#“GUSU LAN HAD HIM FIRST!!!! GOT GET YOUR OWN FUREN!!!”

[aigoosm]

HEAR ME OUT.

sect leaders lan sizhui, ouyang zizhen, and jin ling calling lan jingyi as “furen” as a joke, until it escalated and now the rest of their sects— respectively, calls him; lan–furen, ouyang–furen, and jin–furen. all because none of the sect leaders attempt to deny the rumors if lan jingyi is really gonna marry one of them and become their madame, and because the three of them secretly preens at jingyi getting called their furen. they are three dumb lovesick fools who are deeply infatuated with their best friend.

despite jingyi’s flustered state at every address towards him, it reached to a point that he got used to it and fully embraced his title(s). the three saw this as a tacit approval and began openly courting and initiative towards him.

lsz: “jingyi, can you stay for a little while? would you really allow this husband of yours to be left alone after his incessant efforts of finishing his paperwork?” sizhui teases fondly, his voice too soft that jingyi assumed it was genuine. jingyi pulls his hand away with a flush.

after jin ling bought him 5 chicken wings, before jingyi could even protest.

ljy: “jin ling! i can’t finish all of this!” he fusses. “you’ve been spending so much stuff for me since earlier, what’s up with you anyway?”

jin ling only directs him an amused glint in his eyes before humming,

jinling: “i can’t let them think i‘m neglecting their beloved jin–furen.” he says before wrapping his arm around the other’s waist.

the lanling jin sect members— especially the younger disciples, absolutely adore jingyi. since jin ling‘s reign as sect leader, the lanling jin sect transformed for the better, and he broke the cycle of shitty sect leaders. the younger disciples are made of majority of members jin ling personally handpicked and invited into the sect, and they’re fond and grateful towards him. because of this, they are very comfortable and friendly, and jin ling allows them to be informal and friendlier towards him as long as it's just him and his sect. the other trio were present during this, and are quite popular amongst them, especially jingyi. they are very fond of jingyi since he has much more time to visit, since the other two are sect leaders. the disciples have an inkling about their sect leader’s attraction towards jingyi. who knows, they probably call him jin–furen to appease their leader and hopefully deliver the message to jingyi’s dense ass.

i cannot think of any scenario for zizhen, but i can imagine that zizhen would act more.. soft and affectionate towards jingyi. aaa

[drwcn]

NEW!

《 Without Envy 》 storyboard 11 - concubine/sleeper agent!wwx & prince!lwj

Other snippets and storyboards can be found on [Master List]

Lan Wangji knew his Uncle and the imperial court and the elders of the royal family were never going to be okay with him making Wei Wuxian one of his concubines. The servant status is one thing, but that's not the crux of the issue. The issue is that there's already a rumour circulating about how WWX is a wily fox whose sole purpose in life is to seduce and befuddle the prince. Xue Yang: quite a reputation you've cultivated for yourself. WWX: *kuzo's meme*.........ah yes, everything is all coming together now.

Lan Wangji is a smart boy though. He knows how to get what he wants. As Wei Ying inched towards full recovery from his whipping, the autumn hunt is upon them.

The autumn hunt in the royal hunts ground was a competition. Anyone invited could compete if they chose to, and of Lan Wangji's household, Jin Ziyan, Luo Qingyang and himself were in attendance. Mianmian, being his concubine and a woman, had two escorts/chaperones accompanying her for propriety, but flashed him dazzling smiles of gratitude upon her horse.

"I'm very grateful, dianxia, for your allowing this indulgence." "Of course," replied Lan Wangji from his saddle. "My Luo-furen should have what she wants." "Dianxia, ce-wangfu." Qin Su approached them and curtsied in proper form. "I wish you all best of luck in the hunt." Then to Mianmian, she said quietly, "Be careful, Qingyang." Jin Ziyan paid the two women no mind, but Lan Wangji saw the hand Qin Su had clandestinely wrapped around one of Mianmian's booted ankles. Oh...well, this is certainly a positive development.

The rest of the noble women not participating in the hunt rested in their tented pavilions, with Meng Yao as their hostess. They drank tea and ate sweets and enjoyed their free time to themselves. Meng Yao noted Wei Wuxian's absence from Jiang Yanli's side, as did several other noble women, but Jiang Yanli only smiled and said, "A-Xian has been living at my father's manor for several years and is an excellent marksman. Dianxia thought it a waste if he were kept from participating."

The truth of the matter is like this: when Wei Wuxian cheated and lied his way into Jiang-fu, he'd told Jiang Fengmian and his family that he'd lived most of his life by the charity of a hunter's family, and so had trained to hunt game in the wild. After the hunter's family died of some infectious illness that plagued the region, Wei Wuxian had supposed made his way into the city and found employment as a shop boy. He couldn't reveal that he'd been trained in martial arts, but there is no need to hide his skill as an archer. At first, it was so he could use archery as a common interest to get close to Jiang Fengmian's son Jiang Cheng, but Wei Wuxian soon realized that it could also be used as a way for Lan Wangji to cultivate further interest.

"Lan Zhan..." Wei Wuxian stroked the snout of Lan Wangji's beloved ferghana horse and grinned. "You really want me to ride him?" "Mn." "You...won't be mad then, if I win?" Wei Wuxian's grin turned slightly wicked. "If I beat you?" Lan Wangji's brow twitched with interest, "Not at all. That's rather what I'm counting on." "Yeah? And why is that?" "Because while I can claim victory with the sword -" "- Very modest, you." Wei Wuxian teased, grinning, which earned him a subtle little glare. "- amongst my cousins, my marksmanship is not unrivalled. You may have a greater chance of winning with him. Huangxiong promised that whoever wins today's hunt will be granted one wish." A wish? Wei Wuxian mulled over this information. His own mission turned and circled in his mind. If I could but gain access to... ... Of course, Wei Wuxian glanced at the prince and the saw the light in his eyes. Lan Wangji is probably thinking of something entirely different.

And so it was inevitable that went the count of the hunt came in, Wei Wuxian's name was at the top. Lan Qiren's little mustache just about flew off his face the way he scrunched it up in displeasure.

Gentries, nobles, dukes and princes watched with envy and shock as a servant came forth to accept the Emperor's reward.

"Jiang-xiong," Nie Huaisang leaned close to Jiang Cheng while they watched from the sidelines as Wei Wuxian bowed before the Emperor. "Why do you look so smug?" Jiang Cheng played with the end of an arrow with an air of mock innocence, "I don't know what you're talking about?" Nie Huaisang pulled at the leather of his riding attire in discomfort - this was so not his style - and tsked, "I know you, Jiang-xiong, you're not subtle. What did you do?" "I was the one who told Lan Wangi that Wei Wuxian is an excellent archer when I went to visit Hanguang-fu." Nie Huaisang understood instantly, "Oh....oh I see..." "What? Don't judge me! You know what they did to him. String up like some unruly animal and whipped. I never agreed with my mother's plan to send him along with my sister anyway. Wei Wuxian may be lowborn but..." Jiang Cheng scowled. "He's too good for them. For Lan Wangji. He's clearly not going to do right by Wei Wuxian. I won't stand to see a perfectly good man wasted as some prissy prince's concubine instead of being where he could put his real skills to use." "Shhhhh, ancestors, Jiang-xiong, keep your voice down! Words like that are a great dishonor against bixia, you'll lose your head!" Jiang Cheng shrugged.

Xue Yang *at a later times*: so lemme get this straight, you won the Hunt, and then Lan Xichen asked you what you want as reward - WWX - as a good little servant I said "I want for nothing that wangye and Jiang-zhuzi hasn't already provided me" - XY *rolls his eyes* Right. And then Jiang Wanyin came out of nowhere and said - "陛下，魏婴乃微臣之家生子，是前管家魏长泽 的独子， 因幼年时父母过世一直遗留市井。上天庇佑，几年前父亲将他巡回。魏婴为人端正淳厚，虽未上过学堂，但头脑机智。陛下也看到了，他弓发出众， 是。。。如能加强训练，以后必会为我姑苏所用 - " Bixia, Wei Ying is this subject's home-born servant, the only son of our previous head of staff Wei Changze. Due to the unfortunate passing of his parents in his youth, he has been getting by doing odd jobs in the capital. Heavens be willing, Father was able to find him after these many years and brought him home. Wei Ying is kind and righteous; though never have been taught by scholars, he is sharp of mind. As bixia has seen, he is a great marksmanship, is ... If he could be granted proper training, he would be a great asset for Gusu in the future. - And what a waste it would be if you were left to twindle away within the confines of a harem. I bet Lan Wangji just loved that. The balls on Jiang Wangyin - I do love his style. WWX You're the only one. Jiang-shushu just about had a heart attack when Jiang Cheng dissed Lan Wangji in public. Madam Yu nearly popped a vein too. XY: Yeah well, he's got a point. You may be Jiang Yanli's companion, but you're not Lan Wangji's concubine, you're just a servant with a skill. Honestly why shouldn't they put you to better use than waiting to maybe spread your legs for a prince who might just as easily toss you aside after the newness fades. WWX *slaps him up the head* Rascal! I'm your shixiong. Don't be so rude. Anyways, Lan Zhan, he - he was willing to let me go. I think he loves me you know - XY: He what now - WWX: He said - Lan Wangji came to kneel beside Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin and bowed to his royal brother, "Huangxiong, Wei Ying is the peijia of my Jiang-furen, a servant of my manor. I... I long knew he is an excellent marksman and should have submitted his candidacy for the ranks but -" Lan Wangji looked at him then, eyes huge with something unreadable. "Jiang-xiao-jiangjun is right. Wei Ying is good, his mind is bright. He would be more suited to militia than...than within the walls of the inner court." "Wangye, have you....have you grown tired of Wei Ying -" "Wei Ying, no -" XY: Oh barf. So please tell me you chose to go to bingbu (ministry of war). WWX: Going to bingbu was never the assignment. If yifu wanted me in the ministry of war, I would've infiltrated them from the start. I refused. And it had the intended effect. "No?" Lan Xichen leaned forward curiously. "Joining the ranks will elevate your rank to that of a subject of the imperial government, and if you are truly as skilled and talented as my brother and Jiang-xiao-jiangjun say, you may rise yet to stand in my court as an officer of the imperial military. You will have your own commission, your own manor, marry, have children - all things which will be forbidden to you if you remain as you are now. As you are male, you cannot provide for Hanguang-fu any offspring, and your low-born status has precluded you from the position of consort or even vice-consort. Have you considered your options carefully? " "I understand bixia, and my decision is made. Nothing would please me more than to stay by wangye's side. I regret nothing." XY: >_> And A this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact you're increasingly horny for Lan Wangji? WWX: Of course not. Because of Lan Qiren, I couldn't advance in Hanguang-fu. But now that Lan Xichen had given me his royal decree, I am Lan Wangji's sanctioned mianshou. XY: *insert eye emoji* So...y'all fucked? WWX *wistful, thinking about the night he spent at the autumn palace after the hunt* : We did, you pervert. Ya happy now? *WWX sighed* But I know who we are and what I must do. Yifu needs me by Lan Wangji's side, for what reasons I do not yet know. No matter how he and I are now... one day it will

all end. XY: *stares into the camera like he's on the office*

Note: yifu = Wen Ruohan, WWX's adoptive father.

[darkandstormyart]

Xicheng fic recs

(figured i might make a list of my own)

(to be expanded as i dig out more treasure/remember stuff)

in no particular order:

Deep as the Yearning Night by FreckledStarKnight

“At first, it was pure chance. The second time was accidental. And the third time? Well, they say the third time’s the charm, after all. Lan Xichen discovers that Jiang Wanyin sings beautifully and is immediately enamored by it. His pursuit of Jiang Wanyin’s secret talent leads to a discovery and a series of events that he did not anticipate at all. Not that he’s complaining, of course. He got what he came for and more. Or, how two sect leaders get together through the song called love. CQL-verse.“

post-seclusion lxc

trying to get jc to sing

bonus lxc & jin ling feels i hadn’t considered before

cute

Always use protection by hesselives

“In which Lan Wangji attempts to hire a new bodyguard for his older brother, a well-known traveling exorcist. Jiang Wanyin doesn’t even make his carefully considered list of Top Ten Candidates, and yet here he is.

Lots of wandering in the countryside, distant yelling, and mildly inconvenient spirits.”

bodyguard au

honestly just really intersting worldbuilding

Rewrite the stars by Arashii

“Five great kingdoms have been fighting for years and when the kingdom of Yunmeng is destroyed, the Crown Prince Jiang Cheng vanishes.In Gusu, Lan Xichen makes an offer impossible for Jiang Cheng to refuse. His life or revenge? There’s only one option and Jiang Cheng swears loyalty to the man he hated the most his whole life, the Crown Prince of Gusu, Lan Xichen himself.Written for XiChengFest2020 - Day 4“

ROYALTY AU ROYALTY AU

enemies to lovers!

flashbacks! i love flashbacks so much ohmygod

No paths are bound by Arashii

“In seclusion, Lan Huan has the support of a ghost no one has seen since the massacre of Yunmeng Jiang. His feelings start changing with the often visits and conversations they share. Before Lan Huan can confess though, he ascends, leaving everything and everyone behind him.

Two hundred years later, back to the Human Realm and without powers, the Martial God Zewu-Jun has a mission to uphold. His Heavenly Calamity started. The clues are little and the support comes in the most unexpected form, the current Ghost King: Sandu Shengshou. Now they need to stick together to contain a menace that is slowly growing.“

TGCF AU TGCF AU

ghost king jiang cheng come on

doesn’t follow tgcf plot, just the setup so no spoilers

jiang cheng gets the dogs and the xichen he deserves

once upon a dream by cafedeolla

“Xicheng soulmate AU

An au where your dreams are small snippets of your soulmate’s day. They’d show small things like buying coffee, reading a book, or hanging out with people from their perspective.

The problem was that people always have expectations and Jiang Cheng knows he always falls short of them. Time and time again.“

soulmate au, but being soulmates is more a problem than a solution

misunderstandingssss all over the place

now with a squel (in progress?)

Lan Furen series by jagaimocchi

“Jiang Cheng leaves Lotus Pier before the Wen Internment Camp and before the destruction of his home. When he meets Lan Xichen on the run from the Wens after the burning of Cloud Recesses, his plan to live a peaceful life away from cultivation sects is quickly derailed. Now, free to make his own choices, he cannot find it in himself to leave the other man's side.

With love, patience and time, Jiang Cheng finds his own happiness and peace with his past.“

have you ever wanted a fic where jiang cheng peaces out from home in search for a better life, bc he’s Had Enough??? jags got you covered

adorable xicheng

good uncle-dad-figure Lan Qiren

ongoing <3

Just around the riverbend by JungleJelly

“One day.

Jiang Cheng just wanted one day of peace and quiet, away from home, away from his responsibilities, away from his idiot brother and his nutcases of a mother and father. Just a few hours alone — him and a boat and nothing else.

Clearly, that was too much to ask for.”

now with a new story in the series which is adorable too!!!

mermaid!lxc need i say more?

Bad ideas (where they lead) by JungleJelly

“Jiang Cheng is a busy man. Fortunately, he is also a huge pushover when it comes to his sister, so when she recommends that he start doing yoga, he agrees pretty easily.Featuring Lan Xichen in yoga pants, Jiang Cheng’s inability to handle a crush, and, perhaps most importantly, a big fluffy dog.“

done for 2020 MXTX MiniBang

yoga instructor Lan Xichen

Jiang Cheng is: struggling with a crush on the yoga guy from youtube & very angry about that

If there’s a price for rotten judgement by TheWanderingHeart

“All Jiang Cheng wants to do is, well... his job, really. Other than that? Keep the city safe, keep his nephew alive, keep his sanity intact (if possible).

So when his brother calls with unexpected news, he knows all of that is about to fly out of the window.

***

[Every instinct is telling him don’t ask, you don’t want to know. By this point, Nie HuaiSang has scooted closer to listen. Jiang Cheng takes a steadying breath and pulls out his antacids. “What did you do?”]”

superhero au, come on

jc just trying to do his job in peace

(he can’t)

i love it so much oh my god *sobs*

The Form of Boneless Ice by TheWanderingHeart

“Mythical beasts have long ago been driven to extinction by the gentry — hunted for sport, but more importantly for their magical cores. Since then, there remains only one creature that has never been caught. The Jiang’s retreated a long time ago. Abandoning land altogether, they sought safety where the humans could not reach.It all comes to a head though, purely by chance. (Or is it by fate that a spontaneous decision allows for them to meet? If fate were a rock!) Jiang Cheng suddenly finds his whole life balanced on the head of a pin — on the flimsy promise of a human boy. In his opinion, things cannot possibly get worse!(But then they do when the Wens decide it’s finally time to search for the elusive merpeople, and suddenly nowhere is safe.)“

there she goes again, with another beautiful xicheng story full of awwww and mythology

actually one of the first xicheng fics i read

i chose it because there were mermaids

painfully accurate takes on Jiang family dynamics

kids! lots of kids!

Let me Slytherin to Your Heart by TheWanderingHeart

“Jiang Cheng never thought he'd return to Hogwarts, but in hindsight, he probably should have known that someday he would.With his nephew about to start school, he reluctantly takes his good friend's bad parenting? career? advice and ends up tumbling head-first back into the madness that he hoped he'd left behind... and rediscovering some feelings he thought he'd left behind too.“

Harry Potter au!

just really fecking cute

lots of snakes

[I am not going to link all of Jo’s fics, though I probably could, just my 3 favourites. UOSB is there by default]

Talent Hunt Crew Finds Angry Guy Shouting On College Campus, Recruits Him For Vocal Projection Abilities by oh_fudgecakes

“Jiang Cheng, resident Angry Guy and heir to a conglomerate empire, has never been the apple of his father’s eye. Quashed under the shadow of his brilliant brother, the music prodigy Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng sees his chance to turn things around when he is recruited by the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt. One problem: he can’t sing to save his goddamn life.As he struggles to develop his nascent singing abilities, Jiang Cheng finds himself sucked into the whirlwind drama of reality TV, helped along by his adoring siblings, his irritable vocal coach Wen Qing, and strangely enough, the unfairly attractive host of the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt, Lan Xichen. Somewhere in the glare of the stage lights and an unexpected first love, Jiang Cheng stumbles upon the thing he was searching for all along: the courage to dream — and to attempt the impossible.“

done for 2019 MXTX Big Bang

uuuuuuuuuuh i might have cried maybe

heartwarming? painful at times? lots of family love?

slowburn xicheng being lovely

The Provenence of Hope series by velithya

“A chance meeting on a night hunt sets a course of events into motion that will change everything. Featuring Xicheng getting together, recovery for Lan Xichen, healing for Jiang Cheng, and always, always, hope.“

got everything. feels. hope. love. ~~healing~~

A Small Measure of Peace by Sandstone112

“With his brother in seclusion, Lan Xichen finds himself in temporary custody of his nephew with little to no expertise in the child-raising department. Uncertain and alone, Zewu-Jun is willing to do everything to be the person Yuan needs—even if it means inviting Sandu Shengshou to a playdate.“

a loooot of adorable family times with jc and lxc taking care of their nephews

good grandpa lqr!

canon but fixed and less painful

🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋if you wish to avoid scurvy:🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋

Some day I’m gonna make you mine series by locketofyourhair

xicheng getting together through the years

friends with benefits but the real benefits are the friends we made along the way

Take me over (take me tonight) by velithya

jiang cheng has a tattoo and lan xichen doesn’t stand a chance

i'd be the sweet feeling of release (mankind now dreams of) by piyo13

two bros, chilling in a cave, no feet apart because they don’t want to lose their cultivation powers what are you gonna do

haven’t read yet and shame on me, but AM GONNA:

Upon Our Silver Bridge by TheWanderingHeart obviously

““When the path ignites a soul, there's no remaining in place. The foot touches ground, but not for long.” ― Hakim Sanai

**

Lan Xichen's sorrows have caught the attention of something. Unlike the adventures and foes they have faced before, there is no obvious enemy here to defeat. If this is the same thing they thought had taken Nie Mingjue's life, then he believes it is fated for him to die as well. Nothing can stop the black fire when it wants to burn.Jiang Cheng is sure his part in this is over. Wei Wuxian is back, his grand adventure concluded, and he'd never been at the centre of it anyway. So what does it matter what happens to him in the end? Slowly, he will come to realise that there will always be a battle to fight, a story to tell, a choice to make, and there is no such thing as an end to anything.“

it was difficult to do things in 2020 and few i regret not doing more than not reading uosb yet :’(

i will tho

Emergency Help Wanted by piyo13

“EMERGENCY HELP WANTED I lied when I got my job. I told them I had a kid so I could leave early from work to pick him up from daycare, take him to doctor's appointments, and occasionally miss a day when he's sick. Long story short, I'm in too deep. I didn't think it through. Looking to rent a kid for bring your child to work day. Must be a boy ages four to six, longish dark hair, likes soccer. Must also be artistic as the macaroni noodle paintings I made seem a little advanced for his age. Also, I will pay extra for someone willing to play the role of husband when dropping him off. He's a prosecuting attorney who often brings his work home. Message me for further details. Serious inquiries only.“

Running Our Hands Through Embers by MarvelousMar

“If asked, Jiang Cheng would compare falling in love with Lan Xichen to a moth inevitably drawn to a flame.It burned.***In which Jiang Cheng discovers that even death can't help him escape from his trauma, so he embarks on a quest to save the people he loves, fix what he can, make the love of his life fall for him, and maybe, somewhere along the way, do a little bit of healing.”

The Beginner’s Guide to Moving On by InvincibleMel

gone from ao3, but i think there’s a link with a pdf going around

[ibijau]

Futures Past pt8 / On AO3

Meng Yao's future is dealt with.

To say that Lan Qiren was disappointed in his nephew for helping Nie Huaisang escape into Yunping City would have been an understatement. It was made quite clear to Lan Xichen that he would face punishment of his own for this misbehaviour. Real punishment, too, not just copying texts as had become standards for small infractions. Still, Lan Qiren listened to that tale of a corrupt merchant scamming people with fake manuals, which greatly irritated him, and thus forced sect leader Huang to care as well and deal with it immediately.

It was wrong to think maliciously of anyone without proof, and even more so if the person was an elder. Yet as they all walked toward the market Lan Xichen couldn’t shake the feeling that had he been alone when news of that crooked merchant reached him, Huang Quiling might not have cared enough to do anything about it. After all, he hadn’t asked Lan Xichen for any details about this business, and instead appeared intent on continuing his conversation with Jiang Fengmian about borders and trade.

Lives were on the line, Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao’s futures depended on this day, and nobody cared. 

They didn't care because they couldn't know, of course, but logic wasn't helping Lan Xichen's ever growing anxiety. He only calmed down when they all reached the place where the others were waiting, and found that everyone of any importance was still where he had left them. 

While Lan Xichen was gone, things had changed a little in the market. Most of the earlier crowd had dispersed, tired of waiting for more entertainment, and the market street was almost back to normal. Those few curious folks who remained were trying to inconspicuously listen in as Nie Huaisang chatted with, or rather at poor Meng Shi. The unfortunate woman looked deeply uncomfortable, but didn't dare openly disrespect the young master who had confirmed her son's potential for cultivation by walking away.

She couldn't leave yet, anyway, not until she'd gotten her money back for those fake cultivation manuals. From what Lan Xichen could see, Jiang Cheng and Meng Yao were taking care of that, the two of them counting money with that crooked merchant. Here and there Meng Yao would glance at Nie Huaisang, as if something he said attracted his attention, but each time Jiang Cheng brought his attention back to the task at hand.

When Lan Xichen and his elders came close enough to hear, the distress made sense: Nie Huaisang, after all this time, was still discussing the many failings of Jin Guangshan. Lan Xichen wished he were surprised, but there really was that much gossip going around about that man. Most people just didn't usually discuss all of it at once out of respect for a sect leader.

“And then, da-ge said that Jin zongzhu brought in dancers,” Nie Huaisang was saying to a rapt audience, insensitive to the discomfort of Meng Shi next to him. “Da-ge said it was getting embarrassing to watch when Jin Furen arrived, and she made such a scene because apparently her husband had promised to consult her about all the entertainments at the banquet but he brought the dancers without tell her. So then, she… oh, already?”

Nie Huaisang, so cheerful while telling his story, turned a little pale at the sight of Lan Qiren. He looked around for something to hide him from his teacher’s angry glare, and had to settle for slipping behind poor Meng Shi. Lan Xichen refrained from rolling his eyes, and directed his elders' attention where it was actually needed. 

“Here is the man,” Lan Xichen announced, motioning toward the merchant. “He has been selling fake cultivation manuals to people.”

“Fake talismans as well,” Jiang Cheng said, lifting a few before crumbling them in his hand. “And he has been doing this for a while. How long, did you say?”

“We started buying from him last year,” Meng Yao explained with a polite bow toward the older cultivators. “But he started coming to the market the year before that, and already offered the same wares. We assumed he had received permission to sell those items, since...”

Meng Yao trailed off, glancing toward sect leader Huang before bowing deeper as if in apology.

Strictly speaking, no sect could be expected to be aware of and to deal with every crook that operated in their territory, so Huang Quiling couldn't be blamed for that situation. At the same time, it would be considered shameful for any sect to have someone selling fakes in its own hometown of all places, and for so long. It spoke of unreliability on their part if people would rather go to a nobody on the market, or else it meant that they priced their services much too high for common people. It also meant they didn't care about commoners, who surely had to have complained about that merchant before. Either way, it wasn't a good look for Huang Quiling, and he would have to act properly to clean this stain on his reputation.

But instead of scolding the merchant or threatening him, Huang Quiling only had eyes for Meng Shi, who was glaring at him defiantly.

“So it's you again,” sect leader Huang muttered. “Meng Shi! Haven’t I told you to stop bothering cultivators?” he turned to the other two sect leaders and gave a small apologetic bow. “I’m sorry that your boys got caught up in this. Meng Shi is just a local whore who’s convinced herself that her bastard has what it takes to be a cultivator. Completely delusional, the boy will never amount to anything. You can't judge that merchant's wares just because the bastard of a whore didn't become an immortal from reading it. I'm unsure the boy can even read.”

Meng Shi, proud as a queen until then, went pale. Lan Xichen felt her shock and horror as if they were his own. He turned to glance at his uncle, worried he might side with Huang Quiling, but to his relief Lan Qiren instead appeared annoyed at the sect leader. It was probably only the coarse language that he disapproved of, and the public nature of this confrontation which he must feel stained all their reputations, yet Lan Xichen felt emboldened anyway.

“Huang zongzhu, have you tested Meng gongzi?” he asked. “We checked on him, and found he has potential.”

“What would mere boys know about these things?” Huang Quiling snapped at him. “Which one of you tested him?”

Lan Xichen hesitated, and glanced at the other boys. He hadn’t come anywhere near Meng Yao yet, and couldn’t lie about that. But if he said it was Nie Huaisang who had checked on Meng Yao, and after his horrible performance at the Night Hunt the day before, it wouldn’t be much of an endorsement. Lan Xichen himself only trusted Nie Huaisang’s assessment because he knew from that other future what sort of cultivation genius Meng Yao was.

“I’m the one who checked on him,” Jiang Cheng boldly lied. Or perhaps he really had checked, dubious as well of Nie Huaisang's assessment, because he continued: “For someone not born from gentry, his potential is not to be dismissed. It might be on par with Yunmeng Jiang's first disciple, if he were just taught properly.”

Huang Quiling, so disdainful a moment before, lost all of his confidence. He glanced at Jiang Fengmian whose face showed no particular expression, except perhaps mild curiosity now that Wei Wuxian had been mentioned. Lan Xichen wasn't sure what to make of that. He hadn’t often been near Jiang Fengmian except at the occasional discussion conference, and of course in the other future they had never gotten to work together as sect leaders. According to gossip, Jiang Fengmian was something of a pushover, who loved quiet and peace more than he cared about justice, but on occasion he could show strength of character if the mood hit him.

"What does his skill matter, with a mother like that?" Huang Quiling claimed, refusing to admit defeat. "No self respecting sect would knowingly take in the son of a whore. It'd be like teaching a pig to walk on two legs, dressing it in silk, and calling it human."

"People ought to be judged on their actions rather than their origins," Lan Xichen retorted, which caused sect leader Huang to glare at him with bulging eyes, his face dark with a rage so strong it robbed him of his words. Even without looking, Lan Xichen knew that his uncle too had to be shocked, that there would be hell to pay for this later. But then, if he was going to be punished, he might as well go all the way. "Just because you don't have the talent to teach someone,” he said, “don't assume a skilled teacher can't do it either."

Huang Quiling looked on the verge of having a Qi deviation, gaping and frothing at the mere boy who dared to insult him so openly. He wasn't the only one to stare, either. Nie Huaisang, the Jiangs, the Mengs, and above all Lan Qiren were looking at Lan Xichen as if he'd suddenly grown a second head.

A very rude second head, at that.

Lan Xichen just couldn't help it. Back in that awful future, the man he would have become had also been enraged and saddened at the unfairness of the world, particularly with regards to Meng Yao. If people hadn't judged him so harshly for something he had no control over, if instead they had taken notice of his skill, of his hard working personality, of his determination…

In that future, Lan Xichen had never dared to speak up, believing in the virtues of inaction and of leading by example, the way he'd been taught to behave. So far in this current life his attempts at being more active hadn't really worked so well, only ensuring that Nie Huaisang made a terrible friend in Su She and started hating Lan Xichen much earlier, but maybe this time, just maybe...

“Lan-xiansheng, your nephew is rather opinionated for a boy his age,” Huang Quiling complained. “I have heard a great deal how well behaved the young heir to Gusu Lan is, but it appears some reputations are undeserved.”

“My nephew will be dealt with,” Lan Qiren calmly replied, which dampened Lan Xichen's moment of rebellion more than anger could have. “And he will present excuses to you. Right now, Xichen.”

“But Lan gongzi's right!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed, coming out from his hiding place being Meng Shi. Under Lan Qiren's glare he shivered, but didn't give up. “I mean, he's right at least to ask if Meng gongzi was tested,” he mumbled. “And he's right to say it's not fair if nobody will teach him just because of his family! I've read our histories, you know. I know people didn't want to teach some butcher any cultivation because it's unclean work, and now we're a big sect. Isn't it the same? And it's not just us, right?”

His eyes darted toward Jiang Fengmian, who smiled at the unsaid accusation.

The official history said that Yunmeng Jiang had been founded by a group of rogue cultivators. They had tired of wandering, and established themselves in a small port which soon thrived thanks to their presence and influence. As far as founding stories went, it was a very respectable one.

The less official story was that their founder had been the leader of a band of thieves who had picked up a trick or two and figured that cultivation paid better than robbery. Lan Xichen had never been interested enough in the subject to do any research, but he had a cousin with a taste for history who swore that annals from that period corroborated the second version more than the first. If so, it wasn't much better than being descended from a prostitute, though enough time had passed that it didn't matter so much anymore.

“I see my nephew won't be the only one who needs to be dealt with,” Lan Qiren remarked in an icy voice. Nie Huaisang, having used up all of his courage in standing up to his teacher, hid again behind Meng Shi, trying to make himself small.

“Boys must stand for something, it's what youth is for,” Jiang Fengmian replied with good humour, before gesturing toward Meng Yao. “Come here, boy. Let's see what all the fuss is about.”

“Jiang zongzhu, you're not serious!” Huang Quiling exploded. “That boy is just...”

“I'm only curious. If his proximity is intolerable, then perhaps you might help my son check those manuals to see if they are real or fake. Jiang Cheng, help Huang zongzhu while we deal with this side of the problem.”

Huang Quiling went pale from rage at being ordered around in that manner, but with Yunmeng Jiang the larger and more respectable sect, he still obeyed. He stomped toward the merchant's stall in a manner Lan Xichen found lacking in the dignity to be expected of a sect leader. Meng Yao, for his part, hesitated to obey Jiang Fengmian's order until Jiang Cheng pushed him forward. Huang Quiling radiated hatred when Meng Yao passed by him on his way to the other sect leaders. He looked as if he might have tried something, or said some other insults, but Meng Yao wisely made sure to leave as much space as possible between the two of them, which wasn't easy in a crowded market street.

“Come closer, child,” Jiang Fengmian requested when Meng Yao hesitantly stopped a few steps away from him. “I am going to put my hand on you to check your meridians. It might feel a little odd... but if my son tested you, you know that already, hm?”

Meng Yao nervously nodded glancing back toward his mother who smiled encouragingly. He only shivered a little when Jiang Fengmian put one hand over his heart, and even less so when Lan Qiren did the same after being invited to do so by Jiang Fengmian.

“I suppose the children have a point,” Lan Qiren conceded, his expression turning somewhat warmer. “How old are you, boy?”

“I'm sixteen, Lan-xiansheng.”

Instantly, Lan Qiren's expression darkened again.

“Too old then. If you'd been two or three years younger... and even then it would have been difficult. It's best to start young.”

Meng Yao's shoulders slumped down at the news, while all of Lan Xichen's hopes were crushed. He knew that his sect preferred younger disciples, though he suspected it had less to do with actual cultivation, and more with the fact that children took to discipline better than teenagers. Still, he had hoped that Meng Yao, with his potential... but Lan Qiren's word was final in these matters, with only their sect leader having a right to contradict him. Meng Yao couldn't be brought into Gusu Lan.

Which meant another option would have to be considered.

With dread curling in his guts and a choking sensation tightening his throat, Lan Xichen looked at Nie Huaisang still half hidden behind Meng Shi, and found the other boy staring right back at him. Nie Huaisang no longer appeared as furious at him as he had been before, but that might have been because he was preparing his own move, ready to ruin all of Lan Xichen's efforts. Nie Huaisang opened his mouth, surely to offer again that Meng Yao be sent to Qinghe, but missed his chance to speak.

“Yunmeng Jiang has never looked down on older disciples,” Jiang Fengmian said with a pleasant smile. “It can be a challenge to learn cultivation with a late start, but anyone who cannot take a challenge has no place teaching in the Lotus Pier. Sixteen... it could be worse. One of my own shidi was in his thirties when he joined us, and still did well enough for himself.”

Lan Xichen shivered, his body tensing further at this proposition.

Perhaps it was because he knew already, but the resemblance between Meng Yao and his father, between him and his half-brother also, was quite striking to him. It was possible that Jiang Fengmian hadn’t noticed, but unlikely when he often dealt with Jin Guangshan. Even if he really saw nothing, his wife was well known to be a very close friend to Madam Jin. There was no way Madam Yu wouldn’t notice that their newest disciple resembled Jin Guangshan, and since she was said to be a tyrant and the true ruler of Yunmeng Jiang…

“Are you sure this is wise?” Lan Qiren asked. “Even if that boy can be taught, his family…”

“His mother taught him well enough that he would take the defence of a stranger even in a fight he couldn’t win,” Jiang Fengmian said. “Or so your nephew said before. A good heart is what matters.”

“But half of Yunping City could be his father,” Huang Quiling argued, who'd paid more attention to their conversation than to the cultivation manuals he was meant to inspect. “From the lowest beggar to any drunk merchant with too much money to waste.”

“His father is a cultivator,” Meng Shi said, striding to come at her son's side. “He said he would return for A-Yao, but…” She glanced at Nie Huaisang who had followed her to hide again behind her. He had shared so much gossip earlier, it would have been hard for her to keep her hopes up. She sighed. “I only want for my son to live up to his potential. If he can be a cultivator, then that’s... good enough.”

“Is your son under any contractual obligation?” Jiang Fengmian asked.

“He's not,” Meng Shi vehemently decried. “He's free.”

“That will make things easier. If that is fine with you, I will accompany you two to your place of residence. We can talk about certain details while your son packs, and then he will come to Yunmeng with me. Would that satisfy you?”

Meng Shi, speechless, could only bow deeply before her son's new master. Meng Yao did the same a few times, before hugging his mother, both of them too stunned by this good fortune to even smile. As they held each other's hands tightly, Jiang Fengmian gave his son a few things to do while he was busy.

Huang Quiling too appeared quite stunned by this turn of events, and a good deal less pleased than the Mengs, but he wisely kept quiet about it. Lan Qiren's refusal to teach Meng Yao on account of his age would save Huang Quiling some face, since he could now pretend he had the same issue, but it wouldn't surprise Lan Xichen is the relationship because Yunmeng Jiang and Yunping Huang remained tense for a while.

Lan Xichen couldn't quite feel sorry for it. He didn't like people who thought they were allowed to be rude to their inferiors, and hoped that sect leader Huang would learn something from this experience.

Then, having given his son instructions, Jiang Fengmian walked back to Lan Qiren to bid him goodbye, explaining he expected his schedule for the day to be so changed that they might as well separate for good right then. Lan Qiren agreed, but frowned as he glanced toward Meng Yao.

“That boy's father, with his looks...” he said in a voice low enough the Mengs might not hear, but still clear enough for a cultivator's ears.

Eavesdropping was forbidden, but Lan Xichen found he couldn't help himself. Neither could Nie Huaisang, who leaned toward the two men to hear better.

“Probably. I'll have his mother confirm it,” Jiang Fengmian said in a similar tone. “but it won't change things. Even if my wife doesn't like it, I would be a fool to pass a chance to teach a boy of such potential. And Jin zongzhu would never admit any relation, so it'll all be fine.”

Lan Xichen let out a deep breath, relieved that things had worked out so well after all. He would have preferred to have Meng Yao in the Cloud Recesses, where he could have watched him closely and made sure he didn't go again down the same path as before, but the Lotus Pier wasn't an awful option either. They'd managed to turn someone like Wei Wuxian into an honest enough man, so they might know how to deal with Meng Yao as well.

Even when Lan Qiren reminded his nephew and Nie Huaisang that they would both be harshly punished for their bad behaviour, Lan Xichen found that he didn't mind, not when there was a good chance they had saved Nie Mingjue's life.

[stiltonbasket]

chancellor of the morning sun: burdens, xichen (youth)

In which being a woman in the cultivation world is difficult, and Jiang Yanli has a secret.

Part 1 | Part 2: Lesson (Youth) | Part 3: First Meeting, Mingjue (Childhood) | Part 4: First Meeting, Xichen (Childhood) | Part 5: Defense (Reconstruction) | Part 6: Lecture (Adulthood) | Part 7: Threat (Adulthood) | AO3 | Part 8: Misunderstanding (Youth)

Luo Qingyang, second-ranked disciple in her junior class and a clear shoe-in for the Jin sect’s head disciple position once she turns eighteen, has spent most of her fifteen years chasing after Jin Zixuan. 

It is both very tiring and very thankless work, in her opinion, especially when he opens his mouth and lets all his Jin prejudice pour out over some poor outer disciple, or worse, Jiang Yanli. He’s not a bad sort—and Luo Qingyang will defend that statement to her last breath, because Zixuan has always been one of her best friends—but he has plenty of room for improvement, which is why she values the rare chance to spend time with other girls so much. It’s also why she insisted on coming along to Qinghe for the latest discussion conference rather than remaining behind at the Jinlintai under Jin-furen’s care, because she hasn’t seen any of her friends in months or even left the tower at all except for night-hunts. 

Tonight is one of the rare nights she gets to spend with her second best friend, Qin Su, and Luo Qingyang was determined to make the most of it—so she smuggled a qiankun pouch full of expensive wine flagons from Lanling, and then waited for Qin Su to sneak into her guest bedroom with snacks. 

“Just make sure you don’t pass the Lan quarters on your way here,” she hissed, when the two of them parted ways after dinner. “Lan Qiren’s over there, and everyone says he can smell rules getting broken in his sleep.”

But when Qin Su arrives, she has three more girls with her, and all of them are high-ranking young mistresses from all the major sects except Lanling and Qinghe. Jiang Yanli is trailing behind her, and a glance over her shoulder proves that A-Su clearly disregarded Mianmian’s instructions to avoid the Lans because Lan Xichen is there too, hugging her quilts and pillows to her chest and looking guiltily interested at the prospect of sneaking around after curfew.

However, the guest Mianmian never expected to see in her quarters is none other than Wen Qing, younger cousin to Wen Xu, who came representing Qishan Wen in his father’s place. Wen Ruohan has not set foot across the Qinghe border since the previous Nie-zongzhu’s death, and Mianmian was surprised to see even a single red robe in the Unclean Realm at all. 

“You don’t have to drink anything, Xichen-jie,” she hears A-Su say, when she finally stops frowning at Maiden Wen and lets the small party into her bedroom. “And even if you do, it’s weak stuff—just mulled honey wine with peach juice, the kind Jin-furen uses for ladies’ parties.”

“Oh, I know!” Lan Xichen assures her, beaming from ear to ear as she takes Jiang Yanli’s arm. “I’m just here to spend more time with you and Yanli, and get to know Maiden Wen and Luo-guniang!”

“I already know you,” Wen Qing points out. “We’ve met six or seven times. I was there when my uncle tried to pitch that betrothal between you and Wen Xu last year.”

Mianmian winces as the memory of that spring tournament flashes across her minds, along with a picture of the stark relief on Lan Xichen’s face when the late Nie-zongzhu stepped in front of her and reminded Wen Ruohan that her bride price had already been paid, and her engagement set in stone by the time she was old enough to begin using her courtesy name in public. 

“I know it was not the proper defense on my part, my dear, to say that I paid so many golden taels as a gesture of good faith to your clan,” Nie Huangyin said to Lan Xichen, after Wen Ruohan gave him a tight-eyed smile and left with Wen Xu at his side. “But men of his ilk do not listen to a woman’s family, and certainly not to a woman. You saw how he brushed your uncle aside when he said you were already betrothed, and that you would never wish to go so far from Gusu.”

“I don’t mind, father-in-law,” Lan Xichen had replied. “It was only an insult, and I doubt he meant anything else.”

Everyone knows that Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue are perfectly content in their betrothal, which was probably why Wen Ruohan tried to threaten their happiness in the first place. But false or not, Wen Ruohan’s request for Lan Qiren to consider Wen Xu as a bridegroom for Xichen made all the girls who were present sick to the stomach, and the way Lan Xichen avoided him at the conference earlier that day was more than obvious to everyone with a working pair of eyes—especially Mianmian, who spends most of her time within sight of Jin Guangshan.

“Wen Xu won’t lay a hand on you,” Wen Qing says aloud, speaking for the first time. “I’ll gut him if he tries.”

Lan Xichen laughs and shakes her head, making her pearl earrings click cheerfully as she reaches forward to pat Wen Qing’s hand. “I’d gut him first, Wen-guniang,” she vows. “There wouldn’t be enough of him left for Mingjue-xiong to break, if he ever dared.”

The liquor comes out embarrassingly fast after that, passing from hand to hand as Mianmian and Wen Qing drain a flagon apiece in less than five minutes. The two of them can burn off their drink with their golden cores, so they don’t bother counting the bottles as they empty them, and Qin Su and Jiang Yanli know how to handle alcohol, despite their low cultivation—Qin Su even gets up and does a dainty Laoling dance while the rest of them cheer her on, balancing a pair of wine jugs across her forearms, and Lan Xichen is so enchanted by the spectacle that she claps until her hands go sore before trying to imitate the dance herself. 

“I’ve never learned how to dance,” she says wistfully, her eyes resting on A-Su’s patterned jugs as her friend yanks her back down to the floor. “Uncle wouldn’t let me. Do you think you could teach me sometime, A-Su?”

Jiang Yanli frowns, clearly puzzled by the thought of Lan Qiren denying his precious niece anything. “What’s wrong with dancing? Don’t the maidens of Gusu Lan practice the Suzhou dance style themselves?”

“That’s why,” Xichen confesses, propping her chin up on her knees as Yanli opens a jar of Tianzi Xiao—one of only two, stolen from Jin Zixun’s hoard because he, unlike Mianmian, does not deserve nice things in life. “I don’t know any of the things girls learn, because the elders wouldn’t take me seriously if they did. All he let me learn besides the male disciples’ course of study was how to cook and sew, because I might need to cook for myself or sew my own clothes while traveling, but dancing was, well…”

“Too maidenly,” Wen Qing guesses, stuffing a bit of lotus cake into Lan Xichen’s hands to steady her—because even Xichen is tipsy by now, despite having drunk only a few swallows from Yanli’s first bottle. “It’s the same for me in Bu Ye Tian. It’s not safe to be a woman there, especially not when I’ve got A-Ning to look after.”

“And Wen Chao,” Qin Su points out. She tips a mouthful of Emperor’s Smile down her throat, as if to wash the taste of the name out of her mouth; because the Second Young Master Wen is well-known for the disgraceful way he looks at women, even if he is only eighteen. Mianmian has even heard rumours hinting that Wen Ruohan plans to marry his son off by twenty, like an unwanted daughter, simply to ensure that any grandchildren of his blood are legitimate instead of scattered around the five sects like Jin Guangshan’s heirs will be. 

And then, as if everyone else had heard that last thought (which they did, Mianmian realizes, because she seems to have drunk enough to loosen her lips by now) three pairs of eyes turn as one towards Jiang Yanli, who freezes with a fried youtiao in her mouth and bursts into tears. 

“I don’t want to marry Jin Zixuan,” she sobs at last, crumpling into Lan Xichen’s arms and crying against her shoulder. “I don’t, Mianmian. I don’t.”

______

“Jiang Cheng?” a small figure on the other side of the Unclean Realm hisses much later that night, tangled up in a bedsheet and hopping around on one foot in an attempt to shake himself free. “A-Cheng, wake up! Shijie’s gone!”

“Jie’s not gone,” Jiang Cheng mumbles sleepily, burrowing further under his blankets. “Go back to sleep. Her room’s next door, that’s all.”

“Fine,” he hears his brother sniff, preceding the sound of a pair of bare feet padding towards the door. “I’ll go look for her myself if you don’t want to. But if I’m not back in half an hour, wake up Jiang-shushu!”

“All right, all right,” Jiang Cheng yawns. “Now shush, A-Ying.”

And then he hears the door open and close, followed by a set of quiet footsteps sneaking towards the Jin guest wing as Jiang Cheng falls back into a peaceful sleep. 

[mdzs-english]

Chapter 3: Wild and Free 2 (Making a Scene)

Wei Wuxian wanted to wash up and see his host’s face, but there was no water in the room, neither for drinking nor for bathing. The only basin-shaped object, he surmised, was used as a toilet, and thus completely unsuitable. He pushed on the door, but it was bolted from the outside, presumably to prevent him from running amok.

Wei Wuxian had finally been reborn, and he wasn’t able to enjoy it one bit!

He might as well sit a while, adapt to his host. He wound up meditating the whole day. When he opened his eyes, sunlight was leaking into the room through the cracks in the door and shutters. Though he could stand up and walk around, he was still dizzy, his condition not much improved. It was strange. “Mo Xuanyu’s spiritual energy is negligible. Why can’t I control his body? What’s causing this?”

Then his stomach rumbled, and he realized it had nothing to do with spiritual energy. This body wasn’t used to fasting. It was hunger, nothing more. If he didn’t find food soon, he might be the first evil spirit to be brought back to life, only to starve to death immediately.

Wei Wuxian had taken a deep breath and raised his foot, prepared to kick the door down, when suddenly the sound of footsteps approached. Someone kicked at the door, impatiently yelling, “Mealtime!”

That didn’t mean the door was going to open. Wei Wuxian looked down and saw that the main door had a smaller door that opened below it. A small bowl had been placed before it.

“Quickly!” the servant outside called. “Quit dawdling, eat up and give the bowl back.”

The door was smaller than a dog flap, large enough for a bowl but too small for a person to pass through. There were two dishes and one serving of strange-looking rice. Wei Wuxian prodded at it with the chopsticks and thought sadly:

When the Yiling Patriarch returned, he was kicked down, chewed out, and given cold leftovers for his first meal. What carnage should result? Not even the chickens and the dogs left alive? The whole family extinguished? Tell anyone who would believe it. He was a tiger in Pingyang nipped at by dogs, a dragon in the shallow waters of Longyou harassed by shrimp. A plucked phoenix is less than a chicken.

This time, when the servants outside the door called, they sounded like they were grinning. “A’ding! Get over here!”

A crisp female voice replied from far away, “A’tong, are you giving the guy in there some food?”

“What else would I be doing in this wretched courtyard?” A’tong spit back.

A’ding’s voice appeared closer, like she was right in front of the door. “You only feed him once a day. When you’re goofing off no one calls you out, yet you say it’s wretched? Look at me. There’s too much to do for me to go out and have fun. ”

“I don’t just have to feed him,” A’tong complained. “Besides, would you dare go out these days? With this many walking dead, what family doesn’t have their doors sealed up tight.”

Wei Wuxian crouched by the door, tossing aside his two different-length chopsticks, and listened as he ate.

It seemed Mo Manor had had little peace of late. The walking dead, as their name implied, were corpses that walked, a relatively minor and common type of corpse transformation. They were generally dead-eyed, slow-moving, and of limited destructive power, but they alarmed the common people, and their stench alone was enough to induce vomiting.

However, to Wei Wuxian, they were the easiest to control, most obedient puppets. He felt a sense of fond familiarity at hearing them discussed.

“If you want to go out, bring me. I’ll protect you,” A’tong flirted.

“You’ll protect me? You talk a big game. You really think you can hold those things off?”

“If I can’t hold them off, no one can,” A’tong retorted.

A’ding laughed. “How do you know? I’m telling you, cultivators have already arrived at Mo Manor. I heard they’re from an illustrious clan! Mo-furen is greeting them in the hall, and everyone crowded in for the occasion. Didn’t you hear the racket? I don’t have time for you, they’ll probably send me on an errand any second.”

Wei Wuxian listened raptly. To the east, a faint clamor of voices could indeed be heard. He thought for a moment, then rose. He kicked the door and the bolt gave with a loud crack.

The two servants, who had been giggling and making eyes at one another, were startled into a screech when the doors flung open to either side of them. Wei Wuxian tossed his dishes aside and made a break for it, eyes burning in the sudden glare of the sunlight. His skin prickled, and he shaded his eyes with his hand, closing his eyes briefly.

A’tong’s screech was sharper than A’ding’s. Composing himself, he saw the headcase everyone bullied and regained his courage. Trying to save face, he jumped over and shouted, “Get back in there! What are you doing out here?” waving like Wei Wuxian was a misbehaving dog.

A beggar or a housefly wouldn’t have been treated worse. Mo Xuanyu had never resisted, giving them free rein. Wei Wuxian kicked A’tong lightly and laughed, “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

Wei Wuxian followed the noise east to a courtyard full of people, with more crammed into the hall. As soon as he set foot in the courtyard, a woman’s voice called out over the din, “One of our clan’s youths was a cultivator...”

That must be Mo-furen, scrambling to build a bridge between herself and the cultivation world. Without waiting for her to finish, Wei Wuxian forced his way through the crowd into the hall, waving enthusiastically and shouting, “I’m coming, I’m coming! Don’t worry, I made it.”

In the hall sat a middle-aged woman, well put-together, in fine clothes: Mo-furen. Her husband was seated before her. Facing them sat a number of white-clad youths with swords strapped across their backs. At the emergence of a disheveled weirdo from the crowd, the hall fell silent. Wei Wuxian pretended not to notice the frozen scene around him and continued, unabashed: “You called? The cultivator you mentioned, that could only be me.”

The powder was too thick, and it cracked when he smiled, fluttering to the ground. One of the youths in white snorted, stifling a laugh. The one next to him, who seemed to be in charge, glared disapprovingly, and he schooled his face back into a neutral expression.

Wei Wuxian surveyed the scene, startled. He thought the visitors had been exaggerated by naive servants, but they really were young cultivators from an “illustrious clan.”

Magic seemed to float from those graceful robes and flowing belts. One only had to glance at that uniform to recognize the Lan clan of Gusu. And these disciples were blood relatives of the Lan family—thin white ribbons circled their foreheads, decorated with wisps of cloud.

The Lan clan’s motto was “Stand Upright.” The ribbons represented self-restraint, and the cloud was the symbol of the Lan family itself. When visiting disciples from other families wore the ribbon, the cloud was not present. Seeing Lans made Wei Wuxian’s teeth ache. In a past life, he had always joked that the uniform looked like funeral garb. He would recognize it anywhere.

Mo-furen hadn’t seen her nephew in some time, and it took a while for her to recover from the shock. Upon recognizing the painted man, her rage mounted. Still in control of herself, she murmured to her husband, “Whoever let him out, put him back again.”

Her husband smiled apologetically, but when the unlucky bastard got up to grab him, Wei Wuxian threw himself down, hugging the floor. He couldn’t be dragged away, and calling in more servants didn’t help, other than to prevent other people from seeing him kick. Watching the look on Mo-furen’s face turn ugly, her husband snapped, “You lunatic! If you don’t get out of here, you wait and see what I’ll do to you.”

Although everyone in Mo Manor knew one of the Mos was a dangerous madman, Mo Xuanyu had been secluded in his dingy room for years, not daring to show his face. When people saw his ghoulish makeup and behavior, whispers sprung up. They were afraid only of missing a good show.

“If you want me to go back,” Wei Wuxian said, extending a finger towards Mo Ziyuan, “tell him to return my stuff he stole.”

Mo Ziyuan, shocked that this lunatic had the nerve first to scold him and then to show up here, turned blotchy and yelled, “Bullshit! When did I steal from you? I don’t need your stuff.”

“Right, right,” Wei Wuxian said. “You didn’t steal from me, you robbed me.”

Mo-furen could see clearly now. Mo Xuanyu wasn’t crazy: he had planned this. He was trying to ruin them. Vitriolically, she said, “You came here to cause trouble, didn’t you?”

“He stole from me, and I came to get my stuff back,” Wei Wuxian said blankly. “You call that causing trouble?”

Mo-furen was silent. Mo Ziyuan was beginning to get nervous, and he wound up to deliver a kick. One of the white-clad disciples twitched a finger, and Mo Ziyuan wobbled, kicking the air, and ended up knocking himself over. Wei Wuxian rolled over as if he really had been kicked, tearing open his lapels to reveal the mark Mo Ziyuan’s shoe had left the day before.

The denizens of Mo Manor, who had been watching eagerly, became excited: it would have been impossible for Mo Xuanyu to leave the footprint himself. The Mo family must be cruel even to their own blood. Mo Xuanyu didn’t return to Mo Manor insane—he was most likely driven to madness. Any excitement was okay with the assembled crowd, and this was even more entertaining than the arrival of the cultivators!

With this many witnesses, Mo-furen could neither strike him nor leave. She was forced to hold her nose and compromise. Faintly, she said, “Theft? Robbery? This accusation is difficult to process—between friends, that’s just borrowing. A’yuan is your little brother, so what if he borrows your things? How can a big brother be so stingy? Acting like a child over such a small matter is foolish. It’s not like he won’t return them.”

Several of the white-clad youths looked at each other in dismay, and one who had just taken a sip of tea nearly choked. Children raised in the Lan clan of Gusu were pure as the fresh-driven snow, and had probably never seen such a farce, or heard such wisdom. This was a learning experience for them. Wei Wuxian, cackling on the inside, held out a hand and asked, “Then you’ll give it back?”

Mo Ziyuan, of course, did not. What was gone was gone, and what was destroyed was destroyed. Even if he could return it, he wouldn’t. Looking pale, he yelled, “A’niang!” His glare said, Are you going to let him humiliate me like this? 

Mo-furen glared back, silently ordering him not to cause an even uglier scene. Wei Wuxian interjected, “While we’re at it, not only should he not steal from me, he especially shouldn’t do it in the middle of the night. Everyone knows I like men. Even if he doesn’t have the sense to be ashamed, I know how to stay under the radar.”

Mo-furen took a shocked breath and shouted, “How dare you say this in front of the villagers and your elders? You really are shameless! A’yuan is your cousin!”

Wei Wuxian was an expert at bad behavior. Long ago, he had minded his manners here and there so that no one could accuse him of lacking good breeding. Now he was a madman, with no reputation to lose. He was expected to make a scene, so he could do what he pleased. He ducked his chin and said righteously, “He knows full well he’s my cousin, and yet he still can’t avoid suspicion! Who is shameless here? You won’t admit it, but don’t impugn my innocence! I’m still searching for a good man.”

Mo Ziyuan shouted and swung a chair. Wei Wuxian had finally gotten him to explode. In one motion, he sat up and dodged, and the chair smashed against the ground. The throngs of people milling about the East Hall had originally delighted in seeing the Mo clan lose face big time, but scattered as soon as the chair broke apart, afraid they’d be next if they weren’t careful. Wei Wuxian dodged behind the Lan disciples, who were sitting agape, and said reproachfully, “Did you see that? Did you see? He steals things and hits people, utterly heartless!”

Mo Ziyuan came after him, flailing, but his path was blocked by the head disciple. “This, uh, gongzi has something to say.”

Mo-furen saw that the disciples intended to protect this lunatic. Holding back fear, she forced out a smile. “This is my sister’s boy. Here, it’s complicated. Everyone in Mo Manor knows he’s insane. He says a lot of things you can’t take seriously. Cultivators, you must…” She trailed off, and Wei Wuxian poked his head out from behind the disciples.

“Who says you can’t take me seriously? The next time someone tries to steal from me, I’ll chop their hand off.”

Mo Ziyuan, who had been restrained by his father, broke loose upon hearing this. Wei Wuxian shrieked and leapt like a fish out the door. The disciples rushed to block his re-entrance, and, changing the topic, one earnestly declared, “Then… then tonight we will borrow the West Courtyard. Please bear in mind what I said before. After dusk, close your doors tightly and do not wander, and especially do not go near that courtyard.”

Mo-furen breathed shakily and did not object, just said, “Yes, we won’t, thank you for your help.”

Incredulously, Mo Ziyuan said, “Ma! That madman slandered me in front of everyone, and you let it go? You said, you said he was just a…”

Mo-furen cut him off. “Shut up! What do you have to say that you can’t say later?”

Mo Ziyuan had never experienced this treatment, been embarrassed this way. His mother had never scolded him like this. Full of hatred, he roared, “Tonight, this lunatic is going to die!”

The show over, Wei Wuxian slipped away from Mo Manor. He did a loop around town, taking pleasure in startling passersby and beginning to understand the joys of being a madman. The hanged-ghost makeup was a factor, and he was loathe to wash it off. He couldn’t bathe without water anyway. He fixed his hair and glanced at his wrists. The gashes there were unchanged. Clearly, bringing Mo Xuanyu’s struggles to light was far from adequate retaliation. 

Would he really have to exterminate the Mo clan?

...Honestly, that wouldn’t be difficult.

Wei Wuxian pondered this as he wandered back to Mo Manor. When he tiptoed over to the West Courtyard, he saw Lan disciples standing atop the roof and walls, engaged in serious discussion. He retreated quietly—they would definitely notice him.

Although the Gusu Lan clan had headed the siege against him, this generation of cultivators either weren’t born then, or were toddlers. He didn’t need to worry about them. Wei Wuxian stopped and circled back to see what they were doing. As he watched, he suddenly felt strange.

The black flags, planted on the roof and walls and fluttering in the wind—why were they so familiar?

These flags were called “Yin Summoning Flags.” When stuck into the body of a living person, they would attract all manner of beings of Yin energy, like vengeful ghosts, fierce corpses, and evil spirits, which would then only attack the victim. Being stabbed with such a flag would turn a person into a target, so they were also called “Target Flags.” They could also be used on a house, in which case their range would extend to all its living occupants. Because Yin energy would linger wherever the flags were used, swirling around in the form of a black wind, they were also known as “Black Wind Flags.” The disciples had arranged the flags in the West Courtyard and warned bystanders to keep away. They must have planned to draw the walking dead here, catching them all in one net. 

As for why they were familiar… how could they not be? Yin-Summoning Flags were invented by the Yiling Patriarch!

Though the cultivation clans raged against him, fought and killed him, it was alright for them to use what he made…

A disciple on the roof spotted him, calling, “Go back, please! You shouldn’t be here.”

Although he was shooing him away, he did it kindly, his tone very different from that of the servants. Taking advantage of his unguardedness, Wei Wuxian leapt up and snatched one of the flags.

The disciple startled. He jumped down from the wall to give chase. “Don’t mess with that! You shouldn’t take this stuff!”

Wei Wuxian shouted as he ran, disheveled and flailing like a real madman, “No, I won’t! I want it! It’s mine!”

The disciple got within two steps of him and grabbed his arm, saying “Will you give it back? If you don’t, I’ll hit you!”

Wei Wuxian held the flag in a deathgrip. The head disciple, who had been arranging the flags, heard the disturbance and leapt lightly down from the roof. “Jingyi, let it go. We’ll get it back nicely. There’s no need to bicker.”

“Sizhui, I didn’t really hit him,” Lan Jingyi said. “Look, he’s made a mess of the flags!”

In this time, Wei Wuxian rapidly finished inspecting the Yin Summoning Flag in his hand. The figures were drawn correctly, the spellwork wasn’t bad, and there were no careless mistakes. It was usable. The flag’s maker was just inexperienced, and the markings would only be able to attract a handful of evil spirits and walking dead. That was good enough.

Lan Sizhui smiled at him and said, “Mo-gongzi, it’s getting dark. The corpses will be drawn here soon. It would be best if you hurried home.”

Wei Wuxian sized up the disciple. He was polite and refined, with an impressive bearing and a small smile at the corner of his mouth. He was a young sapling worthy of praise. He had arranged the flags in perfect order, and his upbringing was clearly acceptable. Wei Wuxian didn’t know who in Gusu, that dreadful, old-fashioned place, could have raised a kid like this.

Lan Sizhui said, “This flag…”

Before he could finish, Wei Wuxian threw the Yin Summoning flag to the ground, hurrumping. “Just a lousy flag! What’s so special about it? I could draw one better than you all!” Then he ran off.

The disciples still on the roof watching the scene heard him boasting, and they laughed so hard they almost fell to the ground. Lan Jingyi huffed a laugh as well, gathering the Yin Summoning Flag and shaking out the dirt. “He really is a lunatic.”

“Don’t say that. Here, come help me,” Lan Sizhui responded.

Wei Wuxian headed off to do a couple more circuits of the manor, not returning to Mo Xuanyu’s little courtyard until nightfall. The bolt was already broken, and no one had tidied up the mess inside. Ignoring this, he looked around, choosing a clear spot on the ground to sit and meditate.

Before dawn broke, a wave of noise from outside pulled him from his meditative state. He could hear footsteps, crying, and panicked yells heading his direction. People were shouting over each other, “Get in there! Drag him out!” “Report him!” “What do you mean, report him? Beat him to death!” 

He opened his eyes to see a group of servants had rushed in. The courtyard was ablaze, and someone was shouting, “Drag the crazy murderer to the Main Hall! He’ll pay with his life!”

[drwcn]

《 Without Envy 》 storyboard 9 - concubine/sleeper agent!wwx & prince!lwj [Master List], you should also have read [6] [6.2]

Lan Qiren coming to visit Hanguang-fu effectively put an end to Wei Wuxian's time as Lan Wangji's servant. He wanted to send Wei Wuxian back to Jiang-fu, but luckily, Jiang Yanli interfered.

Jiang Yanli has been slowly recovering since her drug-induced miscarriage, and while Wei Wuxian had slowed her progress with sedatives, he's been careful to keep an eye on her intake to make sure Jin Ziyan hasn't been messing with her again. As well, with Wei Wuxian occupying Lan Wangji's time and keeping the Jiang family in his good graces, Jiang Yanli had the time she needed to recover fully without needing to push herself to entertain Lan Wangji for favour.

“妾身见过太师，给太师请安。” “阿离啊，听说你小产后一直身体不好，这下着雨，你怎么来了。起身吧, 孩子。” “承蒙太师与陛下惦记，殿下垂怜，阿离的身子已经大好了。阿羡本是妾身院里的，是妾身的陪嫁，一直都安分守己，对王府对殿下忠心不二。是妾身无用，身子一直不见好才让阿羡到王爷身边侍奉。刚见阿羡被太师训斥，相比是阿离平日里管教无方，无心顶撞了太师。有什么过错，都是妾身的错，还请太师责罚。” ~translate~ Jiang Yanli dipped into a proper curtsey, kneeling before Lan Qiren, "This humble concubine greets Taishi. I pray that you've been well." "A-Li, I've heard that you've not been well since your miscarriage. It's raining today, what troubled you to come? Rise, child." Lan Qiren's stance softened upon seeing Jiang Yanli. His late sister-in-law had no daughters, and so often summoned the daughters of nobles into court to dote on and mentor as her own. Jiang Yanli, gentle and proper, has long been known to be a favorite of the late empress. She may not be the greatest beauty in her generation, but was second to none when it came to etiquette and grace. "Thanks be to His Majesty and taishi for remembering, and thanks to dianxia's for his care, my health is much improved now. A-Xian was once a member of my court, my peijia. I've always known him to be obedient and conscious of his place, and loyal to wangye and this princely manor. It is only on account of my poor health that he's been summoned to serve at wangye's side. Earlier, I heard Taishi chastising him; surely it must be A-Li's fault for failing to teaching him propriety and thus causing his unintended offence. The fault is with A-Li, and so I humbly submit myself to your discipline, taishi." Lan Qiren sighed. He did not wish to stir up trouble over a servant. If Jiang Yanli was willing to stand up for this Wei Wuxian, then he must have his uses. At the very least, he'll be a confidant for Jiang Yanli against Jin Ziyan. Lan Qiren so hoped that one day Wangji would choose the Jiang girl as his legal spouse and secure his marriage once and for all. If sparing one lowly servant was the price then so be it. "Very well, A-Li. Since the servant is yours, then his training and discipline shall be your responsible. He is unsuited to serve at the prince's side. It is good that you have recovered; Wangji should not be without a caring partner."

And so, Wei Wuxian returned to Jiang Yanli's side as a servant. Lan Wangji had to watch him go and could not interfere. The next several days was depressing for both of them on multiple fronts.

Xue Yang was very unimpressed:

"So you're tell me that you got to spend quality time with Lan Wangji for months and then... didn't get anywhere?" "I was getting there okay? How was I supposed to know his stupid uncle was gonna barge in like some nosey busybody and ruin everything!? I haven't seen Lan Zhan in days..." I miss him. How horrifyingly embarrassing. He probably forgot me already. "Don't tell me you actually miss him??? That you - barf - fell for him? Whatever happened to standards??!" "You watch your mouth, Xue Chengmei! I'm still your shixiong! And I have standards; Lan Zhan is...very good." Xue Yang: ( ˘︹˘ ) whatever.

Lan Wangji, the sulky boy that he is, brooded for days until Lan Xichen finally sought him out for some good ol' brotherly heart to heart.

"I hear Uncle took away your shiny new toy." "Wei Ying is not a toy." "Wei Ying is it?" Lan Xichen wiggled his eyebrows. "Ah, didi, you have to think a little more creatively. So your Wei Ying has gone back to his mistress, but is his mistress not your concubine? Jiang-furen is still unpregnant, I might add. Visit her. Then surely you'll get to see him." Lan Wangji grimaced. The thought has occurred to him, but the idea of bedding anyone not Wei Ying is intolerable. "Yes, Yanli is lovely, but I'd rather not...you know..." His brother was too polite to roll his eyes. "You've done it before, Wangji." "I would not have had to, if xiongzhang simply did his duty." Lan Wangji bit back icily, and instantly regretted it. Lan Xichen's eyes widened, his cheerful-teasing expression stuttering and crumbling in seconds. "Yes...yes that's true." "My sincerest apologies, huangxiong - no - bixia." Lan Wangji rose to his feet and then bowed down deeply. "I forgot my place. I accept any punishment." Lan Xichen sighed and extended a forgiving hand to pardon him. "Not necessary, Wangji. You're right. I haven't done my duty for Gusu." He pulled the younger man to sit beside him again. "You are doing this in my stead, stepping up where I have let the country down. I should not make light of your sacrifice. The matter of a harem is inevitably complicated, which is why I never cared for one. Neither did Father. His harem had always been sparse, and his first empress was not one of his choosing. When she died in childbirth and our unborn sibling along with her, he elevated our mother's rank to Empress and visited no one else henceforth." "Mother was never popular with the ministers for that reason." "Yes. They suspected that she had something to do with...well, in any case I imagine they were quite relieved when she passed." Lan Xichen shook his head. "The harem is not a happy place, Wangji. You were born after Mother was already Empress, you would not have remembered a time when she was consort. But I do. Like you, your concubines did not get to choose their fate. The fault, ultimately, lies with me." "Huangxiong -" "It's true, Wangji. The fault is mine." Lan Xichen patted him on the arm placatingly. "You cannot love them, and clever as they are, I don't think your concubines would expect you to. However, you can ensure their happiness in other ways. Jiang-furen seems the kind to very much want a child of her own. It will make the rest of her life in your harem more bearable."

After some deliberation, Lan Wangji went back to his routine of visiting different concubines regularly, but never more than just sharing a bed-space. With the exception of Jiang Yanli. Lan Wangji could see it in her eyes; she knew who he really wanted, but those words never needed to be said aloud. Jiang Yanli was kind to him, and he was kind to her in return. All things considered, it wasn't awful being with someone who wasn't your preferred, but who knew you for yourself and shared your struggles.

"Dianxia, you must've heard, that before I married into your wangfu, I was betrothed to Jin Zixuan." She mentioned one evening over a game of weiqi. Of all his concubines (which he has 4) and friends (which he has few), Jiang Yanli's skill on the weiqi board was unparalleled. Lan Wangji half wondered how the Marquis and Marchioness of Yunmeng could have buried this talented daughter of theirs under the shadow of their son for so many years. "Yes I am aware." "I loved him." "...." For a minute Lan Wangji did not know how to reply. He stared at the chessboard. Jiang Yanli's black pieces had surrounded his white ones and forced them into a corner. "Why are you telling me this?" "Your court, my clan: we are their creatures." Jiang Yanli 's smile was knowing. "I am not A-Xian; I can see what he cannot." "Which is?" "You've fallen for each other. Completely. He denies it, heaven knows why." Jiang Yanli took a delicate sip of tea. Fleetingly, Lan Wangji imagined that if he could not have Wei Ying, if he were forced to take a legal wife to make empress, that she would make a magnificent one. "Father loved Mother. Loved her as a wife even when she was only a consort -" "And his love spurred the hate of the royal court." "They blamed her for his loving a woman more than his country, as though she should have persuaded him to love her less. I do not want the same to happen to Wei Ying." "Nor I." "Huangshu says I would need a legal spouse one day, someone virtuous and from a strong pureblood family." "Is that what dianxia wants?" "I want it to be Wei Ying, though I know it to be impossible. Barring that, I'd want to keep him safe in the harem, the size of which will only grow after I succeed the throne." "For that, dianxia will need a spouse who will reign over the harem as you rule over the country." Lan Wangji contemplated his choices and the options available to him. After some time, he placed the white piece he fiddled between his fingers back into the bamboo bowl, conceding that he'd lost this round. Jiang Yanli waited patiently for him to come to terms with the offer she already knew he would make. He wondered how long ago she had foreseen this moment, whilst simultaneously realizing that if his uncle had any idea just how intelligent she truly was, he would not be so quick to suggest her as a candidate for princess consort. A weak emperor and a strong empress never boded well for the stability of the realm. This was dangerous waters Lan Wangji was wading into, but he knew beyond doubt that the only way to survive was to keep straight ahead. He had no other path to take, none which maximally balanced what he wanted with what he needed. Jiang Yanli was his only solution, his only ally. "Huangxiong suggested that we have a child together." He finally said, staring her squarely in the eyes. "You and I can agree that the son of Gusu Lan and Yunmeng Jiang would certainly be a strong contender amongst his brothers." "She could be a daughter." "Then I'd cherish her more. A child and a crown - would they make you happy, Yanli?" "If I said yes?" "Then they're yours." Jiang Yanli smiled.

Two months after Wei Wuxian was dismissed from Lan Wangji's service and the prince began visiting Jiang Yanli, good new was delivered to Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan. The message was this: Hanguang-wang's Jiang-furen was with child yet again.

[ibijau]

Deathbed Wedding pt9

Madam Yu's unconventional suggestion is considered with great attention.  (Also on AO3)

“Isn’t it obvious? Lan zongzhu, I am saying to marry your son to Nie gongzi before he dies.”

Silence fell into the room as they all processed what Yu Ziyuan was suggesting, with Nie Huaisang’s laboured breath the only noise to be heard. Lan Xichen stared at the mistress of Lotus Pier, trying to decide if this was some cruel joke on her part. She was not known for her sense of humour, but there was a start to everything.

Qingheng-Jun, the first to recover from the shock of that proposition, sneered at her.

“Yu-furen, this is ridiculous. If the Nie want to look for a ghost bride for that boy I won't stop them, but it will not be my son.”

Nie Mingjue grabbed him by the collar. “You…”

“Peace!” Yu Ziyuan ordered, grasping Nie Mingjue's arm tight enough for him to flinch. Her eyes were not on him though. “Lan zonzghu, I am not suggesting anything as dramatic as that. In fact, my suggestion is to do something that would avoid the risk of needing a ghost bride. If I understand the situation, that boy got himself in that state in an effort to become engaged to Lan gongzi, am I right?”

Qingheng-Jun refused to answer but Nie Mingjue, still holding him by the colar, nodded slowly.

“So it is safe to guess that if he has one last desire before leaving this world, it would be to marry Lan gongzi,” Yu Ziyuan continued. “Why not grant it to him, and ensure he dies without regrets? Then you will be sure he will not return to haunt your son.”

Hearing this, Lan Xichen held Nie Huaisang’s hand a little tighter and pressed another kiss to it. It was a morbid idea, and yet…

“What haunting?” Qingheng-Jun protested. “Hasn’t that boy gone through the normal ceremonies to avoid that?”

“He has,” Nie Mingjue admitted, glancing behind at his brother and Lan Xichen.

His expression softened somewhat, until he turned back to Qingheng-Jun and his full anger returned. Still, he finally let go of the older man’s clothes, and in turn Yu Ziyuan released him as well.

“Those ceremonies are not always enough though,” she remarked with a smirk. “There have been cultivators becoming ghosts or fierce corpses in the past, if their resentment was great enough. I know you might think that boy isn’t much, Lan zongzhu,” she added when Qingheng-Jun opened his mouth to object. “But I would say that he has shown exactly the sort of stubbornness and desperation that turns souls into ghosts, and you have just admitted right in front of him that he is dying for nothing. If his soul isn't appeased, there will be trouble in the future. Besides, what does it cost you to let this happen?”

It would cost him his pride, Lan Xichen thought, as well as the sensation of control he held over his family. For a man who had given up on everything else over a one sided passion that flickered away too quickly, it was a heavy price to pay.

“What do you say, Xichen?” Qingheng-Jun snapped. “Is that really something you would settle for, just to win this argument?”

Lan Xichen avoided his father’s eyes, looking instead at Nie Huaisang. Even though this was a little morbid, he would take it if it was all he could have. He had loved Nie Huaisang in life, he wouldn’t mind loving him in death as well. Not to win an argument, but to make sure that they would be linked forever, even if fate hadn't seen fit to give them happiness in this life.

He knew, though, that this wasn’t really what his father was asking. Even this meagre comfort might be denied to him, all because his father did not like to be wrong.

“If I did this,” Lan Xichen whispered, only to stop and take a deep breath to steady himself. Even cold and limp, Nie Huaisang’s hand in his was a comfort, and he squeezed it briefly to give himself the strength to speak again. “If I did this, what would become of that agreement we had, father?”

“You know my answer to that, Xichen.”

With a sigh, Lan Xichen closed his eyes. Of course he knew the answer. Having found his weakness once, why would his father not use it again and again?

It ought to have been an easier choice than the first time. 

It wasn’t. 

Right after announcing his possible engagement to Jiang Yanli, after Lan Xichen had threatened to elope, they had made that deal. His father had promised that if Lan Xichen submitted to his will and married as he was ordered, then Lan Wangji would get to pick whichever spouse he liked, no matter how low their status, how indesirable the personality, how poor their cultivation. Lan Wangji could pick up a beggar in the street, demand to marry him, and it would be granted to him as long as Lan Xichen bent to their father’s will.

Having seen Lan Wangji around Wei Wuxian, Lan Xichen knew where things were headed for his brother. With Lan Wangji’s proud personality, it was unlikely he would ever agree to marry without love. But he was also even more bent on following rules than Lan Xichen, and it caused him real distress to disobey his elders in any way, even if he had started relaxing a little since meeting Wei Wuxian. If he were to be faced with the same choice that Lan Xichen had just faced, it would cause him great anguish, and that simply couldn't be allowed.

Someone had to look out for Lan Wangji. There was only so much Lan Qiren could do, especially against his own brother, and Qingheng-Jun had proven that he cared little for his sons’ happiness, having failed to secure his own.

For the sake of his brother's happiness, Lan Xichen had given in, comforted by the hope he could at least be friends with Nie Huaisang, that this would not be taken from them.

Now though, he was forced to make that choice again, and both options were equally bleak. Of course if he were a better brother, if he were a better person, it would be easy. Between a marriage for the livings, and one that would be more akin to a funeral, there should have been no hesitation possible, and yet…

And yet he couldn't give up on Nie Huaisang, not again.

“Your father is a reasonable man,” Lan Qiren said calmly, and Lan Xichen quickly opened his eyes again to gaze at his uncle in disbelief. “He is,” Lan Qiren insisted. “You told me he swore that if you obeyed him, he would let your brother choose his spouse, didn't he?”

While Lan Xichen numbly nodded, unsure where his uncle was going with this, Qingheng-Jun's face turned a dark red at having this information revealed. Clearly he had not expected that his brother would expose him like this. Lan Qiren, unbothered by his brother's outrage, just continued speaking.

“If you promise to marry according to his will after the death of Nie Huaisang, that deal still stands,” he said calmly. “And to comfort your father, I believe Yu-furen might agree to act as a witness to that agreement, so that promise cannot be denied in the future.”

Lan Xichen turned his eyes to Yu Ziyuan, who looked more and more irritated the longer she had to witness their family affairs. She rolled her eyes and shrugged while making an impatient gesture.

“If it can settle this matter faster, I’ll agree to whatever you like,” she announced, glaring at Lan Qiren and Meng Yao behind him. “I only suggested this idea to make things easier, and forgot Gusu Lan cannot settle on anything without hours of discussions on ethics. My mistake.”

Qingheng-Jun grimaced. “I see. And what does Nie zongzhu say to all this?”

Nie Mingjue glared at him, but did not hesitate in the slightest.

“It is what my brother would want. If you agree and Xichen is willing, I give it my blessing.”

“And will you allow him to remarry after?” Qingheng-Jun insisted.

“He’s a man, so there’s no issues with that. Even if he were a women, Qinghe Nie has no rules against it.”

It was not the answer that Qingheng-Jun expected, judging by the expression on his face. He must have been hoping that Nie Mingjue would object, giving him a good excuse to refuse.

Clearly upset that everyone seemed against him, Qingheng-Jun strode toward the bed and, without sparing a glance for his son kneeling on the other side, grabbed Nie Huaisang’s left hand to check his pulse. For a long moment he carefully checked the state of the unconscious boy laying before him, while everyone else watched him attentively. Nie Mingjue in particular seemed furious that Qingheng-Jun would dare to touch his brother, but Lan Qiren whispered something to him so he would allow it.

“I give him a week at most,” Qingheng-Jun concluded, dropping Nie Huaisang’s hand as if it were dirty. He then looked at his son with a severe expression “If you so badly want to be a widower, Xichen…”

“I do,” Lan Xichen fiercely retorted. “For him, I do.”

Qingheng-Jun glared at him, before smoothing his face into polite indifference as he turned to face the others once again.

“Then so be it,” he said with a serene smile, as if he truly didn't care after all. “Yu-furen, since this was your idea, will you help Nie zongzhu and I organise this? We’ll need to get it over quickly, lest that boy die before we’re done with this charade.”

For a moment, Lan Xichen thought he saw a triumphant glint in Yu Ziyuan’s eyes, but then he blinked and it was gone, replaced by deep annoyance and she led the two sect leaders out of the room.

[stiltonbasket]

chancellor of the morning sun: defense (reconstruction)

In which Lan Xichen throws hands and introduces her family to the second Maiden Lan; or, part 4 of the nielan au that has completely taken over my brain.

Part 1 | Part 2: Lesson (Youth) | Part 3: First Meeting, Mingjue (Childhood) | Part 4: First Meeting, Xichen (Childhood) | AO3

Jin Guangyao spends a great deal of time trying not to get on the wrong side of his stepmother's temper. 

This is not a recent development, of course; she was so enraged when Jin Guangshan legitimized him that she beat him with her spiritual flail twice in the first week, and her beatings only grew longer and more frequent after her husband’s death. Jin Guangyao hardly grudges her for it now, of course; after all, he did kill his father, by slipping trace amounts of medicine into his tea for three straight months until he died during a visit to one of his mistresses—and then it was found that the young woman was only fifteen when the affair began, and sixteen when she had a child with him, and Jin Zixuan was so horrified by the revelation that he brought the Second Mistress of Mo to the Jinlintai and gave her a separate wing of her own, so she could raise her son in peace with all the advantages that befitted the half-brother of a sect leader. 

(Jiang Yanli had been so pleased that Jin-gongzi was doing right by his baby brother that the news of Jin Guangshan’s death was almost immediately followed by word of Jin Zixuan’s renewed engagement, which pacified Madam Jin for a while—but not for long, because the gossip about Jin Guangshan seducing a maiden who was little more than a child infuriated her to the point where she began beating Jin Guangyao again the moment Jin Zixuan went to Yunmeng with Maiden Jiang’s betrothal gifts.)

And as luck would have it, this particular beating occurred the day before Jin Guangyao was supposed to journey to the Cloud Recesses to visit Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue, and his weak golden core ensured that by the next morning, he was not yet well enough to go.

He sent word to Lan Xichen—or to his Da-jie, now, since he swore brotherhood with her and then with Nie Mingjue after the war—and shut himself up in his room to wait for his wounds to heal, already wondering if he could reschedule his duties for the next week in time to make a visit to Gusu then. But the wounds proved slower to heal than he thought, and the next two days’ worth of work had to be put off, too—which is why Jin Guangyao is currently lying on his stomach in bed and fretting, because Jin Zixuan is almost certain to write and ask if he wouldn’t mind covering him for a little longer so he can spend more time with Maiden Jiang. But then he won’t be able to go next week, either, and then his plans to visit Gusu will probably have to be delayed until the next month, so Da-jie can have her little one in peace and recover before any guests arrive. 

“Did she know I was going to leave for Gusu this afternoon?” he sighs, trying to stretch and wincing at the searing twinge in his back. “I wouldn’t put it past her to beat me worse on purpose, if she did.”

But his thoughts are interrupted a moment later by one of the disciples, who taps on the door and announces that someone has come to visit him. “Who?” Jin Guangyao asks blearily, raising his head and promptly regretting the attempt. “Tell them to give me five minutes. I’ll come receive them in the Fragrance Hall the moment I’m dressed.”

“Ah—they won’t wait five minutes, Lianfang-zun,” the disciple squeaks. “They wouldn’t even let me announce them to her ladyship, they’re already with me in the hallw—”

And then the door flies straight off its hinges, followed by a dark black cloud and a fresh-smelling white one storming into his bedroom before the white one cries out in shock. 

“A-Yao!” 

Jin Guangyao scrambles upright, completely ignoring the pain in his back as he fumbles for a quilt and pulls it over his shoulders. “Da-ge, da-jie!” he gasps, as Nie Mingjue glances back at the broken door and throws a pouch full of money at the poor junior standing behind him. “What on earth are you two doing here? Da-jie shouldn’t even be getting out of bed, in her state!”

“Which is why you’ve been talking of nothing but visiting me for weeks!” Lan Xichen cries, her eyes widening in horror as she sees the crusted bloodstains on the sheets and the used bandages littering the floor. “I knew there was something wrong when we got your letter, so Mingjue-xiong and I came here as fast as I could. Pass me my healing kit, A-Jue—and for heaven’s sake get that blanket off your shoulders, A-Yao!”

She rummages in the bag Nie Mingjue hands her and pulls out a few glass jars full of clear salve, which she smooths over Jin Guangyao’s wounds (one tincture for pain, one to ward off infection, and one to prevent scarring, apparently) before taking out Liebing to begin healing the gashes with spiritual energy. 

“Ah, da-jie,” Jin Guangyao protests, looking desperately at Nie Mingjue—who is looking back at him in turn, his brows drawn together in a frown as the Lan sect master tends to each bruise and cut with murder in her eyes. “Should—should you really be wasting your spiritual energy on me, just now? This isn’t the first time I’ve been beaten, and I’ll get well soon enough with just the salve.”

“It isn’t the first time?” Lan Xichen repeats, so angry now that Jin Guangyao can feel the wrath rolling off her golden core in waves. “Who would do such a thing to you, now that Jin Guangshan is dead? Jin Zixun is still weak after the Hundred Holes, he couldn’t even have lifted a weapon like this—and if it was anyone on his side of the family, just tell me who it was and I’ll—”

“Isn’t it obvious, Xichen?” Nie Mingjue says, speaking for the first time as his eyes track the pattern of the wounds scattered across Jin Guangyao’s pale back—to identify the height of the person who gave them to him, as he understands a moment later with a sinking weight in the pit of his stomach. “Look at his wounds.”

“What about them?” Lan Xichen glances back at her husband in confusion before noticing that the gashes near the top of Jin Guangyao’s shoulders were made while he was kneeling, while the ones slightly lower down were dealt by surprise while he was in a standing position, and then the realization dawns on her face so quickly that Jin Guangyao feels a split-second’s worth of sympathy for Madam Jin.

“That—Jin-furen,” she hisses, pouring spiritual energy into his wounds so quickly that they finish knitting closed within the next minute, leaving nothing but irregular patches of new pink skin to prove that they were ever there. “First it was—oh, that woman!”

“Da-jie, you musn’t,” he entreats her, turning around as she stows Liebing back into her robes and marches towards the door with every inch of her body threatening consequences—and this even though she is with child, because she still carries Shuoyue at her waist and wears the horned silver crown of her rank pinned into her hair, and walks with the demeanor and bearing of a general even two years after the Sunshot Campaign. 

Suddenly, Jin Guangyao remembers that this is the woman who took Wen Xu’s head during the war after driving him from the Cloud Recesses almost single-handedly, and the woman who stood in front of Jin Guangshan on the stairs of the Jinlintai nearly a decade ago, when he ordered his illegitimate son thrown down to keep him from offending his wife, and called him every name under the sun before securing the young Meng Yao a place in her intended’s household. 

“Mingjue-xiong is rough-mannered with his men, but he is kind, and places their welfare far above his own,” she told him, holding his small, fine hands in her sword-calloused ones while they waited for Nie-zongzhu to find his way to her guest quarters. “You will be well-looked after as one of his disciples, I promise.”

“But he can’t—he cannot keep an eye on everyone, not every minute,” Meng Yao had whimpered, fighting the impulse to bury his face in Lan-guniang’s soft lap and cry because no one had been so gentle with him since his mother’s untimely passing. “I will never forget this, Maiden Lan, but please—my mother promised that my father would welcome me if I presented the pearl brooch he gave her, but the guards said—they said many women came with their babies, with just such a pearl brooch, and…”

“I am Nie-zongzhu’s betrothed,” Lan Xichen said peacefully, before patting his head so very carefully that he gave up and let his cheek rest against her knee. “He has made it clear that as the future lady of his household and his sect, his disciples are to honor my every command as they would honor his. If they mistreat you, you have only to tell me, and they will never do so again. And I will visit as often as I can, and expect letters telling me how you are faring when I cannot.”

“Why would you—I don’t understand, you…”

He meant to ask why a wealthy young mistress would go so far out of her way to protect a nameless nobody who had earned the disdain of a sect leader, and even promise him a place in a cultivation sect because she was so certain of her betrothed’s affections for her—but Lan Xichen seemed to read the question in his face, back then, and laid a finger across her lips before he could voice it. 

“I am a woman, Meng-gongzi,” she said, suddenly sounding both very old and very tired as a couple of early lines appeared in her forehead. “I have had to fight for every inch of ground I wanted since I was old enough to walk. First I fought to remain with my uncle and brother, and then for the right to sit in on council meetings as my father’s first heir, and then to have the courtesy name my father wanted for me. I fought to have my wedding delayed until I was twenty-five, because the elders wanted me married away from Gusu Lan as soon as I came of age, and then I fought for my inheritance, the sect leader’s seat, and won it only this past winter. 

“The cruelty of one’s birth forever weighing down one’s fate is not unknown to me, though my fate has never been cruel to me, only inconvenient,” the young girl sighed. “Being born a woman is not the same thing as being born a courtesan’s child, but I do not wish I was a man, and nor do you wish you were born to any mother but yours—is that not so?”

“It is,” Meng Yao whispered back. “I loved my A-Niang more than anything.”

What was it that Da-jie told him, after that?

“Then you understand that your circumstances are not your fault, or hers? Your father is a vile worm, Meng Yao, and none of his family have much claim to virtue, either. You will be much happier in Qinghe Nie, and if you find it does not suit you, ask Mingjue-xiong to send you east to Gusu Lan, and I will look after you myself.”

“What are you thinking about?” Mingjue asks him now, as Jin Guangyao finally clambers off the bed and pulls on some decent robes. “You’ve been awfully quiet, Guangyao.”

“Nothing,” he murmurs, smiling slightly. “I was remembering the day I first met you and Xichen-jie, that’s all.”

“And what a day that was,” his friend grumbles, crossing his arms before reaching out and handing Jin Guangyao his black velvet hat. “I was just thinking that the only good thing about being made a sect leader at eighteen was not having to sit with Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun, and the next thing I knew, all the Jin disciples were running into the banquet hall to tell me that they had to stop my intended from tearing Jin Guangshan to pieces over some village boy.”

“You shouldn’t have brought her here, you know,” Jin Guangyao says abruptly. “Madam Jin—she can be cruel, and journeying all the way from Gusu by sword, in da-jie’s condition—”

Nie Mingjue snorts. “As a faithful disciple of the Gusu Lan clan, it is my duty to acquiesce to my sect leader’s wishes,” he intones, mirth dancing in his eyes as Jin Guangyao huffs and turns away. “And as a husband, it is my honor to accompany my wife on all her ventures, no matter what they might be. There has been bad blood between A-Huan and Jin-furen since she and I were children, and whatever passes between them today, A-Huan will emerge the victor.”

“Bad blood? With Xichen-jie?”

“Oh, I never told you that story, did I? Well, the first time Zixuan laid eyes on Xichen—and he was only a foolish little boy, so it never meant anything at all—he decided that he wanted to marry her instead of Maiden Jiang. Madam Jin was angered by that, of course, what with Jin Guangshan being the pig he was, and she scolded Zixuan for it, but then she decided that Xichen was at fault and that her precious son would not have said such a thing unless Xichen had invited it.”

“When—how old was she when it happ—”

“Ten,” Nie Mingjue drones. “Jin-furen heard a mindless remark from a boy not yet nine years old, and then decided that Xichen, a child of only ten, was in the same class as your father’s women—that is, she decided that Zixuan might fall prey to her wiles and leave Maiden Jiang in Jin-furen’s own place, someday. And she never treated A-Huan well after that until she was forced to, when A-Huan became Lan-zongzhu eight years later.”

He frowns. “But then there was that business of Mo-guniang, so who knows how many young girls there were before...well, before. Such crimes are punishable by death in Qinghe.”

It is at that juncture that Lan Xichen reappears, sweeping into the room with one hand tucked behind her back and her head held high before dismissing the poor junior disciple who must have been forced to witness her encounter with Madam Jin. Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao both spring to their feet at the sight of her, Nie Mingjue to help his wife to a chair and Jin Guangyao to take Shuoyue; but she waves them both off and elects to remain standing instead, cooling her face with a borrowed fan from Nie Huaisang’s collection before laying a hand on Jin Guangyao’s cheek.

“She will never mistreat you again,” Xichen sighs. “I have ensured it, A-Yao. Forgive me for taking so long to notice that you were being so ill-used here.”

“Da-jie, you shouldn’t have! What if she treats you even worse than she did when we were young, now?”

“What could she possibly do to me? I am the master of one great sect, and the mistress of another,” she says dryly. “At least until A-Jue officially gives up his position to Huaisang, but that’s beside the point. I didn’t lead a third of the Sunshot Campaign to balk at the prospect of defending a friend, so let us say no more about it.”

“But what did you do?”

“Jin-furen loves Zixuan above all things,” Xichen shrugs. “I spoke to her about her conduct, and then I told her that I would give her son and future daughter-in-law a full account of your suffering at her hands if she dared lay a finger on you again. She went as white as milk so I said that last, so she knew my threats were not idle ones. Especially now that Zixuan dotes on little Mo Yu so much, and wants to make certain that any other half-siblings of his are at least well provided for.”

Jin Guangyao gapes at her. “Da-jie!”

“Get over it,” Nie Mingjue advises him. “Xichen decided she was going to protect you when she was sixteen, so that’s what she’s going to do. Thank her, and then come back to the Cloud Recesses with us—we want you to be there when the little one arrives, so Jin Zixuan can stop handing off his duties to you and put his courtship with Jiang-guniang on hold for a month or two.”

“You want me with you when the baby comes?” Jin Guangyao repeats, his throat feeling suspiciously thick at the prospect. “But I’m not—I mean, I helped with a handful of births when I still lived in the brothel, but I have no great skill in—”

“I want you there as my sworn brother, and my friend,” Lan Xichen says gently. “And neither of you are allowed into the birthing chamber, anyway. You’ll make me too nervous to concentrate, with how much you both worry.”

“But, A-Huan…”

“You’ll thank me for it later, my A-Jue. Just wait.”

*    *    *

Three weeks later, Jin Guangyao discovers first-hand that waiting outside a healer’s ward with Nie Mingjue, Lan Wangji, and Wei Wuxian is very, very different from helping carry water and sponging women’s faces back in the Chrysanthemum House when he was a child, because the mother behind those bolted doors is his dearest friend, and the father sweating like a salted da bai cai by his side is his own sworn brother.

(Jin Guangyao refuses to think of what he did with the Song of Turmoil, and what nearly happened before he came to his senses and stopped playing it for Nie Mingjue, and who had nearly been killed during that last horrible qi deviation, leaping into the fray in attempt to protect a terrified Nie Huaisang.)

“Why won’t she let us in?” Nie Mingjue says now, shaking Jin Guangyao out of his dark musings as he stares at the door with wild eyes. “If anything goes wrong—I can’t be here, when she’s in there!”

But the only man Lan Xichen permitted into her room was, unsurprisingly, Lan Qiren, who managed to gather himself well enough to hold her hand through the pains even when she let out a string of curses that shocked every Lan in the vicinity past the point of speech. 

“Where did Xichen-jie learn all those words?” Wei Wuxian murmurs, supporting his husband by his elbow as Lan Wangji sways dangerously towards the floor. He looks even more terrified than Nie Mingjue, for some reason, and every noise from Xichen’s room drains a little more color out of his face. “They’re very good.”

“My disciples never knew when to shut up when A-Huan was around,” Nie Mingjue groans. “I ought to have had them beaten for it, but I can’t blame them if their foul tongues are of some help to her now. “

But then, before anyone can try to distract Mingjue or Lan Wangji, or even convince them to sit down and stop pacing—a loud, strong cry rings out from behind the door, followed by a cacophony of shouted instructions from the attending healers and a sob from Lan Qiren. 

All four men freeze in their tracks, and Lan Wangji looks as if he might be sick. “A-Jie—” he says hoarsely, starting towards the next room on unsteady, stumbling feet. “Jie!”

And a moment later, Maiden Jiang lets herself out into the hallway, and bows once in Nie Mingjue’s direction before smiling so widely that he plunges straight down onto the floor and stays there. 

“A-Huan,” he begs. “Tell me, is she—”

“You have a daughter, Chifeng-zun, and mother and child are well,” she assures him, her own lips trembling slightly as Nie Mingjue bows his head and bursts into tears. “She kept herself safe the whole way through with her own healing cultivation, if you will believe it! The physicians are tending her now, and you and Wangji can come in to see them both as soon as Lan-zongzhu has had a sponge-bath and something to eat. But there is still much to be done in the first half-hour or so, so she has requested that you have something to drink and break your fast before entering.”

With that, she goes back into the healing ward and shuts the door behind her, and Jin Guangyao and Lan Wangji find themselves weeping, as well; though Lan Wangji weeps silently, pressing his face into Wei Wuxian’s shoulder and letting the tears wet his gown while his husband rocks him back and forth.

“I’m a father,” Nie Mingjue says, dazed. “A-Yao, I have a daughter!”

“So you do,” Jin Guangyao laughs wetly, as a disciple comes in with some food on a tray before fleeing as quickly as he can. “Who do you think she will look like?”

The answer—when the doors finally open, to reveal a room that had been thoroughly cleaned, a sobbing uncle, and a beaming Lan Xichen—proves to be that little Lan Jueying, who refuses to be parted from Xichen even for a moment without shrieking at the top of her lungs (unless she is being held by her father, of course, who bawls like a baby himself when Xichen first adjusts his arms around the child’s tiny pink body) looks exactly like her mother, and is just as beautiful. 

Jin Guangyao adores her from the moment he first sees her, and as for Lan Wangji…

“A-Jie,” he sobs, cradling the grumpy, wriggling bundle to his chest as his sister strokes his hair with such a loving look in her eyes that Lan Qiren starts crying again. “A-Jie, she’s perfect.”