#cultivation sect politics

[rejectedfables]

Given the way that Headshaker Huaisang goes to Jin Guangyao (and LXC) for solutions to so many of his problems, possibly/probably including struggles with running a sect, do you think maybe the Headshaker persona was as much a part of the revenge plot as it was a veil to hide behind? Like, oh you killed my brother, the head of the Nie sect? Fine. YOU run the sect then 🙃 It needs a leader and you killed him so now it's YOUR fucking problem, and I'm going to make it an incredibly annoying problem. Not a single cog will turn smoothly 🙃

[starry-bi-sky]

pouring one out for luo binghe in my disciple SQQ fic, poor guy has taken a backseat here. we're nearly 30k words deep and he hasn't even shown his face once. it'll be much longer before he even actually talks to Shen Qingqiu.

(i say im pouring one out but in reality im sitting in my director's chair chewing on a cigar and wearing a beret as he tearily and unsuccessfully pleads with me for more scenes with Shen Qingqiu)

[airplanecrashingtowardstheground]

really can't stop thinking about how awesome the jiang's and wwx could've been as both a family unit, and powerhouses in the cultivation and political world if only yu ziyuan and jiang fengmian were healthy people

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Nah but the baby Jin Ling flashbacks(??) when WWX transfers the curse in the Donghua got me so... the way baby!JL literally never smiles lmfao, WWX's only words about his dad being 'he loved ur mom', the super interesting fact they're bashing JYL (implying she wasn't looked upon kindly by the Cultivation world??), baby!JL immediately going 'don't lie to me!' when WWX offers to take him to his parents... like. Man. They did this right.

[travalerray]

ideally what I want from MDZS is an epic length series telling me the details of the Sunshot Campaign (HOW DID JC BUILD THAT SECT UP FROM THE GROUND) and everything that happened in the 13 year gap (JGY and his time being the Chief Cultivator is something that can be very personal actually)

okay maybe what I ideally do want is something that delves into the nitty gritty details of the politics and the war in mdzs because I keep crying everytime I have to comprehend the insane amount of things that Just Happen in canon

[mxtxfanatic]

Hi there, I have a question that may seem mixed (its a bit culturally mixed in my head) I totally get that WWX wasn't adopted and so he didn't expect (or got) parental affection never something close to equal standing to the Jiang children. But, as a mere disciple, what were his responsibilities and rights and what was his sect leaders (shifu & shimu) responsibilities towards him or had the right (considered rightful) to demand of him as a child that joined their sect? Or to broad things to more than orphans (in case it doesn't weight there) what level of care should expect parents for their children once they joined a sect???

Was there an even remote Chinese equivalent to: "in loco parentis"?

I've answered a similar ask to this on the duties of a first disciple, since he was one. Truth is that we actually don't get the details of what was actually expected of Wei Wuxian (or any disciple, really) as disciples per the rules of their affiliated clans. As for the responsibility of the clan and clan leaders: the clan is meant to take care of you like family. If a family sends their child off to be the disciple of someone else's clan or sect and that clan or sect accepts them, the clan/sect is fully responsible for the care, education, and training of that disciple until the day that they separate from the sect or die. Same with orphans as with disciples who still have family outside. In other novels, the divide between orphaned and non-orphaned disciples could be a source of conflict (non-orphaned disciples in a sect might be the direct descendants of a cultivation clans or just have rich parents who send them material resources and offer prestige that an orphaned disciple would obviously have no access to other than through their own hard work). But mdzs isn't about the conflict in that way, especially since it operates with clans as the dominating organization system of the cultivation world, no longer sects.

For the Jiang in mdzs, their responsibilities towards Wei Wuxian as a ward and disciple were to make sure that he was clothed, fed, educated, and trained up in martial arts. Wei Wuxian would then, in turn, bring prestige to the clan with his skills and, as first disciple, help with other upkeep attached to that title (whatever they may be). The things that were not a part of his duties as disciple were: being close to the head family of the clan or being the clan heir's personal companion. Those came with him being the son of the clan leader's deceased close friend, not because he was a regular disciple.

[stiltonbasket]

absolutely love the wrh raises wwx au! is there a reason that the sunshot campaign is happening so many years later than canon in this au? did wwx play any role in delaying the start of the war?

Yes! It's my personal headcanon that novel!Wen Ruohan only started the war because he realized that his own sons were nowhere near as talented as Wei Wuxian, Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji, etc; but in this verse, Wen Ruohan postponed the start of the war because he had Wei Wuxian.

As in canon, Wen Ruohan destabilized the Nie sect several years before Wangxian met by murdering Nie Mingjue's father, and Lan Xichen never stood out as a threat because he dropped out of the competitive cultivation circuit to raise Jingyi when he was only 23. Lan Wangji stopped attending tournaments the same year LXC did, so Wen Ruohan paid very little attention to the Lan sect until he stumbled across Jingyi night-hunting with Jin Ling about fifteen years later.

At that point, Wen Ruohan was reasonably confident that Wen Xu would be a decent successor; but Wen Xu and his wife had three daughters and refused to keep trying for a son, and Wen Chao had been unable to father any children despite having a wife and several mistresses. What was worse (to WRH) was that Wei Wuxian was unmarried—under Wen Ruohan's own orders—and had no heirs other than Sizhui, who was categorically incapable of fighting anything but fierce corpses/yaoguai because he was terrified of injuring or killing another person. As a result, Wen Ruohan finally attacked the Cloud Recesses when Sizhui was about 17.

[backpackingspace]

once again I am on my it's hilarious that lan wangji is chief cultivator bs

[coresurgery]

after some thought I've decided that the mdzs "contractually obligated f/f ship with no canon backing bc women aren't allowed to talk to each other" that I'm most into is jiang yanli/mianmian

I guess it's cheating a bit because I think jiang yanli/jin zixuan/mianmian could also be a REALLY interesting throuple, and wwx is so oblivious that it could technically be canon too lmao

[confuzing]

Street kid Luo Binghe makes the mistake of letting some weirdo get a hold of him and finds himself locked up in a windowless room somewhere.

The only bright spot in this shit situation is that there's another boy in there with him. Shen Yuan is clearly in considerably worse shape than Luo Binghe and he says he's been here for a very long time. But he's so kind to Binghe and deliberately draws their captor's attention to himself (and away from Binghe) whenever he can.

He also, after Binghe's been there about a month, steals their captor's keys, unlocks the restraints they're both in, and then shoves Binghe out the boarded up window he's been prying open when he had time.

Shen Yuan is too big to fit through the window, he says. They both know that's not true but they can also both hear that their captor is coming-he must have noticed the keys were missing- and Shen Yuan intends to stall him while Binghe gets away.

Binghe promises to come back with help and SY just smiles and nods and shoos him away.

He runs as fast as he can, and once he's far enough away from the house he escaped from he starts asking for help- but no one is listening to him. And he knows if he goes to the local guard he'll probably be handed back over as a runaway slave... And then he sees two men who both seen almost to shine in the dirty city streets... they must be cultivators, they must. If anyone can help him now it will be them. So Luo Binghe throws himself at the taller of the two men and starts begging for help.

Shen Qingqiu is absolutely positive this kid is trying to lure them into an ambush, but Yue Qingyuan- who invited himself along on SQQ's mission without asking him- doesn't think so.

YQY goes with LBH, and SQQ follows, complaining that this is a trick the whole way- up until they discover that yes actually the local nobleman does have a secret room he's been imprisoning children in and there is indeed an almost beaten to death SY in there.

YQY sends SQQ off with SY- gotta get that kid medical attention ASAP- while he and LBH stay behind to Politely Ask Some Questions.

When YQY and LBH arrive back at the sect SY is still in the medical ward but isn't dying and is even awake! LBH is relieved and refuses to leave him again.

YQY fills SQQ in that not only were both boys not slaves, SY was actually the son of the nobleman's first wife she had as the result of an affair. He disappeared from the household around the time the first wife died and all the servants assumed their Lord had sold the boy or killed him outright.

But now that the nobleman has died a sudden and painful and extremely mysterious death it looks like SY has inherited the estate. YQY will have someone from An Ding go sort out the details since SY can't.

SQQ watches YQY smile at the little urchins they've rescued and talk in a way that obviously means he intends them to stay and says, internally 'Fuck no Qi-ge you don't get to replace me with a Shen you actually did manage to save. Absolutely not!'

Out loud the conversation goes:

SQQ: I want the older boy.

YQY: What?

SQQ: You intend for them to stay right? I want the older boy for Qing Jing Peak, you can keep the little one if you want.

YQY, pleased and assuming SQQ and SY must have bonded while he and LBH were away: Of course.

SQQ and SY have not bonded, and once they get back to QJ Peak things are tense. SQQ is low-key kinda jealous of SY and also reminded much too much of himself by the boy. Except he was never as naive and stupid as this kid is! Why is he so nice? How?? And the little shit isn't even afraid of him!

SY, deeply sarcastic: Oh nooo. I'm going to be beaten? Such a thing has never happened to me before! *Coughs because his throat is permanently messed up from being nearly strangled to death*

SQQ, aware that if he hits the kid now he loses: You're not allowed in the library for a week.

SY: What!

SQQ: The next words out of your mouth better be "yes Shizun, sorry Shizun" or it'll be two weeks.

SY: ...yes Shizun, sorry Shizun.

Meanwhile LBH and YQY are having a magical adventure in becoming a found family and are bonding over their obsessions with their respective Shens. They absolutely come visit QJ Peak at least twice a week much to SQQ's displeasure and SY's delight.

[yunmeng-jiang]

This got a little long, so my thoughts on it are under the cut!

Personality:

"Personality not too strong" (like a lot of these requirements) comes off to me as JC saying "the opposite of my mom." Therefore, I think his idea of a personality that IS too strong is:

talks over you in conversation/doesn't let you get a word in, insists that their view is the right one and they if you disagree you're denying reality

imposes their will over yours, doesn't want to let you make your own choices, doesn't support you in your decisions

nags and belittles you, complains loudly and incessantly about your habits

Lan Xichen doesn't fit that description at all - he's gentle, offers advice rather than demands, is willing to make compromises when needed, and is supportive of his loved ones.

Talkativeness:

I think this falls partially under the first point in the section above, but also involves a willingness to set aside quiet time - this one, I think, is also influenced by Wei Wuxian in some ways. Jiang Cheng is shown to be frustrated by WWX's constant conversation and noise, expressing a desire to be left alone sometimes or at least not be constantly talked at.

Lan Xichen is very good at discerning people's needs and wants, including in conversation; he doesn't overwhelm LWJ by talking too much, and he's willing to just sit and spend time with JGY, or quietly drink tea with his uncle, or just play music on his own. I think he perfectly fits the bill on this one.

Hard-working and thrifty:

We see that he is hard-working in the novel, when he insists on helping Meng Yao with house chores despite his physical state - admittedly, laundry is not his strong suit, but with that plus his dedication to cultivation training to the point where he's considered to be one of the best cultivators in his general, and his efforts to lead his sect well, I think we can say he's hard-working.

"Thrifty" is a bit less obvious, considering that he grew up in luxury, but the fact that he was an efficient and effective leader to his heavily-affected sect during and after the war, and rebuilt Cloud Recesses when it had suffered significant damages (and probably the loss of many sect treasures) while also recruiting and training new disciples and restoring their library, tells me that he has a good mind for budgeting. It's true that JGY did offer him some monetary help with the rebuilding efforts, but that was still a difficult and expensive task!

Must treat Jin Ling nicely:

Given that he's kind even to those rejected by society or deemed too difficult to deal with and generally has a gentle, polite, and friendly demeanor - even towards Wei Wuxian, who he's pretty upset with post-timeskip - I think it's also safe to assume that he'd be good to Jin Ling!

Summary/caveats:

All in all, I think Lan Xichen fits all of Jiang Cheng's requirements except for the one about cultivation not being too high.

Now, it's probable that JC was thinking of women when he created this list, since he cares about his duty to his sect and part of that is producing heirs (though he is unmarried post-timeskip, I would guess that he's either planning on adopting, naming one of his disciples as heir, or just putting it off until Jin Ling is older, or - unlikely but possible - he already has a wife and he just never mentioned it/she never came up,) and it's very possible that he's not attracted to men - same with LXC, if you don't read xiyao, nielan, etc as romantic.

Another aspect of this is that Lan Xichen is also a sect leader. Jiang Cheng obviously doesn't want to give up his sect for the sake of a marriage, and I don't believe LXC would either, so that's a definite hurdle! Maybe they could get together post-canon if Lan Xichen ends up leaving his brother in charge of the sect, but I don't know how likely that is.

lan xichen vs jiang cheng's partner requirements

the image is a screenshot of lan xichen from MDZS Q.

was not too sure about a lot of these so i did kind of guess.

explanations:

naturally beautiful: yes

graceful and obedient: is graceful. also seems much more respectful of authority and tradition than his brother; will try to find a compromise or do as he's told rather than directly oppose you?

hard-working and thrifty: uncertain how thrifty he is given that he comes from a rich sect. then again maybe he learned when hiding with meng yao.

comes from a respected family: yes

cultivation level not too high: no

personality not too strong: tbh idk what this means? he's more willing to hear you out than most of the cast but you probably could not steamroll him in an argument.

not too talkative: idk man he seems to like to chat. but idk man.

voice not too loud: seems to speak at a normal volume.

must treat jin ling nicely: uncertain, we don't really see him interact with jin ling.

[deikshen]

One day, Shen Qingqiu comes from the city with a little baby in his arms. He says: "His mother died during childbirth and I am taking care of him." He names the child Shen Yuan when he is old enough to give him a name, and the child grows up in Qing Jing.

Everyone, absolutely everyone, believes that Shen Qingqiu is the biological father of that child. Only have to LOOK at them both and see the resemblance: the same eyes, the same hair, the same facial structure, the same lips, even the same angry pout. Rumors - Shen Qingqiu had a child with a prostitute who died and now he is taking care of him!! - are open secrets.

Shen Qingqiu, as usual, ignores them. He cares for his little one, raising him with the closest thing other Peak Lords can call love. Impeccable robes, the best meals, the best early education. Shen Yuan grows up as a polite, gentle, kind-hearted, sweet-faced child. He frees insects before killing them, isn't afraid to dirty his robes if he must go after someone, and has an avid interest in beasts and monsters beyond comprehension. The Peak Lords jokingly think: this child has taken his father's face and surely the good heart of his mother, may she rest in peace.

When he comes of age, he doesn't even have to dig a hole to be chosen for Qing Jing Peak - everyone knows that Shen Qingqiu has already made a place for him there. However, Shen Yuan insists on doing it on his own! He wants to earn his place. The Peak Lords respect him for it, and there are various interests, but he still ends up in Qing Jing Peak.

And Shen Yuan becomes Shen Qingqiu's clear first disciple. He is a skilled scholar, excellent martial artist who is not afraid to tear someone rude with foul words, but with an almost natural disposition to be kind, sweet and gentle with those who deserve and require it.

It is then that Luo Binghe arrives at Qing Jing Peak.

The Peak Lords hear of the rumors and they spread them like pollen in spring: apparently there has been a HUGE discussion between Shen Qingqiu and his spoiled son! Something involving a child with water burns, a beating, and a woodshed. No one understands what happened, but a day later, Shen Yuan completely disappeared from the Cang Qiong Sect.

And he has taken a young disciple with him.

Shen Qingqiu begins to act as if he never had a son - as if his whole life has been all about him, hostile and unpleasant. His mood is worse than ever and his cruelty is undeniable. No one understands what has happened between father and son, but these are rumors that even if whispered, bring the very bad faces of Shen Qingqiu. And no one wants to be behind Shen Qingqiu's wrath when it is unleashed.

(Shen Yuan had transmigrated. Into a baby! Into Shen Qingqiu's son! Yes, indeed his memories had been gradually unlocked, thank god. It would have been so weird to be a baby with the mindset of an adult... And he had believed, for a long time, that perhaps Shen Qingqiu could change. That loving him and caring for him would make him better when Luo Binghe reached Cang Qiong.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

So, Shen Qingqiu can hate him for this reason if he wants! But Shen Yuan has to leave there and take Luo Binghe with him. He will teach him cultivation and do everything to make him become a powerful cultivator before his demonic seal is unleashed, he will do everything possible to prevent him from the Endless Abyss, and will prevent Shen Qingqiu from being turned into a human stick.

Probably, a single night of punishment and humiliation wasn’t enough for Luo Binghe to want revenge so hard. Actually?? He just would save the lives of all his martial uncles and his father in the process to kindly educate Luo Binghe and make him as powerful yet happy as possible. They should thank him!! He's sacrificing himself, his comforts, and his reputation to save everyone's asses!!!)

...

(Although Shang Qinghua had wanted to give Shen Qingqiu a son - a magical pollen pregnancy between Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu, which Shen Qingqiu would NEVER tell Yue Qingyuan was his child until the very last moment - for the drama and secondary revenge and angst 7/9, that had been a damn draft!!! He didn't even get to develop the background of Yue Qingyuan and Shen Jiu!!! And now that son ran away with his Protagonist!? System, what's going on!? Why do HE make sure the Endless Abyss arc be completed!? He doesn't even fucking know where the protagonist is!!! System have mercy on AND HELP!!!)

[tossawary]

The more I think about it, the more the fall of Tianlang-Jun (pre-Binghe) stands out as an outrageous event in the PIDW/SVSSS world. Several great sects, some of the most powerful entities in the human world (that we know about), manage to cooperate long enough to ambush and DEFEAT the (absentee) ruler of the demon world, a famously OP heavenly demon.

The political ripples from this event this would be incredible. The demon world has to be losing their MINDS. Did anyone know the humans could do that? Are we going to let them get away with doing that?!?! Are they going to do it again?! Which demon VIP is going to be next?!?!? Should we try to ally and attack them first?! Who's getting all of Tianlang-Jun's stuff?! He doesn't have an heir! (Unless you count that weird snake creature. Most people do not count the weird snake creature, which has disappeared anyway.) Maybe I personally should get his stuff???

And the state of the human cultivation world has to be similarly unstable. What now? What next? Are they going into the demon realm to do this again? Did they get any treasure out of it? Can they use this as leverage? Are the clearly powerful and clever great sects going to remain allied? Is one of the great sects going to make some kind of bid for power, more territory or authority, out of this? Cang Qiong is getting new peak lords very soon! Even over a decade later, everyone must still be dealing with lingering reactionary ripples from the shocking defeat of a heavenly demon emperor.

And all of this is just... not really on Shen Yuan's radar as a very real, very scary event that everyone in PIDW-world is still recovering from... and as the later plot of SVSSS shows us, is not at all actually finished. Tianlang-Jun is just a name in Luo Binghe's secret backstory!

I also enjoy thinking about how Shang Qinghua reacted to it, because he may have been like, "Oh, damn, I guess the plot is happening soon! Main character incoming in a little more than ten years! Cool!" while I maintain the headcanon that Mobei-Jun must have been FREAKING THE FUCK OUT. Hi??? Hello??? His cowardly human servant's sect was directly involved in the underhanded ambush and apparent murder of a heavenly demon emperor who became too tangled with humans???

Airplane Bro as soon as he realizes that he's going to have to personally warn Mobei-Jun about what is not just "backstory" but actually going to be a major political event: "Oh, FUCK."

[fairsweetlonging]

time travel au where liu qingge and shen qingqiu (yuan) end up accidentally traveling a decade back in time before luo binghe was amitted to qing jing peak and before shen qingqiu had his qi deviation, but after their generation has risen to peak lords.

which means, shen yuan realizes quickly, as they're accosted by said peak lords, that he will have to face shen jiu.

as they're being cleared for demonic energy and the likes, mu qingfang of course instantly detects the poison without a cure eating away at shen yuan's meridians. liu qingge pulls a copy of the treatment plan out of his sleeve (shen yuan blushes a bit, did liu qingge always keep that on hand?), and just like in the current timeline, they agree to keep it under wraps.

shen jiu tries various times to get a moment alone with shen yuan, but he never quite manages because liu qingge is there, who is also... nice?? to him?? for some reason?? shen jiu gets a bit flustered at the solemn politeness and skitters off.

it comes out pretty quickly that shen yuan has "memory loss", and thus can't remember anything that's currently taking place in this time. shen yuan expects scorn, hatred and disdain from shen jiu, expects to be grabbed and interrogated, to arouse suspicion.

but shen jiu looks....... sad???

being transported here threw shen yuan's qi off-balance (even liu qingge had to sit down, which means it's bad), and his cultivation is already so unstable, so when the peak lords are all squabbling and arguing and threatening and raising their voice, he can feel his body shut down. he sees yue qingyuan start to move towards him, which, knowing the future yue qingyuan, he really isn't up for right now—but before the sect leader can get to him someone else is at his back, transferring him qi, holding him up gently by his shoulders, then coaxing him up, leading him outside

shen yuan's been fed qi by every peak lord at least once. he doesn't recognize this one. that means it can only be one person.

he looks up. it's shen jiu.

and it's bizarre, getting fussed over by the scum villain, having gentle hands run along his back, his hair, that clear, soothing voice calming him down. and somehow shen jiu knows exactly what to do?? somehow it works perfectly on him?? it's almost as if shen jiu has known him his whole—

oh.

bodies, like homes, hold memories, even if the original occupants are no longer there. it's the milestone marks on the doorpost that chart a child's growth, blurry photographs faded by time, scuffed floors from well-walked paths, and tiny holes in the walls where pictures once hung.

shen jiu takes him to the bamboo house, pours him tea, and asks, calmly, what he remembers from their childhood.

it's not his childhood, so shen yuan doesn't actually remember anything, but the body he's in does. the memories it holds are emotional rather than visual; he remembers being alone, scared, and hungry. he remembers anger, pain. a dark room. loud voices. he remembers his heart skipping a beat when heavy boots stomp his way. the sound of a whip.

he doesn't have to lie. the memories aren't his own, and they're from long ago, which means shen jiu has them too. and, he supposes, this is his only chance to find out what really happened.

but shen jiu doesn't say anything about it. he just nods and stares, intensely. then he asks shen yuan if he remembers yue qingyuan. shen yuan says no, he doesn't. the conversation takes a very strange turn after that. shen yuan can't help but feel a little queasy when shen jiu asks him if yue qingyuan has taken advantage of his memory loss.

"has he come into your home? has he brought you gifts, sweets? does he invite you for tea? did you accept?"

he has. shen yuan doesn't know why that would be a problem, the sect leader has been nothing but kind and helpful and patient. and generous, too.

when he says yes shen jiu looks furious.

liu qingge (his one) comes to pick him up, and his time with shen jiu is cut short. somewhere he's glad, cuddling into liu qingge's back as he holds him while they fly. he feels a little bad for yue qingyuan, knowing he's probably caused a big fight, but it doesn't sit right with him. he wishes he knew what happened.

.

liu qingge, meanwhile, is having the time of his life fighting himself. it's good practice!

[sunderwight]

Yue Qingyuan is a fun character because depending on what angle you look at him from, he is either surprisingly well-adjusted or surprisingly unhinged.

If you're looking at Yue Qingyuan, the composed, reasonable, ever-polite sect leader, you will probably be taken aback by how much of that is just smoke and mirrors. And not just like one layer, either, it's not simple like "beneath that smiling facade he's actually an ambitious asshole" or something, no, beneath the first layer of smoke and mirrors there is another one, and then another one, all piled up and twisted together over a core that is a terrified and starving child. He's like one of those old English pubs where the wood rot is so thorough that it's actually what's keeping the roof from collapsing.

But if you're looking at the former slave child who had to be the biggest, most responsible of a gang of neglected and traumatized urchins, who ran away to become a cultivator only to make a wrong choice that got his entire body and spirit taken apart and put back together again, only to lose the one relationship that mattered to him, then the fact that he's anything other than a weeping mess on the floor is genuinely impressive.

[tk-duveraun]

I gotta make my own food around here. No one helps in this kitchen

SY transmigrates early, system beta test or something, does the wandering cultivator thing for a few decades, realizes the strays he picked up have formed a sect and he's the leader and no he doesn't get a choice in the matter

In terms of most powerful cultivators, SY is #10 in the cultivation world, but his sect is seen very poorly because, well, it's made up of strays and he encourages any noble kids to go to HHP because he needs to save his resources for kids who need him

Yue Qi and Shen Jiu get picked up by one of SY's staples and brought in. Their potential is insane and after a little training and researching current events he's pretty sure this "Yue" and "Shen" belong in CQM.

But it's already been 3 years. The boys aren't interested in sex yet, but they have been mommy-wife beamed thoroughly and fight him when he tells them he's made special arrangements with the CQM sect leader to accept them

He pulls the whole "Don't you want to be strong?" Schtick and they are not happy, but they are children and easily carried by a cultivator of his caliber

Shen Jiu swears revenge and SY breathes a sigh of relief that things are finally back on track.

But he misses them and tries to lose himself in traveling and oh no, this poor demonic snake is injured! (Fully juiced up by TLJ zzl just took snake form to lick his wounds more safely bc he's in the human realm) Zzl is fully prepared to transform and eat SY whole, but instead sy is very very gentle, asks permission before touching and coaxes the injured Zzl to last in the warm inside of his arm within his sleeve.

Sadly, Zzl has duties to his lord once he's healed, but he'll be back for this cultivator. Blah blah, plot happens, SY scoops up baby bingy (and the washer woman) and plants them in his sect, intending to send LBH off to CQM at the appropriate time.

He realizes his interference might have made SJ less of an asshole in general, but he DID swear revenge so maybe that's the angle the abuse will take.

Joke's on him, the first thing YQY does when the Qing generation steps up is strong arm SY into an alliance marriage. Shen Jiu becomes first wife.

(YQY isn't legally married for political reasons, but as SJ explains while dragging him into the marital bed, they are a set)

Zzl actively seeks SY out for help with TLJ and while SY can't do anything about that, he fishes up a plot amulet that gives Zzl free shapeshifting.

Zzl insists marriage is the only way to repay SY (tlj's advice) and eventually SY caves.

Wife count: 3

LQG has never met SY but heard rumors about him being a celestial fairy or wherever, so he's concerned SJ is treating him poorly and follows SJ to his marital sect. He catches SY on the way out to hunt some great beast

Wife count: 4