#party invites is that Wangji did tell Xichen and Mingjue

[winepresswrath]

a looooot of fix-it fic tends to have a "the good sect leaders find out the wens are old farmers and a baby and are horrified and they all live happy ever after" moment, which is absolutely FINE for a fun fix-it, but i've always found the idea that they didn't know very funny lol.

I do think that if you sell them on it the right way early enough in the plot you can probably use it for leverage and like, argue that another clan should be in charge of the prisoners. I do not think that any of these people are really enthused about the prospect of hurting non-combatants and it's pretty obvious that the guards were acting outside the boundaries of their official authority. If Wei Wuxian had complained in a diplomatic way then six months later everyone might have agreed that imprisoning a toddler was excessive and prisoners shouldn't be used as demon bait, but I think the Jin kill all the witnesses in the interim so it's not really a practical solution. Once they've all broken the conditions of their imprisonment in a way that comes with a body count they're fucked, but given that they were being slowly picked off where they were it's not like they had a better solution.

[bloody-bee-tea]

Sweat

Jiang Cheng knows that it’s a risky move to show up to this office party with Nie Mingjue in tow, but then again it’s not like he cares. Much.

He had tried to introduce Nie Mingjue to his parents countless times, but they always shot him down, citing that they don’t have time for things like this. So Jiang Cheng never got to introduce them.

But the invitation to the party had said he could bring a plus one. It didn’t specify any further than this and Jiang Cheng had waved the invitation at Nie Mingjue, who of course hadn’t gotten one of his own.

Jiang Fengmian wanted to cut a deal with Jin Corp. and everyone knew that Jin Guangshan didn’t make deals when the Nies were involved. So Nie Security hadn’t gotten an invitation at all.

Jiang Cheng is aware that his father will be furious with him for bringing Nie Mingjue but he will be going in his capacity as Jiang Cheng’s boyfriend. It won’t be work related. And it isn’t either of their fault if Jiang Fengmian wants to make a deal with the slimiest bastard in their business.

Jiang Cheng is going to give his dad a metaphorical fuck you by bringing Nie Mingjue.

At least that had been the theory. Now that they are actually at the party, Jiang Cheng is getting pretty damn nervous again, sweat clinging to his temples and back.

“It’ll be alright,” Nie Mingjue whispers and pulls him close with a hand on his hip. “I’m right here.”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t say that that is part of the problem and instead leans into the contact. He has to admit that it does feel pretty nice to not be alone for once.

“Until someone steals you away and then where will I be?” Jiang Cheng grumbles, mostly just to be contrary, because he does feel better this close to Nie Mingjue.

“I hope you’ll be on your way to save me,” Nie Mingjue gives back and brushes a kiss over Jiang Cheng’s temple. “Since work is not what I’m here for. Look, there’s Wei Wuxian,” he then tries to distract Jiang Cheng and he has to admit that it works reasonably well.

Wei Wuxian drags Lan Wangji over to them as well and Jiang Cheng is sure that Lan Xichen is mingling somewhere, too, so there are at least four friendly faces around. Five, if you count Jin Zixuan and with how hard he’s trying lately with Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng is inclined to count him.

Jiang Cheng tries to follow along with Wei Wuxian’s excited chatter about his newest project, but his nerves are getting the better of him once he catches sight of Jiang Fengmian and so most what Wei Wuxian says flies right over Jiang Cheng’s head.

“Uh-oh, here he comes,” Nie Mingjue mutters and steps that little bit closer to Jiang Cheng, making sure that he knows he’s there and he’s supporting him.

Wei Wuxian throws a wide-eyed look over his shoulder before he turns the same wide eyes on Jiang Cheng and Jiang Cheng sighs.

“Go,” he tells him, secretly a little bit relieved that Wei Wuxian wants to remove himself from this situation and Wei Wuxian is gone faster than Jiang Cheng can blink.

Speaking to Jiang Fengmian is never pleasant, but it’s always worse when Wei Wuxian is present. It seem like the sheer existence of Wei Wuxian makes Jiang Fengmian forget that Jiang Cheng even exists and no matter how much time passes or how many therapy sessions Jiang Cheng goes to, it never stops hurting.

Nie Mingjue puts a steadying hand to the small of Jiang Cheng’s back and presses another kiss to his temple where anyone can see and Jiang Cheng loves him for how little Nie Mingjue minds all that family drama that comes with dating him.

It had been one of his big worries when they started dating, but Nie Mingjue seemingly never cared beyond hating how it always hurt Jiang Cheng and that more than anything helped Jiang Cheng to seek out help and to realize that this isn’t normal.

It isn’t normal how he tenses more and more the closer his father gets. It isn’t normal how his heart starts to beat faster when Jiang Fengmian’s eyes fall on him. And it’s certainly not normal how Jiang Cheng starts to shake when clear displeasure clouds over Jiang Fengmian’s face.

“What is the meaning of this?” he asks once he reached them and he’s not even looking at Jiang Cheng anymore.

All of Jiang Fengmian’s attention is on Nie Mingjue.

“What a surprise to see here, Mingjue,” he says and Nie Mingjue tenses with the address.

Jiang Cheng knows that Nie Mingjue hates how overly familiar Jiang Fengmian and Jin Guangshan get whenever they talk to him and so he leans just a little bit more back into Nie Mingjue’s hand.

“Fengmian,” Nie Mingjue gives back, his voice pleasant, though his jaw is clenched. “I’m here with Wanyin.”

“Wanyin,” Jiang Fengmian repeats and turns to look at Jiang Cheng as if this was the first time he noticed him next to Nie Mingjue. “You should be mingling with the Jins.”

“I should be showing my boyfriend around,” Jiang Cheng gives back, hating how there’s the tiniest shake to his voice.

“Your boyfriend,” Jiang Fengmian repeats and looks back at Nie Mingjue. “You’re colluding with the Nies?”

“I am dating a Nie,” Jiang Cheng says, forcing himself to remain calm and collected. “Which you would know if you had ever taken the time to meet my boyfriend.”

“Ah, you know how it is,” Jiang Fengmian says and Jiang Cheng hates that tone of voice, especially when it’s aimed at him. “I am a busy man and who knows how long this fling of yours will last. There’s no need to introduce us when this is bound to end sooner rather than later. I mean, Mingjue is a busy man himself. You shouldn’t hog his attention.”

It’s a reprimand that Jiang Cheng has heard several times before, in different contexts, but it still cuts him deeply. Deeply enough that he can’t even find his voice and it only worsens his mood, because he should be able to defend his boyfriend and their relationship from his own father.

“Enough about this now,” Jiang Fengmian decides as if Jiang Cheng had actually managed to say anything. “Mingjue, about that contract—” Jiang Fengmian says, his attention completely on Nie Mingjue already, and Jiang Cheng has to bite back some tears.

“I am not here for work,” Nie Mingjue bites out and takes Jiang Cheng’s hand in his. “I am here as a plus one to my boyfriend. If you really do want to talk about the contract, you should make an appointment with my secretary.”

Jiang Fengmian blinks, clearly surprised by Nie Mingjue’s firm rebuke and Nie Mingjue takes that opportunity to drag Jiang Cheng away from him.

“I know he’s your dad, but I seriously hate him,” Nie Mingjue mutters once they are out of earshot and Jiang Cheng laughs wetly.

He hates his dad sometimes, too, but he can’t bring himself to say that.

“I’m glad you’re here with me,” Jiang Cheng says, slinging his arms around Nie Mingjue’s middle and just breathing for a few moments.

“Even though I just made it more difficult for you?” Nie Mingjue wants to know, but he squeezes Jiang Cheng back.

“He would have found something to criticise me over anyway,” Jiang Cheng mutters. “It’s easier to endure when you’re there.”

“I’m not leaving you out of my sight tonight,” Nie Mingjue promises him and Jiang Cheng is just about to breathe in relief when the severe clicking of heels announces the arrival of Yu Ziyuan.

“Oh, fuck,” Jiang Cheng whispers and moves away from Nie Mingjue only to come face to face with his clearly disapproving mother.

“Is this how we make business deals now? Whoring yourself out?” she asks, clearly not caring at all who hears her and Jiang Cheng is quick to shake his head.

“Mother, this is my boyfriend, Nie Mingjue. We’ve been dating for a while,” he rushes out, hopes to salvage this situation somehow and he has to admit that he wasn’t prepared for the surprised look on her face.

“Boyfriend,” she repeats. “The boyfriend you have been trying to introduce to us several times?”

Ah, so at least she noticed his attempts.

“Yes,” Jiang Cheng meekly gives back and Nie Mingjue holds his hand out.

“Nie Mingjue, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, finally,” he says with a small smile and Yu Ziyuan only hesitates a second before she takes his hand.

“I wasn’t aware my son was dating you,” she says and Jiang Cheng flinches.

He had told her, several times actually, but of course she didn’t listen to him. She listens more to him than Jiang Fengmian, but it is still not a lot.

“I am,” Jiang Cheng says, trying to sound surer than he feels, and he can’t read the glint in his mother’s eyes at all.

There is a very long silence before Yu Ziyuan speaks again.

“If you hurt him, I will ruin you,” she says and then turns around to leave in the same manner in which she arrived.

“Was she talking to me or to you?” Jiang Cheng asks, once his mother vanishes from his sight and Nie Mingjue sighs.

“I think she actually meant me,” he gives back and then pulls Jiang Cheng into a kiss. “That actually went better than expected,” he mumbles against Jiang Cheng’s lips and Jiang Cheng has to agree.

He has anticipated his father’s disinterest in his boyfriend, so even while that had still hurt, it wasn’t unexpected. But his mother is always a little bit of a wild card and Jiang Cheng never knows what to expect with her.

“Come on, after this I need something to drink,” Nie Mingjue says once they part and Jiang Cheng couldn’t agree more.

They mingle for a bit afterwards, speaking to Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen, and even Jin Zixuan for a while before they retreat back into a relatively quiet corner.

“This wasn’t so bad so far,” Nie Mingjue says with a sigh and leans against the wall. “Being your arm candy certainly has its perks.”

“Like what?” Jiang Cheng snorts but he has to admit that having Nie Mingjue here did wonders to relax him.

“Like being able to simply walk away if someone starts to talk business to me,” Nie Mingjue gives back and threads their fingers together. “And I get to admire you all evening, so that’s a definite plus.”

“Shut up,” Jiang Cheng hisses, but he can already feel how he turns red.

“Never,” Nie Mingjue whispers and kisses Jiang Cheng’s burning cheek.

“You’re an idiot,” Jiang Cheng tells him, aiming for stern but of course he softens immediately when Nie Mingjue looks expectantly at him. “And I love you.”

“I love you, too,” is the immediate response he gets and Jiang Cheng didn’t know how nice it was to never having to wonder or wait for those words.

Nie Mingjue always makes very sure that Jiang Cheng knows just how much he’s loved.

“What the fuck is your father’s problem?” Nie Mingjue mutters suddenly, breaking Jiang Cheng out of his pleasant thoughts and he leans around Nie Mingjue to see better.

“Fuck, he had something to drink,” Jiang Cheng whispers under his breath, because Jiang Fengmian is never a pleasant person to be around—at least not if you are name Jiang Cheng—but it only ever gets worse when he had something to drink.

“I’ve got this,” Nie Mingjue decides and hands Jiang Cheng his empty glass. “Get me some more, would you?”

Jiang Cheng works his jaw a few times, but when Nie Mingjue nudges him into the opposite direction of his father he sighs. “Fine.”

Nie Mingjue gives him a winning smile before he turns around to meet Jiang Fengmian halfway and Jiang Cheng can’t help it. He knows that no matter what’s going to happen it will hurt him, but he simply has to know.

He doesn’t leave to get them new drinks.

“Mingjue, what a nice surprise,” Jiang Fengmian says, just a tad too loudly and Jiang Cheng winces. “What brings you here?”

“We already talked today,” Nie Mingjue reminds him, his hands clenching at his side.

“Oh, did we? Remind me again, then,” Jiang Fengmian says, his voice now a little bit more appropriate and he leans into Nie Mingjue’s space. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here with your son. You know, because we’re dating?” Nie Mingjue tells him and Jiang Cheng knows what’s going to happen a split second before his father opens his mouth.

It feels like someone reached inside his chest and tore his heart out.

“Wei Wuxian? I thought he is with that Lan boy?” Jiang Fengmian says and Jiang Cheng sees how Nie Mingjue freezes.

Jiang Cheng has trouble breathing himself, but he keeps his eyes fixed on Nie Mingjue, because it’s the only safe place to look at right now.

“You piece of shit,” Nie Mingjue mutters, and before Jiang Cheng or anyone else can react, he moves.

Between one blink an the next Jiang Fengmian is on the ground, clearly knocked out cold, and Nie Mingjue is shaking out his hand as he turns around and looks for Jiang Cheng.

“Fuck, you heard,” are the first words out of Nie Mingjue’s mouth, before he rushes up to Jiang Cheng to crush him to his chest.

“You punched him,” Jiang Cheng mutters, blinking several times, because it doesn’t make sense.

His father is in on the ground and people are staring at them, but it doesn’t make sense.

“Of course I did!”

“You just punched him,” Jiang Cheng repeats and it’s only the arrival of his mother that prevents him from breaking down into hysterical laughter.

“What is going on here? Wanyin, an explanation!”

“Your husband forgot who his actual son is,” Nie Mingjue hisses at her, not letting go of Jiang Cheng and clearly not going to apologize for his actions.

“Ma’am, do you want us to call the police?” a security guard suddenly asks and Jiang Cheng tenses in Nie Mingjue’s arms.

He will not allow Nie Mingjue to get punished for this.

Jiang Cheng is about to tell his mother that when she waves them away.

“That won’t be necessary,” she says. “I think it was deserved,” she then adds, much more quietly, before she turns to the room at large. “It seems like my dear husband had a little bit too much to drink and he slipped in a rather unfortunate way,” she calls out. “Please don’t be worried and continue to enjoy the party.”

Jiang Cheng stares at her, his mouth open and it’s only when she turns back around to him and Nie Mingjue that he gets a little bit of control back.

“I think you should leave now,” she says, and Jiang Cheng isn’t sure she ever heard her sound so soft. “Well done,” she adds and pats Nie Mingjue’s arm before she goes to deal with the situation at large.

“What the hell just happened,” Jiang Cheng mutters, but he allows Nie Mingjue to pull him away from his father and from this party.

It’s only when the cold night air hits him that he starts to realize what just happened.

“You punched my father because he was an asshole to me,” Jiang Cheng whispers and Nie Mingjue grimaces.

“Well. I would do it again,” he declares as if Jiang Cheng was about to tell him to not do that again. “He deserved it.”

“He did,” Jiang Cheng agrees and then steps close to Nie Mingjue. “You punched my father for me,” he repeats and Nie Mingjue frowns.

“I can’t tell if you’re angry right now,” Nie Mingjue admits, but he puts his hands on Jiang Cheng’s hips.

“I am in absolute awe of you and I love you so much,” Jiang Cheng tells him and leans in for a biting kiss. “And I think you should take me home now.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is? Me punching your father is doing it for you?” Nie Mingjue teases him, but he starts dragging him towards their car.

“Hell, yes,” Jiang Cheng breathes out, because no one has taken such a stance for him.

“Good to know,” Nie Mingjue says. “But I’d still rather not make it a habit.”

“I think the memory will serve me well, too,” Jiang Cheng says and before Nie Mingjue can get into the car, Jiang Cheng crowds him against the side of it, tucking his face into his neck. “Seriously, thank you.”

“My heart, I love you and no one gets to behave like that when it comes to you,” Nie Mingjue says and puts his arms around Jiang Cheng. “No thanks needed.”

“Oh, I’m gonna thank you,” Jiang Cheng says with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrow and Nie Mingjue barks out a laugh.

“Alright,” he says and then they scramble into the car.

It’s a quiet ride home, despite everything, but Jiang Cheng keeps a hold of Nie Mingjue’s hand and he has to admit that he has never felt so loved before.

And he will make sure Nie Mingjue knows how much he appreciates his actions.

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

[giraffeter]

When Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen invite Jiang Cheng over for dinner, he’s a little surprised no one else is there. He’d sort of thought it was a dinner party situation, but hanging out just the three of them is cool — very cool, even! It’s great when couples still want to hang out with their single friends. He’s always admired them both, they’re definitely hashtag-couple-goals in his book, and it’s flattering that they’re seeking out his company.

The food is great, the wine is good, the conversation is interesting. It’s a great, fun evening, except for a couple moments that are a little weird.

Nie Mingjue goes down to the cellar to grab another bottle of wine. Lan Xichen turns to Jiang Cheng and props his square chin on one long-fingered hand, leaning in like he’s going to tell Jiang Cheng a juicy secret. “So, I’m thinking of getting my nipples pierced,” he confesses.

“Oh…?” Jiang Cheng says, aiming for ‘polite interest’ rather than ‘conversational whiplash.’

Lan Xichen nods, eyes sparkling. “Yours are, right? I noticed at Wangji’s pool party.”

Jiang Cheng isn’t sure how to feel about Lan Xichen noticing his nipples, although he supposes he shouldn’t have gotten them pierced if he didn’t want people to notice at pool parties. “Yeah, I got them done a few years ago.”

“Did it hurt?”

“I mean…yeah? But they healed up pretty quickly.”

“I’ve heard that getting them pierced makes them more sensitive,” Lan Xichen says, toying with his fork.

“I, ah…well, mine were already…pretty sensitive already, so…” Jiang Cheng mumbles, feeling like he’s having a full out-of-body experience. Fortunately at that point Nie Mingjue comes back with the wine and the conversation naturally changes topics.

After dinner, Nie Mingjue pours a hearty Scotch for Jiang Cheng and one for himself, and another small glass of wine for Lan Xichen. They move into the living room, talking about work, their families. It’s fun and relaxed.

At about 10:00, Lan Xichen’s eyes start getting droopy. “I’m off to bed,” he murmurs sleepily, unfolding his long legs from the couch. He leans in and kisses Nie Mingjue, lingering. Jiang Cheng averts his eyes.

“Did I show you my new phone?” Nie Mingjue asks once Lan Xichen has padded upstairs.

“Oh, no you didn’t,” Jiang Cheng replies. “Do you like it?”

“I love it, it’s super fast and the camera is great — I mean, the only thing I really use it for is to track my progress at the gym and to take pictures of Xichen, but still. Here, I’ll show you.”

Which is how Jiang Cheng ends up sitting next to Nie Mingjue on the couch, scrolling through pictures of Nie Mingjue’s incredible shirtless body next to a variety of gym equipment, interspersed with pictures of Lan Xichen lit up with sunset light or deliciously tousled with a cup of coffee.

“Do you like it?” Nie Mingjue asks softly, his voice low and suggestive. “The camera?” Jiang Cheng can feel the heat of Nie Mingjue’s thigh an inch away from his own. He can smell Nie Mingjue’s cologne.

“Yes, mm-hmm, it’s great,” Jiang Cheng manages to say. “Well, it’s late, I should be going, thanks for having me over!”

He spends the whole next day freaking out. Had Lan Xichen been hitting on him? Nie Mingjue had definitely been hitting on him. Were they cheating on each other? Was their marriage in shambles? What should he do?

He doesn’t want to tell Wei Ying — he’s Lan Xichen’s brother-in-law, for fuck’s sake — but he can’t think of anyone else to talk to about this.

“So, I went over to Xichen and Mingjue’s for dinner last night…” he begins hesitantly.

“Oh God, they didn’t hit on you, did they?” Wei Ying asks.

“What?”

“Apparently they’ve been looking for a third, I didn’t think they’d be asking people we know though. Sorry if it was weird, was it weird? I can tell Lan Zhan to tell Xichen-ge to back off.”

Jiang Cheng assures him that it wasn’t weird and he doesn’t need to tell his husband anything, then hangs up, his heart pounding.

Hey! he texts them both. I had a great time at dinner last night. We should do it again soon! Maybe Saturday?

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fire and Light (ao3) - on tumblr: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

- Chapter 5 -

“Wen Chao is missing again,” Wen Ning said, and reached a hand up so that he could bite his nails.  

Nie Mingjue caught his hand and brought it back down again. “Missing again? What do you mean?”

“He’s been going missing,” Wen Ning explained. “Right before classes, or training, or – or dinner. We make excuses or find him before it becomes a problem, but he’s getting better at hiding. And eventually…”

Eventually, one of the teachers would tell Wen Ruohan.

Or worse, Wen Chao would miss a dinner, and it would be one of the dinners Wen Ruohan attended. The consequences of that would be unthinkable.

“Has he explained the reason?” Nie Mingjue asked, frowning when Wen Ning shook his head. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Wen Ning gave him a look that suggested that the broken bones might have something to do with it. Even though there was only one that actually broke.

“I’ll go talk to him.”

“We don’t even know where he is.”

Nie Mingjue did not let that stop him. He was mostly able to walk by now, anyway, and it didn’t take long for him to track Wen Chao down to one of his favorite places to go hide – one of the unused rooms in the family quarters, so long abandoned that there was dust over every surface. There were women’s things scattered all over the place, and Nie Mingjue suspected that the room had once belonged to Wen Chao’s mother.

“A-Chao?” he called, his voice low.

There was a strangled sob, and Wen Chao appeared from behind the bed, his eyes red. “You shouldn’t be out of bed,” he scolded. “What are you doing here? Go back, go back.”

“A-Chao, why have you been hiding away?” Nie Mingjue asked, sitting down on the bed instead. “You haven’t even come to visit me.”

Wen Chao’s lower lip trembled. He was only a little boy, in the end – only ten years old. “I don’t want you to get hurt anymore.”

“What’s me getting hurt have to do with you?” Nie Mingjue said, puzzled as always. How did these Qishan Wen people think, with loops and layers and circles turning in on themselves? “You didn’t do it.”

“I’m stupid,” Wen Chao said. His voice was small and pained. “If I’d been smart enough to play along, pretend you were talking about someone else, the way Huaisang-xiong and A-Qing did…”

“The only one to blame for me saying stupid things is myself,” NIe Mingjue said firmly. “And the only person to blame for hurting me for saying them is Sect Leader Wen. And I wouldn’t have thought to come up with a cover story, either – are you saying I’m stupid?”

Wen Chao sniffed. “Maybe a little.”

“You’re probably right,” Nie Mingjue acknowledged, and patted the bed next to him. Wen Chao flung himself forward, curling up into Nie Mingjue’s arms as if he’d been missing them – he probably had been, too, the little fool. “But neither of us are going to get less stupid if we keep missing classes. So let’s try not to, okay?”

“Okay,” Wen Chao said, and rubbed his head against Nie Mingjue’s chest. “Nie-ge?”

“Mm?”

“I wish you were my big brother instead of Huaisang-xiong’s.”

Nie Mingjue fought a smile. “I appreciate that,” he said. “Have you considered the possibility of me being a big brother to both of you? It’s not necessarily one or the other.”

Wen Chao’s arms tightened around him. “Maybe I want you to myself.”

“Maybe you need to learn to share.”

Wen Chao snickered. A little wetly, but still.

-

Wen Xu and Wen Chao had the misfortune of being born relatively close together in the year. That meant that there was always a single party, nominally held in their honor, that invariably turned into a political event, with all the subsidiary sects flocking to the Nightless City to pay their respects to Wen Ruohan. The sect leaders brought their children along, particularly if they had one around Wen Chao’s age, but that was just a cover; their presence was a homage to the dominant power to which they paid allegiance, the party in no way about either of the two heirs, and that was just as Wen Ruohan liked it.  

The other Great Sects usually sent gifts but did not attend – Nie Mingjue certainly had never gone – but this year the Lan sect broke custom and sent a delegation, with the stated purpose of presenting Wen Chao with an invitation to go take classes at the Cloud Recesses in view of his exceptional performance at the discussion conference.

“Exceptional performance,” Nie Mingjue mouthed at Wen Chao, who turned bright red.

The invitation was in fact issued, but it was probably more accurate to surmise that what the Lan sect really wanted was to get another look at the two Nie heirs and assure themselves of their continued health. Still, Nie Mingjue thought he had a good enough read on Lan Qiren’s personality to conclude that his old teacher wouldn’t affirmatively invite someone he didn’t think had potential, not even for ulterior motives. His reputation as a teacher of any type of student was famous throughout the cultivation world, and being invited to his lectures – as opposed to sending your children there on the basis of a political arrangement, as many sects did – was considered to be a great honor. Even Nie Mingjue had attended on the strength of his family, not himself.

As a result, the invitation was a compliment, and Wen Ruohan liked compliments. The Lan sect delegates were of course invited to stay at the party, and the visiting child – Lan Wangji, who at a year older than Nie Huaisang was a year younger than Wen Chao and thereby a more reasonable a guest to send than Lan Xichen would have been – was sent to mill around with them.

He looked miserable.

Nie Mingjue couldn’t really blame him, especially given how Lan Xichen had once spoken to him at length about how little Lan Wangji liked parties like this. Unable to watch his suffering, he asked Nie Huaisang in an undertone to go distract him a little, maybe find him a quiet place to stay.

After a while, Nie Huaisang returned to his side, Lan Wangji now in tow, and Nie Mingjue frowned at them. He hadn’t meant for Nie Huaisang to bring Lan Wangji here, since Nie Mingjue was supposed to be keeping his head down and avoiding people – Wen Ruohan hadn’t said anything explicit on the subject, but they all knew better than to risk embarrassing him in front of his guests – but he supposed there was nothing for it now.

“Lan Wangji,” he greeted, forgoing the usual intimacy of addressing him only by his courtesy name – he had done so when he was Lan Xichen’s friend, which he thought he still was, but just because Lan Xichen would overlook his current situation did not mean that others would, and Lan Wangji loved rules more than most. “You look well.”

It was a bit of a lie. Lan Wangji was ashen-faced, his fingers trembling a little even as he hid them in his sleeves. It seemed like a bit of an overreaction to the party, unless he suffered from a more severe form of social anxiety than Nie Mingjue had anticipated based on Lan Xichen’s descriptions.

“And you look terrible, da-ge,” Nie Huaisang said, his voice a little sharp, more poisonous than his normal cheerfulness. “You’re more colorful than a rainbow.”

Nie Mingjue’s bruises were indeed at that unfortunate stage, and there were enough on his face and hands that it was difficult to conceal them for very long, even with powder. There was a reason he’d gone out only briefly to greet people – acting as proof of life – before retiring to the back of the room.

“Yes, well,” he said, shaking his head and giving Nie Huaisang a stern look. He didn’t want to air out their business in front of guests. “How is your brother, Lan Wangji?”

“Well,” Lan Wangji said. His jaw was working, and Nie Mingjue wondered briefly if what he had thought was social anxiety was in fact barely suppressed rage. “Would you come to the Cloud Recesses as well, if we invited you?”

Nie Mingjue blinked at him, surprised out of his gloomy thoughts. “I’ve already attended one round of lectures, Wangji. You remember, surely? It was two summers back – was it three? – when I was thirteen, at any rate.”

“There are always new things to learn,” he said vaguely in return, and it was such a Lan Wangji thing to say – such a Lan thing to say – that Nie Mingjue barely managed to keep himself from cooing and calling him a good little cabbage. “Would you be allowed to come?”

“Probably not,” Nie Mingjue said regretfully. “But if you could take Huaisang when he’s old enough, it would be a good experience for him.”

Possibly not for Lan Qiren, given Nie Huaisang’s issues with memorization, but certainly good for Nie Huaisang.

“He doesn’t have many friends here,” he added. “It’s just A-Chao, A-Qing, and A-Ning…have you met the latter two? Huaisang, if you haven’t, you should introduce them.”

“I will,” Nie Huaisang said. “Da-ge, are you sure you can’t find a way to go?”

Nie Mingjue realized that his brother was trying to get him out of the Nightless City, likely in his own efforts to deal with what had happened to him. He sighed, reaching out to touch Nie Huaisang’s hair lightly. “I’m the heir of Qinghe Nie, Huaisang. He’s not going to let me go until he feels confident in controlling me.”

And that would not be soon, he didn’t say, but anyone looking at the marks on his face or the careful way he held himself could put that together easily enough.

Lan Wangji’s lips were pressed tightly together, but Nie Huaisang sighed, yielding to logic, and took him away again. Nie Mingjue returned to his corner, hoping that the shadows would help conceal his bruises, and sank into meditation, trying to not to fantasize about the world in which he could take that offer of help, well-meant as it was. A world where he could take Nie Huaisang and all the Wens – even Wen Xu, who was a nervous wreck underneath his apparent arrogance – away to the tranquil peace of the Cloud Recesses and never come back.

It wouldn’t help to think of that world. It wasn’t this one.

-

Wen Ruohan held court from his throne in the main hall and from a simple chair in the dining room, but he was equally terrifying in any location. His questions had only gotten harder as time passed, and everyone kept their heads down and answered to his satisfaction, even Nie Huaisang.

His questions were easier than everyone else’s, and after dinner ended Wen Ruohan touched Nie Huaisang’s hair and told him with a smile that he was a pretty but useless bird, a lovely ornament to their house, and that they couldn’t possibly do without him. The eyes of all the Wens slid straight to Nie Mingjue, each one filled with terror at his reaction, but Nie Mingjue for once held his tongue.

He hadn’t really expected Nie Huaisang to be able to leave, not this year. Perhaps next year this little interaction would be forgotten and they could try again.

(He wanted to break every one of Wen Ruohan’s fingers so that they never touched his brother ever again. He wanted to make it so that Wen Chao didn’t look wistfully envious even as he shivered in terror at the thought of his father’s attention, make it so that Wen Xu didn’t look dull and resigned in anticipation of endless pain, make it so that Wen Qing and Wen Ning didn’t look so close to tears. 

He wanted to be home in the Unclean Realm again before he forgot what it was like.)

Wen Ruohan smiled at him, probably reading his thoughts from his face. “Walk with me, Mingjue,” he said. It was not a request. “I would hear about how you are adjusting to life in Qishan.”

Nie Mingjue left frightened faces behind him, and held firm to the thought that it would be politically inconvenient for Wen Ruohan to kill him.

(The fact that he didn’t think he’d done anything to deserve it - this time, anyway - was irrelevant.)

Nie Huaisang found him later that night, sitting on the stone floor next to his bed unmoving, skin cold and clammy with shock, and there was a small and quiet but extremely frantic whirl of activity that resulted in everyone crowding into Wen Xu’s bedroom, it being the biggest, trying to warm him back up.

It was more or less one big swirl of noise and movement, and Nie Mingjue only briefly surfaced to catch a few snatches of conversation –

“– did he do to him? He was only gone a shichen or two –”

“– physically seems fine, but I don’t like what his vitals are doing. Maybe we should call the sect doctors –”

“– if we do that, he’ll find out we did that –”

“– better brother than you ever were!”

That last one sounded like Wen Chao, making trouble again, even though it really wasn’t Wen Xu’s fault that he’d fallen for Wen Ruohan’s divide-and-conquer tricks when he was even younger than Wen Chao was now. It was how he’d been raised, Qishan Wen style, and anyway he’d been doing so much better lately, actually paying attention and joining hands with the rest of them to resist and distract and care about each other.

Nie Mingjue wanted to say something like that, knew that he had to speak, that it was his responsibility, a duty voluntarily assumed in having taken the role of older sibling for all that he wasn’t actually the eldest, but all that came out of his mouth was a low whine, pathetic, and he remembered that right now he really just wanted to die.

“Don’t you dare say that! Don’t you dare –”

“– need to get his body temperature up. His golden core is exacerbating the effects of the shock –”

“– did you hear what he said –”

“– tear that motherfucker’s heart out –”

“– leave my grandmother out of this –”

“– not a real doctor! I’m just an apprentice, and I’m trying –”

“– how could you possibly say that?! Of course I care! Before him, nobody – nobody ever – listen, if I wasn’t nearly five years older than him, I’d be calling him da-ge right alongside the rest of you, okay? Shit, I have half a mind to do it anyway, and fuck anyone who thinks it strange –”

Nie Mingjue closed his eyes and sobbed.

[gingersnapwolves]

The Untamed, a brief summary [Part 4/6]

Part One: Sword Wizard School

Part Two:  The Search for the Yin Iron and the World’s Worst Summer Camp

Part Three: The Fall of Lotus Pier and the Sunshot Campaign

Part Four: The Downward Spiral

Ext, Nightless City [Qishan]

The war is over. Everything should be great now, right? Wrong.

Wei Wuxian has slept for three days. Jiang Yanli tells him that Lan Wangji was playing music to cleanse him of all the evil energy for most of those three days and that’s the only reason he’s awake so soon. Lan Wangji comes in to play more for him, even though Wei Wuxian is in the ancient Chinese version of his underoos. It’s cute.

Everyone else is having a serious meeting. Meng Yao has been legitimized by his father after killing Wen Ruohan, and this is a Very Big Deal. His name is now Jin Guangyao.

ENTER BAD TOUCH MAN

This is Jin Guangshan. He’s Jin Zixuan and Meng Yao/Jin Guangyao’s father. He sucks, big time. Everything about this guy is terrible. He’s a misogynist, a bully, and a patronizing piece of shit.

Jin Guangshan is having all the remaining Wens hunted down and killed, including the civilians. Nie Mingjue is cool with this. Lan Xichen says ‘hey, maybe murder isn’t the answer?’ but everyone tells him that murder absolutely is the answer and he shouldn’t worry about it.

ENTER THE HUMAN VERSION OF A CAR ALARM THAT HAS BEEN GOING OFF FOR AN HOUR IN YOUR WORK PARKING LOT

This is Jin Zixun, not to be confused with Jin Zixuan. Jin Zixuan is the former fiancée of Jiang Yanli and a spoiled brat but earning some brownie points as the story goes on. Jin Zixun is his cousin, and he has zero redeeming qualities.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji have gone out for a romantic stroll. They find a batch of Wen civilians who are in chains, being hunted down and shot for sport by Jin Zixun. Somehow Wei Wuxian manages not to murder him, but it’s close. They play a requiem for the dead people to help their spirits find rest. ~just couple things~

Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue, and Jin Guangyao swear brotherhood to each other in a cool ceremony that was definitely Lan Xichen’s idea.

Int, Nightless City [Qishan]

Jin Guangshan is throwing a big party since they won a war. Wei Wuxian doesn’t really want to go and spends most of it getting drunk outside. Relatable to be honest.

Jin Guangshan says to Jiang Cheng ‘hey remember when your sister was engaged to my son? That was cool, let’s put that back on’. Jiang Cheng looks like he’s been staked out on an anthill. Wei Wuxian comes in and is borderline rude to Jin Guangshan, saying he should ask Jiang Yanli herself. Jiang Yanli, with a retail smile that rivals Jin Guangyao’s, politely says that hey, her parents just died, her home is in ruins, why don’t they leave her alone for a decade and then she’ll think about it. Wei Wuxian bounces because he’s not a party person.

Jin Guangyao announces that in six months, they’re going to be holding a group hunt in Lanling and everyone’s invited.

After the banquet, Jin Guangshan asks Jin Guangyao how much he knows about Wei Wuxian, especially that cool amulet he used during the battle. Jin Guangyao says he’ll find out and then find a way to get it. I cry about the fact that I liked him a lot more before he started sucking up to his shitty dad, even though I understand why he’s doing it.

Ext, Lotus Pier [Yunmeng]

Our trio goes home and starts to clean things up. Wei Wuxian is drinking a lot, not setting a good example for the new disciples, and still won’t carry his sword. Jiang Cheng – remember, he doesn’t know that Wei Wuxian gave him his golden core, and thinks he can still cultivate – tells him to get his shit together. Jiang Yanli, as always, mediates.

Int, Cloud Recesses [Gusu]

Lan Wangji is also home. He’s studying manuscripts to find music that will help heal Wei Wuxian from the resentful energy. What he has isn’t good enough and he wants to go to the restricted section of the library. Lan Qiren refuses to allow him in, confines him to Cloud Recesses, and basically says ‘forget about Wei Wuxian, he’s evil now’. For obvious reasons, Lan Wangji does not like this advice.

Ext, some city [Yunmeng]

Lan Xichen arrives for a visit, finds Wei Wuxian, and gently reminds him that people are worried about him and he should remember his actions impact other people. Wei Wuxian interprets this as ‘you’re evil and it’s hurting people, specifically my brother’ instead of ‘we want to help you’, and shuts him out. It hurts. He came so close. *sobs*

Ext, Lotus Pier [Yunmeng]

Jin Zixuan turns up to formally invite the Yunmeng sibs to the crowd hunt. He acts like an awkward turtle. It seems like he might have realized he was being a dick this whole time. You know what that is? Growth. However he still says that it’s his mother who wants Jiang Yanli to come, because he sucks at this.

Ext, Phoenix Mountain [Lanling]

It’s the crowd hunt! Everyone’s there. They’re having an archery tournament to determine who will get to go in first.

Wei Wuxian flirts with Lan Wangji and taunts Jin Zixun, who asked for it. But then a bunch of Wen civilians are paraded out in chains to serve as ‘obstacles’ to make things more ‘interesting’. Somehow this does not end with Wei Wuxian murdering all the Jin sect members present. He definitely wants to, but then he looks at Jiang Cheng and remembers that their sect is still weak after the war and they probably shouldn’t piss off the strongest sect remaining.

Jin Zixuan does a fancy shot, so Wei Wuxian blindfolds himself and shoots five arrows at once, partly to show off, but partly because he knows nobody can top that so nobody will be able to shoot at the Wen sect prisoners. Jin Guangyao, who apparently arranged this (presumably because his father likes a little bloodshed as an appetizer), pouts unattractively. I wonder why I ever liked him.

Up on the mountain, Wei Wuxian does a bunch of demonic cultivation with his flute to drive the demons into Jiang sect nets so they can win. Then he decides to chill out for a bit.

Lan Wangji shows up. He tells Wei Wuxian that he has learned new music that should help with the whole ‘full of evil energy’ thing. Wei Wuxian asks who Lan Wangji is to tell him what to do. Lan Wangji responds by asking ‘what do you see me as’, Wei Wuxian replies ‘I used to think of you as my soulmate in this life’, Lan Wangji says, ‘I still am’ and the sound you just heard is my heart exploding.

Unfortunately before they can kiss, they hear other people on the path. It’s Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli. Jin Zixuan makes a pitiful attempt to impress her while she is clearly very uncomfortable.

Even though Jin Zixuan isn’t doing anything worse than inserting his own foot into his mouth, Wei Wuxian jumps in to tell him to fuck off. They argue. Jin Zixuan’s mother turns up and hilariously roasts him for always upsetting Jiang Yanli. You start to like her until she says that Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli shouldn’t spend time together because then people will think they’re having an affair. Jiang Yanli reminds her that Wei Wuxian is her younger brother, but Madam Jin sticks to her obnoxious guns. Jin Zixuan tries to say something nice and actually runs away which is the first time he’s felt relatable in the whole show.

Jin Zixun turns up, hauling his enormous bad attitude with him, and gets pissy with Wei Wuxian for using demonic cultivation to lure the demons into their nets. He’s super rude about it. Jiang Yanli politely eviscerates Jin Zixun in response and it’s super satisfying.

Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

They’re having a big party after the hunt. The Yunmeng Jiang did well and Jiang Cheng is happy for two seconds before he overhears some people saying that it’s only because of Wei Wuxian’s demonic cultivation and they don’t like that. Wei Wuxian has decided not to go to the banquet because these people suck.

Jin Guangyao, even though he’s now an errand boy for his power-hungry dick of a father, still has a big crush on Lan Xichen, and they have a few tender moments. Other people, like Madam Jin and Jin Zixun, are being absolute assholes to Jin Guangyao, and he’s wearing his best retail smile. I remember why I liked him. But uh oh! Jin Guangyao has made friends with and invited Su She, who you might remember from him betraying all the Gusu Lan who were hiding in the cave. Jin Guangyao doesn’t seem to know these two have history. Lan Xichen tells him not to worry about it but it’s awkward.

Ext, the city [Lanling]

Wei Wuxian is wandering around. He bumps into Wen Qing, who is there looking for Wen Ning.

Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Jin Zixun has decided he hasn’t been a big enough of a dick for the day, so he asks Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji to have a drink with him. Lan Xichen tells him that they aren’t allowed to drink alcohol because of their sect rules. Jin Zixun takes this as a personal insult, or at least pretends to because it gives him an excuse to act like a jerk.

Jin Guangyao asks what’s going on and who upset his cousin, then looks at Lan Xichen like they’re a biracial couple at a barbecue and he’s trying to apologize telepathically for what his racist uncle just said.

After a few moments of ‘no really, I just don’t drink alcohol’ Lan Xichen decides this fool ain’t worth it and takes a drink. Jin Guangyao looks like he wants to crawl into a hole and die. ‘U ok babe?’ his eyes say. ‘No I want to go home, this barbecue sucks’ Lan Xichen’s eyes reply. Jin Zixun then offers a cup to Lan Wangji, who stares into the middle distance and forcefully projects the information that he will literally die before accepting a drink from this asshole.

Wei Wuxian interrupts, snatches the cup, and says ‘I’ll drink for him. That’s okay, right?’ even though there’s absolutely no reason it would be since they’re not actually married. He drinks anyway. Then he asks Jin Zixun where Wen Ning is. Turns out Jin Zixun and his lackeys kidnapped Wen Ning and his whole village.

Jin Zixun pretends he doesn’t remember. Wei Wuxian threatens him a lot. It’s super hot if terribly inadvisable. Jiang Cheng is clearly upset that he’s out of line. Lan Wangji is clearly worried that he’s losing his marbles. Jin Guangshan tries to bully Wei Wuxian and fails on every level. After a few minutes, Jin Zixun caves and tells him that Wen Ning and the others are at Qiongqi Way. Wei Wuxian says ‘why couldn’t you just tell me that?’ and leaves. Jin Guangshan flips over the table. It’s awesome.

Everyone begins talking shit about Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng is more upset. Lan Wangji says ‘I mean, he wasn’t wrong’ and Jin Guangyao replies with the ‘he’s right but you shouldn’t say it’ meme. Lan Xichen reflects on the fact that Wei Wuxian’s ‘temperament has changed a lot’ as if this is something mystical and strange instead of the inevitable result of severe, untreated PTSD and the fact that he’s discovered massive systemic injustice.

Lan Wangji asks Lan Xichen if it’s okay if he kidnaps Wei Wuxian and brings him back to Cloud Recesses. Lan Xichen tells him to go for it.

Ext, Qiongqi Way [Lanling]

All the Wen civilians have been forced into a labor camp. It’s really awful.

Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing arrive to find out they’re too late. Wen Ning has been killed. (Technically they say later he had ‘one breath left’ but that’s only because Chinese censorship doesn’t allow necromancy to be portrayed on TV. This explanation doesn’t actually make sense, and by and large fandom ignores it. In the book, he’s all dead, and that’s much simpler.)

Wei Wuxian has a complete breakdown and brings Wen Ning back as a fierce corpse (which is similar to a zombie but not exactly the same for xianxia reasons). Wen Ning murders all the guards at the prison (with a little help from Wei Wuxian) and then collapses. Wei Wuxian realizes they are Totally Fucked Now, lets everyone out of prison, and gets out of dodge.

Except Lan Wangji has followed him and is standing in the rain in his way. They have a really haunting exchange where Wei Wuxian asks Lan Wangji to confront the aforementioned systemic injustice, and Lan Wangji tells him if he continues on this path, it’ll be considered a rebellion and he’ll be hunted down and killed. Wei Wuxian says, basically, ‘If I’m so wrong, then you kill me. If it’s you, I’ll accept it.’ Lan Wangji stands aside to let them go. I cry for seventeen hours.

Ext, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian has brought the refugees here. They ask if it’s really possible to live in such a place. He says he lived there for three months.

Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

You know, I don’t even remember if we see this, but I assume everyone there is super upset about everything.

ETA: Thanks to the people who reminded me! Everyone’s trashing Wei Wuxian. Mianmian (you may remember her from Turtle Cave, where Wei Wuxian saved her from being burned by Jiaojiao) sticks up for him, saying he doesn’t kill indiscriminately. Everyone pats her on the head and mansplains things to her, so she gives them all a big middle finger and leaves the Jin sect over it. Good for her.

Int, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Jiang Cheng shows up to ask Wei Wuxian what the fuck he thinks he’s doing. Wei Wuxian, who is living in a cave and spent their entire refugee budget on candles, has Wen Ning’s unconscious body covered in talismans. He says he’s trying to restore Wen Ning’s consciousness. Jiang Cheng is pretty horrified and basically accuses Wei Wuxian of desecrating a corpse, and threatens to kill Wen Ning (more/again). Wei Wuxian brushes him off. Jiang Cheng says, heartwrenchingly, ‘If you keep protecting them, I can’t protect you’. Wei Wuxian replies, more heartwrenchingly, ‘Then abandon me.’ I cry for another seventeen hours.

ENTER A RAY OF SUNSHINE

There’s a little boy here about two or three years old named Wen Yuan. He’s adorable and likes to cling to people’s legs.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t like any of this so he bounces. Wen Qing walks him to the end of the trail and then gives him back the comb he gave her (she did pick it up!) earlier. He looks like she kicked him in the balls but doesn’t change his mind.

Ext, somewhere [Yiling]

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian stage a massive public fight. There’s some light stabbing. Jiang Cheng publicly disavows Wei Wuxian and says he’s no longer part of the Yunmeng Jiang. (You don’t actually know it’s staged at the time this happens but you find out pretty soon so whatever.)

Ext, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Jin Zixuan has now realized that Jiang Yanli is bae. He builds her a lotus pond and looks super awkward about it. It’s sweet. He’s doing much better now that he realizes he just shouldn’t talk.

Ext, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian is a massive ball of PTSD and angst. It sucks. Wen Qing tries to persuade him to leave them there and go home, but he refuses.

Ext, some city [Yiling]

Lan Wangji is in Yiling because he was in the neighborhood on completely unrelated business. No he’s not there to see Wei Wuxian. Stop asking him questions. Suddenly a small child is clinging to his leg and crying. He is discomfited.

Meanwhile Wei Wuxian is buying refugee supplies and realizes Wen Yuan has wandered off. He finds him clinging to Lan Wangji’s leg and insists on buying him lunch. Wen Yuan asks Wei Wuxian to buy him a toy and when Wei Wuxian won’t, Lan Wangji buys him like 15 toys. It’s super adorable.

They have lunch together. Wen Yuan sits in Lan Wangji’s lap. The reason Lan Wangji definitely was not in the area was to tell Wei Wuxian that his sister is getting married to Jin Zixuan. Lunch is interrupted when Wei Wuxian’s talisman signals that Wen Ning is causing trouble back at the Burial Mounds. Lan Wangji has to pay for lunch.

Ext, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wen Ning is on a rampage. This happens with fierce corpses. Wei Wuxian starts trying to use his magic to calm him down. With Lan Wangji’s help, he’s able to restore his consciousness. Everyone’s really happy.

Wei Wuxian asks Lan Wangji to stay for dinner but he says he has to go. They exchange the world’s most longing look. I resist the urge to climb into my screen, physically manifest in ancient China, and tie Lan Wangji to a tree so he can’t leave.

Wen Yuan asks if he’ll ever come back. Wei Wuxian says probably not. I rehydrate so I can cry more.

Back at the Burial Mounds, the villagers have come together to throw Wei Wuxian a thank you party. It’s super sweet.

Ext, the city [Yiling]

Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli come to show Wei Wuxian her wedding outfit. She’s brought him soup. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian roast each other a little bit, just like old times. However Jiang Cheng is also a bit of a dick to Wen Ning, because he’s still skeeved out by what Wei Wuxian did, and won’t let him sit with them. Jiang Yanli gives him a bowl of soup anyway. He can’t eat it, so he carries it back to the Burial Mounds and gives it to Wen Yuan.

Ext, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian has planted lotus seeds. He’s still having mood swings and other PTSD symptoms but overall is improving somewhat. He finds out at some point that Jiang Yanli is pregnant and gets really excited about it.

Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Jiang Yanli has given birth to a boy they have named Jin Ling. They’re planning his one-month ceremony. She wants to invite Wei Wuxian. The Jin sect is skeptical. Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji back her up, saying that Wei Wuxian hasn’t caused any trouble since going into exile, and this is a good opportunity to try to re-introduce him into polite society. Jin Guangshan agrees. He’s also a dick to Jin Guangyao, who asks to hold the baby, and Jin Guangshan won’t let him. Jin Zixuan points out to his father that Jin Guangyao has been loyal and helpful since joining the sect, and maybe his father shouldn’t be such a jerk. Jin Guangshan reminds him that Jin Guangyao is the son of a whore and says someone with his background can never be in a position of power in their sect.

Ext, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian receives a letter from Lan Wangji stating he’s invited to the one-month ceremony and is really excited.

Int, my apartment [America]

I’m gonna be real honest with you guys. I skimmed through the next couple episodes while sobbing on my phone and unlike most of the show, have only watched them once. It’s very possible that I’m going to get stuff slightly incorrect or in the wrong order. I’ll do my best but holy crap, I absolutely never want to watch these episodes again. This accounts for any mistakes I’ve made in fic, too, LOL.

Ext, Qiongqi Way [Lanling]

Wei Wuxian is on his way to Koi Tower with Wen Ning. Jin Zixun shows up and accuses Wei Wuxian of having cursed him with a curse called Hundred Holes. Wei Wuxian hilariously says ‘I don’t even know who you are’ because his memory is terrible and also Jin Zixun sucks. Jin Zixun has brought like a hundred guys with them and they start shooting arrows. Wen Ning starts to kick their asses.

Jin Zixuan shows up and tries to de-escalate the situation. He promised Jiang Yanli that Wei Wuxian would be able to visit Jin Ling.

Out of fucking nowhere, Wen Ning murders the shit out of Jin Zixuan. I screamed. Wei Wuxian clearly has no idea what the fuck just happened. Then Wen Ning murders Jin Zixun which is less of a problem. Once all the Jin guys are dead, Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning run the hell away and head back to Yiling.

Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Everyone wants to know what the fuck just happened. They conclude that Wei Wuxian lost control of Wen Ning and his violent nature (now that he’s a fierce corpse) caused him to murder a bunch of people. They demand that Wen Ning and Wen Qing surrender themselves to Koi Tower.

Int, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian has an absolute meltdown, for which we can’t blame him. He, too, has come to the conclusion that he lost control of Wen Ning and that’s why a ton of people are dead.

Wen Qing sticks a bunch of needles in him and tells him that they’re going to surrender themselves to Koi Tower. He hates everything about this but can’t stop them because of the needles. She says they’ll release him in three days, tells him ‘I’m sorry, and thank you’. I can’t see the screen through my tears.

Ext, Koi Tower [Lanling]

The Wen remnants surrender themselves. Jiang Cheng tells Jin Guangshan ‘whoever Wei Wuxian broke, I’ll pay for it, okay?’ but we’re a little beyond that now.

Int, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian breaks out of his needle-induced coma and hurries to Koi Tower. I clutch my stuffed animal and think, naively, that he’ll make it in time.

Ext, Koi Tower [Lanling]

The bodies of the Wen remnants are on display. Wei Wuxian has another meltdown. He tries to find Jiang Yanli, sees her in widow’s white, and runs away.

Ext, Nightless City [Qishan]

For some reason everyone’s decided to go to Qishan to toss Wen Qing and Wen Ning’s ashes in a volcano, I guess. Mostly they’re just throwing a party for themselves because they killed a bunch of farmers. I hate them.

Wei Wuxian shows up and tells them they all suck. Some rando shoots Wei Wuxian with an arrow. He laughs at the dude, pulls it out, and throws it back, killing him. It’s hot. Lan Wangji tries to talk him down but can’t. They get in a fight. Wei Wuxian raises an absolute fuckton of resentful energy and angry spirits and starts trying to kill everyone there, which honestly seems fair to me at this point. For only the second time, he takes out the amulet made of yin iron that he used during the battle with Wen Ruohan.

Except something weird is going on. There’s a second flute playing and it’s unclear who’s playing it. I’m screaming at my monitor.

Jiang Yanli, who is there because this show doesn’t know what to do with women besides fridge them, gets attacked by a fierce corpse. Wei Wuxian tries to control it but can’t. He starts freaking out again. He and Jiang Cheng manage to save Jiang Yanli from the fierce corpse but Wei Wuxian doesn’t know what’s going on and he’s clearly about to break down completely. Jiang Yanli is still really sweet and gentle with him, even though (she thinks) he kind of killed her husband. Then some other rando tries to kill Wei Wuxian and ends up stabbing Jiang Yanli instead. She dies.

Wei Wuxian – I hate to overuse the term ‘freaks the fuck out’ but when the shoe fits – freaks the fuck out. He breaks the amulet into fragments and then throws himself off a cliff.

Lan Wangji catches him before he can fall, even though he’s been wounded in the battle. Wei Wuxian stares at him for a moment before he tells Lan Wangji to let him go. Lan Wangji doesn’t let him go. Jiang Cheng comes over and for a brief second Wei Wuxian sort of looks hopeful, but then Jiang Cheng tells him to go to hell and stabs downward with his sword. It’s not going to hit him – Jiang Cheng’s eyes aren’t even open – but it hits the rock and causes part of it to crumble. Wei Wuxian shakes Lan Wangji’s hand off and falls, smiling with relief, because this show absolutely wants to fucking kill me.

Yes, our protagonist is dead. Don’t worry, he gets better.

~end of part 4~

[ibijau]

A lot can happen in ten years

post canon, warning for major character death

The first year is spent in seclusion, partly because Lan Xichen cannot face the world, not after realising how much of his life has been built upon a lie. Aside from the handful of people present in that temple, on that night, nobody knows how much responsibility he bears in the events that have transpired. If anything, his choice to chase after Jin Guangyao appears to balance out his long complicity in the public’s eye.

The second year, that seclusion is partly lifted. Lan Xichen rarely leaves the Cloud Recesses. There are better people than him to cleanse monsters or supervise juniors on a Night Hunt. As for himself, he is still uncomfortable with the world. Even for conferences, he sends his uncle, his brother at worst. There are many faces he cannot bear to see yet. There is one face he doubts he’ll ever bear to see again.

The third year, there is a party to celebrate Lan Wangji’s adoption of a child, the daughter of cousins who died on a Night Hunt. She’s a sweet little toddler a little younger than one, and the source of Lan Xichen’s first true smiles in years. The party, however, nearly sends him in a panic, especially when he finds himself face to face with Nie Huaisang. But the other man only smiles at him and congratulates him on the addition to their family, before drifting away to chat with someone else.

The fourth year, Lan Sizhui gets married, the cause for another party. Nie Huaisang, once again, has to be invited. Lan Xichen dreads it less this time. Nie Huaisang spends a good part of the celebration joking with Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, as if nothing had changed in the twenty years since they first met. Lan Xichen and Nie Huaisang exchange a few words, more than they did last time. It’s still easy to mindlessly chat with Nie Huaisang, though Lan Xichen cannot feel fully at peace until his guest has left.

The fifth year, Lan Xichen starts attending conferences in person again. He feels all eyes on him, some judging, other pitying. Most are merely curious as to what he will do now. And what Lan Xichen does is much the same as he’s ever done: listen to others, try to be impartial, consider things carefully before giving his opinion, supporting what he deems right. He refuses to let what happened change him.

The sixth year, Lan Qiren starts mentioning something he hasn’t in a long while: the idea that Lan Xichen should marry, and produce an heir. He used to have many reasons to refuse that obligation, none of them good. A little selfishness he allowed himself. But the main reason he avoided his duty no longer holds him the way it used to do, and so before too long, Lan Xichen gives in. He is married before the year is over, to a lively young woman from Baling Ouyang, sister to one of Lan Sizhui’s close friends. Nie Huaisang is here at the wedding, of course, and congratulates Lan Xichen with such warmth that it feels sincere. 

The seventh year, Lan Xichen’s wife gives him a son, a beautiful baby boy. Lan Xichen, who had given up on happiness, finds himself happy at last.

The eighth year, twin girls join their family. Nie Huaisang, at their hundredth day’s celebration, teases Lan Xichen and asks how many children he’s planning to have. Lan Xichen returns the question, to which Nie Huaisang only laughs and proclaims that sort of a life isn’t for him. Still, he dotes on the baby girls so much that Lan Xichen wonders how much longer his old friend will resist before getting a family of his own.

By the ninth year, Lan Xichen feels once more at peace. It is a feeling he had forgotten.

As the tenth year starts, Lan Xichen’s wife tells him that she is with child again. She leaves with Lan Xi and the twins, heading for Baling to tell her family the good news. Lan Xichen misses them all dearly, but enjoys the chance for a little quiet. It is important to him to live with his wife and children, to give the little ones the family he was denied, but it makes it difficult to find time to work on his cultivation. A sacrifice he gladly does.

Still, it is good to have silence for once. The day after his wife and children have left, Lan Xichen puts some incense to burn and decides to meditate. Before a full shichen has passed, a knock on the door disturbs him. He would ignore it, but it is getting quite late by then, and if anyone looks for him at such a time, it has to be important.

Or shocking more than important, in this case.

When he opens the door, Lan Xichen finds Nie Huaisang smiling at him.

“Er-ge, let’s have a chat,” he asks, pushing his way into the Hanshi, just as he used to do once. “It has been so long since I’ve been here.”

“A decade I think,” Lan Xichen mumbles, confused, while closing the door.

“Already! Ah, and what a decade it has been, right? You’ve made yourself busy, Er-ge, haven’t you?”

Lan Xichen nods, his heart beating harder than it should. Last time Nie Huaisang came to the Hanshi… it was before everything, before Wei Wuxian’s return. It was another life.

“Ten years is an awful long time,” Nie Huaisang says, sitting down, inviting Lan Xichen to do the same, as if he were the host. “But I’m patient, when I want something. And I want something, Er-ge. Can you guess what?”

“Huaisang, we can’t anymore,” Lan Xichen replies, his body tensing to the point of near pain. “I’m married now.”

This earns him an unkind smirk.

“Er-ge, you value yourself too much,” Nie Huaisang sneers. “If I wanted that, I’d have it long ago. I did consider it in fact. It would have been quite funny. But then I heard your uncle was getting in touch with a number of matchmakers. I thought this would be funnier still if you ten years could be so similar to his, before losing it all. A wife, a family, to hide you're a cut-sleeve who fell for the wrong man… Just like San-ge. "

"You're here to kill me," Lan Xichen realises. 

He tries to stand up, but his body is too tense for movement, as if he has been turned to rock, while his heart beats so fast it makes him nearly dizzy. 

"The incense," Nie Huaisang simply says, taking out a dagger from his sleeve. "I'm not stupid enough to challenge you."

Lan Xichen immediately recognises it, though he has only ever seen it once, when Qin Su stabbed herself with it, so many years ago.

"I have children," Lan Xichen begs.

"Which is more than my Da-ge ever got," Nie Huaisang lightly notes, moving to kneel behind Lan Xichen. It could pass for a lover's embrace. "He would have made a wonderful father, I think. He was like a father to me after all, better than the real one." 

With some effort, Nie Huaisang pries open Lan Xichen's right hand and forces him to hold the dagger. 

"Da-ge wouldn't want this," Lan Xichen hisses, the incense's effect making it hard to even talk now. 

"We'll never know what he'd want," Nie Huaisang snaps, guiding Lan Xichen’s stiff arm and hand to his throat. "But you had what you deserved. Ten years of thinking you got away with it, the same as A-Yao did. And then, at last, guilt caught up with you and you couldn't beat it anymore. Because you know San-ge couldn't have done it without you, and I know it too."

Nie Huaisang laughs lightly, sounding almost the same he had as a boy. 

"You'll leave a very touching letter to explain this," he whispers into Lan Xichen's ear. "I've always been good at that. So goodbye, Er-ge. And don't worry… I'll be here to help Wangji when you're gone, should he need it." 

Lan Xichen tries to fight, to shout, but the paralysing incense has taken hold too well. He is unable to resist when Nie Huaisang forces him to slit his own throat. 

Nie Huaisang watches him bleed to death quickly, letting go of Lan Xichen's body when it goes limp. As he stands again, he is careful not to step in blood, and puts a letter well in view, so it won't be missed by whoever finds the body. As a precaution, he gathers the ashes of that special incense he had a corrupt servant put in place, and burns some ordinary one so the scene is complete. 

It is a work of art. Nie Huaisang is almost sorry nobody will know this new masterpiece is his as well. 

But at last, Nie Mingjue is avenged, and Nie Huaisang is free.

[biwenqing]

umm here is an au where jiang yanli becomes chief cultivator that i plotted out so... enjoy-

It all started with the death of Jin Guangshan during the sunshot campaign. The Jin clan folded in on itself in a battle of heirs, as with Jin Guangshan's death came the reveal of the other children he fathered. There were many small houses that twisted the horrors that had been faced into a grab for power.

It had little effect on the war, as the Jin were always far from the front lines.

The second change was when, after being freed by Jiang Cheng, Wen Qing picked up her own sword and joined the fight against her uncle. She could see that the only world were she and her brother would be safe was one without Wen Ruohan.

That final battle all happened the same, until it didn't. It was Wen Qing who struck the final blow against her uncle. Meng Yao still earned his status as a hero for his spy work and scurried off to enter into the debate over the Jin heir. He wasn't much seen after that.

Wen Qing invites everyone to stay at the Nightless City, to oversee as she takes power. She quickly begins healing her people and those soldiers she fought with alike, as well as helping those who had been possessed. She and Wen Ning quickly sort out the good and the bad, handling the issue justly. And she holds a banquet. Where the throne once sat, she had cleared it so there is space for each of the major clan leaders to sit together as one.

Nie Mingjue doesn't feel as wronged by the Wens, at least not these Wens, having fought side by side with Wen Qing. She has also been able, with Lan Xichen, to help a bit with the sword sickness as well. He gladly takes a seat at Wen Qing's side, Lan Xichen beside him, as they show their support of the new Wen clan leader. The Jiang come in, and it's not Jiang Cheng who walks up to the other sect leaders, but Jiang Yanli, both her little brothers watching proudly. She takes Wen Qing's other side and they exchange a small smile of understanding.

No one really expects the Jin to show up at this point, which works to make sure no one is sitting at the center of the table and make some kind of implication of superiority. But when Wen Qing stands to begin her speech about peace and reparations, there is a commotion at the door and a party dressed in Jin gold enters. Wen Ning goes to meet them, as he is closer, and Wen Qing is soon at his side.

The woman who joins the leaders at their table is not one who is known. She holds her head up high and introduces herself as Jin Su and sits at the end beside Jiang Yanli (Wen Ning is quick to find a place for her as his sister resumes her own). Wen Qing is now front and center but hopes no one reads into that, given it was not her plan. Nie Mingjue's expression, who is Wen Qing's biggest potential nay sayer, gives her a small nod in understanding.

Wen Qing's speech is well received, and Jin Su stands to speak after her. She invites them all to a Hunt, to celebrate victory and to share the goods of the Jin clan. It is a nod to the fact that the Jin did not expend as much as the other clans in the war and it is appreciated. She does not speak on what happened that lead to her becoming leader over any of the others, especially heir Jin Zixuan. But there are whispers it is a plan to save face, after all that Jin Guangshan had done, by putting a woman forward as leader.

From here people go home to rebuild, for the most part. With the Wens, there are some things still asked, such as Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian to be left to watch over Wen Qing and make sure she does not grab for power as her uncle did. This is helpful because people don't worry about something being slipped by two the war heroes. The added benefit is Wen Qing is able to use her skills to help Wei Wuxian so he doesn't get worse. In fact, due to her skill at surgery, there is a hope that Wei Wuxian's core might reform. Wei Wuxian is glad to be able to hide his struggles from his siblings, but visits as often as possible to see how Lotus Pier is being rebuilt.

When it comes time, there are a few back room deals happen at Phoenix Mount. Not that they are sketchy, per say. No, it is more to figure some "arranged" marriages that might really be more love matches. The first is to secure the Jin and Jiang clans. Jin Zixuan has been a lot better now that his dad is gone and he doesn't actually have to take over the sect. He is happy and excited to try and court Jiang Yanli and a tentative betrothal is put back in place (less public, in case it falls through, but there once more). It is possible because Jin Zixuan is not leader of his own sect. Another suggested deal comes about because Wen Qing looks Jiang Yanli and then Lan Xichen in the eye and tells them that they might as well make an arrangement because, no matter what sooner, or later Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji will become official cultivation partners, so they might as well add some political heft to the inevitable.

As the time passes clan meetings go well. Jiang Yanli gets along famously with every other clan leader, and finds herself in position of chief cultivator, despite having been told her cultivation is weak for so much of her life. The people trust her though, to look out for them and to make the choices that need to be made. She has swore brothers in Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue. She has a political marriage with the Jin. She and Wen Qing have long been allies, due to their support and help of each other before, during, and after the war. Lotus Pier, with Jiang Cheng as her right hand man, has been rebuilt. And she has a healthy baby heir in Jiang Ling.

The cultivation world settles into an era of peace and stability, under the eyes of this generation.

[stiltonbasket]

chancellor of the morning sun: lecture (adulthood)

In which Lan Xichen throws down with Jin Zixuan; or, part 6 of the nielan au that has completely taken over my brain.  

Part 1 | Part 2: Lesson (Youth) | Part 3: First Meeting, Mingjue (Childhood) | Part 4: First Meeting, Xichen (Childhood) | Part 5: Defense (Reconstruction) | AO3

At the risk of offending her little brother, Lan Xichen often reflects on the fact that Wei Wuxian would probably love to break every last one of the Lan sect precepts, simply for the sake of doing it.

Wei Wuxian—Jiang Fengmian’s ward and adopted son, and coincidentally the same little boy who threw roses at Wangji’s head during that discussion conference in Qishan—is exactly the sort of person her uncle would run a li or two in very tight shoes to avoid, still not ready to contemplate the fact that Cangse Sanren was no longer among the living. An unfortunate incident in Caiyi (with some tea served in a cup that had previously held heavy liquor, and not been washed well enough later) had told Lan Xichen all she needed to know about that, especially when Shufu revealed that he still saw the flare of Cangse Sanren’s bright sword in his dreams when he thought of her before sleeping.

“Why did you not declare your suit then, Shufu?” Xichen asked, praying that her uncle would forget the conversation entirely when he sobered up in an hour or two. “You loved her, didn’t you?”

“I was seventeen, and she was four-and-twenty,” he replied. “I was a child to her, as Jiang Fengmian was, and I was unsuited in another way, though I did not know it then.”

But Lan Qiren had truly grieved on that dark night thirteen years ago when word came from Yunmeng Jiang announcing the deaths of Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze, and it was the only time save the morning of her mother’s passing that Xichen ever saw her uncle cry.

(He had not cried a drop when her father died; his brother’s fate had filled him with such wrath at the men who forced it on him that all Lan Qiren said after Qingheng-jun was buried was that he would not let the elders touch Lan Huan, or little A-Zhan, even if he had to tear himself apart for it.)

Lan Zhan is much like their uncle, now that Lan Xichen thinks about it. He has the same intolerance for lawlessness and disorder, the same helpless weakness for people who are bold, and brash, and free—so is it really any wonder that he seems to have fallen desperately in love with Wei Wuxian? 

Xichen believes that it isn’t, especially now that her precious didi is doing the Wangji equivalent of wringing his hands—that is, white-knuckling his sword, whose hilt usually suffers most whenever her brother is out of sorts—and pleading with her to speak to their uncle and lessen Wei Wuxian’s latest punishment, which seems to have been the result of an all-out brawl with Jin Zixuan the previous evening. 

“I was informed that Young Master Wei ‘left a bruise the size of his fist’ on Jin Zixuan’s face, and struck him unprovoked,” she says, lifting a curious brow at him. “Last I heard, all Shufu told him to do was kneel in the courtyard outside his receiving chamber and reflect on his ill temper. What is so harsh about that?”

“Shufu has summoned Jin Guangshan and Jiang-zongzhu here to discuss the matter with them,” Wangji insists. “And—I was not there, but Wei Ying’s third disciple brother reported that Jin Zixuan slighted Lady Jiang before his whole delegation, and that Wei Ying began fighting with him for that reason. Surely that cannot be such a grave offense that Wei Ying must be expelled from the Cloud Recesses, Jie?”

Lan Xichen feels her heart melt. “No, it is not. But since Jiang-zongzhu and Jin-zongzhu are both here, then it must be about the marriage between Jin Zixuan and Jiang-guniang, and not anything to do with Wei Wuxian. We had already invited Jiang-zongzhu, remember?”

Her brother nods. “Yes, A-Jie. This brother shall take his leave now, then, and disturb you no further.”

“Wait, Wangji. You mentioned that Wei Wuxian’s third shidi witnessed the encounter between the boys?” she asks, her mind already on other matters now that Wangji seems to have cheered up a little. “Would that be Yu Zhenhong, or Dai Lingyi?”

“Yu Zhenhong, I believe. He is in your cultivation history lecture, is he not?”

“I had rather hoped it would be him,” Xichen confesses, rising to her feet. “Wangji, I must trouble you to go and fetch the boy at once, and then bring whomever among the Jin disciples you deem most trustworthy. I would hear an account of it all from them, if it is possible.”

Wangji bows before hurrying off, as he began doing the very day she was instated as Sect Leader Lan four years ago; Xichen had tried to argue with him, insisting that he was still her precious baby brother and ought never to bow to her except when they were in public, but their uncle claimed that Wangji must not fail to show her full deference even when they were alone. The elders would leap upon even a spark of discourtesy from Wangji or even from Shufu himself and use it to undermine her, he said, or press her into yielding her seat to Wangji before she married and moved to Qinghe, or worse, before Wangji was ready, which would leave the council in power yet again. 

But what none of the council knows is that Nie Mingjue has been the recipient of many midnight letters detailing Lan Xichen’s predicament, and that he even asked his father to move their wedding from Xichen’s eighteenth year to the seventh year after that. Nie Huangyin wanted to see his son with a child of his own as soon as Gusu Lan would permit it, not knowing that they would have sent Xichen away before she turned eighteen if he dared voice his wish—but Mingjue begged him to postpone the marriage on bended knee, telling him that it would break her heart to leave Wangji behind when he was only fourteen, and to never have the chance to lead her clan when she fought so valiantly to earn the standing a man would have commanded by the fact of his birth.

It was this last that softened Nie Huangyin’s resolve, since his respect for the place Xichen would someday have (as his heir’s wife, and the mother of his grandchildren, as well as the future of his line) was surpassed only by his regard for the place she already held as the first heir to Gusu Lan and its future sect leader. 

And then Nie Huangyin died two years before Xichen ascended as Lan-zongzhu, and Mingjue’s first state journey as Sect Leader Nie had been to the Cloud Recesses, to demand that the betrothal contract be altered to permit him to wed Lan Huan as soon or as late as he liked. 

“But your father stipulated that it should be no later than—”

“I am in mourning. It may take a very long time before I can emerge from my grief well enough to look after a wife and children,” Mingjue interrupted, stopping the first elder who dared voice an objection dead in his tracks. “Perhaps it will be ten years from now, instead of nine. Or maybe twelve. I have not yet realized the depths of my sorrow, for it grows worse every day.”

“Surely you would not leave the most precious flower of our sect unwed for so long!” another elder jumped in, looking completely outraged. “Wedding her at twenty-five was bad enough, but for you to come asking to wait longer still! What is wrong with Lan Huan, in your eyes? Would you have her watch all the maidens her age gain the titles of wife and mother, while she must remain an old maid until you see fit to marry her?”

“I think far too highly of Sect Heir Lan to bring her to a household still darkened with the pain of the previous Nie-zongzhu’s passing,” Nie Mingjue said flatly, throwing Lan Xichen a conspiratorial look that none of the council but Shufu could see. “When I bring her to the Unclean Realm as my bride, it will because I, and she, have both agreed that it is the proper time.”

What a blessing of fate it was, that I was promised to Mingjue-xiong, Xichen thinks now, pondering over the matter between Jiang Yanli and her intended, who seems to struggle with showing the poor girl even the barest courtesy. If it had been anyone else—anyone, at all—

“A-Jie?” Wangji calls from outside the door, pulling her out of her musings as she hurries to let him in. “I have brought Yu-gongzi and one of the Jin disciples, as you requested.”

But for some reason, Wangji seems to have brought three disciples along instead of two. One is Yu Zhenhong, who looks like a paler, sharper-faced version of Jiang Wanyin, and the second is the Jin clan’s head disciple, Luo Qingyang; but the third is a young girl from the Jiang clan, who seems to be the only one among the three with a weapon at her waist. Xichen quickly places her as Wei Wuxian’s first shimei, Li Shuai, and realizes with amused surprise that this is the maiden who smuggled Emperor’s Smile into the Cloud Recesses last month so that her da-shixiong and er-shixiong could have a forbidden party with it. 

“Lan-zongzhu,” the disciples chorus, making her a deep, formal bow before Yu Zhenhong steps forward. “Zewu-xianzi, how may we be of assistance? Second Young Master Lan informed me that you needed us for something.”

“I do,” she says, inclining her head. “I would have your account of the disagreement between Young Master Jin and Young Master Wei, up until the point they were interrupted by Wangji and Maiden Jiang.”

The three accounts coincide exactly, though Luo Qingyang has more to tell regarding the remarks Jin Zixuan made about Jiang-guniang before Wei Wuxian arrived on the scene. Xichen listens to them all in some distress before sending the disciples back about their business, and then she fights the temptation to down a whole pot of tea before turning back to her brother. “Where is Jin Zixuan now, A-Zhan?”

“Kneeling in a courtyard across from the one where Wei Ying is,” Wangji says, confused. “What of him?”

“Go bring him to me,” she orders. “I rather fancy his betrothal will be dissolved before the day is out, but I must speak with him first.”

Wangji makes off without a word, reappearing again five minutes later with a very irate Jin Zixuan beside him. It is impossible to tell that the two of them are three years apart, by now; Wangji and Jin Zixuan are of the same height, and Wangji’s collected calm belies his age to the point where he looks closer to Lan Xichen’s two and twenty years instead of eighteen. 

“You may go, A-Zhan,” Lan Xichen says gently, favoring her brother with a tender smile as he bows and slips out again: probably to comfort Wei Wuxian, if she had to guess. “And you, young master Jin—you may sit at that table there, and reflect while I brew some tea.”

Much confused, Jin Zixuan does, trying to keep his eyes fixed on the table in front of him while Lan Xichen heats a pot of water and lays out her favorite xiangqi board. Once the tea is ready, she calls Jin Zixuan up to her table and watches as he fills her cup and the one she put aside for him—and then she moves her first piece and directs him to do the same, trying not to sigh as he glances uncertainly at the board and moves his chariot. 

“Um, Lan-zongzhu, what—”

“I was informed that you have some objection to your future marriage to Maiden Jiang,” she interrupts, cutting him off so smoothly that he scarcely seems to notice. “I find myself curious as to your reasons why, since I have known Jiang Yanli for many years and never run across any defect in her character at all.”

Jin Zixuan’s face goes purple. “Zewu-xianzi, that…”

“Is it that she is too kind for you?” Xichen muses aloud. She moves another piece, and looks at Jin Zixuan with lifted brows until he does the same. “Or, perhaps, that she smiles too much?”

“I—”

“I would like to hear you out fully, Jin-gongzi. What objection do you have to Jiang Yanli?”

His cheeks go even darker, and he lowers his eyes back to the xiangqi board before speaking again. Lan Xichen knows all his reasons in full, of course, and finds herself thoroughly disappointed in them; she began to have a better opinion of Jin Zixuan when he treated Meng Yao with courtesy the last time he visited Qinghe Nie, despite knowing full well that he and A-Yao are half-brothers and that A-Yao is the elder between them, but if matters proceed as Xichen fears they will, that good opinion might not even last the day. “Jin-gongzi!”

“Zewu-xianzi, I…”

“I will spare you the disgrace of having to speak such words again, then,” she says, motioning him to pour her another cup of tea. “Yu Zhenhong of Yunmeng Jiang—your intended’s cousin, and nephew to her mother—has already been to tell me about them, along with your own head disciple, who has always been devoted to you, from what I know of her.”

“Mianmian was here?” Jin Zixuan asks, finally looking up with something close to shame in his eyes. “She—told you everything?”

“That you think Jiang-guniang is too plain for your tastes, that her cultivation is too low for you, that her character is too timid and too weak, that she is too foolish over her brothers, that she is too attached to you, despite having known you since infancy, and that you would be her husband for exactly as long,” Lan Xichen counts off. “Luo-guniang told me all that, and more, but I would rather not say such things myself. Especially not about such an admirable girl as Yanli is.”

Jin Zixuan shuts his mouth again. A wonderful improvement on his usual state, Xichen thinks, even if she won’t say so. 

“Jin-gongzi,” she says instead, “surely you must know that Jiang-guniang has no more choice in this marriage than you do, since it was contracted by your mothers even before they were married?”

“She likes it!” Jin Zixuan protests at last, goaded past the bounds of courtesy. “All our lives, she—even when we were children, she was always trying to make me soup, and get me to play with her brothers, no matter how much I tried to put her off! It might as well be a marriage of choice, on her part, and even though my mother will not hear of me breaking the engagement, Jiang-zongzhu would do it in a heartbeat if Jiang Yanli asked him to! She knows I want nothing of it—she has always known—but never, never has she had the courtesy to say so!”

Lan Xichen only raises her eyebrows at him. “Lan-zongzhu,” Jin Zixuan appends hastily. 

“I see,” she observes. “What is it that Jiang-guniang likes about you, then?”

“...What?”

“Luo-guniang told me what you dislike about Maiden Jiang. So I must ask, Jin Zixuan—what does she like about you?”

The boy seems more confused than ever, somehow, and Xichen holds back a sigh before framing the question differently. “What advantages do you believe she would gain upon marrying you?”

“She would become Young Madam Jin, second mistress of the wealthiest sect after Qishan Wen,” Jin Zixuan replies at once, looking stunned that Lan Xichen even asked. “Once I took my father’s place, she would become the wife of a sect leader.”

“And?”

“She would...never want for anything?” he says uncertainly. “Not jewels, nor silks, nor any of the things that are dear to women. Her children would want for nothing, and she would be assured of their future.”

“How is that any different from what she is assured now?”

Jin Zixuan only looks bewildered again. “As the Young Mistress of Yunmeng Jiang, she…”

“Jiang Yanli has little fondness for material things,” Lan Xichen dismisses him. “She wears only plain jewels and a single ornament in her hair, and I have never seen her pass a beggar in the street without giving out enough coin for a day’s food. Nor has she any desire for power, since most of her work in Yunmeng concerns the education of children whose parents cannot teach them, and apprenticeships for women without family to care for them.

“And even if she did care for gold, and for power...her brothers worship the ground under her feet, as does her father, and I doubt there is anything Jiang Fengmian has ever denied her. Or that Jiang Wanyin ever will, when he becomes sect leader. With things between you two as they are, does she not have more power in Yunmeng Jiang, with her family supporting the ventures she chooses, than she could ever hope for as the mistress of Lanling?”

“Mother would give her that power, she wouldn’t have to ask me for it,” Jin Zixuan protests weakly. “Mother adores her, because she and Yu-furen have been friends since they were children.”

“But when the reins of the Jin sect lie in your hands alone, what then? Would she humble herself so, to ask anything of a husband whom she must know dislikes her?”

Jin Zixuan opens his mouth and then shuts it again. He looks very lost, somehow, as if he had wandered into a forest expecting to find rabbits before being accosted by a flesh-eating tiger instead.

Xichen drains the last of her tea and pointedly clears her throat. “So now that we have established that the greatest virtues of Lanling Jin hold no charm for Maiden Jiang, what do you have to offer her?”

“I...I…”

She finds herself losing her patience, then. “Do you remember the day we first met, Jin Zixuan? I had just recited twenty minutes’ worth of poetry at a discussion conference, as part of an elocution contest held among all the maidens past ten years of age who were present. Jiang Yanli performed first—and did very admirably, I might add—and she glanced towards you once hoping for a smile or a nod to encourage her, which she did not receive. But she held her own and finished her recitation magnificently, and I took the stage after her—and then I saw you looking at me, and I thought you were enchanted by the piece I had chosen. It was a fine one, written by my uncle when he was a youth, and I was glad that someone approved of it, even if it was only a boy of nine who would not even try to be friends with his betrothed. 

“And then, after the contest was over, Qin Su invited me to come and take tea with her and her mother, so I stepped into the room next door to attend them,” Lan Xichen says icily, watching Jin Zixuan quail before her with a savage sort of pleasure. “The moment I was gone, you turned to your father, and asked if you could marry Maiden Lan, since you thought she suited you better than Maiden Jiang. Can you imagine what reason you gave him, Jin-gongzi?”

“Zewu-xianzi, please—”

“It was not the elocution I was displaying that night, or any perceived superiority in character. Rather, the only reason you gave for wanting a new maiden over the one you had known for years, and who had been nothing but kind to you, was that you thought the second one was pretty. Two girls, both feeling and thinking and breathing beings, reduced to nothing but the comeliness of their features, and the worst thing was that you said it as if it were the most natural idea in the world.

“I was called the jewel of Gusu Lan, accomplished beyond anything my sect had hoped—or even wanted—for my age, but when I heard you ask your father for me, like I was a bauble on a shelf and not a person, I nearly buried my head in my arms and cried. And then I admired Jiang Yanli even more than I already did, for having stood such treatment time and time again from the boy who was meant to be her husband and the father of her children, for all the rest of her days—without so much as a tear, or a frown. 

“You forgot the thought of marrying me soon enough, thank Heaven, and you were always respectful towards me after that. But your treatment of your intended never improved, though it has been twelve years since then—and you would have me believe that Wei Wuxian was in the wrong, for challenging you?”

Jin Zixuan bows his head and says nothing. His lips are quivering, Lan Xichen notices, and his cheeks are flushed in sheer mortification; if he were five or six years younger, he might have burst into tears on the spot, and she feels her heart twinge a little at her harshness as the quaking of his mouth grows more obvious. 

But then she remembers the look on Jiang Yanli’s face last night, and Wei Wuxian’s insistence that he only forgot his entrance token that first afternoon because the Jin delegation had ejected him and his martial siblings from the inn they were staying at, despite the fact that there were five or six empty rooms after the Jins were accommodated. 

If Wei Wuxian spoke truly—and Lan Xichen highly doubts that he did not—Jin Zixuan turned his own betrothed out into the street when there were no inns remaining but the one he had taken rooms in, simply because he did not wish to share an entire house with her, and Jiang Yanli bore it with nothing but a reminder to her brothers to maintain their dignity before outsiders. 

“Your betrothal contract will be dissolved by tonight, if my knowledge of Jiang-zongzhu holds true,” she says at last, pouring herself a fourth cup of tea. “Any change in heart will be too late for Maiden Jiang, or your engagement with her. But you will marry someone sometime, so perhaps that maiden will have better luck with you than Jiang-guniang did.”

Lan Xichen looks at the candle-clock burning on the table, and then at the sky outside her window. Jin Guangshan ought to have finished discussing the betrothal now, which means that it must be time for her to go explain the appearance of the Yin iron to Jiang Fengmian—but there is still something more she must say to Jin Zixuan, though it might just go over his head entirely.

“You are dismissed, Young Master Jin. But before you leave, consider this—when Nie Mingjue was betrothed to me, the engagement was settled by my clan and the previous Nie-zongzhu, and neither Chifeng-zun nor I had any choice in the matter. We had not met at the time, but all he wanted to know about me was whether I would be kind to Huaisang, and once his father said that I would be, Nie Mingjue was content.

“Perhaps you will have a good answer for what you seek in a wife, when the time comes for you to find one again.”

And then she gets up and sweeps off down the corridor to her uncle’s chambers, leaving Jin Zixuan frozen at the xiangqi board in her wake, and hopes that he will remember at least something of what she has told him—for his sake as well as Jiang Yanli’s. 

[satonthelotuspier]

My Soulmate’s Regret Part 3

Yep it’s been a while since I wrote for this AU. This is pretty much setting up for the finale, or at least the run to the finale, of the xicheng arc.

You can find part 1 here and part 2 here.

CW for blood, minor injury, possessive behaviour.

He was at a convenience store buying cheap instant noodles to take back to the station, when Jiang Cheng got the oddest feeling he was being watched.

He wasn’t a man to ignore his instincts, cops who did that more often that not ended up dead, so he carefully wandered through the aisles of the small shop, scanning for anyone who looked like they might be not quite what they seemed, fully utilising the mirrors and angles to his best advantage and disguising his regard.

Despite his extremely careful supermarket sweep, nobody seemed out of place. There was a mother with her young son shopping for that night’s dinner ingredients, two men in business suits, both with company ID badges on show, looking for a quick lunch to take back to the office, and a gaggle of high school girls shopping for cute candy. They kept throwing him looks, and giggling amongst themselves, but a quick once over showed them to likely be what they seemed, school bags, uniforms, all of them huddled close so they knew each other well, no possibility of one being a new member of the clique.

He shoved a hand in his jacket pocket and made his way to the till, blocking out their excited tittering as he joined the queue behind the mother and son, and waited for his turn to pay.

Despite the fact he’d visually cleared everyone here he couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, and it wasn’t just by the young girls. At least he was pretty sure it wasn’t.

All he could do was keep his guard up, however.

His phone buzzed in his pocket; signalling the arrival of a text; he took it out and checked the message, expecting it to be Wei Wuxian, asking Jiang Cheng to grab him some lunch as well, but it was Lan Xichen.

A-Cheng should have dinner with me tonight.

Can’t. A-Cheng is busy.

Too busy to see your husband? What plans do you have?

Ex-husband. I’m having dinner with my boss and his brother.

Our marriage certificate is still valid, A-Cheng. Like it or not, I am still your husband.

Having this argument at least twice a week helped neither of them, of course. And technically Lan Xichen was correct. He really should get around to fighting for the divorce. He was a very busy man, however, and it wasn’t like either of them were in a hurry to marry again.

Not that Lan Xichen would give Jiang Cheng the chance, of course.

Does that mean you’re having dinner with Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang?

That had been a slip up, it was only going to cause Lan Xichen to try to be controlling. But no point lying now, he’d already said it.

Yes.

Invite me.

He almost dropped his phone at the shock of that text. Was Lan Xichen insane?

He was just about to reply something of the kind when he realised it would be his turn to be served very shortly, and put his phone away to wait.

Once outside the store, however, he pulled it out of his pocket again, and hit dial as he wandered back in the direction of the station.

“No, I won’t be inviting you. Because it’s not my dinner party, and because how do you think it would look for my boss, a policeman, to be having dinner with you, a suspected crime lord.” He didn’t even give Lan Xichen a chance to greet him, he just leapt straight into the attack.

“Suspected, Sweeting. And your soulmate.” Why was Lan Xichen so damn unflappable about this kind of thing? “I do not like the idea of you having dinner with Nie Huaisang, A-Cheng.”

Not this again.

“I’m not having an affair with Huaisang-xiong, Xichen.”

“I know. That’s why he’s still alive.” It was always so matter of fact with Lan Xichen.

It was impossible for their little bickering sessions to develop into something more satisfying for Jiang Cheng, where he got to argue and yell and get everything off of his chest, because trying to argue with Lan Xichen was a losing battle. The man never lost his temper, always spoke calmly and evenly, and let Jiang Cheng’s jibes and comments roll off of his back, except where he had a calm response to make to refute them, like this time.

“Tomorrow then?” Lan Xichen suggested. “I’ll pick you up from the garage near the station at about six.” Lan Xichen hung up without waiting for his answer. It never mattered much what his response was, after all.

He pushed his mobile back into his jeans pocket and went to the department kitchen to boil water for his makeshift lunch, cursing the fate that had made Lan Xichen his soulmate.

*******

The meal the previous evening with the Nie brothers had been uneventful, and he had arrived home around ten, to fall straight into bed.

His workload that day was relatively light. He had some reports to read through on feelers he had put out, further into the Wen clan’s dealings.

It was what had gotten him kidnapped the previous month, but he wasn’t going to stop, especially now he had a solid suspicion the Wens were planning to move against his husband.

It wasn’t clan politics, he didn’t give a fuck about that, let them screw each other over into the ground, but he cared about his soulmate’s safety. As much as he hated Lan Xichen, he did still love him.

Of course he wouldn’t act on anything that could be considered a conflict of interest, Lao-Nie trusted him enough to manage his workload ethically; and he wouldn’t pass information on to Lan Xichen; it was a matter of professional pride with him that he always separated his private life and his professional role, much as some people mocked, thought he didn’t, thought he was a sleeper for Lan Xichen. Thought leaving his husband was a front and not the most difficult, heart-wrenching decision he had ever made in his life.

Unfortunately that wasn’t helped by the fact Lan Xichen made it impossible to leave him. He refused to agree to a divorce. He still inserted himself into almost every aspect of Jiang Cheng’s private life. And heaven help him but they still fucked regularly.

He forced his mind back onto the folders of paperwork in front of him; he wasn’t getting paid to psychoanalyse his own relationships.

He spent an hour in the gym and training room to finish off his day, then grabbed a quick shower, before changing into something a little more dressy than his usual jeans, t-shirt and jacket. He didn’t know whether they’d be eating out or eating back at the Lan mansion, and if the latter, Lan Qiren, Lan Xichen’s uncle, may very well join them.

He had always gotten on very well with his soulmate’s uncle, and he deserved the respect of Jiang Cheng making an effort with his appearance.

It was a little after six by the time he was ready to leave, and he was in a rush to ensure Lan Xichen wasn’t waiting for him too long, so he ran for the underground garage Lan Xichen had mentioned in their telephone call yesterday. He had occasionally picked Jiang Cheng up from the street, especially when Jiang Cheng hadn’t been expecting him, but he also knew it was better for Jiang Cheng to not be seen too often getting into the car of his suspected mafia don estranged husband.

He rushed to the level which Lan Xichen normally parked on, but a quick scan showed no familiar dark saloon. The hairs at the back of his neck stuck up with the sudden realisation it was actually much quieter generally than it should have been at this time of the evening, in fact, it was scarily deserted.

He scanned again, aiming to back towards one of the walls while he reached for his police issue weapon.

He pulled it out, and could have thrown it away in frustration to notice it didn’t have a magazine in it. Which was bullshit, because he knew for a fact it had had one when he locked it away at the station to go into the gym. Someone had had access to his locker.

Fuck.

He wasn’t entirely surprised to see figures dressed in dark clothes moving out of the shadows between cars and making their way towards him, all carrying an assortment of weapons.

“Just like he said. Lan Xichen’s bitch on a platter.”

The comment, whether it had been meant to rile him up or not, told him that he had been given up by someone, and that the reason they came for him specifically was because of his relationship to the Lans.

He didn’t consider himself a stupid man; at least not professionally. And he knew that without a gun, he was as good as defenceless against so many, so he did the most sensible thing possible, and took to his heels.

Luckily he was quick, and he knew this particular garage quite well; let them catch his university track team ass.

He ran, and weaved, and switched levels.

He managed to put a bit of distance between him and his pursuers, apparently they hadn’t expected him to scamper. He took the opportunity to hide himself behind a car and pull his phone out.

He dialled Wei Wuxian; if the thugs were interested in him as Lan Xichen’s ‘bitch’ and not as Jiang Cheng, organised crime cop, then Wei Wuxian might be targetted too. And who could he trust at the station?

While his phone rang he checked his messages. Someone had been into his phone too, and replied to a text message from Lan Xichen telling Jiang Cheng he was going to be late.

This all stunk of careful organisation.

Wei Wuxian answered, and began chirping something at Jiang Cheng, but he cut him off immediately, and there must have been something in Jiang Cheng’s tone that notified Wei Wuxian the other was deadly serious.

“Wei Wuxian, where are you?”

“I’m just about to leave the station, Jiang Cheng, why?”

“Go back inside, don’t leave. Go and find Lao-Nie in his office, and get him to call Wangji for you. Do not leave with anyone other than your husband. Do not leave Lao-Nie’s side unless it’s with Wangji, and hand over your phone and weapon for him to take a look at. I’ll explain later.” I hope.

“OK, I’m going back now, but Jiang Cheng, are you OK, where are you? Shall I send you backup?” He wasn’t stupid enough to fall for that; if he told Wei Wuxian where he was the stupid fool would be just as likely to tear over here to help rather than keep himself safe like Jiang Cheng had told him to. Wanted him to.

He hung up, and stared at the phone. There was a good chance they had something tracking him through his mobile. It was relatively easy to do for anyone with a little tech savvy, and these guys had been too organised not to have access to that kind of tech. But he also wanted to preserve it as evidence.

In the end he knew he had to leave it behind, however, and take the chance it would be destroyed, otherwise he had no hope of avoiding capture. He dropped it down a nearby grate, and was just about to take off again when he realised he’d waited too long, and a few of the faster running thugs had caught up with him and located his hiding place.

He had better chance against a few than them all, so he didn’t give them chance to wait for backup, and came out fighting.

His Sanda training against their hand weapons wasn’t the fairest fight, but it was the only chance he had, and he was a stubborn fucker and wouldn’t go down without leaving his own mark.

He acquitted himself reasonably well, and did end up flooring three of them, but took a shallow knife slash across the ribs for his trouble. He ran again. This time, knowing his brother was safe, he didn’t stop. He daren’t go back to the station, or to a local hospital because they’d have to report his knife wound. And while he had a perfectly valid reason he didn’t want anyone but Nie Mingjue to know where he was yet, considering there was definitely someone on the inside willing to give Jiang Cheng up to an enemy. The only place he knew of which was a safe haven for him was the Lan mansion. Lan Xichen would be able to arrange a doctor to tend his wounds, and he could safely contact Nie Mingjue.

*******

It took him a little while to make it there. He had to keep out of public view as much as possible, as it was impossible to hide the blood on his clothes. The guards on the gate seemed to be on high alert, and as soon as he made himself known to them they ushered him into the compound and up to the house.

They must have called ahead because Lan Xichen met them halfway up the drive, accompanied by Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian.

“Jiang Cheng!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, and moved forward.

Lan Xichen was faster, however.

He had paused at first sight of Jiang Cheng, had actually looked like he blanched a little, then stepped forward and swept Jiang Cheng up into a princess carry.

“Please call Xiao-yisheng, Wangji” he said shortly.

Jiang Cheng didn’t really feel like complaining about being carried at the moment, and let Wei Wuxian and Lan Xichen fuss around him.

“It looks much worse than it is, I think. I’m pretty sure it’s only a shallow cut,” he said, as Lan Xichen placed him down on the couch in his bedroom.

Lan Xichen didn’t answer; and Jiang Cheng glanced up. His mouth was set in a tight line of rage. Jiang Cheng reached out and took his hand.

“I’m alright, Xichen.” His voice was soft, soothing.

Lan Xichen was probably going to be out for blood after this, and there likely wasn’t much he could do to mitigate it. He had to just hope that Nie Mingjue and he could get to the bottom of what had happened and get them off the streets before Lan Xichen fathomed it and took matters into his own hands.

His words of comfort caused the other to shake his rage off, and kneel down next to Jiang Cheng. He clutched both of Jiang Cheng’s hands between his, and lifted them to his mouth, to place soothing kisses on them.

Jiang Cheng was of course uncomfortable under the tender regard.

He didn’t try to break free though; the comfort was for Lan Xichen, not himself, as ironic as that was. Lan Xichen was a control freak, and that he had allowed his husband to remain free of that control, and he had then been wounded, would hurt him, would gnaw at him and make him question whether he had been wrong to allow Jiang Cheng that freedom.

When the time came to leave, Jiang Cheng was expecting to have to fight him on the subject all over again.

But he would; he wasn’t some pretty bird to be kept in a cage, and taken out at Lan Xichen’s fancy.

That was for another time though.

He allowed Lan Xichen to help him out of his slashed shirt, and Wei Wuxian joined them.

“I let Lao-Nie know you were here and safe. You need to speak to him and tell him what happened, Jiang Cheng.”

“I’ll do it now.”

Lan Xichen held him down, “No, you won’t, A-Cheng. You may call Lao-Nie after Xiao-yisheng has tended to that wound, and examined you.”

He wanted to argue, he really did, but there was little point at the moment.

******

That was why it was a while later before Jiang Cheng was given the handset of one of the household extensions and allowed to telephone his boss.

He would have ideally preferred to do it on a line that didn’t belong to the Lans, but at least he knew the line would be secure from outside influence. And there was nothing else he could do; his phone was who knew where and Wei Wuxian’s had been handed over as evidence.

There was a part of Jiang Cheng that trusted Lan Xichen to not invade his privacy to that extent. And he knew he’d likely have to give his husband some of the basic information of what had happened; he just hadn’t judged how much was sensible yet.

Lan Xichen had left him with Wei Wuxian, and, once the door had closed behind him, Jiang Cheng dialled.

Xiao-yisheng had cleaned and placed a few stitches into the wound on his chest under a local anaesthetic. A wider examination had proved, as he claimed, that he was perfectly fine beyond that one cut.

Nie Mingjue answered in short order and Jiang Cheng put the phone on speaker, allowing both he and Wei Wuxian to be part of the discussion. He quickly related what had happened, and asked Nie Mingjue to try and retrieve his phone from the drain.

“I should be fine to come back into the station tomorrow to give you my official statement…”

“Are you insane, Jiang Cheng?” Nie Mingjue asked. “Two attempts like this in the space of a month – one possibly aided from within the department. There was a reason you judged it wasn’t safe to return here, or to a hospital, when you got away from those thugs. Don’t start being a simpleton now. You need to sit back for a while, let the heat simmer, maybe go into protective custody. At least you need to stay by Lan Xichen’s side; only a fucking idiot would try to go through your soulmate to get to you.”

Jiang Cheng bit his lip in frustration. A part of him accepted the sense in Nie Mingjue’s words, but he wasn’t someone who was happy taking a passive role. And he was eager to make progress on this investigation; he didn’t want to give Lan Xichen any chance to get to the answer before they did. His husband was cold, clinical, and obsessively methodical in his business life; how else was it that, despite what the police knew went on under their very noses, they were still no nearer to having anything at all on the Lans than they had ever been.

But with this, with Jiang Cheng’s safety, and revenge for hurting him, he didn’t trust Lan Xichen to be so dispassionate; and the last thing he wanted was for the idiot to get hurt. And it had been obvious from what the thugs had said that Lan Xichen had been the ultimate target, with Jiang Cheng merely just a potential tool.

Perhaps it was best for him to be beside Lan Xichen for now, if only to offer him the same protection he was trying to foist on Jiang Cheng.

[winepresswrath]

so the thing is, i think people are seeing the siege of the burial mounds as "jiang cheng woke up one day and decided to kill innocent people for the crime of being loved by his brother," when what he really did was "legally sanctioned pursuit and (attempted) execution of a mass-murderer who was hiding behind criminals," but nobody wants to talk about that. also if they accuse him of throwing his brother off a cliff they need to shut up about killing granny. for all we know that was lan qiren.

I also love when they pretend Jiang Cheng and the Jin are in some kind of conspiracy to hide the innocent Wens from the Lan and the Nie, who would of course never participate unless led astray by such foul trickery. If only someone else, maybe Lan Xichen's beloved little brother who has an impeccable reputation for righteousness, had gone to the burial mounds. If only Lan Xichen and said little brother had an intensely close and trusting relationship, and Lan Xichen was willing to hear his brother out even under difficult circumstances where he does not like what he has to say. Alas, even if that were the case to really be sure the Nies would learn about the Wen Remnants Nie Mingjue would have to trust someone in the Lan, ideally Lan Xichen himself, and it would be convenient if Lan Xichen had regular access to him, like maybe if they had some kind of formal bond or alliance that provides an excuse for regular communication oh wait it would actually have been really weird for Lan Wangji not to tell Xichen and for Xichen not to tell Mingjue, especially because Xichen is demonstrably unenthused about the siege himself! Not enough to stop people from his clan from participating if they feel it's the right thing to do, though!

Zixuan invited Wei Wuxian to a party. Do you really think that everyone in the cultivation world believed that Wei Wuxian was building an evil Wen army and Zixuan was still like "bygones, Bro! Come hang out and meet my infant son".

[bloody-bee-tea]

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Nie Mingjue, and Happy New Year everyone else XD

Nie Mingjue just turned around and snuggled into Jiang Cheng’s embrace when he speaks.

“What do you want to do for your birthday?” he asks, carding his fingers through Nie Mingjue’s hair and it’s almost enough to make him go completely boneless against Jiang Cheng, ignoring the dreaded question.

“Mh,” Nie Mingjue hums, dropping a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s collarbone and going even heavier on top of him, all in the hopes that Jiang Cheng will drop it.

But of course Nie Mingjue has no such luck because Jiang Cheng is persistent when it comes to things like this.

“That’s not an answer,” he says with a little laugh and Nie Mingjue shrugs as best as he can in this position.

“Doesn’t matter. Be with you,” Nie Mingjue gives back, tilting his head just enough that he is able to kiss Jiang Cheng’s jaw.

“Silly,” Jiang Cheng chides him. “That’s a given. But what else do you want to do? Any plans? Is there anyone you want to invite, something you want to do?” he prods him and Nie Mingjue sighs as he sits up.

“I didn’t mean to make you pull away,” Jiang Cheng says with a frown and Nie Mingjue turns his face away from him.

“We’re not doing anything on my birthday,” Nie Mingjue tells him and he manages to not sound as bitter as he feels.

“What is that supposed to mean? If you want to do something on your birthday then we will.”

“Everyone will be too hangover to care about my birthday,” Nie Mingjue mutters, dragging a hand over his face. “And it’s fine. Let them celebrate the New Year properly.”

“What do you mean everyone will be too hangover?” Jiang Cheng demands to know and sits up properly as well. “Do you mean to tell me that no one ever celebrated your birthday with you properly?”

“I mean—I guess my parents made sure that I had a real celebration when I was still small but—” he trails off. “Afterwards I was more focused on letting Huaisang celebrate New Year’s properly to care about my birthday and it has been like that since then. He and Xichen usually drop by for dinner, so it’s fine.”

“That is so not fine,” Jiang Cheng grumbles and pulls Nie Mingjue back into his arms. “You deserve to celebrate your birthday properly as well, celebration and all, if that is what you want.”

“No, it’s alright,” Nie Mingjue says with a sigh. “Let them have their New Year parties. We can do something for my birthday the following weekend or something like that.”

“That sucks,” Jiang Cheng decides and kisses the top of Nie Mingjue’s head.

Nie Mingjue makes a non-committal sound to that, because this is like it has always been and he learned to live with it. To him it’s more important that Nie Huaisang has a proper birthday celebration anyway and as long as Nie Huaisang enjoys himself on the last day of the year, then Nie Mingjue can stand to sacrifice his own birthday to Nie Huaisang’s hangover.

It’s fine.

~*~*~

“What are we doing on New Year’s Eve?” Nie Mingjue asks Jiang Cheng a few days later over dinner and Jiang Cheng barely glances at him before he answers.

“We’re at my place,” he tells Nie Mingjue who nods.

He kind of expected the huge celebration to take place at Wei Wuxian’s and Lan Wangji’s place, but celebrating at Jiang Cheng’s place will be fine as well.

“Did Wei Wuxian talk you into this?” Nie Mingjue wants to know, because Jiang Cheng doesn’t quite seem the type to offer his own home for a horde of drunk idiots but who knows.

“Nope,” Jiang Cheng cheerfully says and Nie Mingjue gets the distinct impression that he is missing something here.

“It was your own idea?” Nie Mingjue tries to clarify but when Jiang Cheng glares at him, he wisely closes his mouth.

“What is it with this interrogation?” Jiang Cheng asks him and Nie Mingjue shrugs.

“Nothing. It just doesn’t seem very you to hold a celebration at your place willingly.”

“Well, it is very like me now,” Jiang Cheng says and Nie Mingjue can tell that he’s a little bit upset so he holds out his hand for him.

“I’m sorry. Of course you can do what you like,” Nie Mingjue amends and Jiang Cheng sighs as he immediately takes Nie Mingjue’s hand.

“I’m sorry I snapped,” Jiang Cheng also says and when they smile over their bowls, it’s already forgotten.

Still, a little doubt lingers in Nie Mingjue’s mind.

~*~*~

Jiang Cheng told Nie Mingjue to drop by around dinner time and Nie Mingjue has to hype himself up for the party.

He doesn’t feel like being around a lot of people and he doesn’t feel like having his birthday be an afterthought yet again, but he pushes it all away and let’s himself into Jiang Cheng’s apartment, smile firmly fixed on his face.

It slides off when he is met with silence.

“Wanyin?” Nie Mingjue calls out, taking off his shoes and he looks up when he notices movement.

“There you are,” Jiang Cheng says as he sticks his head around a corner. “Hi,” Jiang Cheng smiles, coming closer and pulling Nie Mingjue into a kiss.

“Where is everyone else?” Nie Mingjue asks when they part and Jiang Cheng gives him an innocent smile.

“There is no one else,” he tells him, which only makes Nie Mingjue frown harder.

“But you said the party is here,” Nie Mingjue says and Jiang Cheng shakes his head.

“No. You asked what we’re going to do and I said we’ll be here. I never mentioned a party and I never said someone else will come,” he clarifies.

“But don’t you want to celebrate?”

“I want to have dinner with you and have a relaxed evening leading into the New Year and then I want to celebrate your birthday with you properly tomorrow,” Jiang Cheng gives back and just that is enough to bring tears to Nie Mingjue’s eyes.

“I love you.”

“I love you,” Jiang Cheng says as he steps forward and brushes the tears off Nie Mingjue’s face. “Now come on, dinner is getting cold.”

“Alright,” Nie Mingjue whispers, but before Jiang Cheng can leave for the kitchen Nie Mingjue pulls him in for a kiss. “Thank you,” he mutters against his lips but Jiang Cheng brushes him off.

“Don’t thank me yet,” he tells him with a cheeky grin and it makes Nie Mingjue wonder what else he has planned for them.

But it’s clear that Jiang Cheng doesn’t want him to ask, so Nie Mingjue keeps his mouth shut and simply follows Jiang Cheng’s lead.

They spend a wonderfully relaxed evening with good food and even better company and by the time midnight rolls around they are curled up on the couch, the window in their line of sight and Jiang Cheng is lowly counting down the minutes until the New Year.

Right on the dot Jiang Cheng turns towards Nie Mingjue and takes his face into his hands.

“Happy birthday, my soul,” he whispers and kisses Nie Mingjue. “And a happy New Year as well.”

It’s enough to instantly bring tears to Nie Mingjue’s eyes again and when Jiang Cheng sees it, he frowns, clearly worried.

“What? Is something wrong?” he asks, even as Nie Mingjue shakes his head.

“Happy New Year, my heart,” Nie Mingjue roughly says, kissing Jiang Cheng again and then resting their foreheads together.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Cheng asks when the tears don’t quite stop falling and Nie Mingjue is so overcome with love for him that he has to hide his face in his neck.

“It’s just—never put my birthday first,” Nie Mingjue admits and instantly Jiang Cheng crushes him to his chest.

“Well, things are about to change then,” he promises him and Nie Mingjue laughs wetly.

“I can tell.”

“You deserve to be put first,” Jiang Cheng whispers into his hair and with how tight he’s holding him, Nie Mingjue even believes him.

~*~*~

Nie Mingjue wakes up well rested, which is only partly due to the fact that they retired pretty shortly after midnight last night and is more due to the fact that he’s still safely and warmly in Jiang Cheng’s arms.

He always sleeps better when Jiang Cheng is there, not that Nie Mingjue would ever admit to it.

“Good morning, my soul,” Jiang Cheng lazily says when Nie Mingjue snuggles closer and Nie Mingjue sighs, absolutely content in that moment.

“Morning, my heart,” he gives back, his voice still slurring the slightest bit with sleep and they continue to doze for a while longer, clearly on the same page regarding how they want to start this new year.

“We should get up soon,” Jiang Cheng says after a while, breaking the comfortable spell. “We’re getting company.”

“What?” Nie Mingjue asks, lifting up his head to look at Jiang Cheng, who is looking at the clock.

“Soon, actually, so get up,” he suddenly urges Nie Mingjue and almost pushes him out of bed, effectively ruining the lazy morning.

“What the hell is going on?” Nie Mingjue demands to know as Jiang Cheng gets washed up and clothed in record time.

“Well, I—” he starts but then someone is ringing at their door and Nie Mingjue sits up in bed, scowl firmly in place.

“Who is even awake at this time?” he grumbles, but he takes the hint—and Jiang Cheng’s urging glare—and dresses himself as Jiang Cheng goes to let whoever it is into the apartment.

“Happy birthday!” Nie Huaisang cries out, storming into the bedroom just as Nie Mingjue puts on a shirt and Nie Mingjue can do nothing but stare at him.

“You’re here,” he whispers and finds himself with an armful of Nie Huaisang a second later.

“Happy, happy birthday,” he whispers again and Nie Mingjue hugs him close.

“You’re not hangover,” he can’t help but to say and Nie Huaisang looks up at him.

“No, I’m not. Dage, you should have said that it bothers you that we don’t celebrate your birthday on the actual day,” he chides him and Nie Mingjue fights against some tears again.

“Didi,” he whispers but Nie Huaisang shakes his head.

“If I had known it bothers you so much, we could have done something differently years ago. But you said you don’t mind and I believed you, foolish me,” he chides himself and Nie Mingjue presses a kiss to his head.

“It’s fine,” he tells him.

“It’s not fine,” Lan Xichen suddenly says from the doorway. “Happy birthday, Mingjue,” he then adds with a smile. “Next time just tell us what you really want. Huaisang, come help me make breakfast,” he calls over his shoulder as he leaves for the kitchen and when Nie Huaisang follows him Nie Mingjue is grateful for the little break it gives him.

He needs a moment to process.

Nie Mingjue is still in the middle of that when Jiang Cheng comes back into the bedroom and immediately goes in for a hug.

“Good?” he asks and Nie Mingjue laughs under his tears.

“The fucking best,” he decides and pulls Jiang Cheng into a kiss. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” Jiang Cheng breathlessly gives back when they part and then wipes Nie Mingjue’s tears away. “Now come on, I fear they are going to destroy my kitchen.”

“Alright,” Nie Mingjue whispers and threads his fingers with Jiang Cheng’s. “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome,” Jiang Cheng says and kisses the back of Nie Mingjue’s hand. “And happy, happy birthday.”

And it is a very happy birthday indeed.

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

[omgkatsudonplease]

恭喜发财!!! 3zun please😊

dark!lwj au has some fun 3zun dynamics, so

“Xiaodi,” says Lan Xichen, nodding as Jin Guangyao enters his chambers. “What brings you here today?”

“Am I not allowed to visit my dear brother for no reason?” wonders Jin Guangyao, as Lan Xichen watches him take his seat across from him with the wariness of stalked prey. “Of course, I had context. I brought Jingyi a birthday present.”

“I saw,” says Lan Xichen. “He thanks you for the calligraphy tools. They are exquisite.” 

“The least I could do,” replies Jin Guangyao, stretching cat-like in his seat before pulling out a book from the folds of his robes. “I also brought something for you, too. Some old texts I found in the archives of Koi Tower. Thought they might be of interest to you, since...”

It’s an unspoken but practically carved rule to not mention the name of Lan Wangji in Lan Xichen’s presence. Sure enough, as he reads the title of the book, Lan Xichen’s eyes narrow considerably. 

“What use do I have for this?” he wonders.

“Demonic inquiry,” says Jin Guangyao. “It helps you seek out concentrated amounts of demonic energy. You know, if you happen to be looking for that sort of thing.”

Lan Xichen hums, his lips thinning into a line. “Thank you,” he says after a moment. “I appreciate your kind present, xiaodi.”

“Xichen, it has been too long since your last visit,” says Nie Mingjue. “Pardon the mess; my good-for-nothing brother is rearranging the house again.” 

“As long as he is occupied,” reasons Lan Xichen. “He is a good kid; he has the potential to form a core if he just focused.”

“He will not,” says Nie Mingjue, the eyeroll evident in his voice. “Perhaps Gusu Lan should take him back for remedial classes.”

Lan Xichen laughs at that. “It will come with time,” he says. “He has the potential, the drive, the passion for greatness. It just may not lie where the Nie Sect has traditionally prided itself.”

“He fishes and paints paper fans,” retorts Nie Mingjue, nearly tripping over a stool as they stride down the hallways. “But I did not invite you here to discuss my hopeless brother. You were not present at our last predetermined meeting with xiaodi. Is something the issue?”

Lan Xichen blinks, and then smiles, shaking his head. “I lost track of time on a hunt,” he replies. 

Nie Mingjue raises an eyebrow. The jade of Lan, losing track of time. Likely story. “Did you catch the quarry?”

A shadow passes over Lan Xichen’s face. “No,” he states flatly. “But I have every reason to believe it will eventually tire of this game, and I will capture it.”

Hunting is not always about skill -- it is also about endurance and outlasting the prey. Nie Mingjue has some idea of what Lan Xichen may be talking about, but mentioning it may only sour his sworn brother’s mood. As it is, the scowl tugging at his lips is already quite unsettling. He sighs.

“I cannot believe I am the person to tell you this, Xichen, but too much resentful energy can result in a qi deviation.”  

Lan Xichen’s eyes only narrow further. “It is not resentful energy that drives me, Mingjue-xiong,” he says calmly. “It is justice, cold and bright. For the crimes committed by my kin, I must seek justice.” 

Nie Mingjue shakes his head. “The pursuit of justice can easily turn into festering resentment, when results are not swift,” he says. “Your head is too far in, Xichen, please. Consider this advice from someone who carries this same ailment in his blood: step back.”

Lan Xichen whirls around to face him, his hand flying to the hilt of his sword. “You dare tell me how I should best protect the interests of my sect?”

“No!” The anger boils deep inside Nie Mingjue, but for him it is old and familiar, and at this point he can calm it if necessary. Lan Xichen has never been so stymied before in his pursuit of what he thinks is right, and it is withering him from the inside. “I am telling you this for the sake of your qi, Xichen -- for your health!”

Lan Xichen takes a couple steps back, smoothing his brows, unclenching his hands. The saber at Nie Mingjue’s side twitches nonetheless, as Lan Xichen’s cold anger simmers at them from just below the surface. 

“I find suddenly that I have urgent matters to attend to in Gusu,” says Lan Xichen stiffly, heading back towards the door. “I shall show myself out, Sect Leader Nie. I wish you a very good day.”

“Xichen --” begins Nie Mingjue, but Lan Xichen has already turned away.

“Er-ge isn’t here, again,” remarks Jin Guangyao, shaking his head. “What a pity. I even had the cooks prepare foods from Gusu.”

“Pity,” agrees Nie Mingjue, idly tracing the shapes of painted dragons along the rim of his teacup. “Any news of your brother?” 

“Brother this, brother that.” Jin Guangyao sighs, putting his head in his hands. “I am looking. Everyone is looking. We are leaving no stone unturned.”

“And yet you appear to have even less success than the Lans in looking for their fallen jade,” snips Nie Mingjue. Jin Guangyao bristles at that, but he makes no further comment. 

“Perhaps we should find lighter avenues of discussion,” he suggests. “Madam Jin, for one, is planning a magnificent party for the return of her shidi. The Twin Heroes of Yunmeng are back again. Hooray.”

“You don’t seem very happy about it,” says Nie Mingjue, his eyes narrowing. 

“I’m tired, Da-ge, give me a break,” sniffs Jin Guangyao. “Madam Jin, bless her heart, has sent me running to all corners of the earth trying to find the right spices for her shidi’s feast. I have personally inspected five thousand lotus pods for the cauldron of lotus and rib soup that she is preparing for him. My fingers will fall off at the sight of the next lotus, mark my words.” 

“It is good to see her in good spirits again,” replies Nie Mingjue. “She has suffered so ever since Sect Leader Jin vanished.”

“We’re all praying for his safe return,” replies Jin Guangyao, but there’s something too casual in his words, something too calm in his expression. Nie Mingjue is not as astute as either of his brothers, but he can trust his gut when he needs to. 

And right now, his gut is telling him there is something rotten in the state of Lanling.

“Of course,” he says, a rough smile on his face as he finishes his tea. Across the table, Jin Guangyao fiddles at his own cup with a bored expression. “I have no doubt he will come home soon.”

Jin Guangyao says nothing, only drinks his tea, and Nie Mingjue thinks to the sight of two unfamiliar legs buried amid the bodies of his ancestor’s saber halls, wondering.

[ibijau]

part 10 of the Nomad Nie AU // On AO3

Huaisang has a surprise for his husband, who tries to surprise him in return

It took nearly another week after Cunzhi’s little adventure before the Nie finally arrived at their winter camp. The entire time, Nie Huaisang stuck close to his husband, in case Lan Xichen had developed a taste for confronting wolves unarmed and needed to be stopped. Lan Xichen was both amused and touched by this, and didn’t complain. 

He thought that Khan Mingjue too seemed rather entertained by this turn of events, and acted perhaps a little less angry toward him these days. When they arrived at the winter camp, Lan Xichen was bossed around by the Khan just the same way as everyone else as they rebuilt the gers, and he was trusted with helping Huaisang and a few others check whether any of the animals had sustained wounds during the long journey. He also was a little warmer when the three of them retired for the night, and constantly teased him about the wolf. This greatly annoyed Huaisang, which seemed to be the aim, but Lan Xichen found he rather enjoyed the Khan’s dry humour. It reminded him of Lan Wangji.

When they reached the place they would spend the winter, it took very little time to set everything up, at least in Lan Xichen’s opinion. In less than a day, there was a whole village standing, looking exactly as if it had always been there. The herds were then separated, which led to a few small disputes here and there. The Khan ordered his brother and Zonghui to take care of those if they could. As for himself, Mingjue was only giving the horses a chance to rest a little, and then he would head with a few men toward the other camp, to make sure that everything was alright with them.

Mingjue left early the next morning, just as Lan Xichen was starting to wake up. He groggily bid his brother-in-law a safe trip, then decided it was really too early to be up yet and tried to pull Huaisang back under the covers with him to cuddle for a while. Huaisang indulged him at first, but before long he was escaping to eat something, saying he had a busy day ahead. He was clearly very proud of having been tasked with helping settle any disputes that might have arisen due to the migration, and refused to let his brother down when Mingjue was finally trusting him with something.

Any hope Lan Xichen might still have had about a quiet morning together was fully ruined when Meng Yao came to check on them. Huaisang and Lan Xichen were still having breakfast, but invited him to sit with them if he wished and share their meal. Lan Xichen was delighted to see his friend, as always. So was Huaisang, though he still left before long, eager for this chance to prove how very useful and mature he could be.

“We’ll chat later,” Nie Huaisang said in Hanyu, his accent much better than it used to be. “Keep my husband company, Menyao. Make sure he does nothing stupid. No more wolves for him!”

Meng Yao laughed, and promised to keep an eye on Lan Xichen. Satisfied with this, Huaisang dropped a quick kiss on his husband’s forehead and hopped out of the ger. Lan Xichen watched him go, unable to refrain a fond smile as he passed some cheese to Meng Yao.

“Do you think he minds that we are friends?” Meng Yao asked as he took the food.

Lan Xichen shot him a surprised look. “Of course not. Why would he?”

Meng Yao appeared to hesitate, the way he sometimes did when he feared he had some unpleasant information to share. He stalled a moment, nibbling on his piece of cheese, before diving in.

“These barbarians can be rather possessive,” he explained. “And I am right in guessing you are still refusing him his marital rights, are you not?”

Lan Xichen nodded and looked away, heat rushing to his face. It really wasn’t a matter of refusing anything at this point, and just that the occasion for it couldn’t be found. With Nie Mingjue gone for a few days, Lan Xichen was hoping they’d seize their chance at last… but of course he couldn’t have said that to Meng Yao, it was too private a matter.

“Huaisang is much sweeter than the others,” Meng Yao said, “but even he could get jealous. Lan gongzi should keep that in mind, and tell me if I create problems for him.” He sighed, his expression pained. “Lan gongzi is dear to me, but I will distance myself if it is needed. I do not want to provoke Huaisang into anger.”

Lan Xichen laughed awkwardly, and drank to hide his embarrassment.

“It’s fine, it’s quite fine,” he said. “Huaisang doesn’t mind at all. You’re his friend too, in spite of his brother.”

Meng Yao looked unconvinced. “These people will turn on their friends over anything. Even among brothers there is strife sometimes. If Huaisang weren’t so indolent, he would probably have been killed a long while ago, just so he wouldn’t pose a threat to the Khan’s power. Their grandfather killed his own father for power, it runs in their blood. So please, be careful, and tell me if I can ever do anything for you. You’re the only true friend I have, I don’t want for any harm to come to you.”

The story of Huaisang’s grandfather wasn’t unknown to Lan Xichen. Huaisang had told it to him, not without some pride, because the murdered father had been a cruel man who abused people and animals alike. Mingjue, who had been with them in the ger, had added that an unjust Khan could not be allowed to rule, and he would expect the same if he took a turn for the worse.

It had disturbed Lan Xichen at first, that anyone could talk so lightly of killing one’s father, one’s superior. In the end, he figured that perhaps the Nie too had a version of the Mandate of Heaven at play, and that Huaisang’s great-grandfather had lost heaven’s favour with his misconduct.

“I’m glad Meng gongzi feels this way,” Lan Xichen said. “I also see you as a true friend. If you had not been here to help me, I don’t know what I would have done. And I hope you know that I would be happy to help you as well, should you ever require it.” He hesitated a moment, then added: “For example if there might be a way to mend things between you and the Khan…”

Meng Yao failed to contain a slight grimace, and shook his head.

“No, the chance for that has passed,” he sighed. “He hates me too much now, and is too ready to blame me for everything that goes wrong in the clan. I’m sure he blames me for what happened with Cunzhi too, wouldn’t you say?”

Lan Xichen, quite awkwardly, didn’t know what to answer. 

It wasn’t that Meng Yao had caused that situation on purpose, of course. Still, Lan Xichen had become quite convinced that Cunzhi had escaped his mother’s care and hidden this way specifically because he had been so upset at losing Meng Yao’s company, and somehow hoped that making his displeasure obvious enough would allow him to get his way. It was likely that Khan Mingjue had come to the same conclusion, but was less kind with regards to Meng Yao’s intentions in that situation.

“Misunderstandings have happened in the past,” Lan Xichen said at last. “They can be corrected. I’m sure there must be ways to let the Khan see that you’ve never had ill intentions, only bad luck.”

“You think too kindly of the Khan,” Meng Yao scoffed.

And you think too ill of him, Lan Xichen thought with some disappointment. 

Khan Mingjue could be somewhat unreasonable when worrying for his brother, but even in his dislike he wasn’t unjust. He treated Meng Yao coldly and refused to deal with him more than necessary, but he didn’t go out of his way to be cruel to him, nor did he allow for him to be treated poorly by others. Aside from Huaisang, nobody was forbidden from associating with him. Lan Xichen was certain that if both parties had only made a small effort, they could have reconciled and returned to the friendship Huaisang told him used to exist between them. At first he’d thought all the efforts would have to come from the Khan, but he now saw that Meng Yao too would have to be a little more forgiving.

It would take time, Lan Xichen knew, and no small amount of work. 

“It’s fine anyway,” Meng Yao insisted, chewing on the last of his cheese. “I’m only biding my time until I can go home. I know someday my father will return for me, just as you must hope your family will do. When my father comes to get me back, it won’t matter much what the Khan thinks of me.”

The barely restrained fierceness in Meng Yao’s voice surprised Lan Xichen. His friend rarely spoke of his father, or indeed of anything about his life before joining the Nie. Lan Xichen was under the impression he had perhaps been less well treated in their home country than he was among nomads. From some of the things he said, Lan Xichen suspected that Meng Yao was either the child of a concubine or a servant who had been noticed for his intelligence and given an education, but never treated as truly part of the family. If so, it was unlikely that his father would ever bother to attempt to buy him back from the Nie, not the way Lan Xichen thought his own family might attempt once they’d built enough of a fortune with this new trade route opened to them.

It wouldn’t be for a few years at best, but Lan Xichen was unsure what he’d do if this happened. Of course he missed his home and family no less than Meng Yao did, yet he wouldn’t want to leave Huaisang behind. But it might be a pointless question anyway. Meng Yao might hope for his father’s return, Lan Qiren might attempt to buy back his nephew, but Khan Mingjue probably wouldn’t want to let anyone go who knew too much about his people.

Overtaken by a mild melancholy, Lan Xichen changed the topic and quickly finished eating so Meng Yao and him could go out and take care of their chores. Busy hands helped him empty his mind, though his mood remained a little off all morning. It was only when he returned to the ger for lunch that he started feeling better again, knowing he would see Huaisang.

Just as he had hoped, Lan Xichen found himself smiling happily as he entered the ger and started preparing for lunch. That smile only widened when Huaisang finally joined him, holding a bowl of dumplings in one hand, and carrying a dark wooden box under his other arm. The dumplings were carefully set aside, and the box presented to Lan Xichen.

“It’s for you!” Huaisang announced. “A gift for my husband.”

Lan Xichen glanced at the box, then at Huaisang’s excited face.

“Where did you get this?”

“I made a trade with old Xianjun,” Huaisang explained, handing the box to his husband. “Foals for three of his mares from my best racing stallion in spring, and he gave me this. It’s a Han thing, right?”

Inspecting the box more closely confirmed it was of Han origin. Its style had a southern flair to it, and Lan Xichen wondered how it had arrived so far north. It wasn’t a luxurious box, a little rough here and there, but still beautiful and made with obvious care by a competent artisan, and seeing this trace from home tugged at his heart. To distract himself from this renewed melancholy Lan Xichen opened the box while Huaisang peered curiously over his shoulder.

Lan Xichen gasped.

“Is it bad?” Huaisang asked, a note of worry in his voice.

“It’s very good,” Lan Xichen replied, sitting down to more comfortably admire his present. “Why did they have this?”

Huaisang chuckled nervously. “Old Xianjun followed my father on a raid against Han people when he was young,” he admitted. “He traded away many things, kept a few. Nobody wanted this and he found it pretty, so he kept it. What is it?”

“The four treasures of the study,” Lan Xichen said, only to be met with a blank look. “Ah, hm. It is used to write things, like in my books?”

Among Lan Xichen’s few possessions when he arrived with the Nie had been two books he’d taken with him. A caprice, his uncle had called it when they were getting to leave home, telling him he wouldn’t have any use for poetry, nor for that short history treaty he’d picked up some weeks earlier and never made time to study. A few months later and he knew those books by heart, as did Meng Yao who had nearly cried from joy upon being allowed to borrow them. As for Huaisang, he showed little interest in the books themselves, but enjoyed having the poetry read to him and explained, and he liked also the few printed illustrations.

“You can make a book with this?” Huaisang asked, looking doubtful.

“If I had something to say. I could also paint something,” Lan Xichen suggested, guessing that might amuse his husband more. The paper was of good enough quality that its age hadn’t made it too fragile, and the ink still seemed good at well. The inkstone was intact, its square shape simple but elegant. Only the pair of brushes wasn’t perfectly to Lan Xichen’s liking, since they were clearly made for writing rather than painting, but their quality was good, and his skill wasn’t high enough that the wrong tool would really hinder him.

“Paint something for me!” Huaisang predictably demanded, eyeing the box’s content with more interest now.

“Gladly. What should I paint?”

Huaisang barely hesitated. “Something you would miss if you went home.”

Hearing this, Lan Xichen’s smile faltered. It seemed he really couldn’t avoid thinking of home that day. At the same time, this had the advantage of being an easy request to fulfil, because there was only one thing he could think of painting after being asked this.

“I will do that. But it has to be a surprise. You can’t look at it until it’s done, Huaisang.”

“But I want to see how you do it!”

“After this, I teach you how to paint,” Lan Xichen offered. There were about three dozen sheets of paper in the box, which didn’t feel like much, but it would be enough. He’d just have to ask his family to bring him more next time he saw them. “This one will be a gift for you, so you can’t see.”

Huaisang went from pouting to grinning in an instant. Lan Xichen took a moment more to admire his own gift, then closed the box and asked his husband about his morning. They sat down and ate together, chatting about this and that, making plans for the rest of the day. When they were done with food, Lan Xichen took his box and started carefully preparing some paper and ink. Huaisang watched with fascination the process of grinding ink, asking questions about it that Lan Xichen answered as well as he could. Once he started actually painting, Huaisang was chased away to the other side of the ger where he worked for a while with leather.

Lan Xichen found it quite nice to be together like this, each of them occupied with their own work, occasionally trading a few words, but mostly silent and focused on what they were doing. He had never expected that it would be so comfortable to be in someone else’s company this way, least of all under such circumstances, but it made him glad once more than Huaisang and him had been brought together. Fate had really found him a perfect partner.

All too soon though, this moment of peace was interrupted. Someone came to ask Huaisang to help them with a dispute regarding cattle, and Lan Xichen had his own chores to attend. They both put away their work and went out, knowing they would meet again for dinner.

When afternoon reached its end, Xichen returned to the ger and found it empty. After tidying a bit, he took this chance and went back to working on his painting. It was no masterpiece, not when he had never received the education to create great works and hadn't touched a brush in months, but Lan Xichen was still happy enough with his work. He was putting the finishing touches when Huaisang returned, dusted with snow that had started falling, and carrying again some food. 

"Can I see soon?" Huaisang asked, staring toward the sheet of paper but keeping his distance, as he'd been asked. 

The painting wasn’t quite done, there were a few details to add, but Huaisang’s barely contained curiosity was too adorable. Lan Xichen motioned for his husband to come closer, which Huaisang immediately obeyed, rushing to his side and dropping on his knees right next to him.

“Here it is,” Lan Xichen announced, revealing the painting and handing it to Huaisang.

Just as he had hoped, Huaisang’s initially excited expression quickly turned to astonishment as he discovered that on the paper was a portrait of himself, painted as faithfully as Lan Xichen’s skill would allow. Huaisang’s face took on a very sweet pinkish hue that grew more intense the longer he gazed at the portrait, while his eyes shone with emotion.

“Something you would miss,” he mumbled, tearing his eyes from the painting to look at Lan Xichen. “Really?”

“Really,” Xichen said, putting away his brush in its proper place, telling himself he would clean it in a moment. First, though, he needed to kiss his husband. Huaisang, seeing him lean closer, hurriedly set aside the painting and threw his arms around Lan Xichen’s neck.

It wasn’t rare these days for the two of them to get passionate while kissing, and like many times before, Huaisang quickly ended up straddling Lan Xichen’s lap as he licked into his mouth, his hands wandering under the layers of his husband’s clothes. Usually that was the moment Mingjue would pick to come home and glare at them, but… 

But Mingjue wasn’t there at all this time, and at this time of day nobody would come looking for them. So Lan Xichen let himself fall back on the carpeted ground, and looked up at Huaisang, still straddling him.

Huaisang let out a strangled noise, but didn’t move. “Do you want…”

Lan Xichen quickly nodded. However much it had once terrified him to be wanted by Huaisang, he’d more than made his peace with it, his desire now matching his husband’s. There was no one else in the world he could imagine wanting as much as he wanted Huaisang, no one he would trust as much.

That nod was all the invitation Huaisang needed. He leaned down to kiss Lan Xichen with renewed passion, clumsily trying to untie his husband’s clothes while Lan Xichen did the same for him.

It was, to put it mildly, a fun night for both of them.

[ibijau]

Worst engagement AU // on AO3

After the confrontation with the Waterborne Abyss, Lan Xichen would like things to be easy for maybe five minute, please. Of course, life isn’t that kind, especially when Nie Huaisang is around.

That Night Hunt in Caiyi Town was, if not a disaster, then at least very close to becoming one. Lan Xichen doesn’t have words for how relieved he is that everyone made it out alive, especially when they so very nearly lost Wei Wuxian and Su Minshan. If not for Lan Wangji’s quick thinking and strength…

And somehow, having to fight a creature far above what could be expected for their age and level isn’t even the worst part. Now there’s the containment to be organised, as well as the lingering suspicion that the Wens are the one to blame for this Waterborne Abyss that should never have happened here, and… it’s such a mess. Lan Qiren will not be happy to hear about that when they get back.

At least, Wei Wuxian got a chance to prove that he is more than a pretty face and a loud personality, which seems to have done wonders for Lan Wangji’s peace of mind. Suddenly, he seems a good deal less conflicted about his very obvious crush, although he is still painfully shy about it. Lan Xichen finds it adorable and as soon as things calm down a bit, he will probably tease his brother a little about this.

But that will have to wait.

Right now, Lan Xichen is busy organising how to settle over a dozen young cultivators into rooms in an inn that isn’t quite used to such important customers, nor such rambunctious ones. After all most of the teenagers don’t realise that the Wens are to blame for what happened, nor do they seem to care that they could well have died. All they see is a victory to celebrate, and having only Lan Xichen to supervise them encourages them to be a little wilder than they would with an actual adult around.

Lan Xichen has to make sure everyone has a place to sleep, that nobody is going to be in the same room as someone they don’t like, that they all understand there will be consequences if they do anything too wild. And then he must pay for dinner and breakfast, accounting for the diets of Gusu Lan disciples and of other sects. Not to mention there are other guests of the inn who are curious about seeing so many young cultivators, or town officials who come to hear how the Night Hunt went and must be told that further action will be necessary to protect their people.

It’s an exhausting evening, and Lan Xichen just wants to sleep.

First, he must make a last round of all the rooms, to see how everyone is settling in for the night and remind them that they shouldn’t stay up too late since he’s hoping to get an early start. He’s climbing stairs toward the rooms they are renting when he hears voices that he recognises as those of other Lan disciples, mentioning a name that instantly attracts his attention.

“Who’d have thought Nie Huaisang would be a flirt like that?” one boy is saying, bringing nervous laughter from his companions.

“Right? I wouldn’t have expected it, with how he was last year. Did you hear him earlier? Lan-gege… I don’t think anyone’s ever been so bold with Lan gongzi!”

“Too bad it won’t occur to him to flirt back,” someone mocks. “If you’re already engaged, why put the effort, even for a pretty boy? But if he’s not careful, someone will…”

Footsteps interrupt the conversation, and by the sound of it, the boys hurriedly go inside their room. A moment later an old man, another guest, passes Lan Xichen on the stairs. Lan Xichen waits a moment where he is, so he can go on without anyone guessing that he was listening in on that discussion, but mostly so he can process what he just heard.

So he wasn’t wrong to find it odd that Nie Huaisang would suddenly use a new manner of address. After all, he’s never been so casual with him. Just last week, he half taunted Lan Xichen with the fact that he was on more familiar terms with Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, who he’s only just met, than with his fiancé of more than six years. 

Lan Xichen doesn’t want to make too much of this, but the idea of flirtation is… far from unpleasant. He has never been flirted with. There’s never been any reason for it to happen, it is a well known fact that he is engaged, although he’s aware that some people might not be stopped by such a detail. Perhaps it really was a good idea to have invited Nie Huaisang to this Night Hunt, even if he had to be left behind. Next time there is a chance, he’ll extend another invitation, although he’ll be careful to make sure it is a less dangerous Night Hunt. They might even go just the two of them.

That is such a bold idea that Lan Xichen feels his cheeks burn. He isn’t so sheltered that he doesn’t know that sort of thing is common for cultivation partners. Of course it is also normal for friends to Night Hunt together, and in fact he does so with Nie Mingjue as often as their busy schedules allow, but… but he’s fairly sure that a Night Hunt with Nie Huaisang would feel like a very different affair.

Lan Xichen wonders if that would count as flirting.

He wonders, also, if it is shallow of him that he might want to flirt now, just because Nie Huaisang is starting to grow into a handsome young man. Or, not handsome as such, that’s a word that fits better for Lan disciples, who usually carry themselves with distinction and have elegant, symmetrical faces like those of statues. Lan Xichen has never been interested in this, but he keeps thinking of Nie Huaisang’s animated face, the ease with which he smiles and laughs when he is with his friends, how his eyes narrow with mischief when Wei Wuxian and him start planning something, or how they widen so prettily when he is surprised, the curve of his nose, the shape of…

Ah.

Perhaps there is shallowness to his interest in Nie Huaisang. After all, Lan Xichen cannot deny that he felt little more than mild curiosity until that day by the river.

But the… the attraction, if he must call it that, isn’t just physical, he tells himself. He is also intrigued by Nie Huaisang’s personality, and if his fiancé could just stop making things difficult for a moment…

They could get along. It’s not something Lan Xichen would have ever expected, not when until recently Nie Huaisang was so annoyingly shy, but he’s glad for the change. He would never have guessed that there was so much personality hiding under all that coyness and mumbling. 

Once he’s sure nobody can accuse him of spying, Lan Xichen checks on the other boys, one room at a time. The Lan boys are all getting ready for bed, as expected of them after a lifetime of habits. Jin Zixuan and the other boys he’s rooming with are a little less happy about the early bedtime, but they still respect Lan Xichen’s authority to at least pretend they won’t stay up. Then all that is left is the room when the Jiang and Nie disciples are staying. Even from the corridor, Lan Xichen can hear that they are not at all settling for the night in there.

The laughter drops the instant he opens the door, and the five boys sitting on the floor seem to panic at the sight of Lan Xichen. They all scramble to hide a number of things that, if they were in the Cloud Recesses, would get them punished. Lan Xichen is a little amused by this, and doesn’t bother pointing out that wine and meat are allowed here as long as they don’t make trouble. Even Nie Huaisang tries to hide something behind his back, which of course attracts his attention. A box of candies, the sort sold for cheap at the market. Lan Xichen loves those, though he hasn’t had them since his mother's death. He has to refrain a smile at the idea that Nie Huaisang likes them as well. Maybe he could…

“May we help you, Lan gongzi?” Jiang Cheng asks as he stands up and comes to place himself in front of the others, trying to hide them from view. “I hope we weren’t too noisy.”

“A little quieter would be preferable,” Lan Xichen confirms. “There are other guests, so please be considerate. Other than that, don’t go to sleep too late, we have to fly back to the Cloud Recesses tomorrow, and I’m sure you must all be a little tired.”

“I’m not,” Nie Huaisang pipes from behind Jiang Cheng, who turns to glare at him.

“Nobody’s talking to you,” Jiang Cheng grumbles before facing Lan Xichen again. “We’ll be careful about the noise now, Lan gongzi. Is that all?”

Lan Xichen nods. Just like that day at the river, it’s all too obvious that everyone just wants him to leave so they can continue having fun. And just like by the river, he is absolutely fine with that. Their idea of entertainment isn’t his. He’ll be very happy to go to his own room, perhaps debrief a little with Lan Wangji if his brother hasn’t fallen asleep yet (he probably has) and then…

“Lan-gege, don’t you want to have a drink with us?” Nie Huaisang asks, peeking from behind Jiang Cheng with a wide grin. “Lan-gege should celebrate as well!”

The reaction to that bold offer is immediate. Without bothering to look, Jiang Cheng kicks back toward Nie Huaisang’s leg to make him shut up, while Wei Wuxian snickers as he elbows him in the ribs, and the rest of the boys exchange worried glances at the idea of partying with Lan Xichen.

It is ridiculous how much faster his heart beats at that silly nickname. It is even more ridiculous that Lan Xichen feels tempted to accept the invitation, even though he suspects it to be insincere. Nie Huaisang seems a little too delighted by everyone’s reaction to have wanted more than the joy of shocking them all, but… who knows? Lan Xichen just doesn’t know where he stands with his fiancé. Maybe Nie Huaisang really is trying to give him a chance to spend time together in a setting where he’s more comfortable. If Lan Xichen weren’t so exhausted, he might take the risk.

Instead, he just puts on a polite smile and bows.

“The invitation is appreciated, Nie gongzi, but it is getting late for me. Perhaps another time.”

Nie Huaisang sneers, while everyone around him appears relieved that their little party will not be ruined by unwanted company. Lan Xichen, again, reminds them to be reasonable, and leaves their room to go join his brother at last.

Surprisingly, Lan Wangji is still awake when Lan Xichen enters. It doesn’t matter much, in the end. Whatever discussion they might have had will have to wait. Lan Xichen barely manages to remove his boots and fold his outer robes before he collapses into his bed, exhausted by a day that turned out far more complicated than he had expected.

--

Although at this point he should know better, Lan Xichen feels rather excited on the day of his next meeting with Nie Huaisang. No matter how hard he tries to calm his expectations, he still cannot help hoping that the other boy really was flirting a little when he called him gege. Why else the change of address otherwise? And since it happened after Lan Xichen rescued him from that water ghoul, it could be that Nie Huaisang was impressed by his fighting skill. It is the sort of things that happen in stories, not that Lan Xichen pays much attention to romances of course. Still, it could be like that.

He hopes it is like that.

If Nie Huaisang was flirting, then perhaps this meeting will go better. Perhaps they can have a chat, or play Go again. It had been so much fun that one time, Lan Xichen doesn’t get why Nie Huaisang refused to play again last time. And then, of course, Lan Xichen has this little surprise planned of course, which he hopes will be appreciated.

As soon as Nie Huaisang enters the house, Lan Xichen lights an incense stick and serves tea. A different blend again, since he noticed Nie Huaisang refused again to drink last time. Then, fighting with himself to remain calm and composed when he feels ridiculously giddy, Lan Xichen puts a small box on the table, earning a mildly curious glance.

“I noticed that you had bought candies in Caiyi Town,” Lan Xichen explains, “so I thought you might appreciate having some again. These are for you.”

It feels overindulgent to have those, and Lan Xichen is battling with himself not to take one. Nie Huaisang can, because he is a guest, but Lan Xichen must show restraint unless Nie Huaisang insists he should have one as well. He hopes he does, and not just because he misses candies.

“I don’t like those,” Nie Huaisang says, barely looking at them. “You can keep them, I don’t want them.”

All of Lan Xichen’s excitement comes crashing down at the cold words.

“Then why buy them back there?” he asks, clenching his hands until his nail dig into his skin, helping him stay in control so he doesn’t show too much disappointment.

Nie Huaisang lets out a little puff of laughter, a sharp smirk forming on his lips.

“They were a present,” he explains, his voice taunting. “Of course I couldn’t just throw them away.”

“These are a present as well.”

Nie Huaisang shrugs, and pulls out a fan. It’s a new one again, and when he hides behind it, Lan Xichen is almost certain that it is his fiancé’s own work. It adds to his mounting annoyance because the painting on that fan is very good and if Nie Huaisang weren’t just so difficult...

“It’s different if it’s from you,” Nie Huaisang chuckles. “If you had given them in public, I would have been forced to be polite. But it’s just the two of us, so I don’t have to bother with that.”

“So you’re only going to be polite to me if there’s an audience?”.

Nie Huaisang smirks. “Isn’t it all that matter? Lan-gege has always only been polite to me if there were others around, so I don’t see why I should act any different.”

“Don’t call me that,” Lan Xichen snaps, humiliated that he enjoyed the nickname so much before when he now sees how insincere it was. “If you don’t like the candies, fine. You can keep them to give to someone else, or else I’ll find someone to gift them to.”

Closing the fan, Nie Huaisang rolls his eyes.

“Or you could just eat them yourself. Didn’t you say you like sweet stuff? It won’t kill you to have something nice here and there. I won’t even tell your uncle, so just eat the stupid candies.”

“It would be unreasonable to eat them alone. I’ll give them away, and…”

“Heavens, you piss me off so much,” Nie Huaisang grumbles. “What, so I was supposed to eat your shitty candies all on my own while you watched? Was that your plan for today?”

Lan Xichen’s hands clench on his knees, but he manages to keep a neutral expression.

“I had not expected them to be so detestable to you,” he points out. “I would have been happy to have one, had you been willing to share, but considering the circumstances it is better that I do not have any.”

“So if I’d eaten one, you would have too?”

With great reluctance, and only because he doesn’t want to lie, Lan Xichen nods. This prompts Nie Huaisang to roll his eyes again before grabbing the box of candy. He grabs one and shoves it into his mouth with a slight grimace.

“Those are really too sweet,” he grumbles, before pushing the box back toward Lan Xichen. “There, now you can have one as well.”

Lan Xichen’s hands unclench. He stares at Nie Huaisang who answers it by glaring at him, as if defying him to refuse the candies. It would be rude of course, so Lan Xichen silently picks one and puts it in his mouth. These really are extremely sweet, so much that his jaw nearly aches from the unfamiliar sensation. They taste just the same as they did when his mother fed them to him and his brother. Once again it is a struggle to keep his composure as the sweetness brings back memories of simpler times. He will not cry in front of Nie Huaisang, though. He cannot. The other boy would probably taunt him for that weakness.

Still, he is grateful for the chance to eat one of those candies. It had been years.

“Do you wish to play Go?” he asks without too much hope.

“I’m too tired from today’s classes,” Nie Huaisang complains, reopening his fan. “Let’s just not.”

That answer was to be expected. In all honesty, Lan Xichen wonders if he will even ask again next time, since Nie Huaisang has apparently decided he doesn’t like the game, or at least doesn’t like having him as an opponent. He might not. But he also might.

After all, Nie Huaisang is so unpredictable these days, there’s always the chance of catching him in a good mood.