37. Aunt Qi, do you hate me?
◎Could it be that he...was also reborn?◎
As the sun set, the twilight in the capital city was exceptionally dazzling, and the entire city of Chang'an was bathed in golden afterglow. The shadows of Qi Gu and her father, Li Shi, stretched long outside the Sima residence.
Sun Shan admired Li Shi and Qi Gu's imaginative ideas about planting. Before they knew it, it was already late when the three of them looked up again.
Sun Shan decided to keep them there and treated them to millet and wheat grown in the imperial fields, as well as fresh vegetables and fruits.
"Please don't find the food too simple. Although it's not as fancy as what you eat at the Sima Mansion, it's all made from seasonal vegetables grown on this land, which are the freshest and most delicious."
Li Shi sat down casually. "We've all been through war and were on the run. We don't care about these things. We're lucky to have anything to eat. Compared to those starving disaster victims, this is a delicacy."
The magistrate of Taicang grew to appreciate Li Shi more and more. This man was not just a pretender; he truly had some skills. Such a person was kind to others, never held back, and was happy to share his expertise.
He had also met some people who possessed knowledge and skills, but they would only hide everything they knew, either keeping it on a high shelf or hoarding it as a rare commodity to seek their own benefit, and would never be willing to let more people know. Li Shi was clearly not such a person.
When Qi Gu saw that the dishes on the table were all stir-fried baby pig meat and cold cucumber salad, she immediately became very hungry.
As Taicang Ling said, these dishes are simply prepared, yet retain the natural freshness of the ingredients. Compared to the elaborate and meticulously prepared dishes at Sima Bieyuan, this place suits her taste better.
Perhaps it was because she hadn't eaten the farm-style dishes she used to have in Lijia Village in a long time, that Qi Gu buried her head in her food and ate more.
Only when his belly was full did he reluctantly stop. "Lord Taicang, you are too modest. The food here is much better than that at Sima Bieyuan."
"Hiccup~" Qi Gu couldn't help but hiccup.
The magistrate of Taicang saw that she was naturally uninhibited, like ears of wheat growing freely in a field, swaying freely in the wind, carefree and unrestrained.
"Haha, Lady Qi is quite different from the other ladies I've seen in the capital."
Li Shi said proudly, "Of course, just look who brought him here."
After bidding farewell to the magistrate of Taicang, the two alighted from their carriage early to digest their food and slowly walked back to the Sima family's villa in the quiet street.
A tall, slender figure stood with his back to the lotus pond pavilion in the secluded courtyard, listening to his subordinates' report.
He already knew about Qi Gu's encounter with the three princesses at Shanglin Garden today.
"You mean, Aunt Qi used fluent Mandarin to help Princess Jiaolu out of a predicament."
"yes."
Sima Hong looked at the lotus pond, where a lotus flower was in full bloom. A gentle breeze blew by, and the lotus leaves trembled slightly, causing ripples to spread across the entire pond.
Many seemingly illogical things suddenly connected, like a gentle breeze causing ripples across the entire pond.
"You may leave."
Qi Gu and Li Shi returned to the Sima Villa. Since the courtyard where they were temporarily assigned to live required passing through a lotus pond, they saw the bright voice in the pavilion as soon as they entered.
“Qi Gu, I bet Sima Langjun is looking for you,” Li Shi teased.
"Lord Sima is merely admiring the lotus flowers," Qi Gu urged him to walk quickly so as not to disturb Sima Hong's enjoyment of the scenery.
"Qi Gu".
Upon hearing the deep, magnetic male voice, Li Shi chuckled and looked at Qi Gu with a teasing expression, saying, "See, I was right."
Sima Hong walked along the covered walkway of the pavilion to the two men.
Li Shi laughed and said, "What a coincidence, Mr. Sima."
"Mr. Li, you've had a long day. I have something I'd like to discuss with Aunt Qi privately."
Li Shi looked at Qi Gu, blinked, and said, "Yes, of course, I'm an old man with a very open mind." He hummed an unknown tune and left with a light step.
"I wonder what business Lord Sima has with me?" Qi Gu asked in a businesslike manner.
"Aunt Qi, is there nothing you want to say to me, or nothing you want to ask me?"
She couldn't think of anything else she and Sima Hong could talk about in this life, and of course, they had nothing to talk about in their past life either.
Qi Gu crossed her arms, her eyes meeting Sima Hong's gaze for the first time. She was afraid that she would be drawn to the vortex in his eyes again and fall for him.
She looked at Sima Hong with a strange expression. "Lord Sima summoned me, but asked me if I had anything to ask you?"
Sima Hong thought of his past life, walking the streets of the capital countless times. Sometimes he hoped that the figure of Qi Gu silently following behind him would one day reappear. Countless nights, he looked at the empty bed, with only the bamboo wife she was used to.
Unexpectedly, fate seemed to always be kind to him, and he actually saw the person he had fantasized about seeing again countless times.
A look of pain appeared on his face that Qi Gu had never seen in her past life or this one.
What was he thinking? What made him make that expression? Qi Gu wondered, looking at his face.
Could it be that things are not peaceful in the court lately? But Qi Gu thought about it and realized that even if something happened, he could always solve it. In his previous life, he had never encountered anything he couldn't handle.
Later, when Prince Yi colluded with important officials in the court to plot a rebellion, it was he who devised the plan, and ultimately, together with his mother, they quelled the rebellion.
Later, regarding the palace coup orchestrated by the Guo family and the Second Prince, she thought that he and her mother had made preparations beforehand. Although she didn't survive to the end, she believed that they must have quelled the coup with minimal cost.
He had never shown such an expression in his past life, so what could possibly make him show such an expression now?
Qi Gu thought for a moment, then realized that whatever his reason was, it was none of her business. Apart from being citizens of the Great Jin Dynasty, they had no other interaction, and everything was settled.
"If Lord Sima has nothing else, I will head back now."
Before Qi Gu could pass him, Sima Hong grasped her hand. Qi Gu looked up and asked, "Lord Sima?"
“Qi Gu, you…you hate me, so…after you came back, you didn’t want to return to the capital, and you pretended not to know me.” Sima Hong stared straight at Qi Gu, not allowing her to escape even a little.
Qi Gu suddenly looked up at Sima Hong. His eyes were filled with pain, but also with certainty.
Could it be that he... was also reborn...?
That's impossible! When did this happen?!
Qi Gu suddenly realized that after he fell off the cliff and woke up, the way he looked at her seemed a little strange. Could it be that time?
A surge of overwhelming anger rushed over, and Qi Gu thought, "Heaven has been far too kind to Sima Hong!"
Seeing her pitiful state, they allowed her to live a second life. But why did Sima Hong want to live a second life? Was his life not smooth enough, not well-treated enough, and not famous enough?
This is outrageous!
Besides, why should he tell her?
She had clearly decided to sever ties with him in this life, leaving the things from the previous life behind.
He saved her in this life, and their debts were settled, but why did he come? Why...?
Qi Gu shook off Sima Hong's hand, "What's wrong with you, Lord Sima? I'm not familiar with you, and we don't have a deep relationship. How can I talk about hating you?"
"Lord Sima, since we've come this far, let me make it clear again: I have absolutely no relation to you. I thank you for sending me back to the capital and for saving me, but it was because of your sudden intrusion that I fell into danger, and saving me was your duty. From now on, I am just one of the many princesses in the palace, while you are the promising Minister Situ. We have absolutely no relation!" After saying this, she withdrew her hand, took a step back, and distanced herself from Sima Hong.
"Hahaha, what a fine 'no relation whatsoever'! Aunt Qi, is this what you wanted?"
Qi Gu turned around and looked at him mockingly, "Lord Sima, isn't this what you wanted?"
Sima Hong seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. Qi Gu turned around and stepped forward.
Behind him, someone said, "Aunt Qi, you're deceiving yourself."
Qi Gu's footsteps landed on the ground, and she still didn't turn around, walking away towards the setting sun.
At night, the cicadas chirped incessantly outside the window, driving Qi Gu to distraction. Lying in bed, she tossed and turned, wondering when the cicadas would stop. She couldn't sleep, she simply couldn't!
Qi Gu simply put on her clothes, got up and opened the window. There were no clouds tonight, and the moon was big and round. The moonlight shone through the window and onto Qi Gu's face. Her originally chestnut-colored skin appeared white and flawless under the moonlight.
The events of her past life, after so many years of rebirth, had gradually faded from her memory. She placed her hand on her chest, where she could no longer feel the pain.
However, when Sima Hong asked her today if she hated him, her heart still skipped a beat. She wasn't as nonchalant as she claimed.
If Sima Hong really is the Sima Hong from her previous life, she will be unable to help but resent him. How hateful! Why did he have to tell her? He should have just kept it a secret and let her think that she is a completely new Sima Hong, a Sima Hong she doesn't know!
Just like the cicadas chirping outside the window, Sima Hong is a man who annoys people!
"Oh ho! Aunt Qi is still awake? Come and have a drink with your father?"
Her father was also awake. He walked past her window, holding a jade-colored wine pot in his hand.
Qi Gu pushed open the door, and the two sat on the stone bench in the courtyard. She noticed that her father's face was a little pale. "I see that Father doesn't look well. Is Father's leg hurting again?"
Li Shi patted his leg. "Hey, I'm fine." He poured himself a glass of wine and then recited: "The bright moonlight shines before my bed, I wonder if it is frost on the ground. I raise my head to gaze at the bright moon, I lower my head and think of my hometown."
Qi Gu looked at her father, who had stood up and was facing the moon in the sky, and said, "Father, to use your usual words, you're being a bit pretentious right now."
"Oh, really?"
"Then I'll sing another one: People have their ups and downs, just as the moon has its phases of waxing and waning. Nothing is ever perfect in this world."
Her father's poems are good, but she had never heard of them before.
She rested her arms on the stone bench, watching her father's poetic inspiration surge, and said, "Hmm, this one isn't good either, too sad. Here's another one: 'Raising my cup, I invite the bright moon; with my shadow, we become three. The moon does not understand my shadow, and my shadow merely follows me. For now, I'll keep the moon and my shadow company; let us enjoy ourselves while spring lasts...'"
Father smiled, but there was a sorrow in that smile that Qi Gu could not understand, just like when Father looked at the moon and smiled bitterly back in Li Family Village.
It turns out that my father also had something on his mind. What was it that he had on his mind?
"I miss home, I miss my parents, I miss the journal I've finished writing but haven't published yet, I miss my bunch of lousy students, and most importantly, I miss a house with air conditioning in winter and heating in summer, and a cell phone and a shower..."
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