As if ice-cold water had been poured over him, the young man subconsciously turned his head with straightened brows at the source of a silent whisper; of course, he knows where the call came from. After all, this is the courtyard that only has another unfamiliar resident.
And that's the new bitch.
No matter how faint the voice is, it's so soft, quiet, and distinct.
'A'wang....'
He gritted his teeth solemnly.
Dare to call! He wants someone's head to roll.
He heard it clearly like was his own heartbeat, his mind can't help but be pulled back into a sea of memories. It makes his mood low and his heart was sour, bitter, and has never been sweet since then.
If there was unspoken anger, no one can really tell under his trained facial expressions.
After a while, it didn't take a long time for the young man to retreat his line of sight.
He even lost the thought of talking back to his alpha father right there as he quickly left without turning back.
With that, like a thief of the night, the mysterious young man had disappeared when the sunlight rise the following day.
Jiang Cheng was strangely taken aback while he silently tried to close the gap of slightly opened doors.
He felt it straight away as those unseen eyes were directly met his, he can feel vague of strangeness and hostility toward him. Unknowingly his heart and mind felt uncomfortable, and it was giving him uncertainty.
Jiang Cheng has no idea who the other person is, nor does he know the young man's identity; all he knows is that the man's beauty bears a passing resemblance to the third mad prince, Xi Huan.
Even though it was quite dark outside, there are sets of light all around San Rong's mansion. That's how Jiang Cheng caught a glimpse of somebody's face.
Is it really a younger version of the mad prince, and quite has familiar lines to his mother even?
Jiang Cheng's heart is now going through ups and downs.
Then, before he could think any further, Jiang Cheng's ears were suddenly alerted to the sounds of movement outside. He dragged his frail body back to bed tremblingly, if it hadn't been for the feeling of oppression from outside and noises from someone else, Jiang Cheng wouldn't have dared to stand.
But it struck him with uneasiness.
So he got out of bed and went outside to see what was going on.
He never saw Xi Huan, but the thought of him standing near the door kept him quiet.
He remained silent in his bed, hoping that this insane man would not come in and suddenly take out his eyes. With this thought, he closed his eyes anxiously until he fell asleep, unaware that the other person outside has remained as if he is guarding someone not to flee.
"Young master Cheng, you woke up," the female maid said as Jiang Cheng opened his eyes in doubts from a dream he couldn't remember. He met an expectant expression with a slight turn of his head.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, wanting to inquire as to why she appeared to be pleased. But a mouth that couldn't wait to share the happy news blurted it out.
"A famous cultivator from the Gusu Lan Sect is visiting the Empire! We only have a visitor from the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, but it appears the goddess of luck has blessed us!"
"Who is Lan?" is the first thing that comes to mind. Which he doesn't understand it to himself, and his hand supporting his side was clenched, his eyelids drooped, and the blue eyes that were covered by the light by the eyelashes turned into a gloomy pool of water after thinking about certain past events involved in his parents' deaths.
Jiang Cheng had no idea how he would deal with some of them, and if he recalls correctly, his Da shixiong was should be already married to the second young master Lan, Lan Wangji.
His sister may have already left for Lanling...for Yunmeng...but what about that person?
Even though he has no idea why he is having these thoughts, he has a strong desire to no longer care. He couldn't explain why he felt repulsive just thinking about them; even if he just thought about them, his heart felt like it was being chewed by mental anguish.
Jiang Cheng looked down at the pair of bright eyes staring up at him while the maid washed his feet, then subconsciously raised his hand and gently started rubbing the young female maid on the head, with a trace of surprise and confusion on their both faces.
He awkwardly retracted his hand, uttered a bad lie, "Habit...", and then looked away, embarrassed.
That's a bad lie and a bad habit, in his opinion.
When did he like patting people's heads, as tough as there are young people around him?
Just as Jiang Cheng was finishing his breakfast, a red-clothed figure appeared on the outskirts of the bustling city.
The few people can't help but return their gaze, like curious birds.
The big guards looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief when they realized it was an individual rather than a "malicious thief" on the border.
The person standing in the walled city at this time is the infamous Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian.
According to the estimated time, he was supposed to have a chance meeting with his nephew, who arrived in this city three months ago for an unknown reason.
He waited and waited in the city, but he didn't see any familiar faces wearing straw veil hats.
Then Wei Wuxian wants to consider that he might as well check out the city and have some fun.
It is difficult for him to be alone these days after being married to Lan, and Lan Wangji will be here soon after for him failing to return on time.
After deciding to buy some wine within the city, he sighed, a smile running across his lips, revealing the handsome matured face of a man.
In San Rong Mansion.
Later, when Jiang Cheng saw the black-robed third prince return from palace duty, he was quite impressed by the other outstanding aura going around him, as if he is a cultivator in higher and later stages, and he couldn't even think and understand why this person despised cultivators.
When in reality, the other appeared to have practiced before, but if you consider the poison slowly killing this person's body, he would be dead in a few years.
Maybe...after failing once, he loathes cultivation, so cultivators for that?
"Would you like to go out, Young Master Cheng?"
"Out?" he couldn't help but wonder as he looked at the female maid with a raised eyebrow.
Is he allowed to do so, and will the third prince let his male pet out?
He also ended up getting a chicken body. Such frailty. So delicate. Jiang Cheng lowered his head and gave a sullen, bitter smile.
How about saying no to that?
But he wants to know what's going on outside as well as look for materials that will help him with his body.
He didn't say anything else; he might as well nod and pass up the opportunity to find an escape.
The third prince stood outside the door, nodding to the housekeeper before leaving to return to his study.
—-At the moment, inside the Cheng's Mansion.
"Senior brother, are you going out?" When the young man drinking a cup of tea raised his head, the cold glint in his eyes vanished, as if the moment he spoke to his twin brother didn't happen.
When the senior brother smiled at them, the young junior couldn't help but think of his senior as a god, and he couldn't stop blushing a beat.
Jiang Zhu nodded elegantly, "Yes, I hope to bring something back to the A'jie when I return to Yunmeng."
[ End of Chapter ]
Shenma: I appreciate all of your love and support. I remember editing the draft to over a thousand words, then accidentally deleting it, and thinking, "..."I think I'd better go to bed first, and the next thing I know, it's been a year since I've returned for Cheng Bao, and he's still my favorite of all, and I'll make stories for him, as you've already seen. And I'm also loving the Original Shen Qing Qiu (Shen Jiu) so there are future works for him too. He is my favorite Shizun, hehe.
I'm not going to say when the next update will be because I'm afraid it will be three years or so. Thank you very much, and for those who are waiting like lovers, I wish you happiness and true love.
And everyone please be safe and healthy.
See you again.