#if anyone asks him about it he whips out zidian

[the-evil-pizza]

i'm a strong believer in AroAce Jiang Cheng supremacy

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

July 2nd

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1. Hi! I hope asking about crossovers is allowed. I recently reread the HP series and, because of MDZS brainrot, I am wondering if anyone has written a crossover fic with Wei Ying as Sirius and Lan Zhan as Lupin, transposed into the HP narrative? There are some striking similarities between the two stories- LZ+WY friends at school, WY gone for 13 years and technically at fault for the death of Jin Ling's parents (JL is Harry Potter now I guess), it just seems like it SHOULD exist. Thank you!! @restlessmoss-art

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2. merxian fic recs please?

luminous by azuresummer (E, 50k, WangXian, WIP, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Dom/sub Undertones, Dominant LWJ, Submissive WWX, Modern, Merpeople, A/B/O, Dark LXC, Dark LWJ, Possessive LWJ, Protective LWJ, Crime Boss LWJ, Omega WWX, Siren WWX, Merperson WWX, Hurt WWX, WWX Whump, Precious WWX, Spoiled WWX, WWX Has a Fear of Dogs, Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Nesting, Scenting, Power Imbalance, Obsession, Kidnapping, Organized Crime, Mild Gore, Minor Character Death, Excessive Amounts of Tenderness, Pining LWJ, Dark WangXian)

you're a bird in the water / i'm a fish on the ground by plonk (Not really, 8k, WangXian, Merpeople, Canon Era)

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3. Can you suggest some good fics of bottomji where wangji is pampered by wuxian or lan zhan centric fics 🥺🥺

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4. Hello,

Itmf

A) Can you please recommend works, where WY grew up to be quite (maybe even partial mutism) and with no outward mischief due to upbringing?

B) And another ask for works, where WY got fear of authoritive or adult women, whips, thunder or Amy other triggers.

Thank you! @best-before-end

4A)

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) Where YZY throws WWX out into the streets, hurting him so badly that he becomes selectively mute

4B)

Thunderstorm in the Library Pavilion by ZamaShines (M, 22k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Hurt/Comfort, Bad Parent YZY, Abusive YZY, Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Whipping, Astraphobia, phobia - thunder, Thunderstorms, Panic Attacks, WWX Has Self-Esteem Issues, WWXn Needs a Hug, and gets the hug, Good Sibling JC, Good Uncle LQR, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts) has WWX with a fear of thunder.

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5. Hi,

Can't recall if I have already sent a question , but I'm in the mood for Wei Ying with split personality. Looking for recommends. Thank you!

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6. heya! itmf request for estranged twin jades because of lxc's involvement in wwx's death/siege/lwj's punishment. bonus points for petty lwj and regretful lxc. thanks a lot y'all!

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7. Hi, can you recommend fics where Wei Wuxian is detached from cultivation world problems?

Burnt out/immortal/way too hurt/older

Having Enough (of your foolishness) by makexianxianhappytoday (T, 18k, WangXian, Hurt WWX, YLLZ WWX, BAMF WWX, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Jiang Family Bashing, Canon Divergence, CSSR and WCZ Live, Yunmeng Jiang Sect Bashing, JYL Lives, JZX Lives, (but what are the consequences), JC Bashing)

foliage by antebunny (G, 7k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Angst, Non-Linear Narrative, Canon-Typical Violence, jl and his many many uncles, jgy is morally ambiguous but okay, BAMF WWX, wwx is innocent of literally everything, for plot purposes, JYL Lives, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Hopeful Ending)

💙🔒Away from Trouble by Ilona22 (M, 15k, WangXian, Not JC Friendly, LWJ/WWX Get a Happy Ending)

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8. Hello! I wonder if there is a fic where Wei Ying was thrown in the burial mounds by yzy and returns from there (sshc is not the main focus or not in in the plot at all)

I'm sorry, Good bye by NHaraki (M, 35k, WWX/WRH, WIP, Jiang Family Bashing, Time Travel Fix-It, YZY Bashing) It's not English but using the browser translation works. YZY throws a young WWX into burial mounts after thinking he died from her abuse and the Wens find him and take him in.

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9. Do you know any fics where Mingjue is bring back to life the same way than Wei Wuxian?

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10. hello! thanks for all the hard work :) are there any good fics with the elements of wwx character study, but from someone else’s perspective? like where others’ perspective of wwx is explored. thanks in advance!! @glowingair

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11. hihi! I'm here for IMTF,do you have any fics that's focused on JC? Maybe something sorta relating to character study? Thanks :)

Your slightest look easily will unclose me by RedWritingHood (Not Rated , 9k, JC & WWX, Angst, Brotherly Love, Emotional pain, with a smidgen of Physical Pain, JC Needs A Hug, But also, JC Gets A Hug, Platonic Hanahaki, kind of, it's not actually hanahaki but it's close enough)

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12. Looking for fic where LXC is the one who time travels, similar to "The Blame Game" and "Who You Condemn." Pref. canon-era and no Jiang Cheng bashing!

💖 Alternative Choices by StarClearWaters (Readoutloud) (T, 20k, wangxian, time travel, butterfly effect, LXC pov, protective LXC, temporary character death, mpreg, panic attacks) where Lan Xichen is the one that time travels (I dont remember any JC bashing but I could be forgetting it)

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13. Hii, for the next itmf I wanted something with Yiling Patriarch!Jiang Cheng, except that Wei Wuxian HAS to get Jiang Yanli-ed (killed), thank youuuu :) ♡

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14. hi! for the next itmf, does anyone have a good rec for song zichen/xiao xingchen? no romantic involvement with xue yang with either or both tho, please

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15. For an ITMF: Are there any stories where Lan Xichen had to attend the Wen Indoctrination? Lan Wangji could be there as well (the call was for 'the heir and 20 (19?) more disciples', so LWJ could certainly have gone). I know it's very AU and unlikely, but I'd love to see if it's been done. Thanks a ton. @songscloset

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16. hey. good morning. good afternoon. goodnight. you can find works in which WY has a terminal illness. can be in cannon and modern UA @quwieiidkd

Obvious Progression by GammaRays (M, 21k, wangxian, Major Character Death, Childhood Friends, Friends to Lovers, Modern, Disease, Illnesses, Chronic Illness, Cancer, rare disease, Fabry disease, Artist WWX, Medical Procedures, Hospitals, Angst, Non-Explicit Sexual Content, Hurt/Comfort, Surgery, this is just very sad all around, there are some light-hearted moments too though, like proms and crocheted thigh-highs, Sick LWJ, Sick WWX)

Cure by Yukirin_Snow (M, 100k, WangXian, XiCheng, XuanLi, Modern AU, Hurt/Comfort, Sick Character, Cancer, Medical Procedures, Medical Jargon, Romance, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Love at First Sight, possible trigger warnings)

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17. heyy! wanted to find a wangxian fic that’s well written, probably has background ships and is hurt to comfort or just any of the two by themselves?

it revolves around lwj’s line “come back to gusu with me.” and the fact that wwx thought it was to lock him up. the idea (not fully sure if some details are canon) that he wants wwx to come back to gusu is to lock him up, but not as a prisoner. lwj wanted to lock him up to keep him safe, like his father did with his mother. so yeah, basically i’m on the hunt for a fic like this!

i’d appreciate the help so much, thank you! @roseeeya

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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!***

[weiwuxianismybae]

Wei Wuxian would NOT help Jiang Cheng torture demonic cultivators

So a while ago (and I mean a while ago), I saw the worst take at that moment. If it was just one poster I would have ignored it, but! There were at least 3 people and even art was drawn and all of it to say that if Jiang Cheng was really torturing those non-existent demonic cultivators, than Wei Wuxian would have happily helped his brother! And before anyone comes at me, I don't care what people do with their free time or with their skills. I'm an artist myself and would definitely not appreciate people telling me what I can and can't draw. It's not about that, it's just that their take was so bad that I couldn't ignore it and had to vent about it! So, where do I begin?

Well, let's begin with those demonic cultivators! (I know a bunch of people said it already, but I don't mind repeating it for the slow learners.)

Oh! And keep in mind that mdzs is a third person omniscient narration (not wwx's narration!) That's why we get to read direct thoughts of so many different characters, not just Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Cheng really did torture them. He admits it himself!

A moment ago, Jiang Cheng was certain that this person was Wei WuXian, and all of the blood in his body started to boil. Yet, now, Zidian was clearly telling him that he wasn’t. Zidian definitely wouldn’t deceive him or make a mistake, so he quickly calmed himself and thought, this doesn’t mean anything. I should first find an excuse to take him back and use every possible method to get information out of him. It’s impossible for him to not confess anything or give himself away. I’ve done things like this in the past anyways. After thinking it through, he made a gesture. The disciples understood his intention and came over.

ExR ch. 10

His nephew, who lived half the time in Lotus Pier, also confirms it:

Wei WuXian asked, “Do you know why your uncle wants me?”

Jin Ling answered, “Yeah. He believes that you’re Wei WuXian.”

Wei WuXian thought, 'This time, it’s not merely ‘suspect’ anymore. He’s got the right person.' He asked again, “Then, what about you? Don’t you suspect it as well?”

Jin Ling, “It’s not the first time my uncle did such a thing. He has never let any of them go, even if it was possible that he caught the wrong ones. But, if Zidian couldn’t draw out your spirit, I’m just gonna trust that you’re not. Besides, he wasn’t a cut-sleeve, but you even dared to harass…”

ExR ch. 24

Even the Lan juniors speek of it! Reminder that gossip is forbidden, so this must not be gossip or at least the possibility of it being just some rumours is low.

Lan SiZhui tried to reason with him, “Young Master Mo, it was for your sake that HanGuang-Jun brought you here. If you do not follow us, Sect Leader Jiang will not be willing to let the matter go. During these years, there were countless people whom he caught and took back to Lotus Pier, and none of those people were ever let out.”

ExR ch. 11

And let's not forget the innkeeper from Yunping with her eyewitness!

Wei WuXian moved his gaze from Lan WangJi’s calm face with a short pause of surprise, “Lotus Pier is scary? How could Lotus Pier be scary? You’ve been there?”

The owner, “I haven’t been there myself, but I know someone who went because his house was being badly haunted. But it was all bad luck. That Sect Leader Jiang was cracking a glowing whip right on the training field. The victim’s flesh and blood flew as high as his screams! A servant secretly informed him that the sect leader caught the wrong person again, that he hadn’t been in a great mood, and that he definitely shouldn’t be irritated in any way. He was so scared that he dropped off the gifts he brought and fled at once. He never dared visit again.”

ExR ch. 92

So. There is no point arguing that Jiang Cheng didn't torture those poor people demonic cultivators. So, how about Wei Wuxian? Would he have helped his "brother"?

No.

The answer is simply no.

Wei Wuxian is a kind and caring person. He would never judge and even less attack a person without a good reason. And before someone says, "But he killed so many people! Torture Wen cultivators, massacred 3000 cultivators in the Nightless City! Surely he would–" Let me stop you right there. It was war. Like Mianmian once said:

The woman tried hard to protest, “The Sunshot Campaign is a battlefield. On the battlefield, would it mean that everyone is killing indiscriminately? Let’s consider this as it stands. I really don’t think it’s right to say that he killed indiscriminately. After all, there is a reason. If the inspectors really abused the prisoners and killed Wen Ning, it wouldn’t be called killing indiscriminately anymore, but rather revenge...”

ExR ch. 73

(This passage is in case someone argues that the deaths of those guards were also unjust.)

Wen Chao and his people massacred Wei Wuxian's home. He had every right to exact his revenge. In case someone forgot, this is seen as just by the cultivation world:

Xiao XingChen spoke as though he couldn’t believe Xue Yang’s words, “Chang CiAn broke one of your fingers in the past. If you sought revenge, you could’ve simply broken one of his fingers as well. If you really took the matter to heart, you could’ve broken two, or even all ten! Even if you had cut off an entire arm of his, things wouldn’t have been like this. Why did you have to kill his entire clan? Don’t tell me that a single finger of yours was equal to more than fifty human lives!”

ExR ch. 41

And after that, he never went after people that did him nothing wrong! He even protected the Wen Remnants. (Unlike a certain someone that holds a grudge until the very end, even after that person had saved him countless times!)

In case of the Nightless City, let me paraphrase Wei Wuxian: who attacked whom first? Who had gathered 3000 cultivators to pledge to kill 50 innocent elderly, sick and a child? Who went against their word to let the matter go?

Wei Wuxian is the moral compass and we should aspire to be more like him. This is how MXTX wrote him. He would have never helped his "brother" (they were never brothers, people, let it go already) torture and kill innocents. And he would definitely not relish in it.

+ Bonus

The same innkeeper from Yunping about some rando with surname Wen:

The owner, “Also, I’ve heard of another person who was scared away.”

Wei WuXian, “Scared away by what?” It couldn’t have been when Jiang Cheng was whipping someone again, could it? Just how often did Jiang Cheng capture people and whip them?

The owner, “No, no. It was his misfortune. The person’s surname was Wen, and that Sect Leader Jiang’s archenemy happened to have the surname of Wen as well. He's hating on everyone in this world whose surname is Wen. Whenever he sees one, he’d grind his teeth in hatred, wanting to skin them alive. How could he give a single friendly look to...”

ExR ch. 92

Good thing that guy's name wasn't Wen Kexing or it would have been Jiang Cheng who was tortured to death!

[lansplaining]

re: golden core reveal - wasn't JC actively attacking LWJ and (bleeding and semi-unconscious) WWX when WN arrived? I get that this fight was a misunderstanding and an overreaction from everyone involved, and JC didn't really want to kill or injure anyone, but if WN only arrived at the scene when he heard the sounds of fighting, I can totally see why he was so mad at JC lol, it probably looked like he was trying to kill WWX for some reason

YEAH okay so

(sorry this got long)

Jiang Cheng follows Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji into the temple and starts accusing them of fooling around, which I'd totally forgotten is actually the part that really upsets Wei Wuxian. And then he attacks first!

Wei Wuxian saw the change in Lan Wangji's expression and thought that Jiang Cheng's words had stung him. He was so angry that his entire body shook. He didn't even dare imagine what Lan Wangji thought of being insulted like that. His fury blazed brighter, blood rushed to his head, and he flung out a talisman.

The talisman was fast and merciless. It struck Jiang Cheng on his right shoulder and exploded with a thunderous bang, causing him to stagger. He hadn't expected Wei Wuxian to strike so suddenly, and his own spiritual powers had yet to fully recover. As a result, the blast caught him head-on and his shoulder began to bleed.

Disbelief flashed across his face, and Zidian shot from his finger, sizzling and flashing haphazardly as it lashed out (249, 7S trans.).

So then a fight breaks out between the three of them, Wei Wuxian's like wait this is terrible and nearly passes out. When that happens--

Jiang Cheng's expression changed too. He retracted his whip, then blinked, looking alert (249, 7S trans.).

[...]

Jiang Cheng was both shocked and suspicious-- shocked by the disturbing sight of Wei Wuxian bleeding so suddenly from his seven orifices, and suspicious that this was an act he was putting on to escape. After all, Wei Wuxian often used such tricks to prank others.

Seeing they were both about to leave, he barked, "Hold it right there!

Lan Wangji fumed, "Get lost!"

With his words came an abruptly raging Bichen. Immediately after, a flash of purple lightning hurtled forth as well. Both divine weapons struck each other, letting loose a long, ear-piercing yowl. The impact of this noise gave Wei Wuxian a splitting headache, and like a flickering candle flame that was finally extinguished, his eyes closed and his head drooped low.

Sensing the sudden weight on his shoulder, Lan Wangji promptly extracted himself from the melee to feel his breathing.

With Bichen's master no longer supplying it with power, Zidian immediately advanced towards them. Jiang Cheng, who didn't actually want to injure Lan Wangji, instantly pulled back his strike-- but it seemed it was still too late.

Just then, a figure leapt from nowhere and stood between them (250-1, 7S trans.).

So Wen Ning jumps in, Jiang Cheng asks how he dares to enter Lotus Pier, he's so angry he's laughing... and he still isn't actually attacking Wen Ning or anyone else. Wen Ning immediately offers him Suibian and jumps into the golden core reveal. Obviously, it's set up so we don't know how much of the preceding exchange he saw, but in actual fact we've gone from a fight that Wei Wuxian started to a second round that Lan Wangji started, and where Jiang Cheng never actually intended to hurt Lan Wangji and tried to pull back as soon as Lan Wangji abruptly stopped fighting.

You're totally right that by entering the fight once Wei Wuxian is passing out, it looks like Lan Wangji is trying to desperately defend Wei Wuxian from attack. But even then, the move that Wen Ning intercepts is Jiang Cheng trying to withdraw Zidian and back off! He decides that the only possible way to de-escalate this fight is by revealing Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng's darkest secret before he even tries to, say, help hold off Jiang Cheng physically so that the other two can escape (or, you know, distract him with some other subject).

It just really felt like a sudden escalation to me reading it this time, even accepting that Wen Ning is leaping into a situation where a) everyone has already been misreading Jiang Cheng's intentions the whole time and b) he missed the beginning of the conflict so he doesn't really have context.

(And also the context is......... Wei Wuxian is mad because he incorrectly thinks Lan Wangji is offended by Jiang Cheng insinuating that they're hooking up lol)

[aitchnkay]

Jiang Gunian Made A Change Part 26

She allowed herself a day to mourn. One day to cry over her father; she would mourn properly once the war was won.

And they would win. There was no alternative that was acceptable. Her brothers would live, and Wen RuoHan and his remaining son would die.

She washed her face of tears, dressed, and reported to her command tent. "Meng Yao, report."

"General," he bowed. "Lotus Pier is firmly in Jiang WanYin's control. Jiang Furen is in the infirmary; her condition is listed as 'stable', but no details of what occurred has been forwarded. Wen Xu's army is approximately five days out from the Unclean Realm. They must have received intel that Wen Chao's army was defeated as they have not moved in the last two days. We suspect that they are waiting for reinforcements from Qishan."

Yu FangSu glared at Meng Yao as he spoke. As soon as he took a breath, she interrupted. "We should move our camp to Lotus Pier. It will be more protection than what we have here, and it will free your brother to assist Nie ZongZhu."

"We are not going to Lotus Pier," Jiang YanLi stated. "We will continue as we have."

"Your esteemed mother needs you!" Yu FangSu spat. "It is your duty as her daughter to be with her in her time of grief."

"My duty?" Jiang YanLi wanted to cry again. Instead she stiffened her back, both physical and mental. "This is war. My duty is to keep my people alive."

"Your people are in Yunmeng. Not here."

Meng Yao smiled his 'I'm going to be polite because I have to' smile. "Jin Furen. Your people are in Lanling. My people are in Qinghe. And yet... we are here. Supporting General Jiang."

"General Jiang?" Jiang YanLi repeated. "Who is that?"

Yu FangSu sighed. "For some reason, the reports that came in starting yesterday, all referred to you as 'General Jiang'. "

"Not for some reason," Meng Yao snapped. "Jiang YanLi is just as much a General in this war as Nie Mingjue and Lan XiChen. She has earned the title."

"A woman General? Next will you petition for her to be Jiang ZongZhu instead of Jiang WangYin?"

"No."

"If she's capable, why not? She is the eldest."

"No," the young woman repeated. "My brother will inherit." Her hand buzzed: the new ring she wore indicating Wei WuXian had sent a letter. "Please excuse me. A'Xian sent me something."

The letter was short. 'ShiJi. Read when alone. Madame Yu's condition is not being disseminated. Even Jiang Cheng can't get the healers to tell him what's wrong. She's been seen walking, and does not have any obvious bandages on. What I do know is that she was injured in a fight with someone called Wen ZhuLiu. She tried to whip him with Zidian. He moved out of the way too quickly and he pushed her down. She screamed and was unable to stand again. His title is Core Melting Hand. Can you discretely find out if the title is because he can destroy someone's Core? He's dead. I killed him right after he hurt Madame Yu, so we can't ask him. The Wen aren't saying anything. Four buildings are fire damaged in the compound. A dozen in the town will need to be rebuilt. Twenty-three townspeople are dead. The rest followed our directions to leave. Initial count is forty-eight dead in the Sect. There are six or seven more who might yet succumb to their injuries.'

"Meng Yao... what do you know about a man called the Core Melting Hand? A'Xian killed him."

"He's dead? Good," he smiled a genuine smile. "Officially, he was Wen Chao's bodyguard. A nobody who worked his way up in the QishanWen ranks. In part it was because of his dog-like loyalty to Wen RuoHan. In part because of his little trick. As his title suggests, he did indeed have the ability to melt Cores."

Jiang YanLi kept her face still as she processed exactly what had happened to her mother. Her Core was melted? No wonder she doesn't want anyone to know what's happened to her. "It's good he's dead then. Just think of the damage he could have caused to our people.

"So." She took a deep breath, and shoved her concerns about her mother into a cabinet in her mind. She set Wei WuXian's letter over a flame and watched it burn. "We will concentrate our strike troops on Wen Xu's army. What news from the Unclean Realm."

[bloody-bee-tea]

Survivor

Jiang Cheng is bone deep exhausted and the only thought on his mind is to finally get some sleep. He has endured his siblings fawning over him and healers from two different Sects checking him over even though he told them all again and again that he’s fine and now he just wants to sleep.

It’s been a long, long day.

The tiniest bit of tension seeps out of his shoulders when his tent comes into view and he releases a breath of relief when he finally steps into it, only for him to whip out Zidian when he realizes that there’s someone in here with him.

“It’s just me,” Nie Mingjue says, his hands raised, but staying right where he is and Jiang Cheng slumps.

“Don’t fucking do shit like that,” he snaps at him, because he’s tired and cranky and Nie Mingjue really should know better.

They are at war. You simply don’t sneak up on anyone but especially not on someone who has been ambushed that same day.

“What are you doing here?” Jiang Cheng wants to know as Nie Mingjue walks up to him.

“I was worried about you,” Nie Mingjue admits as he pulls Jiang Cheng into a hug and Jiang Cheng immediately melts into him.

It’s a good place to be, exhaustion be damned, and they stay like that for a long time.

“’m tired,” Jiang Cheng finally slurs out and he feels Nie Mingjue nod.

“We’ll get you to bed,” he says and gently pushes Jiang Cheng towards his bed. “Are you hurt?” he asks and Jiang Cheng narrows his eyes at him.

“Shouldn’t you know? I seem to recall that besides my healers some other healers were there as well. I would think they reported back to their Sect Leader.”

He’s not really mad, despite the bite in his tone, but he nevertheless enjoys it when Nie Mingjue blushes slightly.

“I was worried,” he repeats, his tone defensive, and Jiang Cheng can’t deny that something warm and tingly unfurls in his chest.

“I was worried, too,” Jiang Cheng admits, because while he couldn’t say this to his siblings, he thinks that maybe he can tell Nie Mingjue about it.

He will understand.

“There was a moment where I thought—I was very worried,” Jiang Cheng whispers, and he tenses when he remembers the fight, the screams, the panic, the blood. So much blood.

It wasn’t his first fight, wasn’t even his fifth or tenth one, but it has never been this close.

“But you got them all out, right?” Nie Mingjue asks, coming up behind Jiang Cheng, hugging him to his chest.

“The healers are not sure if two of them will make it through the night,” Jiang Cheng chokes out and Nie Mingjue presses a kiss to his head.

“But you got them out. That’s what matters for now. You got all of them out of there alive. Now it’s up to them. But you gave them a chance. You’re a survivor,” Nie Mingjue lowly tells him and Jiang Cheng spins around in his arms to bury his face in his neck.

“It doesn’t feel like something I should be proud of,” he mutters. “They caught us off guard.”

“And you fought and you won. You made it out and they didn’t. That’s all that matters,” Nie Mingjue says again and Jiang Cheng notes the slight tremor in his voice.

When he pulls back to give Nie Mingjue a questioningly look he is completely caught off guard by the soft look on Nie Mingjue’s face.

“I was so worried,” he says, for the third time that evening and Jiang Cheng can’t help it, he simply has to pull him in for a kiss.

He was worried, too. Worried and terrified and angry and exhausted. But he knew he had to fight or they would all die, and so he fought as hard as he never did before.

And now he’s crashing.

“I need to sleep,” Jiang Cheng says when they part and it earns him a kiss to his cheekbone.

“Then we’ll sleep,” Nie Mingjue decides and swiftly gets Jiang Cheng out of his outer robe, before he strips himself.

Normally, this would lead to very fun activities, but Jiang Cheng is so tired he can barely even appreciate the fact that Nie Mingjue is mostly undressed in his own tent, and so he simply climbs into bed.

Nie Mingjue is right behind him and as soon as they laid down, he pulls Jiang Cheng into his chest again.

“I’m so glad you came back,” Nie Mingjue whispers into his hair and Jiang Cheng turns around again so that he can curl into Nie Mingjue’s chest.

“Me too,” Jiang Cheng says, pressing small kisses to every part of Nie Mingjue that he can reach.

Nie Mingjue presses kiss after kiss to his head and Jiang Cheng is exhausted enough that he almost immediately drifts off.

“I wouldn’t know what to do if I lost you,” Nie Mingjue whispers, so quiet that Jiang Cheng almost misses it and his last conscious thought is that this doesn’t sound like they are just fuck-buddies anymore.

He falls asleep with a smile.

~*~*~

Jiang Cheng knows what Nie Mingjue is going to say before he even opens his mouth. He can see it in his eyes, can see it in the way Nie Mingjue makes even more of an effort to stay straight and come off as stern, makes an effort to keep himself closed off and away from Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng isn’t quite sure when it happened but over the last few weeks he learned to read Nie Mingjue.

And what he reads now is going to break Jiang Cheng’s heart, he just knows it.

“I think we should end it here,” Nie Mingjue says, and despite how predictable it is, despite the fact that he expected this, Jiang Cheng’s world feels like it’s going to shatter.

“I see,” he still gives back despite how he’s working his jaw in an effort to not beg Nie Mingjue to not do this.

He will not beg anyone. And especially not Nie Mingjue when he so clearly doesn’t want Jiang Cheng anymore.

They both deserve better than that.

“It was a war fling. It happens, but it also ends,” Nie Mingjue goes on and even though Jiang Cheng promised himself he would be calm he can’t do it.

Not when Nie Mingjue sounds like this didn’t mean anything at all to him.

“I said I see,” he snaps at Nie Mingjue who falls silent. “I’m not stupid, and I’m not deaf. I heard you the first time.”

“Oh,” Nie Mingjue says but then he nods. “We’ll be fellow Sect Leaders then, and nothing more.”

“It’s not like you would have had time for me anyway, what with your two new brothers and all,” Jiang Cheng bitterly says and he tries very hard not to think about the fact that he had hoped for a bond with Nie Mingjue himself.

A very different one than Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen now have with him but it’s very clear that that is never going to happen now.

Yunmeng Jiang will have to fend for themselves going on, just like they always did.

“I wish you the best,” Jiang Cheng forces himself to say before Nie Mingjue can say something to that, even though he feels like crying or screaming or both.

“If you need something—” Nie Mingjue starts, but Jiang Cheng cuts him off.

“Thank you for the kind offer, Sect Leader Nie,” he presses out, overly stiff and formal, and he forces himself into a bow. “Goodbye.”

He turns around without waiting for a response from Nie Mingjue and he has to clench his jaw to keep back the tears.

Jiang Cheng thought that they had a good thing, despite how it was first formed out of mutual terror of the war and grief for their lost people and pent up energy from the fights. He thought they had made something more of it, something that allowed for soft touches and sweet promises, but clearly he had been wrong. Naive and wrong, like always, Jiang Cheng scoffs at himself, because of course he would interpret something more into this when all it was to Nie Mingjue was a convenience.

And going on, Nie Mingjue won’t have much time for conveniences anymore, not with how he’s the hero of this war and with the new bonds he’ll have to form.

But it’s fine, it’s fine. Jiang Cheng will just—he’ll just go on, like he did numerous times already. 

If not even the death of his whole world could break him then a broken heart should be nothing.

It will be fine.

~*~*~

“Did something happen?” Jiang Yanli asks him when he sits down for dinner, clearly reading Jiang Cheng’s bad temper but Jiang Cheng really isn’t in the mood to lay out his stupid heartbreak to his sister, however understanding she would be.

It’s still too fresh.

“Where’s Wei Wuxian?” he instead snaps out, because he’s missing again and Jiang Cheng might have tolerated it when they were still at war, but that’s over now and Wei Wuxian will have to fall back into his role as Jiang Cheng’s second in command.

No more running off on his own.

“I’m here, I’m here,” Wei Wuxian calls out, lazily strolling into the room as if he has all the time in the world and it does nothing to lift Jiang Cheng’s mood.

“Where have you been?” he demands to know but Wei Wuxian only gives him that infuriating smile as he twirls his flute.

Jiang Cheng is too tired to even berate him over the lack of his sword.

“Here and there,” he gives back and Jiang Yanli hides her giggle behind her sleeve.

“And Lan Wangji?” she coyly asks and Jiang Cheng has to watch as his brother goes all suspiciously shifty.

“Ah, shijie, don’t be mean now. You know how nagging and annoying Lan Zhan can be,” Wei Wuxian says, but he doesn’t deny that he was with him.

And that’s enough for Jiang Cheng.

He will not have Lan Wangji of all people ruin his brother’s strenuous reputation any more.

“I am expecting a proper courtship,” Jiang Cheng says, effectively cutting whatever Wei Wuxian was about to say next off and Jiang Cheng can’t deny that he has to bite back a laugh when Wei Wuxian stares with wide eyes at him.

“A what now?” he repeats, because clearly his hearing took a turn for the worse and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes.

“A proper courtship. I will not let Lan Wangji disrespect you like this. Either he is serious about this or he can stop right now.”

“But—Lan Zhan and I—what are you even talking about?” Wei Wuxian asks, trying to laugh his confusion off and Jiang Cheng frowns.

“Is he not serious about you?” he wonders, ready to get up and beat some sense into Lan Wangji, but Jiang Yanli’s hand on his arm stops him.

“A-Xian, is he not serious about you or are you not serious about him?” she asks and Jiang Cheng frowns, because that’s not even a possibility he entertained.

Wei Wuxian has been running after Lan Wangji since their time in the Cloud Recesses; if he wasn’t serious about him, he would have stopped long ago like he did with all his other infatuations.

“No one is serious about anyone!” Wei Wuxian exclaims all of a sudden and Jiang Cheng’s eyes go wide.

“Oh,” he breathes out, because he didn’t consider that they had a thing like he and Nie Mingjue did. “I see.”

“I don’t! Why would you even—it’s not like—no one is serious about this, right?” Wei Wuxian asks and his voice is suddenly very quiet and he looks pleadingly between Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng.

“A-Xian, it is rather obvious that Lan Wangji seems to be in love with you,” Jiang Yanli carefully says. “And going by your behaviour we just thought you are, too? Which clearly is fine, it’s just—A-Cheng is right. There should be a proper courtship.”

Wei Wuxian can’t seem to find his words at that, because he keeps staring at them, but finally Jiang Yanli’s words seem to have hit him. 

Wei Wuxian gasps and slaps his hand over his mouth, as tears fill his eyes.

“I love him,” he whispers and Jiang Cheng can do nothing but stare incredulously at him.

“You didn’t know? How the hell could you not know, with how you’re running after him?”

“And he loves me?” Wei Wuxian goes on, as if he didn’t hear Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng wants to snap at him that the fact that Lan Wangji loves Wei Wuxian is even more obvious but he bites his tongue at the last moment.

He also thought that Nie Mingjue felt more for him than he clearly did, so maybe he isn’t in any position to judge here.

“Of course he loves you,” Jiang Yanli softly says and Jiang Cheng is not prepared for the blinding smile that breaks out on Wei Wuxian’s face.

He didn’t realize it before, but it’s been a long time since Wei Wuxian smiled like this.

One more reason to break Lan Wangji’s entire body, should he hurt Wei Wuxian.

“I have to go,” Wei Wuxian rushes out, already moving and Jiang Cheng doesn’t even have the heart to stop him.

“A courtship!” he still yells after him, because it’s important and Wei Wuxian is liable to forget.

“What an idiot,” he mutters once Wei Wuxian is gone and Jiang Yanli laughs.

“Blinded by love, is what he is,” she gives back with a wistful sigh and Jiang Cheng turns towards her.

If they already are at the topic—

“What about you and the pe—Jin Zixuan?” he wants to know.

Jiang Cheng will probably never like Jin Zixuan, especially not after the last stunt he pulled, but Jiang Yanli always had a soft spot for him and if she still wants to pursue a relationship with him, then Jiang Cheng will support her in this.

“It’s fine, A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli says with a smile but Jiang Cheng shakes his head.

He’s tired of Jiang Yanli always doing what’s best for everyone else. 

“It’s not. It never was. Just tell me what you really want,” he insists and Jiang Yanli falls silent for a long moment.

“I always liked him,” she finally admits and while Jiang Cheng still wants to punch Jin Zixuan in the face, if this is what his sister wants then he’ll make it happen.

“But not like this. Not if he doesn’t like me back. I don’t want to be—” she bites back her words, but Jiang Cheng still knows what she wanted to say. 

It would be disrespectful to the dead though.

“I understand. We’ll do nothing for now, then. If he should show that he has a spine and actually knows how to appreciate you, we can talk about it,” Jiang Cheng decides and is not prepared for the proud look Jiang Yanli throws him.

“You’ve grown so much, A-Cheng,” she softly says and cups his cheek in her hand. “But you should have someone at your side as well.”

“I have you and Wei Wuxian,” he immediately gives back, even though he’s sure that’s not quite what Jiang Yanli means.

“Don’t misunderstand me on purpose,” she gently chides him. “You know what I mean. You should have someone you love and who loves you in return.”

It hits a little bit too close, with how recently Nie Mingjue told him to break it off, and Jiang Cheng jerks his head away from her because he can’t quite hide the bitter twist of his mouth.

“Don’t,” he begs his sister, because he’s not ready to talk about this, not ready to admit that he thought he had that already.

“What about Nie Mingjue?” his sister relentlessly goes on. “I thought it looked like there was something between you. You’ve been meeting frequently.”

“You thought wrong,” he snaps at her and then immediately feels bad when she flinches at his angry tone. “You thought wrong,” he says again, much quieter this time and understanding washes over her face.

“Oh, A-Cheng, I’m sorry,” she says and pulls him into a hug. 

Jiang Cheng promised himself that he wouldn’t cry over Nie Mingjue—he needs to be strong and composed for his people—but he can’t remember those reasons when he’s safely in his sister’s arms.

~*~*~

Jiang Cheng doesn’t see Wei Wuxian until the next morning, but he has Lan Wangji in tow, who does propose a proper courtship between him and Wei Wuxian, so Jiang Cheng chalks that off as a success.

He allows Lan Wangji to court his right hand man, of course, mostly because he truly wants to see Wei Wuxian happy, but also because it means the Lan Sect can’t quite openly go against them. Jiang Cheng will take any little advantage he can get.

He hates that he has to see Nie Mingjue at the banquet that evening, but he somehow manages a polite bow, before he turns away from him and then he tries to not look at him all night.

It’s harder than it should be and when Jin Guangshan gets up to say something unpleasant, Jiang Cheng is almost grateful for it.

He re-evaluates that when Jin Guangshan brings up a new betrothal between Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan. Jiang Cheng is glad he talked about this with his sister just yesterday, because he feels so much better shutting Jin Guangshan down now, especially when he can announce Wei Wuxian’s and Lan Wangji’s courtship in the same moment.

That, at least, gets Jin Guangshan to shut up for a while.

Jiang Cheng pretends he doesn’t see the small smile on Nie Mingjue’s face, because it doesn’t only hurt, it also brings out something bitter and mean in Jiang Cheng.

He turns away before the sneer can make it to his face. It does nothing to hide his pain, though.

~*~*~

When Wei Wuxian comes across Wen Qing, he has enough trust in Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng to ask for help before he blows up in everyone’s faces.

Jiang Cheng can’t bring himself to accept them into Yunmeng Jiang, no matter how sorry he is about it and how he can’t quite meet Wen Qing’s eyes when he tells them that, but Lan Wangji promises that he’ll settle them in Gusu Lan, since no one trusts Jin Guangshan when he tells them he can take care of them.

Jiang Cheng didn’t even dare to ask Nie Mingjue for help, and he excuses that with the fact that Lan Wangji offered and that Wei Wuxian was due for a stay there anyway.

He can help them get settled before he and Lan Wangji return to Lotus Pier and it will all work out fine.

~*~*~

Jiang Cheng can’t quite hide his surprise when Jin Zixuan is led into the conference room.

“What are you doing here?” Jiang Cheng snaps at him, because he’s not really over how this guy treated his sister and even her reassuring presence at his side does nothing to help calm him down.

“I’m here to—” Jin Zixuan starts and then trails off, his eyes apparently caught by Jiang Yanli.

“Apologise, I hope,” Jiang Cheng finishes for him, because that is the only reason he will excuse his unannounced visit.

“That, yes. And make amends. And—maybe start new?” Jin Zixuan awkwardly finishes and Jiang Cheng raises his eyebrows.

“You want to start new with my sister,” he warningly says, barely believing the gall this guy has.

“If the lady wants it, of course,” Jin Zixuan hastily adds, falling into a deep bow and it allows Jiang Cheng to roll his eyes as Jiang Yanli tries to swallow her giggles.

“A-Cheng,” she says when Jiang Cheng leaves Jin Zixuan in the bow for longer than is really necessary, but he can’t help it.

That guy made his sister cry. He can grovel for a while.

“A-jie,” he questioningly asks, but of course she’s already on her way to Jin Zixuan to ease him out of his bow.

“Where’s your entourage?” she asks him but Jin Zixuan just shakes his head, going bright red in the face.

“There’s only Mianmian,” he tells them and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes again.

“Did you at least leave a letter at home?” he wants to know, because he’s not keen on having the Jin Sect accuse him of stealing Jin Zixuan away.

“I left it in my mother’s room. She should have read it by now,” Jin Zixuan gives back and Jiang Cheng sighs.

It’s clear that Jiang Yanli wants to give him another chance and as long as he behaves Jiang Cheng is willing to give that to his sister.

“Fine. You can stay. But if you even so much as stick one toe out of line, you’re gone again,” he promises him and Jin Zixuan’s hair flies, he’s nodding so hard.

Jiang Cheng just hopes that he’ll do better this time around. His sister deserves some happiness, too.

~*~*~

When Lan Wangji writes him that he and Wei Wuxian are on their way to Lotus Pier, bringing Wen Qing and Wen Ning, dread settles in Jiang Cheng’s gut.

The letter speaks of something urgent, something they have to discuss, something Jiang Cheng needs to know, and he’s not looking forward to that conversation no matter what it is.

It turns out his instinct was right when he learns about Wei Wuxian’s core—his own now—and demonic cultivation and how it’s killing Wei Wuxian and how it could all still blow up in their faces.

That conversation rivals the one he had with Nie Mingjue in terms in how desperately he wants to forget it, but he pushes through anyway.

He has to figure out how to help his brother.

~*~*~

It’s almost to the day a year after the end of the Sunshot Campaign when Nie Huaisang arrives in Lotus Pier, with little fanfare and without anyone accompanying him.

It puts Jiang Cheng on edge, despite Wei Wuxian’s reminder that they all used to be friends.

He thinks he’s proven right when Nie Huaisang asks for a private audience, with just Jiang Cheng.

“Jiang-xiong,” Nie Huaisang greets him and Jiang Cheng let’s the bitterness get the better of him.

“That’s Jiang-zhongzhu to you,” he snaps out and immediately feels bad when Nie Huaisang flicks his fan open in a defensive motion.

“I am not my brother,” Nie Huaisang presses out before he sighs. “I hoped we are still friends,” he adds and it’s enough to make Jiang Cheng feel guilty.

“We are,” he gives back with a sigh of his own. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for,” Jiang Cheng apologizes and then invites Nie Huaisang to sit down with him.

“You’re stressed,” Nie Huaisang observes and Jiang Cheng snorts.

“I don’t have that many relations with the Nie’s,” Jiang Cheng gives back and Nie Huaisang winces.

“Yeah, that’s my brother’s fault,” he says and gives Jiang Cheng a meaningful look.

So he knows what they had. Great.

“What brings you here, Huaisang?” Jiang Cheng wants to know, though he can already tell that he’s not going to like it much.

“I’m here because of my brother,” Nie Huaisang says and immediately proves Jiang Cheng right.

“I don’t talk to Nie-zhongzhu, in case you didn’t notice,” Jiang Cheng snaps out and Nie Huaisang laughs lightly.

“Oh, I definitely noticed. I especially noticed that you two stopped talking right after we won the war. He wouldn’t tell me why, though, until a few days ago.”

“It’s not that hard to figure out, Huaisang. He didn’t like me enough to keep talking to me,” Jiang Cheng says with a shrug and he doesn’t even care that he sounds bitter.

He is bitter. Let Nie Huaisang know, what does he care.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Nie Huaisang says and hides behind his fan again. “Though it’s what he said to me as well. It’s a lie though.”

That makes Jiang Cheng freeze.

“What?”

“It’s a lie. He wouldn’t tell me the real reason until a few days ago, when he suffered a qi deviation. Not enough to kill him or even seriously injure him, but. It was still bad,” Nie Huaisang lowly says and Jiang Cheng can’t help the worry in his gut.

He wishes he could have just forgotten Nie Mingjue, could have found someone else to give all these feelings to, but he still wakes up more nights than not, searching for someone in his bed who is no longer there and hasn’t been for longer than he could ever be found in Jiang Cheng’s bed in the first place.

Sometimes he scoffs at himself for how ridiculous it is to keep wishing for something that was just such a brief moment in his life, but he can’t help it.

He loves Nie Mingjue, still, and it hurts. It never stopped.

“How is he?” Jiang Cheng forces himself to ask, because he can’t even imagine anything happening to Nie Mingjue or it will drive him insane.

“Not too well. Shaken, like we all are,” Nie Huaisang admits. “But it brought out some truths. He’s dying, Wanyin. He’s dying and he knew it a year ago. It’s the reason he broke up with you.”

Jiang Cheng blinks a few times because that is just too much information at once. His stomach drops when he registers that Nie Mingjue is apparently dying but his heart picks up when he thinks about how Nie Huaisang refers to their split as a break up.

“We never were enough to actually break up,” Jiang Cheng forces out, because he needs to make that clear right away.

“Yes, you were,” Nie Huaisang gives back without hesitation. “My brother loved you, I could see it back then and I can see it still. He’s still heartbroken, but he thinks he did you a favour. He has accepted that he’s going to die.”

That doesn’t sound right. He hasn’t seen or spoken to Nie Mingjue in a year now, but he doesn’t strike him as someone who would simply accept death as the inevitable outcome.

“Why would he?”

“It’s a family thing and no one could find a solution yet. Er-ge is trying with musical cultivation but I’m not sure how well that’s going. But Wanyin, please, that’s not—we can talk about this later. Did you hear what else I said? He loves you.”

Jiang Cheng did actually hear that, he just doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do with that, even though his heart is telling him very clearly what to do.

“I heard you,” he whispers, though it’s still hard to believe.

Nie Mingjue didn’t look like he loved him when he told him they should end it.

“What are you going to do about it?” Nie Huaisang wants to know and Jiang Cheng huffs out a disbelieving laugh.

“Are you here because I you think I can help your brother?”

“Well—” Nie Huaisang drawls out but then he shakes his head when Jiang Cheng throws him a look. “Not only, okay? Yes, if you are inclined to help, that would be great, I don’t actually want da-ge to die. But I also just want him to be happy, no matter if you can help or not. I didn’t know why he broke up with you but now I do and it’s just so—so stupid! And I’ve been talking to Wei Wuxian a bit and Jin Zixuan too, and they said you don’t seem to be happy or looking for someone else and I just thought you both deserved to be happy.”

Jiang Cheng can do nothing but gape at him, because he didn’t actually think Nie Huaisang cared that much but it seems he was wrong.

“He—loves me still?” Jiang Cheng manages to ask and his heart does a funny thing when Nie Huaisang nods.

“What about you?” Nie Huaisang lowly asks and Jiang Cheng can’t meet his eyes.

He never admitted it before, not to his siblings and certainly not to Nie Mingjue, and it feels wrong to do so to Nie Huaisang now.

“I’ll come back with you,” he says instead of a real answer, but it seems like it’s answer enough anyway, because Nie Huaisang beams at him.

“I knew it,” he whispers but Jiang Cheng can’t find it in him to be mad at him for assuming.

Not if Nie Huaisang is assuming the truth.

~*~*~

“What are you doing here?” Nie Mingjue gruffly asks when Nie Huaisang pushes Jiang Cheng into his private room.

Jiang Cheng takes a moment to glare at the now closed door, but then he turns around to Nie Mingjue. Nie Huaisang has warned him, but Jiang Cheng is still surprised how shitty Nie Mingjue looks; he lost weight and there are circle under his eyes that weren’t even present during the war, when none of them got any good sleep, ever.

It really must eat away at him.

“I’m here to help,” Jiang Cheng says and before he can add that he’s here for maybe something more, too, Nie Mingjue abruptly turns away from him.

“There’s nothing you can do,” Nie Mingjue shortly tells him but Jiang Cheng will not be so easily brushed off.

“Bullshit,” he says and it startles Nie Mingjue enough to turn around to him.

“Excuse me?”

“I said bullshit, you heard me quite well,” Jiang Cheng repeats and angrily crosses his arms in front of his chest.

It’s not the first time since the war that he has seen Nie Mingjue, but it’s the first time that they are speaking like this and Jiang Cheng is more nervous than he would like to admit.

“Oh? And what are you going to do that my Sect hasn’t yet tried, huh?” Nie Mingjue bitingly asks, but Jiang Cheng isn’t fazed by that.

“We found a way to deal with Wei Wuxian’s demonic cultivation. We found a way to restore a destroyed core. I think we can find a solution for your qi deviation problem,” Jiang Cheng gives back, matching Nie Mingjue in tone and he has to admit he enjoys the dumb-founded look on his face.

“You did what?” Nie Mingjue breathes out. “Restoring a core is impossible.”

“So is transplanting a core but here I am, core and all. I think between Wen Qing’s genius, Wei Wuxian’s unorthodox thinking and my stubbornness, we can make it work.”

“You have a transplanted core?” Nie Mingjue asks, frown on his face but Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes.

“That’s not important right now. What’s important is that we can most likely help you.”

“Most likely,” Nie Mingjue tonelessly gives back.

“Do not be like that,” Jiang Cheng warns him. “Do not reject this opportunity just because it might not work. There’s more chance that it will.”

“But you can’t promise it,” Nie Mingjue says and it sounds so final, as if he’s already made his peace with dying.

Jiang Cheng would even believe it if he wouldn’t look so haunted.

“No one can promise that and yet we still go out on night hunts,” he gives back, because he will not allow Nie Mingjue to reject this chance.

“That’s different,” Nie Mingjue says but Jiang Cheng shakes his head.

“It’s not,” he says but he can see how Nie Mingjue closes himself off. “Do you really want Nie Huaisang to watch you die without even trying?”

That brings Nie Mingjue up short.

“You talked to Huaisang.”

“Yes. And he had some interesting things to say, besides the fact that you have qi deviations,” Jiang Cheng says and now the nerves settle back in.

It’s one thing to have Nie Huaisang tell him that Nie Mingjue still loves him. It’s another to confront Nie Mingjue about it.

“That little rascal,” Nie Mingjue mutters under his breath. “It doesn’t matter,” he then says louder and Jiang Cheng stomach drops, though he doesn’t allow it to crush him, not like the last time they talked.

He likes to think he has grown as a person.

“Doesn’t it?”

“I am dying. You already lost so much. I’m not going to add to that,” Nie Mingjue says, though he can’t quite meet Jiang Cheng’s eyes as he does.

Jiang Cheng can even see where he’s coming from, but it doesn’t change the fact that Nie Mingjue broke his heart a year ago.

“You could have just been honest,” Jiang Cheng lowly says. “And you could let me help now.”

“What if it doesn’t work? What if we—try, all of it, and it doesn’t work?” Nie Mingjue asks and Jiang Cheng can see how scared he truly is.

“Then at least we tried,” Jiang Cheng says and he decides to be brave and bold and he simply steps forwards and hugs Nie Mingjue. “At least I know I tried everything I could. At least we’ll have however long the tries will give us. It’s better than nothing, than knowing we could have done something—could have been something—but didn’t dare to take that step.”

Nie Mingjue is completely rigid in his arms but Jiang Cheng is not going to let him go so easily. He believed Nie Mingjue’s lies once; he’s not going to do it again.

“Let us try,” Jiang Cheng whispers after a long moment and Nie Mingjue slumps in his arms.

“I didn’t think you’d—I wasn’t very nice,” Nie Mingjue admits and Jiang Cheng has to snort at that, because it’s a bit of an understatement.

“You broke my heart,” Jiang Cheng admits and he can feel how Nie Mingjue jerks. “It—never really mended, either. I could never forget you. I still want—” he takes a deep breath.

He didn’t realize being honest would be so difficult.

“I still love you,” he forces out, because he will not let them walk away without being honest to each other this time.

The words barely left his mouth when Nie Mingjue’s arms come up around him and crush him to his chest.

“I’m so sorry for what I said back then,” Nie Mingjue mumbles into his hair and Jiang Cheng’s knees go a little bit weak when he realizes what this means.

What Nie Mingjue feels for him.

“It hurt,” Jiang Cheng admits and Nie Mingjue makes a pained noise. “I see now why you did it, back then, even though I truly don’t like it or think it was the right decision,” Jiang Cheng says and he frowns when Nie Mingjue pushes him away.

His face goes soft when Nie Mingjue cups his cheek in his hand.

“You’ve grown so much,” Nie Mingjue says and Jiang Cheng flushes when he hears the awe in his voice. “And I love you,” Nie Mingjue tells him, before he leans in for a kiss.

Jiang Cheng falls into it—he didn’t realize how much he truly missed Nie Mingjue—but it ends all too soon.

“I will accept your help,” Nie Mingjue mumbles against his lips and Jiang Cheng huffs out a laugh.

“You better accept my courtship too, you buffoon, because I’ll not let you get away a second time,” he decides and watches as Nie Mingjue blinks at him.

“We don’t know if you can find a solution,” he cautiously says but Jiang Cheng shakes his head.

“It doesn’t matter if we do or don’t,” he tells him, even though just the thought of Nie Mingjue dying is almost killing him. “I want this with you, regardless of that.”

“You’re always so much stronger than I give you credit for,” Nie Mingjue mumbles and rests their foreheads together.

“You better remember that,” Jiang Cheng warns him, because if he has to he will out-stubborn death itself for Nie Mingjue.

“I promise,” Nie Mingjue tells him and Jiang Cheng believes him.

And now that they managed to take this step, Jiang Cheng is going to make Nie Mingjue live long enough to grow tired of him.

(It never happens; they both cultivate to immortality and Nie Mingjue regularly teases Jiang Cheng that he’s still waiting for the day when he gets tired of his husband, his heart, his entire world. Jiang Cheng never really learns to handle that and he never grows out of his blush.)

Jin Zixuan courts the hell out of Jiang Yanli and decides to stay in Lotus Pier and marry in instead, since Jin Guangyao is such a perfect heir anyways. It curbs Jin Guangyao's more murderous urges. Mianmian accompanies Wangxian to the Wen establishment in Gusu and never quite leaves again before she becomes the Second Lady Wen. Wangxian still adopt A-Yuan. Xuanli still get A-Ling.

Everyone lives and no one dies because I said so.

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

[plan-d-to-i]

Hey, sorry to bother, but with so much content on MDZS + Fanon, i am lost.

Would you be able to confirm that when wwx came back (Dafan arc), he was infact hit by zidian ! Right ? Canon ? So Jiang Wanyin had truly tried to separate his soul from Mo Xuanyu's body, effectively killing him in case the body was stolen ! No questions asked !

Hence any questions about them being Bros n Jiang Cheng being a softie, just unable to express and shows love via abuse is out of the window ! Right, he would have plain murdered wwx at that point if his body was stolen !

Apologies but too many different versions and i am not sure !

I read your post/comment on anon ask about them being brothers n how lwj shouldn't come in between and got curious!

I do like post resurrection lwj and glad he won't hesitate to chop off hands to keep wwx safe .

Re THIS post. No worries! (o^ ^o)

Correct. WWX was hit by Zidian. jc was not looking for a loving reunion. He was not keeping Chenqing as a memento, he's keeping it as bait in case WWX comes back. He had been hunting for WWX for 13 years bc he wanted to kill him again not bc he missed him.

"Zidian had a special ability: if it struck a body snatcher, the body snatcher’s soul would immediately be peeled away from the body they had stolen. Zidian expelled the invader without exception. But this person had been whipped, yet behaved just as he did before, bouncing around as usual. Unless he really hadn’t seized the body, there was no other explanation.

Wei Wuxian thought, How useless. Obviously Zidian can’t whip my soul out. I didn’t steal this body, someone offered it to me. Actually, he practically forced it on me!

Jiang Cheng’s expression was surprised but suspicious, and the intention to whip Wei Wuxian again crossed his eyes.

But Lan Jingyi shouted, “Chief Jiang, isn’t once enough? This is Zidian!”

A cultivation tool the level of Zidian wouldn’t fail on the first try only to succeed on the second. If no soul was expelled, no soul was expelled. If someone hadn’t snatched the body, they hadn’t snatched the body, or else the weapon was undeserving of its reputation. After Lan Jingyi’s shout, Jiang Cheng, a man who cherished reputation and prestige as much as life, was able to act no longer." (Chapter 10)

jc was so determined to wipe any trace of WWX off the face of the earth he would rather torture the wrong person than risk potentially letting WWX get away. Even after he struck him w Zidian, he was still going to kidnap and torture him to be 100% sure it wasn't WWX if LWJ had not interfered.

"Everyone in the cultivation world knew that the young leader of the Jiang Clan watched out for Wei WuXian in an almost crazed manner. He would rather catch the wrong person than let go of any possibility, and took anyone who seemed like they held the soul of Wei WuXian away to the YunmengJiang Sect, inflicting severe torture on his victim. (Chapter 10)"

This is repeated throughout the story, including in jc's own POV here:

"Only moments before, Jiang Cheng had been so certain this person was Wei Wuxian that all the blood in his body had gone cold and then boiled over in rage. But now, his Zidian told him loudly and clearly that he wasn’t. Zidian couldn’t possibly lie to him, and even less could it make an error. The Clan Chief rapidly calmed himself, and silently thought: It isn’t as though I can’t deal with this. Worst comes to worst, I’ll find some excuse to bring him back to Yunmeng, and then use every method I can to beat the truth out. There’s no need to worry about failing to get anything from him. He can hardly keep everything hidden. It’s not as though I haven’t done this type of thing before. Once he had made up his mind, he made a hand signal. His disciples understood and started to surround Wei Wuxian." (10).

Anything else is just fanon.

[sincerelystranger]

not enough 3

“Will you still serve me when I become sect leader?” Jiang Fengmian asks.

Wei Changze is sat beside him under the pagoda. His back is straight and his posture is perfect as always. Jiang Fengmian allows himself a few moments to admire it.

Wei Changze doesn’t voice his answer. Instead, he nods slightly in affirmation. It’s more than enough for Jiang Fengmian.

“I’ll move you to a better room when I become sect leader,” Jiang Fengmian says eagerly. A room closer to his own. Maybe right next to his… “And I won’t make you go on all those stupid errands my father makes you go on.”

“They are my duties,” Wei Changze says quietly, and Jiang Fengmian can hear the gentle admonishment in his words. Wei Changze never lets Jiang Fengmian talk badly about his father. It’s as annoying as it is cute so Jiang Fengmian lets it go.

“Don’t you ever get tired of being so perfect?” Jiang Fengmian sighs. He slouches a little in his chair and turns to stare at the lake. Young disciples are splashing about, picking lotus pods and throwing them at each other. Jiang Fengmian has been deemed too old by his father to participate in the fun and Wei Changze is meant to be wherever Jiang Fengmian is so…

“Well, another thing you have to look forward too is that I promise not to marry someone who is as mean to you as my mother,” he says – because even if he’s in love with Wei Changze, Jiang Fengmian knows he has to marry. He’s the only son after all. He has to marry. But that doesn’t mean he’ll love his wife.

His heart will always belong to Wei Changze.

He turns to look at Wei Changze again. He admires the slope of his nose, the stern sit of his chin, the length of his eyelashes and the unmistakable kindness of his eyes.

Wei Changze has to know that Jiang Fengmian’s heart belongs to him. He’d be a fool not to know and Jiang Fengmian has never met anyone as smart as Wei Changze.

So he has to know.

Wei Changze turns then as well and meets Jiang Fengmian’s eyes.

Even after all these years, Jiang Fengmian’s heart stops in his chest. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to having Wei Changze’s full attention on him.

“It is an honor to serve your father and it will be an honor to serve you,” he says gently.

It’s times like these that Jiang Fengmian doubts.

Maybe Wei Changze doesn’t know. Because if he did, he wouldn’t say such cruel things, right? He wouldn’t treat Jiang Fengmian so coldly.

Maybe Wei Changze doesn’t know…

Wei Changze reaches out then and puts his hand over Jiang Fengmian’s. His skin burns at the touch.

“You will be a good sect leader,” Wei Changze says and he takes his hand off of Jiang Fengmian’s before Jiang Fengmian can respond.

“As long as I have you,” Jiang Fengmian replies after a few seconds, his voice weaker than he’d like.

Maybe he does know.

---

Wei Wuxian comes back to him at Langya.

He’s thinner than Jiang Fengmian can ever remember seeing him and he looks tired and worn but Jiang Fengmian is so relieved to see him that it takes everything he has not to sink to the floor.

“A-Xian!” Yanli cries, running towards Wei Wuxian. Tears are already streaming down her soft face and Wei Wuxian’s face lights up upon seeing her.

Jiang Cheng is stood next to him, his eyes wet and smiling happily as he watches his sister and his sworn-brother reunite.

“He’s the one responsible for those strange kills,” Jiang Cheng says proudly. “Wen Zhuliu was no match for us, father. Wen Chao died a coward’s death.”

“They said you were dropped into the Burial Mounds,” Jiang Fengmian says, still not quite believing his eyes.

Wei Wuxian turns and gives him a wan smile. Jiang Fengmian has never seen this sort of smile on Wei Wuxian’s face. It chills him somehow.  

“Uncle,” he bows respectfully, “I apologize it took me so long to return.”  

“You got out of the Burial Mounds?” his wife asks suspiciously. Her eyes are narrowed on Wei Wuxian and she walks around observing him slowly. Zidian crackles on her clenched fist. “You’re the one responsible for the strange deaths of those Wen dogs?”

Wei Wuxian looks to the ground, obviously uncomfortable at his wife’s suspicion.

“He has his sword now,” Jiang Cheng answers quickly in his stead. “He won’t have to use such strange methods to defeat the Wen dogs.”

Wei Wuxian doesn’t look up. Jiang Cheng’s reply seems to make him even more uncomfortable if possible.

“Let’s let A-Xian rest,” Yanli says, patting Wei Wuxian on his back comfortingly. “You’ve gotten so thin, A-Xian!” she scolds, wiping her still falling tears away. She leads him into their tent to undoubtedly feed him all the soup she can. Jiang Cheng follows quickly behind.

His wife catches his eye when Wei Wuxian leaves them.

“No one leaves the Burial Mounds,” she says.

“Perhaps the soldier lied,” Jiang Fengmian replies. If he’s honest, he’s suspicious himself, but…

For a split second, when Wei Wuxian was walking towards them, it had felt like Wei Changze had returned. That alone prevents Jiang Fengmian from voicing any concern about the suspicious nature of Wei Wuxian’s return.

“He reeks of that strange energy,” his wife sneers.

“Strange does not mean bad,” he says, and it sounds weak even to his own ears.

She just stares at him, her eyes piercing and all too knowing.

I’m your wife, she had said.

Do you know how humiliating it is to have to ask to be chosen over that boy? She had said.

He hadn’t known how to respond to her words then, but he knows now.

I’m not choosing him; he wants to say. That boy has never been chosen.

Poor boy, poor boy.

He was never given a choice.

---

With Wei Wuxian back, Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Cheng agree that they are ready to take back Yunmeng.

Surprisingly, the Lan-er states that he would like to join them.

Jiang Fengmian agrees, of course, because the Lan-er has more than proved himself in battle. Hanguang-jun they call him as of late.

Wei Wuxian does not seem particularly happy about this turn of events, but he keeps quiet.

They take back Yunmeng easily. Without a leader, the Wen soldiers fall easily on their swords, and when defeat becomes obvious, many of them run away.

His wife tears down the Wen Sect plank with a whip of her Zidian and they all step inside.

Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian, and his wife are stone-faced as they look around their destroyed home.

It makes Jiang Fengmian almost wish that Yanli had joined them. At least she would have cried. At least she would have shown some emotion.

Jiang Cheng walks purposefully into the main hall. Both him and his wife’s swords are displayed next to the sect leader’s chair like a trophy. Jiang Cheng grabs them and presents them to him and his wife.

He’s glad to have his sword back, but the heavy iron is a cold reminder to how close he had been to losing his life that day.

He looks over to the boy who saved him.

Wei Wuxian is seemingly locked in a heated discussion with the Lan-er.

“It will damage your spirit,” the Lan-er says heatedly.

“Who knows my temper and my spirit better than me?” Wei Wuxian responds darkly.

“Wei Wuxian!” the Lan-er snarls.

The air around them is becoming so heated that Jiang Fengmian feels the need to step in, but before he can say a word –

“Hanguang-jun,” his wife says sharply.

The Lan-er looks at her almost as if he’d forgotten she was there.

“You more than live up to your name,” she starts politely, “and we are grateful for your help today in recovering our home, but Wei Wuxian and his methods of cultivation will be handled by us. Thank you for your concern.”

Both Wei Wuxian and the Lan-er stare at his wife as if seeing her for the first time.

There is a long silence in the courtyard before the Lan-er just nods and walks off.

“Hanguang-jun’s concerns are not unfounded,” is all his wife says before walking off.

Wei Wuxian nods and just stares after her in shock.

Jiang Fengmian walks to Wei Wuxian and places a hand on his shoulder. “Do not… ruin yourself for…” he trails off, not quite sure what to say. For this sect? For this war? For this stupid old man who fell in love with your father and used you as a strange way to repent for all the ways he hurt him?

Wei Wuxian huffs a smile – too sad and too old for his face – and turns, letting Jiang Fengmian’s hand slip off his shoulder. “Doing my duty will not ruin me, uncle,” he says, and he walks off the opposite direction of the Lan-er.

His answer sends a cold shiver up Jiang Fengmian’s spine.

His duty.

What does he think his duty is? Jiang Fengmian wonders.

I want something more for my child, Wei Changze had told him, and Jiang Fengmian, young and foolish and proud had been angry at him for that.

“Please,” Jiang Fengmian whispers to the too-familiar back walking away from him, “If you must ruin yourself, please let it be for something more than this.”

Anything – anything – more than Jiang Fengmian.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Could you do something where Jiang Yanli kills Jin Guangshan? Reason why and when are up to you.

“It’s just in case,” Jiang Cheng said.

“A-Cheng…” Jiang Yanli said, smiling helplessly. Her little brother was all grown up now and pretending like it was his duty to be protective of her, rather than the other way around. “A-Cheng, it’s really not necessary. I’m going to my own engagement dinner – I don’t think anyone’s going to cause trouble.”

“It’s just in case.”

“A-Cheng, you do know that once I get married, I’m going to live there, right?” she said, laughing a little helplessly. “I’ll be in Koi Tower all the time. I can’t take Zidian away from you forever.”

“It’s fine after you get married,” Jiang Cheng said. “Jin Zixuan is a peacock, but he loves you; he’ll be by your side as often as he can manage it. But an engagement party like this – it’s so unorthodox to have something like this anyway, I don’t know what LanlingJin is thinking – he’ll be occupied getting congratulations on his side, you on yours, and then you retreat to separate bedrooms. If someone wanted to cause trouble in your marriage, that would be a good night for it. So just take it.”

“I don’t even know how to use Zidian properly!” she protested. “Not the way you do! I always…”

She waved her hands.

“Massively over do it?” Jiang Cheng said dryly.

Jiang Yanli grinned bashfully. “Yes.”

Zidian was a delicate spiritual weapon – in her brother’s hands, it was like watching artistry, the crackle of lightning and the shifts between ring and whip and back, never stronger than he meant it to be, able to draw beautiful patterns in the air that left after-images on the eye.

In Jiang Yanli’s hands…

She’d only ever managed to figure out how to activate Zidian’s self-defense mechanism, an extremely powerful lightning zap designed to send anything it touched into the next room and usually the next life.

“I’d still rather you had it for this party,” he said firmly. “Please, indulge me.”

Jiang Yanli stood on her tip-toes and pulled her little brother down by the collar to press a kiss to his forehead. “Always, A-Cheng.”

No one notices an extra ring on her finger that evening – if anything, she’s under-dressed compared to most of the ladies in Lanling, who cover themselves in gold and jewels; they flock around her and drink just as many toasts as the men do, albeit in their own fashion, and the rest of the evening is spent in gossip. Jiang Yanli wasn’t sure how much she liked any of this, but she supposed the engagement party wasn’t really for her – it was for Madame Jin, presiding over the events and puffed up with pride for having made the engagement work out just the way she and Madame Yu had planned it all those years ago.

If it had been for Jiang Yanli, her brothers would have been invited. Both of them.

Still, as the guest of honor, she’s obligated to stay very late, until the party could realistically be considered over and everyone lingering could pretend that they’d meant to do that anyway. Jiang Yanli pointedly yawned a few times before making her excuses – she didn’t need to fake it all that much, actually, given how much wine she’d drunk, even if she had only taken a single sip for every toast.

Of course, no one grew up with Wei Wuxian as a brother without developing some serious alcohol tolerance, so she’s not as affected as she made herself out to be.

Still, she thinks a little later that night, remarkably clear-headed, being drunk would probably be…helpful.

Jiang Yanli took a moment to survey the scene one more time, made a few small arrangements, nodded to herself, and started screaming Madame Jin’s name.

She’d been given a room in the main family hallway, as befitting her soon-to-be-daughter-in-law status, and Madame Jin had (somewhat reluctantly) bid the rest of her guests farewell shortly after Jiang Yanli left, so it didn’t take long before the woman ran into her room, followed very shortly by Jin Zixuan – they must have been talking in Madame Jin’s rooms.

Jiang Yanli flung herself at her future husband – well, she hoped he was still her future husband – and clutched at him, giving him a meaningful look as she did, hoping he understood. “There’s a man in my room!”

Jin Zixuan’s arms around her were a comfort, and his eyes were narrow as he looked around to see the scene she’d prepared: a man with a sheet over his face, lying against a wall where he’d evidently been thrown.

“Zixuan, you comfort Yanli,” Madame Jin instructed, then turned to the servants. “I want this locked down immediately. No one but you is to know what happened – if anyone asks, the story is that she saw a rat and overreacted after having drunk too much; we’ll figure out the rest later. If the real story gets out, it may affect Yanli’s reputation – and I’ll know it was one of you.”

The servants, pale-faced, rushed out.

“What happened?” Jin Zixuan asked her, and she really appreciated that he didn’t follow his mother’s instructions to comfort her as if she were a child.

She wiped the rather legitimate tears away from her eyes. “I came inside and began to change for bed,” she said. “My maid had just finished putting my hair down when she suddenly said we needed more incense and left –”

“Bought out, most likely,” Madame Jin said, looking grim. It had been a maid she’d appointed herself.

“And the someone came up behind me and put his hands on me,” Jiang Yanli continued. “I pulled away, so he only got my shoulders, but he tried to throw me onto the bed. I couldn’t see who it was, only a blur in the dark; I grabbed a sheet and threw it at his face –”

That was the only part of this story that was a lie. The sheet had been a later addition – and she’d seen exactly who it was.

“How’d he end up across the room?” Jin Zixuan asked, glancing over. His tone wasn’t accusing, at least – more puzzled. It was understandable: Jiang Yanli’s cultivation had never been anything very spectacular.

“He tried to grab me again and Zidian’s self-defense mechanism activated,” she said. “My brother gave her to me so I’d have something of my mother’s to wear at the engagement party…you know we don’t have much of her that’s left.”

Madame Jin’s face softened at the mention of her childhood friend.

“I’m glad he did,” Jin Zixuan said, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I didn’t even know Zidian had a self-defense mechanism.”

“It’s for people like me who can’t use it properly,” Jiang Yanli explained, leaning her head against him. She was a little confused – they were taking all the actions and precautions she’d hoped they would, keeping the story quiet and listening to her, but…why weren’t they looking at the body?

“I’m glad,” Jin Zixuan said again, and now that her head was against his chest, she could feel that he was shaking. “Mother…what are we going to do?”

“Zidian’s effects are similar to a lightning strike,” Madame Jin said. “Especially the – it was the zap, Yanli?”

Of course Madame Jin would know – Madame Yu had probably told her all about it. Jiang Yanli nodded.

“With the make-up to conceal the impact on the veins, the cause of death could just as easily have been a heart attack,” Madame Jin continued. “We can spin that. Maybe we say he came in here by accident, and in the confusion of realizing he was in the wrong room, had the attack…?”

They’d recognized him, Jiang Yanli realized. From the first moment they’d come in, sheet or no sheet – no. It was better to say that while they hadn’t expected this would happen, it also hadn’t surprised them very much.

Jin Guangshan had truly been a vile human being, if his wife and son didn’t mourn his passing even for a moment.

Jiang Yanli let the stress slip off her shoulders. “That would raise questions,” she said, composed again. “And I won’t be able to marry A-Xuan if people think I killed his father. How about a slightly different spin: the room was dark when I came in, my maid left, and I got up to look around and began screaming when I found the body. It would be obvious what he’d been trying to do, but if he died before I even arrived…”

“No, that’s better,” Jin Zixuan said. “It won’t – no one will be surprised at something like that, from him. I’m sorry. But you screamed very convincingly.”

She smiled at him. “I’m not very good at screaming.”

“If I hadn’t been in a war camp with you, I would’ve believed you?” he offered with a shaky smile.

“I never expected you to,” she said and kissed his cheek. “It was for the benefit of the audience.”

“The sheet was a good touch,” Madame Jin said, and she sounded approving. “The servants wouldn’t have recognized him – some of them will think it was a stranger, inevitably, and that will create additional confusion when the stories leak out…yes, I think a sudden heart attack while waiting is the best approach. We will need to take action, A-Xuan – reach out to everyone we can trust at once.”

“Is there anything I should do?” Jiang Yanli wanted to know.

“No, you’re not a member of the family yet,” Jin Zixuan said. “Your first instinct was right: you need to be the distressed young mistress.”

“Shocked and a little naïve about what he could possibly have been doing there would be best,” Madame Jin agreed. “‘Surely he just wanted to give me another toast’ – that sort of thing. Can you do that?”

“I can try. Most of the women here don’t know me very well, so it should work.”

Jin Zixuan ended up taking her down the hallway to the only other family housed there, knocking at the door. Jin Guangyao had a smile on his face when he answered – but then, he was always smiling.

The smile didn’t alter as Jin Zixuan explained the situation in short terms.

“I would be happy to help,” Jin Guangyao said. “Don’t worry. Miss Jiang is perfectly safe with me.”

[tangledinmdzs]

Maybe, the other MDZS characters fiancé falling in love with her instrument teacher? (Thanks again! I loveddd the junior version!)

hi there! ooh, i’m glad you enjoyed that. i really liked writing that too~

you can find the juniors’ version here

presenting: my second attempt with that arranged marriage au (with a few others from the cast)

here’s to your request

⋆┈���｡ﾟ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ❁ུ۪ ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ﾟ｡┈┈⋆

Nie Mingjue

a deep cough from the doorway draws your attention up from your instrument

your eyes are still on the instrument as Chifeng-Zun’s heavy steps enter the room

 you hear the flick of his robes as he takes a seat, relatively close to you, more than you see him

when you look up though, your husband’s eyes are not on you

you find him scrutinizing your pipa instructor with distaste, holding in the (supposed) illogical anger that came with wielding a saber

you don’t look at your music instructor, though you smile down at your instrument

it was a dangerous kind of game you were playing, the way that you were trying to get the Chief to notice you through jealousy

but at the very least

it was working

“play something for me, how can music lessons be this quiet?” Mingjue gruffly announces and you bow silently in agreement

just as you and your teacher get ready to accompany one another, Mingjue raises his hand

“i want just y/n to play... alone,” Mingjue commands 

and his jealousy was as infuriating as it was humorous

but as you strum the first notes on your instrument, you’re glad that he is feeling more for you than you had thought he would

Lan Xichen

“y-y/n” 

the stuttering of your name is soft, something that you wouldn’t have heard since your attention had been elsewhere

but when Lan XIchen walks into the room that you’re in

there’s no denying anything, anymore

you don’t push away your companion (your supposed music teacher) from his position hovered above you, rather you give him his own space to move back

Lan Xichen watches in utter silence, disbelief and other emotions floating in and out of awareness

his eyes follow the way that you let yourself up from where you had been laying on the floor, instrument discarded by your table

watched with a pained kind of look as your fixed the ruffled edges of your robes, 

your eyes find Lan Xichen, defiant

your music teacher, takes his seat besides you, quiet

Lan Xichen stares back, eyes wide

hurt

“what do you need from me?” you ask, clearly having been disturbed

the pain increases tenfold at how easy you had put him in the wrong

how you had always made an enemy out of him ever since you had married into his sect

and there wasn’t anything that he could do to change that

“nothing,” Lan Xichen breathes out,

he’s holding onto the last dredges of his pride, his emotions, his feelings at the sight of you like that with someone other than him

uses the fear and pain lodged his his chest as the momentum to turn away, turn a blind eye

because he could not bare to see another second of your hatred towards him

Wei Wuxian

“well well, what do we have here,”

you jump back slightly, though the tip of your tied hair does brush under the face of your guqin instructor

he was standing a bit closer to you than you had anticipated

you both hadn’t anticipated anyone coming to see you in the position that you were in anyways

your eyes drag up to meet with Wei Wuxian’s easy smile, as he’s leaned against the door way of your room

you take a deep breath as he steps in, twirling his own flute in his hand 

the doors close behind him with some unknown wind, courtesy of the remnants of dark energy swirling in him

“play something for me, won’t you? see if i can duet with you,”  Wei Wuxian coaxes to you gently, though the flick of his robes as he walks up to you is mildly passive aggressive

you had walked into this arranged marriage with an innate fear of your husband, for all of his work in demonic cultivation

though after a few months being together, you learn that he is a much more easy going guy despite his interest in killing people with literal corpses

but you also learned, that for however easy going he was, Wei Wuxian did not like to be played

when you put your fingers to the stringboard, and look up to your husband for a cue

your eyes widen at the red tinted in his orbs

“play with me,” Wei Wuxian says

commands

you wonder who his demons would come to, first

Jiang Cheng

the purple light of Zidian crackles under his knuckles, 

a predecessor to his ever easy anger

Jiang Cheng lets out a shout, flicking the whip out to knock furniture

a brown, polished stool, cracks

a small tea set, smashes

a vanity set, crashes to the floor

your room would be in shambles when you got back

but he didn’t care

Jiang Cheng stalks in, edging up to your guqin, sitting innocently on its stand

flashes of your laughter, cheery and delighted as a hand grazed your cheek on a river side lesson

your red tinted face whenever you arrived back, no music retained 

all the times you had forgotten your instrument all together

Jiang Cheng let’s out a sad angry kind of huff

you had abandoned your instrument so much that it was collecting dust

he lets out an angry sigh, wondering why

just why, he wasn’t enough 

when he would ever be enough... 

“Jiang Wanyin?” 

he doesn’t even hear your voice behind him, 

only realizes your pained shout when his whip demolishes your instrument

did you ever care about that thing? he finds himself thinking as the broken pieces stare back at him

did you ever care about him?

[flautistsandpeonies]

Reformation Part 1

Read the Previous Chapter [Here]

Word Length: 4,877

Summary: A parting from Lotus Pier and a therapeutic stay at the Cloud recesses.

As the morning sun rose steadily in the sky, the sound of cultivators waking from restless sleeps and the flurry of the previous evening filled the spacious halls of Lotus Pier. Disciples dressed in their robes and polished their blades while servants shuffled about the sect with crates of materials for the competition only hours away.

The gates to the pier were open as always; civilians also getting ready for the morning couldn’t help but peak inside the tall, polished wooden doors. The grounds of the sect were overloaded with disciples of some of the minor sects. Because of the events from yesterday, some had changed their minds about competing in the competition, feeling Lotus Pier was not a healthy environment for their juniors and opted to cut their losses and return home.

Most damning however, were the group of Lan sect members preparing to depart with Wei WuXian amongst them.

“Are you sure you want to ride on your sword back to the Cloud Recesses, Young Master Wei? One of us wouldn’t mind carrying you, “Lan XiChen stated while watching the young man unsheathe his sword

“No, no, I can fly just fine, no worries, “Wei WuXian replied, giving him a small smile in return

“We’re just worried about your wounds, “XiChen started but paused, walking over and placing a hand on the young man’s shoulder, “Don’t...be afraid to ask for help.”

Blinking in surprise, Wei WuXian could only nod slowly in acquiescence.

“The sooner we leave the better. We’ll have Lan Yu look over your wounds, “Lan Qiren spoke while fixing his qiankun bag over his shoulder

“So, you really are leaving, “Wei WuXian, hearing the familiar voice, turned to be faced with a glowering Jiang WanYin

The Jiang sect heir was covered in a cloak of envy and enmity, his eyes were alight, almost electrified with emotion. Dressed in rich robes befitting his station, the cast and sling around Jiang WanYin’s arm was as bright as a dead rat in a pile of jewels.

“Jiang Cheng, “Wei WuXian frowned

“Father told me I’d be head disciple until you decided to return, “Jiang WanYin sneered, “Guess I’m supposed to pick up your scraps from now on.”

“It’s only for a few months, Jiang Cheng, “Wei WuXian replied, “I’ll....I’ll be back before you know it.”

The sight of Jiang WanYin near Wei WuXian immediately put every cultivator on the grounds on alert; apprehension filled the air as they noticed that the young cultivator had once again acquired Zidian from his mother.

“I’m supposed to lead this competition now, “Jiang WanYin continued, “Though I suppose if you didn’t start whining about your wounds, you’d still do it before you left, huh? After all, it is your work father is showing off.”

Sighing, Wei WuXian sheathed his sword and walked a bit to Jiang WanYin, placing a hand on his shoulder, “You should be happy Uncle Jiang is giving you this opportunity. If he sees how capable you are, he might let you keep the title of head disciple by the time I get back.”

Slapping his hand away, Jiang WanYin growled, “What’s the use of being head disciple now! Now that everyone thinks your some amazing cultivator and I’m some useless twit. Everyone’s gonna think I’m only head disciple cause father’s pitying me, but I guess that’s what you want, isn’t it!?”

Face flushed red in anger, he truly was the spitting image of his mother. Breathing harshly and glaring down his shixiong, the sect heir twisted the ring on his finger, agitation in his eyes.

Bringing a couple a fingers to his head, Wei WuXian massaged his temples, “Jiang Cheng, just...*sigh* I...should go. I’ll see you in a few months.”

About to turn back to the Lans, Wei WuXian was caught in a harsh grip by his lapels.

“Leave? Leave so you can evade responsibility for the shit-show you created?!, “Jiang WanYin shouted at him

Grabbing his shidi’s wrist, Wei WuXian demanded, “Let me go.”

A few senior disciples of the minor sects made way to step forward, however, none were as close as the Lans, who moved together as one near the ensuing conflict.

“My mother went into seclusion because of you!, “Jiang WanYin screeched, “Have you heard what people are saying about her? They’re calling her a lunatic and a demented woman with authority! Am I just supposed to stand there and take it while her integrity is being slandered? How dare you try abandon responsibility and go off with the Lan Sect, have you no loyalty to YunmengJiang!?”

Lan WangJi stepped in front of Wei WuXian, blocking Jiang WanYin’s assault, “Yu-Furens actions are her own, “He said tersely, “She suffers her own consequences.”

“Suffering her own consequences? She’s being tormented because this snake couldn’t help but show off! But I guess that doesn’t matter to the Lan Sect, now does it? You have that big library filled with who knows what; you probably want this deserter to fill an entire new section, huh?, “Jiang WanYin sneered in Lan WangJi’s face

“Wei Ying may choose to share his knowledge with whomever he wishes. The Lan Sect will endeavor to support his research. He needn’t fear abuse for elevating our collective knowledge of cultivation, “Lan WangJi spoke low and deep

Eyes widening in anger, Zidian cracked against the Jiang heir’s finger. For the slightest moment, the grounds were filled with the thoughts of a Jiang/Lan warfare if Jiang WanYin decided to strike the second heir to the notorious sect.

“Enough!, “Wei WuXian exclaimed, sensing the growing hostility between the two, “Lan Zhan, let’s just go. Please.”

“Mn, “Lan WangJi replied and raised an arm in the direction his clansmen were waiting, “After you.”

Giving a sideways glance at Jiang WanYin, Wei WuXian simply nodded at the man, knowing words would only escalate the situation. Jiang WanYin scoffed at him, doubling back to the inner halls of the sect.

Turning on their heels, Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian rejoined their group and mounted their swords. In seconds, a huddle of white - and one purple - clad disciples were flying through the air.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“How often did the Violet Spider whip you, Wei WuXian, “the Lan’s chief doctor, Lan Yu asked while running spiritual energy laced hands down the man’s back

Laying shirtless on an examining table, Wei WuXian said nothing while she examined his injuries, a look of indifference upon his face. Having unbandaged his wounds, his back was still bright in color, draining to a light pink over the many hours.

“I’ll remind you that gossip is forbidden amongst the Lans, Young Master Wei, “Lan Yu stated after there was no reply, “You do not have to concern yourself yourself with Madam Yu’s reputation while in our presence; I simply want to know more about my patient’s history.”

Pursing his lips, Wei WuXian still did not reply.

Giving a low hum, Lan Yu retracted their hands and step to the side to retrieve salve and new bandages.

“I hope that you will come to trust us, Young Master Wei, “Lan Yu replied in a low voice as they started to apply the salve, “We Lans haven’t invited you here simply because of your research.”

“I never said you did, “was the first thing Wei WuXian said the entire time he’d be there

“True, you didn’t, “the doctor unfurled the bandages and started to wrap them tight around his person, “I just hope you don’t think that’s the reason. Had anyone else been in your position, I’m sure our Twin Jades would have helped them all the same.”

“Yeah, that does sound like them, “Wei WuXian cracked his neck and then joked, “I thought there would’ve been rule forbidding interaction with me by now, though.”

Pinning the bandages with a couple of clips, Lan Yu gave Wei WuXian a final once over with their spiritual energy.

“Everything looks to be in working order, “they nodded in satisfaction

“That’s good, “Wei WuXian gave them a wide grin, “Now Lan Zhan can stop giving me that doe-eyed look.”

“Doe-eyed?, “Lan Yu raised a brow

A knock sounded at the door, “Lan Yu, may we enter?, “Lan XiChen’s voice was on the other side

“Yes, of course, “they replied while giving the Jiang cultivator another inquisitive glance

Stepping inside, the older jade nodded at the doctor before turning his smile toward the man on the table. Lan WangJi tentatively stepped into the room, standing side by side with his brother.

“Uncle had to head down to Caiyi to check on the Waterborne Abyss, but he promises to be back later today, “Lan XiChen started, “WangJi and I have a night-hunt to get to, but he wanted to check on Young Master Wei before we left.”

“Aw, Lan Zhan, “Wei WuXian said with a teasing lilt in this voice, “I told you I was fine, no need to hold up your night-hunt checking on little old me.”

Lan WangJi blinked at him before looking to Lan Yu, “Is he?”

Wei WuXian rolled his eyes while slipping off the examination table. Walking over to his robes set side and folded neatly by an assistant on a nearby chair, he began to dress.

“Infection has not set in and his meridians are stable, “Lan Yu stated more to the two other Lans than Wei WuXian, “I recommend Young Master Wei take some time out of his schedule to visit the Cold Springs to help accelerate his healing.”

Lan WangJi nodded and gave a bow to the doctor, “I will make him go there as much as possible.”

“Ai-ya, Lan Zhan, “Wei WuXian gaped at his words and put his hands on his hips, “You say that like I’m gonna run away or something.”

“Wei Ying declined Lan Yu’s treatment when we got here this morning, “Lan WangJi gave a glare to the other man, “I had to drag you here.”

The doctor turned to raise a concerned brow at him; Wei WuXian blushed and turned his head away.

“Young Master Wei..., “Lan Yu started

“I’m fine, I’m fine. All of you treating me like some porcelain vase, ah,what am I supposed to think, “Wei WuXian waved them away, “Didn’t you say you had a night-hunt? Best get going, hmm?”

“It shouldn’t take long, “Lan XiChen bowed to the doctor in thanks as well, “We should be back after breakfast tomorrow.”

Sliding on his outer robe, WeI WuXian replied, “Then....I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

...

The next day, Wei WuXian found himself in the Hanshi with Lan Xichen, a sea of cultivation notes strewn about the desk and themselves.

“I never thought you’d let me hold Liebeng, Zewu-jun, “Wei WuXian caressed the flute with a curious look on this face

To his side, Lan XiChen was giving the same amount of attention to Wei WuXian’s ChenQing.

“She’s beautiful; did you craft it yourself, “XiChen fiddled with the jade token on its tassel

“Mhmm, took me forever to find the right piece of bamboo, then even longer to purify and etch in blessings, “WuXian smiled twirling Liebeng

“Is there any specific song you want to play?, “WuXian handed the white xiao back to its owner while retrieving his dizi from the first jade’s hand

“We can play anything really, but I’d like to try a few of my clan’s techniques, “XiChen started, “I’m curious if it’s a instrumental difference or a personal difference in the effects of the song.”

“Right, right, so then we could start with Cleansing or Clarity?, “XiChen and WuXian started to shuffle through the mountain of notes they had accumulated

A light knock sounded at the door before a servant came in, “Young Master Wei, you have received some letters.”

“Already?, “the young man raised a brow while rising from the piles of parchments, “Well, thank you for bringing them.”

Taking the satchel from their hands, he shifted through the parcels. Prim folded letters filled the bag.

An uncomfortable frown found its way onto Wei WuXian’s face, “Ah, these people don’t know when to quit.”

Taking a letter from the tote, the official sign of the PingyangYao sect shined back at him.

XiChen had a bemused smiled watching as a cloud of frustration lined Wei WuXian’s brow.

“That seems like a lot to get through; I can help you pen a few replies, “he tried his best not to laugh

“Ah, Zewu-jun is a life saver.”

...

A few days later, Wei WuXian was asked to attend to a class with Lan Qiren. Being awoken at the ridiculous hour of six in the morning, Wei WuXian found himself in a room filled with juniors not unlike his own lectures seven years ago.

Resisting a yawn, he greeted them, “Morning Little Lans.”

“Good morning, Senior Wei, “the white clad disciples bowed in greeting before sitting down in perfect Lan posture, not reacting to his nickname for them

“We still have a few minutes before your Lan-laoshi gets here, “Wei WuXian started, sitting on Lan Qiren’s desk in the front of the classroom, “Before we’re all stuck in here for hours, any questions?”

The younger disciples suddenly piqued up, all rising from their seats, faces a light with curiosity. Being too young to attend the infamous lecture and banquet, they were left in the Cloud Recesses to read the materials. After, they were overwhelmed with gossip and tales from Caiyi town, and now the center of the commotion was right in front of them.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“How are your back wounds, Senior Wei?”

“How many night-hunts did you have to go on to write all those books?”

Surrounding the older man, the disciples hammered on with their questions and didn’t notice Lan Qiren stepping into the room. A notch appeared on the older man’s forehead as he watched the tornado of students in the front of the class.

“How often were you whipped?”

“Do you plan on going back to your sect, or staying here?”

“Enough!, “Lan Qiren’s voice boomed making all of them flinch, “All of you will copy Etiquette fifty times after class.”

Wei WuXian chuckled at the now dejected faces of the students as they returned to their seats, “Ah, Lan-Laoshi, don’t you think that’s a bit much? They were just curious is all.”

“Should I assign you lines for corrupting our youth?, “The man was stern faced, taping his hand with a scroll, scowling at the younger man, “I also don’t think you finished from the last time you were here; shall I re-instate the punishment?”

Face suddenly covered with sweat, Wei WuXian addressed the students, “Now, now, listen to your Lan-laoshi. I’m....gonna go find your second young master. Where might he be? The library? The library. See you Little Lans.”

Striding out of the room, the students were agape as the Jiang cultivator made a quick escape.

“Senior Wei!, “they cried, “Aren’t you supposed to help teach today?”

“Don’t forget your essays tonight!, “Wei WuXian’s voice called from far off

...

A week later, Wei WuXian found himself in a field with Lan WangJi, along with a few hundred guests.

“Ah, do you really have an entire field of rabbits, Lan Zhan?, “Shuffling through the tall grass, the little balls of fluff jumped here and there to avoid the large human man

“Not mine, “Lan WangJi replied, “I only come to feed them everyone once in a while.”

“And to think that you refused the two I gave you..., “Turning with a large grin , Wei WuXian was suddenly awestruck, “Wait...are those?”

Cuddled in Lan WangJi’s arms were two rabbits, one black and one white. The black rabbit happily kicked its feet against Lan WangJi’s arms while crunching on a piece of lettuce. The white one, on the other hand, chewed sedately, nose twitching at it’s companion.

“Wei Ying’s rabbits, “Lan WangJi brought them closer to Wei WuXian

Taking the white rabbit with one hand, Wei WuXian felt his cheeks flaring up and rubbed the back of his neck, “Ah, Lan Zhan, you must really like rabbits, hmm?”

“ Xiongzhang brought the rest here; I feed them and play music sometimes, “WangJi said, bending down to sit primly in the grass

The Second Jade of Lan was immediately surrounded from all angles by the army of white fur.

Following suit, Wei WuXian was enamored to watch with his chin in his hands, Lan WangJi feed each and every rabbit their own piece of carrot or lettuce, tapping those trying to steal from others on their small little noses.

Covering his face with his hands, Wei WuXian entire body heated up, ‘Lan Zhan, you really are too cute!, ‘he thought

“Wei Ying?, “Peeking through his eyes, Lan WangJi was staring at him

“Huh, oh nothing, “taking the white rabbit back into his hands, he spoke, “so, what’s your name, hmm.”

The white rabbit didn’t seem to be impressed, eyes solely focused on its companion, watching as it claimed Lan WangJi’s lap as its throne, swatting away any other bunny that tried to join it.

“Eh, it’s ignoring me, “shaking the animal lightly, WuXian snarked, “It’s Lan Zhan in rabbit form!”

“Then Yin (Silver) is Wei Ying, “WangJi replied in a dead pan voice

“Yin?, “scratching the white rabbit behind the ears, WuXian gave WangJi a questioning glance

“Yin, “the Second Jade placed a gentle hand on the black rabbit running down its back, “Very energetic. Very mischievous. Ate one of Xiongzhang ’s letters from Chifeng-zun once.”

Snickering, he brought the white rabbit eye level, “So what’s rabbit Lan Zhan’s real name?”

“Yun (Cloud), “WangJi replied, “Only likes playing with Yin.”

The white rabbit illustrated this by swatting at Wei WuXian’s nose with its paw, almost glaring at him.

“Hmm, you want me to put you down, “WuXian grinned flopping the rabbits ears, “you want your friend? Well you can’t have him!”

Reaching over, Lan WangJi saved the rabbit from Wei WuXian’s grasp and placed it in his lap with it’s companion. Raising his arms once more, he captured Wei WuXian’s hands in his.

Wei WuXian grew quiet, staring down at their hands clasped together.

“Lan Zhan?, “was all he could say

“Wei Ying, “Lan WangJi said intertwining their fingers

Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi were once again staring into one another eyes. Silver and Golden eyes radiated with an untold amount of emotions.

Wei WuXian felt his cheeks heating up once more, "Lan Zhan...you-”

Letting go of his hands, Lan WangJi gently shoved the rabbits to the ground and stood with a flourish, “Lunch is in a few hours, let’s rest your wounds in the Cold Springs until then”

Turning around, Lan WangJi walked out of the field as fast as the Lan rules allowed him. Mouth agape, Wei WuXian could only stand on clumsy feet and hurry after him.

“Eh? Ah! Lan Zhan, what? Wait for me!”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wei-Xiong How are you? Are you okay? I’ve been missing sleep over this whole thing, I can’t get that banquet out of my head. I knew Yu-Furen could be callous, but I didn’t think that she be that cruel. And to think that she’s been doing this to you for years, I’m sick.

I will say that I’m a bit angry at you; why didn’t you tell me what was happening? I’m your friend aren’t I? I care about you and want you to be okay. If you had said something, I would have tried to talk to Da-ge, maybe we could’ve, oh I don’t know....

Da-ge and I plan on coming to visit XiChen-ge in a few weeks. When I get there, I am taking you to Caiyi Town for some Emperors Smile. Wishing you well. --- Nie Huaisang

Nie-Xiong I am well and I admit I missed the beauty of the Cloud Recesses. The Lan Sect is as beautiful as ever, but, as expected, still no one can match up to the Twin Jades.

I do not wish to worry you, Nie-Xiong. I promise that I am fine and this situation is simply blown out of proportion.

You would not believe these Lans. I can’t go anywhere without someone asking me if I need assistance or worrying about my wounds - which are healing nicely and quickly might I add. Even Lan Zhan, our ever present piece of living jade, keeps around me. Not that I mind his company, but he’s never seemed to want to be around me before, always telling me to “get lost”. What am I supposed to do with this new Lan Zhan?

I will say though that the Cloud Recesses is lacking in the other sort of material that you and I enjoy. If you would be so inclined, dear friend, would you send me a package? I promise your discretion will be repaid in full. ---Wei WuXian

...

a-Xian It has only been a few weeks, but I can feel your absence greatly. I miss your smile; it always seemed to brighten my day. I cannot wait for your time in the Cloud Recesses to be over; I’ve bought some rare chilies from the market; I plan on making you a special pot of pork rib and lotus root soup when you get back.

a-Cheng has taken to pushing the shidis like mother; the other day he made them train with weights for six hours straight and then made them run the entire training grounds twenty times. He has been very gloomy ever since you left, and I think this is his way to vent. I think he’s still a bit sad that he can’t practice his sword forms, due to his cast.

Father rarely leaves his office these days other than to eat and sleep. A servant has told me that the minor sect leaders keep hounding him about his lack of action with mother. Sect Leader He even said that our clan was dishonorable for mother’s treatment of you. Father looks so haggard whenever we have dinner together.

And that’s not all. Last week, one of the merchants we normally trade with retracted their contract with us. We will no longer be receiving the amount of talisman paper, inkstones, and supplies that we normally get.

Mother is still in seclusion, but she converses with Madam Jin by letter. I happened upon one; Jin GuangShan is refusing to re-instate my betrothal to ZiXuan again. Due to the banquet, he believes that the Jiang Sect’s reputation would only taint LanlingJin’s; Madam Jin and mother are both enraged. --- Jiang Yanli

Shijie I am healing nicely, so nicely, I will probably end up leaving early. The Cloud Recesses are nice, but making sure my Shijie is happy is even nicer! I do not want you to be sad, and I’m sorry that this situation has stressed you so.

Tell Jiang Cheng that the shidis need positive reinforcement and breaks; otherwise they will strain themselves and possibly harm their cores. Do not tell him I said that.

I myself have been receiving letters from the minor sects. If Uncle Jiang wants, I could take on some of his work load, just send the letters to me here. It is unfortunate that the merchant has decided they no longer wish to work with us, but I’m certain we can find another in time. Since the minor sects are rallying against YunmengJiang it is only profitable to be one of the only merchants not on our payroll.

XianXian cannot wait to taste your extra spicy pork rib and and lotus root soup! I’ll even bring some jars of Emperor’s Smile back for us all to enjoy. There’s a vendor who sells loquats, so I’ll make sure to buy some baskets and pastries when I leave. ---Your Forever Three Year Old XianXian

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“WuXian, are you sure you’re up for a nighthunt?, “Lan XiChen raised a brow at the grinning man

“Zewu-jun, no offense, but if I don’t get off this mountain tonight, I’m going to scream, “Wei WuXian huffed in bemusement, “I can’t stay cooped up here forever; besides, it’s just some walking corpses, right?”

“Mm, “XiChen replied, “the villagers have barricaded themselves in the northern villages to escape, the southern town has been completely run over.”

Climbing upon their swords, the three cultivators and their entourage sailed through the night sky. The villages were only a couple hours away by sword, so it took no time at all to reach the deserted province.

XiChen took out a map, “Let’s all split up into groups. Lan Bao and I will cover the markets. Lan Ju and Bai An Na will cover the residential area. Gong JingYi  and Lan Qing will perimeter the village, and WuXian and WangJi will clear the surrounding forest. Everyone understand? After you finish, head straight to the village center.”

Everyone nodded in in agree and sent off into their teams. Brandishing a Demon Wind Compass, WangJi and WuXian headed off the into the surrounding trees.

The forest was silent except for a few trilling insects and owls. The sound of their feet against the rough ground was like the constant thump of a beating heart.

“Lan Zhan?, “Looking to his side, Wei WuXian had a contemplative look on his face

Lan Wangji hummed in reply.

“We’re friends right?, “Wei WuXian gave a small smile

“Yes, “Lan WangJi replied without hesitation

“Good. That’s good, “WuXian said kicking a stray rock out of his way

The continued walking in silence for a few more minutes.

“I really wanted to be your friend when we were younger, “WuXian said to clear the silence, “I thought that if I could get past that cold exterior of yours, you’d be really fun to play with.”

“We are friends now, “WangJi stated

“Yeah, but we’ve missed so much time together, “WuXian countered, “There’s so much we missed out on! So many places in Yunmeng I wanted to take you to.”

“We can still go, “WangJi said, “After you are healed.”

WuXian let out a small huff, “Ah, Lan Zhan, how smart of you, but I’ll probably be very busy when I go back to the sect.”

“You intend to go back?, “WangJi questioned

“Hmm, of course I do. What other choice do I-”

*SCHREEEEEEECH*

“What was that, “shifting in defensive stances, the two were immediately on edge

*SCHREEEEEEECH*  *SCHREEEEEEECH*

Sound blaring out into the night, birds and critters normally sleep at night startled and ran away from the piercing sound. Looking to his companion, WangJi and WuXian nodded at one another and unsheathed their blades.

“I’ll take left, “WuXian said hurriedly while rushing into the trees

The forest returned to its quiet state, but the calm air had long disappeared. The cool wing now felt harsh against his bare skin.

Taking out his compass once more, the needle pointed back towards the village.

“Not working? How’s that possible?, “he mumbled to himself

“Ying, ”a voice called out

“Who’s there, “raising Subian, he glared into the darkness

“Ying, ”it said once more

Throwing up a light talisman, the trees produced elongated shadows, towering around him. The branches were thin and prickly, almost like sharp nails.

“a-Ying~, ”it sang, almost taunting

“Lan Zhan?, “Wei WuXian turned in a circle and called out to his partner, “Lan Zhan, are you there?”

The wind laughed at him, leaves tearing from their branches showered down upon him.

“Who’s there, “ banishing talisman in hand, he gritted his teeth, “Come out right now.”

“Young Master Wei?, “a familiar voice called

“Zewu-jun?, “Wei WuXian said, confusion lining his voice

“Young Master Wei!?, “the voice called again, “Where are you?”

“Zewu-jun?, “Wei WuXian called back, “I’m over here!”

The wind blew harshly once more, branches crackling around him. Another sound shifted from behind him; the bushes rustled violently.

Turning rapidly in defense, Wei WuXian gasped as a black shroud covered his vision.

“!!!”

...

Lan WangJi sat against the wall of the village gate, posture perfect and face looking devoid of any emotion. The only sound he made was the rapid tapping of his fingers against the wall. Not facing his other group mates, his eyes laid perfectly on the surrounding forests of the village, searching.

“I hope Young Master Wei is alright, “Lan Bao said tapping their foot repeatedly against the ground, “it’s only been a couple hours, but what if his back wounds acted up?”

“He has a signal flare on him. If it were truly serious, he would have called for us, “Gong JingYi tried to placate them

“Young Master Gong is right, “Lan Qing agreed, “Besides, the Demon Wind Compass isn’t detecting anything dangerous from the forests.”

Lan Bao sighed and stopped their foot, “That’s why I’m worried. The villagers said the town and surrounding areas had been taken over, but Second Young Master Lan didn’t find anything before he came back.”

The three fell silent once more.

Lan WangJi paused his hand, taking his own compass out of his sleeves. Staring at the unmoving needle, he narrowed his eyes in question.

“Medic!, “the sound of Zewu-jun shouting had everyone’s head turning in alarm

“Xiongzhang?, “Lan WangJi was to his feet quickly, rushing towards his brother’s voice

The others followed,  clamoring behind the second jade as he pushed through the tall trees. The came upon a clearing.

Lan Qing gasped, “Zewu-jun! Young Master Wei!”

Lan XiChen was pale faced, one arm slung around Wei WuXian’s waist and the other having slung his right arm around his shoulders. He wasn’t conscious from what they could see, feet dragging on the ground and head lolled forward, but most alarming....

blood was gushing out his neck!

“WuXian’s been injured; we need to leave now!”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author’s Notes:

-The original draft of this entire fic was only four chapters long, you can see how that turned out.

-Yes, I know this chapter is almost 5k words, but you wouldn’t believe it was much longer before I re-wrote it, it was at least 8k in the first draft

-I made WWX a little bit terser with JC cause I feel like if No SSC happened and living with Madam Yu and JC’s shit for even longer would have him treating JC like his resurrected self does quicker. Also, no 22yr old man is gonna baby another 22yr old lol.

-However, I also wanted to show that the Jiang’s abuse and conditioning is still in affect/there with his interactions with others. Hope I did a good job of it.

-I feel like a no SSC Lan WangJi might try to get with Wei WuXian, especially since he’s had time to work over his feeling with no war in the way. And then especially if the man he loved was whipped right in front of him.

Read my Prompts and WIPs [Here]

[mxrinelifeclub]

medical cultivator wwx

haven't had the chance to write recently but I have a random wangxian idea that’s stuck in my mind and I have no idea if I'll ever write it but I needed to get this off my mind lol

warnings just in case (cause I'm afraid of the tag system here lol): age gap, dark twin jades

wwx gets taken into the Lan sect. I don't know who found him but he is sickly when found. because he spent a while in the infirmary as a child wwx turns to focus on medical cultivation. he's still the genius that we know and love, even when it comes to martial cultivation. somehow he lives with lqr (because I'm a sucker for LQR and WWX bonding). the twin jades are older so they're like 15 when wwx is brought into the sect at like 5-6. they're excited to have a new didi, especially lwj since he's a loner, and watching over baby a-ying is a good way to pass his time when he's not busy. wwx starts making achievements in his Medical cultivation work getting the attention of WRH because WQ is his prodigy. the two become friends and do experiments together. wwx also places first during the discussion conference, getting the attention of jfm who has been looking for the boy for years. he asks wwx if he wants to come back with him to lotus pier and the Lans shut that down. time skip to the war where wwx makes a name for himself on and off the battlefield. after the war he takes on the task of helping out at the nursery with all of the new orphans. the wen remnants break out of the prison camps somehow lead by WN and live in the burial mounds. WWX still keeps in contact with the wen siblings and helps them get supplies. A-Yuan's mother is alive and gives birth in the burial mounds and asks wwx to take the baby with him cause they can't take care of him (no food, money, limited shelter, and no breast milk for the baby) wwx heads back with the baby and tells the truth to lxc, lqr and lwj about his birth but they hide it from the others. lwj at this point starts looking at wwx differently now that he's an adult. seeing him with a newborn pushes him to make his move. they start courting at some point but it's only known in gusuLan for the moment. idk how this happened but jgy is living in the CR because of dark lxc but they're not relevant to the story. after the siege (only Jins and Jiangs) fierce corpses start showing up but they don't attack anyone. a conference is called, wwx does an autopsy of the body, checking it for resentful energy etc, sees the whip marks from zidian on the body, brings it up in front of the council. jc gets angry (because his crimes of killing random demonic cultivators is being exposed not to mention the possibility of the Wen remnants might come back. they will btw) after the conference jc attempts to attack wwx while he's holding a-yuan, lwj stops it before he can. diplomatic issues arise.

i don't know where it's going with this but jc is going to get his ass beat by either lwj or the random people he's killed over the past few years so yeah!

[saberspirit]

jiang cheng character analysis essay under the cut! bc he means a Lot to me (its 5 pages im sorry)

tl;dr my thoughts on his relationship to his parents, his relationship with anger and feelings of inferiority, what zidian represents to him, his siblings (largely about what led to him and wwx falling out), and my thoughts on reconciliation between him and wei wuxian in the end.

tw!!! for child abuse and death, also warning for spoilers for the ending. 

alternatively can be read on google docs for accessibility

foreword: by writing this it is not my intention to imply this is the end all be all interpretation, or that i know more than fans of colour (especially chinese/chinese-american fans). i’m looking at his character as a white fan and through a western lens. i understand there are nuances i wont understand, but i have tried and continue to look at him w/ an educated view point and i’m always trying to continue my own self-driven education. i’m as always open to criticism and correction, although i understand it is no ones job to do so. it’s purely an interpretation from someone relating to his themes that i talk about here. thank you for reading! 

Jiang Cheng has a very complicated relationship with his parents (understatement), though different from Wei Wuxian’s complicated relationship w/ them (some overlaps being given).

It’s obvious to me that JC identifies more as his mother's son than his father's—feels he has to be because surely that’s why he feels neglected and like he’s constantly being found wanting by his father (even if Fengmian does Not mean to come across that way and isn’t a cruel man). He identifies with his mother’s anger and feeling of not being what his father truly wanted or loved and I don’t think he realized the effect she had on him with her constant comparison game—trying to measure him up because Madam Yu used him as a playing piece in her constant warring with Fengmian and instilled a sense of otherness in him and his deep-rooted feelings of inferiority and not being Good enough, not being enough in general. And yet he still deeply loves them even through all that he’s been through because of them both.

He never grew up learning how love should be in a relationship; should be from a parent to a child. The love he learned is a different type of conditional love from WWX's (WWX being that he doesn’t trust it in the first place, knowing it will leave). JC receives love and praise but knows it comes from a silent arrangement: it’s transactional. He upholds what his parents want and he gets…a form of it. Jiang Fengmian loved him in a way that you just kind of do love family, perhaps without a real reason otherwise—not pretty, but it is as it is. Madam Yu loved him in a way one loves a possession: she saw too much of Jiang Fengmian in him and JC was a reminder of how unhappy she was and how much her husband didn’t seem to care about her or what she gave him. (This isn’t to downplay Yanli's role in JC’s life: I think she was truly the only one to show him unconditional love in a way that he understood and recognized but it's unfortunately different from siblings and fell on half-deaf ears when all JC really wanted was his father’s approval).

Madam Yu was (afaik) stated to not be physically abusive (aside from the whipping when the Wens came from Wei Wuxian), but she was one-hundred percent verbally and emotionally abusive (for example, punishing WWX w/ isolation from the family w/ seclusion, or in general just how she talked to JC and WWX). She broke those two boys and it's something that can’t be undone…and Zidian represents that trauma, abuse, and expectation and JC’s anger and resentment that was the product of it. It’s literally lightning in a whip form; able to bind without harm, but it’s primarily used to hurt; it can reveal a true form; control over it is only relinquished to one’s family and loved ones.

JC doesn’t just lash out verbally at Wei Wuxian when they meet in his second life, he literally does. It’s his anger under his skin like static, driving him forward and being unable to rest because he’s constantly looking for closure he can’t have. He resents how his parents and Wei Wuxian made him feel but it’s also the only thing he has of them, and he clings to that (and therefore Zidian). It’s the last thing, bar Lotus Pier, that he has of his family anymore, and he wields it like a weapon…because ultimately it’s the only thing he's known for a very long time. Anger is an easy emotion. He wears it well. It was an emotion he learned from his mother, and he is his mother’s son.

As a side note for Zidian: Jin Ling refusing to take it from JC in the Burial Mounds to me was very much about not wanting a goodbye. He's a stubborn kid—JC mirrored what his mother did to him in handing off Zidian before certain death, and I think Jin Ling realized "take care of Zidian" meant "because I can’t anymore". JC wanted Jin Ling to stay safe and keep a hold on their family's legacy, but Jin Ling refused it and stepped forward to protect JC—JL is tired of goodbyes and afraid of losing more people, but also that stubborn streak to protect his family back. He went into the fray himself even if it’s not what JC was asking him to do (but then to JC’s chagrin the kid never really does do what he asks usually, Jin Ling has a good head on his shoulders and he’s as stubborn and quick to anger as his jiujiu but he’s also as incredibly loyal and caring). And I think it's a good vehicle to show that JL is breaking that cycle for them both.

Back to Jiang Cheng and anger and his siblings though. Yanli is all about showing affection in her words and actions (ie. meal sharing, peeling the lotus seeds, etc). WWX struggles to show it in forthright actions, let alone verbalize it (he’s truly bad at it) so while WWX does love his brother and shows it in actions like giving him his golden core…it’s not something JC picks up on well, or at all because he doesn’t even get told about the core until the Guanyin Temple. Jiang Cheng is someone who needs verbalized confirmation and very obvious action. But then to be fair, JC is also not good at verbalizing his love and care (he and Wei Wuxian are two peas in a pod w/ this one). It’s often behind barbed wire because 1) that’s how it was shown to him and 2) because it’s safer and easier to hide behind anger. He really does use it as a shield to protect his real feelings because he’s used to his feelings being trivial and being thrown in his face, and is used to loss. It’s a buffer.

This leads to a problem: Wei Wuxian does love him unconditionally, but I don’t think JC knows that. When he’s faced with the golden core surgery after everything, it’s definitely obvious, but it’s so twisted up in being hidden from him, in his own fears and feelings of failure and reliance that it’s soured. And he struggles to reach out and be frank with his own worries.

And this leads and lends to the severity of their falling out (not the only cause, but a big player in it).

He deeply loves his brother, but it's also entrenched in his bitterness and fears. If it was initially hard for him to verbalize because of those issues (on top of being a teenager/young adult and his feelings of inferiority irt WWX), he’s now in the current day steeped in sixteen years of loss/grief/trauma. Of unresolved tension between the two of them because WWX never told anyone anything—even if that’s just how he is, nothing personal towards JC except maybe that it’s his little brother, his shidi, and he doesn’t want to put a burden on those he loves—and JC tried time and time again to believe him and in him.

The problem was that his trust got thrown in his face time and time again. His older ‘peers’ (clan leaders) mocked and insulted him to his face for his naivety, pointed out that what WWX was doing was an insult to JC and their family, that WWX’s actions disrespected him and that he should do something about it. WWX’s actions themselves alongside him never letting JC in on anything further isolated them and put walls between them. This sewed the seed of the idea for JC that maybe he was naive. That WWX couldn’t uphold his duty and promises to JC and their family while also upkeeping his own personal code of ethics. (Not that it helped that Jiang Cheng also started lashing out at Wei Wuxian in minor ways for not having Suibian, but he didn’t exactly know why, to his credit).

His trust was him trying to care for WWX through all they’ve lost, but he’s also under the immense pressure of leading and rebuilding his home while also being looked down upon for his inexperience and ties to the man the cultivation world loathes.

Jiang Cheng believed WWX when he said he'd help him, wanted him to and expected him to. That’s his big brother and ultimately family comes first, so it was out of the question that WXX wouldn’t uphold that duty to him. Jiang Cheng is barely an adult as Sect Leader and was still a teen when they lost everything, so of course he wanted to rely on and believe Wei Wuxian when he said he'd help. JC doesn’t usually rely on others—I’d wager he hates relying on WWX especially as a callback to the inferiority complex—but he lets WWX in when they have the “Twin Prides” talk, lets him in when he promises JC to help him rebuild their home…and then WWX lets him down several times.

Post Burial Mounds there are signs that JC notices, if not consciously then subconsciously, that something is off with his brother (the demonic cultivation, the flute, the lack of Suibian, his weakness when pushed, etc), little things that he noted but didn’t have the time during a War to think too deeply on. He’s more relieved to just have him back where he can see him, happy that his brother can help them. Jiang Cheng gives him his vote of confidence in his abilities, in him, because he never thought of WWX or his methods badly (having been a fan until it became a symbol of losing Wei Wuxian to Something Else). Even if he had thought something of it, did have a concern, they don’t easily talk to each other now.

That much is obvious when after various meetings post the Sunshot Campaign as WWX is struggling with his temperament and resentful energy, after WWX saves the Wen remnants from the Jin Clan, and Jiang Cheng shows up at the Burial Mounds. He still believes in Wei Wuxian, still is bound to help him, and wants to help him. He’s willing to sacrifice the Wens for his brother. His actions and words are not pretty, but by god is he desperate. Jiang Cheng wants to save him and hides it with harsh words because once again he’s not good at being forthright with his feelings. He’s at his wits’ end, he’s barely 20, and suddenly he's losing Wei Wuxian too. It’s not about them being Wens because at this point he’s aware they’re helpless—it’s because it’s WWX and he’s supposed to make the right decision and be competent. It’s freshly post-war and he’s scared: his big brother is leaving and he feels powerless and he Hates that. Once again feels like he’s not good enough. Not good enough to save WWX, not good enough to lead, and he’s under intense scrutiny. He tells WWX as much that at this point he can’t help, and it hurts him to not be able to. Jiang Cheng wants Wei Wuxian to help him, help him. It’s an admittance wrapped in hurt and hurtful words, and WWX throws it in his face because he can’t let him in.

It’s not meant in any malicious way. Wei Wuxian is also traumatized, scared and hurting and dealing with the changes demonic cultivation is causing within him. But this is a key moment when JC for once verbalizes his fears and WWX tells him, ‘good, you don’t need to worry, I don’t have anything to do with you from now on’. (And of course, WWX is doing this to protect JC, but this response is what JC is afraid of).

So we have two times that JC has tried really hard in his own ways to let WWX in. To rely on him and be honest with him and WWX ends up…breaking his promises and leaving him and their family behind. And to me, that explains his actions when the last time they speak before he dies (that we’re shown anyways). WWX is sitting down with Jiang Cheng and Yanli. JC is the one that set up them being able to meet him, the one that reached out even after they fought to make his defecting from the Sect look convincing. He was the one that told Yanli that WWX should be the one to give a courtesy name to her child.

And then WWX brings Wen Ning. Yanli is open to Wen Ning sitting in and enjoying their family tradition, but JC can't understand why. Why WWX chose these people over his own family. He resents it. When he says "you might not be able to come back, to your family" I can imagine how much it destroys him to hear WWX say "but the people I’m returning to are also my family". Because what does that make them, WWX’s siblings; what does that make the promises and the years spent raised together, the duty he had to them first. Wei Wuxian might return to the Burial Mounds, but Jiang Cheng has to return to an empty Lotus Pier. The ghosts of his parents and ghosts of memories of his siblings he’s never getting back (because Yanli will be in Jinlin Tai after her upcoming wedding).

Repeatedly over and over Jiang Cheng reaches out, but time and time again it’s like WWX is telling him he’s not enough: not enough for WWX to rely on, not enough to protect him, not enough for him to want to return to, not enough to be family.

Then the cultivation world comes for WWX and his amulet. Yanli is killed, as far as JC can tell, because of the mess WWX made, and once again he’s in the dark about everything. Then WWX dies and rumours swirl that JC killed him, and maybe he did, maybe he is his brother’s killer even if Wei Wuxian would call it a misunderstanding. He’s left alone with an orphaned nephew in Lotus Pier with his entire family, bar an infant, dead.

So Jiang Cheng spends the next sixteen years without answers, with WWX having reinforced his insecurities and fears that stemmed from the abuse he'd suffered during childhood and then died. Yanli died when she never should’ve been in danger in the first place, seemingly because of Wei Wuxian. And he's so angry. He lashes out at memories and reminders, lashes out at anyone who chooses that same path that WWX chose over his family.

By the time Wei Wuxian’s come back from the dead and JC knows it’s him, WWX is still deflecting, still hiding still not telling him the truth. The fact that WWX comes back at all hurts purely as a fresh opening of the old wound, but the fact that he doesn’t come to find JC, that once again JC and his family isn’t a priority and once again is second best (this time to Lan Wangji)?

He doesn’t kill his brother. JC sits him down in a room and tries to talk but old hurts rile up and he reaches for anger again. WWX isn’t forthright and it makes it worse, neither of them are good at communicating: too many things unsaid, that can’t be said, too many misunderstandings and neither of them knowing how to talk about it. JC has Fairy there and it’s a minor act of revenge. JC uses what he knows is WWX’s weakness to intimidate and immobilize him, but it doesn’t help either of them actually talk.

Reconciliation is going to require WWX being able to talk to him without deflecting and JC getting angry so easily. But by this point, he’s given WWX a lot of chances and it’s why I think they could and would easily post-canon. Jiang Cheng's starting to come to an understanding that WWX did and still does care about him. He didn’t give him his golden core for no reason, and JC starts to understand why WWX did it for him and that he knew JC well enough to hide it in the first place.

He started to reach that conclusion shortly after Wen Ning told him—oh the pain of it having been WWX's chosen little brother figure—and Jiang Cheng had gone around asking people to unsheathe Suibian. It's why he brought Chenqing to the temple in the first place.

I think it speaks to his maturity that he decided at that moment he couldn’t say what he wanted to tell WWX in the end. I think he knew neither of them was ready, but I also think it speaks of how much he misses and trusts WWX to have let him go for now…I think he knows they will meet again as long as they both live, and that they'll be better for having waited. After some time to think, digest, they’ll be ready to be family again and all that entails.

[offaeandcreation]

Metanoia

Summary: 

Metanoia: a transformative change of heart.Wen Ruohan wakes up in the body of a young man by the name of He Su within an ominous array. Two orders mark his arm with bloody gashes: destroy Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao. Xue Yang was easy. He was already dying, a simple stab to the neck while he was occupied did the trick. The latter though, slightly trickier.

Warning: Mild Gore 

Part of the MDZS/CQL Rarepairs Lightning Round: February 2021

For: @ehyde 

AO3

Rain pitter-pattered on the rice paper umbrella, dripping down in rivets off its edges. Lightning flashed in the sky, outlining the temple in jagged black lines. Wen Ruohan remained just outside the entrance, boots already soaked through and shivers raked at his spine.

Stupidly weak body.

Not for the first time such words echoed in his mind, nor the last. One moment he was in his throne room, a cry caught in his throat as Meng Yao sliced his neck, the next he lay in a pit wearing hemp rags, surrounded by an ominous array and a note. A sharp prick on his wrist forced his gaze downward. He freed his pinky of his busy hand to slowly peel back the grey hemp sleeve. Even in the dark, fragmented by the roar of heaven’s whip, the dark oozing gash contrasted with pale skin. Dried blood wrapped around his wrist like a shackle. The original gash, one of the two remaining. It had grown several cun since the last hour. And so to have its brothers.

Dammit.

Wen Ruohan sighed—it took several months just to track down the first name on the brief list left by the summoner, and he killed him. Sort of. And now the second name, the last on the list, awaited within the very temple before him. Recently, Yu Ziyuan’s brat came gallivanting with that purple Zidian of his. All said brat needed was a subtle gesture towards the temple and the requirement would consider the kill Wen Ruohan. Truly it would have been far better if the outcome ended how he hoped—the gashes would disappear and he wouldn’t have to raise a hand, risk this new weak body of his against every cultivator inside that damn temple. Now he had no choice. Just like the summoner commanded.

He waited a moment, or two, counted up and down from twenty, before approaching.

As he approached, Meng Yao’s–no Jin Guangyao’s soft, sorrowful voice emitted from the temple, spoke as if he tore every word out of his throat. So earnest, almost begging in every capacity.

How cute.

In Nightless City, Meng Yao never spoke in such a ridiculous tone. Softly yes, but even at their first meeting, when Meng Yao lay face-first on the floor in a deep kow-tow, Jin uniform caked in brown dried blood, his voice held strength, forged from steel itself. The memory wrapped its fingers around Wen Ruohan’s throat, pinching much like the metal string did before cutting his head clean off. Wen Ruohan bit his tongue.

“DON’T MOVE!” Jin Guangyao cried out. No. Commanded.

Ah, there it is.

If appropriate, Wen Ruohan would clap his hands with glee.

What a spectacular performance! Tone so tearful and regretful, almost as if you were really sorry!

Jiang Wanyin roared, receiving a curt reply that Jin Guangyao hid his weapon in his own body.  

Wen Ruohan grinned. Clever. Very, very clever. In Nightless City, he would reward such genius. Anything Meng Yao asked, as Sect Leader he would deliver. Personally.

His wrist throbbed.

It’s time.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

His shoes squished against the wet floors, oozing water. The noise proved to be enough for every member inside to look towards him. Well, at least it wouldn’t force him to come up with a stupid one liner. Jiang Wanyin glared in his direction, a red bloodstain on his chest more than enough to explain why he had failed. The Twin Jades, both with their blades out, stared at him with owlish eyes—only differentiated by the different headpieces. A few others stood in different parts of the room, an obvious Nie-robed child lying uselessly on one side and an unfamiliar man holding down one of Jin Guangyao’s “friends.” And the man himself, standing right in the center of the chaos, red string wrapped around the neck of his own nephew who stood a few paces to the side.

Wen Ruohan lifted his chin high, forcing his lips from so much as twitching. He would much prefer Jin Guangyao to be the one in red.

“Sect Leader He?” Jin Guangyao asked, one eyebrow rising, “You-?” he sighed, molten gold eyes glazed with fatigue, “The letter was your doing, I presume.”

The others gaped at him. Mixture of surprise and even wariness in their gazes.

Wen Ruohan ignored the comment, closing his umbrella before shaking extra droplets over the dark floors in its own miniature storm. Silence hung between them, silk strings pulled taut, ready for snapping by a sharp fingernail.

“So that’s the name of this body,” Wen Ruohan replied, keeping his voice light, “and a Sect Leader no less.”

He couldn’t help the snicker that bubbled in his chest as Jin Guangyao’s eyes widened. Almost comedic. Like a newborn goldfish, all eyes and nobody.

“Then who are you?” The man holding Jin Guangyao’s friend interrupted, “Your words just now signal Sect Leader He summoned you, like myself, and you’re focused on Jin Guangyao and not on anyone else. What ‘demon’ has Sect Leader He summoned to seek revenge?”

All eyes slid back on him. Quite a few tilted their heads as if trying to figure out who he was.

“What does it matter?” Wen Ruohan stiffened, glaring at the two men, “I am simply doing what he requested.”

The unknown man narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

Wen Ruohan took a step forward.

Jin Guangyao’s hand on the gold thread twitched. The Jin child whined.

“Jin Ling!” Several cried out.

“Not another step.” Jin Guangyao warned, intricate muscles in his hand trembling under the light.

Wen Ruohan made the gesture to look at the child. Big watery eyes. Reaching out to Jiang Wanyin, but neither was in any position to close the distance. Poor thing.

His arm throbbed a warning. He grasped the hilt of his summoner’s sword.

“He means nothing to me. Your threat is useless.” Wen Ruohan replied, gazing back at Jin Guangyao.

Jin Guangyao’s mouth slacked before pinching it shut, “A-Ling means a lot to the surrounding people. Aren’t you concerned what they will do if you threaten his livelihood.”

Wen Ruohan bared his teeth, a growl deep in his throat, “So be it.” The moment he ended his sentence, he yanked out his blade, running at Jin Guangyao–

A powerful arm wrapped around his waist. He barely made one step.

DAMN THIS SLOW STUPID BODY-

“I will not allow you to endanger Young Master Jin Ling, no matter your purpose,” Lan Xichen pulled him back, body-blocking him from his target.

Flames licked the back of his neck. His entire face as if on fire. If he was in his old body- if he had even just a smidge of his old cultivation base, this pathetic excuse of a Lan wouldn’t have been able to blink before Jin Guangyao was a stain on the wall.  

Lan Xichen glared down at him, looking more like Lan Qiren than anything else, “Jin Guangyao will face trial for his crimes, and be judged accordingly.”

“If he doesn’t escape first,” Jiang Wanyin muttered.  

A roar tore itself out of Wen Ruohan’s throat, like a shattering sword. The edges of his vision turned red.

“He has you by the ropes. There is no way he is not escaping! And even if he somehow failed, what do you really know about Meng Yao to charge him? What can you say is true and false about him? About what he did? I bet you don’t know the extent of them!”

Lan Xichen had the gall to not even flinch, the only sign of any distress was the tightness around his eyes and the painful squeeze Wen Ruohan’s shoulders suffered, right against the ever-growing gashes no less.

“So you have some stones to throw then?” The unknown man replied.

Wen Ruohan’s throat burned like he drank liquid metal, “I never said I didn’t.”

“Regardless of your personal feelings, refer to Jin Guangyao with his proper name.” Lan Xichen cut in, voice stupidly steady and even, “he will be charged no more or less than deserved,” as if repeating that, Jin Guangyao somehow would fall into their hands even with their precious Jin Ling.

Wen Ruohan laughed. His voice cracked as if he ate sand, “Is that so?” He smiled, his cheeks throbbed from all the gnashing and bared teeth, “I have one question for you then. I heard Jin Guangyao kept…” Wen Ruohan trailed off, momentarily cutting himself out before accidentally directly revealing himself, “Wen Ruohan’s torture devices. Was there one metal instrument, eight teeth, with screws on each handle?”

“Er-Ge!” Jin Guangyao cried out, “Thats-!”

“Answer the question!” Wen Ruohan snarled at Lan Xichen, roaring over Jin Guangyao, “What did he tell you about it? How was it made?”

Lan Xichen’s face paled.

“It’s Wen Ruohan! He Su summoned Wen Ruohan!” Jin Guangyao shouted louder.

Several people cried out. Clatter of swords being unsheathed drummed in his ears. Wen Ruohan felt the tip of metal dig his neck.

“Let me guess,” Wen Ruohan continued, ignoring the prick of the sword’s point, “oh the terrible Wen Ruohan forced me. I had to complete the commission! It was the only way to get close!” He paused, staring at Lan Xichen, “sound about right?”

Not that his answer mattered. Not that Meng Yao didn’t complete commissions; that’s how he garnered Wen Ruohan’s attention.

Creative, pushing the human body to the limit in ways previously inconceivable.

This one, however…

They both had worked on it. Tinkering with the prototype. Leaning over the table so late in the night it might as well have been morning, under the light of a single candle, exchanging ideas, experiment notes, and kisses. Both of their geniuses birthed something so terribly beautiful.

How could Wen Ruohan forget the wide excited smile Meng Yao wore the day the glittered steel slotted perfectly between the prisoner’s rib cage? Even now, the smile wouldn’t leave him.  

“Well? Ask. Ask him to tell the story how that tool came to be. Right now.” Wen Ruohan hissed.

Lan Xichen turned slightly, facing Jin Guangyao. The man stared between his ‘Er-ge’ and Wen Ruohan, mouth opening before shutting, eyes slipping close.

“Is this what you chose?” Wen Ruohan glared at his former aide. Being forcibly held in place, there was little he could do but that.

Purple bags underlined Jin Guangyao’s eyes. Long lashes like staccatos of black against them.

“You chose someone who rejected you.”

How much weight did you carry all these years with Nie Mingjue breathing down your neck?

“and someone you never can show your full self?”

How much time did you spend hiding knives behind your back from your dear ‘er-ge’?

“You chose a father who already proved he would never love you?”

How much time did you spend slaving over thankless work? Talent unappreciated? Company insulted?

“Was it worth it?!”

You chose them over me?

His mouth promptly sealed. Any thoughts or comments cut off.

Lan Xichen’s brother, Lan Wangji if Wen Ruohan recalled, held his hand up as if just finishing the Silencing seal.

“Enough.” He said.

If the edges of Wen Ruohan’s vision watered, it was his own business.

“I’ll only ask this once.” Lan Xichen said, visibly angry, wrenching the blade out of Wen Ruohan’s hand, far stronger than the body he now lived in, “You will sit down and remain so until we finish with our business or we won’t hesitate to kill you.”

“Why not just kill the bastard now? Might as well.” Jiang Wanyin snarled. Jin Ling curled in his arms, eyes narrowed at him. It appears Wen Ruohan had distracted Jin Guangyao enough for the child to escape.

But in doing so, he himself failed.

The sword poking into his neck forced Wen Ruohan onto his knees. Everything throbbed. His sleeves and collar stained in blooming red Spider Lilies. Like little knives, the wounds borrowed into his skin. Much like the device they created together, tearing him from the inside without cracking a single bone.

What a sorry, deserving end. Would he keel over here, soul torn into pieces as He Su threatened?

Thunder shook at the entrance, shaking the entire foundation of the temple. The residents froze in place, all eyes landing to the front, the way which Wen Ruohan last entered through. The door bulged as more crashes followed.

Three.

Four.  

The wood shattered. A figure flew into the room, crashing into the floor. Lan Wangji and the unknown person ran to the figure.

“Wen Ning?!”

Wait, Wen Ning?

The thought stuttered to a stop as a dark silhouette loomed in the doorway.

“Brother!” the Nie child cried out.

Of course... Great timing…

The fierce corpse stepped in. The lantern light illuminated a scowling face, frozen in time.

Nie Mingjue.

All attention on him. Swords changing directions towards the fierce corpse.

Wen Ruohan’s eyes landed on Jin Guangyao. His face several shades lighter, figure trembling.

Great timing.

Nie Mingjue snarled, charging into the room. Wen Ruohan leaped, kicking Lan Xichen at the fierce corpse as he passed by.

“No-” Lan Xichen cried out, but forced to remain put to block an attack, sword barely stopping a hand from plunging into his chest.

Jin Guangyao turned to him, gold eyes recognizing, realizing-

“Too slow!” Wen Ruohan grabbed Jin Guangyao’s arm before he could wrap the damn string around his neck. His free hand flew to his neck.  

How it should end.

Wring his neck like how Jin Guangyao cut him.

An ironic and the only probable outcome between them-

His hand froze before so much as brushing Jin Guangyao’s skin.

Early morning teas shared over a text of ghost stories. Boring, filled with moralistic lessons meant for children. Except when Meng Yao told his own spin.

It wouldn’t move.

Private conversation over a single candle, paperwork stacked around them like a rice paper cage.

The gashes sting, claw like a loud buzz, demanding he finish the job-

The prisoner’s screams were only the drizzle. The tools Meng Yao gifted, or the ones they started making together, far more fun.

His hand doesn’t move. Twitch.

The thought of wrapping his hand around Meng Yao- Jin Guangyao’s delicate neck, pale skin changing to blue and purple...

His mind stuttered to a halt.

I love you.

A simple tap to the back of the head knocked Jin Guangyao out. The chaos brought upon by Nie Mingjue more than enough to easily sneak out. Wen Ruohan stumbled into the rain, soaked through instantly, and his gashes stung.

Tears poured down his cheeks.

A matter of time before he would return to nothingness again.

    This time for eternity.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

—————————————————————————

Jin Guangyao shivered in the cold. The rocky walls dug into his back. The hemp robes an almost nostalgic reminder of the fabric he wore in his youth. Back with his mother at the brothel, and after.

The guards would change shift about now. Silent. Forbidden to make conversation. Jin Guangyao blew into his hands. His golden core could keep him from freezing, but not much else. Perhaps when Er-ge–Lan Xichen returned, he would ask for blankets. Though Nie Huaisang might keep him busy, make the last living moments on this mortal plane as dreadful as possible. If he weren’t on the other end of Nie Huaisang’s revenge, he would have applauded. If still alive, Nie Mingjue wouldn’t have been pleased. Angry. Rightfully so. Why else would Huaisang need to go down this path if not against Jin Guangyao himself?

And Wen Ruohan. Summoned for revenge. The perfect opponent He Su could have possibly selected. Who but him would have the anger, the debt, to repay? And he almost did. Ran at Jin Guangyao with the full intention of snapping his neck. Then he stopped. Dark eyes, He Su’s, yet so his own in that broken expression of his. The same one he wore the moment Jin Guangyao pulled the string. Wide red eyes, brows pinched in shock.

The image creeps on him in quiet moments, when Jin Guangyao sleeps, when he works, a low gnaw and ache that never went away.

Wen Ruohan stopped.

Why?

A loud thunk echoed in the quiet chamber.

Jin Guangyao looked up. One guard shouted before going quiet.

Ah, so Huaisang sent an assassin then?

A figure approached the prison, footsteps clicking on the stone floor with the beat of an invisible drum. Jin Guangyao forced himself to his feet, knees trembling from disuse. If he died, he will die with some smidge of dignity.

The light from a sorry excuse of a window revealed the to-be assassin’s face.

Wen Ruohan.

“Are you here to finish me off?” Jin Guangyao couldn’t help the smile.

Wen Ruohan shoved a key into the door, the metal groaned as he yanked it open, “you would be dead already if I was planning on killing you.” No bite or venom. Just matter-of-fact.

Jin Guangyao blinked as Wen Ruohan shoved a robe at him.

“You can either come with me and leave this place behind, or stay and die,” Wen Ruohan said.  

He didn’t take the robe. “Why didn’t you kill me?”

Wen Ruohan snorted, “You won.”

Jin Guangyao narrowed his eyes, “Won?”

How in the world had I won?

Wen Ruohan’s expression the moment he reached for his neck. The anger. Or lack of it. So close to fulfilling He Su’s request. Yet, just when about to. He stopped. His eyes... not the same before he died. No. Too soft. Could it be…

Wen Ruohan smirked, eyes flashing with amusement, “So you figured it out?”

Oh.

But if the request remains incomplete, then-

Jin Guangyao tilted his head, “You intend to die after freeing me? I didn’t take you for a sentimental man, Wen Ruohan.”

Laughter. The same one that always burst out from him when it was just the two of them, deep in his chest. Unbridled and earnest. Wen Ruohan grabbed the edge of the wall to balance himself as he wheezed.

“Not quite,” He managed to say, “The requests were to destroy Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang,” Wen Ruohan recounted, “I killed one and you…” He closed his eyes. Lashes not as long as his old body’s, face not quite his, “I was ready to die and yet, after the temple, the marks disappeared,” He shrugged, “perhaps in all technicalities ‘Jin Guangyao’ is dead.”  

Interesting.

His eyes met Wen Ruohan’s. Already he missed how the red would change colors with different emotions: glinting with mirth, darkening with desire. These black eyes merely swallowed everything whole.

Looking over his shoulder into the dark hallway, Wen Ruohan warned, “We have little time. Someone is bound to notice the guards. Do me the favor and use that clever mind of yours to decide.” He held up the plain grey robe.

Jin Guangyao snorted, “Do you have a plan?”

“Does running count?”

So no plan. If they escape, they would both be fugitives. They may have a chance to run to Dongying. Leave the cultivation world. But it all was too quick. Would Wen Ruohan turn on him? He says he can’t hurt him now, but…?

“Do you still hate liars?”

Wen Ruohan snorted, smile glinting off the few rays of light that slipped through the hole above, “nothing I hate more.”

“Then?” Jin Guangyao offered.

“I’m willing to trust you.”

Jin Guangyao nearly stumbled back a step, jaw dropping, “Even after I-”

“Yes.” Wen Ruohan said. The mirth fell away; his expression neutral, that of Qishan Wen’s Sect Leader.

“Why?”

“You have nothing to hide nor to lose. Neither do I. I’ve seen you at your worst, and you’ve seen me.”

Not once had he lied.

“You aren’t under any obligation to stick with me once we leave,” Wen Ruohan continued, “If you feel safer going our separate ways, I will follow. If you want us to stay together…” A pause. His eyes fluttered close, throat visibly moving, “I would like that.”

Huh…

Wen Ruohan watched. Even with the occasional backward glances, he did not repeat his past warning. Hard to gauge his expression with the unfamiliar features. Perhaps it was a matter of getting to know him again.

“Dying was never my strong suit” Meng Yao accepted the robe with a flourish.

[crossdressingdeath]

So canonically WWX is beaten my zidian by YZY a lot right? So he has tons of scars right? What if he got beaten just before going to TCR and they didn't heal all the way so when he breaks curfew and LWJ drags him to get disciplined what if when WWX is getting hit that his not fully healed whip wounds start bleeding again and LWJ is so distraught cause he thinks HE did this to WWX and LWJ is halfway through a downward spiral when WWX jokes about how he's whipped bloody all the time its not a big deal and then LWJ has kill Bill sirens and tells LQR and LQR is like "WWX might be a menace but goddammit if I won't protect him and ensure that he's not beaten like that ever again" and suddenly WWX is asked to have an extended stay at TCR where he gets to basically invent and teach kids and hang out with LWJ and anyone else that visits him

ajfldksajflsd... The image of LWJ seeing blood on WWX’s back and freaking out because he didn’t mean to hurt him that badly and WWX being confused because that’s normal to him... LQR being Grudgingly Protective towards WWX... WWX getting to stay in the Cloud Recesses as long as he wants... This is very good, anon.

[gusu-emilu]

sometimes I forget (stand-alone bonus scene!)

Ship: Jiang Cheng / Wen Ning

The night hunt was slow. Wen Ning and the juniors were in the forest between Gusu and Yunmeng again, searching for the ferret-badger yao they had failed to find that time they had gotten distracted by Lan Wangji almost dying from the Four-Sunsets Flu.

While the juniors whispered to each other, arguing about their strategy for the fifth time, Wen Ning leaned against a tree and watched.

Something shuffled in the underbrush to his left.

He glanced at the juniors to burn their location in his mind, then stepped into the bushes to investigate.

A flash of violet.

“Jiang Cheng?”

The clan leader sighed and stalked out from where he had just tried to hide. “What do you want?”

Wen Ning almost laughed. “I should ask you. You’re the one who followed us.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m usually here! Why are you coming to talk now? Shouldn’t you be watching Jin Ling?”

“Huh?”

Jiang Cheng blinked at him. “You’ve never noticed that I follow Jin Ling’s night hunts?”

Wen Ning shook his head.

A few memories popped into his mind of a strange…feeling that someone was following them on night hunts, but despite his paranoid searching, he had never found anyone.

“This whole time, you never figured it out?” Jiang Cheng raised his voice. “What’s the point of you even coming on these night hunts, then? How do you expect to protect Jin Ling if you’re this oblivious?”

Now Wen Ning was laughing. “You must just be really good at hiding.”

Jiang Cheng jerked Sandu forward like he was going to hit Wen Ning with its hilt. “Imbecile. I can’t believe Wei Wuxian and Hanguang-Jun let you take care of their kid.” He flared his nostrils and looked away. “I’ll never trust you with Jin Ling again.”

“You’ve trusted me with Jin Ling before?”

“What—no—” His face turned pink. “Get out of here! How long have you been distracted? Jin Ling could be dead by now. I’ll kill both of you if A-Ling dies—”

Wen Ning silenced him with a kiss.

When he pulled away, Jiang Cheng stared at him with wide eyes. “Th-The hell are you doing?”

“Be quiet.” Wen Ning raised a finger to his mouth. “You’ll scare the ferret-badgers away.”

Jiang Cheng worked his jaw for a few moments. “I already have.” He grabbed Wen Ning and lunged forward to kiss again, only to freeze right before their lips touched.

Wen Ning thought of the endless nightmare his mind had slipped in and out of when he lay on that stone slab in the Burial Mounds, covered in talismans.

One day, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng had stood over him arguing, shouting at each other, on the verge of tears. Jiang Cheng had tried to strike Wen Ning with Zidian, but the whip froze just before it hit, hovering over his body.

Now Jiang Cheng’s lips hovered over his own.

He never follows through on his attacks, does he?

Wen Ning leaned forward to close the gap, felt the sparks as their lips met.

Hopefully the juniors wouldn’t find them.

And if they did, well.

That would be a fun story to explain to Wei Wuxian.

* * *

Thanks for reading! This is a happy ending bonus scene for a Chengning fic you can read on AO3 here or on Tumblr here.