#hoooooooo boyyyyyyy this took so long to do (sorry anon!!!!)

[neverdoingmuch]

"who knew the truth about the wen remnants" by karmiya is a compilation of all the quotes from the novel regarding wen remnants, turns out everyone knew, yet they still chose to hurt them..

Thanks for sending this in to me anon! It was a really interesting read and I do agree with a lot of the stuff op wrote. They tackled a lot of stuff that tends to get warped by the fandom lens or just straight up ignored, so it was quite important in that regard. That being said, there are some interpretations that I don't quite agree with. It's well-written and formulated but I find that it lacks a certain … nuance? I suppose that's the best way I can put it.

I also don't wholly disagree with Karmiya; it wasn't just the Jins who were involved with the camps. Whether everyone knew is a separate point, but they are definitely right in saying that it wasn't just the Jins who were at fault.

(I've never done a meta like this before so please forgive me if my structure is wrong! Also, just a quick disclaimer that all of the quotes will be taken from the exr translation, simply for convenience.)

(also this gets quite long so i put the whole meta under the read more!)

The first direct mention of other involvement, as far as I'm aware, comes when Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing try to find Wen Ning.

The inspector was round and chubby. He gave an obsequiously apologetic grin, “Maiden, don’t worry. Actually, it happens a lot that other sects come to us for cultivators. Maybe somebody else took him during the past few days? When we do roll calls, we’d sometimes find that someone ran away as well…”

While we could take this to be the inspector lying to shift blame and save his own skin, this sentiment of external involvement is echoed by Jin Guangshan later.

What Jin GuangShan wanted, however, wasn’t his apology or his compensation, “Sect Leader Jiang, at first, for your sake, the Lanling Jin Sect didn’t intend on saying anything. However, some of these inspectors weren’t from the Jin Sect. There were a few from other sects as well. This makes it…”

The implication of the first quote is that the camps are run by the Jins but that other cultivators will occasionally stop by while the latter makes it clear that their involvement in the Wens' treatment goes beyond simple ignorance or the occasional visit. We know this because when Jin Guangshan claims that there were other inspectors present there's no opposition. Theoretically the other sects could be staying silent out of fear of making an enemy of Jin Guangshan, but the way this is written – flowing smoothly from Jin Guangshan's casual mention of the inspectors back to pressuring Jiang Cheng – does imply that such a scenario isn't the case.

As such, we can almost assuredly assume that yes, other sects were involved in the treatment of the Wens after the Campaign and the Jins were not alone in their acts.

The question then becomes which sects were involved?

Now this is where nuance comes into play. These characters are not acting within the banquet scene free from the influence of the rest of the novel. It's not as simple as saying that a man came into the room, declared that he needed to save an innocent man from poor treatment and was thus declared an enemy. Especially when said man is Wei Wuxian.

When it comes to Wei Wuxian, and more specifically his reputation, there are many aspects that contribute to it. While his birth and upbringing do factor into his treatment and reputation among cultivation society, firstly, it would lengthen the meta too much to go into it, and secondly, isn't the driving force behind what the cultivators think of Wei Wuxian at this point in time. The banquet happens right after the Sunshot Campaign, the very place where Wei Wuxian made his return as the master of demonic cultivation.

There's the occasional mention of the consequences of Wei Wuxian's path but I'm lazy and I'm working off a PDF so I haven't been able to add any bookmarks or quotes. So let's just look at the one, shall we!

One against two, Lan WangJi still refused to back off. He gazed at Wei WuXian, “Wei Ying, for cultivating an evil path you would eventually have to pay. Throughout time, there has not been a single exception.”

Wei WuXian, “I can pay.”

Seeing how unconcerned he seemed to be, Lan WangJi lowered his voice, “The path would not only damage your body, but your heart as well.”

Wei WuXian, “Damage or not, how much damage, I know it the most. As for my heart, it’s my heart after all. I know what I’m doing.”

Lan WangJi, “Some things you cannot be able to control at all.”

Displeasure flashed across Wei WuXian’s face, “Of course I can control it.”

Lan WangJi walked a step closer. He seemed to be about to speak again when Wei WuXian closed his eyes, “After all, on the topic of how my heart is, what could other people know about it? Why should other people care about it?”

Okay so there's a lot to break down here. While in CQL, they gave the title of original inventor of demonic cultivation to … some guy. I don't remember his name, and it isn't important tbh. What is important is that in MDZS (the canon we're looking at), Wei Wuxian is the inventor of demonic cultivation as it is now. He may not be the first person to cultivate his path, but he is the first to do it successfully. This is really important because it means that, although there is some knowledge about Wei Wuxian's path, it isn't fully applicable. When every other person dies within the week, what do you know about the person who's still alive after eight days? The information you have from before isn't fully useful any more once you're working beyond the bounds of your knowledge, but it is still relevant. To Wei Wuxian, he's better than the other attempts, but to the rest of the world, he's just a man who's survived a bit longer – still destined to die, just taking his time about it.

With that being said, Lan Wangji spends most of this conversation warning Wei Wuxian about the risks of his cultivation, and Wei Wuxian doesn't actually refute anything he says. He doesn't say that their risks aren't his, instead that he's willing to take them on. It's a strange sort of arrogance, to be aware of all of the ways you will fail and to still think you're above it all. There are two ways to interpret this: either Wei Wuxian has already found his temperament starting to be affected by his cultivation path, thinking himself above such mortal risks, or he's pushing Lan Wangji away.

The loss of his golden core is one of the biggest secrets in the novel, and Wei Wuxian does absolutely everything he can to push away anyone who could get close enough to discover it. And, given the way that his core had been and still is such an intrinsic and significant part of who he is, being 'too close' is a very broad definition indeed. The best way to keep everyone away from him and to stop anyone from looking too close is to lean into the reputation of demonic cultivators. There have been several wonderful metas on here that have looked in depth at the fact that Wei Wuxian leant into the his reputation as a demonic cultivator to draw attention away from the fact he no longer can cultivate the way he had before. His refusal to use his sword is not seen as a point of concern or questioning when he portrays it as arrogance and confidence in his abilities in demonic cultivation. This arrogance and cruelty that he weaponises to hide his secret can be clearly read as his “heart being damage[d]”.

This becomes important when it comes to his reputation after the war – namely how he deals with any accusations or questions about his behaviour.

Jin ZiXuan laughed with a ha, as though he found it ridiculous, “What you’re depending on is just a crooked path. They’re not what you’re really capable of. You’re just playing a few tunes on the flute. How could it count as showing our real abilities?”

Wei WuXian sounded confused, “It’s not as if I tricked or schemed, so why not? You can play a few tunes on the flute as well and see if any corpses or spirits would like to follow you?”

Jin ZiXun, “With how much you disregard the rules, it’s not much better than tricks and schemes!”

Hearing this, Lan WangJi frowned. Madam Jin seemed as though she had just heard the quarrel that was going on over here. Her voice was indifferent, “ZiXun, that’s enough.” Wei WuXian was too lazy to argue with him. He laughed, “Fine, then I don’t know what could count as real abilities. Please take it out and win against me so that I can see what it is.”

If he could actually win, Jin ZiXun wouldn‟t be as frustrated as he was now.

I mean even Jin Zixuan recognises that Wei Wuxian's talents in cultivation were enough that he shouldn't need to resort to his crooked path. In response to his query Wei Wuxian immediately diverts attention by antagonising Jin Zixun. He plays dumb and then flippantly hands over his weapon to Jin Zixun. He continues this by ignoring Jin Zixun's next accusation of rudeness and thanking Lan Wangji instead. We see this sort behaviour time and time again: where Wei Wuxian leverages the assumption that his temperament has been negatively influenced by his cultivation in order to push others away and to prevent them from questioning his actions too much. When he's so arrogant as to presume himself above others, why would they wonder why he's doing what he's doing? They've already been provided the only answer they need.

Wei WuXian smiled again, “Do you know why I’m not carrying my sword? It wouldn‟t make a difference if I told you anyways.”

He turned around, stating one word at a time, “Because I want you to know that even if I don’t use my sword, with nothing but what you call a “crooked path”, I will still rise unparalleled and leave all of you staring at me from behind.”

With his words, all of the people present were shocked speechless.

No disciple had ever dared say such lofty words in front of so many people.

Here we can really see just how arrogantly Wei Wuxian is acting. It's one thing for him to use his crooked path in a war, but it's another to use in what is basically a sporting event. It's crass at best, and downright disrespectful at worst. Wei Wuxian's path is loathed by society and for good reason too; Wei Wuxian's acts in the Sunshot Campaign may have won it for them, but it was still wrong. There's no ifs about it – culturally he's committed terrible taboos and, from what the others know of his state, Wei Wuxian has done so willingly when he's had the choice not to. The fact that he uses his power here, when the war is done and peace is the focus, is already contentious, but then he turns around and says what he said. It goes beyond mere rudeness and it really sums up who Wei Wuxian is presenting himself as at this point in time: powerful, arrogant, and almost disloyal. I say disloyal because of the last line I've quoted. Referring to him as a disciple isn't only a mention of the fact that Wei Wuxian is looked down on for his birth and status in life, but also for the fact that a mere disciple, who's meant to be representing his sect, is willing to say what could potentially ruin the sect's relationship with the other sects, or at least significant members of other sects.

This is the man who walks into the banquet to demand the freedom of Wen Ning – not a hero or a stranger, but a man who is deadly, arrogant, disrespectful, and potentially disloyal to his sect.

When it comes to the banquet itself, there's a lot to look at. As context though, I believe that our understanding of a character should be shaped by canonical events and scenes, but that our interpretations of such scenes should also be driven by character. By that I mean that it's not enough to simply look at a scene and interpret it without taking into consideration the characters in that scene. While our “current” interpretation of a character shouldn't prevent that interpretation from evolving as we learn more about them, that interpretation should still form that foundation of what we know in most cases. The character's personality, their history, relationships, or whatever are all important to consider and should be factored into any analysis. This is particularly important when it comes to the banquet, and it's why I included what I did about Wei Wuxian post-Sunshot Campaign.

Someone exclaimed in a hushed tone, “When did he come?!”

Wei WuXian put down the cup. With one hand, he fixed his lapel, “Just a moment ago.”

Just a moment ago? But, just a moment ago, clearly nobody notified the room, much less greeted him. Although surprising, it was true that not a single person noticed when he managed to slip into Glamor Hall. The crowd couldn’t help but shiver in disgust at the mere power of his abilities.

Jin GuangYao was quick to react, his enthusiasm still warm, “I wasn’t aware of Young Master Wei’s arrival at Koi Tower. The lack of a welcome was my fault. Would you like to be seated? Oh, right—do you have an invitation?”

Wei WuXian didn’t make small talk either, getting straight to the point, “No thanks. I don’t.” He nodded slightly at Jin ZiXun, “Young Master Jin, could I please have a word with you?”

Wei Wuxian is introduced in this scene by appearing suddenly, by sneaking in undetected by some of the greatest cultivators the world has to offer, or at least those with influence. This immediately sets the tone where Wei Wuxian is a threat to them; they're already uncomfortable with his acts and abilities, and such a flippant demonstration that he's good enough to avoid detection from them is similarly discomforting.

Jin Guangyao, for all that he's being polite and welcoming, does immediately highlight the fact that Wei Wuxian was not invited. He is not wanted nor actually welcome here, and is instead forcing his presence upon them. Yes, he's absolutely doing the right thing by confronting Jin Zixun, and yes, he couldn't afford to wait, but when it comes to Wei Wuxian's reputation and relationship with the other sects, it is important to note this.

Now, when Wei Wuxian responds, he's not bothering with pleasantries, which is not to say that he isn't being polite; despite cutting straight to the point, he still addresses Jin Zixun politely. Not only that, but he was also willing to step aside and deal with matters privately. It's only when Wei Wuxian is pressed that he decides to deal with matters in public.

This is where things get more interesting, because we know that Wen Qing came to Wei Wuxian for help rescuing her brother, but when Wei Wuxian confronts the Jins at the banquet, I got the sense that Wei Wuxian doesn't actually know that the Wens were innocent. He was going in there for Wen Ning and Wen Ning alone.

Wei WuXian, “Fine. I don’t mind explaining it in greater detail. You couldn’t catch the bat king and happened to run into a few of the Wen Sect’s disciples who were there to investigate the same thing. And so, you threatened them to carry spirit-attraction flags to be your bait. They didn’t dare do it. One person stepped out and tried to reason with you. That’s the Wen Ning I’m talking about. After some delay, the bat king got away. You beat up the Wen cultivators, took them away by force, and the group disappeared. Do I need to say any more details? They still haven’t returned yet. Apart from you, I don’t know who in the world I could possibly ask.”

Wei Wuxian explicitly refers to the Wens as disciples and cultivators. This either suggests that Wei Wuxian is under the same perceptions as the rest of the sects are of the contents of the prison camps, or that there wereWen cultivators with Wen Ning and that, by the time Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing reached them, the cultivators had all died and/or been moved elsewhere. I'm more inclined to believe the former as Wei Wuxian later says that “Wen Ning’s branch doesn’t have much blood on their hands”. If he'd been aware that the Wens in questions were the Wen remnants, he would've likely absolved them of all guilt – there's no way Wei Wuxian would hold Granny to the same standards as a young and able-bodied cultivator involved in the war, but he doesn't. Wei Wuxian explicitly says that they don't have much blood on their hands, not that they have none.

Regardless of whether Wei Wuxian is wanting to rescue just Wen Ning or all of the Wens at the camp, there is still a complete dissonance between the Wei Wuxian presented to the world and the Wei Wuxian who stands before the sect leaders demanding Wen Ning's location. Prior to this, Wei Wuxian staunchly despised the Wens. His presence in the Sunshot Campaign began with his single-man rampage killing countless Wens in incredibly sadistic and cruel methods. He then proceeds to fight in the Sunshot Campaign with a similar sort of zeal. For him to go from happily torturing Wens as he experiments with his new powers to advocating for them, it would be quite concerning to the other sect leaders present at the banquet. I mean concerning not in the sense where they are concerned for Wei Wuxian, but in the sense that they are concerned because of him.

And, despite this seeming change of heart, Wei Wuxian still doesn't seem to be that passionate about the safety of the Wens.

Wei WuXian continued, “Since anyone whose surname is Wen can be used an outlet of anger as one pleases, no matter if they’re innocent or not, does it mean that it’s fine even if I kill all of them right now?”

Before he even finished his words, he placed his hand on his waist where Chenqing hung.

Instantly, it was as if a piece of memory was stirred up in the minds of everyone within the hall, as though they returned to the battlefield where darkness became the sky and corpses became mountains.

Although this is Wei Wuxian trying to prove a point about the Wens and the hypocrisy of the sects, he is still incredibly flippant with the lives of the people he's currently advocating for. It really doesn't give any sense of comfort that Wei Wuxian is trying to do the right thing. Combined with the fact that Wei Wuxian drops his hand to his weapon, and it's clear to see how the other cultivators could misconstrue this. This could be read as a threat against the sect leaders in the room, as a reminder of what Wei Wuxian had done to the Wens in the past, or as a promise of what he wants to do once he finds the Wens. Whatever he means to do by this, he's only proving himself as a violent and arrogant threat to the cultivation world. Previously, I'd described him as potentially disloyal, but Jin Guangshan explicitly brings Jiang Cheng up, and this tips him from potentially to probably, at least in the eyes of the sect leaders.

Jin GuangShan stood up as well, his face a mixture of shock, anger, fear, and hatred, “Wei WuXian! Just because… Sect Leader Jiang isn’t here doesn’t mean you can be so reckless!”

Wei WuXian’s voice was harsh, “Do you think that I wouldn't be reckless if he were here? If I wanted to kill someone, who could stop me, and who would dare stop me?!”

This really isn't a good look for Wei Wuxian. Before, when he'd been arrogant and deadly, he'd at least still been controlled. He'd been somewhat of a rabid dog, but one with a collar still around his neck and a master whose commands he listened to (somewhat, at least). Now however, he's chewed off his collar and wandered away from his master, ignoring his instructions to heel. Or however this analogy should go. Regardless, it's clear that Wei Wuxian is no longer controllable and is willing to openly admit such. Not only will Wei Wuxian follow his own desires over the desires of his sect leader, but he's also grouping Jiang Cheng with the other cultivators in the banquet. If anyone wanted to stop him – including his sect leader – who could stop him indeed. By flaunting his own strength along with the fact that he's not beholden to his sect, Wei Wuxian is only worsening his position with the other sects.

Lan XiChen seemed as if he was deep in thought, “Young Master Wei’s heart really has changed.”

Hearing this, pain flashed across the light pair of eyes under Lan WangJi’s knitted brows.

Jin Guangyao does his little thing and then we get to the Lan sect. Lan Xichen's response is purely to Wei Wuxian's behaviour and not at all to his accusations. Looking at the scene by itself without the context of the rest of the novel, this would be a cause for concern. Is Lan Xichen not concerned about the Wens because he already knew about them and their circumstances? It's a possibility.

However, if we consider the rest of the novel – if we remember the Wei Wuxian who had stormed into the room and presented himself as the infamous Yiling Laozu that is later sold to the cultivation sects, the arrogant upstart who believes himself above consequence and his betters, and whose morals and beliefs sway easily – then it's not quite so easy to condemn Lan Xichen. A man whose very temperament and mind has been twisted and contorted by his powers – a problem Lan Xichen is well aware of, and a change that Lan Xichen has been able to watch unfold – comes in demanding to know the location of the people he loathed so deeply before, then it's easy to see why Lan Xichen focused on what he did. Wei Wuxian has little to no credibility, due to a mix of his past behaviour regarding the Wens, the fact that he's just one cultivator speaking against a well-regarded and respected sect (which contains Jin Guangyao as well), and his cultivation style and what that entails. So, it's the fact that this incredibly dangerous and unpredictable man is arrogantly standing against the sects that cements itself in Lan Xichen's mind as the main concern, over some accusations that are likely baseless.

So, we have a Wei Wuxian who specifically cultivated a reputation that would protect his greatest secret. This same Wei Wuxian is now feeling the consequences of this reputation which has turned him into a flighty and fickle person trying to convince a group of people who fear him to trust him over their allies. Specifically, he is asking them to trust him over a man who has been in power for longer than some of the sect leaders have been alive, never mind the way he's tried to go about it. It's honestly no wonder that none of the other sect leaders believed him, or at least cared enough to check. It's no wonder why Lan Xichen had other concerns.

But what about afterwards? After Wei Wuxian storms out and rescues the Wens, do we get any other indications about who knew about the Wens?

I think it's still kept ambiguous! If we're focusing on the main four sects, we need look no further than this interaction:

Lan XiChen responded a moment later, “I have heard of Wen Qing’s name a few of times. I do not remember her having participated in any of the Sunshot Campaign’s crimes.”

Nie MingJue, “But she’s never stopped them either.”

Lan XiChen, “Wen Qing was one of Wen RuoHan’s most trusted people. How could she have stopped them?”

Nie MingJue spoke coldly, “If she responded with only silence and not opposition when the Wen Sect was causing mayhem, it’s the same as indifference. She shouldn’t have been so disillusioned as to hope that she could be treated with respect when the Wen Sect was doing evil and be unwilling to suffer the consequences and pay the price when the Wen Sect was wiped out.”

Lan XiChen knew that because of what happened to his father, Nie MingJue abhorred Wen-dogs more than anything, especially with how intolerable he was toward evil. Lan XiChen didn’t say anything else.

There are several ways to interpret this little conversation, but to me it reads very clearly as Lan Xichen trying to keep Nie Mingjue's mind open regarding the situation. While Lan Xichen has been doubting Wei Wuxian's temperament for a decent amount of time now (as we clearly saw in the banquet scene and likely even before then), he's still somewhat open-minded. Where the minor sect leaders immediately acted as if Wei Wuxian's betrayal had been long coming, Lan Xichen pauses. He brings up Wen Qing and her role in the war – and this may be because of parallels between Wen Qing and Jin Guangyao, both being 'gentle' people forced to work with Wen Ruohan for one reason or another – and advocates for her.

Nie Mingjue shuts Lan Xichen down immediately, repeatedly, and harshly; we're told that it's because of his own misgivings (legitimate with solid foundations) and because Wen Qing didn't act against Wen Ruohan. To be completely honest, Nie Mingjue has a point. Without any context to the Wen siblings, Wen Qing's lack of action reads as, in the worst light, support of Wen Ruohan's actions, and in its best, a lack of moral integrity and desire to do right. The only reason the readers are sympathetic towards Wen Qing is because of the time she saved Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, an event none of the cultivators are aware of until Jiang Cheng mentions it in this scene. Even when he does though, he says that he and Wei Wuxian “owe [Wen Ning] and his sister Wen Qing gratitude for what happened during the Sunshot Campaign”, which is the vaguest way of possibly saying that they risked their lives to save the pair of them and even nursed them back to health. I'm not sure if there's some significance to the word that Jiang Cheng uses to convey “gratitude” that is missing in the translation, but in English at least it could imply anything from a simple favour to a life debt.

So, lacking any context as to why the Wen siblings acted as they did, what they did for Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, and the sort of people they truly are, is it any surprise that Nie Mingjue lacks any sort of leniency towards their actions? When the whole cultivation world is at war, is a lack of action a valid action? From Nie Mingjue's point of view, no. Where this gets interesting is where we can also see that Lan Xichen would likely believe yes. (I won't go too far into this, but Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen both parallel each other in a way that is so similar and starkly different). We see Lan Xichen trying to convince Nie Mingjue to give Wen Qing some leniency before giving up. A less forgiving interpretation is that Lan Xichen is simply putting in a token effort to seem fair to all sides before giving in to the common belief, but I think it's pretty clearly more a matter of Lan Xichen conceding a lost battle; he knows Nie Mingjue and he knows how he feels about the Wens and he knows that he won't be able to sway his mind on the matter, not on this. Instead of pushing an issue that he has no chance of winning, he concedes and falls silent.

Does this prove one way or another that Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue were involved in the camps? No. I'd say that it suggests that they weren't involved. We're told that Nie Mingjue is intolerable towards evil and, while we aren't shown how he would act if his own misgivings towards the Wens would clash with his beliefs of righteousness regarding just which Wens have been captured, we do see a similar situation with Jin Guangyao. Nie Mingjue obviously doesn't like nor trust Jin Guangyao and yet he still agreed to become sworn brothers with the man despite his own misgivings towards him. Given this, I'd say that if Nie Mingjue had known the truth, he wouldn't have stood for the Wens' punishment. Lan Xichen is a bit simpler – he's a righteous man who believes in justice and equality – and the thing stilling his hands in this matter isn't the identity of those stolen from the camps, but simply the fact that Wei Wuxian was the one to take them from the camps and that it was the Jins that had been running the camps (read: Jin Guangyao was involved). When forced to choose between the Yiling Laozu and Lan Xichen's dear and trusted friend A-Yao, who is so sweet and earnest, it's clear who Lan Xichen would believe.

I think it is very important to note that in this chapter, the most vocal voices against Wei Wuxian and the Wens are unnamed cultivators and sect leaders. Jin Guangyao and Jin Guangshan provide just enough to push things along, but not enough to be the leading voices in this hatred. With a small push in the right direction everyone else falls into place easily enough, cementing Wei Wuxian's status as the next enemy of the sects.

Another thing to note is Jin Guangyao.

After the gathering ended, all of the sect leaders felt that they received a terrific topic for conversation. They walked quickly as they discussed with all their might, their passionate hatred still burning bright.

Behind the sea of Sparks Amidst Snow, the Venerated Trio gathered.

As soon as the discussion finishes, the Venerated Trio gather together to chat and Lan Xichen is, as per usual, incredibly sympathetic and gentle to Jin Guangyao. Their relationship, being the one between the three of them, is incredibly important in explaining why there would be any Nie or Lan cultivators present at the camps, if any. While it seems pretty evident than neither Lan Xichen nor Nie Mingjue are involved in the camps, it is possible that Lan and Nie cultivators were. If Jin Guangyao were to mention to Lan Xichen that the Jins were facing difficulties managing the Wen cultivators after the war, Lan Xichen would readily volunteer the aid of his cultivators, and Nie Mingjue would eventually follow in suit. With the three of them being as close as they are (or in Nie Mingjue's case: with him being close to Lan Xichen who is close to Jin Guangyao), there would be a sort of implicit trust where they would lend a few of their cultivators to one another without requiring in-depth explanations and justifications of their goings-on with Jin Guangyao. So, it's possible that even though Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue were uninvolved, Lan and Nie cultivators still could have been.

And what about Jiang Cheng?

To be completely honest, I think it's very evident that he wasn't involved, but for argument's sake let's still discuss it. One of the main things about Jiang Cheng in the post-Sunshot Campaign era is that he is distanced from the rest of the sects. He's the latest sect leader and, while he's already rebuilt Lotus Pier fully by this point in time, he's not close with the other sect leaders. There's the sworn brotherhood connecting Nie Mingjue, Jin Guangyao, and Lan Xichen, of course, but there's also countless years of interaction between all of the other sect leaders in the parents' generation that Jiang Cheng isn't privy to. He's a powerful and influential man, but Jiang Cheng is also difficult and easy to manipulate. When Jin Guangshan seeks to use Jiang Cheng, he doesn't bother appealing to his desires or fears, simply needing to send a few pointed comments to awake his ire.

And this is very important to note because Jiang Cheng's strength is largely powered by the fact that Wei Wuxian stands behind him; if Jin Guangshan seeks the power that Jiang Cheng currently has, leaving him off-kilter by keeping him largely uninvolved in inter-sect affairs and bringing up old sore points is an excellent way to do this. While this doesn't have its founding in text, I do think it would be highly likely that Jin Guangshan would have ensured a measure of distance between the Jiangs and the rest of the sects to 'give them their own time to rebuild' but mainly to weaken Jiang Cheng so he would feel more threatened when the ire of the other sects turn against him.

Still, we can confirm that Jiang Cheng was unaware of the happenings of the camps when he visits Wei Wuxian in the Burial Mounds.

Jiang Cheng mocked, “Those sect leaders thought you gathered some leftover forces and crowned yourself king of the hill. So, it’s only the old, the weak, the women, and the children.”

In general, it's pretty clear that Jiang Cheng hadn't been aware of who Wei Wuxian had rescued as he would've likely used it to defend himself in front of the other sect leaders if he had known. While MXTX doesn't linger on Jiang Cheng's feelings towards the Wens too much, focusing more on Jiang Cheng and his feelings about how Wei Wuxian is impacting the sect, we do get the above quote. It doesn't quite read as surprise so much as acknowledgement, as if Jiang Cheng had been expecting something else to be at play beyond Jin Guangshan's aspersions. The fact that it's that the Wens are innocent doesn't really seem to matter too much to Jiang Cheng so much as the political pressure that Wei Wuxian has placed Jiang Cheng under. Once again, this doesn't point to Jiang Cheng being involved in the camps at all.

So, in summary: I'd say that while other sects were certainly involved in the capture and punishment of the Wens, the involvement of the sect leaders of the major sects cannot be determined. Nie Mingjue, for all that he hates the Wens, isn't the sort of man to watch idly as the elderly and infirm are punished, and Lan Xichen, for all that he trusts Jin Guangyao, also isn't the sort of man to allow such cruelty to pass. The only logical explanation I can think of for why Lan or Nie cultivators would be there is if they'd been sent there to help Jin Guangyao and thus acted on his commands. Jiang Cheng, I think, can safely be categorised as definitely not having been involved due to his circumstances at the time and his own personality. When one of the inspectors mentions that other sects are involved, it is likely that they're talking about minor sects allied with the Jins (which does further strengthen the way that MXTX has framed the Jins as the next Wens, from becoming the Chief Cultivator to having a retinue of minor sects under his influence, Jin Guangshan becomes the next Wen Ruohan).

Or at least that's how I'd interpret this topic!

(This is just a little aside, but just as a little bonus let's go for it! If we step away from the text and look at the characters in terms of their purpose within the story, I think it's pretty clear that them being involved in the prison camps contradicts that purpose. This is a bit more abstract and I don't want to focus too much on this aspect of the meta because it requires a deeper level of analysis to provide evidence than the rest imho and I haven't done that, but the gist is this: when a character is created they must serve a purpose; this could be to facilitate particular events in the story, to fill in the blanks in the world or story, or to convey a particular message. As a reader I can't do more than hypothesise MXTX's intentions in creating her characters as she did, but there are a few things that are clear. While the characters of Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue are not explored in anywhere near as much depth as some of the other more central characters, they still do serve a purpose.

Lan Xichen appears in two circles, so to speak, when it comes to his character and how he adds to the story. First, he appears in relation to the Wangxian relationship. I've touched on this in this post here (Tldr mxtx explores how forgiveness and understanding based on context and personal experience will never be absolute through the example of a completely genuine and good person and how their limited information/understanding colours their interactions with specific individuals). This extends on into the second circle, which is his relationship with Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao.

Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue, as I mentioned before, parallel each other; MXTX uses this dynamic of having our primary antagonist (of sorts) surrounded by two incredibly righteous men with a strong sense of morals, and good and evil. The differences between Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen lay in how they commit to their decision of what is right and what is wrong; where Nie Mingjue is quick to form opinions and is set in his ways once he has, Lan Xichen tends to be more forgiving and passive when he is unsure of whether the person is good or not, giving his opinion more time to form and is more forgiving of errors and missteps. This guides the way the Venerated Trio's relationship evolved throughout the novel and how their side-story came to pass. It is very much hinged on the fact that Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue are both 'good' characters who exist at opposite ends of a spectrum and that such extremes is what drove those characters to ruin. Having Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen having a flexible morality – being able to torture and kill the Wens after the war, directly or indirectly – contradicts everything they've demonstrated within the novel and undermines the purpose of the characters within the novel.

MXTX already provides us with characters with dubious morality – Jin Guangyao and Jiang Cheng for example – so it doesn't make sense for her to pervert her morally righteous characters to fill a space that's already been filled, especially not when it sacrifices an important message about how it's not enough to simply exist as a good person and that one has to actively pursue such a life (and several others that depend on them being good people who wouldn't commit crimes such as the Jins did to the Wens after the war).

Even Jiang Cheng, who is one of the characters who has a more flexible morality that has formed around his own personal sense of retribution and benefit over anything else, would be sacrificing a lot of his own character's purpose if he had been involved in the camps. Jiang Cheng's establishment as an antagonist is largely spurred by the misunderstanding surrounding the camps and Wei Wuxian's reputation, and involving Jiang Cheng in the camps would only muddle the waters unnecessarily. There'd be no misunderstanding – only intentional cruelty – and Jiang Cheng would have no basis for his actions at all, as there would have been a direct cascade of events that would have led to Jiang Yanli's death starting from his own involvement with the Jins. The balance of the falling apart of the twin prides would shift in a irrevocable way and their entire post-resurrection relationship would have had to been modified to accommodate this.

Similarly, if MXTX had intended for Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue to be involved in the Jins' crimes, she would've put effort into making it obvious. Resolution would not necessarily have been granted to that particular storyline, but it would have been introduced and concluded in some capacity if that's the path MXTX had wanted to go down. Additionally, if everyone had known about the camps (and had been aiding the Jins too), Wei Wuxian would have been turned into a victim who was wronged by the world. The Wei Wuxian we actually have in the novel, while certainly a victim, is not entirely blameless in his end. This would have also had significant impact on the story that's being told which would most likely contradict the story that we've been presented with.

So, from a writing point of view, having Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue or Jiang Cheng involved in the camps only detracts from the story (and it's also why I hate the Lans-aren't-actually-good takes) and cheapens the story. The unnamed minor sects on the other hand would only further the stories and critiques that MXTX presents us.)