#part three is jiang cheng grappling with his affection for wen qing vs his dismay with wwx bringing wen ning back

[waitineedaname]

masterpost for my aro4aro chengqing fake marriage fix-it

Part 1: find a place between fact and fiction

Jiang Cheng was embarrassed to admit that this particular solution had occurred to him frequently after their last parting, when he was kept awake wondering about her safety. It wasn’t the most elegant solution, and definitely not his preferred solution, and it would easily create more problems than it solved, but… “What if we were engaged?” “Jiang Cheng, have you gone insane?” Wei Wuxian said, which was really rich coming from him of all people. Wen Qing looked like she agreed with him and this pained her.

Part 2: the less we say about it, the better

“Jiang-zongzhu, I appreciate everything you are doing for me and my family,” Wen Qing folded her hands on her lap and stared him down imperiously, “But I have no intention of having sex with you.” Jiang Cheng wondered if the stress of the last week had finally pushed him over the edge and this was a hallucination caused by qi deviation. “I didn’t expect you to!”

Part 3: the magpie will have his way

Jiang Cheng had a lot on his plate. Political shitshow, balancing the needs of his sect with the needs of newcomers, navigating a new fake-but-also-kind-of-real relationship. He had those problems handled, more or less. The problem he was avoiding, then, was that of Wei Wuxian.

Part 4: the things you do for love are gonna come back to you one by one

She would’ve expected the softness to have been beaten out of him by everything that had happened. She knew it would have been beaten out of her, if she were in his shoes. In some ways, he had hardened up. He was harsher, colder, more pragmatic. It fit him, made him seem more mature as a sect leader. And yet, by some strange miracle, she was allowed to see beyond the facade of Jiang Wanyin, sect leader. Hidden beneath those hard layers was a boy that still cared with such an intensity it would someday tear him apart.  For reasons she could not fathom, he shed that shell around her, and trusted her with the soft interior. She did not feel like she should be trusted with this vulnerable core of his person, but to explain why would be to change everything, so she took the vulnerability he handed her and did her best not to shake.

Bonus: it's gonna be a long climb out

He realized too late that Jiang Cheng wasn’t going for the wine. His reflexes were off; another thing to blame on his weakened tolerance. Just as he realized Jiang Cheng’s real intent, a hand snatched his wrist with a bruising grip. He attempted to yank his arm away, but Jiang Cheng held firm, fingers pressed to his pulse point. “Jiang Cheng, dammit, let go!” Wei Wuxian snapped. But the damage was already done. He felt the buzz of Jiang Cheng’s qi as it probed through his meridians – and found them empty.

Bonus: Jiang Cheng is still Jin Ling's favorite uncle

“I’m just saying, if anyone is going to be the fun uncle, it’s obviously me,” Wei Wuxian said, shaking a rattle over Jin Ling’s head. “He’s two,” Jiang Cheng snapped, bouncing Jin Ling on his knee. “Anything that moves and makes noise is fun to him.” “Well, I move and make the most noise, so.” Wei Wuxian leaned in and started making faces at his nephew. “Right, A-Ling? Right?” Jin Ling gurgled happily and clapped his hands.