26 Sima Hong's Villa
They really aren't familiar with each other.
Qi Gu lifted the curtain, and the magnificent words "Chang'an" came into view. She felt a little nervous, but more than that, she felt an indescribable soreness.
She remembered that in her previous life, although she was also nervous, she was filled with joy, longing for her mother and younger brother whom she hadn't seen for many years, and yearning for her father who had become the supreme ruler of the world.
However, all those beautiful fantasies of family reunion vanished after entering the palace, leaving only the oppressive towering palace walls, the majestic aura of the emperor and empress, and the ridicule and contempt of the emperor's other wives and children.
Like a carefully brewed wine buried underground for many years, when she finally gets to taste it, the wine is not as sweet and mellow as she imagined, but rather bitter and astringent.
Most importantly, as the daughter of the empress, she had to wear gorgeous brocade robes, adorn herself with jeweled hairpins, and wear uncomfortable wooden clogs to taste the wine with dignity, swallowing it down no matter how bitter it was.
Upon entering the capital, although the carriage was spacious, it was only the kind of carriage used by wealthy young men and women in the capital.
Qi Gu thought of the small carriage following behind her. This time, she really needed to keep a low profile and switch from the prison cart to an ordinary carriage to hide the real prisoners. That was the right thing to do.
Sima Hong had previously exposed Chen Zhan to the outside world in a prison cart, which was a ploy to lure him out.
Li Shi, whose body was completely exhausted from sitting, looked at the endless stream of people on both sides of the capital and the various shops lined up one after another. Having stayed in the countryside for too long, he had almost forgotten such a lively scene.
He's like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden for the first time; everything is new and exciting to him.
He took a deep sniff and asked, "Aunt Qi, can you smell anything?"
Qi Gu shook her head. Li Shi said, "This is the smell of money corrupting, hehe."
Looking at the wide street where two carriages could walk side by side, with all sorts of unusual shops on both sides, Qi Gu felt that the prosperity of the capital was incomparable to that of Li Family Village and Peng County.
She looked at her father. Many things in this life were different. She was no longer the young woman blinded by wealth and prosperity in her previous life, nor was she the eldest princess whose heart belonged only to Sima Hong.
She has nothing in her life, yet it seems like she has everything.
"Qi Gu, give your father some silver." Li Shi reached out to his daughter for money. He was a little excited and laughed a few times. "Hahaha, I can say that I have traveled to ancient times. I came to the most prosperous capital in the world. Just like I must go to Tiananmen Square in Beijing at least once in my life, as a member of the Great Jin Dynasty, I must come to Chang'an at least once in my life."
Qi Gu shook her head. Her father was saying things she couldn't understand again. But she thought that her previous life in the capital was similar to her father's current situation.
She hated herself. In her past life, her father didn't want to come to the capital. She should have knocked him unconscious and brought him here. Look how happy she is now.
Qi Gu took out five taels of silver from her purse. "Here, Father, this is all our possessions."
Li Shi rubbed his hands together, preparing to take all the silver. "Qi Gu, be good. You'll be a princess from now on. You don't need this loose silver. Just give it all to your father."
Qi Gu withdrew her hand, the silver in her palm. "Who said that? Whoever wants to be a princess can be one. I will not be one. Besides, have you ever seen a peasant princess like me? I can't compose poems, write essays, play the zither, chess, calligraphy, or painting."
“It’s not that I have nothing, I just have some strength. If someone like me were to become a princess, Father, what kind of princess would I be? If I were to become a eunuch, people would find me too vulgar.”
Li Shi leaned closer to look at Qi Gu's face. "Hey~ Qi Gu, you know that only rich people say they don't like money, and only real princesses like to say they're not princesses." He said to Qi Gu with a solemn expression, "Qi Gu, you're becoming more and more like a princess."
Qi Gu rolled her eyes at her father, who was trying to swindle her money, turned her head, took two taels of silver from her palm, and thought that she would be entering the palace in a few days. So she simply put all the silver into her purse and handed it to her father. "The prices in the capital are high. This five taels of silver would be enough for the two of us to live on for a year and a half in the countryside, but it probably won't last long in the capital. Father, be careful."
Li Shi accepted the silver, saying, "Don't worry, Father knows."
Qi Gu then thought, "However, Father, you don't need to be too stingy. When I enter the palace in the future, I will receive some rewards."
Mentioning this, Li Shike was no longer sleepy. "That's why they say a daughter is a father's little cotton-padded jacket. So, Aunt Qi, being a princess actually has its advantages, right? At least you have endless money to spend."
Li Shi thought that in his previous life, he was able to study smoothly all the way to a doctorate, even though he was powerless and penniless. He had to thank the country for its prosperity and strength. In ancient times, when productivity was low, if Qi Gu were a princess, she would be spared many troubles.
Besides, he also thought that even if he didn't have anything else, his advanced seed cultivation technology was at least a bargaining chip, and he could still use it to secure a stable future for Qi Gu.
There was no need for him to tell Qi Gu his plans. Qi Gu would go back to the palace, reunite with her biological parents, and then have a princess title so that she wouldn't be homeless and starving, and wouldn't have to suffer the sun and rain with him.
Li Shi's greatest wish for his daughter, who is not his biological daughter but is more like one to him, is for her to be a safe, healthy, and carefree little princess.
The carriage stopped straight in front of the main gate of the Sima Mansion. Standing in front of the imposing gate of the Sima Mansion, Qi Gu felt for a moment as if she had returned to her previous life. At that time, she stood here, waiting with all her heart for Sima Hong to return.
But in her previous life, she didn't visit the Sima family often. Grandfather Sima didn't like her, and the servants of the Sima family didn't respect her much. Although she was dull-witted at the time, she knew that the Sima family didn't welcome her.
Her brows furrowed involuntarily. Sima Hong had arranged for her to stay at the Sima residence. She remembered that in her previous life, in the days before entering the palace, she had lived in her aunt's villa.
Before entering the palace, she studied the rules for a few days, and she thought she had learned them very diligently, but she was by no means a graceful lady.
When her father and mother had not yet conquered the world, they were just ordinary people. She was separated from them when she was six years old. At that time, the world was engulfed in war, and it was already difficult to survive.
She knew nothing about music, chess, calligraphy, painting, strategy, or insight. All she possessed was physical strength, which she hid after being ridiculed upon returning to the capital.
Looking back now, I realize that the days she spent staying at her aunt's villa were when her mother was testing her. If she passed her mother's test, her mother would bring her under her wing and expand her political empire.
However, she thought that she must have failed her mother's test, because in her previous life, she had seen her mother's disappointment in her more than once, and her mother never allowed her to participate in her important plans.
Rather than searching for her daughter, the queen mother was more likely looking for a political ally, and she was clearly unsuitable as a qualified ally.
After dying once, she finally understood that her mother and Sima Hong knew about the palace coup in her previous life in advance, or rather, it was all part of their plan.
As for her death, perhaps it was an unintended consequence of their plan, or perhaps... it was part of their plan...
If she was destined to never satisfy her mother, then she decided to live her life as a princess according to her own wishes; otherwise, she would rather not be one at all!
"Lord Sima, are you suggesting that my father and I move into your Sima residence?"
Sima Hong, unaware of Qi Gu's thoughts, explained, "These past few days, the palace has been busy preparing for the reception of the Xiongnu historians. Qi Gu, you and Mr. Li will stay at my residence for now. Once things are settled, I will send you to the palace."
"No need, Lord Sima, please escort me to where I am."
Qi Gu's eyes were clear and her attitude was firm. She would never enter the Sima Mansion in this lifetime. In her previous life, she was Sima Hong's wife and the matriarch of the Sima Mansion, but she never got to be the head of the Sima Mansion. In this life, what relationship did they have? There was even less need for her to live in the Sima Mansion.
Besides, going to my aunt's place is a good idea; I can also see my cousin, who is one of the few people in the capital with whom she has a good relationship.
Thinking of my cousin, I wonder if she's still in poor health like she was in her previous life.
She remembered that in her previous life, it was two years after she returned to the capital that her aunt and uncle found Doctor Ye to treat her. However, Doctor Ye said that it had been too long and the lesions could not be completely removed.
She could tell her aunt in advance where Doctor Ye was, and maybe her cousin's illness would still have a chance to be completely cured.
Qi Gu thought that since she had said all that, Sima Hong would send her to her aunt's villa, after all, that was how her mother had arranged it in her previous life.
However, after she said she wouldn't stay at the Sima residence, Sima Hong gave her a deep look, a look that contained scrutiny and doubt, but in the end, he said nothing and sent her and her father to a separate courtyard.
But this isn't my aunt's yard! It belongs to Sima Hong!!
"Lord Sima, what does this mean?"
"Qi Gu, I don't understand what you mean," Sima Hong asked in return.
“This is clearly…” Qi Gu immediately realized something. When she came to her senses, she saw Sima Hong clinging tightly to her, his eyes like burning embers!
She had been careless again! She had repeatedly reminded herself to remain calm and treat Sima Hong the same as everyone else, without showing him any special treatment.
But after falling off the cliff, she thought Sima Hong had damaged his brain, and she felt relieved.
Now that she's back in the capital, she can't be so careless anymore. The previous Sima Hong was already difficult enough to deal with, but the current Sima Hong feels even stranger. She can't quite put her finger on what's odd about him, but she just feels that he's different from before.
"What's wrong? Is something wrong?" Sima Hong asked again, his tone not angry, but rather nonchalant.
But Qi Gu knew that Sima Hong was so clever that the more he seemed indifferent, the more he was testing her.
Qi Gu had originally wanted him to take her to her aunt's villa, but now it seemed that she could only pretend she knew nothing and stay at Sima Hong's villa.
She glanced at her father, who looked on with curiosity, wondering if it was because she valued him.
"No, no, I meant that Lord Sima really kindly let my father and me live in such a nice courtyard."
Sima Hong gazed at him with his handsome eyes, a subtle smile of pleasure playing on his lips. "Is that so? That's good."
Atai nudged Axiang with his elbow: "What exactly happened that night? I feel like the young master has some inexplicable feelings for Miss Qi."
Ah Xiang thought of the way her husband stood outside the door of Miss Qi Gu that night. In any case, they would all have to be more respectful to this young lady from now on.
“Atai, you must never say those things to that girl again.”
Ah Xiang crossed his arms, thinking that this young lady might really become their mistress in the future. If Ah Tai continued to speak recklessly, he might get into big trouble.
Atai exclaimed in surprise, "No way! Everyone in the manor is saying that the Gao family's daughter is favored by the Grandfather and is the most likely to become our new mistress. This country bumpkin just popped up out of nowhere..."
Ah Xiang stopped him, "Don't say anymore." He patted Ah Tai on the shoulder, "Listen to your brother, from now on, you can never be too respectful to Lady Qi."
Sima Hong's villa was elegant and unique. Compared to the solemn and magnificent Sima Mansion, it had a more unrestrained and free-spirited feel, which was quite different from the cold and aloof Sima Hong gave people outside.
It felt like she had entered a hidden corner of Sima Hong's world. If it were her previous life, Qi Gu thought she would be so happy that she wouldn't be able to sleep for three days and three nights if she could enter this place.
But in this life, she only felt an awkwardness of speaking too intimately with someone she didn't know well; they really weren't close.
"Oh my, is that my poor niece, Aunt Qi!" A strong voice came from behind.
[Author's Note]
Qi Gu: We're not familiar with each other.
Sima Hong: Let's not get too familiar.
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