The carriage slowly drove through Zhuque Street. Jiang Yan couldn't help but open the curtains again and look back. The eaves of the Prime Minister's residence were like a sword unsheathed in the night, exuding a sense of coldness and majesty. He remembered what Su Jinli had said with a smile before getting on the carriage: "Isn't it just to avoid the emperor? Just think of it as taking the children to Jiangnan to eat bayberries." Thinking of this, Jiang Yan couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a faint smile. His fingertips touched the brocade bag given by Prime Minister Su in his sleeve. The heavy silver bills made his palms burn. It was the support and strength given by his family.
"Dad," Si Yan suddenly woke up from his sleep, rubbing his sleepy eyes, his little hands subconsciously grabbing the abacus, "Are we in Jiangnan yet? I want to eat candied haws."
Nianli was also awakened by Siyan's voice. She drowsily held up the golden chili pendant and said in a baby voice, "I want candied haws with chili!"
Jiang Yan looked at the children's innocent smiles, his heart filled with love. He gently wiped his son's saliva and carefully tucked in his daughter's quilt. Then, he heard the driver whisper from the front, "Sir, the city gates are about to open." Jiang Yan lifted a corner of the curtain and saw the eastern sky was turning pale. The city gate tower in the distance looked like a crouching beast in the morning light, exuding an inexplicable sense of oppression. His thoughts couldn't help but return to the scene in the Imperial Garden yesterday, when the emperor pointed to the "Hundred Children Picture" and spoke of "closer ties" with a smile on his face. He felt a pang of annoyance and couldn't help but clench his fists.
The carriage slowly approached the city gate. The guards yawned and lazily checked the luggage. Jiang Yan nervously handed over the pass, his palms already drenched with sweat. At this moment, Nian Li suddenly poked his head out, raised a golden chili pendant, and called out crisply, "Uncle, would you like some chili?" The guard was startled by the sudden voice. Looking at the bright red pendant, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and said impatiently, "Go away, kid, don't make trouble."
Only after the carriage had driven ten miles from the city gate did Jiang Yan breathe a sigh of relief, as if awakening from a nightmare. Su Jinli fished a piece of osmanthus cake from her bag and handed it to Si Yan. Gazing out the window at the fleeting farmland, she suddenly smiled and asked, "What do you think the Emperor would look like if he found out we'd escaped?"
Jiang Yan thought of the emperor's usual temper when he slammed the dragon throne, and couldn't help laughing: "I'm afraid he will cut down all the plum trees in the imperial garden."
Si Yan was chewing on an osmanthus cake when he suddenly pointed excitedly at the green hills in the distance and asked, "Dad, is that Jiangnan?"
"Silly boy," Jiang Yan gently scratched his son's nose, his eyes full of doting. "We're still a long way off." He looked at his children's innocent smiles, then turned to look at Su Jinli, who was smiling beside him. Suddenly, he felt that the panic and embarrassment of fleeing overnight was also tinged with a bit of sweetness. This sweetness came from the company of family and the hope for the future.
At that moment, morning light had barely broken in the Forbidden City, and the Emperor was already furious. He was furiously facing the empty Prime Minister's Residence, violently slamming the morning tea that Eunuch Li had so carefully handed him. The scalding tea splashed onto the ground, a vent for the Emperor's fury. "Rebellion! How dare Jiang Yan run away with my grandson's wife!" The Emperor's roar echoed through the palace for a long time.
Thousands of miles away, in a blue cloth carriage, Nianli was hanging a golden pepper pendant on Siyan's abacus, singing in a baby voice: "The peppers are spicy, the abacus is ringing, daddy takes us to eat candy..." The crisp singing, like a clear spring in the mountains, flowed in this small carriage. The carriage slowly rolled over the bluestone road, leaving two shallow ruts, as if they were footprints on their escape. Jiang Yan gently held Su Jinli's hand, touched the coolness of her fingertips, and felt a pang of distress in his heart. He suddenly remembered what she said: "In this life, no one should let us suffer grievances." The sunlight outside the window finally pierced through the clouds and fell on the sleeping faces of the children. The warm light seemed to dye the dust on the road ahead into gold, and also illuminated their unknown but hopeful future.
As the carriage moved forward, the scenery outside the window constantly changed. The vast fields gradually awakened in the morning light, and tender green wheat seedlings swayed gently in the breeze, as if the earth was covered with a vibrant green carpet. The mountains in the distance rolled up and down, their outlines becoming increasingly clear under the sunlight, like a landscape painting with rich colors. Jiang Yan took in the beautiful scenery before him, but a sense of worry remained in his heart. He knew that although this escape had temporarily freed him from the emperor's pressure, the road ahead was still full of uncertainties and challenges.
Su Jinli seemed to have noticed Jiang Yan's thoughts. She leaned gently on Jiang Yan's shoulder and whispered, "Don't worry, as long as our family is together, there will always be a way." Su Jinli's voice was gentle and firm, like a spring breeze, gently blowing across Jiang Yan's heart, relaxing his originally tense nerves a little.
Si Yan finished his osmanthus cake and started fiddling with his abacus again, muttering to himself, "One on one, two on two..." His serious expression made Su Jinli burst into laughter. Nianli leaned in Su Jinli's arms, playing with the golden chili pendant. From time to time, she looked up at Su Jinli with her clear eyes and asked, "Mom, when can we get to Jiangnan?"
"It's almost there. Wait until you get some sleep and have some sweet dreams, and then we'll be there." Su Jinli replied with a smile, her eyes full of love for her daughter.
The carriage continued on its way, and around noon, they arrived at a small town. It wasn't large, but it was filled with the atmosphere of life. The streets were lined with stalls selling steaming buns, colorful sugar figurines, and exquisite handicrafts. Si Yan and Nian Li's eyes lit up with excitement at the sight of these stalls.
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