#the qinghe boys

[icarus-suraki]

@/yukishiro (Twitter)

The little Qinghe guys 💚🖤💛

[fandom-aleatoire]

I was in the shower, having shower thoughts. Because that’s where all random ideas come from and I was thinking about which of the major sect leaders was the best leader. Not the most ambitious, not the nicest, but which one led their sect the best.

Because the most ambitious? Absolutely, JGY. The best human? LXC. Hands down. Best cheek bones? Our boy JC. Best puppy owner? JL. Best at being a nasty old man?JGS. Etc, etc, etc.

But being a leader is different and I know that I have my own bias so who do y’all think is the best one? 

Please explain your choice, I really want to understand other peoples viewpoints, thank you!

[littlesmartart]

I've been wanting to draw something as a sort of follow-up from Safety of Distance for a while, so - tada! Xichen cultivates to immortality to keep his boys company! he never goes back to wearing his Lan ribbon, but the symbol of it still means something to him, so he takes up wearing a ring instead. he says he wears it on his wedding-ring-finger to discourage people from hitting on him, and if he secretly wears it there for other personal reasons, well, that's his business.

JGY fucking loooooooves playing with all the new technology and trying to keep up with fashion and pop culture (it's good for him to have a challenge as he is 100% A Dog With A Job, if he doesn't get enough stimulation he starts performing psychological experiments on his household) and nowadays he can use spreadsheets and banking apps on his phone!!! man is the happiest he's ever been!!!

Mingjue... cares considerably less about keeping up with the times, he knows he's gonna stand out whatever he does so he's just gonna Do Him however is most comfortable. he does wind up getting some very Qinghe tattoos to subtly obscure his, uh... reassembly scars....

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

May 13th

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1. I really need help finding a fic! It's either ABO or the Chinese equivalent kunze/qianyuan. It's got some sort of arranged marriage, as Madam Yu(?) marries WWX off to LWJ. In this universe Alphas often do not allow their Omegas to bite them back and create a reciprocated bond, as it gives them power and status in society. LWJ lets WWX bite him back (because he's a romantic and a sap), and the Jiang's are salty because JYL wasn't given a reciprocal bond when she married JZY, so WWX is technically of a higher status than she is now. @star-whatevers

FOUND!🔒Alliance AU by Ilona22 (E, 21k, WangXian, JYL/OC, Arranged Marriage, A/B/O Dynamics, PWP, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Intersex Omegas, Not JC Friendly, Matchmaking, canon Jiang family dynamics, Family time, Night Hunts, Mention of male omega pregnancy, Intrigue at Jinlintai, Mentions of Prostitution, War, Conflict between characters)

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2. Hi! Fic finder plz. Looking for a fic where wwx is "sacrificed" by the other great sects to the gusu lan (in exchange for something? Don't remember). He is given to lwj and all the sects assume wwx is going to be a concubine (so much so that when they present wwx to lwj they dress him up like a concubine). Wwx also expects this and is very surprised when Iwj treats him nicely and everything. You can tell that lwj has fallen for wwx but is holding himself back. Wwx gradually falls for him too. I remember there was a part where the great sects came to visit and were surprised that wwx wasn't treated like a concubine. Tysm!!

FOUND? golden when the day met the night by glitteringmoonlight (Not rated, 95k, slow burn, sugar daddy LWJ, light, angst, fluff, developing relationship, eventual smut, WIP)

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3. Hiii!!!

I'm looking for a fic where Lan Zhan is de-aged and the juniors take care of him while on a night hunt. Wei Ying is still away and has not returned and they have not confessed yet. Baby LZ just wants his WY so the junior quartet takes him to Qinghe to a discussion conference or smth. Wei Ying is also called there and LZ just goes and hugs him.

That's all I can remember. I think he was cursed to be more open and vulnerable so that he could confess.

Thanks! @ffaddictsrn

FOUND! Send Me Your Earnest Love by goneforthestars (T, 13k, WangXian, Age Regression/De-Aging, Curses, Attempt at Humor, Light Angst, baby LWJ, Mutual Pining, Fluff, Post-Canon)

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4. I hope you can help, fingers crossed! I've tried everything on this one... Jin sibs murder JGS? sort of along the lines of Qin Su and the boys, but I can't even remember if it was a full fic on Ao3 or maybe even a ficlet/snippet on Tumblr? I think JZX was very shocked/normal reaction but siding with his siblings and JGY/MXY/QS were all stab-happy gremlins? I think JGY and QS might have found out much earlier that they were related and planned revenge together? Any help would be great, thank you! @katonahottinroof

I read #4 a few weeks ago😭 I believe lan zhan was a courtesan/prostitute who was supposed to assassinate wei ying, and lan zhan was beholden to meng yao for saving him. lab zhan ends up going to wei yings home in the burial mounds and gets poisoned I think ? does this sound familiar? the story may be tagged under courtesan lan zhan or prostitute lan zhan

NOT FOUND! out to get you (to get you) by iliacquer (E, 41k, wangxian, graphic depictions of violence, switching, top/bottom LWJ, top/bottom WWX, power play, courtesan LWJ, assassin LWJ, dark lord WWX, bondage, happy ending, past slavery)

FOUND! 🔒Something is Rotten in the State of Lanling by East_Of_Akkala (T, 42k, XuanLi, 3Zun, LQY/QS, Fix-It, Character Death, Angst, Family Feels, Black Comedy, Except for chapter 1, MDZS SPOILERS, Canon Divergence, Jin Siblings Dynamics, QS Deserves Better, Humor, Fluff, Background Relationships, Warning: JGS, POV Multiple, POV QS, POV MXY, POV JGY, Murder, Attempted Murder, Illustrated Fic)

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5. Good afternoon! I hope everyone has had a pleasant day.

Can’t say how many of my favorite stories have been found through you guys!

For the next fic finder.

I’m looking for a fic that has both a/b/o in it but also the lan clan were dragons and wwx was a fox, I think. Either one or both, I can’t quite recall.

Oh and it’s set in study arch.

Wwx and Lwj were already a couple or courting at the very least.

Anyway what I remember the clearest was a part where wwx was walking some stairs, might have been the stars to cloud recesses.

Anyway a spiritual dog suddenly appears and I think starts chasing or just barking at wwx.

Anyway twin jades to the save.

It is later revealed that the dog belonged to Jin Zixun which was confirmed by Zixuan who recognized the dog.

That’s all I remember.

Have a nice day and keep up the fantastic work! @ravenwithwings

FOUND! Jades' Lotus by keela_1221 (E, 125k, LXC/WWX/LWJ, Jadecest, Incest, Non-Traditional A/B/O Dynamics, Fluff, Smut, True Mates, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, No Sunshot Campaign, WWX Has a Breeding Kink, Male Lactation, Marriage Contracts, Polyamory, Pining, thirst, Mpreg, They Experiment a Little, Cum Marking, switch everyone, Double Penetration, graphic description of childbirth, Sprinklings of angst for flavor)

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6. There's this wangxian fanfic I know I've read more than once, but I can't seem to find it anymore! Ok, so it's a modern world with cultivation fic, and in it the 5 Great Sects are like big crime syndicates or something similar. Wei Ying has his own territory in Yiling where he is known, of course, as the Yiling Laozu. The story uses specific terms to refer to some characters' status. Ex: Lan Wangji is the Red Pole of the Lan Sect, and Meng Yao is, I think, the Straw Sandal. Pls help me find it? @dreammaiden21

FOUND? 🔒 Words are Gonna Bleed from Me by GravityWinsAgain (E, 173k, WangXian, WIP, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Triad AU, Blood and Violence, Explicit Sexual Content, warnings in the notes, Modern with Magic, Dark Magic, BAMF WWX, BAMF LWJ, Murder Husbands, POV WWX, Organized Crime, lovers to enemies to estranged lovers and back to lovers, it gets weird when somebody dies but not really, Angst, Feels, BDSM Switch WangXian, Ghosts, Body Horror)

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7. Hi there! I hope you can help me figure out which fic I have just remembered. I think it might have been an ABO fic, but I'm not sure. All I remember is one scene. There was some kind of trial, and WWX was seated in some kind of special alcove where nobody could see or hear him, so that he could watch without encountering the Jiangs. I think he made some kind of comment about the type of court drama that would necessitate such a feature being built. Does anyone else remember this? Thank you!! @balleyboley

FOUND! 🔒 Crossing Paths by Ilona22 (M, 21k, wangxian, shapeshifter au, graphic depictions of violence, war between sects, war crimes, not JC friendly, happy ending)

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8. hi! potentially very long shot, but I'm looking for a fic with this quote "Besides, no one ‘was good,’ in some isolated way. Good was a relation between people. Good was a thing you did." I saved this quote then, and sadly can't remember any other details about this fic... I'd love find it to reread again, thank you! @potatokunst

FOUND? I Started From the Bottom/And Now I’m Rich by x_los (E, 57k, WWX/WRH, WWX/JGS, wangxian, JYL/JZX, time travel fix-it, Pining, Marriage of Convenience, Arranged Marriage, No Sunshot Campaign, WQ Lives, Transmigration, Weddings, Sugar Daddy au, Sugar Daddy, Black Widow, Protective Siblings, Family, Dysfunctional Family, Family Bonding, Sugar Baby, consort, Politics, Demonic Cultivation, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Canon-typical domestic dysfunction, Canon-Typical Gore, Ballad 39: Tam Lin, YLLZ, Crack Treated Seriously) did a search for the quote and it came up -- ch 3, specifically

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9. Fic finder request: there's a fic I only recall some details of. In this fic, dual cultivation in the Cold Pond Cave contributes to the security of the Cloud Recesses, but it has to be done by powerful cultivators with a member of the main family. MY and LXC are married in this fic, but they are unable to use this method of boosting security because MY's cultivation level is not high enough. Wangxian do it eventually, and when they leave the Cold Pond Cave, they are congratulated (?) by the Lans, who were waiting outside. WWX is also welcomed into the sect as one of their own. I think JC comments at some point that it's really weird for him to be safe in Cloud Recesses because of this reason. Please help me find this fic!

FOUND? The Ritual by nightwalker (E, 12k, WangXian, Sex Magic, Post-Canon, Fluff and Smut)

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10. Hello! I am looking for a fic that might have been canon-esque, but also could have been modern, where Mama Lan calls Lan Zhan her little bird. Only I think for a while the author gave us the Chinese word for it, which I don't recall what it was. It's translated later in the story. Thank you!

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11. Looking for a longfic I read a while back. The elements I remember are that the Lan figured out that WWX wasn't being properly compensated/treated as a head disciple of the Jiang and the deliberate stunting of his academic education was a violation of (handwavy) Jianghu high academia codes of conduct. As a result the Lan got WWX his backpay and the Jiang teachers got shunned by their academic peers. Had similar vibes to Stunted, Starving Juvenility, but I did a reread of that recently and I'm pretty sure it was a different fic. Thanks! @alychelms

Love this one and recently read it, but not it. The fic I'm looking for was definitely in canon-setting

NOT FOUND sounds like part of the story for 🧡🔒Truth Will Out (when caught on video) - End_OTW_Racism! by KizuKatana (E, 178k, WangXian, WN & WWX & WQ, graphic depictions of violence, modern cultivation, canon divergence, YZY abuses WWX , caught on camera, partial core removal, WWX kicked out of Jiang sect, livestreamer WWX, meet ugly, dual cultivation, smut, no war)

FOUND!🔒 the language of flowers and silent things series by Reverie (cl410) (M, 107k, WangXian, LXC/NMJ, LWJ & Madam Lan, NHS & LWJ, LWJ & LXC, LWJ & NMJ, LWJ & NHS Friendship, Developing Relationship, POV LWJ, Minor Injuries, Autistic LWJ, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, aka the YZY warning, Genius WWX, Light Angst And Hurt/Comfort, WWX Protection Squad, Gusu Lan Sect, Slow Burn, Protective LWJ, LWJ-centric, Politics, Canon Divergence, No Sunshot Campaign, Cultivation Sect Politics, Protective WWX) I don't recall if backpay was a part of it, but 11 reminds me of this

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12. Hi, I really need help finding a fic I read on ao3 some time ago. It was a modern day fic, I believe set in America, where wei ying and lan zhan meet again at jiang yanli’s wedding. They both act awkward around each other and don’t really interact until they are all in the hotel lobby and wei ying is trying to leave because LZ…but yanli tells lan zhan to give him a ride because it’s suppose to be a long ride home (to a different state I believe and lan zhan will be driving by it either way so it’s ideal) Wei ying tries to reject the idea but LXC gets involved too and he’s like it’s a good idea. It’s like a long drive/road trip fic where they are forced to interact and make up. Thank you for your time and effort.

Hi, I wrote to you asking for fic #12 on your may 13th post. I ended up finding it. It was a wlw fic 7:15 from Chicago by milesofheart. I’m sorry for the inconvenience but thank you for this platform, allowing me to ask in the first place.

FOUND! 7:15 from Chicago by milesofheart (T, 24k, WangXian, F/F, Modern, Rule 63, Road Trip, Getting Together, Female WangXian, matchmaking siblings, recovering from traumatic childhoods, spiritual trauma, Lan Disciplines as modern religious fundamentalism, LWJ's defiance of the Lan Disciplines, activist LWJ, the universal rage of women in a sexist world, Estranged Friends to Lovers, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, brief references to sexual violence, references to past alcohol abuse, mention of spiking a drink as a bad practical joke but in a safe environment, mentions of real American political and social issues, brief mention of physical child abuse, past experiences of homophobia)

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13. I need help finding a fic. I've looked through my AO3 history and had no luck. Here's what I remember: Its a modern AU (I dont recall if its modern Cultivation or modern without magic) WWX is on the outs the Jiangs but is close to the Nies. There is a scene where NHS puts put Nie braids into WWX hair, and LWJ is jealous and takes them out. WWX developed a software that the Nies distribute and the Jiangs use. When WWX does online tech support for the Jiangs he uses the alias MXY.

FOUND! Come Around and Stay by trippednfell (M, 160k, WangXian, NieLan, Slow Burn, Kid Fic, Found Family, Modern AU, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, PTSD, Blood and Injury, Dissociation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Musicals, POV Alternating, Baking, Yunmeng reconciliation (eventually), Friend Zoning, Literal Sleeping Together, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks)

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14. Hello, how are you doing? 👋

I am looking for a fic which i found on this blog i think, i am not sure. It's where wwx breaks up with lwj as a dare but they're actually meeting for the first time. I thought i had it bookmarked but unfortunately i was wrong, please help me find it. 🫰

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15. Heya bros!! Got a request for the ficfinder? I read it a while back but accidentally closed the tab.

It was Wen Ning and Nis Huaisang centric. Chapter one was Wen Ning helping NHS escape qishan, chap 2 was NHS helping WN break outta the Jin dungeon and I think chap 3 was them talking about it??

I think Hua Cheng and Xie Lian made a very brief cameo in the third chapter?

FOUND? Jailbreaking by CullenBlue (T, 21k, WN & NHS, Canon Compliant, POV NHS, NHS Is A Little Shit, Cinnamon Roll WN, Fierce Corpse WN, Ghost General WN, References to Heavens Official’s Blessing, References to The Scum Villain’s Self Saving System, NHS insulting the Wen Clan’s taste in interior Decorating, Mentions of Murder, WN made a friend by talking about his childhood trauma, BAMF WN, Panic Attacks, mentions of gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Violence in the Name of Comedy, Trauma, Is NHS taking anything seriously? who knows, Bromance)

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16. Hi...

I am looking for this fic that I read a long time ago. It's a modern au and mpreg, where at the airport Wei ying went to the toilet and left a yuan with strangers (Mr & Madam Lan). Both of them thought twin jade especially lan zhan had a secret child as a yuan share similarities with the lan gene. If I'm not mistaken, Wei ying works together with lan zhan before leaving the country because of pregnancy and lan zhan doesn't even know about it. I don't remember why...🤔

Please help me find it. Thank you for your time 😊 @hazeylove89 //

Hi. I would hope to find this fic I read a long time ago. It's modern au where Wei ying leaving a yuan with stranger in airport for toilet break however the stranger is Mr &Mrs lan. Both of them thought a yuan is lan zhan child as a yuan share similarities with lan zhan. Btw this fic is mpreg n lan zhan don't know that Wei ying is pregnant.

Sorry if it's a difficult request. Thank you.

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17. hello! trying to find a specific tumblr post (not here but out in the wild) about yllz wwx actually being a fairly solid ghost who died in the burial mounds and knows he's dead but expects the ones he loves to also pick up on that and mourn him/give offerings? but none of them do; they see solid and assume alive, so he's feeling hurt about it. pretty sure it's here on tumblr somewhere but will accept fic recs

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18. this for fic finder <3 i remember reading a fic where WWX is a paperman and is spying on LWJ bathing. and then paperman wwx gets a cut and lwj gets angry or sulking at him for disregarding his safety @notdaniee

FOUND! I don't know about a fic but there's a comic by @moobiess like that

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19. hello, thank you for your help!

i was looking for this fic where wwx and mianmian are dating (?) and wwx accidentally moans lwj's name while making out/intercourse. i am unable to find it anymore. could you please help?

thank you again.

hello! #19 from the latest fic finder (may 13th). yes! it does! wwx goes to lwj's and they 'talk' about whatever happened and then they end up having sex.

bummer that they made it private, thank you for the help though!

sounds like a fic that has been privated/hidden by Pancho I believe , in the story does wei ying end up going over to Lan zhan and they have sex?

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20. hiii, i need help finding a fic on ao3 where lan wangji and wei wuxian time travel to the past and tell the sect leaders some form of info. the sect leaders are then nosy and weird about it so they end up using something to spy on them? lan xichen feels guilty but joins in anyway. in the scene that the sects see wwx and lwj are sitting and wwx is combing lwj's hair i think ? the two are aware that they're being watched as well. i don't remember much else, but i hope that's accurate enough. thank you so much.

FOUND? lan xichen is very concerned (and confused) by theninjacat (T, 3k, WangXian, POV Outsider, Time Travel, Canon Divergence, Sunshot Campaign)

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[rarepears]

Hello, where can I find an AU where Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe switch roles?

By which I mean the following:

Shen Qingqiu absolutely loathes his shidi. The Bai Zhan peak lord is no better than a mindless beast, a brute. For all that his fellow peak lord was blessed with talent in the martial arts - he was a prodigy that immediately overwhelmed his older martial siblings just a year after joining the sect to assume the position of head disciple - and dogged stubbornness that allowed him to discover endless rare treasures and even rarer beasts and plants, this shidi was an irritating, uncouth, ill mannered and even more ill tempered cultivator that always accosted Shen Jiu day in and day out for-

"Fight me!"

Shen Jiu wacked Luo Qingehe on the head. "Beast!"

Luo Qinghe stepped back a couple steps, not looking sheepish in the slightest. "Shixiong," he whined instead, looking like a bullied maiden with teary eyes and a pout. He hunched himself to not look like the broad shouldered towering menance that was Bai Zhan's War God. "Just one spar? I made you lunch too."

Shen Jiu knew better than to be tricked at such foolish deception. Not when he knew the true purpose of Luo Qinghe's goal was to...

To...

"Immoral!" A scandalized young boy jumped right in. His face was red and incensed. He pulled out a sword - a wooden sword, one that was granted to disciples too young to go to the sword peak and find their cultivation sword - and immediately lept over the guqin. "Leecherous scum!" He raised the sword high over his head to strike the Bai Zhan peak lord.

Shen Qingqiu raised his fan higher so he wouldn't have to see the despicable scene any longer. Yet again, he regretted taking on the Liu clan's scion into Qing Jing peak. This noble's son was far more suited for Bai Zhan's ways, no matter how his face and lineage indicated that he was more suited toward spiritual cultivation.

No-

No, it was more apt to say that it was Luo Qinghe's fault. The man has folded like wet paper the moment Shen Qingqiu had interrupted to say that he wanted the Liu heir for his peak.

Yes, that was accurate. Everything was the beast's fault.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

An AU where Luo Binghe is the Bai Zhan peak lord and part of the Qing generation. Liu Qingge is Shen Jiu's newest disciple. Somehow Luo Binghe's demonic seal managed to stay in tact... until Liu Qingge goes off to participate in his first Conference and Mobei Jun tears apart the Bai Zhan's seal.

Luo Binghe regularly barges into Shen Qingqiu's cottage with food - it's his (poorly thought out) attempts at wooing his shixiong. His requests for spars are so he can get his hands on Shen Qingqiu - cop a feel or two. See a mussed up disheveled Shen Qingqiu too, with red cheeks and panting mouth. Hehehe...

Everyone and their mother knows about Luo Binghe's crush on Shen Qingqiu. If only Shen Qingqiu didn't think that Luo Binghe was messing around with him.

As for Liu Qingge? His mom arranged for her son to go to Qing Jing peak as Proper Noble Children Do in hopes of Liu Qingge actually learning the gentlemenary arts instead of only fighting with swords...

No, it doesn't work.

But Liu Qingge is there to help console Shen Jiu after Luo Binghe's "death" in the conference. (So Luo Binghe did learn some politics by having a crush on Shen Qingqiu and jumped into the Endless Abyss himself...) Funnily enough, Liu Qingge, despite being a Qing Jing disciple, manages to become the new(?) Bai Zhan peak lord after Luo Binghe's "death". Blame Bai Zhan peak lord tradition of being the best fighter on the peak.

Liu Qingge still continues calling Shen Qingqiu "shizun" in peak lord meetings though.

[rayan12sworld]

Something is wrong with A-Zhan!

By:HeloSoph

Summary:

Something is very wrong with Lan Xichen's younger brother.

First, he didn't wake up at his usual time.

Then, when he did wake up, he called him xiongzhang.

And as if that wasn't enough, he hugged him!

A-Zhan, the boy who hates physical contact since their mother's passing, hugged his brother on his own accord!

And as if the day couldn't get weirder-

“A-Zhan.”

“Yes, shufu.”

“What did shufu say before he let you and your dada go?”

“To get something we like.”

“And what did A-Zhan do?”

“A-Zhan likes Wei Ying.”

Lan Qiren’s eye twitched again.

OR: Lan Wangji time travels and decides to change everything.

Chapter:6/6

Words:15,306

Status:completed

(Dark lan wangji)

Like he killed everyone in the first time line 🫡

Wei Ying is Lan Qiren's cabbage

If what Nie Huaisang had written had even a semblance of truth, he won’t have to worry about his injured back soon. And as long as he does as instructed in the letter, he will be with Wei Ying soon, too. If not, he’ll just kill Nie Huaisang too. After all, lying is forbidden. And lying to him about Wei Ying– giving him false hope – is even more unforgivable.

~~

For he knows that Jiang Wanyin did blame his Wei Ying for the deaths of his family and sect members, as if Wei Ying didn’t lose the same people too. He hadn’t been able to intervene back then, not with the war blowing in all their faces. One man’s bitterness was of little insignificance. But now, Lan Wangji will make sure that the Jiang Sect Leader pays for everything. In full. He is the paragon of righteousness. His bitterness, after all, is not insignificant. It is righteous. It is justice. He is justice.

~~~

It looked lived in. But that can’t be true. His zhiji, his bright and cheerful, full of energy Wei Ying was long dead. Even before his death, this was not the room he lived in. ‘This lying bastard,’ Lan Wangji’s eyes turned cold as he looked at Jiang Wanyin and fixated on the bead of cold sweat that left from his hairline and threatened to fall in his eyes. He should gouge those eyes out, Lan Wangji absentmindedly made a note to himself. “I’ll take everything that belongs to my zhiji, and I’ll start with that golden core. Who gave you the right to use it, you bastard?”

~~

In Qinghe, Nie Huaisang felt a severe headache for a week. When his headache subsided and he woke up, it was to his brother by his bedside, fretting over him. ‘Lan Wangji’s love for Wei-xiong is no joke.’

~~

“You!” He got up and pointed at Lan Wangji, shaking with rage. Lan Wangji looked at him with a crazed look in his eyes, “Stop pointing those fingers at me unless you want them broken.” “Lan Zhan, that’s not a nice thing to say.” Wei Wuxian held Lan Wangji’s face in his hands and gently reprimanded him as if he were a misbehaving toddler, not a man fully capable of– and intending to– causing bodily harm to the Jiang Sect Heir. “Wei Ying..” Wei Wuxian understood that Lan Zhan was not sorry, so he didn’t push. He simply kissed his forehead, right on his sacred ribbon, “I’ll wait at Jingshi, come back quickly, hmm?” “Mn.” Having gotten his answer, Wei Wuxian collected his stuff and went back to his shared residence with Lan Wangji to wait for his zhiji to be done here. Lan Zhan never liked Wei Ying seeing him when he got like this. He claimed that Wei Ying might not like him anymore if he saw him like this. Wei Wuxian claimed that he would love him anyway. In the end, just to reassure Lan Zhan, Wei Wuxian always listened, not wanting to see his zhiji unhappy or in doubt even for a single moment. With Wei Wuxian gone, the room’s temperature somehow fell even lower. And this time, Jiang Wanyin noticed too. Everyone stood frozen in their place as Lan Wangji effortlessly grabbed the Jiang Sect Heir by the throat and lifted him in air, the boy’s feet dangling in the air as he tried and failed to pry the strong hand away from his throat. As the boy’s face started turning the same colour as the nine-petalled lotus embroidery on his shoulders, Lan Wangji spoke, “I hear another word about my fiance from your mouth, your corpse will greet your family when you leave here. Do I make myself clear?” The Jiang boy struggled against Lan Wangji’s steady hold for some time until his vision blurred. It was only after his vision started spotting that he made an attempt to nod. He was thrown to the ground like discarded trash after Lan Wangji decided his answer was acceptable. For now. As Lan Wangji left and the Jiang Sect Heir choked on the ground, coughing up a storm, the rest of the guest disciples still stood frozen in their place.

[i-will-cry-you-a-river]

Like all things in Nie Huaisang's life, it started with Da-ge.

When killing Jin Guangyao and causing the heartbreak of Lan Xichen didn't help, didn't bring back his Da-ge nor gave him happiness or peace, at least - he tried something else.

The thing about sacrificing one, and alienating the other source of his to demonic cultivation was that it made everything way harder than it should have been - but he was always a resourceful little demon. Just as easily as he defeated the mastermind behind the murder of his Da-ge, he found himself back in time, when Jin Guangyao was still called Meng Yao and Da-ge was still a living, lovely little ball of rage and fierceness.

It was a strange experience, to be older than his brave and strong and talented Da-ge, but... he would always be his spoiled little didi. It wouldn't take long to get back to being the pampered little Second Master of Qinghe. Except...

He couldn't allow himself to be that lazy and shallow as he was. His Da-ge would. Not. Die. Not under his watch.

He was ready to kill Jin Guangyao, before the man could lay even a finger (or a faulty note) on his brother, but-

The man he met at the first time he opened his eyes in his past - in his new present -, was Meng Yao. His favorite non-Da-ge person, his friend, his first (second, if he wanted to be honest) crush. Da-ge's deputy, whose presence was essential in the daily lives of Qinghe. Nie Huaisang's plans changed in the minute he heard his A-Yao's soft words of concern.

"Is Second Master okay? Should I call for the healer?"

It was real.

Ever since he realized who killed his beloved brother, he questioned everything he knew about Meng Yao. He questioned his care, his love, his friendliness. But it was all real. His A-Yao really cared about him.

Maybe not Jin Guangyao. But Meng Yao did. And that care was what saved him.

"No, it's okay! It was just a quick dizziness, but everything is good now. And how many times more should I tell you that it's A-Sang?! A-Sang! A-Yao is so cruel to his A-Sang," he pouted, and the helpless adoration in the other man's eyes was so clear to him now that he didn't understand how past him had failed to notice it.

"Once more, probably," Meng Yao sassed, his tiny smile and cute little dimples hidden behind his sleeves.

"So cruel..." Nie Huaisang muttered, hiding his own smile behind a fan.

"Sect Leader sent me to tell you to get ready for the arrival of Young Master Lan," A-Yao said, taking Nie Huaisang's hairbrush in his hand to tame the unruly hair, and the younger boy allowed it, deep in his thoughts.

Meng Yao had to stay. Qinghe couldn't afford losing him right now, Jin Guangshan didn't deserve him, Nie Mingjue needed him at least until after the war, and Nie Huaisang... well, he wanted him. But in the past, as soon as Meng Yao had a better option, he took it, be it the adoration of Lan Xichen, the acceptance of Jin Guangshan or the opportunity to become Sect Leader. Meng Yao would do everything to be as close to power as he could, to be acknowledged and respected.

Nie Huaisang couldn't give that to him. He was just the heir, and saving Nie Mingjue was the whole reason for doing the whole time travel thing. He was not powerful enough. On the other hand, he would never allow Nie Mingjue to fall for Meng Yao, as his brother would never survive that relationship. Allowing Jin Guangshan to accept Meng Yao into the Jin Sect was absolutely out of the question. But-

But.

Hm.

That might work.

Lan Xichen had fallen for Meng Yao before. It was inevitable, but it was not enough. They would never do anything with their feelings; Xichen-ge was too Lan for anything, and Meng Yao would always feel inferior. And just the two of them... that would not guarantee Nie Mingjue's survival. (Hah! On the contrary, it would make the whole murder easier.) But!

But...

Lan Xichen always had a soft spot for Nie Huaisang. With some carefully timed helpless tears, some grateful hugs that last longer than appropriate, some flattering words and carefully cultivated image of being soft and sweet and just spicy enough to not be seen as a younger brother, it would be so easy to seduce the First Jade.

A-Yao already adored him, and if he had the means, the opportunity and the incentive to have Nie Huaisang as his, he would take it. Before, he never started anything with Huaisang because being the husband of the Second Young Master was not attractive enough. But being the spouse of the heir of Qinghe AND the heir - soon-to-be Sect Leader - of Lan was a completely different thing. Having connections to not one but two of the Big Sects, being Consort Lan, the husband of a man who would be indulgent to all of his manipulations and power games would be a temptation not even Meng Yao could resist.

Jing Guangshan had to die soon, though. It would be a shame to kill his not-yet-husband because he thought it was a good idea to suck up to his walking sexually transmitted disease of a father.

[coolshadowtwins]

It’s time for the next part of my MDZS Pokémon Au, with part 1 here and the last part here.

Reminders for this series- 1) Everyone’s starter Pokémon is the equivalent to their sword, and has the corresponding name. If they have a second, named weapon, then a second Pokémon on the team gets a name! 2) Everyone has a team of three, because that makes things easier for me!

Last time I told you about the main characters, JC and WWX. This time, they get to fight their first gym battle and meet a rival! The boys have left Lotus Pier, and have made their way to the next big city with a gym - Qinghe.

There, in the Pokémon center, they meet-

It’s Lan Wangi! I made Swablu a ‘Lan’ Pokémon, much the way I made Alolan vulpix one as well, and it’s the equivalent to Bichen. His ChingLing is the equivalent of Wangi. Yes, that does mean that he named his ChingLing after himself, not I will not change it. This is the rules of the world I have made for myself, and so it’s what I am sticking with lol

I imagine that when JC and WWX meets him, these are the two Pokémon he already has. He gets bunneary later, probably with something to have to do with WWX, but I don’t know what happens for him to get it.

You saw it before with the Juniors, but the Lan Pokémon have little headbands! I just thought it would be cute!

My imagining of this first meeting is WWX, knowing that a gym battle is coming up, is getting excited! Pokémon battling is fun to him! JC, who also normally likes battling, is really nervous about this because Qinghe’s gym is a hard one. Historically, it was supposed to be a rock gym, which would be incredibly had to get through with just an Eevee. In more recent years, it’s turned into more of a general ‘hits hard’ gym but it will still be very difficult.

Then WWX sees a new trainer walk into the Pokémon center! LWG, who already has two Pokémon! WWW thinks this would be the best practice, and jumps up to challenge LWG to a battle!

LWG just stares at him for a long moment, before telling him no and walking right back out. WWX wilts, and JC gets on to him for trying to start a battle in a Pokémon center.

The idea of LWG that he’s also on his gym journey and will run into the boys often as they journey.

JC and WWX decide to skip the training and go scope out the gym. When they get there, they are greeted to two men arguing. It’s Nie Huaisang, arguing with an older Nie cousin!

NHS wants to leave the city, and go on his own journey. Except it’s not a gym circuit challenge like the other heirs. I haven’t decided if I would want him into Pokémon contests or something else, but it’s definitely not the gyms. His older cousin, who had been out in charge of him while NMJ is gone to do Elite four things, can not let him go because NHS the one suppose to be looking over the gym! Except he hasn’t even been doing that- the cousin has been the one to take challengers. In fact, he had been the one to just fight, and lose to, LWG earlier that day.

So when the Nie cousin realizes that JC and WWX are there, he has to turn them away.his Pokémon aren’t up for another two fights.

NHS jumps in to give a bet- if NHS could beat both of JC and WWX in a battle, then he can go out on his journey. Clearly he would be a good enough battler then! The cousin is skeptical, but JC jumps on the opportunity- surely this would make the gym challenge easier! (Or maybe WWX jumps on the idea. I can’t decide which would be more up to it)

So that’s the deal made. NHS has only two Pokémon right now, so it’s a double battle with JC and WWX sharing a side.

The two Pokémon NHS has right now is his Teddiursa and his Bonsley.

I imagine that he just… finds a bird on the road later lol. I’m giving him a gun.

Teddiursa is his starter. It matches his brother who, spoiler, has an ursaring. I felt that it fit them. I then gave him a bonsley because I felt the fake crying really fit NHS. Can’t you imagine NHS crying, yelling that he doesn’t know something, while both his Pokémon are doing the same thing at his feet. Also, both Teddiursa and Bonsley are little crafty pos in the anime, and I feel like really fits NHS character lol

I want NHS to put up a fight, and maybe even knock an Eevee out. A lot of tricky moves- charm, fake tears, attract. But ultimately JC and WWX win, as we knew they would, and they get the badge.

Somewhere along the way in the episode, the three boys get to bond, but I don’t want to write that bit. But WWX is sad for NHS about having to stay behind in town.

Until, of course, they go to leave the town, only to be stopped by NHS running after them with a bag. He cheerfully explains that his cousin let him go, but only if he had company! JC is grumpy about is but WWX is all for it. Welcome NHS to the team! ( the cousin did not give him the right to leave. NHS just decided that the only one that can boss him around is his brother, who isn’t here right now. Then he snuck out a window.)

See you next time on this thing! It’s time to meet the evil team of the region!

[lewiscarrolatemybrain]

In a happy AU I love the idea of Jingyi’s parents just like. Not realizing at first how connected their son is.

Like when he first starts toddling after Hanguang-Jun and Wei Wuxian they’re both obviously strESSED because that is THE SECT HEIR AND HIS HUSBAND baobei you need to be on your absolute best behavior do you understand look at me promise me Jingyi

And Wangxian are like it’s fine he’s a good kid and a’Yuan’s best friend, we don’t mind looking after him, the boys should get to spend time together

And that eventually becomes Jingyi tagging along for visits to Yunmeng and Lanling and occasionally Qinghe, and his parents obviously knew he traveled and made friends when he went out with Sizhui and his dads but they didn’t ever really. Stop to think about what that might mean?? Up until a discussion conference rolls around and his dad catches him apparently BULLYING THE HEIR TO THE LANLING JIN SECT and just about explodes only for Jin Rulan to… come to Jingyi’s defense? Because apparently that wasn’t bullying it was banter?? His son Banters with the Heir To The Lanling Jin???

And… the heir to the Yunmeng Jiang, and the Baling Ouyang, and All of the Wen kids call him cousin and —

Just that startling realization that your nobody ass branch kid apparently has the ear of almost all the future sect-leaders for no other reason than he was nice to the new kid at school before anyone else was. They realize that Jingyi does not know he has this power and elect to never ever tell him.

[icarus-suraki]

This is way too entertaining...

[stiltonbasket]

for whenever you feel like: wrh raises wwx au continuation?❤️ i already love it!!

"You cannot send your son to war."

It is the first time Lan Wangji has spoken in days. He retreated from the Wei-fu's main compound nearly a fortnight previously, filled with mingled dread and fury when he heard that Wei Ying's son would be riding to battle—and in all that time, Wei Ying did not once attempt to have the conscription order rescinded.

Perhaps he knew the effort would be fruitless. Wen Ruohan valued Wei Ying above his own sons, before he was wounded—for otherwise, he would have never carved those wretched compulsion sigils into Wei Ying's skin—but Wen Yuan was worth nothing more to him than the guest cultivators who were sent out to perish by the hundreds during the second year of the war, because he did not share Wei Ying's blood.

His father's training went only so far, Xiao Liuzi had said, when Lan Wangji first came to the Wei-fu as a concubine. Young Master Yuan has no rival for talent among the other boys of his age, and Lady Wen says that he is the very picture of Xinhua-jiangjun as a youth—but there is something about the lord's cultivation that came from his mother, the one who came down from Baoshan Sanren's mountain, and the little master does not have it. That is the power Wen Ruohan most desires in a right-hand, and so the little master is useless to him.

Wei Ying was as useful as a flesh-and-blood right hand to Wen Ruohan, even injured, but not useful enough to be kept truly happy. He had been showered in riches for the past two decades, denied no treasure that could be obtained by gold or human toil; but he had few dear ones that Wen Ruohan could not touch, let alone any assurance that his family in the Nightless City would be kept safe if he were to fail his master—and if the sigils on his back had not prevented him from doing so, he would have taken his own life in misery long before he came of age, hoping that his death would permit the infant Wen Yuan to pass out of Wen Ruohan's notice for ever.

I wish he had not told me that, Lan Wangji thinks painfully, recalling the night his beloved drank himself sick on spoiled wine and confessed the truth of his long years of service to the tyrant who lived in the Sun Palace. I can do nothing for him, and now there is nothing left but empty hope for the both of us.

For his part, Lan Wangji suffers no delusions about Wen Sizhui's ability in war. While night-hunting, he could rival Xichen at his strongest, in the years before he commenced work on the great warding seals that protect Gusu and the Unclean Realm; but A-Yuan cannot bear to stand helpless in the face of pain, whether his disciple siblings' or the pain of some little creature that crossed his path on his travels, and bearing witness to the unending agony of war will dull A-Yuan's wits and strength to the point where they might well abandon him entirely.

"You cannot send him," Lan Wangji repeats now, folding one hand over Wei Ying's shoulder. "Let him ride out with the others, if you must. But surely he can leave his regiment under cover of night and escape, long before he reaches Qinghe. He is your son—he could easily find a way to depart without being noticed, and then—"

"Where would he go, Lan Zhan?" Wei Ying asks, turning around to face him. "If he deserts his regiment, the way home will be barred to him forever. If he ever dared to come back, he would be executed as a traitor after Wen Ruohan came to hear of it, and perhaps tortured for days before that. If I must lose him, I would rather he meet a quick end in battle than a terrible one in the torturing chambers."

Lan Wangji says nothing.

"You came out of the xingtang yourself," Wei Ying says dully. "You know Yuan'er would never survive it."

His gaze flickers down towards Lan Wangji's legs, as if he could look right through the thick silk of his trousers and down upon the knotted scars beneath them; and then he turns his face up to the ceiling and stands without moving for a long, long while.

"How dear is he to you?" he says at last. "A-Yuan, I mean."

"Dearer than life."

The confession falls from his lips easily. When Lan Wangji first entered the Wei-fu, he was prepared to kill his way out of it with the stone splinter he tore from the dungeon walls, if necessary—but on the wedding night, A-Yuan stole into the bridal chamber while Wei Ying slept, carrying ointment and bandages for Lan Wangji's shattered legs, and treated his injuries as skillfully as his aunt Wen Qing might have done.

"I doubt Wen Ruohan will be pleased to hear of this," Lan Wangji had rasped, stunned almost speechless by the small, deft hands flying over the deep gouges in his ankles. "Go back to bed, xiao-gongzi. Wen Ruohan ordered me here to humiliate your father, not to serve as a companion to him. What do you think he will do if he finds that someone from Xinhua-jiangjun's household dressed my wounds?"

"You're here to serve as a reminder to my Uncle Yu, actually," A-Yuan muttered. "He's Fuqin's favorite concubine, and Wen-zongzhu sent you here to punish him. He thinks Yu-shushu should have died in battle before he allowed any harm to come to my A-Die."

With that, A-Yuan finished tying off the bandages and departed; and brief though the treatment had been, it permitted Lan Wangji to ignore the fire in his bones for long enough to have a full night's rest.

The wounds are nothing more than scars now, and the full function of Lan Wangji's legs has long since been restored. He could take A-Yuan and flee from the Nightless City this very night, if he tried—but Wei Ying would be forced to stop them, no matter how desperately he wished to let them go, and then...

"Forgive me," Lan Wangji murmurs. "Good night, Wei Ying."

He spends the night tossing and turning in his bed, his thoughts lingering over the bed in the next room where Wei Ying is asleep with A-Yuan in his arms; and then, almost before he knows it, the hour of Wen Yuan's departure is upon them.

The day dawns much like any other, in a riotous storm of red and gold that falls over the Wei-fu like a blanket. Wei Ying rises early and sends the servants away, insisting that no one aside from himself should serve A-Yuan on his leaving-day; and when Lan Wangji sees the boy next, he is riding at the head of Wei Ying's old regiment, three paces behind the general who replaced his father after Lan Wangji was taken captive.

Lan Wangji reaches out and takes Wei Ying's hand.

"He will return," he vows. "Your brothers in arms love him as their own. With them close by, A-Yuan will come to no harm."

But Wei Ying's fingers do not squeeze Lan Wangji's hands in turn; and when he meets his husband's empty eyes, he knows that some part of Wei Ying's spirit has given up all hope of seeing Wen Yuan again.

[fiftysevenacademics]

The four main clans each have a distinct style of romantic attachment that somewhat contradicts the way they formally present themselves.

Lan Clan of Gusu: Ethically rigid, morally pure, righteous rule-followers who partner up with morally grey or even bad, slightly unhinged people.

Qinghen-jun: Had two kids with the woman who murdered his teacher, then devoted the rest of his life to keeping her a prisoner in Cloud Recesses. She might have had a serious mental illness.

Lan Xichen: Was doing OK with Nie Mingjue until Jin Guangyao swept him off his feet, and he just HAD to turn it into a messy polycule that gave Jin Guangyao many ways to manipulate him.

Lan Wangji: Alters his entire life trajectory and betrays numerous Lan principles for a chaotic demonic cultivator.

Jin Clan of Lanling: The richest, most prestigious clan has the messiest, most embarrassing and venal romantic liaisons.

Jin Guangshan: Famously can't keep it in his pants.

Jin Zixuan: Has an off-and-on again relationship with Jiang Yanli, breaking her heart before making her happy in the end. He's the least messed up in his family, though.

Jin Guangyao: Even though he genuinely loves Lan Xichen, he uses him to exact revenge on his ex, Nie Mingjue. May have agreed to a three-way relationship just for that purpose. Fell in love with and married his half-sister and had a baby with her even after he knew.

Mo Xuanyu: Expelled from Jin disciple school for sexually harassing men. Real reason was possibly an intimate relationship with Jin Guangyao that went south when he started poking around in the treasure room.

Nie Clan of Qinghe: The ultimate jocks and macho men, Nie men think they're power bottoms when in reality they're being used and bossed around by someone far more devious than they can imagine.

Nie Mingjue: Thinks he can replicate the healthy thing he has going on with Lan Xichen in his relationship with Jin Guangyao but boy, was he ever wrong about that. Nonetheless, he allows himself to be pushed into a polycule that brings him quickly to his doom.

Nie Huaisang: OK, I gotta hand it to Nie Huaisang. He's a power bottom, just like it says on the label. We never see him in any romantic relationships but he knows how to cry, faint, and complain in a way that makes everyone fall neatly in line with his plans.

Jiang Clan of Yunmeng: Like their motto, "attempt the impossible," the Jiangs fall for people who are unattainable or out of their league.

Jiang Fengmian: His one true love, Cangse Sanren, was a more powerful cultivator who chose a servant over him and left. Married a woman from a richer, higher status family and has a rocky marriage as a result.

Jiang Yanli: A sweet, simple girl in love with a vain, proud man who doesn't think she's beautiful or talented enough for him. Somehow it works out in her favor, though.

Wei Wuxian: Literally attempts the impossible, can't follow a single rule, but falls head over heels for the jianghu's gold medalist in rule-following, Lan Wangji. This ends tragically and is only redeemed when he's resurrected with a little more humility and respect for the social order (just a little, though).

Jiang Cheng: In MDZS canon, Jiang Cheng has no romantic entanglements or even friendships outside of his family. He might be aromantic or maybe his parents' toxic relationship has made him want to never partner up. In Untamed canon, he follows the family pattern and crushes on a member of the very clan that murdered his parents.

[lilapplesheadcannons]

Nie MingJue, the unintentional kidnapper

Or that time A-Yuan almost got adopted into the Nie Sect

Nie MingJue is starting to get slightly uncomfortable. Sure, it has been decades since HuaiSang was a toddler (two decades, to be more specific), but surely toddlers need to blink more? The child is looking at him like he is the most mesmerising vision it has ever seen in its entire 4 years on earth.

He tries to glance through the door without being too intruding. He understands there is a touching reunion happening somewhere inside, and God knows he doesn't want to interrupt the Jiangs screaming and crying and hitting and hugging their wayward prodigal demonic cultivator, but surely someone else can take the child? Is it not a cousin of the Ghost General and her terrifying sister? Now he thinks about it, he is not so sure they are very fit guardians if they are willing to abandon their charge to any random cultivator. And the worst part is A-Yao, the person best suited to deal with this situation, has left with them, presumably trying to find a quieter resting place for the Wen remnants away from the chaos that is the 100 days celebration of the newest Jin baby.

He flinches when a soft finger cautiously pokes his cheek. The child grins guilelessly at him and says, "Pretty gege!"

Nie MingJue blushes to the root of braids. That's it! This child is obviously surrounded by unreliable people who would teach him utter nonsense or dump him in the middle of enemy territories, so as a responsible adult, it is his solemn duty to adopt the child (a boy? It is dressed as one, but who knows with Wei Wuxian?) and take it to Qinghe. He stands up with the child under one armpit, the child seemingly unbothered by being dangled like a sack of potatoes.

"He's mine!"

Lan Xichen's baby brother looks just as angry as he did on the day they first met, when he ended up biting HuaiSang. Except now he is almost as tall as MingJue, and he has already put the tip of his finger on his sword.

Rude!

Nie MingJue, a sect leader and the chief cultivator, is an older brother first and foremost. How can he resist ruffling Lan Er-Gongji's already ruffled feathers even more?

"I didn't know Wangji had a child."

Wangji bristles even further, reminding him of the time he accidentally stepped on Second Mother's cat's tail.

The child waves at him from his precarious position, "Rich Gege!"

Does Wangji's eyes soften a little? Nie MingJue can swear he saw a crack of smile in his lips. Surely, he is just hallucinating. The child chirps out again, "Pretty Gege!" pointing at MingJue. The room temperature plummets several degrees.

"GIVE HIM TO ME!"

If Wangji doesn't want to take over from Lan Laoshi, he can easily earn his living teaching enunciation to rich masters. Nue MingJue heard every syllable distinctly, including the single exclamation mark at the end. Is he serious?

Nie MingJue stares at him. He has heard rumours. The light bearing lord! The war has done awful things to the cultivators. Once kind, just men have been reduced to butchers with enough trauma to last a few lifetimes, but surely it hasn't changed the upright young man in front of him to such an extent that he was willing to...

He moves the child from underneath his arm and settles him down on the ground behind him.

"Look here, Wangji, he is just a child..."

He gets interrupted again by the same clear, obstinate tone.

"Give him to me! Now!"

Has Wangji lost it? Does he want to kill a child, practically a baby, to avenge his father and his sect? Does he really think he can get away with killing the adopted child of Wei Wuxian when Wei Wuxian himself was just a few doors away? Not to mention the Ghost General and the Jiang sect leader in the vicinity?

You can probably cut the tension with a blunt sabre. That's the first thing Lan Xichen notices when he walks in, the second thing being his brother and his best friend locked in a staring contest. Wangji looks like he is ready to start a fight, and Da-Ge has that little mocking smile, which means he is happy to indulge. Behind him, little A-Yuan is studiously examining the pattern on the carpet.

Wangji breaks the stare first. He turns to his big brother and says, almost petulantly,

"He's not giving A-Yuan back!"

Lan Xichen smiles and shakes a deprecating finger at MingJue in mock sensor,

"Now, now, what do you mean by not handing over my nephew to my brother? Da-ge! If you indeed want a child,..."

Wait a second! The jibe about the child being Wangji's, that was purely a taunt. Is it true? Did Wangji really have a child? A 4 years old? But, he begs your biggest pardon, Wangji is a child himself! How can he have a child? When? With whom?

Having his sympathetic brother on his side seems to encourage Wangji to speak further.

"A-Yuan called him pretty!"

If only people could see their Light bearing Lord pouting! Xichen tuts.

"For shame, Da-Ge!"

But before Nie MingJue can demand explanation, A-Yuan decides he has had enough of the carpet and stands up, then walks over to Lan Wangji in a brisk, businesslike manner, who bends down to pick him up without breaking eye contact with Nie MingJue and pointedly kisses the child's forehead.

Nie MingJue is pretty sure he is having a Qi deviation right now. Ah well, there are worse ways to go, he supposes.

[larothoughts]

fem!jiggy thoughts (part 1: qinghe nie)

this is part of a larger mdzs au i definitely do NOT have time to write completely. but i've been turning it over in my head for days at this point and it needs to be written down else i forget everything.

basically, how drastically things would have changed with a genderbent meng yao.

(the following timeline is a mix between canons; basically it's the drama timeline without the yin-iron/puppets. but i'm even less familiar with the mdzs timeline as i am with svsss so forgive me for any errors;;;)

the brothel

now i fully believe meng shi, smart as she was and living in a brothel, would've done all she could to hide meng yao's true gender from the madam and her coworkers. this was her son, only meng shi is allowed to bathe him, his father will come back to retrieve him one day. secretly, she still taught meng yao that her father was a great man; that one day she wouldn't need to hide as he will surely take her in.

sisi, the only other person aware of meng yao's true gender, would've seen a young and already-pretty meng yao and been emboldened to pull her aside: 'do not go to lanling jin once your mother dies. not even being his daughter will protect you from jin guangshan.'

because jgs has a reputation amongst brothel workers, the working women of lanling, everyone except for the women he bedded and charmed. if meng yao had been a boy, then maybe sisi would've been assured that the worst jgs could do was throw him down koi tower. but as a girl, when meng yao was as pretty as her mother? no. absolutely not.

so when meng shi dies, sisi sneaks out a still cross-dressing meng yao and urges her to run as far away from the madam's reach as she could. she was still passably androgynous in her youth, but the minute the madam realized she was a girl, she'd force her to take on her mother's debt in her place. so meng yao runs.

qinghe nie

now sisi may have stressed the importance of not going to lanling jin as a no-name girl with a pretty face, but meng yao is tenacious. if she could build a reputation as a cultivator, then surely her father would at least be willing to hear her story out. to acknowledge her as a member of his family. (because meng shi was right too; if meng yao was legitimized as a jin, being a woman would no longer be as dangerous as it was for her now. she would have the power to finally dress and act the way she wants.) the yunmeng jiang sect is a bit too close to home for her comfort, so she goes to the next best sect accepting civilian members: qinghe nie.

one would think NOT being known as a bastard son of a whore would make her experience here much better. it doesn't. sure, the og!qinghe nie bullies liked to use his status to torment meng yao, but in the meritocratic no-bullshit environment chifeng-zun has established, it's strength that ultimately matters. and in both the og universe and in this one, meng yao just isn't as strong as the other recruits. being weak, effeminate and too-differential are all frowned upon traits for a man to be in qinghe nie; but in this au, meng yao would rather be bullied for weakness than be forced to give up cultivating altogether. it's not like female cultivators aren't allowed, just that female cultivators in qinghe nie are held at a higher physical standard. if anyone found out she was actually a girl, they'd take one look at her soft and petite frame and remove her from the ranks entirely. so meng yao grits her teeth and tries to make herself useful no matter how humiliating it is when her fellow disciples treat her more like a servant than a comrade.

then, nie mingjue comes across her half-dressed. she's mortified. the one person who should never know her real gender just walks up behind her, all because the other disciples had set her camp up across the pond as more bullying and she figured she'd use the privacy to her advantage. rather than demand answers or react with violence, however, chifeng-zun just frowns.

"I wasn't aware there were women in this squadron." "There... aren't," Meng Yao answers. She flushes slightly when Nie Mingjue's gaze flickers down to the still-visible swell of her breast, barely hidden beneath the robe she'd yanked over herself in panic. There is an awkward silence, one that fills her with skin-crawling dread. She has half a mind to throw her dignity away entirely and beg for mercy on her knees, but the man surprises her by turning his gaze away from her body out of... out of respect? The idea of a man not ogling her the way all men ogled women is strangely endearing. "Your name?" the sect leader finally says. It briefly crosses her mind to lie. It'll be a difficult but not impossible task to slip away from this squad and pretend to be recruited into another under a different alias. She's an expert disguise-artist when given enough time and determination; her work helping the brothel sisters prepare for the night beforehand was testament to that. Meng Yao wants to lie, because that's always been her first instinct in the face of danger. But from the way everyone spoke about Chifeng-zun, the righteous Nie Mingjue, Meng Yao suspects lying of any kind here may be her actual undoing. "Meng Yao," she answers him, decisive. "My name is Meng Yao."

the inner circle

no one is more shocked than meng yao when, only a few days later, chifeng-zun reassigns her to his personal squadron. he sees her contributions, recognizes her worth, and promotes her into the ranks as an inner disciple. and the cost of this promotion--and therefore unrestricted access to the nie library, where meng yao could finally, finally get her hands on a cultivation manual better suited to her than the dumb one handed out to new recruits--is the added job all members of chifeng-zun's squad must partake in sooner or later: babysitting nie huaisang.

in fact, this is her main job. meng yao is briefly offended that chifeng-zun assumes her gender makes her the perfect babysitter. she's only mollified at the promise of (1) aforementioned access to the nie library as an inner disciple, (2) the sect leader's promise to keep her true gender a secret from everyone but huaisang and (3) her job is less babysitter and more last-line-of-defense, the same as all his other squad members. the difference is, nie huaisang hates having to put up with the usual burly, no-nonsense nie cultivators silently judging his foppish pursuits. they ruin his aesthetic!

meng yao is still annoyed that mingjue assumes her being female means nie huaisang will better allow himself to be guarded (because feminine pursuits means he would prefer a female guard??) but... the man is trying. and having unrestrained access to both the young master and the sect leader is an advantage she'd be insane not to secure. even if her sudden promotion makes her relationship with the lower-ranked nie disciples even worse.

almost perfect

these years are, in hindsight, some of the best of meng yao's life. she dotes on huaisang as if he's her own little brother, finally manages to cultivate her golden core, and finds pride in clearing away qinghe nie's hidden enemies. she has mingjue's admiration and trust, and holds enough sway with the non-disciples to see her plans put into action. things are almost perfect, but for a few things: the lower-ranked disciples still view meng yao as a snake that slept 'his' way to the top of the hierarchy; and nie mingjue refuses to take her as his wife.

well, refuse is a strong word. more like 'will not offer,' a predicament huaisang laments alongside meng yao because just look at her! she'd be a perfect nie-furen! also i know you're sleeping together da-ge, yao-jie is discreet but you certainly aren't! no one even entertains the idea of meng yao being taken in as a concubine; the moment one of the mostly powerless nie elders tries to bring it up (a civilian, mingjue? a man??) the nie brothers shut it down.

the lack of proposal is not out of disrespect. it's because nie mingjue knows he's going to die young. marrying meng yao would require her to reveal her true gender to calm down the nie elders, and once known that information can't be taken back. leaving behind a widow and a non-combatant brother is a far more dangerous situation than leaving behind a non-combatant brother and his trusted attendant. leaving behind a widow related to jin guangshan is even worse. that power-hungry bastard would use any opportunity to gain ground, and his grieving daughter in qinghe nie would put the entire sect in jeopardy.

(mingjue would like to think meng yao would have more loyalty to qinghe than that, but even through rose-tinted glasses he knows meng yao is a practical woman. if it ensured her own safety and possibly huaisang's, she'd open the gates of qinghe nie herself. that was the entire point of meng yao telling him her background, a warning disguised as her detailing how useful she could be. it makes mingjue uneasy, the idea of what meng yao would do if backed into a corner. so he spends as much energy as possible to keep that from happening.)

the fall

meng yao takes nie huaisang to the gusu lan lectures again and again. tensions with the wen sect keep rising. xue yang is captured and taken into the qinghe nie dungeons, only to be broken out by wen cultivators less than a day later. in the ensuing battle, mingjue catches meng yao murdering the same former squad mate that used to steal credit for her victories. he sees her smile, her purposeful use of a wen-style attack, and how easy it is for her to switch from confident to 'terrified' once she realizes he sees her. the shift shakes something fundamental in him, the realization that this woman he loves is so capable of putting on a mask. that she put a mask on in front of him, when she'd once vowed never to do so unless it was for the good of the sect.

murdering the captain of her former squadron was not for the good of the sect.

before he can confront her, xue yang cuts his way through the last of the nie defenses and leaves one last parting gift via declaration: that wen rouhan was quite interested in the beautiful woman who'd stolen nie minjue's heart. that she could do so much better in nightless city, if she ever found herself wanting.

the aftermath of the escape is devastating. meng yao eschews dignity and does what she thought of doing the first time her gender was revealed: she gets down on her knees and begs for mingjue to let her stay as a nie disciple. already word has spread throughout qinghe nie and the wider gentry that meng yao is not just a woman, but a devious and power-grabbing one. that she hid her gender to get close to the sect leader, then engineered a perfect reveal to catch his attention. that she could have easily seized control of the entire sect before anyone had any idea of the threat she was.

mingjue, meanwhile, doesn't know what is and isn't true. he's questioning everything about meng yao, even their first meeting as insinuated by the rumors. it hurts him deeply that he can no longer trust her word; and it hurts her to lose his regard so absolutely.

in a world that favors men, mingjue wouldn't hesitate to kick male!meng yao out within the day. in this one, fem!meng yao is instead locked in her rooms until mingjue can come up with a solution that won't end in her certain death. because despite huaisang's begging, he is firm in the fact that meng yao cannot stay. not even taking into account mingjue and huaisang's feelings, the outrage amongst the nie disciples is enough they'd likely rebel if she remained. mingjue does not want to see meng yao slain by a disciple of his own sect. he doesn't, against his better judgment, want to see meng yao slain at all.

lanling jin

in a great twist of fate, huaisang points out the best solution is the plan meng yao gave up on so many years ago. for better or for worse, meng yao's name is now known across the gentry. she'd been a high-ranking member of qinghe nie for many years, is valued by both brothers and is still respected for her intelligence. mingjue keeps silent on the matter of their broken trust, their long-lasting affair, and any rumors other than the fact that meng yao is a woman. instead, he sends meng yao to lanling jin with a retinue of disciples from his personal squadron, as well as an apology gift for besmirching the honor of jin guangshan's daughter.

he sends her to koi tower with a glowing letter of recommendation and an earnest request for jin guangshan to take care of someone both nie brothers care about greatly. jin guangshan reads the two letters through gritted teeth, sat in front of the stoic nie retainers bracketing meng yao on either side. with meng yao's name and accomplishments on everyone's minds, with the thinly-veiled threat of nie retribution in those damn letters-- jin guangshan cannot hide her away as he would his other bastards.

he has no choice but to accept meng yao into lanling jin as his daughter, even with his wife glaring daggers at him all the while.

it is the last gift mingjue is willing to give meng yao. if not his hand, fulfilling her dream is the next best thing he can offer. unfortunately, as with most things in meng yao's life, it is simply not enough.

a few weeks later, the cloud recesses burn.

[ibijau]

Papa mia pt3 / On AO3

One thing Nie Huaisang had learned over the years was that things could always go worse, and did so quite frequently. 

That cursed wedding was a perfect example of that. 

By the time he'd been informed of the engagement, too many other people had known about it to quietly cancel it. Not that it would have been easy at the best of times, considering this involved sect leader Ouyang. The man was many things, but he wasn't completely stupid. Qinghe Nie wasn't what it had once been, but enough of its old glory remained for this to be an advantageous alliance, even without knowing the truth about Nie Fuyun. 

Such a good deal, in fact, that Nie Huaisang had worried the girl had been tricked… But when he'd asked her, she had defended her new fiancé. He really had been hurt, and was very apologetic about what happened. 

If Nie Fuyun hadn't been tricked by the Ouyang sect, the plot may well have come from within instead. 

Nie Huaisang had already noticed that some elders had gotten into the habit of interrupting any interaction he had with Nie Fuyun. He had assumed one of them had realised how much she looked like her father, like her uncle. It might all have been a plot to rob him of his only remaining family, and force him into a proper marriage, to get a proper heir. 

But that morning, after talking to a nervous and dejected Nie Fuyun, Nie Huaisang had attempted once again to end that ridiculous engagement, only to get lectured by several elders regarding his unhealthy obsession for a girl young enough to be his daughter. 

The fools thought he'd intended to marry her, and wanted him to pick a more appropriate bride for himself. 

Shocked by that discovery, Nie Huaisang hadn't been able to argue his case, and so the engagement still remained. Nie Fuyun would still marry a boy who couldn't deserve her, because no one in the world did. Nie Huaisang had failed her. His only family left, and he had failed to protect her, as he failed everyone. 

At least she would have a good wedding, Nie Huaisang thought, stomping his way toward the place where he hid his best wine. He had ordered the best food, the best musicians, the best entertainment. Her red robes were fit for an empress, for a goddess even, and she would wear the same veil Nie Huaisang’s mother wore at her wedding. He had also been generous with her dowry, and intended to secretly give her some extras as well, to keep hidden from her in-laws. That way she'd be able to run away if things went wrong, and she could make her way back home to Qinghe, where Nie Huaisang would protect her. 

But first, the wedding had to happen. 

Feeling quite murderous at the thought of his precious Nie Fuyun being taken from him, Nie Huaisang slammed open the doors of the armoury. Nobody ever went there, so ever since he'd been a teenager, he'd used that place to hide things from prying eyes. Wine in particular was kept there, because it was at once cool and dry, the perfect place to… 

Nie Huaisang froze mid thought.

There were people in the armoury. 

That alone would have been bad. But those people in particular had no right to be there. And yet there they were. 

The four men he least wanted to see on that day.

His daughter's fathers.

Just like him, the four men froze when the doors opened. Lan Xichen appeared to have been in the middle of pacing. Lan Wangji, standing near his brother, must have been watching him, judging by the barely noticeable concern on his face. Then, on the ground, Jiang Cheng was sitting stiffly, with Wei Wuxian next to him, holding in his hand…

“Is that my good wine?” Nie Huaisang asked, narrowing his eyes.

Wei Wuxian looked down at the jar, as if he were confused how it had arrived in his hand.

“It is wine,” Wei Wuxian conceded. “It’s pretty good stuff. And it is in your armoury. But I didn’t realise it was yours.”

“Is there any left for the wedding, or did you drink everything already?” Nie Huaisang asked, pinching his nose.

“We haven’t been here that long, so I was just getting started. I wouldn’t have drunk the whole thing anyway! I’ve got manners.”

Nie Huaisang scoffed at that.

“And how did you people get here, anyway?” he asked. “None of you are welcome��� except you, Jiang zongzhu. I do remember inviting you, although I see I might have to regret it, since you took the liberty of bringing unwanted people with you.”

“I am as baffled by their presence as you are,” Jiang Cheng replied, getting up with so much dignity that Nie Huaisang could almost forget he had also been drinking his good wine. “I’ve been brought here under false pretences. I was told I was being led to a room to clean up after the trip here. Since nobody offered us drinks or food, we had to make do. Your hospitality used to be better than that, Nie zongzhu.”

“And who brought you here, exactly?”

“One of your disciples, of course,” Wei Wuxian intervened. “Asked us to wait here until you were informed we were visiting.”

Nie Huaisang narrowed his eyes at him, but Wei Wuxian radiated innocence and goodwill, the way he only did when he was particularly full of shit.

“And why are you visiting, exactly?” Nie Huaisang asked. 

“I like weddings, they're fun!” Wei Wuxian shamelessly replied. 

“I am accompanying Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji stated. 

“You invited me,” Jiang Cheng reminded him. 

Bad answers, all of them, but Nie Huaisang couldn't say any of that was out of character for them. As for the last pest in his home… 

“I happened to be in the area,” Lan Xichen said hesitantly, barely daring to look at Nie Huaisang. “I thought I would try to see you, and talk maybe.” 

Nie Huaisang opened his fan and glared at him. He did not like to see Lan Xichen shy and unsure. Even if the cause were different, it reminded him too much of certain times in their youth, that entire period where they'd danced around each other, neither daring to take the first step and act on their mutual attraction. Back then… 

Back then had been a mistake, Nie Huaisang reminded himself, tightening his grip on his fan. Back then, Lan Xichen had broken his heart, and nothing he’d done since made him worthy of pity.

“Well, it has been lovely seeing all of you,” Nie Huaisang said without warmth. “But I'm actually very busy today. I am marrying one of my disciples, you see, and that's enough of a mess. I don't want to deal with you people on top of it. So off you go, I want all of you out of my home, right now. Except you, Jiang zongzhu. You can stay, of course.”

Jiang Cheng nodded, thankfully not offended by the situation. It was too bad that Nie Huaisang wasn't sure if they'd really slept together or not. Out of all the options available, Jiang Cheng was the least worst possibility as a father for Nie Fuyun, if only because it would cause the least emotional turmoil. 

“Nie zongzhu you're so cold!” Wei Wuxian lamented as he took another sip of Nie Huaisang’s best wine. “Aren't we old friends?” 

“We were on good terms at fifteen, that's different!” Nie Huaisang retorted, striding toward him and snatching the jar of wine from his hands. Almost empty. It figured. “I know this isn't very far in time for you since you died shortly after, but please understand I'm over double that age now.” 

“So cold!” Wei Wuxian complained as he got up and tried to get back the jar. “Nie-xiong, you wound me. We were friends even after that! Don't you remember all the fun we had at that Night Hunt the Jins organised once?” 

That reminder startled Nie Huaisang so much that he dropped the jar of wine, which Wei Wuxian promptly caught before it hit the floor. 

It had to be a coincidence, Wei Wuxian mentioning that night on the day Nie Fuyun was getting married. It didn't mean… He couldn't have guessed… Did he even know Nie Fuyun existed? She was on good terms with Jin Rulan and that pair of Lan boys who were so friendly with Wei Wuxian. Had they told him about her? Had he joined the children on a Night Hunt, seen her face, heard her age, and guessed the whole truth? Had it been anyone else, Nie Huaisang would have blamed his paranoia. But Wei Wuxian had a bad habit of finding out things he shouldn't, especially regarding Nie Huaisang's personal affairs. If he knew he might tell others, and in doing so he would put her in danger. If Nie Huaisang’s enemies discovered who she was… if something happened to her…

“Out!” Nie Huaisang ordered. 

“Come on Nie-xiong, don't be like that!” Wei Wuxian whined. “Here, have a drink, it's really good stuff, and… Ah, wait, that one is empty…”

“I said out!” Nie Huaisang shouted, grabbing Wei Wuxian by the sleeve and pulling him toward the door. “Out, all of you! I Won't have you people ruining this day!” 

Perhaps Wei Wuxian noticed how truly furious he was, or perhaps this game was no longer amusing to him, but he allowed Nie Huaisang to drag him outside, and the other three followed. It should only have been a matter of kicking out all those unwanted, but…

Of course, things had to get worse.

“Nie zongzhu, I didn’t know we’d have such prestigious guests!” the world’s most annoying person exclaimed, right next to them.

Second most annoying person? Sect leader Yao was perhaps worse than that on several layers. And Wei Wuxian was somewhere in the competition as well, especially on that day.

Nie Huaisang plastered a mild smile on his face, and turned to greet sect leader Ouyang, who actually had a right to be there, much to Nie Huaisang’s chagrin. He’d given orders that Nie Fuyun’s future father-in-law be brought to him as soon as he arrived to discuss some final details regarding the wedding. 

“Ouyang zongzhu, I did not expect to see you so early,” Nie Huaisang said. “Your son isn’t with you?”

“His friends and him went to greet the bride, I think,” sect leader Ouyang distractedly replied, still watching the men behind Nie Huaisang with a mixture of awe and suspicion.

“Well, that hardly sounds appropriate,” Nie Huaisang scoffed. “He’s not married to her yet, they shouldn’t be alone together, and those other boys are just…” he paused, remembering that one of the ‘other boys’ was Jiang Cheng's beloved and much spoiled nephew, while the other two were highly thought of by the Lan clan. “Well, what happened wasn’t those boys’ fault, but they should have known better anyway.”

“Certainly, certainly,” sect leader Ouyang agreed, still not looking at Nie Huaisang. “Nie zongzhu, you didn’t tell me… is everyone here for the wedding?”

Nie Huaisang clenched his fists. Of course that would please the old fool. The leaders of the three great sects, guests at the wedding of his only son, who was marrying a beloved disciple of a former great sect! To sect leader Ouyang, this had to sound like the luckiest day in his life. To Nie Huaisang…

If he could, he would have sent everyone away, including sect leader Ouyang. But giving in to his temper would make for a bad start to Nie Fuyun's marriage, and soon she would be entirely in the power of those Ouyang people. She wasn't a girl to let herself be bullied, she was too much like Nie Mingjue for that, but Nie Huaisang didn't want her to be faced with unnecessary hardship. So what if it bruised his pride to put up with those people? His pride had suffered worse in the past, he could do this.

“Yes, they are here for the wedding,” Nie Huaisang announced with his sweetest smile. “Aren’t we lucky? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, Ouyang zongzhu! There were several scheduling issues you see, and until the last moment I couldn’t be sure they’d come, and of course I didn’t want to risk disappointing you, right? I hope you’ll forgive me!”

Without surprise, sect leader Ouyang was only too happy to swallow that obvious lie. There were people in the jianghu who were starting to notice that Nie Huaisang was no longer the helpless Headshaker they’d known for years. Sect Leader Ouyang was not of that number, and it made him far more trusting than a man in his position ought to be.

Delighted by the honour done to him and his son, sect leader Ouyang lost no time before starting to chat with Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen, as boldly as if they were old friends of his. Better them than Nie Huaisang, especially when Nie Huaisang had so much to deal with already.

Including one Wei Wuxian, whose sleeve he grabbed again, pulling him a few steps away from others for a word.

“Wei-xiong, if you ruin this wedding, I swear no sacrifice ritual can bring back your soul from where I’m going to send it,” Nie Huaisang hissed.

“You know a way to do that?” Wei Wuxian asked with a glint in his eye.

“Piss me off enough, I’d invent it,” Nie Huaisang replied. “So be on your best behaviour. And keep your husband and his damn brother out of my way, too, or you’ll take the fall for them!”

“Poor Jiang Cheng, he’d be hurt if he knew you don’t consider him a threat, you know,” Wei Wuxian miserably lamented. “I think he likes it when people are scared of him. It makes him feel loved.”

A strangled noise escaped Nie Huaisang, which was in no way him trying not to laugh.

“Jiang Cheng can be trusted,” Nie Huaisang argued, trying to sound dignified, probably failing. “The rest of you can’t. Now, stay out of my way, don’t get anywhere near the poor bride, and if you do well…”

“You’ll let me live?” Wei Wuxian suggested with a grin.

“As if I can threaten you, when your husband is right now spying on us and wouldn’t hesitate to kill me to protect you,” Nie Huaisang sighed. “But if I can’t threaten, I will bribe. If you liked that wine earlier, I can get you more…”

“Nie-xiong, you’ve always been the most fun of my friends,” Wei Wuxian laughed. “Fine, we have a deal, I’ll be on my best behaviour, and Lan Zhan too. But Lan da-ge… eh, it’s not like I can control him, can I?”

Probably not, Nie Huaisang thought. And that was a shame, because out of everyone present, Lan Xichen was the one most likely to make this wedding a truly hellish experience for Nie Huaisang.