Chapter 83
To avoid revealing their identities, only Chen Wu was brought along. Zhao Wan wanted to go with them, but Si Yanmo stopped her. She was still recovering from her injury, and Si Yanmo told her to rest well and that she would take her next time.
As Chen Wu cracked his whip, the carriage headed further north.
Zhou Yanqing took out a stack of silver notes and handed them to Sano, saying, "There will be many places where you'll need your sister's money later."
Sano took it, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
At first, he thought he came to Qin to die in exchange for his family's survival, but they treated him so well that they even became his family.
Now, without the slightest hesitation, he is taking me back to Sak, hoping to rescue my parents and defy fate.
His eyes involuntarily reddened.
Zhou Yanqing could only rub his head and laugh, "This money has to be repaid. Once you become King Sak, you'll have plenty of places to repay me."
"But what if I..." What if I can't succeed?
At this moment, Si Yanmo interjected, "The worst thing a person can do is lack confidence in themselves. Since your brother and I both say you can do it, then you definitely can. Besides, some things are just for show. Look at me when I took the divination exam, didn't I do it very smoothly?"
“You almost…” Sano instinctively retorted, but his voice grew softer and softer.
Hey!
You really know how to bring up the very thing you don't want to talk about!
Si Yanmo smacked his little head in annoyance, "I just have good fortune!"
Watching the two playfully bickering in the car, Zhou Yanqing pursed his lips and chuckled to himself. He didn't know when he found an opportunity, but he secretly put his arm around Si Yanmo's waist and pulled her into his arms.
"Alright, alright, if you keep fooling around, the car will fall apart." His voice was gentler than ever before, with a hint of doting, making Sano feel as if he shouldn't be in the car at that moment.
He lifted the curtain and sat down next to Chen Wu to complain, "Those two are at it again!"
Chen Wu smiled and said, "That's a good thing."
For young couples, the more harmonious their relationship, the less suffering he will endure.
With Sano out of the car, Zhou Yanqing became even more unrestrained, burying her head in Si Yanmo's neck and rubbing against her.
"You insisted on coming along because you were worried about me, right?"
Si Yanmo turned her head away haughtily, "Who said that? I just wanted to see the scenery of the North. I heard it snows there. I've never seen snow before."
Si Yanmo was born in Nandu, where the climate is spring-like all year round. Although the climate is good, she can't help but yearn for the snowy scenery in winter.
Because of her intellectual disability, her parents were afraid to take her out. Every time they came back, they would bring her some local delicacies and fun things.
Later, when Zhong Zihe grew up, he would go out to sell goods with his father, and he would bring her things when he came back.
Of course, aside from those, I mostly talked to her about the outside world.
That was Si Yanmo's only chance to learn about the world outside of Nandu.
At that time, they always heard Zhong Zihe talk about the mountains and rivers of Qi Valley, the delicacies of Qin, and the poisons of Lanyu... Among them, what attracted her the most was Sak's snow.
Zhong Zihe said that it is very cold when it snows, but watching the snow fall on you is quite interesting. You can also lie in the snow and roll around and build a snowman.
Sak's children also have snowball fights, squeezing snow into small balls as "weapons," and whoever gets hit loses.
Of course, once they start fighting, no one cares about winning or losing; they just keep throwing snowballs at each other, which makes them even more lively and energetic.
The Sak people also make snow sculptures and ice sculptures for people to admire.
In short, according to Zhong Zihe's description, it seemed to be a beautiful ice and snow country, a place that Si Yanmo, who had always retained her childlike innocence, longed for.
Zhou Yanqing, however, was somewhat unconvinced. "It snows in Qin too. It snows in winter, and you can see it."
The puppy's fur standing on end made Si Yanmo raise her hand to her lips and chuckle.
"Okay! I knew you were just teasing me again!"
Zhou Yanqing saw through all of this and went to tickle her.
In an instant, Si Yanmo was defeated, but the carriage was too small and there was nowhere to hide. "I was wrong, I was wrong, Your Highness Prince Qin, please forgive me!"
"What's your name?"
The puppy seemed a little disgruntled, but she didn't notice. "Your Highness, the King of Qin!"
"Wrong!" he said, moving his hand to her more sensitive areas.
Si Yanmo laughed so hard she could barely breathe. Unable to push him away, she could only stammer, "Good brother, I was wrong, please let me go!"
The woman's voice was sweet, softer than he had ever heard before. He stopped, put his arm around her waist, and said in a hoarse voice, "Say it again."
Si Yanmo also realized something was wrong. Why had she called him "Brother Zhou Yanqing"? Now she couldn't cover it up.
She quickly turned her head away, her cheeks gradually flushing red, "Your Highness, Prince Qin..."
She knew perfectly well that this wasn't what Zhou Yanqing wanted to hear, but she was too embarrassed to call out the name openly again.
But how could Zhou Yanqing let her go?
He tightened his grip on her arm, then gently lifted her chin with his other hand, forcing her to look at him. His voice was deep and slightly coquettish: "Say it again, Amo..."
"Oh dear..." Si Yanmo quickly pushed his hand away, broke free from his embrace, and sat on the other side. "I...I'm tired, I'll take a nap."
As he spoke, he took out a blanket, lay down halfway, closed his eyes, and pretended to be asleep.
Zhou Yanqing naturally saw through her little scheme, but she couldn't bear to force her anymore. She simply sat down next to her, opened her folding fan, and gently fanned her. "Go to sleep."
The Qin region isn't as hot as the southern capital these days, and the gentle breeze from the fan still feels quite comfortable.
Si Yanmo closed her eyes, feeling really sleepy, and soon drifted off to sleep.
In her dream, she heard a voice: "Amo..."
The voice was somewhat weak, but she still recognized the owner of the voice—it was Zhou Yanqing.
In the dim dream, she followed the sound and saw a man lying on a bed, his face pale, but his eyes remained fixed on her, filled with deep affection and reluctance.
"Amo, if I die, just take the divorce papers and go."
She frowned, still not understanding what was going on, but her hand had already reached out to grasp the man's hand. "What nonsense are you talking about? I won't leave."
"They'll kill you, listen to me, go... find someone who treats you well, and be good to them... cough cough..."
Blood foam seeped from the man's pale lips, stinging her eyes.
"What do you mean 'them'? What do you mean 'find another one'? Zhou Yanqing, I won't allow you to talk nonsense!" she retorted desperately, suddenly looking around—all around was pitch black.
"This is a dream, it's not real. You'll be alright, Zhou Yanqing. I won't let you talk nonsense!"
She stood up and desperately tried to escape the dream, as if she were trapped in a maze, and no matter which way she went, she would return to the starting point and see the dying man.
"Let me out!"
She shouted.
It was to no avail.
She had no choice but to sit down next to Zhou Yanqing again, hold his hand tightly, as if trying to convey her strength to him.
"Zhou Yanqing, didn't I tell you? I would save you, so you won't die. This dream is fake, and no one can take you away from me!"
Maybe the dream was fake, or maybe the dream was just trying to trick her.
The person on the bed coughed more and more violently, and blood kept gushing from his mouth. Si Yanmo tried frantically to stop it, but to no avail, and even her own hands were covered in blood.
"Zhou Yanqing! Zhou Yanqing!" She finally couldn't hold back her tears and cried out, wanting this person not to leave her. Even her breathing became rapid.
"Amo, Amo... wake up!"
Finally, a voice from outside the darkness pulled her out of this nightmare.
She opened her eyes, her vision already blurred by tears. She still recognized him by the faint scent of jasmine and mugwort she had personally placed there, and threw herself into his arms.
"Zhou Yanqing!"
"It's alright, it's alright." Hearing the girl's sobbing voice, Zhou Yanqing felt her heart breaking. She gently patted her back to comfort her, "Did you have a nightmare?"
Si Yanmo nodded, tears sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto his back, spreading a deep red hue.
"It's alright, it was all a dream." He gently comforted her, stroking her back softly again and again to bring her peace of mind.
After a long while, she finally calmed down and slowly pushed him away a little, but her eyes were red, like a little rabbit's.
Zhou Yanqing felt extremely distressed and reached out to wipe away her tears. As if that wasn't enough, he lowered his head and placed a kiss on the beauty mark at the corner of her eye.
"What nightmare did you have? Tell me."
"A very, very terrible dream." Si Yanmo didn't say it outright, but she felt so relieved that the person in front of her was alright. So she buried her head in his neck again. "Zhou Yanqing, you will definitely live to be a hundred years old."
Hearing this, Zhou Yanqing guessed what was going on and felt a sweet warmth in his heart. He stroked her hair and said, "Yes, I will live a very, very long time and stay with you forever, okay?"
"Who told you to stay with me all this time?" The girl's voice was trembling with tears, but she still managed a soft hum to save face, unaware of the upturned corners of her mouth.
Zhou Yanqing knew she was embarrassed, so he pretended to compromise and said, "Okay, you don't want to, but I want to stay with you forever. I'll just stick with you, okay?"
"It depends on my mood." She remained aloof, but felt much more at ease.
As dusk deepened after their journey, the group arrived at the city gate and decided to rest for the night in the military camp inside the gate.
Looking at the city gate, which felt both familiar and unfamiliar, Si Yanmo felt a pang of sadness and casually found a tree to sit down. A little while later, Zhou Yanqing also arrived.
"Why are you sitting here? Don't get bitten by mosquitoes." He said, casually taking out a bottle of mugwort oil and applying it to her wrist.
Si Yanmo was happy to be "served" by him and obediently raised her hands. "I just remembered that when we first got married, it was in Wufeng Pass, which is very similar to this place."
"Really?" Zhou Yanqing looked around. "The checkpoints in Qin should all be decorated similarly."
“Hmm.” Si Yanmo didn’t refute it. “But the place is different now, and so are we.”
"Oh?" Zhou Yanqing seemed intrigued by this, and sat down next to her, naturally pulling her into his arms. "Then tell me, what's different?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com