Of the two children, the elder brother was more obedient, but the younger brother was much more lively and struggled to touch the curtain of the carriage with his little hands.
Chu Luoci immediately made a serious face: "You can't look at it!"
The younger brother looked at his mother's serious face and was a little scared, but he still asked in a low voice, "Why, mother, but those carriages are really beautiful!"
"That's the carriage coming out of the palace."
Now, neither child dared to move.
Because their mother once told them that there was a man-eating monster in the palace, and told them not to go to Kyoto in their lives, and even if they did, they could not get close to the palace.
Chu Luoci felt a little distressed when she saw the two children hiding in her arms like little quails, but there were some things that she had to be serious about.
The two children are Yanque's flesh and blood, that is, the royal blood. If someone discovers them, she may have to take the children to a farther place.
and……
Chu Luoci looked at the two children in her arms with complex eyes. Their facial features looked more and more like Yanque's...
Chu Luoci could only pray secretly in her heart, hoping that her child would grow up to be more like herself.
Chu Luoci thought that by lowering the car curtain, she could isolate the two children from the outside world, but she didn't know that she encountered another trouble when she was about to leave the city gate.
The procession on this trip was huge. They had seen from a distance that carriages had already entered the city gate. In fact, some of the procession was still outside the city and was slowly entering.
But Chu Luoci's carriage had already arrived at the city gate.
What a coincidence, as the carriages and horses were traveling, subordinates were clearing the way in front, and the main event was at the back.
So when Chu Luoci tentatively opened a corner of the curtain and looked outside, he saw a most elegant carriage parked next to them, very close to them.
Chu Luoci guessed that this was most likely the carriage of the banquet.
Her heart lifted.
It happened that at this time, the soldier guarding the gate was nodding and bowing in front of the luxurious carriage, as if he was reporting something.
The people inside didn't know what they said, but the two men looked at each other and called another team over to start an interrogation on the side where the people were queuing up.
"King Huai is righteous and does not want to delay the people leaving the city. Please line up and check them one by one before you can go out!"
Chu Luoci and Zhou Ci looked at each other, both of them feeling very anxious.
Didn’t you say you’d arrive tomorrow? Why did you come today?
And he was bumped into at the gate of this city!
Although the interrogation when leaving the city is not strict, people on the carriage still need to get off the vehicle to undergo inspection.
Their carriage is so close to the banquet carriage, what should they do?
Seeing the interrogating soldiers approaching their carriage, Chu Luoci's heart began to lift.
In the end, Zhou Ci got off the carriage first, "You sit inside, I'll go to the front and take care of things."
On weekdays, the female relatives of dignitaries do not want to get out of the car, so they are inspected, and the city's officers and soldiers are found and checked, and the meaning is passed.
What's more, the Zhou family's reputation in Jiangnan is so great that most of the soldiers leaving the city will not be in trouble.
But the people at the banquet today were just around the corner. How could they dare to do these things blatantly?
He shook his head slightly at Zhou Ci with a grimace, "Master Zhou, please don't embarrass us, that man is sitting in the car right now!"
Seeing that the plan was not working, the curtains and doors of the carriage next to the banquet were always tightly closed.
Zhou Ci gritted his teeth, opened the curtain of the carriage, and whispered to Chu Luoci, "Come down, it's okay."
After Chu Luoci got out of the car, Zhou Ci stood between the two carriages, trying to block Chu Luoci tightly with his body.
Fortunately, the officers and soldiers guarding the city only asked a few casual questions. Chu Luoci remained silent and only nodded or shook his head, finally ending the interrogation.
But just when Chu Luoci opened the curtain of the carriage and got into the carriage again, there was sudden movement from the side.
"It's really you."
Chu Luoci paused and quickly climbed onto the carriage.
Zhou Ci reacted quickly, turned around and bowed his hands in salute: "Long time no see, Your Majesty."
On the carriage, Yanque just opened the curtain first. He just felt that the voice of the speaker sounded familiar, and it turned out to be Zhou Ci.
"Why didn't you just come over and say hello?"
Zhou Ci pretended to be embarrassed, "It's not like I heard that the prince came to inspect on behalf of His Majesty. He thought that doing more things would be better than doing less things. He seemed lively outside, but others said that I was clinging to the Zhou family."
Yanque nodded noncommittally and glanced at the carriage beside him.
"Such a big carriage?"
Zhou Ci's heart froze, and in the flash of lightning, he thought of his original reputation in Jiangnan, so he showed a somewhat romantic smile.
"Hey, I bought a top brand in a brothel a few days ago. Aren't you afraid that my mother will be angry again? I want to find a house to settle down."
Yanque didn't ask any more questions, took another faint look at the carriage, and finally withdrew his gaze.
"You're not young anymore, stop fooling around."
I know, Your Majesty.
Yanque didn't speak, so the topic was finally over.
A thin layer of cold sweat had already formed on Zhou Ci's back.
Waiting for Zhou Ci to get on the carriage, Chu Luoci and Zhou Ci looked at each other and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Just at this time, the banquet carriage also moved, and two carriages passed by...
The gentle breeze blew the curtains of Chu Luoci's carriage slightly open.
The curtain of the banquet was never lowered. He glanced inadvertently and seemed to see the figure of a child on the carriage.
Yanque was stunned for a moment, then understood.
No wonder they have to hide people when they already have children.
A mocking smile appeared on Yanque's lips.
Thinking back to the time when Zhou Ci was willing to fight against himself for Chu Luo Ci, now only three or four years have passed and he has found another woman.
Thinking this way, the sarcasm at the corner of his mouth faded again, and his lips pursed tightly.
Zhou Ci seems to have moved on from the past, but what about him?
The two carriages finally arrived at the wrong time, one behind the other, one heading into the city and the other towards the suburbs.
It wasn't until the carriage had gone several miles that the two children in the carriage finally dared to speak loudly.
"Mother, mother, is Uncle Zhou's villa coming soon?"
Zhou Ci smiled and said: "We'll be there soon, right in front!"
The carriage turned a corner, and a yard of medium size and unique scenery appeared at the end of the road.
This courtyard was built in the suburbs. It was originally intended for the old lady of the Zhou family to escape the summer heat, but now it comes in handy.
Zhou Ci sent the mother and son off the carriage. Chu Luoci waved to him, "Go back quickly. The banquet has come to Jiangnan. Your family will soon be taking action. It's time to visit, take care of things, and reminisce about the past. It's indispensable.
You, the eldest young master, have been missing for too long, so you look strange."
Although Zhou Ci couldn't let it go, he still left after thinking about a lot of things at home, and if he stayed here, he would attract Yanque's attention.
On Chu Luoci's side, he took his two children to the other courtyard.
As expected, Zhou Ci had already arranged for servants to serve him. Although there were only two, it was enough.
Chu Luoci touched the heads of the two children and said, "It's almost time to eat. You just play in the yard for a while, and mother will prepare delicious food for you."
They were children after all. Although they felt the difference in the atmosphere when they first left the city gate, they had quickly forgotten about it now, so they started playing in the yard.
On the Yanque side, they have already entered the city.
On behalf of the emperor, he went to the south of the Yangtze River for inspection, and naturally there were local officials busy to greet him.
Many people wanted to meet Yanque and test his tone first to see if he was just here to do some superficial work, or if he really wanted to rectify the officials in Jiangnan.
It's just that they went to the banquet one by one to send greetings, but they were all rejected.
Although the ostentation was grand when Yanque came this time, he himself was not an extravagant and licentious person. He lived in the Yamen here with a group of subordinates.
This worried the local magistrate.
When they learned that Yanque was coming, they had already prepared a luxurious place to live in. They even trained a number of servants, including the delicate Jiangnan women, but they did not expect that Yanque would completely
Don’t accept this!
This made the officials in Jiangnan feel a little anxious.
Could it be that the second prince came to Jiangnan to rectify the officials here?
Yanque also had some idea of what they were thinking.
After settling down, he took no one with him, only two secret guards, changed his clothes, and prepared to go to the lively market to see the folk customs here.
Jiangnan is indeed a prosperous place, and the streets are extremely lively. There are lively merchants and hawkers on both sides, selling novel gadgets that are not available on Jingdong.
And the wealth is visible to the naked eye on the faces of the people.
Today, the two secret guards were not in the dark, but dressed as guards and followed Yanque.
Seeing this harmonious scene, I couldn't help but sigh, "Jiangnan is really rich, the people seem to be living a good life, and the local officials must be okay too..."
Yanque shook his head, "Don't you think? Isn't the harmony on this street a bit too much?
"No matter how wealthy a place is, there will always be ruffians and beggars on the streets, even in Kyoto."
"Why did this street look so lively and harmonious when we came here? There wasn't even a trace of dirt..."
The secret guard touched his nose sarcastically, "Then when I know you are coming, I will have to do some superficial work."
Yanque said meaningfully, "It's understandable to do superficial things, but if you do it too well, it's worth pondering... That's all. I'll just stay here for a long time and check it out slowly."
As they talked, they walked forward and saw people lining up in front of them.
Seeing that Yanque seemed interested, one of the secret guards said, "Wait here for a moment, I'll go ask."
After a while, the secret guard came back.
It is said that there is a medical clinic in front, and the shopkeeper is kind-hearted. On the sixth day of every month, he will give some free typhoid medicine to the poor people in front of the pharmacy. But this month, something seems to have happened.
It’s going to be moved to the end of the month.”
This was not a big deal, and the banquet passed by it after hearing about it, and the other people seemed to have gotten the news and dispersed one after another.
It happened that a child was talking to a woman nearby.
There was some worry on his face, "I don't know what's going on, but my family really has no money, and we are still waiting for this medicine to save my mother's life!"
The aunt seemed to know him very well. After thinking about it, she took out a few coins from her sleeve.
"My aunt only has so much on hand. The medicinal materials for the typhoid fever medicine sold in this medical center are all cheap. You can go to your house to see if there is any extra money, and first grab the medicine for your mother to drink.
"
The child looked grateful, "Oh! I know!"
Then he hesitated again, "But I can't read, and I don't know what medicinal ingredients are in that prescription..."
The aunt touched his head and took out a prescription from her arms.
"My son is studying in school and he is literate. He copied this prescription from the medical clinic. You can take it!"
The child was really happy now. He took the prescription and ran forward. But he ran too fast and fell. The prescription fluttered to the feet of Yanque...
Yanque picked it up and wanted to return it to the child.
But the next second, his eyes were attracted by the very familiar medicinal ingredients on the prescription, and he quickly froze on the spot.
