8 Li Qiao, you little rat!
Are we just going to let her go like that?
One of the men in black raised a kitchen knife and slashed it down at Qi Gu's head, yelling, "Li Qiao, you rat!"
Qi Gu ran and cursed as she fled. In the brief moment of her escape, she saw Sima Hong lying unconscious beside a tree trunk—his sword at his waist.
It is said that this sword was forged by Wu Tian, a master swordsmith of the previous dynasty, and it can cut through iron like mud. Qi Gu thought about borrowing it for use.
She moved with lightning speed, performing a somersault right next to Sima Hong. Just as she reached for her sword, a pair of cool hands grabbed hers.
The handsome man, who had just closed his eyes, suddenly opened them.
Behind him, the cleaver used to kill the wild boar was about to fall on him, yet the man remained unhurried.
The man in black was only a step away from him, and the kitchen knife was just an inch above his head!
Qi Gu was sweating profusely and blurted out in Mandarin, "Help!"
With another somersault, he rolled past Sima Hong, and the man in black missed with his cleaver.
Sima Hong gripped his sword, the scabbard blocking the black man's attack. He stood up, his steps unsteady.
But it was enough to deal with the chaotic black-clad men. In just two moves, the black-clad men chasing Qi Gu were hit in the chest and knee by the sword sheath, and he hadn't even drawn his sword yet!
The man in black who had been chasing and slashing at Qi Gu earlier collapsed to the ground, clutching his leg and howling in pain.
Gouwa helped Qi Gu up, looking at the white-robed immortal with eyes full of admiration, "So amazing."
His eyes gleamed with an adoring green light, like the big yellow dog at the village entrance seeing a bone.
Qi Gu's hands were scraped and her knees ached. She stood up, dusted herself off, and saw Sima Hong draw his sword and walk toward the other three. She quickly stopped him, saying, "Have mercy."
Seeing the woman's expression change to one of fawning, Sima Hong sheathed his sword and asked, "Can you speak Mandarin?"
Qi Gu naturally denied it, "No way!"
"You're full of lies..." Before he could finish speaking, the eight-foot-tall man fell down again, kneeling and using his sword to support his body.
Gouwa let go of Qi Gu's hand and ran forward, "Immortal, are you alright? Let me help you."
He knelt down to help Sima Hong up, only to discover that the hero was injured: "Qi Gu, the immortal is bleeding! He's been shot by an arrow! Look, there's blood on his back!" Gouwa shouted in alarm.
Sima Hong weakly glanced at Qi Gu one last time before completely fainting.
Qi Gu looked at the unconscious Sima Hong, the black-clad man rolling on the ground, the three black-clad men watching from the sidelines, and Gouwa, the immortal who was jumping up and down in worry for him.
I took a deep breath. Immortal? What immortal? The immortal is lying on a board!
“Three heroes, you have not yet taken action, which I suppose is because you cannot live with your conscience. I believe that you are not extremely evil people, and I do not blame you.”
The three men, their faces covered, looked at Qi Gu with their eyes exposed. They had no intention of doing such a despicable thing as murder.
Now that she saw one of them fall, her attitude had softened considerably. She said, "I won't pursue what happened today. There's another way to ensure everyone's safety. Would you like to hear it?"
The three looked at Qi Gu and nodded earnestly, "Tell us about it?"
"Please help carry this man down the mountain. You have seen his clothes and the sword he carries. He is definitely not an ordinary person. He will be grateful to you for saving him, and there may even be a reward. Even if there is no reward, it is still a good thing and can cover up why you came up the mountain today."
The three nodded to each other, agreeing with Qi Gu's words, "What she said makes a lot of sense."
She looked at the four men's clothes and said, "Since you three are not bad people, why are you still wearing these villainous clothes? Take off your face masks and take off these clothes as well."
The three men said, "That's right, that's right." They also felt quite uncomfortable wearing these clothes.
The three men took off their outer clothes, revealing the coarse linen clothes that villagers usually wear. After removing their face masks, they looked like honest, simple villagers.
Qi Gu recognized one of them as Luo the butcher from the neighboring village, from whom she had bought pork before.
Luo the butcher clutched the cloth covering his face and said awkwardly, "Li Zhong came to us and gave each of us a bag of silver, asking us to go up the mountain to take the life of a girl. It's all my fault; I've never seen so much silver before, so... I made a mistake."
"Uncle Luo, it's fortunate that you didn't commit a serious crime. If you had really killed me today, and the officials found out, not only would you not escape the law, but your family members would also be implicated."
"Aunt Qi, how do you know anything about the law?" Gouwa turned to look at Aunt Qi, who seemed quite different today.
She was radiant, and he even felt that she and the immortal seemed to have the same radiance.
Qi Gu smiled bitterly to herself. She originally knew nothing, but in her previous life, for the sake of Sima Hong, she had memorized all of this.
The youngest Grand Minister of the Jin Dynasty, she desperately learned to read and write in order to get closer to him, memorizing those obscure regulations written by him.
Butcher Luo looked terrified. "But if we don't do this, we won't survive with the princess either."
Qi Gu said, "Don't worry, after I go down the mountain I will go to find Princess Li Qiao. I have no grudge against her. Once I explain things to her, she will not kill me again, nor will she cause you any more trouble."
Luo the butcher and Qi Gu were from the same village. He also knew that Qi Gu and Li Qiao had been from the same village since childhood, and he had bought millet and wheat seeds from Qi Gu's family.
He had long regretted it, and now, after listening to Qi Gu's words, he had given up his murderous intent. The other two were the same as him.
Then Qi Gu said, "However, if you want this matter to pass, you must listen to me."
Luo the Butcher and his two companions naturally agreed, "Aunt Qi, you say it, we'll all listen to you."
"When you get down the mountain, tell them that you went hunting in the back mountain today and happened to meet this nobleman who was injured. You rescued him and we happened to be passing by, so we helped you rescue him."
Gouwa pointed at the man in black whose hands and feet were bound—he was the most ruthless—and asked, "What about him?!"
Butcher Luo said, "I know this man. He's not from our neighborhood, he's from Zhengyang neighborhood. He was arrested and imprisoned for theft before, but he was just released. When he heard there was money to be made, he was naturally willing to risk his life."
After thinking for a moment, Qi Gu said, "We'll just say that he's the one who injured the nobleman, and then we'll hand him over to the village head for punishment."
The person, who was tightly bound, hurriedly said upon hearing Qi Gu's words, "Let me go! I'm innocent too! I was only acting under Li Qiao's orders!"
"Hmph, you are not innocent at all. If it weren't for the benefactor I met today, I would have died by your blade long ago. If you want to live, you'd better know how to speak, otherwise neither the princess nor this benefactor will spare you!"
This man killed himself without the slightest hesitation; he was greedy for money and had a vicious heart, unlike Luo the Butcher and the others.
If she hadn't guessed that Li Qiao was responsible, heard that Butcher Luo knew her, and hadn't inexplicably appeared here, she would have died by this man's cleaver today.
Such people cannot be forgiven!
Butcher Luo added, "But what if this noble person wakes up...?"
Aunt Qi confidently declared, "This important person won't stay long in our rural village, and he won't bother with the affairs of peasants like us. Don't worry."
Sima Hong's presence here indicates he has other important matters to attend to. He certainly wouldn't care about these trivial things, and probably wouldn't even give these people a second glance, let alone say a word about them.
Qi Gu's arrangement won everyone's approval. Gouwa then turned to look at her and asked, "What about Li Qiao? Are we just going to let her go like that?"
"She's a princess now, what can we do with her?" Qi Gu thought to herself. Not only would she not cause trouble for Li Qiao, she would also help her keep her identity a secret.
Li Qiao, why aren't you back in the capital yet? You're just stirring up trouble, you stupid rat!
"What kind of princess is she? She's only been a princess for a day, and she dares to treat human life like dirt!" Gouwa cursed.
"Go ahead and curse, curse as much as you want now, but don't curse anymore later." Qi Gu just wanted Li Qiao to leave quickly.
"Aunt Qi, I feel like something's off about you." Gouwa realized that although he had grown up with Aunt Qi, the Aunt Qi he knew today was not the one he was familiar with.
"How dare you call her strange?" Aunt Qi said irritably, "If you hadn't insisted on catching your damn rabbit today, we wouldn't have come this far into the back mountains."
Still not satisfied, she grabbed Gouwa's ear and said, "Will you dare to hold onto a rabbit like that again next time?"
Gouwa cried out in pain, but actually had a smile on his lips. That's more like it; that's the Qi Gu he knows.
"I, I won't, dare, do it again next time..." The woman's soft fingers pressed hard on his ear, but it didn't hurt. Gouwa shouted, but he felt a little enjoyment in his heart.
Luo the Butcher and his men quickly made a stretcher and lifted the unconscious Sima Hong.
The group returned to the front of the mountain, and Qi Gu did not forget to pick up her basket and hoe from the ground.
I've suffered so much today because of these mushrooms, I can't forget to take them with me!
Gouwa picked up the rabbit from the ground again. You can pull the ears as you please, but you can't lose this rabbit!
The group descended the mountain and returned to Lijia Village. They carried a person who was so beautiful that they seemed like an immortal, and also escorted a person who was bound hand and foot. It was quite eye-catching, and they were quickly surrounded by the villagers of Lijia Village.
"Hey, what's going on?" the villagers asked, gathering around.
Gouwa told everyone what Qi Gu had prepared, speaking vividly and incorporating local slang and childlike innocence.
When the villagers looked at the god-like figure that Gouwa had described, they all believed him.
Where in this village have you ever seen such a handsome young man? Even though he was unconscious, it did not diminish his striking good looks in the slightest.
Wow, just like Gouwa said, they really are deities from a temple.
When Qi Gu saw the village headman who had rushed over upon hearing the news, she said, "Village headman, this nobleman is injured, seriously injured. Please ask a physician to treat him."
The village headman observed that the man's appearance and demeanor were indeed not those of an ordinary person. He was well-traveled and knowledgeable, and had even been to the capital and occasionally met high-ranking officials and nobles.
He hurriedly sent someone to fetch a doctor, and then said to Butcher Luo and the others, "Brother Luo, quickly carry the distinguished guest to my home."
Gouwa objected, saying, "No, he's our benefactor. I rescued him with Qi Gu and the others. Let him recuperate at my house."
Qi Gu tugged at his sleeve as a warning, "Don't get involved."
Gouwa didn't care; he greatly admired this immortal and insisted that he recuperate at his home.
The village head couldn't refuse and agreed. Qi Gu looked at Sima Hong, whose face was almost transparent, with sympathy. This man had severe mysophobia.
I really look forward to seeing the ethereal Sima Xiuyuan wake up to find himself in Gouwa's bed; it would be quite amusing.
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