After a brief interrogation at the city gate, the carriage slowly drove out of the city gate.
Qin Wen sat in the car, gently lifted the curtain, and gazed at the three large characters "Dunyang City" as they drove further and further away until they disappeared from sight. Tears welled up like a burst dam, gradually blurring her vision.
Today, she left the city where she had lived since childhood, and perhaps she will never be able to return here again in the long years to come.
The wealth and glory of the past decade or so have vanished, and those past triumphs and honors have become unbearable memories.
She herself barely escaped with her life on the line.
Qin Wen slowly lowered the carriage curtain, her gaze falling on the wooden plaque in her hand, on which were engraved the two characters "Chen Xi". She gently stroked the two characters with her fingers, feeling the unfamiliarity and warmth they brought.
From now on, she will begin a new life as Chen Xi, Chen Dongling's distant cousin. The name Qin Wen, however, had died a year earlier.
Tears streamed down her cheeks and dripped onto the back of her hand.
Qin Wen, or rather, Chen Xi, silently told herself, "Everything will be alright. I must live on strongly." She took a deep breath, trying to calm the turmoil in her heart.
The carriage traveled smoothly along the official road. After an unknown amount of time, the number of people on the road gradually increased, and the carriage slowed down.
The driver was actually arranged by Ang Lee; he was skilled in martial arts and also there to prevent Qin Wen from escaping halfway through the journey.
Li An's original words were, "If she is well-behaved and stays obediently in Yichun County, our family will consider it a good deed. If she shows even the slightest intention to escape, we will just kill her."
Inside the carriage, Chen Xi, who knew nothing about this, was dozing off with her chin resting on her hand when a familiar voice suddenly came to her ear: "Has Xuan'er ever been to Lingyang City?" "Mother, Xuan'er has never been there."
She hastily lifted the carriage curtain, and a gust of wind blew by, lifting a corner of the curtain of the carriage that was approaching the room from the opposite direction.
Chen Xi felt as if she had been struck by lightning. That person looked so much like her long-deceased elder sister, Qin Sheng!
At that moment, a man's voice came from inside the carriage: "Third Sister, let me hold Xuan'er, you can rest for a while..." The sound of the wheels rolling made it difficult for Chen Xi to hear clearly, and the man's words sounded intermittent.
Chen Xi's heart suddenly raced, as if time had frozen at that moment.
She stared wide-eyed, trying to make out the figure from behind the slightly lifted carriage curtain, but in that fleeting glance, she only caught a silhouette that was very similar to her elder sister Qin Sheng in her memory. Then the curtain fell again, shutting everything out once more.
Her hands were clenched into fists, her nails digging deep into her palms; the pain kept her somewhat conscious.
"Impossible... my elder sister..." Chen Xi murmured to herself, her mind racing with thoughts.
She closed her eyes, the scene of her elder sister and unborn child turning into a pool of blood that day still vivid in her memory. She remembered clearly the imperial edict that the emperor had bestowed upon the Qin family the crime of poisoning the empress and the imperial heir, ordering the women to be sold into official positions and the men to be exiled and sent to the army.
From that day on, the glory that the Qin family had accumulated over the years by relying on their eldest sister, the Empress, collapsed, and their fate took a sharp turn for the worse.
Could it be that the death of my elder sister that I witnessed was an illusion? Or did she luckily escape that calamity and is living a different life? After all, my elder sister was the empress for so many years and had some connections; perhaps she could pull off a clever escape.
Chen Xi shook his head, finding it impossible. Who would gamble with the imperial heir and their own life, especially right under the emperor's nose?
The conversation inside the carriage continued. Chen Xi was in a daze; she even felt the man's voice was somewhat familiar, leading her to suspect that he was her former brother-in-law, the emperor.
She clenched her fists tightly, forcing herself to calm down, realizing that she couldn't act rashly at this moment.
Now that she has decided to let go of the past and start anew as Chen Xi, any impulsive act could expose her identity and bring new dangers.
Chen Xi slowly lowered the carriage curtain, closed her eyes, and tried to calm the turmoil in her heart.
The carriage continued on its way, and the surrounding noise gradually faded away, allowing Chen Xi's heart to slowly return to calm. She mustered her courage and lifted the curtain again, turning her head to look. The carriage that had just passed by was made of precious sandalwood, with delicate silver trim inlaid along the edges of the eaves.
Several guards rode alongside the carriage, dressed in uniform with exquisite embroidered patterns on their lapels—clothing that neither ordinary grooms nor ordinary guards could wear.
Their faces were stern, their eyes sharp, and they frequently scanned their surroundings, clearly indicating that they were well-trained and came from wealthy and noble families.
As Chen Xi watched this scene, he pondered to himself. If his elder sister was really still alive and, as mentioned in their conversation, had married and had children, then the carriage and guards provided indicated that his elder sister was at least doing well in another place and had not suffered too much hardship.
She gently lowered the carriage curtain, her gaze returning to the interior, her heart churning with turmoil. She gripped her identification tag tightly, silently encouraging herself, "Chen Xi, you can do it."
Regardless of the past, she has embarked on a new journey. The road ahead is long, and she must be strong and courageous to meet every challenge and create a new life for herself.
After a two-month journey, Chen Xi finally arrived safely in Yichun County. To her surprise, at Yunxuan Academy, she saw an unexpected old friend.
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