#im gonna try tow rite some more wlw content this month

[queenwenqing]

Day 2: Blossom

lil entry for the Untamed Spring Fest 2020

Pairing: Wen Qing/Jiang Yanli

Words: ~1.7k

Summary: The first warmth of spring usually brought Jiang Yanli with it. This year it brought a message, one of love, and regret: This would be the first year in quite some time that Jiang Yanli wouldn’t be able to visit Wen Qing at Dafan Mountain.

The first warmth of spring usually brought Jiang Yanli with it. This year it brought a message, one of love, and regret: This would be the first year in quite some time that Jiang Yanli wouldn’t be able to visit Wen Qing at Dafan Mountain.

Wen Qing understood, as Sect Leader of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect Yanli was always busy, and it was a miracle, really, that their tradition of annual early-spring visits had remained uninterrupted for so long. Setting a tray of pastries aside, Wen Qing began heating up some water for tea instead of doing her best to arrange the pastries on her nicest tableware.

Sipping on her tea a minute later, Wen Qing considered her plans for the next few days. She suddenly had a lot more time on her hands. A crack sounded through the otherwise quiet cabin, and Wen Qing loosened her grip on the teacup, setting it down. Right. Maybe it was time to get out of the house, she decided, get some fresh air. Tend to the gardens, maybe?

Winters were mild on Dafan Mountain but some herbs didn’t make it through regardless. Surveying the state of the herb gardens, Wen Qing decided she’d go for a walk and gather some fresh herbs to plant instead of sowing the seeds she kept in jars in her cabin. She wouldn’t have to wait for them to sprout and, more importantly, she’d have something to do for the day that would take her mind off. Things.

♡

The meadows of Dafan Mountain were already blooming, bright yellows and oranges standing out between dark tree trunks and earthy green grass and leaves. Wen Qing passed them by, stopping sometimes to pick a few flowers to bring Granny Wen later. A low breeze rustled through the trees, the sun sending gentle rays. Wen Qing faced the sun, but found it lacking in warmth. She’d already found most of the herbs she was looking for and decided to slowly head back. A couple hours had passed at this point, the basket on her back half full, and if she spent the rest of the day re-planting the herbs she had collected and maybe having a cup of tea with Granny Wen when she delivered the small bouquet of flowers Wen Qing wouldn’t have too much time to think about the absence of Yanli in Wen Qing’s house (and her arms).

Wen Qing kept walking for a little while longer, heading back up the mountain to reach the village when something caught her eye: A meadow, but instead of bright yellow and orange flowers it was dotted with delicate purple flowers. Wen Qing must have wandered further down the mountain than she realised, as these flowers were generally found in lower altitudes. They were lovely, barely taller than Wen Qing’s hand was long, stems a healthy green with narrow leaves, the blossoms starting out a dark purple and fading to a pale lavender colour closer to the stems. These flowers were brought by the first warmth of spring, just as Jiang Yanli usually was, and their colour was very similar to the Yunmeng Jiang colours. The petals’ pale purple towards the stems was exactly the shade of Yanli’s favourite robes.

Without thinking much about it, Wen Qing knelt down and collected around a dozen or so flowers, roots and all, and then picked some more for a small bouquet to keep in her cabin. One of them she placed in her hair just behind her left ear. Then Wen Qing continued back towards the Wen village, letting her thoughts run free for the first time that day. She didn’t think of Jiang Yanli immediately, focusing on her surroundings at first. The sun was barely shining through the trees, the shadows of the leaves painting patterns on the ground. Wen Qing walked along a gentle stream that lead her back to the Wen village, where she greeted the people she met before continuing up the path to her cabin. It was only barely removed from the village, a minute or so further up the mountain than the other houses, surrounded by small herb gardens as some of the other villagers’ cabins were. The demand for Wen medicine had increased significantly over the past few years, as had the demand for their teachings.

Wen Qing left the basket with herbs and flowers by her door, only gathering the loose flowers to take them inside with her. Leaving a pot of water over her small fireplace, Wen Qing began to tie together a bouquet of yellow and orange flowers for Granny Wen, then also tied the purple flowers together, placing both in small water-filled phials to keep them fresh. Next, she made a small pot of tea and took it and a cup outside, setting them down on the table there, and began to work.

♡

Wen Qing arrived at Granny Wen’s house a couple hours later, bouquet and a cloth with pastries in hand. And some soil on her cheeks, it turned out, as Granny Wen shook her head smiling and rubbed her sleeves over Wen Qing’s face to clean it. “You’ve been working in the gardens, I see,” Granny Wen commented, and Wen Qing smiled sheepishly. They sat down on the bench outside Granny Wen’s house, sharing pastries and a pot of tea.

“Did you enjoy your walk?” Granny Wen asked, a small smile playing around her lips.

“I did. Some of the herbs in my garden didn’t make it through the winter, and with the cold that’s going around the village at the moment I figured it would be best to stock up on fresh ones so we don’t have to wait for anything to sprout to make medicine, should we need to.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you. Did you find anything else interesting on your walk?” Wen Qing blushed at Granny Wen’s knowing look, and thought of the newly planted purple flowers in her gardens and the small bouquet on her bedside table.

“I did indeed. How did you know?” Wen Qing replied, sipping on her tea. It was a bit too hot, but she could blame the heat in her cheeks on it, at least.

“Where have you left your head today, my dear?” Granny Wen reached out and gently tapped the side of Wen Qing’s head, just above her left ear. Startled, Wen Qing remembered the flower she had tucked there barely a few hours ago.

“Oh.”

Granny Wen chuckled, then reached for Wen Qing’s hand on the table. “You should go and visit her next month. It’s a pity Sect Leader Jiang couldn’t make it this year, spring suits Dafan Mountain. But that shouldn’t deprive you two of spending time together.”

“But what about the-“ Wen Qing began, only to be interrupted by Granny Wen.

“We will take care of the new students. A-Ning will be back by then, and A-Yuan said he would be here for the seminars again this year. You don’t need to worry.” Granny Wen squeezed Wen Qing’s hand, then let go of her and sipped her tea.

Wen Qing took the flower from her hair. She had genuinely forgotten about it. Gliding her thumb across the delicate petals, Wen Qing considered Granny Wen’s suggestion. It would be the first year Wen Qing wasn’t there for all lectures on Wen medicine since they started the programme a few years back. She trusted everyone in the village to do fine without her there, she wasn’t so conceited as to think the village wouldn’t do well without her. While Wen Qing was usually asked to decide on important matters, their Sect was too small to need a Sect Leader.

It would just be strange to miss the seminars for the first time. Then again, this year didn’t seem to follow tradition well. Wen Qing focused back on the flower in her hands and was reminded of Jiang Yanli, smiling at Wen Qing in light purple robes, gently taking Wen Qing’s hands in hers in public and embracing Wen Qing closely in private. Their whispers barely more than puffs of air against skin and their laughter echoing off the walls in Lotus Pier.

Wen Qing didn’t think much longer. “Granny Wen,” she began, and the older lady looked at her. “I am going to visit the Yunmeng Jiang Sect next month, should Sect Leader Jiang allow. Thank you.”

“Nothing to thank me for. And I doubt Sect Leader Jiang could ever refuse you.” Granny Wen poured herself another cup of tea, but not Wen Qing. “You should send your love a message to let her know. I’m sure she will be thrilled.” Granny Wen motioned for Wen Qing to be on her way, and Wen Qing couldn’t find it in herself to resist. She bowed, face a dark shade of red, then she was on her way, but not without waving to Granny Wen.

Before Wen Qing sent her message off to Jiang Yanli, she quickly plucked one of the purple flowers from the bouquet on her bedside table, pressing it between her palms and treating it with small amounts of energy until she had completely dehydrated the flower. Wen Qing added the dried, flattened flower to her message, then sent it off.

Her day had ended a lot more optimistic than it had begun, though Wen Qing tried to remind herself not to get her hopes up too high as Jiang Yanli might already have arrangements for next month. Still, Wen Qing couldn’t stop a smile from spreading on her face when she was laying in bed waiting for sleep that night.

♡

Wen Qing’s days only became happier from then on as Wen Ning and A-Yuan arrived in the village the next day. They both stayed with her, filling the cabin with warmth and laughter and stories that Wen Qing hadn’t expected so soon. It was a nice surprise. A-Yuan spent a lot of his time in Gusu with his family there, so it had been a good few months since Wen Qing had last seen him. Wen Ning had left a little over two months ago to meet A-Yuan and travel with him before coming back to Dafan Mountain.

Wen Ning had seemed a little confused at the new colourful addition to the gardens but didn’t mention anything, while A-Yuan simply commented on the flowers’ beauty. Wen Qing had merely smiled in response, thinking of another beauty, and then fed Wen Ning and A-Yuan too many pastries before their actual dinner.

crossposted to AO3