#Qingheng jun

[lilapplesheadcannons]

Okay, we all think Lan Qiren was very much like a young Lan Wangji when he was a teenager, baby faced, fuddy duddy, stickler for rules. But what if he was more teasing and smiling like Lan Xichen and changed drastically after you-know-what happened?

Young Lan Qiren: Why do you care what X-guiniang does? She's a rogue cultivator anyway.

Qingheng Jun: She's arrogant, impulsive...

Young Lan Qiren: Xiongzhang has a crush! Xiongzhang has a cruush! Xiongzhang, X-guiniang sitting on a tree, K-I-S....

Qingheng Jun: Preposterous!!

Modern day

Lan Wangji: Wei Wuxian is disruptive, impudent...

Lan Xichen: Aww, sounds like you have a little cru...

Lan Qiren: Don't you dare finish that sentence!!

[bamboo-bees]

Meanwhile… in another life 👀

[robby-bobby-tommy]

There are some of my headcanons about the relationship between the past generation Lan bros and this whole family drama, cuz I have nothing better to do.

Now these might not be fully compliant with canon.

We know almost nothing about Lan Qiren's and Qingheng-Jun's relationship. It is implied that LQR sympathizes with his brother, but that's all.

My headcanon is that when they were young, they were very similar to LXC and LWJ. LQR was very devoted to the rules, so he had a pretty difficult personality and didn't have much friends. QHJ was more easygoing and nice. Yet he was more restrained and calm than LXC. And although he tried to get LQR more of the friends his age, he didn't always succeed. We also have no age gap between them, so I hc that it's 3 years.

Sometimes, when QHJ was 18-19, he met Madam Lan and fell in love at the first time. LQR initially didn't have anything against her. They even met at some point. QHJ was head over heels for her, but she saw him as more of a friend. Her and second master Lan were on good terms and sometimes talked for hours about music cultivation ect. They even considered each other friends.

LQR and QHJ had one teacher. I didn't think much about him, but let's just say he had his secrets. While he was nice to his students and they respected him, he had a beef or mb just somehow mistreated Madame Lan's family. He did something that forever left her family in the shadows. Madame Lan's family was shunned for a long time. Ofc ML hated this teacher's guts. It was never her intention to use QHJ's affection to avenge her family, cuz she wasn't that kind of a person to be so cruel. But when she found out, she started to carefully plan her revenge. The pg Lan Bros actually didn't know about teacher's secrets and had no idea about what was going to happen.

Since MXTX loves stuff going downhill during or after someone's 17th b'day, I imagine this whole drama happened right after LQR'S 17th birthday. A few days later their teacher was killed and ML was gone. QHJ went looking for her immediately, kind of leaving shocked and grieving brother behind. Once his brother was gone for a few days with his presumed friend, the Lan elders went on a search and found QHJ and ML in wedding gowns. As stated form canon, QHJ decided to save his love by marrying her and declaring, that if anyone wants to hurt her, they'll have to go through him. Elders were completely unimpressed, but they couldn't do anything because a) QHJ was already a clan leader at this point; b) the wedding already happened. Before this QHJ had never broken any rule, especially not as serious as this.

Due to the conflict of marrying his teacher's killer, QHJ decides to go into seclusion and lock ML with him. He orders the houses to be built on the neighboring mountain, but before he locked himself in his own room.

At this point LQR had his world turned upside down two times: firstly, his friend killed a teacher, who (in his opinion) did nothing wrong, secondly his brother disappeared and came back married to culprit. And he tried to talk to his brother, but before he could discuss anything, his bro is already secluded in his own room. When he found out that his brother is going to seclusion and doesn't plan on ruling the clan, it broke the camel's back. LQR was also very devoted to the rules and never broke them, but this day, merely a week after his birthday, he went of the rails. He asked to see his brother, loudly knocked on his door, desperately trying to talk with him. Even when the elders started to scold him and get him away from the door, LQR escaped their grip and continued to act "inappropriately" (Being rightfully upset and wanting to get some answers). Sadly, QHJ never let LQR in, despite all of the pleadings, for he believed he doesn't deserve to speak with anyone.

LQR receives his first ever serious punishment and is shamed for his "indecent" Behavior. He gets beaten with those wooden sticks pretty hard and is locked up in a room to rewrite the rules 200 times. At this point, LQR is literally broken. Two of his dearest friends abandoned him with a whole lot of new responsibilities and unanswered questions. His dreams were also shattered. He liked to teach and explore different clans, regions.

LQR never got the chance to speak with QHJ, cuz very soon his bro left to the seclusion with ML. I want to believe in good in this world, so QHJ never forced ML to have children with him, yet they had to produce the heirs. So a year or two after the whole ordeal, LXC is born. At this point LQR is still very young and totally exhausted due to the clan leader duties, and he wasn't really excited to get another brother's problem on him. LQR grew resentful of his brother and ML, he became pretty jaded and closed, disliked troublemakers. Tho, when he first held little LXC in his arms, he was smitten. He vowed to raise him properly and help him live a happy life of a clan leader. When LWJ came to the picture, LQR promised to teach them both to be good people and to never let them become what he and his brother became. To never let LWJ get all of his brothers problems and deal with them with no help. Ofc his methods were far from good and he was sometimes emotionally unavailable, he loved them very much.

This all I've got for now.

[uselesslycleverhuaisang]

Qinghenghjun : I'll marry her

Lan Qiren : but-but she's a murderer

Qingheng-jun : She looks organized

Lan qiren : huh?!

Hanguang-jun : I'll marry him

Lan Qiren : but-but he's a murderer

Hanguangjun : he smiles.

Lan Qiren : huh?!

Lan Xichen : I love him

Lan Qiren : but-but he's a murderer

Lan Xichen : he's short.

Lan Qiren : huh?!

Lan Qiren : I'll stay single thanks.

[fortune-maiden]

99. "How could you forget your son’s birthday?”

MDZS with one of the baby Lans? Or Jiang Cheng?

Thank you <333

I'm hoping by baby lans you meant baby twin jades or this is going to be awkward. But at least I got to write Shufu? ^^"

Sorry for sad Lan hours ;w;

Lan Qiren is not the kind of person to question an elder. There is an order and a hierarchy to the world, and his brother’s always had the final say. But this time, he doesn’t agree. “A-Huan was looking forward to this. He wants to see you.” “Not today, Qiren. Please,” his brother pleads. Every time they meet, he looks less a person, and more a fading ghost. “Whether it’s today or not, what difference does it make?” “What difference!” Lan Qiren huffs. “How could you forget your son’s birthday?” He turns away, not willing to see his brother’s reaction.

Also bonus drabble under the cut because I spent a long time looking at this prompt trying to see if I could make it funny somehow xD

“…so next week, we’ll swing by Pingyang – “Not next week,” Lan Wangji interrupts. “It’s Sizhui’s birthday.” “Oh.” Wei Wuxian blinks. “Huh.” “How could you forget your son’s birthday?” “Rather than forget, it’s more that I never – my who?” Lan Wangji stares. “You gave birth to him.” He says it so seriously that Wei Wuxian bolts upright, his mind spinning madly with the dawning horror that he would have to explain to his husband… Then he catches the twinkle in Lan Wangji’s eye, and bursts out laughing. That Lan Zhan – how long had he waited to turn that back on him?

[travalerray]

the previous sect leaders of MDZS are really like:

Professional sadist and tyrant. Dead because he trusted his boytoy too much.

Misogynistic rapist. Dead because he did not appreciate his son (who happens to be the above sect leader's boytoy)

(Depending on who you ask) Guy who obsessed with his ideals to the point of death. Dead because he did not learn to see from the viewpoints of other people (other people being the neglected child and boytoy)

Hikikomori

Different guy who neglects his son

[jiaoji]

Qingheng-Jun being a huge name in cultivation on his generation, Sect leader and intelligent, but his time passed and now he's just "HanGuang-Jun's father". Doesn't matter his past, he is now just HanGuang-Jun and ZeWu-Jun's father, sometimes also Yiling Laozu's father-in-law

In Brasil's minor town's people know you as "Son of this or that pearson" but Qingheng-Jun is the total opposit.

[angstymdzsthoughts]

What if Madame Lan went to the Elder for help? Like, "Please, keep him (Qingheng-Jun) away from me. I dont want to be involved with him." And the Elder tried to help but got killed by Qingheng-Jun

POST

[fengshenjunlang]

Lan Wangji is, undoubtedly, much better Teacher and Senior compared to the elevated Lan Xiansheng, Lan Qiren.

The juniors didn't merely listen to him out of his status but due to respect, as an admirable Senior. They didn't secretly badmouth him behind his back as pedantic, boring, etc, like how LQR was back then. He is the very example of mature man. Mature in age Mature in thinking Mature in deeds. Unlike how LQR who (childishly) targeting a junior inside a class due to personal feelings.

Lan Wangji's teaching and guidance are all straight to the point, concise, yet each words are of importance. In class or Nighthunts, his guidance never change. Whenever things got worse in his clan, Gusulan cultivators reflexively turn to find Hanguang-Jun. Everytime he appears the juniors aren't filled with trepidation but pure elation. That is how much of an accomplishment Lan Wangji has as a Teacher and Senior.

Lan Wangji is, undoubtedly, much better Father and Husband to Sizhui and his beloved Wei Wuxian, compared to his Father Qingheng-Jun.

His beloved died. He was beaten almost to death by the 33 discipline whips. His three views and morality over the years got overturned by the real implementation of the ridiculous justice ala the aristocratic clan. However, Lan Wangji didn't fall into despair and decadence. He grew up. He learnt from experience. He became better. He persevered to live. He became stronger. He tried step by step clarifying his beloved's reputation starting from his own clan. He taught the adopted Sizhui to be the best junior among his peers.

Very much unlike Qingheng-Jun who neglected his clan and his children, when he wasn't in as much despair as Lan Wangji was, when he's only in his 20s. He Didn't even try to investigate or clarify the old case of his wife. Fell to despair and chose to selfishly enter a seclusion.

Many people and even Lan Xichen in MDZS before Guanyin Temple, thought Lan Wangji was like his Father, afraid that he'd ruin himself for love.

But Hell No! He is a different individual who has chosen different paths in life.

Lan Wangji has never been ruined by love. On the contrary, He becomes better and becomes stronger due to love. Wei Wuxian didn't, and never will, ruin him. Wei Wuxian to Lan Wangji, is the person who gives him reason to change for the better, and bring him to see a better world.

He neither is Qingheng-Jun nor is he Lan Xiansheng.

He is Hanguang-Jun.

[panther-os]

Seven Sentence Sunday

tagged by @reconstructwriter

tagging @atohii @mogseltof @noxsoulmate @blackbirds-on-the-marsh @overlordraax and it is 6am and my brain is not working so I can't think of two others, anyone who wants to is welcome to say I tagged them though

this is from a WIP titled Wen Ruohan's Ultimatum

"You broke my seclusion for this?" Qingheng-jun demanded. "Get out."

"No, I don't think I will," Wen Ruohan said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Let me be clearer: My cousin is dead, your wife is dead. Marry my cousin's wife and adopt her two children or I will burn Cloud Recesses to the ground and annihilate the Lan Clan. Maybe I will be lenient and take the children as slaves. My Flame Palace could always use more test subjects."

(yes, wrh's cousin's children are wen qing and wen ning)

[lilapplesheadcannons]

The Imaginary Boyfriend

"I have a boyfriend."

Lan Qiren's knife slipped on the dinner plate with an ugly screeching sound. His brother let his piece of steak slip off from his fork, his mouth gaping at the sudden proclamation.

Lan Xichen thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't taken a sip out of his water yet. Looking at the murderous look his mother was casting towards her husband and brother-in-law, they were in for a lecture on proper dinner etiquette expected from adults the moment they got out of the restaurant.

Mrs Lan broke the awkward silence," That's great, A-Zhan. What's his name?"

Lan Zhan shifted in his high chair, "Ummm, his name is..... his name is XianXian."

"That's the name of your bun.. ouch! Honey!"

Mrs Lan, who did amateur theatre in her 20s, conveyed the promise of a slow, painful demise to her husband via a single glance. "That's lovely, darling. Does XianXian study in your school?"

Lan Zhan shook his head, "He doesn't study at all."

He used his fork to spear a piece of chicken before adding as an afterthought, " XianXian draws."

Lan Qiren opened his mouth before closing it abruptly. The rest of the dinner passed without any further interruption. Lan Zhan started to nod off as dessert arrived despite Xichen's best efforts to keep him awake and was fast asleep by the time he was secured in his car seat. Uncle opened his mouth again to say something but seemed to change his mind after catching Xichen's eyes in the rear view mirror.

Later, once Lan Zhan has been deposited safely in his bed, hugging his plush bunny and Lan Xichen has been permitted to stay up another half an hour extra because it's friday, the adults gathered in the living room for a drink before bed.

"He has gotten an imaginary friend," Lan Qiren winced into his drink. "Normal for his age. I wouldn't worry about it."

"An imaginary boyfriend, ha ha."

"I am not worried. And he could be a real friend," Mrs Lan sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"A new boy? Starting in the middle of the school year? And A-Zhan making friends with him? He doesn't even get along with the Nie kid."

"They just got off on the wrong foot."

All three adults winced this time. It was a good thing the Nies were a close family friend who let bygones be bygones. If it were the Jins or the Wens...

"I just think he might become even more reluctant to get along with his classmates if he's spending even more time inside his own head."

Lan Qiren paused to mull his brother's words. "He'll grow out of it, I am sure. Kids forget things quickly."

Except Lan Zhan proved his uncle wrong. He came down to breakfast on Saturday morning with stories about how XianXian had a mother who was a fairy. In the afternoon, he plopped himself in front of the rabbit hutch and solemnly introduced the bunnies to the drawing of their new parent, a red and black round blob drawn with crayons. At bedtime, Mrs Lan had to kiss 'XianXian' good night as well.

On Sunday, Uncle took both of them to softplay. Lan Zhan took a look at the screaming children and promptly hid himself in a corner of the ballpit. He only mentioned XianXian on the car ride home. "XianXian can climb up the big slide."

At night, 'XianXian' was taken down from his perch on top of Lan Zhan's study desk and was laid down beside his pillow. On a brighter note, Lan Zhan didn't put up his usual resistance to brushing his backteeth once Mother told him XianXian brushed his teeth every night.

The next week, the family was treated with more stories of XianXian. XianXian could eat spicy food. XianXian could draw better than anyone (at this point, Lan Zhan cast a regretful glance at his brother). XianXian was an only child till Wednesday, but by Thursday afternoon, he had gained an older sister and a younger brother. XianXian had parents who were in America. And they would bring toys for Lan Zhan too when they came back. XianXian not only had an uncle, but he had an aunt, too. He was never made to eat bell papers. XianXian loved swimming. XianXian got along with everyone, even HuaiSang.

By week 2, even Lan Qiren was shaken. "He's trying to project his own aspiration on his imaginary friend."

Mrs Lan, who was told by her youngest son only this evening that she was almost as pretty as XianXian, looked slightly miffed. "I just hoped he'd at least be a teenager before he got a boyfriend, imaginary or not..."

They got interrupted by a jubilant Xichen who had wondered in with the cordless phone in his hand. "Mother, Da-ge and A-Sang are going to the beach this weekend. Can we go as well, please?"

Lan Qiren nodded, " We could all use some fresh air."

Xichen removed his palm from the receiver and started urgently speaking into it.

Lan Zhan took the news surprisingly well. Instead of his usual silent tantrum at the prospect of spending time with A-Sang and other children, he nodded sagely saying, "XianXian likes the beach too," before going back to his drawing of another red and black blob.

Lan Xichen was able to spot Nie MingJue and HuaiSang in the car park before their car came to a full rest. He ran towards the boys while they started waving at him. Lan Qiren followed him because leaving a pair of 10 years old in charge of a 5 years old in a beach is just asking for trouble no matter what Lao Nie said about self-reliance.

Mrs Lan yelled at them, " We will see you guys at our regular spot."

Except their regular spot was taken. A bronzed man carrying a baby in a sling was spreading his supplies on a purple beach towel. A girl slightly younger than Xichen frowned in concentration as she dug at the sund with her toy shovel. The man raised his head and smiled at Mrs Lan, showing a crooked canine. She smiled back in response and then started to spread her own beach towel. Lan Zhan solemnly put down his own baby bucket and started helping.

"Nice day, isn't it? I was worried it might get cloudy."

The baby squirmed in its sling and made a dissatisfied mewl. Lan Zhan scrunched his nose before moving to stand closer to his mother. Mrs Lan put her arm around his shoulder, " This is A-Zhan."

"Hello, A-Zhan. This is A-Li, and A-Cheng." The man pointed at his kids. "My wife has taken our nephew for ice-cream."

Mrs Lan opened her mouth, probably to continue with the pleasantries, but she was shocked into silence. Lan Zhan suddenly yelped out a short cry before breaking into a run. Before an aghast Mrs Lan could gather herself to give chase, Lan Zhan was met by a boy his size wearing red and black swimming trunks. The two boys were apprehended by a woman who herded them back towards Mrs Lan.

"A-Zhan, why did you run like that?"

"A-Ying, that's dangerous. Don't run..."

Both sets of parents started at the same time. But they got interrupted by A-Zhan, who proudly declared, "This is XianXian."

Mrs Lan continued to gape. The woman was the first to recover, "Oh my, you must be A-Ying's A-Zhan. He has been talking about you for weeks now."

Lsn Zhan nodded. The woman turned to Mrs Lan, " We don't know how to thank your little boy. You see, poor A-Ying had to move in with us because his parents are on a research trip. We were so worried he'd have a bad time getting along with his new classmates. But, it seems like A-Zhan here was a perfect angel."

Mrs Lan weakly smiled. " Yes, A-Zhan kept talking about his new friend, too. But why does he call him XianXian? "

The man extended a hand to ruffle the boy's already messy hair, "His courtesy name is Wei Wuxian. A-Ying is more of a nickname."

The boy jerked his head away but didn't release his hold on Lan Zhan's hands. The boys started to talk earnestly. Or more like Wei Ying talked while Lan Zhan seemed to absorb every word with his entire being. A-Ying's aunt offered to go get more ice cream to replace the ones she had dropped. Mrs Lan spotted her brother-in-law, leading the small team of children towards them. She relaxed her tense muscles and laid down on the towel; then jerked back up because of Lan Zhan's solemn declaration to the group, " XianXian and I are getting married."

[fistfuloflightning]

So. I’ve been trying to find a fic I read a couple years ago but I don’t remember the title. It was a Lan Qiren/Madam Lan where they fall in love during her captivity and lwj is their son. LQR helps smuggle her out of Cloud Recesses and she goes to study under Baoshan Sanren, while he stays behind to protect the boys.

If this sounds familiar to anyone pls let me know! It was a fantastic read even tho it wasn’t finished (at the time)

[lwjsbedtime]

WIP Wednesday: Arranged Marriage Wingfic Preview II

<- PREV

"Father."

He waited for a response that didn't come. Eventually, Lan Wangji decided he'd shown respect enough, and sat back into a kneel once more. When he looked up, he could see the figure behind the curtain had moved so they were now facing him.

He swallowed, a question he feared to ask caught in his throat, and instead said, "Father, I am to be married."

More silence followed, broken only by the rustling of fabric from across the room.

Lan Wangji wet his lips, and continued. "The emperor arranged it. It-" He breathed out, chastising himself for feeling so out of control. "-it is a good match."

The quiet stretched on - and then, from behind the curtain there was a huff.

"Come close then, child," a voice that sounded unused to speaking requested. "Let me see you one last time."

Heart thudding, Lan Wangji shuffled to the bedside, his hand reaching up to part the curtain that separated him from his sire. To his chagrin, he noted his fingers trembled as they swept the fabric aside.

Cun by cun, his father's form was revealed to him, brittle in the way those who battled illness tended to be. Looking into the former emperor's eyes - into the tired lines of his face - it was hard to believe that this man was once a respected ruler. Nestled upon sheets of imperial silk, he seemed so defeated; so weak.

A skeletal hand came out from within the folds of the man's robes, to hover over Lan Wangji's cheek, as if afraid to come closer. Holding his breath, the doe leant forward, bridging the gap between them.

Flesh met with flesh, and a breath gusted out of Taishang Huang[1], as if the air had caught in his throat, too, at the sight of his son - grown now, and ready to be sent off into another man's home.

"You look so much like her," he murmured, stroking a line under Lan Wangji's eye with hands worn soft by years of inactivity.

"Mother?" Lan Wangji dared to ask.

His father nodded, a wistful twinkle in his eye.

"I should never have married her." He patted Lan Wangji's face and smiled sadly, as if he hadn't just unloaded the most damning revelation upon his son. "She would have been happier elsewhere."

You, too, he did not say, though Lan Wangji sensed it lurking behind his teeth.

"I hope your marriage suits you well," his father finished; again, holding back his full meaning - the way his own had not.

----

[1] retired emperor

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

It had been so long since Qingheng-jun had last seen his younger son that, upon meeting him again, he was filled with an unfortunate thought: he couldn’t recognize Wangji as anything more than an unknown Lan disciple.

Well. Perhaps that was not true. Wangji looked like Xichen, and Qingheng-jun had had to interact with his heir in more recent times. But if not for those moments, he would not be able to recognize either.

This did not particularly bother him. He knew his lot in life, the consequences of what he and Xiuqin had done. His sons were strangers to him; this was simply a fact.

However, though he didn’t know them, he had believed he understood his brother and the way the boys would be raised. From what he remembered of Wangji, the only behavior issue he ever had was refusing to sleep in his own bed at night without Xichen there to lull him to rest.

(Distantly, Qingheng-jun recalled that Qiren had told him of other broken rules after that incident, things that Qiren had deemed important enough to inform him of. The details were hazy now.)

Beheading sect heirs—beheading anyone, really—was not something he had believed Wangji capable of. His sons were well-behaved and had never had an emergency bad enough to warrant Qingheng-jun’s attention since the moment they were born.

As such, when a disciple disrupted his seclusion claiming that Qiren needed to see him urgently, Qingheng-jun had said no. When it was explained to him it was an issue with one of his sons, he’d attempted to dismiss the boy. Finally, when Xichen ran up—and yes, he had run, wearing robes flecked in blood, fear and confusion in his eyes—Qingheng-jun had agreed to come.

Now he understood. And looking at Wangji, kneeling nonchalantly while elders and disciples ran about in a panic, no remorse in his eyes, his clothing and skin still bloody from beheading Wen Chao in a room full of guest disciples—Qingheng-jun sighed.

He supposed they should have expected this. Wangji had always been Xiuqin’s boy, after all.

Wangji turned his cold gaze onto Qingheng-jun then.

Yes, Qingheng-jun thought, well familiar with the hatred he saw there. Just like her.

[kimboo-york]

i love Ayunga okay but there will never not be a day where I look at him in white and go "Ahhh, yes, Lan-zongzhu, the esteemed Qingheng-Jun, yes, I see." 👀

[allmydokkuns]

the brainworms have decided it's time for another ramble so on tonight's menu is Lan Qiren, no not like that please do not consume someone else's fictional uncle without said fictional uncle's consent. Vague spoiler alerts for character backstory and plot IG?

The running motif (might be the wrong word? Coincidence maybe?) of "younger uncle having to step in to parent the next generation because someone died or is Otherwise Unavailable" is really obvious with Lan Qiren. Very unfortunate for him, and I don't get to see a lot of interpretations of him in fandom that expand beyond the "stickler for the rules suffocating teacher ish figure" that we see of him re: the Cloud Recesses arc from Wei Wuxian's perspective. Therefore I'm just gonna slap some text into this post about all the things we don't really know about him but some stuff I assume or infer based on some shit in my brain yeah.

Lan Qiren, birth name and age unknown, is the younger brother of Qingheng-jun (name and age both unknown), and the paternal uncle of the Twin Jades of Lan. We know this cause both Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji address him as "shufu," which is the more formal version of the "-shushu" WWX uses for Jiang Fengmian. In the absence of any other known siblings or close blood relatives of the main branch of the Lan clan, this also automatically made him, from his birth until the birth and successful upbringing of (at least) his elder nephew, the sect heir to Gusu Lan. I say this because it's important context for the role he plays in both the sect and his nephews' upbringing.

I'll talk a bit about Qingheng-jun and how the choices he made re: Xichen's and Wangji's mother/their marriage completely ruined Lan Qiren's and his son's lives. I don't think we know much about Qingheng-jun and Qiren when they were younger until Qingheng-jun apparently meets his wife-to-be and the situation escalates until he married her to protect her from execution (?) and proceeded to punish their whole immediate family by choosing to go into seclusion as well. You might argue that it was a good thing he recognized what a disaster this all was and took some kind of punishment for it, but. But. As the oldest son and older brother, he serves as the future sect leader, role model for the disciples, and has the duty to not only lead the sect but also guide any siblings he has from "taking the wrong path," so to speak. His choosing to go into seclusion is a punishment, yes, but was completely unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. Even assuming his now wife was a guest cultivator of some kind, he would have been well within his rights to step back and allow the rules to run their course once she committed a crime, to be startled out of his infatuation (?) with her into realizing that maybe she wasn't a good choice (or the only choice) for the future sect leader's wife, do his penance, and then move on. So why didn't he? Love, panic or obsession?

His choice to be secluded himself with her can mean different things depending on how you interpret the Gusu Lan practice of seclusion. Is it physical seclusion only, or did he take it to the extreme and was completely hands-off for everything from sect affairs to his children's upbringing? Obviously he had kids with his wife but that would be allowable since you know, marriage and heirs. The fact that the kids' monthly visits to his wife are mentioned but none to him kind of suggests that he had a minimal role in his sons' lives. Also it's super weird in the context of filial piety and the importance of a father in that role ethic. Fortunately for plot purposes, this role (and the duties thereof) he so very conveniently vacates can also be fulfilled by Lan Qiren.

The visits to their mother could be excused under the guise of letting LXC and LWJ exercise their filial piety, i.e. their respect for their mother. But all other duties normally carried out by the husband and wife as well as the sect leader and sect leader's wife would fall on Lan Qiren and whatever sect members/servants/caretakers were appropriate. E.g., as a man, Lan Qiren cannot nurse his nephews until they're weaned, but can choose nursemaids and servants who have the right skillsets to care for very young children. When they're older but still not old enough to be granted courtesy names/live in their own households, he is the obvious choice for them to live with, so they can be taught the rules, proper etiquette, how to read/write, etc. Again, as an elder, this would be part of his purview as their uncle, but he would not be primarily responsible for these things in their lives if it weren't for the extenuating circumstances of his brother's disaster of a marriage. Also important -- it seems he's also the face of the sect and is entrusted with handling politically significant intersect matters such as the guest disciples and the whole incident with WWX punching Jin Zixuan, which tracks with him being the only other candidate in the main family to lead the sect in his brother's absence.

Politically Qingheng-jun would have been doing Qiren a favor because he wouldn't be as important otherwise as a second son, if it weren't for the fact that Qiren gets all of the thankless work with none of the recognition. Qiren's significance as sect heir expired as soon as his sister-in-law gave birth to two healthy sons, at which point he's just a placeholder until Lan Xichen comes of age, UNLESS both of his nephews die with no heirs. And by all visible criteria, he's done a fucking good job too! If he was power hungry and coveted his brother's position, he didn't have to do such a damn good job of raising his nephews that they became the first and second highest ranked young men of their generation, you know?

Speaking of heirs, why is Qiren raising his nephews alone? Given the familial and sect obligations he has on his plate, it would have been reasonable for the sect to shore up any instability by finding a good match for him posthaste, which would have the added bonus of giving any potential nephews a maternal figure in their everyday life to handle the manners and etiquette bit, at least. Depending on the amount of time between marriage drama and Xichen being born, I can think of a couple of reasons:

Gusu Lan came out the other side of marriage drama and collectively went, we're not doing that shit again, and conveniently does not give Qiren any marriage prospects.

The rest of the jianghu hears rumors about the marriage scandal and maybe isn't as eager to marry off daughters into Gusu Lan as they might have been otherwise (yes, Qiren isn't as attractive a prospect as a first son, but he's still unattached, unless he has a reputation that dissuaded prospects in the first place)

Lan Qiren came out the other side of marriage drama and internalized that trauma, or maybe wasn't the marrying kind anyway (see marriage dynamics of the other sect leaders in the Big Five), and went "oh fuck no"

Gusu Lan's elders saw that Xichen had a lot of potential from a young age, and decided marrying Qiren off with the obligations of his own wife, children and household would be distracting him from nurturing the sect heir(s once Wangji is born) that they already have, with special emphasis on Qiren teaching them The Right Way To Be A Lan and maybe even fobbing more stuff to do on him so he never has the time to court and get married. Normally such things would be under the watchful eye of Qiren's parents, or Qingheng-jun once their parents were dead, but as we've already established, sect and familial duties don't seem to be a priority for that guy so.

Depending on how shitty you wanna believe the Gusu Lan elders are, maybe Qingheng-jun made a deal with them that he would have no part in raising any children from his marriage to help protect the woman he loved, idk. Can you tell I'm not very sympathetic to him? As far as I can tell, he trapped his wife, his sons and his brother into the consequences of his own actions and is basically the whole reason for LWJ's tragic backstory™ because God forbid any sect heir in this series have a healthy father-son relationship, am I right?

And then Qiren has to watch his younger nephew get whipped to within an inch of his life for finally breaking the rules (that he taught Wangji) they lived under so disastrously, and then his older nephew is so torn up about all the fun, fun revelations from Guanyin temple that history repeats itself and Xichen shuts himself away and Qiren can only hope that time will help Xichen heal, because Wangji's gone as soon as he possibly can to chase the man he almost died for once already, and he's older and tired but he might as well be young again and holding A-Huan for a walk around the courtyard until he stops crying for all that everything else has changed.

Anyway. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk about Lan Qiren, Gusu Lan's original Lan er-gege and Tragic Lan Backstory™, I'm gonna drop some headcanons about him and y'all feel free to reblog, reply, whatever with y'all's thoughts.

Lan Qiren's likes, in no particular order:

Respectful students that are diligent and work hard.

Hearing his nephews play music together.

A good pot of tea after a long morning's work, just before training and between meetings, paperwork, etc.

Copying over manuscripts/poetry/what have you in his spare time

Poetry

Lan Qiren's dislikes, in no particular order:

People that rely solely on luck, talent or family background to gain accolades

Things being wasted, food, potential, time, etc.

The gentian house.

Having to wait until it's almost curfew to meditate in the rabbit meadow.

Splinters