“What if they cause trouble?” Lan Lan worried.
“Silly, we’ll sneak away,” Long Junhao teased, wondering when his clever wife had become so naive.
“That’s the only way. I hope they won’t scold us later,” Lan Lan laughed.
Three days later, they secretly slipped out the back door and into the waiting horse-drawn carriage.
“Let’s go!” Long Junhao commanded, and the carriage sped away.
“Brother, I can’t take it anymore, I’m tired!” a voice suddenly came from under the seat. Long Junhao and Lan Lan exchanged smiles, realizing they hadn’t escaped their clever kids.
“Come out!” Long Junhao lifted the seat cover. The luxurious carriage was large enough to hide two children.
Long Zhen and Long Xin climbed out, grinning at their parents.
“How did you know we were going out?” Long Junhao asked sternly, which frightened the children into diving into Lan Lan’s arms.
They knew that when their father was angry, their mother’s embrace was the best refuge—once they reached her, their father would deflate like a punctured balloon.
Lingan City is about a thousand miles from the capital. During the rush of the horse-drawn carriage over several days, Lan Lan felt her skeletal frame was about to fall apart. Seeing the exhausted expressions of her two little treasures, she felt heartache. This trip was urgent because Long Junhao needed to hurry, unlike previous journeys where they could play along the way. Originally, she hadn’t planned to bring them, but they insisted. They had spent almost all their time on the road except for sleeping.
“Hao, where are we now? How much longer?” Lan Lan asked Long Junhao, who was resting with his eyes closed.
He opened his eyes and lifted the curtain to look outside. “Very soon, should be there in half an hour. Just bear with it a little longer.” He felt heartache seeing the exhausted expressions of his wife and children. Although he had sent Long Yun and others ahead, he still felt unease about the situation in Lingan.
They quickly arrived at Lingan City’s gates.
The gates were heavily guarded, with every passerby being checked. When the carriage passed, it was stopped for an inspection. Only when Long Junhao produced his token did the soldiers kneel and salute, allowing the carriage to proceed into Lingan City under everyone’s watchful eyes.
