Chapter 91.1: The Truth is Just That Cruel
“You were looking for me?”
To Mu Chi, Xuanyuan Che’s Crown Prince Residence should be become too familiar to him. Because he was going to leave here tonight, he came over here straightaway after he received word from a foot soldier.
The man was dressed in an ivory white brocade robe as he stood, his hands held behind his back, looking different from the normally lofty and unreachable Crown Prince in the Imperial Palace. He was in his own residence now and dressed in such simple regular clothes made him a lot more approachable.
Xuanyuan Che immediately saw the young man fall right onto the lounge like he did not have any bones in his body and Xuanyuan Che’s eyes glinted slightly before he tossed a exquisitely well made little urn over. Seeing that, the young man sprung up like a carp in water to catch the urn firmly before bringing under his nose to take a whiff. His good looking eyes then lit up. “Such great wine! This is of at least a fifty year vintage! Where did you get this precious treasure from?”
Mu Chi was a born alcoholic and he was clearly only about seventeen or eighteen years old but he had already developed a great tolerance for wine where a thousand cups would not take him down. It could be seen from here just how many years he had been immersed in drink.
“It was a gift from a friend many years back and I have kept it for very long.” Xuanyuan Che said with a gentle voice.
Hearing those words, Mu Chi’s gaze turned fierce, the expression on his face filling up with anger. “That’s just great, you hold such great wine and you did not bring it out to share earlier but kept it hidden for yourself. You can still call yourself a brother?”
The young man looked like his feelings had been gravely deceived. Xuanyuan Che merely glanced at him and then slowly said: “The wine….. was kept just for you but when I wanted to bring it out to share, you had already left without a sound.”
[Left without leaving even a single word.]
Mu Chi was taken aback a moment and he lowered his eyes to smile to himself without saying a word as he plucked the wooden stopper off the wine urn. The thick heady fragrance of wine immediately filled up the entire room.
“Mmm… This wine is really great.” Mu Chi said in high praise before he picked up two cups from the table to pour out the wine. “Have a taste?”
Xuanyuan Che walked over and sat down, watching the young man down the entire cup like a thirsty cow. His eyes narrowed and he took a very slight sip.
Mu Chi saw his actions and could not help but burst out laughing. “You are still as self restrained as ever. But compared to the past where you would refuse even a single drop, you have improved quite a bit.”
“Ah Chi, you know what I want to ask you.” Xuanyuan Che put down his cup and said in a soft voice.
Mu Chi shook his head as he poured out another cup for himself. “It’s all already in the past, why are you still worrying about it? I have let it all go.” Just as he was about to empty the cup of wine, a large hand held his arm.
“You’ve let go? You’ve truly let it go completely?” Xuanyuan Che knew that Mu Chi was just doing what he had always done, refusing to face up to the problem and running away from speaking about it.
“If you’ve truly let go, then why are you still so distant towards me?” Xuanyuan Che said with a curl of his lips, his tone seemingly slightly mocking. “Do you know what you were like in the past? You were a person whose feelings were clearly written upon your face, be it joy, anger, sadness or delight. When you were angry, you would vent it out on me but now, you seem to have become like all the hypocritical and pretentious people, always showing only a slovenly and indifferent smile on your face.”
Mu Chi froze a moment before he arced his lips up into a smile. “Isn’t it good? The person I was in the past was young and brash, always making rash decisions.”
“Back then….. What really happened?”
Xuanyuan Che’s hands pressing down on his unconsciously tightened. He desperately wanted to know why after he returned from the Faint Mist Sect’s recruitment trials back then, everything had changed completely.
Ah Chi’s mother was the most revered Imperial Concubine who was second only to the Empress. How did she end up being discovered by people in the palace to have taken her own life in her own bedchambers?