#Lu Xu Wen

[movielosophy]

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 2 - the monks are not monks, the wall is not wall.

[swiftletinthecloud]

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 唐朝诡事录 (2022)

@asiandramanet july bingo: free choice | S01E01

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty II To the West (2024)

What are you doing? | 唐朝诡事录之西行 | iQIYI

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_rs831eGBoY

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

Dec 16th

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1. Itmf fics for good!wen xu (or as good as he can be in his circumstances). We don't know much about him, which gives his character a lot of wiggle room potential. I've seen some interesting takes where he kinda parallels interpretations of zuko's cousin Lu Ten in avatar the last airbendee fics. Be interesting to see more of those

🔒 Contrapuntal by WithBroomBefore (T, 35k, WQ & WWX, WangXian, LQR/WQ, Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Fix-It, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Suicide, POV WQ, Everyone Lives, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Feels, Sickfic, Trans LWJ, Trans Male LWJ, Arranged Marriage, Minor Character Death, Murder)

these all have Wei Ying joining the Wens and oftentimes, being a positive influence on Wen Xu:

All Things Belong by kuroi_atropos (M, 92k, WWX & WRH, WangXian, WWX is a Wen, Abuse, Whipping, Manipulations, Warning: WRH, Smart WWX, Possessive Behavior, Warning: JGS, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Past Rape/Non-con, Society Level Victim Blaming, Victim Blaming)

Scars of Lightning by The_peregrine_falcon (T, 6k, YZY & WWX, WWX & WRH, WangXian, YZY’s A+ Parenting, Canon Divergence, Not Canon Compliant, Wen WWX, zidian, YZY is a bitch, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Injury, Major Character Injury, Heavy Angst, Lotus Pier, Nightless City, Young WWX, Muteness, Hurt kind of comfort)

Sunset, Sunrise by Ariana Deralte (ArianaDeralte) (T, 59k, WWX & WRH, WangXian, WIP, Time Travel Fix-It, Crack, Temporary Character Death, sorry I killed a-Yuan for a few paragraphs before the time travel, WWX is a Wen, Genius WWX, WRH gets to rewatch the series as a treat, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, in this house we acknowledge that all the sects have flaws, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, WWX Has ADHD, Bad Parents JFM & YZY, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Autistic LWJ)

Train Rides Change Everything by Seriana (E, 508k, WangXian, SangXu, ChengJue, ChenLi, Modern AU, Non-Traditional A/B/O Dynamics, Mpreg, Abusive Jiang Family, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Slut Shaming, Fluff and Angst, Unplanned Pregnancy, Abusive YZY, Bad Parents JFM and YZY, Beta JC, Omega JYL, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Beta NHS, WC Being an Asshole, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Misunderstandings, Mating Bites, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Scenting, Scent Marking, Slow Burn, Forced Marriage, First Time, Forced Bitching - Omegaverse, Alpha WX, Minor Character Death, Murder, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kidnapping, drug overdose, Sexual Tension, Omega JC) has a good (ish) Wen Cu. He's no boy scout, but he's far from the unredeemable person he is often seen as

Where The Arrow Points by Nillegible (G, 4k, WIP, WN & WQ, WN & WWX, JC & WWX, Time Travel Fix-It, Fix-It, No Sunshot Campaign, Because Um. WN murders WRH, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, really) this fic seems to have been abandoned after only one chapter, unfortunately, but about half of that is from Wen Xu's POV and I found him interesting! He's still an antagonist (I think??? the fic died so early it's hard to tell) but he some complexity and positive qualities.

The Oriole Behind You by mercyandmagic (M, 97k, WangXian, LXC/JGY, JC/MM, CP/XY, MXY/NHS, NMJ/WQ, WN/QS, JYL/JZX, JZN/SS, SL/XXC, WX/WZL, LQR/Sisi, Arranged Marriage, Things are not as they appear, alternative title - WRH is the world's greatest matchmaker, Lan Family Feels, Jiang Family Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Everyone Lives) I remember this one having good!WX

🔒 Three Little Things by Netrixie (M, 39k, NHS/WX, LXC/NMJ, No Yin Iron, Crack Treated Seriously, Non-Traditional A/B/O Dynamics, Canon-Typical Violence, Background Character Death, Patricide, four people get beheaded, Enemies to lovers speedrun edition, Attempt at Humor, Canon-Typical Angst) it could be this one too, where WenXu goes against his father (I haven't finished reading it yet though)

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2. Hello! I hope you are all well this winter festive season! I have an ITMF request - do you know any recs that have a a whole humiliating spectacle comeuppance for Madam Yu, a la the trials in Dispersing Clouds and Truth Will Out (When Caught on Video). I’m JC ambivalent tbh but if you know of any where Madam Yu gets her just desserts for her abuse of WWX and JC stands with him, that would be great!! Thank you <3

🔒 The Second Hand Unwinds by trulywicked (E, 75k, WangXian, JYL/JZX, WIP, Time Travel Fix-It, Not JC Friendly, Not Yunmeng Jiang Sect Friendly, Not Jiāng Family Friendly, Not YZY Friendly, Time Travelling LWJ, Protective LWJ, Fluff, Minor Angst, Minor Character Death, JGS is his own warning, Wooing, LWJ is romantic af, Inventor WWX, Genius WWX, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Protective Gusu Lan Sect, Supportive LXC, Good Uncle LQR, WWX Protection Squad)

My heart knows (you’re the missing piece) by makexianxianhappytoday (T, 73k, WangXian, Jiang Family Bashing, Canon Divergence, Rogue cultivator!wwx, JYL Bashing, WWX leaves Jiang sect, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, JC Bashing, Protective! LWJ, Butterfly Effect, No Golden Core Transfer, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Mastermind!NHS, JZX is WWX's friend, Good brother!LXC, Lan Yi is ALIVE, BAMF!WWX, a lil OOC ngl)

so i cut the shackles and changed my name by MichelleFeather (T, 34k, WangXian, WWX Leaves the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, WWX is a Lan, Good Uncle LQR, Supportive LQR, Protective LQR, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, JFM and YZY Bashing, Jiang Family Bashing, Abusive Jiang Family, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Hurt WWX, Genius WWX, No Sunshot Campaign, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Cultivation Sect Politics, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Canon Divergence, Protective Gusu Lan Sect, WRH isn't a power hungry tyrant, mostly, BSSR is WWX's Grandparent) an investigation into Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian is ongoing in so i cut the shackles and changed my name

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3. Hey hey!! I wanted to submit an Im in the Mood For ask, for any fic where WWX and LWJ have a rocky relationship at the start, due to political circumstance or LWJ acting rude, and LWJ then reaching out to fix the relationship! Thank you very much! We all appreciate the work you guys do immensely :]

💖🔒 love, in fire and blood by cicer (E, 360k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, YLLZ WWX, Arranged Marriage, political scheming, Gratuitous Domesticity, Mutual Pining, EXTREME SLOWBURN, the inherent eroticism of the forehead ribbon, The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known, neither wwx nor lwj want to be Perceived, but sorry kids! it’s gonna happen!, rated E but the the NSFW stuff doesn’t begin until chapter 19!, bottom LWJ in chapter 20 and 27, Mojo’s post)

🧡 a stone to break your soul, a song to save it by rikke ( M, 180k, WangXian, Arranged marriage, Canon Divergence)

the river and the sea by sasamelons (T, 7k, WangXian, Soulmates, Arranged Marriage, Misunderstandings, Angst with a Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Falling In Love, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Mutual Pining)

我的皇后是農民 | sowing seeds in the cold palace by sweetlolixo (E, 84k, WangXian, Imperial Palace, Emperor LWJ, Imperial Consort WWX, Farmer WWX, Angst, Romance, Wingman LJY, Wife-chasing-LWJ, Arranged Marriage, Best Boy A-Yuan)

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4. Hiii thank you all so much for your help and recommendations ❤️

ITMF fics where Wei Wuxian is really harmed by the resentful energy / war/abuse injuries /starvation from surviving and then returning to live in the BM, and he and the Wens know: he is hurt, weak, slowly dying. Something with sad and depressed Wei Ying and the Wens, who try to take care of him while he still has some time and A-Yuan cheering him up. Maybe the whole cultivation world problem is a factor in Wei Ying giving up on his health and putting his all into protecting the Wens, who see and try to help however possible. Maybe Lan Zhan sees/thinks something is off and comes to them to help or at least spend time with them.

Maybe the siege happens anyway, maybe the plot changes (e.g. someone saves the Wens and helps Wei Ying, or they leave somewhere else, or they are left alone and become a village/sect), maybe Wei Ying dies/comes to the brink of death from poor health before someone can kill him, maybe he decides to accept and speed the process and break the Seal while sacrificing himself, maybe he slowly gets better. Overall, I really crave hurt and sick Wei Ying knowing the inevitable consequence of his poor health and getting comfort and love from the Wens (and any other people).

Thank you everyone ❤️ @shellennium

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5. for the next mood post: in the mood for a fic where jin guangyao is the vilain/antagonist! (Please do not include fics in the jgy bashing/not jgy friendly/evil jgy tags, I've already searched those).

Game Night by Hobbsy3 (T, 46k, WangXian, XuanLi, NieLan, Kidnapping, Implied/Referenced Torture, Witness Protection, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Dark Comedy, Modern AU, Protective LWJ, Protective JYL, Protective JC, Fusion with the movie ‘Game Night’, Mentioned Junior Quartet, TGCF cameos if you squint)

Starlight by KouriArashi (T, 38k, wangxian, Stardust Fusion, Action/Adventure, Developing Relationship, Mutual Pining, Murder, Ghosts, Magic, Child Abuse) Stardust AU with JGY as the evilest prince

the problem with authority by isabilightwood (M, 139k, WangXian, QingLi, Canon Divergence, Sacrifice Summon, only the summoner sticks around, slightly dark!JYL, WQ lives, Slow Burn for yanqing, Angst with a Happy Ending, Chronic Pain, Mild Sexual Content, Versatile | Switch WangXian)

i told you when i came i was a stranger by Caramelized (M, 50k, OFC/LXC, minor WangXian, Isekai, Transmigration, Fix-It, Canon Divergence, Amateur cartography, Butterfly Effect, Sunshot Campaign, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, No Golden Core Transfer, Dimension Travel, Politics, LXC the politician, Self-Insert, Foreknowledge, Angst with a Happy Ending)

i’ll take a secondhand monster by Stratisphyre (T, 24k, MXY & WWX, MXY & JGY, LWJ & LSZ & MXY, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Child Abuse, Bullying, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kidfic, Minor canonical character death, Injured WWX, Earn Your Happy Ending)

in this place where we don’t have a prayer by Cerusee, Mikkeneko (T, 42k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, WWX dies at Qiongqi path, Demonic Cultivation)

🔒💖 Everyanything by deliciousblizzardshark & lingeringdust (E, 46k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Gender Identity, Gender Dysphoria, Trans WWX, Protective LWJ, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Is it bad parenting to bring a baby on a nighthunt, Canon-Typical Misogyny, Fluff and Angst, Vaginal Sex, Canon-Typical Major Character Death) has a JGY as the ultimate antagonist and a big showdown vs. him at the end

Your love gives me Wings by SaiaiSaiko (M, 27k, WangXian, WWX Lives, MXY Lives, Winx Club Fusion, Enchantix Form, Sirenix From Winx Club, Believix From Winx Club, Fairy WWX, Witch WWX, Curses, Bad Health through Curses, Spiritual Tools are Pixies, Accelerated Aging, older looking WWX, Fairy NHS, BAMF WWX, BAMF NHS, WWX in WWX's Body, JZX Lives, NMJ Lives, JYL Lives, The following tags contain spoilers, Evil JGS, Trans MXY, Self-Discovery, Misgendering, Victim JGY, Curse Breaking) although it is in a wierd way

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6. Itmf: people sometimes liken Golden cores to being part of someone's soul. What if, ripping it out and putting it in jc, created a harry potter type horcrux situation? And that's why wwx didn't perish in the burial mounds, despite all odds? That maybe so long as jc lives, wwx can't die?

in this place where we don’t have a prayer by Cerusee, Mikkeneko (T, 42k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, WWX dies at Qiongqi path, Demonic Cultivation) link in #5 not exactly the scenario requested, but a fic where JC having WWX's core means people are able to bring him back to life earlier

forget the shade from this other tree by VagabondDawn (T, 11k, Canon Divergence, JZX Lives, No Qiongqi Path Ambush, Vague gesturing towards WWX forming a sect, canon-typical WangXian) And another one where a spell meant to target WWX affects JC instead (pretty minor plot point though)

Also idk if mikkeneko turned it into a full fic, but this plotbunny

Death of a Ghost by Gotcocomilk (E, 107k, WangXian, WWX & JL, Canon Divergence, Ghost WWX, Hurt/comfort, Family bonding, Fluff, Angst) ghost on the lotus peir by gotcocomilk , i dont remember exactly it was the condition but wwx was trapped in life because his core was in jc and it allowed him to use spiritual energy of some sorts (do you mean this fic? If not let me know 😊 - Mod C)

The Core Issue by Hauntcats (T, 21k, WangXian, Angst with a Happy Ending, Not JC Friendly, Canon Divergence)

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7. Hi! This is for ITMF. A modern cultivation au where a basic cultivation (like meditating, recognizing the difference of monster, etc) is teached in school but for more deeper learning have to go to sect affliated school. I want wwx as a teacher but anything alright. Or just a story where cultivation is normal is okay too. Thanks! / Hi! A few days ago i think i sent an ITMF ask about modern cultivation au? I dont remember if i mentioned it but if not can you add that it doesnt have to in school setting as long as cultivation is normal. Thanks! @idontknowwhattowriteforusername

Roadside Attractions by Bodldops (T, 10k, WangXian, Teacher WWX, Teacher LWJ, The power of organized aunties)

🔒 Song of Divination by LittleSummary (M, 28k, WangXian, LXC/NMJ, WIP, Single Parent WWX, Modern with Magic, Demonic Cultivation, Amnesiac WWX, Curses, Past Abuse, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Behavior, Bad Parent YZY, Bad Parent JFM, Canon JC, No JC & WWX Reconciliation, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, LSZ is a Wei, MXY is a Wei)

Documented Fact by Scrippio (T, 7k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, College/University, Professors, Minor Injuries, Misunderstandings, Fluff, Zizhen POV, Humor)

Back to Bite One by diamondbruise (E, 21k, wangxian, modern w cultivation, past sex pollen, case fic, forced marriage technically, misunderstandings, happy ending) This last one isn't school-based but portrays the same cultivation practices as canon times in a modern setting.

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8. hello!! i'm ITMF a fic where JC and WWX reconcile by just beating the shit out of each other. Just a very cathartic brawl where they scream at each other and clear a lot of stuff up. @silas-octapisseron

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9. Is this the rec page? I'm new to this, so I'm not sure but I'm going to shoot my shot😅 are there any Wangxian fics where they're dating in their early teens and canon still happens while they're dating. Like, they don't even ever officially break up when Wei Wuxian turns to demonic cultivation and helps the wens in the burial mounds. Are there fics like that? Please let me know, please and thank you and I hope you have a nice day or night😁 @yasssbassss

seldom all they seem by Fahye (E, 25k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, or rather Arranged Betrothal, followed by Weapons-Grade Thirst) Wei Ying and Lan Zhan have an early arranged betrothal before canon events happen in seldom all they seem so close, but not quite what the requested wanted.

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10. ITMF: WangXian de-aging or age play. Preferably nonsexual. Thank you 💖 @br0therw1ves

Glimpses Of The Past by A_simple_Cookie, GoschateWabn (G, 54k, WangXian, JC & WWX, LWJ & WWX, WIP, Age Regression/De-Aging, Good Sibling JC, YLLZ WWX, Young WWX, Childhood Memories, Fluff and Angst, Fluff, Twin Prides of Yunmeng Feels, Twin Prides of Yunmeng Dynamics, LWJ Has a YLLZ Kink, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Humor, Family Bonding, Post-Canon, WWX Needs a Hug, Gremlin WWX, Hijinks & Shenanigans, beware WWX shenanigans inside) De aged to all different ages on different days

A Child’s Wish by Hauntcats (Not rated, 13k, wangxian, WWX & Wen remnants, Celestial meddling, Not JC Friendly, Fix-It, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Everyone gets what they deserve, Age Regression/De-Aging, Child LWJ)

found your writing on my wall by howodd5ever (T, 25k, WangXian, JC & LWJ, JC & WWX, Accidental Baby Acquisition, De-aged WWX, in which JC and LWJ have to learn to deal with each other, Post-Canon, Getting Together, JL makes an appearance, LSZ best boy, Referenced Child Neglect, discussion of parental loss, child food insecurity, Case Fic, Kind Of, Nightmares)

little a-ying by byeollie (Not Rated, 16k, WangXian, JL & LSZ & LJY, JC & WWX, LQR & WWX, Curses, Age Regression/De-Aging, Fluff, Babysitting, everyone has to look after a mischievous WWX, Yunmeng Bros, LQR has a heart, Established Relationship, Junior Trio Dynamics, Unreliable Narrator, Family Feels, Found Family, yunmeng bros reconciliation, Post-Canon, Mild Hurt/Comfort)

Rewritten by yamadori (Katsumi27) (G, 6k, WangXian, JC & WWX, Age Regression/De-Aging, Emotional Hurt/Comfort)

Silver & Gold by beeswaxing (E, 198k, wangxian, JL/LSZ, LJY/OYZZ, Post-Canon, Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Age Regression/De-Aging, Fix-It of Sorts, Family Bonding, Established Relationship, Cuddling & Snuggling, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Literal Sleeping Together, Romance, BAMF WWX, Mutual Pining, Horny Teenagers, Underage Kissing, Protective WWX, Fluff)

sugar stains by lanjingyeet (T, 18k, WangXian, Kid Fic, (kind of), General Shenanigans, WWX gets turned into a child and it is exactly as chaotic as you'd expect, also the answer to the riddle was love all along, Spirits, questionable parenting, junior trio on babysitting duty, everyone is doing their best ok, Age Regression/De-Aging, Child WWX)

tiny gentians by humancorn (G, 1k, WangXian, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, )Location: Cloud Recesses, Age Regression/De-Aging, De-Aged WWX, Fluff, Pre-Slash)

grow by cafecliche (T, 14k, WangXian, Age Regression/De-Aging, Character Study, Post-Canon, [Podfic] Grow by jellyfishfire) translations into multiple languages available

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11. Hi! Its been a long time since my last ask. But I am hungry for some good fox wei wuxian and dragon lan wangji. And this is the best place for this. Kindly recommend me some fics that are Dragon lwj and fox wwx themed and

- Multi story fic / not oneshot or two shot

- Angst/historical/royal au 's are preferred.

Thank you @lostsoul234

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12. Hello, I am in the mood of fic where Lan Zhan dies (preferable temporarily) at Nightless city battle. Where he either jump after Wei Wuxian from the cliff or he is killed in the battle. I think you might have similar request fic recs somewhere but I forgot to save it. Thank you.

🔒 Blossoming flowers in a full moon - 花好月圆 by ThisIsWhereTheMagicHappens (T, 64k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts, make LWJ happy agenda, wangxian cuddle to Immortality)

coax our vineyard through by Shializaro (G, 8k, JFM/YZY, WangXian, POV JFM, Time Travel, POV Outsider, Letters, Rumors, BAMF YZY, Off-screen BAMF WWX)

If I Could Go Back in Time by Runningbarefoot (M, 122k, WangXian, NieLan, Canon Divergence, Role Reversal, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Grief/Mourning, YLLZ WWX, Eventual Happy Ending, The Twin Jade Brotherhood, Hurt/Comfort, Character Study, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Dynamics, Slow Burn)

Blood from a Stone by muchlessvermillion (M, 47k, WangXianCheng, Time Loop, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, Canon Divergence, Pining, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Cultivation Sect Politics, Sect Leader JC, Politics, Temporary Character, Death Suicide, Canon-Typical Violence, Grief/Mourning, Getting Together, Polyamory, Love Confessions) it's offscreen but it impacts the narrative, if that makes sense?

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13. Hi, I'm in the mood for as many dom/sub Wangxian fics as you can share. No bottom Lan Zhan please. Huge bonus points if it's a lengthy fic with a darkji tag, or has some elements of darklanzhan. Thanks! @thehappyyellow

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14. Hi! This is for ITMF. I want to read a fic where LWJ is the one who left WWX. Like, i read too much of a story where WWX left LWJ. So i want to read the opposite.

Bonus if JYL/JWY/WN/WQ is protective of WWX @idontknowwhattowriteforusername

estuaries by vesna (mrsronweasley) (E, 34k, wangixan, modern, breakup/makeup, pining while fucking, single dad WWX, angst w/ happy ending)

🧡 Life as a House by Terri Botta (Isilwath) (T, 55k, WangXian, Modern AU, Corporate Espionage, Post-Divorce, Father-Son Relationship, Reconciliation, Angst with a Happy Ending, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, LWJ Needs A Hug, lsz is a good boy, recovery from abuse, Therapy, Abusive Relationships, lwj pov, No Powers)

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15. Hello! I hope all of you beautiful people are well! I was hoping for ITMF that keep bothering me.

Does anyone has a wangxian fic fic ACCURATE canon Lan Xichen. By that, I mean, in which he is just a Himbo like MXTX explained to us. Not some knowledgeble and intelligent one who somehow got tricked.

Also, if possible, if it exist, maybe some dark Lan Zhan that figures out that manipulating his brother is not that hard and may fix more of his problems than he expected.

Thank you! @lostandmessedup

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16. Do you have any mobility aid user wwx 👀

Thank you so much for your hard work mods 🙏🙏

No jc bashing or a/b/o please

Elder, an Aesthetic by MarbleGlove (G, 8k, JC & WWX, Fix-It, Post-Sunshot Campaign)

Like a Water-Worn Stone by meyari (T, 41k, wangxian, major character death, Hurt/Comfort, very little hurt, lots of comfort, Chronic Illness, Serious Injuries, Self-Medication, Disability, PTSD, Depression, Self-Worth Issues, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, aftermath of war, Aftermath of Violence, Prisoner of War, Identity Issues, Warning: Jīn Guāngshàn, enslavement (discussion of), abuse (discussion of), actually very fluffy despite the warnings)

Work in Tandem by MimiSpearmint (E, 23k, WangXian, LWJ & LSZ, Modern with Magic, Single Parent LWJ, when you just want disability-led sword lessons for your child, swordflight instructor WWX, swordflight instructor LWJ, Fluff, give LWJ friends agenda, Protective LWJ, Getting Together, Intercrural Sex, Choking, Oral Sex, Rough Sex, a lil bit slut-shamey but in a hot consensual way, imma say we lean into canon sex dynamics in this one, Implied off-screen D/s negotiations, Work in Tandem [Podfic] by GinevraReads (GinevraFangirl))

Black Sun by thelastdboy (E, 51k, WangXian, WIP, POV WWX, POV LWJ, Canon Divergence, Fall of Lotus Pier, Modern with Magic, No Sunshot Campaign, Hurt WWX, Not Jiang Family Friendly, Not Cultivation World Friendly, WZL Redemption, Wen Remnants Live, WWX Lives, Amputation, Hurt LWJ, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Burial Mounds Ensemble as Family, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cultivation Sect Politics, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Disability, Classism)

we’re starting at the end by Miss_Enthusiasimal (M, 92k, WangXian, JC & WWX, Time Travel, Canon Divergence, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Golden Core Reveal, Burial Mounds, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Starvation, emaciation, Cannibalism, Self-Harm, Amputation, Suicidal Thoughts, Sunshot Campaign, let JZX and WWX be friends club)

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17. Hi! Thank you for everything you do.

I am in the mood for a fic where there is a confrontation between Lan Qiren and Wei Wuxian. The most important part is that during the confrontation is that Wei Wuxian says that he does not respect Lan Qiren and does not believe he is worthy of respect. Lan Qiren is an awful teacher who never taught him anything. He is not a good disciple of the Lan sect as he breaks rules all the time. He is not a good uncle because he seems to put his own wants and needs before his nephews wants and needs. He is not a good person because he treats people unfairly and is prejudiced. Lan Qiren was disrespectful towards Wei Wuxian’s mother, a dead woman, for something she did years ago.

I just want a fic that addresses these points and shows that Wei Wuxian really doesn’t care about Lan Qiren and in fact really dislikes him. I would also like to see some karma visited upon Lan Qiren and for him to be shocked that Wei Wuxian, and maybe even most his or the younger generation, see him as a joke.

I don’t know if there is anything out there like this but I would love to read it! @kjwaikiki

For 17, Wei Ying is a disciple of Baoshan Sanren in this one but it otherwise fits the request

Going on charmingly by scribbet (T, 21k, WangXian, Teenage LWJ, Cloud Recesses Shenanigans, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, WWX is BSSR's Disciple, Genius WWX, Petty LWJ, Meddling LXC, What if LWJ didn't have an excuse to instantly write WWX off?, Canon Divergence, JFM Doesn't Adopt WWX, POV LWJ)

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If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

[yuziyou]

finished reading danmei 囚于永夜 by 麦香鸡呢 (main cp: Gu Yunchi x Wen Ran) and i really really recommend reading it!! Also the author's other work 欲言难止 (main cp: Lu Heyang x Xu Ze). The novels are set in the same universe and it's ABO. Second one is my fave as i've read it at the beginning of this year and it has the special place in my heart <3

[accio-victuuri]

wait.. i’m literally on here or weibo almost 24/7 ( as you can tell lol ) but I feel like i missed something. i’m seeing clowning related to xz’s photos and how it looks like he is a groom and it’s a wedding photoshoot. the place is also famous for wedding shoots ( allegedly, idk. i’m not from there ) so turtles are imagining again. lol. freakin coincidence that wyb’s GRA photoshoot was done at a wedding shop. plus the “wedding outfits” for weibo night. which is all clowning and galaxy braining.🌌

now, we’re joking around, like where’s yibo? he should be taking photos with his partner.

then i see comments that there is this one song WYB recently listened to. meaning, as recent as when XZ flew to singapore which is called 超人不会飞 (superman can’t fly) by Jay Chou. i know WYB and everyone else is a big fan of Jay Chou but the clowning comes from the timing of when he listened to it. let me get to that first.

here is the song if you wanna listen to it. 🎶

turtles are interpreting it as WYB longing to “fly” to where XZ is and be with him but he can’t because of all his work commitments. he wants to take a breather. thinking about what his life is and the constraints, and at times like this, when they spent days in Beijing, but now they have to be apart, it affects him even more.

however when i read the lyrics, it could also be because he can relate to what jay chou is singing about. here’s the english translation i found here. i have bolded the ones i felt like WYB relates too. literally no need for explanation. just read it. It fits with his status in life so much that it’s almost scary.

妈妈说很多事别太计较

ma ma shuo heng duo shi bie tai ji jiao

Mum said one should not be too fussy over most matters

只是使命感找到了我 我睡不着

zhi shi shi ming gan zhao dao le wo wo shui bu zhao

But my sense of mission found me and i can't sleep over it

如果说骂人要有点技巧

ru guo shuo ma ren yao you diao ji qiao

If scolding someone requires some skills

我会加点旋律你会觉得 超屌

wo hui jia diao xuan lu ni hui jue de chao diao

I will add a tune and you will feel it's very cool (diao)

我的枪不会装弹药（弹药）

wo de qiang bu hui zhuang dan yao (dan yao)

My gun is not loaded with ammunition

所以放心不会有人倒（人倒）

suo yi fang xin bu hui you ren dao (ren dao)

So don't worry, nobody will collapse

我拍青蜂侠不需要替身 因为自信是我绘画的颜料

wo pai qing feng xia bu xu yao ti sheng yin wei zi xin shi wo hui hua de yan liao

I don't need a double for The Green Hornet because confidence is the coloring for my painting

我做很多事背后的意义远比你们想象

wo zuo heng duo shi bei hou de yi yi yuan bi ni men xiang xiang

The meaning behind the things I did is far beyond your imagination

拍个电视剧为了友情与十年前的梦想

pai le dian shi ju wei le you qing yu shi nian qian de meng xiang

Filming a tv drama is for friendship and a dream 10 years ago

收视率再高也难抗衡我的伟大理想

shou shi lv zai gao ye nan kang heng wo de wei da li xiang

No matter how high the rating is, it can't match my noble ideal

因为我的人生无需再多一笔那奖项

yin wei wo de ren sheng wo xu zai duo yi bi na jiang xiang

Because my life do not need another award

我不知道何时变成了社会的那榜样

wo bu zhi dao he shi bian cheng le se hui de na bang yang

I don't know when I have become a society's role model

被狗仔拍不能比中指要大器的模样（怎样）

bei gou zai pai bu neng bi zhong zhi yao da qi de mo yang (zen yang)

Can't show the paparazzi the finger and have to put on a magnanimous front

我唱的歌词要有点文化

wo chang de ge ci yao you dian wen hua

The lyrics I sing must have some degree of literacy

因为随时会被当教材

yin wei sui shi hui bei dan jiao cai

Because it might become teaching material anytime

CNN能不能等英文好一点再访

CNN neng bu neng deng ying wen hao yi dian zai fang

Can CNN interview me when my English gets a little better

时代杂志封面能不能重拍

shi dai za zhi feng mian neng bu neng chong pai

Can i reshoot the Time magazine cover

随时随地注意形象

sui shi sui di zhu yi xin xiang

I must take care of my image at all times

要控制饮食不然就跟杜莎夫人蜡像的我不像（本来就不像）

yao kong zhi yin shi bu ran jiu gen du sha fu ren la xiang de wo bu xiang (ben lai jiu bu xiang)

I must control my diet or i won't look like the "me" in Madame Tussauds (it doesn't look like me in the first place)

好莱坞的中国戏院地上有很多手印脚印

hao lai wu de zhong guo xi yuan di shang you heng duo shou yin jiao yin

There are many handprints and footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre

何时才能看见我的掌

he shi cai neng kan jian wo de zhang

When will mine be seen there?

如果超人会飞 那就让我在空中停一停歇

ru guo chao ren hui fei na jiu rang wo zai kong zhong ti yi ti xie

If Superman can fly then let me take a breather in the sky

再次俯瞰这个世界 会让我觉得好一些

zai ci fu kan zhe ge shi jie hui ran wo jue de hao yi xie

Overlooking this world again will let me feel better

拯救地球好累 虽然有些疲惫但我还是会

zheng jiu di qiu hao lei sui ran you xie pi bei dan wo hai shi hui

Saving the world is tiring, though I am a little tired, I still will

不要问我哭过了没

bu yao wen wo ku guo le mei

Don't ask me if I have cried

因为超人不能流眼泪

yin wei chao ren bu neng liu yan lei

Because Superman can't cry

唱歌要拿最佳男歌手

chang ge yao na zui jia nan ge shou

(You) must get best male singer award as a singer

拍电影也不能只拿个最佳新人

pai dian yin ye bu neng zhi na ge zui jia xin ren

A newcomer award is not enough if you act

你不参加颁奖典礼就是没礼貌

ni bu can jia ban jiang dian li jiu shi mei li mao

Not attending award ceremonies is considered rude

你去参加就是代表你很在乎

ni qu can jia jiu shi dai biao ni heng zai hu

And if you do, it means you are over-concerned about it

得奖时你感动落泪（落泪）人家就会觉得你夸张做作（做作）

de jia shi ni gan dong luo lei (luo lei) ren jia jiu hui jue de ni kuang zhang zuo zuo

When you won an award and teared, people will think you are fake and exaggerating

你没表情别人就会说太嚣张

ni mei biao qing bie ren jiu hui shuo tai xiao zhang

When you have no expression, others will say you are too arrogant

如果你天生这个表情 那些人甚至会怪你妈妈（妈妈）

ru guo ni tian sheng zhe ge biao qing na xie ren sheng zhi hui guai ni ma ma (ma ma)

And if you are born with that expression, they will even blame your mum

结果最后是别人在得奖 你也要给予充分的掌声与微笑

jie guo zui hou shi bie ren zai de jiang ni ye yao ge yu chong fen de zhang sheng yu wei xiao

In the end someone else gets the award, you also have to give ample applause and smile

开的车不能太好 住的楼不能太高

kai de che bu neng tai hao zhu de lou bu neng tai gao

The car you drive can't be too luxurious nor can you live too high up

我到底是一个创作歌手 还是好人好事代表

wo dao di shi yi ge chuang zuo ge shou hai shi hao ren hao shi dai biao

Am I a singer-songwriter or a representative of good men and good deeds?

专辑一出就必须是冠军

zhuan ji yi chu jiu bi xu shi guan jun

My album must be ranked top once released

拍了电影就必须要大卖

pai le dian yin jiu bi xu yao da mai

My movie must sell well

只能说当超人真的好难

zhi neng shuo dan chao ren zhen de hao nan

I can only say, being a Superman is difficult

如果超人会飞（超人会飞）那就让我在空中停一停歇（停一停歇）

ru guo chao ren hui fei (chao ren hui fei) na jiu rang wo zai kong zhong ti yi ti xie (ti yi ti xie)

If Superman can fly then let me take a breather in the sky

再次俯瞰这个世界 会让我觉得好一些

zai ci fu kan zhe ge shi jie hui ran wo jue de hao yi xie

Overlooking this world again will let me feel better

拯救地球好累（地球好累）虽然有些疲惫但我还是会（我还是会）

zheng jiu di qiu hao lei (di qiu hao lei) sui ran you xie pi bei dan wo hai shi hui (wo hai shi hui)

Saving the world is tiring, though I am a little tired, I still will

不要问我哭过了没

bu yao wen wo ku guo le mei

Don't ask me if I have cried

因为超人不能流眼泪

yin wei chao ren bu neng liu yan lei

Because Superman can't cry

=====

I don’t think there is anything wrong with how cpfs are relating this to cpn cause that’s just how it is. But sometimes, there are other reasons why they do what they do.

SO MY CONFUSION COMES FROM HOW THE HELL DO PEOPLE KNOW WHAT HE RECENTLY LISTENED TO. I can’t seem to dig up how or maybe it’s something we don’t talk about. I have never experienced this kind of tidbit related to them before so I wanna know the source. Or is this like the gaming cpn where certain people know and they will not divulge the boy’s account for privacy? if anyone knows, feel free to comment. If i find out in the future, I will share.

[stephreviews]

Falling into Your Smile (2021)

Tong Yao (Cheng Xiao of WJSN) is a gamer girl that gets recruited to the pro gamer team ZGDX as a mid-laner and is the first woman pro gamer in the Chinese league. Lu Sicheng (Xu Kai) is the ruthless captain of ZGDX. Tong Yao must deal with the struggles of facing up against her ex, Jian Yang (Zhai Xiao Wen), also a pro gamer for team YQCB, being the first woman in the industry, adjusting to her new job, AND the chemistry she feels with Lu Sicheng! Will she every catch a break?

Both subtle and blatant calls against sexism in gaming: 10/10 we love to see a show about pro gaming address something women in male-dominated fields deal with all the time

Badass battle sequences during matches: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ngl, when I watched "Go Go, Squid", I skipped a lot of the competitions, but this show makes the competitions so much fun!

ML that is an absolute simp: 10/10

FL acting: 7/10 her line delivery is good, but her face is almost always the same? Idk. I think this was Cheng Xiao's first drama, and the two of them still had bomb chemistry, so I gave her some grace

This drama is a lot of fun. Anyone who likes sports dramas or gamer dramas would enjoy this drama. Despite some of Cheng Xiao's lines falling flat, it's still a good rom-com overall.

[robininthelabyrinth]

The Other Mountain - ao3 - Chapter 13

Pairing: Lan Qiren/Wen Ruohan

Warning Tags on Ao3

———————————————————————-

“When you say gone and missing, what precisely do you mean?” Wen Ruohan asked.

Wang Liu shrugged. “Exactly that, Sect Leader. The two heirs of Gusu Lan were last seen at their lessons, shortly before the delegation left for the Yunmeng, and not since.”

It wasn’t that Wen Ruohan hadn’t understood what his spy meant. It was just that he couldn’t believe it.

“In the sense that they were kidnapped,” he said slowly, “or in the sense that they’ve run away?”

“It is my belief that the latter is more likely. There have been no recent threats, and Gusu Lan’s gate wards remain unbroken – no one without a pass token has entered or exited.”

That was at least something, Wen Ruohan supposed. Still, when Lan Qiren found out…

Wen Ruohan did not want to imagine Lan Qiren’s reaction to finding out that his brother had somehow managed to misplace Lan Qiren’s beloved nephews. Not after all the work he’d put into keeping the man intact for his own purposes! And for that matter, how had Qingheng-jun permitted something like that to happen? He’d only had sole guardianship of the boys for a handful of months! They were his own sons and heirs!

Wen Ruohan was not particularly fond of children, not even his own, and his taste for the pleasures of familial life had largely evaporated after the death of his first family. But he hadn’t gotten to where he was by being careless, and so Wen Ruohan made a point of always knowing where his sons were, what they were doing, and what company they were keeping at any given time. To not know that was to invite disaster, and that was even without behaving in such a way as to make them think running away was a better option!

Currently, Wen Xu, his oldest, was at nearly fifteen finally getting to the point that he was worth talking to. About half a year prior, he’d expressed an interest in the army and Wen Ruohan had happily granted his wish, sending him to train under one of his generals. Lu Qipei had made some token protests about her son leaving her side, but she’d been satisfied enough with the placement. Wen Ruohan suspected she would have preferred that he just give the boy command outright, never mind that he was underage – but as Wen Ruohan had not yet reached that depth of madness, he ignored all her hints and hoped instead that Wen Xu would actually genuinely learn something from the experience. In contrast, Wen Chao was only eight, so he remained in the Nightless City, but his daily life was filled with tutors and friends, overseen by his mother (and Lu Qipei, who often offered her “help”). Wen Ruohan had assigned him Wen Zhuliu, the Core-melting Hand, as a bodyguard and personal servant, ensuring that no one would ever dare challenge or threaten his son.

He certainly had never lost either of them.

Much less both!

Oh, Lan Qiren was definitely going to have another meltdown when he heard the news. Wen Ruohan couldn’t even imagine what that one would be like…and Wen Ruohan did not want him to have another meltdown. He had plans! Plans that involved Lan Qiren being of sound mind!

And now Qingheng-jun was, through sheer negligence, going to mess with those plans.

Wen Ruohan reached up and pressed his forehead above the bridge of his nose in a rare outward concession to his frustration.

“Do the Lan know where their heirs went?” he asked, forcefully restraining his temper. Thoughts of stabbing Qingheng-jun were pleasant, but not productive. However he might feel about the other man at the moment, he was the sect leader of a Great Sect, and not trifled with lightly. “For that matter, if their heirs are missing, why isn’t there more of a frenzy on their side?”

“The Lan sect disciples at the Cloud Recesses are trying to see if they can find the heirs before reporting to Sect Leader Lan on their absence,” Wang Liu reported, which made sense. Better to report that they’d temporarily misplaced the children rather than have to report having lost them, minimizing the fact of their failure by mitigating it in advance. “It was initially believed that they were simply hiding away somewhere in the Cloud Recesses, possibly as some sort of protest, but they’ve since ruled that out. They’ve sent disciples down to Caiyi and are now searching there. If they can’t find them there…”

Then they’d have no choice but to send a message to their sect leader, confessing all.

After all, the boys were only nine and six. They weren’t exactly accustomed to travel. If they weren’t in the Cloud Recesses, and they weren’t in the nearby town, and the only people who’d passed the Lan sect’s gates were those with the approved pass tokens, the only plausible place they could be was...

Here.

“You got the news early?” Wen Ruohan asked, then nodded in approval when Wang Liu confirmed. “Well done.”

“Thank you, Sect Leader. Your grace is immeasurable. Do you want us to start searching Gusu Lan’s baggage for them now? We could find and secure them before the Lan sect admits to themselves that they are lost.”

It was a tempting thought. Wen Ruohan could imagine the scene now: Lan Qiren noticing the increasing hubbub on the Lan sect’s side and growing concerned, eventually (reluctantly) turning to ask Wen Ruohan if he knew anything, Wen Ruohan drawing him off to the side to privately tell him, Lan Qiren’s moment of shock and horror, delicious in its suffering, which then melted away into profound relief and appreciation when Wen Ruohan murmured in his ear that he’d already sent people for them and found them – that they were safe, and secure, and with him –

Wen Ruohan wasn’t sure exactly what would happen after that, but he was certain it wouldn’t be boring.

It was a beautiful image.

Sadly, common sense intervened.

“No need,” Wen Ruohan said. “Let us not risk your cover on such a thing.”

Even if he found the boys first, he wouldn’t be able to take them away without being caught. The Lan sect was on the verge of confessing to their sect leader that the children had been lost. Once they did that, a search would undoubtedly begin at once, and then it would be impossible for him to hide the fact that he’d ordered his men to start the search early. Once that came out, whether or not he’d secured them by then, he would be blamed for having tried to spirit them away – and unfortunately, there were still things Wen Ruohan could not do, lines he could not cross and taboos he could not violate. Neither his power nor his insanity had yet grown to the level where he thought he could get away with stealing the heirs of the other sects.

(Yet. That was what Lan Qiren was for.)

Wang Liu must not have thought of that. Well, he was still relatively new.

“Sect Leader, are you sure?” Wang Liu asked, frowning. “If we miss this chance, it is unlikely we will be able to gain access to the children in the future – ”

“I’m certain,” Wen Ruohan said firmly, making it clear that his patience was starting to slip. He appreciated his spies, but he did not permit anyone to question his decisions. “You’re dismissed.”

Wang Liu saluted respectfully and absented himself very quickly. Presumably he still remembered what happened to people that got on Wen Ruohan’s bad side.

Wen Ruohan forgot about Wang Liu the moment he left, instead opting to look around the room he was in, the one used to store the considerable luggage his sect had brought with them, with a critical eye. After a moment, he pulled out a piece of talisman paper from his sleeve. He hadn’t bothered doing this for himself in ages, but calling for a servant would take both more time and more energy – for the talisman, he just needed a few strokes, a twist of power, a little focus…

The talisman activated in a flash, splitting into four and flying onto all four walls of the room, the pattern on them stretching out until they covered the entirety of the walls, then dissipating. The gentle background sounds of the Lotus Pier went with them, the privacy arrays locking it all down into silence.

“There we go,” Wen Ruohan said, and smirked in triumph. “Would you like to come out now?”

No reaction at all.

“I know you’re there.”

Still nothing.

Fine, then. He’d go for the kill.

“And to think how upset Lan Qiren will be when I tell him that he missed you – ”

Two small heads, adorned with Lan sect ribbons, immediately popped up from one of the larger trunks, right where Wen Ruohan had noticed them earlier. His cultivation was too high for him not to have noticed the presence of two children hiding away close by like that: he’d heard the rustling of their robes, felt the small pulses of spiritual energy, smelled the faint hints of sandalwood from the incense packets hidden in their clothing. He hadn’t especially cared, of course, since they’d been too far away to hear or see him talking with Wang Liu – what did some stowaways matter?

Then he’d found out who they likely were.

After all, just because Wen Ruohan couldn’t search for them and couldn’t take them away didn’t mean there wasn’t an advantage to be had in finding them.

The older boy, who must be Lan Xichen, looked properly appalled, just like Lan Qiren when he was faced by some profound breach of etiquette, though on a far smaller and rounder face; it wasn’t clear whether it was because of Wen Ruohan’s implicit threat or simply the idea of his uncle being upset. The younger one, Lan Wangji, who was even rounder than his big brother and looked even more like a big soft bao, merely looked determined, hopping out of the trunk and marching straight towards Wen Ruohan, his two little fists gripped tightly at his side, teeth bared –

“Wangji, no!” Lan Xichen yelped, throwing himself forward.

Wen Ruohan bemusedly lowered his hand, which had very abruptly flown up to the level of his face – he’d had to withdraw it very quickly in order to keep from being bitten.

Bitten.

By a junior version of Lan Qiren!

“Where is Shufu?” the little boy demanded, heedless of his older brother rushing forward to try to tug him back. “Bring me to him right now!”

Lan Wangji was lucky that Wen Ruohan was too busy trying to imagine what Lan Qiren must have looked like at a similar age to strike him down for his insolence. The effort wasn’t working very well, even though Wen Ruohan assumed that Lan Qiren must have resembled Lan Wangji as he was now – but no, Wen Ruohan really just couldn’t see the other man as anything other than the antique he’d already been by his early twenties.

“Please let me apologize on my brother’s behalf, Senior Wen,” Lan Xichen said urgently. “He’s just very distressed, he doesn’t mean it.”

Wen Ruohan glanced down at him. “Do not tell lies,” he drawled, and Lan Xichen winced and turned red with embarrassment. “He most certainly meant it. And it’s Sect Leader Wen.”

It was only when both boys gasped that he realized that he should have kept his identity a secret. He hadn’t realized that they actually hadn’t recognized him – if he’d realized, he would have kept it back and used it as leverage, played with them until they’d said something particularly dreadful or embarrassing.

It just hadn’t occurred to him that they were being genuinely ignorant rather than just speaking too fast. Everyone recognized him.

But of course it made perfect sense that these little children wouldn’t. Lan Qiren had never allowed a single child of his sect under the age of thirteen anywhere near the discussion conferences, not even the ones his sect had hosted. Once someone had asked about it, more teasing than curious. In return Lan Qiren had given a ponderous frown and started reciting rules of etiquette in his dull monotone until everyone’s ears had started bleeding and the person who’d asked looked as though he regretted being born.

Moreover, these weren’t just any children, but Lan Qiren’s children. They probably even obeyed the rules against gossip…though it was fairly clear from the look of worry on both their faces that they had at least some notion about some of the rumors that accompanied Wen Ruohan’s name.

“You are the one who has Shufu,” Lan Wangji hissed like a little viper. “Give him back!”

“Wangji!”

Lan Xichen had to literally pick up his brother to keep him from lunging forward.

There was something intrinsically funny about the sight of one boy hoisting the other up by the waist to keep him in place, barely able to keep standing steadily given all the wiggling and kicking. Somehow, when Wen Ruohan had heard about Lan Qiren’s two nephews that he had personally raised, it had never occurred to him that the man might have raised one normal child and one absolute hellion.

“Wangji, behave,” Lan Xichen said, and put his brother down. “You won’t get anywhere with Sect Leader Wen by trying to bite him. He’s a very reasonable person. I’m sure he doesn’t want us to cause a fuss, because then people might come here and think he was the one who brought us here.”

Make that two absolute hellions.

Wen Ruohan’s eyebrows arched involuntarily. “Are you trying to blackmail me?” he asked, deeply amused. And also pleased that he’d bothered to take the time to set up the privacy talisman earlier, because Lan Xichen wasn’t wrong. “I’m certain that’s against your sect rules, little Lan.”

Lan Xichen looked up at him with a set face, stubborn determination in every line of him. “Is that so, Sect Leader Wen? Which one? Please educate this junior.”

Lan Qiren had raised these children?

On second thought, of course he had. Who else could take something so fundamentally uninteresting as children, who were boring, needy, and unpleasant until they’d at least completed adolescence, and create such a fascinatingly unpredictable mix of contrasts, cloaked in seemingly implacable Lan sect righteousness?

And if he could do that with his own children…really, Wen Ruohan had already been eager enough to see Lan Qiren teaching when his sole interest had been in hearing Lan Qiren dominate a classroom, but now he was really crawling out of his skin with anticipation. Perhaps he would even send his own sons to him to see if maybe Lan Qiren could somehow salvage the wrecks their insipid personalities and mothers had made of them – after all, they were Wen, and thus deserved the best. And everyone agreed that Lan Qiren was the best.

“My sect also has a list of sayings by which we are to abide,” he said instead. “All left behind by the founder, my ancestor. Do you know which one applies in this situation?”

They both looked uncertain.

“Neither do I. Because under my rule, they have become obsolete.” Wen Ruohan’s lips curled back into a sneer. “I would recommend against underestimating me.”

The intimidation worked beautifully against Lan Xichen, just as intended: the boy paled and looked as though he were reviewing everything he must have heard about Wen Ruohan in his mind all at once, and pairing that with the fact that Wen Ruohan had his beloved uncle within his grasp.

Lan Wangji, in contrast, scrunched up his face angrily, shouted “Arrogance is forbidden!” and smacked Wen Ruohan right in the knee with his little fist.

And then he burst into tears.

“Oh no,” Lan Xichen said, clearly horrified. He tried to reach out to grab his brother once more, only for Lan Wangji to throw himself on the floor and start hitting it with his fists, still sobbing, but with his mouth pursed as if he were trying desperately not to make too much noise during his temper tantrum.

Causing noise is prohibited, if Wen Ruohan had to bet. Those ridiculous Lan sect rules…

He really did look like a little Lan Qiren.

Wen Ruohan crouched down in front of Lan Wangji, wondering briefly if he should restrain him the way he had ultimately restrained Lan Qiren during his own fit – probably not, since Lan Qiren had commented that in the future he would prefer if Wen Ruohan limited his involvement to merely ensuring that there was nothing breakable in the vicinity and keeping other people away. Likely that was the course of action he would recommend to others as well.

It made Wen Ruohan again wonder if this was what Lan Qiren had looked like as a child, all chubby cheeks, red faced and utterly miserable.

No, he still couldn’t imagine it. Given the poor relationship between Lan Qiren and his brother, which must have started in their childhood, he simply could not imagine Lan Qiren being spoiled and beloved and secure enough in himself to have a fit out in the open in front of strangers. Though perhaps he was being unduly dismissive of Lan Wangji – the boy’s life had been through rather a lot of changes recently, all negative, and he’d already seen the impact of a similar thing on the already adult Lan Qiren. Sometimes meltdowns were simply inevitable.

No matter.

“How often do these fits happen?” he asked Lan Xichen, who was wringing his hands and bouncing up and down on his toes in profound distress.

“More often than they used to,” Lan Xichen replied in what was practically a wail. “He used to have much better self-control. That is, before – before Shufu…Wangji doesn’t like change.”

“Mm. Neither does your uncle.”

Lan Xichen glanced at him sidelong, gnawing on his lower lip. “Earlier…I heard…is my Shufu really your wife?”

“I’m his,” Wen Ruohan corrected, then grinned at the sweet memory of the disaster Lan Qiren had caused earlier by publicly calling him his wife. The cultivation world was never going to get over that one. “Tell me, what was your plan, hiding yourselves here? Why didn’t you try to go find your uncle straight away?”

“We didn’t know if he was going to be at the conference,” Lan Xichen said, looking abashed. “But he’d certainly be in the Nightless City, wouldn’t he?”

“I see. And when you were found in my possession? What were you planning to do then?”

“We wouldn’t be found!” At Wen Ruohan’s doubtful look, Lan Xichen puffed out his cheeks and pouted. “We wouldn’t. We weren’t found until now, were we?”

That was only because no one had properly looked.

Wen Ruohan decided to refrain from commenting. He could wait until a more appropriate moment to ruin the boy’s illusions – or at least until he managed to figure out what he intended to do with them. As he’d already determined earlier, there was no way he could smuggle them out of the Lotus Pier and to the Nightless City himself. Once the two children’s escapade was discovered, he and Lan Qiren would be immediate targets for suspicion. Their baggage would be searched, their retinue investigated, no stone left unturned. There was a limit to how clever even he could be, trying to hide something away when the focus of the entire cultivation world was on him.

And yet the other option was even less appealing: to bring Lan Qiren so close to the children he so longed to see, and yet not letting them see one another. Or worse, letting them see each other and then sending the boys back to the Cloud Recesses, thereby delivering the most powerful card over Lan Qiren into the hands of their father, Wen Ruohan’s rival in power.

No, that was intolerable. The boys had to come with him.

As for how – well, he’d think of something.

He was Wen Ruohan, after all. He always got what he wanted, eventually.

“Are you done?” he asked Lan Wangji, who seemed to have exhausted himself.

“I want to see Shufu,” Lan Wangji replied. Stubborn brat. “I want to see Shufu right now.”

“That can be arranged,” Wen Ruohan said. Both boys lit up, as he’d expected them to. Children were painfully easy to manipulate. “What will you give me in exchange?”

They both stared at him, clearly wondering if he was being serious.

Naturally he was. He would never have bothered if they were just two ordinary children, of course, but these were Lan Qiren’s children.

“Do not take advantage of your position to oppress others,” Lan Xichen finally said.

Cute.

“Do not be wasteful,” Wen Ruohan replied, fighting down the amused curl of his lips. He’d gotten pretty good at irritating Lan Qiren with his own sect rules, these past few months. A few children would be nothing.

“Do not build wealth using others,” Lan Wangji volunteered.

“…do you even have any wealth?” Wen Ruohan wondered, abruptly distracted, and tried not to laugh when Lan Xichen dug a single piece of silver out of his sleeve to proudly show off to him. His own little Chao-er had a monthly allowance of ten times that amount, but then again the Wen sect wasn’t nearly as fond of frugality as the Lan. “Don’t be unreasonable. How about a favor? One each.”

“A…favor?”

“Why not? I’m doing you a favor by bringing you to your shufu, aren’t I? Propriety suggests reciprocity.”

The boys looked at each other, clearly wary and searching for a trap, or at least a way out of the one they were in. That alone made them smarter than any number of sect leaders Wen Ruohan had to deal with on a regular basis, many of whom were blindly self-confident even when knowing the caliber of their enemy. In fact, even Lao Nie would generally agree to just about anything rather than owe Wen Ruohan an open-ended favor without limitation – he knew, as all smart people knew, that Wen Ruohan always remembered what he was owed, and that he was more than willing to wait for just the right moment to call it out, even if it took decades.

He had the time.

But in the end, wary as they might be, these were still only children.

“All right,” Lan Xichen finally said, clearly unable to think of another solution that would satisfy the situation and reluctantly accepting it. “One favor each. But nothing bad!”

Wen Ruohan thought about it, then inclined his head in agreement. Vagueness in a contract was beneficial to both sides, and he could go quite far with the wiggle room ‘nothing bad’ offered him.

Lan Xichen looked relieved. For his part, Lan Wangji looked between the two of them and nodded firmly, signaling his own consent to the arrangement. And then, having apparently decided that Wen Ruohan now qualified as a good adult, he held up his arms and said “Up!” to Wen Ruohan in an imperious tone.

“Not a chance,” Wen Ruohan informed him. These two children might be more tolerable than most, but he wasn’t about to start indulging them. “You have two legs, you can walk. Or ask your brother, if your fit earlier has truly incapacitated you.”

He waved away the privacy barrier and began walking back to the rooms he had been assigned, weaving his way through the many bridges and floating platforms of the Lotus Pier. Presumably Lan Qiren would be back from the ducks by now – though Wen Ruohan supposed he was the one who’d ended up being trailed by ducklings.

He found that he was looking forward to presenting his newest prizes to Lan Qiren.

Lan Qiren’s reaction would be amazing. The other man would undoubtedly be quick to realize the same issues with their presence and disposition as Wen Ruohan had, of course, but he was still a Lan; he would be emotional first, rational second. Seeing his nephews for the first time in months would snap that reserve of his in two like a twig, and Wen Ruohan wouldn’t have to suffer that dull-as-dishwater self-effacing persona that Lan Qiren had adopted as soon as they were in public.

Truly, it had been more irritating than Wen Ruohan had realized it would be, seeing Lan Qiren forcefully stuff all of the interesting things about him – his sharp insight, his fiery temper, his well-concealed ruthlessness – back into the perfect model of the navel-gazing scholar, untouched by mortal filth. That might be appropriate for the Lan sect, but Lan Qiren wasn’t here to represent them. He was here for Qishan Wen, as he himself had admitted. Admitted repeatedly, and in public.

The Wen sect did not hide their talents. They didn’t hide that they were better than everyone else.

It was more than that, though. Lan Qiren’s behavior made it painfully clear that he had been brought up to be a proper second son, always staying one step behind and ready to offer support without eclipsing the first son, not as beloved as his brother and excruciatingly aware of it. Given that he was so obviously superior to his brother in every respect, it grated on Wen Ruohan’s nerves to see him act like that.

But all that was in the past, now. He was better than that now.

Husband or not, Lan Qiren was Madam Wen now. He ought to act like it.

Perhaps Wen Ruohan would suggest that Lan Qiren learn a little from Lan Wangji. Now there was a younger son the way a younger son ought to be: deeply beloved and spoiled rotten, utterly certain that he deserved everything good in the world because his family had always strived to give it to him. He certainly didn’t seem to have any trouble being appropriately demanding, assuming other people’s acquiescence to his will as if it were inevitable.

Yes, this was going to be a great deal of fun. Lan Qiren would have his moment with his nephews, emotional as it would undoubtedly be, and then he would master himself and return to Wen Ruohan’s side so that they could plan out how to manage the fall-out when the boys were inevitably discovered.

Really, it was such a pleasure to have someone smart enough to actually keep up with him.

It was a painful rarity, especially when coupled with loyalty or straightforwardness. Most of the people who were actually smart enough to anticipate Wen Ruohan’s plans were too greedy or presumptuous to be tolerated, and the ones who were matchlessly loyal tended to be too stupid to talk to. Wen Ruohan trusted no one, of course, but doubting Lan Qiren was practically pointless, an exercise in futility…

A small hand tugged at his sleeve.

Wen Ruohan looked down.

“Don’t we need to hide?” Lan Xichen whispered loudly to him. “Anyone could see us!”

“Don’t be absurd,” Wen Ruohan said, shaking him loose. “I would be able to tell if anyone were coming long before they got anywhere near.”

“And then we’d hide?” Lan Xichen asked.

“No,” Lan Wangji replied before Wen Ruohan could say anything. “He’d kill them for seeing us.”

“Wangji. Don’t be ridiculous. He wouldn’t!”

“The rule against killing is only in the Cloud Recesses. So why not?”

“Because it would still be wrong! Also, he wouldn’t be able to get away with it. Not in the middle of a discussion conference.”

Sad but true.

Wen Ruohan wondered if Lan Qiren had deliberately trained Lan Xichen to be more practical, a necessity in a sect leader, while Lan Wangji, as a younger son, had the luxury of being intransigent, or if the two boys’ characters had simply ended up that way by chance.

He really would need to give Lan Qiren a chance to make something out of his Xu-er and Chao-er. They weren’t bad boys, as far as Wen Ruohan could tell, and naturally, as his sons, he was proud of them, but just as obviously he wanted them to be outstanding adults, befitting the dignity of his bloodline. And even he could tell that the present difference between his Chao-er and Lan Xichen, or even Lan Wangji, was quite wide…

“He’d probably just hit them really hard on the head instead,” Lan Xichen concluded. “At most.”

“Mm. That would work.”

Very cute.

There was no point in telling the boys that Wen Ruohan was both so powerful that he could easily sense and avoid anyone coming their way and also a master of arrays, including those that were more than capable of hiding two children. It would be much funnier if he told Lan Qiren later about how they had plotted for him to incapacitate any enemy that came across their path. Lan Qiren would make such a face…

Ah, and just as he thought of him, Wen Ruohan turned a corner and there was the man himself, standing right outside the entrance to their rooms. He was unmistakable in his white-and-red robes and Lan sect forehead ribbon, his back straight and his face turned away from where Wen Ruohan was standing.

He was not alone.

He was talking with a woman – or perhaps more accurately, a woman was talking to him. She was tall for a woman, dressed in clothing of a rogue cultivator with no clan insignia, though there was a horsetail whip tucked into her belt alongside her sword. She moved one of her hands as she spoke, almost as though she were signing what she was saying.

The nails of the hand she was waving around were lacquered a very dark red, and very sharp. Not just the ones for playing guqin, either, but all five. Her other hand –

Her other hand was wrapped around Lan Qiren’s wrist.

And Lan Qiren was letting her.

Wen Ruohan stopped, knowing that the two boys were too small to see as far as he did, and glanced around – ah, there was another set of rooms here. Probably one of his subordinate sects, since no one else would agree to be placed so close to his Qishan Wen. The entryway was locked, but he forced it easily with a palm and held it open for the children.

“Your uncle is not far,” he told them, observing the way their faces both took on a hungry cast, as if they could think of nothing that they longed for more than the sight of Lan Qiren. “But he is not alone. Wait here until you hear me call.”

They went in obediently, although Lan Wangji had to put his clenched fist to his mouth and bite it in order to motivate himself to do so – he clearly wanted more than anything to run straight to his beloved uncle, as if simply being in his presence would cure all previous ills.

Ah, the stupidity of youth. Was I ever that young?

Perhaps once. He’d learned better quickly enough – betrayal had a way of doing that.

He didn’t bother applying another privacy talisman, knowing that the flare of spiritual energy would be enough to draw the attention of other cultivators, particularly one as sharp as Lan Qiren. The children would be fine without it, and if they weren’t…well, that wasn’t really his concern, in the end. What did he care?

They were just Lan Qiren’s nephews, not his.

Moreover, Wen Ruohan wanted to maintain the element of surprise. He wanted to see Lan Qiren’s face when he tried to explain what exactly he was doing, as if he’d completely forgotten that he’d written Do not give your wife reason to doubt your fidelity with his own hand on his own list of personal rules on how to be a good and worthy husband. Rules he was meant to follow.

Had that one been included as a trick? It only said “do not give reason to doubt” – could that be the loophole, that it focused more on Wen Ruohan’s doubt than Lan Qiren’s own fidelity…?

“I am fairly certain that cannot be accurate,” Lan Qiren was saying as Wen Ruohan stalked closer. He sounded somewhere between appalled and resigned, as far as Wen Ruohan could tell; it was sometimes difficult to determine given his general inclination towards monotone. “Why in the world – no, on second thought, please do not explain. I have no desire to hear any more.”

“Don’t give up on learning,” the woman said, her voice surprisingly deep, lively and cheerful. Was this the type Lan Qiren liked? She had a certain wild beauty about her, barely tamed, and even her hair was set in something that was neither the style of a maiden nor that of a married woman, more like that of a man at leisure. She was powerful, much more so than he would have expected of a woman her age. Nowhere near Wen Ruohan’s own strength, but he supposed that meant that at least Lan Qiren’s taste in partners had that much in common. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your family rules so quickly after marriage. Your memory isn’t supposed to be one of the things you give up when you make your marriage vows – you should pick something less necessary. Like freedom, or blood.”

Wen Ruohan paused. What?

“I…do not think you are supposed to give up your blood,” Lan Qiren said slowly, although he was oddly hesitant. Possibly he was simply wary of upsetting an obviously crazy person. “Or that such a thing is – possible.”

“You’ve been talking with the wrong people, then,” the woman said, brisk but cheerful. “Or thinking too narrowly, which you have a bad tendency to do. You and all the other Lan, always thinking straight! You should look around more – to look down more. Being in the Wen sect will be good for you. It’ll broaden your horizons.”

Then she giggled.

“Get it?” she said. “Horizons?”

Lan Qiren was visibly staring at her. Maybe she really was crazy. Maybe she’d been the one to grab onto him, and he’d only refused to shake her off because he feared what she might do.

“…no,” he said. “I do not ‘get it’. At all.”

“I think it’s especially apt now that you’re married! If there’s one thing I’ve found about getting married, it’s that it means you spend a lot more time being horizontal – ”

“Cangse Sanren!” Lan Qiren shouted, having clearly ‘gotten it’ this time.

Wen Ruohan’s eyebrows arched up immediately. He knew that name: Cangse Sanren was the immortal Baoshan Sanren’s disciple, who had descended from the celestial mountain. It would certainly explain how powerful she was, the spiritual energy coiled within her and glowing with strength.

Wen Ruohan had seen her once before, shortly after her descent from the immortal’s mountain. He’d been as curious as the rest of them, possibly more so given his own personal quest for immortality, but he hadn’t managed to make many inroads – she’d been quite fiercely protected by Jiang Fengmian at the time, the young man nominating himself to act as her escort and guardian as she traveled through the cultivation world to visit various sects. He’d been right to be so protective, of course, since at the time, it seemed as though half the world had been in love with her. It was no wonder Wen Ruohan hadn’t recognized her; it had been quite a few years since then, and she was no longer the young girl she had once been. He’d heard that she’d become a rogue cultivator after marrying Jiang Fengmian’s servant rather than the man himself – perhaps that was why she was here to visit him during the discussion conference, when the publicity would help quell the inevitability of gossip, rather than in private.

If Wen Ruohan recalled correctly, Lan Qiren had been acquainted with her back in their youth as well; they were of an age with each other, and would have been peers. She had spent a summer in the Cloud Recesses. In fact, from what Wen Ruohan had heard, while Lan Qiren had not been one of the many suitors that had proposed marriage to her, he was said to have liked her a great deal…

Wen Ruohan’s anger, which had been temporarily dampened by confusion, rekindled.

“I suspect the joke may relate to me,” he said as he came up to them, voice intentionally chilly, reflecting his displeasure. Oddly enough, Lan Qiren didn’t jump or try to hide away from him, which meant that he was either a better actor than Wen Ruohan had assumed or perhaps that he genuinely possessed no feelings of guilt. “The midday sun faces no horizon and looks down upon all the earth.”

“That’s the one,” Cangse Sanren said agreeably. She didn’t seem bothered by his presence either, and rudely pointed to him with those sharp red nails of hers – though interestingly now that he was close by, he couldn’t smell any lacquer or powdered herbs on them. Surely they weren’t that color naturally…? “That’s the joke. But also the Wen sect are all a bunch of arrogant – ”

“Cangse Sanren,” Lan Qiren hissed. “Do not use vulgar language!”

“I was going to say surgeons!” Cangse Sanren turned to look at Wen Ruohan, fixing him with an unexpected glare. “You’ve got medical skills, don’t you? You took long enough to get here. Fix him.”

She nodded at Lan Qiren.

Wen Ruohan frowned and turned to follow her gaze to Lan Qiren – who looked awful, now that he was actually looking at him. His lips were thin, pressed tight from tension, and all the skin of his face unusually pale, his lips unusually red. There was a smear of blood at the corner of his mouth that hadn’t been wiped off properly, and a matching stain on his sleeve.

He’d been coughing up blood.

“Didn’t you go to feed ducks?” Wen Ruohan asked, the chill that had filled him abruptly melting away in the heat of his irritation. He grabbed Lan Qiren’s other wrist to check his pulse – weak, miserable, distressed – and immediately started transferring over spiritual energy to stabilize him. As Cangse Sanren had been doing through his other wrist, he could now see. “How did you manage to get into a state like this? Did a particularly violent goose break one of your sect rules?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lan Qiren said, equally irritated. Wen Ruohan was pleased to note that he immediately shook off Cangse Sanren’s hand as soon as he was in possession of superior assistance. “It seems that I am too regular with my habits. My brother was waiting for me there.”

Wen Ruohan’s eyes narrowed.

He’d known, of course, that Qingheng-jun wouldn’t take well to seeing Lan Qiren well and whole and intact – that had been part of the fun he’d been expected – but he hadn’t anticipated that the man would actually take action against Lan Qiren. He knew he hated him, of course, he’d based his entire strategy in making the marriage offer to Qingheng-jun on that fact. But even putting aside the taboo of injuring your own blood kin, surely the man didn’t hate his own brother enough to waste the benefits he’d managed to use Lan Qiren to obtain for his sect, and certainly particularly not before he’d actually had the chance to seize them…? After all, Qingheng-jun was a sect leader, however long he had lapsed in the position, and for a sect leader, the sect always came first.

But if, despite all that, Qingheng-jun had still raised his hand against someone wearing Wen Ruohan's colors –

"He didn't do anything to me," Lan Qiren added sourly, presumably picking up on Wen Ruohan's murderous expression. "I did it to myself."

"To yourself?" Cangse Sanren echoed. She sounded suitably skeptical. "How, exactly? Walked into a post hard enough to cause internal injuries, did you?"

"I really did walk into a post that time," Lan Qiren informed her, confirming Wen Ruohan’s sudden seething suspicion that it had been a reference to some shared past event. "But no. Nothing so crude. He baited me with words, not even objectionable words, and I fell for it. I allowed him to get to me to such a point that I grew unbearably angry – to the point that I nearly died of rage like…like some sort of Nie!"

Wen Ruohan choked. That might be the rudest thing he’d ever heard Lan Qiren say, scornful and definitely violating the rules against sneering and contempt.

(Wen Ruohan was such a bad influence on Lan Qiren. He gloried in it.)

“I don’t think we can go that far,” Cangse Sanren said, unmoved. Presumably she didn’t realize what a momentous event Lan Qiren coming anywhere near the vicinity of a pejorative was. “I’m no doctor, I’ve got no medical skills, but I’m pretty sure your current state can’t be diagnosed as ‘dying’.”

Lan Qiren glanced warily at Wen Ruohan.

“It’s not,” Wen Ruohan confirmed with a scoff. “You’re hardier than you think you are.”

It was that pure and shining golden core of his again, keeping him stable and helping him swiftly recover his equilibrium. Absent some truly tremendous trauma, some deeply intimate betrayal, Lan Qiren would be a hard man to break.

“See?” Cangse Sanren said haughtily. “Nothing but exaggeration. You’re worse than my son, and he’ll complain just to hear the sound of his own voice.”

“I recall hearing that you have a son,” Lan Qiren said. “Around the same age as my younger nephew, I believe? I never had the chance to offer you and Wei Changze my congratulations.”

Wen Ruohan glanced at him, wondering if that was sarcasm or jealousy, but he seemed genuine.

“My news is old news,” Cangse Sanren said dismissively, waving a hand. “Yours, on the other hand, is far more interesting. Why are you wearing Qishan Wen’s suns?”

“Yes, Lan Qiren,” Wen Ruohan drawled. “Why don’t you introduce us?”

Lan Qiren blanched, clearly realizing how rude he’d been. For her part, Cangse Sanren laughed at him and made a gesture that appeared to be mimicking stroking a fake beard, intoning, “No improper behavior” in a deliberately exaggerated manner.

“Sect Leader Wen, Cangse Sanren, disciple of the immortal Baoshan Sanren,” Lan Qiren said stiffly, not paying her any attention. It was near enough to his usual behavior that it was hard to tell whether he felt anything more for her than others, but then it would, wouldn’t it? “Cangse Sanren, Qishan Wen sect’s Sect Leader Wen, Wen Ruohan. We were married a few months ago.”

“You got married? To him?” Cangse Sanren grinned widely, showing off some rather sharp tiger teeth. “Wow, Qiren-gege, who would’ve thought you’d like – ”

“If you insult my wife, this conversation is over,” Lan Qiren snapped, causing both Cangse Sanren and Wen Ruohan’s eyebrows to jump up in surprise.

“I wasn’t going to,” she said primly, obviously lying, but then she smirked. “Is that why you were asking about a wife’s duties?”

“No!” Lan Qiren exclaimed, abruptly flushing red. That was good, it meant he had enough blood to spare for his face now. “I was merely – a suggestion had been raised earlier, and I found myself unprepared – I mean, I know they manage the household, but – and – I was only making conversation! And it’s not as if you had anything useful to say, anyway!”

Wen Ruohan felt his lips twisting involuntarily up in amusement as Cangse Sanren outright guffawed.

“Of course what I said wasn’t useful,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You were coughing up blood. I would have said anything that kept you talking, or else otherwise I’d be worried that you’d faint.”

Lan Qiren spluttered, but Wen Ruohan was already nodding in approval. Judging the moment right, given Lan Qiren’s improved appearance, he took the opportunity to stop transferring energy, though he kept his fingers curled loosely around Lan Qiren’s wrist.

Perhaps he really had misjudged the situation between the two of them, he reflected, his mood vastly improved for whatever reason. Lan Qiren was precisely the sort of tactless person that would on first meeting ask an old acquaintance for advice on his personal life, provided that he perceived them to be a potential expert on the subject, and for her part Cangse Sanren seemed a practical sort of person, familiar enough with basic first aid to realize that the damage would have been worse if Lan Qiren had lost consciousness or kept stewing.

“What did your brother say to you to get such a result?” he asked. Not that he couldn’t guess, but he wanted to see a little of the rage that Qingheng-jun had inspired.

Sure enough, Lan Qiren’s face soured, his lips pressing together once more and his eyes narrowing. “Nothing that anyone could object to,” he said. “He updated me about – about my nephews.”

Wen Ruohan nodded, feeling his own smirk start to grow. He noticed Cangse Sanren’s eyes flickering between them, frowning, but he ignored her. This was going to be fun.

“There is no point in dwelling on it,” Lan Qiren said, clearly trying to convince himself more than anyone else. “There is nothing I can do about it, far away as I now am. And after all, they are his sons.”

The way he said it sounded not unlike a man stabbing a knife repeatedly into his own chest.

“On that subject,” Wen Ruohan began, figuring now would be the best time to strike, “regarding your nephews – ”

Sadly, he never had the chance to finish his sentence: it seemed that he had delayed too long, outlasting childish patience. A small quavering voice interrupted him, shouting, “Shufu!”

Lan Qiren nearly jumped out of his own skin, then twisted around, gaping as two small bundles of white hurried down the floating walkway towards him. “Wangji…? Wangji! Xichen!”

He fell to his knees with an almost audible crack, holding out his arms, and the two boys rushed into them, both children sobbing so hard that they seemed scarcely able to breathe, let alone talk.

Emotional, just as Wen Ruohan predicted.

It was a pity that they’d come out so early, Wen Ruohan thought to himself, since he probably could have extracted some fun concessions from Lan Qiren before revealing them. Still, he didn’t mind it as much as he might have otherwise. Lan Qiren would know that it was his doing regardless, and he would find a way to make it up to him. He was good for that, dependable.

“You seem improved from when I last laid eyes on you, Sect Leader Wen,” Cangse Sanren commented, crossing to his side of the walkway and idly pulling herself up to perch on the railing like some sort of monkey or bird. “Less maliciously destructive, which I assume means less bored. Could it be that married life suits you?”

“My wives would likely dispute that claim,” Wen Ruohan said dryly. “At present I have two which preceded him, and neither reported any such improvement.”

“Ah, but now you have Lan Qiren. That’s different!” She grinned and tapped the side of her nose knowingly. “They say one mountain can’t hold two tigers, but that doesn’t apply if they’re one family. Put a tiger in a cage with nothing to do, they’ll destroy everything and then themselves…sometimes you need two.”

Wen Ruohan shrugged, not disagreeing. Lan Qiren was certainly far more tiger than either of his wives had ever been – and he himself was indeed a great deal less bored.

“It’s good, though,” Cangse Sanren chattered. “I haven’t spent any serious time with Lan Qiren since I was sixteen, and I’ve been meaning to make that up…anyway, it means I can stop avoiding the Nightless City, and just in time. I was going to go over to Xixiang to check out the rumors about that old mine, but after that, my little A-Ying has been begging me to take him somewhere new.”

“Naturally he has, if he hasn’t been to my Nightless City,” Wen Ruohan said, practically on automatic. “You will find nowhere finer in the cultivation world…”

He paused, the idea coming to him in a beautiful burst of light. No one ever paid attention to rogue cultivators, who came and went wherever they willed – and Baoshan Sanren’s wild disciple more than most.

“Cangse Sanren,” he said, and she turned to look at him, a questioning expression on her face. “Your son is about the same age as Lan Qiren’s youngest nephew, is he not?”

At her nod, he smiled with teeth.

“I think it is an excellent idea for you to bring him to visit my Nightless City once you are done with your next night-hunt,” he said. “And, perhaps, you could see your way to also bringing along a few small traveling companions…?”

Cangse Sanren’s eyes followed Wen Ruohan’s to look at the two young Lan boys, talking excitedly with Lan Qiren, all three of them smiling with faces wet with tears.

Her answering smile had just as many teeth as his.

[megafaunatic]

writing patterns meme

let's say i was tagged by my dear friend rachel @fruitdaze !!!

rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

"So Lin," said Lu Bixing from the bedroom, "I've been doing some research." (theory & practice)

The sky was already a dark, deep indigo and the air was thick with birdsong as Wen Kexing made his way across through the forest to the creek. (a bowl of clear water)

Beijing Beta had a deeply tilted axis and an eccentric orbit, and the more populated southern hemisphere was halfway through a long, dark winter when Lu Bixing and his new friends were finally fit to land. (on traveling)

Lin Jingheng was not a person who was predisposed towards feelings of boredom or loneliness. (promise of the day)

a-xu: where are you guys (stay to find out)

On the fifth day of his mountain convalescence, Zhou Zishu woke to find himself alone for once. (where there is no disease)

Wen Kexing twitched awake: a door had opened down the hallway. (interloper)

Injured, the king of all ghosts brushed his hair, folded his old clothes, and left his rooms for ever. (you must build a fire)

Zhou Zishu was half-asleep on the couch waiting for his painkillers to kick in when the pounding in his skull was joined by someone pounding on his door. (it's all that i'm made of)

Zhou Zishu opened the door and caught a knife between his fingers. (but i have seen my husband)

not much to say about these other than Huge Priest W... i think these are all pretty strong openers. the story would be different if the prompt asked for final lines DLFKJASDGLKASDGHLSDKGH

i tag @cairoscene @sundiscus @englishsub @dcyiyou @yuebings and anyone else who want s to do this...

[agendratum]

the archery xuan lu makes me think of some au where jyl tries to get out of a much worse arranged marriage(maybe wen xu or an equally worse man came sniffing around or smth) and to get out of it, jyl has to beat him in an archery contest, only to absolutely crush the dude

jc and wwx are overheard in the crowd whispering to each other, one of them says to the other one "should we tell them that jiejie/shijie taught us how??"

right?? listen okay i tell myself, i can enjoy xuan lu's pictures without thinking about a new jyl au for every set of them, and i can and i do, but also

...a little bit of jyl au for every picture of xuan lu 👉👈

and i love this asdjk and you know if wen qing sees the competition and takes note who knows what might happen..

[movielosophy]

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 2 - even if they investigate separately, they come to the same conclusion

[swiftletinthecloud]

STRANGE TALES OF TANG DYNASTY II TO THE WEST (2024)

@asiandramanet august bingo: poster design

@asiandramanet event 10: scenery

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty II To the West (2024)

The competition is so fierce | 唐朝诡事录之西行 | iQIYI

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FF90pQsTf6Q

[ryin-silverfish]

So I did a brief review of when writers from the Warring States and earlier would place the legend of Yi.

Yellow Emperor's Reign: Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu Bu Wei (吕氏春秋) and Mozi's writings. Yi is listed as inventor of the bow and arrow, alongside other inventors from the Yellow Emperor's period. 吕氏 also mentions ten suns appearing before Yao's reign, but as a good omen. Also quoting from Zhuangzi, 吕氏 has Yao saying that “lighting fires while the ten suns are out" is a waste of effort, because their light cannot make the already bright environment brighter, just like Yao remaining on the throne cannot make the realm a better place when the sage Xu You is already going around helping people.

Xia Dynasty: Shang Shu (尚书), Guo Yu (国语), Zuo Zhuan (左传), Tale of King Mu (穆天子传), Qu Yuan's Tian Wen (天问), Confucius, Zhuangzi, students of Mozi. The three history books, Shang Shu, Guo Yu, and Zuo Zhuan all present Yi as an usurper of the Xia Dynasty who was then betrayed and murdered by his advisor Han Zhuo. Shang Shu also rationalizes Yi's shooting of the suns as a campaign against the Xi and He clans, two noble families charged with calculating the calendar, but who had neglected their duties. The Tale of King Mu also calls Yi the Xia Dynasty ruler of Yoqiong. Confucius and Zhuangzi both cite Yi as a powerful archer, but bad ruler. However, Zhuangzi portrays Yi as a man who understood his own faults and could not take pride in his ability to judge character. Mozi's students related a story about Yi receiving a jade pendant from heaven before his final failure and death, as an allegory of pride going before a fall. Qu Yuan has the most complete summary of Yi's myth, presenting him as a Heaven-sent hero who was meant to save the people of Xia, but usurped the king's throne, stole a river god's wife, abducted the woman Xuan Qi, lost Chang-E when she went to the moon, and finally was punished by Heaven and fell to the schemes of those around him. Other texts also mention Yi, but he's still implied to be a Xia Dynasty figure because there are pre-late Warring States texts setting him in any other time. Guizang, one of the earliest texts to contain Chinese myths, states that Yi shot down the suns and Chang-E stole the elixir of immortality and went to moon. Shan Hai JIng mentions Yi received a bow from the sky god Di Jun to slay monsters. Mencius mentioned Yi being murdered by his jealous student Feng Meng, but stated Yi bore some responsibility for the crime (neglecting mortal education). In contrast, Guan Zhong and Han Fei regarded Yi as a principled man dedicated to his craft, who understood the philosophy and not just the act of shooting an arrow, and who was the protective figure. Yi is often listed alongside his disciple Feng Meng as the example of a good archer.

Yao's Reign: Huainanzi (淮南子) and its oral sources. Yi shooting the suns is set during Yao's reign. Xunzi also mentions Yi as a title that can be given to any good archer. However, he also makes references to Yi and Feng Meng as specific individuals, in which case he's likely referring to Yi from the Xia Dynasty. ("Yi and Feng Meng cannot aim accurately with crooked bows"; "Yi's methods are not lost, but Yi is no longer in this world.") Meanwhile Han Fei makes vague comparisons between Yao and Yi as enforcers of the law, but never specifically calls them contemporary.

Later Han Dynasty commentaries would make the sun-shooting Yi from Yao's era a different individual than the Xia Dynasty Yi, but the myth of a single Yi who both shot the suns (or the individuals responsible for tracking the sun's movements through the year) and usurped the Xia throne came first and was the most popular before the Qin Dynasty.

Wonderful collection!

I only have one small correction: Qu Yuan's Tianwen does not make any connection between Chang'e and Yi.

There are lines about the death and revival of the moon, and the animal in it (夜光何德,死则又育?厥利维何,而顾菟在腹?), as well as the lines asking about why a woman in fine white robes is decorating herself in jewelry, followed by a question about where she gets the "fine pills" and why she cannot hide/keep them. (白蜺婴茀,胡为此堂?安得夫良药,不能固臧?)

It is commonly interpreted as referring to the Chang'e legends, but at least in the poem, it's not connected to the Yi-related lines.

Also, though the version of Guizang quoted in the ask mentions both Yi and Chang'e next to each other, the Qin era bamboo slips excavated from Wangjia Tai only mentions Chang'e stealing the pill of immortality and flying to the moon.

From what I know, though both the Yi and Chang'e mythology were floating around in the late Warring States-Qin era, they weren't yet connected to each other.

The earliest passage that featured the "Yi gets immortality pills from QMoW, Chang'e steals it and fly to the moon" plot is from Huainan Zi , and in the eastern Han annotation of the passage, they became husband and wife.

[reinaka42]

Wang Chuan Feng Hua Lu (忘川风华录) Masterpost

Wang Chuan Feng Hua Lu (忘川风华录) is a Vocal synth (Vocaloid and SynthV) music project. It consists of songs themed around different figures throughout Chinese history. The project is a collaboration between different artists and creatives, with music and videos featuring prominent traditional Chinese elements. The project's title translates to "The Records of Magnificence of the Wangchuan" - In Chinese mythology, "Wangchuan" (or River of Forgetting) is a river in the Underworld that can rid one of their past life's memories, similar to the river Lethe.

A mobile game adaptation has also been developed by NetEast. Unfortunately, I haven't played it so I can't give much insight on it. However, I assume that its premise is similar to that of the idea behind the project as a whole: all these historical figures meeting each other in the Underworld after they died. Maybe.

You can find all the songs on Bilibili. The official Weibo can be found here. The game's website, which includes all characters appearing so far in the game, can be found here, and its Weibo can be found here.

(If you prefer YouTube, I've also put together a handy playlist. Please know that most of these videos are reposts though, so please watch the original Bilibili MVs if you can!)

This blog is where I will be posting everything I feel like I need to say about the songs in this project. A lot of it is lifted from my Twitter account but will be in much more detail. Note that I probably won't touch collab songs, or songs that don't focus solely on the project's own characters.

Disclaimer: I do not speak Chinese, nor am I an expert on Chinese history. Therefore, I cannot reliably translate the lyrics to these songs, nor my words should be taken as gospel. I am merely a nerd gushing about my hyperfixation.

Playlist

多情岸 【Duo Qing An】 ➼ B link

洛阳怀 【Luo Yang Huai】 ➼ B link

易水诀 【Yi Shui Jue】 ➼ B link

山河令 【Shan He Ling】 ➼ B link

簪花人间 【Zhan Hua Ren Jian】 ➼ B link

栖凰 【Qi Huang】 ➼ B link

心上秋 【Xin Shang Qiu】 ➼ B link

祖龙吟 【Zu Long Yin】 ➼ B link

如见青山 【Ru Jian Qing Shan】 ➼ B link

竹林间 【Zhu Lin Jian】 ➼ B link

天下局 【Tian Xia Ju】 ➼ B link

青鸟衔风 【Qing Niao Xian Feng】 ➼ B link

木兰行 【Mu Lan Xing】 ➼ B link

好字唯之 【Hao Zi Wei Zhi】 ➼ B link

不可道 【Bu Ke Dao】 ➼ B link

水叙湖风 【Shui Xu Hu Feng】 (collab) ➼ B link

是非 【Shi Fei】 ➼ B link

风起甘露 【Feng Qi Gan Lu】 (collab) ➼ B link

谓剑 【Wei Jian】 ➼ B link

万象霜天 【Wan Xiang Shuang Tian】 (New Year event song) ➼ B link

千秋梦 【Qian Qiu Meng】 ➼ B link

易安难安 【Yi An Nan An】 ➼ B link

惊鹊 【Jing Que】 ➼ B link

高歌破阵 【Gao Ge Po Zhen】 (collab) ➼ B link

不赴 【Bu Fu】 ➼ B link

西行 【Xi Xing】 ➼ B link

大航海家 【Da Hang Hai Jia】 ➼ B link

牡丹乱 【Mu Dan Luan】 (collab) ➼ B link

倾��� 【Qing Guo】 (collab) ➼ B link

相虎 【Xiang Hu】 ➼ B link

补天裂 【Bu Tian Lie】 ➼ B link

此期盈期 【Ci Qi Ying Qi】 (1st anniversary song) ➼ B link

破云来 【Po Yun Lai】 ➼ B link

归钓吟 【Gui Diao Yin】 ➼ B link

始见千秋 【Shi Jian Qian Qiu】 ➼ B link

临川浮梦 【Lin Chuan Fu Meng】 ➼ B link

将军行 【Jiang Jun Xing】 ➼ B link

妄语人间 【Wang Yu Ren Jian】 ➼ B link

数风流 【Shu Feng Liu】 (2nd anniversary song) ➼ B link

问剑春秋 【Wen Jian Chun Qiu】 ➼ B link

起战令 【Qi Zhan Ling】 ➼ B link

人间应又雪 【Ren Jian Ying You Xue】 ➼ B link

旷古回响 【Kuang Gu Hui Xiang】 ➼ B link

墨隐侠声 【Mo Yin Xia Sheng】 ➼ B link

桃源故人 【Tao Yuan Gu Ren】 (3rd anniversary song) ➼ B link

燕双归 【Yan Shuang Gui】 ➼ B link

拜云台 【Bai Yun Tai】 ➼ B link

思华年 【Si Hua Nian】 ➼ B link

承天 【Cheng Tian】 ➼ B link

*Note: The anniversary songs are probably for the game's anniversaries, as the project itself is more than 5 years old.

Albums

Vol 1: 溯洄 【Su Hui】 Includes character songs from Duo Qing An to Zhu Lin Jian. Features human vocals.

Vol 2: 踏浪 【Ta Lang】 Includes character songs from Tian Xia Ju to Yi An Nan An + Shui Xu Hu Feng.

Vol 3: 数风流 【Shu Feng Liu】 Includes character songs from Bu Fu to Yan Shuang Gui, and the two anniversary songs.

Visual character guide:

PRE-QIN | QIN | WESTERN CHU | HAN | THREE KINGDOMS | JIN | NORTH & SOUTHERN DYNASTIES | TANG | FIVE DYNASTIES & TEN KINGDOMS | SONG | YUAN | MING | QING | DREAM

[tchaikovskyed]

The Double ep 38/39/40/40.5(??) spoilers ///

OTHERWISE KNOWN AS: THE BEST ENDING KNOWN TO MAN!

Wanning & Shen Yurong's ending being so surprisingly tender in the end???? God her story was so horrible and her entire life twisted her into a husk of a woman... I actually shed a tear at her death scene

&& Shen Yurong's haunted doggedness in pursuing his goals to the end and how he's gaslit himself into thinking that this is all for the greater good... Shen Yurong is one of the more complex villains out there for sure, and the acting was pitch perfect. Of course he chooses to commit suicide because at the end of it all he's just a fucking coward & has been this entire time!!!

Another thing. Kinda dumb that whoever holds the fish talisman automatically gets the army?? Lmao??? They are like rip even though this guy is evil we gotta follow him because he's holding that damn fish. The CATHARSIS OF A LI FINALLY GETTING TO SHOOT THE DAMN MAN THOUGH!!!!!

Xiao Heng's grandfather is the literal GOAT lmao he was so endearing & same with Xue Zhao LOL calling Xiao Heng his brother in law. Also, kind of rude of them to make Jingrui and Liu Xu get married OFF SCREEN??

The scene where she finally admits that she isnt the real Jiang daughter made me cry so goddamn hard. The regrets of a father who pushed his daughter away and abandoned her... he got his redemption arc but also his self inflicted punishment in the end

Where to start with A Li and Xiao Heng tbh. Perfect chemistry. Perfect banter. No notes. It was incredible that they showed so much affection to each other after ep 34 I was dying every time they were on screen.

Not Xiao Heng acting silly A Li finally told him that she likes him and wants to renovate his house LMAO.

Their wedding night scene was just so tender and intimate and I was surprised (but not at all displeased) that they gave us such an extended kiss scene lmao??? ABOUT DAMN TIME

God if I took a shot every time Xiao Heng gives A Li a longing/incredulous look as if he cannot believe she really exists I would be wasted because that man is a master of those...

Also after finally seeing that Xiao Heng talisman in mouth scene I regret to say that I instantly became even more feral for this man than I already am. They gave him a freaking Guan Gong blade!

The battle scenes were IMPECCABLY choreographed and I cried for Lu Ji and Wen Ji so hard. Why did they have to kill them. WHY. We went through so much together??? Why do this to Xiao Heng has he not lost enough my guys???

As a revenge drama this was just so incredibly satisfying to see all the wrongs be righted and everyone ended up exactly where they were supposed to be!!!

Also did you guys know that there's a secret episode where they play Go with sexual innuendos ??????????? And flirt?????? And have a child???????