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ibijau · 13 days

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Sins of the father pt1 / On AO3 Wanting an alliance with the Yiling sect, Jin Guangshan arranges a marriage. One of the children Wei Wuxian had from his infamous harem of seducted women will marry his own grandson, Jin Ling, in exchange for a large sum of money. Of course Jin Ling is less than thrilled about it, and it seems neither is Wen Yuan, the strange and silent boy who now shares his life. Nobody in the history of the world has ever been more unlucky than Jin Ling. But there is more to his new husband than meet the eye, and if Jin Ling can figure out what secrets Wen Yuan holds, he might just have a shot at happiness.

The weather had started pretty good that morning, only to quickly degrade as time passed. It was nearly a full blown storm by the time the bride's sedan appeared down the road, with such rain and wind that would ruin everyone's clothes. Jin Ling took it as a bad omen. But of course, Jin Ling was in a mood where he would have found fault even with sunny weather. The blue skies were mocking his misery, he would have said. Still, it was very stormy, and that felt appropriate for the most mismatched wedding the world had ever seen.

Naturally, Jin Guangshan was to blame. Jin Ling used to adore the man who spoiled him rotten, but in recent years he'd somewhat revised that opinion. At now fifteen, Jin Ling was starting to suspect that everything wrong with his sect could be traced back to his grandfather. It was an opinion he kept to himself. People were already quick to call him insolent, arrogant, or ungrateful, he didn't want to prove them right. Besides, grown-ups hated it when young people were smarter than them, and Jin Ling suspected many adults in his life hadn't yet realised what a problem their sect leader was.

But really, it had been Jin Guangshan's idea, this wedding, as well as the alliance going with it. And he'd refused to listen to reason when anyone had pointed out the risks, which was one thing. But he'd also not paid any mind to his oldest grandson's very real emotions on the topic, which Jin Ling hadn't expected. He was the oldest grandson, the future heir. He'd thought his wishes would have more weight than that, but Jin Guangshan had been quick to put him back in his place, letting him know nobody cared about what he wanted.

And now Jin Ling was getting married, against his will.

As the bride's sedan came closer, it became noticeable that people were accompanying it. Jin Ling squinted, trying to get a look at his future spouse's friends and relatives. Instead he saw nothing but a dozen corpses, some half rotten, others as fresh as if they'd just died, which had to be worse. There was only one living person visible, a gaunt man wearing dark robes who walked in front of the rest. Even without ever meeting him, Jin Ling knew this had to be Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Patriarch, the entire reason for this whole stupid wedding.

At last, the bridal sedan arrived in front of Carp Tower's gates. The sedan's door opened and Jin Ling got a first peek at his bride, a slender figure dressed in red, whose head was covered by an opaque veil of the same colour. When that person stepped out, Jin Ling wondered if there had been a change of plan, if Wei Wuxian had found a daughter of his own after all, one he was willing to sacrifice for Jin money. There was no way this small, frail figure belonged to the boy of seventeen whom the Jin sect had bought. This bride was shorter than Jin Ling, and more slender too, when already Jin Ling was at that difficult stage of growth when his entire body seemed made of bones with no flesh attached. A girl would be a better deal, of course, as she could give the Jin sect an heir. But she'd be in more danger with some of her in-laws, especially if she had the misfortune of being the least bit pretty.

But no, this had to be a boy. There was a very flat chest as a first hint, and then the hands peeking out of the sleeves, the only visible part of this newcomer, looked too big and rough for a girl. This really had to be Wen Yuan, the bastard son to whom Wei Wuxian hadn't deigned to give his own name.

Jin Zixuan nudged his son, and Jin Ling stepped forward to offer his hand to his bride. This earned him a glare for Wei Wuxian, as if somehow Jin Ling was at fault for this situation, as if it weren't Wei Wuxian himself who had sold them his own child. Wen Yuan did not move. Perhaps the veil was too thick, and he couldn't see Jin Ling's hand. Or else he saw it, and just didn't want to take it, to make Jin Ling look foolish.

“We welcome you here,” Jin Ling said, sounding awkward to his own ears. “We hope… we hope our preparations for this joyful day will satisfy you.”

Wei Wuxian's glare intensified, seizing Jin Ling with terror he couldn't control. It wasn't just him, either. Behind him, the adults were shifting uncomfortably. Even Jin Ling's mother looked ready to jump in, as if she didn't quite trust her childhood friend after all.

“I will take the money before I give you the boy,” Wei Wuxian announced.

Jin Guangshan stepped closer, although he did not dare approach as much as Jin Ling had.

“We have it, of course. But surely such matters can wait until after the ceremony? We have prepared a banquet that you will surely…”

“I will have the money now,” Wei Wuxian cut him, his expression darker still. “And I will not step inside Carp Tower, not unless my people can follow me there.”

Saying this, he gestured at the corpses which had now gathered behind him in two neat rows, like an army following its commander.

“Someone go get the chest,” Jin Guangshan ordered. “Guangyao ! Hurry!”

Jin Guangyao rushed away, and the wait began, made uncomfortable by the rain and the wind. Even with his pretty good cultivation, Jin Ling was starting to feel cold, and he knew he couldn't be the only one. His mother had to be miserable, and his younger siblings too. It gave Jin Ling some twisted joy to notice that Wen Yuan was shivering too, suffering as well from the capricious whims of his father, but that was short lived. Wei Wuxian himself appeared untouched by the dreadful weather, still standing tall and proud to glare at everyone, never noticing the discomfort of his own child. But then again, what more could be expected of a father so willing to sell his son?

At last Jin Guangyao returned, carrying a small chest Jin Ling knew to be filled with gold. The price of Wen Yuan's life, of Jin Ling's own ruined future. Wei Wuxian opened the chest to check its content, something Jin Ling found unspeakably rude, while knowing his grandfather would have done the same had the positions been reversed. When he was satisfied with what he'd counted, Wei Wuxian handed the chest to one of his corpse soldiers. He then turned to Jin Ling, his expression severe.

“If anything happens to my son, I will make your family wish you were never born,” Wei Wuxian warned. “And I'll make you watch everything I do to them, until there's nothing left of this sect but ashes. This is my son, and your treatment of him will be taken as a reflection of your respect for me. Am I clear?”

Jin Ling quickly nodded, so nervous he could hardly breathe. Wei Wuxian turned his cold eyes to Jin Guangshan.

“The same goes for you, and for that son of yours.”

While Jin Guangshan swore that Wen Yuan would be treated well, Jin Ling wondered why Wei Wuxian was worried his father of all people would do anything bad. It was fair to be wary of Jin Ling himself, who as a husband could easily mistreat his new bride if he wished, although he'd been raised better than that. And as for Jin Guangshan… The less said, the better. But Jin Zixuan ? He was universally well liked, and well respected, with a reputation for kindness. Why would Wei Wuxian think his son would be the exception to Jin Zixuan's kind disposition? Was Jin Ling's new bride so unlikeable that even his father might get irritated?

While Jin Ling worried, Wei Wuxian took his son in his arms and hugged him tight. It would have seemed like a sincerely affectionate goodbye, had Jin Ling not known how much money his father-in-law was earning from this.

“Don't forget what I've taught you,” Wei Wuxian ordered Wen Yuan, his voice wavering. “Let me know immediately if anything is wrong. I meant it, I won't let anyone hurt you.”

Wen Yuan nodded, but said nothing. And yet when Jin Ling was finally allowed to take his bride's hand to guide him inside Carp Tower, he found the older boy's fingers were icy and shaking from emotions he couldn't hide.

Wei Wuxian watched as the entire Jin sect followed the young couple, all of them in a hurry to put distance between him and them. Glancing back, Jin Ling saw his mother linger a moment, hesitating to approach the man who had once been a boy she knew, before her husband lead her away so she wouldn't miss any part of her son's wedding.

It felt wrong to get married to someone who didn't have a single person representing their family, nor a single friend. Wen Yuan might as well have been a ghost… But no, even a ghost wedding would have had relatives present, someone, anyone.

Jin Ling knew he ought to have felt sorry for his bride, but he was too busy being humiliated that this was the spouse his grandfather had found him, someone so unwanted and isolated. Everyone his age was going to mock him and say even all of the Jin money wasn't enough to find him a decent spouse when Jin Ling's personality was so difficult.

But the worst was yet to come.

After every usual ceremony, Jin Ling and Wen Yuan were sent to the house they would now occupy as a married couple. It was another thing that upset Jin Ling about the whole business, being made to leave his old room to move too far away from his parents and siblings to see them as easily as he used to. He hadn't even had a choice in the decoration, so everything looked showy, the way his grandfather preferred.

Once the door closed behind them and they were alone for the first time, Wen Yuan pulled on his veil to remove it. Jin Ling didn't have time to be disappointed he couldn't do that himself. Instead, he was faced with the greatest shock of the day, the final humiliation this marriage had to throw his way.

“Oh damn, you're ugly!” Jin Ling exclaimed.

Wen Yuan's cold eyes turned to him, his face impassive. Maybe it didn't hurt him because he knew he was ugly. There was no way he didn't know, actually. But really, there was nothing appealing about him. He was skinny, even more so than Jin Ling had suspected. This was not the elegant slenderness of a talented cultivator, either. Instead, Wen Yuan looked as famished as a peasant after a decade of bad harvests. He was also deathly pale, making for a harsh contrast when his cold eyes were surrounded by dark circles. There had been an attempt to tie his hair elegantly, but the result was messy, his hair in such a bad condition that it couldn't hold in place.

People said Wei Wuxian had been a handsome youth, comparable to the twin jades of Gusu Lan, and even to Jin Ling's own father. Apparently, his son had inherited none of that charm. It made Jin Ling want to cry from humiliation. They'd bought him a bride, such an expensive one, too, and this was all his family could find for him. Jin Chan and the rest of his cousins were going to laugh at him for the rest of his life.

Jin Ling's existence was ruined for ever.

Still, that poor half dead boy in front of him wasn't to blame. They'd both been treated like pawns by the adults around them, but maybe they could make the best of this. Ugly as he was, Wen Yuan might at least be clever, or kind, or funny, or anything at all, as long as it didn't bring Jin Ling even more shame.

“Sorry, I was rude,” Jin Ling said. “I just didn't expect… Nevermind that. Do you want to eat?”

He gestured at the food which had been laid out for them before they even arrived, selected from the banquet his grandfather and his guests were having in the main hall. Every dish was more elaborate than the last, except for a pot of simple lotus root soup. Normally Jin Ling loved it, but everything was so awful that day, even the sight of that soup felt embarrassing. His mother was the wife of the future sect leader, she should behave like it. Now Wen Yuan was going to think this soup was among the best they could offer, and… And it was! No dish in the world could beat it, but it was just a simple soup, it had no place at a wedding banquet… But Jin Ling loved it, and his mother had made it because she loved him, and…

“Come on, let's sit and eat,” Jin Ling grumbled. “You must be hungry.”

He went to sit at the table. Wen Yuan hesitantly followed him, glaring at the dishes as if one of them might bite him. Maybe he really was scared, in fact, because he just sat there and didn't move to take anything.

“You can have anything you like,” Jin Ling insisted, demonstrating by putting some food on his own plate. “All of this is for us. Or do you want to drink, first? There‘s wine here, but I can ask for water or tea if you'd prefer.”

Wen Yuan said nothing, and still didn't move. Maybe he was one of Wei Wuxian's fierce corpses, Jin Ling wondered, before quickly dismissing the idea. There were arrays in place around Carp Tower, a fierce corpse couldn't have gone in without notice. His new bride was alive. Rude, unpleasant, ugly, but alive.

“If you don't eat meat, that dish is vegetarian,” Jin Ling offered. “That one too, I think. And there's fried rice here, I don't think that has meat. Just eat something, alright?”

Still silent, Wen Yuan watched him like a hawk. Maybe he was deaf. Maybe he was stupid? Maybe he'd grown up surrounded only by walking corpses, never getting a chance to develop social skills or learn any manners.

Maybe…

Maybe Jin Ling was too angry to care anymore. He'd done his best to be welcoming, he'd done his duty as a new husband, what more was he supposed to do? If Wen Yuan didn't want to eat, he could starve for all Jin Ling cared. But as for Jin Ling himself, he started scarfing down food, because he hadn't had anything since dawn anyway.

Almost immediately, Wen Yuan served himself some of the same dishes Jin Ling was eating, and started his meal. He ate only small pieces, and very slowly at that, as if the richest foods the Jin sect could offer didn't quite satisfy him. Or maybe he feared poison, Jin Ling realised when he tried other foods, only for his new husband to try them after him, never eating anything that Jin Ling hadn't tasted first. As if they'd be stupid enough to hurt Wen Yuan, when it might start a conflict with Wei Wuxian.

When they were done eating, Jin Ling had servants take away the leftovers. He made sure to stand near his new bride until they left, and to smile as if the situation were a pleasing one. He didn't want to give his grandfather any reason to be displeased with him, on top of everything else.

Alone again with his husband, Jin Ling ought to have chatted with him. A wedding night was a good occasion to get to know one's spouse after all. But Wen Yuan hadn't said a single word so far, and Jin Ling doubted it was about to change. So although it was still early in the day, Jin Ling showed Wen Yuan his bedroom. Jin Guangshan, with his views of marital fidelity, had agreed the newlyweds should be allowed separate rooms. A small kindness, easily granted when he had no grandchildren to expect from that union. Wen Yuan did not look surprised to have his own space, nor pleased, nor even upset. His indifference appeared limitless. Without even thanking Jin Ling or wishing him good night, Wen Yuan entered the room and promptly closed the door behind him.

This had to be the worst wedding in history, Jin Ling miserably thought as he walked to his own room. A fitting prelude for what was sure to be the most miserable marriage ever, worse even than that of his grandparents, who hadn't spoken to each other in five years at that point. It was just so unfair, and Jin Ling wanted to die, so everyone would miss him and regret that they'd forced him to marry that corpse-like boy. Or maybe he run away to Yunmeng and ask his uncle to adopt him and then someone else could get his husband. Jin Chan, maybe. They'd make a fitting couple, both of them unpleasant to look at, and even worse to be around.

Or else, or else…

Jin Ling fell asleep like that, imagining elaborate scenarios that freed him from this nightmare, quite certain that he was the most unfortunate person who had ever lived.

#jin ling #lan sizhui #wen yuan #lingzhui #zhuiling #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #lingzhui arranged marriage #not convinced by this title but hey at least it's out into the world now

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mintartem · 1 year

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Forehead ribbon

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #jin ling #lan sizhui #lan yuan #a yuan #zhuiling #lingzhui #jin ling x lan sizhui #mintartem art #魔道祖师

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bored-knight · 10 months

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Here's my first piece for one of my current obsessions at the moment - Zhuiling (or Lingzhui)

So here's big witch Lan Sizhui with small fairy prince Jin Ling 💛💙

#mo dao su zhi #lan sizhui #jin ling #mdzs #zhuiling #lingzhui

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veraverorum · 11 months

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"My parents think we're dating." for xisang? (or else, for lingzhui uwu)

You're lucky 'cause after weeks I've managed to write both of them! :D

So here's the Xisang version on AO3!

And here's the Lingzhui version, on AO3 too!

#Xisang #Lingzhui #zhuiling #lan xichen #nie huaisang #lan suzhui #jin ling #mo dao zu shi #Vera's work

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pack-the-pack · 2 years

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I need to know the ship name of Sizhui x Jin Ling x Jinyi x Zizhen.

Is there a name for this particular set up or is this like not a popular dynamics?

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ao3feed-xicheng · 9 days

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Estrellas Perdidas

by Nikkydan_99 ~*~ Hace 16 años Wei Wuxian fue condenado por delitos que no cometió, después de toda la experiencia solo quiso olvidar. En el presente es un padre amoroso que tiene una vida normal, pero cuando parecía que sería otro año como cualquiera, su pasado empieza a volver. Una noche que solo quería divertirse, se encuentra con la persona que menos esperaba... Lan Sizhui tenía todo, un papá amoroso e incondicional, es el mejor de su generación, tiene los mejores amigos y el más encantador de los novios, Jin Ling. Sin embargo, todo eso comenzará a cambiar cuando su novio aparece y desaparece, a veces con heridas y Jin Ling no quiere hablar. ¿Qué será lo que oculta Jin Ling? WangXian LingZhui 💙No acepto adaptaciones. Si ves esta historia en otro perfil en esta plataforma u otras, es plagio.💙 Words: 4906, Chapters: 3/?, Language: Español Fandoms: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/F, M/M, Multi Characters: Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Baoshan Sanren, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Lan Yuan | Lan Sizhui, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Jiang Yanli, Wen Ning | Wen Qionglin, Wen Qing (Modao Zushi), Lan Qiren, Madam Lan (Modao Zushi), Jin Ling | Jin Rulan, Lan Jingyi, Ā-Qìng, Xiao Xingchen, Ouyang Zizhen, Nie Huaisang, Nie Mingjue, Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin/Lan Huan | Lan Xichen, Jiang Yanli/Wen Qing, Jin Ling | Jin Rulan/Lan Yuan | Lan Sizhui, Ouyang Zizhen | A-Qing | Lan Jingyi, Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao/Nie Mingjue, Chu Wanning & Mo Ran Additional Tags: Action, Love, Destiny, Drama, Fiction, Romance, Soulmates, Omegaverse via https://ift.tt/1EHPD3T

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #xicheng #jiang cheng #lan xichen #mdzs #cql

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redrosetoberead · 2 months

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Summary:

Since he had gotten mated and married, he found that a little extra time cuddling his still sleeping husband was just as beneficial. Jin Ling, who was more than used to this after two years of Sizhui doing the same thing nearly every morning, just grumbled a little when Sizhui pulled him closer.

(or, A/B/O Lingzhui + domestic after-aftercare in the early morning)

#tbrr #mdzs fanfiction

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reveal-the-news · 1 year

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Officials voice confidence in China's economy, urge cooperation

Officials voice confidence in China’s economy, urge cooperation

Beijing, November 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — As the global economy recovers from the pandemic and geopolitical tensions, even showing signs of a recession, China Officials and experts at the 2022 Financial Street Forum on Monday stabilized its economy with a package calling for cooperation and risk-awareness. of China National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Fu Lingzhui said at the forum that despite…

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rydykg · 2 years

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• | find the word!!

thank you for the tag @blind-the-winds! my username was spelt wrongly, jsyk

but anyhow, my words were feral, fog, fracture, free, and focus! i,,, apparently didn’t have most of these words, whoops

i’ll tag uhhh @emelkae @marigold-clouds @mjjune apologies if you didn’t want to be tagged! + anybody else who’d like to join in, i suppose :D! if you’d like, your words are fry, melody, shiver, long & fish. if you can’t find those words, gimme a little fun fact about a wip of your choosing :>!

FOG (Gentle Herb Brewery, WIP: Caffeine-Sponsored Macchiato C3)

Usually, Lydes likes to vary his ‘activation’ of his powers. Most of the time, he sprays fog; the kind that’s only slightly better than the cheap kids toys at $5 a bottle instead of $3 a bottle, but works amazingly in large amounts, seeing as they smell slightly fishy and have too much chemicals in them. Then, in the fog, he’ll get close enough to say his starting words — again, he likes to vary those too — and let the illusions begin.

FOCUS (Isekai ??? Shots, Working Title WIP: A Flowery Path)

…And it was mind control. With the Allen dukedom’s power and both Rui Ying and Han Sungyeol digging around, they managed to find old records on ancient powers. Some of the records on light powers noted that the bearers of said powers were very adored and more favoured by people, to an extent where it was unnatural to anyone watching from a further distance.

A few mentioned how people were more likely to do absurd things that they would’ve never done before, all for the sake of the bearers of light powers. These were rare and inbetween, and Han Sungyeol suspected that they wanted to prevent themselves from being silenced for ‘defamation of character’.

With that settled, however, they focused on getting all of their plans together before the ball towards the end of the school year, and the ball that would start the condemnation event of the ‘villainess’.

FERAL

none? okay! okay.

for TFWSTS below (which will not be something i’m posting on this tumblr anytime soon), it’s essentially a quick transmigration novel (see: any QT c-novels) featuring a genre-savvy mc with something to keep going on for. fun fact! he’s technically “based” (and by based, i mean put into different clothes and called it a day) on another OC of mine

FREE (TFWSTS, Arc 1 C2)

While Zhang Yunyi and Sheng Han had sweet tooths, Yan Lingzhui preferred a milder cuisine.

“Is there a way to change my tastebuds?” he asked the System.

The System did a quick check. [ There are 103 items that can dull your senses, 24 that can change it, 45- ]

“One that can make a specific part duller will do just fine, thanks. How much would that cost?”

[ It’s free ^_^! Like I said, new hosts get more perks to make things a little easier for them first! In this case, something as simple as this is free for this world only! ]

FRACTURE (Gentle Herb Brewery, WIP: A Sprinkling of Pepper)

When they were six, Polus gave them a fracture.

It seemed like an accident. Polus had only let his powers get out of control for a bit, and poor Kove was caught in the crossfire.

They had the medical costs fully paid for by Polus’ father, a form of hush money to keep this on the down low, lest it hurt Polus’ reputation. And really, children jumped from thing to thing so easily; Kove already forgave Polus when he gave a hug!

But after that day, Kove stopped hanging out with Polus, preferring to run away from the older whenever possible.

He couldn’t forget the words uttered to him, disguised as a sweet apology: “Next time, you should cry more for me.”

#find the word game #unwriting related #<- temp (not) game tag

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ruerock · 2 years

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lost my mind last night and drew the ponification of mdzs characters

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twistedappletree · 4 months

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Arranged marriage zhuiling AU where instead of being arranged to marry each other, Jiang Cheng keeps trying to set Jin Ling up with random girls from other clans after Jin Ling mentions he’s interested in marrying ‘someone’ because he doesn’t know Jin Ling meant Lan Sizhui, so Jin Ling keeps doing the most ridiculously annoying and unappealing things to scare off every girl who comes to Koi Tower and Jiang Cheng is ripping his hair out because you little brat, you said you wanted to get married???

Eventually, both of them are so exhausted from the miscommunication that Jiang Cheng investigates and finally finds out what’s wrong, then tells Jin Ling he has one more potential spouse for him to meet. Jin Ling is a pouting lackluster mess over it until his entire world stops when the doors to Koi Tower open and Lan Sizhui walks through.

#zhuiling #lingzhui #fic ideas #will probably actually write this soon ngl ahahaHAHAHA #poor JC not know wtf is going on #i feel like it’s more IC of him to actually think he’s helping instead of trying to force JL to marry anyone #bc he does love him and wants him to be happy #but both of them are so shit at communicating and JL is never gonna admit he likes LSZ to his uncle #so JC has to do his own digging to find out 😭#zhuiling musings #ok but what if JC finds out JL and LSZ love each other through Jingyi #lmfAOOOOO #Jingyi’s just like ‘your stupid moody niece is in love with my best friend you dumb purple slut’#ffffuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUCCCCKKKK AHAHAHAHA #apple babble 🍎#mdzs au #arranged marriage au #married aspec ZhuiLing would be so cute tho I think about it a lotttttt 😭✨🌸

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ibijau · 3 days

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Sins of the fathers p3 / On AO3

The morning after Jin Ling had that talk with his mother, Jin Ruyi came early to her brother's door to pick up her brother-in-law. She was pretty cheerful about it, even when it turned out that Wen Yuan had failed to wake up at the agreed hour.

This was all part of Jiang Yanli's plan to help her son-in-law feel more comfortable in his new home. Wen Yuan might have turned down all of Jin Ling's attempts at cordiality, but he hadn't dared be that rude toward his mother-in-law. So it had been decided that from that point forward, Wen Yuan would join Jiang Yanli and the children for breakfast and then spend the day with them. Jin Bai was still young enough that he was in class only half of the day, and the twins's lessons were also fairly short, because the Jin sect currently didn't try hard to educate female disciples. With those three as company, in addition to Jiang Yanli and the baby, Wen Yuan wasn't going to stay shy very long.

Still, that first morning was a little difficult. Mostly because Jin Ruyi didn't like to wait. She must have been warned to be forgiving with her brother-in-law though, so instead she scolded Jin Ling for not waking his husband.

“I've tried,” he retorted, rolling his eyes as he often did around her. “You go and see if you can do better!”

“Of course I can,” Jin Ruyi claimed, confidently walking into Wen Yuan's room.

Watching her go, Jin Ling almost pitied his husband. Jin Ruyi was an annoying brat with more ego than brain, who hated to lose and didn't care much about being rude. Some people said she was very much like Jin Ling, for all that her twin and her had their mother's gentle face. Jin Ling himself found no resemblance between them. Jin Ruyi was just supremely annoying most of the time, though he couldn't deny they made a good team whenever they were angry at the same thing.

At the moment, Jin Ruyi being rude and annoying was an asset. She really managed to get Wen Yuan to leave his bed and get ready much faster than Jin Ling could ever have managed. She then dragged him out of the house, and Jin ling didn't see him again until dinner in common with the rest of the family.

The same thing repeated the next day, and then the one after, until that became the new habit.

After about a week, Wen Yuan was used enough to this new rhythm that he no longer had to be dragged out of bed. If anything, he was regularly fully dressed before Jin Ling woke up, and waiting for one of the twins to pick him up. Jin Ling took that as a sign that his husband was happy with the new way his days went on. Wen Yuan never confirmed it, but his eager wait for the girls, and the way he finally started putting on some weight, were good hints of his enjoyment.

There were apparently more overt signs of Wen Yuan's improved happiness, but Jin Ling was not privy to those. Around him his husband remained perfectly silent and closed off, the same he'd always been. But according to Jin Bai and the twins, he was very different with them and Jiang Yanli.

“He always plays with us when we asks,” Jin Ruyi claimed when Jin Ling caught the twins and Jin Bai one day to interrogate them. “And he laughs at all my jokes.”

Jin Ling nodded. That was fair. Jin Ruyi was annoying, but she could also be pretty funny when she wanted (although never as much as Jin Dongmei, whose subtle remarks could be as dangerous as they were hilarious, especially when she felt like being insolent to their grandfather without him ever appearing to realise it)

“He also laughs at BaiBai's jokes too,” Jin Ruyi added.

Jin Ling raised an eyebrow. His little brother, aged ten, was sweet and adorable and nearly perfect in many ways, but he couldn't tell a joke properly to save his life. He was too much like their father for that.

“He also likes mom a lot,” Jin Ruyi went on.

“Everyone likes mom,” Jin Ling immediately retorted.

“But he liked her even before he met her!” his sister insisted. “His dad had told him about her. Stories about when he was little, and she took care of him. They talk about that a lot. I had no idea mom had so many stories about Wei Wuxian!”

Jin Dongmei nodded quietly when Jin Ling looked at her for confirmation. Jin Ruyi was known to sometimes exaggerate her stories, but Jin Dongmei was usually a trustworthy source, unless she felt like supporting her sister’s boasts for a laugh.

“It must be a shock for him to learn that the Yiling Patriarch used to be a funny kid,” Jin Ling said.

Unlike his sisters, he’d heard many stories about Wei Wuxian when he was younger. At the time, there had still been hope that Yiling might turn into a normal sect. Even if Wei Wuxian had been unable to come to Jin Ling's hundred day celebration for reasons unknown to him, in secret good relationships had been maintained for a while. But a couple years after the twins were born, the Burial Mounds had stopped all communication with the rest of the world. Everyone there might as well have been dead, except for Wei Wuxian and his Ghost General going into town sometimes to exact violence onto men who had claimed links to the Yiling sect to terrorise ordinary folks. After that, Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng had stopped sharing stories about their childhood friend, so the twins and Jin Bai mostly knew Wei Wuxian as a boogeyman of sorts, the same as every other children.

“No, he’s never too surprised,” Jin Ruyi replied. “He said the Yiling Patriarch is still kind of like that, and still likes to laugh and joke.”

Again Jin Ling turned to Jin Dongmei, who nodded solemnly.

“He really said that,” she confirmed, before pouting pensively. “He said when he was little, one time his father buried him and told him he’d grow like a radish if he was watered. But then… he stopped talking for a while, and he looked sad.” She paused, looking concerned. “I think he misses home.”

“Why would he miss home?” Jin Ruyi scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Here we have all the good food he can want, and pretty silk clothes, and we have flowers, and birds… Ge, he was so excited when we showed him my birds! He said birds don’t sing like that in Yiling. If you’re a good husband, you should get him some birds, it’ll make him happy for sure!”

The twins had received a pair of birds from Nie Huaisang when they’d turned seven. Jin Dongmei hadn’t cared too much, but Jin Ruyi was obsessed with them and had obtained more in the years since. It was her opinion that everyone should have birds, so Jin Ling never listened when she suggested that. He was more of a dog person anyway, and didn’t see the point of pets that did nothing except sit in a cage all day. Still, he was willing to reconsider, if it could improve his marital life. He made a note to ask his mother. If she also thought it might make his husband dislike him less, then Jin Ling would spend all of his allowance on really nice birds.

He’d never have admitted it, not even under torture, but it was starting to annoy him that Wen Yuan was apparently opening up to everyone in the family except his own husband. Well, his own husband and of course Jin Guangshan and his wife, but nobody who joined the family was ever expected to like them, anyway. And maybe Wen Yuan was not really warming up to Jin Zixuan either, come to think of it. But he was getting on really well with his mother-in-law and Jin Ling’s siblings, and it was so frustrating.

Jin Ling knew Wen Yuan and him didn’t need to like each other. His grandparents had ensured he knew that much about married life. But since Wen Yuan and him lived together and would continue living together for years to come, he thought it’d be more comfortable if they could get along. His grandparents’ example had also taught him how unpleasant the alternative could be.

So Jin Ling tried. He did! He made sure to ask Wen Yuan about his plans in the morning, and asked him about his day in the evening. When they ate together, Jin Ling tried his best to notice which dishes Wen Yuan liked best, and he’d make a show of eating those first, so his husband knew these weren’t poisoned. Nothing worked, though. Wen Yuan never replied to his questions, and if he noticed what pain Jin Ling took to eat things he personally sometimes hated, all for his sake, he never thought that was worth even a ‘thank you’.

It was quickly becoming exhausting, and more than a little frustrating. There were evenings when Jin Ling wanted to shout at that cold husband he was stuck with, especially on days when Jin Chan had been particularly nasty. Or if he’d seen Wen Yuan smile at his siblings, his face so bright for a moment that he became really pretty, only to turn to ice at the sight of him. Sometimes Jin Ling felt like he might explode, except he wasn’t allowed to be angry like that. His mother had said she was proud of him for the way he’d dealt with everything. He wanted her to remain proud of him. He didn’t think she’d really stop loving him if he disappointed her, but he also didn’t want to risk it.

After all…

It was a very stupid thing to worry about. But one day, about a month after Jiang Yanli had started taking active interest in her new son-in-law, Jing Ling had overheard his cousin and some other boys talking in the gardens.

At that moment, he’d been crouched behind a bush, looking for some small wild flowers that occasionally grew around. The disciples in charge of the gardens would destroy them on sight, but Jin Dongmei found them pretty, so Jin Ling sometimes collected them for her, so she could replant them somewhere hidden. When he’d heard people coming that way, Jin Ling had been worried they’d seen him and mock him for doing something so silly and he'd tried to stay hidden to avoid explaining. But when he heard their conversation, he froze entirely.

“I hear she's sleeping with him, you know,” one boy was saying, an older teenager who had poor cultivation but rich parents. There were more than a few of those in the sect. ”Since Wen Yuan is the son of her first love!”

Jin Ling almost revealed himself by laughing. It wasn't the first time people accused his mother of once loving Wei Wuxian. He’d had that thrown at his face since before he could understand the insult. Whether that was true or not, he knew for a fact she would never betray the husband she had now, so he’d learned to ignore it. And as for having that sort of relationship with Wen Yuan… how could she, when the twins and Jin Bai were always around?

“No, you've got it wrong and it's worse than that,” Jin Chan claimed, and Jin Ling grimaced. Of course if someone was trying to badmouth his mother, his cousin was first in line. “He's not her lover. He's the son she secretly had with Wei Wuxian, before her marriage. Why else would she care so much about his education? He's her true first born… And she seems to like him more than the official one, not that I blame her. Even that half ghost kid is less of a pain in the ass than Jin Rulan!”

The boys started laughing as they passed by the bush where Jin Ling hid. he almost jumped in the middle of them to beat them up. His mother wouldn't…she hadn't! She would never! And even if she had, only the worst sort of monster would push one of their children to marry a half sibling!

Even if it was the only way to have him near, even if…

Anyway, Wen Yuan didn't look anything like Jiang Yanli, or Jin Ling, or any of Jin Ling's siblings, not even his youngest brother Jin Hui, a baby who everyone said took so much from the Jiang side. Jin Chan had to be blind if he couldn't see that. Or maybe he saw and didn't care, as long as the story made his friends laugh, as long as it made Jin Ling sound stupid.

And it wasn’t true either that Jiang Yanli liked Wen Yuan better than her eldest son. It couldn’t be true. Even if she barely had any time for him these days, hadn’t really had time for him in a long while, with four younger kids to raise and all the duties of a sect leader’s daughter-in-law. Even if she had made that time for Wen Yuan, a stranger.

Even if…

She couldn’t…

Long after his cousin and the others had walked away, Jin Ling had stayed crouched by that bush, with crushed little pale flowers in his hands. His eyes had burned from trying not to cry.

He hadn’t bothered asking Wen Yuan about his day that night.

Why should he keep trying anyway, when the other party thought he wasn’t worth any effort?

#jin ling #lan sizhui #wen yuan #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #lingzhui #zhuiling #lingzhui arranged marriage #jau writes #I swear sizhui will get to be in his own fic at some point #probably at chapter 5 if I don't fuck it up

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