On the other side, Murong Ying, upon seeing Jiang Xuan obediently accept her, leaned her face against Jiang Xuan’s shoulder.
“Xuan, your scent makes me feel an old serenity, you can never escape from me this lifetime.”
Jiang Xuan: “……”
Jiang Xuan knew that this Female War God had ill intentions, but fortunately, he used another identity when traveling away from home.
He definitely wouldn’t use his real name, otherwise, those sponsors would find their way to the Jiang Family, making it difficult for him to explain to his dear mother.
So before coming to the Murong Mansion, Jiang Xuan went under the name Lin Xuan.
Initially, in order to get this chance to earn spirit stones, he made up a tragic backstory with no shame.
Lin Xuan, since childhood, led a miserable life: missing father, dead mother on the battlefield, and utterly alone but determined to make it on his own, had plenty of experience as a servant.
Lin Xuan came to work at the Murong Mansion, where he didn’t care much about how many spirit stones they gave him; he mainly dreamed of serving and repaying the Female War God who protected the dynasty.
The backstory he blurted out, combined with his innocent-look caused by some cosmetics, immediately tugged at the heartstrings of the women recruiting workers.
Thereupon, he got the job right away, even without verifying his identity.
Such a hopeful, optimistic, and unassuming teenager who’s also determined to repay Lady Murong—how much sweeter could it be? Surely, no need to investigate further!
Little did Jiang Xuan know that all his made-up tales were already known to Murong Ying.
In fact, the woman recruiting workers spoke highly of Jiang Xuan in front of Murong Ying.
This made Murong Ying pay extra attention to Jiang Xuan from the very beginning.
In a quaint, vintage lady’s chamber.
With the sky growing dark, Jiang Xuan showed signs of nervousness coming close to Murong Ying.
“Mistress Murong, I… I’m here to… attend to you…”
“Is there something wrong? Do I look so terrifying to you, or do you secretly rebel against me?”
When Murong Ying finished speaking, she pulled Jiang Xuan towards herself.
Immediately, Jiang Xuan was embraced by a soft pair of arms.
“Don’t deny the fact that this is what you desire. I’ll make your wish come true, then.”
Jiang Xuan: “????”
Feeling her hot breath, Jiang Xuan quickly said:
“Umm…Mistress Murong… Attending to you is a duty assigned to me as a servant.
But, compared to this, I’d prefer being rewarded with something else. It doesn’t matter how valuable it is; whatever you give me, I’ll treasure forever.”
Outwardly, Jiang Xuan looked bashfully anticipating, yet internally he felt disdain.
[I want me to attend to you? That costs extra spirit stones! Even if I can’t escape, I won’t let her treat me unfairly!]
[Just now, I intentionally talked this way, she should gift me something of great value, which I’d gladly take.]
However, after some contemplation, Murong Ying took out a simple-looking outfit from her storage ring and handed it to Jiang Xuan.
This baffled Jiang Xuan; perhaps this outfit was a priceless treasure made of rare materials?
As Murong Ying whispered in his ear, “This dress was given to me by my mother, who wished me to wear it when marrying my ideal husband. It’s considered family heirloom.
Now, I’m entrusting it to you, so when we wed, I’ll be ready to wear it and marry you.”
Jiang Xuan: “…….}”
Upon hearing these words, Jiang Xuan realized the seriousness of the situation.
Having just known each other for two days, they were already talking about marriage.
d*mn, not only did the sponsor want something, he was now also trying to lock her down with time constraints.
If this continued, he would be a complete fool, losing both resources and credibility!
So while showing appreciation and accepting the dress, he concocted numerous plans and finally obtained a bottle of knockout spray from his useless system.
Taking advantage of Murong Ying’s lack of vigilance, Jiang Xuan sprayed her with the knock-out spray, rendering her unconscious.
Fortunately for once, his incompetent system cooperated.
Seeing Murong Ying out cold, Jiang Xuan started thinking about the best way to “perfectly” terminate this partnership.
Clearly, perfect would only be possible if they never met again.
After pondering momentarily, Jiang Xuan decided on a bad ending scenario.
Simultaneously, he wanted to prevent Murong Ying from searching for him in the Great Jiang Dynasty.
Thus, he took the dress and altered Murong Ying’s old battlefield wounds as compensation. He left Murong Ying a farewell letter.
Its content read:
Dear Murong Ying, this might be the last time I call you this.
When you wake up, I’ll be gone.
Don’t worry though, I’ll go back to my place—actually, I lied to you from the start.
I’m actually an imperial princess-to-be fiancé, though I have no affection for her.
To avoid this marriage, I chose to run away. By happenstance, I ended up at the Murong Mansion.
These few days were enjoyable despite your overbearing yet kind nature.
You protect the empire so diligently, becoming a revered Female War God.
When you gave me the most precious thing—the dress—it almost convinced me.
But I know, our relationship has no future and could endanger the whole dynasty.
My fiancée, the princess, has frightening powers; she sees the dynasty as easily disposable.
I can’t risk letting you suffer because of my recklessness.
Please forgive me for leaving without notice. Oh, and before leaving, I took your dress with me. Whenever I think of you, I’ll look at it.
Though we may never meet again, I will always keep these days with you in memory.
It hurts to say, but we aren’t meant to be.
Let’s consider this a beautiful one-sided meeting and forget about each other.
Lastly, I cured your old wounds, hoping you’ll take better care of yourself in my absence.
—Lin Xuan
By writing this farewell note, Jiang Xuan aimed to end their relationship.
Of course, if there really is someone named Lin Xuan in an imperial court, Jiang Xuan couldn’t care less.
What did Lin Xuan’s note have to do with him?
Eventually, over a year later, Jiang Xuan forgot about the incident.
But to his dismay, he was now spotted wearing that exact dress by Murong Ying.
This spelled trouble, considering he should be forgotten like a dead man.
Back in the present, with Murong Ying hugging Jiang Xuan and grinning, she said,
“As expected, Xuan, you couldn’t stay away from me; you returned to catch a glimpse of me. Am I right?”
Jiang Xuan: “? ? ? ? ? ?”
