Chapter 128 Wooden Box
In the third year of Zhaode, another imperial examination began. Meng Taotao, who had just been transferred to Xinzhou as a prefect after serving in the prefecture for three years with excellent grades, wrote a letter in which he emphasized the two girls he found in Xinzhou. It was said that they were strong contenders for this imperial examination.
Si Li, however, didn't care about this. She had just returned from sailing with the Jian family's merchant ship and was caught red-handed by Jiang Hengyun at the Tianjin wharf. The thinner man with long arms and legs stood in front of the wharf, standing out from the crowd. His sullen face couldn't hide his handsomeness, and his cold look made the girls turn their heads to look at him.
"Hey, hey, hey... look what I bought from India!" Si Li grinned foolishly, trying to get away with it. She put the golden veil in her hand around Jiang Hengyun's neck and then slipped into his arms.
Jiang Hengyun lowered his eyes and looked at his beloved girl who had run away after a quarrel during the New Year. Her wheat-colored skin, which was slightly tanned by the sun, made her eyes brighter and more energetic. The anxiety of waiting and the accumulated anger from the sleepless nights were gone. He touched the braided hair of the foreign girl Si Lixue and sighed, "Welcome back."
Jian Qingya, who was going out to sea for the first time, looked at the young couple hugging each other, pulled the hand of Songnian who was directing the transportation of goods, and smiled slightly.
The urban style of Tianjin is very characteristic of the north, and it is different from what she saw when she was sailing in Yangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River. When she stepped on the land of Tianjin, Si Li felt a little like she was back home. The Jian family business has a supply point here, and the goods are transported from Tianjin to the capital or Xingling. Si Li was originally going out to play with them, so she didn't want to interrupt the Jian family's work. She said hello and followed Jiang Hengyun.
The familiar carriage stopped at the side of the pier. Si Li felt that Jiang Hengyun wanted to take her home immediately, but she didn't say it out loud. She took his hand and slowly strolled on the streets of Tianjin. The nervousness she had when they first met gradually dissipated from Jiang Hengyun.
"Hey, we were just talking about it before the New Year, why did Ah Quan open a shop in Tianjin now?" Si Li saw the sign of Wanglaiju from a distance. The laughter of the customers lined up in front of the door could be heard from far away. Jiang Hengyun, who had been silent for a long time, stopped her from going that way, "Don't you see how long you have been walking?"
Si Li turned around to look at him. Such a resentful tone made her feel a little guilty. She changed direction and walked towards the carriage following behind.
Tianjin is not far from Beijing. The two hundred li journey can be completed in a day or so. The swaying carriage shook out Si Li's suppressed sleepiness on the boat, and she fell into Jiang Hengyun's arms. Half asleep and half awake, she felt him kiss her eyes, "Take me with you next time."
Si Li didn't know whether she answered or not. When she woke up again, the car had already entered the capital.
The capital city was crowded with people. The results of the imperial examination had been announced, and there were exclamations one after another. Si Li yawned, and then heard Qinghe, who was outside to get information, report, "The top three in this year's imperial examination are all women."
Si Li recalled the letter from Meng Taotao that she had received from the Jian Family Business in Yangzhou, and asked curiously, "Who is Hui Yuan?"
Qinghe's voice was a little strange, "A female student from Shuntian Prefecture, Yun Mingchen."
"Poof——" Si Li spat out all the tea in her mouth, "Who?!" The Queen's surname is Yun, and Jiang Rufei's courtesy name is Mingchen. If it wasn't her, Si Li would have written her name backwards!
Jiang Hengyun took a handkerchief and slowly wiped the water stains on Si Li's mouth. Si Li looked back at him in disbelief, "You just let Ah Fei play with you like this?"
Jiang Hengyun paused and lowered his eyes, "If you don't like me to care about her, then I won't."
For no reason, Si Li felt a little aggrieved. She was angry and amused. The last time they quarreled, she didn't let Jiang Hengyun intervene because Jiang Rufei wanted to talk about the Queen's system but he interrupted her and told her not to talk. She never got to the bottom of the matter. When she was angry, Jian Qingya happened to be going to Southeast Asia, so she followed her. Why did Jiang Hengyun just give up?
"Extra, Extra, the top three on the Xingbang list went to the elite, the Ship Administration launched a large ship, and foreign envoys praised bicycles—"
The newspaper boy hurriedly ran past the carriage, interrupting the two people's eye contact. Familiar yet unfamiliar words were intertwined together, and in an instant, Si Li seemed to have returned to the modern era.
"Hey, a copy of the Daning newspaper." A teenager stopped the newspaper boy and bought a newspaper. The sound of him and his companions talking came in. The chatter was different from the slander and disdain during the last combined examination. Instead, there was more praise.
Someone sighed, "We still need to work harder. Will we be able to see the results of the Xingbang exam in the newspaper tomorrow?"
"Why rush? Why not wait until the palace examination is over and buy the special edition of the Daning newspaper?"
The young man's voice faded away. Si Li lifted the car curtain and happened to see a group of blondes queuing in a traffic circle not far away. The dark-skinned girls rode wooden-wheeled bicycles around the crowd. The marks of long-term training on their bodies reminded Si Li of the army. She touched Jiang Hengyun and said, "Is that the first batch of military students who returned from Liangzhou?"
Jiang Hengyun, who had presented a manuscript of past military experiences as a gift for the founding of Liangzhou Heroes Military Academy, nodded and pointed to the gate of Wanglaiju. "Those are the people from Honglu Temple and Gaul. Do you want to go and take a look?"
Si Li shook her head. The foreign envoys who were queuing in front of the gate of the temple praised the officials of the Honglu Temple in a strange Daning Mandarin, "Wu, I am so surprised! Your French fries and bicycles are like gifts from God! Even men and women can go to school!"
"Did you hear that? He said you are a god." Jiang Hengyun approached Si Li when she wasn't noticing. Si Li felt embarrassed and just turned around to refuse, but Jiang Hengyun, who lowered his head, kissed her lips. The man's breath was hot, and his cautiousness was mixed with his unconcealable emotions.
The carriage stopped in front of the East Palace, which had been renamed Qingping Palace. Si Li pushed Jiang Hengyun and said in a hoarse voice, "No, if you don't let Ah Fei tell me what's going on, don't even think about consummating the marriage."
Jiang Hengyun sat on the carriage with his knees bent. It took him a long time to calm down from the discomfort in his body. He held his forehead and smiled bitterly. His past persistence had now become an obstacle.
Si Li kept her word. On the first night back in the palace, she did not let Jiang Hengyun in. The peace of mind of returning home made her fall into a deep sleep. She had a dream in a trance, but when she woke up, she could not remember what happened. Only the pillow soaked with tears and the sore eyes left traces of the dream.
There was some movement, and Jiang Hengyun, who was holding her, quickly opened his eyes. Before Si Li asked him how he got in, she put an ice towel on his eyes. Jiang Hengyun said softly, "Did you have a nightmare? You cried for half the night."
【System: Culinary Level 5, achieved.
Congratulations to the host for reaching the end of the road to becoming the God of Cooking. Your name has left a deep imprint in time and space, and the changes in the world will bring honor to you. Please do not forget all the people who have paid for you before you reached the pinnacle, and continue to move forward with an unchanging original intention. 】
【System: Preparation for the Kitchen God system to leave begins... Dear Kitchen God host, do you choose to return?
whether.
Tip: After returning, your exploration journey memory will be archived, please choose carefully. 】
Si Li was stunned. She had completely forgotten what she wanted to say to Jiang Hengyun. She stared blankly at the translucent pop-up window that appeared in the darkness with her eyes closed. The No button was gray and obviously could not be clicked.
She thought about the choice of leaving or staying, but she didn't expect that this day would come so soon. Through the manuscript, she knew whether the queen had chosen or not, which led to her coming, but now there was only one option "yes" and she couldn't choose it. She couldn't give up Jiang Hengyun at all.
Is there no way to have the best of both worlds?
Before Si Li could speak, Jiang Hengyun paused while changing the handkerchief covering her eyes. A line of tears flowed from Si Li's eyes. Seeing the familiar expression of hesitation and sadness on the face of his beloved girl, he almost immediately remembered the same look of hesitation that his mother had shown in his distant memory.
"Li Li." Jiang Hengyun held Si Li's hand, cupped her face, and looked straight at her. His eyes were red and his voice was trembling slightly. "Where do you want to go?"
Si Li opened her mouth and suddenly understood what last night's tears and dreams were about. She didn't know what to say. The system did not give her the option of not leaving, but this was too cruel to Jiang Hengyun.
"We visited Liangzhou last year. How about going to Yunyue this year? Or go with the Gauls to see their country? Is Tianzhu fun? How about going there again?" Jiang Hengyun spoke in a brisk tone, as if he was really talking about travel options. He talked for a long time, and Si Li didn't speak for a long time. His speech speed became faster and faster, and his expression became more and more sad.
"Dayuezhi..." Jiang Hengyun's throat choked as he looked at Si Li's sad eyes. He lowered his head and stopped describing the future journey. He leaned against Si Li's neck, his tears soaking Si Li's hair. The man's voice was very soft, like a plea, "Take me with you, okay?"
Si Li sighed.
The tightly closed door suddenly opened. Si Li turned her head. The girl who had been on the throne for three years now had the majesty of an emperor. She stood outside the door against the light, holding a half-person-high wooden box in her hands. She smiled at Si Li, "A Li, I have something for you."
Jiang Hengyun turned aside and wiped away his tears. Si Li stood in front of him with understanding, and stood up to greet Jiang Rufei, "Your Majesty, what is this?"
Jiang Rufei hugged her gently, and the wooden box was passed to Si Li's hand. It felt heavy in her hand, and Si Li almost lost it. It was Jiang Hengyun who quickly grabbed it and stabilized it. Jiang Rufei didn't even look at her brother. She pushed the wooden box and said, "I said I would let you go."
Si Li glanced at Jiang Hengyun, who looked uneasy, and opened the lid of the wooden box. Inside, a silver-colored machine was sleeping quietly. Its highly technological appearance was somewhat similar to the system's concrete panel. Si Li almost immediately determined that it was related to the system. A layer of faint light enveloped it, and the moment Si Li touched it, the light disappeared.
As the light disappeared, although the color did not change, the silver machine seemed to have lost its soul and completely dimmed.
"This..." Si Li waited for a moment, but there was no system prompt. She looked up at Jiang Rufei blankly. Jiang Rufei had just moved her eyes away from the machine. She shrugged in an indecent manner, "I don't know anything. After my mother finished writing the manuscript, she began to look for a skilled craftsman to make this silver nugget. Now it is just returned to its original owner."
The last page of the manuscript sent by Jiang Rufei was what the Queen decided to keep. Si Li guessed that this machine was a temporary carrier of the system that the Queen wanted to build, so that the system would be reduced in loss after it was materialized and wait for the arrival of later generations.
"Thank you." Si Li put down the wooden box, took Jiang Rufei's hand, walked to Jiang Hengyun, stretched out his hands and hugged the two of them together, "No matter what happened in the past, I have to thank you for who I am today."
She felt that Jiang Hengyun was holding her and took a step away from Jiang Rufei. There were always some childish young men who kept hugging her in front of her. "But you still want to leave?"
"I will." Si Li did not lie to him. The system did not give a countdown for returning, but this time was obviously not enough to stay forever. Jiang Hengyun let go of her suddenly, strode out of the door, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Rufei looked at his leaving back and chuckled, "Come with me, Ah Li, I won't let him bother you."
Si Li was at a loss for words at the temptation of Xu Nuo. He shook his head and looked at her disapprovingly, "He is your brother after all. He won't hurt me." For her, he could give up the entire country and the responsibilities of the crown prince that he had been taught to bear since childhood. She was also willing to take a step back for him and understand each other.
Now, all that’s missing is a way to take Jiang Hengyun away with him.
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The author has something to say:
Before they knew it, they had been married for almost five years, and Prince Liuxia Hui said: I don't want to endure it anymore!
Lili: No, you still have to endure it.
Princess (waving the hoe) Sister-in-law, look at me, look at me! I pick you!
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