Chapter 545: Chapter 545 : (Extra) Jiang Muchen’s Love Story (29)
Liu Chengjiu did not feel comfortable staying in Shuiran Palace for much longer, so he decided to pack his meager belongings up right after they finished their meal.
Jiang Muchen chose to retreat to his study, but he was neither reading a report nor drafting one. He instead stared off into the distance, wondering what to do after Liu Chengjiu left.
Grovel in front of his mother?
Or issue an official apology to Qin Yanmei? The last time they met, the omega appeared to be terrified of him, and for a good reason too.
"Your Highness."
Jiang Muchen’s gaze flicked toward the sliding door separating his study from the corridor outside. It was Liu Chengjiu again.
"Yes?"
"This servant is here to bid farewell to you."
"..."
Jiang Muchen sighed inwardly.
"Do enter."
"Excuse me."
The door slid open, and Liu Chengjiu stood there with a neatly folded crimson-colored cloth in his hands. Once he unfolded the cloth and held it up before Jiang Muchen, it turned out to be a groom’s wedding robe. The intricate embroidery of a mighty lion, the sigil of Shuiran Palace, adorned the thick, and yet surprisingly soft silk.
"According to the wolf clan’s custom, a bride-to-be was supposed to prepare the wedding attires for both the bride and the groom," Liu Chengjiu explained. "Thankfully, I have finished Your Highness’s wedding robe in time."
In fact, that was what he had been working on these past few days. Although Jiang Muchen told him to stop, he didn’t.
He used two hours of his sleeping time every night to work on the wedding robe. At night, he had to rely on candlelight as a source of lighting. When he was particularly exhausted on certain days, he pricked his fingers on the needle several times and almost stained the wedding robe with blood.
Fortunately, his efforts paid off. He managed to finish the wedding robe after working on it several nights in a row.
"..."
Jiang Muchen’s face took on an ugly expression.
"This wedding robe is the token of my gratitude for all the help my brother and I received from Your Highness thus far. I would be very grateful if Your Highness is willing to wear this wedding robe on your auspicious day. If Your Highness doesn’t mind, I plan to embroider another wedding robe for the bride."
"..."
So he already heard about Qin Yanmei?
Well, to Jiang Muchen’s knowledge, the phoenix clan did not have such a custom. They usually ordered their wedding robes from the best silk weavers in the Heavenly Realm.
Might as well be Liu Chengjiu.
"Thank you," Jiang Muchen choked out before he took the wedding robe into his hands. He did not know much about embroideries, but Jiang Muchen could appreciate the exquisite craftsmanship evident in Liu Chengjiu’s work.
Liu Chengjiu bowed his head as a sign of respect.
"Well then, I shall work on the bridal wedding robe as soon as possible. Once it is done, I shall send it over to Shuiran Palace. Excuse me, Your Highness."
"Um."
Jiang Muchen called upon the head servant and gave him the instruction to provide a cloud carriage for Liu Chengjiu and Liu Chengyun.
"Take them wherever they want to go."
He did not even ask where the siblings were headed to, because it was no longer his business. Judging from Liu Chengjiu’s cold facial expression and his demeanor after they terminated their agreement, Jiang Muchen had the feeling that all he wanted to do was to go far, far away from Shuiran Palace.
The cloud carriage returned after only an hour had passed, thus Jiang Muchen couldn’t help but cater to his curiosity.
"Where did they go?" He asked the carriage driver.
"Reporting to Your Highness, the two young masters asked to be taken to the expansive field located beyond the confines of Shuiran Palace."
Jiang Muchen’s jaw dropped open theatrically.
What the hell was wrong with the wolves?
Were they so afraid that Jiang Muchen might track them down?
What was so wrong with letting the cloud carriage take them wherever they wanted to go?
Jiang Muchen was not planning to bother them anyway.
Hmph.
The alpha lion’s pride was wounded by this single incident, but he dismissed it quickly. Liu Chengjiu and Liu Chengyun were no longer his business.
They were free to do what they wanted, and so was Jiang Muchen.
And yet, Jiang Muchen couldn’t help but feel worried.
Driven by worry, he tirelessly searched every possible location where the siblings might have sought refuge.
Even after more than a week had passed, he was still unable to find the two wolves. One might even think that the clouds swallowed them up the day the cloud carriage left them in the empty field.
Jiang Muchen did not dare to openly show his feelings to people he was not close with because he still had a face to maintain. Thus whenever he felt unhappy, he went to seek Xie Jianyu out.
"You don’t look too happy these days," Xie Jianyu remarked when Jiang Muchen visited him for the third time in a week just to play a game of chess.
"I am neither happy nor sad," Jiang Muchen answered.
"Is that so? Or are you probably concerned about Liu Chengjiu?"
Jiang Muchen told him everything about the agreement he and Liu Chengjiu had, followed by the events surrounding its termination.
In response to Xie Jianyu’s question, Jiang Muchen let out a derisive snort.
"No, of course not. If Little Uncle didn’t mention him just now, I might have forgotten him already."
"Aha."
It was such a poorly-constructed lie, so naturally Xie Jianyu didn’t believe him at all.
Still, Xie Jianyu was Xie Jianyu. Just because he felt sorry for his nephew, he did not plan to give in at all.
He ended up defeating Jiang Muchen for the third time that week, after which Jiang Muchen ended up storming off Fuxi Palace in a sullen mood.
When he returned, the head servant had a surprise for him.
"Master, this gift just arrived in the afternoon. Kindly inspect it."
Jiang Muchen eyed the ornate brocade box suspiciously. He removed the lid and saw the familiar crimson-colored robe inside, this time embroidered with the Ling’an Palace’s nine-tailed fox sigil.
