#the story is not about some hapless sheeple being misled by the big bad wolf

[mxtxfanatic]

I only brought up the Lan Wangji is not caring about anyone else’s opinions because you ended your commentary saying that he might have hoped to save his clansmen’s minds through his actions. I may have misunderstood what you meant by adding that, but I def don’t agree with this added comment. The Lan were absolutely as bad as everyone else. No they didn’t go to the Burial Mounds settlement to verify the truth but… that was their negligence. Not following Wei Wuxian to the labor camp was Lan Xichen’s negligence. (The Qiongqi Path labor camp was also a joint-clan endeavor, but that's neither here nor there.) The Jin were spinning lies about Wei Wuxian and not only do Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen close ranks around the lies, Lan Xichen praised Jin Guangyao for them in private while publicly contradicting Lan Wangji who called the lies out (proof). Lan Xichen is neither ignorant to or naive about any of the Jin's intentions nor specifically of Jin Guangyao's crimes (proof). It is a running theme that leads directly to his narrative punishment and subsequent character growth.

Nobody thought that Wei Wuxian was “building an army.” That is runaway fanon. Their grievances against Wei Wuxian were that he, a mere servant's son was more powerful and popular than them, and the lies they told to justify hating him was that he’d build his own cultivation clan that would overshadow the orthodox clans, thereby challenging their power and authority as the ones who must be given deference by everyone (proof from Wen Qing):

Using the atmosphere, Jin GuangShan turned to Jiang Cheng, “He’s been plotting for a while to go to Burial Mound, hasn’t he? After all, with his skills, it wouldn’t be too hard to set up a sect of his own. And so, he used this as a chance to leave the Jiang Sect, intending to do whatever he pleases in the bright skies outside. You rebuilt the YunmengJiang Sect with so much work. He’s got a few controversial traits in him to begin with, and still he doesn’t restrain himself, stirring up so much trouble for you. He doesn’t care about you at all.” Jiang Cheng pretended to stand his ground, “That probably isn’t that case. Wei WuXian has been like this ever since he was young. Even my father couldn’t do anything about him.” Jin GuangShan, “Even FengMian-xiong couldn’t do anything about him, huh?” He chuckled a few times, “FengMian-xiong just favors him.” Hearing the words ‘favors him’, the muscles beside the corners of Jiang Cheng’s mouth twitched. Jin GuangShan continued, “Sect Leader Jiang, you’re not like your father. It’s just been a couple of years since the reestablishment of the YunmengJiang Sect, precisely when you should be displaying your power. And he doesn’t even know to avoid suspicions. What would the Jiang Sect’s new disciples think if they saw him? Don’t tell me you’d let them see him as their role model and look down on you?”

—Chapt. 73: Recklessness, exr

And even if he was building an army? The cultivation world sat still while the QishanWen built up an army and trampled over anyone they felt like. The same cultivation world sat still while the LanlingJin did the exact same thing directly after the Sunshot Campaign, despite having the power to do something about it before the Jin became unimpeachable (proof and proof 2). Yet Wei Wuxian is the only one they felt moved to go against. Gee, wonder why.

And even if them thinking that Wei Wuxian had an army was canon? They certainly didn’t by the time they showed up and slaughtered a settlement of impoverished farmers and threw their bodies into the blood pool (proof). None of the participants of the second siege are shocked by the existence of the Wen remnants crawling out of the blood pool, including the Lan. They knew. Somebody smashed Granny Wen's head in, and a bunch of other somebodys watched. The cultivation world isn’t stupidly “choosing to believe the Jin’s lies.” They were active and willing participants in the spreading of these lies with the explicit intent of restoring the classist hierarchy by tearing the “servant’s son” down from what they considered their rightful place on top of the food chain. Just like they all sat back when Xue Yang was running around massacring clans and only Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan stepped in to stop him.

Why Lan Wangji Endures

I breifly touched on this topic before in this post, but I wanted to go more in-depth with it in combination with this post. When Lan Wangji says this:

"...When I went to see him, I told him, ‘Young Master Wei was already in the wrong, why add onto the wrong committed?’ And he said....... He can’t affirm whether what you did was right or wrong. But no matter what, he was willing to shoulder all of the responsibility together with you...."

—Chapt. 99: A Hatred for Life Part 2, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

...he is not making a statement on the morality of either his or Wei Wuxian's actions. In fact, his opinions about the moral righteousness of their actions are separate from his opinions on his clan's (and the greater cultivation world's) meted-out punishments. Why? Because the rules and laws of the cultivation world are now wholly separate from what is moral, and so Lan Wangji has matched Wei Wuxian in cleaving his sense of morality from what is considered acceptable by the status quo. Lan Wangji cannot confirm to Lan Xichen (or the Lan Clan, or the cultivation world as a whole) whether Wei Wuxian was right or wrong because they are not operating under the same understanding of "right and wrong." At the same time, Lan Wangji's (summarized via Lan Xichen's) speech above is not in conversation with his brother but actually in conversation with Wei Wuxian's speech back in Yiling:

There was no such road. No solution existed. Wei WuXian spoke slowly, “Thank you for keeping me company today. Thank you for telling me the news about my shijie’s marriage too. But, let the self judge the right and the wrong, let others decide to praise or to blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on. I, too, know what I should and shouldn’t do. I believe that I’ll be able to control it as well.” As if he’d anticipated such an attitude since a long time ago, Lan WangJi nodded slightly and closed his eyes. And that marked their farewell.

—Chapt. 75: Distance, exr

Wei Wuxian was put into a dead-end situation where any act of self-defense or defense of innocents was an automatic crime. In the end, he experienced the ultimate consequence of death because his act of self-defense led to the death of an important individual, a death that was seen as "unforgivable" in the eyes of the cultivation world, unlike the deaths of Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants. Likewise, Lan Wangji's actions in protecting Wei Wuxian against his clan were met with punishment, because even though he had good cause in rescuing the Wen remnants' only protector, going against his clan is "unforgivable" in the eyes of a society ruled by tradition and orthodoxy over morality. This is why Wei Wuxian says that the self must judge the self, and why Lan Wangji is following that creed by enduring the Lan Clan punishment while maintaining an unshakeable belief in Wei Wuxian's righteousness.

It was never about Lan Wangji doubting his or Wei Wuxian's morals. It was never about Lan Wangji putting love above righteousness. It was always about how Lan Wangji so much believed in Wei Wuxian's morality and the righteousness of his actions that he was willing to protect the man when the entire world said he was in the wrong, when his own family stood opposite him. And just like Wei Wuxian eventually accepted the consequences of his actions and used his last moments to attempt to destroy the Stygian Tiger Seal, Lan Wangji, too, endured being whipped 33 times by the discipline whip, then went on to rescue Wen Yuan and raise him and the other Lan disciples with morals so strong that they could transcend the mob mentality that their parents never learned to unsubscribe from. Lan Wangji's steadfastness in the face of the incredible hypocrisy and corruption baked into the system he lived in is why Wei Wuxian is able to resurrect into a world where the new generation can look up to him as a hero and a mentor rather than a scourge and a terror.

This endurance is Lan Wangji's ultimate act of love.