#nie huaisang fic

[theresa-draws]

“I will return when my business is done. No sooner.”

“No later,” Jiang Cheng responded. “I will be waiting.”

-- overcover, albicans

[bishy437]

Day 4 of SangCheng Week 24!

Conflict & Resolution War, Enemies to lovers

I wrote a 40k+ word fic for this day's prompt; I hope you'll take the time to read it!

Read the fic here-> The Second Prince Of Qinghe

💜💚💜💚💜💚

[add1ctedt0you]

Now I have to remember you for longer than I have known you, C. C. Aurel

[iwanttofuckereh69]

Nie Huaisang and 1/7th of Nie Mingjue

Sorry i died and happy Halloween 🎃

[benevolenterrancy]

none of the parenting books warned him how hard it would be to keep his little brother from catching the avian flu

[qiu-yan]

shenshen = qin su

[lgbtlunaverse]

So since mxtx has said that in novel canon nie huaisang is eventually going to end up being chief cultivator we can presume the headshaker thing, while based on his existing personality, was in fact an act and he is way more competent at his job than he's let on. And with Jin Guangyao dead and gone he has no reason to put on that act anymore.

Imagine being an Nie cultivator. Your flopppy incompetent sect leader comes home from traumatic events after it turns out his older brother's sworn brother- who's been over to your sect basically every other week for years now- is the one that killed said brother and you're fully prepared for tears and dramatics. And while you definitley don't like lianfang-zun since it just came out he killed your last (way more competent) sect leader he was sorta the one holding the sect together so you're bracing yourself for the worst, and instead he's... stoic? Paperwork is suddenly getting done well and on time without help. He's not wailing during negotiations anymore and you're getting actual good trade deals for the first time in over a decade. He answers questions now? With something other than "I don't know i don't know i really don't know!"

And even if you had none of the revelations wei wuxian had in guanyin temple, slowly the realization creeps up on you that all his earlier embarassing antics that cost your family their comfortable livelihoods and your sect their good name was on purpose. And from there it's not that hard to put two and two together. The rest of the cultivation world assumes the shock of jin guangyao's betrayal has finally forced the headshaker to grow up a little but you have worked side by side with him for a decade, probably even watched him grow up under his brother's rule. You know better.

How do you feel at that point? What can you even do? He's your sect leader. And he's finally doing his job, things are looking up, shouldn't you feel relieved? It' not like his incompetence really caused any deaths among the nie, just wiped out generational wealth and reputation that will take years and years to build back up. Is it really reasonable to only start hating someone for something when they've stopped doing it? Thereby proving that they were capable of stopping all along?

[nicht-vobla]

Nothing to see here, just two roommates making soup in their dorm! Well, at least they tried...

for SangCheng MiniBang fic "And They Were Roommates" (109990 words, 26 chapters) by East of Akkala and glitterlessgold

[thirteenis-myluckynumber]

Wedding vows

Man, choosing a gif is harder than I thought *cries*

Pairing: Nie Huaisang x f!reader

Word Count: 4856 words

Warnings/tags: fluff, just love all around, Chinese wedding ensues, suggestive content, smut, this one is nsfw minors dni

Notes: (C/N)-your clan's name, (Y/N)-your name

A/N: This is the 2nd part of Proposal. You can read this is as a stand-alone, but some context might be lost. I can't believe its done, have a feast, dears!

Special thanks to this post, for providing information about Chinese weddings. I did take some liberties, but at least I did it knowingly.

It's been almost a month now that you were living in the Unclean Realm. Your brother agreed, begrudgingly at first, to let you go before the wedding because he saw how painful it was for you to stay away from your soon-to-be husband. In the end, he saw it was the right decision to let you get used to your new home beforehand.

Just one week before the wedding basically everything was turned upside down in the Unclean Realm. Both you and Nie Huaisang took part in the planning as there were no close relative of his who could take on the task. He, of course, had an exceptionally good eye for decoration, and while he was busy with clan leader's stuff, you coordinated the disciples and servants when needed.

You quickly got used to the almost colourless picture of the Unclean Realm and appreciated the calmly elegant black-grey-silver colours of your new home. The vivid red and gold decorations of the upcoming wedding, hinted with a little bit of silver, almost felt weirdly out of place now. As you entered the main hall to check on the servants' progress before retiring for the night, you stopped in awe at the entrance. Almost everything was in place now, only some adjustments were needed here and there. A huge smile spread across your face, as you couldn't help but imagine yourself entering the hall on Huaisang's arm, dressed in beautiful red and every guest's attention on you.

Speaking of Huaisang, you wondered what he was doing, as you haven't seen him all day. You decided to check on him before returning to your chambers. As you passed down the hallways, the servants were busy lighting some lanterns for the night. The sky already started to darken, and they politely greeted you as you passed them by. The guards also haven't paid attention to you, you were allowed to move freely, and they quickly got used to your presence after you moved in.

When you approached Huaisang's door, you knocked lightly to let him know of your presence but didn't actually wait for him to open the door himself. With guards present, his door was unlocked so you figured he hasn't retired for the night yet. You entered and instantly noticed his sitting form by the desk. He seemed to be completely engrossed in something, which you assumed was official documents. A light, calming incense could be smelled in the air of the warmly lit room. As you stepped closer, you noticed the not-so-neatly scattered papers on the table and some even around it on the ground. You also noticed a brush and ink, probably for writing letters. His usual fan also sat discarded on the edge of the table. Yes, he was definitely working all day, you concluded.

You stepped next to the table on his left side and shot a quick glance at the paper in front of him. It was clearly clan business. He only became aware of your presence in that moment, and he looked up at you with a tired but happy smile playing on the edge of his lips.

"Miss (C/N), it's so good to see you! Only you can make this miserable day better!"

"Oh, Huaisang, I'm sorry you had to work all day! I stopped by the main hall, and everything is almost completely ready now. You should check it out tomorrow. What's all this anyway?" You asked gesturing at the scattered papers all around his desk.

"You wouldn't believe it! Almost all of this are letters offering support, inquiring about accommodation, or asking for details about the banquet. There are also official papers about finances and clan politics. And I have to sort these out before the wedding! Why does everybody want a piece of me?"

"Hmm, I think," you pretended to think hard while you sat down next to him on the ground, "you are quite a catch."

He let out a disbelieving sound, but you continued, counting on your fingers.

"You are wealthy, the leader of one of the four big clans, a clever and intelligent man, you are a very talented artist, you have great taste in clothing, you do what you need to but don't meddle in other's business, you are funny and kind. Oh, and have I mentioned exceptionally handsome?"

"Ahh, stop, stop, stop, stop!" He protested, nose scrunched up and hands held out in front of his chest.

You let out a short laugh because of his adorably childish attitude and turned your body so you were sitting face to face now. You reached out and grabbed his hands. So warm and soft, they fit perfectly into yours.

"I'm serious," you said looking into his eyes.

And he believed you. His face straightened out, his eyes searching yours, lips parted only a tiny bit in awe, but you couldn't help but notice. He also noticed where you were looking, his eyes wandering down to your lips in turn. When your eyes met again, you could see the question in his eyes and you leaned closer to him, a barely noticeable movement. But that's all he needed. The next moment he leaned in, and his lips were on yours, hands moving around your waist to pull you closer. You gasped, one hand touching his chest for purchase, the other reaching up to cradle his cheek. His kisses were slow and sensual.

"I don't think you should praise me this much. I might become overly confident," he whispered into your lips between kisses.

"Well, surely we don't need another peacock."

You let go of each other's lips and burst out laughing, your foreheads touching the whole time.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

The day of the wedding arrived quickly. As you were getting ready with help of your maids, you listened to the commotion outside as guests continued to arrive. Everyone had to settle in their temporary rooms and led to the main hall where the wedding will take place. Once everyone was here the ceremony started while food and drinks were being prepared by the servants for the following banquet.

You were quite nervous because basically the whole cultivation world will witness your union. At least the other three big clans, the Lanling Jin, the Gusu Lan and the Yunmeng Jiang were obviously invited, and some of the smaller clans too thanks to your side. Jiang Wanyin was Huaisang's old friend, while Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao were Nie Mingjue's sworn brothers so you were sure they will be attending. Lan Wangji apparently made up some excuse, so he didn't need to come and if you were honest, you liked it this way. His achievements certainly deserved respect, but he was famously uninterested in, even disgusted by celebrations which involved lively music and drinking.

Putting on the wedding dress was the quickest part of the whole procedure as braiding your hair in the Nie style and preparing your make-up took a few hours. Finally, your head was covered with a red veil to complete the look. Soon you were being led out to meet your husband the entrance of the main hall. Nervousness rose in your chest, but it subsided somewhat when you arrived. You were signaled to stop, and you felt warm hands gently wrapping around yours.

"Huaisang?" Your words came out as barely a whisper because somehow you felt like the wedding atmosphere shouldn't be bothered by talking.

"I'm here," he answered in kind and squeezed your hand a little as reassurance before wrapping a soft red silk ribbon around your wrist. It was to ensure you won't trip as you could barely see anything through your veil, and it also symbolised your union.

You only noticed the soft music and light chatter in the background when you started to walk up the few stairs leading to the main hall. But the hushed voices completely stopped when you stepped into the hall. Thankfully you knew how the room was prepared, so you remembered that you only had to take a few steps before you reached the pillows placed on the ground for you to perform your bows. Huaisang also made sure to make measured movements and helped you the best he could in signalling when you needed to stop walking and kneel down.

Being led by Huaisang while you almost couldn't see anything felt strangely romantic to you, like he was the only person in the whole world you could trust and to whom you could give complete control over yourself. This vulnerability felt frightening at first as you could feel every guest's eyes on your back, like realizing a dangerous predator is stalking you in the forest. But soon your senses focused completely on Huaisang. You could almost feel his warmth radiating through the cloth that bound your hands together.

You bowed in sync, first to pay respect to Heaven and Earth, second to Huaisang's parents, and finally to each other. You stood up and felt your legs shaking from relief and happiness. You were married! You still couldn't believe it. Soon you heard the commotion as your guests stood up and drank a cup of liquor to your marriage. One by one they approached you to congratulate you and wish you health and happiness. Huaisang held your hand in his and you could feel his palm was sweaty from nerves, but you didn't mind. You thanked the guests for their well-wishes and also said farewell. You recognized some of the voices and you were glad that your husband will be taken care of by people like Lan Xichen and Jiang Wanyin during the banquet.

The few hours you spent alone, sitting in silence on your now shared bed in Nie Huaisang's room felt like a relief after the ceremony. So far everything went well, you completed the wedding without any mishaps, and you hoped that everything goes smoothly at the banquet too. Time flew by surprisingly quickly while you meditated. Your focus was disturbed by muffled voices coming through the closed door. When it slid open, you could hear the finishing sentences of the two people's conversation outside.

"Don't be nervous. Everything will be fine," you recognized the soft and calm voice of Jin Guangyao.

"Thank you, San-ge," replied Huaisang, and closed the door behind him as he stepped into the room.

He didn't move for a few seconds and the anticipation in you grew stronger and stronger. You were patient the whole day, but now you just wanted to finally see him, see him in his wedding robes. He walked closer, ever so slow, hesitation palpable. In the dim light of the candles, you could see his silhouette when he stepped in front of you. You felt it when he finally grabbed your veil at the sides and with a quick motion, he lifted it up, letting it float down to the floor.

You were not one of those old traditional couples in the sense that you already knew each other before the wedding. Yet now, when both of you finally looked at each other, it felt like seeing a heavenly being for the first time. Wide eyes, lips parted you marvelled at each other's beauty. He has seen you in your dress during the ceremony, but your face adorned with tasteful make-up and your hair decorated with jewelry, braided specially to signify you were now the wife of a Nie took his breath away. You, on the other hand, had to take in his full visage. His red robes, with gold and black woven in, were of a thinner material than his usual attire, so it perfectly accentuated his snatched waist and wide shoulders. The guan in his hair were gold and it had a bolder style than his usual silver ones, just like the braids. When your gaze stopped at his face your breath hitched in your throat because of the open love and desire you saw in his eyes.

"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he finally spoke, his voice low.

"I...," you had to clear your throat after not speaking for such a long time, "we should drink the alcohol," you managed to say, standing up and walking to the table nervously.

You poured the fine liquor into two small cups and handed one to Huaisang. He took it gently and waited for you with his arm held out. You joined him, holding your own cup, and you intertwined your arms as you drank the alcohol with one gulp. When you finished you looked at each other, arms still linked and smiled, feeling the tension of the day leaving your body. You almost knocked your heads together as you wanted to put the cups down back on the table at the same time.

"We should sit down," he suggested, but the suggestion sounded like a tentative question.

You nodded your head. He must be tired after entertaining your guests, you thought. Luckily, he was not drunk so his friends must have kept a close eye on him. He could also direct some of his qi to get rid of the alcohol, but that also exhausted him after a while. You knew what was expected of you on your wedding night, but you didn't want to pressure him if he felt too tired after such a long day.

So, you sat on the edge of your bed in silence for a few moments before you felt his hand reaching out for yours. You flicked your gaze over where your hand rested on the bed between your bodies. His hand was not much bigger than yours but still big enough to cradle yours, and you always marveled at how soft and warm they felt. You noticed how his other hand were playing with the jade pendant hanging from his belt and you moved your free hand to gently lay on his thigh. You intended to soothe his nerves, but the moment your hand connected with his leg, you felt his muscles twitch. You looked up into his eyes and what you saw made your breath quicken. His dark brown eyes looked almost completely black now as his pupils widened. For a split second his gaze moved down to your mouth, and you did the same in return. You noticed how his lips relaxed, opening only the slightest amount and you found yourself wanting to kiss him so bad. When your gazes met again, he leaned towards you slowly, still holding your gaze, gauging your reaction.

And your lips connected.

It felt like fireworks exploded between you. You felt how his hand pushed yours into the mattress as he leaned in closer, his body weight shifting to his arm between you. His other arm sneaked around your waist to pull you closer, as he always did when you were kissing, only this time the kiss was different. It was much more forceful, brave, and charged with desire.

When you let go of each other's lips for a moment, both of you were breathing hard.

"I love you so much. You are the best thing in my life," he breathed into your lips, and you swore you saw his eyes shining.

"I love you too, I love you-," you said in return, the last syllable muffled as he captured your lips again.

Sitting with your feet on the ground while your body turned towards him started to feel uncomfortable, so you moved to sit on his lap, not letting go of his lips or hand for a second. When you settled your weight on his thighs, he moved his hands to your cheeks at first, then moved them down to your neck, tracing your collar bones with his fingers. You grabbed onto his robes and let go of his lips with a sigh. His hands moved away immediately, thinking his touch were unwelcome.

"Don't stop. It... felt good," you said nervously and smiled shyly at him.

This time he moved his hands to your waist, where the sash held your garments together.

"May I?" He asked seriously, his voice trembling a little.

You gulped and nodded your head rapidly. His touch was featherlight, you almost couldn't feel it when he reached for the opening of your sash and carefully removed it. The material of your robe loosened, and he moved to remove your outer garment entirely. You realized you were sitting on the skirt, so you needed to stand back up if you wanted to remove the whole thing.

"I need to get up to get this out of the way," you said to him when he freed your arms and only your undershirt remained on the upper half of your body.

You quickly realized that part of his nervousness came from the fact that he didn't want to scare you away, so you warned him of your intentions beforehand. He nodded and reluctantly let go of you as you stood up from his lap.

The room was warm, but you still felt a slight chill as your outer robe descended to the floor. The coldness faded when you looked into Huaisang's fiery gaze and the air suddenly felt impossibly hot as he stepped closer to you. His hands moved to your shoulders, gently caressing them and slowly moving towards your chest. Your breath quickened, his light touches searing hot through your thin undergarment. A shiver ran through your whole body as his hands gently cradled your soft breasts and he sucked in a sharp breath when your nipples hardened under his thumbs.

"Please, Huaisang, I want to feel your touch on my skin!" You felt a little embarrassed about how whiny your voice sounded, but you wanted to show him how much you wanted his touch.

He leaned in to kiss at your jawline and neck while his hands deftly removed your undergarments. As your clothes pooled around your ankles, he took a step back to admire your naked body. You suddenly felt self-conscious, and your hands instinctively moved to cover yourself up. Huaisang noticed it and took your hands into his to stop you.

"Don't be shy. I still can't believe I've managed to get myself such a beautiful and intelligent wife" he said, looking into your eyes the whole time.

You wanted to say something witty and clever, but the moment felt too sincere for it, so instead you answered:

"Don't forget that I wanted to be yours."

He stepped closer to you again, his mouth finding yours. He kissed you like a drowning man, never wanting to let go of you. His hands roamed over every part of your body he could reach and you wanted to finally touch his skin too. Your hands tugged on the lapels of his dress, signalling you wanted it off. He broke the kiss when he felt a more insistent tug.

"Take it off!" You managed to breath out and he chuckled at your insistence.

"You want more of me, huh?" He asked with that cocky self-assurance he only used with his closest friends back at Cloud Recesses.

You crossed your arms across your chest with a defiant look and you must have looked funny standing like that while being stark naked. But it worked, and Huaisang looked at you as if he were saying "Fine, fine," and reached for his belt. The strength gradually left your arms as you watched him undress, and by the time he only had his white underrobe on, your arms were hanging by your side.

When he moved to remove it too, you couldn't just stand there anymore and stepped in front of him, grabbing onto his hands. Your sudden movement startled him a little as his focus were completely on his clothes. You reached for the cloth that bound his underrobe together and undid it slowly, looking into his eyes the whole time. He moved his hands out of the way and followed the path of yours with his eyes as you reached up to his shoulders, pushing the light fabric down.

And he stood there only in a pair of white trousers, chest bare, skin like pristine jade, accentuated by his dark hair cascading down his back. You couldn't help but marvel at his beauty. As a healer you saw many men and women in various stages of undress, mostly injured soldiers. At those times your interest was not particularly focused on their looks, but you remembered how strong and muscular they were. Now, as you were looking at your husband's bare upper body, you realised that you never really found them attractive. Compared to them Huaisang had a soft body, but his chest was nicely toned and you could see the lean muscles of his arms.

You reached up and traced his collar bones with your fingers then moved downwards and stopped on his chest. You could feel how strong and fast his heart was beating under your right palm. His skin was so soft, smooth and warm, you couldn't help but tenderly caress the shape of his pecs, noticing how his small nipples stood at attention from your touch, much like yours before. You slowly slid your hands down to his stomach, following the made-up path of the cute little moles that were scattered everywhere on his skin. You felt the muscles tensing under the skin of his stomach as you went even lower, stopping where a soft patch of dark hair disappeared under the band of his underpants. As you ran your fingers over his happy trail, loving how the soft hairs tickled your fingertips, you heard Huaisang biting back a whiny moan. Your eyes moved back to his face and oh, what you saw took your breath away. He bit down on his lower lip, eyebrows furrowed, as he watched with half-lidded eyes where your hands were going.

You moved your hands out of your line of sight and your gaze lowered past the waist of his pants. He was already hard enough to form a nicely visible tent in his pants. You realised there was no turning back if you took the next step and it scared you a little, but also made you incredibly excited. You wanted it and you wanted him, but it still surprised you how boldly you reached down and caressed him lightly through his pants. This time his moan was deeper, more guttural, and he almost literally fell on you as he rested his forehead on your shoulder. Your knowledge was mostly medical about how the male body worked, so the late-night conversations with your already married friends came in handy. You felt proud about how much your touch affected Huaisang. Your next caress was a little firmer and you felt him twitch under your palm. Gathering his every strength, Huaisang stepped back and pulled you towards the bed.

"(Y/N), please, it's been too long, and I fear I won't last long if you keep this up. I want all of you tonight. Can I show you how much?"

"Okay," your voice was barely a whisper, and you let yourself being laid down on the bed.

Huaisang quickly got rid of his remaining garments and carefully removed the intricate guan, now only a black silk ribbon keeping his hair together. As he climbed on top of you, you instinctively opened your legs to make room for him as he rested his weight on his elbows next to your shoulders. This way he was the only thing you could see, but there was nothing else you wished to see at this moment. A large amount of his long hair fell over his shoulders and caressed your cheeks. He was so beautiful as a soft smile played on his lips and you reached up to kiss him. It quickly turned heated and Huaisang soon left your lips in order to kiss all over your face and neck. Then he moved lower and grabbed one of your breasts with his hand while he occupied his mouth with sucking on the other nipple. Your sighs of pleasure encouraged him to move his hand lower while his mouth kept playing with your nipples.

At first your hips shied away from his touch but when his deft fingers found the most pleasurable spot between your legs you couldn't bite back a moan. His mouth left your breasts as he moved to carefully watch your reaction while his other hand kept your legs in place.

"You are doing amazing, you are so wet already," he praised and slowly pushed his index finger inside you.

"Huaisang...," you moaned his name as you watched his finger disappear inside you.

This was something you already tried yourself on lonely nights but the fact that it was his finger made the experience completely different and so much better. He moved his finger slowly in and out of you and when you felt like you couldn't take it anymore, he removed his hand. You whined at the sudden loss of contact, but he moved back on top of you and kissed the complaints off of your lips.

"Are you ready?" He asked, and you were never this sure about anything in your life.

"Yes, I want you, please."

He reached down and guided his cock to your entrance, rubbing it over your wetness, using your combined arousal as a lubricant. Even this little delay and the feeling of his hot member so close to where you wanted it made you squirm. He was looking into your eyes the whole time and you saw how he had to fight he urge to close them when he started to finally push inside you. He was slow and careful, and when he was fully seated inside both of you stopped to catch your breaths. The stretch was unfamiliar but not unpleasant. You moaned when you felt his cock twitching and your insides tightened around him in response. Now it was his turn to let out a shaky breath as he let his forehead rest against yours. He simply couldn't hold his composure anymore, so he slowly started to pull out and push back again. At first you felt a tiny prick of pain, but it soon faded and was replaced by pure pleasure. And he was quick to react to your signs, so when you reached up and grabbed onto his hair to find support, he knew he found that special spot. Soon you were a moaning mess, being so close to your release and he was no different, his skin shining from sweat and strands of his hair sticking to his cheeks and neck.

"a-Sang!" You repeated over and over, and finally hearing you calling him that, it was enough to push him through the edge.

He sealed your lips in a desperate kiss, one of his hands reaching down to rub your clit, his other arm shaking from the effort of keeping his body from fully collapsing on top of you. The feeling of his desperate thrusts, his hand on your most sensitive spot and his shaky moans calling your name finally triggered your orgasm. You felt your inner walls clenching impossibly tight around him and you desperately clawed at his back, not really caring at that moment if you were leaving marks on his skin.

He collapsed on top you, the last of his strength leaving his body as both of you tried to catch your breath. Your vision slowly cleared, and the ringing disappeared from your eyes as you subconsciously caressed his head and shoulders. He burrowed his head into the crook of your neck, and you swore you could hear him practically purring like a cat.

The air in the room slowly started to dry off the sweat from your bodies and it soon made you both shiver. Huaisang rolled off of you with a series of unintelligible whines and went to fetch a cloth to clean yourselves up. He wetted it with the prepared warm water and carefully cleaned your most sensitive spots. He couldn't help but leave some lazy kisses around your hips and thighs in the process and the feeling of his gentle touches were almost enough to lull you into sleep.

He quickly cleaned himself up too and climbed back into the bed next to you, pulling the luxurious covers over your naked bodies. You moved to lay your head on his chest, positioning your ear over his heart, its steady beating made you feel completely safe. He sneaked his arms around you, pulling you even closer. You looked up at him and you smiled at how his hair was a complete mess now, yet he looked so handsome in the faint glow of the candlelight, his eyes shining with so much love you thought your chest will explode because of it.

"Thank you, tonight was incredible," you said as you drew small patterns on his chest with your fingers.

You swore you could see his ears redden even in the faint light, and you planted a soft kiss on his pecs before you fully relaxed in his arms.

"I love you a-(Y/N), get some sleep now," you heard him say before you fell into a blissful sleep.

THE END

ps. I have a half written morning-after snippet, let me know if you are interested and I'll finish it.

[tavina-writes]

I have been pondering the recent rash of "post canon NHS and LXC would never ever reconcile bc even if NHS wanted to have Er-ge back, LXC would never ever forgive him for [insert reason of choice here]" type of posts + the "do you think NHS thinks very hard about how much Da-ge would hate him for becoming [the way that he is now] by choosing to seek vengeance" type of posts, and I think fundamentally the reason these posts do not jive with me is that we have no indication, in the show or in the book that uh, NHS gives a shit about either of these things very much anymore?

The first type of post is predicated on the assumption that LXC's forgiveness or lack thereof some some sort of either extension of mercy (which NHS obviously does not deserve <- or so assumes the post) or some form of punishment (which is obviously the correct answer) but the last scene we get with NHS both in the book and the show make no indication that this is a thing he wants? Or cares about? Book NHS has *sauntered off* with his little hat trophy and Show NHS walks off screen after saying something along the lines of "What is my responsibility I won't shirk, what isn't my responsibility I won't care about." Now, arguably, show NHS is having a worse go of it emotionally, but shows no real inclination or interest in either apologies or making up and being friends again with LWJ, LXC, WWX, or other people. Book NHS seems pretty pleased with the outcome of the events as a whole?

The second type of post is predicated on the fact that NHS finds Da-ge's judgement a horrible burden to bear at this stage in the game, which! He might! But again especially in the book we get no indication that he has any fucks left to give about what Da-ge may or may not have wanted since Da-ge is dead. In both the show and the book, NHS went about revenge taking very specific and complicated actions with the desired result of JGY dying, but he certainly took the scenic route getting there, which, he didn't need to? As I've written about before, JGY didn't see him as a threat. If he wanted JGY dead he could've arranged to poison JGY's tea like, 10 years ago and had done with it instead of his complicated Rube Goldberg life ruining scheme. If he is still sickly anxious about how Da-ge might feel about the scheming and the trouble causing and the whole everything, that's certainly possible, but he must've decided it was worth it anyway regardless of that, and I don't know that it necessarily would've changed just because he got what he wanted at the end.

Overall, I think as a fandom we think a lot about like "will and should this relationship ever be repaired or similar to how it used to be?" and "does this character deserve/not deserve the forgiveness of people they've hurt or abandoned?" which can be interesting questions! I do feel like these are often taken as "is a character morally good (deserves to be forgiven) or morally bad (deserves to rot in hell forever never forgiven ever ever)" and based entirely on if Character is the meta writer's blorbo. Under this paradigm the concept of "Character did bad things to get exactly what they wanted and were happy about that and no relationships were ever repaired and the emotional detachment of people they used to care about no longer matters to them!" is uncomfortable.

It's just that for NHS I've increasingly come to the conclusion that canonically, I don't think NHS thinks he has anything to apologize for, nor is he super interested in being forgiven! He got what he wanted the way he wanted it to happen. Which is potentially supremely unsatisfying but I think is very sexy as a narrative concept.

[khattikeri]

you ever wake up and think about nie huaisang's entirely off-screen journey?

(thirteen years.) do you think about how easy and yet nauseating it must've felt for nie huaisang to use his own childhood self as a mask? to maintain the appearance of a vapid child quick to run to others and whine instead of setting aside hobbies and trying to figure out how to work through responsibility?

(thirteen years.) what was he thinking? surely he didn't formulate everything to a tee in one sitting. how long had he taken until he was fully sinking into the balancing act of pretending he hadn't changed one bit in front of all the other clans, in front of his elder brother's close sworn brothers, while running the qinghe nie sect well enough behind the scenes to still maintain their unequivocal loyalty and respect?

(thirteen years.) do you think he hated himself now and then for becoming so quietly manipulative and focused on the ends over the means? looked at himself in the mirror at times and had to turn away because he saw a flicker of the one man he was trying to permanently unravel in revenge, the man his brother despised for always stooping to trickery?

(thirteen years.) how often did he get nightmares of qi deviations and being attacked, of that near-miss opportunity to save his older brother? the war and aftermath changed his school friends permanently and nie huaisang, in spite of his ability to worm his way out of things he didn't want to confront, was not an exception. how long until he got used to shoving his own squeamishness aside, accepting losses and violence and collateral damage and pain to other people for his own goals?

(thirteen years.) it drives me crazy. it drives me so damn crazy that mdzs is a story told from the perspective of wei wuxian. crazy that a few choice words and meaningful reactions at guanyin temple are the only reason we know even a fraction of what nie huaisang did over those years and why.

(thirteen years.) lan wangji and jiang wanyin were not the only ones who had to bear with the weight of time on their grief.

how many fans and paintbrushes can a person collect in thirteen years? (i don't know, i don't know, i don't know.)

[gh0st-0f-luke]

nine excerpts from a transcript of wei wuxian’s appearance in traffic court ft. judge!lan wangji (read on ao3 here)

[runfreelyactwildly]

Eras of my life separated based on every new homosexual ship that ruins my life

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

So we know that Wei Wuxian's treatment after his death was horrible. Even if nothing could impact him directly, there was still neverending slander, hatred, misinformation, theft...

But, for a while after he died, the sects did try to impact him directly – namely, frequently trying to resummon his soul. And today I'll explore the possible reasons for this, their likelihoods, and why I'm so, so thankful that Wei Wuxian's soul managed to resist the summons. Because, spoiler alert (or, you know. maybe not)... none of them are good.

(Long meta ahead)

In my opinion, there are four likely motivations for this: confinement, coercion, torment, and potentially destruction.

Out of all of these, confinement is probably the most likely motivation, at least for most sects (Jins and Jiangs excluded, though it was likely what the Jin sect said their motivations were – but I'll get to them later). This one is the most simple – we know spirit-trapping pouches exist, and we know the sects also placed 120 stone beasts on the Burial Mounds to prevent Wei Wuxian's soul from escaping. Therefore, this seems to be the most likely motivation – and fortunately for Wei Wuxian, probably also the best case scenario, though it still certainly isn't a good one.

For the second, coercion – this is where the Jin sect come in (more specifically Jin Guangshan with the help of Jin Guangyao). Due to their wealth and resources, they're likely the sect who played the largest role in the soul-summoning rituals. We know what they're willing to do to try to gain power – keeping Wen Ning under the pretence he was burned to death and trying to control him with the nails, and working with and helping Xue Yang torture people to help him refine his demonic cultivation, in order to have the Yin hufu fixed. Along with working with many other cultivators, alongside Xue Yang – Jin Guangshan really, really wanted that seal.

And so, Jin GuangShan sought after all those who imitated Wei WuXian in cultivating the ghostly path and gathered them under his rule. He spent a great amount of money and resources and these people, ordering them to study and analyze the structure of the Tiger Seal in secrecy so that they could replicate and restore it. - Villainous Friends extra, EXR

(Note that working with these cultivators very likely happened after Wei Wuxian's soul had failed to be summoned, since this happens some time after Wei Wuxian's death, whereas the soul-summoning ceromonies presumably started happening very close to it.)

In the previous paragraph, he's also quoted as having 'lusted after' the Yin hufu, which we already knew but it's nice to have a direct quote as evidence.

Now, would Wei WuXian willingly work with the Jin sect in doing this? No. We know that, and, given Wei Wuxian's actions in his first life (refusing to hand over the Tally, not being afraid to stand up to the sects, etc), I’m pretty sure Jin Guangshan knows that, too:

He beat around the bush a couple of times, using all his skills, yet Wei WuXian didn’t give in no matter what, and it made him run into a bunch of obstacles. - Villainous Friends extra, EXR

So this could actually make things go two ways. One, I'm wrong and that wasn't actually part of the Jin sect's motivations, since they know they wouldn't be able to control him (and in that case, had they managed to summon him, I could imagine them putting him in a spirit-trapping pouch and doing something similar to what Jin Guangyao did to Nie Mingjue's head. Which, also, not good). Two, it was a part of their motivations, and they hoped to find a way around that. After all, there are other guidao users out there now, and Wei Wuxian would now be a gui*. Also, cultivators can obviously harm ghosts – see the very existence of Night Hunts, and I'd include Xue Yang's talisman-caused destruction of A-Qing as well (while he isn't a traditional cultivator, talismans can be used by everyone).

Now, would either of these methods actually work? I'm inclined to think not really (and I expand on the former method in a note below). Would that stop Jin Guangshan/Jin Guangyao/the cultivators they employ from trying? Especially considering Jin Guangshan's lust for power?

I'm inclined to think no, too.

For the third, look no further than Jiang Cheng's reputation of capturing and torturing demonic cultivators after Wei Wuxian's death, due to thinking they could be him. And this does happen – Jin Ling knows and talks about it, and there's not real motivation for him to negatively lie about someone he loves. Also, when they come across each other at Dafan Mountain, we're told this in Jiang Cheng's inner voice:

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. - MDZS Chapter 10, EXR translation

This mainly shows that he's tortured people before, rather than that he's tortured people because he thinks they're Wei Wuxian, but this reason is confirmed by Jin Ling in Chapter 24. Of course, the reason is also mentioned in this chapter, and there are other moments in the chapter that illustrate my point better**, but they come from second-hand sources which I know are easier to deny. Do take note of Jiang Cheng's expression both times he comes across 'Mo Xuanyu' (after he suspects he's Wei Wuxian) in Book One***, though:

After a moment, the corners of Jiang Cheng’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. His left hand started to unconsciously stroke the ring [Zidian] again. He spoke softly, “… Well, well. So you’re back?” - Chapter 10, EXR Although his face had always been clouded, marked with arrogance and satire, it seemed as if every corner of it had come alive. It was difficult to determine whether it was vengeful wrath, fathomless hatred, or raving ecstasy. - Chapter 23, EXR

This does seem to line up with what people say his attitude to Wei Wuxian is – there doesn't seem to be any happiness at seeing him again at all. The only time a word that could suggest that ('ecstasy') is used, it's accompanied by 'raving', and considering the context and the other possibilities of his expression, it's... probably not due to happiness at being reunited.

So, considering 1) this, 2) his contribution to the Siege specifically intended to kill Wei Wuxian, and 3) that at the time of frequent soul-summoning Jiang Yanli's death would be even closer for him, I feel pretty confident in saying that yes, this is likely a motivation for the Jiang sect in trying to re-summon Wei Wuxian's soul after his death. And, as mentioned earlier, cultivators can harm ghosts (and we know Zidian is able to remove souls posessing a body from that body, and that Jiang Cheng used Zidian on 'Mo Xuanyu' in Chapter 10. If it wasn't able to restrain/harm ghosts, or other methods weren't able to, why would he risk Wei Wuxian's soul escaping?).

And finally, option four: destruction. We're heading into much more speculative territory here, so don't consider this on par with the first three. But consider this:

We know there are some spells, like Xue Yang's talisman used on A-Qing and the body-offering ritual, that can ruin the returning soul’s reincarnation cycle by destroying it. Therefore, soul destruction is possible.

The 'main'/supposed reason for summoning Wei Wuxian's soul back is to stop the "cultivation world, or even all of mortal land" from being "faced with the most insane damnation and revenge, sinking into nothing but chaos and despair" when Wei Wuxian inevitably returns. While, as mentioned above, I severely doubt this is the motivation for certain sects – and to me is likely a rumour which the Jins (again, especially Jin Guangsha) fanned the flames of to justify summoning Wei Wuxian back for their own purposes**** – there are other sects which would take it more seriously.

Although likely disrespectful, people already thought it served Wei Wuxian right to die without his body intact by the time of the second siege – something believed to negatively affect your reincarnation in your next life*****. This is only the logical next step, and I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people would believe that, again, it would serve Wei Wuxian right, or would at least lead to less harm of the world in the long run.

For these reasons, I could definitely see this as an option for some sects, especially the sects who consider themselves more 'righteous' (cough cough the Nies under Nie Mingjue cough cough). After all, evil is evil and good is good, and the evil deserve what's coming to them. And what better way to prevent that than from preventing his soul from returning at all? So for the Nie sect – and likely some of the smaller sects involved in the Siege, since among them, additudes probably vary – yes, I do think it could be a motivation.

I’m not as sure about the Lans being willing to go this far, and that’s largely for two reasons. One, Lan Wangji’s presence and his relationship to Lan Xichen, who does (not always, but he does) let this affect how he treats Wei Wuxian. An example of this is that, when Wei Wuxian's return is made public, Lan Xichen does let him hide and shelter at the Cloud Recesses instead of trying to pursue him, likely majorly due to Lan Wangji. I'd argue that the aftermath of the Nightless City also acts as an example of this, although it definitely isn't perfect. But though he, Lan Qiren and the 33 elders do come to find Lan Wangji and do not let him continue to shelter Wei Wuxian (after they see Lan Wangji's feelings), Lan Xichen doesn't use this opportunity to kill/capture Wei Wuxian, despite Lan Wangji being in a worse condition due to having fought 33 elders, Wei Wuxian being catatonic, and Lan Qiren likely supporting this outcome (especially considering he was the one who led the Lan sect in the Siege – chapter 68, Wei Wuxian's POV). And he did let Lan Wangji take Wei Wuxian back to the Burial Mounds after:

After he went out of his way to send you back to Burial Mound and returned in such low spirits to receive his punishment, how long he kneeled before the Wall of Rules! - Chapter 99, EXR

Again, this was right after the Nightless City massacre – there isn't any goodwill towards Wei Wuxian at this point in time.

Of course, the Lan sect did participate in the siege after Lan Xichen knew of Lan Wangji's feelings towards Wei Wuxian, which Lan Xichen was no doubt a part of (although Lan Qiren lead the Lan sect in the siege, Lan XIchen had to have at least known/given his support, if not participated.) And it should be considered that Lan Xichen letting Wei Wuxian shelter at the Cloud Recesses was after Wei Wuxian had been back for a while, and had not caused the downfall of the Cultivation World, like many suspected he would after his death. And of course, as stated previously, his handling of the aftermath of Nightless City wasn't perfect either (though please note that his main motive here was to protect Lan Wangji from being potentially executed, rather than anything about Wei Wuxian himself). So caring about Lan Wangji doesn't mean he won't harm Wei Wuxian. But I do think he could find bringing Wei Wuxian's soul back to completely destroy it a bit excessive. There is, though, the chance that the elders of the Lan Sect would react to this differently, and of course they would have a sway on both Lan Xichen and the Lan sect as well.

The second reason is smaller, but there seems to be more focus in the Lan sect than in others when it comes to letting ghosts rest peacefully/helping them move on. And that could definitely lead to more resistance to the idea of summoning a soul back to destroy it as well, which could especially impact the elders. So I'd assume that the Lan sect would be the most likely sect to summon Wei Wuxian's soul back just for confinement, or just for some way of making sure any resentment is disippated, his spirit moves on, and he can't cause more harm to the world (eg via Inquiry)******. Not that he would or does as a ghost or as a reborn person, but that's unfortunately not relevant to this.

But yes, as a motivation for the Nie Mingjue-led Nie sect? Absolutely.

So, these are the main motives I suspect to be behind the attempted summoning of Wei Wuxian's soul after his death (and if I've missed any, please let me know – I'd love to have a discussion). And, of course, none of them lead to anywhere good. Because of course it wasn’t enough to besiege Wei Wuxian, murder the 50 non-combatants he was responsible for (and throwing them into the blood pit as a mark of disrespect because why not?), and lead to his death via him getting torn apart. It wasn’t enough to steal all his inventions, and use them commonly while still slandering him with no reprieve – or to steal his notes and give them to people like Xue Yang to study (Villainous Friends, again) and to use for their own, extremely extremely harmful, purposes. Of course, the cultivation world has to try to harm Wei Wuxian after death as well ((:

We don't know whether Wei Wuxian rejecting the summoning ceremonies was conscious or unconscious, but if it was the former, these are very likely reasons he refused to return in this way. If it was unconscious – for example, maybe during the frequent soul-summons his soul was in a weakened state due to him dying from a backlash of resentful energy and getting torn apart, and it healed over time but not before the soul-summoning rituals stopped – well, I can only be thankful.

Finally, let me leave you on the thought that – although it may well have happened since we don't spend much time in the immediate aftermath of the Sunshot campaign – there isn't even any textual mention of this happening to Wen Ruohan. Who, while not being a guidao user, was still very dangerous, still an extremely powerful cultivator, and still had a lot of reason to feel resentment. So.

:')

Thank you for reading!

--

*Considering what we see of how Wei Wuxian's guidao functions – redirecting the ghosts'/corpses' resentment into doing something they'd want to do, eg attacking people, and directing it towards a target – I'm not sure using it to force a spirit to do something 1) extremely specific, and 2) explicitly against their will would actually work. Iirc the closest thing we get to this in text is Wei Wuxian using the corpses of Wens to attack other Wens in the Sunshot Campaign, but he's still just directing their resentment to a target of his choice, and fierce corpses do tend to be on the less concious side of things (hence why Wei Wuxian had to awaken Wen Ning's consciousness). Considering how Wen Ning attacks Wei Wuxian and the Burial Mound Wens before his consciousness had fully awoken, I... really don't think those fierce corpses were able to differentiate (or didn't care).

Meanwhile, ghosts seem to be a bit more in control of themselves – see A-Qing, and Wei Wuxian's own descriptions of his ghost self.

That, alongside ghost!Wei Wuxian being able to resist his soul-summoning and the fact that pretty much all of the new guidao users are a lot weaker than he was, does make me think that this this wouldn't work. I do wonder about Xue Yang, since his methods are pretty different as well, but he's more of a modao user than a guidao user (he controls living corpses rather than dead people) and I don't think you can insert physical nails into ghosts?? Though if he was specifically instructed to figure out some way to control ghost!Wei Wuxian (who's probably kept in a spirit-trapping pouch in this scenario), he might be able to do something at least. Though also he was also struggling to piece Xiao Xingchen's ghost soul back together, so he may struggle with those areas?

Well, whatever the potential outcome, I'm so so happy once again that Wei Wuxian's soul managed to resist the soul-summonings...

**Mainly this:

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. If he wanted to take someone back, the opposition would surely lose half of their life. - Chapter 10, EXR

But I have heard people say 'you can't prove that it's just more rumours' before, and I wanted my evidence to be as watertight as possible.

(And, off-topic... isn't it really sad how Jiang Cheng, in the present day, is described as young? Because, for a clan leader, he is. And another thing he is, is close in age to Wei Wuxian – who was killed 13 whole years prior :') )

***And do note that the only other time they run into each other before Wei Wuxian's identity is revealed to the world apart from this is their brief interaction at Jinlintai, where he can't just act however he wants. The next time they run into each other after it, Jiang Cheng is literally taking part in another siege against him, and still extremely hostile ("surrounded by hostile energy, face insidious, staring straight at him" – from EXR chapter 60). Then he loses his spiritual powers and can't do anything. By the time he regains his powers, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and the Wen remnants' corpses have saved everyone during the Second Siege, and though public opinion hasn't properly shifted quite yet, it will soon after Sisi and Bicao tell the story of Jin Guangyao, and voila, a new scapegoat (do note that he doesn't completely bar Wei Wuxian from entering Lotus Pier after the Second Siege, though). Plus, throughout it all, Lan Wangji is still constantly present, which makes it hard for Jiang Cheng to really do anything. And then he's finally faced with the Golden Core reveal, which does alter his motivations towards Wei Wuxian (obviously the resentment is still there – read chapter 102 – but it's also mixed with other complex emotions, and he seems to start being able to move away from that a little in Chapter 103). I still definitely wouldn't describe Jiang Cheng's attitude towards him as positive, but it isn't at the point it was at the start of the novel (eg Chapter 10).

But even if his attitude does change, or would for whatever other reason apart from the reveal, that still doesn't change an initial motivation so isn't relevant to this meta. We know his intentions at the start.

****It's also possible they may have originated it, but I think WWX's reputation was bad enough for it to form naturally. Though you can trace a major part of that back to them, too.

*****That belief isn't outright stated in MDZS, but the fact people are specifically talking about the status of WWX's body in the aftermath of his death suggests that this belief does have some grounding in the MDZS universe, at least? And we know MXTX has included it in TGCF (though that doesn't mean it's definitely in MDZS), so she has used it in her works. If this isn't the case in the MDZS universe I am sorry (although that could also mean there's less importance placed on not disturbing the reincarnation cycle in the world of MDZS...? Which would work towards my original argument) – I don't want to spread misinformation that something is definitely true, I just think there's evidence to suggest it is true, which isn't the same thing.

******Again, I think this would depend on who ends up having more influence over who in the Lan sect. After all, normal resentful spirits only do what they do because of their resentment in death, whereas Wei Wuxian is 'dangerous' because of who everyone thinks he was in life – so him being reborn naturally could also 'cause a lot of harm to the world' during the time period this version of him would live in, unlike the resentful ghosts they appease. This could definitely lead to many advocating for confinement, I think.

[benevolenterrancy]

Swords pining for each other's cultivator is my new favorite type of pining. Love your NieYao content! <3

I don't suppose we could get Baxia or Hensheng throwing a tantrum while Jin Guangyao / Nie Mingjue are away, leaving their owners to deal with the embarrassing aftermath?

Also, do you have any recs you'd recommend with these two?

this is the exact moment Nie Huaisang realised he was going to have to start meddling in his big brother's love life (con't: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Hensheng, on the other hand, doesn't throw tantrums but WILL sulk...