Huaisang regards him for a moment, like he was deciding the best way to answer, but he decides quickly enough that Jiang Cheng deserves a little honesty - no politicking, no carefully chosen words they both have to dance around, and nobody trying to spare his feelings - or forgetting, entirely, that he had them.

"You," he says, flicking his fan closed and pointing it at the other sect leader "seem very much like you need a friend."

And probably an excessive amount of wine, but he'll leave that part up to Jiang Cheng.