'Quite well' and 'seclusion' are hardly words that belong together, but Jiang Cheng feels out of his depth here. Emotional intelligence has never been one of his strengths, of that even he is well aware. Jiangs distill every emotion into bitterness and anger, and of that tradition Jiang Cheng inherited every drop. Yanli and Wei Wuxian found other ways or perhaps knew better from the start, but Jiang Cheng remains his mother's son.

"I must be dead," Jiang Cheng remarks stiffly, glancing away, his hands folding behind his back for better posture as his chin raises high. As his mother taught him. No weakness of carriage, bluff when the truth will not serve, and when that too fails, then lie. Walk as someone who has never known fear, or doubt, or hesitation. Jiang Cheng is not a capable man, but he acts well enough that anyone outside of his own household can hardly tell the difference.

"For you to keep only your own company, undisturbed. What a sorry way to hear there is no longer a Yunmeng Jiang."

He doesn't mean it, of course. Doesn't believe it for a second. He'd be far more upset if he did. What Jiang Cheng is trying to say is that surely he would visit, will visit, and if not then he has some very serious words for himself.