Liu Bei POV

“Liu Qi?”

*Neigh*~~~

I was still in a state of shock as Liu Qi walked out to the courtyard when a rather familiar neighing came from the courtyard. Before I could understand what was going in, she began pulling hard and yanked over a rather large thing over.

— A rather handsome steed stood there, with a white patch between its brows.

“Dilu?!”

*Neigh*~

I hurried forward and Dilu recognised me and made his way towards me as well.

“In the interest of time, I got an attendant to bring your personal horse over.” Liu Qi said as she handed the reins to me, “It should be easier to escape if you’re using Dilu.”

I raised my hand and touched Dilu’s chin and caressed its mane as I looked at Liu Qi, impressed at what she was able to do in such a short span pf time.

“Let’s not tarry any further, you should go now.” Liu Qi said as she pushed my back.

“Ah, but Zi Long is still at the alternative venue. I have to tell her.”

“Uncle, there is no time.” Liu Qi said, her arms continuing to push me, “Lord Zi Long is probably being occupied by Cai Mao, w.a.n.g Wei, Zhang Yun and it will be difficult for her to leave anytime soon.”

Zi Long’s being occupied huh… Ah, I should have been more cautious like how Zi Long was when we were forcefully separated.

Looks like I’ll be escaping alone. Though I’ve seen movies with such scenes before, now that such an act is forced upon me, I really don’t know what to do and I don’t feel like I’m capable of pulling it off as well.

But now that I think about it, if Cai Mao hadn’t gone this far to kill me, I wouldn’t have had the need to use Dilu to escape so desperately like this. As my eyes went along the reins to Dilu, I began to realise that I was far too naive. No, it’s more accurate to say that I lack common sense.

(TL: This is perhaps the first ‘evil’ character that our MC has encountered.)

“But if all the gates are sealed, how will I get out?”

“Uncle need not worry. Whilst you’ve been busy with the preparations to leave for Xinye, I’ve been serving as a colonel in the west gate.” Liu Qi said and smiled calmly at me.

“So you’ve pulled away the troops?”

“Yes, I sent my own men to switch guards with Cai Mao’s men.” Liu Qi nodded, “When you reach the gates, just yell out my name and they will open the gates for you.”

Hoho~

— Should you meet the young mistress again in future, no matter how far she has progressed, I hope Imperial Uncle will give her some words of praise.

The favour that Yi Ji had asked of me suddenly came to mind.

Looks like Liu Qi has indeed changed significantly as Yi Ji said. This might not be the most appropriate time, but it’s a good opportunity to give her some praise.

“Liu Qi.”

“Un? Is there anything else uncle wants to ask?”

“There are somethings I have said many times before which you are probably aware of but I still wish to tell you them one more time personally.” I said as I pulled Dilu along, doing my best to appear as sincere as possible, “I had no choice but to accept moving to Xinye and I am truly sorry for not being able to actually a.s.sist you.”

When I finished, the strength which Liu Qi was applying to my back seemed to lighten up a little. I looked back and saw that Liu Qi didn’t have a difficult expression on. Instead, she was smiling.

She seemed to have

detected my gaze and looked up at me. This sort of upward look was too sudden and caught me off guard, forcing me to turn away.

“… I don’t feel that there’s any need to talk about that anymore.” Liu Qi said in a voice devoid of any distress, “I will do my best to handle what will come from here on out.”

“Liu Qi, you’re a lot more mature than before.”

I tried to find phrases to use for praise but after a long while, I decided to cop out and use something that was simple and wouldn’t make me feel mushy.

“… Is that so?” On the other hand, Liu Qi’s reaction was rather tame and she didn’t jump about happily as I thought she would. Looks like she really is a lot more mature.

(TL: Was she ever that kind of character?)

“Perhaps I am indeed a little more mature in various places.” She affirmed what I said.

To be honest, just ‘a little’ is understating it. As for various places… I must say that after Liu Qi wore this, her figure seems to be much better than before. I clearly remember her being much flatter than before though, looks like she has been growing well…

“Uncle, what are you thinking about?”

“Eh?!”

I was jolted when Liu Qi suddenly said that and when I raised my eyes to meet Liu Qi’s, I saw that she was covering her chest and her cheeks were red. Clearly, she’d read something from my expression.

“N, nothing! I wasn’t thinking about anything!” I hurriedly explained as I took a step towards her.

Aiya aiya, I was just going along with the flow and making a small joke in my head but I ended up being seen through by Liu Qi. Could it be that my gaze and expression is that obvious?! Please allow me to clarify that I have no untoward thoughts about my own niece at all! I can swear to the heavens!

“Uncle?” Just as I was affirming to myself about my morals, a weak voice called out to me from my side.

“Un? What is it, Liu Qi?”

“,,, Wh, what do you mean ‘what’?”

Eh? I looked to the side and saw that Liu Qi was still red as she kept her head low, not even daring to look at me, as though I was going to eat her…

But if it wasn’t Liu Qi who spoke to me, then could I be hearing things?

“Why are you here?” The voice came once more, and now I was sure that I wasn’t hearing things.

It came from behind me and the second time was louder than the first. Looks like the person came over to me. And it looks like Liu Qi heard it this time as well. Unlike me however, she reacted a lot quicker.

“What are you doing here!!” Liu Qi jumped to my back and yelled angrily at the person behind me before I even turned around.

I was bewildered at Liu Qi’s response, but when I turned around, I understood why Liu Qi responded the way she did.

“Liu Cong?” I called out as I looked at the girl in front of me with a basket in her hands.

“Eh? You’re– Elder sister?” At the same time, Liu Cong was bewildered as well at the sight before her and finally recognised that the girl in beautiful clothing was her bad-tempered elder sister, “Elder sister, you’re really beautiful in this.”

“Wu…”

Liu Cong seemed to completely ignore Liu Qi’s full on hostility and offered her praise. This seemed to catch Liu Qi completely off guard as she retreated slightly towards me.

I looked at Liu Cong and saw that she was looking delightfully at Liu Qi and was running her eyes all over Liu Qi. Looks like she does indeed mean what she said.

“Un, good day uncle.” Liu Cong bowed towards me, seemingly regaining her senses.

“Good day to you as well.” I was caught off guard as well and nearly raised my hand to wave to her before I remembered that this wasn’t the way to greet others in this era and hurriedly saluted her.

“Uncle! You don’t need to salute her!” Liu Qi yelled and pointed at Liu Cong, “Liu Cong! What are you here for?!”

“Eh? I’m just here to get some soil.” Liu Cong looked troubled as she said so. She looked at me, and then at Liu Qi, unsure of what was going go.

I s.h.i.+fted my gaze downwards and saw that Liu Cong had a spade in her hands. Looks like she is indeed intent on doing some gardening work.

“So, uncle and elder sister are here for…” Liu Cong timidly said and took a few steps back before she continued, “Isn’t the banquet about to start? Why are you both here? And why is uncle with his horse?”

“Ah, there’s a reason for all of this.”

Now that I think about it, this scene of me, Liu Qi and Dilu looks really weird from a third party perspective. When I realised this, I hid the reins behind my back, though that did not help at all as Dilu was still in full view.

“Liu Cong, I won’t trust you no matter what. Much less what you said earlier about coming here to get soil.”

“Elder sister, I really am–”

“You don’t need to say any further, I won’t listen.” Liu Qi did not let Liu Cong finish and shook her head coldly as she interrupted Liu Cong. I looked over and saw that Liu Cong’s smile had completely disappeared and she looked extremely sad.

On the other hand, Liu Qi, who was in front of me, looked cautious and vigilant. It seems like when she’s facing Liu Cong, her entire countenance resembled the Liu Qi from Jiangxia. The Liu Qi who trusts no one.

But now, the only one she doesn’t trust is Liu Cong.