On the road to the Prefecture, De’an kept glancing at Zhao Jing, who was sitting inside the carriage.

’It’s been three days. Hasn’t Jing adjusted yet?’

’Is this the difference between a married man and an unmarried one?’

He was a homebody himself, but this rare chance to be away from his parents filled him with a sense of freedom and relaxation, despite his apprehension. If he had wings, he’d be soaring through the sky and doing a few loops.

In contrast, Jing, who was usually so composed, had been absent-minded these past few days, as if he’d left his soul back at home.

On several occasions, he’d not only held his book upside down but had also come close to pouring tea up his nose.

De’an wasn’t the only one who noticed this strange behavior. The other men in the carriage had seen it too.

For their journey to the Prefecture, they had splurged on a horse-drawn carriage.

Just as Wang Jun had said, if they all shared the expense, it wouldn’t cost them much.

And although a horse-drawn carriage was more expensive than an ox-cart, you get what you pay for.

For one, horses were faster. Arriving at the Prefecture a day early would save a day’s travel expenses. For another, the weather was currently changing from cold to hot. The carriage’s enclosed compartment offered better insulation, which would help them avoid catching a cold and fever that could delay their journey and the imperial examination.

Thanks to Wang Jun’s persuasion, Zhao Jing, De’an, Huang Chen, and Ding Shutian decided to rent a carriage together.

As for the wealthy young master Wang Jun, who had money to burn, he shared a carriage with his twin brother, Wang Xiao. Chu Xun, meanwhile, hired a carriage for himself.

The two young masters of the Wang Family were also bringing many local specialties and gifts for their parents, younger sister, and maternal relatives. When you added in their servants, the elderly doctor hired to look after their health, and the dart masters protecting them along the road, the convoy was quite impressive. It consisted of a full five horse-drawn carriages and seven ox-carts.

Furthermore, dart masters in martial attire patrolled back and forth on tall steeds alongside the carriages and carts. No one would dare to bother them unless it was a very large band of mountain bandits.

With their strength in numbers, everyone was in high spirits. This gave Huang Chen and Ding Shutian the leisure to tease Zhao Jing. "He’s here in body, but has he left his heart at home?"

"I never would have guessed Mr. Zhao was such a homebody."

"If I had a beautiful wife and a kind mother at home, I’d be a homebody too."

Seeing Zhao Jing still lost in a daze, the corner of De’an’s mouth twitched.

’He couldn’t blame Huang Chen and Ding Shutian for teasing Jing. Seeing him like this, he wanted to join in.’

’But he was his "brother-in-law," after all. He had to help him save face.’

De’an feigned concern and waved a hand in front of Zhao Jing’s face. "You’re not getting carriage-sick, are you?"

Huang Chen and Ding Shutian’s faces fell. "If he’s really getting sick, that’s terrible. This whole journey is going to be hell for him."

"Mr. Zhao’s complexion is rosy, though. He doesn’t look..."

Before Huang Chen could finish, Zhao Jing snapped his book shut. He frowned and said, "I do feel a bit unwell. Ever since we got in the carriage, my chest has felt tight, I’ve been short of breath, and my heart feels heavy."

The others all frowned at his words, De’an included.

’At that moment, he couldn’t quite tell how much of what Jing was saying was true and how much was an act.’

"What are we going to do? We’re not even halfway there. Are we going to have to switch to the waterways?"

"Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Why don’t you go see Mr. Wo first and get a pill for motion sickness? If that doesn’t help, we can brew some medicinal tea when we reach the post station. If you’re still not better after that, we can talk about switching routes."

"That sounds like a good plan. Wait here, Mr. Zhao, I’ll go get it for you."

Zhao Jing replied calmly, "There’s no rush. We can talk about it when we get to the post station. I don’t want to disturb everyone and hold up the journey."

Huang Chen and Ding Shutian were about to protest, but De’an had already seen through it. ’Carriage-sick, my ass! He’s faking it!’

’They had grown up together, and he could almost never fool Jing. But when Jing wanted to fool him, he fell for it every single time.’

’But after being tricked for so many years, he had learned a thing or two.’

’At the very least, he could easily tell that Jing was just messing with them now.’

’If he were really sick, he would have found a way to deal with it long ago. He never would have let it drag on this long. He was probably just using it as an excuse to stop them from prying into why he was so out of it.’

’Tsk. Trying to fool me? He could tell that to the ghosts.’ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

But the commotion in their carriage had been overheard.

Outside the carriage, the dart masters were constantly patrolling, missing no sound or movement.

They were in the employ of the Wang Family, but they also knew the convoy was full of talented men with a good chance of becoming Scholars. Since these men were also valued guests of the two young Wang masters, the guards naturally didn’t dare to slack off.