On the day of their return journey, the autumn sky was clear and crisp, with the golden sun high up in the sky. It was a perfect day.
Song Yihuan had traveled as a family member of the Prince Ning's Mansion on the way there, and it was the same on the way back. After all the luggage was loaded, she took her younger brother and boarded the carriage.
Amidst the resounding shouts of "Set off!" from the troops, the convoy slowly started moving and headed south.
It had taken them a full twenty days to travel from the capital to Xingzhou. During the autumn hunting and heaven - sacrificing ceremony in Xingzhou, they had encountered a rebel attack and thus stayed in Xingzhou for another month. By the time they returned to the capital from Xingzhou, it was already late autumn.
Just as Song Yihuan had expected, after the convoy left the camp, it didn't return to Tianxiang City for a rest but went straight towards the capital.
On the way back, Song Yihuan noticed that there were more guards along the way than when they came, and the security was much stricter. It should be because of the attack in the hunting ground, so Ji Lingchuan had sent more guards.
With more guards around, the people in the convoy didn't dare to be as unrestrained as they were on the way there. Even when the convoy stopped for a break, they didn't wander around like before.
In a blink of an eye, they had been on the road for six or seven days since they left Xingzhou. The weather was getting colder. Song Yixuan was in poor health and didn't like to move around much, so Song Yihuan stayed in the carriage with him all the time.
In the past few days, she had been sitting in the carriage, concentrating on sewing the fur in her hand. She had made a scarf for Song Yixuan with the red fox fur she had hunted. When it was worn around the little boy's neck, it made his fair and chubby little face look even cuter.
Song Yixuan leaned against her side. Watching her still sewing something else, he blinked his eyes curiously and asked, "Fourth sister, what are you embroidering?"
Song Yihuan pinched his nose and said with a smile, "It's a secret. You'll know what it is when I finish embroidering."
Song Yixuan still remembered his conversation with Ji Lingchuan in the camp that day. Looking at his sister's beautiful and serious face, he suddenly asked, "Fourth sister, after we return to the capital, can we still live with brother - in - law and eldest sister?"
Song Yihuan's hand that was threading the needle paused. She glanced at him and didn't answer for a moment.
Logically speaking, this trip to Xingzhou had not only cleared their mother of the unjust accusation but also washed away the stigma from her. Moreover, she had received praise and rewards from the emperor. Her current situation was completely different from before.
As the Princess of Prince Ning had said, after they returned to the capital, there would be more people coming to the Marquis Ding'an's Mansion to propose marriage to her. She shouldn't and couldn't return to the Prince Ning's Mansion anymore. Otherwise, it would be unreasonable both emotionally and rationally. It would not only damage her reputation but also have a certain impact on Ji Lingchuan.
Coincidentally, she also wanted to carefully investigate the death of her step - mother. It was time to return to the Marquis Mansion.
It didn't matter much for her to return to the Marquis Mansion, but Yixuan must never go back. For now, the safest place for Yixuan was actually the Prince Ning's Mansion, and he had to stay by the side of the Princess of Prince Ning.
"Come on, Yixuan, do you hate to leave the Prince Ning's Mansion?" Song Yihuan asked with a smile.
Song Yixuan hugged his sister's arm and coquettishly said, "Yes. I like the Prince Ning's Mansion. I like the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and brother - in - law too. Doesn't fourth sister like it?"
Like? She didn't dare to say these two words. No matter how good and comfortable that place was, it was not the destination for their siblings in the end.
"Yixuan, fourth sister has a question for you. If one day, fourth sister has to send you to a place where no one knows us and let you live there for a while, waiting for fourth sister to come and find you, would you be willing?"
Song Yixuan tilted his little head and asked, "But why do we have to go to a place where no one knows us? And why can't fourth sister go with me?"
Hugging Song Yihuan's arm tightly, Song Yixuan said, "Fourth sister, I don't want to be separated from you. Wherever you are, I'll be there."
Song Yihuan gently stroked his hair and sighed, "How could I want to be separated from you? It's because fourth sister has something that she has to do. These things are very dangerous. Fourth sister doesn't want you to be frightened or hurt."
Song Yixuan roughly understood what she meant. If she really had something that she had to do, he might become her concern and weakness.
"In that case, I'm willing to do as fourth sister says." Song Yixuan said seriously.
Song Yihuan was relieved. She stroked his hair and then lowered her head to continue sewing.
She hoped that the people Ji Lingchuan had sent out could successfully find the divine doctor. If not, Uncle Qi still had the connection with the boatman. They would surely be able to find the person in the end.
On another carriage, Song Nanxin was sitting alone. She was wrapped tightly in warm clothes.
It wasn't officially winter yet, just late autumn, but she just felt very cold. She had to wear several more layers of clothes to make herself warm.
Without "Fuling" to take care of her, the Princess of Prince Ning had assigned another maid to serve her. But she was dissatisfied with the new maid in many ways and didn't want the maid to stay with her in the carriage. So most of the time, she was alone.
Looking at her face in the mirror, she noticed some fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Her face was full of anxiety.
How could this be? How could she have wrinkles at her age? This must be an illusion, right?
She hurriedly rummaged through her portable wooden box and found a medicine bottle. She couldn't wait to pour out the pills inside. Then she suddenly remembered that Cui Muyuan had once told her that she could only take one "Youth - Preserving Pill" a day. Taking more would have a negative effect on her body. For the sake of her own life, she forcefully suppressed her eagerness for the pills.
She took a deep breath, poured all the pills from the bottle into her palm and counted them carefully. To her shock, there were only six "Youth - Preserving Pills" left! This meant that her current appearance could only last for another six days. After six days, if she couldn't take the "Youth - Preserving Pills" anymore, her face would become as dull and wrinkled as it was before they set off!
Most importantly, she would be tortured by the reaction of drug withdrawal!
Since Cui Muyuan disappeared, she had tried to stop taking the pills. On the day she didn't take the pills, she felt extremely uncomfortable. It was as if there were tens of thousands of ants crawling on her body. Her complexion quickly darkened, and her skin was no longer fair and smooth but turned sallow and shriveled, which she found even more unacceptable.
What should she do? What could she do if this continued?
They had only traveled one - third of the journey so far, and the capital was still very far away. Moreover, the security of the convoy was much stricter than before. She couldn't even find a chance to run away secretly, let alone get Cui Muyuan to come back and serve her again!