"What, do you find me annoying living here?"
Jiang Mian blurted out instinctively, "Of course not!"
Her voice was a bit loud. Outside, Su Yu's voice came, "Miss?"
Jiang Mian quickly replied, "It's okay. I have the habit of talking to myself. You don't need to mind."
Su Yu responded and fell silent.
Jiang Mian turned around and met Xiao Jingcheng's smiling eyes. She realized that Xiao Jingcheng was doing it on purpose and glared at him fiercely twice.
But she still explained it to him.
Today, besides the Li Mansion, a mansion in the east of Luozhou City was also decorated in red.
It was a mansion that Li Zhao had quietly transferred from the Li family back then. On the wedding day, Jiang Zhiqing would take the bridal sedan from that mansion and be welcomed back to the Li Mansion by Li Zhao.
Jiang Mian was already eighteen years old. She didn't have to go with them. She just needed to wait in the Li Mansion for Jiang Zhiqing to enter.
But she didn't want to miss any moment of her mother's wedding, so she decided to go with Jiang Zhiqing. And they would go to that mansion to prepare after noon tomorrow.
If Xiao Jingcheng was still hiding here, he might very likely be discovered. Moreover, with her away for such a long time, no one would take care of him. If something went wrong, it would be bad.
Xiao Jingcheng nodded after listening. "I understand. I'll leave later. I won't stay here and make things difficult for you."
Seeing that he agreed so readily, Jiang Mian felt a bit unhappy.
It seemed as if he couldn't wait to leave.
Had she mistreated him or bullied him?
Feeling inexplicably angry, Jiang Mian stopped talking to him. With a straight face, she sent Xiao Jingcheng back into the green gauze cabinet.
Xiao Jingcheng clearly noticed that she was a bit unhappy, but he didn't know what she was angry about. He recalled his answer just now and was very confused.
He didn't seem to say anything wrong?
Jiang Mian pursed her lips and tidied up the bowls and chopsticks. Then she called Su Yu in to take the things away.
"It's late at night. There's still a lot to do tomorrow. I'm going to rest. You take these things back to the kitchen and go to sleep too."
Su Yu curtsied. "Yes, Miss."
After Su Yu left, Jiang Mian left only one lamp on and then lay down on the bed.
She originally wanted to wait until the maids were all asleep and then secretly send Xiao Jingcheng away. But perhaps she was too tired. After her head touched the pillow, she fell asleep soon.
The sleeping girl's breathing was steady. Her cheek was pressed by the pillow, and her lips were slightly pouted, looking very cute.
In the darkness, a figure slowly approached her and then sat down beside her bed.
Walking this short distance had already made a layer of sweat break out on Xiao Jingcheng's forehead. He looked down at the girl's peaceful sleeping face. Finally, he couldn't help but reach out his hand and gently stroke the girl's temple, brushing away the stray hair that was covering her cheek.
She was really sound asleep and didn't notice his arrival at all.
Xiao Jingcheng just looked at her quietly for a while. He smiled and didn't wake her up. He planned to get up and leave alone. But when he pulled his finger away, his sleeve was grabbed by a force and pulled back.
The girl grabbed his sleeve and gently moved her cheek in his direction, mumbling something.
Xiao Jingcheng had the hearing of a dog and heard it very clearly.
"Xiao Jingcheng, don't sleep..."
"My parents' wedding. You must... come and watch..."
So she was worried that he would wake up early and miss her parents' wedding banquet.
Xiao Jingcheng looked at his body. The chains condensed by the purple qi were a bit thicker than before. Relying on this purple qi, he could last until he left Luozhou.
He whispered in reply, "Okay, I promise you. I will definitely go to drink your parents' wedding wine."
Jiang Mian let out a soft laugh and happily let go of his sleeve.
Xiao Jingcheng didn't linger any longer. He got up and left.
Although his body was weak and powerless, how could this trouble the noble prince? Until he pushed open the door of Taoist Yuanzheng's room and walked in, he didn't wake anyone up.
Taoist Yuanzheng had drunk some wine and was sleeping soundly. He didn't know that Xiao Jingcheng had come back at all.
The next day, woken up by the sunlight, Jiang Mian opened her eyes. She was dazed for a moment and immediately remembered that she had fallen asleep and forgotten to send Xiao Jingcheng away.
While Su Yu and the others were still asleep, she quickly got up and walked around to the back of the green gauze cabinet. But she found that Xiao Jingcheng was no longer on the bed behind the green gauze cabinet. Only Dahuang, curled up at the end of the bed and sleeping soundly, was there.
Hearing the noise, Dahuang opened his eyes, yawned, stood up, shook his fur, and jumped in front of Jiang Mian, enthusiastically acting coquettishly.
Jiang Mian stared blankly at the empty bed, letting Dahuang lick her fingers with his tongue.
"He's gone. When did he leave?"
Why didn't he even say goodbye to her?
It seemed that he really couldn't wait to leave.
Well, it was because she was afraid of the dark and ghosts that she insisted on keeping him here.
On the other side, Taoist Yuanzheng, who opened his eyes and found an extra person on the opposite bed, was also startled.
"Goodness! I thought there was a ghost!"
Xiao Jingcheng had already woken up. He snorted. "You're a Taoist who deals with ghosts all year round. Are you still afraid of seeing ghosts?"
"Why did you come back?" After the shock, Taoist Yuanzheng became curious again and asked teasingly, "What, did you make little Doctor Jiang angry and get kicked out?"
Xiao Jingcheng gave him a disdainful look. "You're overthinking. She dotes on me so much. How could she be angry with me?"
Thinking of her mumbling in her dream last night, Xiao Jingcheng still felt sweet in his heart.
After washing up, Taoist Yuanzheng supported Xiao Jingcheng and was about to go out to the flower hall for breakfast.
Jiang Mian's wing room was directly opposite Taoist Yuanzheng's. There was a patio in the middle. Coincidentally, when they went out, Jiang Mian was just being escorted out by Su Yu and the others on the opposite side. They ran into each other.
From afar, Xiao Jingcheng was in a daze for a moment. He didn't know if it was because Jiang Mian's skin was too fair or the jewelry on her head was too dazzling. He lifted the corner of his lips and smiled at Jiang Mian.
He thought that Jiang Mian would respond to him. But unexpectedly, the girl gave him a cold look and turned around expressionlessly and left.
Xiao Jingcheng's smile instantly froze on his face.
Taoist Yuanzheng tried hard not to laugh and gloated a bit. "Your Highness just said something, right? Little Doctor Jiang dotes on you so much? She doesn't even want to pay attention to you. You still say you didn't make her angry last night?"
Xiao Jingcheng looked completely confused.
What did he do last night? He didn't do anything last night. He even didn't want to wake her up and left considerately by himself without letting anyone know.
"As the saying goes, a woman's heart is like the needle in the sea. I've really seen it today." Xiao Jingcheng was a bit depressed.
Taoist Yuanzheng said meaningfully, "Not so, not so. If a girl gets angry, there must be a reason. Your Highness should reflect on what you did wrong."
Finally, he added, "If Doctor Mo were here, he might have already found a way to coax her."
Xiao Jingcheng: "!!!!"