Jiang Mian avoided the crowd and searched for the figures of Xiao Jingcheng or Taoist Yuanzheng.
Xiao Jingcheng and Taoist Yuanzheng lived in the same room. For such a grand event as Li Zhao and Jiang Zhiqing's wedding today, if they were to attend the ceremony, they would surely be together.
But as her gaze swept across one face after another, none of them was the person she was looking for.
Could it be that the purple aura on Xiao Jingcheng had been exhausted again and he had fallen into a coma once more, and the two of them were still in the room?
At this thought, Jiang Mian immediately lifted her skirt and ran towards the back courtyard.
Compared with the hustle and bustle of the front courtyard, the back courtyard was much quieter. The red lanterns and red silk hanging everywhere added a festive atmosphere to this mansion that had been silent for a long time. But as Jiang Mian ran on the veranda, she felt inexplicably flustered.
Li Zhao and Jiang Zhiqing's wedding chamber was set in the Wentaoyuan Courtyard, Li Zhao's former main courtyard. And now, only Jiang Mian, Taoist Yuanzheng, and Xiao Jingcheng lived in the Baoyue Pavilion where they had previously stayed.
When she returned to the Baoyue Pavilion, out of breath, Jiang Mian came to a closed door. Just as she raised her hand to knock, she found that the door was not tightly closed.
Her heart skipped a beat. She looked back to make sure no one was following her, then quickly pushed the door open and slipped in, and then closed the door tightly.
She patted her chest to catch her breath. When she turned around, she was stunned —
The room was empty. Not to mention Xiao Jingcheng, there was no sign of Taoist Yuanzheng either.
Where were they?
Jiang Mian stared blankly at the empty room, momentarily at a loss.
Could they have hidden on the beams or under the bed?
She looked up at the criss - crossing beams above her head and called out in a low voice, "Xiao Jingcheng, Xiao Jingcheng? Taoist priest? Where are you?"
As she called out softly, she walked towards the canopy bed. Just as she was about to squat down to check under the bed, she noticed something was pressed under the pillow.
She moved the pillow aside and found a folded letter.
Her heart sank suddenly. She took a deep breath, picked up the letter, and unfolded it in her hand.
The letter was written by Xiao Jingcheng. The handwriting was definitely his.
"Jiang Mian, by the time you read this letter, the Taoist priest and I should have already left Luozhou City. When I escorted you to the villa yesterday and then returned to the Li Mansion, I noticed some soldiers near the mansion. After returning to the Li Mansion, I immediately asked the Taoist priest to divinate. Your parents' wedding is extremely auspicious for you, but extremely inauspicious for me. To avoid causing you any trouble, the Taoist priest and I have decided to leave first. Don't worry about me. The Taoist priest will take care of me on the way. We will surely meet you again in the capital."
"By the way, I've also taken Dahuang with me. Consider it a hostage I've abducted. I'll return it to you when we reach the capital."
Jiang Mian couldn't believe it. A nameless emotion welled up in her chest instantly, making her nose turn sour and her eyes redden.
Xiao Jingcheng had left?
He had actually left?
A mist instantly covered her eyes, and her cheeks became wet. She couldn't help but shed tears.
She blinked her eyes to clear her vision, sniffed, and read the letter in her hand from beginning to end again.
It turned out that he had already敏锐察觉到 something was amiss around the Li Mansion yesterday. Presumably, Emperor Beisheng had already arrived in Luozhou yesterday but didn't show up for some reason. He only appeared in front of everyone after her father had welcomed her mother into the mansion today.
The Taoist priest said that this wedding was extremely auspicious for her. He must have been referring to the fact that Emperor Beisheng had appeared to congratulate her father and publicly proposed to enfeoff her father as a king, right?
Indeed, if her father accepted Emperor Beisheng's proposal, then from now on, her father would be the first non - imperial king in the Great Sheng Dynasty, and her status would naturally be different from before.
However, Emperor Beisheng's sudden arrival was not a good thing for Xiao Jingcheng.
After all, Xiao Jingcheng was the son of Emperor Nansheng and Queen Shen. Now that Emperor Nansheng was challenging Emperor Beisheng in the south, who knew if Emperor Beisheng would control Xiao Jingcheng to threaten Emperor Nansheng?
Moreover, with the help of the Jiaojiao Army and the Taoyuan Opera Troupe, Xiao Jingcheng now had a prestige and following in the south that was no less than that of Emperor Nansheng. For Emperor Beisheng, who knew if this wasn't a threat?
He hadn't fully recovered yet. Even with Taoist Yuanzheng's yellow talismans, he didn't dare to take such a risk.
It was for the best. If he were still in the Li Mansion, she would inevitably worry about him. Now, she just had to pretend she knew nothing and deal with Emperor Beisheng properly.
At least...
This time, he hadn't left without a word. He had left her a letter.
With the Taoist priest around, she wasn't worried about Xiao Jingcheng's safety. It was just that they had traveled such a long way together. She was just a little reluctant to part with him.
Wasn't she sad when Uncle didn't want to accompany them to Luozhou?
But why did it feel like a piece of her heart was missing this time?
She raised her sleeve to wipe the tears from her face, sniffed, refolded the letter in her hand, and then carefully placed it in her bosom. Only then did she feel a little better.
She sat on the edge of the bed for a while. When her emotions had completely calmed down, Jiang Mian got up, opened the door, and walked out.
Not far away, Suyu, Sulan, and a few others happened to be looking for her. When they saw her, they quickly said, "Miss, so you're here."
Jiang Mian stepped forward and asked, "What's going on?"
Suyu said, "Madam has been sent back to the wedding chamber. Now, Master is entertaining His Majesty and other guests in the front courtyard. Not seeing your figure, he sent us to look for you."
Jiang Mian knew that Li Zhao wouldn't send someone to look for her for no reason. Presumably, he had guessed something. She nodded and said, "I'll go there now."
On the way to the front courtyard, Sulan also said, "Come to think of it, why haven't we seen that Taoist priest and that Young Master Jing from yesterday?"
Jiang Mian turned back and said, "When you're outside, don't mention the existence of these two people to anyone. Just act as if they've never been in the mansion."
Suyu and the others quickly replied, "Yes, Miss."
Jiang Mian had thought that Xiao Tianchi's arrival would make the common people who had come to the Li Mansion to attend the ceremony leave in a hurry. But when she arrived at the front courtyard, she found that it was extremely lively outside. Xiao Tianchi was actually sitting among the common people, clinking glasses with them, and there wasn't a single guard behind him.
There was a big smile on his face, as if he had also been infected by the festive atmosphere. His complexion was much better than when he was in Dongli Town.
As if sensing her gaze, Xiao Tianchi looked in her direction and raised his glass.
On the other side, Li Zhao, dressed in wedding clothes, was also drinking with the guests.
Jiang Mian nodded to Xiao Tianchi, then quickly walked to Li Zhao's side with the maids behind her. She picked up a small cup of wine from the tray and said to the guests with a smile,
"Thank you, uncles and aunts, for coming to congratulate my parents today. I'll toast you all on behalf of my mother."
Twenty miles outside Luozhou City, a carriage was slowly moving north. On the carriage shaft, Taoist Yuanzheng, dressed in a Taoist robe with a moustache, sighed, "It's a pity, a pity. I didn't get to drink a mouthful of Brother Li's wedding wine."
The carriage curtain fluttered. Xiao Jingcheng was reclining against the carriage wall, and a big yellow dog was lying beside him.
He smiled and said, "Then save it. Wait until you drink the wedding wine at my wedding with Jiang Mian."