#lan yueheng

[robininthelabyrinth]

The Other Mountain - ao3 - Chapter 32

Pairing: Lan Qiren/Wen Ruohan

Warning Tags on Ao3

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Dear Shixiong,

Welcome back! I hope you had a very enriching and meaningful year in seclusion.

I wanted to –

(Note to self: when you write the second BETTER version of this, add some formal greetings & well-wishes here first before you get to the actual stuff. DO NOT forget this time! EVEN IF it’s boring! Remember that Shixiong likes it when you’re being properly formal!)

I know it’s a little inappropriate to leave a letter under your doorstep for you to read as soon as you rejoin the world. I know you’re supposed to be spending your final moments of seclusion and your first moments of coming back to the rest of the community in thoughtful contemplation, considering the concepts of transition and the transient nature of time, not immediately getting shoved head-first into the petty matters of the world. I would never want to interrupt you while you do that, since I know how important it is to you, and to your cultivation, and I would definitely never ever EVER do it lightly.

I even admit that sending you a letter like this could maybe be seen as a violation of Do not use frivolous words.

Despite all of that, I hope you can forgive your favorite Shidi for the impertinence. In case all of that wasn’t clear enough, this is Lan Zhijin writing to you. You remember, Lan Yueheng’s eldest son? Lan Yanyu’s little brother? The one who used to always follow you around everywhere -

I assure you, I actually have a very good reason for deviating from tradition in this case. After all, tradition is only tradition, and the rules supersede it, particularly Appreciate good people, see friends as neighbors, and be considerate of others. Also, if you disagree with my evaluation and decide that you’re going to report me to the Discipline Hall anyway, can you at least tell them not to hit too many times, okay? Scratch that, tell them kneeling is sufficient, no hits at all! I’m acting in good faith here, Shixiong, really! 

Listen, when you read the rest of this, you’ll see what I mean, and you’re going to thank me for doing this for you, I promise -

You see, Shixiong, ever since you entered strict seclusion a year ago, there have been a number of changes in the Cloud Recesses which are rather more significant than the usual. To put it mildly

I know you must be thinking to yourself, ‘How much can things really have changed? It’s the Cloud Recesses, the Gusu Lan sect, it’s been the same for generation upon generation’ and before you complain, this isn’t a breach of Don’t make assumptions about others, I just know you and of course you’d be right. The fundamental core of our Gusu Lan sect is still there, still going strong, and there are even a few new rules on the Wall of Discipline, as you might have expected. But despite that, there have also been some fairly significant events which have resulted in certain changes that are sufficiently noticeable, and maybe even shocking, that I think that you would want to be prepared in advance before you went out and encountered them.

It’s not gossip if it’s news, you know!

I’m doing this for your sake, Shixiong, really! Not because I want to be the first to tell you –

Really, it would be much funnier if I could see your face when you read this ACTUALLY. But Be easy on others, be hard on yourself is a rule so I won’t prioritize my own amusement over your well-being. See, Shixiong, that’s how much I like you –

First, when you come back, you may very quickly notice a considerable decrease in the average age of the people you see. By this, I mean that you will probably notice pretty quickly that there aren’t any elders walking about the place stroking their beards and talking about the weather and sometimes lecturing innocent juniors who really didn’t mean to break the rule about running, they were just a little bit excited –  

It’s not a violation of Talking behind the backs of others is prohibited if it’s true, Shixiong.

Well, when you notice it, rest assured that you aren’t missing anything, and you aren’t just seeing things. There really aren’t any elders around! They’re all temporarily absent, having each and every one of them either retreated into seclusion to go contemplate and cultivate themselves, or else out into the world to increase their virtue through night-hunts and other beneficent acts. Which you really wouldn’t have expected a bunch of old grandpas that usually like to sit around to play weiqi and gossip all day to be able to do but there you go. Don’t make assumptions, right?? Why would they do this, you may ask? Particularly in such numbers? Especially the ones who tended to be a bit more full of themselves? That’s a very good question. You may even now be thinking of all sorts of reasons and engaging in lots of speculation wondering what happened.

Well, you can count on your shidi for the answer, Shixiong, since there is absolutely NO way you are going to be able to guess. EVER. So I’m going to tell you out of the kindness of my heart what happened.

And what happened is this: the elders are all gone because Teacher came back and gave them such an incredibly harsh talking-to for breaking the rules that they all felt so bad about themselves that they decided they needed to do some self-reflection.

Yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds. I KNOW! But on the other hand you’ve got to give it to Teacher, he’s REALLY good at scolding people – you know the type the ones that make you feel both really guilty, like he expected you to do better because he knows you’re better than that, but also really proud, because he has full confidence that you will do better going forward because you’re good like that – anyway, the point is, they all temporarily resigned from their usual duties of supporting the sect through advice and counsel and went to go do other things. All of them. Every single one of them!

Except for one that we’re all pretty sure Teacher just flat-out killed.

Yes, killed. As in dead. As in totally dead. That’s crazy, right? Teacher! Teacher! LAN QIREN! Old righteous and rigid! Who would have thought he had it in him, right???

Trust me, I know it sounds crazy and I know how crazy it sounds, too. If I hadn’t seen it myself – okay, no, Do not tell lies– if I hadn’t seen Teacher come back to the Cloud Recesses with his Someone Did Something Wrong And It’s Actually Serious This Time face, go meet with all the sect elders, and then leave half a day later, and then not very long after there was the announcement about the funeral and Lan Zhengquan wasn’t even that old, okay, and then all the sect elders were talking about their resignation – oh drat, I haven’t explained why Teacher would be coming back yet –

On second thought, let me start from the beginning chronologically, as that may make things a little more less confusing. [Note to self: do NOT send this version of the letter to Shixiong. Remember what Teacher said – use one piece of paper to write down all of your ideas, figure out which ones you want to use and where, and only then use the second to write your final version with elegance and restraint.]

Okay, so –

I need to stop starting sentences like that, it’s actually not a very good transition. Do better!

Do you remember all those times when we were younger when we’d talk with all the other disciples about the Sect Leader? Not Teacher, since he was only ever technically acting sect leader, but the real one, Qingheng-jun, you know, the one who went into seclusion something like ten or eleven years ago and never seemed to come back out? Anyway, remember how we all said that he sounded really cool what with the way everyone always talked about his amazing swordsmanship skills and his handsome looks and the way he was supposed to be both smart and personable and really clever? Remember about how we all said that it sounded like it would be super awesome and cool if he ever came out of seclusion?

Well, about half a month after you went into seclusion, he really did come out.

It was NOT COOL AT ALL.

I mean, okay, it wasn’t that bad, I guess. The Sect Leader really is very smooth and charming and he’s an amazing swordsman from what little I saw, but obviously he’s also Sect Leader and very busy so I didn’t see very much of him at all. But it was so weird! He did everything so differently from Teacher! And not in good ways, I didn’t like it them at all, but in all sorts of weird ways, like the curriculum or discipline or sect priorities.

Shixiong, the older disciples nearly went to WAR!

If you had to go your mother would have been so upset! I would have been upset! I mean, what if you’d gotten hurt or something! I was so happy you were in seclusion and didn’t have to go. Not that I’m saying it’s a good thing you missed out on everything – wait, I got sidetracked. 

Everyone was really excited to see the Sect Leader at first, especially the elders that remembered him well from before, and the seniors that were his friends from before he went away. It was a little sad, though, because Madam Lan had just died – you remember, his wife, the one who was sick and never came out? – and little Xichen and Wangji were really sad about that, as you can imagine. And since Teacher is the one raising them, he was really busy dealing with that, or trying to as much as he could, so maybe he didn’t have as much time to tell him about how things in the Cloud Recesses were supposed to work normally.

Personally I think it’s a little weird that the Sect Leader came out right at that time? I mean, his wife had just died! You’d think he’d have more reason to be in seclusion, grieving, rather than less. Jiejie said that  some people deal with grief by needing to do work, so maybe that’s the reason? I mean, I don’t really understand why he went into seclusion for so long in the first place, and none of the seniors will explain. Shixiong, if you know, you have to promise to tell me, all right?

I’m sure Teacher would have eventually gotten around to explaining, which might have made it all right, but unfortunately, not long after, Teacher went into seclusion.

Before you start telling me Do not tell lies, I know it sounds weird, but it really did happen!

And no, I don’t mean seclusion like all those times Teacher tried to take a half-month off of work in order to go play music, which don’t really count because he was in his own house and you could still ask him questions as long as you sent them to him by writing, and he was still grading tests and doing sect paperwork (last time around I helped pick it up every morning and drop off the new requests every night, and ooh boy was there a lot of it, you should’ve seen, I NEVER want to be sect leader!!!), and of course Xichen and Wangji were still visiting him every day for dinner. In other words, definitely NOT seclusion. Anyway, I don’t think Teacher actually managed to stay in his house the whole half-month even a single time he tried it, so it really doesn’t count.

No, in this case, I’m talking about real serious business seclusion, like what you have been doing for the past year, the sort where you don’t talk to people on the outside and not even answer notes from your favorite shidi when they get shoved through your window, because you’re mean like that. Would sending one note back really have killed you…?

There were a lot of rumors at the time about why he did that. It just seemed so weird, you know, and badly timed? I’m not saying Teacher isn’t entitled to go into seclusion whenever he wants, of course he is, and he’s even entitled to go into seclusion to have a nice relaxing break because his brother is back and willing to take over sect leader duties, the way some of the sect elders seemed to suggest was the situation, but…it seemed weird and wrong.

I mean, what about poor Xichen and Wangji? Their mother just died! They were so upset already, especially Wangji – he was refusing to talk and tried to sit outside in the snow and it was awful, Shixiong, really awful. And then Teacher, who’s been raising them like they’re his own sons all this time, suddenly goes into seclusion? Something was definitely going on there! Something wrong!

Jiejie says I have a suspicious personality.

Someone claimed that Teacher got into a fight with the Sect Leader and the Sect Leader ordered Teacher to go into seclusion to reflect on himself, as a punishment, but that’s completely crazy, right? I mean, it’s Teacher. Even if he’s going to break a rule, he’s going to do it having drafted his own punishment in advance, and I’m pretty sure he’s never picked seclusion as a punishment. Probably because of all that paperwork.

Someone else said it was because he was actually on a super-secret mission for the sect to do something, but that didn’t really seem reasonable either. I mean, Teacher’s great and all, but he’s not really the super-secret mission sort of person, is he? He’s a little too straightforward.

Anyway, we were all really curious, but no one ever figured it out. The Sect Leader just smiled kind of a weird smile honestly, I’m not going to lie, and even jiejie agrees with me so you know it was really weird and shook his head whenever he heard people speculating, but that doesn’t really mean anything. I guess we’ll never really know. The sect elders never tell people anything if they think they don’t need to know it…

At any rate, as you might expect, the situation with Xichen and Wangji only got worse after Teacher went into seclusion. Xichen got super anxious about everything, really anxious, and Wangji reverted back to biting people and throwing temper tantrums, really bad ones, like some sort of feral street child. He even hit people! None of the teachers or caretakers could do anything to make him stop.

And Teacher didn’t break his seclusion to come help them, which makes it even more suspicious, in my opinion. It just seems so unlike him…I really wish a-Die had been around instead of on that long trip down to the south to get ingredients. He was always one of the few people who could talk to Teacher about things, and he’s always willing to tell me things he hears. My best source of gossip I mean my best source of NEWS abandoned me in my time of need!

Everyone was speculating an awful lot, though, and of course the teachers were handing out punishments for No talking behind the backs of others left, right, and center. And also down, up, and upside-down, but it still didn’t stop anyone.

One time, our whole class derailed because some of the older students wouldn’t stop talking about it in the context of discussing the importance of Honor your teacher and respect his teaching. It was super interesting and really quite clever, but I think it maybe made the teacher kind of uncomfortable? Probably because they were being really aggressive and pointed about some stuff, though I’m not entirely sure what point they were trying to make. That was one of the better teachers, though, because he let us have the debate anyway. Some of the other teachers just canceled class any time someone started talking about it or made us do self-study or whatever. Even after I pointed out that we were starting to miss things on the curriculum Teacher set out at the start of the year, no one seemed to care!

It occurs to me that you don’t care about any of this, so I’ll leave it out of the final version.

After Teacher went into seclusion, a lot of things began changing. At first it seemed just like curriculum changes, like there was a lot more sword training than usual, and also a lot of the seniors got really busy all of a sudden, so we juniors had to pick up a lot more of the chores. But later on we found out that the seniors were getting ready to go out on a super important mission that no one was allowed to know the details of – which was very exciting, at first. Everyone was talking about how it was the Sect Leader’s doing, that it was going to be something really exciting, an opportunity to win glory and honor for our Gusu Lan sect, you know, all the usual.

Except later on (much later, I’m skipping ahead a little), it turned out that the mission was going to be a war. Yes, a war, an affirmative war, by our Gusu Lan sect! I know, it sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. It was supposed to be a little border skirmish, the type everyone does well we usually don’t but OTHER PEOPLE do, but still, there was a lot of preparation and a lot of the seniors got dragged into it, whether they wanted to participate or not.

And before I forget, Xichen and little Wangji, remember how I said they were unhappy? Well, it turned out they were SO unhappy that they ran away from home. For real! They’re not even ten yet! And they MANAGED it! They managed to get out of the Cloud Recesses and all the way to the Nightless City where Teacher was staying!

Actually I’m kind of impressed with that. Even if Cangse Sanren found them nearby by coincidence and took them with her, ending up in the Nightless City by accident because of the war and all that, it’s still an achievement, especially given their ages…

Yes, you read that right, the war stuff happened after they disappeared. It wasn’t that people weren’t looking for them, because of course they were, but then the Sect Leader came back and said not to worry, so people stopped because they thought he knew where they were, and presumably he’d heard from Cangse Sanren or maybe from Teacher about it. I don’t know, the whole thing confuses me, I still don’t understand why we needed to go to war at all – I’m getting away from the point.

And lest you think that’s everything, there’s more to it than that!

See, at some point, Teacher left seclusion to go get married.

Without telling anyone.

Yes, Teacher. Yes, a marriage. Yes, left – he married out, not in. Yes, it was a secret marriage.

YES I KNOW IT’S CRAZY BUT IT’S TRUE!!!

The Sect Leader must have known about it, of course, because he’s both Sect Leader, the head of the clan, and Teacher’s older brother, and we all know that Teacher would never fail to obey proper protocol even if he was going to run off to elope.

Shixiong, I swear I go a little more crazy every time I think about it. I can’t believe Teacher eloped! Teacher! TEACHER!!!

Jiejie says that it’s possible that the Sect Leader arranged the marriage for Teacher, rather than it being at Teacher’s instigation, and that maybe he decided it wasn’t enough to make him go into seclusion but rather that he had to go away entirely. And she says I have a suspicious mind…

I mean, that would be ridiculous, right? If it was an arranged marriage, why would Teacher agree to it? Much less to marry out? And the Sect Leader would have to be the rottenest sort of bastard to set up an arranged marriage and then not give any of us the chance to give Teacher a proper send off, and he’s presumably not like that. I mean, that’s based mostly on my experience with Xichen and Wangji since obviously I’ve never met the Sect Leader myself, but it stands to reason, right? Teacher’s his little brother! No one would be that mean to their little brother, right, Shixiong?

I swear that was a genuine question, not a hint.

But wait – if you think Teacher eloping in a grand romantic fashion is weird, just wait till you find out who it was that he married. See, normally this is when I’d tell you to try to guess, Shixiong, but there’s no way that you’d get it, not even if you guessed a thousand times! And that’s why I’m your favorite shidi, because I’m not going to leave you in suspense about it.

The answer is:

Teacher married Qishan Wen’s Sect Leader Wen.

And before you ask, no, there hasn’t been some sort of coup in Qishan Wen or something. I really am talking about Wen Ruohan. Yes, THAT Wen Ruohan. The Wen Ruohan with the torture palace and the professional army and his fingers in every sect’s pie, the one who’s older than dirt but looks like a pretty boy, except you’re not supposed to say that part out loud. The one that everyone says is completely crazy but also really sneaky and clever, the one everyone says is going to take over the cultivation world one day and oh boy have I got news on that front for you, just be patient –

But you want to know what’s even stranger?

(Yes, Shixiong, I know you must be thinking to yourself: what could be stranger than Teacher marrying Sect Leader Wen?? And in fairness in normal times you’d be right to ask, because that was incredibly strange, but in this instance, the world is weirder than you could have possibly imagined!)

At the discussion conference that wasn’t – wait, I’m getting ahead of myself again

After they eloped, Teacher showed up with Sect Leader Wen to a discussion conference that Yunmeng Jiang sect had organized at the Lotus Pier, and that’s where they ended up announcing their marriage.

(Yes, that was the first announcement we had here, too. The Sect Leader didn’t tell anyone about Teacher marrying out, even though he must have known – he didn’t even pretend to be shocked, to hear some of the people who were at the discussion conference tell it. I guess that’s brotherly solidarity for you. Or something?)

Anyway, while they were there, they didn’t just formally announce the marriage – they also announced that Teacher had been married in as the husband. The HUSBAND!!!

Which, yes, means that Sect Leader Wen is the wife.

His wife.

And Sect Leader Wen agreed with it.

Which means: Wen Ruohan! Is! Teacher’s wife!!!

(As you might imagine, everyone immediately went to the library to read up on the rules regarding honoring your teacher’s wife. There was that one treatise written a few generations ago, the one that goes into detail, you may or may not remember it – well, it got so popular that the librarians had to make a request to the Discipline Hall for assistance in having the disciples who were assigned to writing out lines to make extra copies of it. There was such a fuss over it that I think it even got to the ears of the Sect Leader! I don’t know what he thought about it, but I bet it was really funny. Don’t you agree?)

Anyway, I’m going to let you pause to think about that a little bit more.

Wen Ruohan! The master of torture, the near-god, the would-be madman tyrant…is, to all appearances, extremely happy in his role as our Teacher’s beloved little wife!

I mean, I have no problem believing it of Teacher, if you know what I mean – everyone knows that when Teacher says jump, you say how high, it’s practically an unstated rule, and of course Teacher has always been very doting when it comes to people he loves. Look at how meticulous he’s always been about Xichen and Wangji! I bet that now that he’s married, he probably spoils his wife rotten…not that I think that Sect Leader Wen is easy to spoil. I mean, just think about the size of that dowry, right?

I mean, the Qishan Wen sect is all Sect Leader Wen’s, and he doesn’t even have sect elders to worry about because he’s so old and powerful. Even his wives don’t cause trouble and by all accounts seem to be pretty content with Teacher managing him, which is only reasonable, because Teacher managing anything makes it better. Practically a rule. Qishan Wen really are the sun in the sky, spreading their influence everywhere – I think they control a third of the cultivation world, if not closer to half.

Well back then anyway, before everything went down…I shouldn’t have crossed that out.

Well, it would be correct to say that Qishan Wen controlled a third or maybe a half of the cultivation world before you went into seclusion. There have been a few changes since then.

First off, before I get there, let me start with the mountain, and to explain the mountain, I need to explain the war. I unfortunately can’t tell you too much about exactly what was planned for the war, Shixiong, since I don’t actually know. The long and the short of it is that the Sect Leader decided we were going to have a border skirmish with one of the small independent sects, the sect elders didn’t object (or at least they didn’t succeed in objecting, which I personally think Teacher would have), and a lot of the seniors had to go to fight.

A lot of them were very stressed about it, some of them to the point of throwing up, but there wasn’t any choice. We were all so worried about them, Shixiong! Especially once all the other sects found out about it and it turned into a really big deal – we kept hearing all sorts of updates, about Lanling Jin hiring mercenaries and the local sects activating their defenses and the Wen sect’s army moving into the area – it was very frightening, Shixiong. I’m completely in earnest, it was terrifying. The thought of all of our shixiongs and shijies going to war and maybe getting hurt or even dying…I threw up once or twice myself, actually.

But don’t worry! Despite what a lot of us were afraid of, it all turned out all right in the end. Not because war isn’t as bad as we think it is, but rather because in the end we didn’t end up having to have a war at all.

There was an earthquake instead.

Some people said that it was caused by –

Well, some of the seniors were a little silly and believed –

There was this whole thing with Baoshan Sanren’s mountain supposedly moving –

In a somewhat amusing turn of events, Cangse Sanren, disciple of the celestial immortal mountain of Baoshan Sanren, apparently came by and made a joke that got a little out of hand –

Well, Teacher says that it was obviously a joke, anyway. But on the other hand, according to the seniors the timing was really suspicious and all, and also I think Teacher and Cangse Sanren are friends, so theoretically they could be engaged in some sort of cover-up, who even knows –

Listen, Shixiong, even if it’s fake it would be SO COOL if it were true –

There was an earthquake.

The earthquake was so powerful that it shook the foundations of one of the local mountains in the area (it was in a place called Xixiang, you wouldn’t have heard of it) and kicked off a terrible landslide, which was going to destroy the nearby towns and poison the local reservoir. I say ‘going to,’ because it didn’t, because Sect Leader Wen stopped it.

‘What are you talking about, Zhijin?’ I can hear you saying now. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, everyone knows that it’s impossible to fight a natural disaster, not even if you have a whole bunch of cultivators.’

WELL.

GUESS WHAT.

Turns out that when they say that Sect Leader Wen is powerful, they really, really mean it.

I mean, the entire cultivation world was absolutely shocked by what he did, so it wasn’t just a surprise to us. No one can entirely agree on what exactly he did or how he did it, but they do agree that he used some sort of secret cultivation art and just blasted all the rocks coming down from the mountain into dust before it could hit the towns.

Just…imagine that.

Shixiong, isn’t that so cool? And he’s our Teacher’s wife! Get it, Teacher!

Reminder: implications aren’t a violation of the rule against vulgar language.

Anyway, while or maybe shortly after Teacher’s wife fought a mountain and either won or at least got to a very respectable draw, a bunch of evil spirits (ghosts, spirits, corpses, everything) that had been hiding in the base of the mountain got out and started swarming everywhere. Luckily all the sects or at least many of them were already there, because they were expecting to have to go to war, and so everyone was able to go deal with them at once. It was a whole big thing! Everyone was fighting them, the whole cultivation world working together instead of competing against each other.

(Sadly something like that is not likely to happen ever again in either of our lifetimes outside of something artificial like a discussion conference or a big celebration. And we both missed this one, me because of age and you because of seclusion. Oh, well.)

Anyway, I wouldn’t be wasting your precious just-out-of-seclusion time with this update, Shixiong, unless I really thought it was important – I’m NOT gossiping just for the sake of gossiping – but rather I’m just giving you the background for all the stuff that happened after that. We’re talking big massive shifts in the entire cultivation world, Shixiong, stuff you really need to know about, you understand?

We’re talking about the change of power in multiple Great Sects, the rise of the Wen sect (well, continued rise anyway), and Teacher becoming the second or maybe first most important person in the entire cultivation world, which is so cool I sometimes think about it while daydreaming and then someone scolds me for violating Do not smile foolishly. I’m not the only one, either, everyone is violating that rule these days.

Now, because Do not tell lies,I will admit that I don’t know exactly what happened, since it’s still unclear – some things are really best left to later historians and record-keepers – but I can at least give you the general gist to the best of my understanding.

So, remember how I mentioned all those ghosts and spirits and corpses? Rumor has it that Lanling Jin’s Sect Leader Jin got possessed by one of them, apparently a libidinous ghost. Supposedly that’s how it got through all of his defenses as a cultivator and sect leader, because he was himself so libidinous that it attracted the ghost’s attention and it used that to get him. Jiejie says that it took the form of a beautiful woman and he couldn’t resist grabbing at her and THAT’S how it got him, which just goes to show that our ancestors were right about Do not indulge in debauchery and Promiscuity is forbidden.

It must have been a really super powerful ghost to manage to get to a sect leader like that, and it was a very vicious ghost, too, because it made Sect Leader Jin make a whole bunch of cursed gold coins which then got passed around to everyone in the cultivation world. It was really dangerous, Shixiong – everyone accepted them because it was polite (they were really ugly), but because they had a commemorative design, the sect elders were planning on letting people keep them. Imagine what might have happened if they hadn’t figured out that they were cursed! It would have been awful!

What we THINK happened is that the Sect Leader and Teacher must have met up somewhere on the battlefield and figured out something had gone wrong, somehow, because they were the ones that ultimately solved the issue. The Sect Leader went off to hunt down the libidinous ghost’s tracks, or at least that’s what must have happened because there’s no other reason why he would have just disappeared like that right after a big battle while Teacher and Sect Leader Wen went to investigate the rest of the cultivation world.

Maybe because Sect Leader Wen was the one who fought the mountain landslide, Sect Leader Jin the ghost possessing Sect Leader Jin also tried to have him killed right in the middle of the Lotus Pier. (Yunmeng Jiang sect was hosting a party to make up for the fact that everyone went home after the discussion conference; it’s not really important to the story, Shixiong, but if you have questions I’ll tell you all about it later because it is SOOOO funny). Teacher had to go rushing in to save his wife, like a hero rescuing a damsel in distress, a scene right out of a novel – I wish I was there to see that, even more than the mountain thing. Not because of how good a swordsman Teacher is (the Sect Leader is probably better, I GUESS) but, well, the idea of Teacher waving his sword around and charging in through a door to save his wife just sounds like it would have been amazing, right?

Especially because the wife is Sect Leader Wen. I mean, you’ve got to admit that’s funny, right??

After that, Sect Leader Wen took his army to Lanling City, Unfortunately, they weren’t in time to keep the libidinous ghost from killing Sect Leader Jin – supposedly he died in bed with a whole bunch of prostitutes because the ghost kept going and going until his heart exploded, if you know what I mean – and then possessing someone else, though I’m not sure exactly who. From what I hear, the Sect Leader ended up fighting and killing it in some sort of epic showdown, fighting side-by-side with Sect Leader Wen or something like that, but he was hurt really badly in the process and ended up dying.

Which is heroic and all, I guess, but also a little sad?

He spent so long in seclusion and died so shortly after he got out – it doesn’t seem fair.

Jiejie says that what actually killed the Sect Leader was more likely a broken heart. She says that even though the ghost must have been super powerful if it took over Sect Leader Jin, it wasn’t enough that it would have defeated our Sect Leader – certainly not with Sect Leader Wen to help out, even if he was still super tired from fighting the mountain – but that the Sect Leader was still so sad about his wife dying that he’d just wanted to do one last thing for the sect before he died, so when he defeated the ghost he was satisfied with what he’d done and so he died.

It sounds like a ridiculous load of romantic nonsense to me, but don’t tell Jiejie I said that –

On reflection, the suggestion made was a totally reasonable theory which I definitely don’t doubt in any way and also Jiejie says to say hi and best wishes on your return to you, Shixiong. Which I’m doing, because she’s the kindest, most beautiful and most forgiving jiejie in the world, with the sharpest eyes for READING OVER PEOPLE’S SHOULDERS, and also the one with the strongest pinching fingers with unerring aim right for my ear. Which still hurts.

Anyway.

My point is, think about that, Shixiong: both our Sect Leader and Sect Leader Jin died! And in our case, we didn’t even have Teacher around any more, because he married out, and then he comes back and does the most epic scolding in Gusu Lan history, causing all the sect elders to retire, leaving us completely bereft…!

It’s madness, Shixiong, I’m telling you, madness!

Okay, maybe not madness, I’m exaggerating. It could be much worse. At least we still have Teacher! Even if he is going to be mostly managing the sect providing advice on managing the sect from where he lives in the Nightless City, though of course they’re going to be promoting a lot of the sect seniors that were already doing things to do most of the day-to-day stuff (but more importantly we’ll still have Teacher, too, because Sect Leader Wen has already agreed that they’ll spend a little time out of every season or two in the Cloud Recesses, as needed, until Xichen and Wangji get old enough to start apprenticing as future sect leader/second-in-command).

Before you start worrying, Shixiong, we’re not actually becoming a subsidiary sect of Qishan Wen. Teacher would never let that happen.

Least of all to Xichen and Wangji, who are going to inherit it eventually!

Anyway, we’re still definitely in a better situation than, say, Lanling Jin, whose only option for sect leadership is a six-year-old child. His mother, Madam Jin, is temporarily acting as sect leader in his place, but given everything that happened with the ghost, Sect Leader Wen has stationed a battalion of his army at Jinlin Tower to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

Now THAT is called becoming a subsidiary sect, even if Lanling Jin will never admit it.

At this point, Shixiong, you may be thinking to yourself – wow! That’s a lot of change! The Qishan Wen sect has extended its influence over two Great Sects and all of their subsidiaries!

BUT THERE’S MORE.

It seems like, either during the events of Xixiang or shortly before, Qinghe Nie’s Sect Leader Nie suffered from a minor qi deviation – and you know how Qinghe Nie sect leaders tend to be with qi deviations. Anyway, since he’s friends with Teacher and Sect Leader Wen, they all put their heads together along with the Nie sect doctors and they seem to have come up with a way to keep him from having any more qi deviations. Now obviously I don’t know what that method is, since no matter how it was created, it’s officially a Qinghe Nie sect secret now, but what I do know is that whatever the method is, it involves Sect Leader Nie needing to retire from being sect leader in another year or so.

Apparently he’s going to go travel the world with Cangse Sanren and her husband, because he’s promised to kill some sort of beast for her in exchange for something that she’s doing for him that helps with his qi deviation problem. Jiejie says that Cangse Sanren is so funny that she can use jokes to make his qi travel right and that’s why he needs to be with her all the time, but that seems dumb, right? Maybe? DO NOT TELL JIEJIE OR SHE’LL GET MY EAR AGAIN.

Interestingly enough, Shixiong, they came to check out something in our Cloud Recesses’ library once, and it turns out that Cangse Sanren’s husband – you know, Wei Changze, formerly a servant in Yunmeng Jiang – is actually a historian with an interest in curses and unorthodox cultivation styles. Cool, huh? I think he’s going to stick around for a bit, too, or at least until he’s made his way through most of the library, which will take a while.

What this means, though, is that his son, Nie Mingjue, is going to have to take over, and he’s not even fifteen yet. I think? Maybe he is. He could even be older. You know how the Nie are. Either way, I don’t think the Nie sect is going to install a regent for him, but obviously, at that age, he’s probably going to need a lot of help in running sect matters. His father will be able to help somewhat, but otherwise he’s probably going to need to reach out to his sect’s allies.

Which, if you think about it, are: Gusu Lan and Qishan Wen.

And more specifically, Sect Leader Nie’s good friends, Teacher and Sect Leader Wen.

If you’re keeping track, that’s now three Great Sects that Qishan Wen has somehow managed to get its claws into (with Teacher’s help, which only goes to show you how awesome Teacher is).

Now, Shixiong, you may be thinking to yourself: ‘Okay, I think I see where this is going. Now tell me who died in Yunmeng Jiang!’

Well, I’m pleased to tell you: nobody died. They’re all okay. For once.

They’ve actually had a very positive change for the better. You see, apparently, Madam Yu or maybe we’re supposed to call her Madam Jiang now? Madam Yu got inspired by Sect Leader Wen being Teacher’s wife despite being more powerful and the proper sect bloodline and all that. She apparently went and demanded that Sect Leader Jiang let her be the husband, because she was more suited for the role than he was. And he AGREED!

(Only Yunmeng Jiang, am I right? Attempt the impossible!)

So now Madam Yu is running Yunmeng Jiang and Sect Leader Jiang is helping her do it, I guess, but either way the rumor is that they’re both much happier now. Or at least you don’t hear stories about them fighting all the time anymore, anyway.

Oh, and their kids are also all right. Uh, I may have forgotten to mention, but actually Cangse Sanren temporarily took the two Jiang sect heirs with her so that they could get to know her son while spending time together on a road trip, which turned out to be the same road trip where she happened to trip over Xichen and Wangji. What a coincidence, right?

Which leads me to the best part: TEACHER IS GOING TO BE TEACHING AGAIN!!!

It’s not going to be at home, of course, because he lives in the Nightless City now. But all that means is that all of us juniors get to go to stay at the Nightless City (which is supposedly HUGE) so that we can all do our lessons there together! It’s going to be year-round classes, with month or two month breaks around all the big holidays, and it’s going to be great. Qinghe Nie is sending their young master, Nie Huaisang, with Nie Mingjue going to go as well to learn how to run a sect from Sect Leader Wen, and Lanling Jin’s Jin Zixuan is going to be there (he doesn’t get a choice), Xichen and Wangji are obviously going to be there because Teacher is there, the Wen heirs (I think there’s two of them? maybe more if you count in some of their cousins?) already live there, and the Jiang sect heirs got brought there by Cangse Sanren along with her son…listen, Shixiong, you know how Teacher always invites some people from other sects to join our lessons with him, right?

Well, imagine that, except EVERYONE is going to be there. It’s going to be so much fun!

Yes, you read that right – it’s going to be fun, for me, because your favorite shidi is going to be one of the people that gets to go! I’ve never been happier to be one of the age groups that Teacher teaches…if you come out of seclusion early enough, maybe you can try to get a spot too? You’re not that old, you could probably get in with the older group!

Please, please please, Shixiong? It would be so much fun to have you there!

And even if you can’t get a spot, maybe you can come help teach or something? Teacher has already had to start recruiting extra people to come help with the classes, since there’s probably going to be a fair number of us there. Someone to supervise self-study, keep an eye on the sword training, help the ones who don’t know music with the basics – that sort of thing.

Supposedly Sect Leader Wen even volunteered to personally teach a class on arrays!

Jiejie says Teacher might not let him do it if he doesn’t behave. Then she giggled for some reason? I’m pretty sure it’s some sort of innuendo, but I’m not sure I understand what she was referencing…

Speaking of Sect Leader Wen, if you’re worried about the Fire Palace, don’t be – he’s apparently working on dismantling most of the torture palace aspects of it and turning it into a hobby palace instead. Or, well, apparently it’s always been the Wen sect leader’s hobby palace, only the sect leaders before Sect Leader Wen made it a pleasure palace and he made it a torture palace.

And now it’s going to be a…study palace, I guess?

I don’t know exactly. I think it’s supposed to be a place where people do experiments with arrays, which are Sect Leader Wen’s specialty. I don’t think I know enough about it to really understand, I think, but there was something about studying what happens to spiritual energy when it gets really small or really big and how it interacts with all sorts of things, coming up with rules about how it works and then trying to break them and stuff like that…anyway, all of a-Die’s alchemist and artificer friends got really excited, and a lot of the sect’s philosophers did, too, so I’m taking that to mean that it’s a good thing.

At minimum, it’s lots better than a torture palace, anyway.

Not that I would expect anything less from our Teacher, of course. They say that he can make a gentleman even out of a waste – why not make a good wife out of a tyrant?

Don’t tell Jiejie I said that. Or anyone else. Just imagine if Sect Leader Wen heard about that…!

Actually, I don’t know, maybe he wouldn’t mind?

I actually saw Teacher and Sect Leader Wen recently. They came together to the Cloud Recesses on some sort of business – maybe related to that time Teacher just straight up murdered a sect elder for breaking the rules? Teacher is SO COOL – and they were walking together through the Cloud Recesses, their heads bent together as they spoke with each other. Sect Leader Wen really does only look like he’s only in his twenties, particularly when he smiles, and he was smiling at Teacher, who looked content and pleased and warm in the way he does when he’s had some time to work on his music or spend time on things that make him happy.

His whole face was softer, you know? And for once, he was actually getting the chance to walk around without getting bothered by either the sect elders (not present) or the juniors (too afraid of Sect Leader Wen). I don’t think I’ve ever seen Teacher look so peaceful.

They’re obviously in love.

It’s just nice to see, you know? You hear about all those stories about Gusu Lan as compared to other sects, and particularly about the idiosyncratic yes I know big words too, Shixiong, I can be elegant when I want to be ways that the Lan of Gusu Lan go about falling in love when they end up falling in love. It’s just so - so - why are words hard And in this case I just feel like it sort of feels like the right end, you know? You know the way that Teacher always seemed a little lonely sometimes, like he wanted to be one of the ones that fell in love like that, but he just happened not to have had a chance yet.

And now he found his chance.

I mean…okay, sure, he found his chance and his love with possibly the weirdest person ever. There are definitely people in the sect that are never recovering from the shock they got when word of Teacher’s marriage got out. But you know what, if it works for him, good for him.

I’m glad they’re in love.

And they were obviously in love.

Really obviously in love, even if they weren’t putting it on display or anything.

I mean, they were glowing. Both of them – I think it might even be a bit literally true? They seemed brighter than the surroundings, somehow. I called Jiejie over to look, and she agreed that they were cute! Which wasn’t actually my question, but I guess it’s true.

And I guess I can understand why Teacher decided to elope with him.

(But only because we still get to attend Teacher’s classes. If Sect Leader Wen took away Teacher for good, I would be sooooo mad!)

Anyway, Shixiong, I hope that this is helpful…

Uh, sorry shixiong, it looks like I may have misunderstood the exact time and date and uh, everything, and now I really have to go pack RIGHT NOW because otherwise I’m going to be super late and I mean SUPER LATE so uh I guess you’re just going to have to get this letter as is, hopefully I haven’t forgotten to cross out anything too embarrassing, have a nice time back from seclusion bye!!!

~ Lan Zhijin

P.S. FIND A WAY TO COME TO THE NIGHTLESS CITY! WE’RE ALL GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN!

[rosethornewrites]

T & G reading since 2/2

Finished

Teen:

You've Been Hit By (A Smooth Criminal), by stiltonbasket

In which Wei Wuxian is under an enchantment, and Lan Wangji is a faerie trapped in the unwitting thrall of a vampire.

Fairness, by snowberryrose

In which Wen Qing gets drunk

Or: Wei WuXian is more observant than he’s credited

Divergence from episode 29

be honest with me now, by sassybluee (5th in a series)

Sometimes, even though they are married, Lan Wangji feels as though he doesn’t know Wei Ying at all.

Su She Eats his Heart Out, by KizuKatana (3 chapters, locked)

The (bitter) third party pov of the epic college romance between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, as told from the pettiest NPC to ever exist.

- - - - -

A new student transferred into the university in their second year, and Su She was gleeful to see how much Lan Zhan was irritated by him from the very first day that the student (Wei something) showed up late for class with a ratty hoodie pulled up over his head and proceeded to sleep through lecture. Finally, someone else would be the butt of everyone’s jokes as they watched Wei Ying constantly try and fail to get Lan Zhan’s attention. When midterm grades came out, Su She was expecting the guy to be humiliated.

That was… not what happened.

Worse still, Lan Zhan was now actually turning his head to look at the guy when he spoke. And... wait, was Lan Zhan… putting his hand on the guy’s ass?!

No. Su She does not accept this.

Est-il Impossible D'echapper, by Comfect (4th in a series)

Jiang Cheng finds someone else who's been touched by death, and finds out some important information.

Title from Shakespeare (when he was writing in French), as always.

Content warning for canonical threat to the life of a child (the child does not die in this fic and will not die in this series)

In Which Jiang Cheng Ruins Everything, by AshurbanipalJones (10th in a series)

Wen Qing felt like all her internal organs were about to explode. Was this what Qi deviation felt like?

“Fuck you,” she said, and stormed past him.

Behind her, she sensed rather than heard Hanguang Jun following. Then his voice, low and cool and even, “You, Jiang Wanyin, are a fucking moron.”

Ridiculousness, by snowberryrose

In which Nie HuaiSang concocts a story

You Were More Than Just A Short Time (and i´ve got a lot to live without), by razzleberryicedtea

After the battle at Bu Ye Tian Lan Wangji felt like he couldn´t breathe.

There was a heavy weight on his chest and his lungs constricted every time he gasped for air, feeling a sharp pain in his body that was entirely unrelated to the punishment of thirty-three lashes, which the elders had agreed upon.

(Wei Wuxian is dead but Lan Wangji is not. He has to keep going somehow, especially with being a father now.)

Saviour of the Universe, by sami (part of 2 series, 3 chapters)

"Good morning, James," Jordan greets the young man who brought her patient. "And good morning, Catp'n Flint. James, I hope your mothers are well?"

General:

chancellor of the morning sun, by stiltonbasket (11 chapters)

The disgraced Madam Lan gives birth to a daughter first, not a son.

The Lan sect has never had a woman for a sect leader after Lan Yi, and does not wish to have one again.

Lan Wangji refuses to claim his sister's birthright.

These three facts have shaped Lan Xichen's life, for as long as she can remember.

No Time For Leisure, by nirejseki

Protecting and taking care of Lan Qiren is serious business.

As far as his cousin, Lan Yueheng, is concerned, everyone should get a chance.

My Pet Rabbit Found His Husband at the Library, Or: How One Mischievous Rabbit Got Lan Zhan a Boyfriend, by katje

Lan Zhan had thought today would be like any other day working at the library. He had been working at this branch for nearly three years as the Youth Services Librarian, and he had his routine down to an art. From planning programs to culling books and replacing them with books more children would enjoy to holding animal therapy sessions with his Flemish Giant rabbit Tofu, he was as set in his routine as one could be working with the general public.

Little did he know, however, his peace would soon be disrupted by none other than Tofu himself, who was usually a model employee.

OR

Lan Zhan is just trying to do his job, but his pet rabbit has other ideas - namely, finding himself and his baba a husband.

The Trouble With Politics: a Treatise on Jiang Sect Deputies Gone Rogue by Sect Leader Wei Wuxian, by stiltonbasket (20 chapters)

Jin Zixuan dies. A siege is called at the Nightless City. A bodyguard flees from the Jinlintai, and journeys to the Burial Mounds to fulfill a life debt to the Ghost General.

Lan Wangji just wants to woo Wei Wuxian in peace, and figure out if Jiang-zongzhu's ex-deputy will ever stop trying to chaperone them.

(Or, the one where Yu Zhenhong stands by his da-shixiong, and becomes the head disciple of the rising Yiling Wei sect.)

Unfinished

Teen:

I've Heard of Second Chances, but This Is Ridiculous, by velvet_green

One of Wei Wuxian’s experimental talisman arrays sends himself, his husband and his brother to that mythical land of long ago – the Gusu Lan lectures of their youth.

Wei Wuxian is amused. Lan Wangji is silent. Jiang Cheng is angry.

And their younger versions are mostly just very, very confused.

Instead, by apathyinreverie (locked)

Wei Ying is found by someone other than Wen Chao after the Core transfer.

Or, the one where Wei Ying is never thrown into the Burial Mounds, never invents demonic cultivation. He still manages to become the lynchpin of the Sunshot Campaign anyway.

Your Shelter, by cosmicmilktea

“There is no need for sorry,” Lan-gege had told him, what seemed like such a long time ago, “Robes can be cleaned.”

But a soiled robe in Lotus Pier means lashes on his back and a night of kneeling in the ancestral hall, even if Jiang Cheng and all the other disciples also came back with mud and reeds painting their robes. A soiled robe means hearing baba and mama's names spoken in malice and ridicule. It means a gentle chiding from shijie as she pats his head and offers him a bowl of warm soup, which only made him miss the warmth of Xian-gege's safe embrace.

His back hurts, and his knees ache from kneeling so long. Beneath his robes, Lan-gege's ribbon presses close to his heart, and it reminds him how he had felt so safe with the two men. How baba and mama had also made him feel safe even without the shelter of gilded walls and roofs. He longs to be that safe again, the longing building and building in the too-small confines of his chest until Wei Ying can not hold it in any longer.

He runs.

General:

Lies and Truth, by parodismal (locked)

What happen if Lan Wangji decided to actually check Qiongqi Path after Wei Wuxian leave?

....

It leads to a domino effect towards a new Chief Cultivator

Is it a better?

Or worse?

一寸光阴一寸金, 寸金难买寸光阴, by orphan_account (likely abandoned)

His eyes fluttered closed, his body went limp and the next thing he knew-

Pain flared on his cheek and his ass hit the ground.

He blinked, eyes dazed and mind numbed from shock. He cradled his bruised cheek, eyes taking in Wei Wuxian, furious and indignant and-

Young.

Wei Wuxian was young, he was wearing Gusu robes-

Everyone was young.

Jin Zixuan was young, he was alive-

He’s travelled back in time.

[Jin Zixuan Time Travel Fix-It]

the sea meets the moon-blanched land, by rkivees

“I'm sorry, Lan Zhan.”

“This is in no way Wei Ying's fault.” He shook his head, eyes focused on Wei Wuxian's face when he said it.

“I could've helped you earlier.”

“You were worried about the ones who could not protect themselves.” His voice was deep and sober, “Like the promise we made 10 years ago.”

or, wei wuxian leaves lotus pier right after their classes in cloud recesses and that's when he finds himself

[robininthelabyrinth]

Thx for doing this again! It is a joy to read from you 1) If I may ask- Lan Quiren taken care of by people. What would Lan Yueheng or Lao Nie or even his nephew do with a sick / hurt Quiren?

No Time For Leisure

Lan Yueheng didn’t understand why people were mean to each other.

He didn’t understand – quite a bit about people, actually. Most of the time he didn’t even notice when people were being mean to him, though eventually it got through and he felt bad and he didn’t like feeling bad. He didn’t like feeling ignored or barely tolerated or being talked about – or – or any of it, really. He’d asked his cousin Lan Ganhui why people did that and his cousin didn’t really have a good answer, mostly shuffled around and looked embarrassed and said Well I don’t just tolerate you! even though he kind of did, mostly on account of the fact that his mother would dismember him if he didn’t keep an eye on Lan Yueheng while they were out and about.

Still, Lan Ganhui was better than most people, primarily on account of his being willing to be very mean to anyone he perceived as being mean to Lan Yueheng – Lan Yueheng wasn’t actually sure if that was better or not, and sometimes it mostly just came off as Lan Ganhui being mean for no reason – and he really did make an effort to bring Lan Yueheng with him. Sometimes. When there were enough people around that he didn’t have to spend all his time showing off to his friends. Anyway, it was all right, really, or at least it was mostly.

Anyway, Lan Yueheng was assured quite a few times that he would understand it a bit more when he was a bit older. Unfortunately, he’d gotten quite a bit older than he’d been the first time people had said that and he still didn’t understand it and he still didn’t like it and it made him very tired, sometimes.

His math books weren’t mean, at least. He kept at least three with him at all times, nice and steady and reasonable, each thing leading to another, and it made him feel better.

Lan Ganhui had made him promise not to talk to anyone about math while he was on this particular trip, stressing it several times, and while Lan Yueheng didn’t quite understand why and under what circumstances someone wouldn’t want to hear about math, he was trying his best. He even tried not to read his favorite math books too many times, only when he was really anxious and needed a reminder of the familiar.

Right now, for instance. He didn’t understand why everyone was being mean to poor cousin Lan Qiren, who’d gotten into a big argument with his big brother and now wasn’t talking to him, or wasn’t being talked to by him, which seemed more accurate. From what Lan Yueheng heard of it, Lan Qiren seemed to have the right of it, but when he’d asked Lan Ganhui about it, his cousin had looked uncomfortable again and told him not to ask too many questions. But Lan Yueheng was nothing but questions, lots of questions, and he felt bad because Lan Qiren was all alone and being ignored and Lan Yueheng knew how bad that felt.

He decided, in a fit of he-didn’t-know-what, to sneak one of his beloved math books under Lan Qiren’s pillow when no one was looking, thinking that if Lan Qiren couldn’t have anything else, he could at least have math to comfort him. It was a really big sacrifice – it meant Lan Yueheng had only two math books with him at all times – but he thought it was the right thing to do.

Lan Ganhui made a face when Lan Yueheng told him about it, though.

“You know not everyone thinks about math the way you do, right?” he asked, and Lan Yueheng blinked owlishly at him. “He might not appreciate – or understand – what you meant by it…ugh, never mind. Anyway, he’s a rotten old stickler, always getting other people in trouble for violating this rule or that –”

“But following the rules is important, isn’t it?” Lan Yueheng asked, bewildered, and Lan Ganhui sighed and reached over to fix up Lan Yueheng’s hair which was falling sideways again.

“Never mind,” he said. “Just – don’t say anything to him out loud, all right? Promise me.”

Lan Yueheng promised, not for the first time, but he still didn’t understand.

But a day or two later he found the book back under his own pillow with an entire set of annotated notes with questions and comments right next to it, showing interest and engagement with the math in a way barely anyone ever bothered with. This, of course, was the best thing that ever happened to Lan Yueheng – even Lan Ganhui, when he showed it to him, looked surprised and said, “Huh. I wouldn’t have though he’d do that. Guess he’s not as much of a stick in the mud as I thought.” – and from that day forward Lan Yueheng had a brand-new friend, one that understood him even better than Lan Ganhui ever had.

He still didn’t understand why people were mean, but he thought he might understand a bit more about himself, and what he was willing to stand for.

(And also, seriously, he’d told Lan Ganhui that math made everything better!)

-

“You know, when you wrote to me and said he was sick, I thought you meant that he was dying,” Cangse Sanren told Lan Yueheng.

Lan Yueheng blinked at her. “If I meant that he was dying, why wouldn’t I say that he was dying? Anyway, if he was dying, I wouldn’t have been wasting time writing letters to you, would i?”

This was why she liked the Lan sect so much, Cangse Sanren thought, grinning. They might not be as intentionally funny and lively as the Jiang sect at the Lotus Pier – Wei Changze especially – but they had their own particular charm, what with all their rules and regulations and strict orthodoxy that had somehow gone all the way around to being a bit weird anyway.

“You’re completely right,” she said, nodding. “That’s what I would expect from any normal person, but here in the human world people are always over-stating or under-stating things. I’ve almost come to expect it.”

Ugh, that meant she was getting used to it, wasn’t she?

“Well, don’t bother with me or Qiren-xiong,” Lan Yueheng said, blissfully straightforward and just as blissfully uninterested in hearing about Baoshan Sanren’s mountain or Cangse Sanren’s own approximate level of humanity. He was great.“I don’t care about anything other than my math or my alchemy or my friends, I’m not going to waste time talking in circles even if it’s supposed to be more elegant. Are you going to go see Qiren-xiong now?”

“Absolutely. I came all this way, didn’t I?”

Lan Qiren was, in fact, sick, but only with a nasty cold, which he’d managed to get on account of some extraordinarily unwise choices – at least, per Lan Yueheng’s enthusiastic regaling of the adventure – and he turned out to be a terrible patient. Possibly it was that his golden core was so bright and shining, making him unaccustomed to the usual trials and travails of illness and misery and therefore reluctant to accede to them; he wasn’t the strongest cultivator of Cangse Sanren’s acquaintance, but he was one of the purest, and that wasn’t for nothing. This illness was undoubtedly a most unwelcome inconvenience.

He was, in short, grumpy as hell.

“I was told to remain under bedrest, so I am staying where I am,” he said, his monotone voice in no way concealing how much he was seething. “But I do not see why being confined to my bed means that I am incapable of doing anything else of interest.”

“No one’s saying you can’t do things,” Cangse Sanren said, sitting down next to him on the bed and ignoring his shocked yelp at her indecent intimacy. It was a bit slow to get out, which was a sign of how sick he really was; that would be the medicine he was taking, which was making him woozy and even more ill-tempered than he normally was when he was confined. “We’re just saying you can’t do anything not fun.”

“Copying the rules is fun!”

“Copying the rules is a punishment, Qiren-xiong,” Lan Yueheng said, propping his chin onto one knee – he was the least Lan-like Lan Cangse Sanren had ever met, absolutely hilarious. “You aren’t being punished, so why should you copy the rules?”

“I’m working on improving my calligraphy –”

“Write a novel,” Cangse Sanren suggested, and then blinked, suddenly transfixed by her own (mostly joking) idea: a novel written by Lan Qiren would be amazing. “No, really, you should definitely write a novel!”

“I am not writing a novel.”

“How about a song?” Lan Yueheng suggested. “You compose music, don’t you, Qiren-xiong? You could make a drinking song!”

Lan Qiren’s expression of horror was both incredibly effusive and absolutely amazing.

“Yueheng-xiong,” he hissed. “Alcohol is prohibited!”

“I didn’t say anything about alcohol! You can do a drinking song with juice!”

The poor boy clearly believed what he was saying, too.

Cangse Sanren cackled. “Oh, I like this,” she said, clapping her hands together. Lan Qiren looked more spirited already. “We’re going to need lyrics! Let me start –”

“Cangse Sanren!”

-

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Lan Yueheng said petulantly, and Lao Nie sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Yes, he’s eating, he’s drinking, he’s sleeping. But that doesn’t mean he’s…you know…okay.”

“I know,” Lao Nie said, regretful as always. He hadn’t had much interaction with Lan Yueheng before, other than as the protagonist of any number of Lan Qiren’s more colorful stories, but he had to admit that the man had guts – he’d flown all the way to Qinghe to come and demand that Lao Nie come help fix Lan Qiren’s emotional state, which was a complete wreck on account of what his brother had done. As if anything could fix Lan Qiren’s emotional state right now.

Certainly not Lao Nie, who’d only made things worse. He hadn’t realized it at the time, being busy with his own business, but in retrospect it was quite clear what he’d done wrong. If only he’d paid more attention to Lan Qiren’s anxious letters, if only he’d taken the time to go in person to the Cloud Recesses the way he’d half-intended to, if only he hadn’t written back to Qingheng-jun with the terrible advice that he had…

Lao Nie had plenty of regrets.

Not least of which were that Lan Yueheng was standing in the middle of his hall, as imperious as any imperial decree, expecting him to drop everything and come to help his friend – and he couldn’t even explain exactly what the matter was!

“Listen, it’s not that I don’t understand how much he’s suffering. But if he’s eating, drinking, and sleeping, there’s nothing I can help him with,” Lao Nie pointed out. Reasonably, to his mind, but Lan Yueheng sighed as if he were being deliberately obtuse. “Listen, he doesn’t even want to see me right now.”

“Qiren-xiong has very strong opinions on many subjects, but that doesn’t make him an expert in all of them,” Lan Yueheng said, which Lao Nie translated mentally to mean something along the lines of sometimes Lan Qiren is dumb as a rock and just as stubborn. “It’s really very simple. He needs his friends. You’re one of his friends. Go be his friend.”

“Listen –”

“If you don’t go to him now when he really needs it, you won’t be one of his friends in the future,” Lan Yueheng said, and Lao Nie scowled. “I’m not making a threat, I’m stating a fact. It just won’t be the same. What could possibly be so important that you won’t come?”

“I have a son,” Lao Nie finally admitted, even though he hadn’t planned on introducing Nie Mingjue to the world for quite a while yet. “He’s still young, very young. It’s difficult to leave him.”

Lan Yueheng didn’t even blink at coming within a hair’s breadth of one of the traditional secrets of the Qinghe Nie. “Okay, then take him with you.”

“…he’s too young to travel.”

“Take him with you in a basket?”

Lao Nie was developing a headache. “Are you even allowed to be here?”

“Nope! I’m going to get punished when I go back,” Lan Yueheng said cheerfully. “The only means I have to minimize the punishment is by bringing you back with me, so I’m going to be very stubborn about it. Can we get moving sooner rather than later? I don’t like the idea of Qiren-xiong by himself for too long.”

Lao Nie had always thought the Nie were the most stubborn of the sects, but the Lan, he thought fondly, could really give them a run for their money. Poor Lan Qiren – he didn’t like to think of him alone, either.

“All right,” he said, already thinking of practicalities. “Give me a day. Let’s go take care of him.”

-

One of the Lan sect disciples that they’d captured in the attack on the Cloud Recesses was having some sort of fit.

It seemed to be in reaction to the beating Wen Xu had ordered administered to the arrogant old fart that play-acted as the Lan sect leader any time there was a discussion conference, presumably because his more famous older brother, the official sect leader, thought that he was too good to come out and talk with the rest of them. They were probably family, or friends, or maybe even something more than that – who knew? The Lan sect were weird, and everyone knew it.

It wasn’t even as if the struggling was helping him in any way. The disciple in question was one of the older ones, at least a generation older than the current juniors, but he seemed to be much more stupid than most of them. Wen Xu had ordered him to be tied up tight and, when that didn’t seem to stop him, disabled as well, cutting the tendon of his ankle so that he couldn’t do anything, either with a sword or by running away. Most people would stop moving when injured, and quite badly at that, but not this idiot – if he didn’t calm down soon, he’d do himself even more damage than he had already.

Not that anyone really cared. What was one more dead Lan?

Still, all that wiggling and thrashing was starting to be obnoxious, making it hard to focus on enjoying the torment before him. A wave of his hand, and a soldier went off, drawing their sword – a fierce strike on the wiggling Lan disciple’s head and there wasn’t any more flailing.

For some reason, that made Lan Qiren, being beaten in front of him, make a sound, which he’d been stubbornly been refusing to until now, no much how much he was hurt – not much of one, just a little grunt, and then he spat up blood.

Maybe they really had been close.

Wen Xu laughed.

There was more where that was from, he thought, gleeful in a way only misery could bring to him any longer. Lan Qiren fancied himself a teacher, put himself above others, thought himself so high and mighty; it was satisfaction itself to bring him down, throwing him into the mud and muck – to make him remember that he was only flesh and blood, tear away his illusions, force him to see the rest of them…

Maybe this wasn’t about Lan Qiren, but a different sect leader entirely.

Well, it didn’t matter – he was the one who was here. He was the one Wen Xu could hurt.

Lan Qiren could only teach what he knew: now it was his turn to learn, and there were none better than the Wen to teach him the full spectrum of agony.

Wen Xu turned back to focus on what he was doing, only then he frowned. Something was wrong: some smell or feeling, something strange from the soldier that had just returned and who was heading back into the main body of the army –

“Stop him!” he cried out, acting on instinct, but it was too late. The soldier, turning back in surprise, abruptly exploded in a stunning wave of force, the sound arriving only a moment before the blood and guts, not just his own but those around him that were struck by the power of it.

Wen Xu, seething, ordered his men to stop beating Lan Qiren for the moment and strode off to deal with whatever it was. How these damnable Lan had managed to get a bomb onto his soldier, he didn’t know, but he needed to investigate all possible options in case they’d come up with some new counterattack. What if there were spies, or some extra forces he hadn’t noticed? Someone still able to fight…there shouldn’t be, but he had to make absolutely sure.

He wasn’t going to allow anything to get in the way of his victory here.

The Wen sect’s triumph – his father’s triumph – was more important than anything else.

-

“You’ve certainly got a lot of family,” Wei Wuxian said to Lan Jingyi, who beamed at him.

“Did you get all the names down, Senior Wei?” he asked. “Don’t worry if you haven’t, it takes people a while!”

“I bet it does,” Wei Wuxian laughed. Seven children, and all from the same two parents, and cultivator parents, no less – they were certainly very industrious! He’d always heard that cultivators found it far more difficult to have children than regular people, but apparently Lan Jingyi’s parents had managed it somehow.

And that would have been surprising enough, except all of them were also all like Lan Jingyi.

Well, okay, that wasn’t true, he was sure there were some differences between them. Some of them were probably more proper than others, but by and large they were all incredibly un-Lan-like Lans, for all that Lan Wangji sat there beside him in the middle of the noisy room with everyone talking (to the point of hollering, in some cases) and laughing, completely calm and seemingly used to it.

Right at the center of it all was what must be the local patriarch, the one Lan Wangji called Third Uncle and Lan Qiren called Yueheng-xiong, and he was laughing along with the rest of them, smiling so broadly that he almost looked foolish. He had a prosthetic leg that looked pretty interesting – Wei Wuxian hadn’t quite figured how to ask to get a closer look, he’d only seen it briefly when Lan Yueheng had used it to (quite justifiably) kick Lan Jingyi in the ass when he’d said something particularly appalling, though they’d all burst out sniggering immediately thereafter – and his fingers were both bandaged and callused in a way that suggested a far more interesting career than Wei Wuxian would have expected from the Lan sect. According to Lan Wangji, Lan Yueheng specialized in alchemy, which was an area Wei Wuxian hadn’t really ever explored, and which he thought might be very interesting to delve into…

“Hey, Wei-gongzi,” Lan Yueheng said suddenly, squinting at him. “What did you say your name was again? Your full name, I mean.”

“Wei Wuxian,” Wei Wuxian introduced himself, and then, unable to resist, added, “You might know me better as the Yiling Patriarch…”

Lan Wangji delivered his elbow staunchly to Wei Wuxian’s ribs, which was both rather uncharacteristic (at least, not since their adolescence!) and completely unnecessary. Also a bit surprising, actually – did Lan Wangji think Lan Yueheng hadn’t heard?

“Oh,” Lan Yueheng said, blinking, and Lan Jingyi covered his face with his hands. “Oh, I see.”

Maybe he really hadn’t.

“You’re on your last chance, then,” he added, voice just as casual as before, but for some reason that made everyone in the room go dead silent and turn to stare at Wei Wuxian as if he’d suddenly grown another head.

“Last chance?” Wei Wuxian asked, raising his eyebrows. “What’s that mean? Most people say ‘second’ chance…”

“No, it’s last,” Lan Yueheng said peaceably. “I don’t like people who hurt Qiren-xiong, you see, and you’ve done it twice already, once at the Nightless City all that time ago and once just now past when you played him bad music when he was already in pain. That sent him into a coma, you know..? Normally, that would’ve been the last chance. But you’re very dear to little Wangji, and I know you weren’t actually being malicious, so that means you get another chance. One last one.”

“…thanks,” Wei Wuxian said, and picked up his cup again, more to have something to do than out of actual thirst. Was this him feeling awkward? He hadn’t known he knew how to feel awkward. “Out of curiosity, what would happen if I used up all my chances?”

“I wouldn’t talk to you anymore,” Lan Yueheng said promptly, and for a moment Wei Wuxian wanted to laugh – that was it? He wouldn’t talk to him? – except then he felt all those stares from all the kids around him get somehow more pointed. When he subtly glanced around to take in the crowd’s reaction, he noticed that poor Lan Jingyi looked white-faced and miserable, and Lan Wangji didn’t look much better, either, seeming almost sick to his stomach.

“Well, if it helps, I don’t intend to hurt Teacher Lan ever again,” Wei Wuxian said, because he didn’t. “Other than by simply existing in his presence, anyway.”

“Then there’s no problem!” Lan Yueheng said, smiling again, and suddenly everyone was relaxed and talking again as if nothing had happened, though perhaps it was a little louder than before. “Don’t worry too much about Qiren-xiong, Wei-gongzi. He’ll get used to you eventually. He’s a lot of fun, really…”

Wei Wuxian wasn’t sure if that was meant to be a joke – Lan Yueheng seemed completely in earnest – but Lan Wangji and Lan Jingyi both looked deeply relieved, so he just nodded and smiled and thought to himself that he’d believe it when he saw it.

Lan Qiren? Fun? Yeah, right.

“Oh, I know! You should bond. Maybe you should get Qiren-xiong to play you that drinking song he wrote for your mother,” Lan Yueheng said, and Wei Wuxian was so busy getting caught up in Lan Qiren wrote a drinking song that it took him far too long to get to for my mother?! “That was a good one. We use it when we’re drinking juice, mostly, all my children know it –”

“Are you saying Teacher wrote that one?” Lan Jingyi gasped, looking scandalized and delighted to be so. “A-die! You never said!”

“Why would I say…? Anyway, if you’re having any trouble with him, Wei-gongzi, just ask me, I know him best. In the meantime, would you like to come see some of what we’re working on in the alchemy laboratory…?”

Wei Wuxian decided to postpone questions about Lan Qiren for the moment.

“You have,” he said, straightening up with interest, “a laboratory?”

Beside him, Lan Wangji sighed – possibly he’d been hoping to forestall Wei Wuxian finding out about this, the traitor – and Lan Yueheng nodded happily.

“I want to know everything,” Wei Wuxian said enthusiastically. “Everything!”

[robininthelabyrinth]

Why was lan yueheng's threat of not speaking to him so horrifying to the surrounding lans? Loved that he carried 3 math textbooks around with him.

Lan Yueheng is fundamentally a friendly amiable person, who doesn't hold grudges or really get angry at anybody. It takes an awful lot for him to get even a little upset, much less a lasting sort of upset, and getting upset enough that he decides to stop talking to you is about as bad as it gets for him.

And, like. sure. you COULD keep talking with someone who upset Lan Yueheng enough to make him decide not to talk to them.

if you were a monster or something.

(to put it a different way: imagine someone going to the Lotus Pier and Jiang Yanli - Jiang Yanli, the nicest person on the planet - publicly declares she refuses to talk to them. as far as she's concerned, that's all she's doing.

but, you see, there's JC and WWX and literally everyone else at the Lotus Pier standing behind her going "we don't know or care what you did wrong but we are here to Have Some Words...")

[robininthelabyrinth]

Am I being too annoying? I'm probably being too annoying.

But –

The summary as well as the "An Exercise on Gender Roles" are looking increasingly suspicious to me. Is it because I've just been in Wen Ruohan's head and still haven't recovered? Maybe.

The "Not My Usual Headcanons" is also messing up with my brain.

Because I was wondering whether your headcanon of Lao Nie supporting Qingheng-jun's relationship with He Kexin still stands? He and Lan Qiren seem to no longer be friends, since he didn't mention him in the first chapter while speaking of his friends (at the beginning I just thought Lao Nie is not in the story but when I checked out the characters I found that he, in fact, is in the story).

I wanted to ask this in the comment but I didn't have the space to, and I was in Tumblr anyway. Sooo....

You are definitely not being too annoying! No amount of comments about my fic will ever get to be too annoying. Ever. I assure you. You could send me 10 of these a day and I would not find it annoying (and that goes for anyone else, too! send ALL the comments!)

Also - you are right to be suspicious :)

I mentioned this earlier, and I'll put it in the next chapter, but I think I'm going to remove the "Not My Usual Headcanons" tag - I think it's causing more confusion than benefit. I threw it in at the last moment, thinking about things like Lan Yueheng not being there, but this fic still contains a heavy dose of all my usual headcanons so it's misleading people.

So in answer to your question, yes, the Lao Nie supported the relationship headcanon still stands. As for the rest, you'll see! It's in part a function of LQR being deeply depressed and also just being more distant from people in this universe, including both Lan Yueheng and Lao Nie.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Lan Yueheng promised Lan Qiren that he would wait to have children, but apparently a child choosing him as a parent doesn't count. That's how he became little A-Ying's father (aka baby Wei Wuxian).

A Quiet Life of Leisure - ao3

"So how do you feel about small children?" Cangse Sanren asked, swooping in without warning and making poor Lan Yueheng jump nearly a chi into the air.

In his defense, he'd been concentrating on his nightmare plants, and she hadn't bothered introducing herself with a greeting like any normal person. In fact, Lan Qiren was willing to bet that Lan Yueheng, characteristically unaware of what was happening in his immediate vicinity despite being startling well informed on gossip happening elsewhere, hadn't even known she'd arrived at the Cloud Recesses.

"He likes them," Lan Qiren said, dryly amused. Lan Yueheng's field remained under Lan Qiren’s window, so he wasn't far away, leaning close to the window from the inside to enjoy a bit of early summer sunshine. "More than I do, I suspect. Were you asking me or him?"

"Don't be silly, Qiren-ge. You like small children plenty, as long as they're your students or your nephews," Zhang Xin said from where she was sitting on the porch just outside the window. She didn't even bother to look up from the clothing she was applying arrays to - what arrays, Lan Qiren didn't dare to contemplate. The usual set applied by the laundry were enough for most people, but apparently not for Lan Yueheng’s wife…something which Lan Qiren completely understood and sympathized with.

It was, after all, Lan Yueheng. Things often exploded in his vicinity, and sometimes it was even on purpose.

Damn alchemists.

“My students aren’t small children,” Lan Qiren objected. “And my nephews…”

Well, they were perfect. That wasn’t his fault.

"Nephews...? Oh, right, there's a second one now! Brand new, right?" Cangse Sanren beamed. "You’ll have to introduce me, Qiren-gege! And I did mean you, in the first instance, though I suppose…say, pretty lady, you didn't answer the question yourself: any thoughts or feelings about small children?"

"Extremely positive," Zhang Xin said, not taking offense at Cangse Sanren very obviously not remembering her name. "I intend to have ten."

"Absolutely not," Lan Qiren said at once.

"I'm willing to compromise with slightly fewer," Zhang Xin conceded, retaining all her dignity, such as it was. "If necessary."

"We're waiting until A-Huan and A-Zhan are a bit older," Lan Yueheng said, that silly smile he always got when the subject was raised on his face. "Then we'll have some of our own! It'll be nice, having a big family."

"Think of A-Xin’s health," Lan Qiren said, disapproving.

"We didn't say they all had to be mine, Qiren-ge!” Zhang Xin protested half-heartedly. “There could be a second wife! Share the burden!"

“Don’t be absurd, Yueheng-xiong would never and you know that perfectly well,” Lan Qiren scolded, ignoring the way Zhang Xin smirked in satisfaction. “Anyway, I wasn't talking about your womb. Children are exhausting! Don't underestimate it!"

"We still have a few more years to go, given A-Zhan," Lan Yueheng said thoughtfully, and Lan Qiren flinched: he'd tried time and time again to convince his friend to start having children already and not to wait for him, worried as he was about them getting too old for it to be easy, but he'd had no luck. Bad enough they were putting their lives on hold to help with A-Huan, but now there was A-Zhan, too... “We’ll be ready by then. In the meantime, I’m putting together an invention that’ll let us move faster to chase after them with less effort.”

“Oh no,” Lan Qiren said, abruptly alarmed. “Yueheng-xiong…”

"You're all wonderful," Cangse Sanren declared, clapping her hands together. "Absolutely wonderful. Qiren-gege, don’t spoil their fun. In the meantime, Yueheng-di, tell me – what are those plants for..?"

"I'm not getting involved with this," Lan Qiren announced, seeing Lan Yueheng's face brighten with anticipation of sharing one of his hobbies with someone. He reached out to pull the window closed - he had a great deal of work to do, being acting sect leader, and he had hope that he might be able to spend some time with Cangse Sanren during her visit if he finished everything currently on his desk. Unfortunately, the only way to do that, however, was to spend time focusing on it right now. She had said something mildly worrying about dragging him out onto a night-hunt. He wasn’t sure if he ought to be excited or scared.

“In the meantime, Zhang Xin,” he said, pointedly enunciating her name so that Cangse Sanren could hear it and, if she had been the sort of person familiar with shame, feel bad about not knowing it. “Keep an eye on your husband, will you?”

“Oh, you’re married,” Cangse Sanren said in a tone that sounded strangely approving, looking between the two of them with an expression that suggested she was thinking of blowing something up. “Oh good, good, I have some questions –”

Lan Qiren closed his window with a snap, and then put several silencing talismans up for good measure. He did not, and to be very clear did not, want to know what Cangse Sanren, fairly newly married herself, wanted to know from a married couple. She’d always had the strangest blind spots when it came to what she so charmingly (and mildly worrisomely) called ‘human customs’…

At any rate, Lan Yueheng was a remarkably steady person, excluding his love affair with mathematics and alchemy, and Zhang Xin was extremely practical most of the time. How much damage could Cangse Sanren do?

Three shichen later, when the fire had been put out and the illicit gambling den that she’d managed to lure poor Lan Yueheng into thoroughly dispersed, Lan Qiren decided he had only himself to blame for the disaster.

-

“What do you mean Yueheng-xiong is gone?” Lan Qiren asked when he found out. “He normally logs all his travel well in advance of leaving the sect, and he hasn’t registered anything like that for this time. The Cloud Recesses is only so large, surely he’s just hidden himself somewhere you haven’t checked?”

“No, Sect Leader, he left,” the disciple said stubbornly. “I checked with the gate guards and everything. They said he looked like he was following some sort of compass.”

That…sounded like Lan Yueheng.

Lan Qiren did not need this.

He pinched his brow. “Someone go ask his wife where he might have gone,” he instructed. “And then go find him.”

He didn’t actually need Lan Yueheng for anything that important, but that wasn’t the point, the point was that Lan Yueheng was generally there. Rumors had been going around the cultivation world claiming that Cangse Sanren had died, rumors with enough truth to them that Lan Qiren regretfully actually believed it, and damnit he wanted his friend around – or more correctly, he wanted to know that his friend was somewhere nice and safe. Not outside of the Cloud Recesses’ borders without the slightest bit of protection or guards to keep an eye out for him when he inevitably forgot where he was going, and certainly not aimlessly following some new invention of his that was undoubtedly going to blow them all sky-high sooner or later!

Unfortunately, no one knew where he’d gone, and a sweep of the immediate vicinity of the Cloud Recesses didn’t turn out anything.

Even Zhang Xin had no idea where he might be.

“I’m sure he’ll be back sooner or later,” she said, looking undisturbed and above it all. “Don’t worry, Qiren-ge. It’ll be fine. He won’t be gone long, and nothing bad will happen to him.”

Lan Qiren looked at her suspiciously. “Are you pregnant again? You always get especially tranquil when you’re pregnant.”

Zhang Xin scowled at him. “You can’t extrapolate based on two instances, Qiren-ge.”

She’d had her first child, a little girl, when Lan Wangji was three, and then her second, a boy, just this past year. She was still nursing him, so all reason suggested that she was not pregnant again – and yet…

He arched his eyebrows at her.

She made a rude gesture at him. “We were going to surpriseyou with it,” she complained. “Why do you have to be smart and perceptive? It’s just rude!”

Lan Qiren shook his head at her – she wasn’t going to use compliments to get out of this – but he did feel his mood improve a little. Lan Yueheng was terribly unaware of his surroundings as a general rule, and his skill with a sword were positively horrific, but he was exceptionally stubborn, handy with an explosive, and remarkably lucky, as could be determined by the success he and Zhang Xin were in having in having children. More to the point, he was also an exceptionally devoted husband and father and would not, if there was any way he could prevent it, miss any key moment in his little family’s lives, such as a birth.

He would find a way to come back.

“Do you have any idea where he might be?” Lan Qiren asked, though he was rapidly giving up hope. “I could at least send someone to watch over him…”

Sure enough, Zhang Xin shook her head.

“Don’t worry,” she said again. “How much trouble could he really be in?”

Lan Qiren stared at her speechlessly.

“…maybe I shouldn’t have said that,” she allowed. “He has a history.”

-

“So I’m bad with faces, and actually I don’t think we’ve seen each other in a few years when you were much, much smaller,” the man in the white robes said, blinking owlishly down at Wei Ying. “So I’m probably completely off, but in the event that I’m not, is there any chance that you’re Cangse Sanren’s Wei Ying?”

Wei Ying stared at him without blinking, lest the man disappear if he did. “Gongzi,” he said. “You just blew up a building!”

“That’s true, but also a remarkably unhelpful answer,” the man said, and pulled something that looked like a compass out of his pocket. “Hmm, it’s spinning in circles again. I must be close by…if you’re not Wei Ying, could you help me find him? His mother asked me to look for him.”

Wei Ying squinted at the man. “No she didn’t,” he said. “She’s dead.”

The man at the inn had said so when he’d kicked Wei Ying out of the room he’d been staying in and taken all of his family’s belongings that had been left with Wei Ying while he waited for his parents to finish their night-hunt. Normally, Wei Ying wouldn’t believe it, but it’d been a few weeks of sleeping out in the streets and feeling very hungry because he couldn’t get enough food from what the merchants gave out or threw away and he was pretty sure if his parents were alive they would’ve come back to get him already.

At least it was still summer, or at least fall. The other street kids said that in the winter there was even less food, and they might even need to fight for it with the dogs –

“I know that! That’s why I’m here,” the man said. Was he pouting? “You see, I won her son in a betting game.”

Wei Ying blinked and stared at the man even harder. “How do you know that?” he demanded. “That was my mom’s special joke with me!”

It was the one joke that his father never laughed at, only rolled his eyes, so it had been his mother and his special joke, just for the two of them – she loved to tell him about how she’d infiltrated a gambling den (set it up, his father would interject; incited, she would correct) and how she’d put a bet down wagering her first-born son with the nicest person there, a sweetheart mark who was losing the robes off his back. And then Wei Ying, giggling, would get to say his part: If you bet me away, why haven’t you paid up?

His mother would kiss the tip of his nose. I won the lifetime rights right back off of him, she would say. Sorry, monkey, you’re mine for as long as I live.

And then she’d laugh.

Wei Ying didn’t really get the joke, but he hadn’t thought much of it. His mother laughed, so he laughed; that’s all that mattered.

The man blinked down at him. “Your mom? Are you Wei Ying, then?”

Caught, Wei Ying nodded.

“Wonderful! What do I do with you, then?”

Wei Ying blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Your mother told me ‘when I’m dead, use this compass to find my son’,” the man explained. He looked very earnest. “She didn’t say what I was supposed to do when I found you. Other than you, who else can I ask? So, little Wei-gongzi…”

Wei Ying started giggling. This man was very silly. He could very easily see his mother tricking him into agreeing to take care of Wei Ying after she died – she was very good at tricking people into things. Had been very good, anyway.

Of course, that didn’t take away from the most important fact.

“You should buy me something to eat,” Wei Ying said, deciding to make that clear up front. “But – you blew up the restaurant!”

The man glanced back at the ruined building and looked sheepish.

“In my defense,” he said, scratching his head, “it was full of bandits that wanted to rob me. I think.”

“You think?!”

“…I’m pretty sure…”

Wei Ying liked this man, he decided. He liked this man a lot.

-

“So A-Ying, based on ages, you’re going to be the oldest,” Lan Yueheng was explaining when Lan Qiren finally found him, right back at his very own workshop table and carefree as if he hadn’t been gone nearly half a month. “See, there’s little Yanyu – say hello! – and baby Zhijin – yes, you can hold him, careful, he’s breakable – and there’s going to be another one soon, we’re thinking on naming –”

“You don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl,” Lan Qiren interrupted, even though it was rude, and swept in to help the young boy he didn’t recognize stabilize little Zhijin’s head properly. One year old or not, he was a wobbly child. “Don’t invite bad luck by naming too early. Where have you been? And who is this?”

“This one’s name is Wei Ying,” the boy said promptly, and Lan Qiren nodded in approval at his manners, then did a double take once the words actually reached his brain.

“Wei Ying?” he croaked, and had to sit down quickly. “Cangse Sanren’s Wei Ying?”

“Mine now,” Lan Yueheng said. “I won him fair and square, and the lifetime rights expired.”

“…this is about that gambling den,” Lan Qiren concluded, knowing enough about everyone involved to be able to follow that ridiculous logic. “Yueheng-xiong, you didn’t win anything. She was cheating you from the moment you sat down at the table.”

“Really?” Lan Yanyu said. She was nearly four, and precious with it – she had a marvelous talent for identifying the precise part of anything anyone said around her that they didn’t want her to hear and immediately starting to repeat it.

“My mom is the best,” Wei Ying said. He looked very proud.

“Even if she cheated me into it, I still won him, that’s how the game works,” Lan Yueheng pointed out. “Anyway, now that she’s dead, what else am I supposed to do with him?”

Lan Qiren felt that there were some flaws to this argument. He was certain that once he had recovered from the emotional blow he’d just taken, he would even be able to point them out.

Though…he really had no idea what the alternative might be. It wasn’t as if he could write Baoshan Sanren a letter – he’d been tempted to in the past, just on principle, but sadly one could not deliver one’s complaints to an unfindable immortal mountain – and as far as he knew, Wei Changze had no living family. He’d been a servant in the Jiang sect and close to their sect leader, so Lan Qiren supposed that Jiang Fengmian might be willing to take in the boy…

On the other hand, a nice normal family in the Cloud Recesses seemed like a better option than being a servant in the Jiang sect, or maybe a guest disciple if Jiang Fengmian were feeling especially generous. The boy couldn’t be any older than seven or eight, he still needed a mother and father, and given how jealous Madame Yu was said to be (especially as related to Cangse Sanren), it was highly improbable that Jiang Fengmian would dare her anger by taking the boy into his own family in any serious respect; that would be showing blatant disregard for his wife’s feelings and his own reputation besides. Very likely best Wei Ying would be able to hope for was a placement in one of the side families, with someone who didn’t even know his mother…

“Well, I suppose,” he finally conceded, and Lan Yueheng cheered.

“It’s official now,” he told Wei Ying. “We’re definitely keeping you. Qiren-xiong here is our sect leader, so if he says it’s all right, then it’s all right.”

Wei Ying cheered, and then Lan Yanyu joined in, cheerful as anything, and Lan Qiren put his hands over his ears in pain.

“It’s not official yet,” he insisted. “You still need to go through all the proper procedures if you’re going to adopt him or take him in as your ward. There are rules, Yueheng –”

-

It turned out Jiang Fengmian would, in fact, have been willing to take Wei Ying into his own family.

He was also extremely upset to discover that Lan Qiren had ‘stolen’ him away.

“You would have to have a claim on the boy for it to be theft,” Lan Qiren said testily. He didn’t appreciate the accusation in the slightest. “Are you saying you have one? Do you own his father’s life-bond contract?”

Jiang Fengmian looked offended. “Wei Changze was a servant, not a slave!”

“A servant who you released from service to your sect upon the occasion of his marriage, if I recall correctly. Did you not do that?”

“Well, yes, I did, but –”

“Do you have any other relationship to the boy beyond a friendship with his father?”

“What exactly are you implying?” Jiang Fengmian said, glaring death, and for a moment Lan Qiren was surprised at the extremity of the response to a perfectly reasonable question.

Except then a moment later Lao Nie swept in and, pretending not to see Jiang Fengmian standing right there, said, “Hey, Qiren! What’s this I hear about you letting someone in your sect adopt Sect Leader Jiang’s bastard?”

Which – explained Jiang Fengmian’s ire, although not why it was aimed at Lan Qiren. It was like everyone forgot that his sect had rules against engaging in unnecessary gossip…

“He’s not my bastard,” Jiang Fengmian said stiffly.

Lan Qiren nodded. “Cangse Sanren would not be unfaithful to her chosen husband,” he agreed, not going out of his way to opine on whether Jiang Fengmian might’ve been willing on his end if she had been willing on hers, “having gone to such lengths to select him in the first place. As a result, when she died, there was no one else with any claim on him at all, and so I permitted my cousin to adopt him. I do not see the issue.”

“No issue, no issue at all,” Lao Nie said, having very clearly only brought up the matter at all in order to needle Jiang Fengmian. “I hope you know what a headache you’re getting yourself into, that’s all, taking in an offspring of Cangse Sanren – or of Wei Changze, for that matter. I recall him having a sense of humor for the ages.”

Lan Qiren had already braced himself.

“I’m not satisfied that the matter is settled,” Jiang Fengmian objected. “Sect Leader Lan, why are you so insistent about this?”

Lan Qiren stared at him in disbelief – was the man stilltrying to claim poor Wei Ying?

“Maybe Sect Leader Lan had a fondness for the beautiful Cangse Sanren as well,” someone said, but looking around Lan Qiren could not see who it was; they had attracted an audience of sect leaders from the smaller sects.

Lao Nie was starting to scowl, though, and it was best not to let him get into it on Lan Qiren’s behalf – he was far too temperamental in defense of his loved ones for Lan Qiren’s taste, and it would only irritate Wen Ruohan to hear about Lao Nie getting into a fight when he wasn’t around to spectate. The only result would be all three of them getting annoyed.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lan Qiren said instead, letting his own irritation slip out. “If I’d been in love with her, I’d have proposed marriage to her and been rejected like all her other suitors. My concern here is with Wei Ying – he has already settled in quite happily, and I see no benefit to disturbing him, or indeed in disturbing the order and tranquility of how things have been arranged within my sect. Even my nephews have befriended him!”

-

“You have befriended Wei Ying, have you not?” Lan Qiren asked Lan Xichen during one of their lessons, feeling a little anxious. “He’s settling in well?”

“Oh yes,” Lan Xichen said cheerfully. “I like A-Ying a great deal – though maybe not as much as Wangji does.”

Lan Qiren arched his eyebrows. Lan Wangji was an introverted boy, much the same way Lan Qiren had been. Lan Qiren had never doubted his young nephew’s affection for his family, but he knew that Lan Wangji usually didn’t go much beyond that. He certainly didn’t like strangers very much – or at least, he usually didn’t.

“He’s following him around like a duckling,” Lan Xichen confided. “It’s adorable! I haven’t seen Wangji this happy since – since – ”

Since their mother had died, no doubt.

It had been less than two years ago, and remained a shadow on Lan Qiren’s mind. Lan Wangji had taken it terribly, which was to be expected, and had only very slowly emerged from the gloom it had cast over him. Now that Lan Qiren thought about it, Lan Wangji had started doing better after the visit from the Nie sect heirs – perhaps what he really needed was friends, and if Wei Ying could be that friend for him, that would be good.

Still, while worrying, Lan Wangji’s reaction was not outside the realm of what was to be expected; if anything, Lan Qiren worried more about Lan Xichen, who had soldiered through his mother’s death with almost too much equanimity. He had gotten into a fight with He Kexin a year or so before her death – Lan Qiren did not know on what subject, having not attended that particular visit on account of Lan Wangji being sick with a fever and needing tending – and their relationship had never been the same after that.

Neither had ever explained what had happened, and by now, with He Kexin gone and Lan Xichen still steadfastly refusing any offers to talk, Lan Qiren suspected he would never learn.

Still, since he was unwilling to force the issue, there was nothing to be done about it, and no reason to dwell on it. He could focus on connecting with his nephew in other ways, instead.

“A duckling,” Lan Qiren said. “Wangji? Really?”

Lan Xichen grinned so widely that Lan Qiren almost wanted to quote do not exult in excess at him.

“Oh yes,” he said, looking positively mischievous. “Come see!”

Lan Qiren had to admit that there was a distinct familiarity to the sight of Wei Ying, trotting along the paths of the Cloud Recesses, talking at top speed with one hand moving every which way and the other firmly grasping Lan Wangji’s sleeve, dragging him along. Not that that was necessary, what with Lan Wangji trotting right beside him, watching him with an intent look and nodding along with whatever it was he was saying. Moreover, completing the picture was little Lan Yanyu, right behind them, chiming in at random intervals, and she was pulling the even littler Lan Zhijin behind her in a little cart, since the boy had only barely started walking.

“…I see,” Lan Qiren said, making a mental note to start teaching Wei Ying the Lan sect rules as soon as possible.

He was very fond of Lan Yueheng, strange as the man could sometimes be, but Lan Yueheng was an adult, capable of living by the rules in the manner that fit him best, and his idiosyncratic interpretations weren’t necessarily the ideal ones for children to learn. A proper orthodox education was better for children, serving them as a firm foundation – it would be unfortunate if Wei Ying got the wrong idea about how members of the Lan sect were supposed to behave.

Of course, for that Wei Ying would need a courtesy name. Perhaps they could allow Jiang Fengmian to opine on that, in the interest of smoothing over ruffled feathers…?

“I’m glad they’re happy,” Lan Xichen said, watching them.

Lan Qiren glanced at his obedient nephew.

“Indeed,” he said. “They are, however, going the wrong way – perhaps you would like to join them? We can continue the lesson we were doing tomorrow.”

Lan Xichen was gone almost before he finished saying his thanks.

-

The number of ducklings had multiplied, but the sight of them trotting through the Cloud Recesses in a bunch had not changed.

It was usually a pretty good way to tell that some trouble was on its way, too.

At this point, Lan Qiren was starting to wonder if Lan Yueheng and Zhang Xin had determined that the best and possibly only way to keep Wei Wuxian from making too much trouble was to have another child and then to graciously allow him to help out with the babysitting. If so, it was a brilliant ploy – Wei Wuxian loved having younger siblings to take care of, and any attempts to chase him away so that he could focus on playing with other children his age resulted only in increasingly dramatic moping and behavior not unlike that of an extremely small child himself. At least he always had Lan Wangji to listen to him, his steadfast companion through thick and thin and even an endless interest in carting around small children.

It did wonders for their arm strength, if nothing else.

Of course, Wei Wuxian was charming enough that even his penchant for bringing his younger siblings everywhere wasn’t enough to drive away the other children in the sect, and he remained exceptionally popular. At least part of that was his penchant for mischief – at this point, he had so much copying to do that he had just made it part of his schedule, and Lan Qiren thought he’d actually looked somewhat lost and confused on the rare occasions that he didn’t have something to be working on – and the rest of it was simply his manner, light-hearted and easy-going in a way the Lan sect rarely was.

Perhaps he really should have been raised a Jiang.

Well, it was far too late for such concerns now.

Although sometimes, the temptation…

Lan Qiren raised his teacup to avoid the now-predictable vibrations stemming from an explosion, counted to four, then put it back down.

“Why do we keep letting them do that?” he complained, and thought wistfully again of sending certain people off for a visit to the Lotus Pier even though he knew perfectly well that Wei Wuxian’s penchant for explosives had more than likely come from Lan Yueheng himself rather than any external source.

“Because it’s better if they do it in a controlled manner at a predictable time than at random,” Lan Wangji answered obediently – he’d done the same thing with his own teacup. “And because creativity is to be commended. Wei Ying has made great contributions to the sect through his inventions in talismans, arrays, and alchemy.”

A brief pause.

“And Third Uncle and his children too, of course.”

Lan Qiren did not roll his eyes, but it was close – he was by now perfectly aware of his younger nephew’s extreme partiality towards Wei Wuxian. He decided to change the subject: “What do you think of your peers in the classroom this year, Wangji? It’s an interesting group.”

They’d gotten virtually all the sect heirs, in fact: Jin Zixuan and Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang, and the only reason they hadn’t gotten Wen Chao was because Lan Qiren had personally expelled him the year before last for disrupting the education of other students and cited that as a reason not to accept him again. He’d expelled Jin Zixun for the same reason the year before that, so Wen Ruohan couldn’t even complain about it.

“They’re interesting,” Lan Wangji allowed. “Jiang-gongzi has become fast friends with Wei Ying and Nie Huaisang, and they make even more trouble together than Wei Ying did with Nie Huaisang alone last year.”

“I see,” Lan Qiren said. “And have you resolved your argument with Nie Huaisang?”

“…mm.”

That would be a ‘no’, then. Sometimes Lan Qiren wished his boys were still young enough that he could personally intervene in their friendships to try to fix their problems.

Although there were still some things he could do.

“Wuxian has still not noticed that you’re arguing, has he?” he asked mildly, and Lan Wangji gave him an alarmed look. “Perhaps I should ask him to be an intermediary.”

“That is unnecessary, shufu,” Lan Wangji said quickly. “We will resolve it ourselves.”

“If you’re sure.”

A firm nod.

Lan Qiren picked up his teacup once more – another boom sounded in the distance – and took a sip, then said, “Wuxian has an exception grasp on the Lan sect rules. Although he often uses it as a means to argue his way out of trouble, I would not have made you two the joint heads of the discipline hall if I did not believe him equally capable of enforcing them. He would not appreciate you acting alone in his defense.”

Lan Wangji only looked stubborn.

Lan Qiren decided to drop the matter for now. He’d bring it up again tomorrow, and the day after as well if necessary. There simply was no reason for the two boys who had been friends with each other for even longer than they’d been friends with Wei Wuxian to fight over something as ridiculous as a fleeting infatuation.

…well, he hoped it was a fleeting infatuation on at least one of their parts. Ideally Lan Wangi, but he was starting to lose hope in that.

At least he was pretty sure that Lan Yueheng would consent whole-heartedly to the marriage.

Lan Qiren took another sip of tea, and tried to ignore the smell of smoke.

It usually wasn’t anything serious.

-

There was smoke in the air, thick and choking, and the heat made it difficult even to see.

The Cloud Recesses were burning.

Lan Qiren coughed into his sleeve, and thought to himself that it was good that the laundry had long ago updated the arrays to include ones designed for fireproofing as part of the regular set. He’d initially only asked for it for his own robes, but they’d taken it as an update to the general set and he’d never bothered to stop them.

“Shufu?” Lan Wangji asked, looking concerned, but Lan Qiren waved him away. He wished he could send Lan Wangji out from this horrible situation through one of the hidden paths, but he had already sent Lan Xichen that way – one man fleeing might be overlooked, but no more, not with how well his nephews were known as the Twin Jades.

Not that Lan Wangji would agree to leave. Not leave his home, not leave his uncle, and certainly not leave his beloved, with whom he had been fighting back-to-back with for the past shichen.

“Do not mind me,” Lan Qiren said, since saying ‘I am fine’ would breach the prohibition against lying. He was very far from fine. “Where is Wuxian?”

“Looking for Third Uncle. They got separated when they started setting off explosives in defense of the sect, and we have not been able to find him.”

Lan Qiren grimaced, and spared a moment to hope that Lan Yueheng and his family were all right. Zhang Xin would be in the women’s area, at least, with the twins and little Zixi, and that would have been locked down as much as they could manage as soon as possible, but the older children…Lan Yanyu was very nearly fifteen, old enough to think that she could pick up a sword and go out to fight, and both Lan Zhijin and Lan Wanli had probably been in the classrooms when the attack had come, making them unwilling participants whether they wanted it or no.

Lan Qiren had been there, too, but he couldn’t remember whether they had listened when he had ordered all the students to evacuate; he had had no time for anything else, rushing over to activate the sect defenses using his own blood before taking his sword and guqin to defend his home as best he could.

It had been a relief when the explosions had started. He’d known that it must be Wei Wuxian and Lan Yueheng behind them, them and their little group of alchemy enthusiasts, using whatever means at their disposal to fight back.

It had been a relief…

Not so much now.

Wei Wuxian, at least, could be trusted to defend himself properly, with his sword and his dizi and a dazzling array of deadly talismans, while Lan Yueheng…years and years of neglecting the sword in favor of his mathematics and alchemical experiments meant that he would never be a good fighter, no matter how fearsome the talismans and arrays and elixirs he wielded. He simply lacked a good sense of his surroundings, and had no notion whatsoever as to where an enemy might be or what they might do.

Wei Wuxian was better, much better, but what could win a duel would not win a war.

And Wei Wuxian was – too talented.

He’d unexpectedly won third place in the archery competition, locking in the entire thing as a Lan sect sweep while knocking out Wen Chao and making the Wen sect lose face, and with his sense of humor he’d gotten more attention for that feat than the calmer and quieter Lan Wangji had for his second-place finish or Lan Xichen for finishing first.

The Wen sect had a tendency to hold grudges. If they got hold of him…

“Call him here instead,” Lan Qiren said, making a decision. “I have a task for him.”

Lan Wangji looked at him in silent question, but long-term habits of obedience kicked in; he nodded and swept off to find his beloved.

Lan Qiren hoped that they would both forgive him.

-

Wei Wuxian wanted to destroy the Wen sect more than anything, but he was starting to have some unwilling sympathy for Wen Ruohan’s desire to dominate other sects and force them to do what he wanted.

Jiang Fengmian just wasn’t listening to him.

Oh, the man had been kind enough, offering Wei Wuxian shelter with his sect after what had happened with the Cloud Recesses, but it was as if all of Wei Wuxian’s warnings about it meant about the threat of the Wen sect fell on deaf ears. The Jiang sect believed in living freely and doing as you liked, and Jiang Fengmian did not want to go to war; therefore he would not, and certainly not for another sect’s sake no matter how much he liked the person doing the requesting.

Wei Wuxian felt obscurely betrayed by it. Jiang Fengmian had always been very kind to him whenever he was visiting the Lan sect or if they ever encountered each other outside – he’d been friends with Wei Wuxian’s father, and was always full of stories about him and some small knick-knack or gift from the Lotus Pier that his father had liked back when he’d lived there. He’d even allowed Wei Wuxian to call him Uncle Jiang.

But now, now when Wei Wuxian really needed him…

Wei Wuxian had only agreed to leave the Cloud Recesses in its time of need because Lan Qiren had insisted that he was the only one who might convince Jiang Fengmian to help them.

Wei Wuxian had believed him at the time, but he was starting to think that Lan Qiren hadn’t actually thought he could do it, but rather had done it just to get him out of the way.

It wasn’t that Wei Wuxian didn’t know that Jiang Fengmian and Lan Qiren were on moderately bad terms, insofar as sect leaders with as much influence as they had could be on bad terms – they had the usual set of alliances, but they didn’t like each other, and Wei Wuxian had always secretly suspected that the fact that Lan Qiren had taken him into the Cloud Recesses was at least part of the reason why. Jiang Fengmian had always spoken so highly of the Lotus Pier to him, encouraging him to come and visit – Lan Qiren had never allowed it – and Wei Wuxian had known from a young age that Jiang Fengmian had wished he’d been allowed to raise him instead of Lan Yueheng.

Indeed, even now, he had the feeling that Jiang Fengmian secretly hoped he’d find a reason to marry into the Jiang sect and therefore stay with them for good.

Not that there’d be anywhere to stay if the Wen sect did to the Lotus Pier what they’d done to the Cloud Recesses.

Not that Wei Wuxian would want to marry anyone other than Lan Wangji anyway.

“No offense meant,” he said to Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli, who both looked amused.

“None taken,” Jiang Cheng said. “I don’t want to marry you either, and Jiang Yanli’s engaged.”

“And also doesn’t want to marry you,” Jiang Yanli said. “Sorry, A-Xian. I see you only as a cute little brother.”

Wei Wuxian had in turn always seen Jiang Yanli as a friendly older sister, but he still put his hands on his heart and said, “Ouch. Leave me some dignity, all right? Just because I’m taken doesn’t mean that I don’t like to flatter myself about being attractive to women.”

“Flatter yourself another time,” Madame Yu interjected from the door, making them all jump. Her expression was grim. “The Wen sect has sent word that they are summoning one direct disciple from each sect to the Nightless City.”

“A direct disciple?” Wei Wuxian asked, looking alarmed. “You’re not going to send them Jiang Cheng, are you? And you can’t send Jiang Yanli!”

“I’m certainly not sending A-Li, but I don’t see that we have any choice about A-Cheng,” Madame Yu said. She gave Wei Wuxian that strange look that she always had for him, the one where she wasn’t sure if she ought to be angry at him for being the other person’s child in her husband’s heart or grateful that he had stayed in the Lan sect where he belonged, far away where he wouldn’t impact her own son’s position. It seemed a little more the latter than usual, perhaps because he’d shouted at Jiang Fengmian earlier in the hall of the Lotus Pier that he had only one father, Wei Changze, and only one adopted father, Lan Yueheng, and that he had no availability for any others. “I’m going to send you, too.”

Wei Wuxian blinked.

“There’s no point in your staying here as long as my husband refuses to take up arms,” she said, and Wei Wuxian grimaced in agreement. “You resemble some of our servants. If we change your hair and put you in Jiang sect colors – you will need to remove that forehead ribbon of yours – if we do all that, you’d pass well enough. If they’re collecting sect heirs, I’d assume your Lan Wanji would be there, too.”

“Teacher Lan sent Wei-xiong here to avoid him getting captured,” Jiang Cheng protested. “How can we send him to the Nightless City?”

“The safest place is the most dangerous place. Sect Leader Lan didn’t want him to get captured by those with a grudge against him, but Wen Chao is far less dangerous, and less observant, than Wen Xu. If he keeps his mouth shut, it’s possible they’ll overlook him entirely…that’s assuming you want to go, Wei-gongzi. I won’t force you.”

“No, you’re right,” he said. “I want to go. If Lan Zhan is there…I can’t leave him alone.”

Jiang Cheng sighed, but nodded.

“Good,” Madame Yu said. “If you find a way, get out of there and come back here. And don’t be subtle about it, either.”

When they looked at her, she smiled grimly.

“If burning the Lan sect isn’t enough to cow the whole cultivation world – and it’s not going to be – then they will need to bring down a second great sect to make the point. Wei-gongzi is right: we’re the obvious next target, and they won’t hesitate to do to the Lotus Pier what they did to the Cloud Recesses as soon as they have an excuse. ‘Harboring Lan sect fugitives’ would do the trick quite nicely.”

“You want to lure the Wen sect into attacking?”

“I want to lure them into attack at the time of my choosing,” she said, and swept her thumb across Zidian, letting it crackle a little. “Will you do it?”

Wei Wuxian smiled.

-

Losing a leg had done absolutely nothing to stymie Lan Yueheng’s enthusiasm, and – if anything – seemed only to encourage Wei Wuxian, who had already invented four different types of prosthetics that mixed arrays and metal in innovative new ways, each of them far better than anything they’d had previously.

“Are you certain I can’t convince you to take them more permanently?” Lan Qiren asked Nie Mingjue while rubbing his temples to try to make the headache go away. He didn’t exactly expect tranquility in a war, but the constant explosions, however useful, were starting to get to him – he was starting to hear them in his sleep. “Surely the Hejian front could use some heavy artillery.”

Nie Mingjue was visiting to check in on Nie Huaisang, who had been sent to the Cloud Recesses for his own safety. He smiled.

“You’d miss them if they were gone,” he said, and he was right. “Anyway, I’m quite happy with their inventions keeping the Cloud Recesses safe – and isn’t Wei-gongzi usually with the Jiang sect front these days?”

“He travels, like Xichen and Wangji, but yes, he goes to ground there more often than not.” Lan Qiren sighed. “I suspect that he still feels guilty for not having managed to get as much help out of them in the early days as he thought he’d be able to. Wangji goes with him when he can, of course.”

“Of course…why is he here, anyway? Huaisang said in his letters that they’d thought up some idea that I wouldn’t like, so naturally I came as soon as possible.”

That was a very Nie Mingjue thing to do, and also a very Nie Huaisang way of getting him to do it. Lan Qiren suspected Wei Wuxian to be behind it all.

“He’s probably invented something new,” he said, though he started frowning. Usually he was the first one to receive word of a new invention through Lan Yueheng, who couldn’t resist boasting about his adopted son’s genius, and he hadn’t heard anything recently.

Also, something Nie Mingjue wouldn’t like was very likely something Lan Qiren wouldn’t like, and by and large Lan Yueheng was typically pretty good at figuring what those things were in advance and squashing them before they turned into full on “ideas”.

“In all honesty, I’m not sure what would constitute something I dislike at this point,” Nie Mingjue said, rubbing his forehead. “Provided it helps us do better in this war, I’m willing to be flexible.”

Lan Qiren doubted that very much – Nie Mingjue was many things, but flexible about ethics was not one of them – but he didn’t say as much.

“Have something to eat,” he said instead. “You look too thin.”

Everyone looked too thin to his eyes these days. It was worry, that was all. He worried about his nephews, and his cousin’s children, and all the others, too.

Nie Mingjue accepted his concern with grace and a touch of humor, and then they went to go find the others.

The others, in this case, were Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Nie Huaisang, and Lan Yanyu, as well as Lan Yueheng balancing little Lan Guanling in one arm and Lan Yuhui in the other – how the twins had managed to get here from where they were supposed to be, only they knew.

“I’m just the babysitter,” Lan Yueheng said at once upon seeing Lan Qiren. “They said I wasn’t allowed to know what it was because then I’d blurt it out to you.”

That seemed – very in character, yes, and explained a great deal.

“Dare I ask what it is?” Lan Qiren asked Wei Wuxian, arching his eyebrows and giving the children a look that made them all squirm in their seats. “Now that you’ve managed to lure Chifeng-zun here to hear it out as well?”

Looks were shared – no, to be clear, looks were being very pointedly directed at Wei Wuxian, who cleared his throat.

“All right,” he said. “We think we’ve come up with something that can help change the course of the war.”

“That’s the good part,” Nie Mingjue said dryly. “Can we skip ahead to what the bad part is?”

Lan Qiren nodded. “Specifically the part that will make us hate the concept and want to refuse it without hearing anymore about it.”

“Well,” Wei Wuxian said, and coughed again, not denying that that part was coming. “Before we get there, how familiar are you with the Yiling Burial Mounds…? Because I got stuck there for a tiny little bit and it gave me this idea…”

[robininthelabyrinth]

lqr ends up ordering a house built for Jingyi's family that's as disaster-proof as possible? LIke, there's a ton of safety wards, and thick walls. There's a stream that's totally a moat to keep any fires from spreading. It helps, a bit.

No, no. Lan Jingyi's family lives in a perfectly normal, respectable, run-of-the-mill house with no special additions or protections.

Their laboratory, on the other hand...

[robininthelabyrinth]

You know what might be cool? Lan Qiren (your Lan Qiren specifically) Time Travel Fic. How? Who knows. Maybe Lan Yueheng was involved. Maybe it was Wen Rouhan, and know they're both in the past with knowledge of the future.

ao3

“Oh good,” Lan Qiren said. “You’re both here. That’ll make this much easier.”

“Uh,” Lao Nie said. “What the fuck?”

“We have a lot to talk about,” Lan Qiren said. “I will admit that I have not yet thought of how to explain the circumstances that have brought me here, or how I obtained information regarding the future, but I wish to assure you in advance of our conversation that I would not make up something so critical as –”

“What is he doing here,” Wen Ruohan hissed, rather rudely interrupting.

“I don’t know!” Lao Nie hissed back, then turned and blinked owlishly at him. “I don’t – is that Qiren?”

“Qiren? Who the fuck is Qiren?”

“Lan Qiren. You know –”

“I know he’s a Lan! He has that damn forehead ribbon, an idiot would be able to tell he’s a Lan, that’s not what I’m asking –”

“I’m the second son,” Lan Qiren said, a little impatiently. “We haven’t really had much of an opportunity to interact yet, Sect Leader Wen, but I really must insist that you listen to me. The lives of untold numbers of people are at risk if you do not…and, ah, would it be possible for you to stop what you are currently doing?”

“Yes,” Wen Ruohan said. His cheeks were bright red, which was a good sign – he’d completely lost the ability to blush in shame towards the end there, and that had been when he’d committed his worst atrocities. That had been one of the reasons Lan Qiren had decided to approach him directly about what would happen later, rather than work around him. “Yes, of course. We are going to stop right now.”

He paused, then glanced down at Lao Nie, who was still holding onto his hips without any apparent desire to release him. “Right now.”

“But it was just getting good,” Lao Nie grumbled. “And we haven’t had time alone together in months…”

“Lao Nie. We are not having sex in front of a four year old.”

“I believe I’m currently six,” Lan Qiren corrected him. “And mentally, I’m considerably older than that. You see, I’m from the future.”

“See? He’s from the future, he’s not actually – wait,” Lao Nie craned his head to stare. “Did you say you’re from the future?”

Lan Qiren was pushing over a chair from the side of the room. “That’s right,” he said, and climbed up on it so that he’d be better able to look the adults in the eye when he was talking to them. Not that he currently especially wanted to look them in the eye, or at least he didn’t until they were dressed. “Also, you don’t need to be so embarrassed. This isn’t the first time I’ve accidentally walked in on the two of you and your ‘riding lessons’.”

“Is that what we told you it was?” Lao Nie said, grinning. Wen Ruohan was scrambling off of him and getting dressed faster than Lan Qiren had ever seen him move, but Lao Nie was moving much more lazily, horrible exhibitionist that he was. “Good on future us.”

“You don’t actually believe him about traveling through time, do you? That’s a ridiculous story.” Wen Ruohan said.

“Of course I do,” Lao Nie said, giving in and putting on his pants with a sigh. “For two reasons: first, he doesn’t talk like any six year old I’ve ever heard, not even one from the Lan sect. Second, I’m quite certain that I’m not currently hosting any Lan sect guests, of any stripe.”

“What does that matter?”

“It means that the six-year-old second young master of the Lan sect somehow managed to make it to the Unclean Realm by himself, and quickly enough that no one noticed and kicked up an alarm…how did you come, by the way?”

“I flew,” Lan Qiren said, rather perturbed despite himself by Lao Nie’s rather impressive nonchalance. He’d known that Lao Nie was rather unflappable, had even counted on it, but this was above and beyond – really, what sorts of things had Lao Nie encountered in his life that prepared him for something as bizarre as this..?

“On a sword?”

“What else?”

Lao Nie turned to look at Wen Ruohan, arching his eyebrows in well, there you go sort of way.

Wen Ruohan grimaced. “All right, you have a point,” he conceded, though without much grace. “Time travel is marginally more likely than a six-year-old capable of a solo non-stop sword flight from the Cloud Recesses to the Unclean Realm.”

“…I stopped quite a few times along the way,” Lan Qiren said. “Also, I may have – cheated. A little. In view of the urgency…anyway, you believe me? Both of you?”

“I’m extremely interested in what sort of ‘cheating’ someone who lacks even a golden core can do, but yes, for the time being, let us focus on that part of it,” Wen Ruohan said, clearly much more comfortable now that he was dressed. “What happens in the future that is so dire that you felt the need to tell us at once? And not your father, instead?”

“My father is completely unrelated to future events, and wouldn’t have listened to me anyway,” Lan Qiren said, a little ruefully. “No, it is my view that the most important events relate to the two of you, since it is the blood feud between your two sects that drives the next few decades.”

“I’m sorry,” Lao Nie said. “Did you say blood feud?”

Lan Qiren nodded.

“What in the world could have caused that?” Lao Nie was frowning in earnest. “We’re – well – I mean, I know I have bad taste, but I don’t do ‘riding lessons’ with just anyone, you know!”

“Nor I,” Wen Ruohan said dryly. He was frowning. “What is the cause? Why would I declare a blood feud?”

“You don’t, you’re the subject,” Lan Qiren said, noting to himself that he was correct in his recollection that the Wen Ruohan of this era was far more self-aware than the one that had started the Sunshot Campaign. Dealing with non-insane people was quite nice. “You and Lao Nie get into a terrible argument and you murder him rather brutally. His son then declares blood feud against you.”

“When you say ‘brutally’ –” Lao Nie started, but Wen Ruohan held up his hand with a scowl.

“What do you mean, his son?” he demanded. “He doesn’t have a son.”

“That is one of the things you argue about,” Lan Qiren said dryly. “He has two, later. So do you, in fact, but yours are more useless…I never did understand why you were so upset about him taking a wife when you took your own. Isn’t fidelity something that one decides early on in these sorts of things?”

“By things I assume you mean relationships?” Lao Nie asked.

“Yes, those.”

“Are you sure you’re not six?”

“That I am disinterested in sexual congress does not make me six.”

“How about the fact that you’re physically six?”

“Please stop arguing with the time-traveled six-year-old,” Wen Ruohan said, rubbing his temples. “We can discuss the matter of – of fidelity later. Little Lan, what happens next? After the blood feud is declared against me?”

“I don’t see why it matters,” Lao Nie said. “Obviously we’re not going to let that happen again.”

“Lao Nie, shut up. Little Lan?”

“Well, there’s an interval of about ten or so years, but eventually you nearly massacre the entire cultivation world and are eventually killed yourself. It’s all extremely awful and everyone has a very bad time of it – rebuilding takes a long time. For all the sects, not just mine.”

“Yours? But the Lan are a Great Sect.” Wen Ruohan was frowning. “Why would I attack a Great Sect? It would just encourage the rest of the world to unify against me.”

“You were rather insane at the time,” Lan Qiren said. “You send your armies to burn down the Cloud Recesses and then massacre the Lotus Pier – and then, yes, as you expected, the rest of the cultivation world unifies against you. Your entire clan is massacred, leaving only, as far as I know, a single survivor, whose surname was changed in infancy and who does not recognize any of you.”

“What happens to the Unclean Realm?” Lao Nie asked, leaning forward. “When Hanhan is attacking, I mean.”

“He never manages to conquer it, although he tries several times.”

Lao Nie leaned back with a satisfied grunt.

“Stop focusing on unimportant matters,” Wen Ruohan told him, then turned back to Lan Qiren, ignoring Lao Nie’s muttered ‘it’s important to me’. “Why do I do such a thing? When you say I’m insane…”

“I believe, although it has never been officially confirmed, that you sought to enter the way of clarity and cut off all of your earthly emotions after Lao Nie’s murder, and that it goes badly for you.”

“I told you!”

“Lao Nie. Shut up.”

“Can you two stop bickering for long enough to listen to me?” Lan Qiren demanded. “This is important! We’re going to have to change everything!”

“Yes, of course,” Lao Nie said. “Right after I make sure that we don’t get accused of kidnapping you.”

“You won’t be, no one will notice I’ve gone,” Lan Qiren said impatiently. “It’s not as if I see my father more than once a month anyway, and I’ve left notes excusing my absence with all the teachers that see me more often than that. Can we please focus?”

“I mislike everything you just said,” Wen Ruohan remarked. “But we can get into it later. Tell me everything…not least of all how exactly you ‘cheated’ in getting here with so little spiritual energy.”

“I’m not telling you that.”

“I’m going to order us dinner,” Lao Nie decided. “We can eat and talk after that, when everyone’s a little calmer – no, don’t protest, Hanhan. Look at little Qiren, he’s skin and bones.”

“I am not,” Lan Qiren said, though he was perhaps a little hungry. “Anyway, this is more important than food.”

“The event in question is some years off yet,” Wen Ruohan said. “And you are skin and bones. I agree with Lao Nie’s proposed course of action. Shall we?”

“But –”

Lan Qiren found himself being scooped up into Lao Nie’s arms.

“He’s adorable,” Lao Nie said to Wen Ruohan. “Can we keep him?”

“He’s not actually six,” Wen Ruohan reminded him.

“That makes it better.”

“Will the two of you focus?!”

“Not till we’ve eaten!”

Lan Qiren sighed. Saving the world was going to be harder than he’d thought it would be.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Discordant Rhapsody - ao3 - Chapter 10

“– absolutely ridiculous. They’ve been talking for three days!” Wei Wuxian was saying loudly when Lan Qiren returned to his quarters. “What could they possibly still have left to discuss? I know your family have a lot of rules, Lan Zhan, but surely everyone here already knows them by heart!”

Wei Wuxian sounded spirited and lively, Lan Qiren noted. He sounded almost like he had when he’d been a visiting student, before the war.

It was a vast improvement over his behavior at the Burial Mounds, alternatively arrogant and impetuous, then cold and ruthlessly indifferent. How much of that behavior had been genuine, whether stemming from the trauma of war or his demonic cultivation, and how much was an act designed to repel unwanted outsiders, Lan Qiren did not know and doubted he ever would, but he was pleased that Wei Wuxian felt comfortable enough in the Cloud Recesses – and with Lan Wangji – to relax enough to be himself.

He supposed he was, anyway. Everything felt very distant at the moment, as if he were observing his own emotions rather than feeling them. It was almost as if he were separated from the entire world, locked into seclusion, only the seclusion was within his own body. He had felt that way before a few times, disconnected and disinterested – He Kexin’s trial, his father’s death, Cangse Sanren’s, Lao Nie’s – and although he knew it was likely unhealthy, it was very helpful in ensuring that he got done what needed to get done instead of wasting time reacting to things.

As he should now.

“The rules have many permutations,” Lan Qiren said, stepping into the room. “But not as many as life itself. The application of the rules in any given circumstances is therefore a matter subject to debate.”

“Teacher Lan!”

“Shufu.”

“Qiren-xiong!”

Lan Qiren blinked, somehow not having expected the rush of noise that greeted him. It was the same group that he’d dispersed before he went to speak with Lan Xichen: Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Lan Yueheng; even Wen Qing was there, with Wen Ning hovering unobtrusively in the corner trying to make tea with stiff fingers.

“Ah,” he said. “You’re all here.”

“And you’re in shock,” Wen Qing said, coming forward with a frown to grab rather rudely at his wrist. Doctors were the same no matter where they went, Lan Qiren supposed, and permitted it, less out of a desire to be treated than lack of energy to get into another fight. With the exception of the first night, where Lan Xichen had insisted that Lan Qiren see the doctors in order to be pointlessly harangued for nearly half a shichen about how he couldn’t just go running around putting himself in danger given his ill health and then shouted at for the next half after he’d politely declined their recommendation that he be confined to bedrest for the next four days on account of his need to meet with the sect elders the following morning, Lan Qiren had been tremendously busy. He’d been arguing and negotiating more or less ever since, from morning to night; he’d returned to his quarters precisely in time to prepare for sleep, leaving no time to talk with anyone, and departed again first thing in the morning – if it hadn’t been for their family rules, the others probably would have insisted on staying in the meeting hall non-stop. “What’s wrong with your sect? Don’t they know that your health is poor?”

They were aware. If they hadn’t been aware, they certainly were now – it had been one of the factors at stake while they’d tried to decide on what would be an appropriate punishment for him, something that would both serve to appease the Jin sect’s demands for justice and appropriately serve as consequence for his behavior, since Lan Qiren was unwilling to repent of his behavior or disclaim what he’d done.

Or at least, that was what they were supposed to have been deciding. Lan Xichen had been right that the sect’s internal divisions had been aggravated by his actions and that Lan Qiren’s long-standing opponents within the sect were seeking to take advantage of this mistake to get back for wrongs they believed had been done to them, no matter how much the rules counseled do not mix private and public interests. There were those who hated him personally, those to whom his lingering presence was an obstacle to the influence they hoped to have over Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji, those who were simply opportunists…and, as Lan Xichen had also noted, there were those that would normally have been on Lan Qiren’s side, whether through habit or aligned interests, yet who were appalled by what they saw as the commonality between Lan Qiren’s actions and those of his brother’s all those years before.

He still had his supporters, of course, which included not least of all Lan Xichen as sect leader. He had himself, with his deep knowledge of the rules and the reputation he had built over decades, and if his tongue was still slow and his voice monotonous, then he had at least learned how to be eloquent and persuasive – he had done what he could to blunt the rage of his sect members and turn at least some of them to his side, and manage the objections of the rest. He hadn’t been sect leader for so many years for nothing.

Even with conduct as foolish as his had been, it had been very hard for them to pin him down.

The only thing that had given Lan Qiren pause was the accusation that he had weakened their sect at a time when they needed to be strong, bringing them shame instead of glory, and in doing so had hurt Lan Xichen, who was sworn brothers to one of the Jin sect and whose reputation would be harmed by the dispute.

His opponents had seized upon that unwise pause at once.

That had been when it had gone wrong, he supposed. If Lan Qiren hadn’t hesitated, tripped up by too much love for his nephew, or if Lan Xichen had stood up and unflinchingly defied them for Lan Qiren’s sake at that time, defying his own inclination towards peace in favor of assertiveness, things might have been different. But Lan Xichen had hesitated, too, perhaps thinking of his sworn brother, and then there had been no stopping it; it had all gone rather badly after that.

Lan Qiren hoped that he hadn’t just ruined Lan Xichen’s friendship with Jin Guangyao.

Poor Lan Xichen had been so horrified when he’d realized what he’d inadvertently allowed to happen, mere moments after the mistake had been made, but by then it was too late – the other side had the momentum, and they were running with it as far as they could, pressing their advantage.

It wasn’t that they didn’t have a point, of course. The whole problem was that they had a very good point. The Lan sect was depending on Jin sect for funds to assist in rebuilding, one of Lan Xichen’s decisions that Lan Qiren had disagreed with and disapproved of but which he had ultimately acquiesced to, wanting to respect Lan Xichen’s autonomy as sect leader; failing to respect and preserve that relationship now, in the middle of construction, could be a big problem if it meant that that flow of gold suddenly stopped. They had other financial sources, of course, but having chosen not to depend on them in the beginning would make it tricky to go back to them now.

Therefore, his enemies said, savagely wolfish in their victory, seeking to hide their anger behind pretty words, it was essential that they impose a punishment severe enough that the Jin sect be properly appeased. Not that Lan Qiren thought Jin Guangshan could be appeased, especially if his goal was to weaken the other sects, their own included, and potentially also deal with Wei Wuxian’s unorthodoxy, but that obviously wasn’t his opponents’ real goal either. To them, it must have seemed like a perfect victory: they’d be able to shut Jin Guangshan up, firmly reestablish the Lan sect’s sterling reputation for unhesitating justice throughout the cultivation world, and take Lan Qiren down at the same time.

The rules said do not take advantage of your position to oppress others. If only it were that easy!

When it had been his turn, Lan Qiren had used his position as sect leader to impose his view of what his sect ought to be like – to enforce the rules strictly, to require all to act ethically, to dispense with the unnecessary – and in doing so he had trampled on the contrary wills of others in his sect, using their failings to his advantage. Now that he had erred in turn, they were all too eager to get their own back, and without the full-throated support of his sect leader, hamstrung as he was by his own nature and his own choices, there was nothing he could say about it that would not be hypocritical.

Still, it hadn’t all been worthless. He’d at least been able to negotiate his punishment down to something he was willing to accept…

Lan Qiren hoped Lan Xichen would forgive him for having accepted it.

His nephew had been furious at himself for having hesitated, furious (however incorrectly) at Jin Guangyao for having inspired that hesitation, furious at the other sect elders for having proposed the punishment at all, and that fury had turned onto Lan Qiren when he’d first indicated that he was inclined to accept the resolution. Lan Xichen had wanted to keep fighting; he had even been on the verge of using his position as sect leader to defy the elders and refuse the selected punishment absolutely. But bitter experience had taught Lan Qiren that such disrespect by Lan Xichen to his elders would poison the well for the future – they wouldn’t forget what had happened, and they wouldn’t forgive, either. That, in turn, would mean that Lan Xichen would find it harder to implement whatever future plans he wished to put in place as a result.

Lan Qiren, far too familiar with that struggle, hadn’t wanted that for him.

He was the one in the wrong, in his sect’s eyes, and even in his own. The burden should fall upon him.

He’d accepted that from the start.

And so he had quietly overruled Lan Xichen’s objections and accepted the punishment that had been proposed, rendering it final through his acceptance. He had observed as his allies’ faces turned green with regret and even his enemies seemed uncertain and shocked, as if they’d profaned their family rules by proposing a punishment beyond what they thought would be acceptable merely as a negotiating tactic…but it was too late now for remorse.

For them, or for him.

“– a normal symptom of shock,” Wen Qing said, putting a hot cup of tea into his hand and doing something or another to the meridian closest to his elbow, jerking Lan Qiren out of his temporary stupor and back into awareness. “He’s more prone to succumbing to shocks like this, given his weak circulation, not to mention weak lungs – it’s too easy for him to have problems breathing, and that spurs on the rest.”

“There is nothing wrong with me at the moment,” Lan Qiren said.  

Wen Qing huffed disdainfully, and everyone else around him looked skeptical as well. “Whatever you say, Teacher Lan. You still shouldn’t be up at all hours arguing. Hasn’t anyone told you that emotional strain is a danger to you?”

“At length.” It wasn’t the only danger facing his health now. “However, I wasn’t up ‘at all hours’. I slept and rose at the typical times for my sect. The exhaustion is purely mental, not physical. I do not require the assistance of a doctor.”

Wen Qing threw up her hands, clearly despairing of him. “Fine! Have it your way.”

“See, I told you he’d be fine,” Wei Wuxian said to Lan Yueheng, his voice almost forcefully bright as if he thought he could make things actually be all right through willpower alone. “You’ve been hovering around a storm-crow, looking all bleak and mournful, just worrying Lan Zhan for no reason!”

Lan Yueheng ignored him in favor of looking anxiously at Lan Qiren, and, yes, he did rather resemble a bird, although Lan Qiren probably would have compared him to an anxious pigeon. “Qiren-xiong, has the sect made a decision? What have they decided?”

Lan Qiren looked at the room around him. Wen Qing was muttering angrily under her breath about the wretchedness of stubborn old men, bad patients one and all, as Wen Ning tried to convince her to calm down with offers of tea, while standing behind Lan Yueheng, Lan Wangji had drawn close to Wei Wuxian with an expression on his face that could indeed be described as worry. Perhaps over Wei Wuxian’s fate?

Well, that was at least something Lan Qiren could help with.

“The sect decided not to override my decision regarding taking Wei Wuxian as a disciple,” he said, trying to assuage their concerns, but instead Wei Wuxian only scowled.

“Was that an option?” he asked. “I didn’t think you could force someone to reject a disciple they’d already accepted."

"They cannot,” Lan Wangji said. He still looked worried. “But they can strongly recommend it.”

“They can threaten to throw Qiren-xiong out of the sect if he doesn’t,” Lan Yueheng clarified, and Wei Wuxian looked alarmed, as did the Wen siblings.

“That is not at issue,” Lan Qiren said sternly. “I remain a member of the Lan sect.”

“You mean it was possible? Teacher Lan, you didn’t say – mmpf!”

Wei Wuxian reached up to his mouth with an expression of annoyance. Not that it would him any good, since Lan Qiren had silenced him.

“You are my disciple,” Lan Qiren told him. “If you do nothing else, you will at least show me sufficient respect to be quiet when I am speaking.”

Wei Wuxian looked mulish.

“I made the decision to take you as a disciple,” Lan Qiren reminded him. “The rules say maintain your own discipline. I am responsible for my own conduct, and for the risks that I am willing to take.”

It did not change Wei Wuxian’s expression. Nor did Lan Wangji, standing next to him, look any less worried.

“Shufu,” he said. “What did the sect decide? Will you have to face punishment for taking Wei Ying as a disciple?”

“Not for the act of taking a disciple in itself, which is not contrary to the rules – the rule do not take disciples without careful screening cannot said to have been breached when I am in fact highly familiar with Wei Wuxian’s qualifications, both positive and negative,” Lan Qiren said, taking refuge in the familiarity of pedagogy, treating his own case as if it were a historical example of how the rules were applied. “But what can be said to be a breach is the spirit behind my doing so, which was to shield Wei Wuxian from facing consequences for his behavior rather than a genuine desire to instruct him in our ways. The rules say No dishonest practices. Furthermore, as you know, the Jin sect has been demanding justice for what happened at the Qiongqi Path, and they are entitled to know that justice has been meted out.”

Lan Wangji’s expression of worry only worsened. “So shufu will be punished.”

“…yes, I will be. But Wei Wuxian will not, and the Wen sect remnants, under his auspices, are similarly guaranteed our protection.”

“But shufu will,” Lan Wangji insisted, and Lan Qiren felt warmed by his nephew’s concern. It was a dull sort of warmth, muted through the shock, but he was relieved that Lan Wangji was still able to be concerned about things and people other than Wei Wuxian. He hadn’t gone all the way down his father’s path; Lan Qiren’s goal of all these years had been achieved. “What is the punishment?”

“Yeah, Teacher Lan,” Wei Wuxian said. He looked worried, too, which was still a little unexpected. Prior to their encounter on the Burial Mounds, Lan Qiren hadn’t even known that Wei Wuxian’s facile face could make an expression of genuine worry, and neither had he thought that he himself would ever be the recipient thereof. “What’s the punishment? Is it something I can help with?”

Lan Qiren didn’t want to tell him. Wei Wuxian’s mood had improved, but he kept slipping back far too easily to the way it had been before, cold and vicious; a shock would not be conductive to his continued improvement, especially since Lan Qiren had not yet had the opportunity to try out healing songs on him other than by using Lan Wangji as proxy.

He didn’t want to tell any of them, actually. The Wen siblings and their family didn’t need to see the streak of viciousness that lurked beneath the Lan sect’s tranquility, especially since they’d be staying with them in the future – he’d managed that, at least, with Lan Xichen’s support. Lan Xichen had reminded everyone that he had been the one to advocate clemency for the Wen survivors, before the Jin sect had volunteered to implement it, and he’d cleverly framed his argument that taking care of them would only be honoring that original agreement rather than anything to do with Wei Wuxian or Lan Qiren. They’d be getting the farmland that Lan Qiren had promised, under strict guard and lacking the right to leave at will, but it would be theirs, without even the need to pay tax to the sect the way the other local farmers did.

Lan Qiren had even managed, in a rather inspired twist on do not forget the grace of your forefathers, do not be wasteful, and nurture aspirations, to win the right for little Wen Yuan granted admittance to the Lan sect as a disciple as long as he was adopted out to some another surname. He’d very carefully omitted any indication of what type of disciple, leaving the door open for Lan Wangji to adopt the boy if he wished to make him one of the main line Lan clan, but also making it equally plausible for Wei Wuxian to choose to give the boy his surname instead if that was what the family preferred.

There had been objections, of course, but Lan Qiren pointed out that such a generous offer was likely the only thing that would allow them to totally eradicate Wen Ruohan’s surname from the earth without lifting a sword – little Wen Yuan was the only male left who might conceivably have children in the future, what with Wen Ning being dead, the other Wen men quite elderly, and Wen Qing a woman, whose children, should she have any, likely to carry their father’s surname, given that no one would reasonably choose to marry into the Wen rather than marry her out. It was a good offer, keeping in mind both justice and mercy, in accordance with what the Lan sect rules sought to achieve, and by coincidence it would also make it easier for Lan Wangji in the future when courting his beloved.

No, Lan Qiren didn’t want to tell them. It would be harder to convince the Wen of the virtue of allowing their precious child to join the Lan sect, if he told them.

He didn’t want to tell Lan Yueheng, who had been his friend since childhood. Lan Yueheng had been by his side through the disastrous days when his brother had been sect leader, mind warped by his unrequited passion, anger sometimes or even often taken out on his irritating younger brother who kept harping on him to do his job rather than spend all his time chasing his ladylove.

But least of all, least of all, did he want to tell Lan Wangji. Lan Qiren might no longer be his nephews’ guardian, now that they had both come of age, and he had never been more than that – the sect had been very careful to grant him no more rights than they had to, hasty to remind and correct the children if the way that they said ‘shufu’ ever sounded a little too much like the way other children said ‘father’. But Lan Qiren had been their bulwark for so long, in their eyes a figure that was implacable and untouchable and able to defend them from everything, and even if that illusion of invincibility had been thoroughly destroyed by the Wen sect attack and its lingering effects on his health, an enemy attack was a different thing entirely from a punishment imposed from within.

A punishment ordered and then meted out by his sect.

He didn’t want to tell anyone, but not telling them wouldn’t be worth anything. It wouldn’t change anything.

One way or another, they’d find out eventually.

“Teacher Lan?” Wei Wuxian prompted. “Is there something I can do to help?”

Be of one mind.

Lan Qiren sighed. “You will not have much of a choice,” he said, looking down at the tea that had at some point been shoved into his hand instead of meeting anyone’s eyes. “As my disciple, you will be expected to aid me in my recovery.”

“Recovery?” Wen Qing said sharply. “I thought you said your condition was chronic, and stable?”

“So it’s physical discipline?” Lan Yueheng asked at the same time. “Not seclusion?”

“Third Uncle!” Lan Wangji exclaimed.

“What? I’m just asking –”

“Physical discipline?” Wei Wuxian interrupted, scowling. “You mean like being hit with the discipline rod? Teacher Lan?”

He sounded scandalized, as if the very thought were unthinkable. It was a little amusing, actually. Did Wei Wuxian think that Lan Qiren had been raised in the Lan sect and not faced sect discipline before?

“Absolutely not,” Wen Qing said, as if she had any say in the matter. “With his health? They can’t seriously expect a man who can barely breathe to take a beating! I don’t care if they mask it in the name of sect discipline, it’s ridiculous –”

“The sect has already made its decision,” Lan Qiren interjected, or tried to, anyway; there was too much yelling. “And I have accepted it. There is no point in debate –”

“What type of physical discipline?” Lan Yueheng asked, sounding suspicious, and Lan Qiren glared at him – he at least should know better than to be so loud. Though if he thought back on it, he supposed Lan Yueheng’s most common infraction had always been a violation of causing noise is prohibited, and his children took after him in that regard. His house had always been uncommonly raucous, though usually Lan Qiren enjoyed it…perhaps it was his ears that were overly sensitive at the moment, rather than the room being too noisy. “What? Qiren-xiong, you’re acting strangely, and that’s worrying! I know you’re not scared of the discipline rod, you used to get it all the time when that jerk was in charge –”

“Yueheng-xiong, how dare you! Desist at once,” Lan Qiren cried out, horrified, silencing his cousin with a spell as if he were an unruly junior. “Do not criticize other people!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Wei Wuxian said. “Who’s this jerk? I want –”

“Shufu,” Lan Wangji said, ignoring everyone else. “What is the punishment?”

Lan Qiren faltered.

His younger nephew was looking at him with worried eyes. Out of all the children Lan Qiren had ever taught, Lan Wangji was the one most like himself, only better in every respect – he was the baby of the family, the treasured pearl both Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen doted on and had never been able to deny anything, the one they had both agreed without ever saying a word ought to be left out of sect business to live and do as he pleased, ought to be spared any hardship they could.

Lan Wangji was too smart not to be able to figure out why his uncle, who had never particularly liked Wei Wuxian, would suddenly go so far out of his way to rescue him, and then upon his return promptly send them off in such a way as to guarantee them time alone together.

He would take this to heart.

But neither could Lan Qiren not tell him.

Do not tell lies.

“The sect has decided that my conduct in taking Wei Wuxian as a disciple, and adopting his actions as my own responsibility, has violated six of the greater rules,” Lan Qiren said, his voice as dry and emotionless as it had ever been, or even more so, as he sought to make it sound as mundane as any other statement. “In order that I not forget myself in the future, they have determined that the punishment ought to be sixty times the amount in strikes with the discipline rod, three hundred and sixty in total, and – ”

He refused to let his voice hitch or hesitate.

“– and six with the discipline whip.”

“Shufu!” Lan Wangji cried out, horrified, and Lan Qiren couldn’t blame him. Strikes with the discipline whip was a punishment reserved for the most severe crimes – the marks made by the whip would never fade for the rest of someone’s life, and they didn’t heal right, either; one would take even a hale and hearty young man in full health down, a half-dozen would put them out of commission for months, and any more than a dozen would invariably require a recovery that would span multiple years, even for an exceptionally powerful cultivator. Several such strikes inflicted at once was better described as torture, not punishment.

Even though the Lan sect honored human life above all else, the lives of a few Jin sect guards, however unlawfully taken, did not call for such a severe sanction. But that wasn’t what the rest of Lan Qiren’s sect were sanctioning – they were condemning Wei Wuxian for his rebellion against orthodoxy, condemning Lan Qiren for having given his approval and that of his sect’s to that rebellion, condemning them both for taking the side of the Wen sect that they all hated, condemning the Wen sect for having not refuted their tyrannical kinsman when it mattered…

But not just that.

In his heart of hearts, Lan Qiren believed that the main focus of their ire was not even really him, but his brother.

His brother, upon whom so many of the sect had placed their hopes, only to be betrayed and abandoned. The great Qingheng-jun, the shining star of the Lan sect’s last generation, who had been safe in his self-chosen seclusion, untouchable, a target for resentment that had only grown worse as the years had passed; Lan Qiren had always been his standard-bearer, governing the sect in his name and raising the next generation of leaders on his behalf, and every single one of the things Lan Qiren had done over the past few decades, decisions he’d made that his brother wouldn’t have and yet never stirred himself to overrule, could be laid at his brother’s feet in blame.

But his brother was dead, killed by the Wen, and Lan Qiren was here to take his place. Just like always.

Six strikes: there were six great rules that Lan Qiren could be said to have broken, but in his mind, and perhaps only in his mind, those six strikes stood for something else instead. One for his brother. One for his brother’s wife. One each for their children. One for Lan Qiren himself. And the last…

The last for Wei Wuxian, who Lan Qiren had now brought into their family.

Wei Wuxian, who was now yelling at the top of his lungs, Lan Qiren noted with a wince; Wei Wuxian was visibly furious, his eyes crackling red with resentful energy.

“Jiang Cheng had one and he could barely move,” he was arguing, his hands flung out in his fervor. “Six is unthinkable – even Wen Chao couldn’t bring himself to inflict more than one at a time, and he was trying to cause hurt and permanent damage! And that’s not even considering Teacher Lan’s health! Even if he survives taking all six, he’ll be bedbound for months, maybe years, and recovering for even longer than that!”

“That is, in part, the point,” Lan Qiren said, and they all looked at him. “Wei Wuxian is my disciple, and required to be filial to me. He will be expected to act as my caretaker during the time when I am – indisposed.”

It would serve as a convenient means of keeping him out of trouble and away from the rest of the cultivation world, Lan Qiren serving yet again as the unwilling jailor of another person, and despite not knowing the background, Wei Wuxian’s face went pale with rage when he understood.

“Shufu,” Lan Wangji said, his lips pressed tight and his hands trembling in his sleeves. He was just as pale. “Shufu… xiongzhang agreed to this?”

“It is the punishment I negotiated and accepted,” Lan Qiren corrected, because it was true. Any other alternative would have been worse – for him, anyway. He would have lost his mind in any sort of seclusion other than the purely voluntary, having grown unduly terrified of forced seclusion because of what had happened with his brother, and he had given his word to both Wei Wuxian and the Wen sect that they would be safe under his protection. He had been unwilling to compromise on either of those points, which he might otherwise have traded in return for more of a reprieve.

The initial proposal of strikes had been even higher, but he had fought it down: he had only injured the sect’s face, not any of its people, and even his worst opponents had been hard pressed to point to any permanent damage that he had wrought. There was also the mitigating fact that he was no longer in the line of succession to rule the Lan sect, that he could be said to have shamed only himself, and there was also the compounding factor that he had declined privacy for his punishment, trading the shame of having his wrongs known throughout the sect and then the world in exchange for fewer strikes…it still seemed almost cruel and disproportionate, and he thought that some number of his cousins were regretting their harsh words against him now.

Some, but not all – there had still been those that even at the end felt no remorse, and instead had expressions suggesting that they would have pushed for such a vicious end result regardless. Lan Xichen hadn’t been wrong to say that Lan Qiren had angered far more people than he realized – Lan Qiren was the Lan sect’s pride on one hand, the respected teacher that drew students from sects throughout the cultivation world, and on the other hand their scourge. He had always been too stern, too strict, too harsh…

“Shufu,” Lan Wangji said, his voice sharp and strident. “Did xiongzhang agree to this?”

Lan Qiren hesitated, because for all of his objections Lan Xichen had, and that was answer enough for Lan Wangji. His nephew closed his eyes, shuddered from the top of his head to the bottom of his heels, then spun suddenly and stormed out the door, throwing it closed behind him with a clatter.

Lan Qiren wanted to call him back, but the words died in his throat.

What was he going to say, anyway? Causing noise is prohibited? Running is prohibited?

Do not grieve in excess?

“Is this punishment something that can be borne by others?” Wei Wuxian asked, crossing his arms over his chest, his expression defiant. “I’d be happy to take them on in your place, Teacher Lan. I’m the one that actually killed them, after all.”

“The punishment is not about the deaths of the Jin sect guards,” Lan Qiren said, tearing his eyes away from the door. Lan Xichen would need to learn to deal with Lan Wangji in a temper, rare as such a thing was; it would be better if he did not interfere. Lan Xichen would be able to explain how dire the other alternatives had been and that this result had been was what Lan Qiren was willing to accept, and with luck, perhaps a great deal of luck, Lan Wangji would accept it. “It’s about our sect rules, and – internal matters. There is no possibility of substitution. It would be inappropriate.”

There was a thump, and Lan Qiren glanced over – Lan Yueheng had slammed his hand down on the table, his eyes red. His lips were still pressed together…ah, of course. Lan Qiren had silenced him, and so he did not speak even though the actual binding of the spell had already passed, out of respect for Lan Qiren’s wishes; that was the way of their sect.

“You realize this will kill you,” Wen Qing said flatly, drawing Lan Qiren’s attention away from yet another person he did not know what to say to. Her eyes were red, too, which he wouldn't have expected, just as he wouldn't have expected Wen Ning's mute but very visible misery. “A regular cultivator could tolerate maybe twenty, if they were willing to lie in recovery for three years, and an especially strong cultivator even a few dozen, but you…your health is already so poor – whatever happened to you, it affected your cultivation and bodily strength both. You get injured faster and recover slower, and you’re already bad enough about resting and recuperating. Doesn’t your sect know that this will kill you?”

“It won’t,” Lan Qiren said, and he even mostly believed it. “I have the best understanding of my own strength. Even weakened as I am, six strikes is within the range of my tolerance. I would not have accepted it if it wasn’t.”

“What if you’re wrong?” she persisted.

“I’m not.”

“But –”

“Qiren-xiong knows himself best,” Lan Yueheng said, finally speaking. He sounded miserable. “And he won’t change his mind, either, no matter what, so both of you can stop bothering. If this is what the sect wants, it’s what he’ll do. That’s…who he is.”

Lan Qiren couldn’t say anything to that.

It was true.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Discordant Rhapsody - ao3 - Chapter 11

“I should never have accepted your offer, Teacher Lan,” Wei Wuxian said.

“We all make mistakes,” Lan Qiren said evenly. “You asked for my help in refining this song and you shall get it, but you still need to demonstrate that the key variation ten more times before I accept your conclusion that it has a measurable effect on the spiritual energy of the song.”

“I wasn’t talking about the music and you know it,” Wei Wuxian grumbled. “Also, why does it matter if we lock down the specific effect of the key variation? It’s not transferable to other songs.”

“It is worth knowing for the sake of knowing. Do not –”

“Do not give up on learning, I know, I know.”

Lan Qiren ignored him. “Moreover, while it is not currently transferable to other songs, that does not mean that there may not be other songs in the future that would not benefit from our gathering the information in a systematic fashion,” he said. “If you do something, do it right. Do not leave matters half-done to be completed by future generations.”

“Teacher Lan, the song we’re refining is one I use in demonic cultivation, there won’t be any future generations,” Wei Wuxian said, rolling his eyes. “Why would anyone choose to walk a single-planked bridge when there’s a broad road beside it?”

“Mm. Why do you?”

Wei Wuxian opened his mouth, then closed it again, aggravated.

“In that case, the key variations, if you please, disciple,” Lan Qiren said. He was fairly sure by now that the whole demonic cultivation business had something to do with the still-absent Jiang Cheng, so he wasn’t actually going to press for an answer – that was the trouble of taking a personal disciple from another sect, really; there were always going to be split loyalties. “Now.”

Wei Wuxian resentfully raised Chenqing up to his lips, and Lan Qiren nodded in approval, listening with half an ear – the key variation they’d introduced really did have the effect of increasing the range and efficacy of the summoning song, he’d identified that by the third repetition, but if Wei Wuxian wanted to be accepted by the Lan sect’s alchemists, he needed to learn the importance of providing solid repeatable evidence – and allowing his gaze to go over to where little Wen Yuan was trying to entice A-Shen into playing with a toy. He wasn’t having any success, given that Lan Yueheng’s youngest son was, as newborns generally were, currently only interested in eating, crying, and sleeping, but that wasn’t deterring Wen Yuan in the slightest; he was a very patient little boy. If Lan Wangji ultimately did end up adopting him – which was Lan Qiren’s preference, given Wei Wuxian’s still-rotten reputation in the cultivation world – he would probably be an exemplary member of their family, bringing glory to the Lan sect.

Being the son of someone as respected as Lan Wangji would also help deter anyone who might want to discriminate against him due to his original surname and bloodline, since any suggestion of fault in the child would suggest an error of teaching by the parent. They would just need to make sure to keep an eye on him to help him throw off any classic Wen sect traits that might crop up: traditionally speaking, their arrogance, their self-involvement, their tendency towards doing things by themselves to the point of pointless isolationism…

Wen Qing’s unsuccessful attempt to continue to study and practice medicine on her own without interacting with the Lan sect doctors even for the purposes of getting ingredients came to mind – foolishly stubborn and pointless, of course. Though luckily both sides had finally managed to bridge the gap between them through a united grumbling and nagging campaign aimed at Lan Qiren.

(They’d been particularly peeved by his argument that it didn’t matter if he was excessively stressed since there was nothing he could do about it. At least they were talking?)

Anyway, it was nothing that couldn’t be compensated for with a rigorous education, especially one implemented from the very beginning.

“I wish you’d told me this type of punishment was a possibility when you offered to make me your disciple,” Wei Wuxian said, interrupting Lan Qiren’s absent-minded daydreams of a future classroom full of enthusiastic and obedient disciples, Lan sect or otherwise. “I wouldn’t have agreed.”

“It is indeed very obnoxious when people do things on your behalf without telling you about the consequences to themselves,” Lan Qiren agreed peaceably, and enjoyed watching Wei Wuxian flinch. Just because he didn’t know the exact details what had happened with Jiang Cheng didn’t mean he couldn’t guess some of the parts, and use them to his advantage – sometimes he could be a very petty person, and Wei Wuxian was just going to have to learn to deal with that. “I will admit I did not expect this degree of resistance or harshness from my sect, or perhaps that I would be able to mitigate it better. I therefore could not have told you, or Jiang Wanyin, what I myself did not expect.”

“Still, surely there must be something we can do to stop it,” Wei Wuxian insisted. He seemed genuinely distressed – he had seemed genuinely distressed from the start, and had only gotten more so as time went on. “We’re not just going to sit back and allow you to get beaten to death right before our eyes!”

“There’s nothing to be done,” Lan Qiren said, not for the first time. “The alternatives were all worse, or at least they were for me. It was my decision to accept the punishment. Anyway, surely this isn’t the first time you’ve witnessed sect discipline on a serious scale? The Jiang sect has a discipline whip as well.”

“I’ve seen it before, but the crimes involved were far worse – it was only used when the only other alternative would be to put someone to death or expel them from the sect. Not for helping other people.”

“I took on your crimes as my own,” Lan Qiren reminded him. “From the perspective of my sect, it is no different than if I were the one who went to the Qiongqi Path and slaughtered Jin sect guards using evil cultivation on behalf of people bearing the surname Wen, which has been the root of so much harm, of justified anger and even hatred.”

“But you didn’t. I did!”

“And I have already explained to you that there are other compounding circumstances involved here,” Lan Qiren said with a faint sigh. He was pretty sure someone – probably Lan Yueheng – had already aired out all of their sect’s dirty laundry in front of Wei Wuxian. That side of the family was as blunt as the Nie… “Circumstances that have nothing to do with you.”

“Circumstances,” Wei Wuxian fumed. “You mean a bunch of old farts with a grudge against you for having done too good a job leading the sect – don’t look at me like that, I’ve heard plenty about it! There’s no wall that doesn’t leak air!”

That didn’t sound too much like Lan Yueheng, actually. If anything, it sounded more like the things Lan Xichen muttered to himself when he thought his uncle couldn’t hear him – though what Lan Xichen thought he was doing complaining to Wei Wuxian, Lan Qiren had no idea.

“I have half a mind to do something about it,” Wei Wuxian added, and his eyes had started to turn red, resentful energy leaching in with a crackle of light. His hands were curled into fists, his knuckles white to the point that Lan Qiren felt mildly concerned for Chenqing. “I could, you know. No one could stop me. If I decided that those elders had gone too far…”

“But you won’t,” Lan Qiren said firmly. “Because you know attacking my sect would only hurt me more.”

He had been rather surprised the first time Wei Wuxian had threatened violence on his behalf – sure, he’d done him a favor, and at some considerable personal cost, but he hadn’t expected Wei Wuxian to take it so much to heart. He didn’t even like Lan Qiren – prior to the Burial Mounds, he had scarcely tolerated him…! Yet to hear it from Wei Wuxian now, it was as if a member of his family had been threatened – as if Lan Qiren were Jiang Cheng, or Jiang Yanli.

How strange.

Gratifying, but strange.

“…yes, you’re right,” Wei Wuxian said, deflating all at once. He still looked dissatisfied, as if he resented the fact that Lan Qiren was unwilling to let him swoop in with an army of the dead to carry him off to safety. “If I’ve learned anything by now, it’s that you are second to none when it comes to being stubborn…it’s not just me, you know.”

Lan Qiren looked at him in question.

“It isn’t.” Wei Wuxian crossed his arms. “From what I heard, every single person in the Cloud Recesses under the age of thirty is absolutely furious. Your entire sect. If it wasn’t for your rules about respecting elders, I think they’d riot at the idea of their teacher getting whipped – and they still might!”

It wasn’t going to happen, of course, but Lan Qiren did take no small amount of pleasure in hearing that. Even he hadn’t dreamt of there being such unified revulsion to the notion of his punishment among the younger generation.

He’d taken up teaching as a refuge from his duties as sect leader and found that he was good at it, or at least good enough to be appreciated, and so he’d kept doing it, taking on more and more of those duties over time. It hadn’t really occurred to him – or, he supposed, to the other elders – that his students might remain quite so attached to their stern and boring old teacher so long after the fact. The saying might go a teacher for a day, a father for a lifetime, but there were many teachers in the Cloud Recesses besides Lan Qiren. In all honesty, he’d imposed enough discipline on his students over the years that he’d almost thought they’d enjoy the idea of seeing some imposed on him in turn.

Apparently not.

“I mean, look at Lan Zhan! I’ve never seen him so upset. He’s just – he’s so viscerally angry…here I thought I’d seen him angry before, but it was nothing at all like this,” Wei Wuxian said, his voice suddenly distracted. He sounded almost dreamy. “You know, I think he’s gone feral.”

Lan Qiren frowned. “What?”

“I think he might have bitten Zewu-jun.”

“Not again,” Lan Qiren blurted out, then flushed crimson when Wei Wuxian turned to him with an expression of surprise and sudden delight. “Ah, it’s not – don’t misunderstand. He hasn’t bitten anyone since he was seven at least.”

Those few years in between Lan Wangji growing teeth and realizing how he could use them and then ultimately maturing out of doing so had been quite hard to deal with, though.

“…I have a sudden a desperate desire to pester you to tell me all of Lan Zhan’s baby stories,” Wei Wuxian said, then visibly struggled with himself. “No, that’s not the point. I’m not getting distracted.”

“You are getting distracted, but from the music, not the discussion, which is pointless,” Lan Qiren scolded. “I have already accepted the punishment. It will be implemented in a few days, at the end of the month, and no matter how upset you are or anyone else is, that is what will happen. It is better for us to focus on music for now, as I will not be able to provide hands-on instruction for some time –”

Wei Wuxian abruptly got up, face suddenly gone pale as if it had been drained of all blood, and walked away.

Lan Qiren sighed.

Such a temperamental student.

Out of lack of other options, he turned his attention back to his own music. He’d been reconstructing, to the best of his ability, the music he’d played for Wen Ning, since neither he nor Wei Wuxian knew whether it had anything to do with how gentle Wen Ning’s temper remained despite being a fierce corpse – Wei Wuxian had said that Wen Ning had been just like that when he’d been alive, but also that he’d been completely out of control on the Qiongqi Path and thereafter, white-eyed and full of rage whenever he wasn’t confined. Therefore something had managed to calm him and create the world’s first conscious fierce corpse, but whether it was Lan Qiren or Wei Wuxian remained yet to be seen.

Lan Qiren personally believed it was Wei Wuxian – if for no other reason than, putting everything else aside, Wei Wuxian was truly and undeniably a creative genius. As much as Lan Qiren disdained his utilization of resentful energy as unorthodox, the fundamentals of music that underlay most of what he was doing were equally applicable to regular spiritual energy, and that meant that Wei Wuxian’s demonic cultivation innovations could lead to innovations on the orthodox path as well. Comparing one against the other was actually quite interesting…

He would ask Lan Wangji to take his place in such experimentation during his convalescence, Lan Qiren decided. It would give his nephew a natural way to spend time together with the object of his affections – Wei Wuxian didn’t seem to mind Lan Wangji’s presence nearly as much as might have been expected given the rumors about their bad relationship, which meant that Nie Mingjue had been right about their fighting being misunderstood by most people – and it would provide them with an orthodox example to measure against Wei Wuxian’s unorthodox approach.

It would be easier if Wei Wuxian would practice both styles himself, of course, but Wei Wuxian’s unwillingness to resume orthodox practice bordered on the pathological. It had gotten to the point that Lan Qiren was forced to wonder if he were not merely unwilling but unable to do so, and therefore to speculate, if only to himself, as to why that might be. Perhaps there was something in the demonic path that barred entry back to normal cultivation, or perhaps something had happened during the war to affect his ability to cultivate normally…either way, Lan Qiren would ask Wei Wuxian to tell him the story once they’d had more time together and were more comfortable.

Demanding too much from a student too early was the surest way to destroy trust, and they were stuck together for good, now. He didn’t want to disturb the peace between them too soon - it wouldn’t matter if he waited, nothing would change.

Well, nothing that he could control, anyway.

Lan Qiren reflected grimly to himself that the trust between them was likely to be damaged regardless once the punishment was enacted. Wei Wuxian already felt betrayed by the Lan sect’s choice to punish Lan Qiren for trying to help him, and it was not something he would be able to turn aside and disregard – for severe punishments, other than those the sect agreed to keep confidential, it was necessary for those close to the transgressor to act as witnesses, reminding both themselves and the transgressor of the importance of obedience and to share in the punishment collectively. As Lan Qiren’s disciple, someone now as close to him as family, and as the true instigator of the events, Wei Wuxian would be naturally obligated to attend and watch.

Just as Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen would have to watch.

Ah, Qiren, Qiren, Lan Qiren thought. You were trying to do good, but look at how you’ve messed it all up!

The rules said do not act impulsively. He should have heeded them.

He had briefly considered trying to negotiate for privacy, as was his right, but Lan Xichen had overridden Lan Qiren on that point, insisting with fervor that the additional severity associated with private punishments was not acceptable in this instance, and Lan Qiren had given in. It was pointless, anyway – as Wei Wuxian said, there was no wall in which the wind couldn’t blow; he would only hear about it a thousand times over afterwards, anyway. The reduction in blows would therefore be worthwhile, even if only to reduce his nephews’ frenzy, which was due to their fear that any further severity would leave Lan Qiren dead or permanently crippled to the point where death would be a mercy, rather than merely convalescent for a long time.

After all, given his health, the number of strikes selected meant that he was likely to lose further mobility, perhaps permanently. If the strikes went awry, he could even suffer damage to his shoulders that would make playing music more difficult…

He would have to hope that the strikes did not go awry.

Still, Lan Qiren comforted himself that this was not like what had happened after the Wen attack on the Cloud Recesses. He would have access to treatment immediately, both medicine and surgical if required – Wen Qing had rather presumptuously threatened to cry at him if he refused her aid, appalling a statement as that was, and laughed in his face when he pointed out that it did not seem characteristic of her; apparently a good doctor did whatever it took to get a patient care. And unlike back then, it would be once and one, over in a single session – he wouldn’t be subjected repeatedly to vicious beatings and further torments, left without succor, tormented as much by the fear that it could and would happen again at any time without warning as by the pain itself. The punishment would be painful and damage his health further, but he would survive and it would be…

It wouldn’t be fine, but it would be over.

That was the way of their sect, harsh but fair. Their punishments were strict and liberally distributed, but once the punishment was complete, the mistake was forgiven whole-heartedly, that chapter of life closed, and a future unburdened by the past, unhindered by grudges, was possible.

His brother had voluntarily chosen seclusion, using what might have been a punishment as a weapon and escape all at once instead. He had therefore never been truly punished, and then he had died – there could be no moving on from that, and so the anger remained, looking for a different outlet.

Lan Qiren was different, though. He had no wish to escape from his punishment, no matter what certain others might wish. His life, as far as he was concerned, was his sect’s to do with as they pleased. If punishing him was what his sect elders needed to do to move on from his management of the sect, from the war and all its hatreds, then he would accept it without rancor or resentment.

He just…needed to convince Wei Wuxian of that.

Wei Wuxian, and also Lan Wangji.

Lan Qiren sighed and shook his head, leaning out to summon one of the nearby disciples – there were always some passing by his window these days, it seemed, each one of them with pinched-up features that suggested that they had not only heard about what was going on but also disapproved of the sect’s decision, as Wei Wuxian had observed – and bid them to return Wen Yuan and A-Shen to their respective families.

Lan Wangji…

Lan Qiren had not seen very much of his younger nephew for a while. He had heard rumors that Lan Wangji had taken to sweeping through the Cloud Recesses like a vengeful ghost, but whenever Lan Qiren was around, it was as if his nephew were the type of ghost that became insubstantial at will, disappearing into the morning dew. But today was the day that Lan Qiren had always reserved for tea with Lan Wangji alone, just the two of them; Lan Wangji wouldn’t miss that.

Lan Qiren had long ago implemented a requirement that each of his nephews have one afternoon with him alone, Lan Xichen towards the start of each half-month and Lan Wangji towards the end. It had been his attempt to ensure that each of his nephews had time with him alone so that they never felt overlooked – he had wanted to make sure they never felt as though they had an obligation to remain silent to let the other speak and never lacked an opportunity to tell him things that they didn’t want to say in front of a sibling, whether Lan Xichen’s mumbled red-faced questions about his first crush or Lan Wangji’s confused jealousy of Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue’s budding friendship, where he couldn’t decide which one he resented for taking away his time with the other. It had been Lan Qiren’s attempt to make up for his own childhood’s failings, where he’d never felt the freedom to share anything with the father he’d only seen only once a month at best, the absence and distance all the more stark in comparison to his brother’s every day visits.

Once his nephews had reached adulthood, he had indicated that they were excused from the duty, but each one of them had stubbornly refused, showing up at his door at the appointed time regardless of anything he said. They had faithfully maintained that practice right up until the Sunshot Campaign had started, and they had resumed it as soon as possible once the war was over, a welcome return to normality…

No, Lan Qiren was certain that Lan Wangji would not miss their appointment, no matter how much he was struggling with his feelings. He’d always been like that, even as a child, his feelings too large for his little frame; by now he had grown taller, but the feelings had grown as well, leaving him still floundering.

Lan Qiren put away his guqin and prepared the room, selecting a few of the teas Lan Wangji liked most and laying them out for Lan Wangji to choose between. He wondered idly if Lan Wangji knew that Lan Qiren prepared himself differently for their conversations depending on which tea was selected – the sweeter flavors for more serious conversations, Lan Wangji seeking comfort when he had a heavy subject on his mind; that particular smoked varietal for political matters causing anxiety, maybe due to Lan Qiren having long relied on its enervating properties when he had to stay up late to manage them; that one unusual flavor that Lan Wangji had developed a taste for in his adolescence that usually meant it was a personal issue…hmm, now that Lan Qiren thought of it, that one was one of the ones they imported from Yunmeng, wasn’t it? Perhaps the signs of love had been there for longer than he’d thought.

“Shufu,” Lan Wangji said, entering his door at precisely the right time.

“Wangji,” Lan Qiren said, and inclined his head towards the teas.

Lan Wangji hesitated over the selections briefly – perhaps he did know – and then chose…Lan Qiren’s personal favorite.

Usually Lan Qiren associated that one with Lan Wangji wanting to speak of old times, in need of familiarity and stability, but this time he thought it was probably a deliberate gesture.

Of what, he wasn’t entirely sure. Support, maybe.

When the tea was served, Lan Wangji did not take his seat as Lan Qiren indicated. Instead, he knelt down and would have pressed his head to the ground if Lan Qiren, startled by the sudden movement, had not caught his shoulder and prevented him.

“Shufu, forgive me,” Lan Wangji said, head bowed.

“What are you doing?” Lan Qiren asked. “You have done nothing that requires forgiveness.”

“Haven’t I?” Lan Wangji asked, looking up at Lan Qiren. His face was closed off, wooden the way it had been during the war, and Lan Qiren’s heart hurt.

“Unless there’s something you haven’t told me, no,” he said. He did not bother to pretend not to know why Lan Wangji was so distraught. “Wangji, my actions are my own, my decisions are my own. The sect’s decision is its own. The rules say maintain your own discipline. None of this is your fault.”

“The rules also say honor good people,” Lan Wangji argued. “Shufu is a good person. Wei Ying is a good person. Why does the sect not see this?”

“They are trying to do their best as they see it. Wangji…”

“Shufu did this for me,” Lan Wangji said, and lowered his head once more. “Because I – because of what I feel for Wei Ying.”

Do not tell lies.

“Yes,” Lan Qiren admitted. “Yes, I did. But it was not because I doubted you. It was because I know what a good child I raised.”

Lan Wangji looked up once again, his eyes wide.

“You are good, Wangji,” Lan Qiren told him, wishing to impress it into his mind. He hesitated momentarily, but then spoke further, wanting to be clear, to erase doubt. “You are my finest student, and I am proud of you. I have always been proud of you, and I will always be proud of you. You live your life by our sect rules, knowing good from evil. Even when you fell in love, you did not do wrong.”

Of that much, Lan Qiren was certain.

There’s someone I want to take back to Gusu, Lan Wangji had said. Take them back and hide them away. But they are unwilling.

Lan Qiren, mired in his own doubts and his own fears, the terrors of his past looming large before his eyes, had been horrified when he’d heard it, hearing in it everything he had ever been afraid of, but he had been wrong.

Wei Wuxian was unwilling, and Lan Wangji was in love – and Lan Wangji had done nothing.

He had not taken his father’s path, the one Lan Qiren had spent his whole life trying to teach him to avoid. He had not forced Wei Wuxian to return with him; he had not pressured him, insidious and covert. He had not tried to achieve his aims by force physical or emotional. He articulated his wishes only to his brother, secretly, issuing it as a cry from the heart, an expression of pain.

Lan Qiren’s fears had been only the results of his own ancient wounds, those scars that never fully healed. That was his fault, his burden – he should not have doubted his nephew. His nephew, his Lan Wangji who was so much like him, who gave so much of himself away.

“It is because I know you and trust you to act righteously that I felt that I had to act,” Lan Qiren continued. These past few days of travel and of contemplation had allowed him time to think through his behavior and to achieve clarity for himself, clarity on his reasoning, his purpose and meaning. “You always remain true to yourself, choosing always to uphold the value of justice, just as our rules demand. You have never hesitated to shoulder the burden of morality, to have courtesy and integrity, to perform acts of chivalry…you have always done the right thing. In this case, you erred towards Wei Wuxian’s side because you did not doubt him. You did not doubt Wei Wuxian, because you trust him.”

Because you love him.

Lan Qiren had doubted because he was afraid of love.

But he had never, in his heart, truly lost faith in Lan Wangji. If he had, he would never had gone by himself, alone and unprotected, to try to solve the problem of Wei Wuxian’s break with the cultivation world.

“I did not know Wei Wuxian, nor trust him, as you do, but I trust you. Knowing what I did about how you felt, I had to go to the Burial Mounds myself to – to see what there was to see. To do what I could, if there was anything I could do.”

A few Jin guards, the stolen Wen sect members…everyone in the world would have agreed to let the matter rest if there’d been a suitable punishment. If Jiang Cheng had expelled Wei Wuxian from his sect, as they would have undoubtedly agreed between themselves to do, that would have been the end of it.

Only it wouldn’t have been the end of it, because Lan Wangji was in love.

Madly in love, the way it always was when a Lan fell in love. If Lan Qiren had done nothing, even if no one had ever come to make trouble for Wei Wuxian ever again, Lan Wangji would have eventually found his way to his beloved’s side. If someone did make trouble, and Wei Wuxian, his temperament unsteady and easily provoked due to his demonic cultivation, were to commit some horrible crime…Wei Wuxian had attacked Lan Qiren when he’d come to the Burial Mounds, thinking he was there to attack him, thinking that he was acting in self-defense. Lan Qiren had not held it against him, but someone else would have.

And once that happened, Lan Wangji would need to make another set of choices entirely.

“The only matter where I do not trust you is to know when to stop when defending those you love,” Lan Qiren said. “But that, too, is not your fault. It is mine.”

“Shufu –”

“Hush. It is true. I have not modeled appropriate behavior for you and Xichen. When the student, badly taught, goes awry, it is the fault of the teacher, not the student.”

If Wei Wuxian were ever truly threatened, Lan Wangji would act. He would have no choice but to act; his heart would not let him stand aside. He would act, of course, with every intention of behaving properly, but he wouldn’t know where to stop, wouldn’t know when to draw the line. Love confused everything. There would be a pit dug beneath his feet, and every choice he made would lead to tragedy. If he chose righteousness and the cultivation world, he would be betraying his beloved; if he chose to trust and stand by his beloved, he would be betraying his sect and family.

Lan Qiren did not know whether Lan Wangji would choose Wei Wuxian over the whole world, over his brother and his uncle and his sect, over the dictates of his own conscience – but he might.

Lan Wangji was not like his father, to let love curdle and turn into selfishness. But he was like his uncle –like Lan Qiren before him, when he loved, he did not hold anything back.

Lan Qiren would not let him have the chance to make that mistake, either.

“I am your teacher and your elder. It is only right for me to act in your place.” Lan Qiren lifted up his hand and smoothed Lan Wangji’s forehead ribbon, that precious item that only spouses, children, and parents could touch. Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen were his nephews, but Lan Qiren had always loved them as he would have sons of his own. “Do not apologize, Wangji. I will not accept it.”

He waited a long moment as Lan Wangji’s shoulders shuddered, his feelings too large for him as always.

“Now get up and drink your tea,” he added when the moment had passed. “Don’t you know it’s getting cold? And you should eat something as well.”

Lan Wangji jerked a short nod, and sat at the table.

They did not speak further on the matter of Lan Qiren’s upcoming punishment.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Discordant Rhapsody - ao3 - Chapter 8

The Wen sect were all settled in one of the courtyards reserved for guests, but Lan Qiren suggested that Wei Wuxian be put into one of the rooms adjacent to his own courtyard, both to reinforce the fact that he was now Lan Qiren’s personal disciple and to forestall Lan Wangji from completely embarrassing himself by deciding to move in with the Wen under some paper-thin excuse of needing to protect them.

He would have hoped that Lan Wangji would have slightly more self-restraint than that, but his nephew still seemed dazed, even stunned, by the fact that Wei Wuxian was in Gusu at long last.

Wei Wuxian, for his part, was growing increasingly merry as he realized that whatever terrible things he’d feared awaited him in Gusu were not about to come to pass – things he had apparently feared as a result of Lan Wangji constantly beseeching him to return with him, no less. Oh, Lan Wangji was going to get the scolding of his life the moment Lan Qiren got him alone…!

Wen Qing and Wen Ning had come along to as well for the time being, Wen Ning because Wei Wuxian was still in the period of supervising him – despite how calm he was, and no, Lan Qiren was not taking credit for that – and Wen Qing to keep an eye on them both.

“A-Ning can stay with Wei-gongzi if he thinks that’s necessary, while I prefer to stay with the rest of my family,” Wen Qing said begrudgingly. “But I want to be involved in whatever’s going to happen next.”

“You wouldn’t be invited to stay here anyway,” Lan Qiren said bemusedly, minorly appalled at her presumptiveness and trying not to show it. “Adult men and women live separately in the Cloud Recesses, excluding those married couples who choose otherwise.”

Zhang Xin and Lan Yueheng, for instance. To no one’s surprise, they’d opted for the founder’s choice, sharing a single courtyard and spending every night together in the same bed – perhaps it wasn’t actually that surprising that they had managed seven living children, even if one set were twins. Supposedly Lan An had originally proposed the arrangement with his dao companion as a result of their commitment to poverty, him being first a secluded monk and then a wandering musician, but Lan Qiren personally suspected that it had less to do with their sect founder’s inclination to live like a peasant and more to do with his reputation (within the sect, anyway) for overwhelming ardor. Not unlike Lan Yueheng, he and his wife had made a very solid start at expanding the family line and setting up branch families from the very beginning…

“Ah, yes, right, of course,” Wen Qing said, flushing a little in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise.”

Thinking about the Wen elders’ comments, Lan Qiren subtly moved away from her.

“I’d love to look your prosthetic more closely,” Wei Wuxian said to Lan Yueheng, blissfully unaware of the other ongoing discussion. “There’s arrays on there, aren’t there? They were muted, but I assume you can activate them – using the same principle as a spiritual sword?”

“Almost,” Lan Yueheng said, always willing to be drawn into a theoretical discussion rather than have to talk politics. “It’s based on the same thing, but obviously you’re really only supposed to have the one sword unless you practice a dual style. If you like, I can set up a meeting for you with the others who helped make it. I’m only an alchemist, what you really want are the artificers.”

“I didn’t even know the Lan sect had alchemists and artificers!”

“Well, you’re not wrong – we’re in the great minority, it’s mostly sword and music, music and sword, the usual,” Lan Yueheng said. “You’ll need to meet the rest of them anyway, since I assume you’ll be joining us! We have laboratories up the mountain where we keep away from everyone else, to avoid a fuss. Some people just don’t appreciate explosions no matter how many times we explain that it’s a necessary part of the creative process –”

Wei Wuxian was looking a little starry-eyed, and Lan Wangji like he was considering possibly picking up an interest in forging or potion-brewing again despite having hated all his lessons in such things when he was younger, but Lan Xichen cleared his throat.

“Third Uncle, don’t get ahead of yourself,” he rebuked gently. “What Wei-gongzi’s situation is has not yet been settled.”

The bad feeling Lan Qiren had immediately got distinctly worse. There was a bad reception to his actions and there was bad. He had expected the former, not the latter; he wouldn’t have thought it would be so bad that Lan Xichen would feel the need to use his diplomacy to mediate against him, something his nephew would only do if he felt it was necessary to preserving peace in the Cloud Recesses as a whole.

It was only just and right that he do so, of course. How many times had Lan Qiren lectured his nephews on the need for a sect leader to prioritize the sect before everything else? Justice required equity among all, without special treatment, and if Lan Qiren was sometimes unable to model it, doting and over-fond as he was of his nephews who deserved every last bit of his love, then at least he had sought to convey the correct behavior whenever he could. It was good that Lan Xichen had learned that lesson.

It was good. It was. It was what Lan Qiren wanted, genuinely and sincerely – that Lan Xichen could be the best possible person he could be, and the best possible sect leader as well. Lan Qiren had no desire to be exempted from the rules simply because he was his nephew’s guardian, and he would have been incensed if Lan Xichen had suggested such a thing.

The churning feeling in his stomach wasn’t about that. It was just…he just hadn’t expected his nephews to stop needing him so soon, he supposed.

“Fine, fine, we’ll talk it to death instead,” Lan Yueheng grumbled, taking a seat and stretching out with a sigh. “Just the way we always do…hey, Wei-gongzi, you wanted to look at my leg, right? Catch.”

He drew his finger across the seam, deactivating the array that connected the prosthetic to his body, and tossed the extremely expensive and complicated result of months of effort across the room like it was a sack of potatoes.

Wei Wuxian caught it with a cackle of delight. “You’re really weird for a Lan, you know that?” he said with a grin, sitting down with the leg – sitting next to Lan Wangji, Lan Qiren noticed, even though he could have taken a seat closer to Lan Yueheng. “Oh, this is interesting…say, how’d you actually lose the leg, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh, Wen soldiers cut it off,” Lan Yueheng said with a shrug. Lan Qiren shook his head a little when he noticed how Wen Qing flinched and Wen Ning’s shoulders went up around his ears – they were going to need to get used to hearing things like that if they planned to stay at the Cloud Recesses. Lan Yueheng wasn’t even aiming his words at them, good-natured soul that he was; he was only stating a fact. There were plenty of facts like that in the Lan sect. “Well, I mean, actually they just cut the ankle tendon to keep me from being able to move, but I didn’t have access to a doctor for a while so by the time one did finally get to me, it was too late to fix it back up. They had to cut it off at the knee, since the lower bits’d already started rotting…”

That was approximately the point at which Lan Qiren gave up on trying to use facial expressions to subtly hint to his cousin that he should shut up and tapped a quick patter on the table, sending out a sharp pulse of qi designed to feel like a kick to Lan Yueheng’s now-absent shin.

Lan Yueheng yelped, and then seemed to belatedly realize the problem – possibly he had finally noticed the increasingly ghastly expressions on the faces of the Wen siblings, and the awkwardness on everyone else’s – so he added, rather hastily, “Anyway, now I have a very nice leg that I can throw at people when I’m mad at them, so it’s all right, really. We use the dragon story for the children too young to understand what happened; when they get older, we explain that it’s a metaphor. For, er, war.”

It was a metaphor for the Wen sect, to be precise.

“Yueheng-xiong has a great deal of experience with children,” Lan Qiren said, deciding to move the conversation along. “The one he mentioned earlier, who will be receiving the courtesy name Jingyi, is his seventh.”

“Seven?” Wen Qing squawked, clearly relieved by the change in subject. “Your poor wife!”

“Don’t make assumptions,” Lan Xichen said dryly, looking equally thankful. “I think Auntie Zhang handles them better than Third Uncle does. She’s the one always insisting she wants more…shufu, while we’re on the subject, you should be seen to by a doctor.”

Lan Qiren sighed.

“Your health isn’t what it was,” his nephew reminded him, polite but firm. “I know you dislike being treated by doctors, but it would give us all some peace of mind to know that you are well.”

And not cursed or ensorcelled, yes, he was aware. He grunted, waving a hand in reluctant agreement.

“Thank you, shufu.” Lan Xichen looked around the room. “Naturally, the rest of you are welcome to whatever resources of the Cloud Recesses you find yourself in need of.”

“We appreciate the offer,” Wei Wuxian said, still fiddling with Lan Yueheng’s leg. “Now, do you want to talk about the whole disciple thing, or are you planning on waiting until you’re alone with Teacher Lan for that?”

Lan Qiren picked up a writing block from his desk and threw it at Wei Wuxian’s head.

His new disciple apparently hadn’t been expecting that, so he only belatedly dodged, causing it to brush by his shoulder rather than missing him entirely.

(Lan Wangji caught it easily, because of course he did.)

“Do not be insolent,” Lan Qiren told Wei Wuxian sternly. “You are my personal disciple, and Xichen is my sect leader. No matter if you belong to another sect yourself, you will show him the respect due to him, as if he were – ”

Hmm, he’d been about to go with if he were your own sect leader, but Wei Wuxian didn’t seem to be very good at respecting Jiang Cheng, who was the shidi he’d cheerfully dragged around and teasingly bullied for much of their childhood.

“ – as if he were Madame Yu,” Lan Qiren amended.

Wei Wuxian hadn’t been expecting that, either; he snorted in laughter involuntarily. “All right, all right,” he said with an amused smile that suggested he was currently picturing Lan Xichen dressed up in Madame Yu’s preferred style of clothing. “I get the picture! I’ll be good. But surely we need to talk about it at some point.”

“‘We’ do not need to do anything,” Lan Qiren said censoriously. Did Wei Wuxian really not understand the situation right now? Lan Qiren knew the Jiang sect did things differently, and naturally he wasn’t privy to the internal discussions of another sect, but surely it couldn’t be so far away from the Lan sect’s own; before the massacre, the Jiang sect must also have had prickly elders and influential people whose voices must be heard and respected. “Didn’t you hear Xichen? The matter is not settled yet.”

“But – you said –”

Perhaps he really didn’t understand.

“You are my personal disciple, that matter is settled,” Lan Qiren said, trying to be patient. “But I am no longer sect leader, only an elder. My conduct reflects only myself, and not my sect, which I no longer have the ability to bind – only Xichen can do that. Therefore I will speak with Xichen first and foremost on the subject of my conduct, and only once that discussion is concluded will we have a discussion that involves you.”

Wei Wuxian’s jaw worked for a moment, his eyes narrowing and taking on a slight reddish hue, but when Lan Qiren pointedly reached for something else to throw, the expression swiftly passed and he seemed to regain his equilibrium. They would need to find a way to deal with that, Lan Qiren reflected –soul-calming music, perhaps. Cleansing? Even Clarity? The latter would require regular playing, which he could certainly manage…though perhaps Lan Wangji would be interested in volunteering his services for that purpose instead.

“Well, if you’re sure. You’re the teacher, I’m merely the student,” Wei Wuxian said with a smile that was only a little forced, and then he mischievously threw an arm around Lan Wangji’s shoulders, the smile becoming genuine. “Lan Zhan can keep me company while you two talk. You can trust the great and wise Hanguang-jun to keep me out of mischief!”

Lan Qiren wasn’t too sure about that. Still, it wasn’t a bad idea – Lan Wangji had an excellent reputation for being scrupulously fair, and it had belatedly occurred to Lan Qiren that, Lan Wangji’s blatant display of puppy-eyes earlier aside, the majority of the sect had probably not yet figured out that he was in love, the one thing that might affect his fairness. If Lan Wangji stood sentinel, the sect would not worry too much about Wei Wuxian causing trouble, and because Lan Qiren did know of Lan Wangji’s affection, he wouldn’t need to worry about Wei Wuxian getting instigated or framed, or in any other way inveigled into a perilous situation the way he might with some other guard. His nephew would both speak and act in Wei Wuxian’s defense, whole-heartedly sincere, and with any luck his behavior might clue Wei Wuxian in a little as to the regard Lan Wangji had for him.

Anyway, even putting aside Lan Qiren’s half-hearted desire to help his nephew be successful in love, Lan Wangji was Lan Qiren’s finest student. He would be able to start the process of helping improve Wei Wuxian’s temperament at once – after all, he’d even managed to get Wei Wuxian to memorize the Lan sect rules back when they were both adolescents…wait.

Surely that hadn’t been when Lan Wangji had become infatuated? Had Lan Qiren done this to himself?

He dearly hoped not.

Well, even if he had, it was a moot point now, anyway. What was done was done.

“I think that that is an excellent idea,” he said briskly. “Wangji, take Wei Wuxian to the jingshi and conduct an initial level review of his abilities with Cleansing as the base song.”

Lan Wangji looked startled. As he should – an initial level review to determine someone’s skill level was something usually done for children, not adults, and certainly not for acknowledged masters of musical cultivation like Wei Wuxian.

It did, however, have the advantage of taking quite a long while to complete.

“Hey, hey, wait,” Wei Wuxian said, frowning. “That’s unnecessary, isn’t it?”

“Is it?” Lan Qiren tapped the desk thoughtfully. “I believe that’s up to me to decide as your master. I noticed you taking some shortcuts with cleansing songs on our journey here – Wangji will be able to see if those were intentional or if you have simply forgotten the basics.”

“But…!”

Lan Yueheng sniggered and formed a hand seal, summoning his leg back. “It’s always good to brush up on the basics,” he said cheerfully, his good humor managing to make what could have been an insult to Wei Wuxian’s trustworthiness into little more than a teacher’s petty snit. “Just you wait, he’ll have you doing handstands soon enough.”

“…handstands?” Wen Qing asked.

“To copy the rules,” Lan Yueheng said, then blinked when she gaped at him, displaying a reaction that seemed to Lan Qiren to be far outsized for such an innocuous statement. “What? Copying rules is a standard punishment, but if you break the rules that require that punishment repeatedly, you get the next level up.”

“And that involves…handstands? How?”

“You copy the rules while in a handstand,” Lan Xichen said, hiding a knowing smile even as Lan Qiren frowned at his guests, unsure as to why his guests seemed so bemused – Wen Qing was still gaping, Wen Ning’s eyes were wide, and Wei Wuxian had put a hand to his temple as if to contain his reaction. “It’s a type of punishment rarely imposed on guest disciples, since they’re rarely present long enough to violate the rules ‘repeatedly’. You would not have seen it.”

“No wonder you all have those arms,” Wei Wuxian said, shaking his head. “All right, all right, fine, you win! Lan Zhan, I’m at your mercy. Put me through my paces.”

Lan Qiren observed that the tips of Lan Wangji’s ears had gone red.

He was pretty sure he didn’t want to dwell too long on why.

“I’ll show you two the way back to your family,” Lan Yueheng said to Wen Qing and Wen Ning, standing up himself. “Mistress Wen, you’re a doctor, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Good! You can come visit my wife tomorrow. She’s still in retreat following A-Shen’s birth – she needs company. Let me tell you a bit about her…”

Lan Yueheng could sing Zhang Xin’s praises for an entire night and day if he so wished, so Lan Qiren could rest assured that neither of the Wen siblings, trailing behind him, would be making any trouble in the near future, and neither would Wei Wuxian, following Lan Wangji over to the jingshi.

That left only Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen alone, with Lan Xichen rising to his feet to go and close the door behind the others, activating the privacy arrays and adding in an extra talisman to strengthen the effect before turning to look at Lan Qiren.

“Shufu,” he said. “What were you thinking?!”

[robininthelabyrinth]

For a prompt, what if Wen Xu arrives to burn down the Cloud Recesses while everyone is studying there

Home Alone - ao3

“All right,” Wei Wuxian said, when Lan Qiren announced that the Cloud Recesses would be imminently under attack by Wen Xu and the Wen sect armies, the calm in his monotone voice belied by the wrinkle of concern in his forehead. “We’re going to make that bastard wish he’d never been born, right?”

He was speaking lightly, as he always did, trying to make those around him feel more comfortable, braver, less afraid – his was the language of confidence and arrogance, of never backing down, and he didn’t know how else to speak.

He didn’t mean anything in particular by it, or at least not more than he usually did.

He wasn’t expecting Lan Qiren to look at him and say, “If you have any ideas, now is the time to contribute them.”

-

“So what exactly do you do again?” Wei Wuxian asked, following the older Lan sect disciple around – at least, the man was dressed like a Lan sect disciple, and with a forehead ribbon suggesting that he shared blood with the main clan, too, but Wei Wuxian wasn’t so sure he really was one.

“I blow stuff up, usually,” Lan Yueheng said cheerfully.

That was why Wei Wuxian had doubts.

The man was practically skipping. There was no way he was a Lan.

“Shishu is an alchemist,” Lan Wangji said. His hands were folded behind his back, as always, and he looked tense as might be expected, what with an imminent attack on his home by a colossal army intent on ravaging and destroying everything in its path – but the way he looked at Lan Yueheng was unaccountably fond, as if he were someone he was close to. Wei Wuxian hadn’t known there was anyone other than Lan Qiren or Lan Xichen that Lan Wangji was close to. He was oddly jealous. “Not always successfully.”

“Hey, at blowing things up, I am the most successful!” Lan Yueheng grinned. A moment later, though, the grin faded, and he looked anxious. “Wangji, are you sure you won’t go with your brother?”

“Brother will protect the sect books,” Lan Wangji said solemnly. “I will stay here to defend the sect and the guest disciples.”

Wei Wuxian appreciated that, being one of said guest disciples.

Anyway, it made sense. Lan Qiren had seriously considered trying to send them away with Lan Xichen, saying that their lives were more important than some extra books – other Lan elders hadn’t necessarily agreed, judging by their expressions – but regretfully concluded that adding more people to Lan Xichen’s escape route would do nothing but reveal its existence, dooming all of them.

So they’d split up: Lan Xichen, heading out virtually alone with the most precious Lan sect books, and all the rest of them here to try to resist as much as they could – even Lan Wangji.

Lan Yueheng didn’t try to argue with Lan Wangji, only sighed, sounding as though he’d expected nothing less from him and had only felt the need to make a token protest before accepting it as inevitable. It seemed he really was close to Lan Wangji.

Yeah, Wei Wuxian was definitely jealous.

“All right, then,” Lan Yueheng said, shaking his head and resuming his cheer. “Blowing things up in self-defense plan it is! You’re both talented in music, right?”

“What does music have to do with explosions?” Wei Wuxian asked.

-

The answer, apparently, was a lot – at least when you were an experimental alchemist in a musically inclined sect and you’d developed a way to trigger explosions via certain combinations of musical notes.

-

“So, did you know that Teacher Lan was scary?” Wei Wuxian asked Jiang Cheng, who’d finally returned from helping get all the elderly and children and civilians to evacuate – and refusing to join them, of course, even though he was entitled to go in order to preserve his life, being the heir of a sect and all that, completely typical Jiang Cheng – and was now pacing around, eager for a fight.

“Just because he punished you a few times doesn’t make him scary,” Jiang Cheng said.

“No, it doesn’t,” Wei Wuxian agreed. “You know what does make him scary? Playing music that makes his opponents try to cut their own necks.”

“…what?”

“Apparently he gets really upset when you mess with his students,” Wei Wuxian said wisely.

Unlike Jiang Cheng, he’d had time to adjust to the concept of Lan Qiren being terrifying: they were on the fifth wave of scouts, and this set wasn’t doing any better than the first four, not even when they’d realized it would be better if they stopped their ears with wax before approaching.

That’d only made Lan Qiren shift tactics – and songs.

Some of which had an even wider area of impact.

“Wei Wuxian,” Jiang Cheng said, looking at him suspiciously. “What did you do?”

“I convinced Teacher Lan that guerrilla warfare that destroyed as much of the enemy as possible would be more effective than just trying to defend the sect’s territory, since that was clearly a lost cause,” Wei Wuxian said promptly. “He agreed, but said that he could only do so much since he wasn’t a very good sword fighter. And then I asked him if he knew anything else that could be used as an attack and he said ‘no’ and then he said ‘well, I suppose’ and then he listed off a few things that – according to him – aren’t meant to be used in warfare but, and this is a direct quote, ‘could be put to a destructive use if one so wished it’.”

“And we now ‘so wish it’?”

“Yup. Oh, and watch out for anything that has a Lan sect cloud with a three-looped circle carved into the side of it, and I do mean anything– those explode.”

“Of course they do.”

“Hey! For once it has nothing to do with me!”

-

“I thought you said he said he was bad at swordfighting,” Jiang Cheng said suspiciously.

Wei Wuxian held out his hands helplessly in a ‘don’t look at me’ gesture, trying to defend himself from a sharp and pointy elbow to the side while also not pulling his eyes away from the ongoing battlefield for even a single moment.

“Shufu considers himself to be of average skill at the sword,” Lan Wangji said in the peaceable tone of someone who had been taught the basics of swordfighting by the person in question. The basics of really awesome swordfighting. “His real strength is in music, as you’ve seen.”

“I get that, really, I do, his music is terrifying,” Wei Wuxian said, and meant it completely. Between the two, he’d rather go up against Lan Qiren with a sword, where he’d at least be able to make a decent showing of himself before getting chopped to bits by the man’s fluid and almost seemingly delicate style that was nevertheless highly effective at skewering Wen sect disciples left and right; it would be better than with music, where he might as well just cut his own throat or strangle himself with guqin strings now to save Lan Qiren’s fingers the trouble. “But Jiang Cheng’s still right, okay – why in the world does he consider that to be ‘average’? Who is he comparing himself to?”

Lan Wangji considered the question for a long moment, then finally said: “A statistical outlier.”

-

“I wish we had aerial attacks we could use against the Wen sect’s swords,” Wei Wuxian said wistfully, and next to him Jiang Cheng nodded with a sight of longing – it was so frustrating seeing more and more Wen sect soldiers arriving in groups, like flocks of birds that started to fill the skies because they couldn’t be so easily shot down. “But if we try anything, they’ll just shield against us.”

“Teacher Lan said we can’t use spiritual energy against them, since we’d lose,” Jiang Cheng said, and as much as they all regretted it, Lan Qiren was probably right: they might be better trained than the Wen sect soldiers, might be better cultivators and stronger in spiritual energy individually, but they were young and immature, and at a serious numerical disadvantage.

It would be far too easy for the flying cultivators to stop their flying just long enough to set up a defensive array, block whatever spiritual attack they sent out, and then keep going to find and stab them before they’d even recovered from the energy expenditure.

“I didn’t mean spiritual energy,” Wei Wuxian grumbled. “I just meant, you know, like the explosives we’ve laid in all over the ground – something like that. If we could attach those to something…”

“I don’t think we have anything that flies anyway,” Lan Yueheng said regretfully.

“You have lanterns, don’t you?” Nie Huaisang said, and everyone turned to look at him. “Fill them with something that explodes when disturbed and send them floating into the air. Better yet, write ‘peace’ on the side of them to make it look like you’re making some sort of meaningful gesture designed to shame them. The Wen sect won’t be able to resist kicking them aside as an insult, and that’ll trigger them.”

They all stared at him.

He shrugged.

“We have a lot of defenses set up against invasion, at home,” he said. “And not always the budget to pay for anything fancy, so we’ve come up with some slightly more unorthodox ideas, too.”

“It’s a really good idea,” Wei Wuxian said, suddenly focused on the hitherto ignored Nie Huaisang. Clearly he’d made a tactical error, thinking of himself as the only person who knew how to get up to tricks. “Do you have any other ideas like that?”

Nie Huaisang smiled.

-

“Teacher Lan, I have an idea,” Wei Wuxian said, inserting himself briefly into the clearing near the Lan sect gate where Lan Qiren was sitting to rest in preparation for the Wen sect’s next attack. “But you’re going to hate it.”

“You may proceed,” Lan Qiren said, not looking up.

“Wait,” Wei Wuxian said, blinking. “Really? You’re not even going to ask what it is? Or why you’d hate it so much?”

“There is no time for that,” Lan Qiren said, and finally spared him a glance. He looked tired. “Things will get worse very soon.”

“But we’re winning!”

“No,” Lan Qiren said, shaking out his fingers – even despite occasionally alternating to using the sword when necessary, he’d played his guqin to the point of drawing blood and breaking nails, and was continuing despite everyone pleading with him to stop and swap out for someone else for a while. He’d said that there was no one else on his level, and he was probably right, but still, surely, just for a little… “We are surviving. Do not mistake the two.”

-

“Okay, so,” Wei Wuxian said, rubbing his hands together. “Resentful energy –”

“No,” Lan Wangji said.

-

“Thanks,” Wei Wuxian said to Jin Zixuan, who’d probably just saved his life by stabbing a Wen sect cultivator in the back right before the man had been able to stop Wei Wuxian from activating another series of explosions. “I guess I owe you one?”

“Don’t mention it,” Jin Zixuan said. “How else can I help?”

“I don’t know,” Wei Wuxian said, scratching his head and thinking about Nie Huaisang as precedent. There wasn’t time for schoolyard rivalries right now. “Do you have anything really unexpected that could be used to hurt people? Be creative – they’re guarded against all the usual defenses, so the weirder the better, anything goes. I won’t judge.”

Jin Zixuan thought about it. “I’m pretty sure I have a drug that puts people to sleep?”

“…why do you have something like that?”

Jin Zixuna grimaced. “My father gave it to me along with another one that he said not to use in excess, though I don’t actually know what that one does because that was about when my mom ran in and started throwing things at him. I can’t throw it away because it was a gift from my father, but I put it as deep into my bags as I could so that I’d never have to see or touch it. Ever.”

Wei Wuxian’s nose wrinkled. He’d never before felt pity for Jin Zixuan, but having to put up with Jin Guangshan on a regular basis was pretty bad – much less owing him filial piety.

No wonder Jin Zixuan was so twitchy all the time.

“Okay, so one sleep drug and one…uh…”

“Enhancement. Presumably. Can we throw it at the other side? Maybe turn it into incense and make smoke-bombs or something?”

“You know what,” Wei Wuxian said. “Why not? If nothing else, it’d be distracting, right?”

-

“This doesn’t feel honorable,” Jiang Cheng said, watching the fun. They’d raided the Lan sect’s medicine cabinets and kitchens for other noxious and irritating substances that might make for good smoke-bombs – Jiang Cheng himself had even located a whole patch of something not unlike poison ivy that had been quickly repurposed for the cause. “Strictly speaking.”

“Honor’s overrated,” Wei Wuxian said. “Making the Wen bastards pay for attacking Lan Zhan’s home is what’s important.”

Lan Wangji didn’t smile, exactly, but Wei Wuxian took his expression as a win regardless.

-

It turned out that music could also make plants grow really fast.

According to Lan Qiren, the spell ruined the plants’ nutritional value and made them basically useless.

Well.

Useless if your goal was eating them, anyway.

(First they could grow under their enemies’ feet and attack them, roots and vines twining around them to strangle them, and then they could be used up in the smoke-bombs – two for the price of one!)

-

“Are you sure about not doing the whole resentful energy thing?”

“Wei Wuxian,” Jiang Cheng said. “No.”

-

“Hey, Wei-xiong, do you have or can you create any more papermen?” Jin Zixuan asked.

“Yes, sure, plenty,” Wei Wuxian said. He’d like to say that he’d known he’d one day need such a skill, and that that was why he’d learned the trick so thoroughly, but that was a complete lie. “Why?”

“Nie-xiong, Jiang-xiong and I are going to use them to make a shadow-play to lure a bunch of Wen sect cultivators into another plant-and-explosives trap.”

“…that’s amazing, Jin-xiong,” Wei Wuxian said, marveling. “How do you even think of that?”

“Even I get into trouble sometimes,” Jin Zixuan said, and was startled into an unexpected smile when Jiang Cheng punched his shoulder approvingly.

-

Wei Wuxian was actually having a pretty good time with it all right up until the main force of the Wen sect decided to ignore all their traps and charge straight towards the classroom they’d fallen back to using as a headquarters, and then suddenly he wasn’t having a good time at all.

“Run,” Lan Qiren said, and put down his guqin, drawing his sword once more.

“But we can fight!” Jiang Cheng argued.

“Run.”

“Shufu –”

“Run.”

They ran.

-

“If you don’t come out, I’m going to make him pay,” Wen Xu called.

His fingers were knotted in Lan Qiren’s hair, pulling their teacher’s head back to show how his face was covered in blood, how it was seeping out through his mouth and nose, how one of his eyes was badly bruised and swollen from having been beaten down by sheer force of numbers.

Lan Qiren had made them pay dearly for their efforts to bring him down –

But there were just so many of them.

“How dare he,” Jiang Cheng hissed. “He was once one of Teacher Lan’s students, too!”

Wei Wuxian was holding Lan Wangji back, but only barely; his fingers were starting to go numb from the sheer effort of it. If Jin Zixuan and Jiang Cheng weren’t there to help him hold him down, Lan Wangji would have already given away their position, rushing out to make some futile gesture in his overwhelming rage. Wei Wuxian was focusing with all his being on how much he had to stop Lan Wangji from doing something like that, because if he wasn’t, if he let himself think about anything else for even a single moment, he’d have also run out there, sword drawn, without so much as a care – he hadn’t realized he’d be so angry over it, so furious, so betrayed and horrified by Wen Xu’s cruelty.

Prior to today, he wouldn’t have said he even liked Lan Qiren!

“My students are not so foolish as to fall for so obvious a scheme as that,” Lan Qiren said, his tone as monotonous as it ever was during his lectures – for the briefest moment, Wei Wuxian felt that he was dreaming, that he had merely dreamt everything that had happened: surely it was still yesterday, with Lan Qiren standing tall, safe and healthy, at the front of the classroom, lecturing about one of the Lan sect rules…which one had it been? Shoulder the weight of morality? Have a strong will and anything can be achieved? Be mighty, and others will die for you?

Do not break faith?

Somehow, despite everything that had happened, Lan Qiren’s eyes curved ever so slightly.

“Present company excluded, of course.”

Wen Xu threw him down to the ground, mouth twisting and teeth gnashing with offended anger.

“Beat him,” he ordered his men. “Make it hurt. I want him screaming – let’s see how his precious students like that. Or maybe it’s just that they don’t care?”

-

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said, eyes red with unshed tears and barely swallowed rage. “Tell me your idea about resentful energy.”

-

“Perhaps,” Lan Qiren said, then paused briefly to cough up some blood. His voice, when he resumed speaking, was hoarse. “Perhaps I should have reviewed your idea more closely when you first proposed it.”

“Possibly,” Wei Wuxian said, offering up some cloth to help wipe away the blood. Lan Wangji was busy bandaging his uncle’s injuries up, while Jiang Cheng, Jin Zixuan, and Nie Huaisang hovered by the door, only barely pretending to be keeping a lookout the way they were supposed to. “In my defense, I didn’t quite expect…that.”

Everyone politely did not ask him to elaborate.

The effects had been…well, it turned out using resentful energy the way Wei Wuxian had thought was possible, to say the least, and also that they’d taken down an awful lot of Wen sect soldiers in their defensive efforts.

“You will all have been affected by the resentful energy you used to summon the corpses,” Lan Qiren said. “Although the method you devised appears to avoid the most immediate consequences, which – let me remind you – include qi deviation and death in some instances, there is always the possibility that it has left traces of resentful energy within your meridians. If it is allowed to build up, it will escalate into a backlash that would rip your body and soul to pieces. There are spells and songs that can help clear your spirits and ease the effects.”

“Nie Huaisang has been playing some of them for us, since he can’t fight,” Lan Wangji said. “Nie sect ones – they’re…uh, not especially calming, more of a cleanse-by-force thing, but they seem to be working.”

Jiang Cheng nodded. “We’ll listen to any others that you’d like, Teacher Lan,” he said, anxious, and the rest of them nodded. “Just say which ones. If there’s any array or anything – or if you want us to write an essay about why using resentful energy is dangerous and wrong –”

Even Wei Wuxian nodded at that – even Nie Huaisang nodded, and he hated essays more than anything.

Lan Qiren huffed lightly. “Now you’re all so obedient.”

They all bowed their heads.

“…you did a good job,” Lan Qiren finally said, and they all looked up to stare at him. “You rescued me and repelled the Wen sect, however temporarily. Even though you used demonic cultivation, which is forbidden, you did not purposefully disturb graves, and you can make recompense to the spirits later. It was well done, and I thank you for it.”

He noticed that they were gaping and frowned at them.

“What have I taught you?” he scolded, and he sounded enough like he normally did that Wei Wuxian had the sudden urge to burst into totally inexplicable tears. “The preservation of human life is the priority, always. Why is this a surprise?”

“Shufu is right,” Lan Wangji said, and there was something of peace and calm in his eyes, the foundation of his world steady and unfaltering – he was almost glowing with it, satisfied and happy, and he was so utterly beautiful in Wei Wuxian’s eyes that it was almost blinding. “We acknowledge Teacher’s words.”

“We acknowledge Teacher’s words,” everyone else quickly agreed.

Lan Qiren shook his head, nodding in appreciation. “What is your next step now?” he asked. “The Wen sect was only repulsed, not defeated. They will not be gone long – they are already regrouping outside our gate, and this time they will be prepared for the effects of your demonic cultivation. In the end, they still have the advantage of numbers.”

“I don’t think we got as far as that in our plan,” Wei Wuxian said, rubbing the back of his head.

His thinking had mostly stopped at get Teacher Lan back and make them pay. He was pretty sure the same was true for Lan Wangji, and probably all the rest of the, too.

“Maybe you didn’t,” Nie Huaisang said with a sniff, and damnit, Wei Wuxian really needed to stop underestimating him just because he was a bad cultivator and a bit empty-headed. “I, on the other hand, sent a message back to my da-ge way back when this first started, and he should be here very soon with an army of his own.”

-

There were those in the Jiang sect that liked to mock the Nie sect as being unduly paranoid, always preparing for war and speaking grimly of its inevitability, always training their disciples and soldiers as if each one of them would need to fight five or ten of the enemy at once.

If Wei Wuxian ever met any of those people ever again, he was going to punch them in the face.

“Just be sure to get your sect ready when you get back,” Nie Mingjue advised them all grimly when it was all done and Wen Xu’s head was stuck on a pike at the entrance to the Cloud Recesses as a warning. The Nie sect’s forces were smaller than the Wen sect’s invasion force, but their people were better trained; even after flying all the way from Qinghe, they’d come down on the remaining invasion force like a hammer. “This isn’t over, not by a long shot.”

“We understand. There is still war to come.”

“Not just war, but uneven and unbalanced war, and not in our favor,” Nie Mingjue said heavily. “Understand that even with this loss, the forces of all the cultivation world put together can’t match up to the armies under Wen Ruohan’s command.”

“Actually,” Lan Qiren said, and gave all of his students a pointed look, probably on account of the fact that they all still owed him the essay they'd promised to write, “I think you’ll find that there’s something more that we can add…”

[robininthelabyrinth]

Relentless - chapter 15 - ao3

Lan Qiren returned to the Lan sect with his nephews in tow.

This was not as easy as it had initially seemed when it was being discussed in Wen Ruohan’s study, despite the lack of any serious obstacles in their path. Perhaps most relevantly, Wen Xu, Wen Chao, and even Wen Ning were utterly inconsolable about Lan Qiren’s impending departure, each one of them frantic and anxious even though Lan Qiren assured them repeatedly that he had obtained Wen Ruohan’s solemn promise to get them proper teachers, prevent any interference by third parties such as their mothers, and even to supervise their education personally whenever possible – he’d thought the last would be sufficient, given how much they idolized their father and guardian, but apparently not.

Even his nephews seemed put out about the idea of leaving their newfound friends behind.

Lan Qiren was not entirely sure, afterwards, if they had ever figured out that the circumstances surrounding their presence the Nightless City had not been wholly above-board, and if, assuming they had figured that out, whether they thought he had handled things correctly. Lan Wangji kept his own thoughts private, as he so often did, while Lan Xichen seemed more invested in the fact that Lan Qiren liked Wen Ruohan – or, well, he’d been very supportive of it once he’d figured out that Lan Qiren was quite serious about not leaving him and Wangji, which significantly reduced his anxiety on the subject. Unfortunately, their return back to the Cloud Recesses apparently served to make him realize that Lan Qiren staying with them for good meant that he and Wen Ruohan weren’t going to continue their courting with the aim of marriage, causing him significant emotional distress no matter how many times Lan Qiren had assured him that they would still be visiting each other. He’d taken to reading novels, writing sad poetry, and sighing at odd intervals, which…Lan Qiren had no idea what to do with, in all honesty.

He’d asked Lan Yueheng for assistance, as the person he trusted most about matters of romance on account of the latter’s successful marriage, and Lan Yueheng had just nodded wisely. He’d then swept Lan Xichen away for an evening of drinking fruit juice and solemn moon-watching which was, apparently, just the thing to relieve his nephew’s melancholy.

Lan Qiren would never understand it. Not in a million years.

Of course, Lan Yueheng also used the opportunity to leave his wife behind with Lan Qiren to express at great length and volume how they had felt about Lan Qiren’s mysterious disappearance, interrupted only by the arrival of extremely vague and unhelpful notes that appeared without any return address whatsoever. Given Zhang Xin’s lung capacity and hardy constitution, not diminished in the slightest and even apparently improved by having borne several children, Lan Qiren was pretty sure he got the worse end of that deal.

Oh, the things he did for his nephews…

At any rate, it was good to see Lan Yueheng and Zhang Xin again, despite the yelling and, in Lan Yueheng’s case, teary-eyed sentimentality and profound relief that he was back unharmed. Even beyond them, Lan Qiren found that there were quite a number of Lan sect disciples that had, entirely without him noticing, made their way into what one might (if one were Wen Ruohan and prone to high drama) dub his inner circle, and what Lan Qiren would probably more appropriately term colleagues. In other words, people with whom Lan Qiren was actually friendly and had even subconsciously missed seeing them on a regular basis; they, in turn, seemed to have missed him for more than just his contributions to the sect. It was a very pleasant surprise to find himself among those who seemed genuinely pleased to see him, and that he himself was genuinely pleased to see.

Sadly, the same could not be said for a considerable portion of the elders of the previous generation.

This was not all of them, luckily enough. There were plenty of men and women in the Lan sect who were as they ought to be, upright and upstanding, careful and thoughtful in following the rules and in applying them to others; people that sought righteousness in all things and listened to the rules that exhorted them to Shoulder the weight of morality and Take the straight path.

Not everyone, though.

The rot had originated from only a few, but once there was rot, it spread.

Refreshed from his time without work, Lan Qiren set himself to fixing it at once.

Some of the offenders were only doing what they had seen others do before them, generally those of Lan Qiren’s generation or those that had come of age after him. Those were generally easy to correct – after some education, they were by and large horrified at the notion that they had erred so badly and closed their eyes to justice within their own home, or at least they had the good sense to pretend to be; their punishments could be relatively light and focused primarily on contemplation and reacquaintance with the rules. Their sin had been to trust the actions of their elders without applying critical thought, and while that did not relieve them of the weight what they had done, especially those actions that had harmed others in the process, it was still a lesser degree, less grave than those who had set them off on their crooked road in the first place.

As for those instigators…

Lan Qiren had known it would be hard to deal with them. He had known it would be hard, and it was, dreadfully hard, even when he utilized everything he knew and threw the full weight of his authority at them in force, denouncing their actions with all the fervor he possessed. He even had support, being backed in full by the exhausted-looking cousin of his that had been shoved forward to take Lan Qiren’s place during the ‘illness’ that had purportedly kept him from returning home.

Poor Lan Tianqi might once, in some past nightmare, have longed for the position of sect leader; he was a relatively close cousin from a recent secondary line and older than Lan Qiren to boot – his great-uncle’s eldest grandson. Apparently, he had done a complete about-face on the subject after he’d had to endure the trials and travails involved with the actual work of being sect leader, especially when the sect, accustomed to Lan Qiren’s diligence, had tried to demand that he meet the same standard.

He’d apparently been drowning.

Drowning, and doing badly, too, faring far worse than Lan Qiren, who had the unusual ability to stay completely focused on a single project for half a day or more without issue, often forgetting even to stop to eat or drink. In the end, he’d gone to Lan Yueheng to beg for advice, thinking perhaps that Lan Qiren was close to him for a reason or maybe had confided some secrets on how to survive to him. Lan Yueheng naturally had no secrets, as anyone who had met him for more than a moment would know, but he was always obliging and willing to help those who asked – as Lan Qiren had foolishly not done, due to his own feelings of guilt and inferiority, his need to prove himself worthy of the sect that had been left to him by tragic accident through his own self-sacrifice.

After wracking his brain for some time, Lan Yueheng had come up with the idea of putting Lan Tianqi in touch with his first cousin, Lan Ganhui, who despite being best known for his garrulous charm, easy-going nature, and general popularity, was in fact a skilled and able secretary in his own right when he put his mind to it; it turned out that he was the one that usually stepped up and helped manage things in the event of an emergency whenever one arose during the rare occasions when Lan Qiren was gone out on sect business and could not be urgently summoned back, such as during the discussion conferences. Lan Ganhui, in turn, had enlisted his husband Li Zhenquan and his sister-in-law Li Zhouxi, who had come to the Cloud Recesses with her brother, a solid determination never to marry, and an exceptional hand at calligraphy, and between the four of them and some sleepless nights they had just about managed to cover Lan Qiren’s job.

Lan Qiren had immediately recruited them all as his own secretaries upon his return. Some were easier to convince than others – Lan Tianqi had been pleased at the idea of having influence on sect affairs without having to bear the entire weight of the sect on his shoulders, while Li Zhenquan was delighted to finally find a place where he could be of service to the family he’d married into. Lan Ganhui had initially declared that he would rather perish than do a job like this every day, being as he was a dramatic sort of person, but Lan Qiren had convinced him that a part-time position would not make too much of a dent in his active social life and would furthermore give him a chance to steal precious private time during the day with his husband. Lan Ganhui, in turn, had managed to convince the hitherto most resistant (and yet by far the most precious of the whole set) Li Zhouxi to agree to the job as well.

(Lan Qiren had made the mistake of inquiring as to how he had done so, followed almost immediately by considerable regret as he was cheerfully informed that a desire not to marry said nothing about not having desire at all, and also that having a position of power made a person more attractive towards the certain type of person that happened to be just Li Zhouxi’s type. Apparently the lady had ambitions of a harem of her own, filled with attractive and empty-headed young men – Lan Ganhui had used the word ‘stable’, which was another concept that he also decided, despite absolutely no interest on Lan Qiren’s part, to explain to him at length without stopping. Lan Qiren could understand that his cousin was good-naturedly getting his own back at him for some of the more boring lectures Lan Qiren had subjected him to in their youth, which he didn’t mind, but he did find himself wondering throughout the entire discussion why people who enjoyed sex were like that. How did it not make things incredibly awkward all the time?)

Still, even with all of them sharing the weight of the sect between them and there being enough time for Lan Qiren to attack the problem of corruption and selfishness within his sect head-on, it wasn’t easy. He was still bound to respect his elders, and many of them had set down strong roots, with plenty of people inclined to take their side in an argument or to minimize what had happened even when the evidence was irrefutable. Lan Qiren resigned himself to a long slog, knowing that change would undoubtedly be incremental and slow – but at least he would be setting the right example for the next generation, showing them what it really meant to be a Lan.

He would strangle those rotten roots where they lay and turn them into fodder for better growth, even if it took him years to accomplish. It was what his sect deserved – his sect, his rules, and his nephews.

Unlike before, however, Lan Qiren was far more alert to the possibility that he was overworking himself. He had thought, with the arrogance of youth, that he had been doing fine in the days before; if he had been tired, that was only the lack of sleep he consistently failed to get, and if he had never stopped working, well, that was only what the position and his sect required of him, penance for some sin in his past life that he now had to repent of.

Now, though, he knew that the rules were right in prioritizing care for the self. He was not doing his best for the sect when he was too tired to think properly, and rest and relaxation was necessary rejuvenation for his mind to be at the peak he needed it to be. He made sure to take the time for his music, his training, his teaching, and even reading purely for pleasure rather than for work – he’d always enjoyed esoteric texts, especially those imported from foreign locales, and he thought he could quite proudly say that his Lan sect, however smaller than the Wen sect and less wealthy than the Jin, could still teach its peers a thing or two about collecting interesting books. His schedule wasn’t as free as it had been in the Nightless City, but that was a trade he gladly made in exchange for being once more at home.

As for Wen Ruohan…

Surprisingly, Lan Qiren hadn’t heard much from him. This was not especially unexpected, at least at first, since they had both known that Lan Qiren would be busy dealing with his sect and Wen Ruohan dealing with quashing any criticism once the kidnapping had become public knowledge – they had both agreed that it made sense not to do anything too overt in terms of their relationship for the first few months. Well, Lan Qiren had insisted, and Wen Ruohan had reluctantly agreed after some considerably pressure was applied, which amounted to the same thing.

He’d sulked rather dramatically about it, which had led Lan Qiren to, perhaps unwisely, permit himself to be talked into allowing certain liberties on the night before he’d left the Nightless City. He was perfectly aware that he was setting a poor precedent for the future, but Lan hearts were not exactly susceptible to reason. It had been an interesting experience, he supposed – he still did not intrinsically see the appeal, and suspected he never would, but it was hardly the first time Lan Qiren had willingly suffered some minor discomfort for the purpose of pleasing someone else. It didn’t even involve any particular aches and pains, and Wen Ruohan had been so very pleased by it; the entire experience was enjoyable purely for his enthusiasm and for the fact that it had rather effectively shut him up, which was worth it in and of itself. For all of Lan Qiren’s concerns, it turned out that Lan sect discipline was far harsher by comparison, with less immediate rewards, and Lan Qiren went away with the conviction that anything further they did would be no more difficult to bear – excluding perhaps Wen Ruohan’s avid interest in eventually being involved in matters of discipline, anyway.

It…was a little disturbing to be met with silence after something like that, if truth be told.

Wen Ruohan had only agreed to cease all talk of courtship for a few months, and yet that time had long since passed that point, with no mention of the subject, or indeed any word at all. Lan Qiren had braced himself, expecting that Wen Ruohan would bring up the subject as soon as the deadline passed, trying once more to invent some means by which a bird and a fish could live together despite Lan Qiren’s insistence that he would not leave the Cloud Recesses for anything, even love.

Instead, there was silence.

The silence was unusual, and unnerving, but Lan Qiren was quite certain that Wen Ruohan’s affections were not so shallow as to be satisfied by mere physical trifles – he was no Jin Guangshan – and so he had to assume that the cause was something else.

Presumably the matter of the mastermind.

They did eventually end up exchanging a few letters, but they were stilted things, rigid and formal, and said nothing of substance. They’d already observed that the mastermind had sufficient influence to interfere with the post with the Nightless City, and neither was inclined to let whoever it was see their personal correspondence. Wen Ruohan layered his letters with implications and allusions, complex enough that Lan Qiren had shamefully had no choice but to ask for assistance in deciphering the ones he didn’t understand, only to have them turn out to be sexual inneundo – Zhang Xin had nearly burst a gut laughing at him. In return, Lan Qiren’s responses were painfully straightforward, as dry as when he was writing to any other sect leader in the normal course of events; he simply didn’t know any other way. It was a good thing, he thought, that Wen Ruohan would not expect him to engage in any sort of erotic correspondence – that was far more Lao Nie’s style than his own.

And that was another thing Lan Qiren needed to consider.

He hadn’t had time to think it over while in the Nightless City, and by now he’d had almost too much time to think it over: his beloved was another person’s lover, and even after a great deal of consideration he had no idea how he felt about that. Family tradition dictated that Lan Qiren ought to be possessive of his lover, jealous of their time and attention well beyond the point of reason – and yet, perhaps it was having suffered so much from his brother’s similar madness, but the mere thought made Lan Qiren recoil, left cold and repulsed by the idea of demanding that anyone isolate themselves like that simply because of his feelings.

Or perhaps, instead, it was simply the knowledge that he had that Lao Nie was no true rival of his. The thought of Wen Ruohan ever being besotted by another was enough to make Lan Qiren’s temper flare up, but Lao Nie himself had confirmed that he would not give his heart away in this life, nor willingly claim anyone else’s for his own, and the idea that Lan Qiren might have Wen Ruohan’s heart all to himself satisfied all the possessive instincts he might have had. He had even spent some time wondering whether, when Lao Nie’s prohibition had been lifted by his sect, they might reach some form of…he really didn’t want to call it an agreement, but he couldn’t think of a better way to put it. It did make him feel a little as if he and Lao Nie were Wen Ruohan’s wives scheduling matters of the harem to equitably divide the days between them, and that was without even accounting for Wen Ruohan’s actual wives…

It was, in sum total, a bit of a mess.

Especially since Wen Ruohan himself, who was rather critical to figuring this out, was currently making himself scarce.

Irritating, irritating man.

Which made it, of course, doubly irritating when Lan Qiren found a letter from him mixed in with the other applications for students for his lectures during the summer – Wen Xu had been put forward as a candidate, and Wen Ruohan had added a casual postscript noting that “on account of the friendship that had been formed between my younger son and your younger nephew,” he would be sending Wen Chao as well to be enrolled in the junior classes alongside Lan Wangji, even though those were primarily taught by another teacher. None of this, of course, had been mentioned in any of the personal letters Lan Qiren had received, a subject he noted with some irritation in his own personal letter sent back the next day.

Wen Ruohan, in what Lan Qiren was starting to suspect was deliberate provocation, did not respond.

At all.

There were no letters that arrived from the Nightless City from him, none at all. Not even one that ignored the issue!

Lan Qiren ground his teeth together and thought to himself two things: first, that he understood how Wen Ruohan had managed to get so worked up when he’d thought Lao Nie was deliberately ignoring him and, second, that Wen Ruohan seemed to have developed a penchant for making him angry.

Irritating, irritating man!

Lan Qiren comforted himself with the fact that Wen Ruohan was almost certain to accompany his sons to the Cloud Recesses to drop them off for classes – even though most parents generally sent their children with only an escort, especially from larger sects, it seemed implausible to him that Wen Ruohan would willingly give up an opportunity to meet in person, even if his absence would in fact succeed in his (apparent) secondary goal of inciting Lan Qiren into a fury.

So reassured, he settled down to focus on his work.

(Irritating, irritating, irritating man!)

[robininthelabyrinth]

Relentless - chapter 16 - ao3

True to form and expectation, Wen Ruohan showed up, and three days ahead of all the rest, too.

Lan Qiren knew, because Lan Yueheng burst into his office to announce it with a big wide grin that was immediately echoed on the faces of all of Lan Qiren’s new secretaries.

“Running is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses,” Lan Qiren said sternly, ignoring them all.

“So is promiscuity,” Lan Ganhui cackled in what was definitely not enough of a whisper that he could have plausibly thought that Lan Qiren wouldn’t overhear him.

“Do not smile foolishly,” Li Zhouxi put in before Lan Qiren could – she was mimicking him, he could tell; his students did it often enough, and the gesture she made of pretending to stroke her chin as if she had a beard was remarkably reminiscent of the one Cangse Sanren liked to make. “We’ve got the rest of the work covered for today, Teacher Lan. You should go greet your guest! After all, it would be inappropriate for anything less than the Sect Leader to meet with a guest as august as Sect Leader Wen.”

Lan Qiren’s eye twitched, but – in fact, she was right, and moreover, he really did want to go see him.

It was one thing when he could blame the lack of correspondence on the mastermind, but it had been some time, so surely that was resolved by now. Anyway, now that Wen Ruohan knew there was a problem with the mail, there was no way he wouldn’t be able to get letters through if he really wanted; the man was the sort that wouldn’t hesitate to force some poor servant to fly all the way to Gusu if that was what it took. That meant that Wen Ruohan’s silence was deliberate, and deliberately provocative, a rightful cause for irritation and even genuine anger…

And Lan Qiren wanted to see him rather desperately anyway.

“Fine,” he said with a faint sigh, and pointedly ignored how they all did that same exact facial expression that was typically completely unnoticeable to unfamiliar outsiders but which within the Lan sect meant the same as breaking out in rapturous applause. The Li siblings had clearly been at the Cloud Recesses too long if they were picking up family habits. “I will go meet with our guest.”

Wen Ruohan was indeed at the gate with all his usual retinue – the Wen sect travelled with more grandeur than anyone but the Jin, and liked in particular to show off how numerous they were. Looking at the size of the retinue now, it seemed that all of those tendencies were magnified considerably in the rare occasions that their sect leader deigned to go out into the world, and then magnified even more when he was trying to show off on purpose. He was surrounded by people, many many people, and despite having stayed in the Nightless City for a considerable bit of time before and tried to get to know its inhabitants, Lan Qiren couldn’t have named a single one of them right now, his gaze firmly fixed upon Wen Ruohan himself.

He looked – good.

Better than before, even. There was more color in his face than usual, more expression in his eyes, and he seemed more comfortable than he had been when Lan Qiren had last seen him, more accustomed to this new state of existence; he no longer looked as if he had died at the end of his natural lifespan and that what had kept on moving was only walking around in his corpse. He had that terrible smirk that suggested either the presence of Lao Nie (unlikely, given that Nie Mingjue had already finished his classes at the Cloud Recesses and Nie Huaisang wouldn’t be ready for them for a few more years unless he, too, wanted to go to the junior class), imminent conquest (equally unlikely, despite the number of Wen sect disciples present suggesting that they might as well be planning to move in – they weren’t dressed for it, and Wen Ruohan had an excess notion of style), or the firm belief that he was about to get something he’d wanted for some time.

He was beautiful.

Lan Qiren had such bad taste.

He was still bemoaning it to himself as he went to go greet the other man, only at that point he realized that ‘greeting’ someone and actually getting to talk to them were completely different things.

There were processes and procedures for greeting another sect leader, formalities to be observed, each one painfully formulaic, hideously boring, and critically necessary given that their sects were not formally allied nor historically on good terms – and then when that was done there were even more formalities and bureaucracy to deal with in terms of enlisting Wen Xu and Wen Chao as temporary guest disciples and making all the usual assurances that they would be cared for appropriately while in the Lan sect.

Lan Qiren had always had a great deal of patience for such things.

Apparently not today.

Eventually, and it felt as though a minor era of the world had passed by first, they managed to lose their obsequiously helpful staff and go off by themselves. Admittedly, achieving such a feat had taken Wen Ruohan glaring death at everyone and pointedly talking about how although the Fire Palace had been closed, it wouldn’t actually take much to reopen it again – a bit of renovation, a bit of paint, some new torture devices – and Lan Qiren spontaneously deciding that Wen Ruohan needed to go view their Wall of Discipline so that he could, if he wished, see a real life example of Lan sect discipline imposed on anyone who followed them there, but they did manage it.

Mostly.

“I can’t believe you have a list of chores,” Wen Ruohan remarked as they walked. “Aren’t you sect leader? Since when do sect leaders get assigned chores?”

Lan Qiren rolled his eyes and shoved the list he’d been handed into his sleeve. “It’s your fault,” he said. “They’re not my chores. I granted Lan Xichen permission to take the afternoon off to take your sons on a tour – ”

Said sons (and Lan Xichen, for that matter) had been among the most persistent of their avid following, and Lan Qiren had been desperate to get rid of them. It turned out that they were all far too invested in what was going to happen – Wen Xu was apparently an avid devotee of opera and theater, the less said about Lan Xichen the better, and Wen Chao was very nearly as bad as the two of them put together despite being of such young age that Lan Qiren wasn’t sure he entirely understood what romance was. At least Lan Wangji and Wen Ning were just tagging along for the ride, completely disinterested other than joining in on the fun of bothering their elders, and Lan Qiren hoped that they stayed that way for a good long while…though of course too much disinterest now might blow up in his face later on, if Lan Wangji eventually grew into that irritating Lan sect heart he’d inherited and fell unexpected in love.

Still, there were some things that teenage boys did not need to witness, even overly romantic teenage boys, and Lan Qiren’s personal life was very high on that list.

In his opinion, anyway. The boys had all looked supremely disappointed.  

“ – and as the person who granted the exemption, I have to make sure the chores he would otherwise have done are completed.”

“Must you do it personally?”

That was suspiciously close to a whine.

“I’m leading by example,” Lan Qiren said, barely suppressing a sigh. “I can’t allow anyone to accuse me of hypocrisy now, it’ll undercut all my efforts to date. Besides, seeing the sect leader completing menial tasks will encourage others to do the same, showing that no one is above such things. It’s…good for the sect.”

He just had to keep reminding himself of that.

“Anyway,” he said, ignoring how unconvinced Wen Ruohan looked, “I’m more than capable of completing Xichen’s chores in a tenth of the time it would take him, so we do have time for a walk first.”

“Indeed we do,” Wen Ruohan said, finally looking somewhat appeased. “And we can speak of many things.”

“Indeed we can,” Lan Qiren said, and then before Wen Ruohan could bring up anything embarrassing while they were still in earshot of the Lan sect disciples – or, worse, attempt to proposition him, because that was completely something he would believe of Wen Ruohan – he added, “I heard rumors that you recently made some major changes within your sect’s hierarchy. Dare I hope that you have solved the issue you were having last time?”

“I did,” Wen Ruohan said, the chance to boast about his accomplishments working to distract him where little else would. He waved his hand idly and a sound-proofing array appeared around them, the array circle surrounding them visible for only a moment before disappearing and taking the surrounding noise of chattering birds and equally chattering disciples along with it. Lan Qiren hadn’t even known that mobile versions of such a thing existed, and was mildly suspicious of it not having existed previously. “Regretfully, the mastermind was a relative of mine – the head of the subsidiary family branch, near Dafan. You wouldn’t know him, I doubt you’ve ever met, but…”

“Dafan…?” Lan Qiren said, and frowned. “Wen Qing and Wen Ning?”

“Mm, yes. Their grandfather. He’d been causing problems for a while – that was one of the reasons I took them both in as my wards after their parents died. I didn’t want him raising any other children to make trouble for me.”

Lan Qiren considered for a moment, then decided not to ask if Wen Ruohan had had anything to do with the death of the parents in question. If Wen Qing and Wen Ning’s parents had lost their lives by rebelling against their sect leader, taking them in to the Nightless City as a means of assuring the good behavior of the rest of their family was far preferable to the alternative option – namely, slaughtering them all. And yet, at the same time…

“I thought Wen Qing once mentioned that her family branch had long focused exclusively on medicine-making?” he asked.

“Oh, they are, they are! But that doesn’t stop them from making trouble.” Wen Ruohan chuckled. “Poor A-Qing. She can be a little naïve. She’s interpreted the fact that her clan hasn’t raised a sword in war for years as some sort of familial vow of pacifism, love all beings the way your Lan sect rules say to do, or perhaps something like ‘a doctor treats all in need, no matter high and low’, which I vaguely recall as being something stupid Wen Mao once said. In fact their custom means no such thing; it’s only that they figured out long ago that they could do more damage with their needles and poisons than a sword. Her father had a remarkable facility for growing plants that could be refined into highly acidic compounds, and a profound facility for doing just that, using them to great effect…of course, many of those plants also have medicinal purposes, so I suspect he didn’t explain to his daughter the primary use of what he was doing was before he died.”

“I should hope he didn’t,” Lan Qiren said, a little appalled. It wasn’t actually a surprise, given what he knew about the Wen clan and their personalities, their traditional inclination towards arrogance in a myriad of different forms – though he supposed it was probably for the best that Wen Qing, as the next head of that particular family branch, retained her illusions about her family history. It would make for a more peaceful future.  

And then, despite himself and his own hopes for a more peaceful future, he found himself saying, “I don’t suppose you’ve met my cousin Lan Yueheng…”

“I have not, but I look forward to doing so,” Wen Ruohan said. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that you addressed all your private mail to him. He’s the one with the alchemy focus and the, what did you call them, ‘nightmare plants’? I’ll broker an introduction between him and them.”

That had in fact been what Lan Qiren had wanted. He inclined his head in thanks. “I assume that introduction does not include the troublemaker in question?”

“It does not, no. There’s a limit to the number of times I’ll be schemed against, even by close family.” Wen Ruohan’s eyes were briefly quite hard. “You see, he was one of the – mistakes. One of the first. I’d been far too lenient with him as a result, letting him think he’d gotten away with things before, and that made him feel too confident. He has now learned that there are lines that cannot be crossed.”

Lan Qiren arched his eyebrows, more interested in the first part of what Wen Ruohan had said. “Mistakes?”

Wen Ruohan shrugged. “I’m no Jin Guangshan to leave my bloodline abandoned throughout the countryside, but neither am I a Jiang Fengmian, to bring my bastards back to sit like cuckoos in the home nest. If something happened, I would collect them, compensate the mother appropriately and ensure she’s married off if she wishes, and then send them out to be adopted into the branch families.”

Lan Qiren made a noise of understanding. That explained it, he supposed. This grandfather of Wen Ning’s was an unacknowledged son of Wen Ruohan’s, and bitter about it even after he’d been formally adopted out of the line of inheritance. It was not terribly uncommon a strategy among clans with large enough families to handle it, although the Lan sect never engaged in it (or at least never admitted to it). It often led to some trouble, since everyone knew the bloodline connection, and it could lead to issues down the line if someone in the branch line turned out to be more talented than in the main line – of course, usually the original progenitor did not last quite such a long time, rendering such inheritance questions irrelevant. Wen Ruohan looked as though he were in his twenties, not old enough to have great-grandchildren…

“How many are there?” Lan Qiren asked. “Do you know?”

“Of course I know! If you don’t keep track of such things, you’re just asking for incest to happen sometime down the line through no fault of the people involved. Other than A-Qing and A-Ning, there are seven still living, whether of direct or indirect descent, and most are quite content where they are. I cannot repeat it enough: I am not Jin Guangshan.”

No, merely friendly with him.

“What was his purpose in doing what he did, then?” Lan Qiren asked. “With a formal adoption to a branch family…I mean, Wen Qing is talented, to be sure, but not enough to plausibly win a battle over succession against Wen Xu, and anyway you’ve been raising her; she has no loyalty to his branch, so he couldn’t have wanted that. And given his age, he couldn’t have inherited even if you died –”

“Not unless I went mad, cut off all of my emotions, and started a war with the rest of the cultivation world that would coincidentally end with both of my heirs and myself all dead,” Wen Ruohan said, and grimaced. “I think his expectation was that I would lose the war once I’d become too mad for self-control, but I really don’t have such a low opinion of myself. I would have gone mad in a far more rational style than that.”

Lan Qiren didn’t doubt it. Wen Ruohan was best known in the cultivation world for his relentless ambition, and such things did not disappear in the face of madness – he would only have become far crueler, more ruthless, less lenient. That ambitious grandfather in Dafan would probably have been the first to be executed if his plan had actually worked.

“How did he manage to get the mail, though?” he asked, frowning. “If he was all the way in Dafan? There must have been someone else.”

“Oh, there was,” Wen Ruohan said with a shrug. “He’d reached an agreement with my first wife that when I was dead, they would divide up my Wen sect’s territory between them.”

Lan Qiren looked at him sidelong. Wen Ruohan did not appear overly upset by the revelation, although Lan Qiren supposed that he had had more time to absorb the blow.

“I expect that’s why she never made an appearance to pester you directly, in fact – too busy plotting,” Wen Ruohan shook his head. “I should have guessed back then, really. She would never tolerate a threat to her power or position and a single ploy or two wouldn’t be sufficient.”

“A ploy that included attempts to instigate several fights between us, followed by an assassination attempt involving an explosive,” Lan Qiren reminded him. “An explosive that could have hit my nephews. Does she really hate you that much?”

“Not at all. I’m merely an obstacle in her path – if it all worked, she would have kept the Nightless City for A-Xu to rule, while he would lead the area around Dafan to break off and become independent, with a great deal of territory for itself. It was, I suppose, the price she thought as worthwhile for getting me knocked off before I could pick another heir or actually became a god and was no longer in need of one.” Wen Ruohan smirked. “I’m almost complimented that she was so worried about that possibility.”

Of course he was.

“Still, it seems strange that she should be capable of so much,” Lan Qiren said, deciding not to give that statement the dignity of a response. “That explosion was caused by a battle talisman, and one of great strength, too. Only a Great Sect’s armory would be able to produce one, and I cannot believe that either your wife or a branch family member would have access to your armory without your knowledge, no matter how high their status.”

“Of course not. But you don’t think there were internal politics without external ones, do you? Naturally they made a number of agreements with certain other parties for support ahead of time, making sure that the changeover of power would be relatively painless. And there are always wolves at the door, willing to lend a hand…”

“Not the Lan,” Lan Qiren said immediately with a fierce scowl. He would never have signed off on such a vile thing, a wife and son conspiring to kill their husband and father, and neither would Lan Tianqi, though he supposed that if push came to shove that certain of the elders more resistant to his reforms might have considered it a sacrifice in favor of the greater good. Perhaps they even would have without the push, but that required them having the capability, which after all the efforts he had made, however blunted they had been, he doubted they had had. “And neither would the Nie.”

Lao Nie was also ambitious, to be sure, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew Wen Ruohan too well to think that losing his mind would reduce his capacity.

Wen Ruohan nodded in agreement, only he looked pleased with himself. “I suppose I really can’t hold it against Jin Guangshan and Jiang Fengmian for expressing interest in expanding their sect’s territories by absorbing parts of my Wen sect, especially if all they had to do was look the wrong way about a few talismans and other small things. After all, they were only acting in their sect’s self-interest.”

Those two sects would now be facing severe consequences for their behavior in the next few discussion conferences regardless of how involved they were or weren’t, Lan Qiren interpreted – he personally thought Jin Guangshan the more likely, given that if he recalled correctly Wen Xu’s maternal family had something of a connection there, and Jiang Fengmian had been extraordinarily busy at the time with his successful hunt for Cangse Sanren’s son – and made a note to himself to raise the issue with Lan Ganhui and the others to see if there was something they could make of it themselves.

His Lan sect might not support internecine strife, philosophically speaking, but they were still a Great Sect, and therefore required to be politically minded; this sort of tussling between their peers might leave room for the Lan sect to fish in muddied waters and pursue their own self-interest. Lanling Jin in particular was their neighbor to the north, and some of the southern-most small sects that were their subsidiaries were quite well off in their own right. If the Wen went at the Jin with any seriously effort, they would quickly become scared, each one of them a fat sheep ready to be snatched up by a steadier, more tranquil minder once their current shepherd was too occupied to notice…

(Sometimes Lan Qiren wished that he could truly be a scholar, untainted by such worldly affairs. But that would leave his sect undefended against the wolves and tigers outside their door, and he would never permit such a thing.)

“How about Lao Nie, then?” Lan Qiren asked. “He never said why he showed up when he did, but it was right after we had had our fight, which was rather suspicious…”

“You can blame that one on your explosive cousin,” Wen Ruohan said dryly. “Complete coincidence that he showed up when he did. If anything, all signs point to efforts being made to keep Lao Nie away from the situation, lest he help us resolve it…which I supposed, reluctantly, I must admit he did.”

Lan Qiren acknowledged the point.

“I see,” he said, reviewing it all in his head. That seemed to be…everything, really. “Well done.”

Wen Ruohan nodded. “What about you?” he asked, unusually polite and maybe even actually interested. “How are your efforts proceeding? I take it that it has still been difficult to make the changes you want to see take root, given your comment earlier about not being able to demonstrate even the slightest hint of hypocrisy?”

“Dealing with sect elders is very difficult, particularly when they are older than you and thus deserving of respect, regardless of how little they may have done to earn it,” Lan Qiren said with a faint sigh. “You may have forgotten it on account of being the oldest member of your sect for quite some time, but it brings all sorts of problems. They’re all very well-respected, honorable elders, with families and disciples that depend on them…they have deep roots and solid foundations, a wide web of debt and unspoken obligations to support htem. It’s hard to unravel, and harder still to actually impose discipline upon them. It doesn’t help that they don’t have a very high opinion of a young upstart like me.”

“Well that’s solved easily enough,” Wen Ruohan said, and now he looked even more pleased with himself. “They won’t be able to use age or experience to look down on you once we’re married.”

Lan Qiren had known it was coming.

Still, it had been so long since the time that he’d anticipated Wen Ruohan’s courtship attempts to start up again that he’d let down his guard. So now it came as a surprise once more – a surprise that warmed his stupid thoughtless heart, because of course it did. It was terribly nice to have his endless well of affection be reciprocated by someone other than his immediate family or closest friends, for once.

Lan Qiren suppressed the feeling firmly. It would not serve him well.

“Wen Ruohan,” he said sternly. “I have already told you that I’m not leaving the Cloud Recesses. I simply cannot and will not be able to marry you.”

“I know,” Wen Ruohan said, and that mischievous smirk was on his face again. “That’s why I’m proposing that I marry you.”

Lan Qiren came to a complete halt.

“…what?” he said. He must have heard that wrong.

Wen Ruohan’s smirk widened. “Oh, you heard me,” he said, obviously enjoying himself. “I’m proposing that I marry into your Lan sect, rather than you into my Wen sect. That was your little nephew’s suggestion in the first place, I believe, and it really does eliminate all the problems, doesn’t it? You won’t have to leave at all. I’ll come to you, instead.”

Lan Qiren opened his mouth and tried to talk, only for the first few moments he found he had absolutely nothing to say.

“What?” was about all he finally came up with.

“Do you need me to repeat myself? Qiren, really, if you’re having hearing problems at your young age –”

Lan Qiren held up his hand to cut him off. “How in the world can you marry in?” he demanded. “You have an entire sect to run! You’re – you’re Sect Leader Wen! Your sect controls a third of the cultivation world!”

“Considerably more than a third, actually, if you take a hard look at the current alliances,” Wen Ruohan said, looking unbearably smug. “Even given recent developments, I expect to have control over nearly half within a decade.”

“You are missing my point. You have so many obligations! How can you marry out?!”

“My sect is so large that it has to be managed indirectly anyway,” Wen Ruohan said, still missing the point, probably deliberately. “I have an entire department of deputies that manage various sections of it for me, all of which are highly incentivized to keep an eye on each other – I only have to deal with the matters that get escalated to me, and the system is designed so that I can do that from anywhere within my territory, rather than being trapped within the Nightless City. There’s no reason I can’t do it from here, too, especially if I throw in some surprise inspections.”

Lan Qiren didn’t know what to say about that. Except maybe –

“I could help you build a similar system here,” Wen Ruohan said temptingly, and Lan Qiren wondered when he’d become predictable. “And of course help you bully those awful elders of yours into behaving. It won’t be any different than someone who marries in retaining their dowry in their own hands…hmm. Do you know, I think this might be the largest dowry in the history of the cultivation world?”

Lan Qiren covered his face with his hands. Wen Ruohan would be self-absorbed and vain enough to feel a ridiculous sense of accomplishment at something as stupid as that.

…and he supposed the idea wasn’t that stupid.

There had been marriages between sect leaders before, although it was almost exclusively between minor sects rather than Great Sects. The idea of the two of them still running their sects separately, despite being together – could it be possible?

“I suppose that’s why you took so long to answer my letters?” he asked, desperately trying to corral his thoughts. “You were silent for so long…”

“I had to make sure it would be foolproof before proposing it, didn’t I? I couldn’t just up and leave my sect if it were still beset with troubles,” Wen Ruohan said with an artless shrug that suggested that there may have been more to his struggle against the mastermind and his current first wife than he’d said. “Moreover, it wasn’t that long, and I would rather say it’s worth it, wouldn’t you?”

“I haven’t said I agreed! There are still many reasons for concern – I mean, even politically speaking, the risk –”

“Both our sects already have heirs,” Wen Ruohan pointed out with a wolfish smile that suggested he was already three steps ahead of Lan Qiren in this debate, just as he said he’d be. “My sons, your nephews…I do hate to keep reminding you of it, but you’re only acting sect leader. There’s no risk to your Lan sect’s line of inheritance, particularly through a childless marriage. Once your nephews have grown, Lan Xichen will be the sect leader, with Lan Wangji as his right hand, and I could appoint A- Xu as my deputy to manage affairs in the Nightless City, with A-Chao to support him in a similar capacity. Once they’re all settled, we could go traveling. Together. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Wen Ruohan had been talking with his spies, or possibly Lao Nie.

“…yes,” Lan Qiren said, feeling touched, his heart trembling with joy. “I would – like that.”

Wen Ruohan looked supremely pleased.

“And you, undoubtedly, like the idea of an alliance between the Wen and Lan.”

“You can’t expect an old tiger to change his stripes that fast,” Wen Ruohan said with a shrug and a smile. “The Lan have a very close alliance with the Nie, and while my Wen sect has no such alliances forally, I’m close to both of you – why can’t we manage the cultivation world as a triad? It’s a very stable form, you know.”

Lan Qiren wanted to bash his head in and kiss him at the same time.

He suspected he was going to become very familiar with that feeling in the future, if Wen Ruohan were allowed to proceed with his plan…and Lan Qiren was having some serious issues finding any serious problems with it.

If Wen Ruohan married into the Lan, the Lan sect wouldn’t need to fear being swallowed up by the Wen sect, even if for no other reason than because Wen Ruohan’s vanity wouldn’t permit for his new family to be slighted in any way – and they would be the best defended sect in the world, safe from anyone else on account of having the world’s foremost array master living in tranquility with them in the undisturbed sanctity of the Cloud Recesses. If an alliance between the Lan, the Wen and the Nie such as Wen Ruohan described were eventually put into place, and such a thing would only come after a long period of negotiation and testing, that would serve them even better; Lan Qiren would no longer have to worry so much about the predations of the other Great Sects. Even if the alliance were only temporary, lasting only until the next generation were ready to take the lead and then dissolving, the idea of raising his nephews in an era of peace was overwhelmingly appealing.

Surely there had to be something wrong with the idea. Nothing that good ever happened to Lan Qiren.

Did it?

Could it?

Perhaps it could.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Relentless - chapter 12 - ao3

Lan Qiren couldn’t repress a full body shudder once it finally sunk in that he had been the target of a genuine assassination attempt.

Luckily both his nephews were too busy watching the servants to piece it together themselves, having started arguing (in their own way) about which of Lan Yueheng’s explosions had been the most dramatic, or at the very least which one was their favorite of the lot. For his nephews, an argument largely consisted of Lan Xichen making well-reasoned points in favor of his preferred view, a particularly wretched explosion that had somehow dyed everyone involved a virulent shade of bright green that hadn’t faded for nearly half a month, while Lan Wangji hummed, mentioned his own favorite, a bunny-shaped firework that had gotten out of control and gone off four times in a row, and promptly refused to engage any further or concede the point in the slightest.

It kept them both entertained, anyway.

Lan Qiren was just considering getting up to help the servants that were putting out the flames – they weren’t having much luck – when Wen Ruohan swept in, face dark.

“Enough,” he snapped, and the flames all went out at once.

It was rather impressive, actually. He didn’t even summon up an array, just used his high cultivation to smother the flames with spiritual energy directly. Wasteful, of course, tremendously wasteful, but impressive nonetheless…

“I will have an answer to what has happened here,” Wen Ruohan said, his voice soft and gentle in that terrible sort of way that he had when he was genuinely angry, and his servants quailed before him. “If not, you will all share in the punishment. Is that understood?”

The servants all dropped to their knees, shouting, “Yes, Sect Leader!” with enthusiasm.

Lan Qiren closed his eyes, feeling the onset of a headache. Was this really the man to whom his long-quiet heart had finally inclined? Really? What was wrong with him? Wrong with his entire sect, even, that they so consistently fell in love so terribly?

When Lan Qiren ultimately went to join his ancestors, he would have some very serious questions to ask of their founder Lan An. Perhaps he had simply omitted to include mention of some family curse he had brought down upon all their heads in the family histories…

“Qiren,” Wen Ruohan said, turning to him. “You should see a doctor.”

“No need,” Lan Qiren said. He did not wish to trust his health to a doctor he did not know – he rarely did in the best of times, back in the Lan sect he was known as an infamously terrible patient, but now that someone unknown had actually sought to kill him, he was even less inclined. “I’m fine.”

“There was an explosion –”

“Do you think I don’t know how to deal with explosions? I’m fine.” Seeing Wen Ruohan’s fierce expression, unlikely to yield so easily, Lan Qiren sighed. It was exactly the same instinct he’d had with his nephews, only unlike that situation Wen Ruohan was clearly having difficulty processing the desire to clutch at someone in distress over their potential demise. He probably also wanted Lan Qiren out of the way so that he could threaten people in peace, something Lan Qiren would normally object to a lot more if his nephews hadn’t been at risk. “I will have someone look me over. Acceptable?”

Wen Ruohan nodded stiffly and swept away, still seething.

“Where is Wen Qing?” Lan Qiren asked his nephews, who led him to her. Wen Qing was still only learning to be a doctor, but Lan Qiren felt moderately comfortable that she was not about to do something terribly stupid or malicious, which was more than he felt with most other doctors.

Of course, by the time he reached her, she’d somehow already heard.

“Really, how did you even dodge…?” she started to ask, taking his pulse, and he glared at her until she shut her mouth.

“Xichen,” he said, drawing their attention to himself. “Wangji. It is late, and you have morning study. You should rest. Tomorrow you will make me a list of all the rules that could be applicable to why you should not enter the adults’ quarters without adequate reason.”

“Yes, shufu!” they both chorused, not seeming even slightly perturbed by the minor punishment.

“I’ll escort you there. Wen Qing, you can finish checking me in their courtyard.”

She kept her mouth shut until Lan Qiren had inspected their rooms to his satisfaction, then sent them off to bed and returned to the courtyard.

“They haven’t figured it out yet?” she asked.

“They are only children, and the Cloud Recesses does not have a tradition of assassination,” Lan Qiren said stiffly, then held out his wrist. “I will tell you in advance that I am fine and do not require medical care.”

“That’s for me to determine,” she retorted, but even Wen Qing had to admit, after some examination, that he had a point. “How did you manage that? Even if you dodged, you were in direct vicinity of the blast. Yet you have no burns, no serious disruption to hearing or sight, no broken bones…the worst you have is the knock on the head you got from falling, and even that’s not a proper concussion.”

The voluminous Lan sect robes had arrays woven into them, both defensive and pedestrian in nature – something had to help them keep them clean, after all – and Lan Qiren had long ago replaced all the ones he owned with the thicker, heavier robes favored by both warriors and, more importantly, alchemists. Lan Yueheng’s willingness to limit his passion for alchemy to the laboratory was indeed a relatively recent innovation, dating only to the birth of his first child, and Lan Qiren had always found it much easier to simply be prepared at all times rather than have to change before visiting his best friend…

“Preparation in advance is more valuable than reacting in the moment,” he said vaguely, getting up to go prepare the cot he had previously used when he stayed with his nephews. “At any rate, your efforts on my behalf are appreciated. I have kept you from your rest.”

Wen Qing scoffed. “Not everyone keeps Lan sect hours, Teacher Lan. Think nothing of it…wait, is that a cot? Are you staying here tonight? Why?”

“…my room was just blown up,” Lan Qiren said blankly. “Where else would I stay?”

Wen Qing gave him a strange look. “With my uncle?”

“Why would I do that?”

Her expression got even stranger. “Did you really have nothing to do with the explosion?”

Now it was Lan Qiren’s turn to stare at her. “You think…why would you think such a thing? Why would I blow up my own room?”

“To have an excuse to stay with my uncle, of course!”

“Perhaps I ought to make an exemption to my rule against mixing genders in my classes. What in the world have you been learning? What sort of ridiculous logic is that?”

“Someone was actually trying to kill you?” she squawked, looking horrified. “I thought you were joking about the assassinations –”

There must be something about the Wen sect, Lan Qiren decided, or possibly in the water in the Nightless City. No one at home assumed he was joking about anything.

Eventually, Lan Qiren managed to get Wen Qing to go away, primarily through appealing to her concern for her younger brother – why she had suddenly switched to worrying about him, he had no idea, but family was naturally more important – and by then it was the Lan sect curfew time.

He would talk to Wen Ruohan about it tomorrow, he decided. He had no idea who might want to hurt him or hurt his nephews, but he wasn’t about to take such a threat lying down.

The next morning he excused his nephews from morning training so that they could compose their list, did his own training, and waited until a time of the morning that he had learned the Wen sect generally considered to be ‘reasonable’ to start making his way towards Wen Ruohan’s study.

He had spent most of his time considering the question of the assassination, rather than romance, but he judged the time appropriately distributed. They could always discuss the issue of his feelings later; safety and security of human life, as ever, took precedence, and protecting his nephews was first and foremost. Lan Qiren had built up the strongest possible shield that he could around their bedrooms and the classroom, and he could ensure that they remained in those two places – that was a good start, but insufficient. He would need Wen Ruohan to help him enact additional measures to find the perpetrator and stop them once and for all…

An ominous rumble sounded.

Lan Qiren paused, then picked up his pace considerably. That hadn’t sounded like an explosion. Rather, it sounded a lot more like the aftereffects of a wave of spiritual energy hitting spiritual energy, the way it did in a duel – but that was not especially comforting. Who would dare have a duel on Wen Ruohan’s doorstep?

The answer, Lan Qiren discovered as he burst into the main hall, was Lao Nie.

His old friend was wielding his saber, pointing it at Wen Ruohan with his face black with rage, practically emitting steam from all the apertures of the face, and Wen Ruohan was smiling back at him with those terrible dead eyes of his, the curve of his lips deliberately provocative, his posture aggressive and equally angry. They were in the midst of shouting at each other.

“What are you doing?” Lan Qiren exclaimed, but they both barely glanced at him before continuing to glare at each other.

“As you can see, he’s perfectly fine,” Wen Ruohan said silkily. “Your fears are, as ever, exaggerated –”

“Intact and fine are two different things,” Lao Nie shot back. “You kidnapped another sect leader –”

“Acting sect leader. I think you’ll find those are quite different, politically –”

“Fuck the politics of it! You cannot simply steal people the way you do land. Such a thing is evil! Even if they later forgive you, even if your motives can be understood, it is fundamentally wrong –”

“Evil? Fine, let it be evil! Let me be evil! The only thing that you have gotten wrong is thinking that I care about what you think –”

Lao Nie brought down his saber, a wave of spiritual energy as powerful as any tsunami sweeping across the main hall; Wen Ruohan broke it with a wave of his hand, then summoned up arrays that circled around his palms with an ominous red glare.

“Stop fighting about me as if I’m not here!” Lan Qiren demanded.

They ignored him again.

“It is not as if you did not already know what I am like. You knew from the very beginning, and came to me regardless,” Wen Ruohan was saying to Lao Nie, deliberately taunting. “You put on a show of protest now, but back then you were the first to turn your eyes away from evil –”

“Fight evil wherever it may be,” Lao Nie snarled in response. “Don’t think I will look aside, not even for you –”

In frustration, Lan Qiren summoned Yunhan out of his qiankun pouch and laid his guqin out in front of him, sending out a harsh strum of spiritual energy of his own.

Both Lao Nie and Wen Ruohan responded on instinct, each one throwing up a hand to block without taking their eyes off each other – the greater threat, given how their martial prowess vastly exceeded Lan Qiren’s own – but Lan Qiren was, unlike them, not currently maddened into a frenzy. He had at no point expected that he could defeat either of these two titans.

Instead, he’d directed his spiritual energy at the floor under their feet.

Tile cracked and stone shattered. Both Wen Ruohan and Lao Nie staggered, surprised by the sudden loss of steady footing, and Lan Qiren took advantage at once to hit them upside the head with the strongest lullaby he knew. When infused with spiritual energy, it was traditionally used in night-hunts to calm horses and sometimes to lull the angry ghosts of neglected infants; it was almost never used as a weapon against other cultivators, since most people, even non-cultivators, could shrug off the externally inflicted sensation of calm sleepiness quite easily – but then, Lan Qiren wasn’t trying to win a fight right now.

He was trying to end one.

Both men had been walloped so firmly over the head with the lullaby that they’d fallen backwards onto the floor; they both gaped at him, each one having clearly correctly identified the choice in music as Lan Qiren calling them overgrown babies that were having an unjustified temper tantrum. Resentfully, Lan Qiren switched songs to something a little more directly effective – at first he considered Cleansing, but then decided that it was insufficiently powerful, given the targets; he went instead with Clarity, and played that highly complicated tune as aggressively as he possibly could.

“…I feel like my head was just doused in lye and scrubbed vigorously,” Lao Nie said blankly after Lan Qiren finished. He was still sitting on the floor, looking as though he had no idea how he had gotten there. “And then twisted until all the water was squeezed out of it and left to dry in the sun.”

Wen Ruohan was sitting on the floor as well, with a hand to his temple. He seemed highly bemused. “I know exactly what you mean,” he said. “Was that meant to purge resentment? It is – remarkably effective.”

“I trust that that means you have both gotten over this ridiculous dispute,” Lan Qiren said sternly, rising to his feet and putting Yunhan away. “Allow me to remind you both that I am the one who was kidnapped, and therefore I, and I alone, am the final arbitrator of what justice righteousness demands. I have never appreciated being used as a tool for the disputes of others. If you intend to fight like a bunch of squabbling infants, you may do so outside of my presence, but you may not do so in my name. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Teacher Lan,” Wen Ruohan said, and Lao Nie nodded.

“What he said,” he said.

“Good,” Lan Qiren said. “Now get up off the floor. We are going to go have tea and discuss this matter like reasonable adults until I have had my concerns answered to my satisfaction. At that point, if you are still so inclined to persist in your infantile squabble, you may at that point resume your fight on the training field.”

Neither of them made any motion to get up.

“Well?”

“He’s magnificent,” Wen Ruohan said to Lao Nie. His voice was strangely plaintive, almost as if he were complaining. “It’s quite unfair.”

“I told you,” Lao Nie said, and he, at least, got up. “Come on, we can commiserate later. We don’t want to keep Teacher Lan waiting, now do we?”

“I don’t know. The thought of the imposed punishment has its own appeal.”

“Mm, I know what you mean…”

Ridiculous. Both of them, utterly ridiculous. Lan Qiren couldn’t believe he liked either of them.

He scoffed and turned on his heel, marching towards Wen Ruohan’s study, intending on grabbing a servant on the way and passing along orders to prepare tea and some small snacks. The two idiots behind him would simply have to make their own way there; he simply wasn’t going to deal with them for a single moment longer.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Relentless - chapter 9 - ao3

“I didn’t think you came out of your room,” a well-dressed lady said to him, her tone snide.

Lan Qiren ignored her as he perused through the bookshelves. He was assuming she was one of the Nightless City’s many courtiers, or at least the wife of one – presumably one of the ones he’d already refused to help, given her rudeness. She’d appeared within only a stick or two of incense after he’d arrived at the main library, her timing impeccable; it really made him wonder if someone were having him watched.

Someone other than Wen Ruohan, that was. He wasn’t stupid.

Ignoring her seemed to annoy the lady further, though, and she followed him deeper into the rows of bookcases, saying, “One really does have to one what you spend all your time doing, locked away in there…though I suppose one needn’t really wonder. It must be a piquant delight for the sect leader, having a former rival sect leader submit to you –”

“Acting,” Lan Qiren corrected her, having heard accusations of a similar tenor several times before and no longer capable of being moved by them. “I was never truly a sect leader, so I cannot be given the title of ‘former’. The position has at all times been temporary, even if it were regularly renewed. At the moment, I am acting only in the role of teacher.”

“Oh, yes, teacher,” the lady sneered as if it were a bad word. “You lack the ability to give him children, so you will mold the ones he has, is that the idea?”

That was so very much not the idea that Lan Qiren couldn’t help but scoff.

“Or is there another reason you want to be left alone with young boys for so long…?”

“Have I done something to offend you, mistress?” Lan Qiren asked icily, finally pushed too far for endurance and turning to look at her. “I assume I must, and yet I cannot think of what it might be, given that we have not been introduced.”

The woman gaped at him. “You cannot be serious!” she shouted, and Lan Qiren’s frown deepened. “You know perfectly well who I am!”

“I most certainly do not. Who are you?”

“I’m – I’m Second Madame Wen!”

Lan Qiren just barely managed to bite his tongue before blurting out The former maid?, since unfortunately that was the only thing he knew about her. He took another look: she was, as he’d noted before, very well-dressed, draped in luxurious fabrics and glittering with gems, but it was like he’d said to Wen Ruohan before – riches and luxury all looked the same after a while. She was pretty enough, he supposed, though he’d never developed much of an aesthetic for such things, and if he tried he supposed he could see something of Wen Chao’s features in her face.

“Oh,” Lan Qiren said. “Why haven’t I seen you before, then?”

Second Madame Wen gaped at him again.

“I only banned Wen Xu from seeing his mother, not Wen Chao from seeing you,” Lan Qiren said, wondering if she needed a further explanation. “Your son may be overly spoiled, but I haven’t seen any indication that you were actively interfering with his education or efforts, so there was no need. Given that I’m teaching your son, and since I’m here in your home, I would have expected you to come to greet me far earlier. Or at least join in on one of the official dinners that Wen Ruohan has been holding – you are invited, are you not?”

“How dare you!” she shouted, which wasn’t even remotely a proper response to his question. “You – you – trollop!”

Lan Qiren blinked. “…me?”

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand where she was coming from, what with all the rumors about him sleeping with Wen Ruohan, but – really? A trollop? Him?

What next, was she going to call him a brazen little hussy too?

He almost wished she would. It would make a fine story to tell Lan Yueheng when he returned home. And Lao Nie, should he ever heard of it, would probably do himself very serious injury laughing –

Sadly, Second Madame Wen instead made a high-pitched sound between her teeth and stormed off.

Lan Qiren was so taken aback by the abruptness of her actions that it took another moment for him to realize what had happened, and then he called after her, “No, wait – I was serious – we really do need to discuss Wen Chao’s progress on –”

No, it was too late, she was gone.

Lan Qiren sighed. He’d already learned from experience that there was little that could be done about these sorts of relationship-based misunderstandings – denying it just made people think he was hiding something, asking people what was wrong with them made them suspect that he was ashamed of it, and even getting the other individual in question to deny it was only seen as further evidence of a secret liaison, as if such a thing were necessary to collaboration. The only time he’d ever managed to throw off rumors had been when the other person in question had been Lan Yueheng, who had very genuinely not understood what was being implied and asked a lot of very earnest question about how exactly he could ‘improve’ his relationship with Lan Qiren on account of them already having reached the pinnacle of friendship back when Lan Qiren had edited an entire book on the mathematics underlying alchemy for him.

(The rumors about him and Cangse Sanren, in contrast, were somehow still going strong, and she was already married to another – and dead.)

In this case, Lan Qiren was quite sure that attempting to try to talk Wen Ruohan into issuing a denial would be completely pointless, and also probably lead to nothing more than further flirtation.

Anyway, even if it didn’t, Lan Qiren didn’t actually want people sent to the Fire Palace just for gossiping about him. Even with the improvements of the past short while, proper discipline was terribly hard to implement in the Nightless City, given how afraid everyone was of Wen Ruohan reverting to form…

“Are you Teacher Lan?”

Lan Qiren missed the private library already. He closed the book he was holding, suppressing the urge to sigh, and turned to look at the person who’d interrupted him – another lady, though far more simply dressed, without any of the ostentation or jewels that had been practically pouring off of Second Madame Wen.

“I am,” he said politely. “Can I help you?”

The young lady dipped her head down shyly. “There’s a matter I don’t quite understand in my book. Could I prevail on you to assist me?”

Lan Qiren was not a teacher of girls, given how the Cloud Recesses divided men and women for the purposes of their daily life, and being himself unmarried, he did not have too much experience in dealing with the other sex. Still, despite his role as the Wen boys’ teacher, he was still very much an interloper in the Nightless City, however unwillingly he’d arrived – it was probably rude to simply reject a polite and very simple request like this out of hand, no matter how much he longed to.

“I am unsure of my ability,” he said, casting a longing gaze at the bookshelf beside him as if it would save him. “What is the subject of your study?”

Her question turned out to be something related to music, very basic and straightforward, so at least he knew he had the ability to help. Deciding to be efficient, Lan Qiren went to a desk and pulled out a piece of paper and the treasures of the study – the hidden mechanism had taken a while to get used to, but now that he knew about it, having a brush to hand at all times was actually quite convenient – and began writing out an explanation.

The young lady apparently hadn’t anticipated that. “Are you certainly you don’t want to just tell me about it directly?” she said uncertainly, shifting her weight from one leg to another. “If you would just come sit beside me, I could continue to read on my own and simply ask you anything I don’t understand.”

“If you’re having trouble with a concept as fundamental as this, it means your foundation is all wrong,” Lan Qiren told her bluntly. “Reading a book that is beyond your limits won’t help, not even with assistance from a teacher. I’ll write up the parts you need to know first so that you can review them at your leisure – more than once, ideally. In fact, if you copy out the notes a few times, it would probably help your understanding.”

The lady stared at him blankly.

“You don’t have to linger,” he pointed out. “Feel free to go make another attempt at your book. I’ll be done soon enough.”

“…no, I’ll stay, thank you,” she said, and then proceeded to make a complete nuisance of herself – offering to pour him tea (he’d just poured some for himself), asking if he were comfortable (he was), complaining that she was cold (what she expected him to do about it, he had no idea).

She even asked him whether he thought she was pretty.

“Just because you’re no good at music now doesn’t mean you can’t get better,” Lan Qiren said, trying to be comforting. He couldn’t imagine reaching the age this woman had without knowing the elementary aspects of qin playing, especially not if she was, as she claimed, an aspiring musician who had loved the instrument from a young age, but perhaps her family circumstances were unfortunate and her self-confidence affected as a result. “Even if you do end up not finding a talent for it, you can always find another skill. You shouldn’t be so hasty to give it all up and assume that your only asset is your face.”

She brightened. “So you like my face?”

“…I’m not the person to ask.” Lan Qiren decided that bluntness was the only way to make it through to her apparently thoroughly obtuse head. “Listen, all of your interruptions are making writing this introduction for you more difficult than it needs to be. Could you wait elsewhere?”

“But –” She glanced from side to side, then proceeded to abruptly swoon.

Lan Qiren was enough of a gentleman to try hastily scramble to his feet to catch her. “Are you all right?” he asked, concerned by her sudden onset of weakness. “Should I call a doctor?”

“I’m better now,” she said, looking up at him. “Much better.”

“I’m glad to hear it, but a sudden loss of consciousness can presage any number of more serious illnesses: a drop in blood pressure, dehydration, heart issues, brain issues…You should go see a doctor at once.”

“Oh, but – but Lan-gege…”

Lan Qiren’s eye twitched at the overly intimate form of address. He was about to correct her when he heard someone clear their throat.

Lan Qiren glanced over and was relieved to see Wen Ruohan standing there.

“Oh, good, you’re here,” he said, helping the lady back into a standing posture. “Wen Ruohan, tell this woman she needs to go see a doctor immediately; she hasn’t been listening to me. I am more than happy to continue writing out the introduction to qin playing for her, but it’s not something that requires her presence – I can have one of the pages send it to her rooms later on. Certainly there’s no reason to wait around for it when such a delay could pose a risk to her health! I understand of course how music can drive one to recklessness, but –”

“Qiren,” Wen Ruohan said, and his eyes curved in a smile that seemed even genuine, as if he were suppressing the urge to laugh. “Qiren, she was trying to flirt with you.”

Lan Qiren recoiled at once. “She was what?!”

He looked at the lady, who was blushing.

Flustered, Lan Qiren took several steps back, thinking to himself (not for the first time) that his sect’s rule about not disturbing female disciples was a good one but somewhat lacking in guidance as to what one did when the female disciples sought to bother him. Then he frowned. “Hold on, does that mean you don’t actually want the introduction to music theory?”

“It’s actually quite good,” Wen Ruohan said, having meandered over to the desk to poke his nose into Lan Qiren’s business as usual. “Very straightforward. Have you considered writing a book?”

“I – well, I’ve never had the time…”

“You’re dismissed,” Wen Ruohan said to the lady, who saluted, pale-faced, and hurried away. He glanced over at Lan Qiren, still looking incredibly amused. “Surely someone has flirted with you before.”

“Not often. And they’re usually more overt about it.”

“Are they? Or did you just not notice anyone who wasn’t blunt enough?”

That was distressingly plausible.

“What a colossal waste of everyone’s time that was,” Lan Qiren said, discouraged. Wen Ruohan sniggered. “What was even the point of that?”

“Me, I suspect.” Wen Ruohan shrugged when Lan Qiren looked at him. “My first wife has a way with schemes. I expect I was supposed to walk in and see you snuggled up together with some pure, virtuous, scholarly young lady that would be far more what one would expect a person like you to like. People seem to think I have a problem with infidelity.”

“Then people are very stupid,” Lan Qiren said, irritated beyond belief. In retrospect, the only part of it that surprised him was Wen Ruohan’s assumption that it was his first wife that had taken action – he himself would have assumed it would have been the Second Madame Wen who’d instigated it, thinking it revenge for him having seemed to slight her earlier. He’d just been thinking nastily to himself that Wen Chao would clearly need to work quite hard to overcome the deficiency of brains on that side of the family – though perhaps he was being naïve once more. It was Wen Xu’s mother that he had irritated first, and the lady had clearly been well prepared; Second Madame Wen wouldn’t have had time to put such a thing together so quickly, and her presence immediately beforehand could have been arranged specifically to divert his blame. Rather clever, he supposed, if petty and ultimately pointless. “Obviously you don’t care one way or another what anyone does with their bodies, provided you have their heart.”

“You sound very certain of that.”

“You sound as if you’ve forgotten that I’ve been acting sect leader for over a decade,” Lan Qiren said, rolling his eyes. “And that I’ve had to endure those horrible parties at Jinlin Tower for just as long. No one who has seen you and Lao Nie making bets on how many prostitutes you can handle in a given night without resorting to your cultivation for additional energy would think that you expect physical fidelity from your lovers.”

“That was a good night,” Wen Ruohan said nostalgically. “Also, that man is insatiable.”

“Maybe you’re just old.”

Wen Ruohan snorted, hand actually rising up to cover his mouth – he must not have meant to laugh – and then he shook his head, clearly dismissing the entire thing. “Why are you in here, anyway? I thought you preferred the other library specifically to avoid situations such as these.”

“I do, and that is indeed why. I was looking for something specific.” Lan Qiren realized a moment later that admitting that fact meant opening himself up to questions as to what, exactly, he was looking for, and possibly even an offer of help in finding it, which he didn’t want. “Nothing sufficient to rise to your concern.”

“Well, now I’m doubly interested. Were you finally tempted by the spring books?”

“I have more interesting things to do.” There was no getting around it, it seemed. Perhaps he could be non-specific? “As it happens, I was looking for records on the Wen clan.”

Wen Ruohan blinked. “I utterly forbid you to read the Quintessence. It may be the gift of my ancestors, but I can do very well without having it quoted in my ear at every moment – the Lan sect rules are bad enough.”

“I hardly quote my sect rules at every moment, though I’m willing to make a significant effort to do so if you continue to pester me about it.” Wen Ruohan held up his hands in mock surrender. “Anyway, there’s no point in learning a bunch of quotations that contain wisdom that nobody follows.”

Wen Ruohan didn’t bother disputing the point. “So what were you looking for?”

There was clearly no way out of explaining, so Lan Qiren begrudgingly admitted, “I was looking for family records. It occurred to me that I had no idea if you had any siblings.”

Wen Ruohan appeared taken aback.

“Yes, I know, I could have just asked,” Lan Qiren said with a sigh. “However, given the importance of knowing family structures among the sects, it seemed rude to admit that I had no notion of yours. Assuming the absence of knowledge on the subject wasn’t intentional on your part.”

“Merely an artefact of time, in this instance,” Wen Ruohan said, sounding bemused. “The last time someone actually quoted my family tree back at me was in your father’s generation, and that was to accuse me of having murdered all of my immediate kin for power.”

Lan Qiren arched his eyebrows. “Did you?”

“Only some of them, and typically they were also seeking to kill me at the time. My father fancied himself an emperor.”

“Ah,” Lan Qiren said. “A familial disorder, I see.”

Wen Ruohan was struggling not to smile again. He hadn’t smiled this much in the entire decade or so Lan Qiren had known him, but then again he supposed that they hadn’t really spoken much in that time. “Oh, to be certain,” he agreed. “I would argue that it’s been in our blood since Wen Mao first put the red sun in the sky…though I like to think I’ve been more successful at it than any of my predecessors.”

“If you were to say you were second, no one would dare claim to be first. Congratulations on your successful career of tyranny.”

“Even your insolence is charming,” Wen Ruohan mused. “You say things that would have me ordering an execution if it were anyone else, and yet I find them hysterically funny. You must tell me how you manage it.”

“Contrast, perhaps?” Lan Qiren said after a moment’s contemplation. “You have over a decade of expecting me to be frightfully dull. You’ve belatedly discovered that I’m not, but your initial impression is engraved so deeply that you continually find it to be a surprise.”

“That wasn’t actually a question that needed answering, but I suppose you’re right. Dare I ask why you wanted to know about my family? I assume it wasn’t for the purpose of insulting me.”

Lan Qiren rolled his eyes. “A matter of curiosity, nothing more. I had suddenly recalled an old teacher of mine who once asked if I could find out whatever happened to ‘that poor boy Wen Ruoyu’ and I thought I might try to find out if that were a real person or not.”

Wen Ruohan choked.

Lan Qiren arched his eyebrows, having not expected such a reaction from the normally unflappable sect leader.

“…my favorite younger brother,” Wen Ruohan said, sounding a little strangled. “He died tragically. I regret it to this day.”

“Ah. My condolences. Losing a brother is very difficult, especially if you liked them.”

Wen Ruohan gave Lan Qiren a strange look, which Lan Qiren didn’t think he entirely deserved for such an anodyne statement.

“I’ll be going,” Wen Ruohan finally said instead of pursuing the conversation further. “There’s a report that’s been sitting on my desk for too long, being neglected, and I find myself suddenly compelled with a deep desire to read it.”

“…do you want me to wish you safe travels and good luck?” Lan Qiren prompted when Wen Ruohan did not, in fact, leave. “Or were you lingering in order to point me in the right direction for a genealogy?”

Wen Ruohan’s eyes were curving again. “I haven’t the slightest notion where such a thing might be. I recommend you ask a servant to find it for you, that’s what they’re for.”

“That’s what I was trying –”

Wen Ruohan rather rudely left before Lan Qiren could finish his sentence. In the end, Lan Qiren decided that discretion was the better part of valor and left instructions with one of the servants to find it for him and deliver it to him later, then retreated back to his rooms to focus on something else.

Anything else.

He ended up settling on composing something, a hobby he hadn’t had nearly enough time to devote himself to in the past. He’d initially planned to pick up one of the spell-songs he liked to tinker with when he had time, but instead he’d started writing something new – a snippet of tune that had popped into his head out of nowhere, which for some reason reminded of Wen Ruohan, aggressive and yet cool, like some massive snake hanging around sunning itself on one’s throat, its fangs always at the ready.

At some point during the afternoon, while he was preoccupied with that, Lan Wangji wandered in with Wen Ning trailing behind him like a duckling, and they made themselves at home in the corner. Lan Qiren had always allowed his nephews to settle near him if they so wished, provided that they were quiet, and so he did not pay them any mind as he continued what he was doing. Spell-song composition was tricky, requiring expertise in cultivation techniques, musical theory, and the art of combining the two, which was its own independent skill, and so there was rather a lot of plucking away at Yunhan, writing something down, repeating the melody with spiritual energy, writing more down and crossing things out, picking out yet another attempted melody…

Sometimes Lan Qiren thought he might envy the demonic cultivators of old, who were said to bend spiritual energy to their whims through the feel of the music rather than the content. While one could brute-force it and use a lullaby as a calming spell or a spritely dance as a summoning, it was a grossly inefficient waste of one’s own spiritual energy, vast quantities spilling out into the environment to grow grass rather than being properly channeled into the music. Only a demonic cultivator who relied on external sources of spiritual energy or who went as far as to utilize resentful energy could reliably use such a method, since it wouldn’t be their own energy they were wasting – of course, a demonic cultivator also typically ended up relying on murdering people to obtain the necessary spiritual energy to strengthen themselves, so it wasn’t actually any sort of solution. Orthodoxy was orthodoxy for a reason.

But oh, it would make things so much easier…

“Shufu?”

Lan Qiren shook himself out of his reverie and crossed out several lines of musical notation that kept edging towards the outright jarring. “Yes, Wangji?”

“Wen Ning said that you make Sect Leader Wen better by being around him.” Lan Wangji was frowning down at the ground, and Wen Ning was lurking behind him, looking at Lan Qiren warily and yet hopefully. “How did you do it? Does it work on other – on anyone?”

Lan Qiren winced and put his guqin aside.

“It doesn’t work like that,” he said, putting his hands in his lap and hiding them in his sleeves so that his nephew wouldn’t see the way he’d clenched his fists. “I’m not making Sect Leader Wen ‘better’. If being around me makes him want to be better, then he can be better, but it always remains his choice. We cannot change the decisions of others.”

If Lan Qiren could, through his presence, have made his brother better, or even his much-despised sister-in-law that was likely to be the closest thing he ever had to a wife, he would have sacrificed everything in order to achieve it – he had sacrificed everything, and yet had not made a single change in either of them.

The worst of it was that Lan Qiren knew that Lan Wangji, who was very much like him, would have made the same choices he had, and just as futilely. That was his true fear for both his nephews, Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen both – he knew that they were just like the rest of their clan, Lans ruled by their heart and restrained only by the rules that they loved just as much, and he feared that if he did not do his utmost to guide them in the right way, they would end up like their father…or their uncle.

It didn’t matter to him whether they would be the one to make the terrible mistake or the one to have to pay for it, whether they would commit themselves to that which did not love them as well as they deserved or whether they would keep the world at arms’ length, distant and cold, until they drowned in it and forgot their own identity. It was irrelevant. The fear was the same either way.

He wanted them to be luckier than he and his brother had been. He wanted them to be happy.

He…

He himself was happier now than he had been in the past, although Lan Qiren hated to admit to it.

He hated to think that it took being kidnapped to remind him that he could not model joy for his nephews when he himself had none of his own – to remember that he had longed to give his nephews the gift of their family’s rules and its inheritance, not to treat the sect as a burden that he could only protect them from for so long before he had no choice but to load unto them. He did not want them to grow up thinking of their sect, and his own presence, as an obligation merely to be borne.

The way others did.

(Lan Qiren supposed Wen Ruohan didn’t see him as a burden, but he really wished the other man had expressed that feeling in some way other than kidnapping. The fact that they were on better terms now, or that the kidnapping may have saved his life and sanity from the corruption of his own sect’s negligence, did not mean that that he had wholly forgiven him for having done it in the first place.)

Lan Qiren’s eyes drifted over to Wen Ning. “Who is it that you wish to change?” he asked, and Wen Ning flushed. “Sect Leader Wen? Or someone else?”

Wen Ning wrung his hands and ducked his head. He disliked speaking at the best of times, which this was far from being.

“His grandfather, I think,” Lan Wangji announced, helpfully blunt. “Or maybe his sister. Definitely Sect Leader Wen. They all expect so much from him, and he hates that he lets them down.”

Unable to lie and say that Wen Ning had done well, as his performance was truly mediocre at best in most fields, Lan Qiren told him, “Of late, you have done much better in my classes than you did at the start, and I have told both Sect Leader Wen and your sister of your improvement.”

Wen Ning looked pleased enough at that.

“I would tell your grandfather the same, though I haven’t met him –”

“Oh, you shouldn’t!” Wen Ning blurted out, uncharacteristically interrupting. “He lives in Dafan and he hates Sect Leader Wen.”

He did? How strange. If that were the case, Lan Qiren wondered why the man had sent his grandchildren to the Nightless City after the death of his son and daughter-in-law, though he supposed it was possible that Wen Ruohan had just taken Wen Qing when he’d discovered her talent. Though if that were the reason, why take the amiable but fairly useless Wen Ning as well? From what Lan Qiren had learned, both Wen Qing and Wen Ning had been in the Nightless City for some time and seemed to expect to remain indefinitely, yet Wen Ruohan was not the sort of person to bring along someone for no reason, nor to give in to a girl pleading to bring along her brother. Even Lan Qiren had had to threaten suicide to try to change his mind – and even then it hadn’t actually worked. That irritable bastard had just found another way to get what he wanted.

Lan Qiren resolved to ask Wen Ruohan about it at the next possible opportunity. It might be a little rude of him to stick his nose into other families’ affairs, but Wen Ning was his student; he could (just barely) justify it.

“It’s all right, though,” Wen Ning said shyly. “As long as you’ve changed Sect Leader Wen, that’s good enough.”

“Again, I have not ‘changed’ him, even if my presence might have been the trigger for some change,” Lan Qiren corrected. “It is only that he has chosen to change himself – and he can always choose otherwise.”

He had cause to regret his prescient words later that evening when they all went to dinner, it being one of the days Wen Ruohan invited them all to the formal dining room, because when they arrived it could be seen that Wen Ruohan’s mood was terrible, his face as black as stormclouds.

“Sect Leader Lan,” he said sharply the second Lan Qiren entered the room, before he even had a chance to sit down, much less for the food to be served. “Let us speak on the subject of your brother.”