Li Xinyue only then remembered that her father had also slipped a letter into Qin Yichen's hands today.
Since the letter was for Qin Yichen, she did not have the habit of prying into other people's privacy. Although curious about what was written inside, she did not hesitate to ask.
Qin Yichen was able to mention this letter, so he intended to keep the contents private.
"The contents of the letter are straightforward. My father-in-law said he would privately collect evidence of my innocence to help me reverse the verdict, and he also hopes that I can treat you well."
"That's all?" Li Xinyue was a little unbelievable.
Qin Yichen affirmed: "Well, just that."
Li Xinyue fell into thought again.
After her parents came to see her off today, she first thought of her father's situation at court.
Li Yuanming was Qin Yichen's father-in-law. Would Emperor Shunwu vent his anger on him as a result?
If this is the case, wouldn't Li Yuanming's days be like an ant on a chopping block, with the possibility of being crushed by Emperor Shunwu at any time?
Seeing Li Xinyue lost in thought, Qin Yichen spoke again.
"My father-in-law is clean and honest in the office and handles things orderly. The emperor is reluctant to lose such a capable minister, so don't worry too much."
After listening to Qin Yichen's words, Li Xinyue felt slightly more at ease.
"It's getting late. Go to bed earlier. We still have to travel tomorrow." Qin Yichen was worried that Li Xinyue's body could not stand it.
After talking so much and wasting a lot of brain cells thinking, Li Xinyue was also sleepy now.
"Okay, you rest early too."
She thought she could fall asleep as soon as she closed her eyes, but Li Xinyue still tossed and turned, and even though she was sleepy, she still couldn't fall asleep.
The space in the wooden cart was a little small, and she and Qin Yichen were almost pressed tightly together.
Feeling each other's body heat, Li Xinyue and Qin Yichen also had trouble sleeping.
Hearing her breathing was not so steady, Qin Yichen spoke again softly.
"Pretending to be in a coma is not a lasting solution. I plan to wake up after we are out of the capital."
"You can decide the timing yourself." Li Xinyue replied vaguely.
Qin Yichen had ulterior motives when he said this.
The purpose of what he said was to draw out Li Xinyue.
Who knew? She just told him to decide and didn't say anything he didn't already know.
"Aren't you curious why I will wake up after we're out of the capital?"
"I guess you're worried the emperor's spies are watching us."
Li Xinyue thought this, and Qin Yichen's ideas matched hers completely.
"If it were just me, it would be okay. Evading from here would be easy, and I could disappear forever without being found.
But there are too many Qin women and children. I can't take care of everyone.
Moreover, your maternal relatives are in the capital city. Once I take you away, those relatives of yours in the capital will also likely get implicated.
I feel even more sorry for you, having just married into the Qin family but having to be exiled along with us.
My mother and sisters-in-law are pitiful enough already, having to suffer this misfortune. "
His heartfelt words unconsciously showed that Qin Yichen had begun to believe in Li Xinyue.
Li Xinyue could understand Qin Yichen's helplessness.
After all, she had witnessed his martial arts skill with her own eyes. Trying to escape under the noses of these yamen runners was simply a walk in the park for him.
This showed that Qin Yichen was not a selfish person.
"It's happened already. We need to protect our family and ourselves now, with the first goal being to arrive safely in the northwest."
As for her knowledge of subsequent historical events, Li Xinyue should have mentioned it.
Because her arrival had already changed the number of times, Qin Yichen was recorded as being beaten with a plank.
She believed this history would likely change because of her arrival.
Qin Yichen was already disheartened; he did not dare guarantee that the whole family could arrive intact in the northwest.
But after listening to Li Xinyue's words, he felt a surge of confidence.
He was a towering man, the only hope for the Qin family.
If he had even considered going with the flow, how would his mother, wife, sisters, and sisters-in-law manage it?
He had to pull himself together and face all future difficulties positively.
"I will do my best to keep everyone alive."
It was the too-depressing content of their conversation that successfully distracted Li Xinyue.
At that moment, she had forgotten that she was sleeping beside a man.
The two chatted briefly about plans again, and Li Xinyue unknowingly fell asleep.
Hearing the steady breathing beside him, Qin Yichen thoughtfully pulled the quilt up to cover her before slowly closing his eyes.
Although Li Xinyue had fallen asleep, her habit of getting up early from her previous life had not been lost.
She woke up before dawn.
Taking advantage of the others' stillness, she took the quilt covering her and Qin Yichen and put it away.
Qin Yichen had been in a light sleep state all night. Feeling the disappearance of the quilt on him, he knew Li Xinyue was getting up.
Li Xinyue looked around; everyone was still sleeping, and the yamen runner on duty was not as alert as in the night's first half.
She took out two more white steamed buns and some preserved meat and handed them to Qin Yichen and the water flask.
"Take this opportunity while everyone is still asleep to eat something first."
"Okay." Qin Yichen replied, quickly taking the food and getting off the cart.
Not long after Qin Yichen returned from eating and drinking, people began waking up one after another.
The yamen runners began distributing the black steamed buns again.
Everyone looked at the black steamed buns, comparable to rocks and highly unbearable.
But to survive, they could only force themselves to swallow it.
The treatment of the Qin family was different.
The Eighth Old Zhou had said there would still be some white steamed buns for them in the morning.
He was as good as his word, leaving enough white steamed buns for the yamen runners to last until Yunlai County and giving the rest to the Qin family members.
What the others didn't know was that the reason why the Eighth Old Zhou gave white steamed buns to the Qin Family was not because he and Peng Wang were so grateful for Li Xinyue's life-saving grace.
The real reason was that they had miscalculated on this errand.
Usually, before departure, they would prepare two kinds of steamed buns: the black ones were free, and they could earn some silver taels from the white ones.