For some reason, Jiang Yuchen suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

He covered his lips with a handkerchief and said in a muffled voice, "Step back a bit, so you don't get smelled!"

Shen Yuan didn't move. "Are you carsick?"

Jiang Yuchen pursed his lips and then gave a muffled "hmm".

Shen Yuan sighed: "Then why are you still coming with me to Jian'an City? From Jinling to Jian'an, even if the carriage doesn't stop day and night, it will take two days and one night. You'll be in a carriage for thirty-six hours. Can you handle it?"

Jiang Yuchen gripped the handkerchief tightly. "I can take it."

Shen Yuan shook her head: "Why don't you rest here for the night and return to Jinling at dawn tomorrow?"

“Yes, young master!” The Jiang family’s servant chimed in, “You’ve hardly ever traveled far from home since you were a child. Why bother going to Jian’an City with Miss Shen? Miss Shen will be coming to Jinling again soon, and you’ll be able to see her then. Why bother…”

The servant was speaking enthusiastically when he met Jiang Yuchen's cold gaze and immediately fell silent.

Jiang Yuchen gave the two servants a warning look and argued, "Who said I went to Jian'an with Shen Yuan? I... I didn't follow her around desperately just to see her. I was clearly entrusted by my father to inspect the Jiang family's properties in Jian'an!"

After saying that, Jiang Yuchen waved his hand: "Get in the car, get in the car, let's continue!"

The servant quickly helped Jiang Yuchen into the carriage.

Shen Yuan frowned, walked to Jiang Yuchen's carriage, and said, "Since you know you get carsick, why do you keep putting yourself through this?"

"People who get carsick can't stay home forever!" Jiang Yuchen leaned against the car window, looking indignant. "I even went to Beijing when I was little!"

"Going to the capital requires not only crossing the river by boat, but also a month-long carriage journey, making it many times farther than Jian'an City. Yet, I still went! Can a small Jian'an City really stop me?"

“But Young Master, your trip to the capital lasted three months, and you missed the opportunity. You didn’t even get to see Young Master Jiu… Young Master Biao!” Jiang Yuchen’s words were ruthlessly exposed by the servant.

He angrily tapped the servant on the head with his fan: "Serves you right for being so talkative! Serves you right for being so talkative! Serves you right for being so talkative!"

The servant, covering his head and dodging, said, "Young master, we're telling the truth! Miss Shen is right, why are you torturing yourself like this!"

"Shut up!"

Jiang Yuchen roared, then slammed the window shut, shutting everyone out.

Seeing that Jiang Yuchen was determined to go to Jian'an City with her, Shen Yuan felt somewhat helpless. Since she couldn't persuade him to leave, she could only pray that Jiang Yuchen wouldn't delay her journey.

Shen Yuan took out some dried tangerine peel she had bought earlier from her bundle and knocked on Jiang Yuchen's car window: "Holding dried tangerine peel in your mouth can relieve nausea."

Hearing her voice, the car window opened a crack.

Shen Yuan wrapped a few pieces of dried tangerine peel in a handkerchief and slipped them through the crack in the window. Then she turned around and returned to her carriage.

Inside the carriage, Jiang Yuchen stared at the thing that had fallen onto his clothes, remaining silent for a long time. Finally, following Shen Yuan's instructions, he opened the handkerchief, picked up the dried tangerine peel inside, and put it in his mouth.

The dried tangerine peel, with its slightly astringent orange aroma, flowed into his throat, forcing back the acid in his stomach.

Jiang Yuchen licked his lips. This dried tangerine peel seemed to have a miraculous effect; he really felt much better!

Let's go!

The carriage was moving quickly, and because Jiang Yuchen was carsick, the driver controlled the horse's speed, so the two carriages gradually separated without him realizing it.

But every time Jiang Yuchen's carriage was about to fall behind Shen Yuan, the coachman would drive the horse to chase after Shen Yuan's carriage.

Shen Yuan noticed this and worried that the driver would speed up from time to time, making Jiang Yuchen bounce even more, so she slowed down so that Jiang Yuchen could keep up.

The group traveled until midnight.

Shen Yuan was feeling sleepy, and she figured Jiang Yuchen couldn't keep going either. Seeing a few old willow trees and a pond not far away, she reined in the carriage and called out to the back, "Let's stop and let the horses rest!"

After saying that, Shen Yuan jumped off the carriage first and tied the horse to the willow tree.

In early September, the grass in the south was still green.

The willow branches brushed against the horse's mane, and the horse tilted its head back and nibbled on a handful of willow branches.

"Ouch..." Jiang Yuchen's face was pale. He helped the servant down from the carriage. When he saw Shen Yuan turn her head to look at him, he immediately swallowed the wail that was about to come out.

He pushed aside the servant beside him and walked towards Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan asked, "Is it alright?"

"I feel much better with the dried tangerine peel you gave me!" Jiang Yuchen sat down on the grass next to Shen Yuan and instructed the servant behind him, "Bring my tea table over and make two cups of tea for Miss Shen."

"No need. I want to sleep for a while and can't drink tea."

"Then bring a pot of wine from the back carriage. Miss Shen and I will have a drink together and get a good night's sleep."

Upon receiving the order, the servant immediately set up a small wooden table, took out the wine pot and cups from the carriage, and placed two exquisite small plates on it. One plate contained dried fruit and candied fruit, and the other plate contained various pastries.

Shen Yuan recognized the pastry as being from Yipin Pavilion and couldn't help but swallow.

She was in a hurry to leave the city, so she just grabbed a quick bite for dinner. It was already late at night, and she was indeed quite hungry.

So Shen Yuan didn't stand on ceremony and picked up a piece of pastry to eat.

Seeing that Shen Yuan liked to eat snacks, Jiang Yuchen quietly switched the positions of the plate containing snacks and the snacks containing dried fruit so that it would be more convenient for Shen Yuan to take the snacks.

Shen Yuan ate a piece of fragrant peach blossom pastry, and then drank a few sips of refreshing fruit wine, immediately feeling incredibly comfortable in her stomach.

After eating and drinking her fill, Shen Yuan sat on the grass and looked at the stars and the moon for a while, then turned to Jiang Yuchen and asked, "Why did you insist on coming out of the city with me today?"

"I...I..."

Jiang Yuchen stammered for a long time before finally lowering his head and saying quickly, "I just wanted to apologize. I know my comment that mocked poor people like you for needing cheap and useful products was wrong and made you angry!"

"I know I shouldn't say this, but I've been following you all day and haven't had a chance to say sorry. So I... I thought I'd keep following you and say sorry!"

"Otherwise, tonight when I'm lying in bed, I'll slap myself twice in the face!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow in surprise.

She never imagined that Jiang Yuchen was following her simply because he wanted to apologize to her.

Perhaps it was because the pastries were so delicious and the fruit wine was so good, Shen Yuan smiled and said, "Young Master Jiang, I wasn't angry with you at the time. I was just thinking about... some unpleasant memories."

"What memories?"

"It's not a good topic, so I don't want to talk about it."

Shen Yuan didn't want to say anything more, so she stood up, intending to go back to the carriage to sleep. But as soon as she got up, she suddenly noticed out of the corner of her eye that the grass behind Jiang Yuchen trembled.

"Since it's not good, then forget about it. Don't think about it or mention it again..."

Before Jiang Yuchen could finish speaking, Shen Yuan suddenly pounced on him and pinned him to the ground—