Chapter 419: On the Road
Editor: Atlas Studios
“What? Pregnant?” Mu Yangling looked at Li Jinghua, who lowered her head shyly.
Qi Xiuyuan was excited, happy, and worried, all at the same time. He nodded and said, “Yes, she’s two months pregnant. You guys should set off tomorrow and take your time on the road. It doesn’t matter if you’re delayed. I’ll send a memorial to explain to the Emperor.”
Li Jinghua’s pregnancy came at the right time, but also not at the right time.
If her pregnancy had come earlier, they would have enough time for the fetus to stabilize. However, if it came later, Qi Xiuyuan would be left wondering when he would have a legitimate son. Of course, this child might also be a daughter. But at least there was a 50% chance, right?
Qi Xiuyuan really wanted to keep his wife and send her to the capital after the New Year and the fetus was stable. However, after discussing with Rong Xuan, the two of them felt that Emperor Jingyan was not a patient person and it was not worth angering him over this matter. Besides, it was foreseeable that Li Jinghua and Mu Yangling would have to live under his nose for a long time. Hence, they could only set off two days in advance and take their time on the way. Even if they arrived late, it did not matter. At least it wouldn’t be because they set off late.
Hence, the next day, they left Jingzhao Prefecture amidst everyone’s reluctant farewells.
Because Li Jinghua couldn’t take the bumps on the road now, Qi Xiuyuan asked someone to put a thick blanket on her carriage. As long as the road conditions weren’t too bad, she wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable sitting on it.
For the sake of Li Jinghua’s safety, Mu Yangling rode in the same carriage with her. Sometimes, when she was bored, she would climb onto Blackie and ride side by side with Qi Haoran for a while to admire the scenery. When she was tired, she would then crawl into the carriage.
Being considerate of Li Jinghua, they traveled at a slow speed. Sometimes, when she wasn’t in a good condition, everyone would rest for a day. Hence, this journey was not very pleasant for Li Jinghua. But for the newlywed Mu Yangling and Qi Haoran, it was simply a longer honeymoon for them. Only difference was that this time, they were bringing a lot of people along.
However, there were benefits to having more people around—their food and clothing needs were attended to. Other than caring for Li Jinghua, there was almost nothing else to worry about.
On the other hand, Li Jinghua and the people accompanying them also fully witnessed the dazzling affection between the young couple.
On the first and second day, the sadness of parting could not be concealed in the convoy. Everyone traveled in a depressed manner. On the third day, Qi Haoran broke off a few blooming and half-blooming plum blossoms from somewhere and sent them over.
Not only was Mu Yangling pleasantly surprised, but even Li Jinghua couldn’t help but smile when she saw the blooming plum blossoms. Although the flowers were brought into the carriage, Qi Haoran’s sparkling eyes stared straight at Mu Yangling. Anyone would know who he was giving them to.
Two days later, Qi Haoran sent over a little squirrel that he had caught on the way…
If Qi Haoran merely gifted Mu Yangling things, Li Jinghua would be happy and envious, but not jealous. However, that wasn’t the case. Almost every once in a while, he would come over to ask if Mu Yangling was thirsty, tired, and bored. When they were about to reach the capital, Li Jinghua felt that she could no longer stand to watch the two of them show off their love in front of her, so she said, “Ah Ling, it’s better if you ride in the same carriage as Haoran. Otherwise, I’m really afraid that he won’t be able to help but come in to sit in our carriage one day.”
Blushing, Mu Yangling said, “Sister-in-law, don’t worry. I’ll scold him. He won’t dare to disturb us again.”
After saying that, she crawled out without waiting for Li Jinghua to speak. She whistled and summoned Blackie. With a leap, she jumped onto the horse.
Of course, she couldn’t scold Qi Haoran since this was something worth encouraging. Hence, when she rode her horse to him, he pulled her over and they rode the same horse. When no one was paying attention, she secretly kissed him to encourage him. Then, she said, “From now on, don’t play anymore. Since we’re about to reach the capital, we have to be careful.”
Brimming with bliss, Qi Haoran nodded and said, “Don’t worry. From this morning onwards, I’ll personally supervise the inspection of the convoy and horses. Stay in the carriage and follow Sister-in-law closely.”
Mu Yangling nodded, and the two of them discussed some things in a low voice. Only then did Qi Haoran send her back to the carriage. Under Li Jinghua’s half-smile, Mu Yangling and Qi Haoran waved goodbye.
Just as the two had discussed, Qi Haoran stopped sending things into the carriage, and Mu Yangling stopped leaving the carriage to chill. Even when they stopped for lunch to relax, Mu Yangling did not leave Li Jinghua’s side.
Li Jinghua vaguely sensed something. When she got out of the carriage to take a walk, she did not walk as far away as before. Instead, she merely walked a few steps away and kept within a distance where the guards could see.
At this moment, it had already been 29 days since they embarked on their journey. From the looks of it, they were probably going to celebrate New Year’s Eve on the road.
At this moment, ten miles outside Lin’an Prefecture, the Qi family’s servants could only return dejectedly to report that they had yet to arrive.
Qi Feng didn’t expect that they weren’t here yet. Frowning, he said, “It’s New Year’s Eve tomorrow. Weren’t they going to arrive before New Year’s Eve?”
No one answered, so Qi Feng could only wave his hand to dismiss them. He thought that something might have happened on the way.
However, the Emperor was very calm. He had long received Qi Xiuyuan’s confession memorial stating that his wife was pregnant, so even if they set off early, it was normal for them to delay in order to protect the baby. Because Qi Xiuyuan’s attitude was good, and they had indeed packed their things immediately after receiving the decree and even set off two days earlier than expected, the Emperor magnanimously forgave them for the delay.
Considering Qi Xiuyuan was not young anymore, and this was his first child, it was inevitable for him to pay more attention to the mother and baby.
Therefore, the Emperor only asked one person to guard the Ten Mile Pavilion. At the palace banquet on New Year’s Eve, he merely briefly mentioned this as he sighed with emotion. Only then did everyone know that Qi Xiuyuan’s family had set off long ago.
Oh, so Qi Xiuyuan’s wife, Madam Li, had yet to arrive because she was pregnant.
Everyone nodded in understanding.
Qi Feng, who was not qualified to attend the palace banquet, only found out about this the next day. He gritted his teeth so hard that they almost broke. “Unfilial son, since your schedule is delayed, why didn’t you report it to your family?”
The night before, in the Jingzhao Prefecture residence, Qi Xiuyuan, who was drinking alone with Rong Xuan and Yuan Hui, asked, “Jinyu, have I told the Qi family that Haoran and the others will be arriving late?”
Rong Xuan was stunned. He held his wine glass and thought for a moment before saying, “I don’t seem to have the habit of helping you organize your family’s letters, right?”
Qi Xiuyuan held his forehead with a headache. This job used to belong to Zijin. After all, it was a family matter. It was not good for him to hand such things over to Rong Xuan, and it was not good for Rong Xuan to get too involved. Furthermore, he was impatient to reply to Qi Feng’s letters. Other than some relatively important letters, he threw the rest in the corner.
But other than allowing him to get further and further away from the Qi family and their relationship to become more and more strained, there were no other benefits. Hence, Zijin had already taken over all of his and Haoran’s family letters three years ago, including his own.
It seemed that after Zijin had left, he really had not sent a letter to anyone in the Qi family.
Rong Xuan understood when he saw his expression. He asked, “Do you want to send another letter? Should Lord Qi ask, we can just say that the letter was lost at the relay station and was only found later.”
Qi Xiuyuan glanced at him and said, “Write it now and send it tomorrow. Even if you ride a horse at full speed, it will take half a month to arrive. All that effort just to shut him up? It’s not worth it.” After thinking for a moment, he said, “If Zijin is well-informed in Lin’an Prefecture, he’ll probably guess that I forgot to write it. When the time comes, he can just make up for the letter.”