pinched her chin with one hand, making her mouth half open, to check if she was really injured.

There was no wound on Qi Gu's lips; the blood was his. His eyes darkened as he glanced at Qi Gu's hands, which were pinned down by her own. Because of the rough tree trunk, the back of Qi Gu's hands were rubbed raw and red.

He loosened his grip, and Qi Gu took the opportunity to push him away, but Sima Hong pulled her back into his arms and hugged her back tightly. She could only hold him tightly, unable to move.

Her hands were freed, but only half of them were freed behind Sima Hong's back.

Qi Gu's chest and Sima Hong's chest were pressed together without any gap, and she patted his back, which was as hard as a rock.

"Sima Hong, let...me go!" The fragmented voice drifted in the wind.

Sima Hong closed his eyes and lightly tapped her earlobe dozens of times.

The person I'm holding in my arms is as soft as a puddle of water, as soft as a cloud...

Aunt Qi, do you think I can still let you go and watch you leave now?

What bound me was long ago torn apart by myself, and what made me restrain myself was long ago broken by myself.

Qi Gu, I can no longer leave you, and you can't leave either.

"Aunt Qi, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but I can't let you go..."

Something is gnawing at Qi Gu… The faintly visible, undulating lines of her neck seem like foreshadowing of past and present lives…

A spring breeze blew by, carrying warmth and a light dampness as it rustled through the peach tree branches, causing tiny pink buds to tremble gently on the treetops...

Qi Gu was dragged into an endless, dark vortex...