#dare i add the 'not everyone has a choice' angle goes both ways and owning a car and driving is not an option for a lot of people

[ibijau]

mdzs worst engagement au!xisang! Would lxc save nhs from jalouse lxc admire ?

Worst Engagement

Warning for bullying and threats of physical violent

Stay toward the middle or end of Nie Huaisang’s first year in the Cloud Recesses, when he’s still trying to be a Good Boy TM

Another class finishes, and Nie Huaisang has no idea what it even was about. Talisman, he guesses, but it might very well be manners. Quite possibly, it's the etiquette for using talismans. He's been trying to concentrate harder on lessons lately, terrified of failing and getting scolded again by just about everyone he knows, but it's just impossible to focus on something so boring. His mind keeps wandering to painting, to birds, to that minuscule crack in the ceiling of the classroom. 

He's not even sure what will happen if he fails the exam. He just knows that it'll be awful. 

That's the only reason why when a group of boys encircles him as he exits the classroom and asks if he wants to study with them, Nie Huaisang actually considers it.

The group, sadly, is led by Jin Zixun. There's little love between him and Nie Huaisang, though in fairness there's little love between either of them and anyone else. Only the Jin disciples seem to like Jin Zixun, and they don't have much of a choice when his mother is the sect leader's sister. Jin Zixun is a bully and, quite frankly, an idiot, but he's still doing better in class than Nie Huaisang. That makes studying with him and his friends… tempting. 

"What do you want in exchange for letting me work with you?" Nie Huaisang asks with justified suspicions. Just a few days ago, someone threw a wet inkstone at him, ruining of set of white guest robes, and Jin Zixun looked too amused to be fully innocent. 

"It's just sad to always see you alone," Jin Zixun replies. "The heir apparent to Qinghe Nie should try to make friends." 

That's rich coming from the one person who made sure to ruin all of Nie Huaisang’s efforts. But it's true also that Nie Huaisang can be shy. Some of the other boys did try chatting with him, early on, but they only wanted to hear about Nie Mingjue at best, about Lan Xichen at worst, and that quickly got old. 

"Come with us, Nie gongzi," another Jin boy insists, his smile less sharp than Jin Zixun. "You seemed a little lost earlier when master Lan explained things, but together we can all figure it out." 

Nie Huaisang shoots the boy a surprised look. Nobody usually pays attention to him, so this is pleasantly unexpected. Much as it pains him to admit, Jin Zixun isn't wrong: it'd be nice to make some friends. 

"I am very grateful for your generous offer," Nie Huaisang says with a bow. "I hope we can all work hard together." 

Happy with that answer, the other boys lead him away from the classroom, chatting about dinner and what they'll do for their next free day. Nie Huaisang doesn't say much, happy to listen and let himself be led along the way.

It's not until they pass the last cabin and step on a path to the mountain that Nie Huaisang realises something isn't right. Before he can ask about that, Jin Zixun gives a signal. Instantly, two boys grab Nie Huaisang’s arms and push his back against a tree, hard enough his breath is knocked out of him. 

"I thought we were going to study," he stutters, immediately earning a few laughs. 

"Who'd study with you?" someone says. "Has there been a single class you haven't failed?" 

"Yeah, you're annoying," Jin Zixun adds. "You're a shame to the entire cultivation world already, but you had to make it worse by laying a claim on Lan Xichen?" 

Nie Huaisang blinks a few times. 

"It's not like I chose that!" 

"I could have been the one engaged to Lan Xichen," Jin Zixun argues. "It was considered for a time! I would have been far more worthy of him than some stupid little cowardly mouse like you.”

“Go to your uncle and ask to have him then,” Nie Huaisang mutters. “Good luck. I don’t think Lan gongzi will want you.”

The slap is no surprise, but Nie Huaisang still cries out when the blow is sharper than expected.

“He doesn’t want you either,” Jin Zixun spits. “Everyone knows he’s ashamed of being engaged to you. Qinghe Nie is barely respectable to begin with, and then they had to give birth to someone like you? Everyone knows you don’t even have a golden core!”

“I do have one!”

It’s only half a lie. His core has almost finished forming. For better or worse, the discipline of Gusu Lan has actually helped quite a bit, which annoys Nie Huaisang to no end. He doesn’t want to owe that to the sect that will someday already own him.

“I don’t think that’s true,” another Jin boy says, the one who was so nice earlier and said he’d noticed Nie Huaisang struggling to follow the lesson. “Nobody with a core would squeal like a pig over just being slapped.”

“He did sound like a pig,” Jin Zixun agrees. “Maybe we should open him up like one and check? Maybe those Nie butchers messed up and raised a pig instead of a cultivator. Or maybe his mom’s a sow instead of a dancer. I mean, it’s the same in the end, isn’t it?”

Nie Huaisang shouts in rage at the insult, and manages to free himself from the other boys’ hold just enough to kick first Jin Zixun’s knee, and then his chest when he doubles down in pain.

"Talk about my mom again and you'll see what a butcher can do!"! Nie Huaisang roars, trying to launch himself at Jin Zixun only to be tackled on the ground by the other boys. "Fight me alone if you dare!" 

A boot on his face silences him (still that nice boy, Nie Huaisang is never trusting anyone’s kindness ever again), pressing his cheek into mud and grass. Nie Huaisang still manages to look up when Jin Zixun stomps in front of his nose. He has one hand on the handle of his sword, and yet all Nie Huaisang can think of is how unflattering that angle is on the other boy. It’s a stupid thought to have, and it’s stupider still that it makes him snort, because of course Jin Zixun only gets angrier.

“Maybe I can’t cut open you like a pig,” he says, “but I can cut your face. If you really have a golden core, healing it won’t be a problem. If you don’t… it’ll just leave a scar and everyone will know you’re a fraud.”

Nie Huaisang cries out and struggles as hard as he can, but without the power of surprise he can’t free himself again. To his horror, Jin Zixun actually unsheathes his sword. When he puts it against his cheek, Nie Huaisang goes deathly still and closes his eyes, feeling tears of terror and frustration pool behind his eyelids. The blade is cold against his skin, the tip of it digging slightly, not yet hard enough to actually cut, but Jin Zixun starts to press down and…

“What’s going on here?”

Everyone jolts, but thankfully Jin Zixun is just smart enough to lift his sword and not leave any mark on Nie Huaisang.

Nie Huaisang who opens his eyes and sees Lan Xichen coming their way, radiating the sort of calm anger one might expect of a martial god. For the first time in their engagement, Nie Huaisang is sincerely happy to see his fiancé, so much so that the tears he barely managed to restrain before start spilling.

“Lan gongzi!” Jin Zixuan exclaims, putting away his sword. “How are you doing today? Isn’t the weather nice?”

Lan Xichen gives him such a cold look that Jin Zixun cannot help stepping backward. He then turns his gaze to Nie Huaisang, and frowns.

“Let him go,” he orders the boys still holding him, and is obeyed without hesitation. “Fighting is not allowed in the Cloud Recesses. Surely you know this by now?”

"Lan gongzi, we were just playing!" 

"Where you?" Lan Xichen asks, his eyes still on Nie Huaisang who looks away. 

"Yeah, we were playing," he mutters, carefully getting back on his feet and wiping the dirt from his face. "Sorry if we were too rough, Lan gongzi. It won't happen again." 

It's a huge lie, and one Nie Huaisang isn't selling well with his red eyes and snotty nose. Lan Xichen rightfully pinches his lips, but can't say anything without calling both Jin Zixun and Nie Huaisang liars, which would be a serious accusation. Nie Huaisang knows he's making yet another bad impression on his future husband, but between that and alienating someone who's currently so high in the inheritance line for Lanling Jin… Lan Xichen's anger can be dealt with, but Jin Zixun's hatred would probably never be pacified. 

"I see. Then please, play more peacefully next time, and in a more appropriate place," Lan Xichen notes with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "If you seek such an isolated place, people might think you are trying to hide mischief. Now go back to your cabins. I'm sure you have a lot to review after today's lesson."

They don't need to be told twice. Some of the boys are probably older than Lan Xichen, but he radiates such authority that nobody would dare to contradict him, especially not when they all know they're lucky not to be punished. Even Nie Huaisang could have gotten in trouble. He's not sure if the rules against fighting apply to self-defence as well. 

"Nie gongzi, stay with me a moment," Lan Xichen orders. "I wish to speak to you."

Nie Huaisang freezes on the spot. In all the time he's spent in the Cloud Recesses, this is the first time Lan Xichen had asked for a chat. In fact, isn't it the first time for the all of their acquaintance? And by the look of it, it's not going to be a pleasant one.

But then again, when has anything about this engagement ever been pleasant? 

"Do not pick fights you cannot win," Lan Xichen advises when everyone else is gone. 

"I didn't start this," Nie Huaisang grumbles, feeling like a child being scolded. "They're the ones who attacked me!" 

"Then be more careful not to give others the occasion and incentive to attack you," Lan Xichen said, never once dropping that kind, condescending smile. "Just because we are set to marry doesn't mean I will always be there to save you. If you can't defend yourself, if you can't make friends, at least have the good sense to stay away from bullies." 

That hits a little too close to home. Of course Nie Huaisang should have known something was wrong, he should have guessed Jin Zixun couldn't have turned nice all of a sudden, but… 

He just wanted someone to want to be around him. The other Nie disciples don't count, they have to be nice to him. But apparently, friends are too much to ask. 

"I'm sorry, Lan gongzi. May I go now?" 

"You may."

Nie Huaisang strides away, as fast as he can without running. When he reaches the cabin he shares with the other Nie disciples, he doesn't even get changed and just starts studying right away. 

He has to pass his exams when the time comes, at any cost, so he can go home and be away from this fiancé who hates him.