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Chapter Text

It started out, as many things did, with an unasked-for comment from a person who should have kept their mouth shut.

Nie Mingjue did not mind hosting cultivation conferences, but when he did host one, it was usually small. Qinghe was not geographically convenient for the other major sects, so they preferred to hold them somewhere more centrally located. But when local matters were the topic at hand, and the conference was to be attended by a dozen of the smaller sects around Qinghe, he would host. 

At this particular cultivation conference, they were discussing an issue that had previously been resolved in Gusu. Nie Mingjue had written to Lan Xichen to get his expert opinion on the matter. Once they had talked that over, the conference was chatting about general matters. Naturally, this led to a discussion of the lectures that the Lan sect would be holding the next year.

Nie Mingjue had attended the lectures as a youth and enjoyed them, and he was hoping that Nie Huaisang would find them a similarly instructive experience (although to be honest, his expectations were low). That’s what he was thinking about when some nobody from some sect he couldn’t remember the name of said, “It’s not as if the Nie sect would host such a thing, after all.”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Nie Mingjue asked, frowning at him. It was true, he supposed, that they had never done such a thing, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t. The Lan sect regularly hosted lectures because Lan Qiren was so sought after as a teacher, but the Jiang and the Jin sect occasionally hosted them as well. They weren’t as lengthy or in-depth, and generally focused on attracting new disciples from smaller sects. The Qinghe Nie had never bothered. As far as Nie Mingjue was concerned, people already knew what they were about. If they wanted to join, they would.

“Well, you know, the Nie sect isn’t really . . . academic,” the cultivator said.

Now Nie Mingjue felt insulted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it,” the man’s companion said hastily. “The Nie sect could certainly host lectures if they felt so inclined!”

“Of course they could!” the first man said, adding, “I’ll look forward to them, Nie-zongzhu!”

Nie Mingjue was annoyed at the whole thing, but brushed it off. Within a week, he had forgotten all about it. That sort of conversation was never the type to stay in his mind. Politics, in general, were something he had little time for. Give him an enemy and an army and he was practically unstoppable. Put him in a room with a dozen men of varying levels of stature, a tea ceremony, and a problem to solve and he wanted to hide behind the curtains. Sure, there were some problems he could solve in his own way - by telling other people how it was going to be. But the more people were involved, especially when one of the great sects was involved, the more difficult it became. He hated all the dancing around that politics required. Being straightforward, which was a prized quality in war, suddenly became tactless and insulting during peace. 

That was one of the reasons he treasured Meng Yao as much as he did. When the issue was small, and only local sects were involved, he could state the best solution and then sit back while Meng Yao used his persuasive, eloquent magic to make everyone agree with him.

But he couldn’t do that when the major sects were involved, especially not the Jin. To be fair, Nie Mingjue didn’t think that Jin Guangshan had particularly cared that he had promoted Meng Yao. He had asked about it once, about six months after it had happened. Nie Mingjue had told him the truth. “Meng Yao wants the opportunity to do great things, to prove he can be an asset to a sect,” he had said, and Jin Guangshan had frowned slightly. “You clearly don’t want him in the Lanling Jin, so as far as I’m concerned, there’s no harm in using his talents for the Qinghe Nie.”

That was fine with Jin Guangshan. As long as Nie Mingjue was not laboring under the misapprehension that Meng Yao would someday be part of the Jin sect, then he was welcome to him.

Personally, Nie Mingjue thought Jin Guangshan was an idiot. Life had become much easier with Meng Yao as his assistant; he was talented and clever, with keen organizational and observational skill. But Nie Mingjue supposed that Jin Guangshan had his wife to answer to, who surely wouldn’t want him bringing his bastards into the fold.

Despite the fact that Jin Guangshan wouldn’t have cared if Nie Mingjue had brought Meng Yao to any of the cultivation conferences that he was attending, Nie Mingjue still thought it would be better if he didn’t put Meng Yao through it. He knew that gossip could be a problem; there was no point in fanning the flames.

Meng Yao, had he been there, surely would have remembered the conversation about the lectures, and probably brought it up for further discussion. But that had taken place after the bulk of the meeting, and Meng Yao had already left to facilitate the orders Nie Mingjue had given. So by the time it came up again, Nie Mingjue had forgotten all about it. Instead, he got a letter from Lan Xichen, stating that he had heard the Nie sect was going to be holding lectures, and wondering if it was true. ‘You know how strict my uncle can be about the invitations and arrangements for his own, and I would hate for the two to overlap and risk him feeling disrespected,’ the letter read. ‘But to be honest, I think it would be lovely if you were to host next year. I’ve been worried about Wangji at the lectures. You know how stiff he can be. Being a part of the hosting sect will set him apart from the others, put him in a position where he will feel as if he is responsible for monitoring them, and I think it might make it difficult for him to make friends. Of course, do not feel obligated if you were not planning on hosting, but I think you would do a fine job.’

“Is something wrong, Nie-zongzhu?” Meng Yao asked, looking over as he put water on the fire for tea. 

“Just wondering how news spreads so damned fast, and gets twisted all around in the spreading,” Nie Mingjue said, scowling at the letter.

“A problem I have surely not yet found a solution for,” Meng Yao agreed.

Nie Mingjue tossed the letter aside. “At the cultivation conference a few weeks ago, someone talking about Lan Qiren’s lectures mentioned that ‘of course’ the Nie sect wouldn’t be interested in holding such a thing, as we’re not intellectuals,” he said. “I was offended and said we damn well could if we wanted to. Somehow now everyone presumes that we are.”

Meng Yao straightened up and fetched the tin of tea leaves. “And you’re afraid that now if you say you’re not, everyone will assume that means you agree with the original point, that the Qinghe Nie is not qualified to do so?”

“Mm,” Nie Mingjue grumbled. “And now Xichen is talking about how if we hosted, his brother might not feel compelled to play hall monitor the whole time.”

Amused, as he had heard many stories about the Lan brothers over the years, Meng Yao said, “I can see why that would be a concern of his. I’m sure you would provide excellent lectures, Nie-zongzhu. The Nie sect has expertise in things that many of the other sects don’t.”

That was certainly true. And Nie Mingjue had to admit a certain amusement at the idea of tossing all these young masters into classes for survival skills and saber wielding. “Do you really think that it would be a good idea? Be honest with me, Meng Yao.”

Meng Yao paused. “I think there are pros and cons, zongzhu. I think some of the other sects probably do look down on us for not hosting lectures. Most of the great sects do. It would be a good way to show people that although the Nie sect is formidable in battle, it’s not all that we have to offer. That might help us drive our numbers up, which is certainly never a bad thing. However, I do also think that it would be a lot of work, including much that none of us are particularly experienced with. You’ve attended lectures like this in the past so I assume you know what goes on during them, but would you want to take the time out of your schedule to teach them yourself? I know you are already very busy. That being said, if you think you have enough qualified teachers, I would be in favor of it, especially since Zewu-Jun would clearly take it as a favor, and I know how close you are with him.”

Nie Mingjue nodded. “Well, maybe I’ll write to him and see what he thinks of the idea before I make a final decision.”

“I agree that would be a good idea. However, please keep in mind that our time is limited. If people think we are hosting them in the spring, when the Lan sect’s lectures would normally begin, we would need to start preparations almost immediately.”

“I won’t dally,” Nie Mingjue agreed. “I know it’ll be a lot of work if we do it.”

He sat down and penned a letter to Lan Xichen. He was lucky, he felt, that there was at least one other sect leader he felt he could be fully honest with. He detailed how the ‘offer’ to host lectures had come about, and admitted he hadn’t thought it would result in anything. Then he wrote, ‘But now that everyone’s talking about us hosting them, I’m worried that if we don’t, it will look like we really are the weak-minded thugs everyone seems to take us as. Meng Yao,’ he continued, for he had written Lan Xichen in great detail about his helpful assistant, ‘thinks it would be a good idea, but has concerns about the time it would take me to teach such classes. Your uncle assists you with clan leadership, I know, but he rarely does night hunting anymore and has flexibility that I don’t. However, I see your point in that Wangji will probably benefit more from lectures that are not held at Cloud Recesses. Perhaps if we host next year, we might do something shorter, less intensive, and then your uncle can still host his lectures the year after? That way, those sects who want their young masters to receive your uncle’s instruction will not miss a chance to do so. Let me know what you think. As always, I appreciate your honest counsel.’

Fortunately - and surely because Lan Xichen knew that they would need time to prepare - the response was prompt. Lan Xichen wrote, ‘I think it would be an excellent idea for you to host something a bit shorter. I believe the lectures hosted by the Jin and the Jiang sects are typically about six weeks to two months long. That is more than enough time for any sect that does not have such a formidable teacher as my uncle. And do not feel that you have to teach all the lectures yourself. As you said, my uncle does so because his schedule is free to do such a thing, and because it is his instruction that the other sect leaders want their young masters to receive. I see no reason that you could not have various experts from your sect giving instruction. I attended lectures at the Yunmeng Jiang when I was young, and I recall many different masters holding class.

‘I appreciate your willingness to host. I have not particularly wanted to say anything but I truly have been worried about how Wangji will react to the other young masters. He seems to view it as some sort of invasion by less-disciplined forces. It probably seems odd to you, but he is very possessive of our home. He goes out and about while night-hunting, of course, but he has rarely had to be a guest in anyone’s home for an extended period of time. I think it would be good for him, and help him get used to the idea of respecting the cultures of the other sects.’

Nie Mingjue showed the letter to Meng Yao, who nodded and agreed that it seemed wholly reasonable to host a shorter version of lectures than the intensive ones of the Gusu Lan, more on par with the other great sects. He made recommendations for certain sect members who could host lectures - they did have experts on Daoist magic and on the suppression of evil spirits, particularly ones that lived in the mountains, that the other sects might not encounter as frequently. He, better than Nie Mingjue, knew what sects had young masters of about the right age to be interested, and produced a list to send invitations to. Nie Mingjue was a little surprised to see Jin Zixuan on the list, but realized he shouldn’t be. He was the right age, and it would be an enormous insult to exclude him, even though Meng Yao presumably didn’t want his half-brother anywhere near him.

Meng Yao wrote out the invitations and sent them out while Nie Mingjue spoke to his various disciples about hosting lectures and pondered whether or not it would be fair to dump a bunch of soft, spoiled young masters in the mountains for a few days without rations to see how they would fare. He and Lan Xichen exchanged another few letters, Lan Xichen writing about how truthfully, Lan Qiren would not argue with taking a year off from the lectures, which took up so much of his time.

Nie Huaisang, meanwhile, was ecstatic at the concept of not having to go all the way to Gusu and attend a bunch of boring classes. Despite Nie Mingjue telling him multiple times that this was still going to happen, only a year later, Nie Huaisang brushed that off with the ease with which he brushed off everything he didn’t want to hear. Nie Mingjue sometimes wondered how his brother did that, and whether or not it was a skill he should try learning.

Probably, he thought, it was best if he did not.

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Huaisang could not believe how lucky he was.

He had been dreading Lan Qiren’s lectures for nearly a year, ever since his brother had first mentioned them. The Lan sect was incredibly strict, and Lan Qiren, who Nie Huaisang had met once or twice, was frankly quite terrifying. It would be so much work for, as far as Nie Huaisang could see, absolutely no gain. He had argued with his brother frequently, asking what he expected Nie Huaisang to get out of these lectures. It wasn’t as if he was going to learn anything, he said, which seemed to give Nie Mingjue a tic in his eyebrow.

“Don’t give your brother such a hard time,” Meng Yao told him more than once. “You’re only going to make him angry. The lectures are known for being in-depth and thorough. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot.”

What Meng Yao didn’t say, but Nie Huaisang knew full well, was that Meng Yao would give one or more internal organs to be allowed to attend the prestigious lectures. Sometimes he felt bad for wasting all the opportunities that life gave him, while Meng Yao had to struggle so hard to get anywhere. But then he remembered that, unlike Meng Yao, he had never asked for any of these opportunities. He could educate himself without attending any stuffy lectures. He was already a skilled artist and could recognize any bird in the area at a hundred paces. He certainly wasn’t going to learn that in a classroom. Lately he had been studying Daoist magic and gaining quite a knack for it just by reading old texts in The Unclean Realm’s library. Surely being lectured to by an old man wasn’t going to teach him anything he couldn’t get out of a book.

And although he had looked forward to meeting young masters from other sects, now he would get to do that at his home, play host and show them around. It was going to be a much better time than having to go to Cloud Recesses, where one couldn’t even lift one’s voice without getting a reprimand.

“You’re still going to the lectures in Cloud Recesses,” Nie Mingjue told him. “You’ll just be going a year later. Don’t think you’re getting out of them!”

“Sure, of course,” Nie Huaisang said, plotting a dozen ways to get out of them. One, he thought, was to distract his brother from them. Give him something else to focus on. Plus, he thought, he needed an ally. Someone else who could soften his brother up. Meng Yao was good at it, but in the end he would always bow to Nie Mingjue’s wishes. Nie Huaisang didn’t blame him for that, but it meant he wouldn’t be of any help on this particular topic.

Nie Huaisang had a great idea.

“It’ll be good for you to meet people from other sects!” he said, as if his brother never left The Unclean Realm. “In a more relaxed setting than those cultivation conferences, I mean. All the cultivators coming here - won’t there be some beautiful young ladies among them?”

Nie Mingjue shrugged. “I suppose so.”

Nie Huaisang knew his brother had little interest in marriage. To be fair, Nie Huaisang understood why. From his limited observation, taking a wife involved compromises, something which his brother wasn’t very good at. And finding a wife involved a lot of politics and negotiation, which Nie Mingjue actively avoided. The idea of an arranged marriage made Nie Mingjue uncomfortable. Their father had dearly loved both their mothers, and Nie Mingjue did not want to marry someone he barely knew. 

Still, with so many ladies there, surely there would be someone who would suit, Nie Huaisang thought. If his brother was distracted by an impending marriage or a new wife, or even better, a child on the way, he wouldn’t care about the lectures. Besides, once Nie Mingjue had children, then Nie Huaisang was no longer sect heir, a day that could not come soon enough as far as he was concerned.

“Can I see the invitation list?” he asked Meng Yao.

Meng Yao gave him a look that was too polite to be called suspicious, even if Nie Huaisang knew that had to be his underlying emotion. “Of course, Nie-gongzi,” he said, producing it for Nie Huaisang’s review.

Seeing the list, Nie Huaisang frowned. It didn’t do him any good at all. “This is just a list of sects . . .”

Meng Yao smiled patiently. “We would not invite individual young masters, Nie-gongzi. It is not our place. The invitation is issued to the sect and then they would decide who would be best suited and available to attend.”

“Well, when do we find that out?”

Amused despite himself, Meng Yao said, “I would expect the sects to begin responding to the invitations within the next few weeks, although it will probably be at least two months before we have a finalized guest list.”

“So long?” Nie Huaisang pouted. How was he supposed to pick out an ideal wife for his brother if he didn’t even know who was going to be there? 

“The lectures are not going to start until the spring, Nie-gongzi,” Meng Yao said. “There’s no rush to get a guest list. We’ll start preparations over the winter, once we have a final list of attendees.”

Nie Huaisang sighed and said, “All right.” He could be patient, after all. He had to stalk birds for days at a time in order to catch them. Surely a wife would need to be weeks or months in the stalking. He would just have to wait and see.

~ ~ ~ ~

Stories of Nie Mingjue, the Red Blade Master, had spread far and wide, and both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were practically going out of their minds to get to The Unclean Realm. Jiang Cheng was, as usual, taking everything way too seriously. He kept reminding the group of disciples that were attending the Nie sect’s lectures that they were representing all of the Yunmeng Jiang, and they had to be on their best behavior. Whenever Wei Wuxian tried to get him to lighten up, Jiang Cheng got annoyed, and as always, Jiang Yanli mediated.

“I wonder why they’re holding lectures this year, though,” Wei Wuxian said thoughtfully, as they looked around for the inn they were staying at before making the last leg of the journey. The river didn’t go this far north, and they would have to make the last day on foot. “Jiang-shushu said they usually didn’t . . .”

Jiang Cheng shrugged. “It’s none of our business, is it? They’re probably just too busy, usually, but decided this year they had time.”

“Fair enough,” Wei Wuxian said cheerfully. He was looking forward to meeting all the young masters from different sects. He loved to make new friends. “I can’t wait to meet everyone else. There’s going to be a lot of people there - young masters from all the different sects. Young maidens, too,” he added, elbowing Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng flushed pink and elbowed back. “Are you going to take this seriously or not?”

“I am taking it seriously. Young maidens are serious business!”

Jiang Yanli laughed gently and said, “He’s right, A-Cheng - since Mother and Father haven’t chosen a bride for you, this would be a good opportunity for you to meet someone.”

“Although whether or not we can find anyone who meets your lengthy list of criteria . . .”

Jiang Cheng scowled. “There’s nothing wrong with my list of criteria!”

“Ah, I see the inn,” Jiang Yanli said, wisely deflecting them off the argument. “Let’s stop and get some rest.”

Things at the inn didn’t go as planned. Even though they had written ahead and reserved rooms, and even sent a reservation fee, the inn had somehow been fully booked. The innkeeper admitted shame-facedly that an ‘important young master’ had come along and insisted on booking the entire place so that he and his retinue could stay. Wei Wuxian resisted the urge to point out that they were important young masters (or at least Jiang Cheng was) and instead focused on the fact that they had been there first. The innkeeper was apologetic, but wouldn’t budge.

Wei Wuxian went to explore while Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng were discussing their options, and came across a few young ladies. His attempts to flirt with them went over about as well as such attempts ever did, and one of them admitted that their retinue wouldn’t fill the entire inn, but their young master had wanted solitude. He persuaded them that they should be allowed to stay and was feeling successful about the whole thing up until the ‘important young master’ arrived and he saw who it was.

In Wei Wuxian’s personal opinion, which he had sadly never been asked for, no man in all of China was worthy to marry Jiang Yanli. His sect sister overflowed with positive qualities. She was kind, gracious, intelligent, hard-working, and the most caring, loving person in the world. How could any man be her match? But she had been promised to Jin Zixuan since before Wei Wuxian had even been adopted into the sect. When they were younger, she had told him stories about the amazing man she was promised to. The first son of the powerful Lanling Jin.  A strong cultivator, skilled swordsman, beautiful and proud.

Well, Jin Zixuan was beautiful, that much was true, and as far as Wei Wuxian was concerned, he wasn’t much else positive. He had come to Lotus Pier twice with his family while Wei Wuxian had been in his teens. He was snobbish and arrogant and treated Jiang Yanli like something he had scraped off the bottom of his boot. Only the fear of Yu Ziyuan had kept Wei Wuxian from saying something, and now, well, Yu Ziyuan wasn’t here.

Wei Wuxian had a thing or two to say to Jin Zixuan about his behavior, but before sharp words could turn to sharp swords, Jiang Yanli gently touched Wei Wuxian’s wrist and said, “Come on, A-Xian. Let’s just go. I don’t mind camping out along the way.”

Wei Wuxian wanted to argue, but was basically incapable of arguing with Jiang Yanli, even when it was for her benefit. He gave Jin Zixuan the stink-eye one last time before the other two pulled him out of the inn, and they were on their way. 

They did have to camp out that night, which he personally had no problem with but hated making Jiang Yanli do. She was prone to fevers and mild illnesses, and he disliked taking any risks that might make her sick. But there was really nothing else they could do, so he grit his teeth and put up with it rather than upset her. The next day, both he and Jiang Cheng kept a close eye on her, but she seemed fine.

The wall of The Unclean Realm was a massive, breathtaking sight. Wei Wuxian loved Lotus Pier, and thought it was a beautiful place to live, but The Unclean Realm was just frankly impressive on a new level. He knew that the Nie sect had seen their share of warfare, more than they had further south. They clearly took their walls very seriously.

But the gate stood open, as people were expected, and a handful of people were standing there. Most of them were in the Nie sect uniform, but two of them were dressed more nicely than that. They looked about the same age as Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were, and he brightened at the opportunity to meet the first of the other young masters. Jiang Cheng, being the sect heir, introduced himself and Jiang Yanli first, then Wei Wuxian, and then the other disciples. 

The young man dressed in cream-colored robes bowed and waved a fan and introduced himself as Nie Huaisang. Surprisingly, he didn’t introduce the other young man he was with, although that might have been because at that point, Jiang Cheng went to produce their invitation and realized he couldn’t find it.

“We must have left it back at the inn,” he said, looking appalled with himself.

“Oh?” Nie Huaisang waved his fan. “Well, that’s all right. It’s really just a formality.”

The other young man gently cleared his throat and said, “Nie-gongzi, it’s a little more than that. The Unclean Realm must be kept secure, and the invitation is how we know that they are who they say they are. We should at least clear it with Nie-zongzhu before we allow them inside.”

“I suppose we do have our share of enemies, haha,” Nie Huaisang said. “All right, Meng Yao, you go check with him then. I’ll wait out here in case anybody else arrives.”

Wei Wuxian gave a slight groan. “It’s all the fault of that Jin Zixuan,” he said, more loudly than he should have. 

Meng Yao half-turned, having only taken a few steps away. “I’m sorry, I thought - you’re not from the Jin sect, are you?”

“What? Oh, no,” Wei Wuxian said, realizing he had been overheard. “It’s just that we had reservations at an inn, and we had checked in, but then Jin Zixuan bought out the innkeeper and took the whole place out from underneath us! How arrogant is that? Anyway, we had to leave in a hurry, which is I’m sure how we ended up leaving the invitation behind. So it’s definitely his fault.”

The slightest of smiles twitched at Meng Yao’s mouth, as Jiang Cheng elbowed Wei Wuxian and scolded him for being rude under his breath. “Please don’t worry, Wei-gongzi. I’m sure Nie-zongzhu won’t be too concerned about a simple lost invitation. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Wei Wuxian sulked about it a little, but quickly forgot about Jin Zixuan because Nie Huaisang struck up a conversation with them, talking about how excited he was that they were hosting lectures and how there would be so many people to meet. Wei Wuxian asked some questions about The Unclean Realm, and if Nie Mingjue was really as amazing as he sounded (he absolutely was, according to Nie Huaisang), and they chatted until Meng Yao returned. Wei Wuxian had at this point gathered that he was some sort of assistant, not actually a disciple. It struck him as a little odd, but truthfully he didn’t care enough to question it. 

When Meng Yao came back, Nie Mingjue was with him, and he was every inch the impressive man that Wei Wuxian had envisioned. Both he and Jiang Cheng were hard put not to gawk at his broad shoulders and enormous sword. But for all that, Nie Mingjue had a relatively friendly expression on his face, saying that Jiang Fengmian had written to him often about his ‘twin prides of Yunmeng’ and how the two of them clearly measured up. Jiang Cheng flushed bright pink, Wei Wuxian grinned and bumped their shoulders together, and both of them rode that high through the rest of the introductions. 

Nie Mingjue bowed to Jiang Yanli, and she curtseyed in return. He frowned slightly and said, “You are a cultivator, are you not? You have a sword.”

“Yes, Nie-zongzhu,” Jiang Yanli said.

“Then you should bow like one. Nobody will think less of you here because you’re a woman.”

Jiang Yanli blushed slightly, and Wei Wuxian wanted to take exception to his rough tone, even though his words were encouraging. But he was stuck on the fact that Jiang Yanli had curtseyed at all, which was frankly unlike her. The Yunmeng Jiang were not at all sexist - they hardly could be with Yu Ziyuan tearing a stripe out of anyone who dared - and Jiang Yanli typically behaved as a cultivator would. Something about Nie Mingjue had sent her into ‘lady’ mode instead of ‘cultivator’ mode which frankly amused Wei Wuxian greatly.

Nobody in the whole of China deserved Jiang Yanli, but Nie Mingjue already appeared to be several levels above Jin Zixuan. Wei Wuxian tried to suppress these thoughts and was unable. Meanwhile, Jiang Yanli bowed, and Nie Mingjue remarked on the beauty of her sword, and Jiang Cheng looked like he was about to pass out from being in the presence of the great Chifeng-Zun.

“I’ll have someone show you to your guest house,” Nie Mingjue said. “You’re actually among the first to arrive.”

Jiang Cheng said, “I imagine most of the sects stayed the night in Yueyang, so they’ll have a longer journey today.”

Nie Mingjue frowned slightly, and Meng Yao interceded with, “There was an issue with their reservations.”

“We didn’t mind camping out, though,” Jiang Cheng said, clearly in a rush to impress Nie Mingjue. “Sleeping on the ground every once in a while is good for the spirit.”

“Indeed,” Nie Mingjue said. They exchanged another round of bows, and then they were led into the city by one of the disciples.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Nie Huaisang could not have been happier with how things were going.

The guest list turned out to have about a dozen young ladies on it, as compared to the four dozen young masters. Sexism, he thought, shaking his head. Many of the young women seemed quite suitable for his brother. He wanted to say he wasn’t picky - he just wanted his brother married and/or distracted - but to be honest, he was. Not just any young woman would be right for the great Red Blade Master.

But in greeting the sects as they came in, he had narrowed it down to three strong possible candidates, so he was looking forward to getting to know them better and then flinging one into his brother’s lap.

It didn’t surprise him that his brother had come outside to meet the young masters from the Yunmeng Jiang - the great sects would require a little more attention than the minor ones. He was sure that he would appear when Lan Wangji arrived, as well. And now, Nie Huaisang could see the approaching gold of the Lanling Jin. Even if he hadn’t recognized it, he would have known from the way Meng Yao’s back and shoulders went stiff, who was approaching. In fact, Meng Yao turned to the group of disciples and said, “Please go let Nie-zongzhu know that the delegation from the Lanling Jin is arriving.”

The group of half a dozen people approached, and there was the typical round of bows, and Jin Zixuan produced their invitation. Meng Yao was smiling his most polite (which also happened to be his least sincere) smile, as Nie Huaisang welcomed them to The Unclean Realm.

Nie Huaisang didn’t introduce Meng Yao, and he didn’t really expect him to say anything, but once all the formalities were concluded, Meng Yao said, “Oh, and Jin-gongzi, I want to assure you that Jiang-guniang got here safely. I heard there was a problem with their reservation at the inn in Yueyang, and I’m sure you must have been concerned for her.”

Jin Zixuan cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. “Ah . . . yes. Thank you.”

Amused, Nie Huaisang waited while his brother came out to greet them, and then they were showed inside, before saying to Meng Yao, “Why would he care about Jiang-guniang?”

Meng Yao arched an eyebrow at him, clearly implying that Nie Huaisang should already know the answer to this question. “They’re betrothed.”

“Ohhhh,” Nie Huaisang said. Then he frowned. “Wait. Am I to understand that he had his own betrothed thrown out of an inn so he wouldn’t have to risk bumping into her in the hallway?”

“Well, it seems more like he didn’t want to risk bumping into anyone in the hallway,” Meng Yao said, “but other than that, yes.”

“And you thought he would be concerned about her?” Nie Huaisang said skeptically.

“Of course not. He clearly wasn’t.”

“So you just wanted to make him uncomfortable.”

Meng Yao smiled his picture perfect smile. “Nie-gongzi, I would never.”

Nie Huaisang reflected on the charming, beautiful lady that had come in with the delegation from Yunmeng. Would his brother have cared if any other woman had curtseyed? “It seems like she is far too good for him.”

“It’s quite rude to say so, Nie-gongzi,” Meng Yao said. “You should keep such observations to yourself.”

Seeing that Meng Yao wholly agreed with him, Nie Huaisang smiled.

He had a great idea.

~ ~ ~ ~

The Lan sect were among the last to arrive, which Lan Xichen planned on purpose, much to his brother’s dismay. He had decided to accompany Lan Wangji for the journey and stay for a few days. It had been eight months since he had last seen Nie Mingjue, and he enjoyed the chance to visit. Lan Wangji, of course, wanted to be precisely on time, which was difficult when the only thing that mattered was arriving on the right day. In Lan Xichen’s opinion, the better thing to do was spend the morning in Yueyang before departing, let Nie Mingjue greet the delegations from the sects who were not close friends and see to their accommodations, and arrive at the end of the day. To Lan Wangji, this seemed like being late, even though Lan Xichen reassured him multiple times that it was not.

Nie Mingjue came out to meet them as soon as he heard they were there, greeted them affectionately, and then ushered them inside. “You have good timing,” he said, and Lan Xichen could not help but smile at his brother, who stared ahead, expressionless. “I was just thinking about sitting down to dinner. Let’s have a meal together.”

“We’d be delighted,” Lan Xichen said.

They chatted over cups of tea about some of what Nie Mingjue had planned for the lectures, and who all was attending, and then the meal was served. Lan Wangji looked a little put out when the jar of alcohol came out, but didn’t say anything. Lan Xichen had reminded him several times on the journey that The Unclean Realm was very different from Cloud Recesses. They could not enforce their moral principles on the other sects. People in The Unclean Realm would drink, use foul language, and do all manner of things that Lan Wangji would find unseemly. It was not his place to try to enforce any sort of discipline on them.

Lan Xichen was going to be impressed if his brother made it through this without breaking any teeth, from the way his clenched jaw over a friendly dinner with a few drinks - which Nie Mingjue had himself, without even hinting that he expected or wished the Lan brothers to join him in - was looking.

After the meal, one of the disciples showed Lan Wangji to the guest house, while Lan Xichen stayed behind to talk to Nie Mingjue for a while longer.

“I’ve got to say, I’m glad you’re staying for a few days,” Nie Mingjue said. “That way if I’m making a fool of myself, you can tell me.”

Lan Xichen laughed. “I very much doubt that, Mingjue-xiong. The class schedule you’ve assembled is actually quite impressive. So much hands-on experience! The other sects rarely bother with such things.”

“I’m better with that,” Nie Mingjue said. “I came up with some of the ideas; Meng Yao’s the one who got it all organized.” He rubbed both hands over his face. “I still feel like I’m way out of my league.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Lan Xichen said. “Trust me, the young masters are going to love these classes you have planned. And it seems like it’s all been very well thought out. You’re so lucky to have such a good assistant in Meng Yao. Though I truly cannot complain, given how much Wangji takes on his shoulders. Sometimes I worry about how much I’ve put on him, even though he never complains. I’m glad he’s going to get a break.”

“We’ll see,” Nie Mingjue said dryly, and Lan Xichen could not help but laugh. “And Huaisang’s up to something, I think . . .”

“Oh?” Lan Xichen asked, amused.

“He’s been way too happy about this whole thing. I know he’s excited to meet some of the other young masters, but . . . I can just tell.” Nie Mingjue huffed. “He’s scheming, and I’m always the one who suffers when he schemes.”

Lan Xichen chuckled again. “I’m sure Huaisang only wants what is best for you, Mingjue-xiong.”

“Oh, I know that. It’s just that his idea of what’s best for me rarely coincidences with what I think is best for me, or with reality.” Nie Mingjue shook his head. “Hopefully he’ll be busy goofing off with the others and he’ll forget all about it.”

“We’ll see,” Lan Xichen said.

~ ~ ~ ~

Although very different from Lotus Pier, Jiang Yanli found The Unclean Realm to be quite nice. It was much more military than she was used to, with the enormous wall and gate at the front, and the rooms were fairly plain and unadorned. But overall, she preferred it to some of the other places she had been. Although she never would have admitted it, she found the opulence of Koi Tower to be overwhelming and distasteful. And she certainly could not argue over the way her two little brothers were practically fluttering to be in the presence of the great Chifeng-Zun. It was quite entertaining, to be honest.

The next morning, she was up early, and Jiang Cheng was up by the time she was fully dressed. She made breakfast and then prodded Wei Wuxian until he got out of bed. The guest house they had been given was equipped with a kitchen, for which she was quite grateful. They were going to be here for two months, and she disliked the idea of having to have formal dinners with other clans every night, as they did in Lanling. It was nice that she would be able to buy their own groceries and cook their own meals the majority of the time.

They had also received sets of uniforms, each one embroidered with a lotus flower on the shoulder. She had been a little surprised at this - the Jiang sect, when they held lectures, did not do such a thing - but immediately grasped the purpose of it. The young masters attending were from different statures, and some of them would have much nicer clothes than the others. Uniforms were a way of evening the playing field, making it less obvious which sects were rich and which weren’t. She thought back to Nie Mingjue telling her that nobody would treat her as lesser because she was a woman, and her cheeks flushed faintly pink.

She was also quite impressed with the sect’s organizational skill. They must have, after receiving the guest list, written to each sect to obtain the measurements of all the attending cultivators. Then they had produced all these uniforms - she had three, which she assumed would be laundered regularly - in a very short amount of time. They had even taken the time to put the embroidery on the shoulder, which she knew from her own experience would not have been quick or easy. 

The lectures were clearly very important to the Nie sect, which did not surprise her, given that it was the first time they had hosted them. Jiang Fengmian had mentioned to her that the previous sect leader had held them a few times, but the Nie sect was often preoccupied with other things. At the moment, there was an uneasy peace, so they could take the time. 

After breakfast, they headed to the hall that the disciple the previous day had told them the opening ceremonies would be held at. Her brothers were chattering excitedly, and she watched them fondly.

Then they bumped into the Jin sect, and Wei Wuxian’s face immediately changed to a scowl. She sighed quietly. She couldn’t really blame her brothers for the fact that they disliked Jin Zixuan. They had known he would be here, and she had reminded them that he was just a little shy, perhaps not good at interacting with ladies, and they should not be hard on him. But his behavior at the inn had utterly cemented the fact that they would never consider him good enough for her (and quite frankly, she was not thrilled with his behavior either). 

It did not help that this was on her mind when they entered the hall and she saw Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen at the head of the room, chatting casually. She had met Lan Xichen once or twice in the past, accompanying her father on trips to Gusu, and knew him to be a kind and gracious gentleman. And Nie Mingjue was certainly an impressive specimen. She could not help but give him a lingering glance as she settled into her seat. She allowed herself a brief moment of bitterness, which she usually did not, that she should be engaged to a spoiled brat when such superlative gentlemen were available. 

Also standing near the head of the room, smiling and helping everyone find their seats, was the assistant they had met the day before, Meng Yao. Jiang Yanli found him interesting, because he reminded her a little of herself - wearing a smile all the time, as if he couldn’t allow any other facial expression to show.

Nie Huaisang dropped into the seat next to Wei Wuxian and greeted him cheerfully, then showed him a canary he had in a cage that he had, for some reason, decided to bring to class with him. The group settled down and Nie Mingjue announced the beginning of the saluting ceremony. The Jin sect went first (an uncharitable portion of Jiang Yanli wondered if they had insisted on doing so), and then several of the minor sects. Jiang Cheng managed to get through their portion without stammering, and she was proud of him.

Then the Lan sect was saluting, and Jiang Yanli had to also cast an admiring glance at Lan Wangji, who was just as beautiful as his brother. She noticed Wei Wuxian doing the same, his gaze lingering rather inappropriately, and she arched an eyebrow at him. He just grinned back. 

Once the ceremony was over, Meng Yao went around the room handing out a class schedule and a map of The Unclean Realm, still with that perfectly polite, dimpled smile on his face. Jiang Yanli heard two of the people a few rows over whispering to each other. “Who is that?” one of them asked.

“You don’t know?” the other replied, giggling quietly. “That’s Meng Yao. He’s the son Jin Guangshan had with a prostitute. He went to apply for a position with the Jin, but they refused him, so he came here instead.”

“Doesn’t that mean Jin Zixuan is . . .?”

“His half-brother? It does, yes. Can you even imagine knowing you had a brother like that?”

Nie Mingjue, at the front of the room, cleared his throat and barked out, “Quiet.”

Jiang Yanli glanced over at Meng Yao, whose stride had not paused and whose smile had not faded. But it seemed a little different now, brittle, frozen on his face. She could not even imagine how he felt, hearing people gossip about him in such terms. Jin Zixuan stared straight ahead as if he hadn’t heard. And now, some of the students having realized who Meng Yao was, were hastily setting down the schedules he had given them and wiping their fingers off on their uniforms. Meng Yao pretended not to see, but the next schedule, which was Lan Wangji’s, he set down on the desk instead of handing to him directly.

Lan Wangji nodded and thanked him. Lan Xichen, who had gone over to speak with his brother once the ceremony was over, smiled and said, “May I have one as well, Meng-gongzi?”

“Of course,” Meng Yao said, his voice a little soft, wary. Lan Xichen did not have a desk he could set it down on, and he held it out in an uncertain manner. 

Lan Xichen took it right out of his hands, their fingers brushing together as he did so, and studied it while smiling. “It is so thorough and well-structured. Mingjue-xiong had told me that he had gained an excellent assistant, and that you helped him put much of this together. He is truly lucky to have someone so talented to help him with his duties.”

Meng Yao looked up at him shyly, the smile having been replaced by an expression that was as much surprise as it was gratitude, before he recalled himself and quickly looked back down. “Thank you, Zewu-Jun. I am honored by such kind words.”

“Not at all,” Lan Xichen said, before Meng Yao hastily continued to hand out schedules.

As they filed out of the building, Nie Huaisang waved and said, “Wei-xiong, Jiang-xiong! Jiang-guniang! Do you want to come see the aviary?”

“You guys have an aviary?” Wei Wuxian asked, sounding interested.

“Well, I do, haha,” Nie Huaisang said, laughing. “I love birds.”

“We’d love to see it, Nie-gongzi,” Jiang Yanli said, smiling.

Before they could go another few steps, Lan Wangji swept by, a perfect statue of ice. Wei Wuxian waved suddenly and enthusiastically. “Lan-er-gege!” he called out, and Lan Wangji stopped dead in his tracks to hear himself addressed in such a manner. “Do you want to come see the aviary with us?”

Nie Huaisang looked like he was about to have apoplexy, presumably because of the way Lan Wangji was staring at them, and bowed hastily. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Lan-xiong! I just figured, you might all be interested . . .”

“Of course he’s interested!” Wei Wuxian said, beaming. “We’re here to learn things, right? Why not learn about birds?”

“No,” Lan Wangji said abruptly, and walked away.

Undeterred, Wei Wuxian shouted after him, “Some other time, then, Lan-er-gege!”

Jiang Cheng smacked him on the shoulder. “Don’t be so informal! You’ve never even met him before!”

Wei Wuxian frowned. “I don’t need to have met him. I’ve heard all about him. He’s one of the great twin jades of Lan. That means he fights evil and protects innocent people. So that means I approve of him, and he’s going to be my friend!”

“I really don’t think it works like that,” Jiang Cheng said, scowling, and Wei Wuxian just shrugged as if to say that he didn’t see why it wouldn’t.

The aviary was truly beautiful, thick with vegetation and birds fluttering around. Jiang Yanli enjoyed it, especially when Nie Huaisang gave her a cup of syrupy liquid, which made a few of the birds perch on her wrist and drink it. He chatted casually with Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng while they admired the various birds and he talked about his methods of catching them. 

At one point, seeing her smile at a pair of the birds, Nie Huaisang said brightly, “So Meng Yao told me you are engaged to Jin-gongzi! How lucky you are to be promised to such a prestigious young master!”

“I am indeed very lucky,” Jiang Yanli said, which seemed like a safe response.

Wei Wuxian, who apparently had already decided Nie Huaisang was going to be his best friend, didn’t shirk away at all from insulting Jin Zixuan. “Of course you’re not. Jin Zixuan is rude and spoiled. You heard what we said about the inn, Nie-xiong! What kind of man does that to someone? Let alone to their betrothed.”

“It does seem a little odd,” Nie Huaisang said. He added, seeming innocent, “I assume your parents arranged it?”

Jiang Yanli nodded. “Not long after Jin Zixuan was born. Our mothers are sect sisters, and they are quite close.”

“Finding a wife seems quite difficult,” Nie Huaisang said mournfully. “Not that I have any interest myself, but da-ge should really be getting married! He’s plenty old enough.”

“Why isn’t he?” Jiang Cheng asked, curious.

“Oh, he just doesn’t have patience for things like that. He went and saw the matchmakers once, a few years ago. They asked him lots of questions and read their tea leaves and then picked out half a dozen women they said he could choose from. But he just . . . never actually got around to doing it, because he wasn’t that interested, and they all wound up married to other people, haha.” Nie Huaisang waved his fan lazily. “Our father married for love, you know, and I think da-ge wants that for himself, too, so he’s just waiting to meet the right woman.”

“Hm,” Wei Wuxian said, with a gleam in his eye.

Jiang Yanli sighed.

~ ~ ~ ~

Meng Yao had a busy schedule, and there was no time built into it for sitting around yearning. It was a good thing, then, that he was extremely skilled at multitasking. He could sit and yearn while also going through correspondence from other sects, mainly last minute requests that the young masters attending the lectures had brought with them, instead of letting them know ahead of time. This mildly irked him, but he was used to such thoughtlessness from other people, so he didn’t let it get under his skin. Not like things had earlier that day.

He chided himself on letting it affect him. It wasn’t as if the gossip was new. He had heard it every day of his life. It always seemed like he should be able to ignore it. Everyone was always saying the same old tired things. But every time he heard the whispers and giggles, it was as if someone had ripped the bandages off an old wound and poured salt into it.

This time it had been different, though, because of Lan Xichen. 

Meng Yao knew that Nie Mingjue meant well. He was devoted to Nie Mingjue, who had at least allowed him in as a guest, who had lifted him out of abject poverty. But he just wasn’t an extremely observant person. He didn’t notice things like people wiping their hands off on their robes after they touched something Meng Yao had touched. He didn’t hear the stifled giggles. And when he did notice such things, he just told Meng Yao to ignore it. Solid advice, Meng Yao thought, if only he could. And when Nie Mingjue did try to help, he often made things worse. Meng Yao could in no way complain about his promotion, and was deeply grateful for it, but the way Nie Mingjue had called everyone out publicly had only made them more resentful. It was intolerable to them that Meng Yao now held such a prestigious position, and frequently reminded Meng Yao that he hadn’t actually earned it, he didn’t actually deserve it, but Nie Mingjue had only given it to him to punish them for rumor-mongering.

That was not wholly true, and Meng Yao knew it. He knew he was extremely helpful, that he was talented and intelligent, that Nie Mingjue depended on his counsel and his skills. But if they knew it, they didn’t care. And their bullying of him didn’t stop; it just grew less obvious. It was feet that tripped him as he walked by; it was hands that pinched him if he got too close. It was obedience to orders with a sneer, when obedience came at all. They were careful not to do it when Nie Mingjue could see. But they, too, had realized quickly that Nie Mingjue was not the most observant of people. And they had realized just as quickly that Meng Yao wouldn’t dare go to him for help, wouldn’t dare let Nie Mingjue think for an instant that he couldn’t handle this himself, lest he lose his respect.

Lan Xichen’s way of dealing with it had been entirely different. Not drawing attention to the gossips or calling them out, but at the same time demonstrating to everyone that he didn’t feel their behavior was appropriate. Meng Yao could still feel Lan Xichen’s fingers brushing against his, and it was still giving him goosebumps now, even hours later.

So he yearned quietly while going through the requests and delegating the work, and was still yearning quietly when Nie Huaisang bounced in, looking suspiciously upbeat. “I have a great idea,” he announced.

“Does it involve leaving me to do my work in peace?” Meng Yao could not help but ask. He was generally overly polite with everyone, but sometimes he let his guard down around Nie Huaisang, if only a fraction. They were about the same age, and Nie Huaisang was an utterly ridiculous person, one who Meng Yao genuinely liked. Nie Huaisang treated him like a combination baby-sitter, older brother, and employee. It was not the best way of being treated, but it was still miles above how most people treated him, so Meng Yao could not complain.

And Nie Huaisang ignored the sarcasm, dropping into the chair across from Meng Yao and waving his fan enthusiastically. “Okay. So first I want you to admit you agree with me on a number of points.”

“Mm hm,” Meng Yao said, jotting down notes without looking up.

“Da-ge needs to get married.”

Meng Yao considered this. Nie Mingjue had little interest in a wife from what Meng Yao could tell, but he was the leader of their sect, so he should marry and have children. Nie Huaisang was currently sect heir, which was a little terrifying. “Agree.”

“There are currently many lovely young ladies here who are clearly interested in both cultivation in general and the Nie sect in particular.”

So this was why he had been so enthusiastic about the proceedings. “Disagree,” Meng Yao said. “Many of the people attending are doing so not from their own interest, but because their sect leader sent them. Which in many cases, the sects do out of politeness and respect, not because they think their disciples are in need of the education or are particularly interested in it.”

Nie Huaisang pouted to hear this, but didn’t argue. “Fine, all right, but at least you can agree there are currently many lovely young ladies here, period.”

“Agree,” Meng Yao said, amused.

“Out of all those young ladies, in terms of stature, the best match for my brother is Jiang Yanli.”

Meng Yao still did not look up. Jiang Yanli was the only disciple here who was the daughter of the leader of one of the great sects, as would be befitting Nie Mingjue’s position. There was no sense in arguing that. “Agree.”

“Jiang Yanli also seems to be beautiful and have an excellent temperament.”

“Agree,” Meng Yao said. Even knowing his indecent background, Jiang Yanli had taken a moment at the end of the saluting ceremony to thank him for helping Nie Mingjue coordinate the lectures, saying she was looking forward to them. Like Lan Xichen, she seemed to want to comfort him without drawing too much attention to his background. Although she hadn’t been as public about it, he still appreciated it.

“However!” Nie Huaisang waved his fan dramatically. “Jiang Yanli is currently engaged to Jin Zixuan. And he is undeserving of her!”

Meng Yao could not help but shake his head slightly, smiling. “I dare not pass such a judgment, Nie-gongzi.”

“Fine, you don’t have to. I know you agree. Without getting into - complications,” Nie Huaisang said, gesturing with his fan as if to encompass Meng Yao’s non-relationship with the Jin sect, “how could he do such a thing at the inn? Such entitled behavior, to bribe the innkeeper into throwing out guests who had already made reservations! Surely you cannot approve of that. Even if we were willing to overlook it had he done it to strangers - which I personally am not, because if he would do that to Jiang-xiong he would undoubtedly do it to me should it ever come up, and I do not like camping - he should have changed his mind as soon as he realized Jiang-guniang was among them. Even you should be able to say out loud that his behavior was wholly inappropriate.”

“I dare not pass such a judgment, Nie-gongzi,” Meng Yao murmured, his gaze trained on his paperwork.

Nie Huaisang didn’t let this deter him from his inevitable, extremely obvious conclusion. “Therefore! We should steal Jiang-guniang from Jin Zixuan so she can marry da-ge.”

“Mm hm,” Meng Yao said. “And how do you intend to go about this theft, without causing a rift between the Nie and the Jin sects?”

“Well, I’m sure I have no idea! That’s what I’m coming to you for. You’re good at politics! Surely you can come up with something.”

Meng Yao finally set his brush down, and stopped smiling. “Nie-gongzi, you cannot ask this of me.”

Nie Huaisang’s face fell. “But . . . it’s for da-ge.”

“I’m well aware of that. You know how devoted I am to Nie-zongzhu. I would be thrilled if he found a wife who appreciates him, who makes him happy. If it’s Jiang-guniang, that would be lovely. But I cannot get involved in this. Do you not realize the possible political implications? If Jin-zongzhu thinks that I had a hand in breaking an engagement between his legitimate son and the woman he’s been betrothed to since his first full moon? Do you not realize that it would look like I was using my influence over Nie-zongzhu to persuade him to disrespect the Lanling Jin? Have you thought for one second about what the consequences of that would be?”

Nie Huaisang looked away. “Da-ge would protect you!”

“Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn’t. Either way, I cannot bank on that, and even if I could, I wouldn’t. It’s not his job to protect me from my own actions. I can’t make trouble for him just because I know I’ll survive it. How ungrateful would I have to be?”

Falling silent, Nie Huaisang clutched his fan in his hands.

“There are many women in the world, Nie-gongzi. I’m sure we’ll find one suitable for Nie-zongzhu at some point. If Jiang-guniang is unhappy with Jin-gongzi, that’s between the Yunmeng Jiang and the Lanling Jin. It’s not our place to get involved.” Meng Yao picked up his brush and went back to his paperwork. “I have a lot to do, Nie-gongzi.”

“All right,” Nie Huaisang said, sounding much subdued. He left the room with none of the flounce he had entered with.

Meng Yao sighed. It was going to be a long couple of months.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

“I’ve got a great idea,” Wei Wuxian declared.

“You’ve never had a good idea in your life,” Jiang Cheng retorted.

“That! That is entirely untrue! Well, it’s a little true, haha,” Wei Wuxian said cheerfully. “But you’ll like this one, I promise. I mean, we both agree that Jin Zixuan is the worst, right?”

“I guess I can’t argue with that,” Jiang Cheng said. 

“And Nie-xiong said Chifeng-Zun is looking for a wife . . .”

Jiang Cheng was suspicious, which Wei Wuxian found a little insulting. “That’s not actually what he said. He said his brother needed a wife, but was waiting to meet the right person. That’s not the same thing as actively looking for a wife.”

“Well, okay, but still, how could shijie not be the right person? She’s kind, smart, caring . . .” Wei Wuxian forced himself off the topic of how perfect Jiang Yanli was and how nobody deserved her, because although true, it was not the point of this discussion. “And if anyone deserves shijie, it’s gotta be Chifeng-Zun, am I right?”

“You’re not wrong,” Jiang Cheng said thoughtfully.

“He’s strong and brave and - and look at this sect! This place is a tightly run ship. That is a man who knows what he’s doing. He would take such good care of shijie - way better than that peacock could ever. Right?”

“I mean . . . yeah,” Jiang Cheng said. “But I think you’re overlooking the fact that shijie is already engaged to that peacock.”

“I have overlooked nothing!” Wei Wuxian said. “He doesn’t deserve her. We’re going to find a way to break off the engagement.”

“Wow, I was right,” Jiang Cheng said. “This is a terrible idea.”

Wei Wuxian threw a pillow at him. “Don’t be so negative.”

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so stupid and I won’t be so negative. I mean, let’s assume you’re right and that Chifeng-Zun would actually want to marry a-jie, which, to be fair, he absolutely should. But Nie-xiong said he wasn’t really looking for a wife, he just expects ones to fall into his lap - ”

“Right, so let’s put shijie in his lap!”

“ - and he’s not going to want to risk disrespecting the Lanling Jin by making any sort of move on a-jie when she’s already engaged. He probably immediately categorized her as a non-option where wives are concerned and didn’t even look at her.”

“He definitely looked at her. That whole ‘you should bow, you’re a cultivator’ thing. She blushed.”

“Well, okay, but that’s not the point. The point is that Chifeng-Zun isn’t going to risk pissing off people by courting a-jie, and we’re not going to risk pissing off people by putting a-jie in his lap.”

Wei Wuxian groaned. “You’re afraid of Jin Zixuan now?”

“I’m not worried about Jin Zixuan! I’m worried about mom!”

“Oh.” Wei Wuxian winced. “Oh, yeah. That. Um. That’s a concern.”

“She arranged this whole thing with Jin-furen and she’ll be furious if it falls through, even if a-jie winds up engaged to Nie-zongzhu instead. So, just, whatever you’re thinking, please, let it go. I can’t even imagine what mom will do if she finds out we even thought about this, let alone did anything about it.”

“Okay,” Wei Wuxian said, but it wasn’t okay at all. He wanted his sister to be happy, and she was never going to be happy married to a man who didn’t respect her. If he needed to risk Yu Ziyuan’s wrath so Jiang Yanli could marry someone who would treat her right, then he would do it. She was always punishing him for something, so he might as well deserve it.

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Mingjue was having tea with Lan Xichen and congratulating himself on having not embarrassed the Qinghe Nie on the first day of lectures when there was a quiet knock on the door and Meng Yao slid inside without waiting for an answer. This was typical, as Meng Yao typically came and went from Nie Mingjue’s semi-public chambers whenever there was business to attend to. However, in this instance, he saw Lan Xichen and froze, then quickly said, “I’m sorry to disturb you. I can come back later - ”

Knowing that Meng Yao wouldn’t come to him if it wasn’t at least moderately important, Nie Mingjue shook his head and said, “What is it, Meng Yao?” 

Still a little uneasy, Meng Yao said, “I’ve been going through the correspondence that the young masters brought with them from their sect leaders. It’s mainly best wishes, thanks, et cetera. However, some of them had a few last minute requests. I can deal with most of them, but there is a letter from Jin-zongzhu . . . I think it’s best if you handle it yourself.”

Nie Mingjue sighed slightly, because from the look on Meng Yao’s face, Jin Guangshan had probably requested something ridiculous and insulting. “What’s the request?”

Meng Yao hesitated, then handed him the letter. “I’ll leave this to you, then, zongzhu,” he said, and hastily left the room.

That surprised Nie Mingjue a little, as Meng Yao normally would have stayed to see what orders he might have. He saw a faint frown on Lan Xichen’s face, and as soon as the door closed behind Meng Yao, Lan Xichen said, “I hope my presence here wasn’t a problem . . .”

“I doubt it. I’m sure it’s more to do with the contents of the letter,” Nie Mingjue said, unfolding it.

Lan Xichen nodded, then said almost accusatorily, “By the way, in all your letters, you never mentioned that he’s cute.”

“Hm?” Nie Mingjue said, puzzled.

“I suppose you probably hadn’t noticed,” Lan Xichen said. “He has such beautiful eyes. And lips. And his dimples! Truly, Mingjue-xiong, I felt I could have benefited from a warning.”

Nie Mingjue gave a snort. He was about to say something about how Lan Xichen was a hopeless romantic, and also not allowed to steal the best assistant he’d ever had, when he saw the subject of his discussion mentioned in the letter. He frowned and read more carefully, then muttered, “Hell,” beneath his breath.

“What is it?” Lan Xichen asked.

“Jin Guangshan, with the greatest of respect, wants me to make sure his disciples aren’t exposed to his bastard son during their stay,” Nie Mingjue said, dropping the letter on the table.

“He did not say that,” Lan Xichen said.

“Well, not in those words, but . . .”

Lan Xichen picked up the letter, which read, after the usual garbage pleasantries, ‘As you are aware, my son Jin Zixuan will be attending the lectures. I will be the first to admit that he is a little spoiled - his mother’s doing. I look forward to the improvements you are sure to make in his work ethic and temperament. That being said, my wife has expressed concern about Jin Zixuan meeting your assistant, Meng Yao. Although Jin Zixuan is aware that he has several younger half-siblings, he has never met any of them before. I would not want him to come away from these lectures thinking that Meng Yao is truly his brother, or that he may be entitled to a place in the Jin sect. If you could keep them from contact as much as possible, and not overly praise Meng Yao’s abilities in front of my disciples, I would appreciate it.’

Looking disgusted, Lan Xichen said, “How will you address it?”

“It isn’t as if I intended to parade Meng Yao out in the lectures anyway. He’s busy doing actual work on behalf of the Qinghe Nie. But . . .”

“But now that Jin-zongzhu said something, you want to parade him?”

Nie Mingjue gave a snort. “Am I that obvious?”

“A little. I know how much you value him, so to see him so blatantly disrespected must be galling for you. But even so, Mingjue-xiong, I think to do so would only make things worse for Meng-gongzi.”

“You don’t think he would enjoy it?”

Lan Xichen looked faintly troubled. “May I be honest with you, Mingjue-xiong?”

“You know I prefer that.”

“You are not the world’s most observant person. I have a suspicion that you don’t have any idea the disrespect that Meng-gongzi must face on a day-to-day basis.”

“How do you mean?” Nie Mingjue asked, frowning.

“Well, take what happened at the saluting ceremony. People began to gossip while he was within earshot as if that was a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Not Qinghe Nie disciples,” Lan Xichen added, seeing that Nie Mingjue was about to point this out. “But did you pay particular attention to Meng-gongzi’s reaction? He was upset, but he was not surprised. When the disciples began to wipe their fingers off – ”

“They did what?”

Lan Xichen sighed. “Realizing they had touched something Meng-gongzi had been holding, they cleaned their fingers off. Several of them asked your other disciples if they could have ‘clean’ copies of the schedule afterwards. When the room emptied, many of the schedules Meng-gongzi handed out were left on the desk – this is what I mean by you not being an observant person, Mingjue-xiong,” Lan Xichen added, seeing his face. “You didn’t notice these things. But I did, and I’m quite certain that Meng-gongzi did as well.”

Nie Mingjue said something impolite.

“How many years has Meng-gongzi been your assistant?” Lan Xichen asked.

“Just over two.”

“I remember you writing to me of the details of his promotion. Those men who were rumor-mongering at the time, they are still in the Qinghe Nie, are they not?”

Nie Mingjue nodded. “It wasn’t a crime worthy of expulsion.”

“As long as their behavior improved afterwards, I agree,” Lan Xichen said, “but did it?”

“Well, it must have,” Nie Mingjue said. “Meng Yao never mentioned them giving him any trouble.”

Lan Xichen looked frankly appalled. “You think he would tell you?”

“Of course he would tell me! He knows I don’t approve of that sort of behavior.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lan Xichen said, “Mingjue-xiong, I don’t wish to disrespect you in any way, so please do not take this as an insult. But Meng-gongzi absolutely would not tell you if he was having that sort of difficulty. You have already done so much for him – how could he ask you to do more? How could he lead you to believe that he was incapable of handling the disrespect of others on his own? Especially keeping in mind that he has been facing it his whole life, and to a certain degree he must believe that he deserves it.”

“He can’t believe that . . .”

“Can’t he? Let me assure you, Mingjue-xiong, the only thing that surprised him today was when I praised him in front of the others and took the schedule directly from his hands.”

Nie Mingjue sighed. “But if he doesn’t tell me, and they don’t do it in my presence – because aside from the minor slights, such as wiping their hands off, I assure you that they don’t – what am I to do about it?”

“Those minor slights add up, Mingjue-xiong.”

“It’s disrespectful, surely, but why can’t he just ignore them? I don’t understand why he lets it get underneath his skin the way he seems to sometimes, on the rare occasion I’ve seen it happen. He knows his worth. I’ve told him more than once how much I value him.”

“It’s not about him, Mingjue-xiong. It’s about his mother.” Now it was Lan Xichen who sighed. “I never loved my mother any less even after finding out about her troubled past, and I know how much you grieved the loss of your own. Meng-gongzi surely loves his mother dearly, as much as any other man does. Her death is still fairly recent, and I’m sure it still hurts. The fact that she was a prostitute would not in any way lessen that. When people clean their hands, they are not just disrespecting him – they are disrespecting her. How intolerable that must be for him!”

Having never thought about it that way, Nie Mingjue grimaced. “I’ll try to pay more attention, but beyond that, I’m not sure what else I can do. I already promoted him.”

“You painted an enormous target on him, Mingjue-xiong,” Lan Xichen said. “I’m not saying that you were wrong to do so! Truly, he deserved the promotion. But now that you’ve given it to him, it’s your responsibility, as his sect leader, to make sure that promotion is being respected. You should talk to him.”

“And say what?”

“Say that you understand he can’t come to you every time he experiences a minor slight, but if he’s being bullied, you want him to tell you. That if your men don’t respect the promotion you gave him, that’s not just an insult to him, it’s an insult to you. That you don’t want men who can’t respect that in your sect. He probably still won’t tell you – ” Lan Xichen added, and Nie Mingjue sighed, “at least not about most of it. But if it gets to the point of physical abuse, he may be willing to go to you at that point. Also, ask Huaisang to keep an eye out. He’s a lot more clever and observant than he wants most people to realize. He hasn’t paid attention before, because he hasn’t realized it’s an issue. But if you ask him, he’ll notice far more than you would.”

Nie Mingjue sighed again, but nodded. “And about this?” he asked, gesturing to the letter.

“Do as Jin-zongzhu requested, for Meng-gongzi’s sake. But talk to him. Let him know that although he’ll never be a member of the Lanling Jin, he has a good future here – that you don’t care about his mother’s profession, and you won’t allow him to be disrespected because of it. His father’s rejection must wound him deeply, and you can’t fix that. But you can let him know that you think, frankly, that his father is an idiot.”

That made Nie Mingjue laugh. “As I truly do.”

“Then,” Lan Xichen said, with a surprising gleam in his eye, “start working on – how did Jin-zongzhu put this? – his legitimate son’s work ethic and temperament.”

With a snort, Nie Mingjue said, “I’m surprised he didn’t leave as soon as he saw the schedule. Did you hear about what happened at the inn?” he added, and Lan Xichen shook his head. “Huaisang told me about it after Wei Wuxian told him. Apparently the Jiang sect had reserved rooms at an inn in Yueyang and even sent a reservation fee, but when Jin Zixuan got there, he demanded the innkeeper let him have the entire inn. The Jiang disciples ended up camping instead.”

“That is appalling,” Lan Xichen said. “Did he know who he was displacing?”

“Not ahead of time, and I doubt he cared. Apparently they were still arguing with the innkeeper when he got there, however, so he would have realized.”

“And he still didn’t change his mind? Even when he realized it was his betrothed?”

Nie Mingjue choked on his tea. “His what?”

“You didn’t know? Jiang Yanli has been betrothed to Jin Zixuan since childhood. Their mothers were sect sisters in the Meishan Yu.”

“She deserves better,” Nie Mingjue said, although frankly it was difficult to think of a woman who wouldn’t deserve better than one whose betrothed would throw her out of an inn to sleep on the street. Still, for some reason it stung a little more for a woman as beautiful and sweet-natured as Jiang Yanli seemed to be. “I’ll improve his temperament, all right. Make him sleep outside for a week.”

Amused, Lan Xichen said, “An understandable response. But to be fair, he didn’t reserve the entire inn for its luxuries. It seems he did it to avoid associating with people outside his own sect.”

“So you think I should make him do that?”

With a pleasantly neutral smile, Lan Xichen sipped his tea and said, “It’ll be good for him. He can’t be a sect leader who refuses to speak to others. I think it will teach him a valuable lesson.”

Nie Mingjue nodded thoughtfully. “I have an idea . . .”

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Huaisang was dozing through the class on common mountain monsters – he had learned all of it ages ago and wasn’t sure why he was even required to attend – when his brother walked in. He straightened up and pretended he was paying attention. From the look on Nie Mingjue’s face, he absolutely wasn’t fooled. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to care. “Change in plans!” he announced. “Everybody get up and head into the courtyard. Leave your books.”

This was exciting. Nie Huaisang glanced quickly at the other Nie disciples attending the lecture to see if any of them knew what was going on, and none of them did. Even the professor looked a little befuddled. Nie Huaisang wondered what Meng Yao would think of the fact that it was the second day of the lectures and Nie Mingjue was already messing up the meticulously planned schedule.

Once in the courtyard, Nie Mingjue announced, “As cultivators, things can change suddenly and without warning. You must be able to switch focus at a moment’s notice. Gather with your own sect and line up.”

All of them did so, some looking politely curious, others excited, and in the case of Lan Wangji, some of them expressionless.

“Remember the number I give you!” Nie Mingjue said, and began to count down the line of cultivators, one through five and then starting over at one. “Now, gather in groups. Ones in the west corner, twos in the north, threes in the east, fours in the south, fives in the center.”

Nie Huaisang immediately grasped what his brother had done. Each group had seven people in it. By making them line up with their own sect and then counting them off, he had made sure every group had members of multiple sects in it. They wouldn’t be allowed to work with people they had known previously, or exclude others.

He glanced around quickly to see the reactions to this. Most of them were positive, although a few people seemed to be shy or holding back. Others were greeting the members of their group enthusiastically, introducing themselves and trying to socialize. Much to his own relief, he was in a group with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, so if there was heavy lifting to be done, they could do it. Wei Wuxian looked bursting at the seams to have the opportunity to show off in front of the great Lan Wangji. Across the courtyard, Jiang Cheng was rolling his eyes at his brother, and looking faintly relieved to get away from him. He was the only member of his group from one of the great sects, and the others seemed a little in awe of him, which seemed to confuse him. Meanwhile, Jin Zixuan was standing with his chin lifted slightly, and a pucker to his mouth. He looked annoyed. Nie Huaisang was glad to see that he hadn’t ended up in the same group as Jiang Yanli, who was in group five.

“Ah, da-ge!” he called out, seeing something that delighted him. “The last group is one person shorter than the others! Will you join them?”

“Hang on, would that be fair?” Wei Wuxian asked. “Isn’t it going to be a competition?”

“Well, it’s not fair if they’re a person short, is it?” Nie Huaisang countered.

“No, it’s not, which is why they’ll get a fifteen minute headstart,” Nie Mingjue said, and Nie Huaisang sulked. “Each team has an object to find, hidden somewhere in The Unclean Realm. You’ll all receive a clue, which will lead you to the next clue, and so on, and so forth. The first group to make it back to this courtyard with their object will win.”

“A scavenger hunt!” Wei Wuxian said, his eyes lighting up. “This is going to be awesome – we’re definitely going to win, because we’ve got Lan-er-gege on our team.”

Nie Mingjue walked over and gave an envelope to Jiang Yanli. She smiled at him and thanked him before turning to her team. Then Nie Mingjue abruptly turned and walked out of the courtyard entirely.

Nie Huaisang looked at Wei Wuxian and saw that he, too, had a gleam in his eyes. Knowing that Wei Wuxian hated Jin Zixuan and absolutely felt his sect sister deserved better, Nie Huaisang made a mental note to discuss this with him later.

While they were waiting for the first team to take their headstart, several of the other groups began socializing again. Wei Wuxian was trying desperately to get Lan Wangji to engage with him, talking about how excited he was to do an activity together. Lan Wangji, who seemed sour, said, “This was not on the schedule.”

“I know, but it’s like Nie-zongzhu said, isn’t it?” Wei Wuxian said, beaming. “Have to be ready to change focus at a moment’s notice!”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, because he clearly couldn’t find a way to argue with that sentiment, even as he also clearly abhorred the interruption to their quiet study.

It was odd, though, Nie Huaisang thought. He knew that Nie Mingjue had worked hard on the schedule, with the assistance of Meng Yao and several of the other disciples. How strange for him to have thrown such a wrench into it, right at the beginning. And this must have been a lot of work, too, to write out clues and hide things around the city. He hadn’t been planning it, so the work would have been done on short notice. Nie Huaisang thought back to breakfast and the way Meng Yao had been muffling yawns. That explained that, then. Meng Yao had probably been up half the night putting this together.

All in all, however, the afternoon was entertaining. The clues were simple enough, small riddles based around cultivation basics that they all had some experience with. Nie Huaisang wasn’t sure if Meng Yao would have had the education to write all of them, and wondered if Lan Xichen had helped as well. He hoped so, recalling Meng Yao’s reaction to Lan Xichen during the saluting ceremony.

And Wei Wuxian was certainly correct about one thing – having Lan Wangji on their team was an enormous advantage. He knew the answer to every question, solved every riddle with no effort at all. Wei Wuxian continued to give him admiring looks which Lan Wangji continued to not respond to whatsoever.

The only real excitement was when they crossed paths with Jin Zixuan’s group. Nie Huaisang half-expected Wei Wuxian to get in a fight with him, but Jin Zixuan seemed to be barely participating at all. He stood towards the back of the group, arms folded over his chest and looking uncomfortable.

So it was perhaps no surprise that his group came in last. Nie Huaisang’s own came in first, which was no surprise with Lan Wangji in it. Jiang Cheng’s came in second, and he seemed quite sour about the fact that Wei Wuxian had beaten him.

Jin Zixuan’s group came in almost twenty minutes later than any of the others, and he looked like he was in an extremely foul temper about it. When Luo Qingyang told him that her group had come in second place, he said, “Such an exercise of running around the city, solving childish clues, is surely beneath anyone from the Jin sect.”

Luo Qingyang looked hurt, and Wei Wuxian said in a tone that was clearly meant to be overheard, “What a sour loser.”

Jin Zixuan huffed and stuck his nose in the air. Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes.

“The exercise wasn’t about the childish clues,” Nie Mingjue said, having overheard this while he was congratulating the first place group. “It was to pool the knowledge that you hold, coming from different places, having experience with different things. It was to emphasize the fact that during a night hunt, or gods forbid a war, you won’t always be able to choose the people you’re working with. Being able to adapt quickly to work with strangers, to rely on the knowledge of others, is a vital part of being a cultivator. There will be more exercises like this as the lectures progress, so keep that in mind before you decide to willfully miss the point of this one.”

Jin Zixuan looked sulky, but was smart enough not to directly challenge Nie Mingjue on this.

“In The Unclean Realm, expect the unexpected,” Nie Mingjue continued. “The schedule isn’t set in stone.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

“That was awesome,” Wei Wuxian said, and Nie Huaisang couldn’t help but agree.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Lan Wangji entered the guest house with the other Lan cultivators and found his brother having already prepared tea. This was a relief, as he felt some quiet meditation could benefit his nerves, which Wei Wuxian had been dancing on all day.

“Wangji, how were your classes?” Lan Xichen asked, smiling.

“Educational,” Lan Wangji said.

“You were working in groups, weren’t you?” Lan Xichen asked, which surprised Lan Wangji a little. It was clear that this had been a last minute addition to the schedule. Still, he knew that his brother and Nie Mingjue were close. It made sense that Nie Mingjue might have mentioned it to him. “How did that go?”

“We took first place.”

Lan Xichen ducked his head in a futile effort to hide his smile. “Congratulations, but that’s not really what I meant. I know you haven’t interacted much with members of other sects before. Did you have fun?”

Lan Wangji frowned faintly. He was never sure how to answer his brother when he asked questions like this. Sometimes he wasn’t sure his concept of ‘fun’ was the same as anyone else’s. He would watch the juniors playing games in their spare time and wonder about it. He had never been allowed to play such games, always encouraged to study instead, but truthfully he had never felt the impulse to. “I found the exercise intellectually stimulating.”

“And the company of the others? Was it at least not unpleasant?”

“I am sure there are things I would have enjoyed less.”

His brother was now clearly fighting the urge to laugh, which Lan Wangji found somewhat insulting, as he had meant the answer seriously. “Was there anyone in particular you found interesting?”

“Mn. That Wei Wuxian is of incorrigible character.”

“Is he?” Lan Xichen arched an eyebrow.

“He is frivolous, impulsive, and disrespectful.”

“Disrespectful? To you?”

Annoyed that Lan Xichen was asking questions instead of just accepting Lan Wangji’s judgment, he said, “Mn. He is much too familiar. He calls me ‘Lan-er-gege’.”

“I don’t think he means it disrespectfully, Wangji,” Lan Xichen said, still clearly amused. “It seems as if he looks up to you, and enjoys your company. He is trying to make friends with you.”

If that was what ‘making friends’ was like, Lan Wangji wanted no part of it. “I see.”

Lan Xichen poured them both a cup of tea and said, “I was thinking of staying here in The Unclean Realm a bit longer. Shufu is more than capable of handling the affairs of the Gusu Lan for a little while.”

It took effort not to scowl at his brother. “If you are doing that for my sake, I can assure you that it is wholly unnecessary.”

“No, Wangji,” Lan Xichen said. “I want to stay and help Mingjue-xiong. I know he has been concerned about how these lectures are going to go, as it’s the first time he has held them. There are some additional – complications – arising from Jin Guangshan. Although Mingjue-xiong is certainly a brilliant strategist and tactician, when it comes to politics he is less sure of himself. I think he will appreciate it if I can offer my assistance.”

That made sense to Lan Wangji, and he nodded, thinking back to what had happened not just that day, but during the saluting ceremony. “Is it regarding Meng-gongzi?” he asked, because he wasn’t at all oblivious to the way Lan Xichen had focused on him. They, better than perhaps anyone else there, knew what it was like to be the sons of a woman who drew scorn and condemnation.

“Partly. Jin-zongzhu expressed concerns that Jin-gongzi might come home from the lectures having met his younger half-brother and thinking that he deserves a place in the Lanling Jin.”

Which he absolutely did, for obvious reasons, Lan Wangji thought. But he also thought that Meng Yao was surely happier here in the Qinghe Nie. Given what had happened when he had tried to offer his services to the Lanling Jin, it was clear that he wouldn’t have been treated well there. “And the other part?”

“Jin-gongzi is betrothed to Jiang-guniang, but his treatment of her is disrespectful,” Lan Xichen said. “It seems to trouble Mingjue-xiong more than I would have expected.”

Lan Wangji frowned, not immediately seeing the reason for this. “Oh?”

Lan Xichen gave a slight shrug. “Mingjue-xiong is of a just and righteous character, so seeing any man disrespect his future wife would anger him. However, I think he is angered in general by Jin-gongzi, who is spoiled and arrogant, because of Jin-zongzhu’s treatment of Meng-gongzi, who Mingjue-xiong values so highly. Additionally, he only just met Jiang-guniang, but seems to hold her in high regard. She is sweet-tempered and caring, and I am sure she provokes a protective instinct in most men.”

That made sense as well. Lan Wangji definitely had not been eavesdropping on the Jiang siblings, but he had noted that her brothers seemed quite protective of her as well. “Nie-zongzhu scolded Jin-gongzi today for being a poor loser in the group exercise, saying he had not understood the purpose of it.”

“How did Jin-gongzi take it?”

“Silently. He neither argued nor agreed.”

Lan Xichen nodded, clearly wondering if that was the first time in Jin Zixuan’s life that he had ever been scolded. “Mingjue-xiong is hopeful that he will be able to improve Jin-gongzi’s character while he is here.”

“I wish him the best of luck,” Lan Wangji said, and his brother laughed quietly.

~ ~ ~ ~

One of the things Jiang Yanli had requested during their stay in The Unclean Realm was a guest house with a kitchen. She enjoyed cooking, and she figured it would be both impolite and tiresome to rely on the Nie sect to provide all their meals. Even so, they had to supply all the cookware and the ingredients themselves. Which was why, after the third day of lectures, she found herself looking through the basket that had been provided and frowning slightly.

“What’s wrong, a-jie?” Jiang Cheng asked. It was just the two of them; Wei Wuxian had gone off somewhere to fool around with Nie Huaisang. The two of them were quickly becoming fast friends, which pleased Jiang Yanli. Wei Wuxian was friendly with almost everyone, but it was good for him to develop bonds with people outside the sect.

“It’s nothing, A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli said. “It’s just that I asked for turmeric and instead they gave me ginger . . . whoever was packing the basket probably didn’t look very closely. It’s not a very good substitution . . . but I don’t want to be rude.”

Jiang Cheng shrugged. “It’s not rude if they gave us the wrong thing. I mean, we don’t want to kick up a big fuss, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with at least asking if we can have it corrected.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Jiang Yanli decided. The dish was one of Wei Wuxian’s favorites; she didn’t want to make it incorrectly, although he would doubtlessly forgive her. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

“I’ll go with you,” Jiang Cheng said, immediately standing.

“Don’t be silly, A-Cheng. You said you wanted to finish reading that book. I’m quite sure I can handle a trip to the kitchen.”

Jiang Cheng settled down, albeit grumpily, and Jiang Yanli left their small guest house. They had all been given detailed maps of The Unclean Realm, and Nie Mingjue had told them if there were any problems with their accommodations, to let Meng Yao know. So rather than heading directly to the kitchens, she went to the main hall. Nie Mingjue wasn’t there, but Meng Yao was, and he greeted her with a smile but had an edge of uneasiness to him. “Is there something you need, Jiang-guniang?”

“Ah, I just wondered if I could get some turmeric root from the kitchen,” she said. “My basket had ginger instead.”

“Of course,” Meng Yao said, then glanced around and said, “Ah, Sui-gongzi, will you take Jiang-guniang to the kitchen and see that she gets whatever she needs?”

Jiang Yanli thanked him and followed the disciple out. They went down a set of hallways and then through a curtain, into a large kitchen. Much to her surprise, Nie Mingjue was there, wearing an apron and in the middle of butchering a wild boar. He looked equally surprised to see her, and immediately said, “My apologies, Jiang-guniang – I’m sure you must not like to see such things.”

That made Jiang Yanli laugh. “I am not so fragile, Nie-zongzhu,” she assured him, trying not to stare too much at his amazing arms. Their musculature was quite obvious, as he wasn’t wearing an outer robe and had the sleeves of his hanfu partially rucked up. “Although I admit I don’t do any of this work in the kitchen myself, I assure you that I’ve seen it done before. Actually, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a sect leader in the kitchen.”

“Well, as you probably know, the Nie sect descended from butchers,” Nie Mingjue said. “I learned when I was quite young, and I still enjoy cooking. Sometimes it helps me get my thoughts in order. Was there something you needed?”

“Ah, yes,” Jiang Yanli said, recalling herself. “Turmeric root.”

“Over in the cabinet there,” Nie Mingjue said, then frowned. “One of the disciples could have fetched it for you. Did you ask Meng Yao?”

“I did, and he had Sui-gongzi show me to the kitchen,” Jiang Yanli said, gesturing to the man who was standing in the doorway, who bowed.

“Oh? You can go, A-Cao,” Nie Mingjue said, and the disciple bowed again and left. “Odd that Meng Yao wouldn’t just bring you himself . . . although I suppose he figured he shouldn’t, thanks to Jin-zongzhu,” he added, and Jiang Yanli blinked, puzzled. Seeing this, Nie Mingjue continued, “Jin-zongzhu requested that I not make Meng Yao look too useful or talented to the members of his sect. Meng Yao probably figured, given that you’re betrothed to Jin Zixuan, you’re close enough to count.”

“I see,” Jiang Yanli said. She was, truthfully, a little amused. Jiang Fengmian had mentioned once or twice that although Nie Mingjue was brilliant in battle, politically he wasn’t very savvy. There was absolutely no reason for Nie Mingjue to have told her this, and she was sure that Jin Guangshan wouldn’t want anybody and everybody knowing about this request. “It must bother you, to see Meng-gongzi so disrespected.”

Nie Mingjue sighed and said, with the tone of a reluctant admission, “I’ve been trying to figure out how to talk to him about it.”

“Oh?” Jiang Yanli was surprised.

“He goes through all my correspondence, filtering it for matters of importance. So the letter that Jin Zixuan brought with him, wherein Jin-zongzhu detailed this request – ”

“He read it,” Jiang Yanli realized. “How horrible for him.”

“I know that I need to address it with him,” Nie Mingjue said, “but I’m afraid I’ll end up sounding selfish. Because there is a part of me that’s quite pleased that he has no future with the Jin sect, that doesn’t have to worry about him leaving for a better opportunity.”

Jiang Yanli thought about this. “I can see why you’re concerned, but I don’t think you need to be. I think emphasizing how much you value him will make him feel better, even though he will undoubtedly resent his father for his rejection.”

“Which is fine. Except then I started thinking about the long-term consequences. Meng Yao isn’t a strong cultivator – he’s missing so many of the fundamentals – but he’s an amazing assistant and his position will continue to rise in the Qinghe Nie. Which means this will continue to be an issue.”

“I don’t think it has to be,” Jiang Yanli said. “I think that at some point you will have to set down firm boundaries for Jin-zongzhu. He rejected Meng-gongzi from his sect. Therefore Jin-zongzhu has no claim on him, and Meng-gongzi likewise has no ties to the Lanling Jin. You are allowed to promote him as you like, and treat him with the respect he is due. Jin-zongzhu may not like that, but he has no right to request you do otherwise.”

Nie Mingjue looked thoughtful. “Then am I setting a bad precedent? By honoring his request here and now?”

“A bit, perhaps,” Jiang Yanli said. “I know that it must be partly for Meng-gongzi’s benefit – he must feel horribly awkward around his half-brother. I think it’s fine to honor the request, mostly because – correct me if I’m wrong – Meng-gongzi would be playing little role in the lectures in any case.”

“That’s true,” Nie Mingjue agreed.

“If the precedent poses a problem later, it’s a simple issue to deal with. There are any number of reasons why you might have honored it now, but not later. Jin-gongzi’s age, Meng-gongzi’s position – many things will probably change before the next time you have to deal with the issue. And in the end, if Jin-zongzhu does not like those reasons?” Jiang Yanli gave a slight shrug. “You are still well within your rights to simply say ‘that was then, this is now’.”

That made Nie Mingjue smile, and Jiang Yanli’s heart fluttered in her chest. She firmly told it to settle down. “You’re quite insightful, Jiang-guniang. Truly, I’m grateful you wandered into my kitchen today. I’m sorry if I’ve burdened you.”

“Not at all,” Jiang Yanli said. “I’m glad that I could help. Oh – the turmeric, before my little brothers starve to death.”

Nie Mingjue laughed. “I heard they’re getting along with Huaisang. He’s mentioned them more than once over the past few days.”

With a nod, Jiang Yanli said, “It’s really been a pleasure watching them make friends with other young masters.” She went to the cabinet that Nie Mingjue had pointed out and found the root she needed. “Thank you, Nie-zongzhu – I’m sure I’ll see you again. Perhaps we can trade recipes.”

“I’d like that,” Nie Mingjue said, and his gaze followed her out of the kitchen. She found it was not at all an unpleasant sensation.

~ ~ ~ ~

It wasn’t that Wei Wuxian wanted to pick a fight with the teacher, he later told Jiang Yanli. It was just that he was right and the teacher was wrong, that was all. He was sure that the teacher was very knowledgeable about many things, but it wasn’t Wei Wuxian’s fault that he couldn’t handle a few questions.

The whole thing had started with a question about the death of an executioner, and when Wei Wuxian had posed his idea of letting the ghosts of his victims handle the problem, the teacher had looked unimpressed and said, flatly, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

That annoyed Wei Wuxian, who thought it was a great idea, and he had protested, and then the whole idea of using resentful energy had come up. Wei Wuxian was just spitballing, really; he didn’t have any strong feelings about the topic but he kept talking about it anyway because he was on a roll. Jiang Cheng looked mortified and Nie Huaisang amused, and the teacher was shouting about how qi deviation was serious business and everyone should take it seriously.

Somehow the whole thing ended with Wei Wuxian being sent to the library to copy a text on ways to prevent qi deviation, and he was a little miffed about it. Partly because the weather was gorgeous, and he and Nie Huaisang had already made plans to goof off after class, but mostly because copying lines was boring as hell.

He had been at it for half an hour, gotten perhaps ten percent of it done, and was already thinking about bailing, when the door to the library opened. He perked up as Lan Wangji came in, and greeted him cheerfully. Lan Wangji looked at him like he had just presented him with a dead rat, ignored him, and began looking for a book. After a few moments, he had located the one he wanted and sat down at a desk on the other side of the room.

Wei Wuxian immediately abandoned what he was doing and walked over to the desk to sit down next to it.

“You are supposed to be copying the text,” Lan Wangji said, not looking up.

“Ugh, come on,” Wei Wuxian said. “If I get in trouble with the teacher, that’s my business, not yours. What do you care if I copy the lines or not?”

Lan Wangji steadfastly regarded the book and said, “I do not ‘care’. But I have no desire to associate with you while you are here to be punished.”

“Rude,” Wei Wuxian said, laughing. “If I finish copying it, will you ‘associate’ with me then?”

For some reason, Lan Wangji didn’t respond to this.

“Lan-er-gege?” Wei Wuxian tried, unsure if Lan Wangji was ignoring him or had suddenly gone deaf. “Wangji-xiong . . .?” Definitely ignoring him. “Lan Zhan!”

Lan Zhan’s head jerked around, his face one of complete outrage.

Wei Wuxian laughed despite himself. “That’s what you get for ignoring me! You can call me Wei Ying; I don’t mind. What are you reading?” he added. Lan Wangji still ignored him, but Wei Wuxian managed to get a glimpse of the book’s cover anyway. His eyes went wide. “Classic of Changes, really? Is that what you consider light reading?”

“You are supposed to be copying the text,” Lan Wangji repeated, seeming at a loss as to what else he could possibly say. He seemed a little befuddled, honestly, that Wei Wuxian hadn’t taken it to heart the first time he had said it.

“Or – ” Wei Wuxian suddenly grinned. “Did you ask a question of the yarrow sticks and now you’re trying to interpret the answer? Oh, what was it? Maybe I can help – ”

“You absolutely cannot,” Lan Wangji said, closing the text with finality.

“So you did ask a question!” Wei Wuxian was delighted. What sort of thing would the great Lan Wangji ask of the yarrow sticks? The entire Gusu Lan sect lived by strict rules. What could he need the assistance of prophetic divination to understand? “If I can’t help you interpret the answer, you could ask your brother – ”

At this, Lan Wangji seemed to decide the conversation was over. He stood and returned the text to the wall.

Wei Wuxian hastily grabbed his sword and the little copying he had done, following him out of the library. Lan Wangji took three steps, then stopped, turning to face him. “Why are you following me?”

“To continue our conversation, of course!” Wei Wuxian said.

“We were not having a conversation.”

“I mean, you’re half-right, I’m carrying most of it myself, but that’s okay, I don’t mind.” Wei Wuxian just grinned. “Lan Zhan, why are you so stiff? I’ve already decided we’re going to be friends. I know all about you! You’re righteous and powerful. That means I approve of you!”

Lan Wangji just glared at him. “You cannot just decide we are going to be friends.”

“No?” Wei Wuxian blinked. “Why not?”

“You presume that I want to be your friend.”

“Oh? I guess I did. But of course you do! Is there some reason why you wouldn’t?”

“You are frivolous, impulsive, and disrespectful,” Lan Wangji said, and when Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to argue, he said, “You are supposed to be copying the text right now. Yet you have followed me and continue to harass me, showing disrespect both to the teacher who gave you that punishment and the Qinghe Nie in general.”

Feeling wounded, Wei Wuxian said, “Geez, okay, I get it. I don’t see why you care so much. It’s not your job to enforce the rules.”

“So you only follow the rules when someone is there to enforce them?”

Wei Wuxian had a strong feeling that ‘yes’ was the wrong answer to that question. “I follow the rules when I decide it’s important to follow them.”

“Ridiculous,” Lan Wangji scowled, and started walking away again. This time, Wei Wuxian had a feeling that he shouldn’t follow him.

But he didn’t let it dampen his spirits, either. After all, he liked a challenge. By the end of their time together in Qinghe, he was resolved that Lan Wangji would be his friend, whether he liked it or not.

~ ~ ~ ~

Meng Yao was busy looking over budget reports when one of the lower-ranking assistants knocked on his door and said, “Nie-zongzhu wants to see you.”

This was not unusual, and it had, after all, been a busy week. The guests were settled in and the lectures had begun in earnest. Meng Yao wondered briefly if Nie Mingjue wanted his help with another ‘surprise’ lecture. He had been a little bit miffed, to be honest, that the cultivators had been there two days and Nie Mingjue had already been throwing his meticulous schedule in the trash. But that was like him – although he was an excellent tactician, in all other things he could be extremely impulsive and reckless. Meng Yao tried to curb him when he could, but sometimes there was nothing he could do. He had predicted, however, that at least one or two lessons might go awry, and he placed several blocks of reserved time on the schedule, in case things needed to be reorganized.

Still, he hoped Nie Mingjue wasn’t already planning to use another. And Meng Yao really wasn’t sure why he had changed the schedule the first time. Although he hadn’t objected, since the evening of designing riddles and cultivation questions had actually been quite enjoyable. Nie Mingjue had suggested Lan Xichen help, since Meng Yao still lacked some basic education. Although Meng Yao had been nervous at first, Lan Xichen was so warm and kind that before long he had forgotten, and the two of them had talked about cultivation for several hours while designing the scavenger hunt.

Fewer things in Meng Yao’s life had made him happier than when Nie Mingjue had informed him, on the fourth day of the lectures, that Lan Xichen had decided to stay a little longer. “He’s worried about how Wangji is handling things,” Nie Mingjue had added. Meng Yao had asked Nie Huaisang how Lan Wangji was doing at the lectures, and received a laughing answer about how he’d never known an ice statue could get so many questions right. Meng Yao, sensing that this would not help matters, did not share this with Lan Xichen.

For the past few evenings, Lan Xichen had had dinner with Nie Mingjue. It was possible that Meng Yao had found excuses to interrupt them a few times with matters that definitely could have waited, just to be able to bask in Lan Xichen’s presence for a few minutes.

So he was a little disappointed when he entered the sword hall and found that it was only Nie Mingjue waiting. “Good, you’re here,” he said brusquely, and he sounded uncomfortable. Meng Yao tensed involuntarily. Nie Mingjue rarely sounded this sort of uncomfortable unless they were going to be talking about something neither of them would enjoy.

“What do you need, zongzhu?” Meng Yao asked, with a pleasant smile, determine not to let his nerves show.

“I want to talk to you about this – request. From Jin-zongzhu.”

Meng Yao carefully kept his shoulders loose and relaxed. It had been days since he had brought that letters to Nie Mingjue. The only reason he would be bringing it up now would be if he felt Meng Yao wasn’t complying with its terms. Meng Yao didn’t see how that could be possible; he had been extremely careful. So it was with the same caution that he asked, “Is there a problem?”

Nie Mingjue sighed. “Listen, Meng Yao, I’m not good at this kind of thing. But I know that in your shoes, I would feel pretty shitty after reading that.”

“Ah – ” Meng Yao looked away, suddenly uncertain as to what this conversation was about and how he should react to it.

“So I just want to say a few things as bluntly as possible, and then you can respond however you like,” Nie Mingjue said, which seemed frankly unlikely to Meng Yao. “First off, I think Jin-zongzhu is a fool.”

“Oh,” Meng Yao said.

“The fact is, he’s letting your parentage color his perception of you, and it’s blinding him to your merit. Which, from my perspective, works out in my favor, because I’d prefer to keep you here. And I know that doesn’t help. I know that my being happy that you’re a great assistant to the Qinghe Nie doesn’t make your father’s rejection hurt a damn bit less. I’d fix that if I could, but I can’t.”

Meng Yao felt tears sting at his eyes, because Nie Mingjue was one hundred percent correct, and he didn’t want to let it show. So he looked away and made another noncommittal noise.

“Someday, I’d love to be able to rub it in Jin Guangshan’s face that I got incredibly lucky when he turned you away, but I don’t think that would help matters now, which brings me to my next point.” Nie Mingjue huffed out a breath. “I’m not a very observant person. But from what happened at the saluting ceremony, it’s clear that people still give you a hard time.”

This, Meng Yao was more used to dealing with, and was a conversation he had prepared to have. His familiar smile slid back onto his face. “It’s nothing I can’t handle, zongzhu. Please don’t trouble yourself over it.”

“See, here’s the thing,” Nie Mingjue said, which made Meng Yao nervous again. “I’ve thought about that a lot for the past few days, and I’ve decided that it’s bullshit.”

“Oh?” Meng Yao managed.

“Yes. Because I promoted you. My disciples damn well better respect that, or they’re not respecting me. And I know I can’t ask you to come running to me every time someone calls you a nasty name or wipes their hands off after touching something you touched, but is that where it ends?”

“Truly, zongzhu, it’s nothing you need to be concerned about,” Meng Yao said.

Nie Mingjue studied him for a long minute before he said, “All right. I’ve said my piece. But I’m going to be keeping an eye on people around you. I should have been doing it before, but it didn’t occur to me that it would be a problem. If I see people causing problems for you, they’re going to hear about it, whether you like it or not.”

Meng Yao nodded. This didn’t particularly worry him, because most of the men were far too smart to do anything flagrant right in front of Nie Mingjue anyway. He swept his arms around and bowed low. “I am grateful that you would even think to look after me this way.”

“You’ve got a great future here, Meng Yao. No matter what people say about you, I hope you can truly believe that.”

“I do,” Meng Yao said, because he did. It would take a lot of time and effort, but he knew that someday he could do great things with the Qinghe Nie. It just wasn’t the future he wanted. He didn’t know why it was so hard to give up on that dream, but so far he couldn’t. He could only hope that his service in the Qinghe Nie would someday change his father’s opinion of him.

“Oh – it’s a different topic, but do you know what Huaisang’s up to?” Nie Mingjue added. “He’s scheming something. I can tell.”

Meng Yao looked down and bit back a more genuine smile. “He thinks to find you a bride at the lectures, so you’ll be too distracted with wedding plans to remember to send him to Gusu next year – or so you’ll have a child and he’ll no longer be sect heir and off the hook permanently.”

“He’s going to those damned lectures in Gusu whether he’s sect heir or not,” Nie Mingjue growled. Then he sighed. “All right. I had a feeling that was what it was.”

“All of Nie-gongzi’s schemes aside, zongzhu, it’s not a bad notion,” Meng Yao pointed out. “There are many lovely young ladies here with whom you could build a future. I know that you haven’t been particularly interested, but this might be the best chance you have to actually meet someone like-minded, someone you could connect with, rather than something arranged. Just keep that in mind.”

Nie Mingjue sighed again and nodded. “I’ll do that.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

There were two full days on the schedule blocked out for ‘survival training’. Lan Wangji wasn’t sure exactly what that entailed, but he was intrigued by the idea of a single subject needing so much time. The teacher was one of the highest ranking disciples in the Qinghe Nie, a broad-shouldered man named Nie Zonghui. He had them all take out their swords and warned them that they would be going a fair distance, and to shout if they felt like they needed a rest.

Nobody dared, knowing that their peers would mock them mercilessly for it. Of course, it helped that Nie Zonghui clearly knew that would happen, and gave them regular breaks anyway. It took over six hours riding by sword to get to the place where the lecture would apparently occur. Although Lan Wangji could have gone for another six, he was aware that he was an outlier, with one of the strongest golden cores at the lecture – possibly the strongest. Most of the other students were clearly quite exhausted.

Most, of course, was not all. Wei Wuxian beamed excitedly as he bumped shoulders against Jiang Cheng. It was a beautiful smile that Lan Wangji definitely had not been spending hours at night thinking about.

Meanwhile, the Jin disciples were muttering to each other about why they had to travel for six hours just to get to a barren scrap of nowhere. Lan Wangji could not help but think that they were very stupid. He saw Nie Huaisang hiding a smile with his fan and felt like Nie Huaisang probably felt the same way.

Nie Zonghui had them line up and began to give the lecture. He talked about how to find or build a shelter, how to navigate using the stars, and how to find water. Although Lan Wangji did not feel these were skills he would need to use often, he listened in interest. He enjoyed learning, even when it was a topic he had not previously studied.

The longer Nie Zonghui talked, the more the Jin disciples and a few of the others began to whisper and giggle. What was the point of learning how to build a fire when they could just use a fire talisman? Who needed to learn how to hunt animals and build snares when a real cultivator could just practice inedia and go without eating for a few days? How stupid would someone have to be to end up stuck in the wilderness without supplies, anyway? None of these lessons seemed at all applicable to their lives.

Just as it looked like Wei Wuxian was going to say something, which Lan Wangji was sure would go swimmingly, Nie Zonghui announced that he had left something nearby to pick up for a demonstration. They could all sit down and have a break while he went to get it. Many of the disciples immediately sat down. Lan Wangji did not, because there was no comfortable or clean place to sit.

While the disciples chatted amongst themselves, Wei Wuxian sidled up to Lan Wangji and grinned. “How long do you think it’s gonna take this lot to figure out that he’s not coming back?”

Lan Wangji was annoyed that Wei Wuxian was speaking to him, but the topic was less offensive than usual, so he didn’t tell him to be quiet. Instead, he just gave his usual, “Mn,” to indicate that it was going to be far longer than it should be.

“Right?” Wei Wuxian said, laughing. “Weather’s good, at least. I’ve got some water with me but nothing else. You?”

“The same,” Lan Wangji said.

“You could just leave, though, if you wanted,” Wei Wuxian pointed out. “You’re probably one of only a few people here who still have enough spiritual power to make it all the way back to The Unclean Realm. You, me, maybe Jin-gongzi,” he added, in a somewhat begrudging tone. “Jiang Cheng could get most of the way back, but I don’t think the whole way. But what about you? Are you going to camp out with the rest of the rabble?”

“To do otherwise would defeat the purpose of the lesson,” Lan Wangji said. “It is obviously meant to be a practical one.”

Wei Wuxian laughed, for some reason Lan Wangji could not be sure of. He had not intended his statement to be humorous. When Lan Wangji didn’t say anything else, Wei Wuxian waved for Nie Huaisang to come join them. He did, still waving his fan gently. “I’m surprised you didn’t find a way out of this lesson,” Wei Wuxian said.

“Wei-xiong, why would you say that?” Nie Huaisang asked, his eyes wide with pretend innocence. “I like learning from Zonghui-ge. He’s always helped da-ge take care of me.”

“I just didn’t see you as someone who enjoys camping,” Wei Wuxian said.

“Camping? Oh, no, I’m not fond of it,” Nie Huaisang said. “The reaction of all these spoiled young masters when they realize they’re going to have to sleep on the ground? I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

Wei Wuxian laughed again and said, “Are you sure you’re going to stick around, Lan Zhan? You don’t seem like someone who would do much camping, either.”

“Neither do you,” Lan Wangji replied, since he didn’t see the point in either reiterating the fact that he was here for the education, or reprimanding Wei Wuxian for using his given name.

“Oh?” Wei Wuxian still smiled. “But I lived on the streets for three years as a child. This will be a breeze!”

That surprised Lan Wangji. “Why?”

“Why?” That made Wei Wuxian laugh. “Because my parents died. Why else would a child live on the streets? The Jiang-shushu found me and brought me back to Lotus Pier. Oh – look!” He gestured over to where one of the Jin disciples was loudly complaining about how long Nie Zonghui was taking. Several of the others were starting to look suspicious.

Finally, one of them gave in and demanded of Nie Huaisang, “Did he leave us out here?”

Nie Huaisang laughed. “Are you saying you aren’t strong enough to just ride the sword back to The Unclean Realm? Weren’t you just saying an hour ago that only a fool would end up stranded in the wilderness without supplies?”

The disciple, a particularly odious but unfortunately high-ranking one of the Lanling Jin named Jin Zixun, sneered at this. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing,” Nie Huaisang said. “It doesn’t mean anything at all.”

Sounding impatient, Jin Zixuan said, “Obviously, Nie Zonghui left us out here to practice the skills we were taught. We should make the best of the situation and find shelter. Most of the disciples don’t have enough spiritual power to get all the way back right now.”

“That’s right,” Jiang Cheng said. “We only have about two hours before the sun sets. We should start looking for shelter.”

“There’s a cave over there!” one of the Lan disciples said.

This particular Lan disciple was an idiot named Su She, who Lan Wangji disliked intensely. He could not help but retort, “Were you paying attention to the lecture? Caves are often inhabited by wild animals or dark spirits.”

Su She looked a little chagrined to be so reprimanded by Lan Wangji, but Jin Zixun just sneered again and said, “So what? Is the great Lan-er-gongzi afraid to fight a few ghosts?”

Lan Wangji had absolutely no time for this pathetic excuse for a man, and he wasn’t going to dignify the comment. Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, immediately squared up. “Are you calling Lan Zhan a coward? Is that what you’re saying? He’s done more night-hunting than all of you Jin cultivators put together.”

“Wei Wuxian,” Jiang Cheng hissed, obviously not in the mood to watch Wei Wuxian single-handedly ruin the Yunmeng Jiang’s relationship with the Lanling Jin.

Ignoring him, Wei Wuxian continued, “What’s the point of coming to these lectures if you’re going to let everything you listen to go in one ear and out the other – ”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji interrupted firmly, hoping that the use of his given name would get his attention. “It is fine. I am sure it was not meant as an insult,” he added, looking Jin Zixun in the eye.

“Then he should apologize,” Wei Wuxian retorted.

Jin Zixun opened his mouth, and then a younger woman who Lan Wangji had met on the first day of lectures stepped forward and bowed. “Of course Jin Zixun meant no offense, Lan-er-gongzi. The Lanling Jin has great respect for the Twin Jades of Lan.”

Seeing that this poor young woman had the misfortune of being saddled with the task of keeping the Jin cousins from offending everyone they saw, Lan Wangji returned the bow and said, “Of course.”

Once he had turned away, he heard Jin Zixun muttered, “I said what I said, Mianmian.”

“Be quiet,” she hissed at him.

Lan Wangji shook his head, ignoring them. Jiang Cheng was trying to get some of the other disciples organized, splitting them up into two groups, one to find shelter and the other to find water. Nie Huaisang lazily waved his fan and observed without participating. Jin Zixun, meanwhile, went back to advocating for the cave.

“You can go if you want; we won’t stop you,” Jiang Cheng said.

His obvious attempt to be a voice of reason was ruined when Wei Wuxian added, “Just don’t expect us to rescue you.”

“We’ll see who needs rescuing,” Jin Zixun retorted, before he and about a dozen of the others turned and headed for the cave.

Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes so hard that he probably saw the back of his skull before he said to Jiang Cheng, “I’ll go look for water and set some snares, if you want to work on finding shelter.”

Jiang Cheng nodded. Lan Wangji mentally assigned himself to the task of shelter, then for some reason he didn’t understand, found himself following Wei Wuxian anyway. What was wrong with him lately? He had thought about asking his brother, but he had a feeling that Lan Xichen found his reaction to being amongst the other young masters far too entertaining. He hadn’t missed the fact that Lan Xichen choosing to stay probably had far more to do with him than it did with Nie Mingjue’s possible political problems. Lan Wangji could not imagine what his brother would say to, ‘I am preoccupied with the shape of Wei Wuxian’s lips to the point where it has become difficult to study’, and he did not want to imagine.

Still, finding food and water was more interesting than looking for something with which to build a shelter. And Wei Wuxian, curse him, didn’t seem at all surprised at the fact that Lan Wangji was following him. He immediately dropped back so they were walking alongside each other, and began telling Lan Wangji, as if he had asked, about having been adopted by Jiang Fengmian. He set a few snares and they foraged for edible plants. It didn’t surprise either of them that they found plenty. Nie Zonghui had obviously planned this carefully, not warning them so they couldn’t bring anything with them, but leaving them in an area where they would have no trouble surviving for a night.

“What do you think’s in that cave?” Wei Wuxian asked. “Because there’s no way that we were left right by it by accident. Nie Zonghui absolutely knew some of those dumbasses would try it.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said. He didn’t speculate on what was inside the cave because he didn’t know and speculation was pointless. But Wei Wuxian didn’t seem bothered by that, either, posing a few ideas that ranged from extremely possible to extremely ridiculous.

Lan Wangji was vaguely aware of a dozen or so other disciples spreading out into the hills to do the same thing they were doing, but their presence seemed far away and unimportant. It wasn’t until they came around a hill and found Su She, examining a handful of mushrooms. “Can we eat these, do you think?”

“You can eat any mushroom,” Wei Wuxian said, and when Lan Wangji gave him an aghast look, he winked and added, “once.”

Lan Wangji gave a snort despite himself.

Su She frowned. “So . . .”

“No,” Lan Wangji said impatiently. “Do not eat those. And if you are incapable of absorbing any of the material from our lessons, go back to Gusu.”

Sulking, Su She huffed off.

“Wow,” Wei Wuxian said, laughing. “That guy really annoys you.”

“He is – ” Lan Wangji scowled and reminded himself of the disciplines against speaking ill of one’s own sect brothers and sisters. “The reprimand was deserved. He should pay more attention during the lectures.”

“Whatever you say, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian said, still grinning. “Let’s go check the snares. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry, and the sun is going to be setting pretty soon.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji muttered, and followed him. Much to his horror, after a few minutes of walking, they found one of the snares with a rabbit caught in it.

“All right!” Wei Wuxian said, enthused, as he knelt next to the trap. “Time for dinner!”

“No,” Lan Wangji said, without thinking.

Wei Wuxian blinked over at him. “No?”

“No,” Lan Wangji repeated, and hoped that would suffice, because he absolutely did not want to explain his no.

“Oh?” Wei Wuxian’s smile suddenly reappeared. “Lan Zhan, you like rabbits?”

Lan Wangji said nothing.

Wei Wuxian gently grasped the rabbit by the scruff of its neck and just as gently freed its back leg from the snare. “You are pretty cute,” he said, scrunching his nose at it, and Lan Wangji felt his heart pounding uncomfortably in his chest. “Who could ever eat you? Jiang Cheng, that’s who,” he added, laughing, before he set the rabbit down. It bolted into the thin vegetation. “Be more careful next time!” Wei Wuxian called after it, still chuckling. “Ah, Lan Zhan, who would have guessed you have such a soft heart underneath such an icy exterior?”

“It is not soft,” Lan Wangji retorted, and then saw Wei Wuxian’s eyes sparkling. He sighed and muttered, “Do not tell anyone about this.”

“Oh, I won’t,” Wei Wuxian said immediately, and held up three fingers. “We have a secret together now! See, I told you we were going to be friends.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, because saying that was a better alternative than fleeing into the night.

~ ~ ~ ~

Jiang Yanli sometimes wondered how boys survived long enough to become men. Her own brothers weren’t as bad as some others, but generally, the gender seemed to make up for a lack of common sense with an increase in bravado, and it was an extremely bad mix.

As the sun set, Jiang Cheng and a few of the others had found a fallen tree that would make it easier to build a shelter. They were gathering brush and branches to prop up against it. It would be big enough for about a dozen people. Another group had built a lean-to type of shelter. They were lucky that the weather was good, she thought, although of course that was not entirely luck. She was sure that this had all been carefully planned.

Two of the groups had caught small rodents and others had gathered a number of edible plants, so they’d have enough food. It had been easy to find a stream and they had plenty of water. They had even piled up some leaves to make the ground a little less uncomfortable to sleep on.

Overall, everything was going well, up until the point that half a dozen men ran down the hill from the cave, nearly knocking over the shelter they had just finished setting up. Jiang Cheng tried to find out what had happened, despite the fact that Wei Wuxian and most of the others clearly couldn’t have cared less if Jin Zixuan was being eaten by an angry ghost right at that moment.

In fact, Wei Wuxian said, “Oh, you mean the cave we were conveniently abandoned right next to turned out to not be safe, just like we said? I’m shocked by this development.”

“A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli said reprovingly, and he wrinkled his nose at her.

“It was an eight-winged bat king!” one of the Jin disciples stammered. “Surely you couldn’t have expected that!”

“I expected not to find out because I wasn’t stupid enough to go into that cave,” Wei Wuxian replied.

Jiang Cheng sighed. “Let’s go see if they need help.”

“You go, if you want,” Wei Wuxian said.

Jiang Cheng did, with an annoyed huff. Wei Wuxian predictably jogged after him a few moments later. But it turned out not to matter. Halfway there, they met the rest of the disciples returning. Jin Zixun immediately began bragging about how they had killed the monster, and someone else snapped at him that now they couldn’t stay in the cave because its corpse was stinking up the place. Everyone continued to squabble, and Jiang Yanli decided to stop listening.

Things only got worse back at the camp. The shelters they had constructed didn’t have enough room for the disciples who had chosen to go to the cave, and the sun had just set. It would be difficult if not outright impossible to build more. Jin Zixun started talking about how they would decide who got to stay in the shelters, and Jiang Cheng said, somewhat impatiently, “Those of us who built them will stay in them, of course.”

“You could have built ones with space for everybody,” Jin Zixuan said with his nose in the air, looking as if he had never slept on the ground in his life.

“We could have,” Wei Wuxian said.

Jiang Yanli sighed.

Nie Huaisang saw the look on her face and smiled at her. “Ah, Jiang-guniang, come over here! The stew you were making smells good, but I think it won’t be ready for a little while. Are you hungry? I have some buns that I brought with me.”

Every head swiveled around. “You do?” a chorus of voices demanded.

Blinking guilelessly, Nie Huaisang said, “Why shouldn’t I? I knew Zonghui-ge was going to take us out into the wilderness, so there was at least a fifty percent chance that if enough of you didn’t take the lesson seriously, he would leave us here. I wanted to be prepared.”

“But why didn’t you mention it earlier?” someone asked.

“I only have a few! It’s not enough for everyone. And I’m not obligated to share them with anyone. But Jiang-guniang was ill with a fever a few days ago, so da-ge asked me to look after her and make sure she had anything she needed.”

Jiang Yanli felt her cheeks flush pink. It was no secret to anyone that she was prone to illness, and she had indeed missed the class a few days prior because of it. But Nie Huaisang was – almost certainly deliberately – just toeing the line of what might be appropriate. Jiang Yanli was betrothed to Jin Zixuan. It would be his job, and his alone, to ‘look after her’. Nie Huaisang could only barely get away with this because Nie Mingjue was their host, and even then, it was clear from the look on Jin Zixuan’s face that the words hadn’t made him happy.

In fact, Luo Qingyang – who Jiang Yanli had met a few times and held in high regard but was far too invested in getting Jin Zixuan to acknowledge Jiang Yanli – immediately responded with, “Well, that’s very kind of you, Nie-gongzi, but Jiang-guniang’s intended husband is here, so I’m sure he can look after her!”

Jiang Yanli offered Jin Zixuan a shy, hopeful smile. She didn’t always like the way he treated her, but he was going to be her husband, so she tried to take the opportunities that came, in order to connect with him.

“I don’t have any food,” Jin Zixuan said shortly, and then turned around and walked away.

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes, and Wei Wuxian looked like he was considering whether or not he should go after Jin Zixuan just to beat the shit out of him, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Nie Huaisang, for his part, merely continued to give that innocent smile as if he hadn’t just whacked a hornet’s nest with a stick, and said, “Jiang-guniang? Are you hungry?”

“Yes,” she sighed, and accepted the bun he pressed into her hands. She couldn’t help but wonder if Nie Mingjue had really asked his little brother to look after her. Although she had a feeling that he didn’t think she knew, his comments about needing to find his brother a wife had not been subtle. Although flattering that he had clearly decided she was the best candidate, she didn’t want to get involved in this sort of drama. Whether Jin Zixuan treated her well or not, she was his betrothed, and nothing was going to change that.

Even so, the idea that maybe Nie Mingjue had asked Nie Huaisang to look after her made her stomach give a little flutter. He was just so strong and handsome, and those few minutes that they had talked in the kitchen – she felt like he had truly seen her. Not a meek, mild daughter or sister who needed protecting. Not a burdensome woman he had been saddled with against his will. Another cultivator, one whose advice he had sought in dealing with a delicate issue. If he had been concerned about her health, he could have tried to prevent her from being brought on the trip at all, but instead he had merely asked Nie Huaisang to make sure that she got a good meal, and presumably, a comfortable place to sleep.

It was a little sad, she thought, how desperately she wanted it to have truly happened that way. How desperately she hoped that it wasn’t just Nie Huaisang trying to get her attention or cause conflict.

“Shijie?” Wei Wuxian interrupted her thoughts. “I gathered up some dry grass and made a bed for you close to the base of the shelter so the wind won’t hit you. Are you cold? You could have my outer robe if you needed it.”

Jiang Yanli could not help but smile at her adorable little brother, brimming with concern. “I’m fine, A-Xian. Thank you.”

“Promise me you’ll let me know if you get cold, okay?” he asked, and she nodded and promised.

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Huaisang was sitting in the aviary, feeling extremely pleased with himself, when Wei Wuxian bounced in and immediately demanded, “Are you trying to steal my shijie?”

“What?” Nie Huaisang blinked at him with pretend innocence. “Wei-xiong, why would you say such a thing?”

“Do you think I’m an idiot? Do you think shijie is an idiot?” Wei Wuxian continued. “I mean, what you’re doing is so blatant that Jin Zixuan noticed, and he is an idiot. So let’s try this again, Nie-xiong – are you trying to steal my shijie and marry her off to your brother?”

“I sure am,” Nie Huaisang said cheerfully. “I mean, who would you rather have to sit with at family dinners, me or Jin Zixun?”

“Ugh, don’t even mention that piece of shit to me,” Wei Wuxian groaned, dropping onto the bench next to Nie Huaisang. “I mean, it’s not that I want her to marry Jin Zixuan, because I absolutely don’t. I don’t want her to marry anyone because then she’ll leave Lotus Pier. But I know that’s not realistic and I guess if she has to marry someone, your brother is pretty much the top pick.”

“Great,” Nie Huaisang said, pleased that they were on the same page about this.

“But, see, here’s the thing,” Wei Wuxian said. “Right now all you’re doing is pissing off Jin Zixuan, who’s probably going to run back to his daddy like the spoiled brat he is, and you’re just going to end up causing a bunch of trouble for everyone, including, especially, your brother.”

Nie Huaisang sulked. “Even if Jin Guangshan gets mad, da-ge will just say he didn’t know what I was doing. Once the engagement is broken off, what’s it matter?”

“I mean, you may be right about that, but what’s your plan?” Wei Wuxian asked. “Because making Jin Zixuan jealous is only going to strengthen the engagement. You’re gonna drive him to, to stake a claim in some sort of alpha male bullshit sort of way. I mean, did your brother actually ask you to look after shijie on the camping trip?”

“He did!” Nie Huaisang said. “I’m not stupid enough to say he said something when he didn’t. If it got back to him, he’d get mad at me. I mean, okay, I led him into asking me that, by telling him that she had been sick a few days ago and she was so sweet and kind and I was worried about her and was he also worried about her? But once I said all those things, he said, ‘make sure to look after her’ so I did.”

“Okay, good. So what’s your plan?”

Nie Huaisang edged his fan up so Wei Wuxian couldn’t really see his face. “Well . . .”

“You do have a plan, right?” Wei Wuxian asked suspiciously.

“See, here’s the thing . . .” Nie Huaisang said, then admitted, “no.”

Wei Wuxian groaned. “But if you don’t have a plan and I don’t have a plan, how are we going to do it? I mean, Jin Zixuan obviously doesn’t want to marry her, but he’s not going to say so. And your brother was just being courteous because you were telling him that you were worried.”

“I think da-ge genuinely likes her!” Nie Huaisang protested. “I mean, if for no other reason, if I went and told him I was worried about any other young lady here for the lectures he would just say ‘who’? He knew who your sister was, and remembered meeting her, and even said they’d had a nice chat in the kitchen the other day. Anyway, you just gave me an idea. You have a point, if Jin Zixuan thinks we’re trying to steal Jiang-guniang away from him, he’ll hold onto her more tightly. So we should do the opposite. We should talk about how he’s engaged to her and pretend we’re happy about it. I mean, look how he reacted when Luo-guniang brought it up the other day. He clearly didn’t want to hear about it at all.”

“That is true,” Wei Wuxian said thoughtfully. “I don’t think I can pretend to be happy about that, though.”

“Just try not to actively piss him off,” Nie Huaisang said. “That’s hard enough, I know.”

“He’s such a jerk,” Wei Wuxian agreed. “What about your brother, then? How do we get him on board?”

Nie Huaisang tapped his fan thoughtfully against his mouth. “Your sister likes to cook, right?”

Wei Wuxian nodded. “Yeah, she’s amazing at it.”

“Well, that’s something they have in common, then,” Nie Huaisang said, and saw Wei Wuxian’s look of surprise. “I know, you wouldn’t think it to look at him. He used to help our mothers in the kitchen when he was little and I think it reminds him of them. What else do they have in common?”

“Meddlesome little brothers?” another voice interjected, and Nie Huaisang realized with horror that Lan Xichen was standing a dozen feet away, smiling benignly.

“Oh, yeah, they definitely have that in – Zewu-Jun! Haha, we didn’t know you were here,” Wei Wuxian said, bowing. Nie Huaisang hastily stood and bowed as well. “Are you gonna turn us in?”

Lan Xichen didn’t answer the question, instead asking one of his own. “Huaisang, have you talked to A-Yao about this? He might be able to help.”

Thrilled that Lan Xichen wasn’t immediately shutting this down, Nie Huaisang said, “I asked, but he said he couldn’t get involved because then Jin-zongzhu would think he was trying to persuade the Nie sect to disrespect the Jin sect.”

“Hm. He does make an excellent point. But I do agree that Jiang-guniang would be an excellent wife for Mingjue-xiong. I’ll talk to A-Yao and see if I can reassure him. As for how to get Jiang-guniang and Mingjue-xiong to spend a little time together, I have a few ideas . . .”

Nie Huaisang could not believe how lucky he was.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

“Ah, A-Yao, are you still working at this hour?” Lan Xichen asked, and Meng Yao immediately flushed pink as he saw Lan Xichen coming into the room that Meng Yao used as his office for clerical work. “You’re so diligent; Mingjue-xiong is truly lucky to have you.”

“Thank you, Zewu-Jun,” Meng Yao said. “Your words are very kind.” He recalled that Lan Xichen had asked him a question and said, “Yes, I am still working. I feel sometimes that I get more done when the guards and cultivators have retired for the day.”

“I can imagine,” Lan Xichen said. “The Unclean Realm is a much louder place than Cloud Recesses. Sometimes I feel it’s difficult to focus here myself.” He smiled and added, “However, if you’re not too busy, would you care to join me for some tea?”

Meng Yao couldn’t imagine why Lan Xichen might be extending that invitation. However, he also couldn’t imagine a reason to refuse it, no matter how busy he was. He couldn’t help but duck his head in a hope to hide his blush as he said, “I’d like that.”

A few minutes later, they were in the guest house that the Lan disciples had been given. Lan Xichen was the only one there; the students were all out on a night hunt together. They talked for a few minutes about tea and the beautiful cups that Meng Yao had chosen specifically to put in this guest room, metal but with a cloud motif. Lan Xichen immediately guessed that he had chosen them and praised his thoughtfulness. Meng Yao thought about crawling underneath the table until Lan Xichen stopped complimenting him.

“Let me ask you something, A-Yao,” Lan Xichen said, and Meng Yao felt his curiosity perk up. Now he would find out why Lan Xichen had wanted to talk to him privately. “Huaisang said he spoke to you about his, er, let’s be kind and say ‘misguided efforts’ to find Mingjue-xiong a wife.”

Meng Yao laughed despite himself. “I don’t think they’re wholly misguided. After all, Nie-zongzhu will indeed need a wife at some point. I think Nie-gongzi had a good point when he said this might be an ideal time to get to know some of the young maidens that might suit him.”

“That’s true. I suppose I say ‘misguided’ because I feel like Huaisang is doing this for his own benefit, not Mingjue-xiong’s.”

“Oh, yes,” Meng Yao said. “That’s very true.”

“So it’s no surprise to me, really, that Huaisang has fixated on Jiang-guniang. She seems to excel in the field of indulging little brothers, which makes her an ideal older sister for Huaisang.”

That made Meng Yao laugh harder. “How very true. Imagine if he married someone stern who tried to make Huaisang behave? Then he’d only be worse off than before.”

“I know that you told Huaisang you didn’t want to get involved, because of Jin-zongzhu,” Lan Xichen continued, and Meng Yao felt his shoulders stiffen despite his best effort. “Which is completely understandable. But I’m concerned, because without guidance, I fear Huaisang will indeed offend the Jin sect mightily. And then – forgive me for being blunt, A-Yao, but I have a feeling that Jin-zongzhu will try to blame you even if you truly weren’t involved.”

Meng Yao looked away. That thought had occurred to him after seeing the letter from his father, and he had half-hoped that Nie Huaisang might give up on the whole idea. He wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t, however.

“Are you aware of what transpired on the camping trip?”  Lan Xichen added.

“No,” Meng Yao said, unsure if he even wanted to know.

Clearly amused, Lan Xichen explained how Nie Huaisang had baited his brother into an altogether inappropriate request, then not only carried out the request but rubbed Jin Zixuan’s nose in it. Meng Yao had a headache.

“You see what I mean, I’m sure,” Lan Xichen said, “that Huaisang will offend the Jin sect if left to his own devices.”

“I do,” Meng Yao agreed, wondering what he had done to deserve this.

“I think I might have been able to redirect him a little,” Lan Xichen continued, “but to be fair, I believe he is indeed onto something. I know Mingjue-xiong will have to find a wife at some point, but that he would truly prefer not to have something arranged for him. He’s showed an unusual amount of interest in Jiang-guniang – he was genuinely offended to hear about how Jin-gongzi had treated her at the inn in Yueyang.”

“It’s true,” Meng Yao said, and because he trusted Lan Xichen to be discreet, he added, “He has mentioned her several times since their arrival, and even asked me the other day to see if he could accommodate a request she had made for some ingredients we didn’t have on hand.”

“And could you?” Lan Xichen asked.

Meng Yao didn’t bother to brag about the fact that he could and did do anything that Nie Mingjue required. “Of course.”

“I’m sure she appreciated it,” Lan Xichen said. “I told Huaisang to apologize privately to Jin-gongzi for what happened on the camping trip. Although Mingjue-xiong had the right to make such a request without being wholly inappropriate, as he is the host, Huaisang should still apologize for going about it all wrong. He agreed that he would. He and Wei-gongzi have decided – reasonably enough – that it will actually work better to outwardly approve of the engagement than to try to shut it down. Jin-gongzi is obviously uncomfortable with it, and if pushed to voice his approval, may do the opposite.”

“Mm hm,” Meng Yao said, not wanting to say out loud that he felt this would be extremely hurtful to Jiang Yanli, but of course the Jin sect would never balk at hurting others.

“Meanwhile, we had some ideas to have Jiang-guniang spend some time with Mingjue-xiong, but it would be very helpful to have your assistance, given how heavily he relies on you.”

“Mm hm,” Meng Yao said again. He couldn’t quite bring himself to refuse Lan Xichen’s request the way he had Nie Huaisang’s. The latter had asked in ignorance of what it would look like; Lan Xichen was asking in full knowledge. His point that Jin-zongzhu would probably try to find a way to blame this on Meng Yao anyway was a good one, but it was painful. He hadn’t argued with his father’s rejection. He had merely tried to find his own way. Now Jin Guangshan seemed intent on making sure he couldn’t. He didn’t understand why his own father hated him so much.

“A-Yao?” Lan Xichen asked, and Meng Yao realized his thoughts had wandered. Lan Xichen surely understood why; his face was full of soft concern. “You don’t have to help if you’re uncomfortable with it. I – ”

“No,” Meng Yao said, without realizing he had interrupted. “As Nie-zongzhu’s assistant, it is my duty to make sure he finds a good wife. We’re all in agreement that Jiang-guniang is the best candidate. Her engagement to Jin Zixuan is a small matter that can be easily dealt with, given the way he has treated her. Let me know what you have in mind and I’ll make sure Nie-zongzhu is where you need him to be.”

Lan Xichen smiled, and it was too beautiful for words. Meng Yao decided whatever his father did to him afterwards was going to be worth it for that smile.

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Mingjue was in the middle of his breakfast when a disciple rushed in and breathlessly let him know that a contingent of cultivators from the Qishan Wen was approaching. Nie Mingjue cursed underneath his breath. It had been too much to hope, he supposed, that Wen Ruohan wouldn’t notice or care about him holding lectures. He certainly hadn’t been about to send an invitation, and even Meng Yao hadn’t dared suggest he do so. It was disrespectful to exclude them, surely, but Nie Mingjue saw no reason to show respect to the sect that had killed his father, that they had been skirmishing with since before he had been born.

The only question was how Wen Ruohan would react to being excluded. Honestly, Nie Mingjue hadn’t figured he would care. It wasn’t as if he would have wanted an invitation, or that he would have felt secure in sending any of his cultivators to The Unclean Realm. And Nie Mingjue hadn’t thought he would attack during them, because the sons of the other Great Sects were here. Wen Ruohan didn’t have a lot of respect for the Yunmeng Jiang or the Gusu Lan, but he was longstanding allies and friends with Jin Guangshan – something that Nie Mingjue had always felt spoke volumes about Jin Guangshan’s character.

“How many?” he asked, getting up.

“About twenty,” the cultivator said.

It wasn’t an invading party, then. Twenty wasn’t enough to even get through the gates of The Unclean Realm, and Wen Ruohan knew it. They were probably just here to show off. “Double the guard on the wall and notify Meng Yao; have him meet me at the gates. Oh, and find Huaisang – make sure he stays in his chambers until we find out what’s going on.”

The cultivator bowed and hurried away. Nie Mingjue grabbed Baxia and headed for the front gate. Meng Yao was waiting for him there, and before they could open the gates, Lan Xichen hurried up. “You shouldn’t be here for this,” Nie Mingjue told him.

“On the contrary, Mingjue-xiong, this is exactly where I should be. I doubt even the sons of Wen Ruohan will want to act against you while there is a witness from one of the other Great Sects.”

Frankly, Nie Mingjue didn’t think either of Wen Ruohan’s sons would care about such a petty thing, but he wasn’t about to waste time arguing. They opened the gate and walked out to see the party approaching. Wen Chao was at the head of it, which wasn’t really a concern, but Wen Zhuliu was behind him, which was. Out of the entire Wen sect, Wen Zhuliu was the only one who could fight Nie Mingjue to a draw, and every cultivator who knew him had nightmares about what would happen if they lost. Suddenly, Nie Mingjue was exceedingly glad Lan Xichen was there. If he was willing to bring the Gusu Lan into this, Nie Mingjue wouldn’t argue with having the backup.

Along with those two and the contingent of soldiers were two other people in the robes of cultivators, a young man and woman. Nie Mingjue had never met either of them before, but he could guess at who they were from their ages and the status their robes suggested. “Welcome to The Unclean Realm, Wen-er-gongzi,” he said, unable to keep an edge of sarcasm out of his voice.

“Nie-zongzhu,” Wen Chao said, with an equal amount of disdain in his voice, “how surprised we were in Qishan to hear that the Qinghe Nie were holding lectures for the young masters.”

“I don’t see why it would be a surprise,” Nie Mingjue said. “Why should we not?”

“Of course,” Wen Chao sneered. “Why shouldn’t you have the opportunity to spread your . . . knowledge?”

Nie Mingjue thought about replying, saw the warning look on Lan Xichen’s face, and said nothing.

“But there is a problem, Nie-zongzhu,” Wen Chao said. “The invitation to the Qishan Wen seems to have gotten lost somehow. I’m sure you couldn’t have intentionally excluded us. Nobody would dare disrespect the Qishan Wen in such a way.”

“I must beg your pardon, Wen-er-gongzi,” Nie Mingjue said. “I can’t imagine how the invitation did not reach you.”

“Of course,” Wen Chao said, smirking. “Nie-zongzhu, you have heard the reputation of my cousin, Wen Qing?”

The young woman stepped forward and bowed neatly. “It is an honor to meet you, Chifeng-Zun. I am Wen Qing, the niece of Wen Ruohan. This is my younger brother, Wen Ning, courtesy Qionglin. We are here to partake in the lectures of the Qinghe Nie. I apologize for our lateness.”

Wen Ning also stepped forward, carrying a chest that was clearly meant to be the gift from the Qishan Wen to the Qinghe Nie, and also bowed, somewhat clumsily.

Nie Mingjue hated every moment of this, but he knew his options were limited. There was no point in picking a fight over this. He stepped forward and accepted the chest, but passed it off to two of his cultivators without opening it. He knew, without doing so, that what it contained would be insulting. It was almost certainly treasure that the Qishan Wen had seized from the Qinghe Nie during one of their previous skirmishes. If he opened it and saw what was inside, he might lose his temper. “Meng Yao, see that the two young masters of the Qishan Wen are accommodated.”

“Yes, zongzhu.” Meng Yao stepped forward and bowed to the two of them, then said, “Please follow me, Wen-guniang, Wen-gongzi.”

Wen Qing and Wen Ning both bowed and followed him. Wen Chao just stood there and smirked. Nie Mingjue took a deep breath and fought his impulse to wipe the expression off his face. Before he could say what he was thinking, Lan Xichen gently intervened. “How dutiful you are, to escort your cousins to make sure they got here safely, Wen-er-gongzi. You must be tired from the journey.”

Thus prompted, Nie Mingjue managed, “Of course, you are welcome to stay the night before returning to Qishan.”

“Ridiculous,” Wen Chao said. “We are not so weak that we are exhausted from such a journey. We will depart immediately.”

Nie Mingjue could not help but breathe a sigh of relief, since the idea of letting Wen Chao into The Unclean Realm made him feel physically sick. Having to let in the two younger Wens who had not been part of the fight between the two sects was bad enough. They exchanged a few borderline pleasant formalities before Wen Chao wheeled around and left. Finally, Nie Mingjue said to Lan Xichen, “You have to teach me how to do that.”

“To do what, specifically?” Lan Xichen asked, seeming amused.

“Say something entirely polite and proper that nobody can fault you for, that also insults the person you’re speaking to.”

“Mingjue-xiong, I have no idea what you mean,” Lan Xichen said. “If Wen-er-gongzi took offense to my suggestion that the journey tired him, that is entirely because he is predisposed to take offense to things.”

Nie Mingjue snorted. “He is that,” he muttered. “I’m glad you were here,” he added, and bowed. “Thank you for your assistance.”

“Ah, Mingjue-xiong,” Lan Xichen said, flustered. “There’s no need for such gestures. I was happy to help.”

“Am I really so politically hopeless?” Nie Mingjue asked, as they walked back into The Unclean Realm and the gate closed behind them.

Lan Xichen shook his head. “To be honest, Mingjue-xiong, you actually handled that very well. I’m impressed that you kept your temper at such a provocation. Just try to remember that your two guests have not been involved in the war, and they doubtlessly have very little say in what happens in Qishan. Tolerate them as best you can. It’s true that you could use a little help with the subtler matters. But that is just your personality – similarly, I need occasional help with being more direct. I have my uncle for that,” he added, laughing. “You’ll find someone to balance you at some point as well.”

“Is that what a wife is for?” Nie Mingjue asked dryly. “I doubt you’re oblivious to the fact that Huaisang is trying to play matchmaker for me.”

“To a certain extent, it is, yes,” Lan Xichen said. “A wife is a partner in all things, and the best partner is one who can provide balance – one who will be good at the things you’re not as good at, and vice versa. You do indeed need someone who can be subtle, who can be gentle. I’m sure you’ll find someone. It just might take a little bit of time.”

Nie Mingjue sighed and muttered, “Can’t the universe just drop the ideal wife into my lap for me?”

“Maybe it will,” Lan Xichen said serenely. “Just make sure you’re paying attention so you don’t miss her when she shows up.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Wei Wuxian was both excited and confused to see that there were two new students in the class. Unlike everyone else, they were wearing regular clothes, not the uniforms: rich robes of black and red. They were obviously from the Wen sect, which was only more confusing. The Yunmeng Jiang weren’t exactly allied with the Qishan Wen – it seemed more to Wei Wuxian that the Qishan Wen ignored them and everyone was happy to keep it that way. But he knew that they didn’t have a good relationship with the Qinghe Nie. Nobody had been surprised to see that there were no representatives of the Qishan Wen at the lectures. Only now, two weeks after they had begun, here they were.

No effort was made to introduce them, and the cultivator simply began the lecture. Wei Wuxian looked over at Jiang Cheng to see if he had any thoughts on this, and saw that Jiang Cheng was just staring at the young woman from the Wen sect. Wei Wuxian made a mental note to tease him about that later. Then he looked over at Nie Huaisang, who he supposed might know what was happening. Nie Huaisang saw his look and shrugged slightly, as if to say that this was something he couldn’t explain across a classroom with facial expressions. Wei Wuxian supposed that was fair.

It wasn’t until after the class that the trio from Yunmeng got a chance to talk to Nie Huaisang, who told them that the Qishan Wen had showed up that morning, pretending to be bewildered that their invitation had gotten ‘lost’. Nie Mingjue had had no choice but to invite them in.

“Why would Wen-zongzhu even bother?” Jiang Cheng wondered aloud. “I mean, no offense to your brother, Nie-xiong, but I’m sure the Wen wouldn’t feel like they had anything to learn by attending.”

“It’s just to make a point,” Nie Huaisang said, waving this aside. “They just want him to know that he didn’t get away with doing it without inviting them, and rub his nose in the fact that he doesn’t have the strength to challenge them if they insist on attending.”

“Wen-zongzhu isn’t worried about sending his own niece?” Jiang Cheng asked, his gaze darting over to the young woman in question, who was discussing something with the professor.

“He knows we don’t dare do anything,” Nie Huaisang said, “and frankly, probably wouldn’t care even if we did.”

“Well, it’s not their fault,” Wei Wuxian said. “They’re just our age; they don’t have any control over what Wen-zongzhu does.”

Nie Huaisang nodded. “Da-ge told the lecturers to treat them like any other student. They should have their uniforms by tomorrow.”

This being kept in mind, when they split up to go find something for lunch, Wei Wuxian waved to the Wen siblings and went over to introduce himself. Wen Qing looked a little puzzled that he was doing this, but Wen Ning shyly said, “Ah . . . we’ve met b-before, actually.”

“Have we?” Wei Wuxian said, and laughed. “My memory is notoriously bad with names and faces, just ask Jiang Cheng! I probably offend people everywhere I go. When?”

“Two years ago,” Wen Ning said. “At the archery tournament in Yiling . . . I was shooting by myself and you t-told me that I was good and shouldn’t b-be so anxious about participating . . .”

“Oh!” Wei Wuxian indeed had a vague memory of this, of the shy, stuttering boy who had said he couldn’t possibly compete. “That was you? We should go kite shooting later, then! I can see how much you’ve improved.”

Wen Ning smiled brightly and nodded. Wen Qing, looking sour and stern, said, “We’re here to attend the lectures of the Qinghe Nie.”

“Yeah, I know, but they do give us some free time,” Wei Wuxian said. “They designed the schedule so we would have time to study or practice. It won’t be a problem, I promise! Oh – you two might not have the schedule or a map. I can show you around! Jiang Cheng!” he called out, waving his brother over. “We’re going to give the Wen siblings a tour of The Unclean Realm.”

“We are?” Jiang Cheng said, but then his gaze landed on Wen Qing and he bowed. “Ah – I’m Jiang Cheng, courtesy Wanyin.”

Wen Qing curtseyed, and Wei Wuxian was yet again delighted by a simple curtsey. “We’ve got about an hour before the lectures start again. If I know Meng Yao, you’ll have a copy of the schedule and a map by tomorrow, but we can show you around a bit! The Unclean Realm is a really fascinating place. Ah – Lan-er-gege!” he called over, noticing Lan Wangji staring at them. “Do you want to come with us?”

Lan Wangji turned around and walked away.

“Don’t mind him,” Wei Wuxian said. “He’s just like that.”

Jiang Cheng looked pained for some reason that Wei Wuxian couldn’t begin to fathom, but by the time a few minutes had passed, he had forgotten all about it.

~ ~ ~ ~

Lan Xichen glanced up as Lan Wangji came back into their guest house, and said, “Ah, Wangji, you have good timing. The tea is ready; come sit down with me.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, and did as he was told. Lan Xichen noticed that his shoulders were stiff and his mouth was tight. He looked particularly sour about something, although he said nothing as he sat down and accepted the cup of tea.

“Are you all right?” Lan Xichen asked. “You look to be in a somewhat bad temper.”

“It is nothing to be concerned about, xiongzhang,” Lan Wangji said, staring at a fixed point in the distance.

Lan Xichen managed not to smile. “Perhaps I don’t need to be concerned, and yet, here I am. If something is the matter, please tell me, Wangji. I might be able to offer some advice.”

From Lan Wangji’s scowl, he seemed to find that unlikely. However, he apparently seemed to actually want advice, because after a moment he said, “Wei Ying is too casual in his offers of friendship.”

Unfortunately for Lan Xichen, he had been sipping his tea just as Lan Wangji used the words ‘Wei Ying’, and he nearly spit it all over the table. He only managed to swallow with great effort, cleared his throat and carefully put the cup down. “I see,” he said, wondering how in the last week Lan Wangji had gone from ‘Wei Wuxian is too familiar with me’ to ‘Wei Ying’. “How so?”

“He is extending such an offer to the Wen siblings.”

“Oh?” Lan Xichen was a little surprised, but not entirely. Although the Nie sect’s antagonistic relationship with the Wen was well-known, the Yunmeng Jiang was on neutral terms with them. Especially given that Wei Wuxian and the Wen siblings were too young to have really had much of an effect on politics, there was no real reason they shouldn’t strike up a friendship. “He does seem to have an outgoing, gregarious personality.”

Face still expressionless, Lan Wangji said, “It is inappropriate.”

“How so?” Lan Xichen asked. Lan Wangji did not reply, so Lan Xichen said, “Are you concerned that Wei-gongzi will offend our hosts?”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, which Lan Xichen took to interpret as ‘that wasn’t what I was worried about but I will accept it as an explanation for feelings I cannot otherwise understand’.

Lan Xichen had to hide a smile again. “I wouldn’t worry too much, Wangji. Mingjue-xiong made it clear that he doesn’t hold Wen-guniang and Wen-gongzi responsible for the current situation. They are to be treated like the members of any other sect, and there is no reason for Wei-gongzi not to become friends with them.”

“I see,” Lan Wangji said.

“Did you know, by the way,” Lan Xichen said, “that for the last week, whenever I’ve asked how classes were, you have responded with commentary about Wei-gongzi?”

“I don’t believe that is accurate, xiongzhang.”

“Particularly after the trip you took for survival training,” Lan Xichen continued. “You spoke about him at great length. I’m glad you’re making friends, Wangji.”

“I don’t believe that is accurate either.”

Undeterred, Lan Xichen said, “I wouldn’t worry overmuch about Wei-gongzi forming a friendship with Wen-gongzi. Friendship is not a finite thing, of which Wei-gongzi only has a certain amount he can give. Just because he is friends with Wen-gongzi will not mean he cannot also be friends with you, so there is no need to be jealous.”

“Xiongzhang, please stop misrepresenting the situation,” Lan Wangji said firmly. “I am not jealous of Wen-gongzi in any way.”

“Very well, Wangji,” Lan Xichen said. “I’m sure you have a better understanding of the situation than I do.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Wei Wuxian was excited enough that their morning lesson was labeled ‘combat training’, and when he got into the courtyard and saw Nie Mingjue himself, his excitement level skyrocketed. Combat training from the Chifeng-Zun? He couldn’t imagine many things he would rather do with his time. He also noticed that Nie Huaisang was looking particularly hangdog. He could imagine many things Nie Huaisang would rather do with his time.

Then he saw that, as usual, the Jin sect disciples were in a corner, scoffing and sniggering together. He thought about saying something rude, but then saw Nie Mingjue glance at them with narrowed eyes. Much to his surprise, Nie Mingjue didn’t immediately call them out, and Wei Wuxian wondered if he had something even more unpleasant in mind for them, as he told everyone to line up.

“As I see some of you have already heard,” Nie Mingjue began, “the purpose of today’s lesson is combat training. Physical combat training. You won’t need your swords, so put them by the sidelines.”

Wei Wuxian was surprised again, although he did as instructed. He could see now why the disciples from Lanling were skeptical.

“With all due respect, Nie-zongzhu,” Jin Zixun said, sounding like he thought that amount of respect was none, “what is the point of this? Why would we learn something so mundane as physical combat without spiritual power?”

“Have you never had to fight when your spiritual power was running low?” Nie Mingjue said, and Jin Zixun flushed pink because of course the answer was no. He had never been in a real battle in his entire life. “You might think it’s inexhaustible, but it very much isn’t. Not only that, but physical training requires focus and control. It’s an excellent way to grow your golden core, but most disciples give it up at a relatively young age, because once they can fight with spiritual power, they do that instead. Not in The Unclean Realm.”

One of the Jin disciples leaned over to Jin Zixun and whispered, “If this is how they grow their golden cores, that explains Nie Huaisang.”

Jin Zixuan cleared his throat and said loudly, before Nie Mingjue could respond, “Nie-zongzhu, perhaps we would benefit from a demonstration. How strong can one actually get without spiritual power?”

Unable to help it, Wei Wuxian said, “That’s right, Nie-zongzhu! Why don’t you fight one of them and show us?”

Several of the Jiang disciples snickered, and the Nie disciples laughed outright at the concept of Nie Mingjue, even with his spiritual power sealed, fighting one of the Lanling Jin. Jin Zixuan’s face flushed and Jin Zixun glowered.

“I’ll fight you, Mingjue-xiong,” Lan Xichen said from the sidelines, sounding pleasant and amused. “Wangji, why don’t you verify for the audience that I still have my spiritual power?”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, and stepped forward, putting his fingers on his brother’s wrist. He nodded wordlessly, then accepted Lan Xichen’s sword and his flute to set them aside. While he was doing that, Nie Mingjue shrugged out of his outer robe and sealed his own spiritual power.

“This is gonna be hilarious,” Jin Zixun muttered.

It wasn’t. It was anything but. It was graceful and elegant on Lan Xichen’s part and raw and terrifying on Nie Mingjue’s. Wei Wuxian watched the sparring match in awe, and felt like he wasn’t the only one doing so. Most of the women in the crowd, in fact, were staring a little more than was entirely proper. Jiang Yanli’s cheeks had turned somewhat pink, and when she saw Wei Wuxian look at her, she quickly looked away.

“What does that prove?” one of the Jin disciples asked, with a quiet snicker. “I’m sure Zewu-Jun is just going easy on him . . .”

Lan Wangji stiffened and said in an offended tone, “You think my brother would compromise a demonstration in such a way? You should fight Nie-zongzhu yourself if you feel that is true.”

Nie Mingjue, who was breathing hard but had never missed a stride, backed away from Lan Xichen, and then turned to the audience. “All right,” he said, “let’s try this. You get one minute. If you can land one hit on me, you can skip the physical combat lessons. Does that sound fair?”

“More than fair,” Jin Zixuan said, clearly hoping none of his fellow disciples said anything rude. He even added, “I’ll go first, although I’ll take the lessons even if I succeed.”

Nie Mingjue nodded and beckoned him forward. Jin Zixuan leapt into the air, using his spiritual power to boost himself. Nie Mingjue wheeled around and caught his blow easily, although he used both arms to block it. With impressive speed, Jin Zixuan jumped back and tried another blow, but it too was blocked. Wei Wuxian watched with relish as Nie Mingjue tossed him back like a stuffed toy.

“Everyone who fights with a sword fights the same way,” Nie Mingjue said, once the minute was over and Jin Zixuan had admitted defeat. “You don’t know how to do anything else. It makes your moves obvious and easy to counter.” He let that sink in, then added, “Does anyone else want to try?”

After seeing Jin Zixuan unable, nobody did.

“Good,” Nie Mingjue said. “Let’s begin.”

It was at this point that Wei Wuxian realized he didn’t see Jiang Yanli anywhere. He whispered to Jiang Cheng, “I’ll be right back,” and then carefully edged out of the courtyard while Nie Mingjue was distracted by the Wen siblings entering the lecture late. Wen Qing was apologizing, saying her brother was in poor health and had needed an acupuncture treatment that morning. Wei Wuxian made a mental note to check in with them later.

He found Jiang Yanli sitting on a bench in the alley next to the courtyard, sipping a cup of water. Surprisingly, Meng Yao was sitting next to her, although there was a respectful amount of space between them.

“Shijie, is everything all right?” Wei Wuxian asked.

“Ah, Xianxian,” Jiang Yanli said, clearly a little startled. “Yes, I’m fine. I just needed to sit down for a moment and have a cool drink of water.”

If it had just been the two of them, Wei Wuxian might have commented that yes, he too felt the need to have a quiet moment and a cold drink after watching Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue’s sparring match. But there was Meng Yao. Then again, from the way Meng Yao was sipping from an identical cup of water, Wei Wuxian thought he might have been there for the same reason.

So instead of saying anything, he just grinned and said, “Well, the lesson is about to start and you don’t want to miss anything,” and offered his arm to her.

Jiang Yanli smiled and let him help her up, then bowed to Meng Yao and said, “Thank you for the water, Meng-gongzi.”

“You’re quite welcome, Jiang-guniang,” Meng Yao said.

Back in the courtyard, Nie Mingjue had them all lined up. He frowned slightly when he saw Wei Wuxian escorting Jiang Yanli back into the courtyard, but didn’t say anything as they joined the group. Wei Wuxian looked over at Wen Ning and mouthed, ‘Are you okay?’ Wen Ning smiled and nodded.

Wei Wuxian had never done a lot of physical training, preferring, like most cultivators, to rely on his spiritual power. But he knew the basics, which put him above several of the others. Nie Mingjue had them doing drills for almost two hours before he barked out to choose a sparring partner.

Involuntarily, Wei Wuxian called out, “Jiang Cheng!”

Jiang Cheng scowled and said, “I’m going to pair up with a-jie,” he said, his tone clearly implying that he didn’t trust any of these other people to spar with their sister.

Nie Huaisang, like the chaos gremlin he was, chipped in with, “Ah, shouldn’t Jin-gongzi be her partner? He’s her betrothed, after all!”

Even though Wei Wuxian had agreed to the idea that they would ‘support’ his sister’s betrothal, if only to get Jin Zixuan to publicly denounce it, Wei Wuxian had a hard time keeping the scowl off of his face. Surely Jin Zixuan could not be trusted with such an exercise.

Fortunately, before Wei Wuxian could comment, Jin Zixuan said stiffly, “Our levels are far too different to make effective sparring partners.”

Although Jiang Yanli’s face fell, Wei Wuxian was still relieved. Not only did Jiang Yanli now not have to spar with Jin Zixuan, it had proven Nie Huaisang’s theory correct – that trying to push the two together would result in Jin Zixuan being rude in public. Enough of these incidents, and things were sure to boil over.

Scowling, Jiang Cheng said, “I’ll spar with you, a-jie.”

This being settled, Wei Wuxian waved madly at Lan Wangji and called out, “Lan Zhan! Be my sparring partner!”

Lan Wangji’s face had a tight, angry expression that Wei Wuxian couldn’t be sure of the reason for. He said, “Aren’t you going to choose Wen-gongzi as your partner?”

Perplexed, Wei Wuxian said, “No? He’s going to partner with his sister, I’m sure. I’m asking you.”

For no reason that Wei Wuxian could understand, Lan Wangji said, “No.”

“No? But then why did you care if I chose Wen Ning?” Hopelessly confused, Wei Wuxian said, “Come on, just spar with me! I don’t have a partner now, Jiang Cheng is partnering with a-jie, and I can’t fight with Nie-xiong, he’s – ” Wei Wuxian flapped a vague hand in Nie Huaisang’s direction to indicate why he would be a wholly unacceptable partner.

“Fine,” Lan Wangji said, although he looked pained.

Wei Wuxian beamed and they took up positions opposite each other. He liked sparring with Lan Wangji, he found, even without spiritual power. They moved well together, despite having never fought together before, like he did with Jiang Cheng after years of practice.

Unlike many of the young masters, who still didn’t truly care about the exercise or see the point, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were both taking it seriously. Additionally, Wei Wuxian thought that Lan Wangji had to have some prior experience with this. Certainly he was much stronger, physically, than his lithe frame would suggest. He found himself working hard to keep up, deflecting blows as they went back and forth.

After a little while, they even had an audience, as their fight was intense enough to draw the attention of the cultivators who weren’t putting as much effort in. This was probably a good thing, because it meant that when Wei Wuxian wasn’t able to block and stumbled backwards, Lan Xichen caught him and kept him on his feet.

“That’s enough for now,” Nie Mingjue said. “Let’s take a break. Bow to your opponent.”

Wei Wuxian did, and so did Lan Wangji, and then Wei Wuxian said brightly, “That was great! Thanks for taking it seriously – I’d almost think you were actually trying to hurt me, haha.”

Lan Wangji turned and walked away without another word.

~ ~ ~ ~

Jiang Yanli was humming quietly to herself as she chopped vegetables for the soup she was making when there was a knock on the door. This surprised her somewhat. She was by herself in the guest house. The three of them were housed in nicer accommodations than the other disciples from Yunmeng, but her brothers were out goofing off with Nie Huaisang. She was glad to see that they were making friends. Wei Wuxian seemed intent on befriending Wen Ning, as well. Jiang Yanli wasn’t sure how that would go in the long-term, but Wen Ning seemed to genuinely appreciate it.

She quickly wiped her hands off on a towel and went to the door, pulling it open. Much to her surprise, Nie Mingjue was standing there. He looked somewhat ill-at-ease, as she bowed and greeted him. “May I come in?”

Technically, Jiang Yanli supposed she should say no. She was a betrothed young woman, and she was alone; she should not entertain male visitors. But Nie Mingjue was a sect leader, and their host, so it felt awkward to refuse him. So she said, “Of course,” and stood back. “Tea?”

“Thank you,” Nie Mingjue said, and sat down where she gestured. He cleared his throat as she poured them both a cup. “I noticed you left the lectures earlier, and wanted to apologize if you were uncomfortable with the demonstration.”

“Oh,” Jiang Yanli said. She was a little startled that he would have noticed; she had only been gone for a few minutes. She had felt quite warm and flushed, and it had unnerved her, so she had stolen away to sit down. Meng Yao had apparently noticed her going, or perhaps he had just had the same idea himself, and had brought her a cup of water. “You needn’t have come all this way . . . it was not that I was uncomfortable. I just felt a little faint and wanted to sit down out of the sun. I found the demonstration quite interesting.”

Looking relieved, Nie Mingjue nodded and said, “Many cultivators don’t often see pure martial arts. I’m sure Jiang Fengmian doesn’t neglect the physical training of his disciples, but even so, I doubt it’s their primary focus.”

“My brothers both enjoyed the exercises very much,” Jiang Yanli said. “I wish I had been able to participate more.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, Jiang-guniang,” Nie Mingjue said, with a faint frown, “are the doctors in Yunmeng not able to do anything for you?”

This question startled Jiang Yanli. Most people tiptoed around the issue of her illness, making quiet comments and giving her pitying looks. On the rare occasion someone wanted or needed information, they asked one of her parents. The doctors spoke over her head to Yu Ziyuan or Jiang Fengmian. Even her brothers didn’t really like to speak of it near her. She couldn’t recall ever having been directly asked about it before. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts and say, “Actually, they have done a great deal for me. My illness was much more severe when I was younger. I remember when I was six, I spent almost a whole winter in bed. It got better since I began growing my golden core, which helps me heal and stabilize my body. Unfortunately, due to that, I’ll never be a particularly powerful cultivator.”

“I’m not sure that’s true,” Nie Mingjue said thoughtfully. “You are quite powerful, most likely - it’s just that your golden core is typically busy with other things. If it’s really improved your condition so much, it must be strong indeed.”

Jiang Yanli had no idea what to say to that, and hoped her cheeks weren’t as pink as they felt.

Looking a little awkward, Nie Mingjue added, “Don’t take Jin-gongzi’s words to heart. He seems to have been a very sheltered, spoiled child. I’m sure he will appreciate you better once he gets to know you.”

“He doesn’t seem to want to get to know me,” Jiang Yanli admitted softly, and then wondered why on earth she had said such a thing out loud. Her cheeks flushed even pinker, and she ducked her head, embarrassed. What a childish thing to complain about! Nie Mingjue was going to think her so ungrateful.

Instead, Nie Mingjue said, his tone again thoughtful, “It seems to be a family flaw. They make quick judgments about people based on outward characteristics. It’s the same with Meng Yao - if Jin Guangshan had spent even a few minutes with him, he would have realized how clever and talented he is.”

“Mm,” Jiang Yanli said, because she could agree with that, even if she wasn’t sure the same thing was what was happening with Jin Zixuan.

“Still, Jin-gongzi is young,” Nie Mingjue added. “It’s no wonder that he’s a little immature. I think you will be good for him, Jiang-guniang. I’m told that a wife is supposed to provide balance - to be good at the things that the husband is not good at.”

Jiang Yanli could think of few things she would enjoy less than make up for Jin Zixuan’s shortcomings for their entire lives. Nie Mingjue had given her an opening to change the subject slightly, so she took it. “Nie-gongzi mentioned that you were hoping to meet someone at the lectures who might be interested in becoming your wife.”

“Of course he did,” Nie Mingjue said with a sigh. 

That made Jiang Yanli laugh. “Little brothers can be like that, can’t they? I love both A-Xian and A-Cheng dearly, but they cannot go one single day without talking about my impending marriage and their opinions on it.”

“Truly,” Nie Mingjue said. “Huaisang has never met a life choice of mine that he hasn’t had to offer advice about. Which is somewhat amusing, given that he hasn’t had to make any similar choices at all, and rarely has any idea what he’s talking about. In this case, he’s set on me finding a wife because he doesn’t like being sect heir. He does have a valid point, in that this might be a good time to do so, but . . .”

“But?” Jiang Yanli gently prompted.

“I just don’t know how to go about such things. I’ve never felt comfortable with something arranged - pardon any offense - but I’m not sure how these things happen without being arranged.”

Jiang Yanli could not help but smile. “Nie-gongzi said your father met both of his wives without things being arranged - how did he meet them?”

“My mother was a rogue cultivator he met while night-hunting,” Nie Mingjue said, sounding a little wistful. “And Huaisang’s was a medic who treated him. That’s not really the question, though. I’ve met many ladies. It’s what happens after I meet them that I am less clear on.”

“I imagine you are supposed to talk to them,” Jiang Yanli said.

“Is that so?” Nie Mingjue seemed amused at her teasing. “I’ll have to give that a try, then.”

~ ~ ~ ~

When Nie Mingjue told his little brother ‘keep an eye on Meng Yao and make sure nobody’s giving him a hard time’, Nie Huaisang hadn’t really expected anything to come of it. He supposed his brother was just being overprotective. He knew about the letter that Jin Guangshan had sent, and felt like Nie Mingjue was probably just annoyed about it, and wanting to check and make sure Meng Yao was being respected.

Within three days, he was appalled - not just at the Qinghe Nie cultivators, but at himself. He had never noticed any of this before because he had never paid attention, and it was more of a shock than he liked. Even when he was standing right there, some of the Nie cultivators - especially the lower ranked ones - would roll their eyes at Meng Yao’s instructions or mutter comments to each other about his parentage. And when they didn’t realize he could see? When he was standing just around a corner, or peering carefully out a window? The comments weren’t even veiled. ‘I don’t take orders from the son of a whore’ was the first thing Nie Huaisang overheard - and it didn’t turn out to be the worst.

It was really a miracle, he thought, that Meng Yao hadn’t just stabbed some of these people. He knew Meng Yao took his position in the Qinghe Nie very seriously, but even so, there were limits! And why hadn’t he gone to Nie Mingjue for help? Surely he didn’t believe that Nie Mingjue would want him to just meekly tolerate this kind of disrespect. And when the soldiers were actively disobeying orders that Nie Mingjue had given, just because Meng Yao was the one relaying them - what sort of bullshit was that?

But he thought about some of the things that Meng Yao had said over the years, and he realized he knew why he hadn’t said anything. Meng Yao hated looking weak, looking vulnerable. He would rather tolerate the disrespect of the men than admit to Nie Mingjue that it was bothering him. He would rather lock it all down somewhere inside him than tell Nie Mingjue he needed help handling it.

Nie Huaisang understood that, but now that he had noticed, he couldn’t not notice. Which was why he was lurking by the courtyard one evening about two weeks into the lectures, when Meng Yao relayed to the captain of the guard, Fen Hong, that Nie Mingjue wanted them to set something up for the next day’s lecture.

“Do it, then,” Fen Hong sneered.

Meng Yao had that perfectly pleasant, perfectly fake smile on his face. “I’m afraid that it’s too much for one person to do. Some of these boxes might be too heavy for me to lift.”

Fen Hong scoffed and said, “I don’t see how that’s my problem.”

“Zongzhu did say he wanted this done by morning - ”

“But did he say he wanted us to do it?” Fen Hong interrupted. “Or did he just say he wanted it done?”

Smile frozen on his face, Meng Yao said, “Zongzhu wants this done by morning.”

“Exactly,” Fen Hong said. “Good luck,” he added, and wandered away with his cronies, laughing.

Nie Huaisang noted it down but didn’t do anything about it immediately. It was still several hours until sunset; Meng Yao would surely find someone else who could help him with the task. He would go tell Nie Mingjue later about Fen Hong’s abominable behavior. At the moment, he had the afternoon class to get to.

Even so, he didn’t forget about it, and that evening, decided to check and make sure Meng Yao was getting along all right. Instead he found Meng Yao in the courtyard, silently moving the heavy boxes by himself. Even worse, Fen Hong and his cronies were hanging around, clearly drunk, jeering and laughing as he did the work.

Before they could see him, Nie Huaisang turned on one heel and marched to his brother’s private chambers. It was after the dinner hour, and he was having tea with Lan Xichen, talking about some water ghost they had been fighting in Gusu. “Da-ge, can you come to the courtyard with me? Some disciples are giving Meng Yao a hard time and you should probably come handle it.”

Nie Mingjue immediately got to his feet, but Lan Xichen cleared his throat. “Exactly what is happening?” he asked, and Nie Huaisang gave him a spirited description of what a dick Fen Hong was being. Thunderclouds appeared on Nie Mingjue’s expression, but before he could go break anyone in half, Lan Xichen said, “Mingjue-xiong, I understand you’re upset, but there are better ways to handle this than making a big fuss.”

“Such as?” Nie Mingjue growled. “I’m going to go down to that courtyard and make the group of them carry boxes all night!”

Lan Xichen sighed. “Which would surely only make them angrier, and make their behavior even worse in the future. And even if you expel them from the sect - which you should - their friends will still be here, and they’ll make A-Yao miserable. Please, Mingjue-xiong, let’s try to be calm and deliberate about this.”

Nie Mingjue still looked pissed, but begrudgingly asked, “What do you suggest?”

A few minutes later, Nie Huaisang was on his way to the guest houses. He was a little disappointed that he wouldn’t get to see his brother wave Baxia around and shout a whole bunch in Meng Yao’s defense, and frankly he didn’t understand Lan Xichen’s supposition that doing so would only embarrass Meng Yao. If he were Meng Yao, he thought, he would have loved to see Nie Mingjue rattle his saber in his defense. But he wasn’t Meng Yao, he reminded himself, and Meng Yao did seem to easily get embarrassed when people talked about his parentage, even if it was to say it didn’t matter.

So he recruited Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng to his cause, knowing that Lan Xichen was going to send Lan Wangji as well. He told them approximately what was happening, and Wei Wuxian got riled up while Jiang Cheng tried to insist it wasn’t their business. “I know it’s not your business, that’s why I’m here,” Nie Huaisang said. “To ask you to make it your business. Come on.”

The three of them went to the courtyard and pretended to just be out for evening shenanigans. Meng Yao was still moving boxes, and his forehead was damp with sweat now. Nearly an hour had passed and he had barely gotten ten percent of the work done; he would need to be at it all night and even then it was questionable whether or not he would finish in time. Fen Hong was still sitting on the wall at one side of the courtyard with his friends, watching and laughing.

As if he had no idea what he had just walked up on, Nie Huaisang said, “Ah, Meng Yao, what are you doing?”

Meng Yao put that smile back on his face and said, “I’m setting up for tomorrow’s lecture.”

“That’s a lot of boxes,” Wei Wuxian said, then immediately added, “Here, let us help - ”

“Oh, no, you don’t need to trouble yourself,” Meng Yao said hurriedly. “It’s no problem - ”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Wei Wuxian said. “This is way too much for one person to do. It’s no problem to help out. This way the work will get done much faster, right?” Without waiting, he seized a box and said, “These go over in the north corner?”

“Ah - yes,” Meng Yao said, too flustered to argue. “Thank you, Wei-gongzi. It’s very kind of you.”

Jiang Cheng began to help as well, and glowered at Nie Huaisang until he picked up a box, trying to find one that was lighter than the others. Lan Wangji appeared a few minutes later and silently began to move the boxes as well, leaving Meng Yao looking even more bewildered, since he gave no indication of why he was there.

Fen Hong and the others couldn’t say anything to the young masters of the other great sects, and they quickly grew bored with watching the group of them shuffle boxes around. Wei Wuxian kept the atmosphere light, with help from Nie Huaisang, joking around and flirting with Lan Wangji (who looked as if he would rather be anywhere else in the world). Nie Huaisang wondered if Wei Wuxian had any idea how obvious he was.

It took them about an hour to finish, despite Meng Yao trying to tell them twice that they could leave and didn’t need to trouble themselves with it. A few Nie cultivators came out and helped after a little while, undoubtedly sent by Nie Mingjue once Fen Hong and the others were gone. Meng Yao thanked them profusely and left for his own chambers, and Nie Huaisang went to find his brother, who was still scowling in the sword hall.

“Ridiculous,” he muttered, when Nie Huaisang asked what he was scowling about. “I should have just exiled them on the spot. Xichen insists on doing everything so nicely.”

Nie Huaisang gave a slight shrug, because he thought that Lan Xichen was probably right. This way, all the work had been done and Meng Yao hadn’t been unnecessarily embarrassed. The troublemakers could all be quietly thrown out of The Unclean Realm tomorrow, privately, before they had a chance to tell their friends that it should be blamed on Meng Yao. “There are advantages to doing things quietly, I guess,” he said, and then brightened, seeing an opportunity. “This is why you need a wife, da-ge! To help you with the things that need to be done nicely and quietly!”

“Go to bed,” Nie Mingjue grunted.

Noting that this was not actually a disagreement, Nie Huaisang grinned and did as he was told.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Meng Yao was a little puzzled to see Nie Zonghui leading the morning exercises in the courtyard, but it certainly wasn’t anything he could question. He went about his duties, checking in with the teacher to make sure everything had been set up properly, before he went to see Nie Mingjue and go over the day’s schedule. 

“We have some correspondence from the Liu sect,” Meng Yao said, looking over it. “They’re having a problem with mountain ghosts in the Shu valley. Should I ask Nie Zonghui to assemble a hunting party?”

Nie Mingjue considered this. “It might be a good exercise for the young masters,” he said. “What do you think?”

“Begging your pardon, zongzhu, but I think taking so many people out at once to fight a few ghosts would be overkill,” Meng Yao said. “They would just trip over each other and get in each others’ way.”

“That’s true, I suppose,” Nie Mingjue said.

Meng Yao saw a chance to arrange something he had been thinking about for a few days. Lan Xichen had made no pretense with Meng Yao about how much he was enjoying his younger brother’s interest in Wei Wuxian. However, most of the time Lan Wangji was able to avoid Wei Wuxian and merely yearn from afar. “That being said, you could perhaps include a few of the young masters in the hunt - perhaps make it a reward based on some other assignment.”

“An interesting idea,” Nie Mingjue said, looking intrigued. “What sort of assignment do you have in mind?”

Meng Yao thought about that for a moment. For the best effect, it would have to be something that both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian would score well on, and that Jin Zixuan would preferably not score well on. Otherwise, Wei Wuxian would spend far too much time wrapped up in criticizing and being annoyed by him. Finding something that the first two were both good at was easy; leaving out Jin Zixuan was far more difficult. He recalled a conversation he had overheard a few days previous. “How about an archery tournament? I think most of the young masters would enjoy that.”

After a moment, Nie Mingjue nodded, then said, “At least that way we won’t end up with Huaisang accidentally ending up winning.”

With a quiet chuckle, Meng Yao said, “Please don’t take offense, zongzhu, but that wasn’t particularly a risk no matter what assignment we chose. He is at the bottom of almost every assignment given.”

“I know,” Nie Mingjue said, shaking his head. “I don’t understand it. I know how brilliant he is.”

“He is,” Meng Yao agreed, “but you’ll simply never be able to make him care about things he has no interest in. If getting good grades was important to him, he’d be at the top of the class. But it isn’t, and there’s really no incentive for it to be.” Still smiling, Meng Yao said, “Let him stick to doing what he’s good at, zongzhu - otherwise he’ll make your life miserable.”

Nie Mingjue gave a snort. “True. And this will work well - I can take some of the young masters out, and leave Nie Zonghui here in charge of the guard.”

“Ah,” Meng Yao said, and was unable to help saying, “I did not see Fen Hong this morning . . .”

“Fen Hong is no longer with the Qinghe Nie,” Nie Mingjue said.

Meng Yao blinked, startled. Fen Hong had been a part of the sect for far longer than he had. “Oh?” he managed, then quickly added, “Of course you do not have to tell me if it’s not something I need to know.”

Nie Mingjue waved this aside. “I told you, didn’t I, that I would be keeping an eye out to see who was giving you a hard time? Do you think I didn’t see what happened yesterday, and that Huaisang showed up with his friends to help you out of nowhere?”

Feeling his cheeks flush, Meng Yao immediately bowed deeply. “I am grateful for your kindness.”

“And I know what you’re thinking, Meng Yao,” Nie Mingjue said, “so I’ll just say that yes, it was Xichen’s idea to quietly get the task done and then privately expel the men in question. He seemed to think it would embarrass you if I went storming in. I’m curious to know if he was correct.”

Meng Yao wasn’t sure how to answer that question. Lan Xichen had been completely right, but how could Meng Yao tell his sect leader that the way he would have handled it, given his own preferences, was wrong? He bowed again and said, “I’m sure however you would have handled it would have been fine, zongzhu.”

Nie Mingjue’s eyes narrowed. “So he was right. Good to know. I’ll keep it in mind for the future. Let’s get this archery tournament set up.”

Unnerved that Nie Mingjue, who was so unperceptive as a general rule, had seen right through him, but grateful that he had been given an excuse to escape, Meng Yao said, “I’ll see to it right away, zongzhu.”

Upon leaving the chambers, he went to the Lan guest house, to let Lan Xichen know what was happening and to thank him for his assistance with Nie Mingjue. Lan Xichen gave his beautiful, kind smile and said not to worry about it at all; he was happy to help. He thought the idea of an archery tournament was wonderful, as he knew Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were both excellent archers. “I don’t know how the Lanling Jin prioritize archery,” he added, “so your desire to exclude Jin Zixuan may or may not come to pass. Still, it’s certainly worth trying.”

“Jin Zixuan is probably a passable archer,” Meng Yao said. “The Lanling Jin do learn it, but not to the degree that the Yunmeng Jiang do. And presumably he will not have mastered it to the degree that Lan-er-gongzi has mastered everything.”

Lan Xichen laughed. “There are still some things that Wangji is quite terrible at, believe it or not. He is good at archery but rarely practices it.”

“Well, even if he does not go on the night hunt, Wei-gongzi will still get the chance to show off in front of him.”

Chuckling, Lan Xichen said, “As he certainly will.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Wei Wuxian couldn’t believe how lucky he was. It seemed like the stars had aligned to make these lectures the best weeks of his life. Even Jiang Cheng was excited at the prospect of an archery tournament, sneaking looks over at Wen Qing to see if she looked excited as well. She didn’t, looking impassive as always. Wen Ning, however, looked nervous. Wei Wuxian immediately bounced over to reassure him. “Don’t worry, you’re an amazing archer! You did great at the kite shooting, and that’s way more difficult than target shooting.”

“I just d-don’t like shooting in front of people,” Wen Ning mumbled.

“I know, but don’t worry about it so much. There are some people here who probably don’t do a lot of archery at all, so even if you don’t do as well as you can, you’ll still do a lot better than most.”

“I hope so,” Wen Ning said, still clearly nervous.

Seeing this, Wei Wuxian waved Nie Huaisang over. “Hey, how’s your archery?”

“Oh, it’s abysmal,” Nie Huaisang said cheerfully.

“Great, can you make sure you’re in line right before Wen Ning, here?” Wei Wuxian said, then added to Wen Ning, “That way even if you don’t do well, people won’t even notice because they’ll still be laughing at Nie-xiong.”

“Okay,” Wen Ning agreed, smiling shyly.

“Come on, I’ll show you where we’re going,” Nie Huaisang said, waving. “Da-ge clearly didn’t want to give any of you time to practice, haha, he just wants to see your skills exactly where they are! Didn’t even put it on the schedule, sneaky da-ge . . .”

Wei Wuxian laughed a little, then hung back slightly as he saw Wen Qing frowning at him. “Something wrong, Wen-guniang?” he asked, grinning.

“No,” she said. “It’s just that I don’t think you understand the levels of competition there are in Qishan. You can encourage A-Ning to do his best and say it’s fine if he doesn’t do well because of that.”

Wei Wuxian shrugged. “I don’t know a lot about Qishan, that’s true. It sounds like it’s a much harder place to live than Yunmeng. I’m terrible at politics altogether, but even I can see that you’re worried a poor performance here might get back to Wen Ruohan. That he might think the two of you embarrassed the Wen sect in front of the other sects.” He saw her mouth tighten and added, “But what’s the better alternative? If you remind Wen Ning of that, he’ll only get nervous and his performance will suffer. Telling him not to worry about how he does is much more likely to get a good result, isn’t it?”

“That’s true,” Wen Qing murmured. 

“Then don’t worry so much,” Wei Wuxian said, grinning, and he jogged after the others.

He immediately saw that Wen Ning wouldn’t be able to hide behind Nie Huaisang’s terrible performance for long. The archery tournament was set up in eliminating rounds, where the targets would be moved further away between each round. Anyone who didn’t make one of the inner rings of the target would be eliminated. That meant Nie Huaisang would last two rounds at most.

In addition to that, the clan members of the Lanling Jin were of course strutting around and talking about how they would easily master such a tournament. Seeing an opportunity to ‘encourage’ Jiang Yanli’s relationship with Jin Zixuan (even as the thought made bile rise into his mouth), he said, “Shijie, are you going to cheer for Jin-gongzi?”

Jiang Yanli turned faintly pink but said, “Of course. He is my betrothed, after all.”

Unable to help it, Wei Wuxian added, “Well, you can cheer for him, but I’m still going to win.”

Laughing quietly, Jiang Yanli said, “I’m sure you’ll do well, A-Xian.”

The first few rounds were boring. Wei Wuxian got a bullseye every time, as did Jiang Cheng, and - Wei Wuxian could not help but notice - Lan Wangji. Jin Zixuan got one on the first round, but then was in the first inner ring on the second, which made him scowl. Nie Huaisang managed to get in the inner ring in the first round but then missed the rings entirely in the second round. While everyone was chuckling, Wen Ning shot a bullseye, which bolstered his confidence enough that he got one on the next round as well. 

On the fourth round, the targets were far enough back that Wei Wuxian found he was having to concentrate. He saw Jin Zixuan scowling and shouted, “Don’t forget, Jin-gongzi, your future wife is watching!”

Jin Zixuan released the arrow. It missed the qualifying inner ring by a hair. He wheeled around with a pursed mouth and said, “I’m retaking that shot.”

“Why?” Nie Mingjue asked flatly. “You can’t tolerate someone reminding you of spectators while you’re shooting? Believe me, Jin-gongzi, in war you will have to be able to shoot under much worse conditions than that.”

Still scowling, Jin Zixuan flounced away. Wei Wuxian smirked and took his next shot: another bullseye.

A few rounds later, Nie Mingjue announced that the targets were as far back as possible in the arena, and they would judge the winner based on the shots in this round, taking multiple shots if necessary. The only remaining contestants were Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, Lan Wangji, and Wen Ning. The latter seemed positively astonished to have gotten so far on his own talent, and Wei Wuxian continued to encourage him. He and Wei Wuxian both shot a bullseye. Lan Wangji hit the inner ring, then turned and bowed to the two of them and said stiffly, “Thank you for the competition.”

Wei Wuxian beamed at him, then said, “Come on, Jiang Cheng, I know you can make a bullseye at this distance.”

He did on his first shot, but not his second. He huffed and seemed annoyed, but Wei Wuxian knew he wasn’t, not really. They were both well aware that Wei Wuxian was the better archer, but only by a hair’s breadth. Wen Ning, flustered by the possibility that he might actually win, shot the third ring on his second shot. Wei Wuxian shot another bullseye and was therefore proclaimed the winner.

Preening despite himself, Wei Wuxian bumped his shoulder against Jiang Cheng’s. He scowled but then smiled when he thought Wei Wuxian had stopped looking.

Nie Mingjue stepped forward and congratulated them, then said, “The Liu sect has reported mountain ghosts in Shu valley. The top four-scoring candidates will come along with my disciples on the night hunt.”

“A night hunt?” Wen Ning asked, his eyes wide.

Wei Wuxian couldn’t imagine anything better than a night hunt with these particular people. “Ah, Nie-zongzhu, thank you so much for the opportunity! We might never see mountain ghosts otherwise! I promise, we won’t let you down!”

“We’ll leave at dawn tomorrow,” Nie Mingjue said. “Classes will be postponed a day so you don’t miss anything.”

Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji both bowed and thanked him for the opportunity as well. Wei Wuxian grinned at both of them and said, “This is going to be awesome.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Mingjue was looking over his packs when he was approached by Wen Qing, now dressed in the uniform that had been provided. Meng Yao had somehow gotten them put together quite quickly, including the embroidery of the Wen clan’s symbol on the shoulder, the way all the other uniforms had. Nie Mingjue had a suspicion that Meng Yao had anticipated Wen Ruohan sending some disciples to crash the lectures, and had had the robes ready to go so they only needed to be altered.

“Nie-zongzhu,” Wen Qing said, bowing, and he bowed back, albeit begrudgingly. “I wanted to ask permission to come along on the night hunt.”

“For what reason?” Nie Mingjue asked. Wen Qing hadn’t even participated in the archery tournament, stating that it was not a skill she possessed. She wasn’t the only one who hadn’t, so it hadn’t drawn any attention. 

“My brother is an excellent archer, as you witnessed,” Wen Qing said, “but his constitution is poor. He has had many illnesses over the course of his life. I would feel remiss if I allowed him to go on a night hunt without me.”

Nie Mingjue frowned. He couldn’t help but wonder whether that was true, or if Wen Qing was just afraid that neither she nor her brother should be left alone during their time in The Unclean Realm. He could hardly blame her if so. Strict rules of propriety were all that were keeping them safe; they were technically on enemy territory. So he understood her request, but he didn’t like breaking the rules he had set down, that the night hunt was a reward for those who had placed well in the archery tournament. 

Before he could respond, the brothers from Yunmeng walked up, and Wei Wuxian greeted them both cheerfully while Jiang Cheng bowed, his cheeks flushed pink. “Oh, Wen-guniang, are you coming with us?”

Wen Qing was smart enough not to give Nie Mingjue’s answer for him. “I came to ask Nie-zongzhu’s permission, given A-Ning’s weak constitution.”

Wei Wuxian nodded and said to Nie Mingjue, “Ah, Nie-zongzhu, did you know that Wen-guniang is a doctor? She came over when shijie was sick the other day and made some medicine for her. It worked really well! Far better than what they’ve made for her in Yunmeng. Wen-guniang is truly a genius!”

“There’s no need to say such things,” Wen Qing said, but added, “I became a doctor to find a cure for my brother, but it has eluded me. I am far from a genius.”

“Even so, Jiang-guniang has spoken to me of how troublesome her illness can be,” Nie Mingjue said, and bowed to Wen Qing. “I appreciate you helping her. I understand your concern for your brother, so you are welcome to accompany us on the hunt.”

Wen Qing returned the bow and said, “Thank you, Nie-zongzhu.”

Nie Mingjue brought half a dozen of his own men; that should be more than sufficient for a few mountain ghosts. He certainly didn’t have to worry about socializing. Wei Wuxian kept up a steady stream of chatter, talking about how he had never seen this sort of mountain ghost but they fought water ghosts in Yunmeng all the time. He told several stories of his night hunting prowess that seemed to impress Wen Ning as much as they didn’t impress Lan Wangji. He also told one or two that involved Jiang Cheng, giving Wen Qing a few meaningful looks that she absolutely did not return.

There were more ghosts than anticipated, and it could have gone better. Wen Ning, affected by the energy of the ghosts, passed out. Wei Wuxian tried to save him and ended up needing to be saved himself, by Lan Wangji. That didn’t seem to trouble him a bit, as he asked Lan Wangji why he had grabbed him by the collar instead of taking his hand. A few people received minor wounds, including Jiang Cheng. Wen Qing proved that she was indeed a doctor, tending to their injuries. Jiang Cheng stared at her with hearts in his eyes.

At the end of the day, however, they were victorious. Nie Mingjue felt the young masters had learned a lot about how chaotic night hunts could be, though he wasn’t sure if he had taught them much of anything else. 

Once Wen Ning was back on his feet and everyone was all patched up, they headed back to The Unclean Realm. It was late evening when they got back, and he told the young masters to go find food and get some rest. Then he said to Lan Wangji, “Tell Xichen to come see me in my chambers if he’s not too busy.”

Lan Wangji bowed and agreed, and Nie Mingjue was just sitting down to his dinner when Lan Xichen poked his head in. “How did it go?”

“Not too terribly,” Nie Mingjue said, and gave him a rough summary of the situation. “Are you truly sure that Wangji is interested in Wei-gongzi? Because he certainly doesn’t show it.”

“Trust me, he is,” Lan Xichen said, smiling. “He certainly doesn’t react the same way most people would, but he is reacting to Wei-gongzi, in a way he’s never reacted to anyone else.”

“I’ll take your word on it,” Nie Mingjue said, shaking his head as he thought of Lan Wangji’s icy silence during ninety-eight percent of the crowd hunt.

“And how about you?” Lan Xichen asked, as Nie Mingjue poured him a cup of tea. “It was unlike you to let Wen-guniang along. You did say you wanted to meet some eligible ladies . . .”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nie Mingjue retorted. “I’d rather die alone than marry someone from the Wen sect.”

Lan Xichen sighed. “Mingjue-xiong, we can’t hold the children responsible for the sins of their fathers.”

“And I’m not. She’s here. She’s unharmed. That’s as much courtesy as someone from the Wen sect can get from me.” Seeing Lan Xichen about to say something else, he quickly changed the subject. “I’ve met some of the young ladies. They seem fine, I suppose. I just don’t really know how to connect with them. If I act the way I would around another male cultivator, I’m afraid I’ll offend them. On the upside, I’ve found a practice partner.”

“A – I beg your pardon?”

Nie Mingjue knocked back a cup of wine. “I was talking to Jiang-guniang last week about the matter. She’s betrothed, so I don’t have to worry about whether or not any courtship attempts would be successful, so I asked her if she could help me practice.”

Lan Xichen was silent for far longer than Nie Mingjue would have expected. “I’m sorry, I’m still trying to grasp this. You . . . asked Jiang-guniang . . . if you could practice ‘courtship’ with her.”

“Well, why not?” Nie Mingjue asked. “If I have to learn how to talk to a woman, she’s an excellent conversational partner.”

“Yes,” Lan Xichen said slowly. “Yes, you do have a great deal in common.”

“So I don’t see any harm in it. She knows that I don’t have any experience, so if I offend her, she’ll just tell me what I did wrong instead of damaging the relationship with some other sect.” Nie Mingjue was quite proud of himself for this solution, really. Even if he didn’t find a wife at these lectures, surely the lessons would help in the future.

“All right,” Lan Xichen said, “but are you sure you’re not just . . . you know . . . courting her?”

Nie Mingjue frowned. “Well, I can’t, can I? She’s betrothed.”

“Mm hm.” Lan Xichen sipped his tea. “But if you practice painting, you still end up having painted a picture at the end of it.”

“I don’t think that metaphor is apt at all,” Nie Mingjue said.

Lan Xichen sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Mingjue-xiong, remember last week when I said not to overlook a good candidate for a wife if the gods put one in front of you? That wasn’t really hypothetical. That was a hint. A hint which you clearly missed.”

“Oh.” Nie Mingjue blinked. Then he frowned. “But she’s engaged.”

“She’s engaged to someone who clearly doesn’t want to marry her, who’s an incredibly spoiled brat. As soon as he gets sick of pandering to his mother, he’s going to whine to Jin Guangshan, who will find some excuse to get him out of the betrothal.”

“Only if he wants Yu Ziyuan’s knife in his gut,” Nie Mingjue said, amused despite himself.

“An outcome I doubt either of us would complain about,” Lan Xichen said dryly.

Nie Mingjue gave a snort. “I’m very sure there are disciplines against hoping for somebody’s murder,” he said, and Lan Xichen gave an elegant shrug. “Anyway, you’re one to talk about how hopeless I am at romance – as if you didn’t decide to stay for a few weeks so you could hang out with Meng Yao.”

“Of course I did,” Lan Xichen said. “I make absolutely no bones about the fact that fifty percent of the reason I stayed was so I could get to know A-Yao better, and decide whether or not I want to court him seriously.”

“I didn’t give you permission to steal my assistant,” Nie Mingjue growled.

“I know. That’s why I’m going to help you find a wife.”

“It’s not the same,” Nie Mingjue complained. “Aren’t you supposed to marry a woman and have children? Heirs to the Gusu Lan? It seems you won’t be able to rely on Wangji to do it.”

“I have plenty of cousins. The Lan bloodline isn’t so fragile.” Lan Xichen was amused. “Nice try deflecting the subject off your frankly adorable idea to ‘practice’ courting with the only woman I have ever heard you mention more than one time in a week.”

Nie Mingjue let out a breath of frustration. “Would you even believe me if I tried to say I’m not interested in making her my wife?”

“I would,” Lan Xichen said. “In fact, I think that’s part of why you’ve gotten along with her so well. You immediately concluded that she wasn’t an option as a wife, so you were actually able to relax around her and get to know her. To connect with her in a way that’s typically difficult for you, with women.”

“I suppose that might be true,” Nie Mingjue admitted, albeit begrudgingly.

“Just consider this, Mingjue-xiong – in a few more weeks, these lectures will be over. She’ll go back to Yunmeng, and presumably marry Jin Zixuan, and you may not see her again for quite a long time.”

Nie Mingjue grimaced despite himself. What a horrible thought that was – the sweet, beautiful Jiang Yanli being gone from his life and married to a man who didn’t respect her.

Seeing the look on his face, Lan Xichen sipped his tea and used the cup to hide the smile on his face.

“She’s still engaged,” Nie Mingjue finally pointed out.

“How did A-Yao phrase it? ‘A small matter which is easily taken care of.’”

Nie Mingjue shook his head. “Of course he did. You’ve got Meng Yao in on this? And I’m sure Huaisang is involved, which is somewhat terrifying.”

“We’ve got Huaisang corralled for now. I’m more worried about Wei-gongzi, who does not handle the disrespect of his shijie very well. But I think we can keep things under control. It’s only a few more weeks. You just keep ‘pretending’ to court Jiang-guniang, and let me handle the rest.”

Against his better judgment, Nie Mingjue agreed.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Jiang Yanli was confused.

She thought that she and Nie Mingjue had been getting along fairly well. Although she had to admit her wishes for a further relationship with him were naïve, it was somewhat fun to ‘practice’ with him. He came to visit her at the guest house a few times, and they would converse about various topics, and she would gently explain things like ‘when a woman says “I suppose so” what they mean is that they disagree but don’t dare tell you’.

But now, barely a week later and just as things had been going – she thought – swimmingly, he suddenly wouldn’t speak to her anymore. He had arrived for one of his visits, and upon her pleasant greeting, had stared at her for a long minute before spitting out, “I won’t trouble you today,” and then retreating the way he had come. That had been two days previous, and he hadn’t come to see her again.

Although she was uncertain of what had changed, she didn’t really have anyone to discuss it with. Wei Wuxian, bless his soul, was not being subtle about how amazing he thought it would be if they could replace Jin Zixuan with Nie Mingjue. He probably thought he was being subtle, since he hadn’t yet outright said, “Let’s get Nie-zongzhu to steal you from Jin Zixuan”, but then again, “Jin Zixuan certainly couldn’t complain if you choose Nie-zongzhu over him!” wasn’t exactly understated.

So she couldn’t ask her brothers about it, and she definitely didn’t dare ask Nie Huaisang. He wasn’t subtle, either, except when compared to Wei Wuxian, but lately he had been so outwardly supportive of Jin Zixuan that she couldn’t help but suspect he was up to something on his brother’s behalf – albeit clearly without his brother’s knowledge.

The next day, as she was heading into the library, she saw Meng Yao perusing a book, and wondered if he might perhaps know if she had somehow offended Nie Mingjue. She approached him somewhat timidly and asked if they could speak in private.

Meng Yao offered his usual solicitous smile and said, “Was there something you needed, Jiang-guniang? I could call one of the disciples – ”

Jiang Yanli remembered belatedly that Meng Yao was trying to avoid her, as Jin Guangshan had requested he steer clear of anyone related to the Jin sect. A little embarrassed, she said, “I wanted to ask you something, and I’m afraid I don’t believe any of the disciples will know the answer. Perhaps we could go to the aviary?”

Seeing that she was giving him the opportunity to go somewhere public where it was still unlikely they would be overheard, he nodded and said, “Of course.”

Once they had reached the aviary, which was fortunately only a few minutes’ walk away, Meng Yao said, “Ah, let me briefly – ”

“Make sure Nie-gongzi isn’t here?” Jiang Yanli said, amused despite herself.

With a quiet laugh of agreement, Meng Yao nodded and did a quick look around the aviary. Finding nobody lurking, he said, “What can I help you with, Jiang-guniang?”

“I’m concerned that I might have done something to offend Nie-zongzhu,” she said, and a little wrinkle appeared on Meng Yao’s forehead. “He was going to see me a few times a week, and we were getting along well, but the last time he came he was quite abrupt, and he hasn’t come to see me since.”

“Oh. I see.” Meng Yao was still frowning slightly, but said, “I don’t believe you’ve offended him, Jiang-guniang. In fact, quite the contrary – I think he most likely realized that he was being improper, engaging in a close relationship with another man’s fiancée.”

Jiang Yanli flushed, unable to help it. “We had discussed that, though . . . he was quite encouraging, saying that he knew I would be a good support to Jin-gongzi . . . he spoke with me frankly about his own search for a wife, and I was helping him learn how he might better relate to ladies.”

Meng Yao nodded. “That makes me more certain that if he withdrew, it was because he realized he was developing feelings for you that went beyond friendship.”

This seemed very unlikely to Jiang Yanli, and she said, “He was never inappropriate.”

“I must beg your pardon, Jiang-guniang, but we both know there is nothing appropriate about a sect leader learning how to relate to ladies from one who is betrothed.”

Turning an even darker pink, Jiang Yanli said, “I don’t believe he realized . . .”

“Oh, he didn’t,” Meng Yao said. “He wouldn’t have put you in an uncomfortable position on purpose. That being said, I still believe that the reason he was so abrupt with you the other day is because he realized that things were coming to a point where he would cross a line.”

“That seems so . . .” Jiang Yanli couldn’t finish the sentence.

Meng Yao smiled, which surprised her, and said, “Nie-zongzhu seems to have made a habit of choosing those that others have overlooked. I think he does truly admire you and enjoy your company. Although it may be somewhat improper to say, I believe that the two of you would be very well-matched.”

“Perhaps,” Jiang Yanli said.

Seeing that she couldn’t bring herself to agree outright, Meng Yao said, “Let me be somewhat forward, Jiang-guniang, on my sect leader’s behalf – please forgive me if you find this inappropriate in any way. If you would like me to tell zongzhu that you were uncomfortable with his attentions, so you don’t have to deliver that message yourself, then I will. Or if you would like me to tell him the opposite, I can do that as well. I understand that you are engaged to Jin-gongzi, but childhood engagements are not set in stone. As Nie-zongzhu’s assistant, especially as someone who has benefited so much from his patronage, I feel it’s my duty to help him find a wife who will complement and support him. Whatever I can do, please let me know.”

Jiang Yanli wasn’t sure exactly what to say to that. She was engaged to Jin Zixuan, after all. She remembered when she was young, and he had seemed so dashing and wonderful. Perhaps his attitude was something she could work an improvement on, but why should that be her responsibility? Particularly when another man of such high stature was interested in becoming her husband? She thought about it for a moment before saying, “Nie-zongzhu has not made me uncomfortable in any way. I enjoy his company and hold him in high regard. However, I do not wish to be responsible for any problems between the Nie sect and the Lanling Jin.”

“I understand,” Meng Yao said. “Thank you for your honesty, Jiang-guniang. I very much appreciate you being willing to talk with me so frankly.”

Although Jiang Yanli wasn’t sure exactly what conclusions Meng Yao had drawn, she had given him the truth. What he did with that information, and what Nie Mingjue decided to do with it, was up to them. If Nie Mingjue continued to pursue her, then whatever happened between the Qinghe Nie and the Lanling Jin would not be her fault.

~ ~ ~ ~

Wei Wuxian loved alcohol. He didn’t consider this a flaw. Alcohol was amazing, especially the liquor made out of lotuses that they had at Lotus Pier. He had heard that Gusu had surprisingly good alcohol as well, and was looking forward to trying it the next year. He was, to be frank, an experienced drinker. But even he was not prepared for Qinghe liquor.

After nearly choking on the first cup and managing to choke down the second cup, it went down a little more easily. But it was strong. Very strong.

“I don’t see why my list of criteria for women is so bad!” Jiang Cheng protested, as Nie Huaisang cackled behind his fan. “Gentle, demure, from a good family – ”

“Beautiful, respectful, soft-spoken – ”

“No one’s ever going to want to marry you, anyway,” Jiang Cheng retorted, downing another cup of liquor.

“That’s fine,” Wei Wuxian said. “I don’t need to get married; I’m going to stay at Lotus Pier with you and shijie.”

“Oh?” Nie Huaisang snickered. “Are you sure?”

“Sure I’m sure!” Wei Wuxian said.

“But are you suuuuuuuuuuure?” Nie Huaisang asked, smirking in a way that Wei Wuxian absolutely didn’t understand. He chalked it up to Nie Huaisang having had too much alcohol. What was there to question about his desire to stay at Lotus Pier with his brother and sister? Who did Nie Huaisang think he was going to be marrying, anyway?

“A-jie’s not going to stay at Lotus Pier anyway,” Jiang Cheng said, in the voice of someone who had had too much alcohol to be so mad but was anyway. “She’ll be swept off to Lanling by the peacock.”

“Not if I steal her for da-ge,” Nie Huaisang said cheerfully, quickly forgetting about tormenting Wei Wuxian with nonsense.

“Then she’ll be swept off to The Unclean Realm,” Jiang Cheng said. “Either way, what are you going to do, Wei Wuxian? Follow her?”

“No,” Wei Wuxian said, pouting. “I’m going to be your right hand man, like your dad and my dad, obviously.”

“Pfffft,” Jiang Cheng said, looking embarrassed. Wei Wuxian could tell he was happy even though he wouldn’t admit it in so many words. “Whatever.”

“Well, I think Wen-guniang is perfect for you,” Nie Huaisang said, giggling as Jiang Cheng’s cheeks colored even pinker. “Even though she’s not demure or gentle at all. And I think you’d make an exception judging by the way you look at her!”

“What do you know?” Jiang Cheng barked, throwing peanuts at him.

“I can read people!” Nie Huaisang said, swatting aside the peanuts with his fan, only hitting half of them. “Just like I know that da-ge likes Jiang-guniang, and that somebody likes Wei-xiong – ”

“What?” Wei Wuxian asked, blinking at him.

“I know that you like Wen-guniang! And she’s the niece of a sect leader, even if it’s the Wen, and she can’t want to stay in Nightless City because who would? It’s obvious that she and her brother aren’t happy there, so you should marry her and take her back to Yunmeng – ”

“Can we get back to – ” Wei Wuxian tried, before Jiang Cheng started throwing more things and chasing Nie Huaisang around the room.

A few moments later, the door opened and Lan Wangji stalked in. “You are being too loud,” he said in a glacial tone.

“Ha ha, sorry about that,” Wei Wuxian said, as he ineffectually tried to get Nie Huaisang out of the headlock Jiang Cheng had him in.

Lan Wangji’s gaze zeroed in on the jars of alcohol and he said, “Liquor is forbidden.”

“No it isn’t,” Nie Huaisang said, laughing.

This proved to Wei Wuxian that Jiang Cheng wasn’t actually trying to strangle Nie Huaisang, so he gave up on attempts to free him. “Yeah, who would forbid alcohol? That’s no way to live!”

Looking even more sour, Lan Wangji said, “It is forbidden in Cloud Recesses.”

“This isn’t Cloud Recesses!” Nie Huaisang managed to eel free, and laughed harder. “Lan-xiong, didn’t your brother tell you that you’d have to put up with our unseemly behavior when you came to The Unclean Realm?”

Wei Wuxian was stuck on the fact that alcohol was forbidden in Cloud Recesses. “Wait, does that mean you’ve never had a drink? Like, not ever?” he added, when Lan Wangji nodded. “Well, then, you have to have one now! You’re not in Cloud Recesses so it’s not forbidden,” he added, and poured Lan Wangji a cup of alcohol. “Here, try it!”

“I do not wish to consume alcohol,” Lan Wangji said, gesturing and adding, “seeing what it does to people.”

That made Wei Wuxian laugh. “We’re just having fun, Lan Zhan! You have heard of fun, right?”

“Ridiculous,” Lan Wangji scoffed, and turned for the door to leave the way he had come in.

Wei Wuxian ducked around him to keep him in the room. “Come on, one drink,” he whined, holding the cup. “Drink with me, Lan Zhan. Aren’t we friends?”

Expressionless, Lan Wangji took the offered cup and immediately up-ended it, pouring the alcohol onto the floor.

“Ah, Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian protested. What a waste of good alcohol! Such rude behavior from the great Lan Wangji. He immediately retaliated. “Ah, Nie-xiong, Jiang Cheng, I didn’t get around to telling you about the rabbit on the - ”

He suddenly found himself unable to speak. Unable to open his mouth at all. He protested mightily through his closed lips.

Chuckling, Nie Huaisang said, “It’s the Lan silencing spell. It lasts about one stick of incense time.”

“Mm mm mmmmmm!” Wei Wuxian protested, giving Lan Wangji a look that he hoped appropriately conveyed the fact that everyone from Gusu to Qishan was going to know that Lan Wangji couldn’t bear to see a rabbit killed and eaten if this spell was not removed immediately.

“You better take it off him, Lan-xiong,” Nie Huaisang said. “He’ll be out for revenge if you don’t. C’mon, just have a drink with us like a normal human being,” he added, pouring another cup of alcohol. “It’s not against the rules, because you’re not in Cloud Recesses. Even your brother has a drink with da-ge occasionally while he’s here! There’s no harm in it.”

Wei Wuxian could have told Lan Wangji that to listen to Nie Huaisang say there was no harm in something was the devil talking, but with his mouth sealed shut, he could offer no advice. Lan Wangji looked at him with narrowed eyes and said, “If I have one drink . . .”

The obvious end of that sentence was ‘you will not tell anyone about the rabbit’, so Wei Wuxian nodded eagerly and held up three fingers to indicate his word. He suddenly found he could speak again, and accordingly said, “I promise!”

Lan Wangji huffed, clearly annoyed, but then sat down at the table. He accepted the cup from Nie Huaisang and drank it quite properly. Then, almost immediately, he slumped forward and his forehead hit the table.

There was a moment of silence in the room before Nie Huaisang said, “Um, is he dead?”

“Of course he’s not dead,” Wei Wuxian scoffed, prodding gently at Lan Wangji’s shoulder. “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, wake up. You can’t really pass out after one drink, can you? Even if you’ve never had alcohol before.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said into the table.

After more poking and prodding, Wei Wuxian managed to get Lan Wangji to sit up. His headband was crooked, and all the boys snickered. Wei Wuxian reached out to fix it, and Lan Wangji slapped his hand away. “The headband can only be touched by parents, spouses, and children.”

“Oh well in that case,” Nie Huaisang said, but fortunately for all concerned, was seized by an urgent need to be sick before he could finish his sentence. As soon as Jiang Cheng saw that, he became sick as well, and the two of them went running from the guest house.

“Lightweights,” Wei Wuxian scoffed. He saw Lan Wangji trying to fix the headband, his eyes cast upwards as if he would be able to see his own forehead, and laughed harder. “You’re just making it worse.”

“Rude,” Lan Wangji retorted.

Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian noted, was not a particularly pleasant drunk. He spent most of the next few hours trying to keep Lan Wangji from wandering off, getting muttered at and scolded, and occasionally pushed out of the way. He wondered what he had done to deserve this, and when his conscience helpfully reminded him that he had, after all, goaded Lan Wangji into drinking, and that really he deserved this, he drunkenly ignored it.

Finally, long past midnight, Lan Wangji passed out for real, and stayed where Wei Wuxian put him. Wei Wuxian flung himself to the floor and immediately fell asleep.

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Mingjue was trying to have breakfast in peace when, as usual, he ended up wondering why he ever tried to have breakfast in peace.

Meng Yao, looking far more amused than could possibly be good for him, came into the room and bowed. “Zongzhu. Nie-gongzi is not in class as he should be.”

This was of no surprise, really. Honestly, if anything was a surprise, it was that it had taken so long for Nie Huaisang to skip out and for Meng Yao not to be able to track him down immediately and haul him to the lecture hall by his braids. “And?”

“And neither are Wei-gongzi and Jiang-gongzi.”

Nie Mingjue sighed. Curse Meng Yao’s flair for the dramatic. He just wanted to eat. “And?”

“And neither is Lan-er-gongzi.”

“Oh?” Now that was a surprise. “And where are they, then?” he asked, since he was sure that Meng Yao already knew.

“It seems,” Meng Yao said, “that they all got extremely drunk last night and passed out in the Jiang sect guest house.”

“Well, that’s . . .” Nie Mingjue didn’t even have a word for what that was. He couldn’t even fathom the idea of Lan Wangji drinking, although he could easily see why he would pass out after only a few drinks. He wouldn’t have any capacity. And he understood why Meng Yao was fetching him, instead of just rousting the boys from bed and sending them to class. Although he probably could get away with that with Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng - they wouldn’t object even though he was only an assistant - he wouldn’t risk it in such a strange situation. The question of why Lan Wangji had been drinking was indeed a pressing one - if he had somehow been forced into it, that was a situation that Nie Mingjue would want to handle himself. “I see. Thank you, Meng Yao. You can return to your duties; I’ll take it from here. Ah - actually, can you let Xichen know? He can meet me out at the guest house.”

Meng Yao nodded, bowed, and left the room. 

With a sigh, Nie Mingjue shoved the rest of his breakfast in his mouth, downed a cup of tea, and headed out to the Jiang guest house.

It was his first time seeing Jiang Yanli since Lan Xichen had pointed out to him that he could stop dithering around and just court her already. He’d had a discussion with Meng Yao about it a few days later, when Meng Yao had approached him to say that Jiang Yanli was afraid she had offended him. He felt bad about that, as he hadn’t meant to make her question her own behavior. Actually, he hadn’t meant anything. He had seen her, and the thought of her as his wife had crossed his mind, and he hadn’t been able to do anything but retreat. It was a little humiliating, to be honest.

Apparently, Meng Yao had had a long talk with her, and assured Nie Mingjue that she was fully on board with the idea of him courting her - that her only reservation was the idea that she might cause a rift between the Jin and the Nie sect. Meng Yao spoke diplomatically about that, as if it had nothing to do with him, saying that from Jiang Yanli’s words, he thought Nie Mingjue could continue to court her. After all, she didn’t want to be the cause of a rift, but if Nie Mingjue chose to court her, then he was the cause of the rift, and that seemed quite all right with her.

That seemed awfully weaselly to Nie Mingjue, but Meng Yao kept talking about it, and as usual, he ended up agreeing with everything Meng Yao was saying. He made a mental note that at some point, he really needed Meng Yao to teach him how to do that.

“I’m so sorry, Nie-zongzhu,” Jiang Yanli greeted him, looking flustered. “I knew they’d gotten some alcohol and I told them not to overindulge since they had class the next day, but - well - ”

“Boys will be boys,” Nie Mingjue said, somewhat amused. “You don’t have to apologize for anything, Jiang-guniang. The only reason I came here instead of just having Meng Yao pry them all out of bed and send them to class was so I could make sure Wangji is all right.”

“Oh . . . he seems all right. I made them some tea and gave him a cool cloth for his face.”

Nie Mingjue nodded, and since they had a moment of privacy, he said, “I wanted to apologize for how abrupt I was with you the other day. Please be assured that you had not offended me in any way.”

Jiang Yanli gave a slight smile and said, “I appreciate the reassurance, Nie-zongzhu.”

Since Meng Yao had already spoken with her, Nie Mingjue figured that was sufficient. He walked into the other room and found the boys sitting in a row, looking somewhat chastened. Lan Wangji was slowly sipping a cup of tea, and Jiang Cheng looked like he still felt a little ill. Nie Huaisang, on the other hand, looked proud of himself, and Wei Wuxian was as fresh as a daisy.

Seeing him, Lan Wangji immediately stood and bowed, which prompted the others to do so. “I apologize for my conduct, Nie-zongzhu,” he said stiffly. “I will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate.”

Nie Mingjue sighed. “You’re not being punished, Wangji. There’s no rule against drinking in The Unclean Realm.”

“We are late to class,” Lan Wangji said.

Nie Huaisang elbowed him and hissed, “You’re the only one here who wants to be punished! Be quiet!”

“This is all your fault,” Jiang Cheng muttered at Wei Wuxian. “You just had to involve Lan-er-gongzi – ”

“I didn’t make him drink – ”

“What exactly did you do?” Nie Mingjue interrupted. “Because I’ll be frank with you, Wei Wuxian; I have known Wangji since he was crawling, and I’m sure one of you did something.”

He didn’t get an answer, per se, but the guilty look on Wei Wuxian’s face was enough to assure him that whatever had happened, he was the culpable party. “Um . . .”

Nie Mingjue sighed. “Huaisang,” he said, and his brother jerked to attention. “Jiang-gongzi. Go to class. Tell the teacher I said not to penalize you for being late. I think having to sit through a lecture in the condition you’re both obviously in will be enough punishment.”

“Thank you, Nie-zongzhu,” Jiang Cheng said, bowing before hastily escaping the room, dragging Nie Huaisang with him.

As they were leaving, Lan Xichen came in. He looked worriedly at Lan Wangji and asked, “Are you all right, Wangji?”

“I am fine, xiongzhang,” Lan Wangji said, staring straight into the distance.

“Wangji, did Wei-gongzi force you to drink?” Nie Mingjue asked.

“No,” Lan Wangji said.

Wei Wuxian winced. “Ah, I didn’t, not exactly, but – you just made me so mad when you poured the cup on the floor! I was drunk and not thinking clearly.”

Lan Wangji gave him an accusing stare and said, “You had said you would not tell anyone.”

Although a little confused as to the specifics, Nie Mingjue was momentarily distracted by the realization that Lan Xichen was absolutely correct about his brother. Lan Wangji looked genuinely hurt by whatever Wei Wuxian had done. He looked betrayed, and betrayal could only happen in the presence of trust. Lan Wangji had absolutely trusted Wei Wuxian to keep whatever secret this was, which almost certainly meant that he really did care for him.

“I know, I know,” Wei Wuxian said, looking chagrined. “But at least I didn’t! I mean. Only because you stopped me. And then drank a cup of alcohol and passed out. But I really will keep your secret, Lan Zhan!”

Seeing Nie Mingjue’s concerned expression, Lan Xichen murmured, “Wei-gongzi found out that Wangji likes rabbits.”

“Oh.” Relieved that this wasn’t a real secret, not something that could be a problem, Nie Mingjue said, “Wei Wuxian. You obviously realize that you were in the wrong, but I have yet to hear an apology from you.”

“Ah – ” Wei Wuxian flushed pink and turned to Lan Wangji, then bowed. “I’m sorry, Lan Zhan. My behavior was rude and hurtful.”

Nie Mingjue nodded, glad he hadn’t tried to add in some sort of mitigating qualifier. “As for your punishment . . . Wangji, it’s up to you.”

Still staring into the middle distance, Lan Wangji said, “Copy the chapter of conduct three hundred times.”

“Three hun – !” Wei Wuxian began, but then hung his head. “All right.”

Nie Mingjue gave another nod, satisfied. “But you won’t do it in the library,” he added. “We’ll put a desk in the courtyard for you. That way, anyone who wants to know why you missed class will see that it’s because you’re being punished for breaking trust with someone you called a friend.”

“Yes, sir,” Wei Wuxian mumbled.

“Wangji, you can go to class now,” Nie Mingjue said, knowing that even if he gave Lan Wangji the option of skipping class and staying home, he wouldn’t take it. Lan Wangji nodded, bowed silently, and left the guest house.

Lan Xichen smiled slightly and said, “Wei-gongzi, let’s go get my copy of the book of conduct, shall we? I think there’s a small desk in our guest house which will suit the purpose very nicely.”

Looking hangdog but not arguing, Wei Wuxian followed him. Nie Mingjue was a little puzzled that Lan Xichen had decided to do this himself, but then immediately saw the reason for it as Jiang Yanli poked her head into the room. “I’m so sorry for his behavior,” she said. “I’ll speak to him.”

Nie Mingjue waved this off. “You don’t need to. He’s received his punishment. And honestly, the look Wangji gave him was probably punishment enough.” He saw the look on Jiang Yanli’s face. “He didn’t mean to hurt anyone; it was just stupid, drunk, impulsive behavior. I’m sure I’ve done worse. They’ll be fine. But I did want to drive home the seriousness of the offense while it was fresh. I hope you don’t think I was too harsh.”

“Oh, not at all,” Jiang Yanli said, and added somewhat sadly, “He’s used to much harsher punishments than that.”

Given what he knew of Yu Ziyuan, this didn’t surprise Nie Mingjue very much. “I’m surprised he hasn’t learned better manners, in that case.”

Jiang Yanli smiled slightly, although there was still a hint of sorrow to it. “He learned a long time ago that Mother will always be cruel to him, so I think he figures he might as well do something to deserve it . . . not that I think he realizes that consciously.”

“Your father can’t do anything to protect him?” Nie Mingjue asked. “He invited him into the sect, made him the first disciple. If she’s abusing him, he needs to step in.”

“He tries, but . . .” Jiang Yanli shook her head. “They always just end up arguing over the same things and nothing ever gets solved. A-Xian only ends up feeling worse because he caused trouble, and A-Cheng gets hurt because Mother always brings up the fact that Father likes A-Xian better . . .”

“Does he?” Nie Mingjue asked.

“Yes,” Jiang Yanli admitted. “I believe he loves A-Cheng, but he’s not very good at showing it. A-Xian isn’t the sect heir, he’s not part of the family, so Father goes easier on him, never lectures him even when he’s behaving badly. He’s terribly spoiled by Father and then abused by Mother. Honestly, the fact that A-Xian’s temperament is as good as it is, is something of a wonder . . .”

“Your influence, I’m sure,” Nie Mingjue said. “He clearly looks up to you a great deal. They both do.”

Jiang Yanli nodded, and her smile was a little less sad. “I’ve tried my best to take good care of them.”

Nie Mingjue frowned slightly, hesitating, then said, “You know, in the letter Jiang Fengmian wrote to me about his children attending the lecture, he praised Jiang Wanyin quite highly. It’s true that he praised Wei Wuxian as well, but perhaps reading it would help Jiang Wanyin understand that his father truly is proud of him. If he is more strict, it is not because he loves Wei Wuxian more, but only that he knows Jiang Wanyin will be a sect leader.”

“Did he really write such things?” Jiang Yanli said, clearly surprised.

With a nod, Nie Mingjue said, “I don’t recall the specifics, but I do remember that he was complimentary. I’ll bring a copy of it over for you to read, so you could decide if you thought it would help Jiang Wanyin.”

“I appreciate that very much,” Jiang Yanli said.

Her smile now held no trace of sorrow, and Nie Mingjue basked in that lovely expression for a long moment before he realized he was just standing there, staring at her like an idiot. He cleared his throat and said, “Perhaps I could come by tomorrow for tea, after classes have concluded for the day?”

Jiang Yanli nodded. “I’d like that.”

“And speaking of the classes, now that this matter is settled, I’ll walk you to the lecture hall.”

“I appreciate the offer, Nie-zongzhu, but I think we’ve probably already caused enough commotion for one day,” Jiang Yanli said.

Nie Mingjue realized that it was one thing to visit her guest house occasionally and quite another to walk with her to the classes where her fiancée was taking notes. He inwardly cursed himself for not thinking of that himself, but kept his cool, nodding and saying, “Of course. Until tomorrow, then.”

“Until tomorrow.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Nie Huaisang was bored.

Things were going so well, and he was uncomfortably aware that it had nothing to do with him. Lan Xichen had been gently easing Nie Mingjue along, with some assistance from Meng Yao. Every time Nie Huaisang had what he thought was a great idea, Lan Xichen just as gently told him that he was only going to do more harm than good.

Romance, he had decided, was extremely tedious. Just each side moving along a centimeter at a time while everyone around them got frustrated. And he was watching it on every front. Meng Yao smiling at the floor whenever Lan Xichen came into a room. Jiang Cheng’s cheeks flushing pink whenever he looked at Wen Qing. Even deeply oblivious Wei Wuxian, jogging along after Lan Wangji with exactly zero clue that Lan Wangji liked him and was mad about it.

Meanwhile, Nie Huaisang was left with the thoroughly unenviable task of reminding Jin Zixuan at frequent intervals that he was betrothed to Jiang Yanli, and wasn’t that great? He was going to marry her! He was going to be her husband! He had absolutely no choice in the matter!

On the other hand, watching Jin Zixuan develop a tic in his eyebrow was somewhat satisfying.

But they were running out of time! The lectures were only six weeks long, and they had just completed week four. How were they going to get Nie Mingjue and Jiang Yanli betrothed with only two weeks left?

“We’re not,” Meng Yao said, when Nie Huaisang posed this question to him, and Nie Huaisang whined in frustration. “The goal for the lectures is only to break the engagement between Jiang-guniang and Jin-gongzi, and that plan is coming along nicely.”

“Is it, though?” Nie Huaisang said, thinking of the angry flush on Jin Zixuan’s cheeks when Nie Huaisang had said after a lecture that he was so jealous of Jin Zixuan having such a lovely fiancée. The facial expression had been gratifying, but it wasn’t enough for Jin Zixuan to look annoyed. He had to say something or do something.

“Mm hm,” Meng Yao said, not reacting to Nie Huaisang’s dramatics. “Then the field is clear for zongzhu to court Jiang-guniang; he can declare his intention to do so after the appropriate period of time has passed. A betrothal would follow perhaps six to eight months later, and the wedding a year after that.”

“That’s too long!” Nie Huaisang protested. “Meng Yao! If da-ge isn’t married sooner than that – ”

“You’ll still be the sect heir, and you’ll still be expected to go to Gusu’s lectures next year,” Meng Yao said, with a hint of a smile. “Which you’ll be expected to do even if he’s married and has a child on the way already. I’ve told you multiple times that even if zongzhu married Jiang-guniang tomorrow, you’d still have to go to those lectures in Gusu.”

Nie Huaisang groaned and wondered why everyone was so mean to him.

“It won’t be so bad, will it?” Meng Yao asked, now smiling obviously. “You’ve made friends with the other young masters. What’s so awful about six months in Gusu?”

“Six months of lectures from the world’s most notoriously strict teacher, in a place where alcohol and running and speaking loudly are forbidden?” Nie Huaisang asked. “Doesn’t that sound awful to you?”

Of course it didn’t, he realized as soon as he spoke the words. Meng Yao would have given an arm to attend the prestigious Gusu Lan lectures, and doubtlessly would have had no issue obeying the stringent rules. His schedule was so full with actual work that there was no time for him to have fun; he wouldn’t miss it.

Instead of mentioning that, Meng Yao only said, “Some discipline will be good for you, Nie-gongzi.”

Nie Huaisang accepted that because it was hard not to after saying something so stupid out loud. He huffed away and decided to seek a more sympathetic audience. He found Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng practicing their sword forms and began to complain.

Jiang Cheng was never sympathetic to Nie Huaisang’s complaints, because he had said early on that he wasn’t going to get involved in this. He wasn’t interfering, at least, but didn’t want to get in trouble with his mother for having a hand in breaking off Jiang Yanli’s engagement. Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, said, “Oh! I’m glad you’re here, actually, because I had a great idea. Shijie’s birthday is in three days.”

“Oh?” Nie Huaisang asked, perking up. This sounded like a good opportunity for Nie Mingjue to give her something nice.

“Yeah. You said your brother’s actually a pretty good cook, right?” Wei Wuxian asked, and Nie Huaisang nodded. “Shijie won’t ask for anything herself, but maybe with Meng Yao’s help, we can get some special things for a birthday meal?”

Now that was romance, Nie Huaisang thought. There might be hope for Wei Wuxian yet. “Get me a list,” he said. “I’ll make sure it gets done.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Jiang Yanli could not help but shake her head, smiling, when the basket was delivered. It was so sweet of her brothers to have gone out of their way to order some special things to cook for her birthday. It was so similarly clueless of them to have not realized that everything she cooked for special occasions were their favorite things, not her own. Still, they had tried, she thought, and to assemble the ingredients could not have been easy. They had fresh lotus, which meant someone had had to travel a fair distance quite quickly. Nie Mingjue must have agreed to send one of his disciples on the sword to obtain it.

She had just finished unpacking the basket and organizing what had been in it when there was a knock on the door. She went to answer it and could not help but quickly check herself in the mirror, knowing it would be Nie Mingjue.

He greeted with her a smile and a bow and said, “Happy birthday, Jiang-guniang.”

“Thank you, Nie-zongzhu,” she said, standing back to let him in. “And thank you very much for the gift.”

Nie Mingjue frowned faintly. “I hadn’t given you your gift yet.”

“Oh?” Jiang Yanli was puzzled. “The food basket today came with some specialties; A-Xian said it was for my birthday. I figured they must have gotten help from you. I don’t know how he could have gotten fresh lotus otherwise. I know he wasn’t gone long enough to have gotten it.”

“Huh.” Nie Mingjue looked just as confused, then said, “Oh – that must be where Xichen went yesterday. He said he had an errand and then he was gone most of the day. Wei Wuxian must have asked for his help to get it for you.”

“Oh, I see.” Jiang Yanli made a mental note to thank Lan Xichen for his kindness later, but was still unsure of what exactly was happening. She had been so sure that it was Nie Mingjue, and now she was strangely disappointed that the thoughtful gift hadn’t been from him after all. Also, did Wei Wuxian really know Lan Xichen so well at this point that he would ask him to do them such a favor?

“What are you making?” Nie Mingjue asked.

The basket held ingredients for several dishes, so she listed them off, and was surprised to see Nie Mingjue frowning. “Is something wrong, Nie-zongzhu?”

“That will be a lot of work, won’t it?” Nie Mingjue said. “It’s your birthday. If they were going to get the ingredients for you, then they should be here to help with the cooking.”

Jiang Yanli could not help but laugh. “I appreciate the sentiment, but no. A-Cheng wouldn’t know how to do any of this, and A-Xian has tried to help me in the past and is now banned from the kitchen.”

Nie Mingjue gave a snort, then said, “Well, allow me to assist you, then.”

“Oh, that’s all right, you don’t have to – ”

Already moving to tie back his sleeves, Nie Mingjue said, “It’s no trouble at all. I enjoy cooking, and it isn’t fair that you would have to cook your own birthday dinner.”

Suddenly realizing why Lan Xichen had gone to get fresh lotus root, Jiang Yanli could only smile. “Well, if you insist, it would be rude to turn away your help.”

They got things sorted out, while Jiang Yanli told him in more detail about the recipes that they had the ingredients for. Nie Mingjue listened and asked a few questions, showing a level of skill and knowledge that she hadn’t expected from him. When she asked about how he had learned, he smiled slightly and said, “I learned from Huaisang’s mother, actually.”

“Oh?” Jiang Yanli was a little surprised. She had known, she thought, that Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang had different mothers, but realized she knew very little about the situation. “How old were you when your father married her?”

“I was six. My mother had died about two years before. I didn’t like her at first,” he added, laughing. “I think most young children dislike their parents remarrying. But she won me over. When Huaisang was born, I liked to help her take care of him. He was a fussy little toddler,” he added, and Jiang Yanli laughed, because she could very much picture that. “There were only a few things he would eat, and she taught me how to make them. Then . . .” His voice trailed off for a few moments as he cut the lotus. “She died when he was five. After that, he went through a phase where he would only eat things I cooked for him.”

“Poor little Nie-gongzi,” Jiang Yanli said. “And your poor father, as well.”

Nie Mingjue nodded. “He loved both our mothers dearly. He was never really the same after Huaisang’s died. He was killed only a few years later.”

Jiang Yanli could hear the unspoken words, the tragic tale of a man with a broken heart taking risks in battle until it killed him. “I’m so sorry, Nie-zongzhu.”

“It was a long time ago.” Nie Mingjue didn’t look up from what he was doing. “In any case, I quickly got bored of cooking the same three things for him and started encouraging him to try other things, so I learned quite a bit of cooking skill. What about you? Did you learn from your mother?”

“Oh, Heavens, no,” Jiang Yanli said, laughing as she peeled the ginger. “My mother has no time for this sort of thing. We have a housekeeper, and she taught me.”

It seemed that Nie Mingjue, too, could hear the unspoken words, that of a daughter only talented in ways her mother thought was a waste of time. “I think most people would agree that their lives would be much lesser without someone in them who could cook well. It’s not a skill that everyone has.”

Jiang Yanli smiled and nodded. “My brothers appreciate it very much.”

They turned the talk to food, different places they had been and things they had tried. Although Jiang Yanli was not as well-traveled as Nie Mingjue, she had visited most of the great sects with her father. He liked to have a traveling companion, and Yu Ziyuan often scorned such trips. She liked Yunmeng cuisine the best, of course, but had been to the coast once or twice and particularly liked the seafood dishes that they made there.

“Perhaps you can write down two or three Yunmeng recipes for me,” he said, and she agreed but gave him a questioning glance. “Ah – it’s a little silly, to be honest. But Meng Yao is originally from Yunmeng; that’s where his mother lived. Yunping City. I know that he misses Yunmeng sometimes, and thought perhaps occasionally having the cook make some authentic recipes would please him.”

Jiang Yanli almost swooned at the inherent thoughtfulness of the remark. “Meng-gongzi is truly lucky to have been taken into your service,” she said. “I don’t actually know much about how it happened . . . would you tell me the story?”

“Of course,” Nie Mingjue said, and explained how Meng Yao had come to Qinghe to seek a place in the Qinghe Nie after his father’s rejection. Jiang Yanli wondered why he had chosen Qinghe, if he was originally from Yunmeng, and figured he must have heard of Nie Mingjue’s reputation of being just and righteous. She felt a little sorry for Meng Yao, who must have been traumatized by the violent disregard he had experienced in Lanling.

As Nie Mingjue told the story of how Meng Yao had been bullied and how he had stepped in and promoted him, Jiang Yanli fought the urge to pull out a brush and write to her father and beg him right now to engage her to Nie Mingjue instead of Jin Zixuan. She could not help but mentally compare the situation back to Wei Wuxian, to Yu Ziyuan so frequently pointing out that he was just the son of a servant. “Meng-gongzi must be so grateful to you.”

Nie Mingjue nodded. “Though I know his father’s rejection still pains him.”

“I’m sure,” Jiang Yanli said. “I think we always crave the approval of our parents, even if, as in Meng-gongzi’s case, they’ve showed that they don’t recognize our merits.”

“As in Meng-gongzi’s case,” Nie Mingjue agreed, showing that he absolutely knew she wasn’t only talking about Meng Yao.

The water began to boil, and Jiang Yanli turned the discussion back to the recipes at hand.

About an hour later, her brothers returned, with Nie Huaisang in tow. “Ah, shijie, everything smells amazing!” Wei Wuxian said, beaming at her.

Jiang Yanli smiled at him and said, “Thank you, A-Xian. And thank you both for the gift. It was very thoughtful of you.”

From Wei Wuxian’s grin, she had a feeling that he knew she meant more than just the basket of ingredients.

~ ~ ~ ~

With one week of the lectures left, Nie Mingjue truly had no idea what was going to happen. He supposed that should trouble him more than it did. But in the end, he figured that if Lan Xichen and Meng Yao had teamed up to accomplish something, it was going to get done no matter what.

At least everything had gone well otherwise. The young masters seemed to have truly enjoyed the lectures. Meng Yao reported that overall the feedback had been extremely positive. They had done well by the Qinghe Nie, and that pleased him.

As he was heading into the courtyard of the Jiang guest house, he saw Wen Qing leaving. She saw him and bowed. “Nie-zongzhu.”

“Wen-guniang.” Nie Mingjue could not help but frown. “Is everything all right?”

“Jiang-guniang has a mild fever. It’s nothing to be particularly concerned about, but Jiang-gongzi mentioned it to me at class today so I came by with some medicine for her.”

Nie Mingjue nodded. “Your help is much appreciated, Wen-guniang.”

Wen Qing bowed again and left the pavilion. Nie Mingjue knocked gently, and heard a voice from inside tell him to come in, so he did so. Jiang Yanli was sitting in bed, with Wei Wuxian sitting beside her. As soon as Wei Wuxian saw Nie Mingjue, he jumped to his feet. “Ah, I just remembered, I’m supposed to be helping Jiang Cheng with, uh, that thing we talked about!” he said. He bowed to Nie Mingjue and hastily left the room.

Shaking his head, Nie Mingjue took the chair he had just been in and said, “How are you feeling?”

“Just a little tired, Nie-zongzhu,” Jiang Yanli said, her voice a bit softer than usual. “Please don’t be concerned. I had a cup of the medicinal tea Wen-guniang made me, and I’m sure I’ll be feeling better soon.”

“That’s good,” Nie Mingjue said, unable to hold back a bit of a scowl at being reminded that there were Wens in The Unclean Realm.

Clearly understanding, Jiang Yanli said, “She’s an excellent doctor and a good person, Nie-zongzhu. Please don’t be hard on her.”

“Why does everyone think I’m being hard on her?” Nie Mingjue grumbled. “This is the softest I’ve ever been on a Wen.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Jiang Yanli reached out and gently touched his wrist, and he was momentarily arrested by how soft the skin of her fingers was. “Nie-zongzhu, I know that you will never forgive Wen Ruohan for what he did to the Qinghe Nie, and I would never ask you to. Someday, I hope there is strength enough in the cultivation world to make him pay for his crimes. But there are good people in the Qishan Wen. They cannot all be held responsible for what their sect leader does. I don’t want to give away things that Wen-gongzi told A-Xian in confidence, but . . . it seems as though they are basically hostages, that Wen Ruohan depends on Wen-guniang’s medical skill and has threatened her entire family if she doesn’t comply. A-Cheng hopes very dearly that he may be able to help her get her family free so that she may come to Yunmeng with him. That is something that may take years . . . but I hope you will support us in it.”

Nie Mingjue sighed. “I understand, Jiang-guniang. I know politics isn’t my forte. Perhaps my way of thinking about things is somewhat black and white. Wen-guniang seems to be quite skilled, and I hope the Yunmeng Jiang is able to help her.”

Jiang Yanli smiled at him, and he supposed it was worth it to have had the Wens in The Unclean Realm, to see that look on her face. “I’ve worried about A-Cheng, you know . . . he takes everything so seriously. Thank you for that letter, by the way . . . I do think it helped him a great deal to read our father say such things.”

“Of course,” Nie Mingjue said. “I know what it’s like to worry about a younger brother, believe me . . . but I also understand how Jiang-gongzi feels. To have such a heavy weight on his shoulders. I will support him in any way I can, Jiang-guniang.”

“Thank you, Nie-zongzhu,” Jiang Yanli said, with a soft smile. “I am truly grateful. And for the record, I don’t think you need to worry about Nie-gongzi. I think he’s going to be just fine. It’s just that his definition of ‘fine’ may not match what the world expects of him. He is clever and has a good heart, and he cares for you and the sect very much. Let him walk his own path, Nie-zongzhu, and I think he will surprise all of us.”

“What a terrifying notion,” Nie Mingjue said, and they both laughed.

~ ~ ~ ~

With one week left before the end of the lectures, there was a lantern ceremony, and Nie Huaisang was excited for it. This sort of thing was much more in his wheelhouse; creating something beautiful. His lantern was considerably elaborate compared to the others. He was surprised to find that Wei Wuxian was actually a skilled artist, painting a rabbit on his own. For some reason, Lan Wangji seemed bewitched by this picture, staring at it with a soft smile that Nie Huaisang wouldn’t have believed if someone had tried to tell him about it.

Before the lantern ceremony, Lan Xichen had told Nie Huaisang exactly what to say, which annoyed him somewhat. He could have figured it out on his own, he said. But he had to admit that Lan Xichen’s were considerably more tactful than what he had planned, while still achieving the same effect.

So after they had all set their lanterns to the sky, Nie Huaisang turned to Jiang Yanli and said, with a smile, “What did you wish for, Jiang-guniang? Was it for a happy marriage?”

Like clockwork, his unwitting partner in crime, Luo Qingyang, chimed in. “She wouldn’t need to wish for such a thing! She’s betrothed to Jin-gongzi, after all – surely she couldn’t wish for anything better!”

“Oh, of course!” Nie Huaisang said, as if he had forgotten. “Jin-gongzi, with your wife already chosen and such a life ahead of you, you must not have had anything to wish for at all!”

Jin Zixuan flushed dark pink, and with an angry flap of his sleeve, snapped, “I didn’t choose this!”

It wasn’t exactly the condemnation of Jiang Yanli and everything she stood for that Nie Huaisang had hoped he would get, but it was more than enough for Wei Wuxian to push his way through the crowd and demand, “What the hell does that mean? Is my shijie not good enough for you to choose? Is that what you’re saying?”

“It means exactly what I said,” Jin Zixuan retorted.

“So given the choice, you wouldn’t marry her?” Wei Wuxian asked. “What’s so wrong with marrying her?”

“A-Xian, please, it’s fine – ” Jiang Yanli said hastily.

“It’s not fine,” Wei Wuxian replied. “Ever since we’ve gotten here, he’s looked down at you and treated you like you’re beneath him!”

“What do you know about it?” Jin Zixuan asked. “You get to do whatever you want! You didn’t have your whole future given away to someone you don’t want!”

Wei Wuxian punched him in the face, and things immediately devolved into a brawl. Nie Huaisang stood back and watched, enjoying the results of five weeks of hard work. Jiang Cheng and, surprisingly, Lan Wangji, immediately moved to break up the fight, dragging Wei Wuxian backwards. Even so, Jin Zixuan had an impressively split lip and what was likely to be significant bruises. Nie Huaisang could see the scraped skin on Wei Wuxian’s knuckles.

“A-Xian!” Jiang Yanli protested, clearly distressed, as he tried to tear himself free from Lan Wangji and resume beating the crap out of Jin Zixuan.

“Don’t stop me, Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian shouted, as Lan Wangji got a better grip on him. “I’m going to teach him a lesson for his disrespect!”

“A-Xian, stop!” Jiang Yanli said, getting between Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixuan. Gentling her tone, she repeated, “Stop. You’ve done enough.”

Jin Zixuan angrily wiped blood off his chin and flounced away. The rest of his entourage hastily followed, with Luo Qingyang casting an apologetic look backwards.

“Well,” Nie Huaisang said cheerfully, “guess I’ll go tell da-ge what happened. I’m sure he’ll deal with it.”

Jiang Yanli gave a quiet sigh and shook her head at him, but didn’t argue. She sat down while Jiang Cheng squeezed her shoulder and tried to comfort her, and Wei Wuxian continued to argue with Lan Wangji about why he had felt it was necessary to intervene. Nie Huaisang had only taken a dozen steps down the path when he saw his brother, along with Lan Xichen and Meng Yao, coming up it. He couldn’t help but grin and wave. Although he doubted Nie Mingjue had known exactly what was going to happen, Lan Xichen had clearly had him on standby.

Wei Wuxian was still spitting mad, and his account of things was prone to exaggeration. Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang had to quickly step in and make clear that yes, Jin Zixuan had indeed been disrespectful, but he hadn’t insulted Jiang Yanli as much as Wei Wuxian was making it sound like. Nie Mingjue just shook his head and told all the young masters to go back to their guest houses. He would write to Jin Guangshan and Jiang Fengmian to let them know what had happened.

It wasn’t really the spectacular blowup that Nie Huaisang had hoped for, but he reminded himself, as Meng Yao had reminded him repeatedly, that this had to be done properly, if they wanted it to stick. That meant the two sect leaders had to be the ones to make the final decision. Jin Zixuan being disrespectful and Wei Wuxian giving him his well-deserved thrashing didn’t mean the engagement was called off unless Jin Guangshan and Jiang Fengmian decided it did.

Still, it was finally forward progress, so Nie Huaisang ended the night feeling fairly pleased with himself.

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Mingjue was glad to see that both Jin Guangshan and Jiang Fengmian took the situation seriously enough to arrive in The Unclean Realm after only two days of time. Since then, Jin Zixuan had been sulking in his guest house, and Wei Wuxian had been ill-advisedly proud of himself for kicking Jin Zixuan’s ass. Nie Mingjue had spoken briefly to Jiang Yanli, and she was resigned to what would happen next. “The two sect leaders will decide, and I will have no say in it,” she said.

“Then tell me what you want, frankly, and I will speak up for you,” Nie Mingjue said, despite knowing this was wholly inappropriate.

Eyes cast downward, Jiang Yanli murmured, “I do not wish to marry a man who does not respect me.”

That could mean two things, of course. It could mean that she didn’t want to marry Jin Zixuan, or it could mean that she wanted Jin Zixuan to respect her. But it also allowed Nie Mingjue to argue on her behalf without it looking as if he was insulting the Lanling Jin, which he knew was going to be a fine line to walk – and a difficult one. Lan Xichen and Meng Yao had been going over what he could and couldn’t say for days.

So it was with strained diplomacy that he greeted both sect leaders. Although Lan Xichen could not be present, as this did not involve the Lan sect, Meng Yao was. He had tried to argue that his presence would only annoy Jin Guangshan, but Nie Mingjue insisted. Meng Yao was his assistant, responsible for taking his orders and carrying them out. Jin Guangshan would have to get used to that at some point.

It was possible, Nie Mingjue thought, that he was purposely making Jin Guangshan uncomfortable because he thought he was a terrible father. But nobody else had to know that.

He gave a brief summary of events, making sure to go back far enough for there to be context, starting with Jin Zixuan’s behavior at the inn. Once or twice, he asked Meng Yao to ‘help him recall the details’, just to remind Jin Guangshan that he was there. When he got to the incident that had happened after the lantern ceremony, Jiang Fengmian stiffened. The tension in his shoulders wasn’t obvious, but it was there.

After that, Nie Mingjue just had to wait it out while Jiang Fengmian politely told Jin Guangshan that there was no way his daughter would be marrying a spoiled, disrespectful brat. Jin Guangshan argued a bit, but it was clear he didn’t care too much about the result. He agreed to that quickly enough, then said, “When I saw Zixuan, his injuries were plentiful. Nie-zongzhu, I assume that Wei Wuxian has been punished for this?”

Nie Mingjue’s eyebrows went up. “There’s no rule against fighting in The Unclean Realm,” he said. “This isn’t Cloud Recesses.”

“Even so, to attack Zixuan the way he did – ”

“Jin-gongzi disrespected his shijie. His reaction was reasonable. Defense of his shijie’s honor and character would only be expected, and in my opinion, should be commended.”

Jin Guangshan’s mouth tightened, but he still managed to give that patronizing smile. “It seems to me that Zixuan must have been provoked before he spoke those words. He was out of line, surely, and I respect Jiang-zongzhu’s decision to withdraw his daughter from the betrothal. But I’ve spoken to Zixuan, and he’s adamant that he was goaded into such poor behavior.”

“Goaded?” Nie Mingjue did his best not to sound skeptical. “How so?”

“Ever since he got here, he’s been bullied about his engagement! He said that it was brought up around him constantly.”

Nie Mingjue could not help but narrow his eyes. “I attended enough of the lectures and activities to know that yes, it was frequently mentioned, but always in a congratulatory manner. If he was that upset about being engaged to her that he considered it being mentioned to him offensive, then he should have asked you for it to be called off a long time ago. I don’t see how that has anything to do with me.”

“Do you not?” Jin Guangshan asked. “You don’t see any reason that someone here might want to persuade the Qinghe Nie to disrespect the Lanling Jin? To cause a rift between the two sects?”

Nie Mingjue glanced at Meng Yao. He had been standing silently, and he didn’t react in any way to what Jin Guangshan was saying. “As you requested, Jin-zongzhu, I kept Meng Yao from interacting much with the attending young masters. I wasn’t planning on involving him anyway; he does important, valuable work for my sect. I don’t see how he could possibly have been responsible for this. Additionally,” he said, seeing that Jin Guangshan was about to say something else obnoxious, “I don’t see how the Qinghe Nie disrespected the Lanling Jin, or why it might cause a rift. This is clearly a matter between the Jin and the Jiang, which is why I called you both here.”

“It was your younger brother who continuously brought up the engagement,” Jin Guangshan said.

“Huaisang was congratulating Jin-gongzi for what he saw as a good thing. He respects Jiang-guniang greatly – as do I,” Nie Mingjue added. “He felt Jin-gongzi had good fortune for being betrothed to her, and mentioned it at appropriate occasions. Again, if that upset Jin-gongzi, he should have told you about his dissatisfaction with the engagement. Or he could have told me to ask Huaisang to stop bringing it up. He did neither of these things, choosing instead to insult Jiang-guniang in front of all the other sects. If you truly believe that Huaisang was responsible for his behavior, then we’ll have to agree to disagree on the subject. Frankly, I find it disconcerting that Jin-gongzi is attempting to shift the blame for this incident off of himself and onto someone else.”

Jin Guangshan clearly didn’t agree with any of this, and to be fair, he was at least partially correct. Nie Huaisang had been goading Jin Zixuan, but thanks to Lan Xichen’s intervention, he had always been appropriate about it. There was really nothing Jin Guangshan could complain about, no matter how much he wanted to. “I’ll speak to him about his behavior.”

“I appreciate that,” Nie Mingjue said.

“I’ll speak to A-Xian,” Jiang Fengmian chimed in. “Even though he was defending A-Li, there was no need for such violence. He owes Jin-gongzi an apology.”

Somewhat mollified, Jin Guangshan nodded, and left the room with the same disdainful flap of his sleeve that his son had apparently learned from him.

Jiang Fengmian watched him go, then smiled at Nie Mingjue and said, “If you don’t mind my asking, was there a particular reason that your brother was – politely – goading Jin-gongzi?”

Nie Mingjue took a deep breath. It was too early to become betrothed to Jiang Yanli, but he wasn’t to say this now, before anything else happened. “I heard about the incident at the inn in Yueyang when everyone arrived, and it disturbed me. Jiang-zongzhu, your daughter is kind, intelligent, and even-tempered. She deserves better than a husband who does not respect her, who faults her for what she does not possess rather than admiring her for that which she does.”

That made Jiang Fengmian smile. “Well said, Nie-zongzhu. I’ll keep your words in mind.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Jiang Yanli thought that she should probably feel something at the news that her father and Jin Guangshan had agreed to call off the engagement. Certainly Jiang Fengmian was concerned that she would be upset, telling her repeatedly not to worry, that he would make sure she found a good husband. Jiang Yanli couldn’t exactly give him suggestions, given that she had only been un-betrothed for an hour, so she smiled and nodded and said she would be fine. Wei Wuxian, meanwhile, asked if he thought Yu Ziyuan would be upset. Jiang Fengmian told him that it wasn’t his problem if Yu Ziyuan was upset; that was something he would have to deal with. The decision to end the betrothal was his and his alone. Jiang Yanli was sure that her mother would blame it on Wei Wuxian the instant Jiang Fengmian wasn’t looking, but they would have to deal with that as it came.

There were only a few days of the lectures left, so Jiang Fengmian had decided to stay at The Unclean Realm and then travel together with them. Jiang Cheng began, somewhat hesitantly, telling him about all the things they had learned. Jiang Fengmian listened in interest, and Wei Wuxian contributed enthusiastically. Jiang Cheng elbowed him a few times, but wasn’t truly bothered. Jiang Yanli could tell that he was a little uncertain around their father, not really knowing how to act after reading what Jiang Fengmian had put in the letter to Nie Mingjue. She hoped he would accept it more as time went by.

Naturally, Jiang Fengmian was proud of them for everything they had learned. Wei Wuxian lost no time in pointing out that, although Jiang Yanli’s romance had not gone well, Jiang Cheng was doing just fine. That made Jiang Fengmian laugh, and he asked, “And who is the lucky lady?”

His smile faded slightly when Jiang Cheng told him that it was Wen Qing, which made Jiang Cheng anxiously say, “I know that the Qishan Wen are – not a sect we want an alliance with. But she’s different from the others. She’s a doctor, and she has a younger brother she looks after because he has a poor constitution, and she’s just – genuinely, she’s a good person.”

Jiang Fengmian sighed. Generally speaking, he preferred that the Qishan Wen not remember their existence, which Jiang Yanli understood very well. But it was more than that, and he said, “It’s not that I think she might not be suitable for you because of her family. It’s more that I would worry it would offend the other sects, particularly the Qinghe Nie. I’m surprised that Nie Mingjue allowed them here for the lectures, to be honest, although I suppose he couldn’t really stop them.”

“Nie-zongzhu is aware of Wen-guniang’s difficulties within her own sect,” Jiang Yanli said. “We’ve spoken about it, especially about how skilled she is as a doctor and how much she’s helped me. I don’t believe he’ll object. He holds deep hatred for Wen Ruohan, but he is a just and righteous man.”

For some reason she wasn’t quite sure of, that made Jiang Fengmian smile. “Yes, he is,” he said, patting her wrist. “And you, A-Xian? Did you court any lovely young ladies while you were here?”

“Nope!” Wei Wuxian said. “It’s like I told shijie – I don’t want to get married. I’m going to stay at Lotus Pier and be Jiang Cheng’s right-hand man.”

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes so hard that Jiang Yanli was concerned he might sprain something, then said, “I guess we’ll see what you think after next year’s lectures in Cloud Recesses.”

“Ugh!” Wei Wuxian said, with a full-body shudder. “I don’t want to go to those anymore, Jiang-shushu. I’ve heard all about Cloud Recesses – they don’t allow alcohol, or talking too loudly, or running, or anything fun at all! I’ll stay home.”

Chuckling, Jiang Fengmian said, “It would be an insult to the Gusu Lan if I didn’t send you, A-Xian.”

“But six whole months?” Wei Wuxian protested. “You can’t possibly expect me to behave for that long,” he added, with an impish grin.

“Oh, I don’t,” Jiang Fengmian said. “I’m sure Lan Qiren will punish you regularly and severely.”

“Ah, Jiang-shushu!” Wei Wuxian protested, while Jiang Cheng laughed. Sulking, Wei Wuxian said, “Shijie, you’ll protect me, won’t you?”

“Of course, A-Xian,” she said, tapping his nose.

Jiang Fengmian smiled and said, “I’ve missed the three of you. It’s too quiet around Lotus Pier when you’re not there. In any case, A-Cheng, why don’t you ask Wen-guniang if she might like to come to visit over the winter? Yunmeng’s climate is milder than Qishan’s; if her brother is sickly, he might benefit from a visit.”

Looking over the moon, Jiang Cheng nodded eagerly. “Thanks, Dad . . . I’ll talk to her before the end of the lectures.”

“Will you? Are you sure?” Wei Wuxian teased. “You won’t just blush in her general direction?”

“I’ll ask her,” Jiang Cheng said, but he flushed a deep pink.

Clearly not believing him, Wei Wuxian said, “How about I do it for you?”

With a scowl, Jiang Cheng said, “I don’t need you to do that.”

“Uh huh,” Wei Wuxian said. “We’ll see.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Wei Wuxian was, perhaps, a little too proud of himself.

Okay, things hadn’t worked out perfectly. He was almost certain to be in a world of trouble with Yu Ziyuan as soon as he got back to Lotus Pier. It seemed like there might be some trouble between Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangshan, although to be fair he felt like that had more to do with Meng Yao than with Jin Zixuan. 

Even so, from his perspective, these lectures had been an absolute win. He had made some great friends. Jiang Yanli was no longer engaged to an obnoxious, disrespectful peacock. Jiang Cheng had gained a little bit of confidence in himself and had met his future wife. 

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan!” he shouted, waving madly as he jogged over to where Lan Wangji was standing with his brother. Well, not with his brother. Lan Xichen was making his farewells to the Nie sect. Specifically, he was making his farewell to Meng Yao, and it looked like it was turning into something prolonged. “You should come visit us in the fall - Yunmeng’s autumn festival is the best in the world!”

Staring straight ahead, Lan Wangji said, “To listen to you, everything in Yunmeng is the best in the world.”

“Haha, that’s true,” Wei Wuxian said cheerfully. “I’m biased; I admit it. But you should still come to visit.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, which wasn’t much of an answer.

Fortunately, Lan Xichen overheard, and he turned towards them with a slight smile. “That seems like an excellent idea, Wei-gongzi. I’m sure Wangji would love to visit. He’s never been to Yunmeng before. And if for whatever reason it doesn’t work out, then I’m sure we’ll see you at the lectures in Gusu next year.”

“The lectures that Nie-xiong is so afraid of?” Wei Wuxian asked, laughing. “I’m looking forward to them.”

“Hey, I’m not afraid of them!” Nie Huaisang protested, having overheard from where he was standing by his brother to say goodbye to the departing masters. “I just don’t want to go to them. It’s entirely different.”

“Don’t worry, Nie-gongzi,” Lan Xichen said, still with that gentle smile. “I’m sure that A-Yao will help you get through them.”

Meng Yao looked up, his face a combination of surprise and uncertainty. “Zewu-Jun . . .”

“You will be attending, won’t you?” Lan Xichen asked. “I’m sure you would have a lot to gain from my uncle’s lectures. I know that you’re unfortunately missing some of the foundational education a cultivator needs, and Cloud Recesses would be an excellent place for you to learn. What do you think, Mingjue-xiong?”

Meng Yao looked at Nie Mingjue with the same expression that Wei Wuxian associated with children who were about to start begging their parents for something. Nie Mingjue said, “I don’t see any reason you shouldn’t attend, Meng Yao. You can help keep Huaisang in line and make sure he doesn’t goof off the whole time.”

“Thank you, zongzhu!” Meng Yao said, bowing low. Then he turned and bowed to Lan Xichen, who caught his elbows to keep him from bending himself in half. “Thank you, Zewu-Jun.”

Nie Huaisang proceeded to whine until everyone ignored him, and Wei Wuxian continued to pester Lan Wangji about coming to visit and how he was going to write until they saw each other again, right? The only thing that shut him up was when the Jiangs came over to bid their farewells. Jiang Cheng and Jiang Fengmian both bowed to Nie Mingjue and thanked him for everything. Jiang Yanli bowed as well, and she and Nie Mingjue stared at each other for several seconds before Jiang Fengmian cleared his throat and began to usher them away.

“Bye, Nie-xiong, Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian shouted, as Jiang Cheng grabbed him by the elbow. “I’ll see you soon!”

“You’re embarrassing,” Jiang Cheng hissed, dragging him away.

“What? Why?” Wei Wuxian laughed. “Did you manage to ask Wen Qing to visit?”

“I’ll have you know that I did, and she said she would have to talk to her uncle about it.”

“Then she didn’t say no!” Wei Wuxian was immediately excited. “She wants to come! That’s great! I invited Wen Ning - ”

“Why?! I told you that you didn’t have to, that I was going to talk to Wen-guniang - ”

“Yeah, but what if you didn’t?” Unbothered, Wei Wuxian continued, “Anyway, he said that they will. I’m sure Wen-zongzhu will say yes; there’s really no reason for him not to. You’d better write to her, though. You don’t want her to forget about you - ”

“Will you please stop talking - ”

Jiang Fengmian chuckled. “Come on, everybody. We’ve got a long journey in front of us, so let’s get going.”

The trip home was enjoyable, but Wei Wuxian wasn’t surprised when their homecoming was less so. Although many of the disciples greeted them eagerly, and he was glad to see his friends, Yu Ziyuan emerged almost immediately and said to Wei Wuxian, “So, you ruined A-Li’s future the way you ruin everything.”

Wei Wuxian cringed, but reminded himself that he had known Yu Ziyuan was going to be angry and had made a conscious decision that it was worth it. Before he could say anything, Jiang Fengmian intervened. “My lady, we should discuss this privately.”

“Why? Were they not there when it occurred? It doesn’t look like it was done privately, so why should it be discussed privately?” Her mouth puckered as if she had tasted something sour, Yu Ziyuan continued, “It wasn’t enough that you ruined the engagement; you had to humiliate the Yunmeng Jiang in front of all the other great sects - ”

“Mom, it wasn’t like that,” Jiang Cheng protested. Wei Wuxian was happy that Jiang Cheng was trying to protect him, but couldn’t help but wince, knowing what was coming next. “Wei Wuxian was just - ”

“Just what? Trying to insult the heir to the Lanling Jin in front of everybody? Trying to embarrass me as the lady of Lotus Pier?”

“That’s enough,” Jiang Fengmian said. “Jin-gongzi was disrespectful to A-Li many times over the course of their stay in The Unclean Realm. I got all the details from Nie-zongzhu. The decision to end the engagement was mine, based on his behavior. It has nothing to do with A-Xian.”

“Of course you would say that,” Yu Ziyuan scoffed. “We all know how much you favor him. You would let him get away with disrespecting both our sects - ”

Wei Wuxian stood quietly with his head down while Yu Ziyuan raked him over the coals and Jiang Fengmian ineffectually tried to stop her. As it always did, it quickly dissolved into the old grievances over Jiang Fengmian’s general behavior towards his sons and how Yu Ziyuan disapproved of it. Finally, she stormed off, and he followed her to continue the argument, like he always did.

Jiang Yanli smiled and reached out to gently squeeze Wei Wuxian’s forearm, then pat Jiang Cheng on the shoulder. “Aren’t you two going to help me carry my things inside?”

“Of course, a-jie,” Jiang Cheng said. “Then we should go see what the juniors are up to.”

Wei Wuxian nodded and found that he was smiling, too. No matter what else happened, it was good to be home.

~ ~ ~ ~

“So what’s next?” Nie Huaisang asked.

Meng Yao didn’t twitch or miss a stroke of his calligraphy despite Nie Huaisang having barged into his office without invitation. “I’m going to finish writing this report on the outer wall’s inspection for Nie-zongzhu. Why do you ask?”

“Meng Yao!” Nie Huaisang groaned. “Don’t be obtuse! It’s been a week since everyone left. Surely we should be doing something! We don’t want to let Jiang-guniang forget about how wonderful da-ge is!”

“That’s true,” Meng Yao said, still not looking up. “But I don’t see how that has anything to do with you.”

“Shouldn’t he write to her?” Nie Huaisang asked.

“Yes,” Meng Yao said.

“But are we going to let him do it unsupervised?” Nie Huaisang asked, appalled.

“As opposed to?” Meng Yao was amused. “Do you think I should write the letters for him, Nie-gongzi? As if Jiang-guniang wouldn’t immediately see through that? Or should I check to make sure he isn’t saying something offensive? That might be true, but yet again, has nothing to do with you. Are you afraid he’s going to forget? I assure you that he won’t.”

Nie Huaisang wondered why Meng Yao had to be so mean to him. He knew his chance of getting out of the lectures in Gusu had all but evaporated once Meng Yao had been invited. Meng Yao would sacrifice an arm and a leg to get to go to those lectures. He would almost certainly sacrifice one of Nie Huaisang’s arms or legs as well, if it was required. 

Since winning was out of the question, he decided to settle for a draw. “And what about you? Are you going to write to Zewu-Jun?”

At this, Meng Yao’s hand did twitch slightly. “I don’t see how that’s your business.”

Nie Huaisang grinned. “So you’ve already written to him, then? What did the letter say?”

Meng Yao did not deign to reply.

“Is this why Xichen-ge was actually so eager to help us?” Nie Huaisang mused. “Did he want to find a wife for da-ge who could help him, because he intends to spirit you away to Cloud Recesses?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Nie-gongzi,” Meng Yao said, his cheeks flushed faintly pink.

“It all makes sense now!” Nie Huaisang said, grinning. “I kept wondering why Xichen-ge got so invested! Riding the sword all day to get fresh lotus and everything! He needs to find da-ge a wife so when he steals you, da-ge won’t be left bereft and helpless!”

Meng Yao sighed. “You do know that zongzhu was an esteemed sect leader for years before ever meeting me, correct? I don’t think the loss would impact him as much as you’re predicting.”

“So you do intend to be stolen!” Nie Huaisang teased. “Well, of course, who wouldn’t? Xichen-ge is first ranked among the young masters!”

“You’re being silly,” Meng Yao said, looking back at his stack of papers.

Unbothered by this proclamation, Nie Huaisang made a mental note to remind his brother to write to Jiang Yanli, just in case, and went to feed his birds.

It would have been nice, he supposed, if things could have continued on like that. Nie Mingjue did write to Jiang Yanli, several times, and Nie Huaisang exchanged letters with Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng. Things were going well at Lotus Pier. Jiang Yanli always blushed and looked happy when she got a letter from Nie Mingjue. Once the dust settled from the betrothal with Jin Zixuan being called off, they would be able to move forward from there.

But then, just as summer was winding into autumn and Nie Huaisang was thinking that they might be able to make their move soon, they got a completely different sort of invitation. This one was from the Qishan Wen.

“Indoctrination!” Nie Mingjue raged, stalking back and forth across the sword hall. “They don’t even have the decency to call them lectures! They’re basically just demanding that all the great sects hand over a hostage!”

“I don’t see what the purpose of hostages would be,” Meng Yao said, calm in counterpoint to Nie Mingjue’s fury. “They’re just throwing their weight around. Wen Ruohan is probably annoyed that our lectures went so successfully, and he wants to show off. He knows none of the sects would dare say no. I’ll make a list of a half-dozen disciples to send, for you to approve.”

“Wait, you’re actually going to make me go?” Nie Huaisang was alarmed. This was even worse than the lectures in Cloud Recesses! Who knew what the Qishan Wen would force them to do? “Da-ge!”

“We don’t have much of a choice,” Nie Mingjue growled. “Just keep your head down. Hopefully it’ll only be a few weeks.”

“But da-ge!”

“Don’t ‘but da-ge’ me!” Nie Mingjue retorted. “Do you think I’m sending you because I want to? Like Meng Yao said, we don’t dare say no. You’ll just have to grit your teeth and get through it.”

Nie Huaisang was geared up to continue to protest, but he saw Meng Yao shake his head slightly, and pouted instead. He knew they were both right. Obviously his brother wouldn’t send him to Qishan if he felt he had any choice in the matter. But that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. “Do you think the other sects will send disciples as well?”

Meng Yao looked thoughtful. “The Lanling Jin will. Jin Guangshan has a longstanding friendship with Wen Ruohan, so there’s no reason he wouldn’t. I’m fairly certain the Yunmeng Jiang will as well. They would prefer not to make enemies out of the Qishan Wen, especially with Jiang-gongzi courting Wen-guniang. Zewu-Jun . . . he won’t want to, but like the rest of us, there’s very little room to object, so I assume he will as well.”

With a sigh, Nie Huaisang said, “At least I’ll have friends there, then.”

Nie Mingjue nodded. “Try to stay out of trouble.”

“Trust me, da-ge, I will do my best.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Under some circumstances, Wei Wuxian felt like he wouldn’t mind a trip to Qishan. After all, Jiang Cheng’s hopefully-future-wife was there. His friend Wen Ning was there. Surely there were other people in the Qishan Wen that he could make friends with. A trip to Qishan was something he might have enjoyed, if it hadn’t been Wen Ruohan demanding that a group of disciples from the Yunmeng Jiang attend ‘indoctrination’. Wei Wuxian had absolutely no desire to be indoctrinated - if such a thing was even possible, Jiang Cheng remarked dryly.

Not only that, but for some reason Yu Ziyuan was pissed about the whole thing. The Qishan Wen had no right to make such a demand. Although it seemed likely that they were somehow targeting the Qinghe Nie, they had no right to disrespect the other great sects in such a way. She interrogated Wei Wuxian on every interaction he had had with the Wen siblings in The Unclean Realm, determined to find a way it was somehow his fault. Not finding one only made her more aggravated. When Wei Wuxian had said he would go with Jiang Cheng, she had snapped at him about the fact that nobody cared what the son of a servant did.

After the last few months, it felt like being dropped into a cold bath. Things had been going well. Jiang Yanli received letters from Nie Mingjue and was always obviously happy to receive one. Wei Wuxian wrote to all his new friends, and once Lan Wangji even wrote back, although it was only to admonish him for telling ridiculous stories.

But things couldn’t go well forever, he supposed. He could only hope that this wouldn’t be as bad as he feared it might be.

The journey wasn’t as much fun as the recent ones had been. Jiang Yanli stayed in Yunmeng, for which Wei Wuxian was deeply grateful. They had half a dozen disciples with them, and everyone was tense. Going to The Unclean Realm had been exciting; the Nie and the Jiang sect were longtime allies. But the Qishan Wen, looming over all the sects, were nobody’s friends. Wei Wuxian thought about some of the things Wen Ning had told him about Nightless City, and he knew that even a small step out of line could be disastrous.

He was hoping that Wen Ning or Wen Qing would be there to greet them, but neither of them were. Instead, they were greeted by Wen Ruohan’s second son, Wen Chao. Wei Wuxian immediately hated his guts as he sneered at the Yunmeng Jiang disciples and cast aspersions about their skill and their character, saying that the Qishan Wen’s indoctrination would ‘fix them up correctly’. Wei Wuxian thought about cramming his sword up Wen Chao’s nose, but managed, with admirable self-control, not to say anything.

The guest house was nice, but when Wei Wuxian tried to leave it - thinking he would go find Wen Qing and Wen Ning to say hello - he realized there was a guard on it. The guard informed them that they would not be allowed to roam the city. Wei Wuxian was offended, and told him so, before Jiang Cheng dragged him back into the house.

“This is bullshit,” he fumed.

“I know it’s bullshit! But we can’t afford to offend Wen Ruohan so we have to put up with it. Just keep your mouth shut for once in your life.”

Wei Wuxian sulked. He watched the people moving around in the courtyard, and saw a few of the other sects arrive. Despite himself, his nose wrinkled when he saw the gold of the Lanling Jin. Just perfect; he would have to put up with Jin Zixuan on top of everything else. He also saw Nie Huaisang, and waved at him, but Nie Huaisang was preoccupied with something (probably, from the looks of it, whining about having to be there) and didn’t notice.

“What are you staring at?” Jiang Cheng demanded.

“I don’t see Lan Zhan anywhere,” Wei Wuxian said.

Jiang Cheng shrugged. “They probably got here before us and he’s already in his own guest house. You know how the Gusu Lan are about punctuality.”

That was a good point, so Wei Wuxian nodded and relaxed, and went back to sulking about the affair in general. 

But the next day, when they were all lined up at the bottom of an enormous staircase made of light gray stone and Wen Chao was bragging in their direction, he still didn’t see Lan Wangji, or any members of the Gusu Lan at all. That surprised him. He couldn’t imagine that the Gusu Lan wouldn’t have been invited, or that they would have declined the invitation. They all knew what Wen Ruohan was doing; even the great sects wouldn’t dare insult him by saying they didn’t want to attend. Someone should have been there from the Gusu Lan.

“Do you know where Lan Zhan is?” he whispered to Nie Huaisang, who shook his head, looking similarly worried.

Jiang Cheng hissed at him to be quiet before they got in trouble.

Wei Wuxian tried to obey, but the unanswered questions were gnawing at his brain in a way that made him fidgety. He wasn’t really paying attention as Wen Chao droned on and on about the glory of the Qishan Wen and how much they would all doubtlessly improve as cultivators and people after their stay there. Nearly an hour had gone by before one of the Wen disciples jogged up to the first platform on the steps and said something quietly in Wen Chao’s ear. Wen Chao smirked and said, loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Bring him in, then.”

A few moments later, Wei Wuxian heard footsteps behind them, and he half-turned to see Lan Wangji. His face was totally blank of expression as he walked forward to take his place with the other disciples, but there was a tightness to the corners of his mouth that Wei Wuxian didn’t like at all. It looked like he was in pain. And he was alone, too - there were no disciples with him. He also had two guards from the Qishan Wen escorting him, as if he might try to escape.

“Lan Zhan, are you okay?” Wei Wuxian asked, and Lan Wangji continued to stare straight ahead, without even looking in Wei Wuxian’s direction to acknowledge that he had heard.

“Now that the great Lan-er-gongzi has finally joined us, we can begin!” Wen Chao said with a smirk, and decided to open the festivities by taking their swords, which made Wei Wuxian want to rebel on general principle. He was sure that Lan Wangji was going to refuse, but he didn’t, silently handing Bichen over to the Wen disciples. It was Jin Zixuan who protested, and although Wei Wuxian couldn’t approve of his snootiness, he had to admit that Jin Zixuan had a point. He was about to speak up in support of him - something he would never have believed would happen - but Luo Qingyang hastily intervened, reminding him that his father had said not to make a fuss. Wei Wuxian sulked, and Jiang Cheng gave him a look which clearly said he would be in big trouble if he didn’t do as he was told, so he did.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian hissed, as Wen Chao went back to telling them about how they were all going to memorize the Quintessence of Wen and have to recite it. That was some petty bullshit, Wei Wuxian thought. Being forced to recite the Wen sect’s principles as if they were children. But he was much too worried about Lan Wangji for it to actually register.

When Wen Chao was finally finished grandstanding and let them go for the day, Lan Wangji turned and headed out of the courtyard without a word. Wei Wuxian knew he wouldn’t catch up, so he snagged Nie Huaisang’s sleeve instead, to ask if he knew what had happened. But Nie Huaisang didn’t know any more than he did.

Wei Wuxian spent a fretful evening trying to figure out how he might sneak out of the guest house to go find Lan Wangji and make sure he was all right, or maybe visit Wen Qing and Wen Ning to see if they knew what was going on. Neither of those things came to pass, mostly because Jiang Cheng threatened him, and Wei Wuxian knew deep down that he was correct. No matter what had happened to Lan Wangji, they couldn’t afford to make a fuss about it.

Or at least that was what he told himself, until Wen Chao started to demand they recite the Quintessence of Wen. Wei Wuxian had read it, and found it surprisingly righteous and agreeable. But he wasn’t about to recite it like a school child for this asshole. Instead, after Lan Wangji refused (unsurprisingly) and Jin Zixuan refused (intriguingly), Wei Wuxian eagerly volunteered and began to recite the Lan disciplines instead.

Naturally, Wen Chao flew into a rage, and although Wei Wuxian wasn’t happy about being punished by having to carry manure, it was worth it for that momentary expression on Lan Wangji’s face. The expression of realizing that, despite whatever had happened, he wasn’t alone here.

“How do you even know the Lan disciplines by heart?” Jiang Cheng demanded in an undertone.

Wei Wuxian laughed. “I had to copy them out a bunch of times after I got Lan Zhan drunk, remember? I could hardly forget them now.”

Next to him, Lan Wangji’s mouth twitched, but he said nothing.

It wasn’t until they were actually in the fields that Wei Wuxian tried to get him to talk again. “Lan Zhan, why are you here alone? Did Zewu-Jun not want to send any other disciples? And why were you late?”

“No talking!” the guard supervising snapped at them.

Wei Wuxian lowered his voice but didn’t let the issue go. “You look like you’re in pain - are you injured? Maybe I could find Wen Qing - I’m sure she would treat you - ”

“Be quiet,” Lan Wangji said, his voice harsh. “You are going to get both of us in trouble.”

“Ah, but Lan Zhan - ”

“Quiet!” the guard shouted, and there was the snap of a whip. Wei Wuxian hissed in pain as it wrapped around him and threw him to the ground.

Lan Wangji immediately moved between the two of them, grabbing the whip in one hand to keep the guard from dragging Wei Wuxian around by it. “Let him go!”

“Isn’t this so sweet?” Wen Chao drawled, from where he had apparently been watching them the whole time, the dick. Wei Wuxian struggled to get free but couldn’t, and although he managed to get back to his knees, Wen Chao immediately kicked him back over.

“Wen Chao!” Jin Zixuan called out from where he had still been hauling a bucket of manure. “Don’t take this too far! We’re supposed to be guests of the Wen sect!”

Wen Chao sneered in his general direction but otherwise didn’t respond to what he said. Instead, he smirked at Wei Wuxian and said, “The great Lan-er-gongzi didn’t want to come to the lectures hosted by the esteemed Qishan Wen . . . so we had to go get him. Does that answer all your questions?”

Wei Wuxian darted a glance at Lan Wangji, who remained stone-faced. “He’s injured,” he said. “You should let him see a doctor.”

“It’s his own fault he’s injured,” Wen Chao said. “The Gusu Lan were so arrogant as to refuse to acknowledge our greatness. How can that be blamed on us?”

“You’re one to talk about arrogance, you son of a bitch - ”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said, and his voice was tight and angry, but there was a softness in his face that hadn’t been there before. “That’s enough.”

Wei Wuxian scowled, because he knew what Lan Wangji meant and he hated it. He knew that Lan Wangji was just telling him to let this go before he ended up in serious trouble. He knew that Lan Wangji was trying to thank him for defending him but also tell him that it wasn’t necessary. He knew all of that, and hated every bit of it.

Wen Chao, meanwhile, was still sneering. “If that’s how you’re going to respond to the Wen sect’s hospitality, we’ll return it in kind!” To the guards, he added, “Bring him,” and Wei Wuxian was dragged to his feet. “We’ll see if a night in our dungeon improves your attitude.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Nie Huaisang was more worried than he wanted to admit, once they were all lined up for lectures and Wei Wuxian wasn’t there. Wen Chao wasn’t in attendance yet either, so they were just waiting, and he took a moment to ask Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng if they knew what had happened. Lan Wangji stared straight ahead, his jaw so tight that it looked like it was going to break. Jiang Cheng shook his head slightly and said, “He didn’t come back to the guest house last night. Wen-guniang came to see us – ”

“Oh, did she?” Nie Huaisang asked, excited about this despite everything else going on.

Jiang Cheng ignored this. “ – and she said she would find out where he had gone and look after him for me. Her guess was that he had offended Wen Chao – more – and he had put him in the dungeons for the night.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, not looking at either of them.

Nie Huaisang took this as a confirmation, and was about to ask for more details, when Wei Wuxian arrived with a guard at each side. He looked ragged – hair a mess, blood on his clothes, neck, and hands – but grinned and waved when he saw them. “Ah, good morning! Do you have any food? I’m starving!”

Jiang Cheng growled at him but produced some food he had brought, and Wei Wuxian ate while leaning on his brother, still grinning. Nie Huaisang could smell medicine on him, so he thought his wounds had been tended. He wasn’t sure how much of Wei Wuxian’s attitude was for show, but at least he was still vertical. Lan Wangji was relaxing as well, although he wouldn’t have admitted it.

Before long, Wen Chao came back out, and had them all reciting the stupid Quintessence of Wen again. Nie Huaisang was hating every moment of it, but there was a small part of him that was somewhat amused. The Wen sect had all the young masters in the palm of their hands. They could have been doing anything to them. But Wen Chao was so stupid that this was clearly all he could think of. Compared to the diverse and meticulous schedule that Nie Mingjue had put together with Meng Yao, and the formidable list of classes and lectures the Gusu Lan hosted, it was laughable.

It was also desperately boring. Half the young masters weren’t actually even doing it, but just muttering along and occasionally throwing in a word or phrase they had picked up. Wei Wuxian kept subtly (for him) saying something insulting with just a slight modification to the text. Jiang Cheng was basically just staring at where Wen Qing was standing on the stairs next to Wen Chao, looking like she would rather be anywhere else. Lan Wangji was standing in complete silence (although he occasionally gave Wei Wuxian a sideways glance, especially after Wei Wuxian said something particularly outrageous).

This was dumb, Nie Huaisang decided, and harkened back to a trick from his childhood, where he would faint during lessons to get out of them. A few of his disciples caught him as he let himself slump to the ground.

As expected, Wen Chao berated him and ordered him to be taken out of his sight, but then Wen Qing said, “Let me check him over. You’ve had them out here for six hours with no rest and no water. He’s probably dehydrated.”

“Dehydrated!” Wen Chao scoffed. “What sort of cultivator gets dehydrated?”

Nie Huaisang was more than a little annoyed as Wen Qing knelt beside him, checked his pulse, and lifted back one of his eyelids. She looked more than a little annoyed as well, as she quickly realized he was faking. “Here, drink this and get back up.”

Still pretending to be mostly unconscious, Nie Huaisang protested, “Jiejie, let me rest . . .”

“You don’t have a sister and you’re not fooling anybody,” Wen Qing said, although she kept her voice pitched low enough that Wen Chao, on the stairs, couldn’t hear her. “I know you’re smarter than you pretend to be. If things get worse, do you want to be hiding in your guest house while your friends are in danger?”

Nie Huaisang opened one eye. “Yes?”

Wen Qing took out a needle that was impressively large and terrifyingly sharp. “Maybe you need acupuncture.”

“No! No, I’m okay!” Nie Huaisang struggled back to a sitting position. He took the flask from her hands and drank thirstily. “I’m fine. I’ll get back up.”

Rude, he thought, glowering at her as she went back to her place on the stairs.

To make matters even worse, less than an hour later, Wen Chao declared they were all going to go on a night hunt to Muxi Mountain. This was among the stupidest things that Nie Huaisang had ever heard. They didn’t have their swords. Very few of them had learned any techniques that could be done without them. He knew that Wei Wuxian knew a few talismans, and he was sure that Lan Wangji had swordless techniques as well. But it seemed obvious that they were merely being dragged along as cannon fodder.

“Oh, I’ll go,” he said, when Jiang Cheng gave him a questioning look, “but I’m gonna complain the whole way.”

Jiang Cheng gave a snort of laughter and shook his head.

As trips went, it could have been worse. Lan Wangji was limping slightly by the time a few hours had passed, and even Nie Huaisang was worried. He knew that Lan Wangji was made from iron, and if he was in enough pain that he was letting it show, the injury had to be serious. Nie Huaisang still didn’t know exactly what had happened, although he could read between the lines well enough. Lan Wangji had obviously been taken from Cloud Recesses by force. Did it really matter what excuse the Wen sect had come up with for attacking them? Unlike the brothers from Yunmeng, Nie Huaisang had grown up on stories of the villainous Qishan Wen. He was well-aware that Wen Ruohan had killed his father. Although he had no personal problem with Wen Qing and Wen Ning, he wasn’t surprised at all to find out that the Wen had attacked the Gusu Lan without any provocation.

The bigger problem was that Wei Wuxian was hellbent on helping Lan Wangji, and Jiang Cheng was hellbent on not getting them in trouble with Wen Chao, and Lan Wangji meanwhile was hellbent on not showing that he needed help. The two brothers bickered until Wei Wuxian decided to just do what he wanted, and then Lan Wangji refused his help anyway. Nie Huaisang sighed.

All along the way, Wen Chao sneered at them and his paramour Wang Lingjiao made them all miserable. Nie Huaisang entertained himself thinking about how his brother would undoubtedly kill both of them someday.

Then they went into the cave, and everything got much, much worse.

It was no secret that Wei Wuxian had been stepping on Wen Chao’s tiny nerves ever since they had gotten to Qishan, but even Nie Huaisang was surprised when Wen Chao abruptly shoved Wei Wuxian over the cliff. Lan Wangji shouted, “Wei Ying!” like the lovestruck idiot he was, and they all had to hasten down the side of the cliff.

Fortunately, Wei Wuxian seemed okay. Unfortunately, Wen Chao decided to murder somebody to get the monster to show up (as if, Nie Huaisang thought, he was remotely capable of killing it once it did). Wang Lingjiao suggested Luo Qingyang, for having the bad luck to be pretty enough to be ogled by Wen Chao. Jin Zixuan objected, Su She tried to grab her anyway, and everything erupted into chaos. Nie Huaisang prudently took a few steps back, because he had ducked every training session since he was thirteen and he wasn’t going to get involved in a fight.

He had to admit, though, that in the end he was somewhat glad he came. Seeing Wen Chao not recognize his own sect’s guidelines, seeing Wen Zhuliu looked like he was considering a career change to get away from such an idiot, seeing Wei Wuxian take Wen Chao hostage and Wen Chao utterly lose his shit like the coward he was – it was almost worth the fact that the monster showed up and tried to kill them all.

Nie Huaisang retreated to the rear because he couldn’t fight monsters even when he did have his sword, and he almost wound up being run over by the Wen, who decided to make a strategic retreat. “Hey - hey!” he protested, as they scrambled up the slope. “Hey, get back here!”

He was standing at the bottom of the cliff when the others got there, and when they grabbed the ropes, he said, “Don’t bother. They cut them.”

Naturally, they had to verify what he was saying, and he waited at the bottom because rock climbing wasn’t his forte. It was obvious to him that the Wen had sealed them inside the cave; he wasn’t going to climb a cliff to verify. He waited until they came back down and confirmed that the entrance was now sealed with rocks.

“There’s an opening at the bottom of the pool,” Wei Wuxian said, gesturing to the maple leaves and explaining how he knew that. Nie Huaisang approved, but had concerns. The main concern was the monster. The secondary concern . . .

“I can’t swim,” he said, without shame. Several of them looked at him. “What? There’s no natural bodies of water in Qinghe. The biggest nearby river is basically a stream. The others can’t swim, either. Right?” he added, looking around at the other Qinghe Nie cultivators. With only one exception, they agreed they too couldn’t swim.

“We need to check it out first,” Wei Wuxian said. “Jiang Cheng, you’re probably the strongest swimmer. If you can find the entrance, you can figure out how long the passage is and how many people can fit through at a time. Those of us who can swim can help the ones who can’t.”

At least they left him out of distracting the monster, not that he volunteered. The tunnel was wide, and Jiang Cheng said they could get through it in about thirty seconds. “Just hold your breath and let them pull you along and don’t panic,” he said, before he shoved Nie Huaisang into the water.

Rude, Nie Huaisang thought. He should have fainted more convincingly.

It was terrifying but quick, and before long he was spilling out onto mostly dry land. The others followed, and for several minutes after making it to the surface, the cultivators just lay on the ground, panting for breath and marveling at their narrow escape. Unsurprisingly, Jiang Cheng was the first to his feet, pacing back and forth while they waited. As the minutes trailed by, it became more and more clear that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji weren’t going to make it. 

Since nobody else was going to say that, Nie Huaisang sighed and said, “What now?”

Looking like he was about to single-handedly move all the rocks blocking the entrance if only so he could wring his brother’s neck, Jiang Cheng said, “We have to get somebody to help.”

Jin Zixuan shifted uncomfortably and said, “We should head to Lanling. We - ”

“Ridiculous,” Nie Huaisang said. He was far too tired to bother sparing Jin Zixuan’s feelings. “Do you really think your father is going to help, after he’s overlooked everything else Wen Ruohan has done? He already blames Wei-xiong for your disastrous engagement ending.”

Flushing pink, Jin Zixuan said, “There are men in Lanling who are loyal to me.”

“Even so, Qinghe is closer,” Nie Huaisang said. To Jiang Cheng, he added, “Who do you want helping you, da-ge or Jin-zongzhu?”

Stung, Jin Zixuan retorted, “Qinghe isn’t that much closer.”

Jiang Cheng shook his head. “Jin-gongzi, I appreciate the offer. But Nie-xiong has a point. Jin-zongzhu has a longstanding friendship and alliance with Wen Ruohan. We’re talking about crossing into Qishan without his permission. Even if you would do it without your father’s permission - which, again, I appreciate - you shouldn’t go against his wishes and damage his reputation like that. Nie-zongzhu is closely allied with the Gusu Lan, and he’s already at war with the Qishan Wen. He’ll know the territory better and be prepared to help.”

Jin Zixuan looked away. He knew they were right, and Nie Huaisang thought that bothered him more than anything else. Jin Zixuan might have been a spoiled brat, but he knew right from wrong, and he knew that his father’s alliance with the Wen was wrong. “I’ll travel with you,” he said stiffly. “In case you run into any obstacles.”

Jiang Cheng bowed and said, “Thank you, Jin-gongzi.”

Although Nie Huaisang would have preferred to lie down and sleep for a week, he hauled himself back to his feet. It was going to be a difficult journey, and they were going to have to push hard. “How long do we think they can last down there? Jiang-xiong, has Wei-xiong practiced inedia? I’m sure Lan-xiong has.”

“No, neither of us has,” Jiang Cheng said, a little shame-facedly. “So maybe a couple weeks. At least they have water.”

“That’s disgusting,” Nie Huaisang said, and sighed. It was going to be a long week.

~ ~ ~ ~

Lan Wangji was having the worst week of his life. 

Instead of receiving a letter like the other great sects, Wen Xu had come to deliver the ‘invitation’ in person. Lan Wangji remembered that two years ago, Lan Xichen had beaten Wen Xu in an archery contest. Wen Xu had said at the time that he wouldn’t forget it, and apparently he never had. There was no reason that the Wen clan would demand Lan Wangji’s attendance with such violence. The Gusu Lan would not have dared to ignore or refuse the invitation. Wen Xu had arrived and attacked for no reason other than that he could, listing a number of sins that Lan Wangji’s father had allegedly committed. 

It was bullshit and they all knew it was bullshit, but there was nothing they could do. The Wen sect was too powerful compared to the Gusu Lan. All their father had been able to do was hold them off, gaining horrible injuries, while Lan Xichen gathered their precious knowledge and snuck away.

Now Lan Wangji was sitting in a cave, soaked and freezing, injured and exhausted. His father was - in the very best case scenario, he might have survived, but Lan Wangji had seen the extent of his injuries and he could not bring himself to be optimistic. He had never been close with his father - had barely seen him for years - but it was his father. And then there was Lan Xichen, to whom he was close, injured and on the run. Lan Wangji had no idea where he might be or what condition he might be in.

And it didn’t matter, because he was trapped in a cave with a monster and the most infuriating person he had ever met.

“Do you like Mianmian?” Wei Wuxian asked, earnestly, and Lan Wangji wanted to kill him.

In the end, though, he was too tired to do more than glare. Wei Wuxian helped treat his injuries, and he dozed off. When he woke, he was covered in Wei Wuxian’s outer robe, something that absolutely did not evoke any feelings in him. His ribbon, which Wei Wuxian had rudely used to help bind his wounds, was back on his forehead.

“Ah, I thought you’d be uncomfortable without it, so I tied it back on for you,” Wei Wuxian said, with a grin. Lan Wangji looked away, ignoring the fact that his chest felt suffused with warmth at this courtesy. 

They came up with a plan to defeat the Tortoise of Slaughter, and although it didn’t go smoothly, at least it worked. Wei Wuxian was badly injured, and Lan Wangji didn’t even know what to think of the matte black metal sword he pulled out of the monster, which emanated a sense of menace he had never felt before. It was clouded in resentful energy, but when Lan Wangji tried to take it from him, he only clung to it more fiercely. 

Wei Wuxian drifted off to sleep despite his shivering, and Lan Wangji could only watch him, feeling the exhaustion down to his bones.

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Mingjue expected a lot of things to come out of the Qishan Wen’s ‘indoctrination’, but Nie Huaisang coming home after barely a week, as bedraggled and exhausted as Nie Mingjue had ever seen him, as if he had been putting actual consistent effort in, was not it. Not only that, but he had Jiang Cheng with him and a handful of Yunmeng Jiang disciples, along with the Qinghe Nie cultivators who had accompanied them.

“What happened?” Nie Mingjue demanded, as soon as he hurried into the room. Meng Yao had already sent people to get food and fresh tea, and Nie Huaisang looked genuinely close to collapse.

He spilled out a story that would have seemed absurd if Nie Mingjue hadn’t already believed the Wen sect of being fully capable of murdering the young masters from all the different sects and then trying to play it off like an accident. He was actually still speaking when the message arrived from the Qishan Wen, stating an ‘unfortunate incident’ had occurred and that the Qinghe Nie disciples - Nie Huaisang included - were presumed lost. It made no mention of the disciples from the other great sects.

It was fortunate, he thought, that Nie Huaisang had managed to beat that message home. He didn’t know what he would have done if he had received it and thought Nie Huaisang was dead. He was self-aware enough to know that his reaction would not have been pretty, and that he very well might have gotten himself killed in an attempt to get revenge.

But Nie Huaisang was there, eating hungrily and complaining about his aching feet. In between bites, he continued to tell the story. Nie Mingjue was more than a little worried about what was happening in Gusu, but after a few moments to consider, he decided that getting Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian out of Qishan had to take priority. Lan Xichen could take care of himself, and he would surely want Nie Mingjue to rescue his brother.

He sent Meng Yao to go find Nie Zonghui, and told him, “Choose six disciples for me to take with me. This is a rescue mission only, and we’ll prioritize stealth. You’ll be in charge while I’m gone.”

Nie Zonghui nodded and bowed, then went to find whichever cultivators he deemed best fit for the mission.

“You’re going to go yourself?” Meng Yao asked. He didn’t sound surprised, but was just confirming. Nie Mingjue nodded. Although he trusted Nie Zonghui, this was something he had to do. There was no formal arrangement yet, but in his heart, he considered Jiang Yanli his betrothed. That made Wei Wuxian his brother. Meng Yao hesitated, then went to his knees and swept his arms around in a low bow. “Request permission to go to Gusu, zongzhu.”

Nie Mingjue was a little surprised, but then realized that he shouldn’t be. “Xichen can take care of himself, Meng Yao.”

“I know that, but we don’t know the full extent of the situation,” Meng Yao said. “All we know is that Lan-er-gongzi was brought to the lectures by force. Neither Jiang-gongzi nor Nie-gongzi were able to speak to him to confirm what happened. We need to gather intelligence, and I believe I can get in and out of the area safely.”

After a moment, Nie Mingjue nodded. He was worried about Lan Xichen, and this wasn’t ideal, but it was better than doing nothing. “All right, permission granted. Have Nie Zonghui choose another six disciples to go with you.”

Meng Yao bowed again. “Thank you, zongzhu.”

“Huaisang - ”

“I’m staying here!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed. “I’ve been on my feet for the last week straight and I’m not made for that! Da-ge - ”

“I wasn’t going to ask you to go,” Nie Mingjue growled. “In fact, I was going to tell you I was proud of you for getting back safely and helping the others, but now you’ve ruined it - ”

“No, no, you can still say that!” Nie Huaisang protested. “You’ve never said you’re proud of me before!”

Nie Mingjue sighed but reached out to tousle his brother’s hair. “Get some rest,” he said. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Wei Wuxian woke with a headache, a stomach that was gnawing on his backbone, and a taste in his mouth like something had died there.

“You’re up, finally,” Jiang Cheng said, and Wei Wuxian groaned slightly, trying to open his eyes without the sunlight stabbing his brain. After so long in the cave - how long had it been? - his eyes were accustomed to the darkness. At least, he thought, Jiang Cheng wasn’t really angry at him. His angry words were contradicted by the gentleness of his hands as he helped Wei Wuxian sit up and sip water from a flask.

“Lan Zhan?” he managed hoarsely.

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “He’s fine. A hell of a lot better than you. Nie-zongzhu practically had to sit on him to keep him from leaving for Cloud Recesses without us.”

“Nie-zongzhu?” Wei Wuxian managed to look around. He saw the Yunmeng Jiang disciples that had accompanied them to Nightless City, and a handful of cultivators in the gray and silver of the Qinghe Nie.

“We couldn’t get you out of that cave on our own,” Jiang Cheng said. “Nie-xiong and I went to Qinghe to get help.”

Wei Wuxian wanted to ask why they hadn’t just gone to Yunmeng, but he could understand why Jiang Cheng wouldn’t have wanted to go home without his brother. Jiang Fengmian would have been upset, and Yu Ziyuan - well, she would have been more than happy that Wei Wuxian had been gone, but still probably would have berated Jiang Cheng for ‘losing’ one of their disciples.

Hearing their conversation, Nie Mingjue glanced over from where he was sitting, then walked over and asked, “Wei Wuxian, how are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’m fine, totally okay,” Wei Wuxian said, struggling to his feet with Jiang Cheng’s help.

“That seems unlikely,” Nie Mingjue said, and reached out to feel Wei Wuxian’s forehead. “Your fever is still very high. We need to get out of Qishan as quickly as possible, so bear with it for now. Once we’ve gotten that far, we’ll stop and take a rest.”

Wei Wuxian shook his head. “I’m okay, really. Lan Zhan - he must be worried about his family.”

Nie Mingjue looked over at where Lan Wangji was sitting, staring into space with his jaw set in a grim expression. “He is, but I’ve sent some of my men ahead to Gusu to assess the situation, to see if they could find Xichen and offer assistance. Meng Yao is with them - he’s very clever and good with people. He’ll be able to find out more than if Wangji just goes storming in. We’ll go together as far as Yunmeng, so I can be sure the two of you get home safe.”

Flushing pink, Jiang Cheng bowed and said, “I appreciate everything you’ve done for us, Nie-zongzhu, but that isn’t necessary. We can make our own way.”

“I’m sure you could, but it will be safer if you let me escort you, and it’s not really out of my way, since I’m going to Gusu,” Nie Mingjue said.

Wei Wuxian leaned over to whisper to Jiang Cheng, realized he couldn’t whisper because of his raw throat, and said in a voice that was far louder than he intended, “He just wants to see shijie.”

Nie Mingjue scowled, and Wei Wuxian winced as soon as he realized he had been heard. Fortunately, Nie Mingjue didn’t dignify the comment by confirming or denying. All he said was, “Let’s get moving.”

The group milled around for a few minutes, putting out the fire and gathering their things. Jiang Cheng was giving Wei Wuxian a close look, clearly trying to figure out whether or not he was okay to travel. Wei Wuxian ignored that look, because it wasn’t like he could just stay where he was. He walked over to Lan Wangji, who looked about as exhausted as Wei Wuxian felt. “How are you feeling, Lan Zhan?”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said.

Wei Wuxian thought about pointing out that this wasn’t actually an answer, but decided not to. Lan Wangji never lied, so he couldn’t just say he was fine, the way Wei Wuxian had. And he wouldn’t want to admit to not being fine, no more than Wei Wuxian did. So Wei Wuxian changed the subject, saying, “Thanks for taking care of me in the cave.”

“I did no such thing,” Lan Wangji said.

“I’m pretty sure you did, though,” Wei Wuxian said. “I mean, to be honest, I don’t remember a lot after I went into Xuanwu. But I’m nowhere near as sick as I should be, if we were down there long enough for Jiang Cheng to go all the way to Qinghe and back. You must have been transferring some of your spiritual power to me, right? Because you’ve practiced inedia, and I haven’t.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, staring straight ahead. This time he changed the subject. “You should get rid of that sword.”

Wei Wuxian had barely realized he was still holding it. After a moment’s thought, he slid it into one of his spirit pouches. “I don’t have Suibian, so there’s no sense in throwing away a perfectly good sword,” he said, then saw Lan Wangji frowning and continued, “but I won’t use it unless I have to. I get why you’re wary of it, Lan Zhan. It’s carrying a lot of resentful energy, and I don’t think it would be good for me to wield it. But I don’t think we can just leave it lying around in Qishan, either. I’ll ask Jiang-shushu once we get back, and see what he thinks I should do with it.”

Lan Wangji nodded and said, “Mn,” a third time.

“Don’t worry, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian said. “Just let me check in at Lotus Pier and then I can go to Gusu with you to help you find your brother.”

“It’s not your concern,” Lan Wangji said.

“Don’t be like that, Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian protested. “Aren’t we friends? I know you’d help me if Jiang Cheng were missing - don’t lie and say you wouldn’t. Besides, the Wen sect clearly doesn’t care who they offend - the Yunmeng Jiang are going to end up getting involved anyway. We’re allies with your sect! I’m sure Jiang-shushu will tell me I should go.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said.

Wei Wuxian fell silent, mostly because his throat was sore and he was still thirsty. Besides, they were in enemy territory; he couldn’t continue to chatter. Now that they were on the move, he would postpone the rest of this conversation until they got to Yunmeng.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Jiang Yanli also hadn’t been sure of what would come of the lectures, but she was used to her parents arguing. That was what they were doing a week after her brothers’ departure, although they abruptly stopped when she came into the room. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

She directed the question to Jiang Fengmian, but it was Yu Ziyuan who answered, snapping, “What could you do about it if something was?”

Jiang Yanli fought not to cringe, and her father smiled kindly at her and said, “Don’t worry, A-Li; it’s nothing major. We got some correspondence from the Wen sect, saying they’re taking the young masters out on a night hunt. I’m sure A-Xian and A-Cheng will be fine. They have friends in the Wen sect, after all.”

With a nod, Jiang Yanli said, “Thank you, Father,” and hastened out of the room.

She was sure that there was more to it than that, and wondered if Wei Wuxian had been misbehaving in Qishan. It seemed likely that the Wen sect might find excuses to take offense, and Wei Wuxian wasn’t good at behaving himself even at the best of times. If the Wen cultivators were rude, he would probably be rude in return, and she doubted it would end well. She took a few moments to go to the ancestors’ shrine and pray for their safe return.

Nothing much happened for the next week, and she tried to focus on her chores and not worry too much. She was doing embroidery when she heard a commotion, and a few moments later, one of the disciples rushed over to her and said that her brothers were home – and they weren’t alone.

Her cheeks flushed when she saw Nie Mingjue, but it was a relatively small concern compared to how awful Wei Wuxian looked. Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji were half-carrying him, and he greeted her cheerfully and then almost immediately passed out. She was torn between going with him and finding out what had happened, and decided on the latter. He was clearly ill, and the doctors would see to him. She would make some soup and go to his room after he’d had time to get some sleep. Jiang Fengmian was already giving instructions for the disciples to carry him to his room and fetch the doctor.

Nie Mingjue had clearly already explained a great deal, because he continued speaking to Jiang Fengmian with, “Fortunately, I received word from Meng Yao yesterday that he’s found Xichen and gotten him to safety. I told him to rendezvous with us here; I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Jiang Fengmian said. “Clearly, steps are going to have to be taken. Just a few days ago, the Yao sect was attacked and nearly wiped out. I told Sect Leader Yao that I would take him to Lanling to recuperate, so I could talk to Jin-zongzhu about joining us against the Wen. I was anxious about leaving while the boys were still gone. The Yunmeng Jiang is in your debt for making sure they got home safely.”

Nie Mingjue bowed and said, “We are allies. There’s no need for such thanks.”

Jiang Fengmian smiled slightly and said, “And it’s good that you will be staying here while I go to Lanling and back. My mind will be at ease knowing you’re here to help protect Lotus Pier.”

“I don’t see why,” Yu Ziyuan said, her voice sour. “Are you implying that I can’t protect it myself?”

Jiang Fengmian was smart enough not to take that bait. “I wouldn’t dare, my lady.”

Jiang Yanli thought it still might turn into one of those arguments, but Yu Ziyuan seemed to decide it wasn’t worth it, particularly not in front of the current audience. Although she still sounded somewhat annoyed, she said, “Lotus Pier is at your disposal, Nie-zongzhu, Lan-er-gongzi. I’ll see to your accommodations; please let me know if there’s anything you need.”

Both Nie Mingjue and Lan Wangji bowed to her, and she turned on her heel with Jinzhu and Yinzhu behind her. Once she was gone, Jiang Yanli looked anxiously at Jiang Cheng and asked, “What on earth happened?”

“Wei Wuxian had to play the hero again,” Jiang Cheng said, sounding just as sour as their mother.

Jiang Fengmian cleared his throat and said, “That’s inappropriate, A-Cheng. Your brother took great risks and was victorious over a legendary monster.”

Jiang Cheng flushed red, and Nie Mingjue intervened, albeit politely and only to change the subject. “Wangji, you’re all right waiting here with us?”

Lan Wangji nodded and said, “Xiongzhang is on his way. It would be foolish to leave.”

“I’m going to go check on A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli said, since she doubted she would get more details when everyone was still so on edge. She went to his room and found him sleeping soundly. Since she doubted her mother would need or want her help with the accommodations, she went to the kitchen. Jiang Cheng looked exhausted; she had no doubt that he was asleep by now as well.

She had only been in the kitchen for a few minutes, taking her worry out on some innocent lotus roots, when there was a quiet knock at the door and Nie Mingjue poked his head in. “Ah, Nie-zongzhu,” she said, flustered at him witnessing her in such a state. She hastily put down the knife and bowed.

“Please, no need to stand on formality,” Nie Mingjue said. “I figured I would find you here.”

Jiang Yanli could not help but flush pink at the implication that he had specifically come looking for her. “Are you hungry? I could make you something – ”

“I’ve had nothing but trail rations for days, but I don’t mind helping,” Nie Mingjue said. “What are you making?”

“Lotus and rib soup. It’s their favorite,” she added.

“And yours?” Nie Mingjue asked.

“Ah, I do like it, but there are other things I prefer.”

Nie Mingjue glanced at her as he tied back his sleeves, then shook his head, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “So when they got you ingredients to cook ‘your favorites’ for your birthday, they didn’t realize that your favorites are actually their favorites?”

Jiang Yanli laughed quietly. “Yes, exactly. But Nie-zongzhu, if you don’t mind my asking, whatever happened? How did you come to be escorting my brothers to Yunmeng?”

“Let me tell you from the beginning,” Nie Mingjue said, much to her relief. He explained everything that had been explained to him, which he hadn’t been there for. Then he summarized Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang’s decision to come to him for assistance, and their trip into Qishan.

“You took so much risk to get to them,” Jiang Yanli said. “I’m truly grateful, Nie-zongzhu.”

“I’ve known Wangji since he was a toddler,” Nie Mingjue said. “Besides, I never have a problem spitting in Wen Ruohan’s eye.”

“Of course,” she said. “But then to escort them all the way here yourself – it was very kind of you. I’m sure they could have made their way.”

“I’m sure they could have,” Nie Mingjue said, “but I was worried about Xichen, and equally worried about how worried Wangji was – that he might push himself too hard, while still recovering, in an effort to get back. Besides, coming to Lotus Pier is hardly a hardship for me. In truth, I looked forward to seeing you.”

Jiang Yanli felt herself flush pink again. “It’s kind of you to say so.”

“I’ve missed our visits,” Nie Mingjue said. “The things I talk about with you – aren’t really things I discuss with anyone else. Not because they’re not worth discussing, but if I brought such things to Meng Yao or Nie Zonghui, I would feel – silly. You never make me feel that way.”

At this, she could not help but smile. “Thank you, Nie-zongzhu . . . I feel the same way.”

They talked a little more about the things that had been happening recently, as she finished making the soup.  It was better if it cooked slowly, for the ribs to be tender, so once all the ingredients were in, she covered the pot and said she was going to go check on Wei Wuxian.

She was surprised – although should she have been? – to find Lan Wangji sitting by Wei Wuxian’s bed, watching him sleep. “Ah, Lan-er-gongzi,” she said, bowing. He stood and returned the bow. “I will stay with him, if you would like to get some rest.”

“Thank you,” Lan Wangji said, “but I would prefer to stay.”

Jiang Yanli pondered whether or not to argue with him. She knew he had to be exhausted. “I’m sure my mother gave you one of our nicest guest houses, but if you would like to stay here, I can have a mattress brought in for you.”

“That is not necessary, thank you.”

Seeing that he would prefer to simply stay up until he passed out, Jiang Yanli sighed. “Nie-zongzhu told me about what happened. You have my condolences for what happened to your sect.”

“Thank you,” Lan Wangji said yet again, still staring straight ahead.

“Lan-er-gongzi,” she said, a little more firmly, and he did not bat an eyelash, “you need to rest. Your brother will be here within the next few days. A-Xian is in good hands, and I will stay with him. I understand you are worried about him, but you must take care of yourself. I am going to have a mattress brought in so you do not have to go all the way back to the guest house, and you will use it.”

After a long moment, Lan Wangji’s shoulders infinitesimally drooped. “Very well,” he said. “It would be rude to refuse your hospitality.”

That was good enough, Jiang Yanli thought. She had the mattress brought in, and Lan Wangji lay down on it and was asleep almost instantly. She shook her head slightly at her brother and the strange man who was in love with him, and prepared herself for a long night.

~ ~ ~ ~

Lan Wangji woke with a start.

It had been a long few weeks, and he had been aware, reluctantly, that he wouldn’t be able to stay awake much longer. When Jiang Yanli had gently insisted that he take some rest, he had agreed. But he was surprised at exactly how soundly he had slept, and at the fact that he had no idea for how long.

The room was flooded with golden light, and across the room, Wei Wuxian was still sleeping. Jiang Yanli was still by his side, patting his forehead with a damp cloth. Lan Wangji swung his legs over the side of the mattress and tried to speak. His throat was tight, and his voice came out more roughly than he meant it to. “What time is it?”

“Ah, are you awake?” Jiang Yanli asked, quite unnecessarily in Lan Wangji’s opinion. “It’s just past midday. I’ll get you something to eat.”

Lan Wangji nodded and thanked her, and she directed him to the facilities so he could wash up. A few minutes later, he felt more himself, and was eating hungrily despite his best efforts to mind his manners. He wondered if Jiang Yanli had been up all night, although he doubted it. She didn’t look as tired as she would if that were the case, and he was sure that Lotus Pier had plenty of skilled physicians and caretakers who could have watched over Wei Wuxian as he slept.

As he ate, Jiang Yanli updated him, saying that Wei Wuxian’s fever was coming down well and he was resting comfortably. Her father had departed for Koi Tower that morning, along with the few people remaining from the Yao sect. Yu Ziyuan was in charge of Lotus Pier and had said to let her know if he needed anything.

“Nie-zongzhu also told me at breakfast that he had gotten another message from Zewu-Jun,” Jiang Yanli said, and Lan Wangji looked up in interest. “There is a village under Wen control about twenty leagues to the southwest of Cloud Recesses. The civilians are in danger, so they were intending to stop there and free it before they moved on. He expects it might be several days or even a week before they get here.”

After a moment, Lan Wangji nodded. There was a part of him that wanted to depart immediately, to go find his brother. But he also knew that Lan Xichen was strong and capable.

Of course, he thought bitterly, he would have also said that about his father. But Lan Xichen’s first message, received two days after they left Qishan, had told him that their father had succumbed to his injuries. It wasn’t any surprise, given what he had seen of the attack. And he knew that a part of the reason his father had been so badly injured was because fighting so many at once was keeping the rest of the sect safe. But he also knew that Lan Xichen would do the exact same thing if it was required of him. His chest ached with grief over his father’s death, but even more so over fear for his brother’s life.

In the end, however, he would stay where he was, for several reasons. The first and foremost was that Lan Xichen had told him to. Lan Xichen was his older brother and now his sect leader; his orders had to be obeyed. Secondly, he was aware that in his current condition, he might be more of a liability than an asset. He had drained his spiritual power quite low in order to keep Wei Wuxian stable in the cave. Nie Mingjue hadn’t wanted to push them too hard on the way to Yunmeng, but he had pushed them. Lan Wangji had been more than willing to be pushed, as had Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng. They knew that Nie Mingjue had received a letter telling him that Nie Huaisang had been ‘lost’; they were afraid Lotus Pier had received a similar letter and their family would be upset and worried. 

Thirdly, although he would not have admitted it to anyone, he was loath to leave Wei Wuxian’s side until he was well again. It was clear from the past few weeks’ worth of events that Wei Wuxian could not be trusted to take care of himself.

“The trip to and from Lanling will take ten days or more,” Jiang Yanli continued, “so there is nothing you need to worry about right now, Lan-er-gongzi. Just focus on resting and healing.”

Lan Wangji nodded. “Where is Nie-zongzhu? I must thank him properly for escorting us.”

“Of course,” Jiang Yanli said, and gave him directions to the guest house that Nie Mingjue had been given, along with the Nie sect disciples who had come with him. “Ah, before you go, do you want a change of clothes? I know you did not have anything with you, so I found some robes that should fit you. You and A-Xian are very close in size; they might just be an inch or two shorter than you’re used to.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said. The idea of wearing the black and red garments that Wei Wuxian favored was disconcerting, but he had to admit that what he currently had on was filthy. And the robes she brought him were quite comfortable and well-made, although it felt a little odd to wear the form-fitting sleeves that Wei Wuxian favored.

When he reached Nie Mingjue’s guest house, Nie Mingjue did a double take and said, “I barely recognized you, dressed like that.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji agreed. “Jiang-guniang said she would have my robes laundered for me.”

“She’s very thoughtful,” Nie Mingjue said.

Lan Wangji bowed and said, “I have been remiss in my duties, Nie-zongzhu. Thank you for coming to Qishan to assist us, and making sure we made it safely to Lotus Pier.”

“You’re welcome, Wangji, but there’s no need for such gestures. Our sects are allies.”

Duty discharged, Lan Wangji said, “Are you going to head back to The Unclean Realm?”

“Not quite yet,” Nie Mingjue said. “I thought I would wait until your brother got here, so I could make sure that he was safe. Then he and I can discuss the next steps with Jiang-zongzhu, after he returns from Lanling. I’m already here; it seems foolish to head back to Qinghe and then have to make all the important decisions by messages.” He frowned, then added, “I meant to ask, but you and Jiang-gongzi both went to rest - was Jin-gongzi in the cave with you? The Jin disciples?”

Lan Wangji nodded and added, “Jin Zixuan was actually one of the first young masters to draw his sword against the Wen soldiers. Wen Chao had targeted his retainer, Luo Qingyang, and he acted to defend her.”

“Good, then if he tells his father that story - and I suppose there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t - then Jin Guangshan might be more likely to help the rest of us.” Nie Mingjue shook his head. “All we can do now is wait, Wangji. Just focus on healing.”

Doing his best not to obviously grit his teeth, Lan Wangji said, “Mn.”

“Believe me, I don’t like it either,” Nie Mingjue said, clearly reading his expression despite Lan Wangji’s best efforts. “I’m not a patient man. But we need to approach this enemy as a united front. I know it feels like doing nothing, but healing and restoring your spiritual power is important. Xichen will be here soon, and then we’ll decide what to do.”

After a moment, Lan Wangji nodded again. “Thank you, Nie-zongzhu. If you need me for anything, I will be with Wei Ying.”

~ ~ ~ ~

After a few days at Lotus Pier, Nie Mingjue found himself more impressed than ever with Jiang Yanli. She was universally loved and respected by the disciples, which was no surprise. Her mother, however, treated her like she was no better than a nuisance. Nie Mingjue found himself gritting his teeth more than once, forcing himself not to speak up at her sharp, hurtful words. His instinct was to leap in and defend Jiang Yanli, but he knew it could not be allowed. He was a sect leader, but Yu Ziyuan was both the Lady of Lotus Pier and Jiang Yanli’s mother. As much as Nie Mingjue wanted to, he could not tell her how to treat her own daughter.

However, he couldn’t entirely keep quiet about the matter. Instead of interfering, he would wait until the moment had passed, then make a comment about one of Jiang Yanli’s skills or positive qualities. Every time he did so, Yu Ziyuan’s mouth pursed like she was biting down on a lemon, but she never argued with him. He was a sect leader, after all.

It got exponentially worse a few days later, when Wei Wuxian was back on his feet. Yu Ziyuan immediately berated him for having caused so much trouble, while Wei Wuxian apologized profusely. Jiang Cheng was obviously uncomfortable, and Lan Wangji looked like he was going to break teeth in his effort to stay silent. Nie Mingjue knew that Lan Wangji, like him, knew he could not speak out against Yu Ziyuan in her own home. But it was still galling to watch.

On the other hand, Wei Wuxian quickly picked up on how Nie Mingjue was dealing with Yu Ziyuan in regards to Jiang Yanli, and encouraged it with a distinct lack of subtlety. He kept asking Nie Mingjue’s opinion on things and giving him openings to praise Jiang Yanli without it being too painfully awkward. Jiang Yanli seemed a little embarrassed at times, but she also didn’t seem to want him to stop.

Either way, it was obvious enough that after a week, Yu Ziyuan approached him and asked if they could speak privately. She gave him a hard stare and asked, “What are your intentions towards my daughter?”

Nie Mingjue bowed and said, “Yu-furen, your daughter is kind, intelligent, and caring. I have grown very fond of her. However, I know that it would be inappropriate to indicate any interest in a relationship with her since the engagement with Jin-gongzi was so recently broken off.”

“Something that I’m beginning to wonder if you might have had a hand in,” she replied.

“I must admit that I was aware of Jin-gongzi’s poor treatment of her,” Nie Mingjue said, thinking about what Lan Xichen might say in this situation, “but I did not feel it was my place to interfere. For whatever part I might have played in failing to correct his behavior, I must beg your forgiveness.”

“Hmph,” Yu Ziyuan said. “He’s only a boy. He would have learned better, given time.”

“I’m sure that’s true, Yu-furen,” Nie Mingjue said. “The decision to end the engagement was not mine.”

“But you’re glad it happened.”

Nie Mingjue chose his words very carefully. “I have no particular feelings on the matter. What will make me happiest is if Jiang-guniang finds a good husband who makes her happy. Someone the Yunmeng Jiang would be proud to call an ally.”

It probably wasn’t as charming as Lan Xichen would have been, or as persuasive as Meng Yao would have been, but he was proud of how tactful it was. Yu Ziyuan’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t continue to argue. “As you said, her engagement was only recently broken off. For her to accept a suitor at this time would be disrespectful to the Lanling Jin.”

“A fact I am well aware of, Yu-furen,” Nie Mingjue said.

“Good,” Yu Ziyuan said, and huffed away.

Nie Mingjue shook his head and decided that he would be satisfied with that. On the upside, Yu Ziyuan eased up on Jiang Yanli a little, seeming to think it wasn’t worth offending Nie Mingjue and listening to his compliments. On the downside, she balanced it out by being even more harsh with Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian took this in stride – he was clearly used to it – but Lan Wangji’s temper was getting more and more strained. He was already on edge, and each message they got from his brother – who was apparently having a grand time beating the shit out of Wen soldiers with Meng Yao – only made him more tense. Nie Mingjue had finally sent a message back that said, as politely as possible, ‘I’m glad you’re enjoying your honeymoon but could you please come pick up your brother before he breaks something, or someone’.

But before Lan Xichen could get there, the Wen sect did.

It was ridiculous on its face. The juniors had been out practicing their archery. They came back in a fuss because one of the youngest had been picked up by the Wen sect, who were saying he had insulted them.

Although it took effort, Nie Mingjue managed to hang back. This wasn’t his business; it was between the Yunmeng Jiang and the Qishan Wen. Yu Ziyuan was clearly fine handling it without anyone’s help, telling Jiang Cheng to stop whimpering and pull himself together, before allowing the Wen sect in. Nie Mingjue was a little surprised to see that none of the young masters were there; the person in charge was someone named Wang Lingjiao. He had never heard of her, although he gathered quickly that he was the paramour of Wen Chao who had been on the trip to Muxi Mountain.

Yu Ziyuan clearly found all of this not worth her time, and Nie Mingjue was counting down the minutes to when she threw Wang Lingjiao into the lake. But then things took a darker turn, as Wang Lingjiao levied accusations and insults against Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji’s jaw twitched but he somehow stayed silent. Wei Wuxian looked a little annoyed at the blatant lies she was telling, especially when she talked about how Wen Chao had killed the Tortoise of Slaughter even ‘after their interference’.

None of them were expecting it when Yu Ziyuan turned on Wei Wuxian, Zidian flashing out and throwing him backwards. Jiang Cheng let out a cry that sounded more like shock than anything else, as Wei Wuxian hit the table, which broke underneath his weight, and then the floor. Yu Ziyuan snapped the lightning whip forward again, and it struck Wei Wuxian on his back.

“Yu-furen – ” Nie Mingjue interjected, although he had no idea what he might say.

Yu Ziyuan clearly knew it, too, because she immediately retorted, “This is no business of yours, Nie-zongzhu! I will discipline this arrogant brat any way I like!” To Wei Wuxian, she continued, “How dare you cause trouble for the Yunmeng Jiang after we took you in?”

Wei Wuxian said nothing, and Jiang Cheng went to his knees between them. “Mom – please, don’t – ”

“Move aside, A-Cheng!” Yu Ziyuan shouted, and Jiang Cheng shook his head. She glanced at her twin attendants, and they grabbed Jiang Cheng by his arms, hauling him up. She drew her arm back, and the lightning crackled, the whip snapping forward –

There was a sudden, shockingly loud twaaaaang that reverberated through the sword hall. The wave of spiritual power from Lan Wangji’s guqin collided with Zidian, sending it lashing out to one side. The noise made all of their ears ring, and Nie Mingjue quickly shook his head to regain his bearing.

“You!” Yu Ziyuan, outraged, stared at Lan Wangji. “How dare you – ”

With a voice completely devoid of emotion and a face that was set in stone, Lan Wangji said, “Do not strike him again.”

Wei Wuxian managed to get to his knees, and he grabbed Lan Wangji’s sleeve, tugging on it urgently. “Lan Zhan, don’t – there’s no need for you to – ”

Lan Wangji ignored him, and turned instead to Wang Lingjiao. “You ask for Wei Ying to be punished on false grounds. You have disrespected the Yunmeng Jiang by lying to the Lady of Lotus Pier. You know as well as I do that you have spoken falsehoods. I will give you one chance to revise your statements.”

Feigning just as much outrage as Yu Ziyuan actually felt, Wang Lingjiao got to her feet and said, “How rude! You deserve to be punished as well, for what you did in Qishan. Yu-furen, are you going to let him insult you like this? To prevent you from disciplining your own disciple! Such insolence!”

For a moment, Nie Mingjue was truly afraid that Yu Ziyuan was going to go after Lan Wangji, which would put him in an extremely unenviable position. Technically, Yu Ziyuan was in the right – Lan Wangji was preventing her from carrying out her duties as the person in charge of Lotus Pier. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to stand there and watch Lan Wangji be hurt.

Fortunately for everyone, Wang Lingjiao continued to push – and pushed too hard. “Here I was thinking that you were a woman I could respect,” she said. “Once the Wen had taken control, you would have been in charge of our outpost here – ”

“Outpost?” Yu Ziyuan retorted, and the next thing anyone knew, she was beating the shit out of Wang Lingjiao. She neither used nor needed Zidian to do it, and her twin attendants wasted no time taking care of the Wen soldiers that had come with her.

When Wang Lingjiao was on the floor with Yu Ziyuan grinding her face into the floor, she screamed, “Wen Zhuliu!”

This day just kept getting better, Nie Mingjue thought, as Wen Zhuliu crashed through the ceiling and everything erupted into chaos.

Yu Ziyuan was more than capable of fighting Wen Zhuliu, but couldn’t keep Wang Lingjiao pinned to the floor while she did it. She squirmed free, going for the door. Jiang Cheng tried to stop her, but twisted around when he heard his mother’s weapon clash with Wen Zhuliu’s sword. Wang Lingjiao pulled out a signal flare.

Nie Mingjue didn’t have to wonder how many Wen soldiers were waiting for that signal. More than enough. Baxia left his hand without him even consciously making a decision, flying through the air and removing Wang Lingjiao’s hand at the wrist. The signal flare hit the ground as she let out a shrill scream. Blood gushed from the wound, and she collapsed, still screaming.

“Get that flare!” Nie Mingjue shouted, and Lan Wangji ran over to scoop it up. That done, Nie Mingjue focused on the dozen men who were still standing.

While he was doing that, Wen Zhuliu’s head turned the moment he heard Wang Lingjiao screaming. He grabbed her and picked her up, then leapt up onto the roof. Within moments, he was gone.

“How long do you think we have?” Nie Mingjue asked.

Yu Ziyuan wiped a spot of blood off her cheek – not her own, as she was clearly unwounded. “Half an hour, maybe. If they’re waiting somewhere close enough that they would see the signal flare. But we’ll be ready when they get here.” She turned and started giving orders.

Back in the sword hall, Lan Wangji was helping Wei Wuxian to his feet. He looked a little bewildered, clearly perplexed about why Lan Wangji had protected him. Nie Mingjue wondered how it was possible for someone so smart to be so stupid. “Get those injuries treated,” he said. “When the Wen sect gets here, we’ll need you on your feet.”

Wei Wuxian nodded, but before he could go anywhere, Yu Ziyuan turned back around. “Nie-zongzhu,” she said, her voice slightly strained. “If possible, I would ask you to take my son and daughter and leave Lotus Pier. Get them to safety.”

Nie Mingjue hesitated. “Yu-furen, we’ve got time to prepare. This isn’t a losing battle – ”

“Wen Zhuliu will be coming back with those soldiers,” Yu Ziyuan said. “Do you understand me, Nie-zongzhu? No matter what else happens, I cannot allow Wen Zhuliu to reach my children.”

“And I will not let him,” Nie Mingjue said firmly. “If things do go badly, I will take the two of them to safety. But until then, I would prefer to remain here, to help you fight off the Wen sect’s forces. Wen Zhuliu can most likely fight either of us to a draw, but he will not be able to defeat us together.”

After a moment, Yu Ziyuan nodded. “Very well. I appreciate your assistance.” She turned and said sharply, “A-Cheng, get your sister and shelter in the south treasure room.”

“Mom – ” Jiang Cheng protested. “I should stay here and fight! What kind of sect leader would I bet if I ran from a battle?”

“You don’t even have your sword,” Yu Ziyuan snapped, and he flinched. Then she huffed out a breath and slid Zidian off her wrist. “Take this,” she said, and when she placed it in his hand, the silver bracelet wound itself around his arm. “Use it to protect yourself and your sister, if you have to. But Nie-zongzhu, if I give the word, you will take them and go.”

Nie Mingjue nodded, and Jiang Cheng fell silent, chastened.

“Wei Wuxian, gather the disciples,” Yu Ziyuan said. “We have work to do.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Wei Wuxian was more than a little nonplussed when, in the middle of giving orders to the cultivators on perimeter, Lan Wangji took him by the wrist and pulled him away. “Lan Zhan, I’m busy – ”

“Your injuries have not yet been treated,” Lan Wangji replied, towing him along. “Two blows from a spiritual weapon as powerful as Zidian is not something that can be overlooked.”

“She didn’t hit me that hard, Lan Zhan, and there was no need for you to get involved!” Wei Wuxian felt frustrated, and wondered if this was how Jiang Cheng had felt in Qishan, when he had insisted on helping Lan Wangji. It was a somewhat uncomfortable realization. “She was just putting on a show for them – ”

“Perhaps she did not hit you with all of Zidian’s power, but the injuries are still serious.” Lan Wangji’s fingers dug into his wrist, measuring his spiritual power. Wei Wuxian, who knew exactly how much of it he had lost after the two hits, tried to pull away, but Lan Wangji’s grip was like iron. “You will sit and have them tended.”

“There are more important things to do – ”

“You think you are the only cultivator here who can organize a defense?” Lan Wangji asked. “Ridiculous.”

Still whining, Wei Wuxian was dragged along until they found one of Lotus Pier’s doctors, who bandaged up the injuries and passed along some spiritual power. By the time he was finished, Wei Wuxian had regained some composure. “Really, Lan Zhan, it wasn’t that bad. She’s hit me harder than that plenty of times!”

“That is not the compelling argument you believe it is,” Lan Wangji replied.

Wei Wuxian didn’t see why not. “You say that as if you’ve never seen me misbehave, haha,” he said, although the laugh came off as painfully forced. “I got punished in Qinghe and you got mad when I wouldn’t write lines! I’d think you would be glad somebody enforces a little discipline on me. She’s the wife of my shifu, after all!”

For a long moment, Lan Wangji said nothing. His jaw was so tight that Wei Wuxian was afraid he was going to break some teeth. Finally, he said, “As the wife of your shifu, she is indeed entitled to discipline you. I have no doubt that you have deserved many of the punishments she has given you over the years. However, this punishment was not deserved. Wang Lingjiao lied about your behavior in Qishan. I was a direct witness. How was I supposed to stand by?”

“I mean, it’s not a big deal,” Wei Wuxian said. “Like I said, she was just putting on a show to get them to leave.”

“Two strikes with Zidian was not a big deal. But how many times would she have struck you? When Wang Lingjiao said that was not sufficient and demanded something more drastic, what then? When should I have stepped in?”

“You don’t know that she would have done that,” Wei Wuxian said.

Lan Wangji’s stare could have burned holes in his skin. “Yes, I do.”

“Lan Zhan – ”

“How do you think the burning of Cloud Recesses began?” Lan Wangji bit out, and Wei Wuxian’s eyes went wide. “It happened just like this. Wen Xu and his contingent arrived and made false accusations against my father. They claimed he had been disrespectful and had insulted the Qishan Wen. My father and uncle tried to placate him, but he would not accept it. He forced our disciples to burn down our own library. My uncle was badly wounded, after which my father realized there would be no way to pacify them. He fought to his death to give my brother time to escape.”

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian said, and then realized he had no idea what to say. “I’m sorry.”

“That is what would have happened here. Yu-furen would have beaten you senseless. Wang Lingjiao would have continued to escalate her demands until she reached a line Yu-furen would not cross. At that point you would have been too badly injured to help fight off their forces. Lotus Pier would have fallen just like Cloud Recesses, and I – ” Lan Wangji’s breath caught in his throat. “I could not allow that to happen.”

“Yeah, I. I get that.” Wei Wuxian swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, Lan Zhan. I didn’t think about it that way.”

Lan Wangji let out a slow breath. “Having watched the way Yu-furen treats you, it is clear that you are accustomed to accepting punishment from her even for things that are unreasonable. You were thinking of this as one more time that happened, not as the opening from the Wen sect to destroy the Yunmeng Jiang.”

Wei Wuxian looked away. “It’s not easy for her. Me being here.”

“Many things in life are not easy. That is not an excuse to behave in an unjust manner.”

Squirming, Wei Wuxian said, “It’s not unjust, she has the right to discipline me – ”

“When you break the rules, when you cause harm to your sect, when you disrespect others. She does not have the right to discipline you when your existence at Lotus Pier bothers her. If she is angry with Jiang-zongzhu for him bringing you here, for the way he treats you, then she should direct that anger at him. You are not to blame for either his behavior or her anger.”

“It’s more complicated than that – ”

“It isn’t. I have been here one week and the dynamic is very clear. Jiang-zongzhu favors you because you remind him of your mother, who he cared for. Yu-furen dislikes you because it reminds her that she was not first in his heart. Because you are talented and clever, you draw attention away from her own son. She interprets this to mean that Jiang-zongzhu prefers you over Jiang Wanyin, and that this is because of who your respective mothers are. Everything happening here can be traced back to her jealousy of Cangse Sanren. Her behavior is objectively unacceptable.”

Wei Wuxian had no idea what to say to that. “I mean, it’s hard for Jiang Cheng, that I’m so strong – ”

“Why? My brother is stronger than I am, but I am not jealous of him. Nie Mingjue is stronger than Nie Huaisang, but Nie Huaisang is not jealous. Between two people, one will always be stronger. There are doubtlessly things that Jiang Wanyin is better at than you. The only reason he is so troubled by your strength is because of the way both of his parents treat him.”

Wei Wuxian sighed. “Listen, even if you’re right about everything, what does it matter? She’s only going to be more furious at me because you protected me. Zewu-Jun is going to have to apologize to her, and make you apologize, too, for disrespecting her.”

“My brother will understand that I could not stand by and watch you be punished for events that did not occur.”

“Yeah, and he’ll also understand that the Gusu Lan don’t want to make an enemy of the Yunmeng Jiang.”

“Yu-furen can be angry as she wishes, but I believe Jiang-zongzhu will understand my actions.”

Wei Wuxian gave up. “Okay, fine. You . . . you’re right, okay, Lan Zhan? You’re right about everything. Now will you please let me get back to work?”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji agreed, much to his relief. “The Wen soldiers will be here soon. We must be ready.”

“At least we agree on something,” Wei Wuxian muttered, and got back to his feet.

~ ~ ~ ~

Lan Wangji was tense as the minutes dragged by, but there was an edge of excitement that he could not help but feel. For the last few weeks, he had been all but desperate to strike back at the Wen forces. Now he was finally going to get the chance. He might not have had his sword, but he still had his guqin. Wei Wuxian had picked up a sword off one of the Wen soldiers who had been with Wang Lingjiao. He didn’t like it, he said, but it would do for now. Lan Wangji was silently relieved that he wasn’t planning on using the sword he had found in Xuanwu’s cave. He couldn’t say why that sword made him so anxious, but he was sure that wielding it would have negative consequences for Wei Wuxian.

The Yunmeng Jiang’s forces were nothing to be underestimated. Lan Wangji paced back and forth while they waited. He had sent a message to his brother to let him know that Lotus Pier was about to come under attack, and he hoped that Lan Xichen was close enough to get to them quickly. Jiang Fengmian, too, should be on his way back to Lotus Pier, although Lan Wangji didn’t know how far away he would be. It would depend on how long he had stayed at Koi Tower.

Jiang Cheng had reluctantly agreed to shelter inside, mostly to protect his sister, although Lan Wangji wouldn’t have been surprised to see him show up. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for him, since Wei Wuxian would have been devastated if anything happened to his brother.

Then the Wen forces showed up, and everything became chaotic. Like at Cloud Recesses, there were hundreds of them. The Qishan Wen hadn’t showed their full force in a long time, and even to Lan Wangji, it was daunting. But he was no mere soldier. He was one of the Twin Jades of Lan. Even without his sword, he was worth ten of them.

Yu Ziyuan immediately focused on Wen Zhuliu, and the few brief glimpses of their battle that Lan Wangji got made it clear that they were on the same level – and a level high above him. His momentary pride in himself all but evaporated as he watched them fight. And then there was Nie Mingjue, who could kill a dozen men in the time it took Lan Wangji to ring out a single chord. Periodically, he would turn long enough to jump into the fight between Yu Ziyuan and Wen Zhuliu, distracting him at crucial moments.

Bit by bit, they chipped away at the Wen sect’s invading forces. It seemed to be taking forever. The more of them they killed, the more came.

Then two very unexpected things happened, almost simultaneously.

An arrow sang through the air and pierced Wen Zhuliu in the shoulder.

Wen Chao shouted, “Traitorous wretch!”

Lan Wangji quickly dispatched the three cultivators he was fighting and whipped around to look. He saw Wen Zhuliu deflect Yu Ziyuan’s sword, but a fraction more slowly than usual due to the arrow. It wasn’t much, but it was enough; he was unable to recover in time to dodge Baxia, which pierced all the way through his chest.

Following the path the arrow must have taken, Lan Wangji was stunned to see that it had come from a Yunmeng Jiang disciple who could not have been more than twelve years old. He looked just as shocked as Lan Wangji did that his arrow had connected.

Next to the child, someone dressed in the black and red of the Wen sect was standing over him protectively. He was holding onto Wen Chao’s sword with bloodied hands, the first few inches of it embedded in his gut. It was clear that he had taken the blow in order to protect the boy.

Wei Wuxian cried out, “Wen Ning!”

Looking confused, Wen Ning collapsed to the ground. Wen Chao lifted the sword and brought it down towards the child, and Lan Wangji flung the chord assassination technique across the room, knocking down half a dozen Yunmeng Jiang cultivators along with a dozen from the Qishan Wen. Wen Chao went flying and slammed hard into the wall. Just as he started to get up, Wei Wuxian landed next to him and brought his sword down on his neck.

“Wen Ning, Wen Ning,” Wei Wuxian said, as the battle continued around them – although now that Yu Ziyuan was no longer fighting Wen Zhuliu, she was cutting swaths of men down around her. “What – what are you doing here?”

“He was just a little boy,” Wen Ning mumbled.

Wei Wuxian quickly began to pass him spiritual power, and Lan Wangji grabbed his wrist. “Let me,” he said, knowing that he had more power to spare. Wei Wuxian would need time to recover from being hit with Zidian. After a moment, Wei Wuxian nodded and got back to his feet. But he stayed near them, making sure no Wen soldiers got close as his shidi continued to fire arrows into the battlefield.

By the time Jiang Fengmian arrived, it was basically over. The contingent of cultivators he brought with him finished the mop-up, and he worriedly checked on his wife and then on Wei Wuxian. None of them had escaped without injury, and doctors bustled around as the bodies of the Wens were laid out.

Nie Mingjue immediately began putting together a group of cultivators with only minor injuries to scout the area and make sure there were no Wen soldiers lurking. Although he had a few cuts and bruises, he wasn’t letting them slow him down. He asked Jiang Fengmian’s permission to take the disciples and go hunting, and Jiang Fengmian granted it.

Wen Ning was being treated by the doctors at Lotus Pier, but his injury was serious. Wei Wuxian asked Jiang Fengmian if they could send a message to his sister. Since Wen Ning had saved the life of one of the Yunmeng Jiang, Jiang Fengmian allowed it. Wen Ning was conscious, although he was clearly in pain, and managed to explain what had happened. When he had heard that Lotus Pier was going to be attacked, he had left with a handful of men who were loyal to him, and headed there to see if he could help. He had gone to the camp that Wen Chao had set up and found the young disciple, whose name was apparently Lin Liu, imprisoned there. While his men kept Wen Chao distracted, he had smuggled the boy out and brought him back to Lotus Pier. By then, the attack had started, and Lin Liu had insisted on joining the fight. Wen Chao had noticed him immediately, and Wen Ning had gotten between the two of them.

Lan Wangji was impressed by his courage, and so was Jiang Fengmian. He immediately promised Wen Ning that he and his family would be safe at Lotus Pier, despite being from the Qishan Wen. Wei Wuxian was clearly predisposed to sit with him and worry, so Jiang Fengmian gave him things to do, to keep him occupied while they waited for Wen Qing.

Much to Lan Wangji’s relief, it was only a few hours later that Lan Xichen arrived with several dozen cultivators from the Gusu Lan, including a still-injured Lan Qiren. Lan Wangji greeted his brother and finally felt some of the tension leave his chest. “I’m sorry to have taken so long, Wangji,” Lan Xichen said. “There were many Wen outposts still in Gusu and it felt wrong to leave the territory occupied.”

Lan Wangji nodded and said, “I understand,” and truthfully, he did. He could fully understand his brother’s need to drive the Wen out of Gusu after what they had done at Cloud Recesses.

“Is Nie-zongzhu here?” Meng Yao, who had been at Lan Xichen’s elbow, asked. “I must give him my report.”

“Nie-zongzhu went with several dozen cultivators to find the Wen encampment,” Lan Wangji said. “He believes there may still be soldiers in the area, and wanted to be thorough.”

“That’s like Mingjue-xiong,” Lan Xichen said. “We will await his return, then. I will go speak with Jiang-zongzhu. Wangji – you should rest. I know you must have fought hard to protect Lotus Pier, and it’s nearly midnight. You must be tired.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji agreed, but he knew that Wei Wuxian was still patrolling. He hesitated, then said, “If you speak with Jiang-zongzhu, will you ask him to give the same order to Wei Ying? He will not rest otherwise.”

With a slight smile, Lan Xichen nodded and said, “Of course, Wangji.”

Thus satisfied, Lan Wangji went back to Wei Wuxian’s rooms, where he had been sleeping. Despite his exhaustion, he made some tea. The actions were familiar and meditative and would help him relax. He knew he wouldn’t sleep until Wei Wuxian arrived. Fortunately, he did, about fifteen minutes later. “Jiang-shushu says I have to sleep now,” he complained. “I guess your brother must have told you the same, huh? But I’m worried about Wen Ning – ”

“Wen Ning’s condition is stable,” Lan Wangji said. “The doctors here are very good, and his sister will be here soon. Jiang-zongzhu will doubtlessly greet her with courtesy. You were injured today and you should rest.”

Wei Wuxian wrinkled his nose, then said, “Well, I guess I can’t complain. At least I wasn’t sent to hide in the treasure hall like Jiang Cheng – he’s so upset he won’t even talk to me.”

“Yu-furen’s actions to protect him were logical,” Lan Wangji said. “He should understand that.”

“Yeah, I told him that. It was fine that I fought without my sword and risked getting killed, because I’m not the sect heir.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji agreed. He realized suddenly that he was now a sect heir. With his father’s death, Lan Xichen was now the Head of the Gusu Lan, which meant Lan Wangji was now second in line, rather than third. His chest and throat ached with it.

Wei Wuxian was blessedly oblivious, continuing, “But he’s always looking for things that will prove Yu-furen is disappointed in him. Like you said earlier – the whole thing is just – complicated.” He sighed. “But at least he’s all right. And Yu-furen and Jiang-shushu certainly can’t argue with Nie-zongzhu asking for shijie’s hand in marriage after this, haha! It’s a good thing he was here.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said again, averting his gaze as Wei Wuxian cast off his outer robe and his boots and then flopped down on his bed. He continued to ramble for another minute before the words trailed off, and Lan Wangji realized that he had literally fallen asleep midsentence. “Ridiculous,” he muttered, and lay down on his own bed, finally able to relax.

~ ~ ~ ~

Jiang Yanli had to admit that she had been frightened, down in the treasure room, but nowhere near as much as she felt she would have been if Nie Mingjue had not been there. While Jiang Cheng paced and talked bitterly about how he had been sent away like a weak child – no matter how many times Jiang Yanli reminded him that he was the sect heir and had to be kept safe – she sat and carefully kept her emotions tightly woven in her chest. She had never been near a real battle before, and had no idea how long they took. Jiang Cheng hadn’t either, but he had at least been educated about them. He said it would be anywhere from hours to days. It really depended on how many men the Qishan Wen had sent.

So she sat quietly, and he paced and kept his hand tightly curled around Zidian, clearly ready for men to burst in and try to hurt them. But after things finally went quiet a few hours later, the man who opened the door was their father. “Dad!” Jiang Cheng exclaimed, and Jiang Fengmian swept both of them into a hug. “What happened? We were victorious?”

“The Qishan Wen sent hundreds of men,” Jiang Fengmian said. Jiang Yanli noticed that her father looked tired. “We took heavy losses, but Lotus Pier is still ours. I only arrived recently – your mother is responsible for the victory. She has taken several injuries, but nothing to be concerned about.”

“A-Xian?” Jiang Yanli asked immediately.

“Also wounded, but not badly. I’ve sent him to get some rest, along with Lan-er-gongzi. Zewu-Jun has arrived with some of his men, but it’s late. We’ll talk about what to do next in the morning, and depending on what Nie-zongzhu says when he gets back.”

“Gets back?” Jiang Yanli could not help but ask. “Where did he go?”

“Just to scout the surrounding area,” Jiang Fengmian said. “It’s almost certain that the Wen sect had an encampment nearby, and he went to find it.”

Jiang Yanli relaxed a little. “Thank you, Father.”

Jiang Fengmian smiled at both of them. “Get some rest, both of you.”

“I’m not tired,” Jiang Cheng said immediately. “Let me help. I spent the whole battle locked in here – there must be something I can do.”

“A-Cheng,” Jiang Fengmian began, but then he seemed to think better of whatever he was about to say. Instead, he smiled, and said, “Thank you for staying here and protecting your sister. I know that obeying that order cannot have been easy for you.”

With a weak smile, Jiang Cheng said, “Attempt the impossible, right?”

Jiang Fengmian laughed, and Jiang Yanli felt her heart swell with joy at seeing the way Jiang Cheng perked up. Then their father said, “You can help me now taking charge of the dead. It’s a heavy task, I know. We must know how bad our losses are, and we will need to send cultivators to find and notify the families. Make sure that the departed souls will pass on to the next life.”

It was an awful task, but Jiang Cheng accepted it eagerly, as Jiang Yanli had known he would. He bowed to his father and said he would find some disciples to help and get started immediately. Jiang Yanli said, “Father, if it’s all right, I will go work in the kitchens – I am sure that everyone must be hungry after such a battle.”

“Very well,” Jiang Fengmian said. “But don’t push yourself too hard, A-Li. Rest if you need to.”

“I will,” she said, and headed for the comfort of her kitchen.

~ ~ ~ ~

Meng Yao had to admit to a bittersweet feeling in his chest when the lights of Lotus Pier came into view. He had known that before long, Lan Xichen would meet with the other sect leaders and his brother and their cultivators, that he would go back to being Zewu-Jun. Meng Yao knew he had responsibilities that he could not shirk forever, even as he had hardly been wasting time by driving the Wen out of Gusu. But he also knew that things would be different after this. The few weeks that they had had together seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye, and he still didn’t fully understand what had even happened. All he knew was that he had saved Lan Xichen’s life, gotten him into hiding so he could recover from his injuries, and that Lan Xichen looked at him with so much warmth in his eyes that he thought he might combust from it.

When they had received Nie Mingjue’s message a few days previous – all but begging them to come pick up Lan Wangji, who was preoccupied with worry – they had both agreed to head to Yunmeng with all due speed. Lan Xichen had sent out messages to his other cultivators in the area to meet them there, including the ones who were taking care of his uncle. But it would still be a few days, Meng Yao knew. He could bask in it a little longer. While they had been in hiding, Lan Xichen had said wonderful things like ‘use my name’ and ‘you don’t need to be so formal with me, A-Yao’. Of course, Meng Yao knew that they were trying not to draw attention, that they didn’t want anybody to know who Lan Xichen was.

After two weeks of calling him Huan-gege (Lan Xichen’s suggestion, since they didn’t want anyone knowing he was a Lan), and speaking freely, he knew it would be jarring to go back to formality. He resolved to enjoy it while it lasted.

Only then, just a few hours later, they had gotten another message. Lotus Pier was going to come under attack from the Wen sect. They needed to get there as soon as possible. “I’ll take you on my sword,” Lan Xichen said immediately, and Meng Yao’s last few days of enjoying Lan Xichen’s company had turned into half a day of harried travel in silence. At least he had been able to hold onto Lan Xichen while on the sword, but it was hardly the farewell he had envisioned.

It should have been a relief to find that the battle was over by the time they got there, and that although the Yunmeng Jiang had taken losses, they had been victorious. Lan Xichen was certainly relieved about that, greeting his brother happily. But Meng Yao just felt bitter and resentful about losing those last few precious days together.

His bitterness and resentful increased about tenfold as soon as the meeting between the sect leaders began. Nie Mingjue had said he was glad he was safe, and praised him for successfully helping Lan Xichen. But then, almost immediately, the topic of Jin Guangshan came up. Jiang Fengmian had gone to see him, and relayed to the rest of them that Jin Guangshan was not particularly interested in fighting this war. He ‘declined to get involved’ in the ‘longstanding conflict’ between the Qishan Wen and the Qinghe Nie. When the subject of the attack on Cloud Recesses came up, he had hedged slightly but basically held the opinion that if a sect was stupid enough to offend the Qishan Wen, that wasn’t his problem.

It was phrased more tactfully than that, of course, but it was what he meant. Lan Xichen’s smile became forced, and Lan Wangji was clearly outraged. But Lan Xichen rested a hand on his shoulder and quietly counseled him, and he settled down.

“What about the attack on Lotus Pier, though?” Nie Mingjue asked. “Won’t that change his mind?”

Jiang Fengmian hesitated. “Because we successfully defended ourselves, he’ll say it was just a skirmish. Nothing serious and no need for him to get involved.”

Yu Ziyuan snorted and said, “Our first disciple killed the second young master of the Qishan Wen. I doubt Wen Ruohan will see it as a ‘skirmish’.”

“Wei Ying was protecting one of your disciples,” Lan Wangji said, with a tension in his voice that Meng Yao wasn’t certain of the cause of. He seemed almost worried that Wei Wuxian would be punished instead of praised.

“I’m well aware of that,” Yu Ziyuan said.

Calmly, Jiang Fengmian said, “A-Xian acted honorably. But my lady is certainly correct that Wen Ruohan will want revenge for the death of his son. He will probably demand A-Xian’s life in return – ”

Lan Wangji opened his mouth.

“ – and such a demand of course could not be granted.”

Lan Wangji closed his mouth.

“But,” Jiang Fengmian continued, “Jin Guangshan, if asked, would merely counsel us to go along with that. A-Xian is only the son of a servant. Jin Guangshan would not understand why we would protect him. Therefore, it will be his opinion that if we would rather fight the Qishan Wen than give into their demands, that is our own war to fight.”

“Your sects are allies,” Nie Mingjue said.

Meng Yao could have told him exactly why that wouldn’t matter to Jin Guangshan, but he said nothing. Instead, Yu Ziyuan replied, “When our daughter was engaged to Jin-gongzi, we were allies. Now, we are merely acquaintances. Our fate barely would have mattered to him a year ago; it certainly will not matter to him now.”

Seeing that Nie Mingjue was frustrated, Lan Xichen said, “As long as he does not side with Wen Ruohan against us, that is fine. The three of our sects, along with the smaller sects he has threatened, will stand together. Wen Ruohan was dealt a vicious blow yesterday, with the death of his son and one of his most valuable retainers. We must push our advantage.”

Meng Yao stood quietly as the talk turned to strategy, and he hated it, hated standing there in silence while people talked around him. He knew it was irrational to be so angry about it. Nie Mingjue was a gifted strategist; Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian both had twenty years experience on the others. Military strategy was not Meng Yao’s forte; he could not really contribute. But he still felt incredibly invisible.

He was good at being invisible.

An idea occurred to him, as the others continued to debate where the best place to attack from would be. The Wen had mostly been driving out of Gusu. Nie Mingjue was concerned about Qinghe; he had never before been away for so long. Nie Zonghui was certainly competent, but he was not a general. Nie Mingjue wanted to get back to Qinghe, but Jiang Fengmian pointed out that Qinghe was fairly far away and an unlikely target. Wen Ruohan would have to get through much of the space between them with a significant force, and he could not do that unnoticed. Back when Nie Mingjue’s father had been alive, much of the war between the two sects had been over outposts. The strongholds were rarely affected.

“What are you thinking, A-Yao?” Lan Xichen asked, with a warm smile.

“Ah – ” Meng Yao was a little startled to have attention drawn to him. He bowed quickly, and saw Lan Xichen’s smile turned into a slightly worried frown. He decided against talking about his plan, which would surely turn into a debate. It would work better if only a few people knew about it. “It’s nothing, Zewu-Jun. I was just trying to think of places in the middle ground that might serve as launching points for attacks.”

Lan Xichen continued to frown, but the others went back to their discussion. It wasn’t until much later, when the group had made some decisions and split up to give orders, that Lan Xichen found time to pull him aside. “Are you all right, A-Yao? You’ve seemed very tense since we got here.”

“There’s no need to be concerned about me, Zewu-Jun,” Meng Yao said. “I’m just worried about the cultivators back at The Unclean Realm.”

Looking a little confused, almost wounded, Lan Xichen said, “Why are you being so formal all of a sudden, A-Yao? Did I offend you in some way?”

“What? No, of course not,” Meng Yao said. “But things are different now. We’re no longer in private; there’s no need to hide who you are. I can hardly call you Huan-gege in front of Nie-zongzhu. That would be terribly disrespectful.”

“How would it be disrespectful when I asked you to call me that?” Lan Xichen asked, still looking genuinely confused. “A-Yao, you seem to have misunderstood. I didn’t ask you to call me that because we were in hiding. You could have just used a fake name. I asked you to call me that because I wanted you to call me that.”

Now Meng Yao was feeling confused, and grasped for understanding. “Zewu-Jun, I know what happened at Cloud Recesses was terrible, and you have been under enormous amounts of pressure. I was the only company you had during such a difficult time, and I hardly wished to discount your feelings. But now that we are back amongst mixed company, surely you can see why I would feel – awkward – calling you something so intimate.”

“Oh,” Lan Xichen said. “I see. Of course, Meng-gongzi; I would not want you to be troubled by such a request. I apologize for my forwardness.”

Somehow Meng Yao felt even worse, and he wasn’t particularly sure why. “Ah – in any case – I was thinking about what happened in Caiyi Town. How I was able to infiltrate the Wen sect’s troops to get information for you. I was thinking I might be able to do the same thing now, on a larger scale. Would you come with me to discuss this with Nie-zongzhu?”

“Of course,” Lan Xichen said.

In truth, even though it had been his idea, and was a good one, Meng Yao wanted Nie Mingjue to argue. He wanted Nie Mingjue to say that he didn’t want Meng Yao to leave his side, that he would be depending on Meng Yao to help his forces stay organized. Instead, Nie Mingjue listened to his plan and proclaimed it a good one. Although he expressed some concern for Meng Yao’s safety, he clearly felt the opportunity to get inside information was too valuable to be denied.

At least, Meng Yao thought bitterly, he didn’t question Meng Yao’s capability. That would have been too much to bear.

He didn’t have anything to pack, but he went to where the bodies of the Wen soldiers were gathered and pieced together some uniforms with minimal damage. He took a sword as well, and several pairs of shoes. That would be enough. He would get to Qishan and arrive as if he were a scout, reporting – no, he didn’t want to report what had happened at Lotus Pier. Let somebody else tell Wen Ruohan that his son had been killed. He would report the news from Gusu. That would work well; he had a great deal of detail already about what had happened there.

No goodbyes, he thought, and left Lotus Pier behind him.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

While the adults were strategizing, Wei Wuxian was listening to an argument and cringing. Wen Qing had arrived at Lotus Pier just after dawn. Fortunately, Wen Ning’s condition was stable. He would need several weeks to fully heal, but he was no longer in immediate danger.

Or maybe that was unfortunate, because it meant Wen Qing was able to immediately lay into him while Wei Wuxian stood awkwardly in a corner. “What were you thinking?” she demanded. “Were you even thinking at all? You just committed treason, A-Ning! Do I even need to tell you what could happen because of that?”

“Jie, I had to,” Wen Ning said plaintively. “Wei-gongzi is my friend – ”

“And what am I, then?” Wen Qing retorted.

Flustered, Wen Ning stammered, “M-my sister – ”

“Yes! Your older sister! I’ve looked after you since you were nine years old, and you didn’t even think to talk to me before you betrayed our sect – ”

“Because Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao were lying! They were going to accuse Wei-gongzi of things he didn’t do – ”

“What business of yours is that?” Wen Qing asked furiously. “Do you think the Jiang sect is so weak that they needed help from you? All you did was free a twelve year old prisoner and then get stabbed!”

“I mean, Lin Liu actually – ” Wei Wuxian began, about to mention how the boy had helped bring down the great Wen Zhuliu.

“Be quiet, Wei Wuxian!” Wen Qing snapped. “This isn’t your business! A-Ning, what am I supposed to do now? What’s going to happen to our people? To Granny, to our uncles and aunts and A-Yuan – ”

“They’ll be fine!” Wen Ning said. “Nobody in the Wen sect knows what I did.”

“And you think he’ll never find out?” Wen Qing looked incredulous. “Are you saying you’re going to come home with me and I’m supposed to go back to serving Wen-zongzhu and it’s not going to come up that you have a stab wound in your gut? Or were you suggesting that you stay here, with the opposing forces? Have you thought even the slightest bit about what’s going to happen next?”

Wen Ning cringed. “I just knew I wanted to help Wei-gongzi . . .”

“You!” Wen Qing was too furious to say anything else.

Her momentary lack of words gave Wen Ning a chance to rally. “And I knew that what Wen-zongzhu is doing is wrong! Attacking other sects without provocation – using false accusations as an excuse to do whatever he wants – jie, I know you see it too!”

“It isn’t our business!” Wen Qing replied. “Our branch of the family practices medical cultivation. We are not responsible for the choices of all of Qishan Wen!”

“But don’t you see, we are,” Wen Ning said. “That’s exactly what caused this problem! You’re worried about our whole family being punished for my actions – but what do you think will happen to them when the other sects decide they can no longer tolerate Wen-zongzhu’s actions? Do you think they’ll just look the other way because we don’t have blood on our hands? You know that they won’t! Joining them now was the only way to secure our family’s safety!”

Wen Qing’s shoulders slumped slightly and she said, still somewhat sharply, “I don’t believe you thought any of that through before you did exactly as you pleased.”

“I did a little,” Wen Ning said. “Jie, Jiang-zongzhu said he would protect our family because I saved their disciple. I am sorry I didn’t discuss it with you first, but you w-won’t convince me that I was wrong.”

With a sigh, Wen Qing said, “No, it’s quite clear that I won’t be doing that any time soon.” She shook her head and said, “What medicine are they giving you?” Without waiting for an answer, she picked up the cup by his bedside and sniffed it. “No, that won’t do at all. It will promote faster generation of the blood you’ve lost but will cool the temperature in your gut, which needs to heal right now. Wei Wuxian, bring me to his doctor.”

“You won’t hurt her, right?” Wei Wuxian asked, and Wen Qing gave him a withering look. “Not everyone’s as brilliant as you, Wen Qing . . . but come on, I’ll take you to see them.” He gave Wen Ning a somewhat apologetic look as he left the infirmary with Wen Qing behind him.

Much to his delight, Jiang Cheng was waiting outside. Wei Wuxian assumed that he had heard that Wen Qing had arrived and had come to see her, but sensibly had not wanted to interrupt the argument. Jiang Cheng looked tired – Wei Wuxian knew that he had been up all night – but he brightened instantly to see her, and bowed. “Wen-guniang, welcome to Lotus Pier.”

Wen Qing bowed in return and said, somewhat stiffly, “Thank you for your kindness to my brother.”

“Of course,” Jiang Cheng said. “He saved the life of one of our disciples – how could we do any less?”

“I need to speak with his doctor,” Wen Qing said, and then, as if Wei Wuxian hadn’t just agreed to do this very thing, “can you take me to see them?”

“Yes, absolutely – this way, please – ”

Wei Wuxian hung back slightly, amused that he had apparently now been relegated to background noise. He watched in further amusement as Jiang Cheng listened with rapt attention while Wen Qing lectured the well-meaning Yunmeng doctor on the treatment of gut wounds. It wasn’t that her treatment was wrong, Wen Qing said, it was just that it wasn’t enough, and her brother absolutely had to receive the correct treatment. Jiang Cheng watched her give this lecture with stars in his eyes, and Wei Wuxian had to choke back a laugh.

Once Wen Ning had received the additional medicine and was resting comfortably, Jiang Cheng said, “Ah – Wen-guniang, I know my parents were eager to meet you.”

Wen Qing closed her case of needles and said, “Of course. I have been remiss in my duties; I must pay my respects to the sect leader and the lady of Lotus Pier.”

Grinning, Wei Wuxian followed as the two of them went and found Jiang Fengmian. Wen Qing bowed somewhat stiffly, but Jiang Fengmian was warm and welcoming to her. He talked about how highly Jiang Cheng spoke of her, how much he admired her medical skill, and then praised Wen Ning for coming to help them. Wen Qing’s mouth twitched slightly at that, as she fought against the impulse to say anything about her brother’s stupidity. Seeing this, Jiang Fengmian reassured her that the Yunmeng Jiang would protect them.

Wei Wuxian jumped in and said, “Jiang-shushu, they still have family back at Dafan Mountain – I know Wen Ning was worried about them. We can help, right?”

“Of course,” Jiang Fengmian said. To Wen Qing, he added, “Please, don’t worry, Wen-guniang. I know that you must be concerned that your family will get caught up in this, but we’ll do everything we can to keep them safe.”

At this, Wen Qing relaxed slightly. Jiang Cheng offered to show her around Lotus Pier, and Wei Wuxian decided he’d rather not keep being a third wheel. He went to find Lan Wangji instead, who was in one of the courtyards, practicing his guqin. “Did you talk to your brother?”

Lan Wangji nodded. “He and Nie-zongzhu are developing a comprehensive strategy, with the help of Jiang-zongzhu and Yu-furen. I imagine we will have battle assignments by tomorrow.”

“Great!” Wei Wuxian said, and he meant it. He couldn’t imagine anything he would rather do more than kick some Wen tail with Lan Wangji at his side.

~ ~ ~ ~

Once all the plans were decided and the maps put away, Nie Mingjue went to find Jiang Yanli. She wasn’t in the kitchen, but Wei Wuxian helpfully pointed out the pavilion she liked to do her embroidery in. As soon as Nie Mingjue found her there, she smiled shyly and offered to make tea.

“What’s going to happen now?” she asked, as she put the water over the fire.

“We’re going to split into three main forces,” Nie Mingjue said, and began giving her a description of the strategy that they had designed.

She listened in interest, and when he finished speaking, she said, “Thank you.”

“What for?”

With a smile that was a shade sad, she said, “Most people would have assumed I wasn’t really interested or wouldn’t understand. Even my brothers would have just told me not to worry about it.”

Nie Mingjue shrugged slightly. “You asked a question, so I answered it. No need to thank me for that. There is something I wanted to discuss with you, though.”

“Which is?”

“It’s likely not safe for you to stay at Lotus Pier,” Nie Mingjue said, and Jiang Yanli’s hands trembled slightly as she put tea into the pot. “Although we’re far from Nightless City, the Wen still have a strong presence in this area. Xichen thinks he drove most of their forces out of Gusu but he’s not entirely sure.”

“I see,” Jiang Yanli said softly.

“Your mother wishes to send you to Koi Tower,” Nie Mingjue said, and gauged her reaction carefully. Jiang Yanli didn’t wear her heart on her sleeve; she was much more reserved, like Xichen was. He thought he saw the corners of her mouth tighten, but that was all. “Her rationale was that it’s the safest place for you to be, given that Jin Guangshan has declined to get involved in the conflict. Even though you are no longer betrothed to Jin Zixuan, the Lady of Koi Tower is still Yu-furen’s sect sister. She will take you in if Yu-furen requests it.”

“I see,” Jiang Yanli repeated.

“I asked if she thought it might not be uncomfortable for you, given what happened between you and Jin Zixuan,” Nie Mingjue said. “However, it wasn’t her primary concern,” he added. He didn’t want to say exactly what Yu Ziyuan had said in response to that, about how her daughter’s ‘comfort’ was not an issue that mattered. “Your father seems torn on the issue. He agrees that Koi Tower is the safest place for you, but he is worried about how the Jin will treat you. He asked me if I would let you stay at The Unclean Realm.”

At this, Jiang Yanli did look up. “What was your reply?”

“That I was willing, but I wanted to get your opinion, first,” Nie Mingjue said. He likewise did not add how Yu Ziyuan had scoffed at this. “The Unclean Realm will not be as safe as Koi Tower. The Wen have attacked it before, although we have always held it. We hope to keep their forces far away, but I can make no guarantees. As well as that, you’ve been to The Unclean Realm; you know it is not a soft place. I would not want you to force yourself.”

Jiang Yanli poured the water into the pot and swirled it gently. “I have no issue with the supposed hardness of The Unclean Realm. I enjoyed my stay there.”

“It wouldn’t be the same,” Nie Mingjue said. “Your brothers would not be there. Nor would I. You’d be left with Huaisang for company.”

That made Jiang Yanli laugh, and it was such a beautiful sound, like silver bells. “Nie-gongzi and I get along quite well. If he will be staying there, then you must fully believe in its safety, or you would send him somewhere else. But . . .”

Her voice trailed off. “But?” Nie Mingjue prompted.

“Could I not travel with the camp?” she asked.

Surprised, Nie Mingjue asked, “Would you truly want to do that? It would be nothing like the life you’ve lived so far.”

“I know what war requires, Nie-zongzhu. I have never experienced it, but I am educated. The camp would need people who could cook, who could sew, who could bind wounds and mix medicine. I spoke with Wen-guniang earlier and she said she would be going with the camp as a medic. I feel I could be valuable in a support capacity.”

Nie Mingjue shook his head slightly. “Understand, Jiang-guniang, I am not doubting your willingness or your ability. But I’m quite sure after the discussion I had earlier that your parents would not allow it.”

“No,” she said quietly, “I suppose they wouldn’t.”

“Don’t be so sad about it,” Nie Mingjue said. “They want to keep you safe. That’s a natural thing.”

After a moment, Jiang Yanli nodded. “I will accept your offer of shelter in The Unclean Realm, Nie-zongzhu, and I appreciate it.”

Nie Mingjue reached out and awkwardly patted her hand. “You’ll be safe there, I promise.”

“Thank you, Nie-zongzhu.”

They sat in silence for a moment, sipping their tea. Then Jiang Yanli changed the subject, asking some intelligent questions about the strategy they had decided on. After about an hour had passed, a disciple of the Yunmeng Jiang came and told them that Jiang Yanli’s mother was looking for her. She bowed and promised to see him again before he left Lotus Pier.

With a wistful sigh that he wouldn’t have admitted to, Nie Mingjue went to check on the others. He found Lan Xichen easily, following the sound of his xiao to where he was sitting on the pier. “What’s got you looking so melancholy?” he asked, sitting down next to him.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Lan Xichen said, in the tone of someone who was definitely not melancholy over nothing. And he immediately contradicted himself, saying, “I’m just worried about A-Yao.”

Nodding, Nie Mingjue said, “I’m worried too, but he can take care of himself.”

“I know that, believe me. After the past few weeks, I couldn’t not. I’m sure he can handle himself in Nightless City. It’s just that I’m afraid I – made him uncomfortable.”

Nie Mingjue frowned, wondering if Lan Xichen had ever made anyone uncomfortable in his entire life. He was practically permanently bent over backwards to accommodate others. “How so?”

“These last few weeks, I had asked him to call me by my name,” Lan Xichen said. “We were able to stop being so formal with each other. But as soon as we got here, he went back to his previous behavior. I reminded him . . . but he told me he had only gone along with it because we couldn’t let people know who I was, and he would feel awkward to address me like that in front of others.”

“Well, of course he would,” Nie Mingjue said, and saw Lan Xichen’s startled look. “Wait. Did he actually say he had only been ‘going along with it’? Or did he assume that you were only ‘going along with it’?”

Now it was Lan Xichen who frowned, clearly thinking back. “No, I told him very specifically that I had asked him to call me by my name because I wanted him to, not because we were in hiding. He said he knew I had been under a lot of pressure and he hadn’t wanted to discount my feelings.”

Nie Mingjue felt a headache coming on. “I can hardly believe that I have to say this to you,” he said, “given all the times that you’ve lectured me on being sensitive to Meng Yao’s feelings. But you have to remember his position. Huaisang tried to get Meng Yao to call him by his name, or call him Nie-xiong, and you know how persistent he can be. But Meng Yao would never do it. And it had nothing to do with how he felt about doing it, or how Huaisang would have felt about him doing it. It had everything to do with how other people would have reacted if they witnessed him doing it.”

“I know that,” Lan Xichen said. “Well, I didn’t know the part about Huaisang, but – I thought A-Yao and I had reached an understanding.”

With a sigh, Nie Mingjue said, “Did you sleep with him?”

Lan Xichen nearly choked. “What? No!”

“Did you kiss him?”

“No! We weren’t – at that – ” Lan Xichen’s cheeks were turning an entertaining pink. “I don’t even know at what point in a relationship one is supposed to kiss for the first time – ”

Chuckling despite himself, Nie Mingjue said, “Around the point in time you told him to call you ‘Huan-gege’, you should have kissed him if you wanted him to get the idea that it wasn’t just because you were in hiding.”

Lan Xichen was clearly embarrassed, and he replied, “I told you that I told him I hadn’t just done it for that reason.”

“Yes,” Nie Mingjue said, nodding, “and then he explained to you why he wasn’t comfortable doing it in front of others, and then you, instead of kissing him, somehow concluded that he was only doing it to make you feel better while you were undergoing a stressful time. And you say that I’m bad at romance?”

“You are bad at romance,” Lan Xichen said, then added, “Although you’ve clearly gotten much better.”

“I guess all those lessons must have sunk in,” Nie Mingjue said, and sighed. “Xichen. However clear you’ve urged me to be with Jiang-guniang, you’re going to have to be five times that clear with Meng Yao. He’s never going to respond to a hint, an allusion, an implication. Firstly because he’d be so terrified to misinterpret and offend you, and secondly because he’s just not built to conclude that people value him. Two years from now when you two are married and naked in bed together, he’s still going to be wondering if you married him as a husband, or just a side piece, if you haven’t explicitly and at great length explained exactly what he is to you.”

“That’s somewhat horrifying,” Lan Xichen said. “He’s so clever and perceptive. Surely he can’t misunderstand so badly.”

“Oh, he absolutely can. But in this case, it’s you who misunderstood him. He was trying to tactfully explain to you that Yu-furen would probably throw him in the lake if she caught him being casual with you, and you jumped to the conclusion that he didn’t actually care for you at all. You’ve had a hard month, but truly, Xichen, you’re making me look like the smart one right now.”

“You’re very rude,” Lan Xichen told him.

“When we found out Gusu had been attacked, Meng Yao immediately asked my permission to go and find you,” Nie Mingjue said. “He’s my most valuable assistant, and he knew I would have a hundred things for him to do, and even that I might get angry at him for asking, for showing more concern for the Gusu Lan than for the Qinghe Nie. But he went right to his knees and asked me in front of everyone. So don’t try to tell me that he was just using your name to make you happy while you were going through a tough time.”

Lan Xichen sighed. “It’s just – his reaction when I asked why he was being so formal with me – it felt like being thrown into a bucket of cold water. Everything between us lately had been so – simple.”

“I know,” Nie Mingjue said. “And I know how much you both must have enjoyed that. But Meng Yao will always be conscious of the gap between the two of you. He can’t be anything but.” He bumped his shoulder against Lan Xichen’s and said, “Now go kiss him. Do it three or four times so he gets the message.”

“He’s gone already,” Lan Xichen said, looking wretched. “I tried to find him earlier and one of the Yunmeng Jiang disciples told me that he had already left. They gave him one of their boats.”

Nie Mingjue looked up at the sky in frustration. “Then go get him! He can’t travel faster by the river than you can by the sword.”

Lan Xichen hesitated. “Given everything going on, do you really think it’s wise – ”

Nie Mingjue pointed at the river and barked, “You think too much! It’s precisely because of everything going on that you’d better go find him and straighten things out before he gets to Nightless City! Now get out of here! You can meet me at Langya.”

After a moment, Lan Xichen nodded. “Thank you, Mingjue-xiong. I’ll see you soon.”

Nie Mingjue wondered why he was the clever one all of a sudden. Truly, Jiang Yanli had been good for him.

~ ~ ~ ~

Meng Yao was perusing a map and trying to determine whether or not he was making good time when he heard a rustle of cloth above him. He glanced up just as Lan Xichen touched down lightly on the bow of the boat, and could not help but stare blankly. “Zewu-Jun.”

Lan Xichen looked around and then said, “This is the height of privacy, A-Yao. Must you still call me that?”

Feeling his cheeks flush pink, Meng Yao looked away. How had Lan Xichen become so confusing in the past day? Certainly, Meng Yao had to admit that Lan Xichen had had a point when he had said he could have just given Meng Yao a fake name to use. He had just assumed such an option had not occurred to him. The idea that Lan Xichen actually wanted him to use such an affectionate term hadn’t entered Meng Yao’s mind for a moment. But at the same time, he didn’t understand why Lan Xichen was so put out at the fact that he had stopped using it now that they were no longer on the run.

He decided the best answer to that question was no answer. “What are you doing here? Is something amiss at Lotus Pier?”

“No,” Lan Xichen said. “I just realized that there was a misunderstanding between us. I could not in good conscience allow you to go into such danger until I had amended the situation.”

“I see,” Meng Yao said, not seeing.

“Firstly, I must apologize,” Lan Xichen said. “Of course you would not feel comfortable being informal with me in front of others. Those few weeks when we were in hiding were so comfortable that I seem to have forgotten the rest of the world existed.”

Despite himself, Meng Yao smiled slightly at that. Would that they could forget the rest of the world existed in the long-term. “There’s no need to apologize. I’m just glad that you were not offended.”

“But I do think you misunderstood me, A-Yao. Yes, we were in hiding, and yes, my real name could not be used. But I did not ask you to call me Huan-gege because of those two things. I asked you to call me that because you saved my life, because I enjoy your company, because I hold great affection for you.”

Flushing again, Meng Yao ducked his head. “I will call you whatever you wish, Huan-gege, when we are in private.”

Lan Xichen sighed and said, “I cannot believe I have to admit this, but – Mingjue-xiong was right.”

“Ah?” Meng Yao asked, and then froze, because Lan Xichen leaned in and kissed him.

It was glorious in absolutely ever single way Meng Yao could have conceived of, even as he stood completely still, stunned, for the brief seconds that it lasted.

“Did that help clarify things for you?” Lan Xichen asked.

“What?” Meng Yao asked, dazed.

For some reason, Lan Xichen’s response to this was to kiss him again. Meng Yao couldn’t help but approve of this, noting that Lan Xichen’s lips were very soft, and the way his fingertips trailed over Meng Yao’s cheek sent sparks shivering down his spine, and he would just, in general, prefer to be kissing Lan Xichen for the rest of his life.

“How about now?” Lan Xichen murmured.

“I can’t – misunderstand,” Meng Yao said, trying to catch his breath. “I’m just afraid that I don’t – understand at all.”

He wasn’t sure if Lan Xichen would know what he meant, but Lan Xichen reached out and caressed his cheek. “A-Yao, you are clever and brave. What is there not to understand about why I would wish to kiss you?”

Meng Yao said nothing, because he could not bring himself to speak the words aloud, to remind Lan Xichen that he was the son of a whore.

“A-Yao,” Lan Xichen continued, “when I first arrived at The Unclean Realm, I only planned to stay a few days, perhaps a week. Why do you think I stayed? Did you truly think I was so anxious about my brother? That I thought Mingjue-xiong needed my help finding a wife?”

“Yes,” Meng Yao said, even as he was aware that this was clearly the wrong answer.

“I stayed for you,” Lan Xichen said. “Because I wanted to get to know you better. To spend time with you. Mingjue-xiong had written me about you, you know, about how he had such a clever, eloquent assistant. But seeing what you went through that day at the Saluting Ceremony, I realized he had completely overlooked your most appealing trait – your strength of will. To have come so far given where you started – to have not given up despite the way your father treated you – to be able to tolerate the way people treated you because you had goals you wanted to achieve – it speaks of such incredible perseverance.”

Meng Yao didn’t know what to say, because the only thing he could think of to say was ‘so what?’ What did it matter if he was talented or clever, if he was courageous or determined? Certainly it had never mattered to anybody before. Why did it matter to Lan Xichen?

Beauty, that was something he understood. If Lan Xichen had kissed him and said it was because he was beautiful, he would have understood. It would have meant Lan Xichen found him desirable, that Lan Xichen wanted to bed him. He knew he was physically attractive, although he certainly felt that Lan Xichen was many levels above him. But he also knew that people had different tastes.

Lan Xichen wanting to sleep with him, he would have understood. But something about the way Lan Xichen had kissed him and said it was because he was clever and brave made Meng Yao feel like it was something more than that.

“Normally I would not be this forward, given the length of our acquaintance,” Lan Xichen continued, seeing that Meng Yao was atypically speechless, “but it seems I must be absolutely clear with you. I kissed you for the same reason that I asked you to call me by my name, because of the affection that I feel for you. When this war is over, I would dearly like you to come to Cloud Recesses with me. To become a disciple, to spend your days with me, talking about cultivation and history and music, to be by my side no matter what happens.”

“I could never . . .” Meng Yao managed, and then quickly added, “I’m sure your elders would never allow it.”

“I have many cousins, A-Yao,” Lan Xichen said. “If I insist on following my heart in the partner I spend my life with, then they will understand.”

Meng Yao felt extremely skeptical of this, but wasn’t sure how to say that. He wished that they weren’t having this discussion on a boat, which prevented him from making a hasty bow and hastier exit. “You are the sect leader of one of the great sects,” he said. “There are so many women in the world that would be well-suited to you. I may have my talents, but there’s no way I can be what you seem to want me to be.”

“You, as you are right now, are exactly what I want you to be,” Lan Xichen said.

“I don’t understand,” Meng Yao admitted. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t know how to explain it to you,” Lan Xichen said, “but, well, consider this, A-Yao. I don’t mean to be self-congratulatory, but you hold me in rather high regard, yes?”

“Yes,” Meng Yao said.

“Then should you not agree my opinion of you has merit? I appreciate you, just as you are. I value you, just as you are. You don’t have to understand that, I don’t think. But can you believe it?”

Meng Yao didn’t know. He wanted to, but the small, bitter hurt in his chest asked why, if he was truly so wonderful, his father didn’t want him. After a moment, he whispered, “I can try.”

“That’s all I will ask of you,” Lan Xichen said, and kissed him again. Meng Yao leaned into it, unable to help himself. When Lan Xichen pulled away, he said, “I will travel as far as the border of Qishan with you.”

“You don’t have to,” Meng Yao said automatically.

“I know. But I was looking forward to those last few days with you, just the two of us, without the expectations of others coming between us. We lost them because of the attack on Lotus Pier, but I see a chance to reclaim them. I’ll meet the others at Langya after I’ve seen you off.”

Unable to argue, Meng Yao said, “Thank you, Huan-gege.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

War, Wei Wuxian thought, was not all it was cracked up to be.

He had heard stories about the glories of war, about the dramatic fights and the reclaiming of territory from hostile enemies. But mostly what war was, he found, was walking. Walking and camping. They would walk for three days – at a snail’s pace, because they had to carry supplies – and then fight a brief skirmish and drive the Wen forces out of another village. He was sick of it after two weeks.

Of course, it didn’t help that his dream of kicking ass and taking names with Lan Wangji had had a bucket of cold water thrown in its face within a week. They were attacking on multiple fronts; the Lan sect had split off from the others to take their disciples along a different path. As much as Wei Wuxian sulked, he couldn’t find an adequate reason for why Lan Wangji should stay with him. Similarly, he wouldn’t have dreamed of leaving the fighting forces of the Yunmeng Jiang.

Still, kicking ass along with Jiang Cheng still sounded fun. If only they were doing more ass-kicking and less walking. And Jiang Cheng was mostly preoccupied anyway. Since he didn’t have his sword, Yu Ziyuan had given him Zidian and was drilling him on its use regularly. Jiang Cheng picked it up as quickly as he picked up everything, but of course, nothing was ever enough to satisfy Yu Ziyuan. She excoriated him daily on having not perfected it yet.

Wei Wuxian stayed out of that beyond a few comments to Jiang Cheng about how amazing Zidian was. He knew better than to insert himself into the argument and muddy the waters. Instead, he drew attention to himself in other ways, sometimes bragging about his victories, or complaining about how the Jin sect had declined to get involved in the war. If Yu Ziyuan was punishing him, then she wasn’t yelling at Jiang Cheng, and he couldn’t ask for more than that.

Beyond that, he had his own problems with not having a sword. He had tried several others, but couldn’t really connect with them. The sword he had picked up from one of the Wen soldiers had actively fought him, and he didn’t blame it. Jiang Fengmian had given him a different one, from one of the Yunmeng Jiang disciples who had fallen at Lotus Pier. It wasn’t a bad sword, but it wasn’t Suibian. It felt like dead metal in his hand, without the connection that had made Suibian feel like an extension of his arm, of his soul.

“It’s just temporary, A-Xian,” Jiang Fengmian said. “Deal with it for now.”

He dealt with it, but he also couldn’t stop thinking about the sword that he had found in Xuanwu’s cave. He could feel it all the time, little echoes of resentful energy that whispered out of his spirit pouch. It was distracting. He thought more than once about getting rid of it – and Lan Wangji had reminded him before his departure that he had said he would ask Jiang Fengmian’s advice on what to do with it – but felt like he had found it for a reason.

Sometimes, when it was late at night and nobody was around, he would take it out and practice with it. It didn’t feel like Suibian – light and graceful and eager to carry out his orders. But it didn’t feel like dead weight, either. It was heavy, but somehow easy to wield. The hilt of it was always cold, no matter how long he had been practicing with it. It was shrouded in mystery, eager to deal out death and destruction, and disappointed when he put it away.

It was hungry.

The more he wielded it, the more he became convinced he should not wield it. But he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of it, and he knew he couldn’t tell anyone he had it. He was a little surprised that Lan Wangji hadn’t told Jiang Fengmian himself – but just as he had kept Lan Wangji’s secrets, Lan Wangji had kept his. There was a world of difference between this sword and a rabbit scampering away into the wilderness. But to Lan Wangji, they seemed to mean the same thing.

They had been campaigning for a month, and to Wei Wuxian, they seemed to have accomplished nothing, when an envoy from the Qishan Wen arrived at their camp. He was one of Wen Ruohan’s many nephews, introduced as Wen Fu, and brought a dozen cultivators with him.

Wei Wuxian wasn’t invited to the discussion, but he went anyway, drawing a scowl from Yu Ziyuan. Wen Fu clearly knew who he was, and sneered in his general direction, but didn’t greet him. “Jiang-zongzhu, Wen-zongzhu has sent me here with a message for you and your sect.”

“Go ahead,” Jiang Fengmian said, his voice steady.

“You are commanded to cease hostilities against the Qishan Wen immediately,” Wen Fu said. “In his great benevolence, Wen-zongzhu will overlook the actions you have taken against his outpost as a response to the cultivators killed during Wen Chao’s invasion of Lotus Pier.”

“How generous of him,” Yu Ziyuan said sourly.

“Wen Chao went to Lotus Pier to demand justice for the insults placed upon him by the Yunmeng Jiang while they were hosted in Nightless City,” Wen Fu continued. “He was met with violence. Therefore his invasion was justified. His death at the hands of the Yunmeng Jiang requires compensation. Wen Ruohan demands the immediate execution of the disciple who killed Wen Chao and the delivery of his head to Nightless City.”

Wei Wuxian cringed a bit, even though Jiang Fengmian had talked to him about this and assured him that he didn’t need to worry. Indeed, Jiang Fengmian immediately said, “Our first disciple struck down Wen Chao because he attacked one of our cultivators, a boy of only twelve. Is this the behavior of the great Qishan Wen? To attack a child?”

“Wen Chao’s actions are not yours to question,” Wen Fu replied. “He was a disciple of the Qishan Wen and our second young master.”

“He and his servant made false accusations against my first disciple and used it as an excuse to make an attempt to seize Lotus Pier,” Jiang Fengmian said, his voice still steady. “All the actions that we took were to defend ourselves from this unprovoked attack. Wen Ruohan might think he is so powerful that he can do anything he likes, but there are consequences to one’s actions – even for him.”

Wen Fu did not seem terribly surprised by Jiang Fengmian’s response. He said, “If you will not lay down your weapons immediately and send the head of your first disciple to Nightless City, then Wen-zongzhu vows to destroy the entire Yunmeng Jiang. He will burn Lotus Pier to the ground and make sure that not even a child survives.”

“He is welcome to try,” Jiang Fengmian replied.

Wen Fu turned on his heel and walked out, with his cultivators behind him.

As soon as he was gone, Yu Ziyuan snapped at Wei Wuxian, “Look at all the trouble you’ve brought to the Yunmeng Jiang. If the Qishan Wen kills even a single child in Yunmeng, they’ll haunt you for your whole life!”

Wei Wuxian cringed again, and Jiang Fengmian rested a hand on his shoulder. “None of this is your fault, A-Xian,” he said. “What happened at Cloud Recesses proves that the Qishan Wen have just been looking for excuses to attack the other Great Sects. He’s probably been planning this for years.”

After a moment, Wei Wuxian managed to nod. Yu Ziyuan huffed and stomped away.

Jiang Fengmian sighed, then looked at where Wei Wuxian was still standing anxiously and Jiang Cheng’s face was twisted in indecision, and said, “Come on, you two. Let’s organize a quick patrol to make sure the delegation actually leaves and that there are no Wen forces waiting in the wings to surround us.”

Relieved to have something to do, Wei Wuxian nodded and got moving.

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Huaisang was more than a little surprised when Jiang Yanli arrived at The Unclean Realm, with a contingent of a dozen disciples. All of them were injured to some degree, and the highest-ranking explained that Lotus Pier had been attacked by the Wen sect. Nie Mingjue had agreed to let them come here for safety while they recovered, along with Jiang Yanli. She was carrying a letter for Nie Zonghui and one for Nie Huaisang.

After greeting her, Nie Huaisang automatically looked for Meng Yao, who would normally make this sort of arrangement, only to remember that he wasn’t there. “Ah - Zonghui-ge - ”

Nie Zonghui looked a little exasperated with him, but began giving orders to make sure everyone was accommodated and that the doctors checked everyone over to make sure they were healing well. That being done, Nie Huaisang offered to escort Jiang Yanli to the same guest house she had used last time. He hoped it wasn’t too dusty, although he was sure she wouldn’t complain.

Once they were there, Jiang Yanli said, “I’ll make us some tea,” and Nie Huaisang sat down to read the letter from his brother.

It contained what he expected - a brief description of what had happened thus far, instructions for what to do when he was ‘in charge’ of The Unclean Realm (namely, defer to Nie Zonghui on everything), not-so-gentle reminders to practice with his saber and pay his respects to his ancestors, and then, at the end, a request that he look after Jiang Yanli.

Nie Huaisang looked up with a mischievous grin and said, “Da-ge says I’m to look after you, so you must promise to tell me if there’s something you need.”

Jiang Yanli smiled slightly and said, “Of course, Nie-gongzi.”

“Ah, and don’t be so formal with me!” Nie Huaisang protested. “You’re going to be here for a while - maybe for a lot longer than the war! You should use my name. And can I call you Yanli-jie?”

A faint blush colored her cheeks, and she didn’t respond to his comment that she might be there longer than the war. She only said, “Of course, A-Sang. I am so glad you are going to be here with me.”

Nie Huaisang beamed. Having a big sister was just as wonderful as he had imagined. He couldn’t help but smile, thinking of the last time his brother had asked him to ‘look after’ Jiang Yanli, on the trip out to the mountains for survival training. At that point, she had still been engaged to Jin Zixuan. Now, the request was not at all inappropriate, and Nie Huaisang was going to make sure Jiang Yanli saw how wonderful The Unclean Realm could be.

Seeing the look on his face, Jiang Yanli smiled as well. “You and A-Xian must be very proud of yourselves.”

That made him laugh. “Oh, we absolutely are! I am sorry if we made you uncomfortable at any point, Yanli-jie. But I’m not sorry about any of the rest of it. And Zewu-Jun is really the one who did the most! We couldn’t have done it without him and Meng Yao. Ah,” he added, suddenly realizing that Meng Yao hadn’t been mentioned in his brother’s letter. “Where is Meng Yao? Did he stay with the front? That would surprise me; he’s not really someone who can fight in battle. Although I guess he would be good at the logistics . . .”

“I’m not sure,” Jiang Yanli said. “He left a bit earlier than some of the others. Nie-zongzhu said he had given him a special mission, but I don’t know what it was.”

“Huh.” Nie Huaisang chewed on that for a minute before deciding he wouldn’t figure out what his brother was up to. It could have been that Meng Yao was going with Lan Xichen, and he hadn’t wanted to advertise that. Seeing that there was a bit of anxiety on Jiang Yanli’s face, Nie Huaisang immediately sought to reassure her. “Please don’t worry, Yanli-jie! Da-ge has fought the Wen sect before. He’s so strong and powerful – he’ll be fine!”

“I know,” Jiang Yanli said. “I’m worried about him, but to be honest I’m more worried about A-Xian and A-Cheng . . .”

“Oh, yeah.” Nie Huaisang waved his fan briefly before saying, “But they’re really strong, too, and da-ge will look out for them. He knows how important they are to you. When he found out Wei-xiong was trapped in the cave in Qishan, he didn’t even think about sending someone else to fetch him! He said Wei-xiong is his brother now so he had to go himself. And then he even escorted them all the way back to Lotus Pier so he could be sure they were okay – and to see you, of course.”

Now Jiang Yanli was smiling. “That’s true. And we were very lucky he was there. Without him, I don’t know if we could have won the battle.”

“I’m sure you could have,” Nie Huaisang said, with serene confidence even though he had no idea if the words were true. “But I’m glad he was there nonetheless. Has he proposed to you yet?”

“A-Sang,” Jiang Yanli said, her tone gently reproving. “You know he can do no such thing. The engagement to Jin-gongzi was broken off very recently. Even if he did propose, my parents would never accept such an offer, lest they insult Jin Guangshan.”

“Who cares if we insult that crusty old – ” Nie Huaisang saw the look on Jiang Yanli’s face and had a feeling that he was about to find out what a real scolding from an older sister was like. He cut off the rude description and said, instead, “He won’t even help us fight against the Wen after what they did!”

“Yes,” Jiang Yanli said, “so let’s not make him angry enough to fight with them, instead.”

Nie Huaisang winced. “That’s so annoying!”

“That’s politics, A-Sang.” Jiang Yanli was smiling again. “I know your brother has done his best to shield you from some of the more unsavory parts of being a sect leader. And truthfully, politics is not his strongest suit, either. But let me ask you this, A-Sang – why do you think Nie-zongzhu decided to hold lectures?”

Nie Huaisang frowned, thinking this over. He realized he had no idea. He had been so happy when Nie Mingjue had told him about the planned lectures that he had never stopped to wonder why he was doing it. “I don’t really know.”

“It came up briefly at a conference, where someone said the Nie sect wasn’t really ‘academic’,” Jiang Yanli said, and Nie Huaisang made an affronted noise. “Nie-zongzhu said of course you could hold lectures if you wanted to. The next thing he knew, everyone was talking about the fact that you were going to. And at that point he had to, because otherwise it would be a confirmation of the fact that you couldn’t.”

With a groan, Nie Huaisang said, “Why are people so stupid?”

“An excellent question, A-Sang,” Jiang Yanli said, clearly amused.

“I’m so glad I won’t be sect heir much longer,” Nie Huaisang grumbled.

With a faint flush to her cheeks, Jiang Yanli said, “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

~ ~ ~ ~

As they crawled towards Qishan, inch by inch, Nie Mingjue began to look at the targets that lay inside it. The first, and most obvious, was the Indoctrination Bureau. Although he knew that, technically, Nie Huaisang having lost his saber wasn’t a big deal, it still itched at him. He hated the idea of it being in Wen hands. He knew that the Lan brothers felt the same way about Bichen, even though Lan Wangji was coping adequately by using his guqin instead.

Before he could mention it, Wei Wuxian did. Nie Mingjue couldn’t fault him. He was clever enough, and learning enough about overall strategy, that he could see approximately where they were headed. And Wei Wuxian, out of all of them, had suffered the most from losing his sword. Lan Wangji had his guqin; Jiang Cheng had Zidian. Many of the other cultivators who had lost their swords had never had strong connections with them, and were able to simply pick up another weapon. But Wei Wuxian had complained frequently about trying to find another sword to fight with. He had tried at least half a dozen swords from the Yunmeng Jiang disciples who had fallen in battle. Although he was adequate with them, with his own sword he was far better than adequate. He knew it, and loathed the fact that he wasn’t able to contribute as much as he felt he should.

It would be a risky endeavor, they agreed at the strategy council. The Indoctrination Bureau was heavily guarded, and they wouldn’t have much of a way to retreat if they were losing. They could wait until they had rendezvoused with the forces from the Lan sect, he thought, even as Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng both pushed for an immediate attack, which they would be happy to lead. Of course they would, Nie Mingjue thought. Even after the past few months, they were still young and still green. They would take risks that seasoned soldiers would never be stupid enough to take.

But that being said, the Indoctrination Bureau was an attractive target. They needed to push into Qishan at some point, and taking it would strike a huge blow to the morale of the Qishan Wen. Would it be better to wait until they had more forces?

Nie Mingjue talked that over with Jiang Fengmian several times, and while they were still considering, Nie Mingjue got a message from Meng Yao.

Even knowing how clever Meng Yao was, Nie Mingjue had been astonished - and frankly a little uncomfortable - with how well he was doing in Qishan. Knowing what Wen Ruohan was like, it was disconcerting that Meng Yao had been able to attract his attention and then win his favor. Within three months, Meng Yao had become one of Wen Ruohan’s chief advisors. Nie Mingjue couldn’t imagine what he had had to do, in order to do that so quickly. He wished he could talk to Lan Xichen about it, but Lan Xichen was leagues away with his own sect, and he didn’t want to put anything in writing that he didn’t absolutely have to. So he simply sat with his discomfort, wondering what his solicitous, considerate assistant was doing in Qishan.

The letter from Meng Yao said that Wen Xu had been killed in battle by Lan Xichen. Nie Mingjue made a mental note to send Lan Xichen a letter to congratulate him for avenging his father’s death, then read on, forehead creased in concern. Wen Ruohan was furious, naturally, and was diverting more forces to try to overwhelm the Gusu Lan where they were fighting on the northeastern border of Qishan. He was pulling forces back from the southeastern border, where Nie Mingjue was - and where the Indoctrination Bureau was.

“If we’re going to do it, we should do it now,” he said, after showing the letter to Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan. They didn’t know who the spy was - only Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen did - but they had taken his word that the information could be trusted.

“Should we not send reinforcements to the Lan sect?” Jiang Fengmian asked.

Nie Mingjue shook his head. “Xichen would be well aware that Wen Ruohan will react this way to his son’s death. I’m sure they’ve already pulled back and are heading this way to rendezvous with us. It might take them a few weeks to get here, but they’re not going to stay and try to fight Wen Ruohan’s entire army.”

After some discussion, they were in agreement, and began to prepare for the battle. Despite Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng’s offer, Jiang Fengmian would be leading the disciples from the Yunmeng Jiang. Nie Mingjue would take the front and secure their exit while Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan led contingents of disciples deeper into the city. Wei Wuxian would go with Jiang Fengmian, and Jiang Cheng with Yu Ziyuan.

Even with much of the Wen forces diverted to chase after Lan Xichen, the Indoctrination Bureau was still heavily guarded. It took them an hour to breach the gates, and Nie Mingjue had to fight hard to keep the courtyard with the exit clear. Some Wen cultivators arrived after they had breached the Bureau, flying in on the sword.

The fighting was intense, and Nie Mingjue was more than kept busy with it. Even someone of his strength and skill could only fight so many people at once. The only fortunate thing was that they didn’t encounter any of the puppets that they had met in other battles. He had noticed that they always wound up fighting either living Wen cultivators or puppets – never both at once. He imagined that the living cultivators were uncomfortable with the puppets, and didn’t like to fight alongside them. It made sense that there would be no puppets at a Wen stronghold, but it was still a relief.

From somewhere in the city, a signal flare went up. Nie Mingjue had given one to each of his cultivators, and told the ones who had joined the parties heading deeper into the Bureau to use one if things went south. He shouted to his lieutenant, “Hold the exit! You – ” He gestured to a cluster of men not currently engaged in a fight – “with me!”

He charged through the city, cutting down Wen cultivators as he went. It took him several minutes to fight his way to where the signal flare had come from. He wasn’t sure what to expect when he turned the corner and came into the wide open space at the foot of the stairs. What he saw baffled him. Wei Wuxian was holding a sword he had never seen before. It looked different from a cultivator’s sword, a strange matte black metal without the faintest sheen. Even from a dozen feet away, Nie Mingjue could feel the violent energy emanating from it.

Scattered all around the courtyard were bodies. Most of them were in the black and red of the Qishan Wen, but not all of them. Nie Mingjue saw Jiang Fengmian crumpled on the last step in a pool of blood, and swore softly. He hastened over to check on him, but he could already see from the amount of blood that there would be no saving him.

Wei Wuxian was still standing there, panting for breath, his hands locked around the hilt of the sword. He was staring into space, eyes wide and expression distant.

A few feet away, Nie Mingjue saw one of his own cultivators, curled on the ground, the blackened end of the signal flare in his hand. He knelt next to him and rolled him onto his back, frowning as he realized he didn’t see any serious injuries. The man’s hands were cold and his skin was pale, and he was shaking as Nie Mingjue tried to rouse him. “What happened?” he demanded.

“That sword,” the man gasped out.

Nie Mingjue pressed his fingers into the man’s wrist, feeling for the current of his spiritual power. It was weak and erratic. Nie Mingjue could feel the way the resentful energy had infiltrated him, but still wasn’t sure how or why.

There were more footsteps, and several other members of the Yunmeng Jiang came running up. One of them was Jiang Cheng. He saw his father’s body and let out a wordless shout, running over to fall to his knees next to him. “Dad – Dad, are you – ”

Nie Mingjue swore softly. There was nothing he could do to help Jiang Cheng, no way to soften the blow. Instead, he walked over to Wei Wuxian. His gaze had snapped over to Jiang Cheng as soon as he had run in, and as Nie Mingjue came over, his knees unhinged and he collapsed. Nie Mingjue was barely able to catch him as he fell.

Things became chaotic after that. They were still under attack. Nie Mingjue didn’t really know what had happened, but he didn’t have time to comfort Jiang Cheng or help Wei Wuxian. He went back to commanding his men.

Nearly an hour later, they had finally secured their hold on the Bureau. All the Wen cultivators were either dead or fled. He set up a perimeter guard and sent his men to look for the swords that had been seized, before going back to the scene at the bottom of the stairs.

Jiang Fengmian’s body was still there, although it had now been laid out and covered. Jiang Cheng was sitting next to him with his knees pulled up to his chest, arms resting on his knees, forehead resting on his arms. Wei Wuxian was also still on the ground, curled up on his side with the sword clutched to his chest, unconscious. Yu Ziyuan was there now, but she was neither comforting her son nor grieving over her husband. She was far more intent on interrogating the few soldiers who had witnessed what had happened. 

“ – and then – zongzhu fell – ” one of the Jiang cultivators was saying, his voice trembling. “Da-shixiong was – he – he pulled out the sword, and I – I don’t know what happened next. It gave off an evil energy. The Wen cultivators all started screaming and – clutching their heads. Then I felt it, too. It felt like – being suddenly submerged in freezing water. Everything got so dark. The next thing I knew – I was on the ground. I couldn’t move. I don’t know how long went by, but finally it – lightened a little. I looked around and all the Wen cultivators were dead, and then – da-shixiong collapsed.”

Yu Ziyuan’s mouth was set in a tight line. She went over to Wei Wuxian and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him into a sitting position. His head lolled slightly, and she used her other hand to slap him hard across the face.

“Yu-furen,” Nie Mingjue said, hoping he could intervene without getting his ass kicked.

She ignored him. “Wei Wuxian! Wake up and explain yourself!” she demanded, but this too was met with no response. She put her hand on the hilt of the sword between Wei Wuxian’s hands, and shuddered, then began trying to pull it out of his grip. But it wouldn’t budge. Nie Mingjue knelt beside her and tried as well, but it seemed like the metal had fused itself to Wei Wuxian’s hands.

“He needs a doctor,” Nie Mingjue said, careful to keep his voice calm and even, “and we need to take care of the dead. Please, Yu-furen, tend to your husband and your son. I will take care of the rest.”

After a moment, Yu Ziyuan scowled but nodded, then impatiently drew her arm over her eyes, wiping away a few tears. She turned and snapped at Jiang Cheng, “Get up! What good will crying over him do?”

Nie Mingjue winced, but decided to get out while the going was good. He picked up Wei Wuxian and went to find where the medics were now entering the Bureau.

Wen Qing immediately spotted them and jogged over, saying, “What on earth?” and then frowning when she saw the sword.

Nie Mingjue didn’t particularly like Wen Qing, because, well, she was a Wen. She had only defected because her brother had betrayed the sect and forced her hand. He couldn’t bring himself to approve of her. But he also knew that she was by far the best doctor that they had on hand, so he laid Wei Wuxian down on one of the cots and explained what had happened.

“Where did this sword even come from?” Wen Qing asked, touching it and then wincing.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like anybody does, and we can’t ask him questions until he wakes up.”

Wen Qing nodded and then said briskly, “Give me an hour.”

Nie Mingjue went to attend other business. But it was only half an hour before he heard shouting from the medical tent, and decided he had better go find out what was going on. He found Yu Ziyuan standing in front of the entrance looking furious, while Wen Qing stood firm in front of her, not flinching even a little while Yu Ziyuan demanded to be let in. Behind Yu Ziyuan stood Jiang Cheng, visibly cringing.

“What is going on?” Nie Mingjue asked, feeling a headache starting.

“This insolent girl won’t allow me in to see my own disciple!” Yu Ziyuan shouted.

Before Nie Mingjue could say anything, Wen Qing said calmly, “Wei Wuxian is unconscious right now. There are needles in that will prevent him from regaining consciousness, while they leech off some of the resentful energy that has infiltrated him.”

“Then take the needles out!”

Without flinching, Wen Qing continued, “They will come out in twenty-six minutes, as I have said. Before then, shouting at him will make no difference, and it will disturb the other patients.”

Seeing that this argument was going to go nowhere, and that Jiang Cheng was about to melt into the ground, Nie Mingjue interrupted. “Yu-furen, while we are waiting, we have recovered the swords taken by the Wen disciples. I have Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian’s – would you please accompany me?”

Yu Ziyuan’s mouth pursed, but then she gave an abrupt nod. She and Jiang Cheng followed Nie Mingjue across the courtyard, to where his disciples were guarding the seized swords. Nie Mingjue had already taken custody of Nie Huaisang’s and Lan Wangji’s, and had dispatched a messenger to Koi Tower to notify Jin Zixuan that his had been recovered. If he wanted it, perhaps he could come and get it, the message suggested, with a heavy hint that cultivators from the Lanling Jin were welcome to get off their asses and help in the war.

When they saw the remaining swords, Jiang Cheng’s face lit up. But before he could even reach for Sandu, Yu Ziyuan snapped, “I’ll take Zidian back, then – it’s not as if you were anywhere near proficient with it.”

Jiang Cheng was obviously crushed by those words, but he slid the ring off and handed it to his mother. She put it back on while Jiang Cheng lifted his sword out of the case. When he reached for Suibian, she took it before he could. Jiang Cheng opened his mouth to protest but then clearly thought better of the idea.

Nie Mingjue managed to keep Yu Ziyuan occupied by telling her about the actions he had taken to secure the Indoctrination Bureau and how he felt they could wait here for the Lan sect to rejoin them, and use this as a base to push further into Qishan. She listened with an air of impatience, debated a few of his points, but overall agreed with the strategy he laid out.

Fortunately, before Yu Ziyuan could decide that quite enough time had gone by, one of the Jiang disciples arrived, saying Wen Qing had sent him and that Wei Wuxian was awake now. Nie Mingjue followed, both because he wanted to know what had happened and because he was hoping that he could intervene if she got too out of hand, although he frankly doubted it.

Yu Ziyuan pushed her way into the tent and strode past all the other wounded cultivators, zeroing in on where Wei Wuxian was sitting on the edge of a cot. He looked small and pale, and he was still holding the sword. Yu Ziyuan looked at it and snapped, “Where did you get that?”

Wei Wuxian winced but answered, his voice thin and tight. “In the cave of Xuanwu . . . I found it inside the monster.”

That explained a lot, Nie Mingjue thought. The evil energy it radiated was because it had spent so long absorbing it from both the monster and the victims. But there was still something it absolutely did not explain, which was Yu Ziyuan’s next question, as she demanded, “And why is this the first we’re hearing about it?”

“I couldn’t . . .” Wei Wuxian’s voice trembled and he looked away. “I couldn’t control it. I tried, but it’s so powerful. I was afraid if I wielded it, I would hurt people who were fighting with me as well as against me.”

Since that was exactly what had happened, Nie Mingjue couldn’t fault his logic. He could understand why Wei Wuxian had decided to draw it anyway, after his sect leader was killed. They were lucky that there had only been a few Jiang and Nie disciples nearby, or things might have been much worse.

“I wasn’t asking why you didn’t use it,” Yu Ziyuan said, her tone icy. “I was asking why you kept it a secret. If you couldn’t control it, we could have given it to a cultivator who could have.”

Nie Mingjue doubted that very much, but he did agree that Wei Wuxian shouldn’t have hidden it, so he still said nothing. Wei Wuxian looked at the floor and said, “I felt like I must have found it for a reason. I worked hard with it to try to be able to control it – ”

“Oh, I’m sure you did,” Yu Ziyuan said. “You worked so hard that you didn’t draw it until after Fengmian had been killed! You should have wielded it from the beginning, and then he wouldn’t have died!”

Nie Mingjue winced. Wei Wuxian didn’t, simply staring down, clearly agreeing with her whole-heartedly. Nie Mingjue could see where he had been coming from. He didn’t have his own sword. He had wanted to learn to use this one in secret so he could take it out at a time of desperate need and become a hero. It was exactly the sort of thing he would expect from a stupid teenager who had never seen a real war before. But the desperate moment had come too early, and he knew Wei Wuxian would never forgive himself for not having mastered it in time to save his sect leader. Nie Mingjue frankly doubted anyone could have done better with such an evil thing. Even if Wei Wuxian had told Jiang Fengmian, he probably would have been ordered to suppress it and put it somewhere that nobody would be able to use it. But they would never know if his saying something earlier would have made a difference, and Wei Wuxian would always wonder.

While he stayed silent, Wen Qing spoke up. “Nobody should be wielding this sword. To do so would be detrimental to one’s health. Too much exposure to resentful energy – ”

“I wasn’t asking you!” Yu Ziyuan retorted. “Wei Wuxian found that sword for a reason, didn’t he? He’s going to fight Wen Ruohan himself and be victorious! Isn’t that clearly what he thought? Why he kept it secret? So he could be the hero? Well, then, get to work, Wei Wuxian! Your sect leader is dead but you can still avenge him, can’t you?”

Wei Wuxian nodded and stood. “Yes, Yu-furen.”

Her voice tight and angry, Wen Qing said, “Wei Wuxian! Don’t be ridiculous. Nobody is going to be able to control that sword. It’s absorbed resentful energy for centuries. If you keep trying, you could burn out your golden core completely!”

Wei Wuxian merely shook his head and said, “I’ll master it or die trying.”

It was clear which outcome Yu Ziyuan would prefer, because she said, “After you receive your punishment for lying to your sect leader, hiding a valuable weapon, and injuring other members of our sect for attempting to use it before you could control it.”

With another nod, Wei Wuxian repeated, “Yes, Yu-furen.”

“Yu-furen – ” Nie Mingjue said.

Yu Ziyuan looked at him sharply, then said, “This is a private matter for the Yunmeng Jiang. Wei Wuxian, A-Cheng – both of you come with me.”

Both boys nodded, and Nie Mingjue could clearly see that she had no intention of letting anyone get in her way. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stop her, but hoped he could at least marginally soften the blow. “Yu-furen, I understand you are grieving. This is a private affair for your sect and I won’t get involved. But I would ask you to remember that this is a war, and we need every soldier.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Yu Ziyuan said, and departed the tent with the two boys in tow.

Quietly, Wen Qing said, “She’s going to kill him.”

Nie Mingjue shook his head wearily. “No, she won’t. She hates him too much for that. She doesn’t want to kill him. She wants him to suffer.”

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Wen Qing asked.

For the first time since he had met her for the second time at Lotus Pier, Nie Mingjue remembered how young she was. “No,” he said. “Like she said, it’s a private matter. She has the right to discipline a disciple of her sect in whatever manner she likes. If we stop her, she might decide that she wants no more part in this war. She dislikes the Wen because they insulted her, but she still blames a lot of what happened back then on Wei Wuxian’s conduct. Now that Jiang Fengmian’s dead, I wouldn’t put it past her to decide to send Wei Wuxian’s head to Wen Ruohan and wash her hands of the whole campaign. All we can do is try to take care of Wei Wuxian in the aftermath of whatever she does to him.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Wei Wuxian had never been in so much pain in his life.

Part of it, of course, was the physical wounds. He had been injured plenty of times in his life. And it was hardly his first time having been whipped with Zidian, although even that had only happened a few times. Never so many lashes, though; he had lost count somewhere in the middle, while he tried not to scream.

But that pain was nothing compared to the fact that every time he closed his eyes, he could see the look on Jiang Fengmian’s face when the sword had gone into his chest. Nobody important had wielded it – just some random Wen cultivator who had somehow slipped by Wei Wuxian while he was fighting someone else.

He remembered, so clearly, the little trickle of blood that had come from Jiang Fengmian’s mouth before it was followed by a river. He remembered the way Jiang Fengmian had briefly reached out for him before he had fallen. He remembered screaming. Most of all, he remembered the impulse to pull out the sword he had found in the cave, the sword that whispered in his ear and promised revenge, death and destruction. He remembered the feeling of the cold metal in his hand, and after that, he remembered very little.

How much time had gone by since then? He wasn’t sure. He had passed out shortly after the whipping had finished. There was a vague recollection of Jiang Cheng’s face, streaked with tears, and him saying to somebody else, “Go get Wen-guniang.” But that was all. He could have been unconscious for days.

“Ah, Wei-gongzi, are you awake?” an anxious voice asked, and Wen Ning leaned into view. “Don’t try to move; I’ll get jiejie – ”

Wei Wuxian closed his eyes, was confronted by the vision of Jiang Fengmian receiving a killing blow, and opened them. A few moments later, Wen Qing was holding a cup to his lips. He drank automatically, and passed out again. But he was plagued by horrible dreams. He was in and out for the next who-knew-how-long.

“Are you still slacking off?” a sharp voice snapped, and he felt his stomach twist in his gut. “Get up! You’re supposed to be learning to master that sword you were so proud of.”

Wei Wuxian sat up. His back screamed in agony, and he choked on it, nearly blacking out. Instead, he leaned over and threw up onto the floor, then nearly fell out of the bed on top of the mess.

“Yu-furen, I must object,” Wen Qing said, her voice firm and cold. “Wei Wuxian is in no condition to even leave his bed right now, let alone train with any sword, especially not that one.”

“I’m okay,” Wei Wuxian mumbled, despite the obvious fact that it was a lie.

“Mom, please,” Jiang Cheng said. “Just let him rest for now. It’s only been two days – anyone else would need at least a week to recover from that – ”

“A week?” Wen Qing sounded appalled. “More like a month – and that’s if they survived it at all – ”

“I’m fine,” Wei Wuxian said, his head clearing slightly. He pushed away the image of Jiang Fengmian dying and grabbed the nearest person – thankfully Jiang Cheng – and hauled himself to his feet. He nearly blacked out again, but somehow managed not to.

“Get back in bed – ” Wen Qing told him.

Wei Wuxian straightened up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Although he still had to hold onto Jiang Cheng with one arm, he managed to bow to Yu Ziyuan, who was watching him with a tightly pursed mouth. “I apologize for my tardiness, Yu-furen,” he said. “May I have the sword?”

Yu Ziyuan took a spirit pouch out of her sleeve and tossed it to him. “Don’t try to use it in the camp,” she snapped. “Get at least a hundred yards outside.”

“Yes, Yu-furen,” Wei Wuxian said.

She turned and walked away. Wen Qing snapped, “You’d better go with him, Jiang Wanyin. He’s going to pass out as soon as he draws it, if he even makes it that far.”

Wei Wuxian didn’t dignify this, wavering slightly as he took a few steps. He realized he wasn’t wearing any shoes and looked down. “Ah – ”

“Here,” Wen Ning said, handing him a pair of boots. He sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned over to put them on, and –

He was on his stomach in bed again. When had that happened?

Seeing him open his eyes, Jiang Cheng said, “You passed out as soon as you leaned over.”

“How long was I out?”

“About two hours.” Jiang Cheng was chewing nervously on his thumbnail. “Wen Qing sent some people to ask Mom about a bunch of logistics, so she wouldn’t realize you hadn’t left.”

“Okay.” Wei Wuxian tried to get up again and looked around for his shoes. No, better to go without; he would only pass out again if he tried to put them on. What did it matter if he went barefoot?

“Wei Wuxian, you don’t have to do this,” Jiang Cheng said. “Please, just stay in bed. I’ll talk to Mom – ”

Wei Wuxian shook his head. He didn’t know how to explain that this had nothing to do with Yu Ziyuan. Or that it did, but he couldn’t ask Jiang Cheng to convince her she was wrong, because she wasn’t. She was absolutely correct. He had lied to Jiang Fengmian and hidden the weapon, after everything Jiang Fengmian had done for him. He had wanted to master it on his own so he could be a hero. He was exactly the arrogant piece of shit that Yu Ziyuan was punishing him for being, so how could he object?

Would Jiang Fengmian still be alive if Wei Wuxian hadn’t lied about the sword? He didn’t know. His logical side said it was unlikely. But the truth was that he would never have the answer to that question, and it didn’t change the fact that he was absolutely guilty of the crimes that Yu Ziyuan was punishing him for.

He made it further this time. Halfway across the camp before he collapsed.

Three days went by.

Some days were worse than others. Sometimes he was able to make it out of the camp and practice with the sword. First he was able to do it for a few minutes at a time, then longer. He never went back to the medical tent voluntarily, but always woke up there after having passed out. Sometimes Jiang Cheng ordered him to stay there, saying things like, “I’m your sect leader now,” and Wei Wuxian would, for a little while. But he could never bring himself to stay for very long.

On the fourth day, Wen Qing sat down and stared at him. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Wei Wuxian asked.

It was a stupid question, he realized, because Wen Qing immediately answered, “It looks like you’re trying to kill yourself.”

“Well, I’m not,” he said.

Wen Qing took a deep breath. “Wei Wuxian, please be logical about this. You need time to rest and heal. Every minute you spend not doing that is only going to prolong the overall time it takes you to recover. You aren’t going to be able to master anything when you’re in this condition.”

Wei Wuxian looked away. He knew she had a point. He knew that if he allowed himself to stop, to rest, he would be in better shape to train. But he also knew that a full recovery from the punishment was going to take months. They didn’t have that kind of time. What else could he do? “I know, and I appreciate your concern, Wen Qing. But I don’t have any choice. The fight against Wen Ruohan is here and now.” He managed a smile and said, “You’re a great doctor, Wen Qing. It’s amazing that I’m already back on my feet. I know that you’re still treating me every time I pass out. I’m really grateful for all your help.”

“I should stop treating you and leave you flat on your back for a few days,” she said, annoyed.

Wei Wuxian didn’t bother to point out that if she was going to do that, she would have done it already. “Please don’t worry about me, Wen Qing. Once I’ve gotten revenge for Jiang-shushu, I’ll rest. I promise.”

~ ~ ~ ~

By the time a week had gone by, Nie Mingjue could see that the situation was untenable and was not going to improve without intervention. Even if Wei Wuxian didn’t end up killing himself – something that Nie Mingjue feared was a real possibility – he wasn’t going to be able to fight again any time soon.

Every attempt to speak to Yu Ziyuan about it went nowhere. Yu Ziyuan would always respond with a litany of complaints about Wei Wuxian’s conduct since he had come to Lotus Pier. He had always been trouble, she said, never showed gratitude to the sect that had gotten him off the streets. It was obviously bullshit, but she also obviously believed it one hundred percent. She came up with new reasons to blame Wei Wuxian for Jiang Fengmian’s death every time they talked about it, and started perseverating on the fact that it had been Wei Wuxian’s idea to attack the Indoctrination Bureau to begin with. When Nie Mingjue reminded her that both he and Jiang Fengmian had agreed on the plan, she brushed that aside.

It was heartbreaking to watch Jiang Cheng try to intervene. He knew full well that his mother was wrong, and that she was taking years of resentment out on Wei Wuxian. But every time he attempted to get involved, she berated him for being weak and foolish. The one occasion he rallied and tried to point out that he was now the sect leader, she laughed in his face.

Nie Mingjue wanted to find a way to separate her and Wei Wuxian, and thought that once the Lan sect was there, perhaps he would send a contingent down to Yiling. There was still Wen-occupied territory there that he wanted to clean up, to secure their southern flank. If he sent Wen Qing, he could send Wei Wuxian with her, with the excuse that he was in her care. That would sidestep the problem that he couldn’t technically order Wei Wuxian anywhere.

But after some observation and a discussion with Wen Qing, he wasn’t sure that would work. Yu Ziyuan had created the problem, but Wei Wuxian was enforcing the punishment on himself with little feedback from her. He would continue to push himself until someone could convince him not to.

After some internal debate and a great deal of ‘what would Lan Xichen do’, Nie Mingjue told his lieutenants that he was going to make a quick trip back to The Unclean Realm so he could personally notify Jiang Yanli of what had happened. His lieutenants, who were well aware of his feelings for her, were not surprised by this. They promised to hold down the fort in his absence.

Nie Mingjue wasn’t looking forward to the trip, even as he looked forward to seeing Jiang Yanli. He hoped that nothing went wrong during his absence, especially that the Lan sect didn’t arrive. He wasn’t sure how Lan Wangji was going to react to Wei Wuxian’s condition, but he suspected that it wouldn’t be good.

When he got back to The Unclean Realm, he had a brief word with Nie Zonghui to make sure there was nothing he needed to attend to, before heading to the guest house that Jiang Yanli was staying in. He found her doing embroidery, and her face brightened to see him, which simultaneously made his heart swell with joy and his stomach drop with dread.

Some sign of it must have been visible on his face, because her expression immediately changed and she stood up. “What is it? What’s wrong, did something happen?”

Nie Mingjue took a deep breath. He had done this before, informing the wives or children of his disciples after they had been killed in battles or on night hunts. It was best to do it quickly and cleanly, to be clear and concise, and then deal with whatever the reaction was. “Jiang-guniang, I came back because I wanted to personally deliver this news to you. Jiang Fengmian has been killed.”

Jiang Yanli’s face went white, and she sank back into her chair.

“He died honorably in battle,” Nie Mingjue said, trying to keep his voice even in the face of her obvious distress. “The man who killed him was killed by Wei Wuxian. You have my most sincere condolences.”

“I – ” Jiang Yanli’s voice broke before she could get out the next word.

Nie Mingjue pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. He stayed with her while she wept, holding one of her hands in silence. He knew, how well he knew, that words would mean nothing compared to her pain. Jiang Fengmian hadn’t been a perfect father. But he had been a good man, and he had obviously loved his children.

After some time, the worst of it was over. He offered her a cloth to blow her nose and got a bowl of cool water so she could clean off her face. “Thank you,” she said quietly, and added, “and thank you for coming yourself.”

“Of course.” Nie Mingjue sighed. “Part of the reason I came myself was because I wanted you to hear it from me. But there is another reason as well,” he added, and she gave him a questioning look. “I would like you to come back with me.”

“To the front?” Jiang Yanli asked, her eyes widening.

Nie Mingjue nodded. “There is a problem I think only you might be able to help with,” he said. “Wei Wuxian is taking Jiang Fengmian’s death very hard.”

Jiang Yanli winced, and a few more tears escaped. “I’m not surprised.”

“There are a few reasons, I think,” Nie Mingjue said. “And if it was just his grief and his pain, I think I could handle that. I’ve dealt with that problem in my men before. But Yu Ziyuan has not only blamed him for what happened but punished him severely.”

“Oh,” Jiang Yanli said, her breath catching in her throat.

“Wei Wuxian needs to rest and heal, or he is going to injure himself further,” Nie Mingjue said, “but so far he’s refused to do so. I think you might be the only one who could convince him.”

Jiang Yanli nodded. “I’ll pack some things. I can be ready to go in an hour.”

Nie Mingjue held up a hand. “We won’t be able to leave until tomorrow,” he said. “I rode the sword all the way here, because I wanted to get back as quickly as possible. I can take you with me tomorrow, traveling the same way, but I need some time to rest and recover my spiritual power.”

“Of course.” Jiang Yanli wiped her eyes again.

Reaching out to her, Nie Mingjue said, “What can I do to help you, Jiang-guniang? Whatever you need, if it’s within my power to provide, I promise you that I will do so.”

After a moment, Jiang Yanli nodded and said, “May I . . . light some incense in your ancestral shrine, to pray for my father?”

“Of course.” Nie Mingjue stood and offered a hand to her. They walked in silence, and she didn’t let go of his hand, so he didn’t let go of hers. Despite the terrible situation, he was glad to be reunited with her.

As they approached the shrine, the door opened and Nie Huaisang came out. He looked at first surprised, but then happy. “Ah, da-ge! What are you doing back here? Is the war over?”

“No, the war isn’t over,” Nie Mingjue said, somehow not rolling his eyes. “Were you actually paying your respects? Without me having to remind you?”

Nie Huaisang huffed and then said, “Well, if this is how I’m going to be welcomed, I’m just going to go.”

Nie Mingjue sighed as his brother stomped away. Jiang Yanli said quietly, “He goes every day around this time, to pray for your safety.”

“Oh,” Nie Mingjue said, feeling like an asshole. He sighed again and said, “I’ll go talk to him. Please make yourself at home, Jiang-guniang. Whenever you feel ready, you can come find me in the kitchens.”

“Thank you, Nie-zongzhu,” Jiang Yanli murmured, before sliding the door open and going inside.

Nie Mingjue found Nie Huaisang in the aviary, unsurprisingly, and sat down with him to tell him what had happened. Nie Huaisang sat in uncharacteristic silence, his hands clutching at his fan. “I just want this to be over, da-ge.”

“I know,” Nie Mingjue said. “We’re making progress, Huaisang. Just be patient.”

Nie Huaisang nodded. He asked about Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji, and then about Meng Yao. Nie Mingjue hedged slightly, because so far only he and Lan Xichen knew where Meng Yao was and what he was doing. All he told Nie Huaisang was that Meng Yao was more than proving himself.

Once Nie Huaisang was feeling better, Nie Mingjue went to the kitchen. He focused on the simple tasks of preparing food, letting his golden core rest and recover. About an hour later, the door opened and Jiang Yanli came in. “Please, let me help.”

Nie Mingjue was quite familiar with needing to stay occupied in a time of grief, so he told her what he was making and they split up some of the tasks. While Jiang Yanli assembled the spring onions to cut, she said, “Will you tell me what happened? Why did my mother punish Wei Wuxian?”

Without looking up from the rice he was rinsing, Nie Mingjue said, “There are two reasons, really, neither of which have much merit. The first is that your father was killed during our assault on the Indoctrination Bureau in Qishan. That was a fight that Wei Wuxian had pushed for quite hard. The Indoctrination Bureau is where the Wens were keeping the swords that they had seized from the young masters. While Jiang Wanyin could fight with Zidian and Wangji has his guqin, Wei Wuxian had never found a replacement for Suibian that he felt he could wield as effectively.

“That being said, the decision to go to the Indoctrination Bureau was not Wei Wuxian’s. He advocated for it, quite vocally, but the decision was made by myself and your father. We felt it was worth the risk, not just to recover the swords, but because we knew it would strike a huge blow to the morale of the Qishan Wen, to have a target inside Qishan taken.”

Jiang Yanli nodded. “I see.”

“But despite that, Yu Ziyuan has been adamant that we would not have tried to take the Indoctrination Bureau if Wei Wuxian hadn’t been so outspoken about being in favor of it. And secondly . . . this is a bit more complicated. Wei Wuxian was there when Jiang Fengmian was killed. I’m sure he made every attempt to prevent his death, and was unsuccessful. But there is a weapon he had . . . a sword that he got in the Cave of Xuanwu.”

Frowning, Jiang Yanli said, “That long ago? He never mentioned it.”

“No, he didn’t. I’ve talked to him since then and he said he never brought it up because he couldn’t control it effectively. The sword spent centuries absorbing the resentful energy of Xuanwu and all the dead who had been killed by it. It’s very dangerous. He said he had taken it out occasionally but hadn’t wanted to wield it in battle because he wasn’t sure what would happen.”

“But my mother thinks he should have?”

“Well, he did,” Nie Mingjue said, “and proved himself correct. When Jiang Fengmian was killed, Wei Wuxian took out the Sword of Xuanwu and tried to use it against the Wen. It was . . . very effective. He killed dozens of Wen soldiers. But like he had been worried about, he wasn’t able to control the resentful energy, and many of our allies were injured as well. Quite luckily, there were very few of the allied forces left standing at that location, so the damage to them was minimal. But he’s still beating himself up over it, and meanwhile, Yu Ziyuan is saying he should have been able to learn to control it and then he could have saved Jiang Fengmian.”

Jiang Yanli’s eyes closed for a moment, her hands going still. “Of course she would say such a thing.”

“So now, despite his injuries, Wei Wuxian is working day and night to try to learn to control the power of the sword. The resentful energy isn’t good for him, and the strain he’s putting on his body is keeping him from healing.”

“His injuries . . . from the battle at the Indoctrination Bureau?”

Nie Mingjue shook his head. He knew that this, too, there was no way to deliver comfortably. “Fifteen lashes with Zidian.”

“Fifteen!” Jiang Yanli’s eyes went wide with horror. “That could have killed him!”

“I know,” Nie Mingjue said. “If Wen Qing hadn’t been there, I think it would have. She’s the only reason he’s still able to stay on his feet. But he needs to stop and rest, and nobody has been able to convince him.”

“What about Lan-er-gongzi?” Jiang Yanli asked.

“He isn’t there. He and the rest of the Lan sect were fighting separately. But we’re supposed to rendezvous with them soon, and frankly I’m a little afraid of how Wangji will react when he sees the condition Wei Wuxian is in.”

Jiang Yanli grimaced but then nodded. “And . . . A-Cheng?” she asked, hesitantly.

Nie Mingjue sighed. “He’s trying so hard, Jiang-guniang. He knows Yu Ziyuan is out of line. But she just ignores everything he says and talks over him, at best, or actively berates him for his suggestions at worst. He’s tried ordering Wei Wuxian to rest a few times, and Wei Wuxian will do it, but never for long.”

“Poor A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli said, shaking her head. “It must be so horrible for him.”

“It is,” Nie Mingjue agreed.

They continued to prepare food in silence for a little while. Jiang Yanli occasionally had to stop to wipe away her tears. Nie Mingjue sought to distract her by telling her more about what had been going on overall, and she listened but didn’t really engage in it. He didn’t blame her. When the meal was ready, she said she wasn’t hungry, but he coaxed her into eating a little.

“Will you . . . stay with me tonight?” Jiang Yanli asked, in the tone of someone who knew she was asking for something incredibly inappropriate but couldn’t stop herself.

Nie Mingjue nodded and said, “Of course.”

He went back to her guest house after fetching some things from his own room. When he got there, she was already heating water so he could clean himself up. Despite everything that had happened, he was grateful for the chance for a bath. Afterwards, he dressed in his sleeping robes and pulled his hair back. He wondered if she might help him braid it in the morning, and had to forcibly push those thoughts away.

When he came out of the bathroom, she had also changed into simpler robes, although her hair was still up. She had only removed the hairpiece she wore in it. She looked small and vulnerable, and he could not help but pull her into an embrace.

The guest house had originally been for multiple people, so there was more than one bed. But when he headed for one of them, she followed him even though it wasn’t the one she had been using. He didn’t deter her, lying down and then lifting the blanket for her to get in beside him. She curled up close, resting her head on his chest. He felt her let out a small, hitching sob, and wrapped an arm around her, rubbing his hand down her back. She felt so fragile, but so warm and alive. He held her close and promised that he would always protect her.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Lan Wangji would not have admitted under pain of torture how much he was looking forward to seeing Wei Wuxian again. It was all he had been able to think about lately. It was embarrassing, honestly. At least it hadn’t been affecting his performance. But even when Lan Xichen had dropped obvious hints that Lan Wangji was welcome to talk about his feelings, saying that he couldn’t wait to be reunited with Meng Yao, Lan Wangji hadn’t said much.

The news of Jiang Fengmian’s death had hit him like a punch to the gut. They had already been heading to rendezvous with the other forces, but he thought about going ahead. After some thought, he decided against it. He should stay with his own sect, with his brothers and sisters who weren’t strong enough to ride the sword a great distance, and protect them. His presence would only do so much to help Wei Wuxian with his grief.

Even so, when they arrived, his gaze skimmed over the crowd eagerly, but he did not see him. Jiang Cheng was there, looking wan and pale. Yu Ziyuan, who did not look so affected, greeted them. Nie Mingjue had departed the previous day to inform Jiang Yanli of her father’s death, she said, which did not surprise Lan Wangji. They expected him back that evening. His highest-ranked lieutenant produced a spirit pouch and gave it to Lan Wangji, and he found it contained Bichen. Despite the success he had had while wielding his guqin, he felt an enormous surge of relief to have his sword in his hand again.

Somehow, Lan Wangji managed to bite his tongue during the formalities, but they had only barely concluded when he said, “Where is Wei Ying?”

Yu Ziyuan’s mouth pursed, and it looked like she might tell Lan Wangji not to ask stupid questions. But before she could, Jiang Cheng jumped in, saying hastily, “Ah, at this time of day – probably south of camp, training. I can take you.”

Lan Wangji nodded his thanks and told his brother he would see him later, but to call him if he was needed. Lan Xichen had the look of a man who was going to do everything in his power not to have to call him.

Once they had walked away, Lan Wangji said, “You have my condolences for your loss, Jiang Wanyin.”

Jiang Cheng nodded and swallowed hard. “Thanks.” Before Lan Wangji could say anything else – not that he intended to – he said, “Wei Wuxian is taking it pretty hard.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, as this did not particularly surprise him.

“Did you know about that sword?” Jiang Cheng asked suddenly.

Lan Wangji frowned. “Sword?”

“He said he got it in the cave of Xuanwu. You were there, so – you must have known, right?”

After a moment, Lan Wangji nodded. “I told him it was dangerous. That he shouldn’t use it.”

“Well, he did,” Jiang Cheng said. “Killed a few dozen Wen cultivators, and injured a few of ours, too. Though it really wasn’t as bad as he seems to think it was. They were okay a few days later. He said he had been working to control it. Now he thinks . . .”

Jiang Cheng couldn’t seem to finish the sentence, but Lan Wangji saw where he was going with it. “Now he thinks if he had been able to, Jiang Fengmian would not have died.”

“Yeah.” Jiang Cheng knuckled a few tears away. “So now he’s training with it nonstop, but he can’t do it in the camp because his control over it is still pretty crap, to be honest. Maybe you can help him. I don’t know. He sure as hell doesn’t listen to anything I have to say.”

That made sense to Lan Wangji. As deep as Wei Wuxian’s loss was, Jiang Cheng’s was deeper. He would hold himself responsible for Jiang Cheng’s grief and pain. Any admonishment from Jiang Cheng would only make him work harder. “I’ll speak to him.”

About ten minutes later, they were in a clearing, and he saw Wei Wuxian about a hundred feet away. His heart leapt into his throat, and he chided himself for being ridiculous. Even from this far away, he could feel the waves of resentful energy emanating from the sword. He was about to say something when Jiang Cheng shouted, “Put that away! Someone’s here to see you.”

Wei Wuxian let the sword dip, and turned in their direction with a questioning look on his face. He looked terrible, with dark circles under his eyes, pale skin and dry, cracked lips. When he saw Lan Wangji, for a moment there was an expression of happiness on his face, but then reality crashed back in on him and he turned away. The sword dipped further, the point of it hitting the ground.

“Bring him back to camp after he passes out, will you?” Jiang Cheng asked, and then turned and walked away without waiting for an answer.

Lan Wangji walked over to Wei Wuxian, who didn’t look at him. “You have my condolences for your loss, Wei Ying.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Since he was still turned away, Lan Wangji took a few steps so he was in Wei Wuxian’s line of sight. When Wei Wuxian tried to turn away again, Lan Wangji grabbed his wrist. He frowned, pressing his fingers into Wei Wuxian’s pulse while he protested wordlessly. “You are in no shape to be training right now.”

“Why does everyone keep telling me that like I don’t know?” Wei Wuxian asked, sounding exasperated. “Should I just write to Wen Ruohan and say, ‘sorry, we have to put the war on hold because I need time to recover before I can master the evil sword I found in your cave’?”

Lan Wangji had to admit that this was a reasonable point. Even so, he could not help but say, “Nobody should try to master this sword. It is evil and should be suppressed or destroyed.”

Wei Wuxian’s jaw set in a stubborn line. “I killed thirty Wen soldiers with this sword in two minutes. If I can do that when I can’t control it, then think about what it will be like when I can.”

“There are many ways to kill Wen soldiers,” Lan Wangji said. “Have we not recovered our swords?”

“You might have,” Wei Wuxian said, sounding sullen.

Lan Wangji frowned. “Where is yours?”

“Yu-furen has it, and she won’t give it to me,” Wei Wuxian said. “She’s pissed because I didn’t tell her or Jiang-shushu that I had this one,” he continued, waving the Sword of Xuanwu and making Lan Wangji scowl, “so I’m being punished. If I can master this one, maybe I’ll get lucky and she won’t throw Suibian into the volcano once we get to Nightless City.”

“That is ridiculous,” Lan Wangji said. “This sword is steeped in resentful energy. To continue to wield it will cause adverse effects on your body and your golden core – ”

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian interrupted, and his voice cracked slightly. “Just shut up, okay? You won’t say anything that Wen Qing and Nie-zongzhu haven’t already said. Either help me master it or stay out of my way.”

Lan Wangji’s frown deepened. He reminded himself that Wei Wuxian was grieving, and that grief could cause people to act irrationally. He would not help Wei Wuxian master this sword, and in fact made a mental note to try to steal it from him when he next slept, so it could be suppressed. But to continue to speak out against it would only cause them to continue to argue.

They stood in silence for a minute, since Lan Wangji didn’t know what to say. He thought Wei Wuxian might go back to training, but he seemed exhausted, and just stood there. Finally, Wei Wuxian said, “I heard your brother killed Wen Xu.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said.

“I’m glad you got revenge for your father, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian said.

“Thank you, Wei Ying.”

Another moment of silence.

“Jiang Wanyin told me to take you back to camp after you passed out,” Lan Wangji finally said. “Do you usually train until you pass out?”

“Maybe,” Wei Wuxian said.

“I see. Have you eaten? It is nearly dinner time.”

Wei Wuxian shook his head.

“Very well. Then you should accompany me back to camp so you can eat and then rest. This will be better for your body than passing out on an empty stomach. You will be more successful with your training if you are well fed.”

The faintest of smiles touched Wei Wuxian’s face. “Hard to argue that logic,” he said. “Okay, fine, mother hen. I’ll come get something to eat and then lie down for an hour.”

“An h – ” Lan Wangji forced himself to bite back the instinctual protest at this pitiful offer. He had a feeling that once Wei Wuxian was actually resting, he wouldn’t be getting up any time soon. They headed back to the camp without saying anything further and went to the kitchen. Wei Wuxian ate mechanically, one hand still resting on the hilt of the sword while he ate with the other. Lan Wangji supposed he shouldn’t complain, because at least he was eating.

By the time he was finished eating, however, he was already talking about going out to train again. Lan Wangji reminded him that he had said he would lie down, but he brushed this off, saying he felt much better now that he had eaten and he could definitely train longer without it being an issue. Lan Wangji was wondering if it would be possible to hit a few of his pressure points before he could react, when he heard some noise from the other side of the camp. He gathered that Nie Mingjue was back, and said, “Nie-zongzhu has returned. I should go greet him. You will come with me.”

“Will I?” Wei Wuxian asked, but he didn’t protest too much as Lan Wangji got him by the elbow and pulled him to his feet.

When they got over to where Nie Mingjue was standing with a few of his disciples and Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji saw a splash of pale purple. He was a little surprised, but realized it made sense. Of course, Jiang Yanli would want to be present for her father’s funeral. Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, clearly had not known that Jiang Yanli would be there. He went stiff and then tried to retreat.

Before he could, Nie Mingjue spotted him and gave Jiang Yanli a gentle nudge. She turned slightly, saw Wei Wuxian, and smiled. “A-Xian!” she called out, waving, and he retreated another few steps. Lan Wangji kept a grip on his elbow.

“I’m sorry, shijie,” he whispered, as she came over. “I’m so sorry.”

Jiang Yanli reached out and smoothed down his hair. “There’s no need to apologize, A-Xian,” she said. “None of this was your fault. You look tired – let me take you back to the medical tent so you can rest.”

Wei Wuxian shook his head. “I’m going to go train for a while – ”

“You will do no such thing,” Jiang Yanli said, to Lan Wangji’s relief. “Do you think Nie-zongzhu hid the truth from me? You are in no shape to be out of bed right now.”

“Ah, but shijie – ”

Jiang Yanli was already towing him away, and Lan Wangji released his elbow so she could do so. As she went, she said, “That punishment was no small matter, A-Xian – ”

Lan Wangji frowned and turned back to where Nie Mingjue was standing with Lan Xichen. “What punishment? Neither he nor Jiang Wanyin mentioned a punishment to me.”

With a sigh, Nie Mingjue said, “Yu-furen punished him for keeping that sword of his secret.” He then quickly changed the subject, saying, “I see Nie Hong gave you Bichen back – ”

“What was the punishment?” Lan Wangji asked, feeling like he already knew the answer. Suddenly, Wei Wuxian’s pale face, low spiritual power, and fainting spells made a lot more sense. When Nie Mingjue didn’t reply, he demanded, “How many lashes?”

“She didn’t tell me,” Nie Mingjue said, a transparent attempt to duck the question which answered it at the same time. If it had been three or four lashes, Nie Mingjue would have just said that. It must have been more than that, and from the look on Nie Mingjue’s face, significantly more.

“Where are you going, Wangji?” Lan Xichen asked, stepping into his path as he turned to walk away.

Lan Wangji said nothing, annoyed at the very question.

Lan Xichen sighed. “Wangji. I know you’re upset. But you must not act rashly.”

“I know what you are going to say,” Lan Wangji said. “Yu-furen has the right to discipline her own disciple. Wei Ying did break the rules by keeping secrets from his sect leader. It is an internal matter for the Yunmeng Jiang and we cannot get involved.”

“Well, yes – ”

“All of that is true,” Lan Wangji said, “but the disciplines say to eradicate evil. They do not say to eradicate evil unless it is an internal matter in another sect.”

“Wangji – ”

“Yu Ziyuan has been abusing Wei Ying since the day he arrived at Lotus Pier. Now that Jiang Fengmian is dead, she feels there will be no more checks on her behavior. I would like to explain to her that this is not the case.”

“Wangji!” Nie Mingjue grabbed him by the arm and turned him around. Lan Wangji was about to protest, but the look on Nie Mingjue’s face stopped him. In a low voice so nobody would overhear, Nie Mingjue said, “Let me explain this to you carefully. We are in a war. Yu Ziyuan is one of our most powerful allies. She killed over a hundred Wen cultivators at the Indoctrination Bureau. I understand you’re upset. I don’t approve of her behavior either. Once the war is over, you can explain things to her all you like. But until Wen Ruohan’s head is mounted on a spike at Nightless City, you cannot and will not give Yu Ziyuan a reason to fight against us instead of alongside us. Is that perfectly clear?”

Lan Wangji’s mouth pursed. “She is still forcing him to train even after his injuries – ”

“No, she isn’t,” Nie Mingjue snapped. “I thought that at first, too, but she hasn’t been to see him in days. Wei Wuxian is doing this to himself. He didn’t need her help to blame himself for Jiang Fengmian’s death. I brought Jiang Yanli back here to try to talk him back off that ledge. But if you go and remind Yu Ziyuan of how much she hates him, then she’ll double down and make things worse. Just let it be, Wangji. Help Jiang Yanli and Wen Qing keep Wei Wuxian in bed so he can heal. Work with him on that sword if you can. But stay the hell away from Yu Ziyuan.”

Lan Wangji was so angry that he thought he was going to burst with it. Lan Xichen reached out and touched his arm. “Wangji, right now Wei-gongzi is grieving and in pain. He believes he deserved to be punished. If you go and fight Yu-furen on his behalf, you’re only going to upset him.”

That was obviously true, and it just made Lan Wangji more furious. He focused on something he could argue with. “He should not be using that sword. Yu-furen should return Suibian to him.”

“That sword controls resentful energy,” Nie Mingjue said. “If he can learn to use it, then he might be able to fight the puppets in a way that none of the rest of us can.”

Seething, Lan Wangji said, “He will only injure himself doing so – ”

“We are in a war, Wangji,” Nie Mingjue repeated. “Besides, do you think Wei Wuxian hasn’t put that together himself? Do you think he isn’t well aware of the possible advantages if he learns to control that sword? Do you think he’ll stop just because we tell him it’s not good for him?”

“He’ll stop once he passes out and I take that sword and suppress it,” Lan Wangji said.

Nie Mingjue looked amused, which just made Lan Wangji angrier. “Oh, yes. You’re definitely the first person to think of that. Wen Qing hasn’t been searching every hour he’s not training to try to figure out where he’s hiding it so she can throw it in the river. Jiang Cheng hasn’t been demanding, as his sect leader, that he tell them where he’s stashed it so he can control when he trains and when he doesn’t. Good luck, Wangji. Wei Wuxian might be the only person I’ve ever met who’s just as stubborn as you are.”

Furious, Lan Wangji turned and stormed away.

When he got to the medical tent, thinking he would vent his temper by demanding why Wei Wuxian hadn’t told him of his punishment, Wen Qing was sitting outside. She stood as soon as he approached and said, “You’re not going in there right now.”

“I will – ”

“Lan-er-gongzi,” Wen Qing interrupted, her voice strangely gentle. “He’s with his shijie. She’ll help him. Please.”

Lan Wangji felt his temper drain away, leaving a strangely hollow sort of grief behind. He nodded and said, “Of course. I would not want to disturb them.”

He sat down next to her, and waited.

~ ~ ~ ~

Jiang Yanli had had many years to practice hiding when she was sad or hurting, thanks to her mother’s treatment. Yu Ziyuan had always hated to see Jiang Yanli upset about anything, and the words, “If you want to cry, I’ll give you something to cry about,” had been a frequent refrain her childhood. So she kept calm when she saw Wei Wuxian again, not letting her reaction to how terrible he looked show on her face. He grumbled and protested as she coaxed him back to the medical tent.

“Ah, A-Cheng!” Jiang Yanli said, when she saw her brother in the tent. She wasn’t sure why he was there at first, but then saw Wen Qing, and smiled a genuine smile. Jiang Cheng was holding a box of bandages for her. But he dropped it when Jiang Yanli came in, and pulled her into an embrace.

They hugged for a long minute before she saw that Wei Wuxian was thinking about sneaking out while she was preoccupied. “A-Xian, have you eaten?”

“Yeah, Lan Zhan made me get dinner,” Wei Wuxian said, as if this was very unreasonable of him.

“Good. Then you can lie down and get some rest.”

“Shijie,” Wei Wuxian protested, coming close to a whine. He pouted when she gave him an expectant look. “I’m too old to need naps.”

“Well, you’re certainly not acting like it,” Jiang Yanli said, and his pout deepened. She gently made him sit down, and saw him wince as he leaned over to take off his shoes. “Let me – don’t argue! You shouldn’t be bending over right now.”

“I’m not that fragile,” Wei Wuxian protested.

“You’re injured, and you will heal faster if you don’t stress the injuries,” Jiang Yanli said, pulling off one boot, then another. She saw the look on his face, and sighed. The tent had gone quiet; Wen Qing and Jiang Cheng had both retreated to give them some privacy. “A-Xian. I know you are grieving. But this was not your fault.”

Wei Wuxian looked away. “I shouldn’t have kept the sword a secret.”

“That’s right. You shouldn’t have.” Jiang Yanli put his boots aside and sat down next to him. “But that doesn’t mean that Father’s death was your fault. If you had told him, do you know what he would have done?”

“No,” Wei Wuxian lied.

Jiang Yanli didn’t let the lie bother her. “He would have taken it from you and suppressed it, or perhaps destroyed it. You would have kept fighting with other swords, and he still would have died the exact same way. You know that, A-Xian. You know that Father wouldn’t have wanted anyone using such an evil thing.”

Wei Wuxian impatiently wiped his tears away. “I’m the one who wanted to go to the Indoctrination Bureau in the first place.”

“That’s true, too,” Jiang Yanli said. “But it wasn’t your decision to go there or not. Father and Nie-zongzhu agreed on it, and they decided to do it when they did because Wen Ruohan re-routed many of his forces to attack the Lan sect on his northeast border. Nie-zongzhu has told me everything that happened. He’s the general, and it was his decision to take the Indoctrination Bureau. He told me that he had already been thinking about it when you brought it up, and that your opinion really wasn’t relevant in the grand scheme of things. But he doesn’t blame himself for Father’s death. He knows it was not of his making any more than it was of yours. There’s nothing you could have done to prevent it.”

Wei Wuxian said nothing, a few more tears escaping and sliding down his cheeks.

“Now,” Jiang Yanli said firmly, “you need to rest.”

Wei Wuxian shook his head. “I need to work with that sword. It uses resentful energy, like Wen Ruohan does – ”

“I know,” Jiang Yanli said. “And I know that you know that the harder you push yourself while you’re wounded, the longer it will take you to get better. I know that you know that it’s only going to take you more time to learn how to master it if you don’t allow yourself to heal. You’re punishing yourself, A-Xian, and you must stop. Father wouldn’t want you to do this.”

One of Wei Wuxian’s hands gripped at the front of his robes. “I kept a secret from him after everything he did to me.”

“Yes,” Jiang Yanli said. “That was wrong. And you have been punished, far more than he would have wanted. He would have been angry. He would have made you scrub every floor at Lotus Pier. Even if Mother had still wanted you whipped, he would have limited it to only a few lashes. You have been punished enough, A-Xian. He would never want to see you hurting like this. You must rest.”

“I can’t,” Wei Wuxian choked out. “Shijie, I can’t. Every time I close my eyes, I see him dying. I can’t.”

Jiang Yanli barely held back her own tears. “A-Xian, I know it must hurt more than I can imagine, but you still need rest. I will ask Wen-guniang to make something that will help you sleep. Please, A-Xian, let us help you. Right now, I know Father is watching over you and he is so upset at how you are treating yourself. Tomorrow, we can talk more about what your recovery will be like and when you can begin training again. But for tonight, take some medicine and get some sleep.”

Wei Wuxian wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and nodded. She helped him lie down and went to get Wen Qing. Unsurprisingly, she was just outside, and Lan Wangji was there as well. They both looked up when she opened the tent flap, and Lan Wangji had an almost anxious expression on his face.

“Wen-guniang,” Jiang Yanli said, “could you make something to help A-Xian sleep? He has been having bad dreams.”

“Of course,” Wen Qing said, and went back into the tent.

Jiang Yanli looked over at Lan Wangji and said, “You should go and get some sleep as well, Lan-er-gongzi. A-Xian has agreed to rest, and I’m sure Wen-guniang will make sure he is not up until morning.”

After a moment, Lan Wangji nodded and bowed. “I will come see him then.”

Relieved, Jiang Yanli followed Wen Qing. She was already mixing powders together. Wei Wuxian was still lying down, thankfully, curled up on his side. Jiang Yanli helped him sit up when Wen Qing brought the medicine over. A few minutes later, he was on his stomach, sound asleep.

“Where are you going to be staying, Jiang-guniang?” Wen Qing asked. “I can have another cot brought in for you, if you’d like.

Jiang Yanli was grateful that Wen Qing wasn’t trying to tell her she shouldn’t sleep in the medical tent. She knew that Wen Qing knew exactly how it felt to worry about a younger brother. “I would appreciate that, Wen-guniang. Thank you.”

“Have you eaten?”

Jiang Yanli shook her head. “Nie-zongzhu brought me on his sword,” she said, thinking of what an experience that had been. Her spiritual power levels were too low to ride her own more than a few feet above the ground for a few seconds. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian had both taken her up on theirs, years ago, but it had been wholly different from standing on the broad, flat edge of Baxia with Nie Mingjue behind her, his arms around her waist. Her heart beat harder in her chest just thinking about it.

“Here, sit down,” Wen Qing said, ushering her over to a chair. She left the tent briefly, and came back with both Wen Ning and Jiang Cheng, along with a plate of food. Jiang Yanli ate hungrily while Jiang Cheng fetched another cot for her. Before long, she was lying down, thinking of the previous night, where she had slept curled up in Nie Mingjue’s embrace.

The next morning, Wei Wuxian still slept soundly. Lan Wangji arrived to see him, and sat down with his guqin. He played for nearly an hour before Nie Mingjue came in. He smiled when he looked at Jiang Yanli, and she smiled back, but he addressed the whole room. “Good, you’re all here. I wanted to speak to you about the next stage in the campaign.”

Lan Wangji set his guqin aside and said, promptly, “Thank you, Nie-zongzhu.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Nie Mingjue said dryly. “I’m sending you to Yiling.”

Lan Wangji frowned. “Why?”

“For two reasons. Tactically, because I want to secure our southern flank. There’s still Wen-occupied territory in Yiling, and I don’t like having it at our backs while we push further into Qishan. I need to have somebody lead the campaign to clear out those outposts, and I’ve chosen you.”

“And the other reason?” Wen Qing asked, with the face of someone who definitely knew what the other reason was.

“Wen-guniang, you grew up in Yiling,” Nie Mingjue said. “You know the area very well. I want you to go along as a guide and a reference. Of course, since you are going, the patients under your care will need to go with you as well.”

Light dawned on Lan Wangji’s face. “You are sending Wei Ying away from Yu Ziyuan.”

“I’m sending Wei Wuxian away from everyone. He needs time and space to master that sword, where he won’t be on the front lines, pushing himself to contribute. Wangji, you and Wen-guniang can look after him and help him through it. Jiang-guniang, I assume you will want to go as well.”

Jiang Yanli nodded, and Jiang Cheng said, “I’m going, too.”

“No, you’re not,” Nie Mingjue said. “Your mother will want you here with her, and I don’t have any valid reason to countermand her on that point.” He saw that Jiang Cheng looked dubious, and added, more gently, “Your mother loves you, Jiang Wanyin. She’s not good at showing it, but she does. And if I piss her off by trying to send you to Yiling, then she’ll poke her nose into the mission in general. She won’t care that I’m sending Wangji to lead it, and I don’t even have to tell her that I’m sending Wen Qing - and therefore everyone under her care. We can get Wei Wuxian out of here without her objection - but not if I try to send you, too.”

After a moment, Jiang Cheng nodded. Jiang Yanli reached out and gripped his wrist. “We’ll be fine, A-Cheng. Wen-guniang and Lan-er-gongzi will take good care of us.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, then added, “This will be a good way to keep Wei Ying off his feet for a week. He can ride in a carriage and will be unable to practice while we are traveling.”

“I’ll start making arrangements,” Nie Mingjue said. “Jiang-guniang, Jiang Wanyin - we are going to have your father’s funeral tonight, so that Jiang-guniang may leave in the morning. I would suggest you go see your mother so that you can help her make preparations.”

“We will,” Jiang Yanli said. “Thank you, Nie-zongzhu.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but be annoyed when he saw the carriage, but between the glint in Lan Wangji’s eyes, the pursing of Wen Qing’s lips, and the smile on Jiang Yanli’s face, he decided he had better not argue. Before he could say anything either way, Jiang Yanli said, “A-Xian, you’ll keep me company in the carriage, won’t you?”

“Yes, shijie,” Wei Wuxian said with a sigh. He gave her a hand up before getting in next to her.

Truthfully, there wasn’t much of an argument he could make. It had been two nights and a day since Jiang Yanli had arrived, and he already felt worlds better. He had gotten a sound night’s sleep for the first time in a week, and didn’t wake up until late morning. By that point, his brother and sister had been gone from the medical tent, making preparations for their father’s funeral. Wen Qing had told him that Jiang Yanli had asked him to take it easy and not train, because she was worried that he might strain himself and then miss the funeral altogether. Wei Wuxian couldn’t stand the idea of that, so he had stayed in the medical tent. Wen Ning and Lan Wangji had both put a lot of effort in to keep him occupied, telling him about this trip they were going to be taking to Yiling.

Wei Wuxian could see all of Nie Mingjue’s reasons for doing this a mile away, but he couldn’t bring himself to argue. For one thing, it wasn’t like he would get anywhere. The work in Yiling did need to be done. And until he had learned to control the sword of Xuanwu, he wasn’t any good on the front lines anyway. He thought of Suibian, tucked away in one of Yu Ziyuan’s spirit pouches, and it stung.

But they got through the funeral without anything terrible happening. He let Jiang Yanli usher him back to the medical tent and drank his medicine without complaint. Now it was the next morning, and he actually felt somewhat human again. Sure, he was in pain, but it was manageable pain. He could keep his legs underneath himself and could move around without darkness crowding the edges of his vision.

A lot of this, he knew, was due to Lan Wangji. Wen Qing’s treatments focused on his body, and they were the only reason he could stand at all. But it was Lan Wangji who had stayed and played his guqin, cleansing him of the resentful energy that the sword emanated, helping bolster his spiritual energy after Zidian had drained him of it so completely.

So despite the fact that every inch of him wanted to be training, he rode in the carriage the whole way to Yiling. It was a three-day journey before they reached the Yiling Supervisory House, and by then he was itching for action.

“No,” Lan Wangji said shortly, when he saw Wei Wuxian standing with the other cultivators.

“But - !”

“No,” Wen Qing agreed, waving a needle in his face.

Wei Wuxian whined loudly, and Wen Qing continued to threaten him, and he wound up back in the carriage with needles in his neck. A few hours later, Wen Qing came to retrieve him, and let him know that they had taken the Supervisory House without issue. They were going to use it as their command central while they worked their way through the Yiling outposts.

“Can I finally train now?” he asked.

Jiang Yanli patted him on the wrist and said, “Yes, Xianxian, you’ve been very good.”

“Only for an hour,” Wen Qing added.

Wei Wuxian made a mental note to ignore this. But he was barely able to even practice for an hour the first time. Even as much as he felt better, the resentful energy was such a huge drain on him. He felt like he was swimming upstream the entire time.

Days dragged by. Lan Wangji would leave with the other cultivators and be gone for a few days at a time, while Wei Wuxian stayed behind, training. He didn’t understand why it was so difficult for him. All his life, everything had come easily. Like he had said at the lectures, resentful energy was just energy. Why shouldn’t they use it?

Lan Wangji chipped away at the Qishan Wen forces in Yiling, and Wei Wuxian hated the fact that he couldn’t be by his side. He knew that Jiang Cheng was fighting, too, in Qishan, but he was stuck.

It wasn’t that sword resisted him. The sword wanted to be used. That was one of the most frightening things about it. The sword offered death and destruction, glory and vengeance. He just didn’t know how to use it.

“Hey, Lan Zhan,” he said one night, watching Lan Wangji play the guqin. Lan Wangji insisted on doing this every night he was at the camp, to help keep the resentful energy from building up in Wei Wuxian’s system. “Can you play the flute?”

Lan Wangji glanced up, but didn’t stop playing. “I have moderate proficiency but it is not my preferred instrument.”

“Well, I mean, obviously.” Wei Wuxian lay down and tucked his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. “I played the flute when I was young. I had a dizi that my mom had made for me before she died. Just a little thing, since I was so small. It was the only thing I had left from her. Just a piece of bamboo that had no value, so when I was on the streets, nobody took it from me.”

Lan Wangji studied him in silence, waiting to see where he was going with the story.

“Yu-furen always hated it, though,” Wei Wuxian continued. “She said my playing was bad and it was too high-pitched and gave her a headache. One time when Jiang-shushu was visiting another sect, she took the dizi and broke it in half.”

A disgruntled noise escaped Lan Wangji.

“Jiang-shushu made me a new one when he got back, but it wasn’t the same, you know? I never played it. After a few years I gave it to another one of the juniors who was talking about learning. Anyway,” he added, seeing that Lan Wangji was seriously contemplating riding his sword into Qishan to personally kick Yu Ziyuan’s ass, “I was sort of thinking, maybe an instrument might work better to control resentful energy.”

“Why?” Lan Wangji asked, frowning faintly.

“Because the sword is . . . it’s a sword. I’m so used to wielding Suibian, have trained for so long with it, that I keep using this one like Suibian even though it’s not. It isn’t going to work the same way. I’m thinking that maybe if I refine it into something like an amulet and use a dizi to control the flow of the resentful energy, I might have better luck.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said. His frown didn’t go away, and he was undoubtedly thinking about how he didn’t want Wei Wuxian to be using resentful energy at all. But at least he didn’t say it.

The next morning, Wei Wuxian was not at all surprised to wake up and find a perfectly carved dizi sitting on the table next to his bed. He picked it up and smiled, moving his fingers along it for a moment before lifting it to his lips and blowing a perfectly tuned note.  

Lan Wangji had already left on an assignment, so Wei Wuxian set himself to refining the sword into an amulet. “I’m going to call it the Stygian Tiger amulet,” he said to Jiang Yanli, when she asked what he was doing. “It’ll be the focal point for all the resentful energy, and then the flute will help me direct it.”

He trained, and worked, and refined, and then went back to training. Wen Qing had to force him to sleep at the end of each day, reminding him that he was still recovering. Lan Wangji played cleansing music for him whenever he was there, to keep the resentful energy from infiltrating him too deeply. Wei Wuxian put up with both of these things because it was easier than arguing with them.

Within a month, he had the amulet created, and could focus on using the flute to direct the resentful energy. The more he practiced, the more he could feel the resentful energy moving around him. He grew proficient enough with it that he no longer had to leave the camp when he was training, instead sitting in the pavilions of the Supervisory House. But what frustrated him was that he still didn’t know what he could do with the resentful energy. Until he was actually allowed to fight in battle, he couldn’t see how it would affect people when he was controlling it. He wouldn’t risk any of his friends by using them as test subjects.

That led him to an idea. He was sitting outside when Lan Wangji returned from the latest battle. He had brought the bodies of two of their comrades with him, who had been killed by the Wen. Curious despite himself, Wei Wuxian directed a surge of resentful energy into the two bodies.

Immediately, they lurched upright. Wen Qing, who had been brought over to verify that there was no saving them, let out an uncharacteristic yelp and stumbled backwards. Lan Wangji’s head whipped around and his eyes went wide when he saw the two bodies sitting up, black veins of resentful energy crawling up their necks, eyes milky white. “Wei Ying!”

Wei Wuxian blinked at the two bodies and said, “Um. Oops?”

Lan Wangji puffed up like an enraged chicken. “Oops? Your response to performing necromancy is oops?”

“Ah, I’ll undo it, I’ll undo it!” Wei Wuxian put the flute back to his lips and pulled the resentful energy out of the two bodies. They immediately slumped back downwards. He saw that Lan Wangji was still staring at him reproachfully and said, “I didn’t mean to! It was an accident!”

“You did not accidentally direct resentful energy into those two bodies,” Lan Wangji said, his tone icy.

Wei Wuxian squirmed. “Well, no, but I didn’t know what would happen.”

Lan Wangji pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something that sounded like (but surely couldn’t be), “Why is this what I like?”

“That must be how Wen Ruohan is making the puppets,” Wen Qing said, moving the conversation along before Wei Wuxian could ask Lan Wangji to repeat himself, a little more loudly and clearly, so he could figure out what he had actually said. “Which means that Wei Wuxian might be able to use the flute to disable them.”

Wei Wuxian nodded eagerly. That hadn’t been his first thought at all, but his first thought - that he could use the bodies of their dead enemies to fight on their side - was probably best not spoken aloud. At least, not while Lan Wangji could hear. “Could you capture one and bring it back for me?”

“Perhaps,” Lan Wangji said, frowning. “It would be dangerous.”

“Then I’ll come with you next time you - ”

“I will capture one,” Lan Wangji interrupted him. “You are not ready to fight on the battlefield yet.”

“Aw, come on,” Wei Wuxian whined. “I’m really much better! It’s been six weeks. I’m all healed up. Wen Qing, tell him that I’m all healed up!”

Wen Qing sighed, but said, “Physically, his recovery is basically complete. Mentally, he still needs a lot of help.”

“Rude,” Wei Wuxian said. That night, he crept into the barracks where the disciples were staying and grabbed a spare uniform of the Lan sect. He figured he could sneak into the group that left the next morning.

“Do you think we’re stupid?” Wen Qing asked, when he woke up with a needle in the back of his neck and began to protest vociferously. “You must think we’re stupid if you didn’t realize we would see that coming a mile away.”

Three days later, he had one of Wen Ruohan’s puppets to experiment on. “I’ll work with this, but I’m still mad at you,” he told Lan Wangji.

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, that one syllable clearly conveying that he had no problem with this. Wei Wuxian wondered when he had learned to interpret those single syllables.

Working with a puppet he hadn’t created was difficult. He wasn’t sure how Wen Ruohan had created them, but they were fiercely resistant to his control. It was as if the resentful energy that powered them belonged to Wen Ruohan somehow, and didn’t want to obey his commands. But he got stronger, and he started to learn the tricks to it. He ended each day a little less exhausted than the last.

“We’ve cleared the territory almost all the way up to the border of Qishan,” Lan Wangji told him. “There are a great deal of puppets in the last two villages we need to clear. I have spoken to Wen-guniang and we have agreed that you are ready to come with us.”

“Finally, thank heavens!” Wei Wuxian said, and Lan Wangji narrowed his eyes at him. “I mean, thank you, Lan-er-gongzi. I will do my best.”

It was a grueling battle, and although he wouldn’t have admitted it, not a good way to reintroduce him to the field. They were outnumbered three to one just by the human cultivators, and there were several dozen of the puppets as well. Wei Wuxian forced himself to focus on them, trying to turn them against the Wen disciples they were fighting alongside.

It took a lot of concentration. His head began to ache fiercely, and he felt something wet on his upper lip and thought his nose was bleeding. But he didn’t stop. Slowly, the puppets bent to his will. Slowly, they began to attack the cultivators from the Qishan Wen. Slowly, the tide began to turn in their favor.

It didn’t take long for the Wen disciples to realize what was happening. Wei Wuxian was the only cultivator there playing the flute, and they began to try to attack him. Lan Wangji jumped over and stood in front of him, protecting him from the living cultivators as Wei Wuxian still struggled with the dead.

Finally, the battle was over. The living cultivators were all dead. The puppets turned on each other at Wei Wuxian’s command until none were left.

“You’re bleeding,” Lan Wangji told him.

“Yeah,” Wei Wuxian said, wiping the blood off his face. “I’m fine, Lan Zhan. Don’t be such a worry – look out!”

One of the cultivators – a living one – had been feigning death, lying amongst the corpses until Lan Wangji was unprepared for an attack. As he lunged upwards, Wei Wuxian pushed Lan Wangji aside, trying to parry the blow with his flute. How incredibly stupid, he thought, parrying a sword with a bamboo flute. In that moment, as the blade sliced through the flute Lan Wangji had painstakingly made for him, he missed Suibian more than ever. The momentum of the sword wasn’t even slowed, and the tip of it pierced through Wei Wuxian’s upper arm.

But the moment of distraction had been enough. An arrow came whipping through the air, striking the Wen cultivator in the neck. He pitched backwards and writhed for a moment before Lan Wangji thrust Bichen into his chest.

“You idiot,” Lan Wangji seethed, grabbing Wei Wuxian by the uninjured arm and twisting him around. “What were you thinking?”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian said with a wince. “I know you worked hard on the flute. I’ll carve another for myself, you won’t have to make me a second one.”

Lan Wangji stared at him. “You think I’m upset about the flute?”

“Yes?” Wei Wuxian said, although he was very sure that was the incorrect answer.

“You – ” Lan Wangji fumed, before he grabbed Wei Wuxian by the back of the neck and yanked him in for a kiss.

All of Wei Wuxian’s thoughts at that moment could have been adequately summed up by a row of question marks and exclamation points. He blinked stupidly when Lan Wangji released him, feeling like he had been hit by a load of bricks. “Oh – oh wow, I – I just realized what Nie-xiong was talking about when he said someone liked me – ”

Lan Wangji growled in frustration and kissed him again. Wei Wuxian realized he should stop talking, and more importantly, stop thinking. Lan Wangji was kissing him. That surely required all his attention, and he dropped the remaining piece of the flute and buried his hands in Lan Wangji’s hair. Kissing was amazing, a distant part of his brain noted. Or maybe Lan Wangji was amazing. Or maybe everything was amazing.

When they finally broke apart, he was out of breath. Lan Wangji was still glaring at him, which was somehow hilarious. “You like me,” Wei Wuxian said, unable to help the smug note in his voice. “Lan Zhan, you like me.”

“Much to my own dismay,” Lan Wangji said.

Wei Wuxian grinned broadly. “Oh, come on. You know that I’m amazing. Didn’t I tell you that we were going to be friends? And now we’re going to be even more than that, right? Because I’m pretty sure friends don’t do that – ”

“Stop talking,” Lan Wangji said, and kissed him again.

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Mingjue was more than a little surprised when one of his lieutenants poked his head into the tent and said, “Ah, zongzhu? Jin-gongzi has arrived and is asking for you.”

“Show him in,” Nie Mingjue said, blinking despite himself. He recalled that he had Jin Zixuan’s sword, tucked away in a spirit pouch, and that he had sent him a message saying that he could come get it. He hadn’t really expected Jin Zixuan to do so, figuring that he would send somebody to pick it up for him.

Jin Zixuan came in looking uncomfortable, and bowed. “Nie-zongzhu. I received your letter.”

Nie Mingjue nodded and returned the bow, then took out the spirit pouch that contained Suihua and handed it over. Jin Zixuan took the sword out with an enormous expression of relief.

“Thank you, Nie-zongzhu,” he said, with another bow. “It is a great relief to have it returned to me.”

“You’re welcome,” Nie Mingjue said, hoping that the matter was settled and he could get back to work.

Instead, Jin Zixuan surprised him again, saying, “I have brought a contingent of two dozen cultivators from the Lanling Jin with me. I know it is hardly the force you would have hoped, but I think we will be useful to you and will accept whatever battle orders you think would best suit the overall strategy.”

Nie Mingjue couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. Two dozen was not many, considering how many disciples the Lanling Jin had. He couldn’t help but think that Jin Zixuan was here without his father’s instruction, or perhaps even explicitly against his wishes. “Are you sure that this will not cause trouble for the Lanling Jin?” he asked cautiously.

Jin Zixuan’s cheeks flushed red. “Perhaps it will, but truly, I do not feel I could continue to remain complacent in the face of the growing threat the Qishan Wen pose to us all.”

With that, Nie Mingjue decided not to ask any more questions. If he didn’t know for sure that this was against Jin Guangshan’s orders, then Jin Guangshan couldn’t fault him for accepting his son’s help. “Then I’ll gladly accept your help and the help of your men, Jin-gongzi. Let me show you the map and give you a summary of the current situation.”

Jin Zixuan nodded, so Nie Mingjue spent a few minutes going over where their troops currently were and what was happening. He had Jin Zixuan give him a list of everyone in his retinue and an approximation of what level they were at.

He was just wrapping up when the tent flap opened again and Yu Ziyuan came in with Jiang Cheng behind her. Nie Mingjue had to fight to keep the reflexive scowl off his face. The more time he spent around Yu Ziyuan, the more he disliked her. She hadn’t said a word about Wei Wuxian’s departure – hadn’t even asked where he had gone. He could have been dead and she wouldn’t have known. That was bad enough. But in reality, what Nie Mingjue really thought of when he saw her was her sharp, derogatory words towards her daughter. The more he loved Jiang Yanli, the harder it was to deal with Yu Ziyuan.

“Oh, A-Xuan, is that you?” Yu Ziyuan asked, clearly surprised.

Jin Zixuan turned and bowed. “Yu-furen,” he said, then somewhat begrudgingly, “Jiang Wanyin.”

Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Cheng both bowed as well, and Yu Ziyuan asked, “Do your parents know you’re here?”

Cheeks flushed somewhat pink, Jin Zixuan nodded and said, “Yes, they’re aware.”

Nie Mingjue noticed that this wasn’t a statement that they had sent him or that they approved, but didn’t bother to point that out. Neither did Yu Ziyuan, instead saying, “Well, I’m glad you’ve come, A-Xuan. I’m sure you’ll be much more useful than certain others,” she added, pursing her lips.

Neither Jiang Cheng nor Nie Mingjue took that bait. Jin Zixuan said, “I’m honored to fight alongside you, Yu-furen.”

Yu Ziyuan smiled at him in a way that she never smiled at her own children, then said, “A-Cheng, why don’t you show him around the camp and help him get settled in?”

“Oh, uh . . .” Jiang Cheng looked unenthused. To be fair, Jin Zixuan didn’t look thrilled with the idea, either, but he nodded when Jiang Cheng managed, “Of course. This way, Jin Zixuan.”

Yu Ziyuan’s mouth pursed again, but she didn’t say anything further as the two young men left the tent. Nie Mingjue shook his head slightly and asked, “Did you need something, Yu-furen?”

“No. I heard that A-Xuan was here and wanted to make sure he was treated properly.”

Nie Mingjue’s shoulders tightened as he took in the implied insult. He wondered how Lan Xichen would respond to the suggestion that he might turn away a valuable soldier for personal reasons, that he might take an ill temper out on someone who was still practically a boy. After a moment, he said evenly, “Was there some reason you thought he wouldn’t be?”

With a thin smile, Yu Ziyuan said, “I know some people aren’t happy that the Lanling Jin declined to assist us.”

 “That’s true,” Nie Mingjue said, “but those people would be foolish to turn away that help once it’s given. Jin-gongzi is here to fight the Wen alongside us. I’ve already given him his battle instructions,” he added, and told Yu Ziyuan how he intended to deploy the additional soldiers. She nodded approval, said something that was borderline polite, and left the tent.

Feeling like he could use a cooler temper than his own, Nie Mingjue left his own tent and headed for Lan Xichen’s. Lan Xichen looked up when he came in and said, “Oh, what excellent timing. I was just about to come see you.”

“Is something wrong?” Nie Mingjue asked, hoping the answer was no. 

“No. I got a letter from Wangji.” Lan Xichen stood up and began making tea. “He reports that he’s completed the assignment and wanted your approval of the arrangements he was making to leave troops behind to hold Yiling, before he headed back this way.”

“And nothing else?” Despite himself, Nie Mingjue was amused. Lan Wangji’s letters were sparse at best, just like his words were in person. Although he had reported to his brother frequently, he rarely said anything about Wei Wuxian or the Sword of Xuanwu. After nearly two months, the only time that had been mentioned was one brief sentence which reported that Wei Wuxian had decided to refine the sword into an amulet. Even that sentence somehow dripped disapproval.

“Nothing else,” Lan Xichen said, equally amused. “I suppose we’ll find out the truth soon enough.”

Nie Mingjue nodded. He looked through the report and after a few minor debates, agreed to Lan Wangji’s arrangements. Lan Xichen sat down and wrote back saying that they approved, so Lan Wangji could finalize everything and then rendezvous with them in Qishan. Then he said, “What’s on your mind?”

“Yu Ziyuan,” Nie Mingjue said, shaking his head. He told Lan Xichen about what had happened with Jin Zixuan.

“I really don’t understand this,” Lan Xichen said thoughtfully. “I would think that Yu Ziyuan would be more angry than anyone, that someone treated her daughter disrespectfully. Why is she so indulgent of Jin Zixuan?”

“It’s not that she’s indulgent of him,” Nie Mingjue said. “It’s that she thinks her daughter doesn’t deserve better. Jiang-guniang is so unlike her mother, and has never excelled at any of the things her mother wished for her. Her talents lie in other places, but her mother doesn’t see those talents - only the ones she doesn’t have.”

Lan Xichen shook his head. “I still don’t understand, but I suppose I’m hardly one to talk about what a healthy relationship with one’s parents looks like.”

Nie Mingjue sighed, thinking back to his own mother, his fuzzy memories of her from when he was young. He still missed her, and he missed Nie Huaisang’s mother as well, who hadn’t been his own but had loved him nonetheless. “I just can’t wait until the war is over and I can take Jiang-guniang away from her hateful words. A sentiment I’m sure you can understand,” he added.

“Mm,” Lan Xichen said. “We haven’t heard from A-Yao in over a week . . . I’m worried about him.”

Nie Mingjue was well aware of that, and had been trying not to think about it too hard. Meng Yao’s letters had never been particularly regular, but they had typically come every three or four days. This was the longest they had ever gone without one. “I’m concerned, too, but I think it’s because he doesn’t have anything to report. Before there were always troop movements and changes he needed to tell us about - but now that we’ve pushed so far into Qishan, the Wen have dug in to their positions and are simply preparing to defend them. If there’s nothing he needs to tell us, he won’t take the risk of sending us a letter.”

“I suppose that does make sense,” Lan Xichen said. They both knew there wasn’t much more they could say. If Meng Yao had been discovered and killed, it might be weeks or months before they could confirm that. They might never be able to confirm it. There wasn’t anything they could do about that, and they had always been aware of the risk. “I just miss him, that’s all.”

A year ago, Nie Mingjue wouldn’t have understood that. But now he found his thoughts often drifted to Jiang Yanli, her smile, her soft voice, the feeling of her body against his own. Love was somewhat distracting, but he minded less than he had thought he would. “You’ll be reunited with him soon, I’m sure. Does it bother you, though, what he must have had to do in Qishan, to gain Wen Ruohan’s favor?”

“Bother me? Not exactly,” Lan Xichen said. “I know he must have done terrible things, and that makes me sad, that he’s had to go through that. But I don’t think less of him for it. It doesn’t change my assessment of his character.”

“I can’t imagine either of us would be capable of such things,” Nie Mingjue said. 

“No. Of course we couldn’t be.”

Nie Mingjue thought about that for a moment. He still didn’t understand why this didn’t bother Lan Xichen the way it bothered him. Should he not be troubled, to know that the man he loved was capable of doing horrible things? “What do the disciplines say about such things?”

A slight smile touched Lan Xichen’s face. “Oh, the disciplines say that it couldn’t be tolerated, of course. Sometimes I wish that the world was as black and white as the disciplines made it out to be. We couldn’t have gotten this far without A-Yao passing us information. You know that as well as I do. So if he commits some evils in the service of a greater good, if he hurts people in order to save people from being hurt, how does it even out in the end? The disciplines surely cannot tell you that. But I love him nonetheless, Mingjue-xiong.”

Nie Mingjue nodded. It didn’t make sense, but then again, he was well aware of Lan Xichen’s boundless capacity for love and forgiveness. “I wonder if Wangji feels the same way about what Wei Wuxian is doing.”

Lan Xichen chuckled quietly. “Oh, I’m sure he’s absolutely furious with himself over it,” he said, and that made Nie Mingjue laugh as well. 

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Wei Wuxian’s return was in the middle of a grueling battle. Nie Mingjue had started with about three dozen men which had slowly become two dozen. They were up against twice as many living Wen cultivators, as well as over a dozen puppets, each of which was equal to at least three men. They had killed most of the living opponents but couldn’t win the day against the puppets, who simply kept fighting even after receiving the most grievous of injuries.

Nie Mingjue was considering sounding a temporary retreat, if only to regroup, when he heard the shrill sound of a flute.

At first, he couldn’t see where it was coming from, nor could he figure out what the wielder was trying to do. Then the Wen cultivators they had just killed lurched back to their feet. Nie Mingjue swore despite himself and was about to attack the one closest to him when it suddenly turned and attacked one of the puppets. Nie Mingjue took a step backwards as the newly raised fierce corpses turned on the puppets. 

“What the fuck,” somebody nearby him asked, and he couldn’t help but agree with that sentiment. The dead fought the dead, none of them reacting to their injuries, but simply continuing to fight even after losing limbs. 

There was a brilliant flash of light, and he recognized the spiritual energy of Bichen, as a figure dressed all in white flew past him and thrust a sword into the back of one of the puppets and then forced it to the ground.

Nie Mingjue gathered himself and shouted, “Target the puppets!”

A puppet was worth three men, but even it could be overwhelmed. While busy fighting three or four fierce corpses, they couldn’t defend themselves against the attacks from the Nie cultivators, which separated their heads from their bodies.

In the aftermath, Nie Mingjue looked around, trying to take stock. He saw the incongruous sight of a man on a donkey, dressed in black, and the donkey’s reins were now held by Lan Wangji. As he walked over, Wei Wuxian slumped to one side, and Lan Wangji caught him before he could lose his balance. He looked up as Nie Mingjue approached and said, in a hilarious deadpan, “There are still some issues we are trying to iron out.”

Nie Mingjue was so taken aback that he wasn’t even sure what to say. “That was necromancy.”

Lan Wangji’s mouth tightened. “I am aware of that.”

Nie Mingjue decided not to discuss this on the battlefield. Wei Wuxian was unconscious anyway. He turned and addressed his lieutenants, giving orders to get everything cleaned up, solidify their new position, and move the camp accordingly behind them.

It was nearly two hours later before everything was settled, and he found Wei Wuxian up and around, although looking somewhat pale. Lan Xichen joined them in the main tent where the strategy sessions were conducted, and greeted his brother with relief. After a moment, Nie Mingjue said, “What, exactly, did you do with that flute?”

“Ah, well,” Wei Wuxian said, “it channels the resentful energy. But I’ve worked a lot with the puppets and they’re so hard to control. I can do it if there are only a few at a time, but there were too many today. They’ve already been brought back and controlled by Wen Ruohan, so I have to break through his binding on them to control them. It’s usually easier to use the cultivators who have already been killed in battle instead.”

“Easier?” Nie Mingjue couldn’t help but say, “Your excuse for doing necromancy is that it’s easier?”

Wei Wuxian winced and said, “That’s maybe not the best word. I mean, it’s what’s possible, as compared to controlling the puppets. And I never use the bodies of our own people or our allies - only the Wen soldiers we’ve defeated.”

Nie Mingjue wasn’t sure what else to say. He couldn’t and wouldn’t approve of this. But at the same time, he was keenly aware that he had walked away from that battle with two dozen cultivators, whereas without Wei Wuxian’s intervention, he would have been lucky to have even half that left by the time they had won. Wei Wuxian had just saved the lives of many people, and it gave him new hope that they would get to Nightless City with enough forces left to actually beat Wen Ruohan.

Finally, he said, “Keep it that way, and only do it when Xichen or I specifically call on you.”

“Yes, sir,” Wei Wuxian said. 

Lan Wangji looked skeptical, but only said, “You must rest now and let me play cleansing for you.”

“Sure, sure,” Wei Wuxian said, and let Lan Wangji tow him out of the tent.

Nie Mingjue gave a snort and said, “I guess that answers the question of how Wangji feels about what Wei Wuxian is doing.”

Lan Xichen nodded and then said with a slight smile, “It’s good that they’re back. Have you considered that Jiang-guniang is probably here as well?”

For some reason, Nie Mingjue automatically began straightening his clothes, which made Lan Xichen laugh. “Don’t make fun of me, Xichen. You’re no better.”

“That’s true,” Lan Xichen said, and left the tent.

Nie Mingjue sighed, but checked himself in the mirror nonetheless, before leaving the tent. He glanced around to see if he could easily locate the medical tent. If Wei Wuxian had gone there to rest, it was likely that Jiang Yanli was there as well. He found it easily enough, but none of them were there. Wen Qing was, however; she bowed and greeted him. Seeing his unspoken question, she said, “Wei Wuxian went to go pay his respects to Yu-furen and see Jiang Wanyin. Lan-er-gongzi went with him. Jiang-guniang is probably there as well. She went there as soon as the battle was over, before Wei Wuxian and Lan-er-gongzi returned.”

“I see,” Nie Mingjue said, and thanked her. He supposed he should have thought of the fact that Jiang Yanli would want to see her family, even as much as he personally disliked Yu Ziyuan. She was still her mother, after all. “If she returns, will you tell her I stopped by, and that she’s welcome to come by the main tent if she has a chance?”

With a smile that said she knew far too much about the situation, Wen Qing said, “I will tell her, Nie-zongzhu.”

Nie Mingjue headed back to the main tent and began updating the war maps. He was a little surprised, and more than a little pleased, when Jiang Yanli came in just a few minutes later. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” he said, after greeting her.

Jiang Yanli smiled her beautiful smile and said, “My mother returned nearly an hour ago.”

Hearing the unspoken, ‘and an hour was quite enough time in her presence,’ Nie Mingjue said, “Has she seen Wei Wuxian yet?”

“He was just coming in to greet her when I left,” Jiang Yanli said. “We spoke about it earlier and he told me I didn’t need to stay when she began her interrogation. He is prepared for it, and Lan-er-gongzi is with him.”

Nie Mingjue hoped that Lan Wangji managed to control his temper during said interrogation. It occurred to him that there was a lot that Yu Ziyuan might have said to Jiang Yanli in the previous hour. “Pardon me if this is indelicate, Jiang-guniang, but did your mother mention that Jin Zixuan is here?”

Jiang Yanli’s smile went a little tight and fragile. “Yes, she did. She said he could show me around the camp.”

Of course she had said that. “I’m glad that he came. He’s been helpful over the past week. I doubt very much that his father wanted him to come, so perhaps he’s growing up a bit, and breaking out of the mindset that he grew up with. He might be a good sect leader someday.”

Jiang Yanli nodded. She was silent for a moment before she said, “Mother said she had been exchanging letters with Jin-furen, and that she was quite upset that the engagement was broken off. She said Jin-zongzhu was offended, and that part of the reason he didn’t want to contribute in the fight against the Wen was because the Yunmeng Jiang had insulted him. According to her, if I had not so callously rejected Jin Zixuan for a bit of youthful immaturity, the war would be over by now and my father would still be alive.”

Nie Mingjue had to take a deep breath and remind himself that after the lecture he had given Lan Wangji on not offending Yu Ziyuan, he couldn’t go kill her either. He thought of several mature, helpful things to say, and what came out of his mouth was, “A-Li, perhaps I could show you around the camp.”

Cheeks flushing pink, Jiang Yanli ducked her head slightly, but smiled. “That sounds lovely. If we are not going to be so formal with each other . . . perhaps I could call you Mingjue-gege?”

Nie Mingjue felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest after hearing that affectionate name come out of her mouth. “I’d like that very much.”

He showed her out of the tent and walked around with her, speaking a bit more loudly than usual, to make sure that absolutely everybody noticed that he was accompanying her. She walked beside him with a smile on her face, occasionally glancing up at him with a smile or asking a question that gave him an opportunity to brag.

“We’ll have to find a place for you to sleep,” he mentioned, as they strolled around. “If you’re going to stay with the front, that is. If you prefer to head back to The Unclean Realm, I’ll send one of my lieutenants to escort you.”

Jiang Yanli shook her head. “I’ll stay in the medical tent. A-Qing has taught me a great deal in the past few weeks and I feel I can be of use.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Nie Mingjue said.

“You aren’t going to try to send me away from the front?” Jiang Yanli asked.

“I’d prefer to have you close to me,” Nie Mingjue said. “If you wanted to go back to Qinghe, of course I would make sure you got there safely. But if you’d rather be here, I will not be the one to send you away.”

Jiang Yanli nodded and smiled. “Thank you, Mingjue-gege.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Lan Wangji had to admit that he had mixed feelings about returning to the front lines of the attack. On the one hand, he was itching to get back to the main battle. He wanted to take the fight into Qishan and make them pay for everything they had done. He wanted to win so the war could be over and they could go home.

On the other hand, he had been enjoying spending time in Yiling with Wei Wuxian, and he knew that their return might be difficult. There were many people there who wouldn’t approve of what Wei Wuxian was doing. Truthfully, he didn’t approve of what Wei Wuxian was doing. He had made Wei Wuxian swear up and down that he wouldn’t go any further into demonic cultivation, that he would let Lan Wangji play cleansing for him regularly to mitigate the effects, and that he would stop the instant Wen Ruohan was dead. Even with those reassurances, he sometimes felt uneasy about what Wei Wuxian was doing. He couldn’t even imagine what his uncle would have said.

He wouldn’t have admitted it, but part of the reason he didn’t want to leave Yiling was just because suddenly there would be so many more people vying for Wei Wuxian’s attention, and he wanted to keep Wei Wuxian all to himself. It was hard enough with Wei Wuxian constantly training, with battles they needed to fight. All he wanted was to pull Wei Wuxian into his arms, wrap a blanket around them, and keep him safe. That was his number one priority after the war, although he imagined it was going to take some convincing before Wei Wuxian would actually let him do it.

And the other reason he was reluctant to return to the front lines was the woman whose tent they were now entering.

Wei Wuxian had been somewhat cavalier about his reunion with Yu Ziyuan. All he would say about it was that he had mastered the sword so she shouldn’t have any complaints. Any attempt to discuss how she might react, and how they should react to her reactions, and Wei Wuxian just started kissing him. Unfortunately, he had quickly realized that this was an excellent way to get Lan Wangji to stop talking.

Jiang Cheng was in his mother’s tent, and he smiled when they came in, looking excited. Wei Wuxian stopped and bowed, as did Lan Wangji. “Yu-furen. Jiang-zongzhu,” he said, and Jiang Cheng grimaced a little to be so addressed. “Please forgive my long absence.”

Yu Ziyuan opened her mouth, but Jiang Cheng spoke quickly, before she could say something. “How is your training going?”

“I’ve refined the Sword of Xuanwu into an amulet,” Wei Wuxian said. “It draws in resentful energy which can be controlled using my new spiritual tool.” He held out his new flute, one he had carved out of bone despite Lan Wangji’s vociferous objections. “This is Chenqing. With it, I can fight against Wen Ruohan’s puppets.”

Lan Wangji noted with some amusement that he was not mentioning how, exactly, that fighting was done. Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Cheng would assume he could use it to control them, not that he could use it to create fierce corpses that could fight them without taking damage. He made a mental note to speak to Nie Mingjue about making sure that Wei Wuxian and Yu Ziyuan were never on the same battlefield – although he suspected that Nie Mingjue was already of the same mind on this subject.

Wei Wuxian continued, “I have spoken to Nie-zongzhu about my battle assignment. Rest assured, I will take the fight to Wen Ruohan and avenge Jiang Fengmian’s death.”

“Well, it’s certainly taken you long enough,” Yu Ziyuan said. “I’d like to see you fight against these puppets with the confidence you speak of.”

With a bow, Wei Wuxian said, “Yu-furen, I would be honored to fight at your side and show you my abilities.”

Lan Wangji sighed, since this completely ruined the plan he’d had ten seconds previous, but didn’t bother to argue. He knew that he couldn’t get involved in this, beyond standing by Wei Wuxian and supporting him silently. Even if Nie Mingjue hadn’t warned him, Wei Wuxian had insisted, making Lan Wangji promise that he wouldn’t say a word or he wouldn’t allow him to be there for the discussion.

“Then once you’ve avenged Fengmian, we’ll have a further conversation about your future with the Yunmeng Jiang,” Yu Ziyuan said.

She obviously meant that Wei Wuxian wouldn’t have one if he didn’t kill Wen Ruohan personally, and Jiang Cheng winced slightly but didn’t voice an objection. Neither did Wei Wuxian; he merely bowed again and said, “I look forward to it, Yu-furen.”

He turned and left the tent, so Lan Wangji followed him. Jiang Cheng did as well, jogging after them as they left the tent. “You asshole,” he said, as soon as they were out of earshot. “Not a single letter? If a-jie hadn’t been writing me, I would have assumed you were dead in a ditch somewhere.”

Lan Wangji bristled, but managed to control his emotions. He had learned over time that this was how Jiang Cheng showed concern for his brother, despite the fact that it seemed so foreign to him. Indeed, Wei Wuxian was grinning, clearly happy to have such insults lobbed at him. “If I’d written, you’d just be complaining about how bad my handwriting is.”

“Yeah, ‘cause it’s atrocious,” Jiang Cheng retorted.

“It’s true,” Lan Wangji murmured.

They both ignored him. “Can you really control the puppets?” Jiang Cheng asked.

“I’ve found a way to counter them, yeah,” Wei Wuxian said, again casually not actually saying he could do what they thought he was doing. Lan Wangji sighed. Wouldn’t it have been better to be truthful from the beginning, rather than wait for the inevitable reaction when they realized he was doing necromancy? Did he honestly think he could keep it hidden from them, and they just wouldn’t find out?

Before Jiang Cheng could press for further answers, a flash of Jin gold caught Wei Wuxian’s eye. He half-turned and began to scowl. “What’s he doing here?”

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “I guess Nie-zongzhu wrote to him after we recovered the swords and he came to get his. But he brought a couple dozen people with them, and they’re not bad. At least he’s willing to fight, unlike his father.”

“Ugh,” Wei Wuxian said. “Does shijie know he’s here?”

“Yeah,” Jiang Cheng said. “Before you showed up, Mom told her that he was here and he would show her around the camp.”

“Did she?” Wei Wuxian sounded skeptical, clearly wondering if that was all Yu Ziyuan had said. Lan Wangji was wondering as well, given how Yu Ziyuan had behaved thus far. She didn’t seem to like Nie Mingjue very much, and it wouldn’t surprise Lan Wangji if she was planning to try to force the betrothal back on so Nie Mingjue wouldn’t be able to marry Jiang Yanli. Then he grinned, which surprised Lan Wangji, and said, “Is that why Nie-zongzhu is escorting shijie around?”

Both Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji turned to see that Nie Mingjue was indeed walking along a path perpendicular to them, with Jiang Yanli beside him. She was smiling at him, and he was smiling back, and although she wasn’t quite on his arm, there was far less distance between them than most people would consider socially appropriate.

Seeing this, Jiang Cheng gave a snort. “Good for her, but she’d better hope Mom doesn’t see.”

Lan Wangji hoped that Yu Ziyuan did see, and from the look on his face, Wei Wuxian was hoping that as well. He shook his head and said, “Wei Ying, now that you have paid your respects to your sect leader, you must rest. I will play cleansing for you.”

Wei Wuxian didn’t bother to argue. “Okay. Hey, Jiang Cheng, come with us to the medical tent. I’m sure Wen Qing would be happy to see you.”

Cheeks faintly flushed pink, Jiang Cheng nodded and said, “Okay.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Day by day, they worked their way into Qishan.

Wei Wuxian didn’t understand why everyone was making such a big deal out of what he was doing. Sure, it was necromancy, but it wasn’t like he was doing it because he wanted to. He never did it to the bodies of people who had fought on their side, or innocent civilians who had been killed. And as soon as the battle was over, he put them back to rest. It was just using a resource, and that resource happened to be dead bodies.

After arguing for hours with Lan Wangji over it and making all the necessary concessions to keep Lan Wangji from trying to steal his amulet, suppress it, and then throw it in a lake, Wei Wuxian felt prepared to discuss it with others. Lan Wangji had warned him that Nie Mingjue wouldn’t like it, but he thought that argument had gone fairly well. He agreed he would only use necromancy if Nie Mingjue or Lan Xichen specifically asked him to – although truthfully, he didn’t intend to keep to that agreement. If he felt it was necessary, he would use it, and then deal with the consequences afterwards.

But the first few battles went well. He could control the puppets, as long as there was only a few of them. He demonstrated this to Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Cheng in the first battle after his return. There were only three, and he forced their movements to slow, made them stumble until the Jiang disciples could cut them into pieces.

Jiang Cheng was excited afterwards, actually cheering and praising Wei Wuxian in front of all the other disciples without even looking at his mother. Yu Ziyuan stood with her mouth pursed, but didn’t intervene. Even she knew that there would be no turning people against Wei Wuxian at that moment. The fear of how they would win against the puppets had been plaguing everyone since the first time they had appeared in battle. Wei Wuxian could control them, and victory was on the horizon.

After that, Wei Wuxian never ended up fighting at the same place as Yu Ziyuan. He didn’t say anything about it, but he was fairly sure that Nie Mingjue was doing his best to keep them separated. That didn’t surprise him; both Lan Wangji and Jiang Yanli had mentioned that they were going to talk to him about it.

There was a part of him that wanted to care. A part of him that still thought fighting in front of Yu Ziyuan might matter, that he might someday gain her approval. But he knew that it was just the child in him speaking. Yu Ziyuan would never forgive him, and she would never want him in the Yunmeng Jiang. When the war was over, he would either go to Gusu with Lan Wangji, or to Qinghe with Jiang Yanli. The thought of it made his throat feel tight with grief, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe anything different. Now that Jiang Fengmian was dead, there was no place for him at Lotus Pier. He couldn’t ask Jiang Cheng to fight with his mother for his sake.

So he fought alongside the Qinghe Nie most of the time, and when he needed to do necromancy, he did it. He couldn’t argue with Lan Wangji or Wen Qing when they insisted he sit quietly and receive treatment afterwards. Every battle ended with bloody noses and fierce headaches, if he was still upright at all.

“This isn’t good for you,” Wen Qing said, as if he didn’t know that.

“It doesn’t matter,” he replied, which was what he always said.

On the upside, being in the medical tent a lot gave him a front row seat to Jiang Cheng’s increasingly lovestruck attempts to woo Wen Qing. He always found excuses to be there (and amusingly, the excuse was never that he was there to visit Wei Wuxian). He would bring food saying he had noticed she hadn’t had a chance to eat yet, or come to check their supplies, or show up just to let her know what the next day’s plans were.

After noticing that Wen Qing never discouraged these visits, and in fact sometimes smiled when he showed up, and once even checked her reflection in a mirror while he was there, Wei Wuxian asked, “So when Jiang Cheng asks you to marry him, you’re going to say yes, right?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Wei Wuxian,” Wen Qing said. “Jiang Wanyin can hardly marry me. He’s a sect leader now. He’ll need to choose a wife for an alliance – not a defector from the sect that killed his father.”

“I mean, you defected before that happened,” Wei Wuxian pointed out.

“That’s true, but it doesn’t change my point. The Yunmeng Jiang will be rebuilding. He’ll have to marry for political reasons. Yu Ziyuan would hardly let him marry me.”

Wei Wuxian sighed. He knew that Yu Ziyuan now hated Wen Qing, because she had defended him while he was sick, had advocated against him using the Sword of Xuanwu. But he wanted his brother to be happy. He knew what political marriages looked like, and he knew that Jiang Cheng would be miserable that way. “He’s the sect leader. He can choose his own wife.”

“He can,” Wen Qing said, “but he won’t. And we both know it.”

That was probably true as well, and it hurt. Wei Wuxian hated the fact that Jiang Cheng couldn’t win against Yu Ziyuan. He knew that Jiang Cheng had tried to fight her on his punishment, on letting him rest and recover afterwards. But no matter what he said, Yu Ziyuan just countermanded him, and berated him for his terrible decisions.

“He’ll stand up to her when it matters to him,” Wei Wuxian finally said. “And I think it will.”

Wen Qing sighed quietly, clearly thinking that yes, Jiang Cheng would stand up to his mother, but then fold at her disapproval, as he always did. “You think his marriage to me matters more to him than your well-being? Your future with the sect?”

Wei Wuxian winced. “I mean, yes?”

Wen Qing rolled her eyes and said nothing.

“You are both overlooking a crucial factor,” Lan Wangji said. He had been silent during this discussion, meditating, but now he opened his eyes. “Wei Ying. You know your future with the sect matters to Jiang Wanyin. But you don’t want him to fight for you. Wen-guniang, you feel the same. Jiang Wanyin won’t fight for either of you, because you never ask him to.”

“Well, how can I?” Wei Wuxian asked, annoyed by Lan Wangji’s accurate assessment of the situation. “After all the trouble I’ve brought to the Yunmeng Jiang.”

Lan Wangji looked like he was in pain. “Why do both of you insist on punishing yourselves for things that aren’t your fault, or never even happened? Wen-guniang, you are not responsible for the actions of all the Qishan Wen. You left them when their actions were unacceptable to you. Jiang Fengmian himself told you that he and the Yunmeng Jiang would protect you, since Wen Ning saved the life of one of his disciples. Wei Ying, what is the trouble you speak of? Wen Ruohan was bent on subjugating the other sects. Your actions have nothing to do with this. Are you referring to the fact that your presence at Lotus Pier made Yu Ziyuan uncomfortable, because it reminded her of her husband’s love for another woman? You are not responsible for her feelings. Yu Ziyuan does not control the Yunmeng Jiang, and she should not be allowed to control her son. You say he will stand up to her when it matters to him – it would matter to him more if he felt you wanted him to stand up for you.”

Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing were both squirming, and Wei Wuxian said, “When did you get so smart about people?”

“I have always been smart about people.”

“Yeah, that’s true, I guess. You just usually keep it to yourself because it’s none of your business.”

Lan Wangji was unbothered by this. “Am I incorrect?”

“No, you’re not incorrect! But that doesn’t make it your business.”

“How is your happiness not my business?”

Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but melt a little. “If you’re so smart about people, how come it took you so long to confess to me? You didn’t even know I liked you back.”

“You didn’t even know you liked me back. I cannot be held responsible for your own ignorance. And if that was an attempt to change the subject, I will not allow it to work. Both of you should speak to Jiang Wanyin about your future with the sect, and how you hope he will stand up to Yu Ziyuan on these matters.”

“Well, we’re definitely not going to do that,” Wei Wuxian said cheerfully, “but thank you for your input.”

Lan Wangji sighed and muttered something underneath his breath that Wei Wuxian felt like he was better off not hearing. Then he said, “Wei Ying, you believe that Jiang Wanyin should marry Wen-guniang, do you not? That he would be happier if he married her than a marriage for political allegiance, and that he should speak to his mother about this and not allow her to force him to do otherwise?”

“Well, yeah, I definitely believe that,” Wei Wuxian said.

“Mn. And Wen-guniang, you believe that Jiang Wanyin cares for his brother deeply, and that he would prefer to keep him in the sect, that he will rely on Wei Ying as his first disciple and Wei Ying will serve him well in that position? That Jiang Wanyin should speak to his mother about this and not allow her to force him to cast Wei Ying out of the Yunmeng Jiang?”

“I do,” Wen Qing said, sounding suspicious.

“Then perhaps you should speak to him about that,” Lan Wangji said, “and perhaps Wei Ying should speak to him about you.”

“I – ” Wei Wuxian looked at Wen Qing. “Would that work?”

“If you speak to him about marrying me, I’ll fill you full of needles.”

“Okay, yeah, I get that, but I’m still totally gonna do it now that Lan Zhan has pointed it out. But don’t you dare go talk to him about me.”

“I would never,” Wen Qing lied.

“Stop looking so smug, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian added. “Get over here and kiss me.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

After two grueling weeks, they were only a day’s march from Nightless City, and had reached the point where the camp would not be able to move behind them. They would either be victorious, take Nightless City, and kill Wen Ruohan, or they wouldn’t.

The strategy council consisted of Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji, Yu Ziyuan, Jiang Wanyin, Jin Zixuan, and Wei Wuxian. Although Yu Ziyuan objected to Wei Wuxian being included, Nie Mingjue insisted. He was the only one fully cognizant of his own capabilities; he needed to be there.

The day before, they had received a new letter from Meng Yao, the first in weeks. Nie Mingjue had seen the wave of relief go through Lan Xichen as soon as he had opened it. He was glad to know that Meng Yao as well, and it seemed that he had accurately guessed his reason for not writing. Even now, Meng Yao didn’t have much to report. Wen Ruohan was ready for them. Every inch of Nightless City was bristling with guards, and there was an army of puppets waiting once they reached the gate.

“There’s really no strategy we can have other than to attack head on and force our way in,” Nie Mingjue said. “Wei Wuxian, do as much as you can with the puppets.”

“Does it say how many there are?” Wei Wuxian asked.

“The letter says at least fifty,” Nie Mingjue said, and Wei Wuxian grimaced.

Jin Zixuan, who hadn’t been there from the beginning, asked, “Who is providing this information? Are we sure it’s somebody that we can trust?”

“We are,” Lan Xichen said. “Their identity must be kept secret, but all the information has been correct.”

Nie Mingjue said nothing, although he noticed as Lan Wangji looked at his brother, then exchanged a glance with Wei Wuxian. He suspected that the two of them had long ago guessed who the spy was, but chosen not to say anything for the obvious reasons. To be fair, for anybody who had been at Lotus Pier, it probably wasn’t difficult to guess. Meng Yao had been there, but hadn’t been seen since. At the time, they had probably assumed that he had gone back to The Unclean Realm, but if Wei Wuxian had spoken to Jiang Yanli at length about her time there, it would have been obvious that Meng Yao wasn’t there.

“And how are we going to find Wen Ruohan?” Yu Ziyuan asked, her voice tart. “Do you think he’ll just present himself?”

“From everything I know about him, yes,” Nie Mingjue said. “He’ll come to the front personally.”

“Even so.” Yu Ziyuan was frowning. “This letter mentions several possible entrances into the city. I believe we should split our forces and have a smaller force come in from the back. We can’t fight Wen Ruohan and his army at the same time.”

“Without our full force at the front, we might not be able to make it into the city,” Jiang Cheng said.

Yu Ziyuan scoffed. “Is that what you think of us, A-Cheng? You think everyone we have gathered here is so weak? Here I thought that Wei Wuxian was going to break down the gate personally and seize control of Wen Ruohan’s puppets with this amazing flute he’s made.”

Jiang Cheng flushed pink, and Wei Wuxian said nothing. Lan Wangji’s jaw went tight like he was considering saying something, but thought better of it.

“The idea of sending a small force in through one of these other entrances isn’t a bad one,” Lan Xichen said. “I don’t believe our source would have bothered to mention them, had he not thought that we might find them of use.”

That was true, and Nie Mingjue nodded. Meng Yao wasn’t a military strategist, but he had been in Nightless City for long enough that he had doubtlessly absorbed Wen Ruohan’s tactics through his skin. “Then I will – ”

“Lead the forces through the front,” Yu Ziyuan said. “I will choose a dozen disciples from the Yunmeng Jiang to go through the rear.”

Nie Mingjue wasn’t thrilled with that. He had a suspicion that Yu Ziyuan wanted to kill Wen Ruohan herself, and that it had nothing to do with their victory, but wanting to steal it from Wei Wuxian. If he didn’t personally avenge their sect leader, she could use that as an excuse to exile him from Yunmeng.

Before he could say anything, Lan Xichen said, “The mission will prioritize stealth over brute force. Mingjue-xiong, I agree that you and I should take the forces through the front. Yu-furen can drive Wen Ruohan into our hands.”

“Very well,” Nie Mingjue said. They discussed the particulars for about another hour before parting to give the orders to their men and begin the preparation. Nie Mingjue finished what he needed to do and sat down to write a letter to Nie Huaisang. There would be no goodbye letters – only sets of instructions.

Night had fallen when his tent flap parted and Jiang Yanli poked her head in. “Mingjue-gege, may I come in?”

Tamping down the flutter in his stomach which always kicked up when she used that name for him, which was ridiculous, he said, “Of course.”

She came the rest of the way in and pulled the tent flap closed behind her. “A-Xian and A-Cheng have told me that the attack on Nightless City will be tomorrow.”

Nie Mingjue nodded. “Please don’t be anxious if you don’t hear any news right away. Battles of this magnitude can take hours or even days. Nightfall may come again without us having reached victory, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t.”

“Thank you, Mingjue-gege,” Jiang Yanli said softly. “I wish there was more I could do to help.”

“I know how much you hate being left behind,” Nie Mingjue said. “I’ve been on the front lines most of my life, so I can’t imagine how hard it is to sit and wait, afraid that you’ll hear terrible news. If there’s anything I can do to make it easier for you – please, tell me, and if it is within my power, I will grant it.”

Jiang Yanli looked away, worrying at the fabric of her belt for a moment before she whispered, “Marry me?”

Nie Mingjue was taken aback. “A-Li – of course I would like nothing more. As soon as the war is over, we can begin preparations – ”

In response, Jiang Yanli clutched at his forearm. “Marry me now,” she said, a hint of desperation in her voice. “Tonight. Please. I can’t bear the idea that I might never get to be your wife. Even if it’s only for one night, please.”

Nie Mingjue hesitated. He could see where she was coming from, and truthfully, it was a bit overwhelming to hear that she wanted to marry him so badly that she was willing to risk being a widow after only one night. He knew there would be consequences – Yu Ziyuan would be furious – but those mattered little to him. Even so . . .

“A-Li,” he finally said, “I’m not saying no. But there is something I want to tell you before you make a final decision.”

Jiang Yanli frowned slightly, and Nie Mingjue took a deep breath. He told her about the saber spirits, about the curse of the Nie sect, about the tomb, the risk of qi deviation. She listened in silence, hands still fidgeting with the fabric.

Once he had given her all the information, he said, “I will still marry you if you wish. But I couldn’t in good conscience take you as my wife without telling you about that.”

“Thank you,” Jiang Yanli said softly. She appeared to think for a few moments. “There are no guarantees,” she finally said. “You could die tomorrow and I still want to be your wife.”

“Dying in battle is quite different, A-Li,” Nie Mingjue said. “It’s quick. It’s easy. What can happen to members of my sect is completely different.”

“But it doesn’t always happen,” she said.

“No,” Nie Mingjue said. “There are members of the clan like Huaisang, who don’t cultivate the saber, and therefore avoid the fate. And there are members like my father, who died in battle before he could fall victim to the curse. But any member of the Nie clan who has cultivated the saber has either died of the curse, or died before it could take hold.”

Jiang Yanli considered for a moment, then nodded. “Very well. Mingjue-gege, I still wish to be your wife – but on one condition.”

“Anything,” he said.

“We cannot and will not treat this as if your fate is sealed. This is not a foregone conclusion. Wen-guniang is one of the best medical cultivators in a generation. A-Xian has experimented with resentful energy with great effect. We will find a way to help you, Mingjue-gege, because I’m not letting you go without a fight.”

Nie Mingjue felt his heart might burst with love for this woman, who was so kind and gentle, but would still fight to keep him. He leaned in and kissed her for the first time. Her lips were so soft, and her body was so warm. It took effort to pull away. “I accept your condition, A-Li. I will do everything I can to stay with you as long as I can, and to see our children grow up without having the same fear that I’ve held for so long.”

“We’ll need witnesses,” Jiang Yanli said. “I’ll go fetch my brothers. Ah – A-Sang isn’t here. Will he be upset?”

“Oh, he’ll whine a great deal, but he’ll understand,” Nie Mingjue said, smiling despite himself. “I’ll get Xichen.”

With a smile that held a hint of mischief, Jiang Yanli said, “I’ll see you back here in a few minutes.”

Nie Mingjue nodded and held the tent flap open for her. He watched her walk down the path of the camp before jogging towards the tent where the Lan brothers were saying. Lan Xichen was working on a letter, and he glanced up when Nie Mingjue came in. “Ah, Mingjue-xiong, is everything all right?”

“As all right as it can be on the eve of battle,” Nie Mingjue said. “Will you come back to my tent with me? I need a witness for my wedding.”

Lan Xichen burst into laughter. “Of course you do. I would be honored, Mingjue-xiong.”

As they walked back to his tent, he said, “Writing to Meng Yao?”

Lan Xichen nodded. In a voice too quiet to be heard by others, he said, “If we do not succeed, I want him to know that there’s nothing more he could have done to bring us to victory. And I want him to take the letter to my uncle and gain admittance to the Gusu Lan, whatever is left of them.”

“I still say it was very rude of you to steal my assistant,” Nie Mingjue said.

Laughing quietly, Lan Xichen said, “I’ll do my best to make it up to you.”

They had barely been back at the tent for a minute when Jiang Yanli came back in, with both of her brothers, as well as Lan Wangji, behind her. She was now wearing a red outer robe and a gold hairpiece. “Wen-guniang’s,” she said, seeing the look on Nie Mingjue’s face and interpreting it as a question, rather than him being struck dumb by her beauty. “She said I could borrow it.”

“You can’t get married if you’re not in red,” Wei Wuxian said, grinning with excitement. “Ah, Nie-zongzhu, I’m so happy – I know you’ll always take good care of my shijie.”

Nie Mingjue nodded and then turned to Jiang Cheng. “I beg your pardon. As sect leader, I should have asked for your blessing.”

Jiang Cheng looked mildly embarrassed and said, “Of course you have my blessing, Nie-zongzhu. I know you will make my sister very happy.”

They did their three prostrations, and he kissed her for the second time, and it was just as amazing as the first.

~ ~ ~ ~

Jiang Yanli woke when Nie Mingjue stirred beside her. It was still dark, and she murmured, “Is it time?”

“Yes. It’ll be dawn soon.” Nie Mingjue leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “No goodbyes, A-Li. I will come home to you.”

“No goodbyes,” Jiang Yanli agreed, and closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see him leave.

~ ~ ~ ~

For weeks, Meng Yao had watched the slow advance of the Sunshot Campaign with baited breath.

It wasn’t that Nightless City was a terrible place. Admittedly, he was doing terrible things there. They didn’t bother him as much as he expected they might bother others. Overall, Nightless City treated him just as well as The Unclean Realm ever had. It wasn’t that people here didn’t bully him about his parentage. But he could handle it quite differently. Wen Ruohan didn’t care about propriety. He cared about strength. The first time someone called Meng Yao the son of a whore, he ran the man through with his sword.

In Nightless City, he at least had respect for his strength and his skill, if not anything else. Wen Ruohan had leaned on him more and more heavily after the death of Wen Xu.

And now it was finally going to be over. He didn’t know exactly what was going to happen after the war. Lan Xichen had told him repeatedly that he would be coming back to Gusu. Part of Meng Yao leapt for the opportunity. The other part was fairly sure he couldn’t stab people there.

He supposed it wasn’t worth thinking about yet. First they had to win. Wen Ruohan was not at all alarmed by the approaching army. His disciples hadn’t been able to stop them, he said, so he would do it personally.

Whether or not that was possible, Meng Yao didn’t know. Frankly, he doubted it. But this was a common problem, in his experience, with men like Wen Ruohan. He had nobody in his circle willing to tell him that his ideas were terrible. Instead he was surrounded by people who flattered and fawned. Even the worst news was couched in as benign terms as possible. He didn’t think it was possible for him to lose, and nobody was going to tell him anything different.

So the troops inched closer, and Meng Yao waited.

Of course, part of the reason Wen Ruohan was so confident was because Nightless City was guarded by an army of puppets. Meng Yao had pointed out – gently – that they had had reports of a cultivator who could use a flute to control them or even create new ones. Wen Ruohan had brushed this off, because surely one cultivator couldn’t defeat his army. Meng Yao was admittedly curious about who this cultivator was and where they had learned such a skill.

He could hear it now, the shrill noise traveling an amazing distance, given that the allied forces hadn’t yet broken through the gate.

His grasp of battle strategy had improved greatly over the past few months, so he snapped to attention when Wen Ruohan began giving orders to move some of their troops. Cultivators had come in through one of the back entrances to the city. Meng Yao silently cursed. He had hoped that they might be able to get soldiers in through those unnoticed, but it turned out they had been too well-guarded.

A few minutes later, a disciple ran into the throne room to report that they had captured several prisoners, and Wen Ruohan demanded they be brought forth. Almost simultaneously, there was a crash from the front. The allied forces had gotten through the gate.

Meng Yao was more than a little surprised when Yu Ziyuan was led into the room. She was surrounded by a dozen Wen cultivators, several of whom had their swords at her throat or her back. Her head was held high, her face molded into an expression of haughty disdain, as if the people holding her captive were so far beneath her that she hadn’t even noticed them.

The cultivator at the front, one of Wen Ruohan’s highest-ranking lieutenants, bowed to Wen Ruohan and then held out a sword. “We caught this woman and a dozen others at the back of the palace.”

Wen Ruohan’s eyes narrowed. He stepped down from his dais, studying her carefully. “Not many people know the back ways into the city,” he said.

Yu Ziyuan said nothing. Meng Yao stole a glance at her and saw the silver ring and bracelet. The guards must not have realized it was a weapon and therefore not bothered to take it from her. She was clearly biding her time.

It wasn’t exactly optimal, but then again, he wasn’t particularly worried about it. If Yu Ziyuan softened Wen Ruohan up before he got to Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen, that was all for the better. And if Wen Ruohan killed her, well, Meng Yao for one wasn’t going to shed any tears over that. He would stay quiet and wait until this fight was over before choosing his next step.

Wen Ruohan studied the sword. “You must be Yu Ziyuan,” he said, before setting the sword into a rack he kept at the back of the room for all the swords he captured. Meng Yao had noticed a saber there early on in his days at Nightless City that he was fairly sure had belonged to Nie Mingjue’s father, and had made a mental note to make sure he got it at some point. “My condolences on your husband’s death.”

“My condolences on your second son,” Yu Ziyuan said tartly. “Mine are as genuine as yours, I’m sure.”

Wen Ruohan scowled, remembering that it was the Yunmeng Jiang who had killed Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu. “All of this could have been avoided if you had just sent me the head of your first disciple,” he said. “Your husband would still be alive.”

“I’m well aware of that,” Yu Ziyuan said. “The first disciple of the Yunmeng Jiang is a brat from the gutter. He’s the son of a servant and an indecent rogue cultivator. He’s an ungrateful, troublesome little worm of a boy. I loathe him with every fiber of my being and have done so since the moment he set foot at Lotus Pier. And yet he is still worth ten times your pathetic second son, who died like a coward, begging for his life.”

“You!” Wen Ruohan threw his sword across the room. It stopped an inch from Yu Ziyuan’s face, her chin still tilted high, unflinching.

“You think because my husband is dead, I will weep at your feet?” Yu Ziyuan’s voice dripped scorn and condescension. “I am a daughter of the Meishan Yu.”

“So have you come to avenge your husband?” Wen Ruohan asked, leaving his sword suspended so the point of it was right between Yu Ziyuan’s eyes.

“I have come here to kill you,” Yu Ziyuan said. “You can put your sword down, Wen Ruohan. I know you’re not going to kill me yet. You still need to know how I got into the city. There’s a traitor in your ranks and you know it.”

Meng Yao felt a chill go down his spine. Yu Ziyuan was looking directly at him. He had thought she hadn’t even noticed him, fading into the background behind the throne. But she had, and she clearly recognized him. Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen had never told anybody who the spy was, he was sure. But once she had seen him there, it was easy to put the pieces together. The only question was why she would suddenly decide to reveal him in front of Wen Ruohan - and that was a question he didn’t have an answer for.

“Filthy blood will always come through,” Yu Ziyuan said. “Just like my husband was, you’ve been deceived by common gutter trash. My husband had a soft heart. What’s your excuse?”

Meng Yao’s fists clenched at his sides, but he carefully kept his expression neutral as Wen Ruohan turned slightly, following her gaze to see who she was looking at. Seeing Meng Yao, he frowned. Meng Yao put on a bewildered expression, and said, “Zongzhu, I don’t know what she’s talking about - ”

But it was too late. Wen Ruohan, much like Nie Mingjue, was always quick to take action. He would kill a hundred innocent men before allowing one guilty one to slip through his fingers. He had known for some time that someone was passing information back to the allied forces, but had assumed (with Meng Yao’s encouragement) that his captured soldiers were being tortured for information. Now he was suddenly realizing that this wasn’t the case, and Meng Yao was the obvious suspect, even without Yu Ziyuan’s words. He was new to The Unclean Realm and had worked his ass off to get Wen Ruohan’s attention. He had been integral to all of the battle strategy, and had given Wen Ruohan’s a great deal of (incorrect) information about the allied forces. He had been careful about it, to keep Wen Ruohan from noticing - but now that it was being pointed out to him, he couldn’t miss it.

Meng Yao barely had time to brace himself and twist to the side so Wen Ruohan’s sword went into the side of his abdomen instead of the center of his chest. He went stumbling, and the force of the blow carried him to the ground. Wen Ruohan pinned him there, twisting the sword, and Meng Yao grit his teeth against the pain.

There was a flash of brilliant purple light.

Zidian struck Wen Ruohan squarely across the back, and he staggered, the tip of his sword slashing through Meng Yao’s side as he went. Yu Ziyuan followed up with another blow, not giving him a chance to recover. Then Zidian flashed to the side, grabbing her sword off the rack and pulling it to her hand.

Now Meng Yao realized why she had revealed him. She knew that Wen Ruohan would immediately deal with him, and that he would be distracted doing so. It would only be for the briefest of moments - but in a fight between two cultivators this powerful, a brief moment could mean the world. 

He had no further use as a spy now that the army was on Wen Ruohan’s doorstep. She had sacrificed him to get the upper hand over Wen Ruohan. Despite the fact that he was now bleeding heavily onto the floor, Meng Yao couldn’t help but approve.

There was an enormous crash and a wave of spiritual power as Wen Ruohan’s sword deflected a third blow from Zidian. His foot came down only a few inches from Meng Yao’s face, before he jumped to a better position. Meng Yao decided he had better take cover. He rolled onto his stomach, pressing his fist into the wound to slow the bleeding, and began to pull himself behind the throne.

Halfway there, he passed out.

~ ~ ~ ~

The battle was going approximately how Lan Wangji would have predicted.

Every foot they advanced was a struggle. The opposing forces outnumbered them at least three to one, and Lan Wangji knew their casualties were going to be grim. But the further they went, the more men they added to their forces – every Wen cultivator who died became a fierce corpse controlled by Wei Wuxian. By the time they actually reached the gates, there were almost a hundred under his thrall.

Lan Wangji disapproved, of course. He had disapproved of this since the moment Wei Wuxian had first done it, and would continue to disapprove until the end of time. He understood it was necessary. He knew that Wei Wuxian’s capability might be the only reason they could win this war. But he still hated it, and as soon as this war was over, he was personally going to make sure that he never did it again.

Meanwhile, Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen were leading at the front of the troops, and between the two of them, they broke through the gates of Nightless City.

Things immediately became chaotic, because the steps of Nightless City were full of puppets, and these were different, stronger. There were only a dozen of them, which didn’t seem like many compared to the armies they had faced before. But as soon as Lan Wangji fought one, he could immediately tell that there was a magnitude of difference. Even with a hundred fierce corpses, they wouldn’t be able to prevail.

All he could do was fight, and protect Wei Wuxian, who was so focused on his flute that he didn’t seem to notice that they had made it into the city.

One by one, the fierce corpses fell to the puppets.

Wei Wuxian did seem to notice that, finally looking up as the size of his army decreased. Lan Wangji struck down another living Wen cultivator that was about to attack Wei Wuxian, as his gaze swept over the battlefield and took in the stronger puppets. Then he raised his flute to his lips and began playing a different tune. It was the song he used when he wanted to control Wen Ruohan’s puppets, rather than create his own.

Tactically, Lan Wangji approved, but he couldn’t help but say, “Wei Ying, there are too many!” Wei Wuxian had never been able to control more than five or six puppets at a time – and who knew if these stronger ones would be more difficult, or if the proximity to Wen Ruohan would be a problem?

But Wei Wuxian ignored him, and only continued to play. In fact, he not only ignored him, but leapt upwards, standing atop a statue. For the first time since he had created it, he was wielding the Stygian Tiger amulet. It hovered at his side, resentful energy streaming out of it in dark twists.

Lan Wangji had seen his attempts to control the puppets before, and it was a slow, grueling process, bending them to his will one inch at a time. But this time, somehow, it was different. Wei Wuxian blew an incredibly shrill note, so much so that all the living people on the battlefield staggered. Those streams of energy became daggers, hitting every puppet in the chest. Then they turned on each other with the same powerful violence they had showed the allied forces.

At the top of the stairs, there was a flash of violet light, and then a resounding crash. Everyone’s gaze was drawn to it. Then Wen Ruohan emerged, looking around as if to see who had interfered with his puppets. Lan Wangji didn’t see Yu Ziyuan anywhere, but that wasn’t his primary concern. Wen Ruohan stretched a hand out to Wei Wuxian and sent him flying across the courtyard in his direction. He grabbed Wei Wuxian by the throat and held him aloft.

Lan Wangji aimed Bichen at the top of the steps and flew towards them. He was faintly aware that both Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue were doing the same.

There was another flash of purple, and Zidian curled around Wen Ruohan’s wrist, yanking his arm to the side. Instinctively, he let go of Wei Wuxian, and Lan Wangji only barely managed to correct his course to catch him before he smashed into one of the stone pillars. Wei Wuxian had passed out, and there was blood trickling from his nose and ears. He was limp and pale, but when Lan Wangji felt for his pulse, it was there.

He looked back up as Wen Ruohan used his sword to block Nie Mingjue’s attack, then dodged Lan Xichen’s, all while he managed to pull free of Zidian. Lan Wangji wanted to go help, but there were still living Wen cultivators to deal with, and he couldn’t leave Wei Wuxian unprotected. He lay him down next to the pillar so nobody would be able to get behind him and stood over him, deflecting one attack after another.

As often as he could, he looked back up at the top of the stairs. Wen Ruohan was the most powerful cultivator in the world. He beat back his attackers time and time again. But even he wasn’t strong enough to defeat Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen, and Yu Ziyuan together.

When he finally fell, Lan Wangji felt like he could breathe for the first time in months.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

It was over.

There was still a lot of work to do, of course. Nie Mingjue divided up the remaining troops to search Nightless City and round up any stragglers. He gave orders for the camp to be brought to Nightless City so the medics could begin treatment of the injured. Of those, there were many. Yu Ziyuan could barely walk, and hadn’t even argued with Jiang Cheng when he had urged her to sit down and rest and wait for the medics. Lan Xichen was kneeling next to Lan Wangji, who was holding Wei Wuxian in his arms and passing him spiritual power. He looked terrible – but it was over.

That being done, he ventured into the palace itself. He had started to wonder why he hadn’t seen Meng Yao yet. He was sure that Lan Xichen would have been wondering that too, if he hadn’t been so preoccupied with his brother. He waved for Lan Xichen to join him, and after a brief squeeze to Lan Wangji’s shoulder, Lan Xichen stood and followed.

It became immediately apparent why they hadn’t seen Meng Yao, as he was collapsed halfway between the throne and the doors. Nie Mingjue saw that there was blood on the floor, enough to be concerning, but not so much that he assumed his injuries were fatal. Lan Xichen saw him as well and immediately ran over. “A-Yao – ”

Meng Yao was pale, and blood had soaked through the front of his robes, where his fist was pressed into his abdomen. Nie Mingjue checked his pulse and found it weak and thready, but his eyes fluttered open as Lan Xichen began to pass him spiritual energy. “Zongzhu,” he murmured, seeing Nie Mingjue first. Then he saw Lan Xichen, and his mouth curved slightly. “Huan-gege.”

“It’s all right, A-Yao, we’re here,” Lan Xichen said. “We’ve won, you’re safe now.”

While he spoke, Nie Mingjue pulled Meng Yao’s robes aside to see the injury. It had started as a puncture and then turned into a slash, but fortunately, it wasn’t deep. He had managed to prevent the blood loss from being too severe.

“We won?” Meng Yao asked, blinking slowly.

“We won,” Lan Xichen said. “You can rest now.”

Meng Yao nodded and his eyes closed. Lan Xichen looked anxiously at Nie Mingjue, who gave him a reassuring nod. “The medics should be here soon. Wen Qing will patch him up. Let’s get him outside.”

Lan Xichen stood, lifting Meng Yao in his arms, and followed Nie Mingjue outside. Things remained chaotic for quite some time. They had a map of Nightless City that Meng Yao had sent them previously, and Nie Mingjue began to designate places for the troops to rest and the medics to set up an infirmary. Several of his men found the palace kitchens and began distributing food to the cultivators who had been in the battle. Nie Mingjue made sure to check in with both Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan, who were uninjured and fairly proud of themselves. Yu Ziyuan was resting comfortably despite her multiple injuries.

When the people from the camp arrived, Wen Qing was at the forefront, and began giving orders for the infirmary to be set up. Her gaze landed on Wei Wuxian, who was still unconscious, and she said something uncomplimentary.

Nie Mingjue laughed under his breath, and was then distracted by one of his men, who came over to ask a question. When he looked back, Jiang Yanli was there. She was kneeling next to Wei Wuxian with a worried expression, smoothing his hair back out of his face. She looked up, as if feeling Nie Mingjue’s gaze on her, and then she smiled at him. He smiled back automatically. He knew that now she had to check on her family, but he looked forward to seeing her later.

That reminded him that at some point, they had to let Yu Ziyuan know what had happened. She was sure to be furious, and he wanted to spare Jiang Yanli that if possible. If Yu Ziyuan blamed him for the hasty, secret wedding, that was fine.

He went over to where she was sitting, refusing to let the medics near her and insisting that she would be fine. “Yu-furen, may we speak privately?”

“I beg your pardon, but I’ve got important matters to attend to,” she said, barely even glancing in his direction. “The Yunmeng Jiang requires my attention.”

Nie Mingjue thought about pointing out that Jiang Cheng was the sect leader, not her, or that she hadn’t been doing anything until he approached. Then he decided against it. He would have thought she would be in a better mood after Wen Ruohan’s death, but perhaps Yu Ziyuan simply wasn’t capable of being in a good mood. “When you have a moment, then.”

“Certainly,” Yu Ziyuan said.

Seeing that she absolutely wasn’t going to give him a moment of her time, Nie Mingjue bowed and walked away, filing that under problems for the future. Once Meng Yao was awake and feeling better, he would certainly have some tactful way to inform Yu Ziyuan that Nie Mingjue had married Jiang Yanli without notifying her. For today, he had done all he could do.

~ ~ ~ ~

Wei Wuxian felt like his head was stuffed with wool. So stuffed that his skull couldn’t contain it, and was trying to escape. His body felt strange, too, like somebody had piled a bunch of stones on top of him. Every inch of him felt weighed down.

“Ah, Xianxian, are you awake?” a sweet voice said as soon as his eyes opened, an action he immediately regretted.

“No,” he mumbled. He could hear Lan Wangji playing the guqin, and the music was soothing despite his head. He tried to turn to look at him because realized he couldn’t move. “Ffff,” he said, in place of a word.

“Stay still,” a much less sweet voice said. “I have my needles in.”

“Why?” Wei Wuxian managed.

“Why?” Wen Qing sounded exasperated. “Because you’re drowning in resentful energy and I’m trying to keep your head above water.”

“Oh,” Wei Wuxian said, thinking back. He remembered realizing that those puppets were different, and deciding he would need to figure out how to control them if they wanted any chance of victory. For the first time, he had taken out the amulet he had made, rather than just using the resentful energy in the atmosphere. There had been so much that it had nearly overwhelmed him. But somehow, once he had given himself to it completely, it had been much easier to control. “Where’s m’amulet?”

“I have it,” Lan Wangji said, in a tone of voice which clearly stated he had no intention of giving it back.

Wei Wuxian decided to cross that bridge when he came to it. Then he realized there was a much more important question to ask. He was clearly in an infirmary, being treated by Wen Qing, and Jiang Yanli was there as well. “Hey. We won?”

“Yes, we won, you idiot,” Jiang Cheng snapped.

“I don’t r’member,” Wei Wuxian mumbled.

“Don’t worry, Xianxian,” Jiang Yanli said gently. “What’s important is that we are safe now.”

Wei Wuxian shook his head, because that wasn’t what was important. “I didn’t kill Wen Ruohan.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Jiang Cheng said. “He was so powerful that even Chifeng-Zun, Zewu-Jun, and Mom all had to fight him together in order to beat him. When the hell did you think you were going to kill him?”

“I was supposed to avenge Jiang-shushu,” Wei Wuxian said, feeling tears sting at his eyes.

“Xianxian, it’s fine,” Jiang Yanli said. “Everyone worked together to defeat Wen Ruohan. You played an important part of that victory. I’m sure Father’s spirit is resting in peace now, and that he’s happy we’re all together again.”

Wei Wuxian didn’t know what to say. There was a part of him that believed her. A part of him that was desperate to believe her. But in the end it didn’t matter. Yu Ziyuan had made her expectations clear. Wei Wuxian would never be able to go back to Lotus Pier now.

Clearly reading his expression, Jiang Cheng said, “Stop looking like someone kicked your puppy. It’s going to be fine, okay? You’re going to be my right-hand man, just like your dad and my dad. Remember? Stop being such a baby.”

Wei Wuxian wanted to believe him. He decided that it would be okay to do that, at least for a little while.

“Rest, Xianxian,” Jiang Yanli said gently. “The worst is over now.”

There wasn’t much he could do but obey, so he closed his eyes and slept.

When he woke again, he felt much better. Physically, the pain had faded to a dull throbbing in his temples. He felt exhausted, but not like his entire body was weighted down. He was hungry, too. There was still the soft music of a guqin, but otherwise the tent was silent. “Lan Zhan?”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said.

Wei Wuxian rolled over on his side and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Time’s’it?”

“It is just past dawn. You have been sleeping for nearly three days.”

“Have you been playing for me this whole time?”

“No. Wen Qing would not allow it. She stated I would drain my spiritual energy too much and you should take longer to recover because it might teach you a lesson.” Lan Wangji lifted his hand off his guqin and moved it to his spirit pouch with a wave of his hand. “I told her this seemed unlikely.”

Amused despite himself, Wei Wuxian said, “That sounds like her. Is there anything to eat?”

“There will be soon. Breakfast is being made. There is tea.”

Wei Wuxian managed to sit up, as Lan Wangji walked over to his bed, holding a tray. He sat down in the chair Jiang Yanli had been the last time Wei Wuxian had woken, and poured him a cup. He drank thirstily. “Where’s everyone?”

“Sleeping. It is early.”

“Oh, right.” Wei Wuxian shook his head in the hopes of clearing some of the cobwebs out, and accepted a second cup of tea. “What’s happened? Did I miss anything important?”

“My brother and our disciples have been clearing out and securing the city. Meanwhile, Nie-zongzhu has been making sure all the Wen outposts nearby have been emptied. There were very few left.”

“And . . . Yu-furen?”

“Yu-furen received multiple injuries while fighting Wen Ruohan, but she should recover. She would recover more quickly had she allowed Wen Qing to tend to her, but refused. She has also refused to make any time for Nie-zongzhu to speak with her, and is ignoring both of her children as well. Every time they try to talk to her, she insists she is too busy.”

“So she assumes they want to talk to her about my future in the Yunmeng Jiang, and giving me Suibian back,” Wei Wuxian said thoughtfully, “when all they actually want to do is let her know shijie got married. Well, that’s her problem, I guess.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji agreed. He hesitated, then said, “Wei Ying. I know you wish to return to Lotus Pier. If you are able to, I will stay by your side. But please do not have anxiety for your future. If there is no place in the Yunmeng Jiang for you, I will bring you back to Cloud Recesses.”

Wei Wuxian’s chest ached, because he knew Lan Wangji meant it, and it was reassuring to know that there was still a place for him to go. He hadn’t really worried about it, had assumed that Lan Wangji would make this offer, and even if he hadn’t, he knew that The Unclean Realm would be open to him as well. But he hated the idea of leaving the Yunmeng Jiang. It was even worse knowing that Jiang Yanli would be leaving as well, and that Jiang Cheng would be by himself afterwards. “Yeah . . . thanks, Lan Zhan. Oh, hey, speaking of people going back to Cloud Recesses, were we right about Meng Yao?”

Lan Wangji nodded. “He was indeed the spy. He is injured as well – apparently Wen Ruohan realized he was not loyal.”

“And only injured him?”

“Mn. I thought it was strange as well. He has not spoken much of it, and I have been here with you most of the time. But he did say that Wen Ruohan would have killed him if Yu Ziyuan had not intervened. She must have arrived through the back entrance of the city and attacked at that point.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Wei Wuxian took another sip of tea. “It’s really over, huh?”

“It is over.”

“Where’s my amulet?”

“I have suppressed it and sealed it into a spirit pouch. Once I return to Cloud Recesses, I will consult with my uncle for the best long-term solution.”

Wei Wuxian pouted. “You’re really not going to give it back?”

“Why do you want it back?”

“Well – ” Wei Wuxian looked away. “Because I’m powerful with it.”

“You’re powerful without it. Its use is harmful to you, and therefore should not continue.”

Wei Wuxian sighed. “I’ll decide whether or not I want to keep arguing with you once I know whether or not I’m going to get Suibian back. If Yu-furen hasn’t thrown it into the volcano by now.”

Lan Wangji muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a promise to throw Yu Ziyuan into the volcano. Fortunately for him, breakfast arrived before Wei Wuxian could ask him to speak up.

~ ~ ~ ~

Meng Yao looked up as he heard the door to the house open, and couldn’t help but smile as Lan Xichen came in holding a tray. “Good morning, A-Yao,” Lan Xichen said, and frowned as Meng Yao swung his legs over the side of the bed. “You shouldn’t be up yet.”

“I have to move slowly, but I’m all right,” Meng Yao said. “I’m really healing quite well, Huan-gege. Don’t worry so much.”

Lan Xichen’s frown didn’t fade, but he didn’t object as Meng Yao sat down at the table with him. He had insisted on keeping Meng Yao in the guest house that the Lan brothers had been given – not that Lan Wangji had been there for longer than two minutes to occasionally change clothes – so he could heal in privacy. Meng Yao was fairly sure that this was just because Lan Xichen truly hated it when Meng Yao insisted on being formal with him. Fortunately, after Wen Qing had initially tended his injuries, she agreed they would need minimal further care, beyond periodic changing of the bandages. Lan Xichen could handle that himself, so for three days, Meng Yao had been recovering at the guest house. Most of that time, he had been sleeping, but for the first time, he felt more like his normal self.

“You look a little out of sorts about something,” he said, as Lan Xichen poured him some tea.

“You know me so well, A-Yao,” Lan Xichen said, and sighed quietly. “I am not so much troubled as I’m concerned that you’re going to be troubled. Jin Guangshan is here.”

“Oh?” Meng Yao frowned. “Why?”

“Why indeed,” Lan Xichen said dryly. “Now that we’re victorious, naturally he’s making a huge fuss about everything. He’s going to throw a grand banquet tonight at the main hall, to praise everyone for taking down a tyrant. I greeted him before I came here, and his first question, after congratulating us for our victory, was if the spoils had been divided up yet.”

Meng Yao gave a snort. “Typical.”

“Unfortunately, he does have some right to ask, since Jin Zixuan came with some of his people, and they did provide support. Although of course their casualties were much lower than any of the other sects.”

With a shrug, Meng Yao said, “His support was minimal. Throw a few things at him and wait for him to go away.”

“It’s still galling. Hopefully Mingjue-xiong won’t say anything particularly rude. Then, of course, there’s Yu Ziyuan, who nobody can stand, making matters worse.”

“Ah, don’t be too angry with her,” Meng Yao said. “I understand why she revealed me.”

Lan Xichen blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

Meng Yao realized a second too late that Lan Xichen hadn’t already known that, because of course he hadn’t already known that. It wasn’t as if Yu Ziyuan would have told him. He was doubtlessly referring to her behavior around the broken engagement. “Ah – it’s not important, Huan-gege, never mind.”

“That’s why Wen Ruohan attacked you? Because she told him that you were the spy?”

“It’s fine, Huan-gege – honestly, I bear her no ill will. She used me as a distraction so she could get in the first blow – tactically, it was very clever.”

“He could have killed you,” Lan Xichen said.

“Well, yes, but that was always a risk, wasn’t it? Besides, he didn’t, so does it really matter in the long run?” Meng Yao hastily changed the subject. “Why is everyone so angry at Yu Ziyuan, then? Is she trying to force the engagement between Jiang-guniang and Jin-gongzi back on?”

“No – well, probably, but – I forget how much you don’t know about what happened with the allied forces, since you were here.” Lan Xichen shook his head. He still looked troubled, but thankfully, didn’t pursue the subject of Yu Ziyuan’s behavior any longer, although Meng Yao doubted he had heard the end of it. For the moment, however, Lan Xichen explained what had happened between Yu Ziyuan and Wei Wuxian. “And now she is avoiding everyone who might want to speak to her about it, which is going to be a problem because – ” Lan Xichen chuckled suddenly. “Jiang-guniang is now Nie-furen.”

“Oh?” Meng Yao was excited despite himself. “They married already?”

“Yes, the night before the battle. Hardly anybody knows yet – Wangji and I, along with her brothers, were there.”

Meng Yao bit back a smile and said, “Nie-gongzi is going to be furious.”

“And yet elated at the same time,” Lan Xichen said, laughing quietly. “I know they are going to make each other very happy. Mingjue-xiong wanted to inform Yu-furen as soon as the battle was over, but she refuses to speak to him privately, always saying that she’s busy with important business. And she won’t talk to either of her children privately either, because she’s convinced that they’re going to plead for Wei-gongzi’s future with the Yunmeng Jiang. None of them want to tell her in public, so . . .” Lan Xichen shrugged slightly. “I’m sure it’ll resolve somehow.”

“What is going to happen to Wei-gongzi, then?” Meng Yao asked.

“I don’t know. Wangji had invited him back to Cloud Recesses, of course. He hasn’t said no, but I’m sure he’s wondering if he could really thrive there. The disciplines would be difficult for him, I’m sure. My guess is that he’ll go to The Unclean Realm – Nie-furen has of course asked Mingjue-xiong if he would allow it, and naturally he has said he would. Wei-gongzi is such a skilled cultivator – he would be an asset to any sect.”

Meng Yao nodded. “And he and Nie-gongzi are such good friends. I’m sure he would like that very much.”

“Which is somewhat terrifying, to be honest,” Lan Xichen said, and Meng Yao laughed. “In any case, since you are all right to be up and around, I would love for you to come to the banquet tonight, as a guest of the Gusu Lan.”

Meng Yao felt his cheeks flush, and he ducked his head automatically. “Are you sure? If Jin-zongzhu says something . . .”

“Jin-zongzhu has no right to object. You are a hero, A-Yao! We never could have been successful if it weren’t for you, and I intend to make sure everyone knows it. I will happily tell the entire conference that you took on such great risk to assist the allied forces, and dare Jin Guangshan to look me in the eye and say you don’t deserve the praise.”

Knowing that his face was brilliantly pink, Meng Yao only managed to murmur something vaguely appropriate. He didn’t know what expression was on his face when he managed to look up, but apparently Lan Xichen interpreted it to be an invitation. He leaned in and kissed Meng Yao gently, and Meng Yao couldn’t help but lean into it.

“Now, eat your breakfast and then get some rest,” Lan Xichen said. “I’ll find some things for you to try on this afternoon so we have something lovely for you to wear. All right?”

“Yes, Huan-gege,” Meng Yao said, more in love than ever.

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Huaisang was having the best week of his life.

His brother had, of course, immediately sent a message to The Unclean Realm upon their victory. Nie Huaisang had dropped everything and begged Nie Zonghui to take him to Nightless City on his sword so he could congratulate his brother as quickly as possible. Nie Zonghui wasn’t strong enough to take him the whole way, but after a little organizing, they were able to choose a dozen men who could take turns, so they could make the journey in only three days.

When he arrived in Nightless City, he was immediately directed to his brother, who looked a little tired, but whole and sound. “Congratulations on your victory, da-ge!” Nie Huaisang said, beaming. “I’m sure Father is smiling down on you for avenging his death!”

Nie Mingjue nodded, then pulled Nie Huaisang into an embrace, thumping on his back a few times. “Let me show you to where I’ve been staying.”

“Okay,” Nie Huaisang said, seeing that his brother wanted a chance to speak to him privately. He followed Nie Mingjue, then immediately busied himself making tea. Even someone as lazy as he was could make a good cup of tea, and he didn’t want his brother annoyed with him for any reason.

“How are things at home?” Nie Mingjue asked, sitting down.

“Oh, everything’s fine,” Nie Huaisang said. “Zonghui-ge did a great job. I’m sure he was sending you regular reports.”

“He was,” Nie Mingjue said. He seemed almost nervous, which was very unlike him, and continued, “All right, I have to tell you something, and you might be a little upset, but think about the long-term before you yell at me.”

“Da-ge, I would never yell at you,” Nie Huaisang said, blinking innocently.

Nie Mingjue waved this aside. “Jiang Yanli and I have married.”

Of all the things Nie Huaisang had thought his brother might say, that hadn’t been on the list. He gasped despite himself, then said, “You got married without me there? Oh, but I’m so happy! I know you two are perfect for each other! It’s fine that you didn’t want to wait – we can have a big party back at The Unclean Realm to celebrate – ”

Nie Mingjue was smiling. “I don’t know how to throw a party without Meng Yao there to organize everything.”

“Ah, where is Meng Yao? Everyone kept talking about him so mysteriously . . .”

“The only people who knew where he was were me and Xichen,” Nie Mingjue said, but explained Meng Yao’s mission to Nie Huaisang, and that he had performed more than adequately. “Now that everything is over, Xichen intends to take him back to Gusu. You’ll have to learn how to be my assistant.”

“Da-ge, no,” Nie Huaisang whined. “You’ve got a wife now. You don’t need my assistance for anything!”

“You’re going to make my wife do everything? That’s extremely rude of you, Huaisang.” Nie Mingjue was clearly enjoying himself. “After everything you did to try to put this into action, shouldn’t you be making sure she has everything she needs at The Unclean Realm?”

“Zewu-Jun did far more than I did . . .”

“Believe me, I’m well aware,” Nie Mingjue said dryly.

Nie Huaisang pouted. “Anyway, where is your beautiful bride?”

“At this time of day, she’s probably visiting Wei Wuxian in the infirmary,” Nie Mingjue said, and saw the look on Nie Huaisang’s face. “Don’t worry about him. He wasn’t physically injured, but he channeled a lot of resentful energy to control Wen Ruohan’s puppets. Wen Qing and Wangji have both been treating him, and Wangji said he’d be back on his feet today. But if you want to visit, I’ll show you.”

Nie Huaisang nodded and followed him. Wei Wuxian was, in fact, on his feet, and Jiang Yanli was, in fact, there to visit him. Nie Huaisang greeted her with obvious joy, and she quickly shushed him. “My mother doesn’t know yet,” she whispered.

“What? Why not?” Nie Huaisang asked, puzzled.

“It’s a long story,” she said. Over the course of the next hour, he heard a great deal of what had happened over the past few months. The whole thing seemed utterly ridiculous to him. If Yu Ziyuan was so pissed at Wei Wuxian that she wouldn’t even speak to her own children, lest one of them make an appeal for his future, then they should just tell her in front of everyone that Jiang Yanli had married.

“I’ll do that, if you want!” he offered brightly.

Wei Wuxian nearly snorted his tea as Jiang Yanli said, “Please, A-Sang, there’s no need. We’ll figure something out.”

Once they had left the medical tent, and Nie Mingjue said he would take Nie Huaisang to see Meng Yao, Nie Huaisang said, “Is Wei-xiong going to come back to Qinghe with us, then?”

“Quite likely,” Nie Mingjue said. “A-Li asked me if we would take him as a disciple, and I told her we would be happy to. But he may still go to Gusu.”

“I did notice the besotted looks he and Lan-xiong were sending each other,” Nie Huaisang said, laughing. “I’m glad they finally worked that out, but believe me, da-ge, Wei-xiong wouldn’t last a week in Cloud Recesses. Frankly, I’d be surprised if he lasted a day.”

They were still chatting about this when they got to the house where Lan Xichen and Meng Yao were staying, and came in to find Meng Yao dressed in light blue robes that a young woman was pinning the hem of. “Ah, you look amazing, Meng Yao!” Nie Huaisang said, beaming at him. Meng Yao flushed slightly pink as Nie Huaisang greeted him and told him that Nie Mingjue had told him everything and he was so impressed.

Lan Xichen made them tea and said, “Did I hear you talking about Wei-gongzi just now?”

Nie Mingjue nodded. “Don’t worry, Xichen – if Wei Wuxian does come to The Unclean Realm, Wangji will be welcome, too. He can take a formal position in the ranking or he can stay separate; I’ll leave it up to him.”

“I appreciate it. Wangji still hopes he will come to Gusu, but . . .” Lan Xichen shook his head. “Wei-gongzi won’t say anything about it. I think he still desperately hopes he will still be able to stay at Lotus Pier somehow.”

“I don’t understand this,” Nie Huaisang said. “Maybe it’s because I haven’t been here, but, it wasn’t really Wei-xiong’s fault that Jiang-zongzhu was killed, was it?”

Nie Mingjue shook his head. “If he had told Jiang Fengmian about that sword earlier, he would have been ordered to suppress it. I suppose there’s a remote possibility that he might have been able to master it in secret, but even with completely devoted study, it still took him three months.”

“Which is frankly incredible,” Lan Xichen added. “Wei-gongzi truly has a fantastic talent.”

“Then what right does Yu-furen have to say he had to kill Wen Ruohan personally in order to stay in the Yunmeng Jiang?” Nie Huaisang asked. “It’s not as if he sat on his ass and did nothing. From the way you’ve described it, he was integral to the victory.”

Lan Xichen nodded. “We couldn’t have fought our way through the puppets and even gotten to Wen Ruohan without him.”

“Nobody thinks Yu Ziyuan is being reasonable,” Nie Mingjue said. “She’s punishing him for no reason and everyone’s aware of it.”

“But it isn’t her decision to make, is it?” Nie Huaisang persisted. “She’s not the sect leader. Jiang-xiong is. He’s the one who decides whether or not Wei-xiong gets to stay in the Yunmeng Jiang or not.”

Nie Mingjue sighed. “That’s technically true. And Jiang Wanyin has tried to stand up to her multiple times, but she always berates him and then ignores him. As long as she acts as if she’s in charge and Jiang Wanyin won’t tell her she isn’t, then she is.”

“But he’ll never become a good sect leader that way!” Nie Huaisang protested. “I remember back when you were first sect leader and the sect elders kept trying to tell you what to do, and you kept pushing back at them, saying if you weren’t allowed to make your own decisions, you’d never learn!”

“That’s true,” Nie Mingjue said.

Meng Yao spoke up for the first time, glancing over from where he was standing still in the center of the room. “Has anyone bothered to say that to Yu-furen, though? She’s not a good person and she’s not a good mother. But despite that, her motivation is that she loves her son. She wants Wei-gongzi away from him because she thinks he’s a bad influence on Jiang-zongzhu, that he’ll harm the sect. Has anyone actually sat her down and told her that she’s trying to help her son, but all she’s doing is hobbling him?”

“Well, no,” Nie Mingjue said. “I don’t imagine it would do any good.”

“Oh, she won’t agree,” Meng Yao said. “She’ll be extremely angry and defiant to your face, when you say it. But she might think about it later. She might decide that there’s some merit to the argument. It won’t work to get her to let Wei-gongzi to stay in the Yunmeng Jiang – she’s clearly far too set on that – but it might help Jiang-zongzhu with future decisions.”

“I suppose I can talk to her,” Nie Mingjue said, then rolled his eyes and added, “right about the same time I manage to get her in private to tell her I married her daughter.”

“If she won’t speak to you in private about that, you’re going to have to tell her in public,” Meng Yao said.

“That’s what I said!” Nie Huaisang said.

“She’ll be tremendously embarrassed,” Lan Xichen said.

“That’s true, but Nie-zongzhu, your options are short and your time is running out. I imagine most sects will begin making preparations for departure in the next few days. Tomorrow, after the banquet, there will be a conference to divide up the spoils and make the final arrangements for Nightless City. After that, everyone is going to want to go home. You have to tell her before then, one way or another.”

Nie Mingjue sighed and nodded. “I’ll give it one last try at the banquet tonight. She can hardly tell me that she’s involved in important matters then. If she still won’t talk to me in private, I’ll tell her at the conference tomorrow morning. At least that way the audience will be minimal.”

“It’s more than she deserves,” Nie Huaisang muttered.

“Keep your nose out of this,” Nie Mingjue told him, and Nie Huaisang wrinkled his nose but agreed.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Nie Mingjue was not particularly looking forward to the banquet. Part of that was just because he still held a great dislike for Jin Guangshan, and recent events hadn’t improved that. Jin Guangshan had no reason to even be here, and it was clear that his intention was to make it look as if his sect had played some great role in their victory so he would be entitled to spoils. Nie Mingjue had thought a great deal about how he was going to shut that down, and he and Lan Xichen had discussed it in detail.

But there was also the extremely petty annoyance that Jiang Yanli was still going with her own sect, when she should have been on his arm. She was his wife now. He wanted to dress her in elegant silver and tell everyone that such a sweet, beautiful, thoughtful woman had deigned to be his wife. She should have been with him, but instead she was still with her hateful mother. He comforted himself by reminding himself that one way or another, by the end of the day tomorrow, their marriage would be public. Jiang Yanli would accompany him back to The Unclean Realm and they would live an amazing life together.

The Nie sect was the first to arrive at the banquet, which he supposed was a little unusual. He had talked with Lan Xichen about wanting to get there before the Lan sect, in case Jin Guangshan made a fuss about Meng Yao. The Yunmeng Jiang arrived next, and Nie Mingjue could not help but smile across the room at Jiang Yanli. She smiled back, and Nie Huaisang waved his fan at them. Wei Wuxian looked out of place, the only one not in purple, which was something Nie Mingjue was only just now noticing. Despite that, he was smiling and began chatting with disciples from other sects.

When Lan Xichen did arrive, Lan Wangji was to one side of him and Meng Yao to the other. Jin Guangshan didn’t say anything about him as they exchanged greetings, and Nie Mingjue figured he probably didn’t realize who Meng Yao was. They had only met a few times, and briefly, and now he was in the blue and white of the Gusu Lan. Even without a ribbon, Jin Guangshan would presume he was a member.

Lan Xichen, however, did not allow that to last. He launched straight into it, saying, “You remember Meng Yao? He is attending tonight as my guest. For the last several months, he has been undercover in the Qishan Wen. We could not have achieved victory without his assistance, and he took great personal risk. In fact, he was injured by Wen Ruohan after Wen Ruohan found out he was a spy, and is only just today back on his feet.”

“I see,” Jin Guangshan said, sounding unimpressed. But since Lan Xichen had said Meng Yao was his guest, he couldn’t be outright rude. “Please enjoy yourselves.”

Despite Jin Guangshan’s attitude, several of the other sects began to murmur excitedly. Of course, everyone had known that they had a source in Qishan. Now they knew who it was, that he was clearly important to Lan Xichen, and that he had been injured in his undertaking. Without knowledge of his background, they were impressed. In fact, as Lan Xichen guided Meng Yao to his seat with a hand under his elbow in case he needed support, several of them went over to give their greetings and thank him for the role he had played in their victory. Meng Yao looked a little overwhelmed for the first moment, but then regained his composure, put on a lovely smile, and began to demur. The victory belonged to all of them, he said. He was simply grateful he had been able to help. They ate it out of his hand, and Nie Mingjue shook his head and reached for the alcohol.

Gradually, everyone came in and sat down, and the first course was served. There was lively conversation, and Nie Mingjue relaxed slightly.

It turned out to be premature. After the first course, Jin Guangshan took the opportunity to go into a lengthy speech about how all the sects had performed so admirably, including his own. Nie Mingjue fought not to roll his eyes and very deliberately made sure he didn’t look at anyone else in the room. He didn’t know what expression was on Lan Xichen’s face right now, but he was sure that it would make him laugh out loud.

Unfortunately, Jin Guangshan then segued into saying there was a concern he wanted to address and began talking about how the wedding between his son and Jiang Yanli had been called off over a ‘small misunderstanding’. Now that Jiang Fengmian was dead, he wanted to be able to look after Jiang Yanli like a father, and he knew that Jiang Fengmian would want that as well.

“What do you think, Jiang-zongzhu?” he asked, in his usual jovial, pompous manner. Jiang Cheng was frozen in his seat, mouth slightly open, clearly with no idea how he might address this without insulting the Lanling Jin. Nie Mingjue couldn’t blame him for that. He doubted many sect leaders had to deal with the issue of a powerful sect proposing marriage to their already-secretly-married sister. Jiang Yanli also looked stunned, looking between her brothers as if hoping one of them would rescue her.

“Well, of course, that would be wonderful,” Yu Ziyuan said, with more sweetness in her tone than Nie Mingjue would have thought she was capable of. She also sounded a little rehearsed, and it was immediately obvious that she and Jin Guangshan had already talked about this. “A-Cheng, give Jin-zongzhu our answer!”

Jiang Cheng was still frozen in place, and Nie Mingjue decided he had better take pity on him. Yu Ziyuan already hated him, and he was never going to be friends with the Lanling Jin. He could absorb any retaliation far better than Jiang Cheng would be able to. He stood and cleared his throat to draw attention to himself, “Jin-zongzhu, with respect, I must object to this arrangement.”

“Nonsense!” Jin Guangshan said, with a forced laugh. “How is it the business of the Qinghe Nie? This is merely between my sect and the Yunmeng Jiang.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not true,” Nie Mingjue said. “I have no choice but to voice my objection to the idea of your son marrying my wife.”

Shocked silence sat in the hall for a brief moment, and despite himself, Nie Mingjue enjoyed it. Lan Xichen was hiding a smile behind his hand and Meng Yao was openly smirking in a way that was quite unlike him. Jiang Cheng looked vastly relieved that Nie Mingjue had spoken up before he’d had to say something.

“What?” Yu Ziyuan was the first to recover. She looked at Jiang Yanli and said, “A-Li! What have you done?”

Jiang Yanli flushed pink, looking down, and Nie Mingjue spoke again. “I beg your pardon, Yu-furen, but Jiang Fengmian and I discussed the idea of my marriage to A-Li before his death, and he gave me his blessing. We married the night before the army marched to Nightless City, as A-Li did not wish to wait until after the battle.”

There was a murmur around the room of people generally impressed, whispering about how much Jiang Yanli must love Nie Mingjue if she was so desperate to be his wife as he marched away to war.

“And why is this the first I’m hearing about this?” Yu Ziyuan demanded.

“Again I must beg your pardon, Yu-furen. I requested an audience with you many times in the past few days so we could discuss the issue, but you were always too busy with your own duties. I would not have wanted you to find out this way, but I knew I had to speak up before you promised A-Li to another man.”

Yu Ziyuan’s cheeks had turned pink, her mouth tightly pursed as she realized that was absolutely true. He was betting that she was also realizing why both her son and daughter had been trying to get her attention for days, but she had ignored both of them as well. It was entirely her own fault that she had been so caught off guard, but he knew that she would never accept that. Finally, icily, she said, “I see.”

Jiang Cheng finally found his words and said, “Jin-zongzhu, as you can see, we must decline your offer. I am sure Jin Zixuan will find a wonderful wife in the coming years, and any lady would be lucky to have him as a husband.”

“Well, of course!” Jin Guangshan forced a chuckle, even though he was clearly embarrassed. “And A-Li, of course, could hardly wish for a husband more valiant or capable. I wish the both of you long and bountiful lives.”

“Thank you, Jin-zongzhu,” Nie Mingjue said, and Jiang Yanli echoed him.

“Well that was awkward,” Nie Huaisang whispered, or at least feigned a whisper, but in reality speaking loudly enough that several people nearby heard. A titter of laughter went through the room.

Jin Guangshan had flushed a dark pink, and Nie Mingjue was wondering if he was going to say something else. Fortunately, Lan Xichen defused the moment, standing and offering a toast to the couple. On the other side of the room, Nie Mingjue noticed that Jiang Yanli looked small and unhappy, and it was clear that Yu Ziyuan was reprimanding her in the harshest whisper she could muster.

He wasn’t the only one who noticed. Nie Huaisang spoke up again, saying cheerfully, “Ah, Yanli-jie, you should come sit by my brother, then! I don’t mind sitting with the Yunmeng Jiang if that’s okay with Jiang-zongzhu!”

Jiang Yanli was pink, and Jiang Cheng immediately spoke up before Yu Ziyuan could say anything. “That’s very generous of you, Nie-xiong – of course you are welcome to sit with us.”

“I’ll escort you, Yanli-jie!” Nie Huaisang jumped to his feet and crossed the room, then offered his arm to Jiang Yanli. She smiled and accepted it, allowing him to walk her back to the table he had been at, before jogging back across the room and sliding into her former seat.

“Are you all right?” Nie Mingjue asked in a low voice.

Jiang Yanli nodded slightly, then said, “But I’m so grateful to A-Sang. I’ll have to do something nice for him later.”

“Don’t spoil him,” Nie Mingjue told her, as the other sects began to talk amongst themselves, and the second course was brought out.

Jiang Yanli hid a smile and said, “I won’t, Mingjue-gege – you already spoil him quite enough.”

“I do not – !” Nie Mingjue heaved a sigh as he saw her smile widen. “I suppose I do. All right, from now on, you can be the disciplinarian. He’ll love that, I’m sure.”

“If he complains, I’ll remind him that he has no one to blame but himself,” Jiang Yanli said, and Nie Mingjue laughed quietly.

~ ~ ~ ~

Lan Wangji had no real interest in going to the conference, which was certainly going to be a lot of talking for very little purpose. He had absolutely nothing to say, and trusted his brother to handle everything adequately. Unfortunately for him, Lan Xichen wanted him to go. “I want to bring A-Yao, and it’ll look less strange if you’re there as well,” he said, and when Lan Wangji asked why he wanted to bring Meng Yao, Lan Xichen gave a vague, unsatisfactory answer. Seeing that the real answer was ‘because I want to rub Jin Guangshan’s nose in it’, Lan Wangji figured he might as well help with this. Besides, he supposed Jiang Cheng might feel better if there were other people his age there.

Jin Guangshan’s eyebrow twitched when they came in, but Lan Xichen quickly forestalled him. “Because of his position, A-Yao is the person most well-acquainted with what the Qishan Wen possessed. The process of dividing up the spoils will go much quicker with his assistance.”

Although he gave a little huff of annoyance, Jin Guangshan didn’t continue to argue. Jiang Cheng did, in fact, look relieved to see them. Not that it mattered, Lan Wangji supposed. Yu Ziyuan was there, and she would doubtlessly conduct all the negotiations on behalf of the Yunmeng Jiang.

Nie Mingjue was there, of course, and had not brought anyone with him. He started off with a firm statement of how many casualties belonged to each sect, including the smaller ones. He concluded that, as the Yunmeng Jiang had lost their sect leader, Yu Ziyuan had been at least three quarters responsible for the death of Wen Ruohan himself, and Wei Wuxian had conducted invaluable service, they should get the bulk of the spoils. “I would say two thirds,” he said, and Lan Xichen nodded. Yu Ziyuan’s mouth was tight and angry, because she obviously hated Wei Wuxian’s actions being attributed to them, but she didn’t argue.

“The remaining third, I would say, should be split evenly between the Lan and the Nie sects,” he continued, “with the exception of five percent to go to the Lanling Jin, for Jin Zixuan’s contribution. The Great Sects can then distribute as needed to the smaller sects in their region.”

Jin Guangshan was clearly not happy about that, and he opened his mouth, but Lan Xichen spoke quickly. “Mingjue-xiong, I appreciate it very much, but I think you are over-rewarding us. After all, A-Yao is such a big part of our victory, and he is a member of the Qinghe Nie. Should you not claim more due to his efforts?”

“That is true, and I appreciate you drawing attention to it, Xichen,” Nie Mingjue said. “However, the Gusu Lan suffered much more than we did. You lost your sect leader as well, and you will need to rebuild Cloud Recesses, whereas The Unclean Realm itself stands undamaged. It would be remiss of me to claim more, given those circumstances.”

Lan Wangji was amused, because this was so obviously scripted. They had clearly discussed this at great length. They had managed to both derail Jin Guangshan’s protests about his small portion before he could make them, and yet again rub in his face how valuable an asset Meng Yao was.

Despite that, Jin Guangshan bulled ahead. “Five percent seems quite low, Nie-zongzhu.”

Nie Mingjue didn’t flinch. “Five percent is generous. Your son fought by our side and I appreciate that. But he only brought two dozen cultivators with him, and they only contributed for the last month of the war.”

Jin Guangshan smiled. “But you speak so highly of Meng Yao’s contributions – should the spoils owed to him not go to the Lanling Jin? After all, he is my son.”

Lan Wangji couldn’t believe the audacity of the man, to claim such a thing. Certainly, Meng Yao was his son, but he had received no training or education from the Lanling Jin, and had been a member of the Qinghe Nie for nearly five years. It was clear that neither Nie Mingjue nor Lan Xichen had expected this either. Nie Mingjue was frowning, clearly wondering how Jin Guangshan could even say such a thing, and Lan Xichen looked appalled. Meng Yao himself had gone quite still, and Lan Wangji couldn’t help but bite out, “You claim his actions for the Lanling Jin? How were you in any way responsible for them?”

“Wangji,” Lan Xichen said, in a low voice, but he quickly put a smile on his face and turned to Jin Guangshan. “Spoils of war have always gone to the sect that the person awarded them belongs to. The spoils awarded to Yu-furen are going to the Yunmeng Jiang, not the Meishan Yu. Parentage and sect of origin are typically not considered in these discussions. Even if you were to bring A-Yao into your sect today, the actions he undertook would still have been on behalf of the Qinghe Nie.”

At his last sentence, Meng Yao’s eyes went slightly wide. He clearly hadn’t considered that his father might legitimize him, and it quickly became clear that if he wasn’t going to get spoils out of it, he wasn’t going to. Indeed, Jin Guangshan said, “I suppose that is fair, Zewu-Jun. Considering A-Xuan’s actions, five percent is indeed generous.”

Lan Xichen smiled the smile of a man considering violence. Lan Wangji supposed that nobody else in the room realized what that smile meant.

Yu Ziyuan spoke up, saying, “Jin-zongzhu, if the material spoils are insufficient, perhaps you could take some of the Wen remnants for hard labor.”

Lan Wangji was yet again taken aback by the audacity. This, however, Nie Mingjue dealt with much more quickly. “That seems impossible, Yu-furen. The remaining Wen have all already been executed.”

“The ones here in Nightless City, of course,” Yu Ziyuan said, “but those are not the only members of the Wen sect left. There are those who resided at Dafan Mountain.”

Jiang Cheng jerked as if he had been stung. “What?”

“I believe there were several dozen members of that family left,” Yu Ziyuan added. “That might make up some of the difference.”

Jin Guangshan was nodding approval, but Jiang Cheng said, “Mom, we can’t do that. That’s Wen Qing’s family. We promised her that we would protect them.”

“Such a foolish promise never should have been made,” Yu Ziyuan said. “Your father was always soft-hearted about such things.”

“But Mom – ”

“That’s enough,” Yu Ziyuan snapped. “Don’t be so childish.”

Jiang Cheng’s face crumbled, and Lan Wangji let out an internal sigh, because he could see the way that this was going to go. He was going to have to find some way to stop it from happening, and he really didn’t know what he could do.

“Now, Jin-zongzhu, if we – ”

“No!” Jiang Cheng burst out. “Absolutely not! Father promised Wen Ning that the Yunmeng Jiang would protect his family after he betrayed the Qishan Wen to help us. How could I break such a promise? How could any sect leader respect me after I broke the promise my father had made? Wen Ning saved the life of one of our disciples – ”

“A boy of twelve years old!” Yu Ziyuan retorted.

“That boy put an arrow in Wen Zhuliu! Maybe it didn’t change things. I’m sure you and Nie-zongzhu would have still been victorious. But it doesn’t matter whether you believe Lin Liu’s contributions were worthy or not. It doesn’t matter whether you think Father should have made that promise or not. What matters is that the Yunmeng Jiang made a promise. It’s a promise that I intend to keep.” Flushed pink, Jiang Cheng turned to the other three sect leaders and said, “Jin-zongzhu, if you feel your share of the spoils is insufficient, then we will go through what is catalogued. Perhaps there are some items that would be going to the Yunmeng Jiang that you are interested in, that we might give to you in thanks for Jin-gongzi’s assistance in the campaign. But the Wen civilians from Dafan Mountain are going to Yunmeng, and they will be under my protection, and that is simply not negotiable.”

“Of course, I see,” Jin Guangshan said, in that patronizing tone. “You are clearly quite passionate about it.”

“Which I commend him for,” Lan Xichen said with a smile. “Of course it is his duty to honor his father’s promise. Jiang-zongzhu, he must be looking down on you and smiling right now.”

Jiang Cheng was still flushed, and Yu Ziyuan seemed so stunned that she didn’t put up further arguments. Meng Yao began producing lists of what the Qishan Wen possessed, and the meeting got quite boring. Despite himself, Lan Wangji tuned out, thinking about the future. Perhaps Wei Wuxian would be able to stay at Lotus Pier after all.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

Although most people would have found the dividing of the spoils tedious, Meng Yao enjoyed it. It was the sort of thing he was good at - mentally keeping track of calculations, then persuading people to do what he liked best. The Yunmeng Jiang certainly did deserve the bulk of the spoils, and he honestly held no grudge against Yu Ziyuan for his injuries. That being said, he could see how much her behavior bothered both Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue. So when there were things that they wanted that Yu Ziyuan was trying to claim, he would slide into the conversation and find reasons why those things should go to the Lan or the Nie. Most of the time, he was successful. Yu Ziyuan seemed a little out of sorts, clearly taken aback by how fiercely Jiang Cheng had stood against her on the subject of the Wen remnants, so her arguments were minimal. For his part, Jiang Cheng seemed stunned by his own success, and was generally silent during the negotiations.

Then, of course, there was Jin Guangshan. Like Yu Ziyuan, he had clearly been surprised by Jiang Cheng. But he had recovered much more quickly, and his method of dealing with it was making everyone uncomfortable. He had shifted into ‘patronizing elder’ mode. Whenever Jiang Cheng spoke, he would chuckle and say something that was wholly appropriate, even congratulatory, yet somehow made Jiang Cheng seem small.

Jin Guangshan was good at what he did, Meng Yao thought, and he hated seeing where he had gotten his talents firsthand.

When they had finally decided everything, Meng Yao had written up all the lists, and all the sect leaders had agreed, he was relieved. Although he had enjoyed the process, and enjoyed making gains for the Lan and the Nie, he wanted to get away from Jin Guangshan. So he was more than a little discomfited when Jin Guangshan smiled at him and said, “Meng Yao, perhaps we could chat for a while.”

Both of the Lan brothers looked up at this. Lan Xichen was too polite to frown. Lan Wangji was not.

“Of course, Jin-zongzhu,” Meng Yao said, almost automatically. How could he say no? He gave a reassuring smile to Lan Xichen and said, “Might I join you for dinner later?”

“Certainly, A-Yao,” Lan Xichen said, immediately seeing what Meng Yao was doing - distancing himself from the Lan in front of his father, lest he decide to target them. He then took Lan Wangji by the elbow and steered him away. Nie Mingjue was frowning, but he nodded to Meng Yao, and the room slowly cleared.

Meng Yao couldn’t help the snakes squirming in his stomach as he approached his father, bowing so low that his sleeves swept the ground. He felt ridiculous in those sleeves now. He had never worn such fancy outfits before this week. He understood why Lan Xichen had wanted him to wear it, and up until this exact moment, had been enjoying it. Now he felt ridiculous, like a child playing dress-up.

Jin Guangshan smiled and said, “Meng Yao, perhaps you can shed light on this matter of Nie-zongzhu’s marriage to Jiang Yanli.”

Meng Yao was a little surprised. Was he truly still upset about that? Jin Zixuan hadn’t even wanted to marry Jiang Yanli. “I will certainly try, Jin-zongzhu, but I’m afraid I don’t know much more than you do. After all, I have been here in Nightless City ever since the attack on Lotus Pier.”

Waving this aside, Jin Guangshan said, “Their courtship clearly began during the lectures Nie-zongzhu hosted, didn’t it?”

At this, Meng Yao couldn’t help but smile, although he kept it warm and polite. “I’m sorry, Jin-zongzhu, but I truly don’t know. Back then, you had asked Nie-zongzhu to make sure that I was kept separate from the Jin disciples and all their associates. Since Nie-furen was at that point still betrothed to Jin-gongzi, we considered her part of that group. I stayed away from her as much as possible.”

Jin Guangshan was clearly annoyed at his own instruction now getting in his way. “Even if you didn’t interact with her, you were Nie-zongzhu’s assistant. He must have discussed it with you.”

“Again I must apologize, Jin-zongzhu, but zongzhu never discussed his personal life with me.” As if just remembering, Meng Yao said, “Although I do know that Nie-gongzi thought Nie-furen would be a good match for his brother. He mentioned that once or twice, and was upset because zongzhu always told him to stay out of it, since Nie-furen was engaged and not available.”

Jin Guangshan frowned and stroked his beard. Meng Yao had no remorse at throwing Nie Huaisang under the cart. If he could convince Jin Guangshan that everything that had happened back then had been because of Nie Huaisang, all the better. Nie Huaisang was young and immature; bad behavior could be brushed off because of that. If Jin Guangshan demanded it, Nie Mingjue would promise to reprimand him and then give him some half-hearted punishment. Then he said, “If that’s the case, why did Nie-zongzhu go to Lotus Pier?”

“He was escorting Lan-er-gongzi,” Meng Yao said. “He had been injured in the Cave of Xuanwu and was not well. Nie-zongzhu has of course been close to the Twin Jades of Lan since his youth. He wanted to make sure Lan-er-gongzi safely reunited with Zewu-Jun. Knowing that Cloud Recesses had been recently attacked and would not be safe, he decided to go as far as Lotus Pier and then send Zewu-Jun a message so he could meet with them there.”

This all made perfect sense, and it was clear that Jin Guangshan hated that. He obviously wanted to find some reason that he could accuse Nie Mingjue of ‘stealing’ Jiang Yanli from his son, but Meng Yao kept sidestepping him. “Then after the attack on Lotus Pier, she went to The Unclean Realm . . .”

Meng Yao nodded. “Jiang-zongzhu - her father - was worried that being at Koi Tower would be awkward for her, due to the broken engagement. He asked Nie-zongzhu if she might be accommodated at The Unclean Realm, and he agreed. It wasn’t until much later that she was reunited with Nie-zongzhu - after she came to the front for her father’s funeral. I imagine that Nie-zongzhu comforted her after his death, and the romance must have blossomed at that point.”

Jin Guangshan rolled his eyes at the phrase ‘the romance must have blossomed’, which Meng Yao had to admit was unnecessarily poetic. Then he smiled that condescending smile. “Meng Yao. Do you understand why I am asking these questions?”

With another nod, Meng Yao said, “You feel that Nie-zongzhu disrespected you by marrying Nie-furen.”

“Exactly. Right now - the spoils are a small matter. The Lanling Jin have plenty of riches, and I can’t argue that our contribution to this pointless war was negligible. But reputation - that is something more important than gold. Do you understand?”

Annoyed that Jin Guangshan was speaking to him like a child, Meng Yao said, “I understand that, Jin-zongzhu, but I am puzzled as to why you felt he disrespected you. The betrothal was not broken off because the Yunmeng Jiang felt Jin-gongzi was not good enough for their daughter. It was broken off because the Lanling Jin felt Nie-furen was not good enough for their son. Why would you object to Nie-zongzhu marrying a woman you rejected for being weak and talentless?”

“Jiang Yanli’s merits, or lack of them, are irrelevant,” Jin Guangshan said. Meng Yao, remembering how kind Jiang Yanli had always been to him, internally bristled. “Now that Nie Mingjue has married her, she appears to be worthy, just by that association. Even though people know the original reason for the betrothal ending, they will now wonder if there was something about it they didn’t know, or if my son was foolish for not seeing her positive qualities.”

There wasn’t much of an argument Meng Yao could make to that, since it was, in fact, exactly what had happened. “I see, Jin-zongzhu. Thank you for educating me. To my mind, perhaps the best solution is for Jin-gongzi to become engaged again, to someone of high quality, someone who would outshine Nie-furen.”

“Hm, that idea has merit,” Jin Guangshan said, sounding a bit surprised. “You seem quite clever, Meng Yao.”

Meng Yao bowed and said, “I am not worthy of your praise, Jin-zongzhu.”

“You’ve spent a great deal of time with the other sects - is there anyone you might recommend?”

With a smile, Meng Yao said, “Should he not marry someone already in the Lanling Jin? There are many young cultivators who are not related to the inner sect. The Lanling Jin are superior to all the other sects - where else could you find a suitable bride for him? You do not need a marriage to form an alliance with another sect. The Lanling Jin stand on their own.”

“Another fair point, Meng Yao.” Jin Guangshan stroked his beard. “I will think about your suggestions.”

Meng Yao bowed again. “You are too kind to me, Jin-zongzhu.”

“And that amulet that Wei Wuxian used . . . what do you know about it?”

 Finally understanding why his father had wanted to see him, Meng Yao felt some of the tension go out of his shoulders. Of course his father wanted the amulet, having heard about how powerful it was. And of course he would think Meng Yao, now renowned as a master spy, would be able to help him get it. That made far more sense than him being upset that Nie Mingjue had stolen Jin Zixuan’s wife. He had used all of the previous subject to feel Meng Yao out, test his loyalties, and now they were getting to his real point.

He could see many different options playing out in front of him, ways he could string Jin Guangshan along, but in the end decided against them all. He wanted to go to Gusu, and if he was lucky, never see Jin Guangshan again. “It was made out of a sword that Wei-gongzi found in the Cave of Xuanwu, which had absorbed resentful energy for centuries. He was able to use it to create puppets and control the ones Wen Ruohan had created, but it was extremely detrimental to his health. Now that the war is over, Hanguang-Jun has destroyed it.”

“Destroyed it?” Jin Guangshan looked surprised. “Such a valuable item?”

Meng Yao smiled his politest smile. “The Gusu Lan do not see value in the same way we do, Jin-zongzhu. Such a weapon could surely have brought great power to whichever sect wielded it, but the Gusu Lan care nothing for political power. It was evil, and their sect directive is to eradicate evil. I don’t think Hanguang-Jun even waited for Wei-gongzi to wake after the battle to make sure it was destroyed.”

“That he would do such a thing . . . an entire sect devoid of vision.” Jin Guangshan shook his head. “How unfortunate.”

“Yes, Jin-zongzhu,” Meng Yao agreed.

At this, Jin Guangshan was disgusted, and obviously considered the conversation over. He waved at Meng Yao and said, “If you learn anything further, make sure to tell me.”

“Of course, Jin-zongzhu.” Meng Yao bowed for the last time, more deeply than before, and left the sword hall. He hoped that his father didn’t see the way his hands were shaking.

~ ~ ~ ~

Jiang Yanli could tell as soon as Jiang Cheng got back to their guest house that something was wrong. His whole posture was tight and upset, fists clenched at his sides and jaw trembling. She stood and said, “A-Cheng, would you like to go for a walk? The weather is nice today.”

After a moment, Jiang Cheng gave an abrupt nod. He followed her out of the guest house and they walked in silence for several minutes. Finally, they found a small, empty courtyard, and Jiang Yanli sat down. “A-Cheng, what is wrong? Did dividing the spoils not go well?”

“Most of it went fine,” Jiang Cheng said. He didn’t sit, but continued to pace. “We got more than our fair share. But Jin-zongzhu was bitching about how he wasn’t getting much, so Mom - ” He stopped and cleared his throat, nearly choking on the words. “Mom said he could have the remaining Wens from Dafan Mountain for hard labor.”

Jiang Yanli gasped and shot back to her feet. “No! Oh, A-Cheng, tell me you didn’t let them do that. Please, A-Cheng - ”

Jiang Cheng shook his head and wiped the back of his hand over his eyes. “No, I didn’t. I just - kept saying no. Mom kept arguing with me and I kept saying absolutely not, Dad made a promise, the Yunmeng Jiang made a promise, and we couldn’t - so now of course she’s furious with me.”

Relieved, Jiang Yanli sank back into her chair. How could her mother be so cruel? She had known that Yu Ziyuan didn’t like Wen Qing, but to go so far - it defied belief. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. “A-Cheng, I am so proud of you.”

“Really?” Jiang Cheng laughed bitterly and sat down next to her. “I’m pathetic.”

“What? No, A-Cheng - ”

“I stood up to her. I wouldn’t let her do something horrible. I’m the sect leader and she can’t just do whatever she wants, even though she’s my mother. Doesn’t that mean I could have done that this whole time? When she gave Wei Wuxian that awful punishment - she hurt him so badly, nearly killed him, and I just stood there and let it happen.”

Jiang Yanli sighed. “A-Cheng, that happened just after Father died. You were hurt and you were grieving.”

“That’s not an excuse. If she had killed him, it would’ve been on my head.”

“Of course it wouldn’t have been,” Jiang Yanli said. “It would have been on hers, and hers alone.”

Jiang Cheng said nothing.

“You’re not pathetic,” Jiang Yanli said gently. “You’re learning. You suddenly became a sect leader at a very young age. It’s hard. You’re not going to be perfect. But that doesn’t make you pathetic.”

Jiang Cheng sighed. He was silent for another moment, then said, “It would be bad enough if Jin-zongzhu had asked and she had said yes. It’s the sort of idea I would expect him to come up with. But for her to suggest it without prompting - to just decide to give away innocent lives under my protection - I can’t stand that she would do that. I don’t understand why she hates me so much.”

“She doesn’t hate you, A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli said. “For all her faults, she loves you and wants the best for you. Her choices come from that place, even if they’re the wrong choices.”

Jiang Cheng shook his head, but didn’t argue.

“You stood up to her, and you didn’t let her hurt innocent people and break a promise that our father made,” Jiang Yanli said. “That’s amazing, A-Cheng. I’m proud of you, and I know Wen-guniang will be, too, so I hope you can try to be proud of yourself.”

Before he could say anything else, Yu Ziyuan stalked into the courtyard and snapped, “Here you are. Clearly we need to discuss some things.”

Jiang Yanli cringed, but then realized there was some humor in it. For days, they had been trying to talk to her, and she had been shutting them down and avoiding them. Now she was insisting on talking to them as if they hadn’t been trying to do so.

“A-Li, how could you marry without my permission? Without even my knowledge? You’ve embarrassed me in front of all the other sects! I hope you’re proud of yourself!”

Jiang Yanli actually was fairly proud of herself, for having had the courage to tell Nie Mingjue what she wanted openly, and having earned his love. There was a part of her that was tempted to say that to her mother, but in the end she couldn’t bring herself to. She just ducked her head and murmured a soft apology.

“And you, A-Cheng – ” Yu Ziyuan stopped and took a deep breath as she saw his jaw tighten. “Perhaps I should have discussed it with you first, so I could get your objections out of the way ahead of time. I was trying to make amends with Jin-zongzhu after your sister offended their entire sect.”

Jiang Cheng shot a glance at Jiang Yanli, clearly struggling to think of something appropriate to say. “There’s nothing offensive about what a-jie did. Jin-gongzi rejected her, so – ”

“Jin-gongzi is too immature to be making those decisions! But truly, the fault mainly lies with Nie Mingjue, for bulling in where he didn’t belong and taking advantage of your sister when she was distraught over the betrothal being broken off.” Yu Ziyuan’s mouth was pursed, and there were a hundred things Jiang Yanli wanted to say, but she knew it wasn’t worth saying any of them. “A-Li, I would have fixed everything! There was no need for you to make such foolish decisions!”

“I’m sorry, Mother,” Jiang Yanli said again, keeping her gaze down. She didn’t want her mother to see what she was thinking – namely, that the fear that her mother might ‘fix things’ with the Lanling Jin after Jiang Fengmian died was half the reason she had begged Nie Mingjue to marry her.

Yu Ziyuan sighed. “Well, what’s done is done. And A-Cheng, I don’t like what you did today, but at least you gained some respect from the other sect leaders. I suppose we can find some village in Yunmeng for these Wen remnants.”

Jiang Cheng nodded, then said, “For some of them, yes, but for Wen Qing – ” His cheeks flushed and he blurted out, “I want to marry her.”

“Marry her! Don’t be ridiculous,” Yu Ziyuan scoffed. “You are the sect leader of the Yunmeng Jiang! You must marry somebody worthy.”

“Wen Qing is worthy,” Jiang Cheng protested. “I know that marrying her won’t bring an alliance with another important sect. But she’s brave and talented and powerful. How could I ask for more than that?”

“I’m not denying that Wen Qing is clever or skilled,” Yu Ziyuan said, “but that’s not the point. The Yunmeng Jiang are going to be rebuilding. There are plenty of skilled women in other sects. Any of them would be better than Wen Qing.”

For a moment, Jiang Yanli thought he was going to crumble. But then he seemed to remember his earlier success, and said, “No, I won’t marry any of them. I don’t need your permission to marry Wen Qing. I’m going to ask her and if she agrees, I’ll marry her. If she doesn’t, you can choose any other woman in the jianghu and I’ll go along without objection, but not unless Wen Qing refuses me. I’ve seen what a political marriage looks like, and that’s not how I intend to live my life.”

Yu Ziyuan’s mouth tightened again, but then she gave another soft sigh. “A-Cheng, you are still so naïve sometimes. But perhaps you’re not entirely wrong, and it’s good that you’re learning to stand up for yourself. Perhaps I should be glad that you might be able to marry for love. Very well, A-Cheng, I will support your proposal to Wen Qing – on one condition.”

Jiang Cheng blinked. “What condition?”

“That you expel Wei Wuxian from the Yunmeng Jiang.”

Jiang Cheng let out a wordless objection, then rallied. “But Mom – ”

“You won’t change my mind on this,” Yu Ziyuan said. “Wei Wuxian has brought nothing but trouble to the Yunmeng Jiang. Since the day he came to Lotus Pier, he’s been ungrateful, arrogant, and reckless. You are better off without him in the sect. That is my condition and that is final.”

For a moment, Jiang Cheng was silent. Then he looked up and said, “If I’m going to cast him out, I have to give him his sword back.”

“A-Cheng!” Jiang Yanli protested, rising to her feet.

Yu Ziyuan’s eyes narrowed, but Jiang Cheng continued, “Dad had that sword made for him. It’s the one he works with best, and it probably wouldn’t obey any other cultivator anyway. He should have it.”

“Very well,” Yu Ziyuan said, and took a spirit pouch out of one of her sleeves. She opened it and withdrew Suibian, handing it over to Jiang Cheng. Then she stood. “We’ll be leaving tomorrow, A-Cheng. Pack your things. A-Li, if you have anything at our guest house, best fetch it now, or you won’t see it again.”

Still appalled at what Jiang Cheng had done, Jiang Yanli could only manage a nod. Yu Ziyuan turned and walked away, and Jiang Yanli turned to her brother with tears in her eyes. “A-Cheng, how could you – ”

Her words broke off when she saw the look on Jiang Cheng’s face. He didn’t look torn over his decision or upset at all. In fact, he was grinning. But when he saw the look on her face, the smile disappeared. “Ah, a-jie, you don’t think I would do that, do you? I didn’t say I would, I just said that if I did, I would need his sword.”

“You – ” Jiang Yanli mentally reviewed the previous two minutes in her mind. “She’ll be furious with you for tricking her like that!”

“Yeah,” Jiang Cheng said, and brushed this aside. “C’mon, let’s go find Wei Wuxian.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter Text

It was after the dinner hour, and Wei Wuxian was enjoying a cup of tea with the Lan brothers and Meng Yao. Or at least he was pretending to enjoy it. He was thinking far too much about what the next day was going to bring. Lan Wangji had told him about what had happened between Jiang Cheng and Yu Ziyuan, but he wasn’t anywhere near as encouraged by it as Lan Wangji was. Jiang Cheng might have won the initial battle, but that was mainly because of how startled Yu Ziyuan had been. She had to be furious with him now, and she had a hundred different ways of making him pay for it.

Lan Wangji was happy about it, and Wei Wuxian didn’t want to rain on his parade, but he was growing increasingly aware that he was running out of time to make a decision. Jiang Yanli had talked to him earlier that day, while the sect leaders were in the meeting, to tell him that the Qinghe Nie were preparing to depart the next day. He supposed he could always leave later and catch up to them, but the knowledge that everyone was going to splitting up soon weighed heavily on him.

None of that was what was being discussed at tea. Wei Wuxian had half-tuned out because Lan Xichen was singing Meng Yao’s praises, as usual, and it sounded like Jin Guangshan was trying some bullshit, as usual. But then he heard the words, ‘tiger amulet’ and jumped. “What? What about my amulet?”

“Don’t worry, Wei-gongzi,” Meng Yao said. “I told him Hanguang-Jun had destroyed it.”

Lan Wangji was frowning. “Why would Jin-zongzhu be interested in the amulet?”

Meng Yao answered patiently, “It provides the wielder an enormous amount of power.”

“That’s true, but it is extremely dangerous,” Lan Wangji said. “It should not be used.”

Meng Yao looked faintly amused, and Wei Wuxian was as well. “Lan Zhan, Jin-zongzhu doesn’t care about any of that. It’s not like he would use it himself, he’d probably find some lackeys to try it. Why should he care what happens to them if it goes badly?”

Lan Wangji’s scowl deepened. “But there is no enemy to face. Why would he want it?”

“Because he’s a piece of shit,” Wei Wuxian said. “He’s pissed at Nie-zongzhu for ‘stealing’ shijie and making him look stupid in front of everyone else. He’s pissed at Zewu-Jun for making a big deal out of how great Meng Yao is. And now he’s pissed at Jiang Cheng for keeping him from taking a bunch of innocent people as slaves. He thinks if he gets the amulet, he can get revenge for all those imagined slights.”

“That’s not exactly how I would have phrased it, but . . .” Lan Xichen shrugged slightly. “Don’t worry, Wangji. Even with the amulet, he couldn’t take on all three of our sects at once, and he must know we would ally with each other.”

Wei Wuxian didn’t bother to say what he was thinking, which was that with the amulet, the Lanling Jin might have enough strength to take on the Lan and the Nie, or at least he might think he did. And they couldn’t bank on what Jiang Cheng would do – or what Yu Ziyuan would force him to do – in such a situation. Meng Yao had told him the amulet was destroyed so it was a moot point.

“I will destroy it, then,” Lan Wangji said.

“Lan Zhan, come on,” Wei Wuxian said. “If Jin-zongzhu might be our enemy, then we can’t! We can seal it away if you insist, but we might need it again later – ”

“That attitude is exactly why I intend to destroy it,” Lan Wangji said. “You would undoubtedly use it if you felt it was necessary and harm yourself doing so. There is no need for such a thing.”

Wei Wuxian was about to keep arguing, but then there was a knock on door. Meng Yao stood up to answer it, and Wei Wuxian saw him bow out of the corner of his eye. He stood back and Jiang Cheng came in, carrying Suibian. He tossed it to Wei Wuxian, who automatically put a hand to catch it. As soon as his hand touched the sheath, he felt a shiver go down his spine. “Ah, Jiang Cheng, how did you get it from her?”

“We were arguing about whether or not I’d be able to marry Wen Qing,” Jiang Cheng said, “and she said I could if I expelled you from the sect. Don’t make that face! I’m not going to do that. But I told her that if I did, I would need to give you your sword, so she gave it to me.”

“Clever,” Meng Yao said, clearly impressed to see this level of subterfuge from Jiang Cheng.

“But if you don’t, you won’t be able to marry Wen Qing?” Wei Wuxian asked, trying to catch up.

“No, if I don’t, she won’t support my marriage to Wen Qing,” Jiang Cheng said. “But I don’t need her support. I can marry whoever I want and she can’t stop me, just like a-jie did. I’m gonna go ask her right now – and then we’ll go back to Lotus Pier and you’ll be my right hand man, just like my dad and your dad. Between you and Wen Qing, I’m sure we can handle whatever Mom gets mad about. I’m not going to let her drive you out. Okay? Great. I have to go talk to Wen Qing – we’re leaving tomorrow so when you’re done here, come pack your stuff, okay?” Jiang Cheng hastily bowed to everyone else, then left the guest house.

“I think he’s going to go do his three prostrations right now, if Wen-guniang agrees,” Lan Xichen said, sounding amused. “Should you go with him, Wei-gongzi? You wouldn’t want to miss your brother’s wedding.”

Wei Wuxian shook his head. He was silent for a long minute, his fingers gently tracing the detail on Suibian’s sheath. Then he finally said, “Lan Zhan, you haven’t been back to Cloud Recesses since the war started, have you? There must be so much there you need to do, to rebuild. Can I go with you? I don’t know that I’ll be very good at following all the rules, but I’ll try. Please don’t punish me too much, okay?”

Lan Wangji was frowning. “Wei Ying. Jiang Wanyin has said you will be his first disciple. Why would you ask me this?”

“I can’t do that to him,” Wei Wuxian said, shaking his head. “Yu-furen has said she’ll support his marriage to Wen Qing, and that’s much more important. She’ll be so angry at him for tricking her into giving Suibian back. I don’t want to cause trouble for him.”

“Do you think Jiang Wanyin is unaware of this?” Lan Wangji asked. “He has made the decision that having you in his sect is more important than his mother’s opinion.”

“I know that,” Wei Wuxian said, his chest aching. “But how could I be so selfish? Jiang Cheng is trying to help me because he’s sorry for me, not because he actually needs me as a disciple.”

“I do not believe that is true at all,” Lan Wangji said.

Wei Wuxian sighed. “Just . . . Lan Zhan, I know you want to help. But this is what’s best. I know Jiang Cheng and Yu-furen so much better than you do. Believe me, this will work better for everyone.”

Gently, Lan Xichen interceded, saying, “Of course you are welcome at Cloud Recesses any time, Wei-gongzi. But please think carefully about the decision.”

Wei Wuxian nodded. “Thank you, Zewu-Jun. I’ll go find Jiang Cheng so I can witness if they decide to get married right now, then pack my things. I’ll see you in the morning, okay, Lan Zhan?”

“Very well,” Lan Wangji said, although he was still frowning, and Wei Wuxian took the opportunity to make his escape.

~ ~ ~ ~

Lan Wangji had a headache. This was apparently obvious to Lan Xichen, who asked, “What are you going to do, Wangji?”

“I don’t know,” Lan Wangji admitted. “I believe that Wei Ying truly wants to go back to Lotus Pier, but he also truly wants not to cause trouble for Jiang Wanyin. I don’t know what would be best for him, but I worry that he would not do well at Cloud Recesses.”

“Well,” Lan Xichen said, with a slight smile, “I suppose that depends on your definition of ‘doing well’. Would he obey the rules? Absolutely not. I doubt he would obey even half of them. But he has a good heart and I think he would enjoy night hunting on behalf of the Gusu Lan. Between the two of us, we could probably keep shufu from punishing him too harshly.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, doubting this very much. To Meng Yao, he said, “Would he do well in the Qinghe Nie?”

Meng Yao nodded. “Nie-zongzhu is fair and just. Parentage is unimportant to him. Wei-gongzi would undoubtedly earn a high position there, and I think he would enjoy being close to his former shijie and watching her children grow up. But as you just said, that doesn’t seem to be what he wants.”

“Leaving home is difficult,” Lan Xichen said. “Sometimes it’s an inevitable part of growing up, but it’s rarely easy.”

Lan Wangji felt a pang of guilt. “I am sorry, xiongzhang. At no point have I asked your permission to leave Cloud Recesses, if Wei Ying chooses not to go there.”

Lan Xichen smiled and said, “I have known for quite some time it would be happening, Wangji. And you are unused to thinking of me as your sect leader. Please don’t trouble yourself over it. Whether you go to Qinghe or Yunmeng, you will always be part of the Gusu Lan, and you will always be my brother.”

“Mn.” Lan Wangji nodded. “I do wish to go back to Gusu, if only for a short time. As Wei Ying said, there is much to be done there. I have not yet paid my respects at Father’s grave, either. Wei Ying could come with me, but . . .”

Meng Yao put down his cup of tea and said, “Hanguang-Jun, I believe you are overlooking an obvious solution.”

Lan Wangji frowned, because he saw no solutions, let alone an obvious one. “Mn?”

“You love Wei-gongzi, and wish to spend the rest of your life with him, am I right?” Meng Yao asked, and Lan Wangji nodded, wondering why he had to ask that question. “Then you should marry him.”

“Of course I intend to marry him,” Lan Wangji said.

Looking somewhat amused, Meng Yao said, “Once you are his husband, your position relative to this issue changes. Yu-furen will no longer be able to tell you that it is an internal matter that you cannot interfere with. As his husband, it will be your duty to protect him from all harm. If Yu-furen attempts to punish him, you can oppose her in a way that an outsider cannot.”

“I imagine she would be against the marriage for that exact reason,” Lan Xichen said.

Meng Yao shook his head. “Hanguang-Jun, if you ask Jiang-zongzhu’s permission to marry Wei Ying, just after Jiang-zongzhu has said he will expel him from the sect, then she will assume you intend to take him to Gusu. She would have no reason to stand against it if you simply don’t inform her otherwise.”

This seemed true, if perhaps a bit dishonorable. Lan Wangji decided he was willing to be dishonorable, since Yu Ziyuan certainly was. Truthfully, the idea of standing between her and Wei Wuxian and saying that, as his husband, he would not allow her to even look in his direction was extremely appealing.

“Then, you barely need to trouble Jiang-zongzhu at all,” Meng Yao continued. “Yu-furen will do something out of line. You will oppose her. She will complain to her son and insist that he side with her, and he will find some excuse not to. That is much easier for him than having to oppose her himself. And if it gets to be too much, just leave for a while. Bring him to Gusu or Qinghe or just out on a night hunt. I seem to recall you have a reputation for being wherever the chaos is. And although I think Wei-gongzi might object to begin with at the idea of troubling Jiang-zongzhu, you can convince him by reminding him that Jiang-zongzhu needs to learn to stand up to his mother if he is going to be a good sect leader.”

“That does seem reasonable,” Lan Xichen said, smiling. “You are so clever, A-Yao. I’m so glad you will be there to support me in my future endeavors.”

Meng Yao flushed pink, then said, “Ah – that reminds me. I still have not had a chance to speak to Nie-zongzhu about my departure. Please excuse me – I will return shortly.”

“Of course, A-Yao,” Lan Xichen said, and Meng Yao bowed to both of them before leaving. He turned back to Lan Wangji and said, “Why don’t you and Wei-gongzi come back to Cloud Recesses to help us rebuild, and we can host the wedding there? After that, you can head to Lotus Pier.”

Lan Wangji nodded. “Surely Jiang Wanyin will excuse his absence, as it will give him time to solidify his position at Lotus Pier, after his own marriage.”

“Which is probably proceeding as we speak,” Lan Xichen said, chuckling. Then he sobered. “But perhaps not. Jiang-zongzhu is not particularly politically minded, but Wen-guniang is. She will advocate for a public wedding, as he is a sect leader, and it will reinforce to Jin-zongzhu that the remnants of the Wen are under the Yunmeng Jiang’s protection.”

“Politics is exhausting,” Lan Wangji muttered.

Lan Xichen laughed gently. “That it is, Wangji. That it is.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Mingjue was in the middle of waiting for his brother to quit whining about the hard work of packing the things he had brought with him when Meng Yao came into the room. He waved for Nie Huaisang to shut up and said, “What is it, Meng Yao?”

Meng Yao hesitated, then swept his arms around in a low bow. “Nie-zongzhu. I am grateful beyond words for everything you have done for me. With the deepest of regrets, I must ask to be released from the Qinghe Nie.”

Nie Mingjue was somewhat amused that Meng Yao was being so formal about it, but he supposed that this was a big deal to him. Nie Mingjue was the first person in his life who had treated him fairly, who had given him opportunities that almost nobody else would have given him. So it was with equal formality that he replied, “Your request is granted, Meng Yao. Thank you for your years of faithful service.”

Some of the tension went out of Meng Yao’s shoulders, and Nie Huaisang immediately chimed in. “So you’re going to Gusu?”

Meng Yao nodded, and Nie Mingjue said, “To be honest, Meng Yao, I’ve known for months that Xichen intended to steal you from me.”

Flushing pink, Meng Yao said, “Ah . . .”

Nie Mingjue was enjoying himself, and continued, “In fact, he had been at The Unclean Realm for less than a week before he made that quite clear to me.”

“Of course he did!” Nie Huaisang said, waving his fan and laughing. “That’s why he was so intent on helping you find a wife, I’ll bet!”

“He mentioned that, yes,” Nie Mingjue said dryly. “But I’m serious, Huaisang, you’re not going to be able to dump everything on A-Li. Yes, there are some of Meng Yao’s duties that she’ll be able to take over, but you’re going to have to learn them, too!”

Nie Huaisang wrinkled his nose, but didn’t protest. Instead he turned back to Meng Yao saying, “You’re so lucky, Meng Yao. Zewu-Jun is so gentle and kind, unlike some people.”

Nie Mingjue rolled his eyes, but said, “Xichen is lucky, too, to have somebody so capable at his side. You’ll do well there, Meng Yao, I’m sure.”

“Thank you, zongzhu,” Meng Yao said, and gave another low bow. “I will see you again soon, I hope.”

They said their farewells, and then Meng Yao departed. Only a few minutes had passed before the door opened again, and Jiang Yanli came in. She looked as beautiful as ever, and he brightened to see her. It was apparently quite obvious, from the way Nie Huaisang snickered and then fled the room. Nie Mingjue noticed that she was carrying two bags, and hastened over to help her. “Is this all you have?”

Jiang Yanli nodded. “Most of my things are still back at Lotus Pier. A-Cheng said he would have them packed and sent to me.”

“All right. How is he? He did well today, but seemed shaken afterwards.”

“He was, and I think he’s still quite upset with our mother for making such a terrible offer. He argued with her, and insisted on marrying Wen-guniang, which of course she is against. She said she would support him in it if he forced A-Xian to leave the sect, but A-Cheng says he won’t do that. He just spoke to Wen-guniang and I think he was ready to get married on the spot the way we did, but she wouldn’t allow it. She says it must be public, so he can show his support for the remnants of her sect. So they will start planning that once they are back at Lotus Pier.”

“Wei Wuxian won’t be going with us, then?” Nie Mingjue asked. “Huaisang will be disappointed.”

Jiang Yanli laughed her beautiful laugh. “I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but yes, I think he will go back to Lotus Pier.”

“Good,” Nie Mingjue said, knowing she was relieved that her brother would be able to stay where he wanted to be, and leaned in for a kiss.

~ ~ ~ ~

Wei Wuxian had just finished packing his things, and was considering what he might say to Jiang Cheng – who was admittedly a little disappointed that Wen Qing hadn’t agreed to marry him immediately even if he understood why – when there was a knock on the guest room door. He opened it to see Jiang Cheng, and fought the urge to retreat, feeling unprepared. “Ah, Jiang Cheng – ”

“Come downstairs,” Jiang Cheng interrupted. “Lan Wangji is here and asked to speak to both of us.”

“He . . . did?” Wei Wuxian frowned, since he didn’t feel like this was how he had left off the discussion with Lan Wangji. But he nodded and followed Jiang Cheng down the stairs. Several members of the sect were gathered there, including Yu Ziyuan, who was glowering at Lan Wangji. He was staring back at her, his face blank of expression. Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but give a snort of laughter, thinking that Yu Ziyuan was going to be disappointed if she thought she could win a staring contest with Lan Wangji.

“Jiang-zongzhu,” Lan Wangji greeted them, which was another surprise, as he was rarely so formal with Jiang Cheng. “I came to ask your blessing to marry your first disciple, Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian flushed pink. “Ah, Lan Zhan, you hadn’t even asked me yet – ”

“Gaining your sect leader’s blessing must come first,” Lan Wangji said, with a sideways scowl at Yu Ziyuan, as if daring her to say that Jiang Cheng wasn’t Wei Wuxian’s sect leader.

Clearly amused, Jiang Cheng said, “You have my blessing, Lan-er-gongzi.”

Lan Wangji bowed, then turned to Wei Wuxian. “Wei Ying. Will you do me the honor of being my husband?”

Now an even darker pink, Wei Wuxian said, “I mean, yeah, of course.”

Satisfied, Lan Wangji turned back to Jiang Cheng. “There are duties in Gusu I must attend to. There is much to rebuild there, and I have yet to pay respects to my father’s grave. With your leave, I will take Wei Ying back to Cloud Recesses and my brother will make the preparations for the wedding.”

Jiang Cheng frowned slightly but didn’t argue. “Of course,” he said, and Wei Wuxian felt torn. There was a part of him that wanted so badly for Jiang Cheng to disagree, for him to stay Wei Wuxian couldn’t go, that he had to stay at Lotus Pier. There were so many reasons that couldn’t happen, but in that moment, he realized exactly how much it hurt to have to leave.

“Well, this is wonderful,” Yu Ziyuan said, with a tight smile. “Lan-er-gongzi, I wish you all the best with your new husband.”

Lan Wangji bowed to her and said, in a monotone, “Thank you, Yu-furen. I will protect him from all harm.”

That made the smile vanish from Yu Ziyuan’s face, but she nodded and then turned and left the room. Jiang Cheng let out a gusty sigh. “How long will you be in Gusu? You’re not allowed to keep him there, you know.”

“Six months or perhaps a bit more,” Lan Wangji said.

“Wait, what?” Wei Wuxian asked.

Jiang Cheng scowled at him. “I told you that you’re going to be my right hand man. How could I let you move to Cloud Recesses? You wouldn’t last a month there anyway – ”

“I mean, that’s true, but Yu-furen – ”

Lan Wangji spoke up. “Yu-furen will not touch you. Once I am your husband, it is my duty to protect you, and she will not be able to cause you any harm.”

“It doesn’t work that way, Lan Zhan, she’ll still order me punished and then she’ll be angry with Jiang Cheng if he won’t see it through – ”

“Let her get angry!” Jiang Cheng said. “She’s always angry at me anyway. It might as well be over something worth it.”

“Well, that – ” Wei Wuxian stopped, because that actually seemed fairly reasonable. Yu Ziyuan was always angry about something, and perpetually disappointed in Jiang Cheng even though he had never done anything to deserve her scorn. Wasn’t there something of a point to the idea that if he was going to be shouted at or scolded, it should be over something important? “That – I mean, I guess – ”

This was hardly an agreement, but Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng both took it as one, the former nodding and the latter saying, “Good.”

“Did you two talk about this?” Wei Wuxian asked suspiciously.

“Why would we need to talk about it?” Jiang Cheng asked, exasperated. “You think he came in here asking me formally as sect leader to allow him to marry you because he cares what I think?”

“But he said he was going to take me to Gusu – how did you know he didn’t mean permanently?”

Jiang Cheng looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, “I guess I didn’t. I just figured that was what he meant, because he was there when I told you that I wasn’t going to let Mom drive you away. He was only saying that so she wouldn’t object to the marriage. He was never going to walk away from Mom’s treatment of you without a fight – he’s been dying to do something about it since he first found out about it, but never said anything because of the war.”

Lan Wangji nodded, and Wei Wuxian said, “So you were just betting on the fact that he’s so eager to fight with Yu-furen that he wouldn’t let the opportunity go?”

“Well, yeah,” Jiang Cheng said. “It seemed like a pretty solid bet.”

“It was,” Lan Wangji said. To Wei Wuxian, he added, “Wei Ying. I know that you wish to stay at Lotus Pier. I know that Jiang Wanyin wants you there as well. Yu Ziyuan will not be allowed to prevent this. I will never allow her to hurt you again, even if that hurt is only the pain of her driving you away from your home.”

Despite everything, Wei Wuxian melted. “Thank you, Lan Zhan.”

“You are welcome, Wei Ying.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Nie Huaisang couldn’t believe how lucky he was.

As all the sects were gathering to bid their farewells, he said goodbye to Jiang Cheng, who had Wen Qing on his arm, and Wei Wuxian, who was standing with his shoulder pressed against Lan Wangji’s. Jiang Yanli hugged both of her younger brothers for a long minute, before her mother bid her a stiff farewell. Meanwhile, Meng Yao was standing at Lan Xichen’s side, and Jin Guangshan kept scowling at them when he thought nobody was looking. It was hilarious, and Nie Huaisang wasn’t pretending that it wasn’t.

When they finally left Nightless City, he waved over his shoulder, and Nie Mingjue said, “Don’t worry, Huaisang, you’ll see them again soon.”

“Will I?” Nie Huaisang asked, then added, “Oh, well, I suppose if Jiang-xiong has a formal wedding – or if Wei-xiong and Lan-xiong do – ”

“That’s true, but really I meant the lectures in Gusu.”

“Da-ge!” Nie Huaisang protested. “You’re not still going to send me to those, are you? Why would they even still have them? So much has changed – Jiang-xiong is a sect leader now so he couldn’t go, and surely Wei-xiong can learn everything he needs to know just by being there for a few months – ”

Amused, Nie Mingjue said, “I told you that you weren’t going to get out of them, didn’t I? Lan Qiren will still hold them, and you’re going. I don’t care if you’re the only pupil there and he ends up tutoring you personally.”

“Da-ge, no!” Nie Huaisang whined. “Why would you be so cruel to me? Yanli-jie, can’t you see why I don’t need to go?”

“Well, it’s certainly true that I don’t think he would gain much from it,” Jiang Yanli said.

“See?” Nie Huaisang said, ignoring the fact that this was technically an insult.

“You’re going,” Nie Mingjue said shortly. “I told you that you would have to even if I got married, and I’m a man of my word.”

“It won’t be so bad, A-Sang,” Jiang Yanli said. “Meng-gongzi will be there, and A-Xian, even if A-Cheng isn’t able to go. Won’t it be nice to spend some time with them?”

“Well, sure, but not in Cloud Recesses . . .” Nie Huaisang went into full pleading. “They’re so strict there, jie . . . I would end up being punished constantly . . . Lan Qiren can be so harsh and unyielding . . .”

“I suppose recommending that you behave yourself wouldn’t get me anywhere,” Nie Mingjue said.

“Nowhere at all,” Nie Huaisang agreed.

Jiang Yanli was chuckling quietly. “Perhaps rather than going, A-Sang could stay at The Unclean Realm and help me,” she said, and he nodded eagerly. “Especially if we’ve had our first child by then, Mingjue-gege. Babies are so much work . . . it would be nice to have someone to help with the washing, the changing, the housework . . .”

“Perhaps you’re right, A-Li,” Nie Mingjue said.

“Or,” Nie Huaisang said hastily, because he had never changed a baby in his life and didn’t intend to start, “perhaps there is something to learn at Cloud Recesses. Lan-xiansheng is supposed to be an expert, after all. And Wei-xiong will be there, and he’s a genius, of course! I’m sure I would do well there. How could I just stay home and do housework? I’ll never be a great cultivator that way, da-ge!”

“As you said,” Nie Mingjue said, smirking.

Nie Huaisang pouted.

“Don’t worry, A-Sang,” Jiang Yanli said. “I’ll talk to A-Xian and he can make sure nobody bullies you there. I know that you’re going to make us proud.”

For some reason, Nie Huaisang found his back straightening, because of course he was going to make his big sister proud. “Of course, Yanli-jie!” he said, and her responding smile lit up his whole heart. Having a big sister was amazing, just as he had thought it would be.

“Incredible,” Nie Mingjue muttered. “Where have you been my whole life, A-Li?”

Jiang Yanli laughed gently and said, “I was waiting for you, Mingjue-gege.”

Nie Huaisang couldn’t believe how lucky they all were.

~fin~