29 Sima Hong's Irritability
◎I should be your male mother◎
Qi Gu took her father's arm with one hand and looked at him with a sickeningly affectionate gaze, "Father, so that's what you think."
What Li Shiguai found hard to get used to was the old Qi Gu who used to criticize his cooking and call him indecent; she was someone he could get used to much better.
"Oh dear, I'm just putting on an act in front of your aunt. If I acted like I was really greedy for wealth and luxury, wouldn't that make them hate me? If I acted like that, they would have to throw even more money at me, hehehe!" Li Shi laughed triumphantly.
Qi Gu leaned on her father's shoulder. "Father, I know you're doing this all for my own good." She then asked, "Father, do you blame me for hiding my true identity from you all this time?"
Li Shi scoffed. He knew that time travelers wouldn't be ordinary people. After all, one of the children he casually adopted turned out to be a princess.
Surprisingly, he didn't say anything nonsensical. "Silly child, I guessed it long ago. Do you think I'm stupid? You deliberately threw away Li Qiao's jade pendant, didn't you? You really don't want to go back to the capital? That's the title of princess! Your parents are powerful people who destroyed the previous dynasty and defeated the Prince of Yan. Don't you want to see them? Are you willing to give up such immense wealth?"
Li Shi helped Qi Gu up and looked her over carefully, then joked, "I really can't believe that our Qi Gu is someone who doesn't covet wealth and status, only wants to farm, and regards money as dirt."
Qi Gu smiled bitterly. She didn't regard money as dirt at all. In her previous life, she was overjoyed to learn that her parents were the Empress of the Great Jin Dynasty who defeated the Prince of Yan and became the masters of the country.
Unfortunately, I learned through painful experience in my past life that I couldn't handle these things and that they could even cost me my life.
She wasn't averse to money, nor was she some kind of virtuous and noble person who didn't crave wealth and status.
She's just a vulgar person who went through something terrible and paid a heavy price, so all she wants is to live a peaceful life.
“Father, how could I, a person who meticulously calculates even five taels of silver, not covet wealth and luxury, but…”
"But what..."
Qi Gu shook her head, then resumed her usual demeanor. "It's nothing, don't worry. Even if I become a princess, I'll still take good care of you." If some things are unavoidable, she thought, as long as she stays away from Sima Hong, she can still protect herself and her father's lives.
"Stop making that face of trying to cry while forcing a smile, your father doesn't like it." Li Shi sighed. "Alas, once you officially enter the palace, you can no longer call your father 'father,' after all, your biological father is that person." He pointed to the sky with his index finger.
"Change your address." Li Shi had been laughing and joking just now, but now his eyes were filled with tears. The child he had raised could no longer call him "Dad."
“Father, even if I go to the palace and recognize my biological father, you will always be my father.” The father in the palace is not her father, but her emperor.
In her past life, her father's attitude towards her was not exactly affectionate, but rather lukewarm.
She thought that if it weren't for her mother, her father would probably treat her like she was invisible. In fact, at Lady Guo's urging, her father had actually considered sending her away for a political marriage.
She knew without even thinking that after so many years of wandering, she had no feelings for him.
Faced with a choice between the second princess and her, the emperor would, without hesitation, choose to protect the second princess, who had been by his side since childhood and was born to his most beloved concubine, and send his own daughter, with whom he had little affection, to a political marriage.
If it weren't for the Empress Dowager's strong opposition, if she, the Empress's own daughter, were to go on a marriage alliance, wouldn't that be letting Madam Guo humiliate her? The Zhang family would probably be laughed at by all the nobles in the capital!
Ultimately, the Empress Dowager, along with the ministers, opposed the marriage. They also spoke to the Emperor, and the Emperor still harbored some fear of the Zhang family. It seemed she could not escape the fate of being married off to a foreign land after entering the palace.
It would be a lie to say she harbored no resentment towards her father and mother. She thought they wanted her to come back so that the family could be reunited, but in reality, it was for a marriage alliance.
The reason the Empress Dowager objected was not because she genuinely liked or cared for her as a daughter, but because of the dignity of the Empress. As a family of the Empress, the Zhang family could not afford to lose face.
Life in the palace was like walking on thin ice; wealth and honor were not so easily enjoyed, especially since her mother was no ordinary empress; she was an ambitious empress.
When she was young, my mother accompanied my father through many trials and tribulations to gain control of the country. She had been a commoner and a prisoner of war, so she knew the hardships of ordinary people. Therefore, she was even more eager to govern the country than my father was.
However, Qi Gu thought that sometimes you can't have everything. Her mother was such a clear-headed person. She chose her own path and understood that some things had to be given up.
As the Empress, Qi Gu admired her, but as a mother, Qi Gu felt bitter. She couldn't even blame her for having to bear the responsibilities that the Empress should bear.
Therefore, in the following year or two, her relationship with her mother was always lukewarm, with too much distance between them.
Her filial piety, her petty affections, her foolishness and cowardice, all disliked by her mother, and her unspeakable grievances.
She thought that her mother had done her best to protect her, but such protection came at a price.
"As a princess, as my daughter, you have responsibilities to bear!"
In the end, she paid the price with her life, and she thought that this was a way of taking responsibility.
With her mother no longer a burden, the Empress Dowager was able to quell the palace coup initiated by Chu Xiaocheng and naturally support her younger brother to ascend the throne. As the Empress Dowager, no one could hinder her, and her ambitions would surely be realized.
She will never again be a princess who holds others back in this lifetime.
"Silly child, call me Master from now on." Li Shi secretly wiped away his tears. He hadn't cried when he first transmigrated, but now he couldn't hold back his tears when he saw Qi Gu.
Qi Gu shook her head, "Father, you will always be my father."
"A teacher for a day is a father for life, but if you don't want to call me master, you can call me dad."
"Dad?" Aunt Qi called out this strange term. How odd.
“That’s what they call him in my father’s hometown,” Li Shi joked. “Actually, to be precise, I should be your male mother, hahaha.”
Qi Gu sighed, her father was saying things she couldn't understand again.
She knew her father's concerns. "Don't worry, Father. I know no one will call you Father anymore." But then she felt something was off. "But Father, isn't your hometown Lijia Village? I remember there's no custom of calling Father 'Dad' in Lijia Village."
Li Shi yawned and patted his open mouth lightly. "Ah, Father is sleepy and needs to rest. Aunt Qi, you should go to sleep too."
He went into his room and quickly closed the door. "Goodnight!"
The next day, before entering the palace, Sima Hong said to Qi Gu and her father, "If you want to stroll around the capital, I have arranged a carriage. Just tell A Xiang."
Although these words were spoken about the two of them, Li Shi's gaze was fixed on Qi Gu while he looked at Sima Hong. His eyes were piercing; could it be that Qi Gu's spring was about to arrive?
Among the young men and women, Sima Hong was handsome and dashing, and his Qi Gu, although her skin was a bit dark and her figure a little plump, was worthy of anyone in his heart.
"Thank you, Lord Sima. However, my father and I are going to check out the fields in the capital. I have transplanted some millet and wheat from Li Family Village. We still need to find suitable fields as soon as possible to plant these wheat seeds so that we can cultivate millet and wheat seeds quickly."
Sima Hong glanced at Qi Gu, who was looking down at him, and said, "I'll have A Xiang accompany you. Also, Qi Gu, I think we've been friends for a while now. Does calling me by my courtesy name make you feel uncomfortable?"
"Huh?" Qi Gu didn't know why Sima Hong was so concerned about what she should call her. Qi Gu said in a serious tone, "Lord Sima is a person I admire greatly. I, someone like me, should just call you Lord." She looked like she wanted to distance herself from the situation.
Li Shi watched from the sidelines, tsk tsk tsk, their Qi Gu really has backbone. Such a handsome man, powerful, with good character, and skilled in both literature and martial arts.
He also heard from A Xiang that their young master was a hot commodity among women in the capital, but when it came to his Qi Gu, she wouldn't even give him a second glance, avoiding him like the plague.
Li Shi couldn't help but give his daughter a thumbs up in his heart. She was not greedy for wealth or lustful men, and only wanted to farm!
In modern times, this would make you successful at anything.
Sima Hong didn't know what had gone wrong. Qi Gu's eyes showed no love or affection for him; she was trying her best to distance herself from him.
In her past life, the way Qi Gu looked at her was filled with love that was obvious to anyone... but the Qi Gu in front of her didn't even want to look at her twice.
Sima Hong's usually calm heart stirred with a hint of irritation. What could be the reason for this?
Could it be that I had done something without realizing it before?
However, he has completely adapted to being reborn these days and is slowly taking over all the memories of this life.
Although there had been misunderstandings between him and Qi Gu, it wasn't enough to make Qi Gu avoid him like the plague. His dark eyes stared at the top of Qi Gu's head.
Atai came to report, "My lord, it's time to go to the palace."
"We'll talk when I get back." With that, he and Atai went out the door.
Li Shi touched his chin, something was wrong. It wasn't that Qi Gu disliked Sima Hong; she was simply afraid of him.
"What a pity, what a pity, the man is in love, but the woman is not."
“Father, what nonsense are you talking about? This is the capital. Don’t talk nonsense, or all the other ladies in the capital will spit on me and drown me.”
Li Shi smiled broadly, "Little Aunt Qi, I feel like I like you more and more."
“Last night I went to check on the millet and wheat seedlings in the ceramic pot, and they weren’t doing well. If you don’t take care of them, they’ll soon wither and die.”
"What!" Li Shi stopped joking. That was his experimental specimen. If it died, it would delay the experiment for another year. He ran to Su Mai Miao's room.
Li Shi squatted in front of the millet seeds and muttered to himself, "They're deficient in potassium." He turned to Qi Gu and said, "Qi Gu, go find some wood ash."
Qi Gu knew that there was no time to lose, but how could a place like the Sima Mansion have straw? And if there was no straw, where would the wood ash come from?
Suddenly, she remembered that when they entered the villa yesterday, they had crossed a lotus pond.
She beckoned to Ah Xiang, "Ah Xiang, guard, I need to borrow some mud from your husband's lotus pond. Could you help me find a fishing net?"
Ah Xiang has been with their husband for so many years. Some women wanted their husband's handkerchief, some wanted their husband's jade pendant, and some even wanted their husband's hair. Of course, none of them succeeded. She has never seen anyone want to marry someone who digs lotus pond mud.
Although he was puzzled, remembering his husband's instructions, he quickly went to find a fishing net and a small boat.
When Hongyan and Honghu saw that Qigu was about to roll up her sleeves and board the boat, they exchanged a glance and quickly stepped forward, "Miss, let us help you."
Qi Gu had forgotten about Hongyan and Honghu; their presence was simply too insignificant.
As expected of someone trained by her mother, after she expressed her discomfort, the two of them tried their best to minimize their presence.
She refused their help, and the two stood on the shore, watching as their master rowed the boat to the middle and used a long fishing net to dredge up a pair of silt from the pond.
Looking at the princess's unrefined manners, Honghu asked somewhat stiffly, "Is this really a princess?"
Hongyan looked at Honghu and frowned, saying, "Be careful what you say. Our master is not someone we can criticize."
"I... I was just saying," Honghu pouted. "However, Master is completely different from those princesses in the palace."
"Our supervisor should just serve his master well and not say or think anything else."
"I know, I'm only saying this because Master can't hear me."
[Author's Note]
Sorry for the wait. I had a cold and fever for the past few days, but I just got better today. I feel like I'm all good again, hahaha.
Li Shi: Please call me "Male Mom" [sunglasses]. Please remember this point, there will be a small plot twist, but it won't affect the overall storyline [laughing and crying emoji].
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