March is the time when Chang'an is beautiful. Flowers are blooming everywhere in the gardens of wealthy families in the city. The Qujiang Pool in the southeast is full of tourists. Even on both sides of the cement avenue outside Mingde Gate, the small willow trees planted in that year have grown into shade. Breezes of breeze flow, and thousands of green branches dance, looking graceful, like a girl washing silk in the water town of Jiangnan.

This cement avenue eastward is the road leading to Luoyang, and it is also one of the busiest trade routes in the Tang Dynasty. Countless carriages travel between the two places every day, especially in spring, where the road is extremely busy, and there are various small vendors on both sides of the road, making a fortune through this busy season.

However, today, a large convoy was advancing on this crowded concrete road. The convoy was driven by a hundred-man cavalry, following the banner of the Qi Palace, followed by more than a dozen large cars. In the middle of these vehicles was an extra large carriage. The window on the left side of the car was open, revealing a lively girl's face, looking at the situation on both sides of the road with her beautiful big eyes curiously.

"Grandma, look outside. Before we arrived in Chang'an City, we were already so lively. I believe that when we arrived in the city, it would be even more prosperous than before." The girl said excitedly. She was Caier who returned to Chang'an from Taiwan. In addition to her, Queen Xiao was also in the car.

"I haven't come back for a few years. The willow trees on this road have grown so big, and there are so many people who rely on the road to do small businesses. When we left Chang'an, there was no such scene yet!" Queen Xiao in the car looked at the scene outside and said with some emotion. Her health is getting worse day by day, so we must hurry up to find a good husband for Caier.

In fact, Caier didn't know that Empress Xiao chose her husband for her. She only knew that she and her grandmother had lived with her cousin for a few years, and her grandmother wanted to Chang'an. That was why she asked her to come back together. Although Caier liked Taiwan more than Chang'an, after all, it was her birthplace, but when she thought that her grandmother was old and had no relatives around her, she came back without hesitation.

The carriages on the cement avenue were flowing, and even if they were divided into left and right roads, they still couldn't get faster. Some anxious owners were just concerned about rushing the car. As a result, a vehicle collision occurred, and some serious cases would cause overturning, causing injuries to the people in the car. Fortunately, when Queen Xiao came back this time, Li Yan sent two hundred guards, and now they were guarding front and back. With the banner of the Prince Qi Mansion, no one dared to approach.

It was almost noon that the convoy finally arrived outside Mingde Gate. Speaking of which, Empress Xiao’s identity is very special. Although she is Li Yan’s grandmother, she is also the queen of the former Sui Dynasty. So in order to avoid suspicion, Empress Xiao has always been very low-key. When she came back this time, she did not tell anyone, and even Concubine Yang didn’t know. Therefore, logically speaking, there should be no one to greet her.

However, just when the convoy arrived in front of the city gate, a team of high-headed horses came up. The team was led by a 16 or 17-year-old boy. Although he looked a little thin, he was handsome and had a unique temperament. He could tell at a glance that he was extraordinary. As for behind this boy, there were all strong men, and each of them had blood on his body. It seemed that he should be the guard of the boy.

When the guards in front of Queen Xiao's convoy saw the boy riding a horse, they immediately straightened their bodies and controlled the horses to the sides, leaving a road. The only one who could make Li Yan's guards so respectful was naturally the current crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, Li Zhi.

Caier in the carriage seemed to have known that Li Zhi was coming for a long time, and she could not help but know that she was coming out of the window with a smile. However, when she saw the handsome boy at the horse, her pink face turned red, and there was a little shyness in her eyes when she looked at Li Zhi.

When Li Zhi, who was riding a horse, could not help but feel shocked when he saw the beautiful girl at the window. When Caier left Chang'an, he was just a ten-year-old girl, but when he met again five years later, the other party had grown into a graceful girl, and she was even more beautiful than he had imagined.

When Li Zhi and Caier first met, although Li Zhi was only twelve years old and didn't understand the relationship between men and women, he had a different feeling about Caier. Unfortunately, they had been together for less than a year. Caier's father Yang Ming passed away, and Caier had been living with Li Yan since then. However, even so, the connection between Li Zhi and Caier had never been broken. They kept telling each other about their lives by sending letters to each other.

For example, as Li Zhi, as the prince, he has too many heavy responsibilities, and he cannot tell some things to others, but he does not hide anything from Caier. Whether he is happy or sad, he will be the first to think of writing a letter to Caier and sharing his thoughts with Caier. Perhaps it is this spatial distance that makes the two people closer to each other, and Caier's return is also what Caier told him about the news.

Although Li Zhi felt a little surprised when he saw Caier, he quickly reacted, rode his horse to the side of the carriage, then slammed his saddle and said to Caier with a smile: "Caier, how are you okay if you haven't seen each other for a few years? I heard that the sixth brother has two sons, isn't he very cute?"

When Caier heard Li Zhixian ask him if he was fine, he couldn't help feeling sweet, but he deliberately made an angry expression on his face and said, "Hmph, of course I am fine, but my cousin has two sons, but you have never been there once, and you have never seen an uncle like you!"

Li Zhi heard it. Caier was blaming himself for not seeing her. However, as the prince, it was not easy for him to leave Chang'an, let alone go to Taiwan. Therefore, he said with grievance: "Caier, I dream of going to Taiwan, but you see, I not only have to go to the military academy, but also a group of old masters forced me to learn this and that. Even if I write to you, I have to squeeze in time. Sometimes I have to stay up until midnight and have no time to go out!"

When she heard Li Zhi say pitiful, and based on her understanding of correspondence over the past few years, Caier also knew that Li Zhi was telling the truth. In fact, she didn't blame Li Zhi for not seeing her. It was just that the two had not met for so long that the little girl didn't know what to say, so she used this matter to make things difficult for Li Zhi.

Queen Xiao didn't know about Caier's correspondence with Li Zhi, but when she was in the carriage, she found something was wrong with Caier. The closer she was to Chang'an, the more excited she was, until she heard a man talking to Caier outside, and Caier was also very familiar with the other party, which surprised Queen Xiao. After all, she and Caier had been away from Chang'an for so long, and Caier had not been in Chang'an for a long time, so how could she know a man?

With the question in her heart, Queen Xiao looked out the window, but when she saw that it was Li Zhi, she was also shocked. As a person who experienced it, Queen Xiao could naturally see that Caier and Li Zhi had an unusual relationship, but then her face changed drastically, and she said to Caier who was facing back to her, "Caier, there are so many people on the road, be careful to maintain her demeanor!"

After hearing Queen Xiao's words, Caier woke up and was so scared that she stuck out her tongue. She was so happy when she saw Li Zhi just now that she had no time to be happy, but forgot that they were at the gate of the city. There were people coming and going on the street. She was an unmarried girl and it was really not suitable to joke with a man.

Thinking of this, Caier immediately made a cute face to Li Zhi, and immediately retracted her little head into the window. She originally wanted to act coquettishly at Queen Xiao and tell the old man not to be angry, but Queen Xiao stopped the carriage and then helped her get out of the car with the maid.

Li Zhi also felt a little embarrassed when he heard Queen Xiao’s words in the car. When he was about to greet Queen Xiao, he saw that the other party had gotten out of the carriage. Then Empress Xiao saluted him and said, “I brought my granddaughter back to Chang’an. I didn’t expect that I would meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince by chance. Please forgive me for my disrespectful crime!”

Seeing that although Empress Xiao was well-polite, she felt like she was keeping people from thousands of miles away. This made Li Zhi feel a little uncomfortable for a moment, so he had to reply dryly: "Mrs. Sui State does not need to be too polite, I... I came here to welcome Caier back to Chang'an!"

Although Li Zhi pointed out that he came to greet him specifically, Queen Xiao seemed to have not heard it and still lowered her head and said, "Your Highness is busy with official duties, and our grandparents and grandchildren are exhausted all the way, so I'm really tired. Let's leave you with you!"

After Queen Xiao finished speaking, she ignored Li Zhi's reaction and asked someone to help her get onto the carriage. Then she ordered the convoy to start again, leaving Li Zhi and his group there. Cai'er didn't know why her grandmother was so cold to Li Zhi. She stretched her head out of the window anxiously and looked at Li Zhi with reluctance. However, she was quickly pulled into the car by Queen Xiao to sit down. No matter how coquettish she acted, it was useless.

Li Zhi looked at Caier's convoy away, but stood blankly on the horse. The expression on his face changed. He wanted to chase him but didn't dare to chase him. After a long time, he suddenly sighed, lowered his head and said nothing, looking so indescribable that he looked so ugly.

At the same time, Empress Changsun in Tai Chi Palace also received news that Li Zhi had come outside the city to pick up people. However, when she heard that the person Li Zhi was greeting was Yang Caier, her brows suddenly frowned. After a long time, she ordered: "Come, come and invite Concubine Yang!"
Chapter completed!