Being Followed

Xiaoguo didn’t know if the other party was friend or foe, so she brought Zhuang Zhuang and Xiaoyi back as soon as possible. What if the person was not targeting her, but Xiaoyi? As the saying goes, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

“Mother, we still want to play!”

“That’s right. I don’t want to go back…”

The two children’s protests were in vain. Xiaoguo was determined to send them back. No matter how they tried to act cute, it was not going to sway her decision.

Although the kids were feeling indignant, she still sent them back eventually. She only felt relieved when she saw the two of them enter the house.

When she turned around, she paid special attention to her surroundings. As expected, she realized that the person was still around. Afraid of alerting the enemy, she could only pretend not to notice and continue walking elsewhere to confirm who the person’s target was.

As expected, when the person saw her leave, he quietly followed behind her. Xiaoguo was alarmed. So he was following her!

At the thought of this, she pretended to look around, but in fact, she was trying to see the person who was following her.

She had not offended anyone by coming here. Just as Xiaoguo was feeling puzzled, a large hand suddenly grabbed her.

Xiaoguo was shocked. How dare he attack her in broad daylight?!

She instinctively wanted to reach out and retaliate.

“Xiaoguo, it’s me.”

Jiang Danhe had just come over when he saw her wandering around from afar. She was mumbling something and looked distracted. Seeing that she was about to walk into the pond, he quickly ran over and stopped her.

“Another sneak attack?”

Jiang Danhe said in amusement. If he hadn’t reacted quickly, she would have given him a slap.

“You gave me a fright!” Xiaoguo lay weakly in his arms. “Someone was following me,” she whispered.

She had used all her strength just now, so her body was now feeling weak. She could only hold on to Jiang Danhe tightly and lean on him to feel at ease.

Jiang Danhe narrowed his eyes and inadvertently looked behind her. As expected, he saw the corner of a familiar white garment. His brows were instantly filled with frustration.

“Let’s go back.” Jiang Danhe did not say anything in the end and brought Xiaoguo back into the house.

“Did you see who that was?”

Xiaoguo returned to the house and asked anxiously.

“…” After thinking for a long time, Jiang Danhe decided to make things clear to her. “I might know who it is.”

“Who?”

“Yu Zhizhi.”

“Who’s that?” Xiaoguo had never heard the name before.

Jiang Danhe sighed and said solemnly, “I’m not familiar with her either. If not for Li Shouji, I wouldn’t have any impression of this person at all.”

“What’s going on?” Seeing how serious he was, Xiaoguo had a bad feeling.

“Yu Zhizhi is a physician that the Prime Minister’s wife brought over from the fishing village at the last minute.” Jiang Danhe first explained her identity to Xiaoguo before continuing, “A long time ago, I was injured and ended up at the fishing village. It was her father who saved me…”

Xiaoguo listened quietly and understood the whole story. She couldn’t help but smack her lips. “Is she doing this… because she likes you?”

“No! My heart belongs to you. You’re the only person I want in my life, in this life, in my next life, and in the future!”

When Xiaoguo spat out those words indifferently, it frightened Jiang Danhe so much that he quickly expressed his sincerity and love for her. Xiaoguo’s heart was filled with sweetness, but she still didn’t show it on her face. There was no way Jiang Danhe could figure out what she was thinking. He felt extremely uneasy.

“Really?”

After a while, Xiaoguo spat out one word. Jiang Danhe nodded frantically. “It’s real. It cannot get any more real than this!”

“You don’t know each other well?”

Xiaoguo held back her laughter and continued asking.

“Not well, not well, not well at all. I can count on one hand the number of words I’ve said to her!”

Jiang Danhe was just short of kneeling down and making a vow. Xiaoguo naturally believed him. In fact, she had never suspected him at all. However, she was just asking him to listen to his sweet nothings. If Jiang Danhe were to utter sweet nothings in all seriousness, anyone, whether they were 80 or 8 years old, would find him hard to resist.

Xiaoguo pursed her lips and smiled. “Alright!”

Jiang Danhe heaved a sigh of relief when his sweet nothings were interrupted.

“Was she the same person we saw when we were making our way to the flower fields the other day? Yu Zhizhi?”

Xiaoguo suddenly remembered that she was the person Jiang Danhe was talking about the other day. She was the replacement physician that the Prime Minister’s wife had brought from the fishing village.

“Yes, but it was only recently that I heard Li Shouji bring up her name. I didn’t even remember who she was when I bumped into her that day.”

“You bumped into each other the other day?” Xiaoguo heard the keyword. The two of them had met alone?!

“What are you thinking about?” Jiang Danhe pinched her cheeks in amusement and kissed her pouting mouth. Xiaoguo was stunned by his kiss while he reveled in the moment.

“Continue explaining!” Xiaoguo slapped his hand away in anger and embarrassment and asked him in fake viciousness.

But how vicious could she be? She was just a little white rabbit wearing a tiger mask.

Jiang Danhe continued with a smile, “It was on the day when we visited the flower field. Li Shouji and I were walking behind. At that time, we sensed something amiss. When we saw that it was her, we asked about her background and let her go afterwards. I really don’t know her very well, but Li Shouji has a good memory. When we were chatting yesterday, he mentioned her identity. It’s true. If Li Shouji didn’t mention it, I really couldn’t remember who she was.”

Afraid that Xiaoguo wouldn’t believe him, he kept assuring her that he wasn’t on familiar terms with Yu Zhizhi. Xiaoguo laughed when she heard that. It was not as if she didn’t believe him.

“Then tell me, why was she following me?”

Xiaoguo stopped smiling and asked curiously. Since she had taken a fancy to Jiang Danhe and was following her around, was she looking for an opportunity to get rid of her so that she could take over her position?

It was no wonder that Xiaoguo thought that way. A few days ago, she had overheard those ladies and concubines on the ship. All of them were harboring evil thoughts. She could almost compile all those tales into a book of 36 schemes in her mind.

“I don’t know for the time being.” Jiang Danhe shook his head honestly. He really didn’t know what she was up to.

Besides following Xiaoguo this time, he also remembered seeing her when he was in the flower fields the last time. He had clearly seen her walking back. However, when he reached the field, he saw her sneaking around again.

At the thought of this, he couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated. It seemed that he would have to find out more about her identity tomorrow. He had to think carefully whether he should spare her life.

“What are you thinking?”

Xiaoguo waved her hands in front of his eyes. Jiang Danhe took her hands and said softly, “Nothing, but you have to be careful. Let me check things out first.”

Seeing his serious expression, Xiaoguo nodded seriously and said word by word, “I know what to do.”

Jiang Danhe smiled and stroked her cheeks. This person was following Xiaoguo for no reason—her motive was definitely impure. Although she was the daughter of his benefactor, if he found out that she was up to no good, he would definitely not let her off.

He wouldn’t let anyone have the chance to hurt Xiaoguo. Not now, not ever.

Ever since she found out the identity of the person following her, Xiaoguo had a better understanding of the situation. Based on what Jiang Danhe had told her, she immediately guessed that Yu Zhizhi must have taken a fancy to Jiang Danhe. Women knew women best. She must have been thinking about him since the time he was recuperating at the fishing village.

This conjecture made her feel excited for a long time. She didn’t know that Jiang Danhe had such an interesting past. However, this relationship was purely one-sided. Xiaoguo couldn’t help but sigh. Looks are everything in this damn world.

However, Jiang Danhe’s appearance was indeed highly-coveted. He had a good figure with well-developed chest muscles. He’s one in a million, and hard to come by. She wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world.

It was a real pity that this piece of treasure belonged to her, and she would never share it with anyone. If anyone dared to touch it, she would not let them off so easily.